Mexico Bans Junk Food!

In a recent news article, reporter Jo Tuckman reports that the Mexican government will soon be banning junk food and fried foods (like tacos) from public primary and secondary schools! School shops will not be allowed to sell junk food and cafeterias will not be allowed to cook junk food! 

 

Apparently, over 25% of school-aged children are obese in Mexico, and Mexican president Felipe Calderon, in cahoots with the education minister, have decided that they will only feed their children healthier, low-fat foots to encourage better choices.

The article does mention, however, that food vendors selling candy and sodas are still legally allowed to congregate around school property to sell children the very foods they've been banned from.

My favorite line from the article is this: "The health minister Jose Angel Cordoba said consumption of fruits and vegetables in the last 15 years has fallen by 40% while consumption of sweetened drinks rose by 50%." Its incredible, isn't it? 

So, that's my news tip for today! What do you all think about this!?

"ITS HOT" Salad (Edit-its not really that hot)

So, I have three recipes, with pictures, ready to be blogged about so I had to choose between them. I decided, since it is just SO HOT here in southern Indiana, that it would be great to share something a little more.....cool. What's funny about that is that my non-raw friends often think that ALL raw food feels cold when you eat it. Not so, I say...not so! Some is warming!

But this...THIS is cooling. Well, the salad itself is. Actually, now that I think about it, the dressing has tons of ginger in it, so its probably more of a "warming" salad. Hah! Well, anyway, now that I have gone on and on about that AND discovered that my "hot" theme really doesn't play out--a cool salad with warming dressing, let me just TELL YOU about the salad.

This is my all-time favorite salad to date. Its got garden-fresh organic lettuce (romaine and some other varieties), baby spinach, red cabbage, black olives (MMMMMMMMMMM--they were left over from some black olive hummus I made from Ani Phyo's book), red onions, and cucumbers--topped with a Sweet and Spicy Sesame dressing. You'll notice on Wednesday's blog that we are these salads AGAIN with some raw soup. It was just that good.

Honestly...10 raws (this can't happen. There are only 5 raws on the scale. That's how much I LOVE this salad). MMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yum! I want one now! Look at more pictures of it:

YUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

Ok, I'll stop freaking out about how good this salad is...but only if you promise to one day try this baby.

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

ok, sorry.

...

yum!

Daily Raw Cafe Giveaway-Check it out!

So, many of you may know this, but The Daily Raw Cafe is having their 3rd Anniversary Cyber Celebration giveaway! They are giving away a TON of awesome things! I am super excited about the chia seed giveaway, the raw truffles, and some awesome raw food books! GO ENTER THE DRAWING! :)

Thanks all!

Raw for 30, Fitness Update, New Blog

So, last night Andrew and I watched "Raw for 30 Days," an independent film that documents 6 people with Diabetes as they go to Gabriel Cousens' Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center (Raw Food Camp, basically) in Arizona. It was AWESOME! We watched it during dinner (not a raw dinner, but a healthy vegan one) and were just SHOCKED at the amazing results, the emotions, and everything else. The movie rocks! Seriously, check it out at your local library or buy it. It was GREAT!

I cried a few times out of joy and sadness and shock and everything else!

Here's a trailor for the movie:

In other news...we are starting a new blog. It's called Training Titus, and we will be documenting (hopefully with a lot of videos) the training process of our little family doggy, the CATTLE DOG, named TITUS! Here is a link to the new blog. Check it out! 

FITNESS UPDATE: I have lost 1 inch, 6lbs. Next month, June, is called "Just Live June" where I am going to work MUCH harder to attain my fitness goals. YAY! So excited to get going with this. WOOT!

Salsa Cruda

One of my biggest joys in life is SALSA and CHIPS. I just can't get enough! I honestly sometimes sit and eat entire jars of salsa for lunch (not quite the full nutritional content I could get with some added leafy greens.......). I LOVE salsa. I LOVE LOVE it. So, I have been wanting to make a chunky, raw salsa. And I did!

It was SO GOOD! I give it 5 raws. Andrew gives it 3.5 or 4 raws. He says, "It was delicious but there was room for improvement. It was a good chunky salsa." What a turd. I promise, it was closer to a 5 ;)

Anyway, here's what I did:

Ingredients:

6 Roma tomatoes, chopped into tiny sweet little chunks

Onion

Cilantro

Cumin

Chili Powder

Lime Juice

After cutting the tomatoes into chunks, I washed and rinsed them. While they were being rinsed, I cut up everything else. I threw it all in the mixing bowl you see, and taste tested for amounts. The cumin and chili powder were equal parts, but everything else was a mix and match fest!

A really really tasty one! A 5 raw recipe!

By the way, I didn't use my food processor for this at all. I read online that salsa cruda gets too mushy in the food processor, so I chopped and hand mixed the ingredients. It was really good and I can definitely see why the mushy would be bad! The chunks were just so good.

MAKE THIS and enjoy! :)

Pre-Pregnancy and Folic Acid

As many of you know, I am looking forward to one day becoming a MOMMY. Of course, (as far as I know) that won't be for a little bit. Not too long, but long enough to have time to PREPARE my body for a little growing baby.

I've been thinking A LOT lately about Folic Acid, as its one of the most important nutrients my baby/ies will need. Here is a copy and pasted definition of Folic Acid from MedlinePLUS:

Folic Acid Also called: Folacin, Folate, Pteroylglutamic acid, Vitamin B9

Folic acid is a B vitamin. It helps the body make healthy new cells. Everyone needs folic acid. For women who may get pregnant, it is really important. When a woman has enough folic acid in her body before and during pregnancy, it can prevent major birth defects of her baby's brain or spine. Foods with folic acid in them include leafy green vegetables, fruits, dried beans, peas and nuts. Enriched breads, cereals and other grain products also contain folic acid.

So, what do I, as an almost-soon-to-be-pregnant lady NEED to be eating in order to make sure that I am getting plenty of Folic Acid? There are a ton ton ton of veggies and fruits and leafy greens that include folic acid. Check out this nutrient chart that can help you plan better, more folic acidy meals!

For more information, check out WomensHealth.org's cite about folic acid.

Transforming my Blog!

So, I'm changing this blog. That is what the picture represents. Transformation. Um, in the form of robots and cars...but on here, it will come in the form of a new schedule for my beloved blog!

I woke up one day and decided that I am not organized enough on here. No one knows what to expect! Well, I'm changing it! I am just simply changing it. Let me tell you the weekly plan:

Mondays: On Mondays, I am going to write about the food industry or raw news. This way, we can have a dialogue going about what the world/nation (U.S.) is doing in regards to food, sales, farming, pesticides, etc. Perhaps this will give people a better idea of what they put into their bodies.

Tuesdays: Raw pregnancy/momhood/women's health.

Wednesdays: Food/Recipes. Simple enough.

Thursday: Free day! Here I will talk about fitness, my own progress, the garden, etc. Just whatever I want.

Friday: Food/Recipes. Simple enough.



How does this sound!? I think I covered the basics of what I would LIKE to cover, and left enough room in case I want to write about something that just doesn't fit into these categories.

And so, with that announced, check back on Monday for some exciting/horrifying news about the food or raw food industries! :)



PS: You now have the ability to subscribe to my blog by e-mail, so that will be helpful for all you non-blogspot bloggers. :)

Lemon Coconut Bars!

So, I made Ani Phyo's Lemon Coconut Bars with cocoa sauce from her book Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. I took them to our church Small Group last week and most of them were gone by the end of the study!!! They were SO GOOD, in my opinion, and deserve 5 RAWS! RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW! (Roma roma ma ga ga oo la la...want your lemon coconut barrrrs)...

While I can't tell you the recipe (go look it up in the book), I did alter some things and I will tell you about that. I doubled the recipe, added some water to the bar mixture which helped it stick together, soaked half of my almonds (the ones IN the bars, not the "flour"), and added about two tablespoons of agave to the carob sauce (and I also used cocoa instead of carob). Finally, I sprinkled some extra coconut on top to make it prettier.



The pictures are of the lemon/coconut bars in travel containers since I was making them for the Bible study. Enjoy!

10 Things About Me.

Well, I've been seeing a lot of these "10 things about me" blog posts and decided I would try one out for myself. Here are 10 things you may or may not know about me.

1. I have and love the most beautiful family on Earth. God has shown me amazing grace by providing me with the love and support of Andrew and Titus, my in-laws, and my own mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, father, etc. and THEIR families. My nephew is the most adorable baby ever. My little brother and sister bring me a ton of joy. Titus teaches me patience and rewards me with cuddles. Andrew leads and supports me in a way that is incredibly sanctifying. They are all wonderful.



2. I'm reading a book titled, "Start your Family: Inspiration for Having Babies," to get a grasp on a Biblical perspective of babies. AND why young marrieds shouldn't be afraid of them. :)

3. I'm OBSESSED with food and nutrition. ..but I also love love love to eat things like cakes and loaded pizzas and Mexican food.

4. I crave green smoothies in the afternoons, when I used to crave coffee. Of course, I still have a little coffee in the mornings, but I have cut out a LOT of it.

5. I think Ani Difranco is a genius. . . and very very close to a Biblical understanding of the world. She speaks incredible amounts of Truths in her work--and her talent moves me. My favorite song lyrics/quotes are these:
* So they went and stuffed God down the barrel of a gun and after him they stuffed his only son. (Hello Birmingham)
* Whoever said life is suffering they must have had their fingers on the pulse of joy. Aint the power of transcendence the greatest one we can employ?

6. I yearn for the Vita-Mix, the blender of all blenders that I CANNOT afford. While I love love love my home blender that we got with wedding money, the Vita-Mix beckons to me at juice bars and blogs anywhere I go. :[ It haunts me.

7. I am currently writing free-lance articles for LiveStrong.com

8. I really enjoy my job and I love my boss!!! You can check out her blog here: Justine Dell

9. My biggest guilty pleasure is watching LOST--I love love love Sawyer and Charlie, but please do not tell me ANYTHING about the finale because I AM ONLY ON SEASON 3 RIGHT NOW! Trying to catch up!

10. I want to be a dietitian, but I can't do the required internship, so I can't be one.

Monday Update-30 day challenge

HELLO!

So, I must admit, I don't really feel much like I've been on a raw/living food challenge. As of today, our raw intake has fallen to about 75%. I mean, I still think that's pretty good! Because:

1. I feel great
2. I stopped using face-wash to wash my face, and my acne hasn't been an issue
3. I crave green smoothies and healthy stuff pretty regularly
4. I don't feel deprived like I did jumping into 100% raw
5. I have felt freedom to experiment and EAT real food -- you know, like gorging myself on an entire batch of guacamole and not feeling bad about it--because I had a green smoothie for breakfast and a light salad or lettuce wraps for dinner.
6. I have officially lost 8lbs and counting (only 12 left to go!)
7. Andrew and I have almost completely stopped eating at restaurants that don't have local, organic produce and foods.
8. We are eating slower and eating smaller portions.
9. I have incredible power when I jog...power I'm not used to!
10. I don't nap nearly as often.
11. I'm not lethargic.
12. My brain works better.
13. I'm not retaining water like I used to.
14. I have more energy.

I could go on, but I will spare you. Basically, I am most excited about the weight and feeling awake and less lethargic. Its an INCREDIBLE feeling. Speaking of food, though, I am feeling pretty hungry!

At the end of May, I am going to take my measurements (I did it at the beginning of the month) and will let you know if those have budged at all. Surely they will have, since I have lost pounds. We'll see!

Sick Mommy + Raw Food

This past week, my mother has been in the hospital due to some pretty severe health issues. In addition to Diabetes, she has fibromayalgia, chronic pancreatitis, and some other very debilitating problems. This week, she has been having some new symptoms (seizures and other things) that hopefully will alert the doctors to the cause of her more mysterious problems. Of course, she hasn't much strayed from the SAD (Standard American Diet) ever.

This weekend, Andrew and I visited her in the hospital for about 4 hours. While we were there, we got on the subject of food (her yummy-smelling yet very much NOT raw quesadilla came while we were there--flaky flour crust with cheese, chicken, and some peppers and tomatoes). We discussed the problems with the SAD, the neuro-toxins that are pesticides, what it is we put into our bodies and how that becomes a part of our bodies in our cells, bones, skin, etc. She didn't seem TOO interested in going raw--she loves SAD food MUCHO. Still, I told her about some lemon-coconut bars I made last week and the chocolate fudge cake I blogged about on my cocoa blog post. That got her attention! I think she would LOVE a raw diet, because she does love veggies, huge salads, and GOOD desserts!!! By the end of the conversation, I think she was considering adding more raw/healthy/clean food into her meals.

The best part of our conversation about food, though, was when Andrew told her that his ...erm, well, any bad side effects.. have only occurred when we deviate from raw food. She was pretty surprised to hear that.

I hope that my readers will pray for my mother's health as she battles whatever it is she battles! And, that she would begin to integrate more raw/living foods into her diet to help take back her health!

Introducing: The Garden of E-10

So, many of you know Andrew and I have begun a garden at our local community garden plot. Well, you might also be interested to know that I am going to tell you about it.

So far, we have only planted one 2x2 plot in our 10x20 plot. This weekend, we plan to do more. BUT, as it stands, we currently have some really big and healthy lettuce, some growing red onions (MY FAVORITE) and garlic, some Chia for chia-seeds (YUM!), and some cucumbers that may not make it due to a horrifying infestation of cucumber beetles.

Anyway, Andrew and I are so excited about this garden. We hope that we will be able to feed ourselves with our garden while also digging our hands into the dirt, learning more and more about God and he resources he gave us to nourish and fuel our bodies!

This weekend, we are DEFINITELY transplanting our habanero peppers and our mixed bell peppers. I also have been begging Andrew to get some seeds so we can start sprouting some different veggies. Anyway, I will update you more later in the season as our garden grows (pun intended)!

Andrew UNCOOKS! (Basil Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms)

The other day, Andrew decided he would like to try his hand at uncooking, so he made our raw, living foods dinner! Check out that picture! YUM!!!

Yeah, so he made an INCREDIBLE basil-pesto sauce and stuffed it in the mushroom caps. he also put it between some of those dried roma tomato slices you can see in the picture. Then he made us a beautiful side salad (with onions YUM!) and topped it with the chopped stems with olive oil and basil. This was probably THE BEST dinner we have had so far. It seems so simple but the taste was INCREDIBLE!!!!! I AM SO PROUD OF MY RAW/LIVING HUSBAND!!! Yay!

Check out these pics:

Doesn't that look beautiful? I'm so proud of him. We used walnuts in our pesto instead of the usual pine nuts because walnuts are WAY cheaper. It was still VERY good! Here is the recipe we used:

Ingredients

1/2 cup organic raw pine nuts

1/4 cup fresh basil

2 Tbsp organic unfiltered cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil

1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1-2 cloves of organic garlic

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup filtered water

Mix this in blender and stuff into mushroom caps! We dehydrated our mushrooms for 35 minutes so that they were warm and a little crispy.

God's Creation + Friday Update

Hello Everybody!

For a Friday update, Andrew and I are doing well on our high-raw diet. We did have a couple slip-ups this week. Wednesday, Andrew had a lunch date with the pastor at the church we have been attending and brought home veggie fajita leftovers. Now, if you noticed in one of my last posts the "I'M GOING CRAZY WANTING MEXICAN FOOD!" you can probably guess what happened. I GORGED myself on fajitas. Andrew and I both felt disgusting afterwards. Then, today, I woke up this morning and realized we literally had nothing to eat for breakfast. Knowing I won't be able to get to the grocery til later, I ended up eating something VERY bad for me (I'll let you use your imagination--I'm too embarassed to share!). Even with these two bad choices, we have pretty much been eating everything else raw. It has been INCREDIBLE!

On a totally different note-One of my favorite things about raw food is that it challenges my faith in so many ways. That sounds weird to some of my friends, but it has had a profound effect on my understanding of God and his grace and mercy! First, there's so much discipline involved in staying raw--it is a challenge! Ok, obviously, a challenge we fail at from time to time. But it really is a challenge--and I am learning so much about discipline through making healthy choices and pushing myself.

My favorite thing, though, is how beautiful raw/living food is. It is SO simple. So perfect. So nourishing. It is a tangible act of mercy on God's part. Our body is created to need food. He gave us food that tastes good and is so...simple! We love to complicate things to make them "Faster" and "Easier" when in reality the fastest and easiest foods are pure foods. I told Andrew that its like looking at a red bell pepper. It's a beautiful shape and color. It has one of the sweetest tastes-it is so good. And it is so full of vitamins! God gave us food that not only keeps us alive but also looks and tastes amazing! And through that, through that mercy and grace and the pleasure of eating what he provides, I learn about Him and his love for us. I mean, is there really anything more beautiful?

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food." (Genesis 1:29)

And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9)

Pineapple Banana Smoothie

Oh yes... Its another day in another week of our crazy, awesome, lovely, married lives. That's a good thing! Andrew and I have noticed a real difference in our bodies, our minds, our moods, etc. since starting the 100% challenge that turned into a high raw challenge. It really is amazing. I almost don't know why anyone would want to eat a SAD. I will say that I have been having some serious cravings for Mexican food so I have been making a TON of guacamole and eating a TON of salsa! I can't get enough!

Well--let me talk about the actual point of this post! Today, Andrew slept a little later while I got up and prepared our wonderful lunches (I made a pretty yummy honey/lemon salad dressing) and our breakfast. Andrew has told me once that he is not a huge fan of green smoothies and much prefers some eggs or pancakes or other yummy-tasting food that fills his belly with warmth. Well, for the next 3 weeks, Andrew will probably not get much of a chance to have that kind of breakfast because we are on a high-raw high-vegan diet.

As for this beautiful spring morning, though, I made these cute, green, speckled smoothies. Here is what I threw in:

A few handfuls of spinach

Apx. 1 cup of orange/mango juice

Apx. 2 cups of pineapple

1 banana

Apx. 1 cup of frozen banana (so cold I love it)

2 Romaine leaves

So, I blended the spinach and juice first until that was pretty much mush. Then, I added the pineapple and blended. Once that was smooth, I threw in all the banana-frozen and regular. Then, because I didn't think it was enough for the two of us, I put in the romaine lettuce.

This smoothie tasted SO GOOD! I think its the best one I've made yet. They just keep getting better!

A Transition to Veganism

HAPPY PIGS! :)

As I sit here reflecting on our transition to raw food, it amazes me how EASY the transition to a (mostly) vegan diet has been. While Andrew will ALWAYS love his free-range farmer's market eggs in the morning, we have really shied away from any and all animal products with incredible ease. In just attempting to be healthier through raw foods, we have found NO NEED to use animal products.

Our substitutions include:

*Almond milk instead of cow/animal milk for baking, smoothies, drinking, cereal, etc.
*Honey/Agave/Maple Syrup and Dates for cakes and sweet treats
*Nut Pates and mixtures for meat replacements (Of course, there are also soy/non-meat replacements)
*Nut Cheeses instead of dairy cheese (There are also soy/non-dairy cheeses available)
*Beans instead of beef for taco-like meals
*Green Smoothies instead of Eggs (There are also vegan egg replacements available...I think its tofu or soy, two things Andrew and I avoid)

So, while I think eating healthy, free range meat, eggs, and/or dairy from farms you trust is important if you are not going to go vegan, I will say that the transition is EASY if you are in need of a healthier, more friendly and sustainable diet.

I can't tell you enough how easy it is. It is AMAZING how easy this has been. I mean, really, vegan recipes, even if you aren't raw, are very easy to find and incredibly tasty.  If you're into more gourmet vegan recipes, check out THIS BLOG for some yummy-looking recipes! My mouth waters when I read this blog!

For some really great information about ethics/arguments for a vegan diet, click here! I really like this particular blog post re: veganism.

Asian Salad + Sweet and Spicy Sesame Dressing

Well, we are on our 3rd day of the 100% 30 day raw challenge.

Wait, let me change that.

Ok, so....... we kinda decided that 100% raw just doesn't work for us. After being very hungry our entire first day, we decided to kick it down to 90 or so % raw, because for our household, 100% just isn't practical. Ok, so ... yeah, but it was a challenge, right? That's the idea? Well, we decided the challenge for us is better put to work if we challenge ourselves to eat MOSTLY raw, something that we can actually continue doing into the future. Now, I want to do a juice feast this summer sometime-I think that would be great...5-7 days or something, but 100% raw for 30 days just doesn't do it for us.

Well, don't fret--we are still eating TONS of raw stuff and I am having SO MUCH FUN making new and exciting recipes like this one:

Candice's Asian Salad with Sweet & Spicy Sesame Dressing!!!!!!!

WOW! This salad gets 5 raws. RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW! I am totally obsessed with the dressing I made for this. But first, let me tell you that this salad is full of romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots, snow pea sprouts, and sesame seeds. 

For the dressing, I experimented with ingredients based off of a recipe I found on Raw Food Rehab . I seriously hope I can recreate it because it was incredible. The dressing had olive oil, nama shoyu, a TON of ginger and garlic, honey, sesame seeds..I think that's it. :/

Anyway, it is INCREDIBLE. The recipe has made enough dressing for 6 salads-three each for Andrew and I. And let me tell you, we are LOVIN it! Andrew wolfed it down, so that means it MUST be good! 

Now, for those of you following my blog, today is Monday which means I have to update you on my progress with the 4 week FITNESS CHALLENGE! Today marks the beginning of WEEK 2 (since I started over). This week, I lost 3lbs!!! I ran 5 of 7 days, walked my dog a bit more than I have been, and did some weights. I didn't do quite as much as I had originally planned for the week, but I think I did a pretty darned good job! Hoorah! Also, Andrew and I started the 100% raw thing, which is more like the past 3 days were 80-90% raw! :)

Ok, well, its time to get ready for finals week. Yikes! Have a great May!