Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Making Raw Work

I googled myself and came across this review for the Diabetes Cure by Cousins. At the time I was following Cousins and had perfect blood sugar. Why did I ever stop?

Vanessa was here- we went shopping- I have a fridge full of fantastic fresh produce, soaked almonds, soaked sunflower seeds- I just have to prepare it. I don't even have to cook on a hot day.

Here's the thing with making raw food- unless you're just having a salad then it requires some work to put it together. "Traditional" cooking involves the exact same amount of work. For example, I might slice, salt and weight the eggplant, rinse it, saute it. But, I do that on AUTOPILOT. I am not on autopilot with my raw recipes. And, my favorite raw things take days to prepare- the falafel, raw bread, even sunflower seed smoothies with sprouted seeds has to be started the day before.

So now... I have to get in there and make Kale Salad, Carrot Salad, Cucumber-Celery Juice, slice up the veggies and make a dill sauce... because, I will ultimately eat whatever is in the fridge. Laziness will even allow me to eat things that I know are not good for me such as cheese. Because, that is what most people do. We eat whatever is in the fridge. We need to make an effort to make sure there is something good in the fridge.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

100 Things to Do by 2016

OMG I can only think of 37 things....

1. paint some beautiful crone paintings
2. have perfect technique on all of the easy to moderate yoga poses
3. go a year without coffee
4. go a year without eggs
5. learn integrated movement therapy
6. support preadolescents in developing into their most wonderful selves
7. bake the vegan chocolate birthday cake from the Sneaky Chef
8. travel to Turkey or San Francisco to visit Nilsu
9. research the effects of integrated movement therapy on the elderly
10 research the effects of integrated movement therapy on the morbidly obese
11 have an art show
12 research overcoming resistance as it applies to people with chronic disease
13 get big pink climbing roses to grow over the art studio
14 run, swim, bike a half marathon
15 use a CSA
16 meditate for 20 min every day for a month
17 spend seven days in silence
18 publish a raw foods for diabetics article with carb counts for all the foods
19 master advanced Spanish grammar
20 walk all the permanent labyrinths in Washington state
21 practice the meditation Mithra suggests for 180 days+
22 prepare raw food for a large group as a job
23 do a performance art piece where I dance in costumes I have made
24 create a whole exhibit of feminist art peices from cloth
25 create a whole exhibit of feminist art photography peices
26 realize tendencies are illusory
27 read eight books about Carl Jung
28 Serve artichoke pinole dip with rice crackers, Alice Water's Winter Minestrone and those vegan brownies for a holiday meal
29 Spend the Dream Fund Cash with Vanessa (a beach and New Age grooviness will be involved!)
30 Feed children that don't have enough food- fight policies that cause the situation
31 Have a complete conversation with Ada and Jon in Spanish - this probably means going to a Spanish speaking country for at least two months very soon
32 Visit Virginia and Justine
33 Make a documentary video
34 Write a screenplay
35 Go four years (and more!) with perfect blood sugars!
36 Co-Write the Big Green Money Workbook with Vanessa
37 make sure my kids are strong swimmers
38 larger than lifesize paper mache art & multimedia show
39 Go to Costa Rica and Hawaii & bike across Ireland with Stephen
40 Register for campsites in January & plant Sunflowers in March
41 Will this organic garden ever be weed free? Pat says it can be done in seven years!
42 Walk the labyrinths of Washington
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50

100 Things to Try

I picked this up at veganbits. Here's the basic premise:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you've eaten.
3) Cross out (place an xxx beside) any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you've finished and link your post back to this one.
http://www.veganbits.com
5) Pass it on!

1. Natto XXX
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble (Feeding the Whole Family has a great recipe.)
4. Haggis XXX
5. Mangosteen (on my honeymoon)
6. Creme brulee ** made with sugar topping not made from animal bone char **
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite XXX
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles (hmmmm... was it authentic?)
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Street cart taco (do you really know their beans are vegan?)
16. Boba Tea - (two things to look out for here - milk and honey)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries(I do live in the Pacific Northwest.)
23. Ceviche w fake fish XXX
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish (http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegan-Knishes-234377)
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper XXX
27. Flan (Goya's Flan is vegan)
28. Caviar XXX (I saw some vegan caviar online that looked very real. Yipes! Yuck!)
29. Baklava (Cafe Gratitude has a version I would love to make)
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl XXX
33. Mango lassi(does a Frozen Mango with coconut, rice milk and lemon smoothie count?)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam XXX (a scone made without butter is a paperweight)
38. Vodka jelly XXX
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas (Sarma Melngailis has a raw version I'd like to try)
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey (I was about five at the time!, so wrong!)
54. Sheese ??? (I located this- vegan cheese spread online.)
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple XXX (Scrapple is not vegan!!!)
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores (use vegan marshmallows unless you like boiled horse hooves with your chocolate)
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian XXX
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu XXX
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm vegan chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy XXX
79. Jerky (do dehydrated veggie strips count- Remlinger farms version is so good)
80. Croissants (who knew? http://shmooedfood.blogspot.com/2006/03/vegan-croissants.html)
81. French onion soup (My tastebuds sing "carmelitas carmelitas.")
82. Savory crepes (a vegan version???)
83. Tings XXX
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Mock Moussaka (moussake recipe with chickpeas is so good!)
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and "cheese" (I want to try one in Mathew kenneys book- WITHOUT pasta)
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan (Shojin makes the best Seitan)
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate (I've had vegan mole- chili - chocolate sauce over grilled vegetables)
96. Bagel and Tofutti (get the Tofutti in the yellow container... No trans fats)
97. Potato milk XXX
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

The End :}
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To read more about why most sugar is not vegan, go to www.vegfamily.com/articles/sugar.htm
The following sugar companies DO NOT use bone-char filters:

Florida Crystals Refinery
P.O. Box 86
South Bay, FL 33493
407-996-9072
Labels: Florida Crystals

Refined Sugars Incorporated
One Federal St.
Yonkers, NY 10702
914-963-2400
Labels: Jack Frost, Country Cane, 4# Flow-Sweet
Pillsbury
Makes powdered brown sugar

Supreme Sugar Company (subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland)
P.O. Box 56009
New Orleans, LA 70156
504-831-0901
Labels: Supreme, Southern Bell, Rouse's Markets