March 11, 2009
A couple of days ago Demetrye surprised me with a vacation. He was going to take me to a resort in Redmond, OR, nested in a cradle of majestic mountains.
Yesterday, March 10th, after a grueling 5 hour drive, we arrived to the resort. It took us a bit longer than we thought to get there, because we encountered snow and icy mountain roads on the way. We even had to pull over to buy chains, otherwise I don’t know if we could have made it here safely.
I knew that staying all raw on vacation is really up to me and could be done easily, especially since the place where we are staying comes equipped with a full kitchen. The only thing it is missing at this point that I would use is a juicer. However, Demetrye, who volunteered to go all raw for a month as well (considering that I make all of his meals) forewarned me that he would “backslide”, so I packed accordingly—a great mixture of raw and cooked dishes were quickly created in my mind.
The night we arrived I made very light split-pea soup, with gluten-free pancakes (although I did add a little bit of wheat flour to improve texture). While I was making dinner I made Demetrye a fruit smoothie.
This morning we started off with a green smoothie (pineapple, apple, orange, lambsquarters [thank God for our organic farmer! I was able to collect and freeze a lot of greens for the winter months]). We followed up with split-pea soup a half an hour later and leftovers of pancakes as our bread. Lots of tea, some with lemon and honey, some just herbal tea with no frills followed after throughout the day.
In the afternoon Demetrye craved cinnamon rolls. He does have them once in a rare while, I just make sure to feed him with a combination of foods that would ensure an easier digestion and passage : ). We went to a store nearby the resort to get a few things besides his dessert. While shopping, and don’t stone me for this, I craved a slice of a chocolate cake. 99.9% of the times I say NO to such cravings, but today I threw caution to the wind and decided to indulge myself, although I can hardly call it that, after having eaten it. I had to make sure to talk myself into not feeling guilty, as I normally would, if I did not adhere to my clean diet. Unfortunately Fred Meyer does not have a big selection of organic produce, so, after getting bottled water (which we have not done in a LONG time, since we drink our filtered water) we headed back to our townhouse. Thankfully, we came prepared and I needed to only supplement what we brought with us.
I was surprised by one interesting thing—at the checkout I was charged extra 30 cents for buying bottled water. Needless to say I was outraged! I was going to be punished for not drinking chlorinated, pesticide filled, water that is heavily induced with fluoride among other chemicals! The cashier did insure me, though, that if I returned the bottles I could get my money back.
For late lunch I made a big green salad with oranges, avocado, red onions and tomatoes served my honey mustard dressing, made with no oils of any kind, and whole-wheat spaghetti served with organic sauce and extra veggies on top. I did indulge in a slice of chocolate cake, only to realize that I craved the taste of avocado more than the taste of cake. So, after the cake, I had another serving of salad. Thankfully, outside of minor gas-works (excuse me for my bluntness here, but after all this is what this blog is all about) I had no side effects.
Demetrye and I had a plan to sweat some of the impurities that we consumed by going to a sauna, but alas, by the time these two silly kids got there, it was already closed. So, here I am, sitting in a Jacuzzi, sweating off some of my junk and typing my food journal.
I can’t really say that I regret not sticking with all raw diet on my vacation—I decided to relax my body and mind. I will make up for these days at the end of the month, by adding an extra week to my raw diet. I also long ago resolved not to live by a label—I found that if I wanted to stick with being raw just for the sake of it, and did not allow myself consume anything else, I became annoyed by it. So, instead, I allow myself to occasionally not adhere to my resolved diet, which actually encourages me and makes it easier to stick with it. I know that this sounds crazy, but I heard about the same phenomenon from others in the raw/vegan movement.
Tomorrow we are planning to get out to Bend, OR. I looked up a couple of vegan-friendly places there, so we want to check them out and explore the town. I also found a Whole Foods Market there, so if all things fail, we will stop there for a snack.
Well, folks, I am going to return to my glorious soaking and then go for a serving of a big bowl of greens or an avocado (and, please, don’t tell me how fattening it is, because it is not—it is full of so many other wonderful things besides healthy oils [in minimal amounts, by the way] and much better than pouring oil over your food) and a cup of tea before retiring for the night. I am enjoying my vacation to the fullest!
SIDENOTE: Let me share with you one of my pet-peeves, and I have a few. I don’t get it when the unhealthiest people in the world tell me: “Why are you so strict with your diet? Live a little!” I want to shout this out, and I will be saying this from now on: “I don’t want to live a little—I want to live a lot (i.e. long)!”
Why do people associate food and happiness? It drives me crazy! Why don’t we associate working and happiness, spending time with family and happiness, achieving your goals and happiness, helping others and happiness? Why does it always come down to food and happiness, especially in the States? Somehow we came to express our lives in this equation: food=enjoyment.
I remember living in Kyrgyzstan, right around the time Soviet Union was falling apart, when we had nothing but bread and water, and still being happy. We would have people over and I would slice a loaf of bread, fry it with a little bit of butter and salt, serve with hot tea, and it tasted to us better than any chocolate cake could, because we did it with our friends and loved ones. Not at one time did we think that we were unhappy because we did not have all kinds of foods. I am not saying that we did not want it, but we never connected it to HAPPINESS!
I like what one of our Raw Foodist friends, Heather, says. She puts it beautifully: “I want to live long, not die long.” That, people, is what our dietary lifestyle about—living long, and dying quickly.
I am not afraid to talk about death—to me it is nothing but a passage from this life to a better life. One day, I hope, Demetrye and I [if we are presented with such a blessed choice] can look at each other, say: “Are you ready, honey?”—the fall asleep and wake up in the presence of our Lord. By the way, for those of you who read the Bible, you can find that it says: “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh: yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3) [For those of you scholars out there, I know that you will tell me that Psalm 90:10 talks about 70 and 8o years, but you have to remember that those words were spoken as an observation by the psalmist, and that the quality of life back then (lack on nutrition for some, and poor sanitary conditions for most) was very different from ours, so I will stick with what God said directly.] So, if God says that we can live up to 120 years—I am taking Him up on His word—I will take care of my and my husband’s houses [bodies] to make sure they make it to God’s limit.
Until next time: EAT HEALTHY!!! BE HAPPY!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 12, 2009
Yesterday I ended up not eating anything else in the evening—what I had during the day was more than enough to carry me through.
This morning we started with a glass of green smoothie each [pineapple, apple, orange, lambsquarters, cilantro], followed by a bowl of split-pea soup [yes, I still have some left over—I am on vacation, so I made a big pot to last a couple of days].
Demetrye and I had a great 50 minute cardio/weights work-out, and then spend 40 minutes in a sauna. We felt great and cleansed afterward. We swallowed a small serving of a green smoothie, and after dry-brushing toxins off us, took showers and ate huge servings of green salad. We then headed to explore Bend, OR. After visiting Whole Food Market to grab more greens, we called several restaurants and settled on Kebaba, which we did not regret. They had a great selection of vegan dishes, most without soy! I had rice pilaf with a big green salad and steamed veggies in coconut curry sauce, Demetrye had a veggie/tempeh pita with a serving of fries. The food was delicious. I would give it 4 stars.
We are about to rest for a half hour and then go for another work out! [Have to make sure to work off all these cooked foods, so they don’t creep up on me.]
For the late evening meal I have planned roasted potatoes with… you guessed it—a green salad. And I actually don’t eat greens because I have to, but because I do enjoy the taste
Good evening to all. And remember: EAT HEALTHY!!! LIVE HAPPY!!!
SIDENOTE: I absolutely have to share this story. When Demetrye and I were calling Bend restaurants to inquire on their vegan options, at one of them a young lady answered the phone. I asked her if they offer vegan dishes. She said: “We sure do!” Then, I could almost feel that she actually stopped to think for a second about what I had asked her. She then said the following, which had nearly bursting at the seams: “Vegan… so, it’s like you do eat vegetables, right? Because we have a lot of vegetables…” I gave her a quick explanation of what VEGAN meant, but, needless to say, she cost her restaurant two customers. Demetrye and I had a good laugh several times recounting the call.
A couple of days ago Demetrye surprised me with a vacation. He was going to take me to a resort in Redmond, OR, nested in a cradle of majestic mountains.
Yesterday, March 10th, after a grueling 5 hour drive, we arrived to the resort. It took us a bit longer than we thought to get there, because we encountered snow and icy mountain roads on the way. We even had to pull over to buy chains, otherwise I don’t know if we could have made it here safely.
I knew that staying all raw on vacation is really up to me and could be done easily, especially since the place where we are staying comes equipped with a full kitchen. The only thing it is missing at this point that I would use is a juicer. However, Demetrye, who volunteered to go all raw for a month as well (considering that I make all of his meals) forewarned me that he would “backslide”, so I packed accordingly—a great mixture of raw and cooked dishes were quickly created in my mind.
The night we arrived I made very light split-pea soup, with gluten-free pancakes (although I did add a little bit of wheat flour to improve texture). While I was making dinner I made Demetrye a fruit smoothie.
This morning we started off with a green smoothie (pineapple, apple, orange, lambsquarters [thank God for our organic farmer! I was able to collect and freeze a lot of greens for the winter months]). We followed up with split-pea soup a half an hour later and leftovers of pancakes as our bread. Lots of tea, some with lemon and honey, some just herbal tea with no frills followed after throughout the day.
In the afternoon Demetrye craved cinnamon rolls. He does have them once in a rare while, I just make sure to feed him with a combination of foods that would ensure an easier digestion and passage : ). We went to a store nearby the resort to get a few things besides his dessert. While shopping, and don’t stone me for this, I craved a slice of a chocolate cake. 99.9% of the times I say NO to such cravings, but today I threw caution to the wind and decided to indulge myself, although I can hardly call it that, after having eaten it. I had to make sure to talk myself into not feeling guilty, as I normally would, if I did not adhere to my clean diet. Unfortunately Fred Meyer does not have a big selection of organic produce, so, after getting bottled water (which we have not done in a LONG time, since we drink our filtered water) we headed back to our townhouse. Thankfully, we came prepared and I needed to only supplement what we brought with us.
I was surprised by one interesting thing—at the checkout I was charged extra 30 cents for buying bottled water. Needless to say I was outraged! I was going to be punished for not drinking chlorinated, pesticide filled, water that is heavily induced with fluoride among other chemicals! The cashier did insure me, though, that if I returned the bottles I could get my money back.
For late lunch I made a big green salad with oranges, avocado, red onions and tomatoes served my honey mustard dressing, made with no oils of any kind, and whole-wheat spaghetti served with organic sauce and extra veggies on top. I did indulge in a slice of chocolate cake, only to realize that I craved the taste of avocado more than the taste of cake. So, after the cake, I had another serving of salad. Thankfully, outside of minor gas-works (excuse me for my bluntness here, but after all this is what this blog is all about) I had no side effects.
Demetrye and I had a plan to sweat some of the impurities that we consumed by going to a sauna, but alas, by the time these two silly kids got there, it was already closed. So, here I am, sitting in a Jacuzzi, sweating off some of my junk and typing my food journal.
I can’t really say that I regret not sticking with all raw diet on my vacation—I decided to relax my body and mind. I will make up for these days at the end of the month, by adding an extra week to my raw diet. I also long ago resolved not to live by a label—I found that if I wanted to stick with being raw just for the sake of it, and did not allow myself consume anything else, I became annoyed by it. So, instead, I allow myself to occasionally not adhere to my resolved diet, which actually encourages me and makes it easier to stick with it. I know that this sounds crazy, but I heard about the same phenomenon from others in the raw/vegan movement.
Tomorrow we are planning to get out to Bend, OR. I looked up a couple of vegan-friendly places there, so we want to check them out and explore the town. I also found a Whole Foods Market there, so if all things fail, we will stop there for a snack.
Well, folks, I am going to return to my glorious soaking and then go for a serving of a big bowl of greens or an avocado (and, please, don’t tell me how fattening it is, because it is not—it is full of so many other wonderful things besides healthy oils [in minimal amounts, by the way] and much better than pouring oil over your food) and a cup of tea before retiring for the night. I am enjoying my vacation to the fullest!
SIDENOTE: Let me share with you one of my pet-peeves, and I have a few. I don’t get it when the unhealthiest people in the world tell me: “Why are you so strict with your diet? Live a little!” I want to shout this out, and I will be saying this from now on: “I don’t want to live a little—I want to live a lot (i.e. long)!”
Why do people associate food and happiness? It drives me crazy! Why don’t we associate working and happiness, spending time with family and happiness, achieving your goals and happiness, helping others and happiness? Why does it always come down to food and happiness, especially in the States? Somehow we came to express our lives in this equation: food=enjoyment.
I remember living in Kyrgyzstan, right around the time Soviet Union was falling apart, when we had nothing but bread and water, and still being happy. We would have people over and I would slice a loaf of bread, fry it with a little bit of butter and salt, serve with hot tea, and it tasted to us better than any chocolate cake could, because we did it with our friends and loved ones. Not at one time did we think that we were unhappy because we did not have all kinds of foods. I am not saying that we did not want it, but we never connected it to HAPPINESS!
I like what one of our Raw Foodist friends, Heather, says. She puts it beautifully: “I want to live long, not die long.” That, people, is what our dietary lifestyle about—living long, and dying quickly.
I am not afraid to talk about death—to me it is nothing but a passage from this life to a better life. One day, I hope, Demetrye and I [if we are presented with such a blessed choice] can look at each other, say: “Are you ready, honey?”—the fall asleep and wake up in the presence of our Lord. By the way, for those of you who read the Bible, you can find that it says: “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh: yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3) [For those of you scholars out there, I know that you will tell me that Psalm 90:10 talks about 70 and 8o years, but you have to remember that those words were spoken as an observation by the psalmist, and that the quality of life back then (lack on nutrition for some, and poor sanitary conditions for most) was very different from ours, so I will stick with what God said directly.] So, if God says that we can live up to 120 years—I am taking Him up on His word—I will take care of my and my husband’s houses [bodies] to make sure they make it to God’s limit.
Until next time: EAT HEALTHY!!! BE HAPPY!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 12, 2009
Yesterday I ended up not eating anything else in the evening—what I had during the day was more than enough to carry me through.
This morning we started with a glass of green smoothie each [pineapple, apple, orange, lambsquarters, cilantro], followed by a bowl of split-pea soup [yes, I still have some left over—I am on vacation, so I made a big pot to last a couple of days].
Demetrye and I had a great 50 minute cardio/weights work-out, and then spend 40 minutes in a sauna. We felt great and cleansed afterward. We swallowed a small serving of a green smoothie, and after dry-brushing toxins off us, took showers and ate huge servings of green salad. We then headed to explore Bend, OR. After visiting Whole Food Market to grab more greens, we called several restaurants and settled on Kebaba, which we did not regret. They had a great selection of vegan dishes, most without soy! I had rice pilaf with a big green salad and steamed veggies in coconut curry sauce, Demetrye had a veggie/tempeh pita with a serving of fries. The food was delicious. I would give it 4 stars.
We are about to rest for a half hour and then go for another work out! [Have to make sure to work off all these cooked foods, so they don’t creep up on me.]
For the late evening meal I have planned roasted potatoes with… you guessed it—a green salad. And I actually don’t eat greens because I have to, but because I do enjoy the taste
Good evening to all. And remember: EAT HEALTHY!!! LIVE HAPPY!!!
SIDENOTE: I absolutely have to share this story. When Demetrye and I were calling Bend restaurants to inquire on their vegan options, at one of them a young lady answered the phone. I asked her if they offer vegan dishes. She said: “We sure do!” Then, I could almost feel that she actually stopped to think for a second about what I had asked her. She then said the following, which had nearly bursting at the seams: “Vegan… so, it’s like you do eat vegetables, right? Because we have a lot of vegetables…” I gave her a quick explanation of what VEGAN meant, but, needless to say, she cost her restaurant two customers. Demetrye and I had a good laugh several times recounting the call.
