Transition Me: High Carb Low Fat Cooked Vegan Meals for The Frugal Eater

So, on this blog, I talk A LOT about fruit and raw food in general. My name is, after all, RAW food nerd. However, I am well aware that such a lifestyle is not for everyone, nor does everyone desire to be 100% raw. For some, eating fully raw is cost prohibitive or they simply desire to merely only incorporate more raw food or even just add more plant-based foods overall.

Today, I would like to address those issues by sharing one of my favorite simple, healthy, high carb low fat vegan meals that you can incorporate into your diet as you transition to a healthier lifestyle! Over the next few weeks I am going to be sharing more of these types of recipes, because I think it's important for people to see that you really don't have to give up EVERYTHING just to be healthy. All meals are budget-friendly and great if you are short on time because everything can be made the night before or left in your steamer/crock pot to be ready when you get home!

My top most cost effective starches that I recommend as a way to transition to a more plant-based or vegan lifestyle: (unlimited)

• Potatoes 
• Rice 
• Corn 
• Gluten-free pastas (corn/brown rice pasta) 

My first easy transition meal is for baked french fries with homemade salt-free, refined sugar-free, and vinegar-free ketchup. Say what? Healthy fries? Hell yeah!! 

Crispy, no-oil French Fries straight out of the oven are a match made in foodie heaven with this tangy, salty, and slightly sweet homemade Ketchup! Eat as much as you desire without feeling the slightest bit of guilt!


For the French Fries: 
Serves 1-2 people
Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees 

2-3 lbs of organic potatoes that have been cut in strips and partially steamed for about 15-20/25 mins. -- they should still be firm, but soft enough that you are able to slide a knife in and out cleanly
 (I have found that golden yellow potatoes hold up really well and I generally just cut these in half or thirds, but russets will work just as well too. Sweet potato is excellent as well!) 
1 sheet of parchment paper cut to fit your baking sheet 
Once your potatoes are done steaming, let them cool, and then place them on your baking sheet. 

Season as desired: a dash of black pepper and some chopped fresh rosemary is my favorite combination! 
Bake in the oven until golden brown 

For the Homemade Ketchup:
1 small can of salt-free, Organic tomato paste 
onion powder 
garlic powder 
black pepper
1 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon of coconut sugar
1 cup of filtered water

In a mixing bowl combine your tomato paste, molasses, and coconut sugar gradually adding your filtered water to thin out the mixture. You may need to add more then 1 cup of water depending on how thin or thick you want the ketchup to be. 
Mix until the ingredients have fully come together, and you have a smooth, silky consistency. 
Next, add in your spices. I start with 2-3 shakes of onion and garlic powder and a small pinch of black pepper. Then I taste and adjust as needed. 

Chef tip: Don't get hung up on exact amounts when it comes to seasoning in recipes. Everyone's taste preferences are different, so don't worry if the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of pepper, but you feel like half a teaspoon is enough for you. 

As with most sauce/condiment recipes the longer they sit the better and more flavorful they become, so feel free to make a big batch of this and let it sit in your fridge until you are ready to use it! Just make sure to pull it out 30 minutes before you are going to eat and perhaps add a little more water if necessary to thin it out. 

You can even steam your potatoes ahead of time and leave them in the fridge until you are ready to bake them which makes this meal not only super affordable for anyone on a budget, but also incredibly simple for those who are busy and just want quick, easy meals. 

Pair this with a nice big salad and you have a satisfying, nutritious, high carb plant-based meal that will GIVE you energy and not weigh you down! 

I know I was guilty of this for a long time, but I was convinced that potatoes (specifically) were going to make me fat. They were carb-laden starches after all and I was positive that one bite and I would surely bust a gut turning me obese overnight. Instead, I stuffed my face with bacon, cheese, sausage, steaks, and more cheese. Hmmm...

The notion that starches (or fruit for that matter) make you fat is incredibly FALSE. In fact, it's a blatant lie. One that is pushed by the diet industry, specifically those advocating for high protein, low carb diets like the Atkins and Paleo diets. These are the same people that also say that fruit makes you obese and eating more than one slice of melon a day is "dangerous." Not very credible when you consider that fact that they advocate eating the majority of your calories from animal products, which any MD will tell you is the reverse of what you should be doing if you want to ward off heart disease at the very least! (If you want to learn more about the connection between high protein diets and disease please read Colin T. Campbell's books Whole, The China Study, and/or The Low-Carb Fraud)

And just in case you still don't believe me I'm going to drop some quality info bombs from Dr. John McDougall, MD and author of The Starch Solution:

"A widely held myth holds that sugars in starches are readily converted into fat, which is then stored visibly in our abdomen, hips, and buttocks. If you read the published research, you will see that there is no disagreement about this whatsoever among scientists, and that they say that THIS IS INCORRECT! After eating, we break down the complex carbohydrates in starchy foods into simple sugars. These sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream, where they are transported to trillions of cells throughout the body for energy. if you eat more carbohydrates than your body needs, you'll store up to 2 lbs of it invisibly in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. If you eat more carbohydrates than you can use (as your daily energy) and store (as glycogen), you'll burn the remainder off as body heat and through physical movement other than sports, such as walking to work, typing, yard work, and fidgeting.

Turning sugars into fats is a process called de novo lipogensis. Pigs and cows use this process to convert carbohydrates from grains and grasses into calorie-dense fats. That's what makes them so appealing as a food source. Bees do it, too, converting honey (simple carbohydrate) into wax (fatty acids and alcohols).

We humans, on the other hand, are very inefficient at converting carbohydrate to fat: we don't do it under normal conditions. (The cost for this conversion is 30 percent of calories consumed.)  Subjects overfed large amounts of simple sugars under experimental lab rotary conditions, however, will convert a small amount of carbohydrate to fat. For example, both trim and obese women fed 50 percent more calories than they usually ate in a day, along with an extra 3 1/2 ounces (135 grams) of refined sugar, produced less than 4 grams of fat daily (less than 1/8 ounce). That's just 36 extra calories stored as fat per day. You'd have to overeat all of those extra calories and table sugar every day for nearly 4 months just to gain ONE pound of extra body fat." (Pages 112-116)

(Personal interjection: Water-weight from eating high sodium foods as well as eating cooked food and not drinking enough water throughout the day can and will manifest as what looks and feels like fat or weight gain. It's kind of like a David Copperfield illusion in that respect; it feels like it's there, but ultimately, it really isn't. Proper hydration is just as important as what you are and aren't eating!)

"The warning about carbohydrate turning to body fat is a myth and nothing more: In humans, even substantial quantities of refined and processed carbohydrates contribute only a trivial amount to body fat.

The same is not true of animal and vegetable fats, however. ... Fat is the Metabolic Dollar Saved for the Next Famine. After you eat dairy, meat, nuts, oils, and other high-fat foods, you absorb their fat from your intestine into the bloodstream. From there, it is transported to billions of adipose (fat) called for storage...The fat you eat is the fat you wear." (Pages 120-121)

(Dr. McDougall references several clinical studies in footnotes throughout these paragraphs which you can see for yourself in his book, as I have listed the pages for you.)

So why do people think starches make them fat? Well, the answer is simple really: because they cover those starches in FAT. It's not often where you see someone digging into a plain potato or french fries that haven't been fried not only in oil, but often oil plus animal fat. Corn with no butter? WHATTT?!
No, it's covered in butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon, what have you.

This is not to say that ALL fat is bad or that fat is evil and you should avoid it at all costs. Fat is a necessary part of a healthy lifestyle, but HIGH quantities of fat coming from animal sources are what cause people to run into problems. The type of fats you choose to eat are important and overall fat consumption should not exceed 15% (This does not apply to children or pregnant women who require more fat for brain development). The average person typically averages around 42% fat, including vegans and gourmet raw vegans eating lots of nut-based foods and 'cold-pressed oils!'

Here are some healthy fats that are excellent to eat in moderation:

• Avocados 
• Young Thai Coconut Meat 
• Durian 
• Hemp seeds 
• Tahini, Sesame Seeds
• Chia Seeds

• Fresh cracked nuts (Nuts, in my opinion should be kept to a minimum. Once out of the shell they spoil easily, are lower in water content compared to fruity-fats like avos, coco meat, and durian -- and they are particularly difficult on digestion. They are perfectly suitable to eat in small quantities, but not something you should be consuming in large amounts on a daily basis. And if you do, it should be with greens in your salad as part of the last meal of the day as long as you are not eating cooked food during that meal. They should never be combined with fruits if you want to have effortless, smooth digestion!) 

The number one point you should take away from this post (other than my bombin' french fry recipe!) is that you shouldn't be afraid of carbohydrates and you should NEVER deprive or restrict your calories from them. Carbohydrates produce lean, healthy bodies that are full of energy and free of disease!


Don't forget to check out the new website, www.positivelyplantpowered.com where you can sign up for my email and Skype coaching packages, meal plans, and follow my Facebook page for daily updates!

Have a great day guys!

Spicy Detox Salad Dressing

So, remember that post a few weeks back where I blogged about my running improvements while training with sugar cane juice?

Ironically, a few short days after I declared that I was going to be running that 10k sponsored by Raw Cane SuperJuice Bar and subsequently ran my fastest 2 mile time to date (7:30 pace!!!), I aggravated my old hip injury and unfortunately was unable to continue running (training) at the time.

I knew there was only one solution for this so I pitched the idea to Rey, co-owner and dealer of my cane addiction: a 30 day Bikram yoga challenge in conjunction with various forms of cane juice; regular sugar cane juice, a detox elixir, ginger cane juice, and alkalizer elixir (chlorophyll, lime, and cane juice)

Between the restorative nature of Bikram yoga and the enhanced mineral composition of cane juice, I was positive some serious healing action would take place and I'd be as good as golden by the time the race came. (It's actually this weekend!)

[In my next post I will be discussing this in greater detail. Over the course of the last 31 days, I kept a detailed journal documenting my experience; how my body felt, goals, progress, accessing postures, etc. Recovery being the overall theme for this installment of the cane juice chronicles!]

During the last 31 days I have successfully incorporated cane juice into my lifestyle as much as possible, which wasn't too difficult all things considered!

Raw Cane SuperJuice Bar makes a killer anti-inflammatory mix called Detox Elixir- think Master Cleanse but, way better- with cane juice, ginger (extremely powerful anti-inflammatory and healing properties), and cayenne (also good for easing inflammation).

picture courtesy of sugarcanejuice.org

Detox Elixir has a serious kick and I personally have a low tolerance for things of the spicy variety, so, I turned that baby into the most amazing salad dressings!

Raw Cane SuperJuice Bar WILL SHIP CANE JUICE TO YOU ANYWHERE IN THE US! So if you don't live in LA you can STILL make this delicious dressing. (Or perhaps you too are lucky enough to live in a place like Hawaii where fresh cane juice can still be found which in that case, you can make your own detox elixir! If you can't get cane juice to make these dressing you can also replace it with dates and water blended together, but make sure if you do this that you don't add the avocado. Avocado plus dates is absolutely horrible food combining and this will make you very bloated and cause very, very uncomfortable digestion. Just sayin'. )

Needless to say, my salads this month have been to-die-for. And it would be SO wrong for me to keep them to myself!

Note: I am quite liberal with my use of ginger and turmeric here because I found them particularly beneficial in my healing process, so feel free to scale back. But, turmeric is the bomb- fresh, it tastes like mustard which used to be my favorite condiment.

 Eat the Rainbow Salad w.Detox Vinaigrette 

This salad is just bursting with color and so much flavor! You will hardly realize you're eating a salad!

 What you will need: Organic Salad

Swiss Chard

Spinach

Beet Greens

Green Leaf Lettuce

Tomatoes 

Mint 

Parsley 

Basil

Scallions 

Chives 

Detox Vinaigrette

Detox Elixir: Sugar cane juice, cayenne, and ginger 

Juice from 1 lemon 

Chopped turmeric

Chopped ginger

Chopped dill

Finely chopped chives 

In a medium-sized bowl combine chopped turmeric, ginger, dill, and chives. Squeeze in juice from one lemon and then wisk in 3-4 tablespoons of detox elixir. Pour over salad. 

I like to let this sit for about 10-15 minutes because the dressing softens the greens and allows for all the flavors to combine making for a particularly delicious salad! Crisp and light, perfect for slimming that waistline, packing in those dark leafy greens, and reducing inflammation!

 

 Hearts of Palm Spicy Greek Salad

Ingredients: 
Hearts of palm (I buy from Whole Foods, this brand is organic and has the lowest amount of sodium) 
Tomatoes 
Scallions 
Chives 
Mint 
Parsley 
Dill
Romaine
Greek Dressing:
2-3 T Detox Elixir 
juice of two lemons
1 teaspoon dried oregano 
chopped chives
dash of lemon-pepper 
dash of greek (salt-free) seasoning that has marjoram, oregano, sweet basil, rosemary, garlic, onion, spearmint, thyme, and chili

For the dressing, mix everything together in a bowl and pour over salad ingredients. I like to shake this one up really well so that the dressing covers every inch of my salad for maximum flavor. In order to do that I put this in a large salad Tupperware and cover it so I can shake this baby real good! 

On occassion, I will add some avocado to this salad, either whole or I will take all my dressing ingredients and blend it up with the avocado. This makes a great Creamy Greek Dressing or even a dip for veggies! 

 I'd like to stress that for me, these salads are either a first or second courses. Salad alone is too low in calories and does not supply the necessary amount of carbohydrates to properly fuel your body, regardless of your fitness level or amount of exercise. 

If I am having an all raw day either of these salads will follow a large fruit meal. Right now, I am SUPER into jackfruit and mangos, so I make sure I get enough calories from them FIRST. If I am having a cooked food day then I will have either of these salads first followed by potatoes or rice plus an obscene amount of steamed greens. The point? Carb-up, raw or cooked, always vegan and you will never fail! 

Give these dressings a try and remember to check out and like my page on Facebook: Positively Plant-Powered and follow me on Instagram and Tumblr: Rawfoodnerd and if you live in LA don't forget to hit up the Hollywood Farmers Market where you cane find fresh cane juice! 

 

Know Your Food: Something's Fishy

Where does your food come from?

A very important question that seems to be popping up more frequently. And while it may seem to be a topic that originally only concerned niche groups or 'radical' animal rights activists, it seems to be infiltrating main stream media much more often these days.
 
Less than two months ago 9 million pounds of ground beef got recalled from a huge supplier. Eggs from various states are continually being recalled (In CA, I hear about Albertons' eggs getting recalled all the time!) About a year ago there was the huge listeria scare. Pink slime. Swine flu. Avian flu. Mad-cow disease.

Notice a trend here?

Regardless of the label you apply to yourself; vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, junk-food eater-- I think we can all agree on one thing: it's important to know where our food comes from. And further more, what the hell else we're being fed on top of it.

I could write a whole book about the unsanitary health violations of the meat and diary industry and how it correlates to the widespread disease in our country, but today, it's all about the fish.

Fish. Those adorable creatures that suck up and filter all the various forms of pollution we dump into our precious ocean...that little kids and dogs pee in...where ships sink to the bottom and rust away...
 
 I don't have enough fingers or toes to count the number of times I have heard or read someone say that they were trying to eat more healthy and therefore, eating fish. Not to mention the number of times I have annoyingly seen fish tagged as "clean-eating" on instrgram or tumblr.

Regardless of what you want you choose to believe, science and the biology of the body doesn't change. It will always react the same way when it encounters an animal product., every.single.time. It doesn't matter how fresh, farmers market-y, just milked, grass-fed, or wild your animal product is -- the body always sees it as an acid-forming food. your body will always go into state of acidosis when consumed. And it will always leach nutrients from the body (typically bones) in order to neutralize that acid.

Recently, Freelee the Banana Girl, from the ever popular forum www.30bananasaday.com posted a video on YouTube about the dangers of consuming fish due to toxicity from high levels of mercury. It is a compilation of her own opinion, TV news clips, and general research. I personally thought it was one of her best videos yet, mostly because it contained so much indisputable facts (and lord knows how much I looooveee facts! Especially ones backed by hard-hitting research!) The video is insightful and truly riveting, and honestly, a must see if you are even the slightest bit curious about improving your health. 

 

Also, if you want to learn more then I would suggest watching this excellent piece of investigative journalism called, The Cove: Mercury Rising. It is a great short-documentary that sheds light on the increasing hazards of mercury poisoning.

 

So, now that you have (hopefully) watched these videos and are incredibly disturbed by what's in your filet-o-fish, here are some helpful tips to help remove those toxins:

• Has to be said, remove the fish from your diet 
• Eat more dark, leafy greens 
• Put cilantro in EV-RE-Y-THING; cilantro helps bind heavy metals like mercury together and carry them out of the body
• Want a fishy taste sans fish: add dried dulse or dulse flakes -- very yummy, has a nice smokey taste to it too! 
• Seaweeds in general, preferably organic, also help bind heavy metals and remove them from the body 
• Drink green smoothies (fruit + greens = get that muthatruckin' mercury outta ya body!) 
• Eat more juicy fruit! 
• Overall, the more plant-based foods/proteins you include in your diet the more efficiently your body will be at detoxing the heavy metals out 

 I hope you found this interesting and informative and that you will consider a healthier Positively Plant-Powered option the next time you eat out or plan a meal!

Taco Tuesday! #thebomb

Last week for taco Thursday (I like to be different, ok?)  I posted these bad boys on my IG: RawFoodNerd (Check it out!) and got several requests asking for the recipe.

Romaine hearts as "shells" or "boats" for your favorite dips are an excellent and fun way to eat more greens without always feeling like you have to eat a salad. Chips and guac, anyone? 

So I decided I better share this recipe with you guys too..for taco Tuesday, which I suppose is the more "traditional" weekly celebration of all things taco. The salsa is the perfect combo of sweet, tangy, and a hint of kick to spice things up and the Mexi Mac & Cheeze is reminiscent of sour cream; the perfect cooling agent if you like your tacos especially spicy or if you were like me and used to lob on the sour cream quite liberally. 

Honestly, I don't care when you eat tacos, but you NEED this recipe in your life- it's that good! 

What you will need: (all of my ingredients were organic)

Food Processor

• 1 head of romaine
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 juicy ripe mango
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 lime
• 1 large handful of cilantro
• 3-4 zucchini, shredded
• 1 ripe medium tomatillo (optional)
• 4 scallions (chopped; green tops only)
• sliver of hot pepper of your choosing
• 1/2 avocado

Salsafy Your Life: 
In a food processor pulse together your tomatoes, red bell pepper, mango, two of your chopped scallions, tomatillo, 1/2 of the [whole] lime (peeled), cilantro, and your sliver of hot pepper. Set aside until you are ready to assemble zee tacos!

Mexi Mac & Cheeze:
 Peel and chop off the ends of your zucchini. In the food processor, push the zucchini through the blade that allows you to shred veggies (or you can do this manually with a grater)

In a separate bowl mash your avocado, juice from 1/2 a lime, and the green tops from the other two scallions. You want the mixture to be as smooth and creamy as possible

Once you have shredded your zucchini and made your avocado sauce you can now combine the two together, making sure the zucchini and the sauce are fully incorporated. 

I like to add extra cilantro to my Mexi Mac & Cheeze because I am a bit of a cilantro-freak, but you can abstain from adding more cilantro if you choose. I know most people like their Mexican food/tacos spicy so feel free to add more hot pepper if you wish. I, personally, am not that crazy about spicy food so I only add a little just to give it a small kick. 

This is a different version of Mexi Mac & Cheeze where I spiralized
the zucchini instead of shredding it. And then I added in
additional chopped scallions, tomatoes, & red bell pepper. You
can see the flecks of cilantro too! Love the green!

Now, for the best part- assemble and EAT!

 There is nothing better than being able to take your old favorites and make them healthy and Positively Plant-Powered without having to sacrifice an ounce of flavor! 

Exotic Eats!

Happy Thursday everyone! Time for a small update!

"Open heart, open mind."

Getting my stretch on before Bikram. I'm on Day #3 of my 100 day Bikram yoga challenge. (I will be talking more about this next week after my Friday update on The Cane Juice Chronicles)

Still drinking cane juice like it's my job. It's been so beneficial for alleviating sore muscles. I can't wait to share my findings with you guys as far as my running goes!

I've also been eating ginormous quantities of jackfruit lately. We've been going up to San Gabriel Valley to hit up 99 Ranch at least once a week and we've been getting 2 15-20 lb. jackfruits at a time...which I polish off all by myself by the end of the week.

Sweet and juicy! So much yum!

If you've never had jackfruit it kind of tastes like pineapple and bubblegum. In fact, it is rumored that Juicy Fruit Gum was supposed to mimic the flavor of this exotic fruit.

I wasn't really into jackfruit like this until recently when I went to a Fruitluck and had the most bombing fresh jackfruit! After that, I was hooked. There is such a clear difference in taste and texture in fresh jack vs. frozen jack. I find frozen jackfruit to be very chewy and almost gummy. It's decent, but if you really want to experience everything this fruit has to offer I would suggest biting the bullet and picking up a fresh one.

It should be soft and fragrant when ripe; I've read that it should smell a bit over-ripe and that's a good sign that you've got a delicious jackfruit on your hands.

Durian! King of fruits!

Also, this happened today. Everyone's favorite stinky fruit, mmmm DURIAN! I, personally, do not find it's smell that offensive, but I know lots of people do. To the extent that in Asian countries where this fruit originated, Thailand, for example- this fruit is banned in hotels, buses, trains, most public venues. Poor Durian, but that's ok because what it lacks in appealing smell it makes up for with the most amazingly creamy, sweet, almond-y vanilla custard!

A lovely treat for a beautiful, sunny Thursday in California!

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday and don't forget to keep it Postively Plant-Powered! 

Hollywood 10K; The Cane Juice Chronicles

Last week I posted on my Facebook page (Positively Plant-Powered; like, follow, and share if you haven't already!) some very exciting news:

This coming April I will be running the Hollywood 10k and one of my absolute favorite local LA businesses, Raw Cane SuperJuice Bar, will not only be sponsoring me, BUT -- they will also be providing me with sugar cane juice as my fuel for training and race day!

 I feel extremely grateful for this opportunity because let's be real here, me + cane juice = match made in heaveeennn! If you follow my instagram (you must! I post lots of yummy food pics! RawFoodNerd, yes, do it!) I am continually professing my love of this liquid gold elixir and seek it out often. (And you should too, as you will not be sorry - they frequent several farmers markets throughout the week in the LA area.) I am so far from being one of those head in the cosmos 'feel the life-force, mannn'-types, but seriously, when I drink sugar cane juice I can feel it pulsing through my veins; pure energy, simple and sweet! Robby & Rey, owners of Raw Cane SuperJuice Bar, are definitely onto something here!

Cane juice 4 daysss!

While training with cane juice, I intend to document this entire process on the blog so that I can share this experiment with all of you! My intentions are not only to show the amazing benefits that can be achieved athletically while incorporating this super-charged green juice, but to further prove that animal products, crazy energy drinks, and protein powders are not necessary when it comes to training/reaching your fitness goals.

Ever had wheatgrass juice? Didn't really enjoy the taste? Well, sugar cane plus the chlorophyll here is like taking all the amazing properties of wheatgrass juice (minus the unpalatability) and combining them with sugar cane to make an incredibly powerful SUPER juice! 

As I document this process I plan to take a closer look as to why cane juice works so well as training fuel and compare it to my other pre/post training 'meals' (mostly smoothies or organic fruit juices). I want to look at the nutritional profiles of cane juice vs. other sports drinks outside the raw/vegan realm. And furthermore, I intend to put together a little PDF book of my favorite cane juice recipes that I will be able to share with you all!

In order to be completely transparent here, I will be uploading my Runtastic stats onto the blog and you can also find me on Strava (Alysha Maiorelli-Wyrauch).

I leave you will this -- an awesome compilation of sugar cane juice factoids!

Learning to Love, Happy Valentine's Day!

I am going to get a bit unconventional here today and choose to acknowledge Valentine's Day as a way we can ALL celebrate not just loving others, but loving ourselves as well! 

Carob-Date Caramel Covered Strawberries!

For an easy sweet treat, that's healthy and delicious, try dipping strawberries in Carob-Date Caramel Sauce (Equal parts pitted dates of your choosing + coconut water + 1-2 tablespoons of carob powder, blend!) and popping it in the freezer for an hour. So much yum!

Learning to love yourself, for who you are AT THIS MOMENT, is so important as you embark on your journey towards a healthier lifestyle. 

Without getting too cliche here, it really is true that your relationship with yourself is the most important relationship you will ever have. If you don't take care of yourself-- your body and mind, what good are you to other people? 

For the longest time I looked at food and exercise as a rewards/punishment system. Even though I was eating a 100% plant-based, vegan, low fat raw diet! My exercise correlated to what I could and couldn't eat; if I did Bikram and then ran at the gym then I deserved to eat two durian, but if I didn't then I was lazy and I wasn't worthy of indulging in my favorite food. This would then correlate to how I perceived my body overall; my abs weren't visible enough, my stomach wasn't completely flat, my jeans felt a bit tighter. Even when it came to normal food consumption, I had rules that I had set for myself in regards to eating and often this translated to this feeling of constantly needing to be moving, expending energy -- earning my food. I couldn't just sit back and relax. I felt manic and stressed. 

In essence, just because I changed the way I was eating, didn't mean that my negative view of myself or my body dis-morphia, that manifested in high school when I began dieting, magically went away as I thought it would. I was still ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT FOOD. And granted, I love food, and I love making food, but the way I was always thinking about food wasn't healthy. 

Food and exercise should never be used in a rewards system situation no matter how healthy you are eating. Food and exercise are about nourishing your body and soul, end of story. 

It wasn't until I got some disappointing blood tests back that I finally was able to take a step back and say, "Woah, what am I doing to myself here?" and "Is this really all worth it?" (Let me be clear in saying that I was never restricting calories- I still ate huge portions and never counted calories.) I realized that this obsessive routine I had created around food and exercise was interfering with what I wanted to do in my life. And I began to look at the larger picture in that, when I look back, twenty years from now, am I going to be happy? Ultimately, the answer was, "no." 

Somewhere along that way I had begun to equate the way I looked, how my clothes fit, etc. with how much I valued myself and in turn, how much the people in my life loved me. I felt like if I looked a certain way then they would love me more. It is a common way of thinking, but extremely deluded, especially since no one in my life EVER gave me a reason to feel that way. I allowed myself to be consumed with negative thoughts, anger, and simply never feeling worthy. 

It took time and a lot of dedication to change 10+ years of thinking, but learning to love who I am, right now, was key. Allowing myself to relax a little and not put so much pressure on myself to be perfect and always in control was another big step. And I think just learning to trust my overall natural instinct again was very important. 

So, on this day of love, if you are feeling unworthy, self-conscious, angry, sad, alone - just take a minute, breathe in deep, and allow yourself to feel all these things. Then exhale them all out, let them go. Really, just let it all go. Tell yourself that you are worth it. Whatever body you are in right now, LOVE IT. 

Once you accept that you are perfect as you are right now then achieving all the other goals you have set for yourself, will be that much more possible. 

Hope you all have a sweet, positive, self-LOVING day! 

What I Eat Wedesday, Raw Vegan Persimmon Pudding & Soft-Serve!

What to do when you've got 40 + pounds of ooey gooey sweet ripe end of the season persimmons left? Well, you make persimmon pudding of course! ...And then you top it with double vanilla soft-serve and mulberry-graham... Boom! The ultimately guilt-free, dairy-free, nut-free power bowl! 

Persimmon Pudding w. Double Vanilla Soft-Serve topped with Mulberry-Graham

Part of living this lifestyle is buying fruit in bulk. And if you are like me, you tend to kind of over do it sometimes when your favorite fruit comes into season! Other than durian, persimmons are my favorite fruit. As you can tell, I am very pro-versility here and I like fruit that can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. (Check out my previous post here for my Butter Lettuce/Zoodles (Zucchini Noodles) w. Tomato-Persimmon Ginger Dressing and here for my Festive Persimmon Salad w. Spicy Persimmon & Sun-dried Tomato Dressing)

This is the ultimate twist on your standard sundae, without the habitual guilty conscious that typically follows. You should never feel guilty about eating nourishing bowls of delicious goodness like this. Fruit is fuel. Not just for your body, but for your brain. Recent studies have shown that fruit raises serotonin levels in the brain and serotonin is a lovely little chemical that keeps us feeling happy; who doesn't want more of that? 

Here is what you will need: 

• 10 ripe, peeled, frozen bananas 
• 5-6 ripe (soft and squishy) persimmons 
• 10 dates 
• 1.5 cups of dried mulberries (Hunza is my favorite brand) 
• 1 cup coconut sugar (optional) 
• a vitamix or food processor 

Instructions: 

In a food processor or vitamix, pulse your mulberries + coconut sugar until you have a crumbly, flour like consistency. Sometimes, if I am craving a bit more texture I will reserve some mulberries and add them in afterwards, only pulsing a couple of times so I still get some lovely chewy bits mixed throughout. 

Put your mulberry-graham to the side in a separate container. 

Next, let's make the double vanilla soft serve! 

I use a vitamin here so it is a bit easier for me because I can throw the bananas in whole and get a great arm workout while using the tamper to push the bananas into the blade. However, if you are using a blender or a food processor, this will be a bit more of a time consuming task. 

For the blender you are going to want to make sure your bananas are a bit thawed and cut into smaller chunks that way it will be easier for the blade to chop them up. I would add 1-2 T of coconut water first to assist in the blending. I would also recommend doing this in advance that way you can throw your soft serve back in the freezer if it gets too melty. 

If you are using a food processor I would suggest also cutting your bananas into chucks and only blending half of the bananas straight through. Then pulse in the rest so that it helps maintain the soft-serve like consistency that we are going for here. 

For the double vanilla kick, I use Vanilla Powder + 1-3 drops Sweetleaf Vanilla Stevia. However, you can feel free to use alcohol-free vanilla extract, whole vanilla bean, or Vanilla-infused Coconut Sugar!  

For the persimmon pudding I throw all my persimmons into the vitamix or blender with my 10 dates and puree until super smooth. 

Now comes the fun part, assembling & eating! 

In nice big bowlI pour in my persimmon pudding. Then I layer on my double vanilla soft-serve. And lastly, I top it with a whole lot of mulberry-graham! Feel free to assemble or add your own little twist to this sundae!

This is a less artfully layered version where I did persimmon pudding, double vanilla soft-serve,  more persimmon pudding and topped it with date caramel and mulberry-graham. 

For more of my daily eats, tips, and recipes check out my Facebook page, Postively Plant-Powered or my instagram: RawFoodNerd. 

Breakfast of Champions

Ok, let's talk bananas...

As a high carb, predominately raw, fruitarian I eat a sh!t load of bananas.

What people think ripe bananas look like:

WRONG!

What RIPE bananas ACTUALLY look like:

If your bananas are green, then they aren't ripe, If your bananas aren't spotty, then they are not ripe. If your bananas don't effortlessly break from the bunch, then they are not ripe. Unripe bananas = constipation and indigestion. Unripe fruit is starchy and unpalatable, whereas ripe fruit is sweet and delicious- full of easily absorbable fructose that your cells just soak up!

There's a lot of fruit-shaming going on in our world today and often people blame the fruit they eat for sour stomaches and poor digestion when really the fruit was just an innocent accomplice to poor food choices, combinations, and lack of ripeness.

Why you should eat bananas: (Preach!)

• Bananas (other than being incredibly delicious) are actually great for soothing an upset stomach and aiding in the correction of poor digestion since they are high in fibre and actually function as a natural anti-acid. Have an ulcer? Really hope you don't, but if you do, bananas coat the lining of the stomach creating a barrier against corrosive acids. 
• They contain a great deal of pectin which helps move degenerative toxins and heavy metals out of the body
• Full of tryptophan, which gets converted to serotonin, they help combat depression and elevate mood.
• High in potassium, they are a sure-fire solution for cramps
• Bananas also help increase calcium absorption 
• They are also full of B-vitamins, manganese, and a host of disease-fighting antioxidants! 
• Great source of ENERGY! Bananas are the original protein-brotein shake! Easily assimilated, digestible workout/post-workout fuel! 
• Bananas are the ultimate weight loss fruit! They keep you satiated and carbed-up which will prevent you from reaching for unhealthy, oily, fatty, salty snacks throughout the day. 

And it just wouldn't be right for me to leave you without a banana recipe so you can begin to include some 'nanners into your daily diet! This is a personal favorite of mine and I typically have it for breakfast and/or lunch when I am not digging into some super, sweet melon. It's a staple in my 'diet' because I can pack in a lot of carbs that won't leave me feeling weighed down. I tend to have this on days where I know I am going to be doing Bikram yoga AND running later in the afternoon. 

Banilla Kreme Smoothie

optional, to add some variety to your budding banana relationship: include a handful of pitted dates, carob powder, cinnamon, or all of the above!

15 Organic, ripe spotty bananas 

3 drops Stevia Sweetleaf Vanilla Cream drops 

2-3 cups of distilled water 
(depending on desired consistency)

Blend until creamy perfection is reached! 

Unripe bananas? Ain't nobody got time for that! #7 baby, for the win!

Spotty ripe banana chart and unripe banana picture from google images 
Banana facts from food matters.tv

The Unlimited Calorie Mentality

As I mentioned in my last post, eating a whole foods, plant-based lifestyle does not automatically correlate to sacrifice. So, I figured, I would show you how a high carb, low fat, plant-based vegan gets down by posting my general eats.

Now, let me be clear, I'm tall (5"7') but, I'm quiet lean weighing in at no more than 110 lbs of pure muscle. However, I can pack it away, often to the shock of other people who simply don't know WHERE all that food goes!

I can assure you that I eat more food in one sitting than my husband. And I probably eat more calories in a meal then some people eat in a whole day.

On a high carb lifestyle, calorie consumption is of upmost importance. And I personally eat an upwards of 3,000 calories a day (primarily coming from sweet fruit), never, ever calorie restricting. I eat until I am full and satisfied and I don't have to moderate my intake or feel guilty about anything I eat.

*Just to note, all these meals follow proper food combining and are salt and oil free.*

Every morning without question I always drink at least 16 oz. or more of distilled water. I do this to flush out my system after a full night of detoxing, regenerating, and healing. It also hydrates my muscles and gets me energized and ready to work out! Sometimes I add some lemon, which is especially good for removing toxins from the body and also functions as an electrolyte.

After I workout, which either involves me going to Bikram Yoga or running & taking a spin class, I always re-fuel with a juicy, mono-meal. Mono-meal, meaning I eat only one type of fruit until I can't eat anymore. I am melon apologist of the highest order. I love love LOVE honeydew and golden melon. I can effectively count on both hands the days where I have not had some type of melon this year. In the summer, watermelon aptly becomes apart of this wonderous rotation.

When I am eating melon, I usually eat anywhere between 2-3 melons depending on the size. And I will generally eat one whole watermelon on my own.

 My next meal functions as what I like to call 'linner' which is a mash up of lunch and dinner, i.e. late lunch + early dinner. I don't like to eat at night because it makes me feel groggy and bloated the next day. Eating early ensures that my food is completely digested before I go to sleep and thus, I sleep more soundly at night. Also, my body can do what it was intended to do while I sleep, and that's remove toxins and heal versus having to focus on digesting my meal.

That being said, my linner meals are quite large, very high carb. I always make sure to carb-up with a large amount of fruit before I move onto the savory part of my linner - whether it be salad, zucchini pasta, or a savory stew.

Cucumbers w. Mango Herb Dressing + Arugula 

Cucumber Pasta with Peach Nectarine & Heirloom Tomato Salasa

Romaine lettuce, Cucumbers, Grapes w. Lemon Dill Tahini Dressing

 Zucchini Pasta w. Sun Dried Tomato & Nectarine Sauce

Butter Leaf Lettuce Fruitful Salad w. Blueberries & Mango-Cilantro Dressing

(I indulged in that perfectly ripe pile of bananas to the left before I ate this salad! Incorporating fruit INTO my salad is like getting two for the price of one, as i'm able to make sure I carb up AND get my greens in, satisfying my sweet tooth and getting my minerals!) 

Mango & Heirloom Tomato Salad w. Spring Mix, Mint,& Basil 

Two Different Mango-based dressings: Mango-Celery Sage & Mango-Tomato w. Pomegranate mixed in for added crunch!

 Sometimes, I like to just have a dinner entirely composed of sweet fruits. In the warmer months that most definitely means I am eating bowls and bowls of fruit-based ice creams. I have written extensively about my fruity ice creams on this blog so I won't get into too much detail here. These are delicious and loved by all. I have found that desserts are the best way to introduce omnivores to a plant-based lifestyle - it's familiar, approachable, and everybody loves sweets!

Mango-Banana Ice & Papaya-Banana-Date-Cinnamon Ice Cream

 topped with Passion Fruit & Pomegranates 

     

As I mentioned above my "Linner" falls into the late lunch/early dinner category, so by the time dinner actually does roll around I'm usually still not hungry, but more so I crave calories of the liquid variety aka i'm thirsty! As a particularly active person I like to make sure I am topping off my calorie intake so at night I usually go for high-quality juice like Lakewood Organics. Their Pineapple Juice is my absolute favorite! Each bottle is 4 servings and each serving is 120 calories so in one bottle I get nearly 500 calories, huzzah! Not to mention, this juice contains no added junk, it's strictly pineapple juice that has been fresh pressed and the fiber from organic pineapple! In addition, pineapple is notoriously excellent for digestion and it's even better in juice form! Obviously, juicing your own pineapple is numero uno, but I am more concerned with not allowing myself to be under-carbbed than I am with the fact that this was pasteurized; high quality juice is a perfectly acceptable option!

Lakewood Organic Fresh Pressed Pure Pineapple Juice 

Another one of my go-to nightly drinks is fresh squeezed orange juice. There is nothing more satisfying then drinking OJ you juiced yourself- the taste and quality are second to none. I typically juice about five lbs of oranges, give or take depending on their size, which is generally enough to fill my 32 oz Vitamix carafe. OJ is a potent blend of vitamins and a remarkable immune booster. It helps cleanse the body of toxins and when juiced in this way the fiber remains intact so as to aid in cleaning out the system. I love love love orange juice, but don't be confused-- not all OJ is the same. Tropicana and conventional OJ often contains animal by-product in the added form of Vitamin C they use to fortify it. And because their OJ typically comes from oranges that are picked before they were ripe, it tends to be very acidic; both in taste and inside the body. However, while ripe oranges, and fresh pressed juice as shown here are actually alkaline once inside the body.

Fresh-Squeezed Organic Orange Juice

My last and final example, and shhh, don't tell the others - but, my favvvvorite, is raw cane [sugar] juice! You have not lived unless you have tasted this delightful, refreshing, sweet bottle of liquid gold. Cane Juice is actually considered a grass so it totally counts as a green juice! ::high five:: I like to get mine frozen and let it thaw halfway and then I blend the frozen juice with the thawed juice and it's like drinking a very indulgent milkshake. I believe it the ultimate cravings buster. It's also great for pre and post-run fueling! For a more complete description of all the amazing benefits of drinking cane juice click here!

Organic Raw Cane Juice

So there you go, a SMALL sampling of the food I typically consume on a plant-based lifestyle. From my perspective, this is not limiting at all. I believe in eating food that makes me feel like my best self and plants (fruits and vegetables, high carb/low fat) is the way to go if you want to feel like your BEST self too!