40 Days of Smoothies BOOK - I WON!

I found out today that I was the winner of Zsu's Book Contest!  The winner was drawn YESTERDAY which was also my BIRTHDAY!  YAY!  Happy Birthday to me!  I was lucky enough to win this book!  40 Days of Green Smoothies by Becky Stiepe!  I can't wait to get it in the mail!

It says KICKSTART YOUR MORNINGS!  That is sooooo what I need!  Check it out...

Kickstart your mornings with this 40 day program designed to develop your green smoothie habit! The ingredients aren't always what you'd expect - discover how avocado can help make a smoothie creamy and how chocolate can turn it into a decadent yet healthy treat. Becky Striepe of Glue & Glitter breaks the 40 days down, week-by-week, with each week offering its own set of tips and shopping lists. Jump in and find out what your mornings have been missing!

Focusing On Pain

Make it stop!

I really did a number on myself!

So if you have followed my blog for more than a year you may remember that I have struggled with Sciatica.  I'm thankful that I have never needed surgery or even taken medication for it.  But it's back.  I'm not sure if it was something that I did or if it's just the time of the year and it getting colder, etc.  But I have been really feeling it again since Thanksgiving Day.  I'm hoping I can do things myself and at home so I don't have to visit the Chiropractor.

2nd issue I have been having the last few months is a sore thumb.  I know that sounds petty.  The last week or so it has looked crooked by the knuckle by the nail.  I don't know if I broke it or if it's arthritis but either way I'm not happy.  I've always been double jointed and very much so in that thumb.  My mom and her mom have and had horrible arthritis so I'm nervous about this.  

And the third strike came today while at work when I whacked my knee on my desk.  This isn't unusual.  I tend to do this every other week it seems BUT this was hardcore.  So much so that it brought me to my knees and tears to my eyes.

I need to do something about this so here is my plan...

YOGA.

I know that I am back and forth on YOGA but I have to be more consistent with it.  Even if I have to bring my mat to work and do it in the bathroom I am going to do it more.

Green Smoothies.

Again something I struggle with being consistent at.  I mean, REALLY, how hard is it?  It's NOT...it's just me making excuses for NOT waking up earlier enough and not having enough fresh produce...which is similar to my 'thing' with Juicing.  I seriously NEED to focus on this.

Herbs & Essential Oils

These are something I have been digging deeper and deeper into as of late and I need to step it up a notch NOW!  When it comes to pain the following are things I am going to do to combat it whether it's herbs and/or essential oils...Aloe Vera, Boswellia, Cat's Claw, Eucalyptus, Ginger, Green Tea, Thunder God Vine, Turmeric, and Willow Bark.  Of those I have already done a few of them often.  I will be bumping that up more tho.  One of those that I am not familiar with is the Thunder God Vine and will be doing more research on it very soon.

Speaking of my own personal research and development...I have been looking into many other things that I will be sharing with you very soon!

What do you do for pain management at home?

RAW WEEK - Tuesday!

Hello Lovelies!

It's day 2 of my RAW WEEK!  After posting yesterday I went home and made this CRAZY HUGE Salad!  But not before a mini outing!  I had to swing by and drop off a cat carrier that I borrowed from my parents neighbor and then I went to Aldi's.  Early yesterday morning when I went to a nearby Grocery Store most of their daily produce was WAY TOO Expensive.  Average Every Day NON-Organic Cauliflower was $3.99 a head, their tomatoes were $3.49 per pound and most of them HUGE so I bet they were well over a pound a piece, even their grapefruit was $1.29 each...their avocados were over $2 each, etc.  So I really wanted to stock up and got a bunch of stuff at Aldi's and only spent $22.  I wish I would have taken a photo of my haul before putting everything in their places in my kitchen/frig/pantry.

While at Aldi's I found a super huge awesome hard plastic bowl for $4 - I went home, washed it, and threw this salad in it!

This Salad Contains the following...Romaine Hearts, Cherry Tomatoes, Mini Cucumbers, Orange Sweet Bell Peppers, and Hemp Seeds.  I think it worked out to be between 4 and 6 cups of greens.  I made a dressing last night as you can see in this 2nd photo but silly me I forgot to jot down everything in it...so...here's a guess...I know there was at least 1 C of Mango along with about 2 T Tahini.  I think I added some Lemon Juice and Garlic Sea Salt.

This 3rd photo is a pic of the Salad Dressing I made prior to pouring on the salad.  OH!  Yes...I think I also put about 2 T Dijon in there, too!

I really enjoyed this dressing but think next time I would use less Mango and more Dijon for the extra ZING!

Later in the evening - last night - I had the munchies.  I decided to cut up 2 more Mini Cucumbers and treat them like Raw "Chips".  I made a Raw Vegan Cheese Dip to go along with it. 

In this Raw Vegan Cheese Dip and/or sauce here is what I used...

1 C Pine Nuts
1 C Cashews
3 Cloves Garlic
2 Mini Sweet Red Bell Peppers
2 T Lemon Juice
1/2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 C Nutritional Yeast

I get Raw Cashews and Pine Nuts at my local herb store in bulk.  Mostly when I buy in bulk the prices are better.  When it comes to nuts - especially raw nuts - that isn't usually the case. 

I realize Nutritional Yeast isn't necessarily raw but I do know a lot of Raw Foodists that consume it.

Next up...I made some Raw Vegan Chia Crackers or Chips last night.  They kind of remind me of Blue Corn Chips/Tortillas.

For the crackers/chips I did about 1 C of Chia into 2 C Water for about an hour.  I stirred in about 1 T Garlic Powder - maybe a little less - for the whole batch - and then spread it out on a Dehydrator Sheet and flipped every 2 hours or so until crisp.

I was pretty impressed with myself, actually.  I ended up doing quite a bit last night around the house as well as food prep.

Now...I only had one of these this morning as a Taste Test and I really liked them.  I'm probably going to have them with dinner or as a snack tonight.  And LOOK - I used that Raw Vegan Cheese as a dip since there was SO MUCH in the batch that I made.  I also noticed it thickened up pretty nice over night in the frig.

This will last me a few days.

I felt like I literally ate all day long yesterday.  But I think I did a good job of getting a variety of foods. 

As for today...I started my day with another smoothie which you can see in the following photos. 

For this smoothie I used 2 C Strawberries, 4 Handfuls of Spinach, 2 inch chunk of frozen banana. 

It's not the most beautiful color but it tasted good!

I've been putting my Vitamix to the test as well as my Excalibur!  This REALLY excites me!

Yesterday I was up from about 4am until about 11-ish last night. 

Not Bad. 

Best part?  No afternoon energy crash! 

I, did, however, sleep in longer this morning - but - not as long as I usually do - so that's good!

I've also been able to use more of my cute Mason Jar Glasses with the handles and more consistently.

So far - TODAY - I had the smoothie listed above along with 3 Apples and 1 Nectarine.

For Lunch I had some GREENS from the Container Garden...a mix of both the Sweet AND the Spicy Mesclun Mixes...so up to 8 different lettuces altho I think there is only about 5 in what I picked today.  On top of the Greens I threw in about a tablespoon or two of Hemp Seeds and about 1 C of Grapefruit.  For the "dressing" I just used Apple Cider Vinegar to taste.  I also had about 1/4 of a Watermelon on the side.  I'm looking forward to Dinner tonight!

My Very Own RAW WEEK!

I mentioned in a post earlier today that I declared this week RAW WEEK for myself. 

I'm going to try my darnest to do all RAW all WEEK this week! 

Since I woke up between 4 and 4:30am - and woke up pretty well - at that - I decided to start using a new shampoo/conditioner combo - one of the few things I actually add to my body.  (I don't wear make up or much else for that matter - but I do put Shampoo - usually every other day - and conditioner maybe once a week). 

Naturally Speaking...Tomorrow I will start Oil Pulling again.  I use either Coconut Oil OR Grapeseed Oil.  About once a month - if I remember - I will use a 'scrub' that was made by a friend of me - locally - that contains - Coffee, Olive Oil, and Sugar.

As far as food intake is concerned here is what today looks like for me...day 1 of all raw...

2 Large Glasses of Water
1 Large Mason Jar of Green Smoothie (2 C Mango, 1/2 C Papaya, 2 Large Handfuls of Spinach, Water)
2 Apples
2 Mandarins
1 Grapefruit
1 Peach
1/4 of a Large Watermelon
Various teas and herbal tonics
1 Super LARGE Salad - yet to be determined - with homemade Raw Dressing.

All of the fruits you see listed above were eaten individually throughout the day.

I will try and log more attempts at what kind of activities I will be doing, too. 

At least 5 times a week I walk for about 30 to 40 minutes each day!  I hope to increase this most days.  My plan is to walk from home to work and back 5 times a week in addition to 15 to 20 minutes each day.  By walking from home it's a mile one way...so I will probably walk at the very minimum 2 miles, 5 times a week.  I hope to do a minimum of 15 to 20 mins of yoga 5 times a week up to an hour a day at the most.  In addition - I hope to do Step Aerobics at least once a week.

I'm not really doing this to lose weight - but if it happens, it happens.  I'm doing this more for well-being, mostly.

I do better when I am accountable so my points here at my blog will certainly help with the accountability part.  More on this - throughout the week!

Vegan MoFo ~ Sun Warrior Vanilla in a Mango Cashew Smoothie AND Vegan Ice Cream Version

I am NOT the BEST person when it comes to Breakfast.  And even worse since going vegan, really.  Especially during the work week.  I'm more of a Night Owl - you could say!  Don't get me wrong...I LOVE fruit!  On occasion I will grab a piece of fruit and call that Breakfast, I guess.  I do love the 'every once a while bagel' and will eat that on the go from time to time, too!  And more recently I have been getting into Oatmeal more.  But...I would call these 'quick breakfasts' or something to 'get in my stomach' and they are few and far between.  I must confess - I don't do this every morning.  Sometimes - only a few times a week.  Tisk!  Tisk!  I know...I know...NOT Good, Jennifer!  Many studies say Breakfast is the most important part of the day!  Well, at least I am not in denial, right!?  I know where I am slacking and I have been making efforts!  Baby steps...but still...they are small efforts and that's what counts!  YESTERDAY...I set a mini-goal for myself.  That mini-goal was to FORCE myself to have a more meaningful breakfast TODAY!  And do the same throughout this week!  If you are one of my regular visitors you may know that this week I am doing MOSTLY LIQUIDS in addition to participating in Vegan MoFo 2013!  I want to give a SHOUT OUT to The Rebel Grrrl Kitchen.  Special THANKS to her for this inspiration. She was blogging last week about a fabulous Cashew Mango Smoothie she was excited about and I told her I 'just might have to try that'...and guess what?  I did!  I did make a few slight changes based on the ingredients I had on hand, tho.  Here's what I did for mine...

1 C Frozen Mangoes (Maybe a little more)
2 T Cashews (soaked)
1/2 C Almond Milk
1 T Sun Warrior Vanilla Warrior Blend Protein Powder
1 Handful of Baby Spinach

I have had my ups and downs with flavored Protein Powders.  But I have to say...and I am not exaggerating here...something MAGICAL happened with this concoction BECAUSE of the product I used in it!  It used to be that I wasn't much of a Vanilla Fan growing up but apparently the older I get the more I like it.  But I like the REAL vanilla...not the fake stuff!  Some of you may know how I am NOT a fan of bananas - well - I have used Mangoes in smoothies instead of Bananas and they are working really well!  With this flavor combo AND the addition of Sun Warrior's Vanilla Warrior Blend this was incredibly flavorful and VERY creamy.  Not only did I make this for my morning smoothie today - I tried to freeze a bit of it and it made a GLORIOUS Vegan Ice Cream! 

This is one for the books!  I will be making this often!  I will also be trying some variations of it!  I'm already thinking Strawberries and/or mixed berries!  I think Pineapple might work well, too! 

Of course I LOVE Sun Warriors Products because they are vegan and even raw but here's a little bit more of why I LOVE the Vanilla that I used in this Smoothie AND Dessert/Treat...

It's Gluten-Free, Plant Based, Non-GMO, and Soy-Free!

It's easily digestible!  It's heart healthy!  It promotes healthy kidney and liver functions!  Helps relieve Candida!  Improves Mental Clarity!  The list goes on and on, really!

Some of the wholesome goodness that is jam-packed in this product includes...15 grams of protein, Iron, 18 Amino Acids, and MUCH MORE!  Just check out the link above!  This is an amazing product!  Very versatile!  FUN!  And it tastes great!      I'll be sure to taste-test this product in other ways and report back here on my blog My Blissful Journey with my findings to share with you all!  Thanks so much for taking the time to visit and read!  Comments always welcome!

Mango Spinach Chia Smoothie

So sorry I don't have a photo of this but I wanted to let you know over the weekend I made a green smoothie and I wanted to share it with you all!

Many of you know I HATE Bananas!  It's the only fruit I don't like.  So when I try and look for Green Smoothies to try - it seems my search is cut in half or even more than that!

What I did for my Green Smoothie over the weekend was...

2-3 Cups of Mangoes

2 Cups of Spinach

Water to your liking

2 Tablespoons of soaked Chia Seeds

It was very tasty!

I'm looking forward to more Green Smoothies again as I have been 80-90% Raw for the last week now and think this will be my new norm.  I really need to get to the bottom of my life long digestion issues and for once I am being proACTIVE.