La Belle Verte Obsession

Many of you can recall my restaurant review from last summer about a new raw vegan restaurant in Gatineau, QC (literally a ten minute bike ride from the Ottawa side). WELL. Now that I have returned to the nation's capital city, I have begun making full use of this easily accessible restaurant. Here are some pictures from the last week.

Katey eagerly waiting for her Greek Pizza, (raw food newb who LOVED her meal btw.)

me and the soup du jour: creamy tomato soup with basil and chipotle (amazingg!)

devoured greek pizza: I honestly thought I wasn't vegan anymore, because the feta topping, tasted IDENTICAL to real feta cheese. (I was creeped out at first then intrigued, it was a cashew "un-feta cheese")

Obvi had to end the meal with dessert: Banana cream pie slice, and lemon tart (my favourite..so creamy)

More pictures to come...

addict.

MELON..

I think I've been eating up to 2 melons a day..(slight exaggeration) but at least one whole one.

Someone tell me this is good for me..they're delicious, but also the only reliable fruit in the cafeteria I eat from right now.

that's weird..

SECRETS OF MAINTAINING RAW.

HELLLOOOOO!!!

I apologize for the massive hiatus, but I'm back and have lots of good info to share with everyone! I have been reading books by Ann Wigmore, and Dr. Norman Walker and have had many epiphanies regarding this diet. I pretty much assessed my own lifestyle and reasoning for eating this way, and I'm not here to tell you I've stopped eating this way at all. IN FACT, I've have gained newfound motivation and determination to show the world that yes! it WILL work, heal, and purify the body if we eat this way.

My favourite book by Dr. Norman Walker was "Become Younger", it was filled with anecdotes, and information. The main points I got from that book were also paralleled by Ann Wigmore in her book, "The Hippocrates Diet and Health Program". I'm going to list the main points that you can incorporate in your lifestyle to benefit from eating raw.

• one major thing learned: eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts will NOT give you optimal health alone. Which is what I've been doing and have been getting discouraged from lack of results
• vegetable juices are the builders of the body, while the fruit juices are the cleansers. They have two different digestive paths, it's not always optimal to blend both together.
• germs propagate more freely on starchy matter than on almost anything else.
• if you are eating 80% raw and still eating white bread every other day, or couscous, forget it. The walls of your intestines are (Excuse my bluntness) CAKED with hardened matter that prevent you from absorbing nutrients, and experiencing true cleansing on the diet.
• One personal tip is that if you cannot let go of your starches, aim to eat gluten free starches: quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, millet, red rice.
• Colonics shouldn't gross you out, they are a vital component of "becoming younger" and maintaining your health with this lifestyle.
• the raw food diet is incomplete without the following: wheatgrass juice daily, Rejuvelac, kelp (seaweed family), variety of sprouts: mung, lentil, buckwheat, etc
• Finally, if you continue eating with all of these points in mind, your next step would be to take note of how you feel after certain food combinations. Maybe raw vegan restaurants start making you sick or sluggish after a meal. Research the basics, melons can be mixed with themselves, nothing else; greens digest separately than fruits; starches with fruit is bad, so is fat with fruit. This is something I continually learn after eating a banana with a few tsp of almond butter--AGGHHHHH. Bloat-fest..

What do you think? Is this new information for you, or are there things you will test out and try?

"BAM snacks on snacks, baby!"

I'm studying.

I have ONE. MORE. EXAM. till my epic summer begins.

Just in case you want to know what I'm munching on..my mom definitely replenished the produce in this house. VARIETY!!!!! (MONSTER SCREAM)

absolute nausea.

NEVER.

EVER.

JUICE.

OR

BLEND.

BEETS.

ALONE.

I feel horrific right now, and just googled why I felt so bad (blended two raw beets with the juice of an orange), apparently it is a POTENT cleanser for the liver, and does cause nausea alone, with other fruits/veg not so much. I legit feel like puking now. LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES ughhh

GHETTO JUICINGGG.

What you need: one mesh sieve (metal/plastic) + a thick smoothie made in a low power blender + a pot + one glass mason jar (to pour your beautiful concoction into) + big spoon

ex. half a lemon, butt-ton of spinach, cucumber, half a green apple

ex2. half a lemon (Frozen: this is my trick, it makes your drink cold, and COMPLETELY infused with lemon), crap load of spinach, one ripe pear, 1 beet, cilantro

pour out your drink into the mesh sieve, making sure the pot is directly below it, and slowly lift away from pot, while stirring, keep stirring and pressing against mesh to remove liquid. Keep pulp for compost, soups, or raw vegan desserts.

THIS IS SO EASY, and SO QUICK, I can't drink smoothies anymore because I find them too chunky..I might just need a vitamix though.

ENJOY YOUR "JUICING".

FUNGICIDE ON MY COCONUTS.

So apparently the lovely baby thai coconuts I purchase from chinatown are not so lovely after all. It seems like as soon as something becomes easy in this lifestylce, ex. OPENING COCONUTS, buying fresh produce locally, pesticide free farming, etc. ---something changes.

The coconuts that are fungicide free are the typical ones you see where the shells are used as bikinis..

I bought a few, 99cents at No Frills (this place is magical...I just realized), and attempted to enjoy one. My mom and I hacked at it this morning. NEEDLESS TO SAY, the best knife in the kitchen was destroyed, and the water that I was able to drink out of the coconut lasted for 3 tiny sips..I thought it was a joke, but my mom said those were the kind they always had in Lebanon and there was never much water in them.

My favourite part of this was after the water was sipped out, I went outside to my backyard and WHIPPED it on the ground for a few times, till is shattered and the outer (BIKINI) layer came off.

Best Video on how to cut (should have watched this prior to destroying said kitchen knife):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-gJC2mcebs&feature=player_embedded

END RESULT.