Our idea of what constitutes "food" in American culture has become so skewed that it is almost unrecognizable. Our supermarkets are packed with products whose ingredients include unpronounceable chemicals, dyes, bacteria, and growth hormones. They are irradiated without our consent and contain GMOs.It's time to bring back FOOD. Pure unadulterated organic RAW food.This blog is a documentation of my continuing journey on a plant-based lifestyle.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Tour de Cane Juice Endurance Cycling, Weekly Update #2

Here is weekly update #2 of the Tour de Cane Juice for your viewing pleasure. Fear not, I kept my chatting to a minimum so this video is short and sweet and I really hope you guys enjoy it!

If you have any questions about raw cane juice: where to find it, more info. about it, etc. please feel free to leave a comment below!

Also, please share this video with all your fitness buff friends and or anyone who is interested in achieving optimal health through clean energy! Sugar cane juice is the ULTIMATE sports drink! So let's get people off the artificial, dyed, preservative-loaded sugar water and onto raw cane juice!






Have an awesome weekend and don't forget to like and subscribe after you watch the youtube video!

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Plant-based Summer Berry Smoothie

Smoothies, especially in the summer months, are a great way to get in all your vitamins and keep your calories up, when you're appetite is less than normal because of the heat.

I love to start my mornings with a nice cold smoothie when I'm not pounding back a 15 lb watermelon!

My newest obsession is my Summer Berry Smoothie which I whipped up on a whim while trying to jazz up my standard "Dateorade" of dates, water, dash of cinnamon or a few drops of Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia Drops, and a bit of ice.

Give this once a try too! Dates make the BEST base for a smoothie because they are sweet and their texture, when blended, makes for a frothy/milkshake like consistency. Mmmm mmm!

This particular blend of organic mixed berries is blackberry-free which makes this the perfect berry mix in my opinion -- too many seeds that never officially break down in the Vitamix which makes for a less than enjoyable smoothie experience because I'm constantly biting down on tiny seed particles. Just not a fan..

It's SO good, I just had to share it with you guys so you can try it too!

Ingredients:
1 lb of your favorite dates
1.5 cups of Sunrise Growers Organic Berry Mix 
(Can be purchased at Costco in the frozen fruit section!) 
24 oz-32 oz of water depending on desired thickness 




Make Your Smoothie:
Blend your dates and water in your high speed blender until fully combined. Next blend in your frozen berries.  Blend for 30 seconds and taste to make sure consistency is to your liking. 

Poor into your favorite smoothie glass and slurp it up! 


(P.S. Don't forget to chew your smoothie for optimal digestion!) 

I will be back early next week with another Tour de Cane Juice update for Week 2 so make sure to check back! 

And don't forget to "like" my Facebook Page, Positively Plant-Powered, check out my website, and follow me on Instagram @RawFoodNerd! 

Monday, July 14, 2014

Tour de Cane Juice Weekly Update

Tour de Cane Juice is well under way! Here is the first installment of the weekly updates I will be doing. This is my first video ever so please don't judge too hard. I promise I will get better with my "ums" and hopefully, I will be able to improve my editing skills as well! 
Enjoy!



Tuesday, July 8, 2014

The Cane Juice Chronicles: Tour de Cane Juice


And so I am back, with another cane juice challenge this July in tandem with the start of the Tour de France which began on Saturday!


In the previous Cane Juice Chronicles (which you can find here and here) I put raw cane juice to the test, using it as fuel for my running and testing its ability to help improve my speed and overall running performance. I kept a detailed log via the Runtastic App and was able to graph my steady improvements while drinking cane juice. In the end I ran my first 10k in 51:08, placed 109 out of 2,356 runners and 33rd out of the 1,636 women who ran, all thanks to the 16 oz of pure, raw cane juice I drank 45 minutes before the start of the race which had me soaring! (Note to self and first time race runners: don't put yourself in a slower corral just because you think you might not be able to keep a faster pace. You will get bogged down by the crowds. Next time, I will definitely put myself in a closer corral so I won't have to spend as much time getting past people.) Seeing as though in the middle of my training I aggravated an old injury and was only able to get in a mere 4 training runs post-injury/pre-race, I was very happy with my results.

In the second installment of The Cane Juice Chronicles, amidst my running injury, I decided to take an active role in the healing process and truly put cane juice to the test as a recovery aid. I signed myself up for a 30 day Bikram Yoga Challenge at my yoga studio, Bikram Yoga South Pasadena  and spent the month leading up to the race drinking cane juice nightly and doing Bikram yoga like it was my job. Between the healing properties of the raw cane juice (chock-full of animo acids and chlorophyl) and the restorative properties of Bikram Yoga (heat plus stretching is glorious for healing the body) I was able to regain full-range of motion in my hip and inner thigh.
Check out www.sugarcanejuice.org for more information on where you can find their products

Now, this July, I am taking cane juice to a whole new level to see how it will affect my endurance while cycling; a sport I don't have too much experience in...unless, you count spinning classes? My goal is to hit 400 or more miles over the course of the month. Now, you may be thinking, "400 miles is really only 12-13 miles a day, pfft, that's too easy." Well, for an experienced cyclist, sure, but for the average person trying to get fit and be healthy, 12-13 miles is a substantial amount.

However, this wouldn't be a Raw Food Nerd challenge without the stakes being raised and as I said, when I put cane juice to the test, I REALLY put it the test. I plan to maintain my normal 40-90 minute daily exercise routine in addition to the miles I will be putting in on the bike. Oh, snap!

I am not going to divulge all the details of my training so far because I will be posting a video later this week about my progress, but I will say that it going exceedingly well! So most definitely stay tuned!!

In the meantime you can follow me on Strava where I log all my rides.

image credit: www.adalaidecyclists.com

Don't forget to like my Facebook Page, Positively Plant-Powered, subscribe to my blog, and check out my website - Positively Plant-Powered!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Raw Vegan Zucchini Chips and Organic Tomato Corn Salsa


For years the notion of a crispy chip has alluded me on the raw food lifestyle. My chips, be it savory or sweet, were always chewy. The exception being only my beloved kale chips. (Who would have ever thought kale chips would become so popular?!)

Kale chips are even Kardashian-approved (Oh lord.) with Kourtney Kardashian espousing the benefits of kale chips vs. regular snore bore 'tater chips. But this isn't really about kale chips, which seemingly always give me a weird reflux reaction where I feel like I've got shards of kale stuck in my throat (not fun) for days. And since I avoid gut-bombing condiments like vinegar, oil, & salt, these days I much prefer a crispy zucchini chipper.

Bring it!




The beauty of this crunch-satisfying chip is not just in texture, but also in simplicity in that once you put them in the dehydrator at the standard temperature for raw-fooding-- 115-118 degrees-- you can forget about them for about 2 days. The longer you let them dry the more crispness your chip will bestow upon you.

Recipe? Sure.

1-2 organic zucchini peeled or unpeeled whatever is your groove, sliced thinly on the mandolin
Juice of 1 lemon
For me, I love dill or thyme so I chop them up really well and sprinkle on generously.

I let my zucchini and herbs soak overnight, but an hour or two will do.

Then I put them in the dehydrator at 118 degrees and let those babies go, only checking periodically to flip them over if need be.

After two days they are as crispy as a gosh darn Lays chip MINUS the gmos, preservatives, oils, and salt.

I eat them with guac or my fav. Mango And Sweet Organic Corn Salsa and they are righteously and absurdly delicious.

By the way, that insanely-mind-blowing salsa that eeks of summer bounty goes as follows: (all ripe and organic)

1 mango
2 heirloom tomatoes
1 ripe peach or nectarine
2 ears of corn
1 bell pepper (any color but green which are unripe, therefore, inedible)
Small handful of chives or the top of one green onion
Massive fistful of cilantro
Half a peeled lime

Pulse to your desired consistency and use your chips to go to town!

I would imagine if you were joansing for some serious chip-age of the Cheeze-y variety you could add a heaping tablespoon of Nooch to the lemon juice and dill and then lovingly MASSAGE it into the zucchini. (Is meditation through the vehicle of food possible? Anyone? Anyone?)

Happy Chipping my fellow raw food nerds!


How to Navigate Social Situations, Dining Out, & Making Food for Your Family While Adhering to a Plant-based Diet

One of the most effective ways we can connect with another person is to share a meal with them. However, in today's modern world where everyone has particular dietary specifications -- gluten-free, nut-free, vegan, vegetarian, etc. is it still possible for food to function in that same way? Can we still bond while sharing different meals?

Well, I say, YES!

Food is something that has always been a very important part my relationship with my husband; probably because food - the act of making a meal and sharing it with others, was a large part of my childhood too.

So, in the 12 years that my husband and I have been together, we have found ways to make our ever-evolving vegan diets work for us-- both when we go out together and in social situations with family and friends.

While this post focuses primarily on making a plant-based lifestyle work for you, it can really be applied to any type of dietary specifications!

My number one best tip for making your lifestyle work in the real world is to PLAN AHEAD!

If we are going out to eat, we always check out www.happycow.com or www.menupages.com to look over the menu and make sure we can BOTH find something we will enjoy. Back when I was only eating raw vegan food, we would always check to see if there was a nice salad on the menu or a fruit platter. I would simply just bring my own dressing and I was good to go! I, of course, always check portion-size too- the bigger the better. Fortunately for me, being raw vegan also meant that I didn't really need to take into consideration my gluten-allergy because fruits and veggies are naturally gluten-free. However, my dad actually has Celiac Disease, so he has to be incredibly careful when dining out due to possible cross-contamination.

Photo courtesy globalanimal.org
  Another good tip here, especially if you are heading out to a non-veg or non-vegan restaurant with family and friends, is to CALL AHEAD! This is one of the best pieces of advise I can offer. Most chefs are more than happy to prepare a little something special  for you as it lets them get creative. Just make sure you are specific and clear in what your preferences are; allergies, food sensitivities, likes, dislikes..

Now, what about office parties, holiday get-togethers with family, or dinner parties with friends? Navigating those can be a bit more tricky. The restaurant will likely not take offense to the fact that you have specific dietary preferences -- family and friends on the other hand, well, it usually requires a bit more finesse.

For work parties, I would ultimately suggest eating something substantial beforehand and then just nibbling on the fruit and veg platter if you are still hungry. Or as some offices do now, parties are typically held at restaurants, so follow the restaurant protocol for this one!

If it is a holiday get-together with family or a dinner party with friends, I would say that much like dining out, you should call ahead and talk to the host. Explain that because you eat a certain way, you will be brining your own dish or dishes and that you will gladly prepare enough for everyone to try. Sometimes the host will offer to make you a separate dish and depending on how comfortable you are with that or what kind of relationship you have, this may very well be a great option.

My in-laws have a holiday party every year the day after Christmas. My mother-in-law used to prepare the most delicious raw food meal for my husband and I on top of all the other food for the party. I was always so incredibly grateful because it meant I got to take a little break, especially since it was the day after Christmas and I had spent days before meal planning, shopping, and preparing for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner.

On the other hand, sometimes you may feel too guilty (or perhaps you are also a control freak like me, lol) allowing someone else to do all the work. In which case you can kindly convey this to your host and explain that you'd rather just bring your own food because you don't want to burden them.

I do, typically, always bring my own food, and that's partly because I never want people to think that I EXPECT some sort of special treatment just because I choose to eat differently, nor do I want to (as above) burden them with preparing an entirely separate meal.

Another reason, which lends itself to my inherent control-freakness, is because unless you are a vegan, most people simply don't grasp the fact that vegan means no animal products what-so-ever. And what constitutes "animal products," for whatever reason, seems to have a very loose interpretation within the veg/vegan community.

photo courtesy of Vegans of Instagram

 I mean, how many times have you gotten the, "Oh, you're vegan...cool, so you still eat chicken/fish/butter/mayo right?"

or, "Well, can't you just have it this ONE time? It won't kill you!"

I wish I could say that I initially removed animal products from my diet because I felt it was ethically wrong to consume another sentient being, but it was purely for health reasons. It was literally making me sick; migraines, debilitating depression, anemia, severe digestive issues - and this was only the half of it. (You can read My Story here and about how I took back my health by adhering to a plant-based diet!)

So, yeah, while it may not "kill" me if  I were to accidentally eat animal products again, I'd really rather not take the risk.

Personally, cooking is my number one passion and I truly enjoy making my own food. You can often find me on a Saturday night in the kitchen whipping up new recipes or preparing for our big Sunday dinner. Bringing my own food not only saves my host the hassle, but it actually means less stress for the both of us. He or she doesn't have to worry about making a separate dish for me and I don't have to worry about what is or could possibly be lurking in my seemingly benign bowl of [insert meal here.]

So now that we've covered dining out as a couple and dealing with social situations, what about eating at home when your partner or kids don't eat the same thing as you?

The last thing most people want to do after a long day at work is make a different meal for each person in the house based on their likes and dislikes. By now, I'm pretty sure most people are aware of what their families or partner enjoy eating. So, utilize that knowledge and stock your pantry with basics that you can jazz up by adding whatever veggies and sauces you have on hand in your fridge.

This means always having a wide variety of different pastas, rices, potatoes, polenta, beans, grains, and canned goods like tomatoes for homemade sauce.




From there you can build on that by adding whatever you and your family enjoy most. If I am making food for my non-vegan family I like to stick to things that everyone can enjoy without any real modifications, like stir-fry or chickpea curry. Fortunately, my family really enjoys my raw food creations too and don't mind eating a bowl of cucumber pasta with sun-dried tomato mango sauce either.





Here is an example of my His & Her Pasta from our Sunday dinner last week. Since I still eat primarily raw vegan, I made myself some zucchini pasta that I topped with my homemade Marinara (cooked and prepared the night before) for a delicious high-raw meal. While my husband ate brown rice penne pasta that I topped with the same sauce. So all I had to do here was make a big batch of sauce, spiralize my zucchini, and boil his pasta; a no fuss dinner that satisfies both are dietary specifications!

Zucchini Pasta Marinara + Brown Rice Penne Pasta Marinara







Close up of my delicious Zucchini Pasta Marinara w. fresh chopped tomatoes, red bell pepper, & scallions
 
Close up of Brown Rice Penne with my simple, homemade Marinara

To learn how to make this recipe or find out more about Positively Plant-Powered meal plans that help you transition to a plant-based lifestyle with ease, check out my website or contact me for more information! And don't forget to check out and hit "Like" my Facebook page where I post daily!