Yesterday was very fun. I fasted on distilled water until late afternoon, even throughout my interview at Bloomingfoods! Bloomingfoods, our local co-op grocery store, is hiring part-time cooks to work on the hot/salad bar and grab-n-go items. I'm fairly certain I'll get the job, which is absolutely fantastic!
After my interview, I headed over to Shana and Hillary's place. Hillary came home from work, we talked for a bit, then headed over to Bloomingfoods. I broke my fast with a piece of absolutely delightful red pear that was being offered as a sample at the store. We then sampled strawberrries, pineapple, and some sort of tangering hybrid. It was delicious! The most exciting part of the trip was the raw trail mix. This trail mix had dried goji berries and cacao nibs in it, both of which I hadn't ever tried before. They were both absolutely delicious!
We had (vegan) Indian cuisine at Bombay House for dinner, then went back to Bloomingfoods for dessert. More trail mix for me!!! That's three trips in one day to my favorite place in town!
Working there over the summer should hopefully help me stay raw and keep motivated. I've been thinking a lot about my motivation lately. I think I'm going to watch a raw video on YouTube each morning after I wake up, which will hopefully keep me positive and excited about eating raw. Matt Monarch's feature on the Raw Food TV Spot is particularly enjoyable and uplifting:
I'm so frustrated! I want to go raw right now. I wish I had the money to do it. I think I'm going to try to get as near to 100% raw as I can starting now...I keep reading Angela Stokes's blog and I get so inspired and I feel so happy and enlightened...then I make something with tofu or rice or cooked vegetables and feel guilty and depressed, even though it's vegan. Worst of all, I feel like a traitor to my little enzymes. I'm going to concentrate on getting greens, keeping my refined sugar intake as low as possible (which is really a difficult thing for me to do but hopefully will be easier if I'm eating a greater percentage of raw foods), and learning even more about raw living. I'm going to focus on forgiving myself and not being too hard on myself if I have a slip here and then-- that doesn't mean I won't try my best! I'm going to develop my relationship with my juicer, too! ;)
By the by, does anyone know the status of tea? Is it raw?
This was a fabulous weekend! I'm still struggling with my carbohydrates but am really excited to have completed a successful vegan weekend at home- something that is hard to do, considering the amount of (delicious) non-vegan food my mom keeps in the house. We all managed to stay vegan and ended up making really nice vegan pizzas. We had one with sauce and veggies and one with BBQ sauce, pineapple, and veggies! They were so good. We also made great smoothies with fruit, mostly bananas, strawberries, and kiwi! Shana also ate some delightful plums, and I tried Pom tea for the first time. Interestingly enough, Hillary told me they're cruel to animals I found this article as well as a couple others that topic.
"And now for something completely different!" Here's the link to that delicious recipe-- the raw Eggplant and Avocado Salad!
Living-Foods.com is a wonderful resource. I think white onion is the best choice for this recipe. We used white as opposed to red onion during our vegan dinner and it was a perfect compliment to the sweet honey and the delicate avocado. Hillary and Shana actually tried it with red onion a couple nights ago and found it to be a little less than perfect.
In other news! I'm going to try fasting a couple days this week, probably with juices, since we recently acquired a deluxe "Jack La Lanne" Power Juicer! Once I find some good resources about juicing and gather up a few good recipes I'll post them, for sure.
We're off to watch the L word and have vegan chocolate peanut butter pie! And perhaps to watch Hillary dance around the living room topless. Love and peace, all! -Sam
I made something delightful for dinner! It's called....Italian Tofu Burrito. It's very cosmopolitan!
Ingredients: 1 flour tortilla 1 small roma tomato, chopped 1 1/2 cups baby spinach and/or basil 1/4-1/2 cup firm tofu in small chunks extra virgin olive oil (cold-pressed) 1 t. dried oregano Onion or onion powder/flakes to taste salt and pepper to taste
Directions: Sautee tomatoes and tofu in oil for a bit (approx. 5 min). Add spinach and continue to sautee until wilted Add seasonings
Serve on a warm tortilla!!
It's simply fantastic, and absolutely fast. You could definitely go organic on all the ingredients; this meal isn't raw at all, but it's completely vegan! I hope you try it and please feel free to post any recipes you may have or invent along the way! -Sam
Well, everyone! Yesterday was my first day totally vegan. I had been trying the past few days and had decided it would be better for me to transition instead of jump right in again. I feel great! I had a delicious day yesterday and ate only one cooked meal (lunch). I'm trying to eat more raw foods, too, and it's getting to a point where I feel very guilty about putting cooked food into my body. I feel bad for my poor, hard-working little enzymes! I want them to live!! Anyways, I just wanted to share with you how proud I am of myself. I hope to continue in such a great direction but I'm trying to understand, too, that if I 'relapse' it's not because I don't have willpower, but because cooked food and dairy are real addictions. I'm still considering myself in the transition phase but hope to be totally vegan by spring break, no later than the week after. Cheers! -Sam
Peace and love,
After my interview, I headed over to Shana and Hillary's place. Hillary came home from work, we talked for a bit, then headed over to Bloomingfoods. I broke my fast with a piece of absolutely delightful red pear that was being offered as a sample at the store. We then sampled strawberrries, pineapple, and some sort of tangering hybrid. It was delicious! The most exciting part of the trip was the raw trail mix. This trail mix had dried goji berries and cacao nibs in it, both of which I hadn't ever tried before. They were both absolutely delicious!
This was a fabulous weekend! I'm still struggling with my carbohydrates but am really excited to have completed a successful vegan weekend at home- something that is hard to do, considering the amount of (delicious) non-vegan food my mom keeps in the house. We all managed to stay vegan and ended up making really nice vegan pizzas. We had one with sauce and veggies and one with BBQ sauce, pineapple, and veggies! They were so good. We also made great smoothies with fruit, mostly bananas, strawberries, and kiwi! Shana also ate some delightful plums, and I tried Pom tea for the first time. Interestingly enough, Hillary told me they're cruel to animals I found this article as well as a couple others that topic.
