Friday, March 23, 2012

A Beautiful Day and Some Raw Food

Hey everyone! Happy weekend! Can you tell I'm happy about it? The weather has been so beautiful this week and I'm glad I've finally had a chance to enjoy it. I was in the kitchen prepping a new (for me) raw dish and had the windows open and enjoyed the fresh air and perfect temperature. I'm definitely a 75 degree girl.

I started off my day by going to work then after I got home I prepped my raw lasagna! You'll see what that looks like in a minute. After I finished that (and it took a while) I relaxed for a bit, charged up my phone (which doubles as my iPod at the gym) and headed over to get a workout in. I have been trying to psyche myself up to start running again over the past few weeks and I decided today was finally the day. I am easing my way back into it by jogging as a warm up then finishing my cardio on the arc trainer. My goal was to start at a mile and take it from there. I did my mile warm up and it pretty much sucked. I don't know why running is so hard for me but it is. I'm just going to have to try and stick with it I guess.

Anyway, here is what I ate today!


For breakfast I had a Blueberry Muffin Smoothie. So good every time!


Late morning snack was an orange.


For lunch I made an S&M salad. This one is completely raw because I used the dulse granules like the menu calls for (instead of the toasted nori I had been using until I got the dulse).


Before my workout I had a banana.

Post workout I had a quick protein shake.


For dinner I had some raw lasagna! I decided to give it a go this afternoon. I used zucchini as my "noodles" which I soaked in a mixture of purified water, sea salt and a little olive oil. I made the "cheese" recipe from Ani Phyo's Kitchen Essentials and the Prana Marinara sauce from Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Diet. I used cashews as my nut of choice for the cheese. I liked the way it came out except I found that 1/4 cup of lemon juice was A LOT. I found there to be almost a sweetness to the cheese which was a little strange. Next time I make it I'll cut the lemon juice down and add more garlic to make it more savory. The sauce was really lovely. I got rid of the bell pepper because we all know how I feel about them and added extra tomato and sun dried tomato. When combined all together I enjoyed the dish but the flavor was really strong. I can definitely only eat a little at a time. I had tons of cheese and sauce left over so I combined them together in the food processor and the result was a thick dip that smells EXACTLY like pizza!!! I'm going to have to figure out what to do with that!

Not too bad for my first shot but definitely room for improvement. I'm going to try my best to get to that raw restaurant tomorrow. It is about 30 minutes from my house so I'll have to see how the day goes and if I'll have time. I hope so!

Today happened to be a 100% raw day. It wasn't my intention but I'm proud of it. I'm definitely not going to be all raw all the time but I'm finding the 80% a lot easier to hit.

Hope you all have a great Friday night and a wonderful weekend!!



18 comments:

  1. 100% raw is an accomplishment! I've never been able to do it. I always succumb to something dead before the day is through.

    The Lasagna is very pretty.

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    1. Thanks! I'm still working on the raw:cooked ratio but I think I've been doing good lately. Still love my cooked food though so there will be some soon :)

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  2. Good job on the lasagne! One of my fav pasta sauce recipes is a raw one: so delicious! You've got me in the mood to make some now! Have a great weekend Sarah!

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    1. Thanks! the sauce was actually my favorite part of it. It tasted so fresh! I wish I had a mandolin, the zucchini was a bit thick but I guess I'd rather have thick zucchini and all of my fingers :)

      Thanks you too!

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  3. The lasagna looks fabulous! Very impressive. I've never tried eating a raw diet. I really like mushy vegetables (I know, that makes me sound like an old lady with no teeth, but it's true!)

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    1. Thanks Sage! I actually prefer cooked veggies for the most part except for in salads which is why a dehydrator would make my life way better. Then at least you can soften the veggies while keeping the nutrients at fullest density. I'm working on it though!

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  4. 75 degrees is perfect! The weather has been so unbelievable, but I'm loving it, too.

    Kudos on starting to run again! It's so hard to start out on, so a mile is fantastic. It's much more than most people could do!

    The lasagna sounds great, although I can just imagine how the lemon juice was a bit much. That leftover sauce mixture sounds like it could have all kinds of yummy possibilities.

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    1. Thanks! I know it sounds weird, but running legitimately gives me anxiety. I don't know why but it has gone back since high school and the fitness testing we used to do. It really messes with my breathing and makes it much more difficult for me. I have to figure out how to calm down and not panic and it'll be much better I'm sure.

      Yeah the lemon juice was way too much. I know what I want to do with the leftover sauce but I need a dehydrator. Wah!

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  5. Woo hoo for running! My runs have been less than spectacular, so I haven't been posting them - I really should just post them regardless. I prefer running outdoors as opposed to the treadmill - are there any paths near you worth checking out? Being distracted helps, as does a nice, slow, even pace. You can do it!!

    I'm really curious about your salad, will have to look into it! Any other restaurant recipes you're thinking of trying? Beautiful raw lasagna!

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    1. There aren't really any paths or anything around here, it would be street running. I don't know where the running anxiety comes from. oh well :)

      Most of the recipes are smoothie recipes. I went to that raw place today (will post about it tomorrow) and the drink I had was good in theory but the texture was off so I want to try and use the flavors but fix the texture!

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  6. Beautiful lasagna. It sounds like a lot of work though. I think you will enjoy the leftover sauce & cheese dip. I bet it would be good on crackers or toast (gluten-free for you of course).

    Running is really hard for me, and I'm very slow. I do it though because I get a sense of accomplishment from it. I figure it's good for my health too. I bet you are better at it than you think; it's just not your usual work-out so your body is still adjusting.

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    1. Thanks, it was a lot of work for sure! I just got gluten free crackers so I may have to try it out!

      I think my body definitely needs to get adjusted. I will do hundreds of kicks in a workout and never have my legs be as sore as they were after a mile jog. It's crazy!

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  7. I wouldn't stress out too much about forcing yrself to love running. You're already active, and in multiple ways - cardio, martial arts, and yoga. Not everyone likes to run and not everyone needs to run; it's okay!
    The food all looks fantastic as usual. I remember reading in Sarma's book that the S&m salad is called such because it was basically the house salad that she and her business partner (matt? mike? something like that) used to make a lot - hence, Sarma&matt salad...

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    1. Thank you for that. You are right. I probably wouldn't make myself do it if it wasn't something that I'd have to do in my training but my trainer wants to have me start running again during our sessions so I guess I felt like I had to get myself back into it on my own too. I just can't get into it though.

      Oh cool thanks for the explanation! I can understand why it would be a staple, it is so delicious!

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  8. I'm a very long distance runner, and I hate it. It's hard and I'm miserable most of the time, but it gets easier. I took two years off, and getting back into it was difficult - I could only run 1/2 mile at first - eep! Keep it up :)

    In other news, congratulations on eating raw! I cannot wait to try a raw lasagna recipe.

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    1. Thanks Ashlae that helps! I'm going to do my best to ease back into it :)

      Thanks! The lasagna was good! I really wish I had a dehydrator though!

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  9. wow..the lasagna looks delicious!

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    1. Aww thank you!! It was really yummy!

      Thanks for stopping in too :)

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