week completiONE

week one is complete! well except for maybe a little dessert tonight... this week has been great and im really happy with how i feel and the changes in daily life that this raw food diet creates. its great to not have to count calories or fat, stick to one slice of this or that, or be tempted by that hunk of french bread sitting at eye level in my cabinet. i love that all of my food yummy and there is no tempting when all of your food is healthy and raw! ive been messing around at "new frontiers natural foods market" and getting quite aquatinted with veggie mixtures and cold-pressed dressing concoctions. my average day goes something like this...

upon waking: my version of "green lemonade" made out of TJ green juice (spirulina, kale, spinach, wheatgrass blend), gravenstien raw apple juice, lemon juice, and a bit of raw honey. i don't have a juicer so this is the best way for me to get the nutrients from the detox

breakfast: 20 oz. fruit smoothie- usually acai blueberry or orange juice, mixed frozen berries, pineapple or mango, honey, and pomegranate seeds

snack: fruit, fruit juice, or fruit iced tea

lunch: large veggie salad with raisins, seeds, and gold elixir or honey mustard dressing

snack: dried unsulfured fruit, homemade breakfast bars, larabar, or seeds

dinner: varieties of baked or roasted veggies, raw salad or cut veggies, and sprouted grain tortilla or bread

dessert: almond butter and apple or larabar

now this is just a little bit of an oversimplification but overall its been pretty close. im surprised at how little i have been craving foods that i "cannot" have (except like i said before i am missing cheese, sandwiches, and foofy coffees). so im a pretty, darn happy girl!

heavenly breakfast bar

im back in the swing of school and approaching the conclusion of my first week on the raw food diet. woohoo! its been delicious and i feel great so far. although i will admit that i am missing cheese and vanilla lattes quite a bit... beside that i am feeling really good about the switch over and have transitioned quite well over to "the raw side".

anywhooo, the roommates were gone this afternoon, i had no pressing homework, and therefore what must i do? cook, thats right! so i made a delicious spinach, onion, and sweet pepper crustless quiche for dinner and these breakfast bars.

i highly suggest them. heres the recipe for "breakfast bars" from veggiemealplans.com! (i think i might use this website more because they have a bunch of great vegetarian, vegan, and dairy free recipes- check it out)

Date Mixture:

1/2 cup diced dried dates

1/2 cup water

Flax Mixture: 5 teaspoons ground flaxseed

1/2 cup water

Dry Ingredients:

2/3 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup ground amaranth**

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup chopped raw almonds

1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds**

1/3 cup diced dried apricots 2/3 cup raisins

Lightly coat a 9"x9" baking pan with oil or cooking spray.

Prepare Date Mixture: Add 1/2 cup water and diced dates to a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until dates are soft. (Mixture will be thick.) Allow to cool.

Prepare Flax Mixture: Combine 1/2 cup water and the ground flax. Set aside for five minutes to thicken. Mix all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add flax mixture to date puree, stir well, and pour into dry ingredients. Mix to combine. Press mixture into baking pan. Bake at 350 F for approximately 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. You can eat them right after they cool but they taste even better after sitting at least one hour.

**i didnt have amaranth or sunflower seeds but the raw food diet suggests that you eat coconut so i though id add some shredded coconut in there too for a little crunch.

i wrapped them up individually and im excited to have something substantial to bite into for an afternoon snack!

rested, replenished, and RAWring to go.

i mentioned it a few weeks ago, but recently i have been reading up on different detoxes and i found one that i am in love with. so today is the start to my raw food lifestyle change. after watching “food inc.” and reading natalia rose’s “the raw food detox diet” book over this spring break im on my way to veganism…. not really, but close (i have a love affair with cheese- really though). basically it comes down to this: i want to lose weight, i need to eat more veggies, and im pretty grossed out now by food “standards” and chemicals today. hence- emily is doing a raw food cleanse! (well 85% raw to begin with and increasing up to 98%)… im nervous.

my day will consist of juiced “green lemonade” (a juice blend of celery, kale, lemon, apple, and honey/ginger) upon waking, breakfast, lunch and snacks of 100% raw foods. this “raw until dinner” will be followed by dinner consisting primarily of raw foods with some cooked items aswell.

foods on the cleanse include (fyi this is not a comprehensive list):

raw vegetables*

raw fruit

raw unslated nuts and seeds

unsulfured dried fruit

almond butter

raw maple syrup and honey

almond milk

legumes and black beans

brown and wild rice

grilled fish

raw goat or sheep cheese

coconut milk and flesh

limited poultry

cold-pressed oils

*primarily raw, uncooked green veggies; with limited amounts of starch veggies, e.g. potatoes, butternut squash, and pumpkin)

now lets be honest. im a newbie and im going to mess up but my plan is to keep you informed with great recipes and hopefully youll see some great progress along with me! I will be strictly sticking to this for exactly one month (then cheating a bit on my 21st birthday-woops, don’t guilt trip me, my body will do that for me the day after) then returning quickly after. im super excited now that i have read about it a bunch and im ready for some healthy eating!

have you ever gone raw? cleansed? dieted and failed and then dieted and failed again? (me too!)

oh baby girl

carrot oatmeal muffins. bomb. dense, oatty, moist. try them with some cream cheese on top. delicious.

heres the recipe from cooks.com

1 1/3 c. all purpose flour***
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 c. uncooked oats
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 c. shredded carrots (about 2)
1/2 c. skim milk
2 slightly beaten egg whites
1/3 c. melted butter (5 1/3 tbsp.)***
1 tsp. vanilla

heat oven to 375 degrees. spray 12 medium muffin cups with no-stick cooking spray or line with paper baking cups. combine first 8 ingredients; mix well. add combined milk, egg whites, butter, and vanilla, mixing just until moistened. fill prepared cups 3/4 full. bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 1 1/2 dozen.

*** i substituted whole wheat flour for all purpose flour and used applesauce instead of butter. healthy yeah!

p.s. my sister hannah got her wisdom teeth out this morning so i am home bound waiting on her hand-and-foot... even though she told me i had two heads and asked for a bell to "ring me" when she needs something (ill let it pass she was still quite loopy and out of it) point and case today is a cooking, relaxing, crafting, planning day for me... woohoo!

THE bucket list.

hello again! as promised, here is my bucket list as of now. 60 items, some down, many to go. i will add and cross out as i go. most importantly i will document my accomplishments as i go!

1. climb mtn. kilimanjaro
2. take part in a protest in washington, dc
3. visit auschwitz concentration camp
4. live for a month on a dollar a day
5. go on a rv road trip across America and see the national parks
6. plant my own vegetable, herb, and flower garden
7. walk across ireland
8. participate in a triathlon- june 2008
9. deliver a baby
10. get my scuba license
11. marry my soulmate
12. have children
13. live in a big city loft apartment
14. volunteer in a third world country- july 2010
15. learn to meditate
16. become a wedding planner on the side
17. trek to machu picchu- july 2008
18. send a message in a bottle
19. paint a mural
20. climb halfdome
21. keep a journal
22. start and maintain a blog
23. lead a book club
24. save my v-card for my honeymoon night
25. boat to seal island, south africa
26. stay in a hillside ocean villa in greece
27. go on an “around the world ticket” trip
28. drink beer at oktoberfest in munich
29. live like a local in south america for a month
30. see and participate in the running of the bulls in spain
31. skinny dip in the ocean- multiple occasions...
32. keg stand
33. learn wine and cheese pairings
34. learn to throw pottery
35. hike in the swiss alps
36. snorkel the great barrier reef
37. bungee jump
38. shop at pikes place farmers market in seattle
39. learn about and take up photography
40. have my own etsy site
41. invest in stocks wisely
42. write a cookbook
43. visit patagonia
44. paddle board
45. change someone’s life chances
46. vote- nov 2009... go obama!
47. reach my ideal weight
48. study abroad- july 2010
49. travel around sub-saharan africa
50. do 100 push-ups consecutively
51. become a regular kayaker
52. kiteboard
53. sleep in a hut over the carribean sea
54. photograph people in their culture
55. ride an elephant
56. own my own business
57. own my own house
58. become a nurse practitioner
59. white-water raft
60. see the northern lights
61. see iguazu falls-july 10, 2010
62. learn spanish
63. be a great listener
64. become a kayaker
65. design and make a piece of furniture with dad

i bet you want to make a bucket list now... i bet you do... its really fun.... come on make one!

dream big.

a girl can dream, right?

finals studying is overwhelming me at this moment but this little piece of amazingness is calming my senses.

what are you daydreaming about?

marchy-march

worst blogger ever. i need to make some resolutions or something so that someday i can maybe be one of those expert bloggers that have followers and such. oh that would be great! until then i have a few new other ideas and loves that can hopefully keep you entertained for a bit. to start it off... have you heard of the tv show "the buried life"?

:: yea, yea i know the whole bucket list thing has been done and done again but the newest "the buried life" show is the best. four guys, 100 things (to do before they die), accomplish them all. as you may have noticed i get into new ideas and thing quite often... therefor i have already begun my buried life list. ill post a whole list of them soon once i have 50 things! hmmm... whats on your list?

:: EOS rebel XS camera is on the top of my birthday list this year. ive done a bit of research and im thinking that this may just be "the one" for me. do you have it? do you love it? is there another better one?

:: steam room... nakie. after my work outs ive been soaking up some heat. its a new obsession and im thoroughly wanting to build one in my future home. one of those great ones made out of wood. you can sweat up to 1.2oz. per hour... now thats a lot of toxins.

:: peonies. nothing cheers me up like a bunch of these little guys. my dad is just about to put in the whole summer garden for this year and im hoping to get a few of these in the ground (if they are a spring flower?)

:: three books to read--- "push" and "the female brain" and "the bottom billion"... hopefully spring quarter tanning time will open up some time to read!

what are you into this month? any crafts, projects, or recipes i should try?

seester time

this weekend i had nothing going on and i was able to head down south to scripps college in claremont, ca to celebrate my best friend jen's birthday party! i had a blast and certainly enjoyed the fancy "cafeteria", orange and olive tree lined pathways, and b-e-a-u-t-f-u-l campus. its like resort college.... so beautiful and great, creative, fun people! thanks jen and friends i had so much fun!

after the fun birthday and stay at claremont i headed back to the city of angeles to hang out with my bestest seester hannah at UCLA! we had the best weekend. period. we ate emily/hannah meals, did a little shopping, chatted like sisters do, and i got to watch her soccer game on sunday.

i think the best part of the whole trip was our dinner at the "novel cafe" in westwood. warm goat cheese salad (that was bomb!) and rosemary chicken and eggplant sandwich. yummmmm!

if all of that wasn't great i topped off my trip with a famous "diddy riese" cookie sandwich for $1.50! ahhhh! i splurged for a chocolate-chip cookie, peanut butter cookie, and cookies-and-cream ice cream...

i can't take credit for this picture... i should have thought to snap a picture of my creation. thanks google!

is your mouth watering yet? $1.50? how do they do that?