All Nutted Out

It has been said it is the hottest day of the year so far here in the UK and it isn't officially Summer....WOW! I have to say, it has been boiling hot today, I don't like it too hot.

After my Breakfast of Fruit and ground Brazil Nuts we decided to go to Costco where I bought Avocado, Seedless Grapes and Medjoul Dates. Medjoul Dates cost a fortune but they are a bargain for a large tub from Costco, infact Costco is FAB! For most things.















Whilst out my OH mentioned he needed a new Dremel and B&Q was the place to go as they have 15% off most things at the moment which ends today but has been extended for one more day until Monday....lucky for us, so on our way back from Costco we passed one B&Q but decided we would go to the B&Q closer to home - out of stock......grrrr so we slightly doubled back on ourselves and tried another B&Q - out of stock.....GRRRR so we then literally doubled back on ourselves to the B&Q beside Costco and FINALLY! A new Dremel. We started our journey back home which is quite a way from our house and then suddenly, "mam I'm hungry" James. We popped into Asda on the way back home to buy a Pastie each for the boys for a quick snack until their evening meal.....the Bakery items were all but sold out except Bread Buns, well it was getting late in the day. I wanted Banana's from Asda, sold out.....hummmfffff. I grabbed some Oreo's for the boys, I confess to having one biscuit off each of the boys but after I had eaten them I remembered that I had just bought Grapes from Costco which were still in the boot of the car......GGGGRRRRRR I could have had something raw, Grapes! And they would have obviously been better for the boys also, ah well, it's done now, actually, I like to wash Fruit etc before eating them, although I could have wiped them on a clean tissue.

When we got home I was still hungry so I sat and ate a bag of Macadamia Nuts.....more Nuts.....oops! Too many Nuts in one day ain't good and the fat content ain't good either.
Later in the day it was red hot in the Kitchen and I could NOT be doing with preparing myself something for my evening meal after standing making the families evening meal so I ended up preparing MORE Fruit and yet MORE ground Brazil Nuts......Arrgghhh! At least it was all raw, except for the 2 Oreo's that I ate earlier and which were a total waste of time because they didn't even slightly satisfy me, but then they wouldn't would they?

When I got home and whilst eating my Macadamia Nuts I ordered Bryan Au, Raw In 10 Minutes book, I can't wait, I love getting new raw books.

I am doing the school walk tomorrow morning which I am looking forward to and when I get back and after my Breakfast I will be getting stuck into extra cleaning around the house and I might, just might get to spend a few minutes relaxing in the garden.....ummmm.

Well that is me for now, all nutted out.

Sleep well

Weigh In

I precariously stepped onto the scales this morning remembering that I am actually weighing in a day early, so that is only a 6 day week this week......YIKES! A day can make all the difference on the scales but step on I did....ANNNND.....GASP......ARRRRGGGHHHH.......SHOCK

DRUM ROLL PLEASE











I am now weighing in at........184.3lb that is a loss of....7.3lb this week, that is over half a stone - I am TOTALLY SHOCKED!! I don't think I have EVER lost that much in 6 days.....wooohoo
I am hoping that with doing the school walks next week and following a raw diet then I should do well in next weeks weigh in also.

I have to confess to having a bit of Chocolate today as a small celebration but I did have little bits and pieces of naughties last week also and still done well because I am mostly raw, about 95% I am aiming to be 100% raw.

Because of having a little Chocolate this morning I decided to have a Green Smoothie for Lunch.
In my FANTASTIC!! Vitamix I added:

Banana
Mango
Kiwi
Spinach
Bee Pollen
Spirulina
Filtered Water

and VOILA! A BEAUTIFUL Green Smoothie



















This Smoothie is DELICOUS! I am going to drink the lot. We are supposed to sip our Green Smoothies which will last me a while.

(excuse the background we still need to tile the walls after recently skimming the walls)

Should get back later today

Yesterday & Today

Well, yesterday I wasn't feeling too good but I am feeling alright today.

This morning I had my usual Fruit and ground Brazil Nuts for Breakfast, Lunch was two Nori Sheets with Avcoado rolled inside, I know, not very exciting but I just couldn't muster up any energy to prepare anything else. I had a Banana mid morning. My evening meal tonight is going to be a medley of Vegetables i.e. Peas, Sweetcorn, grated Carrots, Peppers, Red Onion etc with Olive Oil, Garlic Powder, Onion powder and anything esle I fancy throwing in.

And here it is, my Vegetable Medley this evening.














I just eat it straight from the bowl I prepared it in, well, it's just for me. I thoroughly enjoyed my evening meal....YUM!

Oh! Just remembered, I did snaffle two little, teeny-weeny toffee's today.....ummm not raw I know and not very exciting to eat either. I could have made some lovely raw Fudge or raw Cookie's OR ANYTHING RAW! Instead of eating 2 measly Toffee's.
I don't often make Fudge or Cookie's etc because they are often made with Nuts and I am trying to not eat too many Nuts because they do have fat in them and too many Nuts are not all that good for the digestive system although they will be better than Toffee's and if I had made some raw Fudge or Cookies then I doubt I would have scoffed 2 toffee's, ah well, what is done is done.

I am still going to get my walk in and some pics although, if I'm honest I will probably just wait until next week when I get the school walks in.

I might be weighing in tomorrow instead of Sunday, I never did plan to stick to Sunday weigh in's I just wanted to get a fresh start immediately at the time hence weighing in last Sunday.

Well I think that is all for now.

Sleep Well!!

BLT

I got my Fakin Bacon into the dehydrator last night and then I decided to also make some raw Bread. Here is a pic of it as it is going into the dehydrator. I cut some of the Bread mixture/dough into Cracker sizes for snacks.















And here is an after pic of the Crackers and Fakin Bacon















I made a BLT for my Lunch, infact it was SOOO YUUUUUMMY! I had another one.















FAKIN BACON
1 Aubergine (Egg Plant) sliced finely using a mandolin.
1/4 C Olive Oil
1/4 C Ume Plum Vinegar

1, Whisk the Olive Oil and Ume Plum Vinegar together with a wire whisk.
2, Marinade the Aubergine (Egg Plant) Slices in the Oil and Vinegar for a while.
3, Place onto a deydrator tray with the Teflax sheet underneath.

NOTE
Baking Paper can be used instead of Teflex.
If you don't have a deydrator then you can use your oven by putting it on the lowest setting and leaving the oven door slightly open, this prevents moisture forming and so dries the food out as in a dehydrator.

RAW BREAD
1 + 1/2 C Buckwheat, ground
1 + 1/2 C Flax Seeds, ground
1/3 C Pumpkin Seeds
1/3 C whole Flax Seeds
1/3 C Sunflower Seeds
1/2 C Sesame Seeds
1 TB Nutritional Yeast.
2 C Filtered Water

1, Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix.
2, Add the water and stir well, don't worry if it seems to wet if left to stand for a minute it will thicken.
3, Spread dough onto 2 dehydrator sheets with a Teflex sheet
4, Score into 9 squares

NOTE
The Bread dough can be cut into Cracker sizes.
Spread the dough using the back of a spoon, knife, spatula or anything of that kind
The dough must be scored before going into the dehydrator.
You can add any seeds to your dough.
You can add Nuts or Fruit, there are no hard and fast rules when making Raw foods.

Here is a pic of the gorgeous Fruit and Veg I bought from Aldi's yesterday, they look really good and the Mangoe's were ONLY 49p each...bargain, they usually cost more, close to £1 each.















I am having yet another lazyish day, all I have done is my usual and some washing.

I tried Kelp noodles for the first time this evening and....ummmm....I have to say, I can do without them, they have a strange texture that I don't like very much. I can eat them but after these packets have been eaten then I doubt I will buy them again.

This is the Kelp Noodles straight from the packet. They look white here but they actually are quite transparent.















They have to be kept in water.

For my evening meal I made a Raw Sweet n Sour type meal using the Kelp Noodles.
I marinated the noodles in Lemon Juice, warm water and Shoyu.
I then grated some Veg and marinated those in Lemon Juice, Apple Cider Vinegar, Manuka Honey and a little Sea Salt.
I put the marinated Veg over the marinated Kelp Noodles and then I sprinkled a few Cashew Nuts on the top.

Manuka Honey has some FANTASTIC properties, from healing stomach and other body problems to giving energy and a feeling of well being, worth the money.















I might get a walk in tomorrow, I will take the camera so I can get some pics of my surrounding area although it's nothing startling.
When the kids are off school I become more lazy. I am starting the school walks again next week, I'm quite looking forward to it, I have missed those walks.

Sleep well!!

Grow Old Gracefully

When I got up and flitted around doing my usual jobs and after my shower and Breakfast of my usual Fruit and ground Brazil nuts we (the boys are on half term school holidays) decided to take a walk up to Aldi's, I wanted some Mangoe's, Spinach, Lemons and Limes and my OH wanted a bag of Sugar. I managed to buy everything I needed...FAB! Usually it is a case of one shop for one thing and another shop for the other, anyway, whilst in Aldi's I grabbed a free booklet. When I got home I had a very quick look through the booklet and found this:

AGE ME

I done this age me and YEEEUUU! SHOCKING! To say the least. Things like this spur me on to stick to raw because although I am happy to grow old gracefully I do want to keep as many lines at bay as I possibly can.

The Age Me pics aren't the best but it is worth a go, go on give it a go!!

Before in 2005 with my first granddaughter, Ebony

















And after putting my pic through AGE ME



















Look at that mouth,eyes and forehead.....YEEEUUU There is hope, sticking to raw food and exercise should help considerably, at least I got a walk in this morning which is about the length of one way of the school walk.

Adam has just come up to me, looked at the computer screen and asked in a shocked tone of voice, "who the heck is THAT?".....teehee I told him it is me aged and he replied, "I'm sorry mam but you look really ugly there, will I have left home by then?"....teehee I gotta laugh but at least I am on the right path for keeping healthy and beautiful inside and out.

I made some Raw Banana and Cashew Icecream for my evening meal....MMmm














I am going to make some Fakin Bacon and get it in the dehydrator tonight, I might make some other things also to fill the deyhdrator, not sure what to make else yet though, I will scour my Raw uncook books.

Sleep well

With Summer Comes More.....

ANTS!....YEEEUUUGGGHHH!

My OH went to B&Q this morning to buy some Ant Bait to get rid of those little suckers once and for all. The bait traps are now all in position. We have NEVER had problems with Ants before, NEVER!! Ah well, there is a first time for everything I suppose. The bait should do the trick.
On the way back from B&Q I asked my OH to pop into Asda to buy a few fresh gorgeous Fruit and Veg....YUM!!
















Excuse the Eggs in the background, those are for the family....Ooops! I got my food processor bowl in the pic also, but anyway, the pic is about how gorgeous the Fruit and Veg look...YUUUMMY! Not the Eggs, food processor bowl OR the B&Q receipt....teehee

Kale
Portobello Mushrooms
Parsnips
Tray of Cauliflower & Broccoli
Banana's

I was watching my Shazzie DVD and she was making some Parsnip Mash although it looked like she used a Turnip, it did state Parsnip on the recipe.....teehee I have decided to try Shazzie's recipe, hence the Parsnips in the few groceries. I will be using my Samson Juicer for the Parsnip Mash, I LOVE that machine.

The Broccoli is for going on top of Raw Pizza and the Cauliflower is for making Popcorn, Popcorn using Caulifower I hear you ask? Watch below to find out how to make Popcorn, the RAW way.

PHILIP McCLUSKEY'S POPCORN


It is a BEAUTIFUL, WARM, BRIGHT, SUNNY bank holilday Monday here in the UK and all I have done today is Vacuum, Washing, hung washing out, got the dishwasher going and that is about it, not a lot really.

I had Mushroom Caps and Salad for my evening meal.....YUM!!
The filling for the Mushroom Caps was a Guacamole (SP) type filling. I also sprinkled a few Mung Bean Sprouts over my Salad and finished the whole meal with a sprinkling of Amino Acids.
The Mushroom Caps recipe is in Alissa Cohen's book.















I am so full now after my evening meal.

Amino Acids can be hard to find in the UK but I have managed to purchase it from Total Raw Food and my local Nutri Centre.

Well that is about it for today, I am now off to sort everything out i.e. tidy and clean the Kitchen, bring the washing in, and sort myself out for the evening....wind down......ahhhhh!

Sleep well.

Start weigh in....

And it isn't good but it is a starting point.....191.6lb - yep thats for real. I have noticed my weight has been creeping up and up and it is sickening and depressing me.....A LOT!!
I will also start some body measurements.

I started my day off with Fruit and ground Brazils although I found it to be rather tasteless this morning, maybe my taste buds weren't quite awake....teehee because I usually thoroughly enjoy that for Breakfast.

This afternoon I noticed I was feeling a tad hungry and without thinking I found myself eating half a bag of Fruit sweets then I started nibbling on Halva.....arrrggghh! In the bin went the remaining half of the Halva and I gave the rest of the Sweets to Adam....the kids don't like Halva.
Now what am I having for my Raw evening meal?.....Ummm...I wonder, spoilt for choice really, I have plenty good stuff in the cupboards and I have all the equipment to make raw meals....











I decided to have one of my favourites, Alissa Cohen Raw Pasta Marinara....YUM!!
I used my NEW Saladacco. It does beautiful Angel Hair Pasta.


















I used Courgette (Zuchinni) peeled first. Take a look at just how gorgeously fine this raw Pasta has come out using the fantastic Saladacco.















Here is the end result, Raw Pasta Marinara.















Although not a great quality pic you can still see how it twirls around the fork.















I was going to make some Raw Banana Ice cream for afters.....ummm maybe not very good food combining. We are told not to eat Fruit after a meal as it sits in the stomach and can't digest very well if eaten straight after eating something other than Fruit, anyway, I am not so hungry now that I have eaten my Pasta Marinara.

I have washed some Kale so I am going to make Cheesy Kale and get that into the dehydrator tonight.

Sleep well!

RAWEAUTIFUL NOW!!

It Starts HERE!!

Here we go, no more messing, no more excuses, no more days off and no more convincing myself to being unhealthy.....it starts HERE!!

I feel starting a fresh NEW blog will help me start well, afresh.

NO MORE OF THIS!!














OR THIS!!

















AND MORE OF THIS!!
















AND THIS!!!

























I will be back in the morning with my first weigh in. I will be weighing in pounds because I feel that will be better, seeing each little number come down instead of having to lose 14lb before I see myself a stone lighter each time, bearing in mind I need to lose 4 stone so that would have to be 14lb lost before I see that stone down. I am aiming to lose around 60lb but I will break that down into smaller segments and reward myself each time. I will be exact with my numbers tomorrow after my weigh in.

I am also aiming to get HEALTHY so I don't feel tired ALL THE TIME, this is driving me crazy, it is rather disabling.

I have been quite raw but I am also transitioning into being 100% raw so this blog is also about my journey becoming RAW and BEAUTIFUL inside AND out!!

Join me on my journey
until tomorrow