Move over Old School and Wedding Crashers! I just saw what might be the funniest movie ever. I laughed so hard, I almost peed my pants! In fact, I had to force myself to curb my laughing so that I didn’t miss the next funny line. Are you ready for the name of the movie yet? It’s Death at a Funeral. If it’s playing near you and laughing is one of your favorite things to do, then go see this movie straight away! With studies showing that laughter is the truly the best medicine, go get your dose.
On a Raw note, when I go to the movies, the choices for snacks are slim to none. Well, none actually (there’s nothing slim about it!) So, my favorite snack for the movies is a big fresh organic smoothie. Sometimes it’s green and sometimes it’s all fruit. I’m a big advocate of using glass over plastic, so I take a purse and put my glass mason jar filled smoothie right in (we ladies are lucky to carry purses). Ssshhhh…don’t tell the movie police on me. Truthfully, if the movie houses actually offered healthy snacks, I wouldn’t have to bring my own.
While I understand that alcohol destroys pretty much every cell it comes in contact with, I also understand that not everyone is going to swear off alcohol for life. Wine would be the best choice for your alcoholic beverage since it’s considered Raw. In fact, I created some amazing and fun beverages with wine in my book (boy those were fun to make and test!): Kristen Suzanne’s EASY Raw Smoothies, Juices, Elixirs & Drinks.Once you go Raw though, expect to feel the effects of alcohol more quickly and strongly, as your body will have become very efficient at absorption. Until you discover your new, lower tolerance for alcohol, be very careful when you drink. And…don’t drink and drive.
Organic: Look for organic wine that is low in sulfites or without added sulfites. This is sometimes a point of confusion because sulfites occur naturally even in 100% organically produced wine. According to Professor Roger Boulton, Ph.D., of UC Davis’ Department of Viticulture and Enology, even if no sulfur dioxide is added to wine, fermenting yeasts will produce SO2 from the naturally occurring inorganic sulfates in all grape juices. Thus, says Boulton, it is impossible for any wine to be completely free of sulfur dioxide.
Vegan: But, just because the wine is Raw and even Organic, doesn’t mean it’s Vegan. If it says “vegan” on the bottle, then you’re good to go. Does yours? If not, you might want to contact the company and ask, although I suspect it won’t be vegan unless it says so on the bottle. Here is one that I have tried and enjoyed. It’s organic and vegan: Organic Vintners Mendocino Pinot Noir (pictured here). This is what they had to say about vegan and biodynamic wines:
Biodynamic principles take the organic approach a step further by making sure that the growth of the grapes is in tune with the larger environment. Using homeopathic sprays, herbal preparations and lunar cycles, soil fertility is increased and vines are protected from pests and diseases.
Vegan wines. Winemakers, both organic and conventional, are not obliged to declare on the label when they use animal by-products as fining agents to clarify wine. These include egg white (to brighten red wines), casein (a milk protein to make wine taste softer), gelatin (removes bitterness) and isinglass (derived from fish). A vegan wine, on the other hand, uses no animal products whatsoever. The vegan versions typically use clay to make the wines clear.
I’m excited to see the organic vegan wine selection growing at Whole Foods, as well as to see such a great collection online at places like The Organic Wine Company. Sometimes for holiday, anniversary, or birthday gifts, I buy a bottle of organic vegan wine for people and have it shipped. I like The Organic Wine Company’s selection. AND! Since I’m all about voting with my dollar….here is my planwhen visiting restaurants. I’ll ask if they offer an organic (and vegan!) wine selection. If they say, “no” then I’ll tell them that I’ll just drink water. That’ll teach them, eh?
Here’s a fantastic recipe from my book, Kristen Suzanne’s EASY Raw Sides & Snacks, available on my website by clicking here. This great recipe is so easy and takes very little time to prepare, like most of my recipes. I like to call my recipes “No Excuse Recipes” because they’re so delicious, nutritious, easy and quick to make that you really have no excuse not to make them and, therefore, always have fabulous Raw food on hand whenever you’re hungry.
Tuscan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Yield 4 servings
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 2 hours in enough water just to cover, reserve soak water
1/2 cup fresh basil, packed
1/4 cup pine nuts (or pili nuts, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, etc… you can pretty much use any you want)
1 teaspoon garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
In a food processor, fitted with the “S” blade, combine all of the ingredients except the olive oil, adding a little of the sun-dried tomato “soak” water, if necessary. While the mixture is pureeing, add the olive oil. Enjoy!
Serving suggestion:
~ Dip zucchini slices into this delicious pesto for a fast and easy treat
~ Stuff 1/2 of a seeded tomato or bell pepper (yellow or orange are especially beautiful) with 1/4 cup of pesto, topped with fresh sprouts
~ Serve on top of zucchini angel hair pasta or kelp noodles for an awesome meal
I found a great article illustrating simple tips to help make habits stick, and I thought it was perfect for applying to Raw. Check it out and see if some of the quick tips in the article can be used to HELP YOU STAY RAW!
Wow! Has it already been 10-days since my last post? Between travel to Michigan, teaching Raw food classes, writing my next ebooks and fulfilling on the current ebooks I offer, I’ve been…well….busy.
I decided to start making it a point to eat at leastone rainbow a day. Every day I’m going to attempt to eat something from each color of the rainbow. On my refrigerator, I have a list of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and let’s say Purple. So, today I had watermelon (red), orange (orange), banana and pineapple (yellow), parsley and basil (green), blueberries (blue), and raspberries and blackberries (purple). Yay! I did it! That’s not all I ate…of course! I want to accomplish eating at least one rainbow a day, so that I truly eat a balanced diet filled with all kinds of phyto-nutrients. (I love that word, phyto-nutrients…it’s so bad-ass). Booh-yah!
I’ll be up late again tonight making food for my delivery clients. Let’s see…some of the things on the menu are Bell Pepper Diane Soup, Savory Mustard Bread, Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus, Pineapple Cheesecake, Big Garden Fresh Salads with Creamy Ranch Dressing, Decadent Chocolate Mousse, Lemon Garlic Bisque, Zucchini Pasta Marinara with Parmesan Cheese, and Pecan Pate Wraps. Yum….leftovers again for me :)
Let’s see….I thought I’d write about what I’m eating today. When I woke up at 2pm…yes, 2pm. (I didn’t go to bed until 8am though! I was up all night working on my next ebook, Kristen’s Raw: The EASY Way to Get Started & Succeed with Raw Foodand I just kept going and going. I was the energizer bunny!)
But, that wasn’t all I was up to last night. I was also up late because I made a middle-of-the-night Raw food delivery to a few of my clients. I made them (all Raw and Organic, of course) my Amalfi Coast Pizza, Fresh Garden Salads with diced red bell pepper and Garlic Italian dressing, Spicy Thyme Soup, Moroccan Gazpacho (recipe posted below), Savory Mustard Bread, Fresh Herb Cheese Spread, Orange Blossom Sweet Stuffing, Cranberry Candy, Fudge Balls, and Vanilla Cheesecake.
Sooooo….what that means for me….is LEFTOVERS! YAY!!! Today, I’ll start my day off with some Moroccan Gazpacho (I love that stuff!), a small fresh Garden Salad, and then follow it with a serving of Amalfi Coast Pizza. YUM! Tonight, I will finish off the Spicy Thyme Soup and any leftover Cheesecake. I love being Raw…..it’s simply delicious.
Here is my dog. He’s such a good boy! Oh, how I wish I could take him everywhere with me. I’m a huge animal lover and I always had dogs when I was growing up (yes, dog(s) plural, at the same time). We were just that kind of family. Even now, my mom has 3 dogs. I would love to have another one, but when I travel, my dog stays with “grandma” (my mom) and that would mean she watches 4 dogs at once. I couldn’t make it any more than that or I’d never hear the end of it (from both my mom and my dog!) ha ha
Today I demo’d this fabulous soup of mine at Whole Foods. It was a huge success. As people sampled the delicious Moroccan flavors, they quickly went in to the produce department to buy up the ingredients so they could go home and make more. I decided to share the recipe on my blog. This healthy, Raw soup is easy to make (and I mean….super easy) and full of delicious flavors. It is soooooo good! For more great recipes, check out my Raw food recipe ebooks available on my website at http://www.kristensraw.com/. Enjoy!
Moroccan Gazpacho Yield 5-6 cups
This is an elegant and delicious recipe with beautiful flavors; yet, it is so simple to make.
1 cup water 4 tomatoes, chopped 1 tomato, diced 1 cucumber, peeled and chopped 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 teaspoons agave nectar 1 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated 3/4 teaspoon cumin 3/4 teaspoon coriander 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped 1/4 cup pine nuts 1/4 cup raisins
Blend all of the ingredients, except for the 1 diced tomato, pine nuts, raisins and cilantro, until creamy. Pulse in the cilantro. Stir in the diced tomato, pine nuts and raisins.
Do you want to win one of my Raw Food Recipe ebooks for Free? I juice almost everyday and love the way it makes me feel. Today, I made a nutrient power-packed green juice, and here is a picture of the ingredients. The first person who can correctly identify all 11 ingredients will win his/her choice of one of my Raw Food Recipe ebooks. You can view details about the ebooks at http://www.kristensraw.com/ (and go to the recipe ebook page). Email your answers to me at Kristen@KristensRaw.com and include the title of the ebook that you’d like, if you win.
Here are some hints:
There are 3 ingredients in the left bowl.
There are 8 ingredients in the right bowl.
GOOD LUCK!
WE HAVE A WINNER! SEE THE COMMENTS FOR THE ANSWER :)
I’ve taken a couple of weeks off from going to the gym because my schedule was jam packed trying to get my Raw recipe ebooks out on my website. Yay! The first series is done. I always like to still do some form of exercise when I’m not able to get to the gym, so here are the things I do when I’m in that position.
Push-ups! I drop to the floor and crank out as many as I can…just until I’m about to fall flat on my face. Push-ups are great because they pretty much work your entire upper body and abs. Then, I go out into the street in my neighborhood (wearing ankle weights) I do walking lunges. Sometimes it’s just one set, but hey, it’s better than nothing. I keep my ankle weights on while I’m at home so I can get all the help I can get.
I also have a jump rope hanging by my desk. Jump rope is phenomenal exercise…hard core and only takes a minute of doing it before your heartrate is way up. Jump rope is so great for your body that you can do about 15 minutes of it (doubt you’ll do 15minutes straight though, it’s too hard!)…anyway, it’s comparable to doing other forms of cardio for 30-45 minutes. This makes jumproping awesome for people who are short on time. So, what I do is about 2-5 minutes of jump rope 2-3 times a day. This keeps me in great shape!
I also have dumbells in my bathroom, on the floor by my sink. (I do everything I can to make it easy on myself to exercise, so having the stuff there and ready, makes it hard to say no). Every other day or so, I grab my dumbells and do some bicep curls, tricep kickbacks and shoulder triangles. All of this keeps me in great shape when I can’t get to the gym or if I’m short on time.
Anyway…all that to say that I’m going to the gym today (and getting back to consistency with that) and I’m psyched! I feel so empowered and awesome after leaving the gym. Physical exercise does just as much for your mind as it does your body. Today, I’ll focus on cardio and spend time getting my heartrate up. Then, tomorrow, I’m hitting the free weights.
My quote for the day: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ~author unknown
I'm Kristen, and welcome to my blog. I'm a wife, mom, author, and I love to eat so food is usually the topic of my blog posts. I'm a former (almost decade long) vegan turned back omnivore who enjoys reading, rebounding, coffee, and dark chocolate. More...
I'm Kristen, and welcome to my blog. I'm a wife, mom, author, and I love to eat so food is usually the topic of my blog posts. I'm a former (almost decade long) vegan turned back omnivore who enjoys reading, rebounding, coffee, and dark chocolate. 
