My Fruity Life

whoopeee!

2011-03-01T08:47:00.001-08:00

check out these pumpkin pie whoopie pies I made for an Oscar party I hosted this past weekend. I can't believe I pulled this one off. These actually turned out quite perfect. I got this recipe from none other than the delightful Jenna over at Eat Live Run. Of course these are only a once in a great while type of treat (one of them puts you in a sugar coma for 5 hours) but I can't wait to make CHOCOLATE ones!!

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

cassius

2011-03-01T07:10:00.001-08:00

meet our new puppy, Cassius! we got him when he was 8 wks old and he is now almost 4 months. he has also grown from 7 lbs...to 30 in a matter of a few weeks. Of solid muscle. I've been a bit busy, as he takes all my attention. He's currently snoring as I type this, and I think he wants to cuddle, so I better go. :)

xo Kat

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Bailey's Harbor, WI

2010-11-13T15:38:00.001-08:00

(the blacksmith inn)

(juice, fresh fruit, homemade granola, organic goat's milk yogurt)

Our trip to Door County was a memorable time. The Blacksmith Inn was one of the best places we have ever stayed. They know how to do things right. The rooms were cozy, clean, and just perfect. Each room came with a jacuzzi, fireplace, and deck with a hammock. French doors led to an awesome view of the nearby water and woods.

Ahem, now onto the important things..the food! All organic and local, the Inn laid out a spread each morning of fresh fruit, homemade granola, hard boiled eggs, and much more. (Side note: while I do enjoy goat's milk products occasionally, this was my first time trying yogurt. The flavor was ok, but the texture was just too weird for me. Anyone else ever tried it?) Also, every afternoon they put out warm oatmeal cherry cookies made with Door County cherries. YUM. We may or may not have grabbed a dozen for the road.

The weather was not great. We had a decent 2 hours one day and we went on a 10 mile bike ride through Peninsula State park in Fish Creek. We enjoyed salmon sandwiches and quinoa salad across the street over at The Cookery afterwards, and then we discovered their homemade oreos...if you're ever in the area, you must stop in and try one. Thank me later....

We cut our trip short a day since the weather was calling for a severe autumn storm! The Inn was so accommodating and had no problem letting us leave early. They even sent us home with to-go mugs and their organic, fair trade coffee.

For the health conscious readers, there was a great little health food store in Egg Harbor called Greens N' Grains. I will admit finding this place was a highlight for me. =) I went in to grab almond milk for my granola in the mornings and they had lots of yummy raw and vegan products. They even had a juice bar and deli. I'll be back for sure! Your husband may not be all on board with an $8 raw granola purchase tho...just sayin'.

So I am so happy I got a chance to show the hubby where my family and I have made so many memories growing up. He loved Door County ( the BBQ smokehouse he found didn't hurt) - success! We can't wait to go back in the Spring. I would highly recommend The Blacksmith Inn if you find yourself on that side of the peninsula!

Have you been there? What's your favorite thing to do or place to visit? Next time we go, I would love to go horseback riding. While it's a bit of a drive from the Chicago area, the wineries and fresh apples make it all worth it.

10.22.10

2010-10-22T06:52:00.001-07:00

Anyone still out there? :)

I sure do miss blogging. Took an extended break there...we had a lot of changes going on. Oh, and our laptop has been broken for ohhhh, I don't know, about 3 months (feels like 3 years!) I have learned to indulge my blog addiction by downloading a google reader blackberry app and catching up that way, it's really not all that bad! Google reader at your fingertips, what could be better than that?!

I wanted to take a break for a while and contemplate if I truly enjoy blogging. Well, this little blog has been running thru my mind these past couple months, and I guess that's my answer. 'I just can't quit you'. :)

What have I been up to lately?

I'll tell you. I ran my first 5K! You would think that would be an excellent thing to blog about on a healthy living blog, huh? ;) I'm just a couple months late telling you about it. My amazing Dad encouraged my sister and I to run it with him. I finished in 29:37 (ish). ha! I don't remember exactly. It was a blast but I will admit - I'm not a natural runner and it does not come easy to me. It takes all my effort to put in a long run and mentally I have to walk (er, run?) myself thru it. I'm happy I did it tho, you feel so accomplished when you're finished!

I've also been teaching my niece, Bella, 'peanut butter fingers'. Sorry, mom. She might be more my child than yours.... :)

We've been taking in the joys of Fall with a little apple picking...

Except it's the middle of October and there are no more apples left on the trees, apparently?? There were still apple cider donuts tho! C'mon, you know that's the main reason you go! No? Just me?

Awww...

We got bored and decided to spend $10 on pickles. They made us all a little crazy. Must be the 1500mg of sodium....

Crazy hair!

I love my husband's android phone. It takes all kinds of amazing quality pictures. I haven't used our digital camera in months! He's always there to capture the moments.

Another reason I really wanted to reunite with my little blog was because we're heading up north to Door County, WI this weekend. We're staying in the most adorable B&B, seriously it is so cute you just want to throw up. The leaves might be off all the trees already and there's a chance it could be 35 degrees and stormy but I don't care! It will be a perfect weekend filled with wine and cherry pie and I'll be sharing all the delicious details when I get back. Please come back and visit me!

<3 Kat

Tuna

2010-08-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

In high school I was friends with a boy, Matt. Everyone called him Tuna. They called him Tuna because once in fifth grade he ate 4 tuna sandwiches because he just loved it that much.

Whenever I think of eating a tuna sandwich, I think of Matt and how funny it was that it was so very normal everyone just knew him as 'Tuna' all of our high school days.

I wonder if Tuna will read this.......hmmm....doubtful. You never know.

So its been awhile since I have eaten tuna but I have fond memories of my mom making tuna melts. They were the best. Sabrina wrote a great post on the memories we associate with food. Sometimes we like to eat foods, not necessarily because we love them, but for the fond memories the food brings back to us. This got me thinking of some of my own 'memory' foods. For me, its tart, plain yogurt with frozen cherries and a pinch of raw sugar. BLT's with lettuce and tomato fresh from the garden. Cold milk poured over crushed Saltines. (It's a Southern thing). I don't necessarily love these foods, or eat them regularly, but they sure do bring back memories. Memories so vivid and real its as if you were together eating these foods just yesterday. I love that feeling...

So back to the tuna. My mom would use good quality whole grain bread, toasted, with tuna salad and a slice of good mozzarella. This past weekend I got a craving for tuna, so I went with it. But honestly those little blue tuna cans in the store just give me the shivers. Same with Bumble Bee. The only way I enjoy Bumble Bee tuna is when Jim Carey is involved.

I went to Whole Foods and bought a can of the best tuna I could find. Apparently it was 'hand line/pole caught' ? That must be better than farm raised. And the claim on the package said I have never tasted a tuna like this before.

It really was the best tuna I have ever had. Totally worth the close to $3 price tag for one tiny can.

Here's the recipe for my 'healthy' tuna salad.

(horrible phone pic - sorry!! you all know what tuna salad looks like anyways)

1 can tuna
4 heaping tablespoons greek yogurt
A few healthy squirts of dijon mustard
2 large carrot sticks
2 celery stalks, all chopped
Chopped pickles (i really went crazy with these)
juice from 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper
green grapes (optional - they add a nice sweetness)

Mix. Enjoy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this salad! I really think the quality tuna made all the difference. Go get yourself some good tuna. But don't turn into one! :)

G'nite!

Healthy Living Summit

2010-08-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the privilege of attending the Healthy Living Summit here in Chicago. Friday afternoon we checked into our hotel, the Congress Plaza.

I couldn't wait to pick up my 'swag bag'!

They were so generous! Lots of goodies!

Hubby enjoyed some of the treats with me..

Friday night I attended the cocktail party at LaSalle Power Co and met a few of my favorite bloggers. It was so nice being surrounded by other women who share the same passion!

Gina and Sabrina

Heather, Alison, Kristie and Stacey

And Paige!

Saturday I was up bright and early ready for the summit to begin with breakfast at 8am. The spread of food was unbelievable. They had an oatmeal bar set up with all the fixings, tons of fresh berries, yogurt, bagel things, muffins, and more! Its safe to say I ate all day long. Just warning you.

I wish I had pictures of the actual summit, but my camera is filled with only food pictures!

Lunch was amaaaaazing. They had wonderful vegetarian options and I was like a kid in a candy store.

I can't wait to try to re-create the quinoa dish, it was so refreshing and delicious.

And moving onto snack time...

Gina generously brought her famous raw macaroons for the attendees and also handed out samples of Garlic Gold. Mmmmm....macaroons. They were perfectly crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside.

Athenos sponsored our snack time. Holy vegetable!

Check out the cucumber roll stuffed with hummus! How creative, these would be perfect for a party.

After the summit, Andrea and I got some fresh air and walked Michigan Ave. We stopped at The Purple Pig for a glass of vino. I really loved this place - everything on the menu looked delicious and they had an extensive wine list.

We finished up at the Pig and took a cab to our next stop - Chicago Curry House.

Baigan Bharta

Chana Masala

This was our first Indian feast and I am in love!!!!! Indian food = delicious.

Right now I'm enjoying a 100% organic farmer's market dinner. I wasn't too hungry from all the treats this weekend so I threw heirloom tomatoes, green pepper, and raw corn together with a dash of salt and pepper.

Its safe to say I am exhausted and am looking forward to going to bed early tonight. Monday tomorrow! Boo!

How was your weekend?

Have you ever had Indian food?

Check out this article I found on great sources of vegetarian protein.

Goodnight!

Ice ice baby.

2010-08-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

I could sing Vanilla Ice all day in my car, couldn't you?

So tonight I got home from work and before I could talk myself out of it I put on my running shoes and went outside for a run. I'd say it feels like 100 degrees out but it's probably more like 85. I was sweating bullets! I'm not sure the distance I ran but I know I ran for about 40 minutes. I tried out a new area and was pleasantly surprised when I came upon a wooded area with a little lake and lots of nature to stare at while I ran. Love that.

So I finally made it back home and took an ice cold shower and when I got out, I was still sweating. Gah! After a green smoothie and collapsing in the AC, I feel much better.

This concoction had 1/2 banana, 1 scoop Sun warrior, 2 T flax, 1 t Vitamineral green, and 1 T cocoa powder.

An hour later I was ready for dinner. I mean breakfast...

I really should've made some veggies but all I wanted was cold, crunchy cereal! I mixed fiber one, pb puffins, frozen TJ berries, and almond milk. It was perfect!

I'm off to read a bit and do laundry. We might watch an old movie later if I can convince my husb..Brigadoon. Ever heard of it? Its old. Like me. :)

Hope you all have a lovely evening!

Home for the weekend.

2010-08-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! How was your weekend?

Mine has been sooo relaxing! I visited my parents who live about 1.5 hrs from me Fri-Sun and my mom waited on me all weekend and treated me like a little princess. Why can't this be my life all the time?

My mom had to go to work for a couple hours on Saturday so my Dad asked me to join him at the gym. Of course I would! A little background on my Dad... he is the most in shape, healthy person I know. Seriously. He used to be a dairy farmer when I was a baby and worked really, really hard. Up at 4am and done working at 9pm. Since then he has started and successfully ran his own business that involves physical labor and has recently gotten his scuba diving license and visits Belize every other year or so for the wonderful diving! He has always grown food in his garden and helped our family appreciate fresh fruits and vegetables for all of their greatness. I feel so fortunate to have been raised by such a great dad, I'm very appreciate :) . So getting back to the gym, we ran 3 mi on the treadmill (he outran me! I took 2 one minute water breaks) and then swam laps in the pool for about 20 minutes. I felt amazing when we were done, swimming is a new exercise I would definitely like to start regularly doing. Its hard work but the water still feels really good, plus, you will not get bored.

Rewinding on Saturday morning, I had overnight oats prepped in the fridge. In my mom's yellow bowl... I'm pretty sure I used this bowl when I was 5.

For lunch I made my newest favorite! Whole wheat wrap with tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion, hummus, salsa, and hot sauce. On the side thats a sliver of some local swiss cheese made in a little shop by my parents house. Good stuff.

Apple with cinnamon and Better n' Peanut Butter.

For dinner, my mom grilled salmon!

My plate!

My dad wanted me to take a picture of his plate too, lol. He has always put his dinner on a bed of lettuce/spinach! I used to think it was weird, but now I do the same thing sometimes! Oh and I chopped that tomato on his plate, it was by MY plate because I obviously was planning on eating the whole thing and when I came to the table, all of the slices were on his plate! I was like Excuse me, you took my tomater?! Haha. Ahhh..exciting times on my Saturday evening.

We went outside before the sun set and I snapped a couple pretty pictures.

My moms kitty, Cali. Don't let her cuteness fool you, she's actually pretty mean! Most days. But she has her a good days. :) We've had her since she was a kitten, got her from a farm!

I wish I had a green thumb like my Dad. Maybe someday...

Then my mom and I decided banana/raspberry soft serve was a great idea..

Haven't tried banana soft serve yet? Just throw a frozen banana and a tiny bit of milk or water in your food processor and let it run till its creamy. The perfect substitute for fattening ice cream.

I sprinkled bear naked granola on mine for crunch!

And as if the weekend couldn't get any better, my mom made me french press coffee Sunday morning. It was my first time having french press, and I wanted to cry! The flavor was so rich and deep.

And there you have it, my weekend of indulgence...great food, family and friends. Thank you to my mama for being so ~sweet~ .

Have you ever tried french press coffee? I drink coffee maybe once every couple months, normally I prefer green tea!

Latest obsession(s)

2010-07-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't possibly wait any longer to tell you about my new obsession! :D

Enter: Siggi's

Now, I have not eaten cow's dairy in almost a year. I've been quite happy with my almond 'milk'. But for health reasons I have been trying to find new ways to get a lot more protein. I picked up one of these at the store on a whim, the Orange & Ginger flavor, and at first I disliked it...then I liked it halfway thru...then I loved it and licked the container! Yes, I did.

Its luxurious, and tastes like dessert. Its expensive, but I don't care. I will forgo other things to be able to buy this because it is such great quality yogurt.

INGREDIENTS: Skim Milk, Agave Nectar, Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, Live Active Cultures, Vegetable Rennet

CULTURES:
B. Lactis, L. Acidophilus,
L. Delbrueckiee Subsp. Bulgaricus,
L. Delbrueckiee Subsp. Lactis,
S. Thermophilus

I like to add fresh fruit, crunchy cereal, almond butter & jam, there are so many things you can add!! I am enjoying my new yogurt love affair. Perhaps the biggest selling point to me is this yogurt comes only from grass-fed cows from a rural farm in New York, no hormones or any preservatives are added. Its sweetened with agave nectar and boasts 16 g of protein in 6 oz!

Today I came home and was planning on taking a quick run with D but my bed just looked so comfy......3 hrs later I awoke from my planned 'half hour' power nap! I feel like I wasted my entire evening, but I guess my body needed it? I was curled up with this new book I just got before I dozed off. I wanted to read Jeannette Walls' first book, The Glass Castle, recommended by Jenna, but it was checked out at the library so went with this one instead. I can't put it down! Nothing better than a good book. This one makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I could blame it on hormones, but I was already tearing up by the 3rd page. Not because its sad or anything - it's just a heart warming book.

I woke up around 8pm and wasn't too hungry but really wanted to eat. I made quinoa seasoned with cumin and cayenne and a Sunshine burger. All drizzled with hot sauce. And a salad on the side with Annie's Goddess dressing. I have not been into salads lately, unsure why?? It's very weird for me not to. They just don't appeal to me right now.

Then me and the hubs made a very necessary trip the grocery store for ice cream and batteries. I picked up these coconut milk ice cream bars and knew they would be amazing. And they were! I only had one. I'm very proud of myself. :D

I'm off to curl back up with my book. Have a lovely evening!!

7.26.10

2010-07-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

To me dear readers, I am so sorry for neglecting you for this long. We moved this month to a new place and I am now back up and running with internet and a comfy chair to blog from. :D

This past month has also brought about some major changes to my way of eating. I'm still getting comfortable with it and trying to figure out what is right for me. You may see some new foods around here! A lot of you that know me may know that I followed a high fruit, low fat way of eating. I loved it but my skin was breaking out for months, and I even broke down and went to the dermatologist which I hadn't been to in at least 2 years! I have never had breakouts as bad as I had this past year, even as a teenager. Something was seriously wrong...

My mom and dad sent me these two links:

http://www.acneisdead.com/acne/home-remedies/fruits-for-acne/

http://www.natural-acne-treatments.com/sugar-acne.html

These articles are really interesting. For anyone struggling with blemishes, I would recommend reading them. From there, I went to the library and checked out a book by a dermatologist who specializes in healing from the inside out. The relationship between your blood sugar, hormones, and acne is something I have not really realized until now. I also realized lack of protein could have been the problem. Like I have said before, I am new to a lot of this and still figuring out what is right for my body. Everybody is different, thats for sure! For now, I am focusing on eating much more protein, green smoothies (duh!), and less fruit. I have been sticking to apples and berries (low sugar fruits) and I really feel good. More importantly, my skin has dramatically improved since cutting out all the sugar.

I also started using a new face cream, I can't wait to review it for you guys soon. :)

Does anyone have any thoughts/input on this? I'd love to hear from you. Tell me what you know!

I now live about a ten minute from my favorite farmer's market!! What am I going to do when it ends this fall? I can't wait to pick up some zucchini this week, and make zucchini muffins I've seen around the blog world...mmmm...

I've been meaning to share this food porn with you...

Open faced sandwich, Ezekial toast with hummus, tomato, avocado, black pepper. I dream about this meal. Those tomatoes were so red and flavorful.

Not my puppy, wish it was!! This is my friend's rambunctious terrier/English Shepard mix. She's the cutest thing I ever laid eyes on!

Well, besides this cutie. My 3 yr old niece, Bella. She loves pink and purses, just like me. :)

I'll be back soon!! xoxo Kat

Farmer's market!!

2010-07-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm munching on the most delicious local blueberries. Yesterday was Thursday which means it was my farmer's market day. They had a few more options this time, even came across a couple early season tomatoes... I was ecstatic. The big cucumbers remind me of my mom in the kitchen making pickles when I was girl. Boo! I wish I had some right now. I'll be juicing these babies.

These baby cucumbers are the best! They have a mild, sweet flavor. I chomped one on the way home!

I also picked up green leaf lettuce, broccoli, and zucchini. I was talking to one of the farmers and noticed her sign said they were from Dakota, IL...which is about 20 minutes from where I grew up! What a small world! I was so excited to chat with her and a big plus was she was the only farmer I saw who's produce was certified organic.

His & Her salads. Shout out to my veggie loving husb. <3>

Also wanted to let you know this is the best chocolate that has ever been made, EVER. That is all.

Beet, cucumber, lettuce, carrots, apple, lemon, and ginger juice. On the Rocks. This was my breakfast this morning...sounds crazy but this juice kept me filled up for 4+ plus hours. In my old juicing days, I always was amazed I wouldn't get hunger pains but seriously, the juice is just so good for you, your body is so content and doesn't need anything else! Perfect meal right there!

What are your plans for this weekend? Tomorrow I'm going to a 'princess party' with my sister and 2 nieces. I hear there may be a bouncy house in the front yard. Which is where you will find ME!

Bye!! xoxo

Juicy

2010-07-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hi!! I'm so happy to be back.

Remember my little truffle nuggets?

4 ingredients! All I did was process walnuts, a spoonful of softened coconut butter, cocoa powder, and a few medjool dates. Popped them in the freezer for about 20 minutes to chill. Yum! I snacked on them all week.

I made a fresh green juice this morning - something I haven't done in a while now. I used up farmer's market lettuce, 1/2 cucumber, 4 stalks of organic celery, 1/2 apple, ginger, and lemon. I slurped every last drop.

Other fancy eats included fresh veggies with organic salsa.

Berries galore! I can't stop buying the organic berries at Costco. I think I'm becoming an organic berry snob, because they really are SO much better than conventional.

I also treated myself to burger king this week. Well, sort of. I asked in my sweetest voice if I could please order a cup of ice for my coconut water. She was ever so kind and obliged. Thank you nice burger king window gal.

I couldn't chug this bottle quick enough. I was a stinky, sweaty mess because I decided to jog over my lunch hour outside. It was just too nice to be stuck in the gym. I did about 2 1/2 miles in a half hour and spent the rest of my lunch hunting down icy cold coconut water.

Much better.

So this has nothing to do with food or health at all, well not completely true - laughing is great for your health! and you should go to your closest library and rent a couple Bob Hope films and laugh like crazy. He is the best. I probably scared a couple people when I squealed at the post office when I saw these stamps.

Just another reason I should've been born in the 40's. Bob Hope, you will always have my heart.

Scatter-brained.

2010-06-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

We've had some internet issues...ok, ok, you got it out of me. I may have forgotten to pay the bill, I swear they didn't send us one because I did not see it! (sorry, husb!) I leave you with a fudgy, chocolatey, RAW truffle. Be back soon with the recipe :)

Ps. Tasha over at Voracious Vegan is hosting a giveaway!

Goose Island Brewery

2010-06-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we got to try the Goose Island Brewery downtown! We went with some friends for their one year anniversary. Obviously, all the guys could not wait to get their hands on some great beer. I couldn't either! I hardly ever drink beer but love the taste of it. I stole about 5 sips from 5 different beers over the course of the night...my favorite was a beer our friend got for 'dessert'. It was called Bourbon County Stout . According the website it is a 'liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with thick foam the color of a bourbon barrel. The nose is an intense mix of charred oak, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer.' I tasted the chocolate more than anything else. It was delicious!

I made a protein smoothie before we left around 4 and it held me over until we finally ate around 8:30. I ordered sweet potato fries for an appetizer that came with 'curry catsup'. I love curry so I knew this ketchup would be awesome. It definitely was and we ordered extra just of the ketchup!!

For my entree I was hankering for a big salad but did not see anything on the menu that looked good. Our waitress was extremely friendly so I asked her if she could ask the chef to make me a salad with just about every vegetable they had. She was happy to oblige and brought me one of the best salads I have ever had from a restaurant. They piled high the veggies - tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes (!) , onions, leeks, fennel, avocado, and so many more that I can't even remember! Don't you love when chefs are more than happy to accommodate you?

We had to go to Costco to stock up on food this past weekend too. Love how cheap their bananas are - only a $1.32 for a big bag. I got kiwis, melon, apricots, peaches, tomatoes, and unpictured organic strawberries and raspberries. I freeze a lot of my fruit to use in smoothies. Frozen fruit makes all the difference.

I am still trying to use up all my veggies from the farmer's market! This salad I made had a gazillion pounds of lettuce underneath all those veggies! I topped it with tomatoes, cucumbers, snap peas, green onions, mustard and Annie's Italian dressing. YUM.
With a side of Ezekiel bread and Earth Balance. Haha - don't pay any attention to that piece I cut out. There was an unidentified white spot that I couldn't be sure was mold or not and instead of throwing the bread away like a normal person, I ate around it. I hate wasting food and I don't think a little mold killed anyone right? Right? :-/

Blackberries and peaches for dessert!

You may have noticed I don't talk a lot about exercising here. Well, there's a good reason for that. I don't! Haha. I go in spurts, honestly. I was a member of a gym and for awhile D and I went all the time together. I loved it - I get really into exercise when I actually do it. But somewhere along the way I stopped and you know how hard it is to get back into exercise after stopping for some time. Well I joined a gym close to my work and I'm excited to start back up again. To show I'm serious this time I taped my Elliptical workout on this cardboard so I can take it with me and it won't get all bent up. I used to do this workout before and I LOVE it. Its high intensity and it gets you sweating in no time.

Well I'm headed to a work lunch. See ya later gators!

I swam home from work today.

2010-06-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

The thunderstorms in the Chicago land area this afternoon were c.r.a.z.y. I, of course, drove home during the worse of it. The rain was coming down so hard, I couldn't see the road and the clouds were so eerie...I was expecting to see a tornado right in front of me. But I'm here! and still alive! Tornado weather scares the socks off of me.

Onto some tasty eats...

Today for breakfast I had an old time favorite...a breakfast cookie. Who wouldn't want a cookie for breakfast?? Gina from Fitnessista introduced this to me. Warning: they are addicting.
BIG news! My local farmer's market opened yesterday. I literally have been counting the days till its opening. They had around 8-10 vendors and I picked up green leaf lettuce, strawberries (they melt in your mouth), green onions, snap peas, homemade hummus and minestrone soup for D. They didn't have a huge selection but I'm thinking as the weeks go by, there will be many more veggies for sale. I will faithfully be in line every Thursday with my oneluckyduck tote bag.
Today's lunch was a huge fresh salad with broccoli, green onions, carrots, snap peas, and a splash of Annie's italian dressing.

Sweet kiwis...yes I like to eat the fur too.

My Sun Warrior came today!!! Sadly, the box got a little drenched sitting on my doorstep during the flood today.

Good stats, huh? 16g protein in one scoop. 70 calories. That's kinda insane.

I ripped the bag open as fast as I could and made an apricot, strawberry, banana smoothie. Perfect.

I'm so happy its Friday. My sister and I might get sushi tonight, depending on the weather. I'm thinking about ordering 5 servings of seaweed salad. Not weird, right? Today has turned out pretty good...because 1) my Sun Warrior came and 2) look what I found at my friend's garage sale this morning!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Tomorrow we are going out with our friends for their one year anniversary and we're going to brewery in the city. I see a delicious organic beer in my future...

Rushed.

2010-06-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate feeling rushed?

Lately these past couple of weeks I have struggled with dragging myself out of bed on time. I honestly think I am getting TOO much sleep. I feel best with 5-6 hrs of sleep but lately have been getting 7-8. I know I feel better with less because my body will naturally wake up around 5am and I'll feel awake and ready to get out of bed. But I never do! What would I possibly do at that time? Exercise at 5am? I don't think so. My husband does and I think he's awesome for it but I just can't do it...So I go back to sleep and wake up groggy at 7. But this morning I slept even later and didn't have time to make a smoothie. It throws off my whole day!

So for breakfast I had unpictured sliced kiwi and grapes.

And snacked on these organic strawberries and veggies with hummus. Aren't they pretty?

Chugged this coconut water on my lunch. LOVE this stuff.

I went to World Market and found this tea.

Yes you read that right...Chocolate Mint Truffle tea. Mmmmm....

And it was the perfect 3pm pick me up with a splash of this.

This is a very decadent creamer! Vegan and gluten free. Coconut milk is awesome.

I bought this little red cup to put loose sea salt in. I'm done with salt shakers. I'm going to start pinching my salt when I want to add it to food because I think it will add to the whole experience of preparing food. Its the little things in life that I get pretty excited for. :)

Tonight we took a bike ride to the store and D picked up salmon and rice for his dinner and I steamed him some broccoli too. I was craving something cold so I made myself a green, well not so very green, smoothie. There was quite a bit of spinach in this...I also added 1/2 banana, blueberries, and juice from a lemon. And I drank it from D's beer mug. ;)

So what is your motivation for getting up earlier? If you're an early riser what do you like to accomplish in the morning hours? I know if I get into the habit of listening to my bodies natural 'alarm clock' I will feel a lot better and of course get more stuff done.

Happy hump day! ;)

Indulgent weekend

2010-06-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

It feels good to be home. This past weekend my friend and I went to WI and stayed with our cousin. She just moved into her own place and she had a little housewarming party! We started the road trip off right with a delicious chocolate cherry bomb smoothie. There are no words to describe how good this smoothie is. Just like a chocolate covered cherry. And super healthy. My friend added her Sun Warrior vanilla protein powder to the smoothie. I just ordered my own today, I had to have it. It is by far the best tasting protein powder I have tried yet.

For the party, we made guacamole and chopped up watermelon. This melon was suburb! My mom told me the key to a good watermelon is to choose one with a bigger white spot on the bottom, this means they had time to lay on the ground and ripen more before being picked. I think she's right!

I made a quinoa salad too. This had chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, raw corn (obsessed!) , jalapeno, and fresh herbs. I dressed it with lime juice. Oh, and that's red quinoa. It tastes the same to me as regular...but it's prettier!
So this post is fittingly titled 'Indulgent Weekend' because my cousin decided to make Oreo bon bons! They called my name every minute of everyday I was there! Basically its a creamy Oreo mixture you roll into balls, then dip in melted white chocolate. I indulged once...or twice. You just need that sometimes. :) I'm glad I'm 2 hours away from them right now tho! Haha.

Tonight for dinner I kept it simple. I steamed brussel sprouts, asparagus, and mushrooms and added lentils and my balsamic maple sauce. Simple and delicious.
Frozen grapes for dessert. In a plastic cup...I keep it classy.
I leave you with a couple pictures from the weekend...this is my Aunt's dog, Jericho. He's precious.
And look at these darlings! They have 13 baby bunnies in their backyard! I refrained from sneaking one in my purse. Yes, that would be the newest trend I'm wearing on my wrist! I love them, ok! What can I say. Anyone wanna trade with me?

Don't ask, just eat.

2010-06-10T15:34:00.001-07:00

Hello friends. :) Weekend is almost here. Wooohoo!

So I have been dying to try a vegan restaurant in the city, Chicago Diner. On yelp, our most trusted source for dining reviews, it boasts 4 stars out of 5..and that's with over 500 reviews! People rave about this place, meat eaters included. I took my hubby there last Saturday with high hopes. He was nervous as to what he would get and what exactly would be the special ingredients to imitate his 'meat' dish. I told him, don't ask, just eat. Hm. Easier said than done.

We started off with their sweet potato fries which were heavenly and perfect and also their nachos. The picture of those is strangely missing from my camera so no photo but basically it was a big plate of nacho chips with beans, fried seitan, vegan cheese, guacamole, and salsa. I was a big fan of those! You honestly could not tell the difference.
For my lunch I ordered the 'rabbit food' salad which was a huge portion of spiralized beet and carrots, broccoli, tomatoes and other veggies. I got the ginger dressing on the side and this salad was so fresh and packed with veggies! It was fun to eat too. Those spiralized veggies were like 12 inches long, lol.
Now you're probably wondering what my husband, D, ordered. I would rather not go there. :) I didn't take a picture but basically he asked the waitress (who was extremely sweet and a great waitress) what he should order and she recommended the BBQ sandwich with mac n cheese. It was your typical BBQ on a hoagie bun with peppers and onions smothered in BBQ sauce. Fried seitan was the 'BBQ'. I could tell immediately by the look on his face that he could not stomach it. Some people just aren't cut out for that type of thing, my hubs included. At first, I was a little upset I admit. But then I felt stupid. Stupid for being that wife who tries to shove vegan food down her husband's throat! I do not want to be that person. I love my manly, steak & ribs eating husband and will gladly make it for him! He did like the mac n cheese tho! And the beer! So D went and got a Caribou coffee while I savored every sip of this vegan chocolate peanut butter shake for dessert. There really are no words to describe this shake, so smooth and creamy. Better than any shake I've ever had from ANY place ever. Period.

It was so rich and decadent and I couldn't bear to waste a single drop of this. I finished the whole thing and was in a food coma until I went to bed that night! I definitely indulged that day but it was worth it. I can't wait to go back to Chicago Diner and try their other dishes. But maybe I will go with my veggie friend, Andrea, instead. :) If any of my local friends reading this want to go (you know who you are!) I'll be happy to take you!!

We went to a cookout and my good friend Kate went out of her way to provide me vegan options! How sweet. She had a huge fruit salad prepared.
Grilled vegetables and delicious chickpea salad. She got this chickpea dish pre-made from Costco. It was so good, I went back for 3rds!
Some other random eats included organic oranges and bananas.
Banana with organic jam and cinnamon.
I have something very exciting for you all!! I don't create a lot of in depth raw dishes because 1) they take a lot of prep time and 2) I hardly ever have the ingredients on hand. But I was feeling bored one day and wanted to make the corn tortilla chips from Raw Food Real World. All I did was take fresh raw corn, some flax meal, lime juice, and these seasonings and threw them in a food processor.
It became a nice thick, creamy consistency. I then spread it onto wax paper in my dehydrator and left them in there to get crispy for about 5-6 hours.
These turned out wonderful! They got very crispy and the seasonings reminded me of savory Mexican food. Sorry, no photo of the finished product. Are you catching on I scarf down my food too fast before I can get the camera out?!

My obsessive snack as of lately, tart red grapes. Have you ever tried freezing your grapes? Try it! Frozen grapes make the best refreshing snack.
And carrot/orange juice from Jamba Juice. I'm impressed this chain will make you fresh juice. I think its great and hope other smoothie places will catch on! I'll take this any day over a $4 latte.
Well I have a lot of packing to do...my friend and I are off for a weekend in Oshkosh, WI to visit family. I can't wait! Hope you have a great weekend!

Oats & Corn (not mixed together)

2010-06-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hi! How's your week been? Mine's been pretty good, the week has flown by! I'm about ready for another weekend. Our holiday weekend was spent just the way I like it, lots of food (and food network!), family and friends - my adorable 5 yr old niece, Audrey, had a dance recital. You can meet my beautiful little friend here: Two Veggie Babies . Oh, so where was I. Ah yes, our weekend. Well that was basically it! Lots of sleeping in and yummy fresh food. And gossip girl marathons. We had great weather too. And my family loved my kale salad! Yayyy.

Some random eats in the past week or so...

Asian stir fry (pre-washed mix from Trader Joe's). I threw in kale...Yes I know, I could be the next Top Chef.
Baked sweet potato with Annie's organic ketchup and mustard.
I bought some gluten free oats at Whole Foods and have rekindled my love for anything oats. I was craving a bar/cookie so threw a few things together and hoped it would turn out.

In the dry mix went oats, pumpkin seeds, flax, chia, raisins, unsweetened coconut, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then added almond milk and one egg. (I'm thinking it would work fine without the egg next time). Oh and a little maple syrup to sweeten it up a bit.
In the pan ready to go. Baked at 400 for 30 minutes.
They came out very chewy and moist. At first bite, I didn't love them, but they grew on me and of course I always MEAN to share...but these were addicting. With a smear of almond butter and jam on top!
After eating a few too many treats over the holiday weekend, I've decided this week I'm going to stick to a pretty strict fruit/veggie cleanse. Basically the only things I want in my body are fresh fruits and vegetables. So yesterday I did great, it doesn't hurt keeping a constant supply of ripe watermelon in the house! Today (day 2) I stuck to berries and melon during the day, which was glorious, but as the day went on I couldn't help but start dreaming of dinner creations, none of which included fruit. I used my imagination.
Mmmmm.....raw corn. Sweet and crunchy.Before all chopped up.And.....of course I completely blanked and forgot to take a picture of the finished product. I'm sorry!! Oh, and if you're wondering, I didn't eat all 5 ears of corn. Maybe one and a half. :) I threw all the stuff together in a huge bowl, sprinkle of salt and pepper, and this:

Trader Joe's Aioli Garlic Mustard sauce.
This.is.amazing. I literally want to dip/pour/marinade/splash/inhale it on everything.

Then...I opened this bag to give a helping to my hubs and after grabbing one to taste, I quickly grabbed about 20 more. So much for my cleanse! haha. Tomorrow is another day!

I'm off to tend to the never ending laundry pile. Have a great week!

Easy peasy smoothie

2010-05-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

How are ya? Hope you're all enjoying your weekend. Its about 90 degrees today and we just got done walking around an art festival downtown. It was fun soaking up the sun. We did not buy anything but saw quite a few really cool pieces. We saw a huge painted picture of the front of an old car. We both wanted it so bad, alas, it was $6,800. Eeek. :-/

So I wanted to show you how I make my green smoothies. Not at all hard and when you practice making them, they should only take 10-15 minutes. I like to make enough to fill my blender to the top.

So I like to start out with a juicy fruit for the base, usually pineapple or orange. Sometimes I use 1 fruit in the smoothie, sometimes I throw in 3 or 4 different ones. This time I used orange on the bottom, about 5 strawberries and half a banana.

To get things moving, put in about a cup of water or milk. I use almond milk.

Blend that well. Next I throw in a variety of other ingredients like flax, chia seeds, protein powder (I use Nutiva hemp protein), almonds or walnuts, nut butter and the list goes on. I put about a tablespoon of each in. These extra ingredients really go far in keeping you filled up for the morning or afternoon.

Finally, the spinach! I cram as many greens as I can into my blender..anywhere from 2-8 cups. Start out with 2 or 4 and as your taste buds adjust, feel free to add much more! You can use whatever greens you have on hand. Spinach does not have a strong taste whereas kale or dark leafy greens may be bitter. I try to rotate my greens to get the maximum nutrients. If you don't care for the green taste, add more banana. Its a fail safe way to really mask any green flavor.

I also add a ton of ice because I love my smoothies very cold. Let me know how you like yours! Experiment with different fruit combinations. Frozen fruit also works great.

Greens are nutritional powerhouses. We all should be consuming as many greens as we can. One major perk I noticed after increasing my greens is that my cravings went away. I used to be a slave to my cravings when I started trying to eat more healthy. Pizza, chinese food, chocolate...just to name a few! I can honestly say I very rarely 'crave' a certain food and feel like I need to have it. Sure, something may look really good but I don't crave it. We crave certain foods because our bodies are crying out for nutrients. Why do you crave pasta and bread? Your body wants carbs. Good carbs. Think fruit! Once you give your body what it really wants, natural, fresh foods loaded with nutrients and minerals, you are finally supplying your body with what it needs. And cravings will diminish.

Check out this link for more info:

http://www.cookingnook.com/health-benefits-of-spinach.html

Some of my other eats have included nanner with almond butter and some organic berry jam my lovely mom brought from Door County. One of my favorite foods when I was younger was a peanut butter and jelly. This combination always reminds me of it! Its pretty much my favorite snack!

Beautiful blackberries.

Some not so ripe watermelon but I still ate my weight in it.

On Friday my hubby and I went to Whole Foods for a couple things and of course I had to check out their amazing salad bar. They had out their famous kale salad which never seems to be their when I go. I admit, I have always been scared of kale. People seem to love it but I've been avoiding trying it. I jumped at the chance to try WF's version. I wasn't too hungry so I bought my little $.96 portion and scarfed it down. Ok, IN LOVE with KALE! Their version was simply evoo, lemon juice, kalamata olives, tomatoes, salt and pepper. I bought some organic kale and went straight home to recreate it. I am happy to say I loved my version just as much!

For those not familiar with raw kale, like I was, the trick is to massage it with olive oil for a couple minutes. I actually had a lot of fun with this massaging part. Haha.

I've seen this stuff around the blog world and decided to try it. Its vegan cheese, soy free, and only 90 calories in a 1/4 cup. It's pretty good and a nice addition to my otherwise raw salads. It strangely tastes a lot like regular cheese. How DO they do that? My digestion system thanks me for giving up real cheese... I don't see myself buying this all the time but I like trying things at least once.

So, go make yourself a kale salad and have fun massaging! :) Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy your day off Monday!

Good Eats

2010-05-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! Hope you're week is off to a good start. Its been 90 degrees here in Chicago, and this kind of heat makes me want to do absolutely nothing. Like....grocery shopping. My fridge was bare on Friday, and we were going to visit my parents for the weekend so I didn't bother to restock! My mom is so sweet. She makes sure she has plenty of produce for me when I stay and frozen bananas for green smoothies. She jumped on the GS wagon! Yay! I'm so proud of her. She's made a lot of health changes this past year and looks better than ever.

Back home, I finally dragged myself out of the air conditioning to Trader Joe's. Well, actually going there anytime for me is like a mini vacation so I can't really complain.

Kombucha! Go buy this now. They started carrying them at my local store, Jewel. I'm addicted. It's like pop to me.

Found this little treasure at Whole Foods. I'm not a huge fan of protein/meal replacement bars but I've been wanting to try this for awhile.

Ingredients:

Dates, hemp protein, organic sprouted whole flax seeds, almond butter, agave nectar, almonds, coconut, cocoa powder, sesame seeds, raisins, organic sprouted mung beans, organic wheat grass, natural chocolate flavor, lemon juice, organic dulse.

Tonight for dinner I really wanted to create something spectacular. I was think quinoa, stir fried veggies, and legumes with a homemade asian dressing. I had high expectations but when I came home all I really wanted was just something fresh and easy. So I created a salad big enough for 4 but ate the whole thing myself. I threw in the mix a romaine head, tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, strawberries, pumpkin seeds, and hummus with honey dijon dressing.

Tonight I had a couple friends over for the Biggest Loser finale! Yay for Michael winning!! I made 'Chewy Chocolate Freezer Fudge' taken from Sarma's Raw Food Real World. Very few ingredients and took only 5 minutes to make. The girls said it was so creamy and couldn't believe there was no dairy in it.

We also snacked on delicious cherries!

And Mary's crack. You can never go wrong with these.

Goodnight!

Raw goodies and SHRED!

2010-05-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! Hope you're as excited as I am for the weekend to finally be here.

So yesterday I had to attend an all day regional work meeting. It was nice to get out of the office for a day and see old friends. I wasn't too sure what kind of food choices they would have tho. So I chugged a green smoothie before I left the house at 9:30. I knew it would keep me filled up for a few hours. I purposely switched to one of my huge purses for the day so I could stuff it with snacks. What, I'm the only who does this? I packed bananas, almonds + raisins + pumpkin seeds, and some raw crackers. (more on that in a bit) Mid way through the meeting some nice ladies put out a fruit bowl and I grabbed a juicy, green apple. Why are some apples so crunchy this time of year and others are mush inside?? This one was perfect.

I came home from the meeting and found this on my doorstep!

I placed an order through Amazon the other day because I had my eye on a couple raw goodies! I've been wanting to try Lydia's Organic Crackers and Righteously Raw chocolate. I was so excited to get this package!!

I wish I still had some of this chocolate left. Sadly, I do not. I can't wait to try the other flavors. The crackers are different...not bad different, just....different. I think the taste/texture will grow on me. They are very light and airy and of course even better with almond butter smeared on them.

Tonight we grabbed some dinner with our good friend, Kate.

My hubby's been hooked on Thai food lately so we found a new spot to try out..I've heard how good green papaya salad is so I knew I wanted to order it. The menu said this dish was simply shredded green papaya, carrots, chili, lime juice, tomatoes, and peanuts.

I ordered it with every intention of sharing it with the table...but I sorta hogged it all. :) Seriously, it was so delicious, I could eat it all day. It was sweet and spicy, and super refreshing. I'm so happy I ordered it and want to try to recreate it soon. I also ordered their vegetarian dish of just assorted stir fried veggies, no tofu, with a side of their special peanut sauce. These veggies were still slightly crunchy and very fresh.

And finally............I decided I wanted to try a home workout DVD. This one came highly recommended by a friend so I went right out and picked it up.

She kicked my butt this morning. In only 20 minutes. And the entire time, in my pain and exhaustion, I was keeping myself motivated singing "What have you done today...to make you feel proud?"

Biggest Loser finale this Tuesday!!!

Do you order from Amazon? I love it and find new things all the time I want. Especially books!

Got protein?

2010-05-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

This morning I made another delicious green smoothie for breakfast. Same one as yesterday. Some people might look at the greenish swamp color and think "hmm, that looks pretty disgusting, must taste pretty bad too!" Not so my friend! Come over sometime, and I'll whip you up one. The fruit overpowers any veggie taste completely. Over time, tho, you might find your taste buds changing. You begin to enjoy, ok maybe not enjoy, not mind the veggie taste and find yourself using less and less fruit. Green smoothies are popping up everywhere! I have even seen them mentioned on the news. They're the best way to start incorporating more raw foods in your life. Oh, and sometime soon I'll do a post on the amazing health benefits of spinach. I know, I know, you can hardly wait, but you'll have to patient! haha.

Moving on...

A few random eats today included ripe melon.

Bananer with almond butter.

For dinner I made a giant salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, artichokes, pumpkin seeds. And radishes, oh my goodness I finally got my radish fix, haha! I made a honey mustard vinaigrette that consisted of just olive oil, mustard, honey and a little agave I think. I can't remember the exact recipe but it tasted almost exactly like a regular honey mustard dressing you'd buy in the store! It was so easy so if you want the recipe, let me know.

I also made a side of quinoa and mung beans. That's right, mung beans. Not a very attractive name but they are delicious. The nutritional stats is what sold me. A 1/4 cup has TEN grams of protein. Quinoa is also a great source of protein. Pronounced keen-wa, its actually a seed, not a grain. A 1/4 cup has five grams. Its good to know there are some great protein sources out there other than meat and cheese. I found these items at Whole Foods.

Well, I'm off to discuss LOST with the hubs. He missed it last night and just watched it now. CRAZY stuff!!!

Chick chick.

2010-05-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

Today I made it a double green smoothie day. One for breakfast, one for dinner. What a great way to get your greens! In both of them I used papaya, pineapple, strawberries, and a banana. The one I made this morning also had added to the mix flax seeds, chia seeds, and hemp protein powder.

I gave half to my hubby. He loves my smoothies minus the ridiculous amount of spinach I then add to my half.

But Tiger sure does enjoy them.

This evening I dropped dinner off at my friend's house because she wasn't feeling the greatest. She requested cream of potato soup so I made her a very unhealthy yet tasty crockpot dish. Her and her husband moved from their town home out to the country and decided they wanted to raise a few roosters and hens for fresh eggs and to have as pets. They have about 8, in a large box in their kitchen complete with a comfortable bed of hay and lots of food! They are amazing little creatures. They decided to name every one of them after their friends. I give you this little beauty, yours truly, Kat.

Notice their little feet full of feathers? I can't remember the name of the breed but they have 3 of these that their feathers grow out from their feet. Their so beautiful! I wish I had gotten a picture of all them. This little one went to sleep in my friend's hand. She was so calm and sweet. I only spent about 15 minutes with them but in that short amount of time, their individual personalities were so plainly shown! Their frequent chirping was almost soothing after being with them. It left me sad, however, to think of the not so fortunate ones on factory farms. Did you know they love to be petted and will actually lay in your lap and fall asleep?

Feeling a little saucy

2010-05-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

So sorry I have been away. I started this blog with every intention of posting often and with it being so new, well I think I'm still getting the hang of it all and getting used to posting regularly. All week though I have been eating this new sauce I made at dinner and I simply couldn't WAIT to tell you about it. Make this immediately, and I guarantee you will put it in your most often used recipes. I definitely did.

Balsamic Maple sauce (adapted from Dreena Burton's Eat, Drink, Be Vegan)

1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c maple syrup
2 t earth balance
3 T tamari
1 t cornstarch
pinch of salt

Heat over medium heat the balsamic, maple syrup, salt and earth balance for a few minutes. In the meantime, in a separate bowl, whisk together the tamari and cornstarch. Mix into the bowl on the stove and let it come to a soft boil for about a minute. Remove from the heat and let it sit - it will thicken.

I have literally licked the spoon when I make this. My husband said it reminds him of teriyaki. The flavor is so rich and dimensional. I have used it this week over roasted vegetables (brussel sprouts! yum!), quinoa, and sweet potatoes. I would also use it as a marinade or sauce for my hubby's grilled chicken or salmon. It really goes with everything. :) Enjoy!

Today I picked up a book at the library that's so far been pretty interesting. I would recommend reading it, and will be bringing it to my parent's house this weekend for them to look at! Side note : my dad has fresh radishes ready from his garden and I am pretty much salivating thinking about them. Odd, no? Does anyone else share my love for radishes??

150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden

I'm happy that my beloved brussel sprouts made the list :D

The Healthy Living Summit this year is in Chicago Aug 13-15. Tickets go on sale this Wednesday at 9pm Eastern time. There are only 200 available and last year they sold out in the first 20 minutes! I'm going to need one of those tickets. I need to figure out a way to be one of those 200! I'm going to try my best. Will keep you posted. :)

xoxo Kat

I swoon for macaroons

2010-05-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a little snapshot I took today of my counter. Its usually much fuller than this, and my hubby likes to comment how he feels we live at Jewel. Haha. But can it get any better than watermelon season??! This is the second watermelon I've eaten this week, and I could've eaten double that amount. Its been sad trying to choose between watermelons and mangoes this week. Also in my refrigerator you will find 5 pints of gigantic, red strawberries, and 2 cantaloupes I can't wait to dig into it. I find myself drawn to very ripe fruit. I think most average people would like to eat their bananas this way in the picture? I will start to eat them when their brown and spotty. This really shows me how much my taste buds have changed, because a couple years back I remember despising over ripe fruit! The limes there are going to be used in a big batch of guacamole I'm making for a party tomorrow along with the bag of Guiltless Gourmet chips to go along with it. I'm also bringing a tray of veggies. I wanted to make a raw dessert to bring to the party to show off just how amazing raw desserts truly are! I couldn't decide between making a cheesecake or....................

Raw macaroons!!! I couldn't pass up Sarma's beautiful illustrations in this incredible book. Her picture of macaroons make my mouth water. I've tasted them straight from One Lucky Duck and let me assure you, there is no more perfect dessert. I got my trusty 1920's dehydrator down from our shelf and dusted it off and plugged that baby in. OK, I'm sorry Mom, thank you for this machine, it works wonderfully!!

I headed straight to our local Dominick's for some Unsweetened shredded coconut. Well, of course theirs was sweetened. This sort of stuff is really irritating! Why do they assume people want their coconut sweetened?? Anyways, it was OK. I calmly kept my composure even after asking the service manager if they carried it anywhere else in the store. Of course not. Not to fret...my sister (http://twoveggiebabies.blogspot.com/) was on her way to my house to pick me up for a trip to Whole Foods!! Yay! These trips make my month. Seriously. I never want to leave a WF once I go in. Why can't I please just curl up next to their salad bar and take a nap? Everyone that works there is so nice..they actually probably wouldn't mind. So back to the trip...I picked up 2 bags of coconut, some mung beans (anyone try these before? If you have, please share your thoughts!) and brown rice veggie sushi. I did not successfully get my 3 yr old niece Bella to try my sushi, but she did SAY 'sushi' which was quite cute.

So this batch of macaroons was.....OK. It was my first time making them so I know what to do next time to make them even better. I made the rounds smaller than I should have, and I also think I didn't add all the oil it called for in the recipe. Sarma says to dehydrate them for 12-24 hrs, or until crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Well, I put these in around 6:30, went to dinner with my hubby, came home and they were definitely crispy by 11. But that's ok! I took them out, of course tasted one or two and decided they were done. If they were bigger, I could see them taking longer but this batch was still delicious and I'm sure they will be a big hit at the party. I live for anything dark chocolate but actually I prefer the blonde! So does my hubby. He helped me taste test. :)

Tomorrow I am going to try to wake up around 7 and go for a jog. I seriously need to get my butt outdoors and moving. I feel so lazy if I let a week go by without running. I remember once reading a quote (possible from Dr Doug Graham himself? I can't remember, please forgive me!) that said "earn your fruit". That sticks with me. Makes me feel like I need to work for all that beautiful juicy fruit.

Goodnight!

xo Kat

Green goodness

2010-05-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

Good morning! I started this AM off with a gorgeous green smoothie. I have been trying to up my intake of greens. I notice a huge difference in my skin and energy levels. They keep me satisfied for hours! This one had pineapple, mango, frozen banana, coconut water, and a ton of spinach. If you haven't noticed, I have a pretty average blender. An Oster I think, from Costco. Its not a Vitamix, but it works really well! This was about 32 oz and I also filled another 16 oz in another bottle. I drank the 32 oz for lunch around 2 pm and it kept me satisfied until 5pm and when I got home I drank the rest that I had left in the fridge.

For dinner I was craving something savory and warm. I decided to go very LOW raw...and picked up this Thai Jasmine rice from Trader Joes. Frozen of course, because thats how I roll. I loved this rice. So did my hubby!

I sauteed some brussel sprouts, green beans, and mushrooms in a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and Italian seasonings. Sometimes I hate brussel sprouts, other times I find myself craving them! I loved how GREEN this was! I love eating BRIGHT meals! These veggies turned out to be great. Oops! I almost forgot, I added lentils too.

And, finally, dessert. This is Endangered Species 75% dark chocolate with cocoa nibs. I think this is my favorite dark chocolate I have found so far!

Lately I have been experimenting going to bed later, about 12:30, and getting about 6 hours of sleep. I think my body is doing better this way and this may be what feels natural now after being high raw for quite some time. I can easily go to sleep at 9pm and sleep until 7am the next morning but I always wake up groggy and extra tired. SO, so far, I think this may be the answer to waking up feeling refreshed!

Goodnight!

Before & After

2010-05-05T20:21:00.001-07:00

I am just going to jump right into this. I've been avoiding it. But it needs to be done. I was not happy with the way I looked as a teenager. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and had not a clue how my health was affecting me inside and out. My skin was horrible. And I definitely had a few extra pounds. In my parents defense, we DID always have healthy food in the house. No sugary cereals were ever purchased, no little debbie snacks. Lots of vegetables and fresh greens and tomatoes from the garden. Occasionally we had ice cream, but my dad limited it to 1-2 VERY small scoops. Maybe thats why I went crazy everywhere else I went?? My friend still doesn't let me live down all the Schwan's 'mississippi mud bars' I scarfed down one night at her house. Only about 5 or 6 I think. Yikes. I know. No good. So here I was:

Here I am with my hubby, Duane. This was my first picture taken after going Raw for about one month. I love this picture so much. Compared to all my previous pictures my face is SO much slimmer and defined. My eyes are glowing and blue-r. (not sure how to spell that, lol) What a difference! I remember looking at this picture after taking it, and hardly recognizing myself. Raw can make some amazing transformations!

I heart Fruit

2010-05-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

My first post! Wow, I adore blogs. I just love them. I have been reading blogs since July 2009. I was immediately hooked and instantly wanted one of my very own. I hope you enjoy it!