Category Archives: vegan

The Gift for the Person Who Has Everything

A lot of us have that person in our lives who have everything. Mine is my stepmom. I get to her birthday and Christmas and I never know what I should get that she will enjoy. I’ve done coffee and chocolate and flowers and wine. A lot of wine. 😉 

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This year, I was hoping to be inspired by something really different and awesome. But what would it be? I was clueless. 

Then I had a unique opportunity come my way. I helped my friend work her clothing shop in Las Vegas for two weeks at the Stetson Country Christmas show. The show was a large marketplace of cowboy and rodeo related merchandise. It was incredible. I would never have guessed that I’d find the perfect item at a rodeo show.

We were lucky enough to be placed next to Stuff It Olives. First of all, Bob and Norine who are the owners, are fabulous people. But secondly, their products are awesome. 

They sell many different kinds of stuffed olives and garlic. My favorite of the olives was the Sicilian Double Stuffed. 

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The smoked garlic is amazing and is their best seller, according to Bob.

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But my very favorite thing they have is the balsamic vinegars and flavored oils. And this is what I got for my stepmom, the person who has everything. 

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The olive oil that’s infused with basil is SO tasty. I knew that would have to be one of my choices. Norine then paired it with the fig balsamic and I was in heaven. What a fabulous taste commotion in my mouth!

I didn’t stop there. I brought home a couple, well, several bottles for myself. I bought a bottle of fig for myself initially. By the time I was getting ready to leave Las Vegas it was halfway gone so I got another bottle of fig. Then pomegranate, chocolate marshmallow, and cranberry walnut. I’m also hoping to get a bottle of chocolate cherry but it was the last bottle and Bob couldn’t find it at the show. We’ll be having breakfast with Bob and Norine on our way back to California so I hope they will have the chocolate cherry for me then. I know I NEED it. 😉

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So there you are. For the person who has everything or the person who just likes tasty condiments. Everything at Stuff-It Olives and Napa Finest is delicious and I know you’ll think so too!

 

The Strawberry Tree

Yesterday, I videotaped part of my walk so you could see the strawberry tree. Then I ate the strawberry I picked up.

Y’all, those things are awesome! Really, really sweet. The outsde is pretty bumpy and I didn’t care for it so much but the insdie? Delicious! David wouldn’t even try it. His loss. I didn’t die so it’s all good. 😀

Here’s the video. 🙂

 

The Bong of Health

I start every morning with warm lemon water. 

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While I’m warming the water in the kettle, I take my lemon and peel it, being careful to leave as much of the white pith behind as possible. Then I cut it in half, take out as many seeds as I see and toss it in the Vitamix. I add 32 oz of warm water and blend. Voila! Instant detoxifying healthy hydration. 

TannyRaw, whom I follow on YouTube, pours hers into a glass vase and calls it the bong of health. Although I haven’t gotten a vase to drink mine out of yet, I still call it that because I love the terminology.

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Here are some benefits of drinking lemon water in the a.m.

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Now why wouldn’t you want all of that? 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mamey…An Interesting Fruit

What IS that? That’s what I wondered when I saw this football shaped, sort of sweet potato thing on the produce table at the Mexican grocery store. I couldn’t find a sign to tell me what it was so when I came home, I googled “football shaped fruit” and I came up with this photo:

Clicking on the photo told me it was a mamey.

As I was watching the people I follow on YouTube, two of the guys were talking about the mamey sapote and how absolutely delicious it was. Now I was really intrigued.

It’s kind of pricey so I wasn’t willing to try it before hearing that it was really good. Plus, I wasn’t sure how to know if it was ripe. But after watching Fruit and Strength and Whole Future enjoying a mamey in their videos, I was ready to give it a try. 

I bought a mamey and it was quite far from being ripe. I bought it before we went to Oklahoma so I figured by the time we got back it would be ripe and ready to eat. It was.

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I opened it up and took the big seed and stringy things out. Then I tried it. Hmmm. Well, it’s supposed to be the texture of a ripe avocado and it was. But the taste that had been described was not what I tasted. I couldn’t finish it.

I’m not sure if I got a bad one and, maybe if they go on sale one day, I might try it again. Until then, I’m glad I gave it a try and I’m now ready to try jack fruit. I saw one at the regular grocery store the other day but, again, it was pricey. I have no idea how to tell if I’m getting a good one or not so I will save that. 

I found, on Yelp, a fruit market here in San Jose where they will help you pick out a good fruit and they have more exotic varieties. That’s on my list of places to visit! 🙂

R is for Raw

I debated over what I should use for my R blog post. I’ve been a Rottmayer for 36 years today! Yes, indeed, 36 years ago I married the man of my dreams who remains that along with being my best friend, confidant and partner in crime. But we aren’t going to celebrate until this evening so I figured I’d go with something else that’s been pretty important to me over the past eight months: eating a low fat, high carb, RAW diet. 

bananas I began eating raw on September 1 of last year. I was going to do it at a later date but my friend, Chickee (who is the one who inspired me) challenged me to just do it that day. So I did. 

Earlier in the year, David and I had both made a 21 day trip to Banana Island and I found then that it was the absolutely, positively, easiest way to give up refined sugar. I’ve had such a sweet tooth my whole life. I never could get how, when you go on a diet they say, to replace a cookie with an apple. It just didn’t compute.

rack Fruit is a huge part of my morning and afternoon meals, though. For the first month of eating this way, I felt so sweeted out that I felt like I had a pico de gallo deficiency. 😀 I would seriously crave something unsweet by the time the dinner meal rolled around and it was usually pico de gallo for several weeks. 

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I’ve come to a more balanced approach over the months and I incorporate greens into my smoothies so I’m not getting entirely fruit. I still have no cravings for sweets and my dinner meal is usually a more savory one.

So what do I eat in a day?

Breakfast is almost 100% of the time a smoothie that I make with 1/2 a bag of spinach, seven bananas, a big handful (I have big hands hee hee) of frozen strawberries and green tea for the liquid. It’s SOOOOOOO good. Even David has it every morning now that we’re living together again.

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Oftentimes for lunch I will have the very same thing. Now that we’re getting into spring and there are different varieties of fresh fruits at the store, I will sometimes have a mono meal of just one fruit. Mangoes are a new love and black grapes. Holy smokes I cannot eat enough black grapes! 

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I love going to the Mexican grocery and the Asian grocery because they have a lot of different produce than I’m not used to seeing. A gal that David works with is going to give me the addresses for farmers markets so we can start checking those out as well. 

My dinner is usually a huge salad with dressing made out of more veggies. The favorite at present involves a zucchini, half a red pepper, a tablespoon of tahini, some apple cider vinegar and some seasonings. It makes a LOT of dressing. I don’t konw about you but I have a hard time eating an undressed salad. Dressing just makes it more fun and I’m convinced that once you find a raw vegan dressing that you love, this way of eating becomes a whole bunch easier to stick with.

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I had to teach myself to be able to eat more veggies. When I first started eating veggie meals for dinner, I’d add up the calories and, even though it seemed like I had eaten so much, it was only 200 calories. Yikes! I’m a big, active person and that’s just not enough calories to keep me going, ultimately.

Now, my salad typically has two heads of romaine in it or the equivalent. If I eat a zoodle dish, I will sometimes eat up to four zucchini not counting any that are in the sauce.

I love that I can eat as much as I want and I’ve lost a ton of weight. More importantly, my face looks different, I look younger. I have boundless energy and I rarely have aches and pains unless it’s because I’ve jacked my training up and those are the good kinds of aches to have. 😀

When I started this, I only wanted to be able to go down the slide at the park with the glambaby and not have to go to bed as soon as I dropped her off at home. But I’ve gained SO much more. I’m pretty sure I’ll eat this way forever. 

Do I eat raw 100% of the time? No. There are some instances where it’s really difficult. For instance, we went to Poland in February. Being a raw vegan in the middle of a Polish winter would have been a tough thing to do. Plus, there are so many other places I want to travel that I’m not sure I will ever get back to Poland so I loosened it up and let myself enjoy a Paczi and other cooked foods. 

As I mentioned above, it’s our 36th wedding anniversary today and we have a reservation at Morton’s Steakhouse for dinner. I do not plan to remain raw tonight and I might actually have a bite or two of chocolate cake. 

But raw living is for me, without a doubt. If you are feeling crappy and want some more energy or want to drop some weight, or sort out blood sugar issues (OMG there are SO many benefits), give a raw diet a whirl. You might like it! 😀

 

Zoodles with Avocado Pesto Sauce

Oh. My. Goodness. This is one of the best things I’ve eaten. And it was pretty darned easy to make, too. 

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First I chopped a head of romaine to use as a base. Then I chopped a large Roma Tomato to put around the lettuce. If I’d had cherry tomatoes, that part would’ve been easier. 😀 Then I made zoodles out of two large zucchini.

Then I made the sauce:

1/2 avocado

1 clove garlic

3 large basil leaves

Juice from 1/2 a large lemon

1/2 a zucchini and the two long center pieces that are left after you made zoodles. 

A little water

Blend all ingredients until smooth, then toss the zoodles with it. Place the zoodles on top of the bed of lettuce and add cracked pepper to taste. Yummmmmmm!

 

F is for Fruitbat

If you follow me on instagram, I’m sure you’ve seen me tag photos #fruitbat. “What is that?” you ask. I got the term from Freelee the Banana Girl

Freelee is the person I found when I was getting ready to become a low fat, high carb, raw vegan. I found her video about Banana Island and have been watching her ever since. She’s a great source of information and inspiration and she calls her followers fruitbats.

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I eat a huge number of my calories in the form of fruit so I think the tag is appropriate. I follow the 80-10-10 plan of eating where I shoot for a breakdown of 80% of my calories each day from carbs, 10% from protein and 10% from fat. 

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This makes me feel AMAZING! Actually, amazing isn’t really a strong enough word. I don’t know that there is a word to describe how awesome I feel when I eat this way. I have no joint aches, my skin is SO clear, I sleep well, life is so good.

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Fruit is amazing. And, honestly, if you had told me that I would one day replace sugar with fruit, I would’ve laughed at you. Of course in diet books they always suggest that but I was such a sugar addict I couldn’t fathom how it could work.

I haven’t had a whole lot of processed sugar since I began eating this way on September 1 of last year. I chose to eat an almond croissant on Saturday in honor of my half birthday and I felt sincerely wasted. Like I was completely drunk. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to walk home and we were only two blocks away. I don’t think I’ll be doing that again because I just didn’t care for the feeling.

Fruit makes me feel clear and clean and joyful. It’s what I love and eat the most of. I am most assuredly a fruitbat. 🙂

 

Mmmm Summer Rolls!

One of my very favorite things to eat these days is Summer Rolls. I’ll admit I don’t make them too much because the dipping sauce, which is divine, contains a little more fat than I like right now. But every once in a while, you’ve just gotta.

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I made them for dinner last night and, as well as being delicious, they are super easy.

You’ll need some spring roll wrappers. I got the biggest rounds they had at the Asian market. They have them in some standard grocery stores, too, but there’s a bigger selection (and bigger wrappers!) at the Asian market. 

Then, you put whatever kind of veggies you want in them. 

This time I had romaine, spinach, carrots, cucumber, tomato and alfalfa sprouts. I will tell you that in my opinion, these guys are NOTHING without the alfalfa sprouts but you decide for yourself. 

You just dip the wrappers into water to soften them up, layer the veggies of your choice inside, and roll them up. Easy peasy!

You will, most definitely,want to dip these in this dipping sauce that I modified from one that Megan Elizabeth shows on her YouTube channel.

I use 2 tablespoons of almond butter, 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar, 1 tsp of Liquid Aminos, 1/4 cup of water and some crushed red pepper for the dipping sauce. I take all of the ingredients and blend them in my little Magic Bullet which does a fabu job of mixing it all up. I have mixed it with a whisk, before I got the Magic Bullet, and it’s a little difficult because the almond butter is very thick. But it can work. 

And that’s all there is too it! A tasty way to eat a bunch of veggies. I can usually eat three of of these and sometimes more if I’m particularly hungry.

Try them, you’ll like them! 🙂

I Am That Monkey

Yesterday, I ran over to Costco to get more frozen strawberries. Since I was there, I went ahead and grabbed six more bunches of bananas.  I’d just bought a case on Monday but since I always have to have them ripening I figured it would be a good idea.

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The line was pretty long and the man behind me got a good chance to look at the contents of my basket. 

Him: Do you have a monkey at home?

Me: I AM that monkey. Some days I eat as many as 21 bananas.

Him: Well, you know they have a LOT of sugar.

Me: I assure you, I’m probably one of the healthiest people you’ve ever met. 

He looks like he’s considering this for a little bit. Then…

Him: You only eat bananas?

Me: No, I eat all kinds of fruits and veggies. 

Him: Well, then, you’d better write a book!

I had to laugh. It was just such a funny conclusion for him to come to. I’m sure he noticed that my diet made me a friendly person and I’m sure he’ll be looking for my book. 😉

Wheeee!

I rode a bike! I haven’t been on a bike since I was a kid but I rode one today. Here’s my experience. 

The biggest thing I learned is that while I might be able to run with my mouth open, I should most definitely not ride a bike with my mouth open. LOL! I’m pretty sure my protein intake is higher today. 😉