I drank my green juice in front of the waterfall this morning. Then did a yoga DVD. What a great way to start the day! The kiddos are back in school and I'm plum out of excuses. My new full time job: TRANSFORMATION! I ate raw food every day so far in Rawgust but didn't quite let go of the junk food on the side. That is my version of a balanced diet: salad and ice-cream. I've got the eat-good-stuff part down and now I'm ready to leave the junk behind. Transition time is over.
For extra incentive I entered a transformation contest with prize money. It should be a fun way to do something I'm planning on doing anyway. I've already taken my before picture and I even got my body fat tested in a bod pod yesterday. I'll tell you all about the bod pod and the contest in some upcoming posts. Until then let me just say: My starting weight is 160 pounds and my starting fat percentage is 35.7% (which falls into the 'Excess Fat' catagory.) Cheers.
This was my breakfast this morning. It was DELISH! I made a batch of almond milk yesterday afternoon. Youtube has zillions of good videos on how to make almond milk so I won't bother except to say I like it thick and creamy. I use one cup of almonds to only three cups of water. Most recipes call for a 1:4 ratio of almonds to water. Anyway.... I put about a cup of finished almond milk into a glass pint jar and then added two heaping tablespoons of chia seeds. The black seeds are more common and they even sell them at Costco now-happy day- but I prefer the white seeds. (I usually order them from Swanson Health Products swansonvitamins.com/chia-seeds-love that company.) Most American's don't eat a lot of black foods unless we're talking dark chocolate so you may find the lighter ones are more appetizing. I like pretty porridge.
Even though it only take 20 minutes or so to soak the chia into a porridge, I have found the easiest approach for me is to soak my seeds overnight so they are good to go whenever I want breakfast. I take my pretty porridge jar and give it a good stir and a few vigorous shakes after I've screwed the lid on tightly. Don't learn the hard way (like I did) what happens if the lid is not on very well. Chia party in the kitchen. I shake it a few more times in the next five or ten minutes while I'm doing something else, which usually means dishes because my teenagers are trained to disappear as soon as they are done eating. They hear the call of homework and can't resist. At least that's the story they give me.
In the morning I add fruit, sweetener, more almond milk or whatever sounds good. Unless of course cookies or ice-cream in your porridge sounds good, then don't do whatever sounds good. I had added raw honey and vanilla to the almond milk when I made it so I didn't bother to sweeten it any further. I soaked a small handful of gogi berries in just enough water to cover them while I went to the pool. I swam an easy mile this morning and came home hungry. All I had to do was dump the drained gogi berries into the porridge, stir it up and put a handful of blueberries on top. Cinnamon would have been great too, now that I'm thinking about it, but I was hungry and it's just a miracle that I took the picture before the porridge disappeared. You're welcome. Now go and make some yourself.
I found myself in Santa Monica last week. Which happens to be a great place to find oneself! Colton, (firstborn son) was with me and agreed to try out this raw restaurant that I had read about. He got us there with his navigational skills which is a good thing since I have a talent for getting lost. We each ordered a starter and entree and shared that
fabulous lime cheesecake pictured above. It was silky, creamy bliss.
I've made a few raw cheesecakes but they always turn out heavier and
denser. My new challenge is to make one like Matthew Kenney's. I have
thin slices of lemon and orange in the dehydrator right now trying to
recreate that beautiful stained glass effect.
Colton ordered this salad with avocado, olives, coconut "bacon", tomatoes and baby greens:
My starter was a kimchee dumpling with a ginger foam. I happen to love kimchee (many years living in Asia) and found this cute little packets delicious. Colton thought they were good but wasn’t a huge fan, which of course means more for me. Love the purple as well!
The black pepper kelp noodles had thin strips of chanterelle with snap peas, olive crumbs and pea vines. We both liked this one very much. It was filling and creamy with subtle flavors. This could very well end up being comfort food for me.
Colton ordered the flatbread with hummus, jewel box tomatoes, fennel, capers and mint. I was worried it would be a raw “copy” version of hummus that wouldn’t compare to the original. I am happy to report I was dead wrong and once again we both marveled at how good it tasted. The flavors were just perfectly balanced.
I would recommend this restaurant to anyone from a raw foodist to a die-hard carnivore. The only problem is going back to “regular” food that tastes boring in comparison. I’m looking forward to my next visit.
