Sushi... RAWvisions, even better than last time!

Sushi!

The raw vegan sushi I made the other night was so good, I found myself craving more, but wanting to tweak a few things. Main adjustment: I threw the cauliflower in the food processor with some Bragg Liquid Aminos (like soy sauce, but SO much better for you!), and I worked on my technique to make some artful, tiny, tightly rolled sushi this time around. They came out MUCH better, and prettier too! I was a little nervous to throw a raw asparagus spear in there, but it was quite yum! I also made some yummy seaweed salad from some dried wakame seaweed (soak for about 5 minutes and rinse thoroughly to bring back to life). It had some sesame oil, salt, pepper, cumin, a smidge of curry, and of course... sesame seeds. It was a delicious meal!

Raw Asian Inspired Meal, yum!

I can't believe I'm already five days in! I haven't noticed any detox side effects yet, although I have been tired... could easily be that I haven't been getting enough sleep. Other than that, I am finally starting to feel full and satisfied faster and with less food, which is great because I tend to overeat otherwise. It's going so well, and I'm not having any food craving devils on my shoulder!

Raw Vegan Sushi Anyone? YESSS Please!!!

I've always wondered how I would go about making yummy sushi without fish, and especially without rice! Last night we decided to try making some incredible raw vegan sushi and it came out even better than expected! I managed to find some Raw (untoasted) Nori sheets to roll the sushi in (rolling mat a must!), and we filled it with some sliced cucumber, mushroom, carrots, some clover sprouts and lettuce. As the "rice" I had some cauliflower that I ran through the food processor with a little oil, it was perfect! SO good! I always figured sushi making would be difficult, but what could be easier than throwing a bunch of stuff out on a wrap and rolling it up! Ok, granted, slight learning curve to getting a tightly wrapped sushi roll as you have to be careful not to overfill it, but it was so much fun to make! If these first couple days of fruit smoothies, awesome salads and sushi is an indication of how yummy this month is going to be, consider me excited!!! Today is day three in my 30 days, and I feel pretty much the same as I did when I started with the exception of knowing I am doing so much better for my body by eating this way than I was previous. Today was a difficult one from the temptations of deliciousness around the workplace, but I powered through it!

Raw Veg Sushi!

Here's to hoping these next 30 days will be RAWarding! :P

If Morgan Spurlock can live on crappy yucky McDonalds for 30 days, I figure I can make it through a challenge of 30 days of the opposite, and even further improve my health and progress! I have been inspired by a Jenna Norwood's documentary called "Supercharge Me" (www.jennanorwood.com) and the success she had doing 30 days of raw vegan goodness!

Today is day #1 of my raw foods detox/cleanse! Raw foodism is one of the healthiest ways a vegan, or anyone really, can eat, and I'm ready to jump into it for a month to see what all the hoopla is about! When you eat a food cooked above 105', enzymes that are intended to aid in digestion and absorption of the nutrients in the food are destroyed, so you are able to get much more nutritional bang for your buck by eating a food in it's natural uncooked state. Also, when you cook a food, a lot of the nutrients escape from it in the process, so it is doubly as good to leave it raw! I'm ready for lots more energy, optimal health, and perhaps a boost to my weight loss, woo!

I'm going to have to do things differently for sure for the next 30 days, but I'll be here to share my experiences and recipes with you all. So I'll be trading my soy lattes in for a smoothie, my pasta for salads and zucchini "pasta", and my So Delicious Dairy Free ice cream in for fruit... I can't even imagine how much better this will be for me! I think that by committing to eat this way for a month will branch me out even further in regards to which fruits and veggies I use/like, and I am hoping to pick up some awesome recipes along the way! My goal here is a month of learning and health, learning/feeling the benefits, as well as making healthier meal choices in the long run. After this, I don't expect to stay 100% raw, but hope that it will be a much bigger part to my diet than ever before. Wish me luck!

New Vegan Blog... WOO!

Hey guys, welcome to my sparkly new vegan blog! I'm hoping to use this blog to share my experiences, insight, recommendations, and recipes, and hope to hear back from you all as well! I've been a "just about vegan" since September of 2010, so almost a year and a half now! When I say "just about", I am not 100% crazy strict. I am not opposed to honey, while I avoid white sugar, it happens sometimes, and I will only very rarely make an exception for something with a smidge of dairy in it. And I do mean rarely. Also, the occasional Quorn burger or Boca burger usually has egg in it, but I allow it on occasion. My switch to a whole foods, plant based diet was one that came after being inspired by two films, Vegan Gal and Food Inc. I am a vegan for health reasons mainly, but ethically as well, I cannot justify eating animals just for the flavor of it, as it is not nutritionally necessary.

I'm 5'6", and at the point I watched those films, had just watched my weight hit the 200lb mark, a mark I had never wanted to, or saw myself getting to. I decided that something had to change! I had tried tons of crash diets in the past, like (ironically) the Adkins (meat based) diet, and various others with no success for lasting weight loss. I was at a point where I was getting migraines about 5 days a week and had two different prescription pills that were necessary if I wanted the pain to stop. Doctors wanted me to be on daily medication for prevention.... no way! Oh, and random dizzy spells, those were always fun. I felt sluggish, ugly, depressed because of my low self confidence, and was ALWAYS hungry, with intense cravings for junk food pretty much all the time. I gave up meat and dairy all together on that first day... I just quit, Cold Tofurkey, and was much better immediately!

Instantly, migraines gone! I started to lose weight, feel better, have more energy, and my skin cleared up as well! I have lost 58lbs so far, and hope to keep going on the weight loss! Now you guys know my story :) For any of those who haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend watching Food Inc. It was a very eye opening film, but be prepared, it's a little hard to watch. You can check out their website at http://www.foodincmovie.com. Oh, and you can stream it on Netflix ;)