I need to blog more!

Oh how the time flies.  I have had so many things I wanted to blog, but there just doesn't seem to be enough time!

Monday night I went to my first Raw Food Tulsa meetup. Raw and Live Food 101 - Desserts.  Kat and Faith made an apple pie, coconut ice cream and chocolate pudding. It was really interesting and tasted amazing.  I am not totally raw when it comes to eating, especially in this cold weather, but I certainly favor it.  My diet is probably 70-80% raw.  I am enjoying all the raw recipies I have been trying.

Tonight I made a great salad from Vegetarian Times Special Healing Foods Cookbook.  It was a Grated Raw Beet Salad with Jicama, Avacado and Orange.

 The red beet, white jicama, green avocardo and cilantro, and the oranges look so pretty together in the bowl.

The dressing had orange juice concentrate as the base and it really complimented all the vegetables.  This is a definate "do-over" in our house.

It has been so cold here in Oklahoma, but we are so lucky to not have any snow and ice.  Today I was in the mood for soup and tried another recipe out of the Vegetarian Times Special Healing Foods Cookbook, Minestone with Sun-Dried Tomatoes Soup. It was just what I needed in this cold weather. I had fresh green beans so used them instead of peas, and I also had several cups of vegetable broth that I added to the water to equal the right amount of liquid, otherwise I followed the recipe.

We LOVED it!  Next time I will double the recipe!

Now to get back to all the tasks of getting ready for Christmas.  Remember, you are what you eat! Pick wisely. And go for that green smoothie everyday!



I LOVE My Spiralizer!!

It just amazes me how easy a task can be with the right gadget!  Sunday was no exception.

I just love veggie pasta, and without my spiralizer I would really miss out on this treat!

I gave it got a good workout: zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and parsnips.  It made a very colorful combination.  I added some shredded green cabbage and minced garlic and I my pasta is made for the week.

Isn't it pretty!

I will have it for lunch this week with various toppings.  I have a great marinara sauce that is perfect on it. I made marinated portabello mushrooms, also terrific on veggie pasta. 

And for a new topping, I tried a new recipe, Fettuccini Cheddar Pasta. The cheddar sauce is amazing.  It is made from red bell pepper, water, raw cashews, tahini, nutritional yeast, sea salt, onion, garlic and lemon juice.  All just blended in my Blendtec until it is creamy. Easy. Easy. Easy!! And yummy, yummy, yummy!!!

Since the Cheddar Sauce it isn't my personal recipe I cannot share it with you, however, it can be found in Eating for Energy by Yuri Elkaim.

What a great way to get your veggies!!

Oklahoma City - Shopping and Lunch at 105degrees

Today was a rare treat! My husband and I decided to set everything aside and spend the day together. Thus, a little road trip to Oklahoma City. It was a perfect day!

First, lunch at 105degrees.  Phenomenal! Capital letters: PHENOMENAL!

My husband ordered coffee, and being the DoubleShot Coffee snobs that we are, he was pleasantly surprised at the quality of his coffee that arrived at the table in a French press.  I decided to try a juice, and I was not disappointed in my choice either.  Complete with a glass straw, my apple, cinnamon, ginger, and lemon juice was fabulous. (I love the glass straw!)

After driving for two hours to get to this restaurant, we planned to experience it from the appetizer to the dessert.  First up, the starter: The Mezze.

Beginning at the top, olives (3 kinds) marinated in a citrus juice, hummus with eggplant bacon, hemp seed tabbouleh, and incredible falafel. We ate it ALL! 

And then came our main course:

This is mine, Heirloom Tomato Lasagna. Unbelievable! Tomatoes, spinach, zucchini, a Macadamia ricotta, pesto, sun dried tomatoes . . . and with such a creative presentation I almost hated to mess it up! It was remarkable.  I would get it again in a heartbeat.  And even though I thought I could never eat it all, guess what . . . I did!

Dick selected the Reuben.  It was made with Portobello mushrooms, sauerkraut and 105degrees thousand island dressing.  Check out the "bread" to this sandwich.  I wish I could remember what it was made out of.  The mix is rolled and then dried in the dehydrator and becomes the 'bread" for the sandwich. He thought it was great.

His side was a slaw that was basically red and green cabbage, carrots and more.  He was also impressed with his lunch, and although I didn't take a picture of his empty plate, it looked just like mine!

Here are a few more pictures of meals from the counter 

waiting for the wait staff to pick up.

OK, so you would think, how could we eat one more thing, and then along came Lauren, our awesome waitress!

She brought us the Giandujo Tasting dessert.  Oh my gosh, there is not even a way to describe this!  It had 5 different desserts on it.

This picture just has to serve as the words! It was . . . I can't even come up with words to describe the taste. I can tell you if we had this at home, we would not have scraped the plate, we would have licked it!!  In the end, I don't think we could get any more off the plate than we did!

This was more than lunch. It was a really fun, delicious, and well worth the drive, eating experience.  The restaurant was clean and pleasant.  The staff was amazing.  Our waitress, Lauren, was a delight. She was so informative, attentive and friendly. Kelly Lee, the General Manager, took time to visit with us, and even introduced us to one of the chef's (sorry I forget her name!) who gave us a tour of the kitchen!!  Too fun.  This place not only had great food, but great people too!

Created in 2009, Oklahoma City's 105degrees is an innovative living cuisine brand, featuring a restaurant, a culinary academy, and a boutique retail shop. It is the first living foods company of it's kind. I can't wait to go back.

Oh, and of course, I couldn't pass up the their shop. Two cookbooks, well not really cookbooks because nothing in them is cooked, had to come home with me!

After lunch came the shopping! From 105degrees it was a short drive to the Penn Square Mall.  It was mobbed!  We lucked out and got a parking spot on the pavement, since many people were parking in the grass!  My husband got some incredible buys at Jos. A. Bank, and I got slacks (down another size!!!) at Talbots. We had a great time roaming around the mall and "window" shopping.

It was, as I said earlier, a perfect day.  I spent it with my husband of 40 years, who continues to be my best friend and the love of my life, and it was filled with so many things that make me grateful for my new health and lifestyle.  

Life is good. Yes, it is. Very good.

A New Home For Green Smoothies

This is a brand new Blendtec blender. It is straight out of the box, making it's first smoothie, in a home of a very dear friend (two "dears" actually), that are ready to begin drinking green smoothies. I am so happy they are making this choice.

We had so much fun leading up to opening the box with the new blender.  First to Whole Foods, where we spent the "whole paycheck!"  for greens and fruits. Then we got everything ready, a quick blender lesson, and the first smoothie was made!  To make it easy and convenient, and to encourage a continuation of green smoothie days, I made up bags to put in the freezer for a few upcoming days. Each bag is filled with enough fruit and greens for one smoothie.  Can't get any easier!

Move over steaks and pork chops, the fruits and vegetables are here!!!

Recipe try-outs!

With the holiday break I found some time to try out a few recipes.  None of which were disappointing!

Marinara Sauce, from Eating for Energy, not only tastes great but the smell, oh my gosh, is awesome in itself!  I like it better that the other marinara sauce recipe I used previously.

It was so pretty in the food processor!

I wish you could smell this!!!

I had this over some zuchinni pasta that I made with my spiralizer. Delightful!

Another new recipe I tried was Waldorf Salad from Raw for the Holidays, by Penni Shelton. It is full of the usual Waldorf Salad ingredients, however, the dressing is not mayo!

The dressing is created in the blender using cashews, that have been soaked, garlic, sea salt, lemon juice, water, agave and olive oil.  Very creamy.  And everyone ate it!  It was quite the hit actually.

Also from Eating for Energy, I made a great dip, which I will also use as a salad dressing, Creamy Cucumber Dressing. Cucumber, avocado, cilantro, basil and dill are just a few of the great ingredients that give this dip such a great fresh taste.  

Marinated Portobello Mushrooms, from Eating for Energy, end this post. So easy and so delicious.  I think it is the apple cider vinegar and the Braggs Amino Acids that give it the pizazz. I will have it on top of zuchini pasta for lunch tomorrow.  It will also go great in salad too!

I am having a blast trying out all these new recipes. I have more bookmarked then I can possibly make and eat!!!

The Journey is the Reward

I like this sign.

It is from the Raw Food Rehab website.

A very good point to ponder in many ways!

Time off goes by sooooooo fast!

I can't believe it is time to go back to work tomorrow!  

Where does the time go?  

Thanksgiving was great. A quiet adult event.  A bit of a change for us.  My son was not too thrilled with my Butternut Sage soup or the salad, but he sure made up for it when it came to the turkey and stuffing! (which I refrained from this year.)  My guests were each asked to pick two items they wanted to see on the table.  That way I knew everyone would be happy, because if it was up to me the table would have been quite different!

I had two favorites: the salad and the cranberry relish.  The salad had lots of great tastes, from fruit to nuts to Gorgonzola crumbles (a vegetarian raw milk cheese) to a raspberry vinegar dressing. It was Yummmmy!

Today we celebrated my son's birthday.  For the gang I made a big batch of turkey soup, with the left overs from Thanksgiving, a Waldorf salad, veggie tray with a cucumber dip, and of course a cake to top off the day. (the cake was purchased!)

Funny thing though, my food choices were quite different from everyone else, and it was so easy. No cake, no bread, no turkey soup, and I seriously didn't even want it!! Maybe that is why I lost another pound over the holiday!! My grandson, Riley, kept me more active than normal today, so I may have even lost another pound that I don't know about yet!!

It was a really nice day.

It was a really nice break.

Tomorrow though, it is back to reality!!

Smoothie Day 132!

Today I counted up the number of days I have been drinking green smoothies. 132 days! Wow.

Everyday begins with one.  Today is no different.

I, however, am different! 

It has now been four months of green smoothies and whole plant based foods, and the transformation is amazing. I have not felt this great in years! My energy level is very high, my fibromyalgia pain is quite low, my first Fall with no allergies, my cholesterol dropped from 293 to 180, no more drugs of any kind, and as a side benefit I have lost 18% of my original weight! I am enjoying the compliments from those who see the changes in me, and shopping for new clothes!

I've been asked how long I plan to do this diet, and I reply, "This isn't a diet, it is a lifestyle, and it is forever. Why would I ever want to go back to the way it was?"

I encourage everyone to have a green smoothie everyday!

 Maybe today can be your beginning??

Today's smoothie recipe: 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 clementine, celery, parsley, spinach, coconut juice, and crushed ice.  Added supplements: flaxseed, hemp seed, maca, & spirulina.  Blend it all together and there you have it: a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, and nutrition! Energy to live on!

The Day After

Today was a great day.  My husband and I went by church and set up the advent wreath - a tradition for about eight years now - and then to Whole Foods for a few necessities.

Mom came over for lunch.  We designed a sweater pattern she will knit for Miles for Christmas.  We watched a re-run of Glee and Dr.Oz.  It was nice to just hang out. Nicer to know I can still do that!

Too much sitting though, and I was itchy to do something.  What better than play in the kitchen!  After all, I do have those new toys to play with.  My creative juices began to flow.  So here is what happened.

I gathered the tools and ingredients.

Zuchinni. Carrot. Parsley. Artichoke. Quinoa. Mushrooms. Lemon. Braggs Sprinkles. Sea Salt. Olive Oil. Sun-dried Tomatoes.

And my new toys, AKA tools!

Cut and toss . . . 

Slice

And my most favorite - the spiralizer!!!!!

So to start, I used the spiralizer and made "spaghetti" out of the carrot and zuchinni.
 I think this is just so cool!
One piece of zuchinni spaghetti was at least 18 inches long!

 And then I  put them together in a bowl.

Next I used my cut and toss scissors and cut up the "spaghetti" into bite size pieces.

I added the mushrooms, parsley, artichoke, sun dried tomatoes and quinoa and tossed it all together.

Then added the juice from a lemon, salt, Braggs Sprinkles, and drizzled a bit of olive oil and tossed it all together.

 Now it was ready to eat!

I took this creation, and plated it on top of a bed of spinach, sliced a kiwi, and added some Fresh Cranberry Relish, to the plate, a free recipe from Whole Foods, that I made for Thanksgiving Dinner.

It was so pretty I had to take a picture!!

I added Chocolate Mousse, a great recipe from

Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer Cornbleet, with Rasberries for dessert,

 a glass of Pinot Noir, and the pleasure of my husband's company,

 and the result was a delicious, delightful meal!

Yes, the day after, was a very nice day!

Very nice!

Chow Down

Tonight I watched Chow Down on Hulu.com.  This could be such an eye opener for so many people.  I never heard of it until Dr. Malloy told me about it.  Why is that?  The statistics in our country are staggering when it comes to disease, many of which are unknowingly self induced!  We are killing ourselves with food.  So sad.  But for the most part, most don't even know it.   I wish everyone would watch this, and then tell someone else to watch it.



Another must see is Food, Inc.  Below is a trailer to the movie.  I rented it from Blockbuster.

Green Smoothies Relieve Fibromyalgia Symptoms in 4 Days

I have Fibromyalgia.

I could also be a "poster child" for Green Smoothies. The following YouTube is a good testimonial to what Green Smoothies can do, and what they have done for me.

A green "medicine" that has wonderful side effects!!!

Thank you Victoria Boutenko for your miraculous creation!

The Skeptic

"Drink this . . . really?

But the color. . . 

Hmmmmm . . .  it sure doesn't taste like it looks."

Another green smoothie conversion!

Green Smoothie Recipe Generator

Now how cool is this: a website that gives you a new green smoothie recipe every time you hit the Blend me up a Smoothie button!  Thank you to the Green Smoothie Central website. Click on the text below to check it out!

And for the Tulsa locals, don't forget, we are going to talk green on November 16th in the Library at the Church of Saint Mary from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  If you are trying to figure out what the heck this green smoothie thing is all about, want to learn how to make them, have questions, or just want to share your success story, do join us!

Green wave hits Florida, and internet shopping

By the way, for those of you who don't know, those three awesome kids in my last post are my grandchildren who live in Florida. I had a wonderful visit. I, naturally, made my green smoothie the first morning I was there and I am delighted to say they are all hooked! The second morning I came into the kitchen to see Cameron waiting for me to make his green smoothie. He had everything out of the refrigerator.  Such good choices he made!!!

Leaving was so hard.  I cried the whole way through airport security and all the way to my gate.  I really don't do goodbyes well!

Since I have been home I have done some internet shopping. So fun!!

Two books are headed to Florida to fuel their green smoothie addiction: The Green Smoothies Diet by Robyn Openshaw, and Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko. Two of my favorite books.

Two gadgets are heading to my house, and I can't wait for them to arrive.  I found then both on the Raw Gourmet Website. 

This is a Saldacco Spiral Slicer. It will be a great way to turn vegetables into  "raw spaghetti" to add to salads.  I can't wait to play with it!

The other new toy is called a Toss and Chop. 

Click on the picture for a video of how to use it. 

 Doesn't it look like a time saver???

As a side note, I have been watching the Simply Raw Video Series, which I found on the Raw Gourmet website.  Fascinating.  I would encourage you to watch it.  It is free.  Great information.  Anyone who is diabetic, knows someone who is, or just wants to be informed, should really see this. Please check it out.

OK, back to shopping.  My last purchase is a yoga DVD.  I have never done Yoga before, but I am feeling so good these days that I am ready to start exercising.  The women's club at a local church are doing "chair yoga" and love it, so I thought that would be a good start for me.  Sitting Fit - Chair Yoga  should be here by the end of the week. Yahooooo!

My ride on the Green Wave continues to be amazing.  I feel so good.  I am energized.  I sleep well, eat well, and live well. 

Nutrition is a powerful thing.  

More powerful than any drug! 

Try it. You can be amazed too!

Green Mustaches

How great is this ???

Zachary

Cameron

Morgan

I think it is awesome!

THE GREEN WAVE

I am so excited about all the interest that has been generated by my green smoothie habit. I have so many friends, family members, and even total strangers adding it to their daily routine.  I am calling it the Green Wave!

It tells me that many of us are out there looking for health benefits that don't come in a pill.  We all want energy and optimal health.  In such a short time, three months, my life, health, attitude, and energy level has remarkably improved. Remarkably!

At the urging of my good friend and coworker, Ashley, we have decided to have an informal gathering to share our experience of Green Smoothies.  So if you have any questions, or just want to know what the hub bub is all about, please join us on Tuesday, November 16th, from 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. at St. Mary's library. (1347 E 49th Pl in Tulsa)

Come Talk Green with us!  

It is an excitement worth sharing!!  Let me know if you have any questions!