My week with Indigo Foods!

So I am still carrying around more baby weight than I'd like to admit! I've used pregnancy and taking care of a baby and family of five as an excuse to not eat as well as I have in past years. I'm still eating quite well but I eat way too much, thinking that while nursing I need to eat way more than usual. Not correct! In order to direct my energies into the right frame of mind I purchased an
Ethical Deal a couple months ago to receive one week's worth of raw and living food from Indigo Food. For a mere $95 I would receive a week's worth of organic, raw, living food! Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and dessert. How could you say no to food like http://ethicaldeal.com/vancouver/deal/52-off-1-week,-all-inclusive,-raw,-organic,-vegan-meal-delivery-service-($196-value)-and-30-off-next?

On Monday James, myself and baby Logan drove out to Kitsilano to pick up my package of food which will last me three days. I didn't want to pay the extra $20 to have it delivered - but may well do that on Thursday (when the next three days are ready) as our drive out was not a good one...the baby cried most the way out and back! It is free delivery in downtown, the West end, and Kitsilano.

The owner, Lovena, lives in a very pretty part of town. Kits is a hip, stylish and well-to-do area. Her home is nestled in the tall trees that line the street. She answered the door and our package was ready for pick up. She is super friendly and answers any questions you may have. The aroma that filled our van on the way home was intoxicating! I could not wait to start eating it all up, but would wait until morning.

This morning I woke up, excited to start my new, prepared foods. For breakfast, I had granola and fresh almond milk. It was very tasty. I was so full after finishing about 3/4 of my serving that I was not able to finish it. So filling!




For lunch I enjoyed a Mermaid Salad. Absolutely incredible tasting! Loved every morsel.




Then for dinner I had one of the collard wraps along with a soup. Oh gosh, the wrap was curried veg and it was to "live" for! The veggie soup was so delicious, and the dill was very refreshing.






I was so full I had to wait a couple of hours before eating my dessert! For dessert I had a chocolate mousse/pudding that was on a bed of sliced strawberries and whole blueberries with a sprinkling of chocolate pieces on top. Mouthwatering, my kids were begging for some. Will post that photo tomorrow!

I was full all day long on this food and enjoyed it so much. I am a little hungry right now and although it's late I'm sipping some of the leftover almond milk from breakfast and that's helping. Guess that means it's time to go to bed! Good night!

Yummy Drink

Just concocted a very yummy drink tonight...

Water of young coconut
meat of half young coconut
1/2 cup home made almond milk
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 tbsp. coconut syrup
1 sample package of Sunwarrior vanilla protein powder

Blend on high and enjoy! My kids even loved it! Kept me full for a very long time.

Next time I make it I'll get a photo to post.
Good night!

Seattle in the Raw

I always get asked, "How do you travel and stay eating a high raw diet?" and my answer is simple...I plan ahead.

Before we left I took stock of all the produce in the house and planned a green juice, a green smoothie, and made some yum cups. That morning I made a quart of smoothie (blueberry, celery, spinach, banana, water, green powder), a quart of juice (apple, carrot, celery and spinach) and eight yum cups (coconut butter, coconut oil, green powder-I like Vitamineral Green, honey, and hemp seeds). I also brought along two bananas. This food lasted me the whole trip down!

I also made sure I had the addresses for raw food restaurants in the Seattle area. Two good ones I've eaten at and enjoyed are:
Chaco Canyon, and Thrive. I also found that Whole Foods is right around the corner from Thrive. My sister also has me pick up a dozen vegan donuts from Mighty-O Donuts each time we go down...and yes, I have to try one! :) For smoothies and juices on the road I sometimes bring my blender if I don't know of any juice bars but in Seattle they have Emerald City Smoothies and there are some raw options/high raw options there.

Most restaurants have a salas and I just bring along an avocado and some home made dressing to put on. I really love Vega's EFA oil blend as the fat for my dressing. I also bring along plenty of spring water and there are some along the way too, you can check out the springs website, to find one in your area!

Think about your last road trip, what did you bring along to keep your body fueled?

Protection from Radiation

Today my Facebook page and my email accounts have been bombarded with information about protecting ourselves from possible fallout from the nuclear plants in Japan. So much tragedy there although there have been some amazing survival stories as well. I tend not to watch the news/read the newspaper as I find that negative energy draining.

I have read a number of articles today pertaining to the protection of our bodies from radiation and felt that I should link them here.

Jon Barron's take

Susun Weed

This is taken from the email I received from David Wolfe et al.

In light of the meltdown of Fukushima: How to protect yourself and your thyroid against radiation:

kelp, ginseng, ashwaganda (recently found to regrow nerves), chlorella, zeolites, fulvic acid, nascent iodine, reishi mushroom, sea salt (also salty miso), botanical (plant-derived) or lipo- vitamin C, magnesium (chlorophyll), selenium (brazil nuts), coconut butter (coconut products), Megahydrate, Crystal Energy. Spread the word."

Start small, but increase your dosages rapidly and dramatically if you live in Hawaii, Western Canada, and the Western USA. Start now. Fallout will descend upon North America sometime around March 22.

Take what you will from the information here. I'm also going to be visiting my naturopath to discuss possibilities for nursing mothers as there is some conflicting information. Hopefully she can shed some more light on this for me and others. I can post about that after I see her. She is expecting in the next month as well so she too must be interested in how this will affect her pregnancy and breastfeeding.

In health and happiness!

Melinda

Another link here...just arrived on my FB page

Here's yet another from Jinjee at The Garden Diet. Lots of similar info.

Although there are mixed reports and reports-still-in-progress about the seriousness of the nuclear reactor damage in Japan, it can't hurt to protect yourself from radiation through eating lots of cilantro and seaweed! We eat lots of seaweed anyway for the B12, which is especially high in Laver, also called Wild Atlantic Nori, which we order in bulk from Maine Seacoast Vegetables at http://www.seaveg.com

David Wolfe podcast.

Even more here

Here's yet another post that's come through: The link is here.

Here's the Radiation Network's site. They show the radiation levels around the country (US, but there is one in Vancouver) it's run by volunteers with geiger counters around the country.

My Favourite Juices at the moment

I've been doing a whole lot of juicing the past few months. Juice became a comfort food for my after I did my juice fast in September 2007. Ever since then when I make a juice I feel like I'm "coming home". LOVE my juice.

Here are my three favourites at the moment:

GREEEEEEN Juice!

Anything green that I have in the house

Cucumber, kale, romaine, pea shoots, sprouts of any kind, collard greens, celery etc.

1 lemon

1-2 apples

Juice in juicer, and usually cut it with some spring water to mellow it out a little. Play with the amount of greens you can handle. With this recipe I usually use 1 whole cuke, half a bundle of kale, half a container of shoots or sprouts, half the bundle of collards, and about 4 to 6 celery stalks, depending on how big they are.

And the Beat Goes On

2 Apples

1 Beet

4 carrots

High in natural sugars, so half and half with spring water. Be careful when juicing beets, they are very cleansing of the liver and you need to work up to more and more beet juice.

Celery, Celera

6 stalks of celery

2 apples

4 carrots

Cut it with a little water too, sometimes.

I feel SO much energy when I juice. It is important to drink your juice on an empty stomach. That's why my juice is the first thing I eat/drink after my lemon water/tea in the morning. After my lemon drink I wait about a half hour (which at times is how long it takes to make a juice when you're trying to make breakie for the kids, and take care of the baby!) and then drink the juice. It's a great way to start the day and I'd say it rivals drinking your cup of joe!

So, what are you waiting for, try it!

Eat Raw, Live Well!

Melinda

Back to Basics!

Has it truly been over a year since I've posted here? So much going on and so much I want to talk about! I've also started up two new blogs so that I can focus on raw/living foods here and about my exercise and baby info on other blogs. My exercise blog is called Up The Creek Run (this is where all my training info will go - and I've got some lofty new goals. Will post there soon!)

The second one I started when I thought I was pregnant two years ago...however when I really did get preggers I didn't write there?! AND, seven months ago we were blessed with another little being. His name is Logan Alexander and he's such a precious "L'il Sprout" as I lovingly call him. Everything about him and my kids will now be written about under the new blog Little Sprouts Big Ideas. My daughter has asked to guest blog there, and I'm sure she will do an excellent job! I'm trying to link these in as for some reason I'm having difficulty combining my blogs from different email addresses...if any of you know how to do that if you could say so in the comments - I'd greatly appreciate it. I'd love to have them all under one umbrella instead of juggling each of them. I created the blogs ages and ages ago and didn't know at the time that I'd done them under different emails?!

I've been working on a couple of other projects as well, other than baby building! Those blogs and entries will be here, Raw Rituals and Total Health Concept. My goal is to blog in one of these areas each night. I'll consider it my night job. Once the kids are tucked in bed, and I've got some quiet head space I'll sit down at the computer and write about all the things I've jotted down in my big idea book! :)

Sunday: Tonight, Thrive On Live but from now on it'll be Up The Creek

Monday: Little Sprouts Big Ideas

Tuesday: Raw Rituals

Wednesday: Thrive on Live

Thursday: Total Health Concept

Friday and Saturday I may take a little break, but if I've got the time and subject matter then I'll write in one of the previous areas again. Or if there was a blip and I missed an area I could catch up on those days.

James has promised to help me spice up the blog a little too...he is only the IT guy at his school, I think I should get some free tutoring in this area, as it is much needed!

In the meantime, Eat Raw, Live Well™ and we'll see you again MUCH sooner than the last time!

Melinda

On Line Resources

Hello to those who've joined me from the Coquitlam Professional Day presentation! I've been filling up on Olympic magic this weekend and have now remembered to put this info onto the website here. Happy reading! Any questions, don't hesitate to call or email me!

On Line Resources for Raw and Living Foods

www.thriveonlive.blogspot.com

This is my site, which is a great resource for people who are local that would like to read about living a raw food lifestyle in the lower mainland and a more northern latitude! Lots of ideas, information and inspiration!

http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/

This is a great website to check out for many ideas and to join forces with many others who are on their raw food journeys. I was in the original Raw Food Rehab and Penni is so wonderful and full of ideas!

http://www.lovingraw.com/

Philip McCluskey is the sites’ community leader. He’s compiled a great selection of information for you on this site!

http://www.giveittomeraw.com/

From their website:

GI2MR is community for people who are passionate about harnessing the power of raw food and holistic living. Our community is a place for support - a place to share and grow.

http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/

Kristen’s put together a great site with lots of recipes, insight and links. Check her out also if you’re pregnant or wanting to have kids as she’s almost half way through her first high raw pregnancy and loving it!

www.thegardendiet.com

This is one of the first and most inspirational raw food internet sites that I came across. It is a family of seven. Storm is 58 but looks more like 40 and his wife Jinjee is 40 but looks to be in her late 20’s. They have five beautiful raw children who are thriving!

Jinjee has something called the “Raw Daily Inspiration” that you can subscribe to, I highly recommend it, as it’s kept me inspired this past year.

www.rawreform.com

Angela Stokes has a great site here. She also has a blog that you can subscribe to for daily information. I love getting her updates in my in box.

www.rawspirit.org

Angela’s fiancé, Matt Monarch also has a great website. He has just started his own blog this last month and it too has some great updates and information. I also look forward to reading this each day.

www.goneraw.com

Amazing website filled with delicious recipes. Any time I am looking for something quickly I go here and search in their user-friendly side bar.

www.rawbc.org

I am a member of Raw BC and they have many resources linked to this site. This is a great way to find local and nearby places to eat.

www.gorillafoods.com

Aaron Ash is the owner and head chef of this take out window at 422 Richards St. between Hastings and Pender. He is great! Always ready with a smile and your order. The food is absolutely delicious. I try to treat myself by visiting once a month for something great to eat!

www.living-foods.com

I visit this site often too for some new recipes or for some inspiration. There is so much to look through that I still haven’t seen everything on the site yet…

www.alissacohen.com

Here is Alissa’s site, full of information. There are some videos you can watch and stories and photos of people who’ve gained back their health while eating a raw food diet.

www.realrawfood.com

This is a raw food store, where I get a lot of my nuts, seeds, honey, Nama Shoyu, etc. You can order by phone or over the internet. They are pretty quick with delivery also. They are based in Naramata, B.C.

www.upayanaturals.com

This is another great Canadian site for ordering raw foods and other equipment for a healthy home. I have also found them to be quick with delivery and good to deal with. They are based in Ontario.

www.rawganique.com

These guys are great. They have hemp clothing and lots of raw goodies for sale. They are super quick with delivery and have been extremely friendly and helpful in my orders with them. They are based on Denman Island, B.C.

www.youtube.com

If you want to know how to open up a coconut, watch other raw foodists talk or do recipes, this is a great site to SEE it done. I really enjoy typing in names like David Wolfe, Angela Stokes, Matt Monarch, Storm and Jinjee Talifero and words like raw foods, living foods, vitamix blenders etc. Have fun with it, time flies when you’re on youtube!

www.rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com

This is a blog that I enjoy reading daily. They are a couple who live in the states who are really down to earth. Heidi is currently a third of her way through a juice feast. Lots of info on this blog, it’s great.

www.shazzie.com

Great site, she’s done lots for the raw community in the U.K.