Groove

It is very hard to get back into the swing of things when you've been gone for 3 weeks. I wasn't able to cook in my own kitchen or stick to my regular schedule, so I came back feeling in a bit of a funk. In fact, I'm still in one.

But one thing that kept me sane was my juicer. I am soo happy I brought it with me. Just sipping green juice made me feel amazing, and it kept my insides pretty happy too.

My mother in law is an amazing cook, and thankfully she made me delicious vegetarian meals made from ingredients that came primarily from her own organic garden. But I didn't eat her meals 100% of the time either, there were some bad food choices in there, like sugar pie, paninis, Dixie-Lee fried fish, and my fair share of wine (curse you Wine Rack for making me like wine!) . But there is no point dwelling on what you ate, only on what you're eating now and what you can eat next!

So I am very excited to say (and smell) that the dehydrator is back in action! I am currently making some sunflower poppy seed bread to go along with my sunflower veggie burgers! Rawsome!

This is the bread before I put it into the dehydrator. 6 more hours!

Salad that I made for husband and I after we finished our juice fast yesterday. I made an avocado lime dressing but didn't quite like it, so I won't share that recipe-fail with you! In order to give our bodies a break from all the food we ate in New Brunswick, we did a one day green juice and green tea fast. I feel better already, it definitively does a body good!

One of the desserts my mother in law made was a type of vegan pudding. I am not sure about the exact measurements, but I will find out. It contained, almond milk, coconut oil, berries, gluten free flour and....I think that's it. Cant wait to find out and make it!

Anyhow, hope everyone is having a great summer! Here's to hoping that I'll get back into the groove I had going before we left.

New Brunswick

Husband and I have been in New Brunswick for about 3 weeks and have gotten an internet connection about three times, this time included.

We have a plan of moving here in 3-5 years, so it was great to see our town in its prime time of summer.

Here are some random shots of things we've done and seen! Food pictures in the next post. And yes, I brought the juicer :)

Fish tacos

Here is a great healthy alternative to the classic "Fish Tacos". It is not raw or vegan, but it has some raw components and gets an A + from Husband.

I still consider this a great and balanced meal :)

Tilapia with seasonings, romaine hearts as the wrap, raw marinara, guacamole, and raw sour cream.

Anyhow, I am sooo tired. I feel like I've been raising a family of three!

Have a great day everyone!

Fasting Fridays

A new weekly occurrence for LHM! Fasting Fridays!


Fasting has a bit of a taboo to it, but fear not! You will not be starving, or feeling deprived!

Fasting Friday's will be about consuming high quality nutrient dense foods in a liquid state to give our body a rest from solid food for the day. Instead of your body spending time breaking down food, which it spends A LOT of time doing, it will spend time on healing and detoxifying your body. Thumbs up for that!

Kris Carr in "Crazy Sexy Diet" says that fasting with juices one day a week is like changing the oil in your car before your engine fails.

You want to eliminate the toxins in your body before they start to build up. And juice fasting is a great way to release toxins stored in your colon, liver, lungs, bladder, sinuses, skin, and kidneys. Your body will feel like a newly oiled machine.

Keep in mind that fasting works best when paired with a healthy lifestyle.

So Friday will be the first day, and I hope that others will join me! Message on Facebook, Twitter, or even on here to let me know your progress and if you have any more questions!

I will post more information about Fasting Fridays on Thursday night!

Pictures from the day

Live

Went to Live Food Bar on Dupont with this amazing lady

And we went to eat elsewhere on a porch because 1) its beautiful and 2) the service at Live is consistently shitty

Had the raw sushi rolls as an app. They were okay, but the sauce was disgusting.

This is one of my favourite salads in Toronto. Its a kale Caesar salad with eggplant bacon, kale chips, and sprouted croutons! So good!

A great day so far, but boy is it hot out! I have a Raw strawberry kream pie in the fridge, so there will be pictures of that up soon! Just waiting for the Husband to come home from work so we can go to the gym together!

Juice

I made a 32 oz serving of green juice last night!

The ingredients:

2 organic cucumber (skin on), 1 large organic carrot, 1/2 lemon, 4 stalks organic celery, 2 inch piece of ginger, 5 leaves romaine, half bunch kale, 1 organic pear!

I drank it all, so theres no pictures of the finished product, but it was delicious!

Off to raw lunch with a good friend!

The best pesto ever

I know its a bold claim, but it really is the best pesto I have ever tasted.

Greatest Pesto Ever:

1 cup + 2 tbsp raw cashews
2.5 cups fresh basil
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp mustard powder

Food process all ingredients. It's a pretty thick pesto, but its so damn delicious. I had it with a bit of bloomed rice and cucumber, so goood!

The Little Health Monster also added an Omega Juicer to the family! So exciting! So I am on my way to Indigo to find a juicing book!


Have a great day everyone!

Gazpacho

I have had my hands full these past few days. I don't want any of the dogs to feel jealous, so I make sure to take each of them on their own walks everyday. I am getting bored of the current dog walk circuits so I'm trying to find new areas to walk in.

Nino has been adjusting well. He is definitely the alpha. He sleeps through the night and runs around with Lola and Gigi, and with other dogs at the park. He is definitely not a little scaredy cat like Lola.

Always chewing something :)

I made a great gazpacho soup today as promised. It is delicious and easy:

Easy Gazpacho:

For the soup base:
3 cups chopped tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup bell pepper
1/2 tsp salt

For the toppings:
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 avocado, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 tbsp hemp seeds

Blend the soup base ingredients in a food processor and top with toppings!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

New dessert recipe tomorrow: pinky swear!

My excuse

My excuse for not having any recipes to share today is :

Everyone meet Nino! He is an 8 week old Malti-Poo. He is fitting right in already, but boy are three little bears a handful.

The first boy addition to the family, and he's a little tuckered out.

3 X the love : 3 X the trouble


Recipes tomorrow, I promise

Rest

I finally took a rest day today, after about two weeks of torture on my legs. I keep forgetting to take my own advice, and realize that my legs will get stronger after they have rested from a tough workout. They will not get stronger from constantly hitting them up with gruelling workout after gruelling workout.

With me, it goes to say, that when I don't exercise, that day's eating goes right out the window. But not today--> though I did cheat a bit.

Breakfast:
Raw oats with chia seeds, homemade cherry almond milk, cashews, banana, and apple.
Lunch: salad with greens, zucchini, pepitas, onion, cucumber
Snack: brown rice noodles with homemade pesto (CHEAT)
Dinner: rice with homemade salsa (CHEAT)
Snack: cucumber/ ginger/ apple/celery juice

Hahaha. 2 Cheat meals in there, but I don't think a little bit of rice will kill me :)


I read a really great excerpt from "Vegan Companion" and thought I would share it :

"My reverence for all life has become my guiding principle. It informs every aspect of my existence, including my choices about work, entertainment, home decor, health care, fashion, and of course, diet. I have found my core belief surprisingly simple to adhere to. They are not sacrifices. If compassion is my religion, these are the actions that I use to celebrate it. These are my rituals. For me, living fully awake means embracing all species with the same level of respect and kindness.

Being a joyful vegan doesn't take willpower- just a willingness to try new things and chose mercy over misery."

Have a good night everyone, back tomorrow with a delicious salad and new dressing recipe!

Average day salad

I eat 1-2 salads a day, and they are always the same: lots of mixed greens, cucumber, bell pepper, sunflower sprouts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, red onion, shredded carrot, hemp hearts, and a boat-load of lemony-tangy homemade dressing.

My favourite part is the bottom of the bowl, when the carrots are soaked in the salty dressing, I make loud slurpy noises and just enjoy it :)

Today I also made a super easy lemony-tangy sauce for noodles since Im all about lemon and tang today. The sauce is raw, the noodles are not :)

Easy Raw Lemon Sauce:

2/3 cup squeezed lemon juice
8 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves
2 tsp agave
2 tsp dijon, grainy kind
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Use blender on it and enjoy over noodles!

That's how the dressing looks. When Husband asked what was in the shooter left on the table I almost said "Limencello" to see what would happen. But I'm not that mean :)