Monday, February 28th, 2011

Food Journal

Thursday – All Raw

Protein shake (2 scoops Sun Warrior chocolate protein powder, 1/2 t cinnamon, pinch nutmeg, 2 cups filtered water)

2 small locally grown apples

1 grapefruit (from my mom-in-law’s yard)

Kale chips while breastfeeding. This was not an easy task. In bed nursing Kamea and trying to quietly eat crunchy kale chips. It worked though. She didn’t wake up, although I did get kale chip crumbs on her head.

Granola, raw almond milk, and brownie - So, I was really hungry and went for a bowl of GoRaw’s granola and my homemade raw almond milk. As I was leaving the kitchen, I decided I wanted something else in it. So, I grabbed one of Blue Mountain Organic’s chocolate brownies and added it to the bowl. Yum! Their brownies are very dense and rich, and a little dry sometimes, so by adding it to the bowl with the milk. Yum! Perfecto!

Salad - romaine, red bell pepper, blueberries and avocado dressing

Kelp noodles with veggies and cream sauce (new recipe I’m working on for my next book)

2 cups Vanilla Blackberry Frosty

Small bowl granola with almond milk

Friday – All Raw

Organic Coconut water (available in the bottle, raw and organic, in freezer section of Whole Foods)

Blueberries

Pure bar

Salad with carrot avocado lemon salt and pepper

Brownie with almond milk (I used my idea from yesterday, only this time I left the granola out. Instead I just crumbled up the Blue Mountain Organic brownie in a bowl and drenched it with raw almond milk – good!)

4 prunes

1 Apple

2 kiwi

Kelp noodles with cream n veggies

Vanilla Blackberry Frosty

Chocolate protein shake with 2 scoops Sun Warrior protein

Saturday – Mostly Raw

Vegan French Toast and Sweet Potato Hash and decaf coffee - I was stoked to find a restaurant, Scramble, serving some vegan options including vegan french toast and vegan scrambles (organic tofu) using mostly locally sourced fresh ingredients. (I found it using my iPhone app VegOut, powered by Happy Cow.) I had to try! It’s been YEARS since I had french toast. It did not disappoint. It was delicious – everything. But, I admit, on the drive home I lapsed into a food hangover – lol. Whew! Cooked food like that can take its toll on me. Next time I’ll get a healthier option, like a tofu and veggie scramble. But, this time, I had to have the french toast. At least once, right?! Drenched in maple syrup! Om nom nom.

The rest of the day I’m EAGER to run back to raw though. That’s how it happens for me. I indulge a little, have a treat, and my body says, “OK, get back to raw girl!”

So, the plan for the rest of Saturday is:

Giant Salad topped with avocado, lime juice, Himalayan crystal salt, and fresh ground black pepper

Granola with raw almond milk

Apple Pear Sauce

Broccoli Cauliflower Dish (new recipe I’m working on for my next book)

Protein Shake

And, a trip to the gym!

Oh, and Kamea is 8 months now. So exciting. Her first tooth is coming, too. :) I think we’ll start solids very soon.

Food Journal and Vitamin D Test Results

by Kristen in food journal, vitamin d2

Today, I learned that my vitamin D levels went up! Yay! I had my blood tested back in July and the result was 41. I increased my vitamin D2 supplement intake so that not only would that number go up for my body and health, but also so I would have plenty in my breastmilk. This week my number was 80.8. Excellent – and especially happy to report that this was done using vitamin D2 (vegan), which is just as effective (clearly) as D3.

Here is today’s food journal – Mostly Raw…
6 oz blueberries
1 kiwi

GoRaw Apple Granola with raw almond milk
Cheezy Kale chips

Veg burrito (flour tortilla, black beans, tomato salsa, guacamole, romaine lettuce – this meal was part cooked, part raw)

Strawberry Vanilla Milkshake (I blended 2 cups frozen strawberries with 2 cups raw almond milk, plus a squeeze of fresh lime juice and some vanilla extract – Greg and I split it)

Salad with green leaf lettuce, blueberries, carrots, and 4-Ingredient Magic Dressing (that recipe will be posted on the 20th so be sure to check back!)

Protein shake (2 scoops Sun Warrior Chocolate)

Food Journal – All Raw Vegan Organic

by Kristen in food journal

Wednesday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Nutritious – All Delicious

3 cups Lemon Lime Broccoli Juice – 2 lemons, 2 limes, 1 cucumber, celery, 2 heads broccoli florets

Sun Warrior Protein shake (2 scoops)

2 cups Vitamin C Green Smoothie – 1 mango, 2c Brazil nut milk, 2 kiwi, 2 handfuls spinach, 1 cup frozen raspberries, dash stevia (yield = 1 quart that I split with Greg)

Granola with raw Brazil nut milk

Cole slaw
Cheezy kale chips

Collard Green Wrap
Garlic Cauliflower Soup

2 chocolate nut butter balls

Food Journal

by Kristen in calistro bistro, food journal

Here are my eats on Valentine’s Day… a day of mostly raw food, all vegan, all organic.

3 cups Green Juice: 1 cucumber, 1/2 bunch dandelion leaves, 1 bunch bok choy, 1/3 bunch celery, lime

1 quart Smooth Green Smoothie: 1 1/2 cups raw almond milk, 1 cup ice, 1 spoonful Rawtella, 1 handful spinach, 1 1/2 bananas (smooth and creamy!)

2 bowls raw vegan cole slaw
1/2 Kevita

Then, I saved my appetite for dinner, a vegan organic cooked dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants, Calistro Bistro. I had a plate of roasted veggies for an appetizer and then had their vegan loaf (served with two sauces and more roasted veggies). Dessert was vegan coconut rice pudding.

We had dinner early, so I was hungry later on. I ended up having some more Rawtella, home made kale chips, and munched on some veggies.

I bought Greg an organic long sleeve black t-shirt for Valentine’s Day. :) Speaking of eco-fashion, did you see my latest Green Mommy Blog post?

Tuesday’s food was all raw, all vegan, all organic….
2 bananas
1 bowl granola with raw homemade Brazil Nut Milk

1 apple with raw almond butter

1 large bowl of cole slaw with raw crackers

Collard green wraps stuffed with cashew miso spread, sprouts, lettuce, veggies, and seasoning
2 kiwi

Raw soft serve ice cream

Thursday’s Food Journal – Lunch With Rock Star Karen Knowler!

by Kristen in food journal, karen knowler

Thursday’s Food

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

Today was EXTRA exciting. Karen Knowler… THE raw food coach from the UK is visiting Arizona and today we met up for lunch (Greg and Kamea came, too!). Details on our eats below.

3 cups Green Juice: cucumber, rainbow chard, zucchini, celery, dandelion greens

1/2 Kevita

Lunch with Karen Knowler – we took her to Chakra4Herbs (one of my fave places in the valley… they even have a breastfeeding friendly sticker on their door so I felt right at home nursing Kamea as you see in the picture). I had a big kale wrapped sandwich (except they were out of kale leaves for the wrap so they gave me purple cabbage), small salad, and a piece of chocolate pie for dessert. Karen had a kale salad and nori rolls. Greg had the same sandwich that I had except his was wrapped in a spinach tortilla. It was big fun meeting up with Karen. We gabbed about all kinds of great stuff… dating, kids, babies, work, raw food, marketing, and more.

1 quart nettles tea with rosehips

1 bowl of granola with homemade almond milk

LARGE Salad: romaine, red bell pepper, orange, chives, 4-Ingredient Magic Dressing (I’ve had this on every salad for the past 2 weeks I think – it’s that good!)

Protein shake – 2 scoops of Sun Warrior Chocolate protein powder mixed with water, garam masala and fenugreek. I know, weird, right?

This won’t be all I eat for the day (I don’t think), but I’m not sure what else to add here at the moment. I’m posting this before the day is done, but I suspect if I’m hungry I’ll have a raw snack… maybe an apple or a Pure bar.

Food Journal

by Kristen in food journal

Before I begin this food journal that I tracked for the past several days, I wanted to take a moment and let you know that it’s not just me who eats this way in my family. When I started the raw journey I was a sassy single gal, but it wasn’t long before I met my boyfriend (via eHarmony – deets here on how he was an omnivore when we met but converted to an herbivore after 8 months) who later became my husband. So, for the most part, when I post these food journals, my husband is eating along with me. He doesn’t usually eat the single pieces of fruit as much or the granola for example (although he does take bites of mine – lol); rather he gets his “snacks” in the form of protein grenades.

Thursday

High Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Nutritious – All Delicious

Supplements: same as usual… vitamin D2, digestive enzymes, chlorella, wheat grass tablets, probiotics, calcium,vitamin B12, vegan DHA

Green juice: broccoli, lime, celery, cucumber, zucchini

Cooked oat groats with raisins and raw almond milk

Sprouted Protein Bar (recipe will be posted soon on my facebook fan page – exclusive to fans only!)
Large Salad loaded with homegrown sprouts, red bell pepper, minneola, romaine, and an awesome 4-ingredient dressing I’m now calling 4-Ingredient Magic Dressing because it’s so magical it’ll make anyone you give salad to LOVE IT!

1 quart Purple Passion Smoothie with a twist. Frozen blueberries, 2 oranges, 3 purple kale leaves, almond milk, stevia, chia powder

Cooked oat groats with raisins and raw almond milk

Part of a small decaf soy latte (we met up at Starbucks with my former doula and had a blast!) It’s NOT my habit to get a drink at Starbucks when we go there, not so much because it’s “cooked” but because it’s not organic coffee. I rarely drink coffee these days, but on occasion when I brew it at home, I use organic and fair trade coffee. Read how to kick the caffeine addiction here.

Salad: romaine, broccoli, red bell pepper, sprouts, apple, carrot, 4-Ingredient Magic Dressing

1 Apple
1 small spoonful Rawtella (Read my praising review of Rawtella here)

Protein shake: Sun Warrior (this link takes you to the Natural flavor, but I also love the chocolate!), hemp protein powder, homemade curry powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, water

Friday

High Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Nutritious – All Delicious

Green Juice: bok choy, celery, zucchini, cucumber, basil, romaine

Cooked oat groats with raw almond milk and raisins

1 quart Purple Passion Smoothie with a twist. Frozen blueberries, 2 oranges, 3 purple kale leaves, raw almond milk, stevia, chia powder

Giant Salad: romaine, orange bell pepper, tomato, apple, sprouts, olives, and you know the dressing… 4-Ingredient Magic Dressing

Raw granola cereal with raw almond milk

Cooked Tempeh
1 Apple
Cheezy Kale chips

Green Juice – I made the same recipe as I made in the morning

Saturday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Nutritious – All Delicious

Herbal tea brewed in the sun

Green juice – broccoli, kale, celery, cucumber, zucchini, pear

Grapefruit
Kiwi

Pure Bar – Trail Mix flavor

2 kiwi
Cheezy Kale chips (I buy Blue Mountain Organics – read about my love for them here along with directions on how to make your own!)

Giant salad with sprouts, romaine, cabbage, carrots, tomato, raisins, green onion and 4-Ingredient Magic Dressing (this dressing makes you WANT TO EAT SALAD!)

Banana Blueberry Chocolate Nut Butter Soft Serve (Mmmm big ol’ bowl)

Protein shake (1 serving Sun Warrior and 1 serving hemp) with cinnamon, plus 1T hemp seeds, and 2t Greener Grasses) with 1.5 cups almond milk. At the end of drinking this and I had one gulp left, I added about 1/2t dulse granules.

Grapefruit – I had this in the middle of the night. I couldn’t sleep. Too much energy from the all raw diet! I went downstairs, had a pink grapefruit (rich with lycopene by the way), and watched Jon Stewart.

Sunday’s food was all raw, too, but I forgot to write it all down.

Monday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Nutritious – All Delicious

Red raspberry leaf tea
Sprouted Protein Bar with raw almond butter and sliced banana

1 kiwi

Quart green juice: kale, cucumber, celery, kiwi

2 giant salads: I loved it so much that I at two of them back to back. It had my 4-Ingredient Magic Dressing… Will share recipe soon! Romaine, red bell pepper, purple cabbage, and a few raisins. I had my step-dad taste the recipe and he asked if he could just eat it like a soup he loved it so much – lol. Mom and Greg are raving fans, too.

Blue Mountain Organics Cacao Crunch Brownie

1 quart Green Smoothie: 2 small bananas, raw almond milk, 2 big leaves red rainbow chard, 1 small orange, 1 serving hemp protein powder

Dinner: I haven’t eaten yet, but I’m going to make raw pizza. I made the crusts a couple of days ago and made the cheese Saturday night. I’m going to also top them with fresh sliced tomatoes and basil. Yum!

Dessert: Banana soft serve!

PS. Check out my Green Mommy Blog’s latest post about Cognitive Development and Homeschooling. :)

Food Journal – Raw Vegan Organic

by Kristen in food journal

So glad many of you are fanning up the new Facebook page. :) Thank you! Even though I don’t have the “recipe” tab done yet that I mentioned in this blog post, I did go ahead and post that deliciously yummy Cinnamon Yam Soup on the main page just now.

For those of you following my food journal, here are a couple of more days…

Tuesday

High Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Nutritious – All Delicious

1 Banana

Sprouted Protein Bar (will share recipe on my Facebook fan page soon – it looks like these are offering about 7 grams of healthy, raw, easily assimilated, sprouted protein in each bar)

1 Orange bell pepper (I eat these just like I eat apples)

Chia pudding

Large Green juice: cucumber, zucchini, celery, kale, orange

Giant Salad: romaine, 1/2 avocado, carrots, lime juice, orange, dill, sprouts, Herbamere, and splash of brown rice vinegar ( this stuff really livens up a salad – yum – back in my body building days it was a life saver for making my salads yummy when I wasn’t consuming fat or oil).

Granola with almond milk (I took a bag of Go Raw’s Chocolate granola and mixed it with a couple of cups of my own dehydrated buckies – it makes the overall granola a bit lighter to do that). Then, I transfered it all to a big glass mason jar.

Cinnamon Yam Soup (just posted this recipe on my Facebook fan page)

1 Mango (loaded with vitamin C)

Sun Warrior and Hemp Protein shake with raw sunflower lecithin, curry powder, and cinnamon

1/2 Sprouted Protein Bar (I was up late and had the munchies)

Oh – supplements were the same as I had on this day. (minus the wheat grass tablets and chlorella)

Wednesday

High Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Nutritious – All Delicious

I’ll be doing “High Raw” for a few days here and there, while I add some cooked organic oats to my diet (although I’m enjoying them with raw almond milk and raisins). Oats are reputed for building milk supply and I’m now sharing some of my breastmilk with a friend of mine in Texas for her baby boy.

Supplements were the same as usual: Vitamin D2, Vegan DHA, probiotics, E3-Live, Digestive Enzymes

I started the day with a protein shake that had 2 scoops of Sun Warrior Protein and a bunch of cinnamon :) I usually start with green juice, but today I wanted to shake things up a bit.

Big Ol’ Green Juice: broccoli, cucumber, celery, zucchini, lemon, dill – I made this with my new Breville Ikon that I’m quite giddy about still. It’s fun to use and the clean up is a snap!

Blended Salad: So, I’ve always been one to cringe a bit when people say they are having a blended salad. It just sounds pretty gross. But, I wanted a nice salad like I had yesterday, however, sometimes it’s hard to eat a big salad with Kamea. She doesn’t always give me the time to sit and eat something like that, which traditionally takes a lot of time to chew. So… I decided I’d take the plunge and blend it all up. Still thinking – ewww gross, I tossed the following into my Vita-Mix: few cups of romaine, an orange bell pepper, 1/2 avocado, 1 orange, 2 sm-med carrots, fresh dill and a couple of splashes of brown rice vinegar. Ummm – YUM! It was fun and super tasty. So weird that it tasted just like the salad I had yesterday only this time I was drinking it. I kept it slightly chunky so that I could still chew it a bit. The overall verdict? Very cool and useful for a mama with her hands full. Drinking my meals makes life much easier.

Cheezy Kale Chips

Granola with almond milk

Cooked oats (like I mentioned above – with raw almond milk and raisins)

Dinner:

Zucchini Veggie Pasta

Tropical Ice Cream

Cinnamon Banana Bread Squares – Raw Vegan Recipe W/ Almond Milk Pulp (and Food Journal)

by Kristen in almond milk, Cinnamon Banana Bread Squares, easy raw vegan recipe, food journal, hemp protein, rawtella, sun warrior rice protein

In my recent post where I showed you how to make your own homemade raw vegan almond milk, I mentioned that I’d also share with you a recipe that uses the leftover almond nut pulp. There are a number of things you can do with nut pulp from dehydrating it and grinding it into flour to using it in homemade raw vegan bars to cakes to cookies, etc. Today, I’m showing you how to make Cinnamon Banana Bread Squares.

You’ll need the pulp from the almond milk recipe as well as:
4 bananas
1 teaspoon cinnamon
water to process

Put bananas and almond pulp in your food processor.

Add cinnamon and any other flavors you want. Then, process (add a little water if needed)

Put mixture on a dehydrator tray fitted with a non-stick ParaFlexx sheet.

Using an offset spatula (my best friend in the kitchen) spread the mixture.
Put in your dehydrator at 130-140 degrees F and dehydrate for about an hour.

Reduce the temperature to 105 degrees F and dehydrate for 6-8 hours.
Flip onto a dehydrator tray without the non-stick sheet (shown above).
Your house will smell like fresh baked banana bread.

Score into squares. Continue dehydrating until you reach desired dryness.
The longer you dehydrate, the harder they’ll become so if you want them like soft
banana bread, don’t be afraid to cut the drying time short.

This picture shows the two sides of the bread. One side is shiny and the other is flat.
These are sooooo good!

Saturday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

Supplements: vitamin D2, digestive enzymes, chlorella, wheat grass tablets, probiotics, calcium, vitamin B12, vegan DHA

Grapefruit

Pure Bar

Large bowl granola mixed with chia pudding plus almond milk

Green juice: cucumber, celery, baby peppers, collard greens, bok choy, lime

Big Mama Collard Green Wrap: garlic shallot cheese spread, home grown sprouts (directions for growing sprouts here), fresh basil, diced tomatoes, shredded carrots, chopped romaine, minced olives, and julienned orange bell pepper

Chia pudding
Rawtella

Pure bar (brownie flavor) with Rawtella on top – umm… yum!

2 dried apricots

Apple

Sun Warrior and Hemp protein shake

Exercise: 25 minutes on elliptical and 10 minutes going up and down the stairs wearing Kamea ;)

Sunday

Mostly Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

Green juice: cucumber, zucchini, celery, lime, collard greens, tomato, basil

Apple
Carrots with Tahini Almond Butter Sauce

Purple Passion Smoothie

Small Salad and steamed vegetables at Calistro Bistro. We went to a local restaurant where they have some vegan options and everything is organic. We sat outside… here is Kamea playing with a packet of sugar and her book.

Cinnamon Yam Soup (this is a part raw / part cooked recipe – super easy and super delish. Who wants the recipe?)
Large romaine salad with carrots, tomato, basil, and Tahini Almond Butter Sauce as the dressing

Blue Mountain Organics Carob Crunch Bar. Pretty good… If you like carob. ;)

I also made my own raw protein bars today. They’re in the dehydrator now. I tell ya… I’ve been using my dehydrator non-stop for weeks! Love it!

Food Journal – All Raw Vegan Organic

by Kristen in food journal, green mommy blog, homemade raw almond milk, rawtella

Thursday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

Supplements: Probiotic, E3-Live, vitamin D2, wheat grass tablets, vegan DHA, digestive enzymes

Green Juice: cucumber, kale, lime, broccoli, dandelion greens (dandelion greens are great for cleansing and nourishing your liver)

Green Smoothie: 1 large handful spinach, 2 bananas, 2 tablespoons hemp seeds, 1 teaspoon homemade curry, 1 1/2 cups coconut water (I LOVE this truly raw and ORGANIC coconut water. Pricey? Not to me when I compare it to my former addiction of enjoying daily coffee “drinks”… plus the fact that it’s good for you and an awesome treat!)

Mexican Crackers with raw almond butter
2 small oranges

More Mexican Crackers with almond butter
Chia Pudding
1/2 KeVita

Green juice: cucumber, dandelion, kale, lime

Large serving zucchini pasta with an abundance of vegetables (pictured)

Chia Pudding
1 spoon of Rawtella

Friday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

Supplements: Probiotic, E3-Live, vitamin D2, wheat grass tablets, vegan DHA, digestive enzymes

Water with fresh lime juice

Green juice: cucumber, grapefruit, dandelion, celery, kale

Green smoothie: spinach, orange, grapefruit, stevia (I don’t recommend this combo – ack)

Big Salad with tahini almond butter dressing loaded with nutrient dense veggies

Big bowl Go Raw Chocolate Granola with homemade raw almond milk

Pizza Bites (pictured)

2 spoons of Rawtella

Grapefruit

Herbal tea

By the way… I did comparison videos of baby wearing carriers over at my Green Mommy Blog. Check it out!

Food Journal – The Last Week

by Kristen in cacao brownie, cherry chocolate bomb shake, food journal, green juice, green smoothies, kale chips, kevita, sirova, sun warrior rice protein

I’ve been tracking my food intake for the past week. Here are all of our good eats!

Sunday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

2 pink grapefruits – fresh from my mom’s backyard (have you been following her blog lately?)
Red pear
1/2 KeVita

Shot of E3-Live
Quart of Green Juice

Large bowl of granola and almond milk

2 small collard green wraps
Apple
2 crackers

Large kale salad
Green Smoothie

Monday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

1 Banana

1 Grapefruit

2.5 cups Green Juice – cucumber, kale, zucchini, lemon, broccoli, ginger

1 Apple

Granola with almond milk

Purple Passion Smoothie (recipe in current email newsletter going out, sign up here if you haven’t already)

Thai Cole Slaw – this sounds better than it actually was – lol. Sometimes my recipes just don’t fly.

Cherry Chocolate Bomb Shake – video and recipe here!

2oz Wheat grass while shopping at Whole Foods

Protein Shake – Sun Warrior protein, cinnamon, homemade curry powder

Pure Bar - I was up late and ended up getting hungry.

Tuesday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

Shot of E3-Live
Green Juice – kale, cucumber, celery, broccoli, mandarin orange

Green Smoothie – spinach, water, banana, orange

Kale Chips
3 prunes
1/2 KeVita

Granola with almond milk

Thai Cole Slaw

Apple
Lasagna

3 prunes

Banana Nut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream

Wednesday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

3 cups Green juice: kale, celery, cucumber, lemon

Fruity Chard Smoothie: 2 cups almond milk, 1 orange, orange zest, 2 big leaves chard, 10oz bag frozen strawberries, stevia

1 Pink Grapefruit
3 Dried apricots
2 pieces dried papaya

2 cups Fresh Herb Green Soup: 1-2 cups water, 2 leaves rainbow chard, 1 apple (cored), juice from 1 orange, 1 zucchini, 2 teaspoons fresh chives, 1T miso, 4-5 romaine lettuce leaves, 1 avocado, 1 yellow bell pepper, handful of sprouts blended in and some more on top, 1T tamari, juice from 1/2 lemon, 1/4 cup fresh basil, 1T fresh dill

Kale chips
Brownie

2 cups Soup (same as above)
Kale chips

Rawtella spoonful
Banana Chocolate Nut Butter ice cream

Thursday

All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic

All Delicious – All Nutritious

3 cups Green juice: cucumber, collard green, lemon, celery

2/3 Pink Grapefruit
Pure Trail Mix bar

3 cups smoothie: almond milk, 2 oranges, orange extract, orange zest, vanilla powder, collard green, 1 teaspoon Greener Grasses

Large Salad: 1 avo, coconut vinegar, herbamere, curry powder, basil, 2 olives, romaine, red bell pepper plus 3 dried apricots and 3 crackers