I'm finally back home after what seemed like a long journey, but what really amounted to a week away. I guess it seemed so hectic because I drove to Tampa and back with my son for his college orientation, then got on a plane to NY the next day. Lots of packing and unpacking, although I still haven't unpacked entirely from the NY segment.
I had a very productive week, so I'll fill you in on each part of my trip.
First up- Tampa:
The trip took about four hours and much to my surprise I could have gone without stopping if not for my pea sized bladder and outsized water consumption. Not your ideal combination. Last time I went I had to stop because of the pain in my sit bones caused by the cancer, but not this time. Woo-Hoo- another great sign.
Anyhow, the orientation went well and although it was a bit talky, boring, and overlong, we did get at least some useful information. And my son got his schedule and signed up for the ultimate frisbee team, which is of primo importance of course!
The best part of the trip was a raw and vegan restaurant called The Grass Root.This was by far and away the best raw food I've ever eaten, excepting my own of course. The seaweed salad was magnificent, and Michael had the Live Spaghetti and Marinara with Treatballs, which was out of this world. We also had Marrakesh, which was raw hummus, assorted veggies and sprouts on a bed of lettuce. Yummy! Michael raved about the vegan key lime cheesecake for desert. I didn't have any because it was made with tofu, which I'm totally against, but is a necessary evil if you serve vegan food.
I also spoke to the chef for a long time. She looks 20 years younger than her actual age and saw many ailments disappear after trading in her SAD diet for a raw vegan one. She even gave me a piece of homemade natural soap made by one of her customers.
I loved the place so much that I went back the next night for the massaged kale salad while Michael was spending the night at the dorm. Definitely two enthusiastic thumbs up for this place!
We got home on Friday evening and I left the next night for NY. I flew into Long Island airport and spent a couple of days in Southampton for some quality time with my awesome, wonderful cousin. We had a great time shopping around Sag Harbor, pampering ourselves with a mani/pedi, lounging by the pool, shopping at the health food stores, and even going to the movies. We managed to fit in some green juices from the local juice bar and I made us green smoothies in the magic bullet. I actually found a way to make a mean smoothie sans Vitamix! The trick is to blend the leafy greens with some water first, then add the other ingredients in stages. A bit more work, but good in a pinch!
I made us a raw tomato tahini soup also in the bullet and some raw vegan sushi. I even found some raw, untoasted nori in the local health food store! NY rocks when it comes to raw resources. Of course my rolling skills are not up to the par of my cousin's wonderful husband, who took over the sushi rolling with ease. I think maybe he gets more practice than I do.
The next night we had raw cabbage salad and massaged kale and avocado salad wrapped in collard leaves. I put out the salads and it was "roll your own".
The next morning my brother came early, and after some green smoothies we were off to the city for my appointment with Dr. Gonzalez. Amazingly there was no traffic and we made it in record time.
Dr. G was his usual upbeat, positive, insanely knowledgeable self and he was thrilled with the results of my metabolic testing. Some of my numbers were extremely impressive, including the total toxins, which went from a 15 to a 10 in only 6 months! My cancer numbers were 23, down from a 29. The goal is to be at or less than 10, so I have a way to go, but still a big dip in such a short time. The first thing to go when this number reaches 10 is my 4AM enzyme dose, so I definitely have a new goal in mind! Overall, most of my numbers went in the intended direction or stayed stable.
After my appointment I met a good friend for lunch. On our long walk over there we stopped at a local juice bar for a green juice, then on to Quintessence.
I was surprised at how tiny the place was, but what we both noticed was that everyone eating there was so healthy looking and slim. This is in sharp contrast to what you see when you go to a traditional TGI Fridays type eatery.
I had marinated chard mixed with coconut noodles and my friend had a green soup and sundried tomato pate rolled inside cucumber or zucchini. Whatever it was it was delish! To my dismay, I was too full for desert, which looked amazing.
After dinner we walked back to her office after which I took a taxi to LaGuardia airport for my flight home. I definitely want to make sure I have more time in the city next time to try out all the raw restaurant choices.
Well, gotta go unpack, so here's my tomato tahini soup recipe:
This recipe is bullet sized for one person.
1 tomato cut up
2-4 tablespoons tahini (depending upon how much you like it)
1 clove garlic (there will be no vampires around after eating this)
1 tsp curry paste
cayenne pepper to taste
celtic sea salt
1 oz extra virgin olive oil
filtered water (start with a small amount and add more to adjust consistency)
Whirl in blender or magic bullet
That's it- enjoy!
Showing posts with label green juice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green juice. Show all posts
Friday, August 1, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Fasting and Foraging, South Florida style
I know it's been a while since my last post. I've have lots to talk about, so I decided to save it all up and do a combo post.
I've been juice feasting in varying degrees for the last week or so. I just felt like my body needed extra detox, so I went for it.
I met a dude called "Tony the Gardener", who takes over abandoned urban community gardens in some pretty rough neighborhoods. He grows organic, "wild crafted" herbs and vegetables which are vastly different from the organic veggies I'm used to, as I was about to find out.
I went to meet him in Whole Foods parking lot and waited 30 minutes with my friend before she gave up and went home. He has no cell phone and my only communication with him was through email. I figured I'd already made the trip so I went inside to pick up a few things and wait a bit more. About 15 min later he called from a pay phone (they still have those?) and said he got held up harvesting in the rain, but would be there soon. He showed up soon after with 3 huge boxes of....WEEDS! He said that because I was so nice and waited, that he would throw in the third box for free. Wow, free weeds, just what I need.
I tell you, these looked like what you would throw away when you clean your garden. There I was on my kitchen floor, with my computer on one side of me, the box of weeds on the other, looking on foraging websites trying to figure out what this stuff was. Two hours later, I was sure of dandelion with the root attached, basil, lemongrass, and some type of cabbage. The rest was a mystery.
I decided to be daring, so the next morning I stuffed it all in my juicer. It smelled like I was mowing my lawn, and tasted like I was drinking it. Well, Tony said that this stuff would be potent. Maybe it would just take some getting used to. So I suffered through two more juices, but it was the salad that would prove to be the last straw.
I decide to eat for the first time in three days, so I made a salad and added some of the weeds. I put some dressing on and the weeds just sucked it up, so I added more and more, and each time it just sucked it up like a sponge. This stuff was like it's own life force, feeding on the dressing for it's nourishment. Would it grow and multiply? Well, if it does, it's doing it in the back of the garbage truck, because I threw it's weedy ass into the circular file! And I don't even want to talk about the snotty cactus-thingy! The nightmares have only just stopped! =shudder=
I guess I'm just not that adventurous yet. But on to my juice feast.
For three days I drank 3-4 juices a day and 2 green smoothies.
Here's an example:
Breakfast Green juice-
radish, kale, cucumber, parsley, bell peppers, yellow squash, watermelon rind
The radish makes this pretty pink on top. The picture just doesn't do it justice. I'm such a girly-girl!
Lunch- Choco Cherry Green Smoothie
1/2 avocado
1 cup watermelon
4 cherries, pitted
2 oz. coconut water
1/4 cucumber
1 large handful spinach
2 tbsp. hemp seeds
5 ice cubes
sweetleaf dark chocolate flavored stevia to taste
coconut flakes
Blend first 4 ingredients until thick and smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients except the coconut and blend until smooth.
Garnish with coconut flakes
Post lunch- another juice
Dinner-Green Soup
I don't measure, just dump everything green that I can find in. The things that are important to include are the avocado for creaminess, and the cucumber and celery for the juicy base.
I think I added spinach, kale, collard, chard, cucumber, celery, avocado, zucchini
Then add spices, whichever you like. Mine had dulse, basil, cilantro, parsley, himalayan sea salt, cayenne
Add some purified water and into the Vitamix it all goes. The cayenne gives it heat, so you get that "hot" feel.
Post dinner- another juice
In between, I drink lots and lots of water with lemon or PH drops. I always drink lemon water through a straw to protect my teeth.
On day 4, I had a few bites of the weed salad for dinner. That staved off my salad craving for a while.
On the 5th & 6th day, I ate a healthy breakfast and did green juices and smoothies the rest of the day.
My breakfast was sprouted quinoa & sprouted buckwheat with berries on day 5, and two dehydrated flax crackers with sprouts, avocado, and berries on day 6.
All in all, it was easy and I really didn't crave eating food. I felt satisfied, but I did miss my berries, because I never juice my fruit and I use very little in my smoothies. I like to eat it for breakfast, so it was nice to get back to that.
I've been juice feasting in varying degrees for the last week or so. I just felt like my body needed extra detox, so I went for it.
I met a dude called "Tony the Gardener", who takes over abandoned urban community gardens in some pretty rough neighborhoods. He grows organic, "wild crafted" herbs and vegetables which are vastly different from the organic veggies I'm used to, as I was about to find out.
I went to meet him in Whole Foods parking lot and waited 30 minutes with my friend before she gave up and went home. He has no cell phone and my only communication with him was through email. I figured I'd already made the trip so I went inside to pick up a few things and wait a bit more. About 15 min later he called from a pay phone (they still have those?) and said he got held up harvesting in the rain, but would be there soon. He showed up soon after with 3 huge boxes of....WEEDS! He said that because I was so nice and waited, that he would throw in the third box for free. Wow, free weeds, just what I need.
I tell you, these looked like what you would throw away when you clean your garden. There I was on my kitchen floor, with my computer on one side of me, the box of weeds on the other, looking on foraging websites trying to figure out what this stuff was. Two hours later, I was sure of dandelion with the root attached, basil, lemongrass, and some type of cabbage. The rest was a mystery.
I decided to be daring, so the next morning I stuffed it all in my juicer. It smelled like I was mowing my lawn, and tasted like I was drinking it. Well, Tony said that this stuff would be potent. Maybe it would just take some getting used to. So I suffered through two more juices, but it was the salad that would prove to be the last straw.
I decide to eat for the first time in three days, so I made a salad and added some of the weeds. I put some dressing on and the weeds just sucked it up, so I added more and more, and each time it just sucked it up like a sponge. This stuff was like it's own life force, feeding on the dressing for it's nourishment. Would it grow and multiply? Well, if it does, it's doing it in the back of the garbage truck, because I threw it's weedy ass into the circular file! And I don't even want to talk about the snotty cactus-thingy! The nightmares have only just stopped! =shudder=
I guess I'm just not that adventurous yet. But on to my juice feast.
For three days I drank 3-4 juices a day and 2 green smoothies.
Here's an example:
Breakfast Green juice-
radish, kale, cucumber, parsley, bell peppers, yellow squash, watermelon rind
The radish makes this pretty pink on top. The picture just doesn't do it justice. I'm such a girly-girl!
Lunch- Choco Cherry Green Smoothie
1/2 avocado
1 cup watermelon
4 cherries, pitted
2 oz. coconut water
1/4 cucumber
1 large handful spinach
2 tbsp. hemp seeds
5 ice cubes
sweetleaf dark chocolate flavored stevia to taste
coconut flakes
Blend first 4 ingredients until thick and smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients except the coconut and blend until smooth.
Garnish with coconut flakes
Post lunch- another juice
Dinner-Green Soup
I don't measure, just dump everything green that I can find in. The things that are important to include are the avocado for creaminess, and the cucumber and celery for the juicy base.
I think I added spinach, kale, collard, chard, cucumber, celery, avocado, zucchini
Then add spices, whichever you like. Mine had dulse, basil, cilantro, parsley, himalayan sea salt, cayenne
Add some purified water and into the Vitamix it all goes. The cayenne gives it heat, so you get that "hot" feel.
Post dinner- another juice
In between, I drink lots and lots of water with lemon or PH drops. I always drink lemon water through a straw to protect my teeth.
On day 4, I had a few bites of the weed salad for dinner. That staved off my salad craving for a while.
On the 5th & 6th day, I ate a healthy breakfast and did green juices and smoothies the rest of the day.
My breakfast was sprouted quinoa & sprouted buckwheat with berries on day 5, and two dehydrated flax crackers with sprouts, avocado, and berries on day 6.
All in all, it was easy and I really didn't crave eating food. I felt satisfied, but I did miss my berries, because I never juice my fruit and I use very little in my smoothies. I like to eat it for breakfast, so it was nice to get back to that.
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