Smoothie art

Well, this is day 7, the last day of my chip and beer free challenge.  I am happy to report that I succeeded in not consuming any chips or beer this last week.

 In fact I'm feeling so good, that I don't even have a desire to eat chips or drink beer .  I don't feel  like I lost much of my "beer belly", but I'm on the right path.  I will post the after picture tomorrow.

 This coaster is hand woven by my boyfriends mom.  Want one? The smoothie is in a wine bottle that has been made into a glass.

This is my coffee table that I painted this winter.

Faux Merlot

This is a black cherry smoothie that was extra tasty in this wine glass.  I put about 15 frozen cherries, 1/2 cup huckleberries ( frozen from last year), about 1/4 cup frozen pineapple, and 1 tsp spirulina powder.

Sat slip up

 Okay So I have to admit....I wasn't home for breakfast...so I slipped up a little.  I had scrambled eggs with cream cheese, mushrooms and spinach, with hashbrowns.  It was really good, maybe because my boyfriend cooked it for me.   I'm pretty sure I worked everysingle calorie of it off over the course of the day.  I made up for it and had a yummy green smoothie for lunch with some fruit in it this time, and asparagus and cucumbers for dinner.

  well now that I'm admitting things, I also had chocolate cheesecake ( we shared it though), Fri night, that was pretty  incredible.  I set myself up for that one, because I knew I would be eating dinner with my parents, celebrating my mom's birthday.

Friday food

  I started the day off with pretty much the grossest green smoothie I have ever made. The healthiest, no doubt, but the nastiest by far. I didn't bother to take a picture of it.  It looked like some green sludge you would find on the bottom of a pond.   It basically consisted of spinach, cilantro, spirulina powder, and water.
  So after choking that down, I decided it was time for some green goodness.  So I made Thick and chunky asparagus soup, from 'The Everything Raw Food recipe Book'.

I was pleasantly surprised.  This recipe is worth sharing.  I didn't follow the tomato and asparagus quantities exactly b/c I was in a hurry.  So I'm sure you could put as much or little of those two ingredients as you wanted according to personal preference.

Thick and chunky asparagus soup

Ingredients:  1 1/2 cups avocado

2 tbs flax seed oil ( or other oil)

2tbs lime juice

2 tbs minced onion

1/2 tbs fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried

1/2 tbs fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried

1/4 tsp chipotle powder

water to achieve desired texture

1 cup Roma tomatoes chopped

1/2 cup asparagus tips sliced fine

Directions:

1.  Place avocado, oil, lime juice, onion, rosemary, oregano and chipotle powder in blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  Add water to achieve the desired consistency.

2.  Pour into soup bowls and garnish with the tomatoes and asparagus.

So I pretty much fudged the whole recipe.  I used olive oil, lemon juice, herbs De Provence, and cayenne pepper, because that is what I had on hand, and it still turned out super tasty.  In my opinion anyway.  It was so thick I had to use a spatula to get it out of the blender, so it was a little like eating guacamole.  I will probably add a little more water next time.   Try it out.  here's the specs.

Per serving:

calories 165] fat 15 g] protein 2 g] sodium 7 mg] fiber 5 g

Food diary, day 1

Breakfast:  'Food Science' superior greens drink (mix)
                 green smoothie
Lunch:  peanut butter, sunflower seed/banana smoothie with wheat germ
Snack:  cucumber salad
             'Healthy To Go'  natural energy boost drink (mix)
              almonds-raw
Dinner:  Falafel pita and sauteed spinach

7 day challenge

I'm taking my own 7 day- beer and chip free challenge .  There are many websites that offer programs to raw food diets and support with a fee of some sort, but I have decided that I can do it on  my own. 
  I will be posting what I eat, or should I say what I don't eat or drink, for accountability. ( Even though there aren't many readers here).
 
  Today is officially day 1, even though yesterday I started off with a green smoothie.

I didn't follow a recipe, I just dumped in some frozen  dark cherries, frozen crushed pineapple, spinach, kale, and 1/2 of a cucumber, a little bit of razzleberry juice, and a tsp of spirulina powder.

I saved this giant straw from the milkshake shop, ( cause I'm all about RRR, you know) and it works perfect for thick smoothies.

 So far so good, I woke up at 6:30 am this morning....that NEVER happens.  I'm feeling better already.

My goal is to gently detox, and to loose a few inches of beer and chip flab.  With a happier liver not having to work so hard, I think I'll be a happier person, and will be better able to do my job in helping people feel better.

Oh, and since I don't have a scale and don't know my starting weight, I took a couple pictures.  Yuck.



Before.  side view 6/9/11



Before.  front view. 6/9/11

Carp and confessions

 This past Sunday I got to try a first.  Carp fishing.   Carp are native to Europe and Asia, and  they are here in Idaho.  There were hoards of them, spawning and splashing around like crazy.  I got a video on the flip, but it fell out of my pocket into the water when I was bringing this baby in. 

Confession time.  I lost my battle with chips and beer yesterday.  In fact beer was my dinner.  Oh and a piece of chocolate.  After waking up this morning feeling like poo, I went on my morning walk to the creek ( that is raging right now from run off) and sat on a rock for some grounding.  I had a little conversation with God, and then one with myself.   I like to walk to the creek where it  flows into a small pool at a little dam.  It's peaceful, soothing, and healing.  It helps me to feel that way.  Today, when it was rushing and raging it actually reflected how I have felt inside lately.  Rushing and raging.  My liver is angry, and it shows.  Angry from toxins , emotional and chemical. SO time to quit ignoring it and make a change.  Time to get back on track.  So hold me to it, because I'm starting right now.  More fresh veggies, fruit, and less chips and beer.  Way less.  In fact, I'm cutting them out totally for the next week.