February will be my month!

So, one of my new years resolutions was to be 100% raw for the entire year. That went down the drain this month. I've had so many slip-ups! But i'm not dwelling on that, because February is a new month and I will do this! I'm participating in the February challenge on RFT, and I will be active in the challenge post, unlike the January challenge... I think that will help keep me on track! February will be a great month, so why not make it greater by treating my body the way it deserves to be treated, for life!

So here's to tomorrow, February 1st... the entire month of February... the rest of 2007... and the rest of my LIFE! I WILL BE 100% FOR GOOD! :-)

6 days until my birthday!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

P.S. Thelma! Update your blog! I need something to read, haha! But really, how are you doing? :-)

Zucchini pasta is yummy! Plus sprouting.

I made the zucchini pasta tonight! OMG I am amazed at how much it actually looked like angel hair pasta! Insane! And sooo yummy. It was my first encounter with a zucchini and a pleasent one. I tried to make the marinara, I tasted it before putting it on the pasta, and yuck! I guess I don't like raw tomatos (never had one before) and yeah... so I threw that out. My sister is a self proclaimed "pesto queen" so she made me some pesto (she really just wanted a turn using the Magic Bullet that we bought last week haha) and wow... it made for a fabulous dinner! But with one issue. The water in the zucchini came out and turned the pesto into sort of a soup, which was nasty looking and I couldn't finish it. So I need to find a way to fix that problem for the next time I make this dish. And there will definately be a next time! I'll take pictures next time too. I tried tonight, but the lighting sucked.

This afternoon I put wheat berries in a bowl to soak so that I could sprout them (my first time sprouting!) I've been having a craving for banana bread, so after these are sprouted (in 2-3 days... they just got done soaking) i'm going to make Alissa's Banana Bread. We'll see how that turns out! After they're sprouted, the bread takes like 20+ hours to dehydrate, so it will be a few days before I get to try them.

Not raw related... but my birthday is in 6 days! I can't believe i'm going to be 21! Crazy. I still have no idea what i'm going to do. My friend Missy is coming over to hang out, that's about all I know. I'm going to make her some raw treats to show her how good raw can taste, I know that!

That's all for now!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

My spiral slicer is here!

The UPS man brought me my spiral slicer a few minutes ago! I know what i'm having for dinner... the zucchini angel hair pasta and marinara! I bought all of the ingrediants last night that I didn't already have. Yay! I can't wait to try it.

My sister was supposed to start raw yesterday, but when she woke up for work she immediately ran to make coffee and said "I can't start raw today! I need coffee! I'll start tomorrow since we're going grocery shopping tonight" So last night on our way to the store, she said "I'm not gonna go raw, I love my food too much" I knew she wouldn't. I let myself get my hopes up of having an all raw kitchen even though I knew it wouldn't happen. Oh well! More incentive for me to move out. I will have that all raw kitchen someday soon!

That's all for now. I'll write more later. :-)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

I love Wild Oats!

Yesterday I went to Wild Oats. I forgot how much I loved that store! I was on a mission to get sundried tomatos (to make the marinara sauce for when my spiral slicer arrives), wheat berries and dates. I got all 3! I wish I could afford to do all my grocery shopping at Wild Oats! (and Trader Joes... and in a dream world, Whole Foods! *wants a Whole Foods in Vancouver*) They have raw almonds and carob powder, which I desperately want (although i'm not sure if the carob powder was raw... hmm) but they were too expensive for me to even think about buying. $15+ a pound for each... eeek. But at least now I know where I can get them! Yay for Wild Oats!

I also bought a new raw recipe book! Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet. Yeah, the title isn't kidding, there are some EASY recipes... there is one for lemon water haha... who needs a recipe for that??? But there are some awesome recipes in there that I want to make.

OH! And also yesterday I was at Walmart and found a Young Coconut, so of course I had to buy it! I'm hoping it isn't bad on the inside. I have to figure out how i'm going to open it. I cannot wait to try it! I don't know what i'm going to do with the coconut meat yet.

I'm off to clean house! My poor kitchen is begging for it. Eeek.

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

It's my lucky day!

It sure seems like it is my lucky day! lol ... I just went to the grocery store to get cat food and had to go check out the produce. Green grapes, my most favorite, were on sale for 88 cents a pound! I bought 3 bags, which was about 8 pounds. I spent $4-5 dollars on grapes... wanna know how much I saved? Over $17! Thank youuu, Safeway club card! :-) And to make a lucky day even luckier, I bought a $2 scratch off ticket, and won $10!

My sister told me she's going raw on Monday! I can't wait... an all raw kitchen... it will be beautiful! I'm already thinking of what to do with the stovetop haha. I *think* that's where i'll put the dehydrator and food processor, to free up some counter space for the smaller appliances.

This morning after my long blog post below I ordered a spiral slicer! The Joyce Chen model. I can't wait to get it so that I can make the "angel hair pasta" and marinara! Oooh and with pesto too!

Oh! And I changed my mind a little bit about the dehydrator. I'll still use it to make desserts. *blush* But that's it... for now.

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

I like things simple...

I think i've figured out why i'm having a hard time with being raw. It's not that I don't want to be, because honestly i've never wanted anything more. I think i'm making things entirely too difficult... which I always seem to do... with everything. Well, then you also have to factor in the darn cooked food addiction (I almost said farm food addiction?? huh??) It's a real bummer. I'm trying to make recipes to duplicate things I ate on a cooked food diet.... which works for some raw fooders, absolutely... but it isn't for me, at least not right now, so soon into my raw journey. It's my darn dehydrator that's causing most of the issues. For example, the swiss cheese, because I can't think of another one. I can see why some people would want a raw version of cheese... but i'm trying to get rid of my addiction to stuff like that, why would I want to make something that reminds me of it?? Granted i've never had real swiss cheese, but you get what i'm saying lol.

So, i've decided that for the next month (at least) while i'm getting into the groove of things and throwing myself fully into the raw lifestyle, I won't bother with my food dehydrator. I figure i'm going through a big enough change as it is, completely changing my eating habits, I don't need something making it more complicated.

Now, let me say... I think the food dehydrator is a fab invention and I do love mine. 5 star apples (it's a new fruit i discovered in a post on RFT haha... looks delicious and i want a million of them! back onto the subject now...) to whoever invented it.

Enough babbling from me. Not sure I even made sense! But it's 3:20 in the morning and it's okay if I didn't. *blush* Now I need to go find a salad dressing recipe that looks yummy for my lunch today! Or maybe i'll make up my own! Hmm... we shall see! I'll write more later. :-)

Peace, Love & Simple Living,
-- everclear

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!! :-) I love you, even if you did go to Vegas without me... mean! lol

Alissa's Swiss Cheese = two thumbs up!

I tried the finished swiss cheese... yummy! It's not something i'd eat by itself, definately on a sandwich of some kind. Later tonight i'm going to make a sandwich with the flax crackers I have from a few weeks ago (if they're still good... I need to find a bread recipe though), the swiss cheese, some baby spinach and umm... guacamole maybe? I don't know, i'll figure it out when I make it. :-) But yeah, two thumbs up to the swiss cheese! It definately has a cheesy taste to it.

So far today i've had:
Handful of cashews
A few bites of watermelon
3 bananas
A bite of the swiss cheese
Water

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

I have a banner!

I have been trying to figure out how to add my own banner on here since I created this blog... I finally figured it out! I made this banner forever ago it seems and now I finally get to use it. Yay!

I made Alissa's Swiss Cheese yesterday and now it's finally done! I tasted the mix before I put it in the dehydrator, it was interesting tasting. I don't know what i'm gonna do with it... maybe try to make a sandwich? Hmm... decisions, decisions!

I'll write more later!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

I'm back on it... 100% again!

Today is, again, day one of 100% for me. How can something I want SO bad be so difficult for me? I can't explain to you how badly I want to be raw... I know it's the right way... but damn cooked food and the temptation it brings! I don't even like cooked food anymore, but that doesn't stop the cravings. Grr! But anyways, as I said, it's back on raw for me! And yes, I realize I said the same thing in my last blog entry. *blush*

I finally have all of the ingredients to make one of Alissa's cheese recipes! So after I clean the house today (oh my gosh does it need it!) i'm going to make her Swiss Cheese. Yay!

Oh! My sister has decided she wants to go raw with me! She was reading Alissa's book last night and something clicked in her head, even though a few days prior she had said she would go raw, that was mainly to "support" me. But now she wants to do it for her! Then we watched Alissa's dvd! I sure hope she does this, because that girl seriously needs a change in her life. She has some major issues and maybe this will help in some way.

That's all for now! I'll update later today. :-)

Peace & Love
-- everclear

New colors!

I customized the colors of my blog! I don't know if these colors will stay around, and it's not much of a change, but I like them sooo much better than it was before!

I've been cheating so bad with raw foods. :-( I do so well during the day, it's the night time is what kills me. I don't know why I keep doing this... because to me cooked food doesn't even taste good anymore and it gives me stomach aches. My sister told me this morning that she might go raw with me, tonight she said it would be mainly to support me because she sees how much i'm struggling with it. I don't know if she's serious about this, but if she is I would be so grateful to her. To have an all raw kitchen would be awesome! But i'm not getting my hopes up, because my sister has a tendancy to say she'll do things and not go through with them. One can hope, right? :-)

Tomorrow I refuse to let myself go back to cooked food. No matter how hard it might be, I can't do it anymore. My body hates me when I do it. Stupid addiction.

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Adventures in making seed milk!

I made my first batch of homemade seed milk! I wanted to make almond milk, but I don't have almonds... I may try making some cashew milk next. So I made sunflower seed milk... omg!! YUMMY!!

Ignore the bowl in the background of the picture. *blush*

1c. of soaked sunflower seeds
About 1 1/2 - 2c of cold water
Raw honey to taste
Blend, strain, enjoy! (and save the pulp for future uncooking recipes!)

Completely off topic... but I woke up this morning to snow! So beautiful! There is already about 1 1/2 inches, and according to the news, we should get between 1-4 inches by 1pm... and then it will turn to rain... the weather casters are such buzz kills haha. I don't want rain!!! Just snow!!!

I'll write more later. :-)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

My raw cake/pie!

Here is a picture of my first raw cake/pie that I made a few days ago! The recipe called it a cake, but it looks more like a pie to me. *shrug* I made the crust a little too thick, but it's still yummy!

The picture quality is terrible... I hate using my camera phone! I really need to get batteries for my digital camera.

That's all for now!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Mmm I love fruit soup!

I lasted until 9pm last night on the water fast lol. I'm not disappointed though, it proved to me that I can do it!

Right now I am eating the most delicious chilled fruit soup I have ever made!

- Mango
- Banana
- A few green grapes
- A few frozen raspberries
- A tiny piece of apple (although it didn't affect the taste at all)
.... Blend in the blender and then strain it so it's smooth!

Yummy!

Tonight i'm gonna take a picture of my cake I made the other day and i'll post it. :-) Hopefully i'll be able to get a pretty looking slice out... ;-)

I'll write more later!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Feeling symptoms already

It's 7pm on day one of my water fast and i'm already feeling two very noticeable symptoms. My tongue has the most disgustingly heavy coating on it! YUCK! And my hunger is through the roof. But am I giving up? No! I know these are normal symptoms, and I am not letting them affect me.

I've decided that i'm not putting a set length on this fast. I'm just going to go with the flow and let my body tell me how long I should be doing it. :-)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Two day water fast this weekend

I'm doing a two day water fast this weekend. After yet another failed attempt at a fast (remind me not to read yummy raw recipes while fasting! lol) I need to do this. Not only for my body, but I feel I could gain alot spiritually through this and I need that. Failure at this is not an option this time! Whenever I feel the need to eat, I will do one of a few things: take a nap, blog about it or meditate.

As for what I broke my fast with the other day (when I was reading recipes) I made my first raw cake! I was reading 12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Addiction to Cooked Food by Victoria Boutenko and I saw her "generic cake" recipe, and since I had all of the ingredients... I had to make it. Mine had a sunflower seed crust with a blackberry/cashew topping. There is still most of it left. I'm gonna take a picture of it later on and post it! I'm proud of it haha.

I woke up way too early for a Saturday, so i'm going to try and get a few more hours of sleep. I only managed about 3 last night! I'll write more later on with how the fasting is going. :-)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Fasting... day two!

Yesterday (well, today for me still, I haven't been able to sleep yet lol) was okay... although at night I was starving so I ate a little bit... oops. But today it's back on 100% fast.

Today I think i'm going to do a water fast. Maybe i'll do a 3 day water fast. I just feel I need a break from anything that has calories... if that makes sense lol.

It snowed yesterday! But now the little bit (about a half an inch? maybe...) that stuck... is now ice! Yuck...

I'll write more later. :-)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Fasting... day one!

I woke up this morning and was sooo tempted to eat something... but then I saw my juicer that I had put on the counter last night and stuck to the plan! My "breakfast" was a glass of apple/carrot juice. Yummy! And i've come to the conclusion that my juicer (cheap one from Walmart) is a piece of junk... I need to get my Jack LaLanne juicer from my moms house... maybe i'll stop by there today and get it!

I'm so happy to have a fasting buddy! Thelma "travelingtoes" is joining me... we're gonna do great!! :-)

That's all for now! Gotta get ready to go to the grocery store to get more stuff fruits/veggies to juice!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

I had a job interview!

Today I had a job interview! My first ever! I was so nervous about it last night that I couldn't sleep AT ALL... not fun. But of course, as usual, once I was actually in the situation, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think it went pretty good... but we'll see. I hope I get this job, I really need it! It's at Safeway, by the way.

After the interview, we (sister + me) stopped by my moms for a bit, then we went to Trader Joe's. I got 3 Lara Bars! I already ate one, a cherry pie one... sooo good!!! I also got cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, raw almond butter and a mango... the mango only because it smelled good haha.

Tomorrow i'm starting another fast! Very excited about it. I think i'm more mentally prepared for it this time.

Ya know... I thought 2007 was going to be a great year... and already, just 9 days into it, I can tell I was right!!!!! AND it's supposed to snow tonight... can't get any better than that! I LOVE SNOW!!!!

That's all for now! :-)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

I think I need to give fasting another shot.

For the past few days, my body has been telling me that it's time for a fast, but I haven't been listening to it. Now, though, I think I need to! I've been having the most awful cravings for cooked food, and a few times i've given in. :-( I know I need to cleanse my body so I can get rid of these awful cravings! I know it will be easier to make the complete transition to raw foods once my body is clean. So i'm going to do a green smoothie + juice + water fast for however long it's possible starting on Wednesday. Now I just need to get my juicer out from the hall closet! I feel good about fasting this time.

Also, I made flax crackers... and now I have no idea what to do with them! I have to eat them before Wednesday, but I don't have anything to eat ON them (should have planned better? haha) ... I tried them by themselves... and no thank you! Hmm...

30 days until my 21st birthday! (the 6th)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Cashew butter makes me full!

This morning I was having a craving for apples with peanut butter, but since I don't have any raw peanuts, I decided to make some cashew butter. I have no idea how to really do this, so I just threw one cup of raw cashews in the food processor, then added a tiny little bit of raw honey for sweetness and a bit of water because it didn't look like it was turning into "butter" ... it turned into one big blob haha. Anyway, I put a big spoonful of it on a plate with my cut up apple, and I wasn't even able to eat a 1/4th of it because it made me feel so full! Not uncomfortable full, but full.

I have some golden flaxseed soaking right now so I can make some flax crackers later on! I'm excited about that.

I'll write more later!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Shopping trip today was a success!

I went shopping today, and it was a success! We went to Old Navy before going to the grocery store. I got 3 new pairs of pants (2 jeans, 1 pair of dress pants) and two shirts! Now if I get a call back for a job interview i'll have something decent to wear (I haven't bought new clothes in sooo long!)

So, after that my mom dropped me off so that my sister and I could go grocery shopping. There is this produce store on the way to it and i've always wanted to go in it, so we decided to go! Love it! Everything is cheap haha.

8lbs of apples, 4lbs of oranges, a pack of garlic (5), one medium sized Jicama, a honeydew melon, a large white onion, and something else i'm forgetting... all for only $11! At the grocery store that would have easily been $17!

At the grocery store I got green bell peppers, avocado, bananas, pears, kiwi, green grapes, lemons, limes, sea salt (although now i'm doubting I got the right kind... eek!), flax seed, golden flax seed, raw honey, raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds and raw cashews! I was SO happy when I saw the raw pumpkin seeds... my new best friend in the grocery store is the bulk bins!

Tomorrow i'm going to make some kind of crackers, i'm not sure what kind yet.

Oh! Exciting! My sister seems to be really interested in raw now. Before she would make stupid comments about it and when I would try to show her raw recipe photos (on rawfoodtalk) she would say "gross!" or "that is NOT raw!" (cookies, cakes, etc) but today she wanted to look at them, and commented on how good so many things looked. She even said if she had raw food that looked like that, she'd be a raw foodist too haha. And then she wanted to watch Alissa's dvd! But the dvd player was being stupid. If she went raw, it would be awesome. There would be no cooked/unraw food in this apartment, so... no temptations for me while i'm still living here! I want a raw kitchen!

Until tomorrow....

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

I think they ruined it!!! (not raw related)

I have a message board with Invision Power Board. It's my baby haha. I sent in a support ticket with the IPB staff for them to upgrade my board to the newest software version, and they're taking too long! I think they ruined it! It says it's still in progress, but I tried logging into my account on my board and it says there is it can't find any account with my username/password. GRR!!! PLEASE LET THIS BE PART OF THE UPGRADE!!!!!!! :-( I'm sure it is... but ahhh!!!

UPDATE: My board is safe! haha

Sinful Smoothie!

I just made the most SINFUL smoothie! It tastes like candy to me! It's about half of a pineapple (the leftover I had in the fridge) and a few frozen banana pieces (I cut them into 3rds before freezing) ... omg, YUMMY! I think i've found my new favorite smoothie! Oh, and I added maybe a 1/4 cup of water too.

I was supposed to go job hunting today, but my mom who was supposed to take me, ended up having to work. Sucks not having a license and a car! But she's taking me tomorrow. Is it wrong that one of my main motivations for wanting a job is so I expand my food budget to get more yummy raw things? haha! WISH ME LUCK! I am SO going to need it, even if I am just picking up applications... it's still super scary for me!

I was gonna say something else, but now i've completely forgotten what it was... hmm... don't you hate it when that happens!? Hopefully i'll remember later on and i'll post again!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

I DID IT!! I stayed 100% raw!!!

I'm just about to go to bed, but I had to share my excitement... I STAYED 100% RAW TODAY!!! The water fast didn't keep up, but I stayed 100%!! I found my leftover pineapple from yesterday and I had to eat some... it was calling to me haha. Yay!

OMG I just got done watching Alissa Cohen's dvd. I cannot wait to get to the grocery store so I can get things to make what she did. The angel hair pasta and marinara looks heavenly! The blueberry pie... omg! And the crackers (I don't remember which kind it was, the cinnamon cracker maybe?) with the almond butter, bananas and honey... excuse me, but that sounds orgasmic! Mmm!

I'm off to go dream of yummy raw foods! Here's to tomorrow... 100% raw day #2!

(I really think blogspot/blogger should have smileys/emoticons!)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Why!?!?

The first two days of the new year were a complete bust in terms of sticking to raw. So frustrating! Cooked food REALLY is an addiction, and anyone who tries to say different has no clue! I'm a huge emotional eater, and my emotions were really tested on the 1st by my sister, and I gave in to what I have always known to comfort me. Yesterday... I have no idea what happened! I was doing so well the entire day, and then night time came around... and I felt like I was starving and the raw foods I have left weren't going to cut it. So I caved. :-( Why is this so hard!?!? It's so simple, it shouldn't be so hard!!!

But... today, I have been good! I woke up this morning to the UPS truck pulling up, and... ta-da! My copy of Alissa Cohen's book and dvd both came today! So I immediately started reading the book and decided this is it. I haven't felt hungry at all though, so i'm doing a mini water fast. At least today, maybe tomorrow as well if I feel I can do it.

------

And I just have to get this off of my chest. A huge cause of my anxiety is my sister. She's an alcoholic in denial and whenever something sets her off to start drinking, usually it's me who has to deal with her behavior, since her only two friends don't want her near them when she's acting crazy/drunk, so they get her drunk at their place and send her home. When she's at her ex boyfriends house (her main friend), the only way she can get home is by driving.. so she does, even when drunk. Her other friend, who is also my friend, lives in the same apartment complex, so no driving needed there. I have gotten onto her case SO many times about drinking and driving, but it doesn't seem to register. She thinks there is no way she could get in an accident/kill someone... but who really thinks that could happen to them? OF COURSE it could happen to her! On the 1st, she decided to go over to E's (ex boyfriends) house and she brought a 5th of something and told me "no, I can't drink, I have work tomorrow! I'm selling to one of his friends for $10!" Uh huh... right, never stopped her before. Well, about 5 hours later she walks in the door obviously drunk, and J (apartment complex friend) walks in behind her and says my sister came to her apartment completely wasted, not knowing how she got there (she drove obviously.) REAL SAFE! She then left and went to J's apartment and J stayed and talked to me for awhile. When J left, she (J) called me and said my sister had left, with another 5th of something (that she had taken from her closet when she stopped by) and drove off. Obviously she went to E's house. The ENTIRE night I was on the verge of a panic attack because I didn't want her to come back and was worried she would. There have been a few times when she's been drunk like she was that night, I did something that for some reason set her off, and she has come at me, slapping/punching/kicking... it's scary! I say that 2006 was one of the worst years of my life... it's because of my sister, because it was filled with her drunken drama.

Oh, and my sister and E got into a fight earlier on the phone. So afterwards, she called J and asked to go over there... that's a sign that she's going to drink. I'm worried.

That's all for now. *sigh*

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Having almost no food sucks!

I have almost no food left! Two apples, 4 bananas, some pineapple, frozen berries and baby spinach. I cannot wait to go grocery shopping! My grocery "plan" for this weeks shopping trip:

Apples (I've discovered these are my most favorite fruit! I always thought it was raspberries!)
Bananas
Oranges
Lemons
Grapes
Dates
Avocado
Raw sunflower seeds
Raw almonds
Flax seed
Baby Spinach
Romaine
Some other type of 'lettuce'
Baby Carrots
Carob powder (If I can find it)
Agave Nectar

Not sure i'll be able to find everything on the list (carob powder, raw almonds), but I sure hope so! And i'll probably pick up some other stuff that looks good that I can't pass up.

All i've eaten today is a few pieces of pineapple. I'm just not hungry! The pineapple gave me a bit of a stomach ache too. Not sure why. If i'm feeling hungry later i'll eat an apple.

I'll write more later on!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

It's 2007!!!

Yay, it's finally 2007!!! I'm so excited for this year, if you couldn't already tell!!! This is just a quick post before I head to bed, but I decided on my new years resolutions, so I thought i'd post them!

New Years Resolutions for 2007
- Stay 100% raw (obviously)
- Exercise 30 minutes a day
- Get back into the 100's (weight)
- Get a job
- Get my GED
- Get my license (or learn to take the bus! haha)
- BE HAPPY!

Pretty good resolutions, I think! :)

Goodnight! And happy new years to everyone!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear