Some of My Photos at Instagram

Some of my latest photos of recipes are at http://www.instagram.com/namesconnie

Frozen Chocolate Banana Treat

Frozen Chocolate Banana Treat

Stir together until smooth:
1 heaping tsp of Cacao raw powder
1 tsp coconut nectar
1 tsp water
2 T coconut sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla (I used a no alcohol version)
Sprinkle of cinnamon

After the above mixture is nice and smooth prepare:
1 Frozen Banana Sliced
3 T Ground Almonds
Then dip a banana slice in the chocolate mixture and then in the ground almonds. Serve on a pretty tray and enjoy right away before the frozen banana melts. Delicious and good for you treat. :-)

Link to benefits of Raw Cacao:
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/antioxidant-benefits-raw-cacao-3990.html

Happy Foods in Different Dishes :-)

"Almost Raw" Vegan Asian Type Meal

Made this meal with the following:

RAW ITEMS:

Spinach chopped about 3 to 4 big handfuls

Broccoli chopped about one small stalk

Red Peppers chopped - one pepper

Spiralized Noodles of Zucchini or Yellow Squash (Use a spiralizer to make) - about 4

Sprouted Lentils - 3 - 4 big handfuls of

Cucumbers chopped - 3/4 of one

Carrot ribbons (just keep peeling a carrot into ribbon shapes) - Two carrots

Cold pressed olive oil 3 - 4 T, apple cider vinegar - 2 T, 

Shake in some Asian spice blend, lemon pepper and some coconut sugar to taste

NOT RAW ITEMS

Roasted Sunflower Seeds to taste

Soy Sauce to taste

Mix all the above in the quantities you like and serve. Delicious!

 

Raw Foodist’s – Raw Food Vegan Lifestyle – My Story

Raw Foodist’s – Raw Food Vegan Lifestyle – My Story

I have now been a raw foodist for almost 6 months. Where did I get my inspiration from? Other raw foodist’s! Just type in raw foodist’s at Youtube.com and you will find many of them with inspiring words, recipes and smiles.

Go to the library and check out books on the subject. You will learn all kinds of good information on why this lifestyle is a healthy one. There are many recipe books on the subject as well as lots of websites online about the raw food vegan lifestyle.

I like to call this a “lifestyle” instead of a “diet” as it really is more than a diet. It seems the more attention I have paid to eating healthy fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, the more I have wanted to take care of other areas of my life. Room messy? Clean it up! Errand left undone? Get out and do it. It is like I now have more of an “action” mentality than I did before.

Choosing to live this raw vegan lifestyle requires good planning to work successfully. It also requires lots of time and effort into getting the best fruits and veggies you can, but it is worth it. It is something you are doing for yourself to be healthier. You feel healthier and you also get to a good weight, too.  

Since I am now putting healthy things into my body instead of junky type foods, I also just gravitated to putting healthy things into my mind, too. Negative people, places and things just are no longer for me and I have to let go of any negativity daily. I desire to be around positive people, places and things now. That is a huge bonus.

It is funny how me just researching online “how to lower cholesterol without medicine” helped me to find this wonderful new way of life. I have not only lowered my cholesterol and don’t need the medicine, but I have found so much more. Inspiring raw foodist’s online who are so encouraging with all they share and do so absolutely free. My mom used to say “For nothing you get nothing in this world” but I have found that for nothing I have gained so much. I now feel better about myself and in feeling better about me, I now enjoy my life so much more and am looking forward to many more benefits as I move forward daily discovering and enjoying more positives in life.

There was a time in my life when I was pretty angry and I wound up hanging out with angry people. There was a time in my life when I was pretty sad and wound up hanging out with sad people. There was a time in my life when I was really negative and hung out with negative people. But now this is a time in my life when I am actually way more positive than in the past and guess what? I seem to be hanging out with lots more positive people! I am happy to be able to not only change my body, but my mind and spirit, too. Looking at two deer in a meadow today and seeing how free they were with no cares in the world, just enjoying the sunshine and flowers together, helped me to see that that is what I am striving for daily. To be carefree and just enjoy the day. I have had depression on and off for years. I also have a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I have tried many things for those issues, but I haven’t found a “cure”. I am not sure if the raw food lifestyle will be a “cure”, but for now, I am feeling so much better than in the past and that is a good thing and a happy thing for me.

Becoming a raw foodist at age 56 is a really interesting experience. My kids are grown so it is just me doing my own thing here. I am not sure if I will meet in person that many other people who are doing this lifestyle, but for now, it is working for me, I got at a good weight for my height and I am feeling like there is hope for more progress in me healing more and more with each new day, by choosing the positive things in life and I am so happy for that!

- By Connie Webb 5/29/14

Also, Posted at namesconnie.wordpress.com

Peeled Zucchini Noodles and Oyster Mushrooms

I took about 5 oyster mushrooms and added some cold pressed olive oil and some seasonings of garlic powder, salt-free seasoning and some soy sauce. Mixed it all up in a bowl.

Then I peeled a couple zucchinis with the peeler in another bowl to make thin fettuccine type noodles.

I then took the bowl of mushrooms and added them to the zucchini noodles and stirred it up.

Then I took some mix I had of garlic, cliantro, parsley and other seasonings and added 1 tsp of that to the zucchini noodles.
I also added a tsp of another mix of red pepper and other spices to the noodles. Squeezed some fresh lemon over it and mixed it all up and it was very tasty and spicy.

You can use your imagination to make a wide variety of toppings to the zucchini noodles. :-)

Link to Nutritional info. on Oyster Mushrooms:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/3050/2

Link to Nutritional info. on Zucchini:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2639/2

Almond Pesto served on Sliced Cucumbers

1 small bunch of basil
Ground almonds about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup
1 clove garlic chopped
1 to 2 T of lemon
Approx. 2 to 4 T of cold pressed olive oil
Salt free herbal seasoning and pepper and some sea salt

Place all the above items in a food processor/chopper and mix until well blended. You may have to stir it a few times to make sure it gets nice and blended. Enjoy on sliced cucumbers.

That Number on the Scale

Started out on Dec. 3, 2013 at 172 pounds. Today is May 17, 2014 and I weighed 135 this morning! I have to keep doing double takes on the scale number. That number on the scale had not moved in  ages. Yet when I adopted this raw vegan lifestyle, that number keeps getting lower and lower. I am now at my normal weight for my height of 5'6 " tall and age 56. It is nice to be in the normal range and not always feel so guilty for being at a so called "not normal" weight.

I like this lifestyle as it is all about abundance - seriously! One day I really thought I was overeating and was scared to weigh myself the next day and long behold I did not gain, but lost some more weight. I think the eating too little thing always tended to keep weight on me. But I guess my body now is happy it is eating more fresh fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds and is just really adjusting very well to this way of life.

There are many books out there on this lifestyle that will explain all the benefits of this way of life. I am not so good at explaining this way, but I will say this: I feel much better than I have in a long time with this healthy way of eating. And I am so happy that number on the scale no longer upsets me!

Today's Big Tasty Salad

Salad Ingredients:
1 head red leaf lettuce - chopped
1/2 cup of sprouted lentils
1 big beef steak tomato - chopped
1 avocado - chopped
1 small handful of cilantro chopped fine
1/4 tomatillo chopped small
3 T ground almonds

Mix that all together in a big bowl. Then add this Homemade Dressing:
1 T cold pressed olive oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 T lemon juice
Add to taste any of the following or all: salt free seasoning, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, turmeric, mustard powder, paprika and 2 T nutritional yeast

Mix it all up and it is delicious! I added all the seasonings. (I also added to the mix about 3 T of leftover raw dressing from yesterday that was made with some yellow pepper, cucumber, tomato, basil, garlic and spices.)

A big salad like the above is very tasty and filling, yet you don't feel you need to fall asleep afterward. :-)

Really, Really Orange Smoothie

Put in a blender:
One big grated carrot
Approx. 3 strawberries
One big blood orange
2 medium bananas
1/2 cup water

Blend up and enjoy just like that or serve over ice. 

Easy Nut Spread - Spread on Triple Decker Veg Sandwich

EASY NUT SPREAD INGREDIENTS:

About 1/2 to 3/4 cup of ground almonds (raw almonds soaked overnight and ground up fine in food processor/chopper)

1 T of cold pressed olive oil
1 T of lemon
Shake in some salt free seasoning and some sea salt (I know contradicting.)
1 T of some nutritional yeast
1 T of chia seeds
A little shake of soy sauce
A little sprinkling of about 2 tsp water

Mix this all up. And you have a nice nut spread.

MY TRIPLE DECKER VEG SANDWICH:
I laid out an iceberg lettuce leaf, a big slice of beef steak tomato and then some nut spread. Then on top of that I did another lettuce leaf, tomato slice and nut spread. Then one more lettuce leaf, tomato slice and nut spread. Top with lettuce leaf. Cut into 4's. Tastes really good. Enjoy!

Mexican Type Salad

1 ear of fresh corn cut off into pieces
1/2 avocado
3 romaine lettuce leaves chopped
1 roma tomato
some lime, a little sea salt, a little olive oil and one small clove of garlic chopped finely

Just made this to have with some of my dinner. I got the recipe idea from this site, but I didn't include all the ingredients and it still tasted good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KssExny8gI

I am having a leftover dish that includes bell peppers in it, so that is why I omitted them from tonight's dish, but adding red bell peppers would make it taste good, too.

I may add a little cayenne when I am ready to have it later. Just a little though as spices go a long way with raw food cooking

Photo of Mexican Type Salad and book by Cherie Soria which contains the full recipe. Book available at our Fort Bragg library. 

No Fat Vegetable Medley - Raw Food Style

1 small stalk of broccoli
5 thin stalks of asparagus
1 really large carrot
2 stalks celery
1 large red bell pepper
2 T and 2 tsp of coconut sugar
2 medium oranges juiced
1 small lemon juiced
Optional spices: Salt Free seasoning and pepper

Chop the broccoli, asparagus and carrots to fit in food chopper or processor. Blend these up to resemble rice consistency. Then add some chopped up celery and red bell pepper. Season this with the juiced oranges and lemon. Then sprinkle coconut sugar to your liking over it. Can add other spices like salt free seasoning and pepper, too.  This had a very interesting taste to it. Kind of exotic with the asparagus making it a little bitter, but still very tasty. :-)

Easy Dessert - A Fruit and Nut Dessert

1 small Fuji apple
1 medium banana
1 large handful of raisins
Approx. 3 T of Ground almonds that were soaked overnight and then ground up
Drizzle with some Coconut Nectar Syrup
Sprinkle of Cinnamon

Cut up the Fuji apple into tiny pieces. Cut up the banana into tiny pieces, too. Then add the raisins and the ground almonds. Sprinkle Cinnamon on it and then drizzle with some Coconut Nectar. Very easy and fast dessert

No Fat, No Salt Dressing for Mixed Green Salad

1 orange bell pepper
1 large beef steak tomato
2 celery stalks
Large Meyer Lemon juiced
Salt free seasoning
pepper
paprika

Blend the bell pepper, tomato, and celery stalks in a blender. Add the above seasonings to your liking or even add additional seasonings if you prefer. Serve some of this over a mixed green salad with grated carrots and organic cucumber slices with their peels on and quartered. Tastes really good for a no fat/no salt salad. :-)

Easter Fruit Kabobs

Easter Fruit Kabobs made with Strawberries, Bananas, Pineapples, Honeydew Melon, Purple Grapes, Green Grapes, Oranges

These were a nice treat today without the guilt from traditional Easter treats. :-)

Raw Vegan Easter Non-Traditional - Sushi and Raw Fruit Kabobs

Easter this year is not traditional for me. So I have made some items that look nice that I can have on Easter tomorrow and also to share with my family if they would like. I will add a nice salad and perhaps some cucumber and avocado little mini egg replicas.

First my Raw Sushi. I made Cauliflower rice (Just take small cauliflower florets and food process until it is nice and rice like)  and spread it on a raw Nori sheet. Then I peeled carrots ribbons on that. Then I sliced some cucumbers lengthwise and added them and then added some red peppers sliced. I then food processed some carrots with some red peppers and added that. Then I rolled it up and cut it up. (An avocado would have been nice added, but I forgot, but it was still okay.) I dipped these in a little soy sauce, which is not raw, but I have a little now and again.).

Next I made some Raw Fruit Kabobs. Here is a photo of them. I will add some honeydew and some pineapple for tomorrows. This was just a little test before Easter. :-)

Cold Raw Soup - Mixed Fresh Veggies

Blend in a blender: 2 red bell peppers, 2 tomatoes, 1 large cucumber, 2 celery stalks and about 1/4 cup chives and one garlic clove. Tastes good as a soup with some celery dipped in it. Very refreshing for a hot day out. (You could add some grated zucchini into it and I bet that would taste good, too.)

Tropical Cole Slaw - Raw

Food process some cabbage 1/2 head, carrots 2 large, 2 small oranges, 1/2 cup pineapple and some shredded coconut. Mix that all up together. Then add in some raisins. Also, dribble some coconut nectar over it all and mix it in to taste. Tastes really good!

Easy Banana Chocolate Dessert

One Frozen Banana sliced into small slices

Dip those slices in this mixture and enjoy:
1 T Cacao powder
1 T Coconut Nectar
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Sprinkle of sea salt
Tiny bit of vanilla (I use imitation vanilla due to not wanting the alcohol in regular vanilla)

Stir all this up on a small plate and dip your frozen banana slices in this mixture. Very easy for a quick and easy dessert. A little messy, but worth it. :-)

Connie's Zucchini Mounds (Not totally raw due to roasted sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast, but Yummy!)

Connie's Zucchini Mounds

Connie's Zucchini Mounds into Romaine Lettuce Sandwich

2 Peeled Zucchini's Grated

1 organic carrot grated

1 larger clove of garlic cut up into tiny pieces

4 T raw almonds grounded in food processor (soaked overnight first in water and then drained and ground up in a food processor or chopper with the s blade)

3 T Sunflower Seeds (You can use raw ones, but I did use roasted in this recipe as I do prefer those kinds, will try to graduate to raw ones if I can. No one is perfect at anything. I know I won't do the raw vegan diet "perfectly", but I do it to the best of my ability. )

Grounded sea salt to taste - Just grind some from your shaker grinder onto the mixture

1 T lemon juice

1 1/2 T Nutritional Yeast (Again, not Raw, but B12 is good in that for us raw vegans)

Stir all this up and then form into mounds with your hands on a plate. Use each mound inside 2 romaine lettuce leaves. Use the romaine lettuce leaves for a bottom with a sliced tomato on it and then the mound and then the top romaine lettuce leaf. You can try and either break the spine on the lettuce leaf by crushing it down slightly or just shave a bit off the spine of it to make the leaf flatter. This was a nice dish to have. You could just eat the mixture plain or serve it on some other type of raw type of food such as raw dehydrated crackers or maybe even on top of some cucumber slices. There is a really nice garlic taste to this if you love garlic, too. Enjoy!

Sharing Some of my Steps to Being Healthier

I am now 56 years old. Things I have done to improve my health are:
Gave up my car and walk or bike ride around town - Helps me feel better with that regular exercise
Became a Vegetarian - Age 43 to 50
Became a Vegan - Age 50 to 56
Became a Raw Food Vegan at Age 56 on Dec. 3, 2013 - Learning new things daily on this lifestyle
Participate in a Walking Group
Fill my mind with uplifting thoughts and let go of negativity
Study interesting and helpful things
Be around uplifting people
Commit to myself to take care of myself to the best of my ability daily
Let go daily of any bothersome or worrisome thoughts
Take care of my responsibilities
Accept myself exactly as I am at any given moment
I could focus on the bad in life, but that only leads to depression. Instead I focus on the good things, enjoy the good things and look for the good in life daily. :-)
- By, Connie Webb

Spicy Sauce with Raw Zucchini Noodle Dish

1 Large Beefsteak Tomato that is really ripe
1/4 of a large cucumber
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup water
Seasonings: Cayenne, Red pepper flakes, salt free seasoning, sea salt, pepper, basil, and Italian seasonings. (Season to your liking.)
Blend it all up in a blender. 

Serve over the top of Zucchini Noodles that you make with a spiralizer. If you don't have a spiralizer, you can just peel your zucchini's around and around into lengthwise long noodles. This Sauce tasted really good over the noodles. I added 2 tsp's of cold pressed olive oil, too, and a little nutritional yeast to the top of the zucchini noodles. I then added some ground up raw almonds to the mix, too. Tasted really good.

Today's Example of my Meals and Current Weight Loss

Today is Saturday, so it was more relaxing for me. I did some housework, went for a little walk and did some studying of things I am learning on this raw food lifestyle and some other readings. Currently I have lost 25 pounds since Dec. 3rd, 2013 with this Raw Food Eating of Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts, Seeds and Cold Pressed Oils like Olive and Sesame Oils. I am very happy with this way of life. I feel good and do have way more energy than in times past.

Here is an example of today's food:

Banana and Orange Smoothie

Coleslaw of Cabbage, Carrots, Sunflower seeds  - Use a Dressing of your choice (I mixed my coleslaw with some apple cider vinegar, soy sauce (not raw) and olive oil and a little coconut sugar - Kind of silly and weird tasting, so I would say to put a better dressing on it than this one. I still eat my foods even if they are a bit weird tasting as I know there are good ingredients in the dishes I make. Plus I am experimenting, too, and understand everything won't be perfect.)

Cauliflower cut in small pieces with some sea salt, olive oil and nutritional yeast (Nutritional Yeast is not a raw product, but the B12 in it is good for a person on a raw food diet.)

Zucchini noodles with some sea salt, olive oil and some nutritional yeast (Just peel the zucchini with a peeler to get fettucini type noodles)

Big Dinner Salad: Romaine Lettuce, Roma Tomato, 2 big carrots grated, 1 avocado, Sunflower seeds and some homemade veggie dressing

Frozen bananas with some coconut sugar

It is evening now and I am certainly not hungry at all. I have to say that this lifestyle is really amazing in that you can really eat a lot of food and still lose weight. :-)

Today's Raw Food Salad Meal for Dinner

Raw Food Salad Meal by Connie Webb

Made this salad this afternoon for dinner. It is nice to know it will be all ready made when I am ready for dinner. Here are the ingredients:
2 Medium Zucchini's Grated
2 Large Carrots Grated
1/2 chopped red pepper
3 celery stalks chopped
1 Cucumber chopped
A couple handfuls of Baby Spinach chopped
Just mix this all up together. Sprinkle some lemon on it. Then when you are ready to have it for dinner, just add your favorite dressing, maybe some avocado and some tomatoes, too. It is nice to try and prepare things ahead of time so it will be all ready for when you want to eat.

No Oil Salad Dressing - Raw Food Vegan Delicious

NO OIL SALAD DRESSING

1 Big Cucumber
2 Large Stalks of Celery
1 Large Red Bell Pepper (just take off the green part, you can add the seeds and all which I was surprised to learn about)
Green Onions: Just make some chives about a 1/4 of a cup of them - (the green part of the green onions, not the white part)
1 clove of garlic

Big Squeeze of lemon

1 Tablespoon of Date Sugar

Water: Approx. 1/2 or 1/4 cup water - more or less, just try it out on how much you need in your blender

Directions: Chop up the cucumber, celery, bell pepper, onions and garlic and add to the blender. Then add the lemon juice, date sugar and the spices of Italian Seasonings, Basil, Sea Salt and Ground Pepper (to your liking) or other spices you prefer. Then add some of the water. Add small amount at first and then more if you need it. Blend it all up and put in a jar with a lid. Can probably keep at least a few days. You can add a bit more of this dressing than regular dressing as it is very low calorie and delicious! :-)

Better Health on Raw Vegan Diet - Lowered Cholesterol

Carrot Dancing photo by Connie Webb

Just got my recent lab results back and I have improved on everything since this lifestyle. Cholesterol went down and is now in the normal range. I am so happy for that! And I am in the proper weight range for my height and age of 56 - another great benefit!

I had a feeling this way of eating was going to help me lots after reading and seeing all the positive results people were getting on this way of life. So grateful that this way works for me, too!

Cholesterol before raw Vegan was: 246 as of December 2013

Cholesterol after being on the Raw Vegan Lifestyle for just two months and 18 days:
188 as of February 2014 (I am sure it will go lower as I ease off too much oil, too. I will be working on that over the next months as well. Little steps at a time.)

Easy Zucchini Dish - Raw Food Vegan

Easy Zucchini Dish by Connie Webb

Easy Zucchini Dish - Raw Food Vegan

2 Zucchinis peeled and grated

3 small carrots peeled and grated

1 roma tomato grated and then rest of peel chopped in dish

1 small avocado chopped

1 TB raw sunflower seeds

2 TB raw almonds chopped (Soak almonds overnight, rinse, drain and then chop in food processer or food chopper with s blade. Chop till fine.)

Mix all up in bowl and then add dressing and seasonings of your choice. 

(My choice for dressing and seasonings were: 1 TB of sesame oil, 1 TB Apple Cider Vinegar, sea salt, ground black pepper and some nutritional yeast. It could have been spiced up a bit more, too. Experiment with dressings/seasonings to your liking.)

With Weight Loss - Tailor Your Wardrobe Yourself To Fit You Again

One of the benefits of a Raw Food Vegan Diet is weight loss besides feeling much better. Because of this your clothing will be a bit baggy as you are losing weight. I started my raw food vegan diet on Dec. 3rd and today is Feb. 15th. I have lost 20 pounds and I don't want to really buy a bunch of clothes as yet. So taking in the clothes I have is a good way to go for me at the moment to save money. Here are some easy video links on youtube that show you how:

For your jeans, here is a great video that shows you how to take them in with just two darts made on the back of them:
http://youtu.be/3IYUdSwy1vA

For your shirts or blouses, just sew the inseams of them. Here is an easy video that shows how:
http://youtu.be/oKhSYyi8jCg

Eventually you can reward yourself with some new clothing, but why spend a bunch of money yet especially if you still will be losing a bit more weight. Tailoring your clothing yourself is a good way to go in the meantime. And of course going to thrift stores or yard sales can be a good way to tide you over until you want to invest in some new clothing, too. Take care all.

Easy Broccoli Dish - Raw Food Vegan

Easy Broccoli Dish by Connie Webb

I made this broccoli dish yesterday. It tasted even better today. All it took were these ingredients of:
Chopped up Broccoli, Red Peppers and Celery. Then add some Grated Carrots. Then just put on a dressing of your choice, but I used Cold Pressed Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce and Apple Cider Vinegar. Marinating in the fridge overnight made it much tastier, too.

Dinner Salad and Raw Vegan Cookbooks at our Library

Tonight's Dinner Salad photo by Connie Webb

Our library has some nice raw vegan cookbooks. We can also order raw vegan cookbooks there, too. So it is nice to be able to look up different recipes until I am able to purchase some cookbooks of my own.

Tonight's Dinner Salad: Romaine Lettuce, shredded carrots, broccoli chopped, red pepper chopped, heirloom baby tomatoes, some avocado pieces and some marinated portabello mushrooms. Sprinkled some basil, garlic, sea salt and ground pepper on it. Served it with a goddess type homemade dressing and it was delicious.

Yummy! photo by Connie Webb

Pre-Valentine's Day 2014 Raw Vegan Treats

Made some Pre-Valentine's Day Treats - With all the stores having all that "other" Valentine's Day stuff out, it is nice to have some Raw Vegan Treats on hand. :-)

NOTE: On the treats, use more or less of the ingredients to your liking. Do lots of taste testing.

Raw Vegan Treat by Connie Webb

Chocolate Coconut Dipped Raw Vegan Strawberries:
Some strawberries dipped in a raw vegan cacao mixture dipped in fine organic coconut. 

How I made this: Washed and cut up strawberries. Then I mixed about 2 heaping tsp of cacao powder with about 3 tsp of agave nectar and 1 tsp of cold pressed olive oil. I dipped the strawberry tips in this and then dipped them in coconut. You can make up the chocolate mixture to your sweetness and liking. Then refrigerate this for a nice tasty treat when you want. 

Raw Vegan Treat by Connie Webb

Chocolate Coconut Almond Truffles -  Raw Vegan Candy:

How I made this: I put about one cup of raw almonds (soak the almonds for about 8 hours in water and rinse and then drain off water) in a food processor with the s blade and chopped them all up. Then added to the nuts in the food processor about 2 tablespoons cold pressed olive oil, 2 tsp heaping cacao powder and 3 tsp agave nectar. Mixed it up some more in food processor. Taste test it until it is a texture you like. Keep mixing till you get it a good consistency. Then roll up into little balls and dip into some shredded coconut. Put in freezer in container to have a delicious raw vegan treat.

Be sure to treat yourself this Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day all!
Keep taking good care of you!

Some Recent Raw Vegan Foods I Have Made

Photo of "Bright Red Coleslaw" by Connie Webb

I made a really nice "Raw Vegan Stroganoff". I just had some ribbon zucchini noodles and covered them with this Cashew Cream sauce from this link:
http://www.reloveplanet.com/2013/08/vegan-kitchen-raw-zucchini-cashew.html
Then I had the idea to add some marinated mushrooms and portobella mushrooms to it. It was so good! The noodles I made with zucchini and just used a peeler to peel the zucchini into long thin ribbons. I think this is going to be my favorite dish. I marinated the mushrooms in a little oil and soy sauce. (Still need to get another brand of soy sauce that is "raw" and doesn't have wheat in it. Will work on that.)

Another dish I made which I just made up was this "Bright Red Coleslaw" which had: Green cabbage, carrots, fuji apples, beets and some cold pressed olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar, a little lemon, agave nectar and sea salt. I just used a food chopper/processor with the s blade to chop up the cabbage, carrots, fuji apples and beets. I also grated some of the coleslaw and beets to make it have a little different texture mixed in there, too. After this was all made, I added some sunflower seeds to it. It wound up tasting really nice.

One more dish I made was "Cheezy" Portobella Mushroom I just took a portabella mushroom and added some oil and soy sauce to it. I then sprinkled on some nutritional yeast. And that was quite tasty, too.

I like "creating" lots of different raw food dishes. This is getting to be really fun and exciting. Take care all.

Today's Dish I Made - Raw Vegan Mini Burger in a Romaine Lettuce Wrap

I watched a video of Megan Elizabeth's at Youtube about these raw burgers she made. So I made some of my own and here is a photo of them before I put one in a roll up:

Enclosed below is the Youtube video link on how to make these. Mine are different in that I did not make mine as big or put them on a portobella mushroom with tomato and lettuce. Instead, I put my mini one in a Romaine Lettuce leaf, added some marinated mushrooms and spread some of the tahini mixture on the leaves. But the basic way to make these is to follow Megan Elizabeth's video:
http://youtu.be/lHVS2gB95Pg

These turned out really well and were very nice tasting! So go ahead and give them a try if you would like to. :-) I look forward to trying them the "exact" way Megan Elizabeth made hers as soon as I get some portobella mushrooms. Check out more of Megan Elizabeth's Raw Food Videos at Youtube. She explains things very nicely and easily. Take care all.

The Raw Food Lifestyle - Today's Thoughts

Not only am I eating healthy raw foods, but I am filling my mind, heart and soul and being with positive words, thoughts and images. I am letting go of any hurts and pains. I cry if I need to cry. I laugh when I want to laugh. I am being more of the real me. Food is one avenue to a healthy well-being, but also it includes letting go of negativity and depression by filling my life with more joy and positive living.

I am inspired by motivational videos I see at youtube or continued views of other raw foodist videos. I also am really changing my thinking.

Yesterday I went for a bike ride on errands. It was very windy and challenging to ride in the wind. But I changed my thoughts to notice how the wind was blowing all the trees and how interesting that looked. I focused on noticing all the different trees whenever thoughts of how tough it was to pedal by bike in the wind. I focused on the blue sky and how clear it was with barely any clouds. I focused on how lucky I am to even be strong enough to ride a bike in the wind. Then my bike ride went okay and I was not all dark and gloomy about it. 

Our mind is so powerful and we can experience what we want to experience. Someone may view the day as horrible and yet others can view it as interesting.

I want to stay with this healthy way. My days are now filled with learning new things, keeping up with my responsibilities, exercising daily, and basically seeing where I can be a person who is helpful instead of not so helpful.

I am not perfect at all this positive stuff, but I do the best I can with each new day. One thing that has been perfect is the raw food diet. Eating raw foods has simplified things lots for me. I eat more basic whole fruits and veggies now. I am not into the raw gourmet as much and will probably just do that for holidays. For now I basically just have fruits and veggies uncomplicated. Maybe a smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch and some raw veggie zucchini spiralized with sauce for dinner. Fruits or veggies for snacks work. I add in some almonds and sunflower seeds, too. I use cold pressed olive oil as well on salads. So everything is quite easy. If I get hungry, I grab a banana or two. That solves that right away at low calories. I am happy for the simplicity of this new way.

Take care all. 

By, Connie Webb 2/3/14

Today

Today I went to my volunteer job, went for a walk to the beach and back and ate a healthy raw food vegan diet. I visited with a friend for lunch (of all raw food) and she liked it, which was nice, too. Watched some inspiring videos online, too. So all and all today was a good day. :-)

Example of today's food and other examples of things I make on the Raw Food Diet

Here is an example of my raw food diet for today and other things I make, too.

Morning: Smoothie of: Frozen banana slices, Orange cut up, Fuji apple grated, some greens of romaine lettuce, (but you could use whatever greens you like, sometimes I used baby spinach and baby kale mix.) I add about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water to this. This one turned out tasting really nice. I make lots of different combinations.

(Sometimes I add sprouted lentils to my smoothies for protein, too. You can make almond milk by soaking about a cup of raw almonds overnight. In the morning, rinse and drain them. Then add a cup of almonds to the blender and about 4 cups of water. You will have your own almond milk that can be added to a smoothie instead of water as it will give you extra protein. There will be little ground up nuts in your smoothie if you don't mind it, otherwise you can always drain your almond milk with a net bag, but I don't do that and just deal with the gritty stuff as I do know it is good for me. The almond milk keeps a couple days okay in the fridge, just stir it good before having it or adding it to a smoothie. You can put some carob powder in the almond milk with a little agave nectar for a treat, too.)

Lunch: Zucchini, Tomato Salad with sunflower seeds.

(I peeled a whole Zucchini to make it like these thin like noodle strips and then cut up some tomatoes. I put some olive oil with some sea salt on it. Then I sprinkled some Nutritional Yeast over it. It was nice tasting. (I also make spiralized zucchini noodles with a special "Spiralizer" machine I have and serve that with some raw marina of sundried tomatoes blended with roma tomatoes in a food processor with some basil and italian spices and a little olive oil.)

Dinner: Big salad - I usually have a big salad for dinner with greens, tomatoes, grated carrot, sunflower seeds and whatever other veggies I want in it. I have a big salad bowl for this.

Snacks if hungry in between: I will usually have a banana or a fuji apple. Sometimes I just have some sunflower seeds. Sometimes I make some homemade freezer candy of ground up raw almonds (soaked overnight and rinsed and drained) with coconut oil, agave and cacoa raw powder. I just mix that up in the food processor and then drop them on a sheet in the freezer. They are a nice treat to have.

Another snack: Freeze banana slices for smoothies and vegan  ice cream. You then put some slices in for your smoothies or some in a food processor and that blends the bananas into a banana ice cream that you can flavor with cacoa powder or carob powder with a little agave. Or you can add fruit like blueberries or raspberries, etc. to the frozen banana slices.

Other things I have had since I started: I grate a fuji apple and a carrot together. It tastes really good just like that, but you could add some raisins to it if you want. I buy dates sometimes for something sweet. I make coleslaws that don't use vegan mayo. I grate some cabbage, peel and grate a beet and then add a little tahini and some oil and some apple cider vinegar with a little agave. It tastes a little strange at first, but I wound up really liking that.

Sometimes I grind up almonds and just toss the ground almonds over some grated zucchini with some olive oil.

I make kale salad by chopping kale very small (you take a couple de-stemmed kale leaves and then roll them up and chop them - it shows online how to make kale salads) and then sprinkle sea salt over it and then massage some olive oil in it. Then I put a little lemon over it too. If I don't add lemon, I will sprinkle some nutritional yeast over it and it is very good.

Hope some of these ideas helped. I don't have a totally hard diet. I could make tons of gourmet foods, but I kind of keep it simple. The smoothie at breakfast, maybe a zucchini salad at lunch and a big salad at dinner. The bananas in between help to not be hungry, too. I keep lots of bananas on hand and in the freezer. The bananas that are going darker and are on sale at the supermarkets are great to slice up and freeze and use in smoothies.

I use avocados on salads or sometimes just have one with some lemon, too.

So far so good on this way of eating since Dec. 3rd. The happy part is I went from 172 to 160.4 pounds since Dec. 3rd. The other happy part is I have way better concentration and can focus lots more for reading and learning new things. My mood seems a bit better, too.

I will try to go a little lighter on nuts and oils. I think that could be a downfall of this, so I am monitoring myself with that. During the holiday times, I did try lots of different recipes out that were mostly higher in oils/fats and nuts, but I think because I no longer eat bread, pasta, potatoes or rice, that is why I lost some weight even with those heavier foods like the oils/nuts.

A person who has extra money, could eat a whole different variety of fruits and veggies, but on a lower income, which I am on, I kind of just stick to simple items that are easy to keep on hand like bananas, oranges, romaine lettuces, etc. In summer there will be so much more to choose from and I am excited about that. Take care all. :-) PS I tried some "Zumba Gold" today. It is a fun dance exercise for those of us in these middle age years. I really liked it! :-)

Positive Living and Aging by Connie Webb

I want to age gracefully and hope I am on that path. I gave up makeup years ago and am okay with that. My gray hair is really coming in now. I don't usually notice it, but last night the lighting was such that it was really noticeable. I started to think about hair dyes and realized that is not so healthy. Then I thought of henna and then said it would just be another chore to add onto my life. So just going natural seems the easiest. It is mostly the media that portrays aging as a bad thing. So we are told to use this makeup, use this hair color, buy these certain clothes, look this certain way. Well, I can only be me and natural it is. What you see is what you get.

It is fun at times to dress up and look our best. Nothing wrong with that at all. The thing is to just be happy with who you are inside. Part of being happy inside does depend on what you put into your body and your mind, too. If I was to fill my mind with all the bad news stories or sit around and talk about a lot of dark depressing things, then I can't think that I am going to be so happy. Filling my mind with positive stories and talking about uplifting things helps me with my happiness. My physical well being is important too which includes healthy eating, exercise and good sleep. So I try to make sure those things are happening, too.

Another thing is spirituality. I am not talking religion here. Just a spiritual sense that we are not all alone and that there really is some kind of a Power helping us and guiding us daily to positive and constructive things if we allow this Power to help us. I think we all will come to our own understanding of some kind of a spiritual nature. It doesn't have to be anything we learned in a book or it can be. But trusting that we are not all alone is really helpful. It can help calm any fears we have and when we reach out to something greater than us it helps us with any stresses we have and can comfort us. So spirituality is a good thing to implement into positive living. 

I think being outdoors in nature is a good way to see that there really has to be something behind all the wonders that are out there in this big world. I love walks to the beach and seeing whale spouts and backs of whales. Love seeing deer and all the different birds. Love the beautiful flowers that bloom almost year long where I live in Northern California. This all helps me with a better spirit and helps me to a better mood when I appreciate all the good things there really are in this world.

Other things like hope and an optimistic outlook on life are all good at helping you with your aging process. Laughing is another great tool at helping you to a lighter mood. Love watching comedy movies and comedians.

Love is the greatest with helping me with a good mood, too. I think of all the people I like and love and that helps me have a good mood. I also think back to times when I was depressed and didn't feel like I even liked or loved anyone due to the dark depression I was in. So I am so grateful that I can now like and love many people. I had to learn to like and love myself, too. I kind of think that liking and loving others, helped me to learn to like and love myself more, too.

Another thing is forgiveness. There are many things I have had to forgive in this lifetime of mine. Staying with forgiveness and letting go of anger has helped lots. I just can't control everything. Bad things have happened, but I don't have to allow them to wreck my day or my life. I can learn to let these things go from my mind and just concentrate on all the other good things that are in my life. That makes for more positive living, too.

An important point about forgiveness that I learned was that if I can't forgive someone to just ask some Power greater than me to forgive that person for me. That helped me lots. Now I don't have to feel bad if I truly do not have it in my heart to forgive someone. Instead I just tell the truth to this unseen Power and say something like, "Look, I can't say I truly forgive this person for all the hurt they caused me, so will you please forgive them for me and I trust you will." This relieves me and helps me to let go of hurt and anger. I am grateful I learned this at a young age from a very dear friend.

Learning new things - This is by far the best thing for aging. Continue to learn new things. Continue to study. Continue to be open-minded. This all keeps life interesting and fun.

Hope you have a positive day no matter what your age. Keep taking good care of you and I will do the same here.

Today's Events in the life of a middle-aged Raw Food Vegan

This morning was a bit lazy here as I did more things throughout the week already. Just relaxed in the morning. Did lots of reading and watching positive things on Youtube. I usually subscribe to raw foodists channels there and get inspiration from them with recipes and other positive messages.

Later on I did go for a walk to the beach and back with my walking group. Some pretty big waves at the beach today that were fun to see. 

Today's food so far:
Got it together fairly late so I had a 'brunch" of a smoothie of: Frozen banana slices, large orange, fuji apple grated, baby greens and some lentil sprouts thrown in for some extra protein. Also, had a handful of sunflower seeds. I wasn't even hungry till hours later.

This evening: Huge salad of: Romaine Lettuce, Tomatoes, Grated carrots, sprouted lentils, avocado and some sunflower seeds. Had my favorite made up salad dressing of: 1 tablespoon cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp tahini, 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar - healthy kind, 1 tablespoon soy sauce (will buy tamari later when I get ahold of it as that is wheat free), and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. For dessert I had a fuji apple that was so delicious. Fuji apples are my favorite ever - they are so good and feel like a really nice treat. I sometimes will grate one into a bowl and just enjoy eating them that way. You could add some cinnamon to it, too.

This evening I am watching some of the latest American Idol episodes. Some of the singers are pretty good so far that they are letting go through, so that is great. It is sad when some of those young folks don't make it through. So heartbreaking for them. The music industry sure is a tough road to go, but I guess if you are really, really good, there probably will be no stopping that person. It is so neat how well Kelly Clarkson has done all beginning with American Idol. I read recently that Kelly lived out of her car at one time, too! Amazing she has achieved so much.

So this day was pretty much lazy, but it is okay. I had so many hectic days in the past that I am okay with some lazy type of days. Take care all.