Raw Apple Pie for Breakfast Mmmmmm

 It is almost Thanksgiving and I am thinking about raw recipes that I could make. I made raw apple pie with dried figs today for breakfast. It was SOOOOO GOOD!!!!! So I wanted to share with you what I did.

In a blender add some soaked dates with water about 1 Cup of Dates and about 1 Cup Water
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Nutmeg and Mace (Both are ground)
Blend till smooth

Take about 7-10 apples and chop them into slices
10 Dried figs or use raisins I just didn't have any so I used figs.
mix your date in with your apples and figs

Topping
 2 Cups Raw old fashion oats
 In your blender add 1/8 Cup Coconut Sugar
about 3 TBSP water or coconut water
5 Dates
Add Cinnamon to your liking or leave it out. You choose.
Mix the Coconut sugar and oats and mix with your hands it should be like a crumble crust type of a mixture.

Plate up your apples and top with your crumble. If you are staying away from oats and other grains it is still really good without the crumble. :0)

This is a good recipe for the children to help in the kitchen. It is good for them to learn to use a knife and it will give them skills for harder things. My Beeps knows how to use a knife and she is 6 years old. I started teaching her when she was about 4. With supervision and learning that it is not a toy but a sharp and dangerous item and to be used with caution they can learn really fast to be ok using a knife. And if they get thick apples it wont ruin the pie. :0)

Also, if you are having an attack of I NEED SOMETHING sweet good and cooked try this it will feel like you sinned. LOL But then you don't have to tell yourself that you will start over tomorrow. You might feel like you need to say that but NO WAY you are GOOD TO GO!!!! Try it and let me know what you think. :0)
Spice said that it tasted like it should be really unhealthy. LOL It was really very good!!!


Hugs, Emily

Fat, Sugar = Weight gain

   My mother called the other day and she had been doing a vegetarian type diet. I asked her how she was and she said that started to eat a little meat again. She did this because she was detoxing to fast and getting sick. She also was so frustrated because she had gained back the 10 pounds that she had lost.
Because of this I want to share what I have learned about meat, and sugar.
  First, I want to talk about what happens when we combine fat or meat with sugar or fruit.
When we eat fruit the sugars hit our system really fast. We are talking about within 15 minutes. It then goes through the blood stream, then from the blood stream to feed our cells. The whole thing happens really quick. This is good!!! This is what is supposed to happen. We need to feed our cells the right kind of food. High carb, low fat, low protein,  mostly raw diet will feed your cells the sugars that they need.
  Here is what happens when we combine meat and fats to our diet. When we add meat and fats to our diet the fat goes into our blood stream and can stay there between 18-24 hours. When we add the sugars to our diet, the sugars go into our blood as well. The fat that is hanging out in our blood slows down the sugars from escaping the blood and feeding the cells. This is also how we spike our insulin and can cause ourselves diabetes. This happens because the sugars cannot go anywhere. And when the sugar can't go anywhere they get stored for later use. Also known as fat. Fat as we know is just stored energy.
    I am not saying that you can't ever eat meat again. I was thinking about how to solve this issue of combining the fat and sugars. This is what I came up with. For those who are wanting to work their way into eating vegan mostly raw, but are getting sick from the detox this is what I suggest. Not tested or proved just makes sense to not combine the sugars and fats.

   Monday:
  Breakfast- As much fruit as you desire!!! Make sure to combine correctly or you will have a gurgley stomach.
  Lunch- More fruit mixed with a salad. Check out fullyraw.com for ideas on salads
  Dinner- Salad with fruit, or a dinner with high carbs such as vegan soup with base of tomatoes. Next cut up and cook, carrots, potatoes, celery, onion, peas, beans, corn, ect. To season your soup use herbs and spices. Do not use salt! My husband thinks that I am crazy but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cilantro. Or you could use rosemary, thyme, and parsley. Or Tarragon would be good. Play with your spices. Add garlic powder, Onion Powder, ect. Look up other soups and use the spices that they use.
Try and eat high calories on this day. Carb UP!!!! 2500+

Tuesday:
Breakfast- Veggie juice with a lemon or lime but no other sweet fruit. If you feel you need something to sweeten it up a little try Stevia drops, or Doterra oils. Orange, or lemon would be good. :0)
Lunch- Salad with no fat and no sugars. Try some Doterra oils again to make some type of dressing.
Dinner- Meat and salad or other non-starch veggie. Broccoli, Celery, Colaflower (Potatoes), Green beans, ect.
  Eat this early around 3:30pm if you need something before bed make it a non-starch veggie again. No Fat No Sugar.
Eat low in calories this day. Your meat will have a lot of calories so if you only count your calories on your meat days that will work. I would try and get around 1500. No lower then 1200 and no higher then 1850. This high number should be if you are a man or if you are usually eating 3000+ calories a day.
                            
Wednesday:
 Veggie juice with Lemon or Lime or oils again no sugars and no fats.
 Lunch Salad or other veggie non-starch low fat low sugar.
Dinner eat after 3:30pm this gives your system 24 hours to deal with the fat and protein in the blood.
Fruit and veggies again!!!! Or other starchy food. Potatoes, carrots, ect. Salads with fruit based dressing. Mmmmm I will post some dressing ideas at the bottom of this post. :0)    
Try  and hit around 1800-2500 calories.                   


Thursday:
  Same as Monday

Friday:
Same as Tuesday

Saturday:  If you feel like you want to splurge this is this is the day to do it. Your blood has little sugar in it if you ate like Tuesday.  Pizza? Tocos? Stake with potatoes? Pasta with French bread (My personal weakness)  Whatever you want go for it. Just know that because of the salt you will weigh more so DONT step on the scale until Monday or better yet weigh once a week on Thursday. The day before your splurge day.

Sunday:
  Feel free to just drink a LOT of water this day and give your system a break. Let it clear out and clean up before you start your week again. I heard once that our systems work 24/7 and if we want to be healthy to let it have a day of rest as well. I think it makes sense so I usually do at least half the day fasting from food. If you feel you need something make a veggie juice or just some greens. Make it a light day. No fruit and no meat. Veggies only IF YOU FEEL YOU NEED SOMETHING.

If you like this way of eating stick with it.  However, if you feel that you want to work your way to raw vegan, only eat meat once a week. If you do this then choose a day maybe your splurge day. Then you just have to follow the day before the meat and after the meat. The rest of the days EAT!!! CARB UP!!!! Fruit? Salad? Soups? Potatoes? GO FOR IT!!! Don't worry to much about counting calories.
  Please do some activity. It can be even putting your arms in the air and back down 20 times 3 times a day. Or it can be running for miles, Swimming, Weights. Whatever. the point is to one or more times a day depending on your physical strength to goout of your comfort zone. Push yourself and know that it is only going to last for 1minute or for 1 hour ect.
The body heals fast and when we push ourselves we might be sore at first but soon your muscles, lungs, and heart will catch up.
  We can do hard things right? RIGHT!!!
 Go and find your reason WHY!!! Also, when you feel like you really want something write it down and make your list for splurge day. ;0) You only have to stick to it for ___ days. That's easy.
If you are like me I just got so tired of having my hands swell that I am on day 2 of High Carb
80 10 10 diet. I like the way that it makes me feel. I don't much like the swelling and heaviness that I get by eating food that is processed or fried.
  One other thing I want to talk about here. It is important to be kind to yourself. If you "mess up" get back up and try again. It is a process. Learn to love yourself and learn to take care of your body. You only get one. If you are on the road to health be patient. It is a learning curve. You are beautiful just where you are. I want you to know that it is not about the number on the scale. It is about how you feel mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
If you feel like giving up. Let me believe in you until you can believe in you.
 Hugs, Emily

Savory Dressings can be used on the no sugar or fat days with your salads.

Tomato Dressing
4-5 Big Stake Tomatoes or 2-3 Cups cherry
1 Cup Chopped Celery
1/2 Cup Sesame seeds
1 Clove Garlic
Pinky of Ginger
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
Blend and enjoy store the rest in a jar in fridge

Cucumber Dressing
2-3 Cucumbers
3-4 Cups Chopped Celery
1 Bundle of fresh Dill
2 TBSP Lemon
Blend and enjoy Store the rest in a jar in fridge

Chili Lime Dressing
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
Tamarind Sauce (This is in the produce department and it looks like a brown bean with a hard shell. Take the shell off and then soak them in water. If you can take the beans out it will make a sauce that is sweet and a little sour. They are actually very good and can take the place of Soy Sauce.)
1 TBSP Coconut Sugar or Stevia if you are using on a no sugar salad
1-2 Cloves Garlic
1/2 -1 Tsp Chili Powder More to your liking.
Blend and enjoy

Sweet Dressing

Honey Mustard
1-2 Cups of Lemon Juice
1- 1 1/2 Cups Dates (Soak to soften but then drain the water or save it for another time)
1/4 Cup of Ground Mustard
Blend and enjoy

Orange Pineapple Dressing
1-2 Cups of chopped Pineapple
1-2 Cups of peeled and quartered Oranges
1 Red or Orange Bell Pepper
Blend and enjoy I am going to try adding Cilantro

Peach Dressing
4-5 Peaches
1-2 Orange Peppers
1-3 Cup Avocado
Blend and enjoy

Mango Date Dressing
1 Pineapple
3-4 Cups Mangos
1 Cup soaked Dates
1 Large TBSP Rosemary
Blend and enjoy

A Whole Watermelon

  Hi all, I have to tell you that going raw head first was harder then I thought. I have not been 100% as you well know from my other posts. Yesterday I decided that I was going to give it another shot and started by doing a veggie juice day. Even though it seems hard I have to tell you that it is also kind of fun. I am still giving it a go and I can defiantly tell the difference from when I eat real raw food and when I don't.
  I was at the store today getting some bananas and they had watermelon!!! I know that they are out of season but ever sense I heard about this I have wanted to try and eat a whole watermelon by myself. LOL Some people brag about a whole pizza, me, I brag about watermelon. I will use my husbands saying here "Eyes are bigger than my stomach." I think I did pretty good however. I did eat 3/4 of it. And I think that I am good for the winter without seeing or wanting a watermelon.

Here is the before and after if the watermelon. I am SOOOO full. But it was kind of fun just to see if I could do it.
 
   I ordered a spiralizer and I am hoping that this will help with this way of life. We LOVE noodles in my family this has been probably the hardest part of getting my family on board with the raw way. I will keep you posted on how that is going.

  I also wanted to up date you on how I am doing. At first I had all of this energy and I was so excited about that side effect. Then the next week I became very tired. I read somewhere that this was normal. As our bodies detox you can never tell what the body will do. That was very hard because I also home school Buddy. I am glad to know that it was not a permanent side effect.

   I have a new website that I want to share here. I am so excited to try some of her dishes. She also has info on how to do this whole raw thing. She is the one that I learned about the noodles about.
Her site is fullyraw.com. You should go and check it out. If nothing else at least you would get some healthy treats. :0)

  I have things that I need to do but I wanted to share my watermelon trip with you.
Hugs, Emily

Getting Real and Setting/Sticking with your goals.

    Holiday are here!!! This can be a great time of the year. It can also be like riding a bull and trying to hold on to dear life just to be thrown off. It can take your breath away to feel like you totally failed yet again. When this happens (and it will for most of us) it is what we do after that makes us great or makes us feel like we just can't seem to get it.

  So how do we pick ourselves back up? Here is my SECOND Key to success.

First: Realize that it is real life and learn to FORGIVE yourself and not to give up just because you maybe had 1,2,3, even 4 days (or more) of celebrating the Halloween holiday.

Second: It is important to make promises to yourself then KEEP THEM!!! When I started to run I would make promises to myself such as;" I promise that I will make it to the stop sign" (Even when it was only 10 steps away) When we do this it makes us feel good and helps us believe in ourselves.

Third: Get your paper out and write down your goals in detail and WHY you want them.
Don't just say that you wish you could loose 50 lbs. Tell yourself that you are GOING TO DO IT. And Believe that you are capable and worth the effort. I remember looking at the scale at 216lbs and thinking "How am I EVER going to loose 70+ lbs? It is so far away and I just don't know if I can do it." Then one day I changed my self talk and belief. I told myself that I just had to take the first step (Running) and that was where I had to start.

Forth: Make an action plan. In any game they do this. Take football, they create a plan. They take timeouts to reassess when necessary and plan again. They also take time to study their opponents. What are your opponents?  Make a plan to over come them and then write them down and review your why.

Fifth: Reward yourself when you hit mile stones. This can be a period of time, hit a mini goal, had a perfect day, or even a perfect hour, kept a promise you made to yourself.                

  Things come up that causes stress. It is part of life! Learn to love yourself and know that you are made from the great creator and that you can do anything because of who you came from. (God) 
If you ask He will help you in this journey called LIFE. We are not alone and He knows you and loves you and wants you to be successful in this life.

   It is late and I am getting tired, so for now I just want you to know that it is really important to keep "trying 'til you win" It is a process and I do believe that we learn when we fall. I know that I do NOT like the way that I feel right now after falling off for a few days. I look forward to a new day, a clean slate.
Good night all. Hugs, Emily

    

Day 11 Food combining.

  Here I am 11 days in and just feeling like I am getting the hang of this. I don't feel like it should have been that hard to get the hang of going raw till 4pm. I have found that it is more mental then anything. Like I said before I used to eat 1200-1500 calories and to TRY and eat 2500 in fruit and veggies is harder then you think. I feel like I am eating ALL day long. On top of that I am supposed to drink around a gallon of water a day. If you do this be prepared to be in the restroom more often than not. All that being said, I actually really do love this way of eating. I just need to get some recipes so that I can actually make food other than just the fruit itself. Not that I haven't  loved eating a ton of the different fruits but like everything if you eat to much of it you get tired of that same food.

Oh, another side affect is that your animals loose their extra fat as well. They don't much like apples, oranges, bananas, figs. Our dog does like to eat grapes and carrots now and again. She will take a bite of those but then most of the time leave it.

 So, food combining. Here is the combining that you can and should do. I would go off of how your tummy is feeling as well.

Sweet Fruits like Bananas, Dates, Papayas, Figs, Persimmons, Jackfruits, Lychees (Whatever that is) Can go with Green veggies low starch, sprouts, ect as well as Sub-acid fruits such as, all berries, Mangos, apples, grapes, cherries, and stone fruit.

Sub-acid fruits can go with Green Veggies, Acid fruits, Acid fruits are: Tomatoes, Oranges, Lemons, Limes, Grapefruits, Mandarin's, Clementine's, Pineapples, Pomegranates. Also all berries can be combine with Fatty fruits, ( Avocados, Young coconut flesh, nuts, and seeds.

Acid Fruit can be combine with, High Starch Veggies, Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Beets, Peas, Carrots, Chestnuts, Pumpkin, Squash, Zucchini, Cauliflower, Cabbage. and Green Veggies,

Fatty Fruits, Nuts and Seeds, All of these are listed above with the exception of Durian which needs to be eaten alone. All of the rest can be combine with Acid Fruits, Green Veggies.

 High Starch Veggies  can be eaten with, Green Veggies, Fatty Fruits, Nuts and Seeds, with the exception of the Durian. Again needs to be eaten alone.

  Foods to be eaten alone and not mixed with ANYTHING are all of your Melons Water and liquids.
I do know the reason for these two. Melons and water and other liquids dilute your stomach acid and makes to so that your digestive juices can not work as effectively. Therefore should be eaten alone. :0)

 This is the list and for now I will do my best to follow it and as I do I will continue to learn about the Why behind it. For now this is all. Hope this helps those out there who are like me and just trying. This has been a journey and there have been times (like tonight) where I had to question if I could really eat like this long term and why I am doing this in the first place. (Please refer back to writing down your "why") This is what keeps me going and looking at the long term. Step by step and learning the benefits is a huge help.
   
   Keep smiling :0) hugs, Emily

Day 9-10 5K with my family

  We took the kids on their first 5K. It was a good experience, but one of the hardest 5Ks I have ever done!!! We were so excited about taking them out to do our fist family run.

    Going into the race I knew that I would have to help Beeps because she is only 6 years old. For those of you who don't know a 5K is 3.1 miles. I ended up carrying her on my shoulders most of the time. Doing things like this is good for me, it is a good reminder how much I used to carry around with me all of the time.  We are doing better going out and doing things with the kids. We need to up our activity level as a family.

    I want to let you know how things are going with the diet. Both with my family and with me.

    Let's start with me, I am doing well. I have not been perfect at this, and the first week was not always easy. The thing that have been the hardest to stay away from, which I have not been successful most of the time with, is French Bread.  I don't eat a lot of bread in general but French Bread is my down fall. The times that I have fallen off of the wagon it has been because of the French Bread. I think that for the time being what I need to do is to write down what I am craving, then tell myself that at the end of the 30 days I can eat the bread, or what ever I am craving. I will let you know how that is working.

  So, how are things with the family? That has been a little tricky. The kids love the fruit and I haven't taken away the cheese, eggs, etc. However, I am not replacing them after we run out. If the kids start to miss the cooked food and ask for it over and over again then I will reassess what needs to happen. My goal it so make really yummy food so that they don't miss the cooked food for breakfast. I will keep you updated on how that is going as well.

 Tomorrow I will be making a list of the food combinations I as still learning about why the combinations are important because of this I won't be saying a whole lot about why it is important not to eat certain foods with other foods. Keep an eye out for that post coming tomorrow.
  
 

 

Day 8 & 9 Feeling GREAT!!!!!! Also, cleaned out my food

                     I didn't get the chance to blog yesterday, I took the children rollerskating.

It's a little fuzzy but the blur in the black skirt is Spice. 

Today I want to talk about the energy that I feel. It is amazing!!! I was talking to a friend of mine after I left I noticed that I was talking a million miles an hour. Little confession here. I got hooked on the 5 hour energy shots. Which is part of the reason that I decided to go raw.

    To have the natural energy through the right kinds of food. I also don't want to become a slave to anything. Which is what happens when you are addicted to something. After I realized how much and how fast I was talking I realized how GOOD I felt. I can't really describe it, I felt like I had taken one of the shots. The difference was that I didn't have a crash. When I finally did get tired, it was a healthy tired. I did notice however, that I did start to get the munchies around 9:30ish. I figured out that it was because I was tired. I needed to rest but wasn't able to. I had to pick up my hubby from the airport at 11:30pm. But I slept well when I finally did crash. 

Here is my day

I was mostly raw yesterday. It was again a little tricky because we went to my sisters house. She does not do raw but I made it work. I did try some of her "Fire Dragon Chili" I really liked it. I had about 1/4 of a cup. I may have to get that recipe. 

Today, I feel a little tired but that is because I went to bed LATE and wonk up early. I couldn't  fall back to sleep so I went to the gym. I may have to take a nap a little later. Anyways, I wanted to show you what my fridge ect looked like before I cleaned it out and what it looks like now. 

I don't like to though away food so I gave it to my niece and her husband who just got into their new place.  I helped both of us, I got rid of a ton of stuff and they don't have to go and spend the money for it. 

These are not in order. But I will explain each section. 

This is the small drawer in my fridge before I cleaned it out. This is where I usually keep the cheese, sandwich makings ect. 

                                         This is the second drawer where we keep our dairy. 

                                                       
                                                     Bottom drawer is a fruit drawer.

                                                    Oh my, ya all of the sauces and milks.

                                           Freezer. this shelf is frozen veggies and grapes.

                                                       Frozen greens for shakes.

                                              Shelf where the nuts and grain type things go.

                                                 Top shelf in the fridge. Greens for salads.

 Eye level to Beeps and Bear this is what I usually have here as well as grapes or other fruit.

 Middle shelf  veggies and other things. These tomato's are going to be turned into salsa. :0) Then eggs. Hanging on the side is an onion.

                                                                        Juicing veggies

All in all not so bed right? Like I said before I was doing the "Clean Eating" 

I cleaned it up and cleared some of the stuff away so here are the pictures of the after. I also added pictures of my pantry and other placed that I put food. 

        This is now the second shelf up. Still eye level to the kids so they can pick healthy. :0)

 Bottom drawer. Ruby Red Grapefruit. (Pink doesnt work so well in my back ground), Plums. 

Dairy drawer, still kept the yogurt and butter but added more Grapefruit and Pomegranates

The door. I only kept a few of the sauces. Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Spicy Mustard. Some Ranch for my children.  I also kept my bee pollen

                           Cheese drawer, Eggs and the cheese and meat, tortillas under that.

Same as above.

      Eye level, Raspberries, Strawberries, Sugar Snap Peas, Green Beans, Had the Tomato's but I ate them all. Mmmmmm

In my cupboard Bananas, Red Pears. SOOOOO GOOD!!!!

                                             This is my pantry. Top shelf is where I keep things that I need to refill and can goods.

                                                        Grains and my sunflower head. Below are more refill and other grains ect.

 I decided to open the drawers to show you what is inside.  This one is Pop Corn.

 Roots, Sweet Potato, Onions Potatos. 

                                                         Sweeteners and Corn shells.

 Pastas, All Wheat or grain. No white here folks.

 Floor, In the buckets are my flours to make bread and then I have my Brown baking sugar.

                                          On the side of the drawers are my vinegar's and oils.

Later today we are going to take the kids to a 5K  and a kiddie run. It will be a good time. Will post those pictures tomorrow. 

                                                   
I also have decided to put on a feast!!! I have wanted to speak for a while now about health as well as sharing my journey. I think that it is time to just jump in and DO IT!!! Sooooo, the last part of February I am planing on setting a date. I am excited!!! I will be sharing my journey from where I was a child to now. How I am feeling and what it was like to do this. And I am also going to talk about the importance of eating raw.
    It's not an all or nothing here, You don't have to start jumping headfirst into the pool here. But it is always good to continue learning about health. Anyway,s look out for that with an official date, time, place. Also please feel free to let me know if you are interested. I will need to know how much food I will need, and also get a place large enough. :0) I will let you know a price as well.
   Hugs, Emily