Raw is on hold for awhile... :(

I feel like such a failure admitting this. Even though I know 100% without a doubt in my mind that raw is for me, at this time in my life, I can't do it. I'll go back to it when everything else settles in my life, but right now I have to work on other things. Lame excuse, right? I know it. Hopefully within a few months i'll be back at it. *sigh*

But for anyone who reads this blog, please check out my personal blog [ here ]! I'm going to keep that updated daily. I won't be away from raw for long. Not when I know the good it does for me.

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Fast will start tomorrow instead!

I wasn't able to start my green smoothie fast the other day, because... I don't have any greens yet! And I was broke, so yeah. I'm starting tomorrow though!

Today i'm eating light. Doing a one day "apple fast" -- I read about it on RFT awhile back. Eating only apples + drinking water and tea.

Yesterday I was craving green smoothies. So hopefully this means that i'll be successful in my fast, because my body obviously wants them! :o)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Dare I say this... another fast?

I know, I know... i've said I was going to fast quite a few times in the past 2 months and it never worked out. But now more than ever I believe I have to do this...

I have been having such insane cravings for cooked food, and sadly started eating quite a bit of it again. I can't keep doing this to myself. How can something that I want so badly (to be 100% raw) be so damn difficult? It's sooo frustrating! Because of the cooked food, I feel so sluggish, tired all the time... just crappy in general! I have eaten cooked food, with minimal fresh fruit/veggie intake for my entire life... and now I know exactly why i've felt so blah my entire life! It's cooked food! I mean, I knew it was... but to actually experience it by eating a raw diet and then eating cooked, as opposed to just reading about it... it's eye-opening. Honestly, it's a bit scary.

On Monday i'm starting a green smoothie fast. Length to be determined. I've tried the water only fasting and the juice/water fasting... now green smoothies are up. I know that when I drink green smoothies, they keep me feeling full for quite awhile (and they take quite a long time to drink!), so I should be okay in that department.

I just want to feel good again... and i'm confident this will help me.

Wish me luck!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

P.S. If you haven't been to it already, i've started a "personal blog" for my entries unrelated to raw foods. :o) earthspirit21.blogspot.com ...

Bloody rotten pears!

I just went to go get one of my delicious pears (green anjou... have yet to start my "mission" lol) and they were.all.rotten! NOOO! I was craving them so bad, and such disappointment... why does the fruit I always want the most ALWAYS go rotten??? It's a conspiracy. Rude.

I haven't made any real raw treats since the delicious RP brownies and I am really itching for a yummy dessert! There is a recipe floating around rawfoodtalk for a "cheesecake" with raspberry sauce that looks absolutely devine, I think that will be my next adventure. I just have to wait until I have all of the ingredients! Hopefully soon.

Hmm... I don't have much else to say right now. :o) I'll write more later!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

I am on a mission!

So, pears are my newest obsession. Specifically green anjou pears. I was just thinking... I think those are the only pears I have ever eaten! And that saddened me a bit. So i'm on a mission... to try ALL the different varieties of pears that I can get my little hands on! :o) (and I do have little hands... like too little haha)

Will green anjou pears still be my favorite by the end of this mission? Or will I fall in love with a new pear? Stay tuned to see! *wink*

What is YOUR favorite pear?

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Excalibur & Vitamix I want you so bad!

I cannot describe to you how much I want an Excalibur food dehydrator (9 tray!) and a Vitamix blender! My dehydrator (Nesco) is fine, it works well.... but it's nowhere near as pretty (or awesome!) as the Excalibur. A Vitamix... well, it's just plain sexy. My cheapo blender works fine for what it is... but it doesn't blend things super smooth like a Vitamix! And it doesn't make the things a Vitamix would!

Excalibur and Vitamix... I will someday have you!

In other news... I have 2 bags of raw almonds that I am dying to use, but at the same time scared to, because I don't want to waste them on something I might not like! Should I eat them plain? Make some almond milk so I can also use the delicious pulp? Make a delicious pie crust? Make the almond bread that people love on RFT? It's just impossible to choose! Hopefully i'll think of/decide something soon, because i'm craving something almondy!

Annnd... the other night I made a delicious sundae! It was two RP brownie pieces and banana "ice cream." It looked so delicous, and then I tasted it... and it was like an orgasm in my mouth. Seriously, it was that good and that's the only way to describe it. This picture does it no justice, and it's blurry... but that's what you get when you use a camera phone haha.



Honestly the best treat i've encountered on my raw journey!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

P.S. To see some delicious raw foods, go to this thread on RFT: http://rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24338 ... photos of mouthwatering yummy, raw foods!

RP brownies = best thing EVER!

These are all the "rage" on RFT and I had to try them! I finally had all of the ingredients (except walnuts, so I used cashews) so off I went! And wow... I cannot even describe how delicious this thing is. Yummy!






I created my own cashew frosting to go ontop. I didn't measure anything, but it's cashews, honey and lemon juice. Maybe I didn't invent it, but I didn't go by a recipe, so it's my own recipe!

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Making a carrot cake today!

Since my birthday is tomorrow I'm going to make a carrot cake today so that I can have a yummy raw treat! I've never had carrot cake, but the recipe (mainly the frosting lol) sounds quite good! Although i'll be making a few substitutions - I don't have walnuts, so i'll be using cashews or maybe pumpkin seeds? I don't know. I won't be using raisins, I'm not a huge fan of them... so hopefully it still turns out! And I don't have cardamom, so i'll have to find something to replace that. I was originally going to make some kind of chocolate cake, but I don't have carob or cacao, so that's out for now! The recipe is Alissa Cohen's. It's in her book, but it's also posted on gliving... here!

Since it will be my 21st birthday, I am going to let myself have some alcohol... not raw, but come on, i've been waiting for this day my entire life... almost, haha.

On Wednesday, to celebrate the new year of my life, i'm going to give fasting yet another shot. I'm going to do a juice/water/tea fast. Warm tea curbs my appetite (it's all mental for me, I don't think it physically curbs it lol), so I think it will be a very good idea to include it in my fast. How long will the fast last? I don't know, i'm just going to take it one day at a time. :-)

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

Banana Bread & Muffins!

Yesterday I finally made my banana bread! It's been in the dehydrator since about 2pm yesterday. I snuck a taste of it last night and OMG yummy! I can't wait for it to be done, so I can eat it with some almond butter ontop! Yum!

I didn't know what to do with my leftover wheatberries, so I decided to make some muffins. Alissa's "Morning Muffin" recipe. But I don't have any almonds, so I substituted pumpkin seeds. Hmm... I don't know how they'll turn out. Those won't be done until tomorrow.

The other day I was with my mom, and I asked if she's ever heard of a Vitamix, and she said "yeah, we've had a few at sales before" (she has an estate sales business) and then she said "we sold one for $20!" AHH! Why didn't I tell her I wanted one before??? lol... but she knows now, and promised that if she has one at another sale, it's mine. Whoo! Because I refuse to pay almost $400 for a blender.

I am sooo tired. I've been up since 2am (went to bed around 11pm) and can't fall back asleep. Blah. Maybe I should try again lol.

Peace & Love,
-- everclear

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