Lovin' Summer

Wow! Two blogs in one week :o). I'm on a roll! Well, I was just so excited that I had to blog about my morning. Usually I run by myself, its sort of my time to decompress and focus on my own thoughts for a little while. However, I went out of town for a few days and I've been missing my boys so I decided to take Mike (my hubby) and Jacob (20 months) with me. We put him in the jogger and did a great run around our neighborhood. After, we decided we needed to make some smoothies so we went to the grocery store to pick up our fruit and veggies. I didn't realize that the West Annapolis Green Market was today. We happened upon the tent for Terra Joy Edible Landscapes. We bought two beautiful plants, a magnificent blueberry bush and a thornless raspberry bush! We eat a tremendous amount of blueberries and raspberries during the summer, so I thought it would be a super fun way to lower our food cost as well as have a fun activity for Jacob. We also bought some local honey from Crispens' Farms located in Millersville, Maryland (they don't have a website but if you are interested in the farm you can call 410.987.6034). Mike has terrible allergies, and something our doctor suggested to us was to try eating local honey. The pictures are of Mike and Jacob picking blueberries from our new plant as well as our delicious/nutritious after running smoothie. Its packed full of protein, fiber and good1ness!

Green Smoothie Recipe
1 avocado
1 banana
1/2 cup raspberries
1 cup kale (make sure its washed really well)
2 heaping tablespoons of raw cacao
2 heaping tablespoons of hemp protein powder
1-2 cups of liquid of choice (I like to use coconut keifer, but today I used vita-coco coconut water because it was hot and I really needed to be re-hydrated)
Blend until smooth!

(pictures are of our smoothie prior to blending and my boys picking blueberries and sharing a raw yogurt popsicle.)

The Rocky Road of Eating Raw

(Raw Chocolate Almond Milk pictured left) Well I have found both success and failure with the raw diet. During my initial raw phase, I lost 14 lbs, felt amazing, and started to look like I really wanted to look. My skin was glowing and my arms, legs and face really started to slim down. But with all diets of deprivation, its very easy to fall off the wagon. I managed to gain back 4 lbs of the weight that I lost and started to feel pretty rotten. Now I'm doing my best to find a great balance between raw and cooked food.

After we (DragonFly Dance Experiment) performed Dock Side Dance, I realized that I needed to be more conscientious about getting enough protein in my diet. Usually I would eat sprouted beans and avocado for my protein, but it really wasn't cutting it. After the performance I was terribly shaky, and my endurance while dancing left a lot to be desired. My muscles were screaming and the recovery from that show took quite a bit longer than I would have liked. I also made the decision to start running to improve my cardio vascular health and my muscular endurance. This brought me to the realization that I needed to put eggs and dairy back into my diet.

Inspired by my friend Priscilla Smith, I joined a farm coop, and decided to start purchasing raw milk, goat yogurt, cheese and farm fresh eggs for us to eat. I am happy to say that my muscles are so much happier. I was nervous, and still am to a certain extent about drinking and eating unpasturized dairy products, but I have done my research and I know that we are getting food that has been cared for lovingly and safely and we are eating nothing that these farmers wouldn't give to their own babies. I am happy to report so far so good! Here are a few recipes that we have enjoyed lately:

Raw Almond Milk (a little labor intensive and not very cost effective, but a yummy treat nonetheless)
1 cup raw almonds, soaked in filtered water for 6-8 hrs
4 cups filtered water
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
2 tbsp coconut oil (or if you can find it raw coconut butter...so delish!)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1 pinch salt

Drain soaked almonds and combine ingredients in your blender. Blend for 1-2 minutes, then strain through a cheese cloth or nutmilk bag. If you want to get fancy, throw a couple of tablespoons of raw cacao in the blender and you'll end up with some very nutritious and delicious raw chocolate almond milk.

Raw Raspberry Popsicles
1 cup raw goat yogurt
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 banana
Raw Agave Nectar (to taste)

Combine yogurt and fruit in your blender. Add the agave slowly and to taste. One of the things I've learned about agave is that its so much sweeter than sugar and its easy to overdo it. Poor mixture into your popsicle forms and freeze (usually about 4 hrs). Super yummy and healthy!