Day 13

I think I know why my fettucine alfredo dish didn't turn out how I expected. I saw a lot of recipes with cashews in it. I think that would have tasted better than walnuts (although I think walnuts are probably better for you!). I will try a cashew recipe another time. Today my mom and I got a bit experimental because we had some veggies that would go bad if we didn't use them today. SO we made our own recipes! I made a cucumber-tomato soup, which was very easy to make and surprisingly filling:

4 small cucumbers
4 cherry tomatoes, one regular sized tomato (using what we had here lol)
a cup of water
a teaspoon of nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons flaxseeds
a handful of fresh oregano
a handful of fresh basil
2 handfuls of sprouts
1 tablespoon of dill
couple of dashes of cayenne
1 teaspoon of himalayan salt
**Can also add avocado's if you have them for a creamier consistency.
*Mix in blender cucumbers, tomatoes, and water. Add the rest a little bit at time, to taste.


Man, did I ever feel good after that soup! I think this is probably a good ddetox/cleansing soup. I heated it up a bit on the stove, keeping the temp. low.


My mom made a squash soup-not sure exactly what she added, but I know she put in some nutmeg in it, and it was really good. My mom was going to cook it, but didn't want to spend the time so I said, just make it raw!

Raw soups are one of my favorite recipes-quick, and better than canned soup! I also like it on cold, gloomy Michigan days like today!


I had some figs too today. So good! :)

Day 12

My internet access was sporatic this weekend, and I didn't have much time to make food. I know, excuses, excuses. The good news is that after about only a week, I really just wanted simple raw foods like salads and smoothies. This should be good news anyways, if you are like me, and don't like making recipes. I do think I get bored way too easily, so I'm going to keep making two recipes a day. If anything, my mom is enjoying it! lol I think it keeps me motivated. So, since I didn't do any this weekend, I'm just going to say today was day 12. I made from the Alive in Five recipe book (which you can find on the right hand side of my blog, under recipe books used) the Fettucine Alfredo and Broccoli and Cheese. I also have some banana's freezing in the freezer for some raw ice cream! I have already had it before, so I know it tastes good-just not sure if the bananas I got were ripe enough. I bought all kinds of banana's today so I'll have some ripe ones in a few days-but I just couldn't wait to get started ;) My parents keep asking when the ice cream will be done too! It almost seems TOO easy, so I'm skeptical I can make it ok! Ok, on to the fettucine...I am just not impressed with Zucchini's for pasta, so I used quinoa and a tiny bit of semolina pasta. I figured, quinoa is close to being raw, and I didn't have to heat it up that long, and I kept it on a light simmer most of the time. I also didn't make the tomato sauce for the fettucine because it was just a ton of ingredients-I just made the parmesan cheese (out of pine nuts!) and the alfredo sauce (walnut milk! and I am excited to use the walnut milk for other things instead of milk-it tasted a lot better!) I accidentally spilled the walnut milk all over the sink trying to strain it-whoops! Luckily I made a lot so it didn't matter. The fettucine was, eh, ok. Not my favorite. I'll admit it taste like fettucine, but it was a bit too salty for my taste. My mom liked it though. I liked the parmesan cheese though. I think it would have been better with the tomato sauce. Oh, well. I am really full at least! This was my first experience with nutritional yeast (the only places around Southeast Michigan I know that sell it are Zerbo's in Livonia, and Whole Foods in Ann Arbor.) I was expecting nutritional yeast to taste just like cheese, because that's what everyone always says-but to me, it was a disappointing substitute. I have had raw fettucine alfredo that was really, really good, so maybe it was the recipe? I took Alissa Cohen's raw food chef class, and I really liked the one my instructor Beth made, and I have had some by Michael Dwyer at one of his classes at Better Health in Novi. SO, I was a little disappointed. Maybe I will have to buy Alissa Cohen's recipe book! The broccoli and cheese, same thing...it wasn't what I was expecting. Not bad, but just..."eh." It had tahini and nutritional yeast...but it tasted almost more like peanut butter!! Broccoli and peanut butter? blech. It was edible, but just not what I had in mind. I guess if you are looking for a peanut butter alternative, that would be a good recipe?! lol I think it could have called for less tahini. I had a hard time finding tahini, I had no idea what it was or where to look! It was in the baking isle! Weird. I also tried to find kelp noodles, but they are hard to find! I have only seen them at Zerbo's and one Better Health store. Oh, well. I worked out with weights today, so quinoa is a good source of protein. The tahini wasn't raw either, but oh well. Maybe I'm being too hard on the recipe-it did taste a LITTLE bit like cheese. Just if you make it, don't use a lot of tahini. It kind of tasted like diet pop...it tastes like pop, but just leaves you unsatisfied! Maybe it's because it didn't have any casein in it?! Read about my thoughts on cheese and dairy on my Michiganrawfood blog.

Pics from day 12!

Day 11

Well, today I had my Mom make the recipes while I watched. She was so inspired and felt so good from my last meals that she wanted to try some. I guess they were out of raw food recipe books at the library, but the vegan books she got had some raw recipes. I thought what my mom made turned out good, but my Dad went to taco bell afterwards. lol Anyways, my Mom made raw spaghetti (which turned out ok but it was a bit too garlicky-I told her to add the garlic in slowly, and not all at once...maybe she will listen to me next time!) and an apple pie. The apple pie was really good, but it was just apples with cinnamon and some nuts. I think people get disappointed with raw foods because they expect it to be like the name...but it's something totally different. Raw Lasagna isn't really lasagna, raw apple pie isn't really apple pie...but the few I have had that actually taste like the real thing are cheesecakes, ice cream, fettucine sauces, and the chocolate pudding. I think it's best to keep an open mind so you aren't disappointed. I hope my mom isn't discouraged though, it was only her first time making raw food. It takes a bit of time to get used to, especially if you have actually cooked regular stuff before (which may be why I'm pretty good at it, as I have nothing to really compare it to!) I'm about a day behind, so I will post tomorrow about today's recipes!

Days 9 and 10

Ok, sorry I haven't felt like updating. I'm really not sure why, but I kept putting it off. To be fair, Julie in the movie didn't have to make TWO recipes a day, or try to find practical recipes from a style of cooking (it's not even cooking really!) with all these weird ingredients. If I want to take a couple of days off from blogging, than I will! lol I did still make my recipes though. Two days ago (day 9) I made the stuffed mushroom (p. 46), raw tostadas (98), and even made chocolate pudding (p.119). I kind of made up for the day off also, since I had to make the salsa (71) again for the tostada's, so it was technically four recipes. All of the recipes in this post are from: a>



Other than not putting all of the ingredients in, or changing a few here and there, I followed the recipes ok with no issues. I made the food for my parents and they really liked it. Ok, my Mom more than my Dad. Since my Mom had breast cancer, she is much more interested in eating healthy. My Dad...still wants to eat whatever he wants. Oh, well. He's going to eat what I make! lol He can eat one bad meal when he's at work! My favorite was the chocolate pudding. It was soo good! I was pretty proud of it. You really couldn't tell the difference from regular pudding-and it tasted less "heavy." I didn't feel gross when I ate it. Oh, and I took some MMS and my stuffy nose went away immediately! I only made a solution of two drops and when I went to drink it, even before I swallowed it, I could feel my nose clear up! It was really crazy! I don't like to take that stuff, but I was getting desperate as it was four days with a stuffy nose. It was the kind of stuffy nose that wasn't bad enough to keep you in the house sick,but just enough to get on your nerves! I'm SO happy I can breathe ok again!!


Day 10.

Still from the same book...I tried a different chili recipe this time, hoping it would be better than the first disaster. The unbelievable chili (p.100) was well...not unbelieveable, but tolerable. My parents ate it...so at least it wasn't so spicy it burned, but it wasn't that good. I didn't like it. I don't think I will be making any more raw chili's! I accidentally put in the tostada spice though, so I think maybe that threw off the flavor? But still, the spices in that weren't that much different from chili spice. Either way, chili is way too easy to mess up and way too picky about the spices being exact. I like to not measure and just kinda wing it-I think chili is out from now on! I was happy with the corn medley though (p. 96) turned out REALLY good. I loved it! So, that made up for the chili I guess. I'm not really losing weight, but I feel lighter....oh well. I am working out with weights so I'm probably just gaining muscle. (or so I'm telling myself! lol)

Here are day 9 and 10 pics: tostada, stuffed peppers, chocolate pudding, chili, and corn medley


Oh, and my mom wants to help pay for the recipes which is a HUGE relief. She wants me to make food for her every day, so she is going to help out! Today I found a bunch of vegan recipe books from the library that she checked out for me! :)Not raw, but hey, she is on the right track! I was just really wondering how I was going to keep affording this, and was getting sick of my recipe options. I love how when you set your mind to do something, it just falls into place. (well, if it's something you are supposed to do anyways!!) I tend to overanalyze things to death and wait until just the perfect moment...but we all know there really is no such thing as the "perfect" moment, right? Sometimes it's better to just do do what you know you need to do, and worry about the details later. I keep wanting to say screw it, I know enough about recipes now, I won't get bored. But that's ridiculous. I've made, what? 20 recipes? I'm not an expert yet. I know if I start going back to just smoothies and salads I'll get bored again. Soooo....what to make tonight? I can't spend all day making recipes like I did yesterday and get behind on work. I'm already behind by blogging...still waiting for the raw food to make me want to start waking up earlier like I've heard but alas, I still need around 9 hours of sleep!!

Day 9!

I took yesterday off because all I wanted to do was sleep. I'm not sure if it's a cold or not, but I decided to take it easy. So, yesterday won't count for the 365 days. Today will count for day 9. I'm going to make Raw Tostadas, stuffed peppers, and if I have time...chocolate pudding! I will post that later.

Day something or other...

I had a bit of a cold still today, but it wasn't bad. Not sure if it was detox maybe? I still went to the gym, but felt better after. I read it's ok to work out when you are sick, but I didn't go last night because I didn't want to make anybody else at the gym sick! I felt good enough today though. I had leftover fresh corn gaspacho soup which held up surprisingly good! I hate how I'm not hungry when I eat raw foods-you would think that is a good thing, but for me, it's not. I gain weight when I don't eat enough calories. My body freaks out a bit, and stores the fat. I need to eat my minimum calories or it's scary. Anyways I made the dreamy sour cream (pg. 70) and Sexy Salsa (p. 71) from Alive in 5 book. It was surprisingly simple. I'm starting to wonder if there are enough raw food recipes for two a day for one year?! What to make tomorrow??Ahhhh, no idea!!!!!

Day 7!

It's been one whole week! It's definitely been tough doing the more fancy recipes, but most of them are pretty easy. I just hope I don't run out of recipes!! I may have to invest in some more cookbooks, or get some for my birthday. I had a ton of tomatoes adn a lemon so I made a Tomato Fennel Soup and some almond milk for the zinc-which was surprisingly easy. I am starting to get a little bit of a cold (or maybe it's detoxing?) but my body seems to be fighting it off. I hope it stays that way, and doesn't get worse. I have been around a lot of kids who sneezed and blew their nose on me, and who knows what germs I have been getting at the gym! Yuck. Gyms kind of gross me out in that area! lol I will hopefully get back to spark people after the weekend is over.

Day 6!

Ok, it's Friday and I am in a hotel...don't feel like writing a lot so I'll get right to the recipes!

I made a Thai Guacamole!

and a Cucumber Raita


Feeling pretty lazy as far as making stuff, and just less hungry in general. I think that's a good thing? I did really good at work today, had a lot more focus. So, I guess I'm not being totally lazy! :)

Day 5...

....and still alive! Barely! Ugh. Today was NOT fun. I have to admit that doing something like this would be a lot easier if I had a more stable life. However, that is why I'm doing this-if I can, than anybody can! I find that when I eat low fast raw food meals, I don't have time to catch up at the end of the day all of my needed calories and fat...so I have to eat processed food because it is quicker. It's not really that raw is tough to do, I just need to plan things a little better. I'm still having trouble making sure I don't go overboard with raw food recipes with lots of fat, and not going under with too many low-fat recipes. It gets easier, right? RIGHT? ugh. I did notice at the gym that I was going really fast on the treadmill AFTER working out. Before it was just on my pre-work out warm up stepper that I had more energy. Now I am noticing more energy afterwards. My skin looks good without any makeup now, my lips are actually fuller (I'm more hydrated now from all the fruits and veggies maybe?) and my skin has a rosey glow (must be all the tomatoes?!) I haven't lost much weight, but than again, I'm not 100% raw right now either. I had a pear and some leftover raw lasagna and after working out made a smoothie of tons of blueberries, strawberries, and a banana. Than I made Cucado Soup and a sunshine carrot salad. And then for dinner I had a regular meal. I picked easy recipes today because I had to stay in a hotel, and it was a crazy day. My house is pretty much not a place I can stay at right now. I don't really want to talk about it, but let's just say I'm really proud of myself for managing to stay mostly raw today since it was horrible! No pics, as the food wasn't really exciting to blog about! The good news I didn't have to get a lot at Krogers today, as I had most of the ingredients already.

Day 4!

Sorry this is a bit late, but I was out until after midnight and couldn't post. I went to the Farmer's Market in Taylor, MI and got all kinds of fruits and vegetables. I got a free pear and pepper too :) The two recipes we made turned out pretty good, even though I had to kind of work around what was available (had to use kiwi since we couldn't find passion fruit, and I had a hard time finding Mango but luckily we did at Westborn Market in Dearborn, MI) The first recipe was a Raw Lasagna. I didn't use nori rolls because, well, they smell like a fish tank! Surprisingly enough though it help up pretty good without that layer when we served it. I also didn't put peppers or parsley on top, but just put carrots and basil. I was surprised with how much the sauce tasted like lasagna! Who knew Mangos would make a good sauce?! Everybody loved it, including a seven year old who thanked me for, "Giving him something healthy to eat!" Lol, gotta love kids! :) I also made some banana wraps (with kiwi instead of passion fruit) and a banana basil smoothie, which surprisingly was really good! I was really curious about that one and had to try it out! I can't believe how much everybody liked it considering they are non-rawfoodists. I definitely achieved my lower fat goal, with about 4 grams total, including the pears and blueberries I had for breakfast! The only problem was we went to a hockey game later and I was there way later than I wanted to be so I only had 626 total calories and 4 grams of fat for the day. Not good! So I had some chips and a bag of m&m's out of the vending machine at the ice rink :( I didn't want to eat that, but I know if I go under my calories I gain weight too. Oh well, it's food and I'm thankful I'm not starving, right? It could be worse :) I wasn't hungry though, but I felt I should eat something anyways. What on earth am I going to make tomorrow? It's late and I don't feel like looking anything up! I have a ton of tomatoes, carrots, pears, and blueberries...hmmm....I'm sure there is a recipe somewhere where a creative raw foodie used those ingredients! lol Here are some pics from the day (I was proud of my creations today, they looked actually good and not like cat vomit!)

Day 4 Pictures (Raw Lasagna, Banana Wraps, and Banana Basil Smoothie)

Day 3!

Survived day 3! I still have not jumped out of bed full of energy, but maybe that was from all the fat I have had the last few days. It took me a good 45 minutes or so to find a low-fat raw food recipe I hadn't tried yet, but I finally did. Unfortunately that put me really behind schedule since I decided to work out before doing any work tonight. I made a quick smoothie and drank it on the way to the gym. That's the best kind of fast food :)I have to say this was the first time in a loooong time that I didn't feel like I had led in my feet when I was on the stepper and treadmill. I actually felt like I was flying! I went to Kroger after the gym again, and I'm pretty sure they are starting to wonder about me. I am always all sweaty and only buying vegetables! lol The cashier asked me very slooowwwly, "Are you sure you found everything ok?" Yes, huh, I really just wanted vegetables and nothing else yet again! :) I think they would probably guess I'm homeless if it wasn't for the fact that I always pay with an American Express card! So, instead, they are just confused! I somehow spent more than yesterday ($10) but I think I went a bit overboard on tomatoes as I had a lot of extra's left over today. My first recipe turned out really good! I loved the soup so much! I definitely recommend it. I got it online and it's called Fresh Corn Gazpacho. I would agree with a poster on there that it was a bit much on the Apple Cider Vinegar, but it wasn't bad. Just something to be aware of if you make it-you can always add more in later if you have to! I added some carrots to it, and I also would recommend some more corn. Otherwise though, it was very good. The second recipe I made was Raw Spaghetti. I have absolutely no idea where I found the recipe at, but I remembered it thankfully when I was shopping. It was basically just some zucchini with a tomato (and spices) sauce. It was ok, but nothing that great. My sparkpeople page finally showed my fat under control today. I ate other stuff than what I added on there so don't think I only had 929 calories today, but I just don't feel like including everything! You get the basic idea though. I really recommend you do the Spark People nutrition tracker if you are trying to lose weight-it has really helped me a lot. I only wish I would have done it sooner! I'll save you the pictures from today-unfortunately, a lot of the food I make tends to look like cat vomit! Sorry for the visual, but it's true! :) Like I said before though-I'm just glad it doesn't taste that way! Sooo...what to make tomorrow?!

Day 2!

Today went a lot better! :) I have to admit, I didn't follow the recipes exactly, and that was just fine by me! I just didn't feel like driving out of my way today. Maybe if I had more time, but I really wanted to just make recipes that are easy and don't require me to import anything from a far away tropical land! I also only spent $8 (and that included two Bora Bora bars!) I did have some trouble convincing myself to wake up early to go grocery shopping, and I didn't make it to my spin class at the gym. Alas, I guess one day of raw foods isn't enough to make me jump out of bed at 6am! I'll keep hoping for that day! I did work out on my rebounder though for 15 minutes, if that counts? When I woke up I was actually craving a green juice, which is weird since I hate anything green normally! So I made a smoothie of spinach, blueberries, and some coconut. Even though I can eat one normal meal, I have found myself not wanting to ruin it with a non-raw meal. Knowing that I have the freedom to eat whatever I want makes it a lot easier to not eat junk food! I thought that was just a fluke yesterday, but the feeling lasted today. I'm definitely not complaining! Ok, enough rambling...on to the good stuff! I actually have a recipe I can share since I got it online. It was Pad Thai, and it was really, really good! I'll admit I wasn't terribly excited about it, but made that one because it had a lot of ingredients I already bought yesterday and had left over. I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was! Where do people come up with this stuff? I would never have thought to put cashews with olive oil, lime, and peppers! lol I didn't use raw olive oil since we already had regular olive oil at the house. Maybe I'll splurge on some raw olive oil when the one we have runs out. I don't have a vegetable peeler so I just cut the zucchini up in some weird shapes, but hey, close enough, right? I'm also not sure if I got the right kind of zucchini, but it was all that was organic at Kroger, so I figured it was good enough. lol I didn't find bean sprouts, so I got broccoli sprouts. I also accidentally got a Green Pepper, after spending about 10 minutes trying to decide if it was a Bell Pepper or not...I forgot that I needed yellow or red! I also didn't exactly ground the cashews-I just put them in a bag and smashed them up a bit! Gourmet Chef I may not be, but I get the job done! lol Despite my, uh, issues, it turned out really good! I'm starting to get the hang out of this-just don't let any real chef's see me cook! ;) I also made the apple cinnamon porridge (p. 370 of Rainbow Green Live Cuisine) which turned out good even though I didn't soak the almonds (who has time for that? I need to start doing this the day before! whoops!) and that made it really tough to blend (finally figured out I needed to add more water...I was just afraid if I added too much water it would be too soupy). I am not sure why some people say they can't do raw foods in the winter time, as it seems the easiest recipes to do would be really good in the winter. I can definitely see myself eating this cinnamon apple porridge during the winter time. I have to admit I was really tempted to want to put some whip cream on it! lol (oh, and I forgot to mention that my friend put sour cream on the chili from yesterday, and heated it up! Oh well, it's still better than what he normally eats!)It kind of looked like cat vomit...but at least it tasted good! :) I looove cinnamon!The bora bora bar was good also-it was the closest I could find to a raw bar. Here's the book I got the apple porridge recipe from:



Pictures from today (mostly of the Pad Thai, the last is the porridge)


I may have snuck a brownie today also, but it was one of those bite size ones. ;) I will update my spark people page tonight when I'm done working! I'm curious to see what my nutritional intake was for today!

Day 1!

Today was...interesting! Slightly discouraging as well, but I will not give up! (ha, it's day one...easy to say now!) Mainly it went not so great since I wasn't at home. My friend was in absolutely no hurry, and pretty much wasted my whole day. He meant well, but he's just so sloowww. I wanted to work today, but here it is, 10:24pm...I guess I won't be making any money today ;( And the food cost $70! We made way too much food, so I guess it would have been cheaper also to cut it in half...but the recipes didn't really say how much it would make. He also just grabbed the first stuff in the store, without trying to think about cost, so it added up quick. Oh, yeah, and my friend added way too much cumin in the chili, essentially ruining it. He also kind of took over, and wouldn't really let me do as much as I wanted (hello, it's MY project-I'm the one who needs to learn here! He went to culinary school for a semester) I actually did surprisingly good though, other than some rookie mistakes-I'm quite the natural at this! I learned how to grind flaxseed, that was fun! Nobody was there and I figured it out all by myself :) The food processor and the grinder scared the crap out of me-they were a lot more powerful than I thought they would be! lol The spinach and walnut quiche was pretty good, but I thought it was a bit dry-and I actually like blander food. Oh, well. It was still really good-and very easy to make! I did make some stupid mistakes though- when I first started I mixed the cashews and walnuts together, but I was only supposed to put in the cashews at first...so I had to pick the walnuts out of the cashews...one, by one. I learned the hard way, right from the beginning, to read the directions CAREFULLY before doing anything! I won't make that mistake again! When we made the chili I also didn't know how to dice carrots. Personally, if my friend wasn't there and hadn't insisted on dicing them perfectly I would have just cut them up. Whatever. But he made me dice them! We peeled them first, but realized we were out of cumin. So, he offered to go to the store. No problem, right? Wrong! I got a little hungry and ate what was left of the peeled carrots! I thought the peeled skins were what we were going to use! LOL Whoops. Luckily we had plenty of carrots. When he got back, he forgot how much cumin he put in and added way more than we needed! So,I could only eat a few bites before I started to get spice burps. It was not good! The chili actually would have amazing though if we hadn't (read: NOT me! I'm not a big spice fan....I wish I would have watched him better when he added the spice. I know he's is spice happy! Ugh) over spiced it. It would be really good for a dip with dehydrated crackers, or even as a bean burrito in a lettuce wrap. I definitely want to make it again. It's very filling, and since it's kind of spicy it would be good in the winter time. It looked really gross though!! :) I threw in some cordyceps for a superfood boost!Grocery shopping was fun also-he kept arguing with me over how we had to get exactly what the recipe called for! Sun-dried tomatoes or regular? What's the difference? I don't get the point, but oh well. I like to mix and match on recipes, I don't follow them exactly, but I humored him for today! At least I got to work out today! My sparkpeople page was way off I think, since I had to guess a lot on the nutritional info. I did find a blackberry app for it, so that made it easier to keep track during the day! I was way over on fat, but it was all good fat and I worked out, so I'm not too worried about it. I also may have had some Nestle Sno-Caps left over from the movies this weekend. That certainly didn't help. I was under on protein, but that happens even when I eat a non-vegan diet, so what can you do? It seems tough to get the recommend amount of protein every day. Not to mention I think fruit/vegetable protein is better than the kind from meat. So to wrap up what I learned today-always read the directions CAREFULLY, lol. I learned how to use a grinder :) I learned how to dice carrots. I also learned to cut the recipes in half to save some money if it's just me or one other person eating it. I also found out that even though I am allowing myself one non-raw meal a day, I didn't really want to eat non-raw foods. I was tempted with pizza, brownies, pancakes...and even spam!! (why is it when I'm trying to eat healthy all this free, bad food presents itself magically to me?!) and yet I didn't want it! It just seems wrong to go through all this effort on the other two meals, and than ruin it with even one bad one. I honestly only ate the sno-caps because I was waiting for my friend to get back and he took forever...and it was the only thing to eat while I waited. I think that's it for today! Anyways, here are some pics :)

Day 1 Pics


Recipes used today:

Autumnal Chili from Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, and Spinach and Walnut Quiche in a Flash from Alive in 5:

One day to start....and I'm stressing out!

I am seriously getting really nervous about starting this tomorrow! Will I be able to do this EVERY day? I did a blog, 30lbsby30...and well, I think I actually gained 10 lbs. instead of losing weight! Whoops. I feel like this is different though-that was just a blog, and I didn't promote it. This is a website and blog, and I'm going to tell people about it. Not only that, but I have a video with ME on it. It's easier to hide behind a blog. It doesn't help that today started off pretty bad. I woke up with a really, really bad headache. It felt like my brain was trying to break it's way out of my skull. Ouch. So, I wasn't able to work out today. I was going to just go eat at Red Pepper Deli in Northville, Michigan, but they were closed when I got there! So much for eating healthy tonight! I was pretty angry that in order to have a nice Saturday night out, there is only ONE raw food restaurant. It's so hard to go out and have a good, healthy, organic meal...yet there were tons of fast food restaurants. How frustrating! Yes, I could have made something at home and not had anything to eat while we went to a regular restaurant-but really, why is it that way? Things just got better as I found out I was being kicked out of my room for two days. There is some good news to this story though, as I later found out when I went through the recipe books tonight to get prepared for tomorrow. Turns out I'm really understocked on kitchen utensils for most of the recipes, but my friends house that I have to stay at will have most of the things. I was looking at the recipes and saying, "I can't do this!" And he offered to help me, and even said it sounded like fun!(yeah, I don't see that yet!) I am pretty glad he will be helping me on my first day or I think I'd be in tears already! Reading through my recipe book, "Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine," by Gabriel Cousens, M.D I quickly realized it is basically useless to me-almost all the recipes I liked required a dehydrator. I should have realized it would be a bit too fancy for me when the chili was called, "Autumnal Chili." (Page 163) Seriously, who says, "Autumnal?" Ironically, that was one of the only recipes I liked from that book.So, I'm only going to be working from Alive in 5, by Angela Elliott for awhile, until I can buy a new book. Tomorrow I'll be making the autumnal chili, which despite having more ingredients than I care to buy, seems easy. I will also be making from Alive in 5, Spinach and Walnut Pie in a Flash.(page 92) It would seem fun if I had limitless money and time, but of course I don't. It's going to be a bit of a pain to get all the ingredients, plus I have to drive all the way to the gym tomorrow since I'm not at home. I hope this helps me change my attitude and be more laid back and accepting of things, but I don't have high hopes on this! Wow, did I ever look depressed in the Youtube video! It's really weird to see yourself on video like that. It was always one of my least favorite exercises when I went to Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts. I definitely prefer being behind the scenes-but I will have to get over that again like I did for school.This is going to be very time consuming-we're supposed to be watching a movie right now, but I am on the phone with Godaddy Tech Support...and have been most of the day. When the Tech Support person says, "Ohhh no, this is NOT GOOD!! I have never seen anything like that..." you know you are in for a long night! It was rather amusing when he called my blog, "Wah-Nah-Be" instead of Wanna-be. He must have thought my website was about Wasabi that is used in sushi! :P I need to stop worrying though-this is supposed to be fun, right?! RIGHT?

My Spark People Page

Just in case you couldn't find it in the link, or you weren't sure how to find it on Spark People's website, you can track my daily nutritional intake on spark people
here: Rawfoodwannabe's Spark People Page


I'll admit it's going to be really hard to find the time each day to go grocery shopping and make two raw food recipes, plus blog about it...so the Spark People page may be the one thing I will slack off on it. I will try to update it as often as possible though, because I think it will be interesting to see what kind of nutrition I receive on a mainly raw food diet.

Intro.

I made a youtube video to describe in more detail what this website is about. I forgot to mention that the recipes will not be taken from only one book, like in the movie, "Julie and Julia." Also, I won't really be going in any particular order in the book. I think most people who watch the video can figure it out, but just thought I'd add that in just in case there was any confusion! I am not starting this today. The official date of the challenge starts September 13th, 2009 (coincidentally one month before I turn 30! *gasp*) Here is my very *flattering* (you can hear the sarcasm I'm sure!) video (hey, I may have majored in video production, but we didn't use crappy Acer web cam's, and I was never the ON-SCREEN talent, so cut me some slack please!)