HOME FOR GOOD.

I'm back from Ottawa and here to stay in Toronto for the rest of the school year. This morning was smoothie paradise with delicious ontario peaches!

-four ripened ontario peaches

-1 ripe banana

-3 ice cubes

-2 cups water

-2 big handfuls of spinach

-2 drops of vanilla extract

BLEND. and drink. It has the greatest after taste of peach and with 2 cups of water tastes more like a sweet juice than a thick green smoothie. Tip: If you have an old blender blend the water and spinach first so it's finer in texture and then add fruits one by one.

BEST 2.5 DAYS OF MY LIFE.

SOOO. My happiness levels are soaring hrough the roof even though I'm slightly exhausted, and I have to wake up in a few hours for work. I just want to share this story because it shows how easy it is to get people to just TRY the raw food diet. EX out diet. make that lifestyle.

I was up in cottage country near Westport in Kingston for 2.5 days it was absolutely gorgeous, even though it rained it was just nature everywhere. I was reunited with a couple that my family has known for a while, where the woman was my kindergarten teacher. I used their blender to make green smoothies and after having to chew my leaves for the past few months, let me tell ya. It was a treat and a half. It was so funny to make these, I would serve mine in a tall glass, next to it place a smaller glass and next to that place a shot glass. AND they loved it.

Here's three pieces of advice if you are starting the raw food diet. Mimi Kirk was right when she said, you need to find the motivation that just clicks with you. You know you want to eat this way, but there has to be something about the diet that puts you in the right mindset.

1) Find a few good recipes you feel you could eat or include regularly and start incorporating them at your own speed into your daily diet. (**key: green smoothies, salad rolls, gazpacho)

2) Take a step back before diving in and do your research, and ask questions.

3) ALWAYS. ALWAYS. have an emergency, back up, back up, crisis snack box. Fill it with nori sheets, flax crackers, fruits, dried fruit belts, raw bread, sprouted buckwheat, nuts, seeds, juices, and water. You'll feel better and won't give in to temptation when you start feeling like your stomach is eating itself. Omm..nomm..nom..om?

Actually what the view from the dock looked like in the morning, but with rain.

new school year fast approaching!!

I know as sad as it is for me to type this, I have to come to grips with reality. Summer is so over. I mean in t-2 weeks, but still, soon I will be writing blog posts in between essays and music practices, and running from class to class forgetting to be as healthy as I can be.

SO I HAVE A PLAN. A plan that will terminate and annihilate all chances of unhealthy snacking, and irregular meal eating, etc. I want to have three week meal rotations where on Sunday night I plan out what I need for the week, either freeze it, or store it in the fridge. I commute to my downtown university campus and sometimes I just can't be bothered with bringing lunch and dinner, and extra snacks. Which always ends up screwing me over, where I end up eating my biggest meal before bed when I get back home. Lamesauce.

I will post the meal plans here and for all you students going back to university, now's the time to exchange tips, and ideas so we can be super organized and set for September! My goal is to be about 75-80% raw. I'm estimating that to be all meals and snacks raw except dinner which can include steamed vegetables, or "Stew", including some cooked grain; amaranth, buckwheat, millet, quinoa.

Here's my rule of thumb for packing a satisfying meal:

1) FRUITS; either cut up in a container or on their own, 3-4

2) VEGGIES; either cut up in a container or on their own, 2-3

3) BIG SALAD; add some fats to this, quinoa, nuts, strawberries/orange slices

4) RAW SOUP; in a jar cold, with avocado and some spices

5) GREEN JUICE; 2 fruits: 1 veg ratio

6) RAW GOURMET SNACKS (optional); cookie/tart/crackers/dried eggplant bacon/buckwheat coco crispies/dried fruit/coconut water

ANSWERS TO MA Q'S.

Thank you for all the people that helped me come to an answer about this! (Heidi from HiHoRosie, whitecosmicwizard, Jay, and Charlene.

The sodium in the dressing would explain the puffiness in my hands, I just thought this is helping me down two platefuls of greens, what could be so bad?

I used what the cafeteria here offers, balsamic vineagar, OLIVIOLA (get this: 1 part olive oil, 2 parts canola oil mixed...) and orange wedges, I ripped off the slices and put then on top of my salad. DIDN'T feel as gross, and also felt fuller with one salad..surprising.

Jay, the monomeal question is so applicable to even non vegans/raw people in determining good and bad things.

Thanks for your help, another question will be posted later on :)

QUESTION!!

I need to know your opinions!

Do you think eating a KRAFT balsamic dressing with my huge salads daily affects the positive EFFECTS of eating raw? The answer I thought was initially no. considering how colossal my plates of greens are (two per meal) it has to be counteracted somehow. Then I read somewhere that strong spices, and things like onion/garlic irritate your insides and cause you to think you are not full.

What do you think??

Thanks :)

lime water. fedoras. and the month of august.

i bought a new hat.

it had to be in the picture.

the POINT of the picture is to show how delicious my lime water is: mint leaves, and lime slices.

just biked a crap ton..from North York to downtown past the waterfront to Etobicoke. and all I could think about was how the six peaches blended with a banana and a head of romaine was giving me pure energy! I'm going to make some mango salad, a raw soup and some rolls.

wait out for pictures!

Mango Salad

-sliced mango

-lime juice

-cashews

Raw Vegan Soup

-one long sprig of rosemary

-one long sprig of mint

-one small tomato

-one medium sized apple peeled and cored

-2.5-3 inch cucumber

-handful of mushrooms

-handful of parsley

-tablespoon of cashews

-pinch or two of sea salt

-one slice of lime

-lime water/juice

-dash of cayenne pepper

-pinch of paprika

-pinch of thyme

-sesame seeds sprinkled on top

YUMMM.

peachy goodness.

three ripe peaches

one ripe banana

1 ripe pear

1.5 cups water

1 ice cube

BLEND.

This is probably the most beautifully coloured breakfast smoothie/juice I've ever made. It looks like a melted orange creamsicle in a cup. OBVS without the loaded sugar. It's also thinner in texture, more juice like, change that depending on your amount of water used.

pictures are best taken on the hardwood floor of my room haha..