Happy New Year!!!!!!
The holidays are over!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo! As stressful as they
were, the thing I loved about the Holidays is that they were a time
to appreciate the loved ones you have in your life. I still have
my Christmas tree up and every time I look at it I feel so
grateful for the wonderful friends and family I have in my life.
I started this tradition where I have my friends and family
paint ornaments for my Christmas tree. I bought these wooden
shapes at Michaels, some paint, and glitter glue. Take a look by
scrolling down and looking to your left. They turned
out marvelous! I painted the heart and the angel
I also started another tradition this year
thanks to inspiration from Shannon at
http://rawdorable.blogspot.com/
Which of course I found out about from the
mother of
raw food news websites. Thank you so much for your
inspiration! Me being the crazy and creative raw food gal that I
am I didn't use a recipe. Truth be told I have never in my life
followed a raw food recipe verbatim, I always just get a concept
or idea from others and then make it convenient and tasty for
me. A perfect example of this, is my raw gingerbread creation. I
had juiced some carrots, ginger, and apples in the morning and
had all this pulp left over. Then I processed butternut squash
in the food processor with dates and soaked dried apricots. I
wanted to use all dates but I didn't have enough and had a lot
of raw apricots on hand! I mixed the whole thing in a bowl with
two cups ground golden flax, grated ginger, cinnamon, and
pumpkin pie spice. I dehydrated them for about 24 hours at 115
degrees so that they were still chewy. I actually wrote down the
recipe this time, but I think I would want to tweak the recipe
some more before I give it to you. Next time I would definitely
use all dates instead of apricots for sweetness and I would add
some almond pulp left over from a batch of almond milk for
better texture. They were a little two chewy for me, but they
still tasted great and I had a lot of fun making them. The icing
I made from soaked cashews, orange juice, coconut oil, agave
nectar, and some lemon rind and juice blended in the blender. I put the icing in little
squeeze bottle containers We decorated the gingerbread men
with pumpkin seeds, black sesame seeds, dried mangos, dried
mulberries, goji berries, and dried black currents. We all
thought my brother's looked like Elton John, it was so
cute!!!!!!
Raw Pickled Ginger
Another cool project I did at Christmas was to
marinate some raw ginger slices that I sliced thinly with my
ceramic mandoline. I marinated them in apple cider vinegar,
lemon juice, and a little bit of agave nectar. They are perfect
to go with raw or vegetarian sushi. It was a real hit with my
family. I wrote a simple recipe for raw sushi below if you scroll
down to the bottom.
Juicing in the New Year!!!
For Christmas I got a juicer!!!!! Yeah,
for about a year I had been using my sprout
bag to juice which works fine as well but now I've
been juicing more than ever. My favorite treat is a half carrot
half orange juice. I use an equal amount of carrots and oranges
as a treat in the mornings. It is like drinking pure sunshine!
For fun, I took the orange carrot pulp and put it in the food
processor with 1 cup soaked cashews, agave nectar, cinnamon,
pumpkin pie spice to taste, and a large handful of some
golden raisins towards the end. I put the mixture in a pie dish
and covered it with the left over frosting I had made for the
gingerbread men which was: soaked cashews, orange juice, coconut
oil, agave nectar, and some lemon rind and juice. I served it to
my friends for an after Christmas get together, and they
really liked it.
Gosh, it seems like I make all this gourmet stuff
all the time! The reality is I mostly make the fancy stuff for
potlucks and get togethers. As for me, I eat whole fruit,
vegetable juices, green smoothies, simple blended soups and
salads. I sometimes add steamed veggies and brown rice into the
mix. I hardly eat nuts anymore. Avocado is a lot easier to
digest for me. I don't really eat a lot of raw desserts, but I
love to make them for others.
Okay so I told you about the juicer, but my
favorite gift was definitely a beautiful set of Kyocera Ceramic
Knifes. My favorite was this pink one I got below. It is so
sharp you cut through a head of lettuce effortlessly.
Kyocera Pink Ceramic Santoku Knife
I also loved the fact that my guy named a star
after me!
http://www.starregistry.com/! It is so cool, the star is in
his zodiac sign constellation. Awwwwwwww, he always makes me
feel like a star anyways!!! I got him a cool digital scrapbook
of our first year together. You make it on your computer but
then they send it to you as a book.
http://picaboo.com/ I think it is an awesome idea for
weddings, family albums, trips . . .(etc.) I had so much fun
making it and I love looking at it. It is so special because it
has the very first e-mails we sent to each other:) I also got
him a GPS navigation system, mainly because I am the worst
copilot:)
As fun as Christmas was I am so glad it is over.
Originally my guy and I were going to escape to the city to this
very nice hotel for Christmas eve, but my family had other ideas
and, well, I ended up hosting Christmas eve at my place which
was very stressful. I felt like I couldn't do it all raw this
year because I was the minority, luckily the vegetarians in my
family are still the majority so it a was nice balance of mostly
vegetarian raw and cooked. Anyways I was so drained after the
event that I need a whole year to recover!!! Luckily my guy and
I escaped to the city the 23rd and had an awesome time walking
through the city and looking at Christmas decorations. It was
awesome and so romantic. I just feel like I gave away to much of
myself at Christmas, and I'm so glad that the new year is here
and I can begin to focus on my wants and needs. I definitely
realized this Christmas that I need to be aware of taking care
of my needs and not just the needs of everyone around me.
I love that January is such a reflective time to
be able to slow down and take inventory of your life. I learned
so much about myself this year. I learned that I have good
qualities like a really good heart. I live by the quote: "My
Religion is Kindness.", and I feel like I can truly say that I
am a good person who is kind and loving. And for the first time
in my life I'm with someone who truly appreciates my kindness. I
also learned that I have my limitations. When you live
practically alone you realize that you can't blame your
disorganization on anyone but yourself. I definitely need some
help in that department. Getting organized is high on my
priority list this year!!!
Here is my resolution list this year in no
particular order:
1. Get in Shape
2. Get Organized
3. Focus on and Grow my Business
4. Use the Principles of
The Secret to
be Happy, Healthy, Abundant and Grateful everyday.
Overall 2007 has been the best year of my life
without doubt. I manifested some huge things that I had always
wanted like a beautiful living space, a new (used) car,
financial and emotional independence, self confidence, optimism
about the future, a little thicker skin, and most importantly
the love of my life, my best friend and soul mate! I honestly
feel on top of the world right now. I feel so blessed and truly
grateful for everything and I just have the feeling that things
are only going to get better! I can honestly say that this is
the happiest I've ever felt in my life and the most optimistic
I've felt about the future. I really want to keep using the
principles of the Secret this year, it's probably my number one
priority because when I use the principles of the Secret
everything else falls together.
Start the New Year Off Right!
As a gift to you in 2008 my
raw food recipe e-booklet is 20% off
and my raw food phone consultations are 5
dollars off. There is nothing I would rather do than help
you to feel vibrant and joyously alive in 2008! Happy New Year,
Much Love and Abundance in 2008!
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Rawshi
Rawshi
Raw Rice
Can use one of the following:
1 half jicama
or 5 peeled and washed carrots
Process one of the above vegetables in the
food processor with the s blade until a rice like
consistency is achieved and then put into a bowl.
Rawshi filling
Julieanned or thinly sliced vegetables of
your choice
Suggestions:
Avocados
Cucumbers
Bell peppers
Daikon radish
Beets
Carrots
Seaweed such as Dulse and Kombu Cilantro
Edible flowers
Chives
Green onions
Kale
Tomatoes
Raw Pickled Ginger
1 knob ginger thinly sliced with ceramic mandoline
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons agave nectar
Marinate the ginger for a minimum of 1 day in the
refrigerator. Will keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks.
Nori Sheets
(look for the dark purple nori sheets)
Lay a nori sheet on a sushi mat and then
spread an even layer of the vegetable rice mixture over the
nori sheet. Spread the vegetables in a thin line on top of
the rice mixture as if you were making sushi. After you roll
the “sushi” cut them into 1 to 2 inch pieces and lay them
attractively on a platter. Serve them with the raw pickled
ginger.
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