5k-my new goal!

Well, I received a magazine in the mail a week or so ago and just happened to be flipping through it when I found 3 training schedules. One for a 5k in 6 weeks, a 10k in 12 weeks, and a half marathon in 18 weeks! So, I e-mailed Andrew and went searching the internet for a local 5k that will take place 6 weeks from now. I found one! Awesome.

This is a picture from the first and only 5k I've done. I couldn't run the whole way.

We are going to try to train up and get ready for this awesome run. It benefits our local YMCA (Andrew used to work there and so did my sister-in-law and her husband!) and this shoe drive called Soles for Souls. We're super excited. My only goal for this first 5k is to be able to run the entire thing in less than 30 minutes. Cross your fingers!


I wasn't sure what types of food raw people need to eat so I looked up some articles and came across this one which looks really helpful.

It says to eat almonds for vitamin E, oranges for vitamin C, black beans, salad greens, bell peppers, bok choy, and onions for antioxidants, and berries. There were a lot of non-raw options like chicken and eggs, but what they said for raw foods it seems like I get plenty of them! Yay! That makes me feel good!

Another article says berries, bananas, and broccoli are excellent for runners!

Basically, it looks like Andrew and I eat good running foods all day long. I'm surprised I can't run farther than I currently can! Well, don't worry folks, we will be running 3.1 miles on July 10th here in our hometown. We are looking at other nearby cities to see if maybe we could enter a few 5ks! That would be fun.

I'll let you know about our progress! Today is our first day of training (and its going to be HOT and HUMID outside! eep!)

Enjoy your day!

Strawberry/Coconut/Carob Fudge Cake

So, I made another cake!!! YUM!!!! IT was so so so so so good. 5 RAWS. A MILLIZONZILION RAWS!!! I love love love love love this cake. Ok, so, I used Ani Phyo's chocolate cake recipe and added a middle layer of strawberries and coconut.

The inside "cake" part is made with walnuts, carob powder, and about a cup of dates (I soaked them to make them stick together better). The dates give everything the soft, moist taste. It looks like this:

I mashed it together to make two circles for layers, then put the strawberry/coconut layer in with some icing. Oh, the icing is made out of avocados, a few more dates, agave syrup, and MORE CAROB! Mmm chocolatey.

The first time I made this cake, I did a horrible job at getting the "batter" to stick together. For some reason, the cake crumbled everywhere! That's why I added a tad bit of water to the mix this time. It worked like a dream. Like a DREAM I tell you!

Yeah, look at it. Its....incredibly tasty. Ani Phyo might be a genius -- this cake is so easy and it took me about 20 or 25 minutes to COMPLETELY make it. She has a few more books out and it looks like I might just HAVE to buy them! 

By the way, Andrew and I cooked a couple times this week and can I just tell you the cleanup is AWFUL!? I thought cleaning out my food processor sucked when I made something with olive oil, but I totally forgot how annoying it is to clean pans! Anyway, we have GREAT pans from my in-laws, so its nice to use them here and there! 

But seriously, this CAKE!!!! YUMMMM!!! It was the "treat" I picked for the week. Next week I'm looking at making a raw blueberry cream pie, which sounds DELICIOUS. I just can't stop thinking about it, even though its not chocolate. We'll see! 

Foods High in Protein

So, Protein. Pregnant women need it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a pregnant woman should get 10 extra grams of protein while they are pregnant. That's approximately 60 grams of protein! So, for all you raw soon-to-be mommies or those of you who are just interested in which raw foods have the most protein, here is a chart from The Fat Free Kitchen!  You can rest assured that while this table is not a RAW table, and it talks about cooking the veggies, you can eat the foods raw and enjoy even more protein that hasn't been destroyed during cooking. Just don't overdo it, because excess protein can harm your body! Anyway, Enjoy!

Description	Weight (g)	Measure	Content per Measure (g)
Alfalfa seeds, sprouted, raw	33	1 cup	1.32
Artichokes, (globe or French), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	120	1 medium	4.18
Asparagus, canned, drained solids	72	4 spears	1.54
Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained	60	4 spears	1.55
Asparagus, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	5.31
Avocados, raw, California	28.35	1 oz	0.60
Avocados, raw, Florida	28.35	1 oz	0.45
Beans, baked, canned, plain or vegetarian	254	1 cup	12.17
Beans, baked, canned, with franks	259	1 cup	17.48
Beans, baked, canned, with pork and sweet sauce	253	1 cup	13.43
Beans, baked, canned, with pork and tomato sauce	253	1 cup	13.05
Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	172	1 cup	15.24
Beans, Cowpeas (Blackeyes), immature seeds,  boiled, without salt	165	1 cup	5.23
Beans, Cowpeas (blackeyes), immature seeds, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	170	1 cup	14.43
Beans, Cowpeas, common (blackeyes, crowder, southern), mature seeds,	172	1 cup	13.30
Beans, great northern, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	177	1 cup	14.74
Beans, Kidney beans, red, mature seeds, canned	256	1 cup	13.44
Beans, Kidney beans, red, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	177	1 cup	15.35
Beans, Lima beans, large, mature seeds, canned	241	1 cup	11.88
Beans, Lima beans, large, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	188	1 cup	14.66
Beans, Mung beans, mature seeds, sprouted, cooked, boiled,  without salt	124	1 cup	2.52
Beans, Mung beans, mature seeds, sprouted, raw	104	1 cup	3.16
Beans, Navy beans, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	182	1 cup	15.83
Beans, Pinto beans, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	171	1 cup	14.04
Soybeans, mature cooked, boiled, without salt	180	1 cup	22.23
Soybeans, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	172	1 cup	28.62
Beans, Snap beans, green, canned, regular pack, drained solids	135	1 cup	1.55
Beans, Snap beans, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	125	1 cup	2.36
Beans, White beans, mature seeds, canned	262	1 cup	19.02
Beet greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	144	1 cup	3.70
Beets, canned, drained solids	170	1 cup	1.55
Broccoli, raw	88	1 cup	2.62
Broccoli, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	4.65
Beets, cooked, boiled, drained	170	1 cup	2.86
Beets, cooked, boiled, drained	50	1 beet	0.84
Cabbage, Chinese (pak-choi), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	170	1 cup	2.65
Cabbage, Chinese (pe-tsai), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	119	1 cup	1.79
Cabbage, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	150	1 cup	1.53
Cabbage, raw	70	1 cup	1.01
Cabbage, red, raw	70	1 cup	0.97
Cabbage, Savoy, raw	70	1 cup	1.40
Carrots, baby, raw	10	1 medium	0.08
Carrots, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	1.70
Carrots, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	146	1 cup	1.74
Carrots, raw	110	1 cup	1.13
Cauliflower, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	124	1 cup	2.28
Cauliflower, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	2.90
Cauliflower, raw	100	1 cup	1.98
Celery, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	150	1 cup	1.25
Celery, raw	120	1 cup	0.90
Corn, sweet, white, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	77	1 ear	2.56
Corn, sweet, yellow, canned, cream style, regular pack	256	1 cup	4.45
Corn, sweet, yellow, canned, vacuum pack, regular pack	210	1 cup	5.06
Corn, sweet, yellow, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	77	1 ear	2.56
Corn, sweet, yellow, frozen, kernels cut off cob, boiled, drained, without salt	164	1 cup	4.51
Corn, sweet, yellow, frozen, kernels on cob, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	63	1 ear	1.96
Cucumber, peeled, raw	119	1 cup	0.68
Cucumber, with peel, raw	104	1 cup	0.72
Dandelion greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	105	1 cup	2.10
Endive, raw	50	1 cup	0.63
Garlic, raw	3	1 clove	0.19
Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	198	1 cup	17.86
Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw	56	1 cup	0.91
Lettuce, iceberg (includes crisphead types), raw	55	1 cup	0.56
Lettuce, looseleaf, raw	56	1 cup	0.73
Mushrooms, canned, drained solids	156	1 cup	2.92
Mushrooms, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	3.39
Mushrooms, raw	70	1 cup	2.03
Mushrooms, shiitake, cooked, without salt	145	1 cup	2.26
Mushrooms, shiitake, dried	3.6	1 mushroom	0.34
Mustard greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	140	1 cup	3.16
Okra, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	2.99
Okra, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	184	1 cup	3.83
Olives, ripe, canned (small-extra large)	22	5 large	0.18
Onions, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	210	1 cup	2.86
Onions, dehydrated flakes	5	1 tbsp	0.45
Onions, raw	110	1 whole	1.28
Onions, spring or scallions (includes tops and bulb), raw	100	1 cup	1.83
Parsley, raw	10	10 sprigs	0.30
Parsnips, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	156	1 cup	2.06
Peas, edible-podded, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	5.23
Peas, edible-podded, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	5.60
Peas, green, canned, regular pack, drained solids	170	1 cup	7.51
Peas, green, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	160	1 cup	8.24
Peas, split, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt	196	1 cup	16.35
Peppers, hot chili, green, raw	45	1 pepper	0.90
Peppers, hot chili, red, raw	45	1 pepper	0.90
Peppers, sweet, green, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	136	1 cup	1.25
Peppers, sweet, green, raw	149	1 cup	1.33
Peppers, sweet, green, raw	119	1 pepper	1.06
Peppers, sweet, red, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	136	1 cup	1.25
Peppers, sweet, red, raw	119	1 pepper	1.06
Potato pancakes, home-prepared	76	1 pancake	4.68
Potato, baked, flesh and skin, without salt	202	1 potato	5.05
Potatoes, baked, flesh, without salt	156	1 potato	3.06
Potatoes, boiled, cooked in skin, flesh, without salt	136	1 potato	2.54
Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without salt	135	1 potato	2.31
Potatoes, boiled, cooked without skin, flesh, without salt	156	1 cup	2.67
Potatoes, hashed brown, home-prepared	156	1 cup	3.78
Pumpkin, canned, without salt	245	1 cup	2.70
Pumpkin, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	245	1 cup	1.76
Radishes, raw	4.5	1 radish	0.03
Spinach, canned, drained solids	214	1 cup	6.01
Spinach, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	5.35
Spinach, frozen, chopped or leaf, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	190	1 cup	5.97
Spinach, raw	30	1 cup	0.86
Squash, summer, all varieties, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	180	1 cup	1.64
Squash, summer, all varieties, raw	113	1 cup	1.33
Squash, winter, all varieties, cooked, baked, without salt	205	1 cup	1.82
Squash, winter, butternut, frozen, cooked, boiled, without salt	240	1 cup	2.95
Sweet potato, canned, syrup pack, drained solids	196	1 cup	2.51
Sweet potato, canned, vacuum pack	255	1 cup	4.21
Sweet potato, cooked, baked in skin, without salt	146	1 potato	2.51
Sweet potato, cooked, boiled, without skin, without salt	156	1 potato	2.57
Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, stewed	255	1 cup	2.42
Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, whole, regular pack	240	1 cup	2.21
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	180	1 cup	1.53
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	17	1 cherry tomato	0.14
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	123	1 tomato	1.05
Tomatoes, sun-dried	2	1 piece	0.28
Tomatoes, sun-dried, packed in oil, drained	3	1 piece	0.15
Watermelon, raw	286	1 wedge	1.77

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.