Day 13- Not so much

OK, so I tried to follow up my success from yesterday with yet another great meal. This one...not so much. On the menu was Cream of Cucumber Soup, Asia Sesame Slaw and a few cracker. I had a great time making my dinner, let's start with the good news. The slaw was to die for. It was cabbage, broccoli slaw, toasted sesame seeds with a dressing of sesame oil, vinegar and agave. Awesome! Now, the bad news...MY "soup" SUCKED! Out of 1-3 stars, William gave me a 3 on my presentation. On the texture, a 2. Flavor...1/2 star. Is that even a rating??? I have to give him some credit though, he tried it and smiled. He didn't day it sucked until I did. For being such good sports, I made the men a treat. Homemade ice cream, with a twist...

Stick with my on this one, it is a little over the top but worth trying:

GREEN VANILLA ICE CREAM

1 1/2 c Almond milk

1 1/2 cup fresh baby spinach

2 T agave nectar

2 t vanilla extract

Ice

Mix all ingredients in the processor (less ice). Mix till smoothish. Add ice, mix till pretty smooth.

OMG- Charlie loved it. He asked how I made it green. When I told him it had "Popeye" spinach in it, he said " I want to eat this every day of my life". Now that makes a momma happy. It every hit was a home run, it wouldn't seem as cool when you REALLY hit it out of the park!

We ended the night with a viewing of FOOD INC. This is Williams first time seeing it. I think he is on my team now. Anyone how would like to use it, let me know. I am willing to lend it to fellow truth seekers. Oh, that is profound :)

Day 12 - Sushi, kind of

I am trying out some new recipes. You will find this one at the bottom of this post,. A gift from me to you! I found a great book on cooking raw for 1-2 people. I am finding that cooking this way does not need to cost a ton of money. It does take a bit more time. I think that is one of the greatest problems in my life. I am too busy to cook. I don't take the time to feed myself or my family properly. I am trying to change that.

On Thursday, William said that he would like to come home for dinner and try some of my food. I flipped through my book and found the perfect dinner combo. I made California rolls (no crab), corn relish and a cucumber-mint salad. It was so fun learning how to make a sushi roll. I bought the little seaweed papers and made it happen. Of course, most of the magic is in the presentation. William came home and was so impressed. We sat and talked with each other. Had a nice cup of tea with our meal and gazed into each others eyes. It was great.

Best part...he said that he loved it and would eat it again with me. He also gave me two thumbs up. I ended my night with a session of yoga with the other man in my world. Loving taking care of the boys (the girl was at a sleepover).

California Rolls

2 nori sheets

2 ts. mellow white miso

2 c. alfalfa sprouts

1/2 ripe avocado thinly sliced

1/4 cucumber seeded and sliced lengthwise

1/4 c carrots grated

1/4 red bell pepper cut lengthwise into thin strips

sauce for dipping

lay a sheet, spread 1 t. of miso across the nori sheet horizontally. Layer half onto the sheet. Roll tight with a bamboo mat (or a paper towel, white trash style like me). Use a little water on your finger to close the sheet. Repeat for the second. Cut into 6 slices. Present on a nice plate with some sauce (I use liquid amino's). Serve with a side of something yummy. ENJOY!

Day 11 - I made it past...

Just a quick post to say that I MADE IT BELOW 200LBS. I have not been below 200 since I had Charlie, 7 years ago on the 10th. I am now at 198. That is a grand total of 22 lbs. I am very proud of myself. I put on a pair of pants today that used to be tight without having to unbutton them or unzip them. We are talking JEANS...not the stretchy kind either.

Keep going if you are doing this thing with me. WE CAN DO IT!!!

Day 9- FOOD INC.

May I suggest that you watch FOOD INC. sometime this week? I was shocked to learn how our food is processed. The way the animals are slaughtered for our consumption. In one slaughter house, 32,000 hogs are killed a day. I am not trying to change the world, I just believe that we need to be educated on what we eat. The movie was very well done. Madison and I both watched it. It was interesting to see that my kids are just now putting together the idea that nuggets once started as a chicken.

I do not think that we need to stop eat all meat completely. I believe that God created animals for our consumptions, but this is not the way. There are local farmers or growers that do this in a safe and humane way.

I would love to hear your input on this. Please check it out. Again, it was interesting and some what disturbing. Education is the real point to everything. Going into decisions with the facts makes life a little easier.

Day 8- Going in the RAW

So, confession time...two nights ago, I FAILED. I ate two dinner rolls and guess what happened, I felt so sick! The good thing about cleansing out your system is that you can try different foods and see how your body responds to it. Bread does not work for me. I love the taste of a nice hot homemade roll but I hate the feel of thinking my stomach is going to explode. So, BREAD IS OUT.

At this point, I am doing all fruits and veggies. I am at about 80% raw. Smoothies for breakfast are doing it for me. I use almond milk instead of dairy. I have taken all dairy out of my system completely. No cheese, no milk, no cream. Sugar has been replaced with agave nectar. I have had a cup or two of coffee. I have been meat free for 8 days.

I can definitely feel my body changing. I have not weighed in, but i feel better. I am still tired though. I do yoga every morning and evening. Come to find out that Charlie is a fan of yoga. He is my partner in crime every session. I imagine that is going to start kicking in soon.

Now, for the journey part. I am finding that I can easily turn this into legalistic rules of what I can or can't eat. I have starting thinking about this challenge as a diet. Any time my mind goes that way, I fail in minutes. That is what happen with the roll. "I have been so good, I can have a roll, it won't hurt me." It did. Not only did I feel gross after but I was disappointed in myself. I made a commitment to myself and gave in after only 6 days.

I have made peace with it and I am moving on. That is where I give up the most. "I already messed up, so I might as well give up." Well, not this time! I have forgiven myself, affirmed myself and love myself enough to carry on.

Day 5

What an amazing day!

I woke up this morning ready to start this day off right. After getting the kids off to school, i got myself ready to do some yoga. I had the house quite. The snow was lightly falling. Everything was perfect. I did a 70 minute yoga session. I found a video at the library called "yoga for beginners". It takes you thought each of the moves helping to teach you proper form. Loved it!

Lunch was tofu stir fry. Great!

Finally, the night ended with a wonderful dinner with great friends. Our family went to dinner at the Breedens. They live here in Fruita with their 3 kids in a yurt. That has always been Williams dream for us to live in a yurt. The best part is that Amy eat all "raw". She has been teaching her family to live a more clean and healthy lifestyle. For dinner we had zucchini pasta (which really isn't pasta but raw zucchini cut with a pasta shredder). She made raw spaghetti sauce. UNREAL!! To finish off we had raw chocolate chip cookies. These aren't the kind you get in the rolled dough, they are all natural dehydrated cacao powder and cashew cookies. They were awesome. I left there with too many recipes to even tell and a new outlook on this challenge. After studies I have been doing, I could see this as a possible lifestyle. I am now reading "The Raw Life". We'll see...so many books...so little time:)

God is so good to provide a voice and guide for me.

For anyone interested in the sauce recipe...IT IS GOOD!!!

Raw Spaghetti Sauce
2 tomatoes
2 T EVOO
Several cloves of garlic
1/2 c sun dried tomatoes
Basil, Parsley, Oregano
maybe salt to taste
blend all in a processor- add water for consistency

Day 4

Day 3 recap-
Sorry to not give you the big update yesterday. Wednesdays are such a crazy day in my world. I have youth group until late. I got home at 10:30 and remembered that I hadn't done my reading yet. The house was dark and everyone was asleep, so I didn't want to turn on the lights. To make this whole thing worked, I did my reading in the closet. Oh, I had to have both dogs in there with me because they would sit and wine outside the door.

I am having some amazing conversations lately. My mind is feeling pretty open to discussion. Everywhere I turn there seems to be people of different faiths, ages, ideas, all around. Instead of just passing the opportunities, I am taking them. For not have any coffee in several days, I am very energetic.

Day 4-
I am trying the most unusual food combos. I has shrimp and sweet potato stir fry yesterday. Today it was kale and portobello mushrooms with broccoli slaw stir fry. I know that they sound weird, but they are very tasty. Madison is loving all the veggies. Can't get either of the men in the house on board, but that will come with time.

I went for a great walk with Becky today. The sun is (was) out. They sky is (was) blue. Thank God for the sunshine. I am not sure I could have made it another day of winter. The walked helped to stretch out my sore legs. The squats really kicked my butt. It was hard for me to even sit on the toilet. I am not sure if those muscle haven't been used in a long time or I really pulled something. The stretching is helping for sure. It feels as though energy is rushing through me. The last few days, I have felt pretty spacey. Today I felt as though I had a grasp on life.

Today I was in such a positive mood. I have been focusing on my prayer life. It has been pretty dry as of late. I can feel a reconnect happening between me and God. You would think that working at my church should make that connection easy, but it makes it harder. I spend so much time working for God that I forget to talk to him. Isn't that what we do in so many of our important relationships? We spend so much time trying to make them happy, that we forget to connect with them. This is a lesson that is hard for me to learn. When I love you, I "do" for you. That is my love language. The only problem is that I am usally so tired from working to please you, that I forget to say I love you. I forget to spent time with you. I forget what your language is. See, I believe that God just wants us to spend time with Him. To say "good morning" and "good night". As the creator of my life and the center of my world, you would think that that shouldnt be so hard for me.