Still on it.....

Hello Again -

I've been excited to use my new dehydrator I just haven't had the time to go shopping for all the yummy ingredients to make breads, crackers, wraps, dried fruit treats and much, much more. A dehydrator gives a raw foodie so much more versatility in their "cooking" repertoire. A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to go to The Bliss Cafe on Greenville and had an awesome dish of kale enchiladas. I was so impressed with the wrap and sauce used I really want to play around and create some of my own fabulous dishes. I hope to this weekend. I have guests coming over so I'm going to try out some new dishes on them. I will let you know how it turns out. 'Til then eating raw for health.... Mary

Update - Mary

Hi All -

Sorry for the delay in posts. I have been acclimating myself to this lifestyle change. It really is a lifestyle change for me. I haven't eaten meat,dairy,noodles,rice or unsprouted bread since the first of March. That is not to say I haven't had fish. I have almost made salad sushi a daily staple. It provides the density I am feeling the need for of late. I also have cooked some of my vegetables to create soups. I have a fruit smoothie or green juice once or twice a day. I am really focusing on making sure I am getting the nutrients but satisfying my taste buds at the same time. Overall I feel much better than I did before I started and I am consistently losing weight. Not the major concern of mine right now - my health has been my driving force behind this. I am looking forward to getting my dehydrator on Tuesday. I can't wait to try some of those wonderful recipes on rawmazing.com. I will try to be more faithful on the postings - talk to you soon. Mary P.S. Thanks for the support Sandra. :)

Mary is doing awesome!

I know Mary hasn't mentioned anything about her latest progress, but I gotta tell you... she's lost 10lbs! yeah, you heard that right... 10lbs in less than 2 weeks!! She's been doing incredible and she's been doing a lot of raw food eating, experiencing with different recipes. She bought raw bread at Whole Foods and has been making avocado sandwiches. Way to go Mary, keep going!

Signs of Spring

I'm so glad the weather is getting nicer, I love opening the back door and feeling the nice spring breeze.

I love eating fruit and I can live on it all the time, papaya is one of my favorites! So I'm happy to be making this juice again:

1 grapefruit
2 oranges
1 lemon
1 small piece of ginger

I usually don't take the skin off the lemon but for this juice I do. You can use a knife and it's a lot faster, you cut the ends off first then you turn the lemon straight up and take off the sides, you can do this for all of the fruits. It's really easy. This juice is wonderful to dissolve cellulite and to move candida and it tastes quite good.

Checking in

I actually juiced until Friday and the last two were the easiest! I drank water and juice that entire Saturday until I finally hady first meal that night ...it was so good. I love food. I have to say that my goal for this juice was solely to lose weight and I lost 5 lbs in that one week. I felt fabulous! Even with my pizza slip... It was a good week. I think I'll stick to juicing during the day and then having a healthy meal for dinner. This works best fore so I can keep my taste buds happy and not have some kind of a binge breakdown :~) I will probably try the all juice with a little raw in a few weeks and see if I can make it for the 5 days again!! Hoping to lose these last 9 prego lbs

Where has Sandra been

Well... My husband and I juiced until Friday and didn't eat so well over the weekend. Total weight I lost 4 lbs. and he lost 8 lbs. We decided to revise our diet, trust me I think the benefits of juicing are completely AMAZING!! I had great sleep last week and it was wonderful for my skin, but I honestly can't imagined juicing for 92 days. Now, I'm a great believer of a raw food diet. So this is what I'm thinking. Green juice for breakfast, raw food lunch and a green juice or fruit juice for dinner. Then juicing maybe 2-5 days at a time.

For breakfast I made my signature green juice, but instead of Kale I used the most fabulous spinach that I got from the local Farmers Market (a HUGE bag for $2.00!!) and used to gayla apples and one lemon... Delicious!!!

Here's a recipe that I've made before and it's so easy! Mark loves making these and he gets pretty creative with his mixes.

Ginger Almond Nori Rolls
Ingredients:
1 tblsp ginger
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
1 cup almonds dry
1 lemon's juice
1/4 cup filtered water
2 sheets of Raw Nori Sheets
2 cups of spinach
1/2 carrot, cut lengthwise
1 cup of mung bean sprouts

Ginger Almond Pate:
1 tblsp ginger
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
1 cup almonds dry
1 lemon's juice
1/4 cup filtered water

How to make the Nori Rolls:
1. bed of spinach
2. ginger almond pate
3. carrot
4. sprouts
5. roll

Use a food processor for this recipe, it takes absolutely no time at all! Blend the ginger and the garlic first, blend then add the salt. Follow up with the almonds (make sure these have been soaked - usually 30 mins to an hour. Drain then dry) Blend all of that together then add the lemon juice, blend again and finally add the water. Also, when cutting the rolls use a bread knife the ridges will not tear the Nori sheets and you're ready to eat! I like to use raw soy sauce. Enjoy!

Sandra's Day 4

Wow! Yesterday morning was really, really hard. I woke up STARVING! and craving a Subway. I know it's because I didn't drink enough juice the day before, but like I said I really needed to get a break. I do love the way I'm sleeping - so deeply and peacefully and I really don't have any cravings for any sweets. I feel like I'm in a bit of a "zen" state and I really can't get over on how soft my skin has become and my husband's! I also like the "light" feeling I feel, so far I've lost 3 pounds. I do however; think I'm going to revised my plan. I'm aiming for 2 green juices a day and a raw meal.

Here's a recipe for Kale Chips - I made it before and it was delicious!!

Kale Chips
Inspired by a dish from Blue Hill New York

If you cannot find Tuscan kale (aka dinosaur or dino kale) at your grocer, it's OK to substitute the recipe with another type of kale. Just make sure you remove the leaves from the tough parts of the kale. Don't discard the stem and ribs though — use them to make a veggie broth!

Ingredients

1 large bunch Tuscan kale (10 to 12 leaves)
1 tablespoon oilve oil
Sea salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275°F.
2. Remove stalks and ribs from kale. Rinse and dry leaves.
3. Toss leaves in a large bowl with olive oil. Sprinkle leaves with sea salt and ground pepper.
4. Arrange leaves in a single layer onto a baking sheet.
5. Back for approximately 30 minutes or until crisp.
6. Transfer and let cool onto a wire rack or paper towels.