Eat With Love

There are more and more young people out there who are starting to make healthy choices about their food and lifestyle. This post is my #1 tip for any young people - or anyone, really, who is working on developing a healthier lifestyle and more specifically, diet.

Hi there! First of all, it is so great that you are so conscious about your diet and health at such a young age. Good for you!

As a young person who has been putting a focus on healthy eating in my life for about 5 years now (that's over a quarter of my life!) My #1 tip for my peers attempting the same thing is, don't be hard on yourself!

When I first got into healthy eating, I was struggling with an eating disorder I'd been dealing with since I was in 7th grade, so I was very strict about following my diet, and I did it out of fear and not love for myself. This lead me to "succeeding" at staying on the diet, but it also lead to a lot of unnecessary stress that blocked me from being able to reap all the benefits of the healthy diet I was following.

I don't know how relevant or not relevant this is, but my biggest suggestion is to identify what is driving you towards the diet that you want to achieve. Is it fear of being unhealthy or fat? Or is it because you DESERVE all the best, healthiest foods, because you DESERVE to feel amazing all the time?

For me, it got a lot easier, and more effortless and enjoyable to eat healthy, when I finally freed myself of the eating disorder mentality and began to look at what I was eating with love rather than fear.

(Here is a post that I made a year ago about how I was able to begin to overcome my eating disorder. I've come a long way since then,, but this is how my recovery began.)

When you know that you deserve the best so that you can feel your best, slipping up and eating shitty food occasionally isn't as stressful - and at the same time, you're very likely to always choose the healthiest option available because hey - you are INCREDIBLE, and you and your body deserve the very best feel to run on, because you deserve to feel awesome.

Peace (:

This has no relevence whatsoever. But its pretty cool, am I right? :D

Posted via DraftCraft app

Low Fat Raw Vegan 811 Dinner Ideas

Low Fat Raw Vegan Gourmet Veggie Pizza

I don't do complicated recipes too often, but I just got back from California - a week and a half of camping and living as simply as possible, and it's mother's day and the whole family is going out for pizza!

So just for kicks and giggles, I'm making myself a low fat raw vegan gourmet veggie pizza!

Here's what I'm doing:

Crust
2 - 3 c of young spring greens (I went out to our woods and picked mine own - violets and young dandelion leaves!)
3 stalks celery
A few dried apricots
A splash of orange juice
3 - 4 basil leaves
1 - 2 tbsp flax
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt-free pizza spices
1 - 2c Water

Blend all ingredients and squeeze through cheesecloth, or juice everything.

(Mix the juice you get with fruit juice - I like orange. Tomato would be good too. - and drink.)

Take the pulp and spread out in a circle. Dehydrate until somewhat chewy (or however crip you want it).

Once the crust has dehydrated....

Cheeze
Spread avocado on the crust.

Toppings
Slice up veggies and put on top!

Good options include:
•Cherry (or regular) tomatoes
•Leek greens or green onions
•Sweet pepper
•Fresh Basil
•Mango

...etc!

After all the toppings were assembled, I sprinkled a little more salt-free pizza seasoning on top.

Enjoy!

Posted via DraftCraft app

Struggling On A Raw Food Diet?

Are you not getting everything you had hoped for out of your raw food diet? If so, you're not alone! Many, many people find themselve exactly where you are. I myself was struggling with my raw food diet for quite a while, until I discovered the information that I am going to share with you in this article.

Most raw foodists say they eat "a lot" of food. But the thing about raw food is that it is MUCH less calorically dense than the cooked food they were raised on. My first thought, if you are not feeling awesome, is that you are not getting enough calories. Are you tracking your caloric intake on a website like Cronometer.com? Doing this really helped me to better understand the foods I was eating, how much I should be eating, ect. I suggest aiming for at least 2500cals per day for women, 3000 for men, and significantly more than that if you excersize or are otherwise active.

Next, it's best to examine where your calories are coming from. Namely, are you eating enough fruit? On a raw diet, there are 2 places to get our calories from: fats (nuts, seeds, avocado) or sweet fruits. Obviously, greens/veggies could never supply enough calories to keep us going throughout the day. Fats are good in small amounts (maybe 1 avocado or 1 - 2oz nuts per day), but I don't think there can be much argument that we shouldn't be getting the bulk of out calories from them!

So that leaves us with fruit as the bulk source of our calories. What could be better? Everybody knows how nutritionally awesome fruit is. However, sadly, many people are scared to eat too much fruit because it's "too much sugar". I hope you haven't fallen into that trap. Remember that the sugar in fruit is accompanied by fiber, nutrients, water, ect. It is not refined and it is nothing to be afraid of. It is worth noting that generally any study that points to fruit as the source of health complications (such as obesity or diabetes) used isolated (refined) fructose or glucose, NOT whole fruit.

In fact not only is fruit not bad for us, but it is what our bodies run on most optimally. It is delicious, it digests so easily, and it kicks cravings like none other! The energy in fruit is very easy for us to utilize, as our bodies run on glucose. It takes very little relative effort by your body to convert simple carbohydrate sugars to glucose, which means more energy for you!

Now that we know fruit is the best source of calories, how much of it should you be eating? Fruit is far less calorically dense than cooked food or even raw fatty sources of calories like avocado, nuts or seeds. In a typical day I eat:

-breakfast: 9-10banana smoothie, w/ water (or other calorically equivalent smoothie) for around 1000calories
-lunch (I eat at school): green smoothie (ex: 5nanas, 1c pineapple, 1/2cilantro, 1c greens, 1c water) or monomeal (of oranges, this time of year), about 600cals
-2nd lunch (I eat again several class periods later in study hall): green smoothie or smoothie, about 600cals
-dinner: GIANT SALAD (1+ head lettuce, half a cuke, half an avo, 1 tomato, strawberries/apples/oranges, and 1/2c+ dried fruit or dates, + fruit-based, homemade, fat-free salad dressing (leave me a comment if you'd like some ideas, I'd definitely do a post on that), or a blended salad, 400 - 500cals
-----------------
All this = around 2,700cals.

Eating this way, I feel AMAZING, better than I can remember ever feeling! I have so much energy. I am 5'2 weighing 100lb, and I've been eating this way for over a year now....so all the sugar in this fruit certainly hasn't made me fat! (;
(Oh, here you go, if you don't believe me:)

I was never fat, but I haven't always had a nice, flat stomach, either! Here's a before & after.

What does a typical day of food look like for you, in detail/numeric amounts? If you still have questions, feel free to post a comment below!

Peace. (:

Posted via DraftCraft app

Strawberry Ice-Cream Shortcake

Yum! This is so decadent and super simple and healthy - only 4 whole food, raw ingredients!
It would make an excellent Valentines meal or dessert.

There's two parts:

Shortcake:
—30 halawy dates (or 15 medjools)
—¼c dried, unsweetened coconut

Icecream:
—¾c frozen strawberries
—1 banana

Simply blend dates & coconut until a sticky, sweet dough is formed. Press lightly into bowl or dish.

Blend bananas & strawberries with a little bit of water. Pile on top of your shortcake pastry and enjoy!

This recipe makes a nice meal for 1 person, or a good dessert for 2.

Peace!

Posted via DraftCraft app

Comforting Kale Soup

Hehe.

Ingredients:
—3 c kale (preferably baby kale)
—1½ c warm water
—1Tbs lime juice
—1in ginger (or to taste)
—½tsp turmeric
—⅓tsp cumin seeds
—½ avocado

Easy Prep:
1) Blend kale with warm water
2) Add spices, ginger, and lime; blend again
3) Add avocado and blend one last time

Posted via DraftCraft app

Creamy Low Fat Raw Vegan Dill Chowder

Hi there! Yes, yes this is a new recipe. And yes, I realize pretty much all my recipes are green. I love greens, they make me feel awesome! (And they have a pretty overpowering color.)

I love fruit, too. Fruit makes me feel awesome as well.
However - I don't know why, but - in the winter, I'm much more attracted to greens & savory foods. I normally eat greens with at least two of my meals in the winter, unlike in the summer, when I might have a some greens every few days.

To ensure I'm getting enough carbohydrates with my green soups and so that they are more satiating, I normally add some sweet dried fruit or dates to my soups.

Anyhow, my favorite way to eat greens is blended. It's less natural, I know - but I feel better afterwards, and enjoy eating blended greens over whole greens, generally.

For lunch, I like to have either a green smoothie or green soup.

Today, I made myself some nummy Creamy Dill Chowder Soup, and now I'm gonna share it with you.

Ingredients

• 1¼ cucumbers
• 1 c water
• 1 c fresh dill or 1Tbsp dried
• ½ c cilantro
• ½ c salad greens
• 1Tbsp lemon juice
• ½ avocado

• 1½ c corn kernels (one corn cob=about 1c corn kernels)
• 13 small dates (or 7 medjools)
• ½ tomato

Easy Prep

1. Blend 1 cucumber with water.
2. Add dill, cilantro, salad greens, lemon. Blend again.
3. Add scooped out avocado and blend one last time, until smooth.
4. Chop dates and tomatos into chunks & slice ¼cucumber thin (like in photo to the right!)
5. Pour soup into bowl. Mix in veggies & fruits.
6. Enjoy!

(Sit cross-legged on a wooden floor while playing Jack Johnson as you eat for full effect.)

Peace! 

Raw Vegan Teens: Tips From 16y/o Low Fat Raw Vegan

Super Creamy Green Protein Pasta

The first thing anybody ever says when they find out you are vegan is, "but where do you get your protien?!" We are warned (incorrectly) to make sure we're eating lots of protien to replace the meat that we've left off of our plates. While that's pretty much a giant load of BS that they've swallowed fed to them by the multi-million dollar meat & animal secretion industries, it does make sense that people might be worried about this.

I don't think anybody actually has anything to worry about, but the placebo effect can work wonders. So if you're worried about your protien (or just craving a healthy, savory, low fat meal!), this recipe is for you.

Is not only packed with protien (at just over 20g per serving), but its one of the tastiest, creamiest low fat meals I've had!

Here is my latest creation, Creamy Green Protein Pasta.

—3 cucumbers
—15 small dates

—1c greens
—1c peas
—1c water
—¼ avocado
—Singapore Salt-Free Seasoning (found at Penzey's)

1) Spiralize cucumbers
2) Chop dates

3) Blend greens with water
4) Add peas and blend again
5) Add avocado and blend one last time

6) Pour sauce over noodles & dates
7) Sprinkle Singapore Seasoning on top liberally (if you dont have singapore seasoning, its basically a curry with lemon and black pepper)

Enjoy!!

Tomato-Orange Salad Dressing

This raw salad dressing is fat free and salt free for optimal health!

I put this dressing on a salad I shared with my SAD parents, and they loved it! It's super flavorful, tangy, creamy, and sweet - just the right balance! It makes a great sauce for raw pasta, too.

Ingredients:
—¼ container grape tomatoes, or 1 tomato
—2 oranges
—⅓c sundried tomatoes (soaked)
—2 cloves garlic
—oregano, to taste
—basil, to taste

1) Blend oranges until smooth & creamy.

2) Add sundried tomato & garlic. Blend until smooth.

3) Add fresh tomato and herbs. Blend more for a smoother dresssing, less for chunkier dressing.

4) Pour over salad of your choice and enjoy!

Peace. 

Flavorful Fat-free Parsley-Tomato Pasta!

Yumm. I've got a super simple, intensely flavored, awesome low fat raw vegan pasta recipe, and I'm gonna share it with you!

This salt free, fat free, raw recipe is soo good, you've gotta try it!

Introducing, cucumber noodlies with tomato-parsley sauce!

Ingredients:

• Noodlies: (I just love that word. Say it: "Noodlies." Hehehehehehe.)
• 3 Cucumbers
• You could probably use zucchini as well if you like it; I don't. I do think the cucumber noodles give a lovely freshness to the dish.
• Dressing:


• ⅓ c sun-dried tomatoes
• ½ c parsely
• ½ c water
• ⅛ onion (or, preferably, use chives or scallions for a fresher tasting, less mucous-forming option!)
• 1Tbsp lemon juice


• Optional, but yummy:
• avocado chunks
• dried apricot slices

Spiralize, julienne, or use a veggie peeler to make noodles out of cucumber.

Blend parsley & water until smooth. Add rest of ingredients and blend until smooth.

Pour sauce over cucumber s'gettis and enjoy!

Low Fat Raw Gourmet: Crêpes

Merry Christmas, all; hope you had a great time opening gifts and hanging out with your wonderful family!

My family is full of cooks and food connoisseurs, so we like to do different cuisines for holiday meals. This year, the theme is French food.

Not eager to be left out, I decided I would take part in this French cuisine theme myself! I plan upon having a creamy, nut free, salt free, raw red pepper bisque (it's delicious); I'll definitely post that recipe in the near future!

For dessert, I shall be enjoying crêpes...yum!

This has got to be the easiest crêpe recipe ever. Its also super duper yummy & 100% fruit! It does use a dehydrator, but its still a great once-in-a-while treat, methinks.

Ingredients:
—3 bananas
—¾ avocado
—8 - 12 halawy dates (or 4 - 6 soft medjools)
—¾c water
—½c berries, +a few more for the filling

There is three parts to the recipe: the crêpe, the creamy filling, and a berry coulis to drizzle on top.

For the crêpe:
Blend bananas together in blender. Spread into two circles on a dehydrator sheet (you may want to spread a teeny bit of coconut oil down first, so they dont stick). Dehydrate until pliable, but not sticky (I just dehydrated mine overnight).

For the cream filling:
Blend dates (pitted), avocado, and water (don't add it all right away) in blender until smooth and creamy.

For the coulis:
Blend berries of your choice into a sauce (I used strawberries).

Assembly: (wait until your ready to eat or almost ready! If you assemble agead of time, the banana crêpe may absorb water from filling and turn back to mush.)
Spread half the cream on one side of each crêpe. Sprinkle some whole berries on top (I used raspberries). Roll up the crêpes, and drizzle the coulis on top. Now you're done, enjoy!

Low Fat Raw Gourmet: Chili

It's Christmas Eve! Happy day-before-the-overly-commercialized-stolen-from-the-pagans-everybody's favorite holiday. Ok, no more cynical.

Today, Daddy spent hours crafting a very complicated cooked vegan chili out of beans, mushrooms, and lots of spices.

I'm generally opposed to beans and salt and cooked things, so I decided instead, I would make a healthier version of their dinner that I could eat at the same time. I searched the internet, looking at traditional cooked recipes, overly complicated raw recipes, and the simplest of the simplest lowfat fare, and I think I've come up with something somewhere in between!

Like the sushi recipe I posted yesterday, this is a more complicated, more gourmet low-fat raw recipe - though it's still not nearly as long or painstaking as many high-fat gourmet raw recipes! If you're a chili fan, this is a good way to eat ligit chili yumminess and keep it low fat, raw, and salt free.

So without further ado,

(I know, my phone camera sucks. My apologies. Haha)

Recipe will feed 2 'cooked' people or 1 LFRV.

Ingredients:

• 3 tomatoes
• 8 sun-dried tomatoes (more for a richer, deeper tomato flavor; less for a lighter, fresher flavor)
• .5oz dehydrated mushrooms (I used shiitake)
• 1 zucchini
• .5 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 or 2 red bell peppers
• 1 or 2 poblano peppers
• 1 - 2tsp cumin
• 1Tbsp chili powder
• dash oregano

1. Blend sun-dried tomates with a little water in a blender to form a paste
2. Put tomatoes (quartered), mushrooms, garlic (minced), sun-dried tomato paste, onions (chopped up), cumin, chili powder, & oregano in food processor; blend until chunky
3. Grate, julienne, or cut zucchini into small cubes (I grated)
4. Slice or julienne peppers into small, thin strips
5. Mix together, and let sit 2 - 12hrs (the longer it sits, the more the flavors will blend).
• You could put it in the dehydrator to warm it/make the flavors blend faster
6. Serve & enjoy!

Low Fat Raw Gourmet: Sushi

Ahhh, winter break! As of last Thursday, I went from having little to no free time, to having all the free time in the world! I've been investing this time doing lots of yoga, playing outside, cleaning, reading, and making art in the kitchen!

Today I came up with a nut & oil free, low fat, raw, vegan sushi recipe that is just incredible!

It's not traditional simple low-fat fare; there are quite a few ingredients - but it's definitely a dish worth treating yourself to - without splurging on the fat, salt, and/or cooked foods!

There are 3 basic parts (rice, veggies, dipping sauces), plus the nori.

Rice
—1 head cauliflower
—¼ onion

Veggies
—2 carrots

—1 cucumber

Dips
—1in ginger, peeled & sliced
—½c water
—½ lime, juiced
—5 - 6 small dates (or 3 large), pitted

—1c arugula
—¾c water
—½ lime, juiced
—½ celery stalk
—1 garlic clove
—½ avocado

For the rice:
Chop cauliflower into pieces:

Put about a handful or two in your blender at a time, and pulse once or twice (until consistancy of rice):

Finally, mince onion and mix them in. Mix in a few tablespoons of ginger-date sauce.

For ginger-date sauce:
Put ¾c water, 1in ginger, and 6 dates in blender; blend until smooth. Mix some into 'rice' and set the rest aside.

For the pineapple-avocado sauce:
Blend arugula with water until smooth. Add celery, lime, and pineapple. Blend until smooth. Add ½ avocado.

For veggies:
Julienne or spiralize cucumbers. Shred, shave, or spiralize carrots (I used a veg peeler).

Assembly:
Lay out a nori roll, smooth side down. On one side, put a generous helping of cauliflower 'rice'. On top of the rice, put some carrot & cucumber, then drizzle some ginger-date & avocado-pinapple sauce, roll up tightly, and eat! (Or cut them into little noris, if you're sharing with other people. 

Yum! 

On My Mind//12

New ploy to get my family to eat healthier........wake up early every morning and ask if they want me to make them a smoothie. Nobody can say no to a delicious, fresh, sweet fruit smoothie for breakfast! :D

On My Mind//11

Fruitarianism: The art of feeling, looking, and being the healthiest you ever have, by eating sweets for every meal!

Before & After II

Hey! I just realized, yesterday was my one-year blogiversary! Exciting day. Haha

In honor of a year passing since my first blogpost... I figure perhaps another before and after is in order. ヅ

I honestly haven't changed in weight that much, but I have been getting stronger, losing retained water weight, etc. - also, I think I look significantly healthier now than I did a year ago...or two years ago...or three!

What do you guys think? ☺

This is me! Today! (Actually, that's a lie. It's me, last night, before I went to bed. Haha)

I've been raw vegan for 2 years, and vegan for 3 - and honestly I can't remember feeling better than I do right now! So glad I discovered LFRV.

Oh my goodness! Don't laugh, guys! Haha. This is me almost exactly a year ago! I honestly didn't realize there was such a change!

Well there it is, folks. This is before I removed nuts and oils from my life - and you can see the difference!

And here I am 2 years ago! Haha.

It's almost exactly a week after I went raw, I believe!

Don't be fooled by the relative healthy-looking-ness.

I was pretty much starving myself at this point,, and I had loads of makeup on.

..That's all I've got for ya today! Peace! ☮

Banana-nog!

YUM! So it turns out even raw vegans can sip eggnog by the fireside this holiday season! (And anybody else can have a nutritious, guilt-free version of this favorite holiday drink!) Just made this for breakfast this morning, it really does taste pretty eggnog-y. (And yummy!)

It's super easy to make:
—2 bananas, chunked
—2 frozen bananas, chunked
—1c coconut milk (or, if you're staying overt-free, coconut water would probably be good as well)
—½ tsp cinnamon (or more, to taste)
—dash nutmeg (to taste)

Throw everything in the blender and blend away until it's smooth and creamy...then pour into your favorite mason jar and enjoy!

Curry-Ginger-Lime Soup

Tonight, I got to make dinner for the fam - and of course I wanted to give the people I love something yummy that would also nourish them, like all food should.

Well. Dad didn't want to be adventurous and Joe wasn't hungry - so I actually just made dinner for Mom and I... but she loved it! (And so did I.)

Tonight, we dined upon a delicious Curry-Ginger-Lime Soup!

If you're craving a savory, flavorful, creamy, warm raw soup yourself, give this one a try!

The ingredients are as follows:

• 1 endive
• 2 c lettuce (I used romaine)
• 1 c warm water
• 2 Tbs fresh ginger
• 2 Tbs lime juice
• 1 tsp curry
• ½ avocado

• ½ cucumber
• 10 small dates (or 5 large)

I know, it's kind of a lot of ingredients. But it sure is good!

It's very easy to make, too - no worries! 

1. Chop dates and cucumber into small-ish chunks.
2. Blend romaine & endive with warm water until smooth.
3. Add ginger, lime, and curry. Blend again, just until mixed.
4. Add avocado. Blend one last time.
5. Pour into a bowl, mix in dates and cucumber, and enjoy!

Yum!

Spiced Dates

I've got a delicious holiday recipe to share! It's perfect as a meal, as a desert, and it would be a lovely, easy little treat to pass at holiday parties with all your SAD friends!

It's also a fantastic way to pack in the carbs if you don't have a lot of time, and (like me) can't bring yourself just eat plain dates.

The ingredients include:
—500cal worth of dates (that'll be about 25 deglet noir or khadrawys, or 10 medjools)
—2tbsp dried, flaked, unsweetened coconut
—¼tsp fresh orange zest
—1tsp cinnamon
—1tsp ginger

Throw all ingredients in a blender and blend until everything is chopped up pretty finely and well-mixed. Pour into bowl, eat as is, or roll into nice little balls or press together and cut into bars or chunks. They're awesome served with caffeine-free tea (my personal favorite is a Lemon Zinger). Enjoy! 