Wanting the best, needing something better!

On black Friday, the consumer world that we live in goes crazy. I willingly was dragged into the hype by my husband, who has been after a few big ticket items, mainly a TV. We currently don't have a TV and I would be happy if we never have a TV. (Youtube plus an occasional movie on the laptop is good enough for me). Of course, being married, it is OUR money and he wanted my input on preferences: size, plasma vs. LCD vs. LED., budget, etc... We had our budget set, and he was deciding between a larger, poorer quality TV or a smaller, better picture quality TV. All weekend all I heard was, "Dot, What about THIS??" or "daaang, check out this one!! We should get this! No, wait, its not what I want." Back and forth all weekend. I humored him because I know it's a big change, us jumping into HCRV lifestyle, and it puts an $100 dent in our pocketbooks every week. 

My husband is probably 50-70% raw vegan, depending on the day. He eats what I eat by default (It's whats for dinner!). He acknowledges the health benefits and clearly notices the difference when he's had a high-raw day, however he unfortunately does not empathize with the environmental or ethical impact of the diet. He still eats SAD when we go out to restaurants and at the in-laws. I make him cooked vegetarian dishes weekly, sort of as a compromise. He definitely respects me for doing HCRV 100%, but is in denial that he can do the same. 

So what does shopping around for the best quality for your money TV have to do with eating the diet that is best and most suited for you as a human?

Well, as we were discussing the TV issue, I had an epiphany. I said, "Mike! What the heck!? $400 for a 42" LCD TV or $400 for a 46" plasma??! We are talking about a moving picture. We are comparing what used to be the best with what now is the best! If this were 2 years ago, plasma would have been a huge splurge! Nobody had any complaints about plasma UNTIL the ppl who make tvs were all, 'ummm, plasmas are outdated. They reflect lights. Come by our newest TV, LCD, no reflections! Brighter, sharper images!" Who says so?? They do! Because they want your money! A plasma is a perfectly quality picture..the only reason people need to buy tvs is because the people who make tvs keep on changing what is considered 'the best.'"

K so maybe this is a given. My husband just looked at me (he's a business major), laughed, and said, "well DUH. Its called MARKETING." tu-shay. 

I've thought about that a lot recently though, and how it relates to diet. Stay with me.

Back in the day, way back in the day, people ate raw food. They lived in tropical places, plentiful with fruits, ate to their hearts content, stopped when they were full. Then people began, for whatever reason, to migrate. They moved to colder places. They didn't have a steady residence. They were now required to hunt and gather for their food-this was the next best option. Ok. Now fast forward to the days when dehydrating meats and cooking stews became "the thing" to do. Wow! suddenly people could be enjoying the meat that they had killed months previous! Food preservation because a huge motivator, as well as diversity in what they could make that cooking offered. Skip even more to the future, and we have the invention of canning! That completely took off, and soon thereafter came grocery stores filled with shelves of cans, jars, and OH LOOK a freezer isle! Somebody figured out how to creat an ice box that keeps food fresh and, OH now we have a microwave to re-create that dish whenver you wish! And lastly of course, came Dominos Pizza, freshly delivered to your doorstep. You don't even hafto walk five feet out of the house. 

So that is basically a mini-explanation of how the food that we eat has progressed. Now, ask almost anyone and they would say, yeah eating packaged, restaurant, gourmet food is great! Its convenient and delicious, if nothing else. It is, lets say, the LED 51" TV that my husband fantasizes about. The only reason he fantasizes about it is because it EXISTS. Before LED technology was around, my husband fantasized about Plasmas. There was no way that he could have guessed what the latest and greatest TV would be, because THAT WAS the best. 

Ironically, pros and cons wise, I would argue that NO TV is infinitely better than the biggest, best TV out there. I would also argue that our ORIGINAL DIET, that of fruits and veggies, is infinitely better than all the take-out, restaurant, convenience food out there. It may not be convenient to have to figure out ripening-times of bananas, but its a lot more convenient to grab a banana on the go, crap it out an hour later, and reap the energy, compared to grabbing a pop-tart, feeling sluggy, and keeping it in your colon for a week. Maybe it's a stretch, but I see the connection quite clearly. Simplify.

Crazy about Heirlooms!!

About a month ago, I was at the farmer's market and asked one of the vendors a question that has been plaguing me. What does "heirloom" mean?? I felt foolish for asking it, but no one had ever explained it to me before. The kind lady explained that heirloom meant that is was the ORIGINAL plant. There are hundreds and thousands of varieties of any given fruit or vegetable these days due to cross breeding (both intentionally done in a lab, and done by mother nature spreading seeds through bees, animals, wind etc for cross pollination). Heirloom means that the seed was saved from the first variety of that plant and they continue the legacy today. The first difference you'll notice when looking at heirloom tomatos, is that they are less symetrical, more bumpy, and vary in color. The next thing you'll probably notice is the price: expensive! My first thought was, "why are these ugly, odd shaped tomatoes MORE expensive?" The answer: they are heirlooms. So what's so great about heirlooms (other than its the original plant)? one word: TASTE. It just takes one try, and you will be hooked. I never ever ever could understand how people could eat tomato plain, and now, I am eating them like apples!! They are juicier, sweeter, less acidic, and just wow, that tomato flavor! It doesn't get much better than a ripe, squishy heirloom.

That was a month ago. Now I'm in love. The average price for heirlooms is $2.50/lb, so it is definitely a splurge item of mine. Sometimes I find vendors selling them for $2/lb. Today I found this sweet old lady that sold me 10lbs for $10!! I was ecstatic! They are unfortantely going out of season now, so that's a huge bummer. I look forward to enjoying a full season of tomatoes next summer.

A great recipe for salad dressing I've been loving:

2-3 cups tomaotoes

2 cups mango

1-2 stalks of celery

1 T chopped chives

1/4 c chopped onion

herb of choice (dill, basil, cilantro, parsley)

1-2 pitted medjool dates

blend and serve on top of favorite salad! Add more tomato, jalepeno, and pepper to make a sweet and spicy salsa

...So get your heirlooms while they're hot!

Tis the Season for...Zucchini!

Yesterday I did my bi-weekly grocery shopping at the farmer's market. (In case any locals haven't heard, it's pretty awesome. Every Saturday from 9-2pm at Pioneer Park in Provo. Tons of vendors!) It's granola-y to say this, but I really do love talking to the growers and asking about where the food is from and how it's grown etc. Plus, REAL food is sold there. No two cucumbers look the same. Peaches are bumpy and apples have knots and dents in them. Carrots are short and fat with the stringy root still attached. Heirloom tomatoes come in every shape and color from purple to yellow to red to orange. It's the complete opposite of shopping in the produce section where everything looks identical.

Upon my stroll through the farming vendors, I came across a zucchini that I just could not pass up.

For $1 I bought that massive squash that will feed Michael and I for the next two days. I went to work this morning on making one of my favorite raw meals: Rawtsa! aka Pasta! I don't have a spiralizer yet (it's on my wish list) but I do have a mandolin slicer  so I sliced up the zucchini into thin but wide shaped "noodles." Pasta sauce is so easy and quick to make, and you can easily experiment with the portions of  ingredients without going wrong. I used:

leftover zucchini slives

3-4 small cloves of garlic

salt (to taste)

splash of lemon juice

3 handfulls of cherry tomatoes

1 handfull of fresh basil

2-3 dates

I've made pasta sauce quite a few times, and every time dates really make the difference. (You could substitute agave if you wanted). The sweet counteracts the salty and really compliments the flavor. You could also add onion, pepper, celery, cucumber, shallots, spices, whatever you want! Olive oil is optional; I personally prefer it without. You really can't go wrong though with all fresh ingredients. I love knowing exactly what is in my meal!

Pumpkin seeds goes nicely with this meal and they add a nice chewy texture. I also put pea sprouts on mine to add flavor and texture. The thinly sliced zucchini picks up whatever flavor is around it, making it perfect for this dish. Also, the slimey-ness makes it feel just like pasta...minus the bloat. Zucchini is in season now, so it's easy to find and cheap to buy, but I probably won't be making this dish  again for a little while. We don't want to get sick of it! An alternative is to take the sauce and pour it over the zucchini slices, dehydrate it, and it makes the perfect chip. Any other ideas for using this awesome vegetable???

Spicy Kale Salad

As promised...the Kale Salad Recipe that made even Michael appreciate kale. It's a miracle!

Ingredients:

Kale (stripped from stem and ripped into small pieces)
1 avacado (or 2 if your name is Dot)
Salt
Cayenne
Lemon juice (from one lemon)
Basil
Tomatoes
Mung bean sprouts (optional)

Squish all ingredients together, massaging in. Add tomatoes and mung beans last. Amount of cayenne used determines degree of hotness.
Sprouts really add to the salad, although they are not necessary. For the salad in the picture I had just gotten some fresh cherry tomatoes from an organic farmstand....mmmm. so good. I've brought this salad to both raw and non-raw events, and it's always a hit.

Karma

I never got to share this before due to the choatic pre-wedding-ness, but I want to now. Raw food really is getting a name for itself. Restaurants are popping up everywhere, juice bars, going "green," health food stores/organic sales are going up, along with the popularity of farmer's markets. I was thrilled when I went home to Massachusetts for the wedding and discovered a new Raw/Vegan Restaurant named Karma in the neighboring town of Northampton! A few days before we were wed I convinced Michael to come with me and check it out...

He had the buternut squash soup and I had the Raw-Zagna! Made with cashew cheeze and strips of zucchini and other spiralized vegetables. It was yuuuuuummy. We finished with a raw brownie/vanilla ice cream dessert

Of all the places to first adopt a Raw Food Restaurant, Northampton would have been my first guess.

This makes me homesick, but I will share some snapshots I took anyways. Northampton is a pretty hippie, liberal, gay-rights town, always an adventure waiting to happen. It has a lot of history (like any part of New England) and neighbors where I went to high school, so I used to visit Noho a lot as a teen. Harrel's has unbeatable ice-cream, Faces has the weirdest gifts and coolest clothes, Turn it Up has the cheapest used music, Thorn's has anything and everything you could ever want, including but not limited to Tibetan garb, the most expensive handbags, and the world's best mac n cheese, Sweet's is like walking  back in time to an old fashioned candy store, Raven's musty flavor of used books just makes you want to read forever, among hundreds of other stores and restuarants. It's a great town. 

One of my favorite memories in Northampton is with one of my oldest friends and Noho-native, Liz. As newly licensed sophmores, we were driving around one day through town and decided to hit up the McDonald's drive-thru. I just wanted a diet coke, but the lady handed me a full meal, complete with burger and fries, AND a large soda. Hmm. I was too rebelious to hand it back, but we had just eaten and weren't the slightest big hungry. Liz suggested we take it to a homeless lady that she sees constantly crouched behind the old Hotel Northampton.That seemed charitable enough, so we did just that. This lady was pretty sorry looking, wrapped in rags and obviously filthy. You couldn't help but wonder when was the last time she had a real shower. I awkwardly approached her saying, "excuse me, ma'am. We just got this meal for free by mistake and didn't want to waste it. Would you care for it?" The lady looked suspiciously at us and poked inside the bag. "Is that a hamburger?" She asked, almost accusingly. "Uh, yeah, pretty sure..." With that she tisked, shook her head no, and without hesitation said, "No. Thanks. I'm a vegetarian." Liz offered her the fries at least, which she took, and we both walked away in amazement, waiting til we were around the corner and burst into laughter. Only in Northampton. It's just that kind of town. 

Everything Grows in Cali

We had a wonderful time two weekends ago in California. I was ecstatic about seeing Gma and Gpa Wren's garden and was very impressed. They kept on saying how this was the worst month, harvest-wise, to come see them, as they were getting everything planted for the winter garden and the summer garden was sparse...but not to me! It is a wonderful hobby that I can see they take very seriously and definitely reap the benefits of it. Our visit was short and sweet; Michael and I are looking forward to another California road trip come Thanksgiving.

They didn't let us go without filling up on Nature's Bounty. We brought back two huge bags of ripe tomatoes, 2 cans of beets, 1 can of strawberry jam, 1 can of salsa, an acorn squash and butternut squash, as well as 1 honeydew and 1 crinshaw melons! The salsa was gone within the first 2 days of being back. The melons in the first three days. I dehydrated most of the tomatoes and those were gone in the first week. We made a dent on the jam as well. WOW. You can really taste the difference between fresh and fake. Yeah yeah, I'll take an apple over applesauce any day, but I would also take organically grown over inorganic without hesitation. Some foods I'm not as picky about, some I'm 100% organic 100% of the time, but regardless, homegrown trumps both, handsdown. 

The whole 24 hours we were in Cali, I couldn't help but notice how EVERYTHING just grew! Once we got over the Sierra Nevadas, we started seeing signs everywhere to pull over, fresh fruits and veggies, farmer's markets etc. I was salivating just looking out the window at the vineyards and acres upon acres of farmland. I've driven cross-country many times, and I've seen the beautiful wheat, cotton, corn, and sunflower fields of the midwest, but the colors of California were unbeatable! Gpa Wren was bragging in his own right about how his neighbors grapefruit and lemon trees on opposing sides of his yard, drop dozens upon dozens of ripe fruit onto his yard. They then gather the extra fruit and use it for fresh-squeezed lemonade among other things. It all seemed too good to be true! Needless to say, I am plugging for California when it comes time for us to move.

The last two weeks have been wonderful in that I have found support beyond which I thought was available to me. Most people that I have talked to or read about find out about raw foods through a traumatic diagnosis or health concern, usually cancer, diabetes, candida, allergies, or an auto-immune disorder. The majority of these ailments plague older generations, and so it has been difficult for me, a healthy 21-year old, to find common ground with my peers when it comes to food. My sister's mother-in-law referred me to her friend, Lara, who holds support group meetings once/week here in Provo! I already go to a once/month potluck at Kathrines, but was very excited to learn about a meet up that was more local to me, and on a weekly basis. I've gone the last two weeks and it has been immensely helpful to share my story and hear about other people's journeys. I know it sounds cliche, but it has made all the difference. I recently contributed to Agi's Recipe Book as well, which gave me the oppertunity to attend a dehydrating class of hers yesterday! It was inspirational to learn about Agi and her healing through foods. She is really the source for me of where I first heard about raw food. She sparked my interest before anyone or anything else. As my mentor, Agi really made a difference in my life, more than she knows. I filled my dehydrator to capacity this morning making her recipes.

A recipe for fruitleather that she gave us yesterday:

1 cup any fruit

2 T ground chia

2 T ground flax

2 drops lime essential oil

1/4 t cardomon 

splash of water

a little agave

Blend and dehydrate overnight. Yummy!

Kale Chips

Make these...and Lays will never taste the same. Promise.

I owe Katherine Scott for giving me her recipe for these chips. You can find hundreds of recipe combinations online, but this one is definitely my favorite.

I can remember the first time I bought kale. It wasn't that long ago. I had been reading about it randomly for a while, and never really thought about trying it until I saw a picture of it in a magazine. "So THAT'S what it looks like" I thought to myself as I thumbed through Women's Health. Hmm. I passed it a few times in the produce section as I grocery shopped, consciously looking out for different dark leafy greens. I wanted to try something other than spinach or romaine in my salads so one day I braved it, picked it up, put it in my cart, and never looked back. 

Plain kale is bitter, curly, and tough to chew. I've grown accustomed to it in my salads, but it's not the most popular green to eat by itself. It is, to say the least, a powerhouse of nutrients. (It is most famous for it's abundance of vitamin K, but it also has crazy amounts of vitamins B2, B3, B6, B12, C, E, beta-carotene, folic acid, lutien, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium, silica, zinc, falvonoids, glucosinolates, and fiber. If you really needed more of a reason to eat kale, there ya go!) Kale is very versitile and can be made in dozens of different ways, other than just salads. I have a special recipe for kale salad (I'll share it later) that has become a favorite of me and Mike's. It used to be that I couldn't pay Michael to eat kale salad, but this recipe I found worked miracles. I love putting kale in green smoothies; there is nothing easier than 2 bananas, a bunch of kale leaves, 2 cups water, and 1 cup ice. Ta da! Breakfast.

 An absolute FAVORITE way for us to prepare kale though, has become kale chips. It started before I became raw. I simply washed and broke up the kale into bite size pieces, put in on a pan, sprayed with cooking oil, sprinkled with salt, and put in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Simple, crunchy, delicious. I have since tried other ways of making them and by FAR this is my favorite. Best. Kale. Chips. Every time. I have to distract myself or else I'll be tempted to pull them out of the dehydrator before they're done, they're THAT good. (At a health food store, you would pay $5+ for a few ounces of these kind of chips.) This does require a dehydrator, you could probably make them in the oven just fine, but they're SO good when dehydrated. 

Start out by blending the following ingredients til smooth:

3 T nutritional yeast (not necessary, but gives a lot of flavor)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup raw cashews

1 bunch cilantro

1 T lemon juice

1 red, orange, or yellow pepper

1 jalapeno

1 t salt

In a separate bowl, have ready 2 bunches of kale, washed, and torn into bite size pieces 

Pour over the kale, massaging sauce so it covers every leaf. Put in the dehydrator for 8-10 hours at 110 degrees. Enjoy!

(before dehydrated)

(after)

Michael and I are taking a roadtrip tomorrow to California to visit his grandparents. I made a batch of this for the car ride. Sure, Michael has his potato chips but we will both be snacking on these the whole way down. They crunch the same, taste fresh, and my favorite thing about them: you know exactly what went into them. I am excited to show pictures here next week of California. Grandpa Wren keeps an impeccable garden and I am looking forward to learning about what he does and enjoying what he's grown! More to come...

Get your Wheaties!

If there was one thing I took away from the Sprouting Bootcamp a few weeks ago, it was the power of wheat. Unfortunately, when most people think "wheat" they probably think bread, bread that has most likely been overproccessed and contains little to none of the nutritional value of the original wheat kernel. Bread remains to be one of my "comfort foods" but now I have found a way to enjoy it guilt free, nutrients intact, along with wheat it its other various forms. Once again, I can do it all out of my own kitchen and feel good knowing exactly what process the wheat goes through, from a hard wheat kernel, to food in my stomach. Just a quick rundown on why wheat is so awesome: its the most nutritious sprout, and also the most versitle. Very high in fiber (fills you up), protein, amino acids, vitamin A, C, B complex, E, niacin, and pantothenic acid.

You can buy red spring wheat anywhere (usually) that sells in bulk. Soak the kernels overnight, rinse in the morning, and keep in a dark, damp area. (I usually keep mine in the strainer, as I will rinse the kernels 2-3x a day to keep them moist and then put a towel over the top.) In 2-3 days, they will sprout!
Once they are sprouted you can put 1 c of wheat in your blender with 5-6 cups of water and put on high.  Pour the drink into jars and stir 2x/day for 2-3 days for a fermented, probiotic drink called Rejuvelac. Michael won't touch this stuff because it looks funky (admittingly, the cloudy-ness doesn't do much for the drink aesthetically) but I know this stuff works! It can easily replace a soda habit and makes drinking water less boring, and its so cheap and easy to make! My first time having it, I was a bit repulsed by the fermentation. I gulped down a few more sips, and gradually I actually started liking it! I put some lemon juice in it for flavor, but now I can enjoy it plain. Give it a try, if you hate it, you hate it. Sometimes it takes some getting used to, but its great for digestion. (Toss the wheat "scraps" down at the bottom of the  jar once its made.)

I haven't started doing this...yet, but I intend to start once I have the resources. Taking sprouted wheat (shown above) to growing wheatgrass is not hard, simply take the sprouts and put them in soil on trays, water, cover, and grow! Wheatgrass drinks are known as the most nutritious drinks available, and aren't cheap to buy straight from the store (jamba juice sells wheatgrass shots for $3.50/ounce!). They also have a bad rep for being gross. I actually kind of like them, they aren't disgusting, but mostly I enjoy them for the health benefits. There is a lot of information out there about wheatgrass, if you are interested I would reference "Wheatgrass" the book by Ann Wigmore. 

Onto breads! I love the texture that this bread offers, although it lacks in the familiar "fluffyness" of enriched wheat flour that I was all too used to, it makes up for it when I add other ingredients to supplement it. For example, one of my favorite breads is made with sprouted wheat, apple, cinnamon, and raisins. Simply process and dehydrate! It is definately worth watching in the dehydrator, making sure it doesn't over dry to keep it moist and pliable.

Just a quick shout out to my hubby: Michael is a real sport when it comes to my obsession with raw foods. We do not, and never have had the same tastes. I knew he was probably going to propose to me the night that he did because he offered to take me to an upscale sushi restaraunt, my favorite, his least favorite. He's all-american, burgers, pizza etc. and I'm all about the spices and exotic flavors. I'm always trying to assimilate our tastes and make things that we both can enjoy, and it's not easy. I usually become a slave to my dehydrator for a few hours each weekend, trying to fill all nine trays desperately while he sits back and watches (our kitchen is WAY too small to fit two people in it.) I savor everything I make, and offer him the final result that he accepts, looks at skeptically, and swallows. Granted, he loves being healthier and eating more fruits and vegetables, but not because he necessarily loves them, like me. The other day, I made him a guacamole dip which I left innocently in the fridge for him to discover while at home.  A few hours later, he texted me, "the guacamole is EXCELLENT." That really made my day. We will find common ground on some things; on most things we differ, but that's ok. I am learning to bridge the gap more and more everyday.

Sprout me!

I have been learning so much about raw foods over the last few weeks I have hardly had time to absorb all of the information, let alone write about it! I am excited to get my thoughts semi-organized on my blog though, as I begin to share all of the valuable information I have acquired.
Nearly two weeks ago I went on an overnight stay to Katherine Scott's house, a local raw foodist and life coach. (She hosts the monthly potlucks that I go to as well.) It was for a "Sprouting Bootcamp." We learned all about raw food and made all of our meals together (it was fun being in a real size kitchen with other people helping out) in addition to learning about all sorts of sprouts, primarily wheatgrass and sunflower. All the the recipes we made had sprouts and we were given a sprouting jar which I immediately brought home and put to good use! I now have my alfalfa jar that I am constantly growing in, a few mason jars with sprouting lids, and the plastic container I got from the bootcamp, all simultaneously growing sprouts of all shapes and sizes! I love it! It really gives you a sense of accomplishment like, "I did this! And I'm benefiting from this!" which is irreplaceable.

 Oh, and did I mention it is SO EASY. Basic concept: soak, rinse, eat. The only thing that varies between sprouts is the soaking time, how often you rinse, and where you store them. Anyone can do this though. Really. Sprouts are powerhouses of nutrients as well, most packed with all of your B vitamins, as well as a slew of other vitamins and minerals. I also learned that a tablespoon of sesame has more than 3x the amount of calcium than in a glass of cows milk, without the leaching protein that steals from your bones in order to get digested. I have started putting sesame in my green smoothies; you can't even taste the difference. Another one of my new favorite things to do is wraps made from collard and chard leaves. It is the perfect edible wrap and provides you with more of your daily chorophyll!

Speaking of chorophyll, the more I get into raw foods, the more the sun really amazes me. If it weren't for the sun, life would not exist. We thrive off the sun; heck people pay good money to sit for 10 minutes in a gross bed to get their concentrated UV rays just for the sake of looking peachy! Seriously though, I am probably the most anti-tanning, pro-sunblock person in the entire world, and I cannot even deny the love I have for pure rays of light (not the fake bake kind either). Our bodies crave the vitamin D. We expose as much of our bodies as we can (without feeling indecent) for the sake of being tan. The sun is also the reason plants are able to grow, therefore eating plants is (stay with me here) like eating pure energy! Clean, pure, simple, yet uncomprehendable phytonutrients. Somehow, and I really do consider it a miracle, the sun transfers  itself into the ground, feeding the plant, causing it to grow and develop and thereby providing us with inner sunshine! So cheesy I know. But one green smoothie a day is all you need to feel the power that I'm referring to. If you have a blender (preferably a high speed blender, but anything will do) I challenge you to make a green smoothie everyday. Especially with so many fresh fruits in season right now, there really is no reason not to try it.

Make friends with the people that feed you!

Last post, I talked about how I discovered beets and how awesomely delicious they are. I also mentioned how the check-out man in line didn't know the code and just threw them in for free (he also happens to be the produce manager at Sunflower Farmers Market, where I shop every week). Well, we were joking around a bit in line, he asked if I blend/juice my plethera of fruits and veggies and I smiled with a "yes! how did you know!" (Ah, I love how perfect nature is. Who needs supplements when you have all the phytonutients, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and life in fresh food?) Anyways, that was two weeks ago, and last week I saw the same guy (Paul) and said hello. We greeted each other and I moved on to get things on my list. He came up to me later and asked, "Do you like pomegranates?" I do! "Here, you can take one on the house. Let me know if its any good, its the first of the season." Saweeet! It pays to say hello and be nice! Especially when that person is responsible for your food...
On that same note, Michael and I went to our second monthly Raw/Vegan Potluck dinner at Katherine's house in Spanish Fork this weekend. Unfortunately, the two young couples that we had befriended weren't there. Instead it was us surrounded by 40-somethings and older, mostly people who had been raw/vegan for a long time. I was buzzing around, soaking up as much wisdom as I could (I couldn't even sit still for the movie they provided, I just wanted to talk!) but Mike was less enthused. Without our crowd there, it was hard to relate to the older folks.
The food was magnificent! I brought a peach-macaroon dish that I invented with a celery, sunflower pate. (peaches were only 47 cents/lb this week, so we've been thriving on that). There were some new salads that I'd never seen before that were delicious, along with lots of fresh melon, fruit, a peach cobbler (that was a big hit with Michael), as well as some curry flax crackers and pineapple-buckwheat cereal. Katherine made her famous chocolate bars and we also had some banana-grapefuit smoothie. It was a feast! Agi was there as well, which was special. She called on all of us to write a 400-800 word essay on what being raw means to us, to be published in a book that she's compiling together of local people and their stories. I also learned more about Katherine Scott and her work. She has an amazing story of how she was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer and managed to cure it with her diet! She does a women's retreat center at her house, as well as classes weekly, and she hosts the monthly potlucks. If you want to learn more, her website is: www.40bladesofgrass.com

One dish that never fails in my new raw food world is banana ice cream! Michael and I both love it, and it makes for the perfect treat on a hot summer day, or while watching a movie. It's so simple: peel and freeze as many bananas as you would like (make sure they are ripened). put them in the blender with a little water, just a tablespoon or two of raw cocao powder and a biiiig squeeze of agave nectar. It's a little difficult to get everything blending, but once it does it should look like the picture above. You can eat it like that, but it's much less smoothie and much more ice cream-like if you re-freeze it and come back to it later. The agave keeps it so that its scoopable and not a frozen iceblock. You can take or leave the cocao, and even add any type of nut to make it crunch (hazelnuts and brazil nuts are awesome with it).

I made a lot more food this week, but didn't remember to photograph much of it. This is pretty simple though, make a romaine lettuce wrap with anything you want on it! I put leftover sunflower pate, red peppers, and some homegrown sprouts on mine. Anything works, it's just about you being as creative as you can be! That's what I love about raw food; recipes are more like guidelines. It really is all about your own personal palate and what you want/like/feel like. You can switch up any ratio of ingredients, mixture, dehydrating times, smoothie consistenties, whatever to match what you like. There is no wrong or right, overdone or undercooked. It can be whatever you want it to be, which gives me great confidence when preparing meals. Even if I don't end up liking what I make, it only makes me more excited to try again and get it right, for whatever is right for me!

More beets please!

This week was awesome! So many raw-some recipes (haha so funny). It was definitely the week of breads and flax crackers. They don't look very esthetically appealing when they come out of the dehydrator, so sorry, no pics. They taste delicious though. I made some raisin zucchini bread, banana bread, tomatoe flax crackers, mango-cashew bread, along with a protein bread made out of my latest batch up mung sprouts and assorted veggies, and rye bread. (You can make rye bread with sprouted rye berries and dates OR celery, cocoa powder, water, carraway seed and a pinch of salt. Who knew you could make rye without the rye eh?) I also made a delicious peach pie which I shared at a reunion get-together with my old roommates from two years ago. Yes, we ate the whole thing in one sitting :)

I saw this easy recipe for a sunflower pate in one of my books and thought I'd tackle it. One thing about raw food is that, in order to make it appeal to the everyday eater, you need to try a little harder to make it look like something "normal" that they would want to eat. A little bit of garnishing can go a long way. This salty pate had a savory-ness to it that made it taste almost tuna fishy. I enjoyed the leftover batter for the next few days sandwiched between some of my breads. Yum!

At the raw food potluck that we went to last month, there was a dish of grated beets that I tried that was to die for! I asked the lady who brought it what she put in it...just beets! That's all folks! No sugar, no dressing, no nothing. Just. Beets. Yes: beets, also known as the despicable vegetable that every child has nightmares about. I asked Michael if we wanted to try some then, but he vehemently refused. Ever since that night I have been plotting how to sneak beets into a raw dish and trick him into eating (and loving) them! It took a few weeks for me to even get the courage to buy them. I don't know why, but whenever I hear about a new awesome power-house vegetable or fruit, it takes me weeks to actually spend the money, find a recipe, take it home, and try it. Once I do, it always becomes a staple in my diet and a wonder how I ever lived without it. Another perfect example of this would be kale. I had heard all about kale's nutritional value, kale chips, kale salad, and kale smoothies, but I could not get myself off of the usual spinach and boring romaine. I remember buying kale for the first time, and not looking back. Same  thing with collards, arugula, radishes, pomegranates and mangos, to name a few. Upon buying my first beet, the check-out guy couldn't remember the number for it and said, "hey, this one's on the house." It was a sign! haha. The lonely beet found its home on the refrigerator shelf for a few days before I reluctantly retrieved it. I began peeling it and immediately notices how my hands, tools, and cutting board looked as if I had just killed something! Bright purplish-red color was unveiled under the ugly root's brown shell and I was delighted and horrified at the mess I was making! I had found a recipe for Raw Ravioli and kicked Michael out of the kitchen so that he wouldn't see me make it, but not before making him promise me he would try whatever it was I was making. He agreed. After I got the beet peeled and sliced I got onto making the "cheese." It was actually more of a pesto sauce, made with macadamia nuts, 1/2 avacado, parsley, salt, lemon juice, and garlic. The avacado made it super creamy, but not all the nuts got ground up in the blender, leaving it a little chunky. I  squished the sauce between two thin slices of beets and...that's it! Raw Ravioli. I nervously brought one in for Michael. "Those are beets!" He exclaimed. "Very observant...now you said you'd try it. Pleeeeease try it! I promise you can tell me if you hate it, but just try it." He grinned and put on his best face before taking a bite. A few seconds went by. I started to smile. "It's not bad." he said. "It's not good?" I replied. "No, no. I like it. I do." SUCCESS. I ate the leftover beet plain, sooo goood! It has the perfect blend of sweetness to crunchyness. I don't know why anyone would attempt to adulterate this beautiful vegetable by cooking it. I could eat plain raw beets all day long. We looked it up and beets are a good source of vitamin C, magnesium, and iron, as well as a great anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Ladies, get your iron...eat your beets!

Yesterday was the Utah Valley Marathon. Michael and I woke up early as I was running in the 5K starting at 9am. I am not much of a runner, but a 5K is a good challenge for me every now and then, plus it was for a good cause. I really had no goals going in, besides to have a good time. I am running another 5K in July, so I was planning on basing my results from this race as a jumping off point for the next race.  I ended up doing a lot better than I expected, finishing in just over 24 minutes (7.5 min/mile). I came in 27th out of 363 runners! Woohoo! Not as hardcore as the half or full marathoners, but still, I was pretty dang proud of myself. Especially for not having trained specifically for it. Michael was beaming.

After the race, we checked out the Provo Farmer's Market located at a nearby park. We didn't go in planning on buying anything, just wanted to check it out. There were tons of vendors, some local scout groups selling Mexican food, local jewelry and crafts makers, one lady that turned used items into decoration pieces, etc. We did stop at this one stand where a guy was selling plants that he had already started growing. I had just been talking to Michael about starting a garden of our own, and this seemed to be the perfect start. Of course, we don't have any sort of land-property where we live, just a porch off of our living room. Obviously, we are seriously limited as to how much we can grow, but I still wanted to try. Michael's grandparents are an inspiration to me in this: they have and have maintained a nice plot of land that they grow, harvest, and rotate all sorts of crops year-round. They live in California and have managed to get their soil fertile and the temperatures are mild. I was most recently contemplating with Michael over starting out with a tomatoe plant. Growing up in Massachusetts, we always had a garden and tomatoes seemed to always grow successfully. To this Michael laughed and said, "good luck, tomatoes were the one thing in our garden growing up that we could never get to grow." Sounds like a challenge to me! We bought a budding plant at the market for $2, brought it home and transplanted it.

They guy said that we should have some sort of tomatoes growing by the end of July. I'll keep you updated on our progress! 

One thing that I truly love about whole foods is the color. Having been raw for just over a month now (post-honeymoon) it has forced me to try new foods, new recipes, new ways of eating. I have spent many hours preparing dehydrator sheets, cutting, chopping, dicing, blending, growing, and preparing dozens of foods. Whenever I look at what I eat or go grocery shopping, I am amazed by the symmetry and beautiful coloring of all the plants. An apple cut side-ways resemebles a star shape. An avacado sliced open exposes a beautiful yellow to green fade. A beet when peeled creates a beautiful purple ring. Rainbow chard has enormous veiny leaves that are interconnected with it's gorgeous red and pink stem. Mangos are delightfully yellow. Cantelopes are perfectly orange, honeydews a happy light green. Peaches are dramatically orange, then red, then yellow, as you bite in. By eating my colors, I have found beauty in things that I used to take for granted. I also search for the best, the most colorful, most ripe fruits and vegetables. The miracle of photosynthesis never ceases to amaze me as I see the power of the sun before my eyes and indulge in it daily.

What's been (un)cookin'

So I've made myself very busy this week trying out all sorts of new gourmet raw foods. You can only live on soups, hummus and veggies, and smoothies for so long. (Well, I would probably be happy living on green smoothies for life, but I have a hungry husband who needs more substance in his food. Not that smoothies lack substance, but rather "bite." Anyways...) It helps a TON that we just recently got an Excalibur Dehyrator which I have been running non stop! It was time to get past simple dried apple rings and mango slices though, and get on with it. I opened Ani's Raw Food Kitchen Cookbook and took on my first challenge: raw burgers. Ok this was a challenge. (Real) burgers are Michael's favorite food and I made the mistake of telling him that my creation was a mock-version. He looked at me like I was insane. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing beats a big, juicy, Red Robin burger on the perfect bun." I felt defeated. "Well you have to at least try it." I had worked hard, making the "meat" out of flax meal, celery, sunflower seeds, and all sorts of spices (for the record, I thought that, for it containing absolutely no meat product, it tasted pretty dang meaty), the bread was more of a flax cracker, with homemade ketchup out of roma tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, 1 dried date, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. I was pretty dang proud of my meal. Michael wasn't a huge fan.
Next was my banana-flax crepes. Now those were a hit. I dolled them up all nice with blueberries, strawberries, and homemade raw orange marmelade. (Sorry, no pictures for my first two big meals.) That was a success with the hubby, and I could feel my momentum building. Time for even bigger better things. PIZZA.

Now I do realize this is sad looking pizza, but trust me when I say it tasted spectacular! It was a sundried tomatoe-flaxseed crust that was perfectly pliable (chewy, not crunchy. Not like bread bread, but like a very thin crusted bread) with a marinara sauce, thinly slices tomatoes underneath the cashew cheeze (cashews, water, garlic, salt). It was the most perfect margarita pizza I've ever had. I'm a little biased of course, but Michael enjoyed it as well. The whole thing was gone in less than 10 minutes.

Next was a moist, thick, rich chocolate cherry cake! I had bought some California cherries a couple days before and had no idea what to do with them! They were calling my name at the grocery store, but when I brought them home, I remembered I don't even like cherries. I tried one anyways; turns out I love cherries! I've either never had a good one before, or my palate is seriously changing (or both). 

This double-decker cake was made mostly in my food processor. You can use any nuts you like (I used a combo of brazil and hazelnuts), mash them up to a powder, add lots and lots of dates (until its sticky) and some raw cocoa powder and thats about it. I molded the rounds out by hand, and then created my sauces. The cherry jam filling was just cherries with dates and water, the kream was cashews, vanilla, dates, and a pinch of salt. (note: you can substitute agave for dates at any point in the recipe). Layer, decorate, and dig in!! Gluten-free, vegan friendly, flourless, sugar-less guilt free cake! Just don't eat the whole thing in one sitting. 

Here is just some of my almond milk that I've made. I've experimented with chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla flavorings. I prefer mine plain, but you really can't go wrong. It's SO easy. Just soak your raw almonds overnight, take off the skins if you want less "pulp," blend for 1 min. with 4:1 water:almond ratio, strain if you prefer silky smooth texture, and enjoy! We've been drinking ours with buckwheat cereal and dried fruit in the mornings (soak buckwheat groats overnight, dry in a dehydrator 3-4 hours, and store. Has the airy-crunchy texture of rice krispie cereal, but much better for you). 

One thing I've gotten very excited about is sprouting! I got tons of organic sprouts from Agi when she had her huge sale, but I'm just now starting to grow them. First of all, there is something about growing something, creating life, that gives you an incredible sense of accomplishment. I did this. (No, the sun did, but I like to take credit.) Then, being able to enjoy it and feast on it, its amazing. Not to mention, I paid pennies for the alfalfa that you see here, when I usually would pay over $2 for half the amount I grew. I literally put barely enough seeds in to cover the bottom of the jar, and they quadrupled in volume after the first day! It was incredible to watch. It only took 5 days to grow almost a half gallon of sprouts! I can't even eat that many in that short a time. Michael was impressed as well, and we have been adding them to all sorts of dishes, soupls, salads, sandwiches, everything. 

Ok, take two on the raw pizza. This time it was a pepper crust with alfredo sauce (macadamia, basil, lemon, garlic, salt) and dehydrated zucchini as the "pepperoni." All around, Michael and I liked the taste, but I did over dehydrate the crust by accident, so instead of it being pliable, it was crunchy and breaking. Still tasted good though.

Lastly, this is a dish that is for everyone, not just the raw-food enthusiast like me. It is literally one ingredient: frozen honeydew. (the blueberries were used as a garnish for the photo). Blend it up with a tad bit of water in a high speed blender, and you've got yourself the perfect summer treat. It also works well with canteloupe or watermelon that's been in the fridge as a nice cocktail. You really can't go wrong with raw food. There are so many options, so many more than what you might initially think of (carrot sticks, celery, apples.) And it really is so much easier than cooking...it's all about preparing (cutting, peeling, chopping) and combining the right foods. The three must-haves are a high speed blender, cutting board, knives, and food processor, and a dehydrator if you're really serious about it. Much much more to come next week!

Back with a vengeance!

I'm back! Maybe not with a vengeance, but definately with a resolution to eat raw raw raw. My honeymoon was filled with overindulgence, as it should be, with all of my favorite cooked foods. I like to think of it as my last hu-rah; completely devine and utterly destructive. I came back feeling heavy, malnourished, sluggish, and sick. I had been eating about 80% raw for at least a month leading up to the wedding and was feeling an ultimate high. It's amazing what eating such nutrient dense food can do to your body (flushing you out) and to your taste buds (your cravings fend off and you start to appreciate simple foods like biting into an apple). I do not regret turning my back on my health on the honeymoon, even if the results proved to be detrimental to my weeks of hard work...it was my honeymoon! So no, I refuse to appologize for it. BUT I came back 10x stronger. It gave me a solid comparison of raw vs. cooked, how I feel when I consume these foods, and confirmed to me even more that raw/vegan is what I strive to be.
 So here's the exciting news! Three things actually. One, is that Michael, who I can quote as once saying "anyone who eats 100% raw is stupid" is now not only 100% supportive of me and my lifestyle, but is excited to eat 80-90% raw himself! The other percent is when he is offered free food, he won't turn it down, cooked or not.
 The second piece of exciting news is that I stumbled upon a raw/vegan support group, went, and LOVED it. I get emails from Agi, a local raw foodist, one of which was a posting for a potluck raw/vegan dinner. I've dismissed emails like this before, but being a week back on and feeling the need for some support, I considered going. Time flew by, and the day of, I found myself stressed trying to plan on what to bring, among other doubts. What if these people don't like me? What if they hate my food? What if they think I'm just an inexperienced little girl looking to trim my physique and they don't take my dedication seriously? Hmm. Just go, I told myself. I dragged Michael with me. We were in this together now. As we pulled up to the beautiful house in rural Spanish Fork, UT we walked in and were greeted by an extremely pleasant little Irish woman. "You made it! Were you the ones that just called?" she asked enthusiastically. I had to explain awkwardly that we had heard through the grapevine about this meeting and went on to introduce ourselves. It helped that I hadn't come emptly handed; I presented a barley-cilantro dish I had made. We walked through to the kitchen area where everyone greeted us cheerfully with smiles and nice-to-meet-yous. There was an array of food on the counter, some of which I recognized (kale chips) and a lot of which I didn't (chia seed pudding). I have a lot to learn! Surprisingly there were three other young couples there who were new to raw foods, making it an easy transition. The one girl had brought the delicious pudding and I got the recipe from her right away (I've made a constant supply of it since the meeting). After dinner we gathered to watch a documentary and follwed up with a discussion. The entire evening was so much fun! I learned a lot from the older, more experienced raw foodists there, all of whom had amazing stories about how they conquered their diabetes, baby weight, thyroid disease, high blood pressure, heart disease etc. issues through their diet. It was also good to relate to the younger crowd who, like us, is looking more to prevent those diseases than treat them.  It's amazing to learn just how raw food cures, heals, and protects on all levels. Michael and I both left feeling great about our new lifestyle and friends. It's great to know I'm not aone.
The third piece of final wonderfullness is that I just got my...Excalibur Dehydrator! It came in the mail today, and man, do I feel spoiled. That, with my Vitamix, is all I really need to make living raw a breeze. I spent two hours filling the nine trays with assorted fruit (strawberries, apples, peaches, kiwi, pineapple, grapes), veggies (green beans, carrots), as well as a "fruit leather" which is essentially a fruit roll-up, strawberries and bananas blended and spread out, let to dry, raw granola, and my first batch of raw carrot-raisin bread! The next twelve hours can not go by fast enough for me! Overall, I feel more than motivated, but PUMPED for this change in my life! I know the potential it has for me, as I lived it long enough to gain the benefits. I fell back down the ladder and experienced what happens, and now I've been raw-and-going-strong for two weeks and it is truly unbelievable. Much much much more to come!

Agi's Sale

So there is a local raw foodist named Agi who recently relocated her Living Foods Store (destination to be determined). Yesterday was closing day. It was a sad day for me because her store was within walking distance of my apartment and therefore very conveniently located, but it was also a very happy day because pretty much everything in the store was buy one, get one free! Ready-made dehydrated snacks aren't cheap (I'm looking forward to the day when I have my own dehydrator) and her's just happen to be my absolute favorite! (see: www.agisrawfoods.com) The flavors she incorporates in her curry flaxseed crackers are devine and she makes the best chia seed bread. Needless to say, I spent a pretty penny stocking up. I am leaving here in a few days to go home to Massachusetts, but when I get back I really want to get into sprouting. It was very convenient that she was also selling bags of all her wheatgrass, alfalfa, and other sprouts for next to nothing! I was able to talk to Agi personally about her experience living raw (6 years and going strong) and was impressed with her passion. I'm not sure she realizes it, but she has been hugely influential to me, starting with when she distributed free samples at the gym one day (for full story, see "My Story" tab).
I am really starting to get into raw food! I have been 95-100% raw the last few days, and I can already feel the difference! I blasted through the book 12 Steps to Raw Foods by Victoria Boutenko in a day, I am planning out recipes from the book Fresh: The Ultimate Live Food Cookbook by Sergei and Valya Boutenko, and I am on chapter two of The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. All of these, and more have completely transformed my perspective on food, how it's grown, harvested, transported, sold, marketed, and consumed. This is not something that should be taken lightly; this is direct causation of good or bad health. I feel as though I have barely scratched the surface; my raw journey is just begining and I am SO excited to document it in this blog. The results are unfathomable, yet undeniable. Living a 80-100% raw lifestyle has unimaginable benefits. You truly are what you eat. More to come.

Tulips Galore

Every year around this time there's an annual Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. I see ads, billboards, flyers etc. for it and I always have intentions of going, but time slips by and then it's too late. Despite it being a gloomy Utah spring season, the Gardens were still open, and two weeks to go until the wedding, a nice nature walk was just the thing to calm our nerves. As you can tell from the picture, we are both still wearing our coats...yepp good ol' Utah weather.

 We happened to have gone on "Dutch Day" when they have an area with local vendors and musicians set up to entertain. My dad served his LDS mission in the Netherlands, so I am somewhat accustomed to seeing wooden shoes, pictures of windmills, and indulging in the occasional treat of a Stropwaffel. Basically, its a wafer-like pancake sandwich, made with two very thin layers of waffle and a layer of caramel-syrup in the middle. They had vendors that were selling bags of them, but I wanted Michael to have the full experience, so we walked over to where they were making them fresh (more expensive, but worth it). We waited in line; the people in front of us were served and then the sweet lady turned to take our order but said, "I am so sorry! We just ran out of syrup, if you come back in 20 minutes we'll have some more." So much for a fresh, warm Stopwaffel to warm the heart and soul...I was more disappointed that Michael couldn't experience it though. We meandered around a little while longer before returning to the warm Visitor's Center. 

With the two week countdown officially in place, there are a lot of details that need to be taken care of on our end still. Although we had our leisurely afternoon walk around the beautiful gardens, we also had a very productive Saturday, running all sorts of errands. We were both a little freaked out recently when we read that you are much more likely to have a heart attack if you sit for 8+ hours/day regularly. I'm not worried about myself (I stand all day doing hair and running around my apartment complex) so much as Mike who sits at a computer at work;  so it was probably for the best that we were standing all day. It reminded me of many-a-trip to New York City where I was forced to use my legs as my main source of transportation, and in awe of the magnitude of my surroundings, I wouldn't realize just how tired I was until I plopped down at the end of the day (or stopped at a Brookestone store and sat in their massage chairs). I had better get used to that feeling, because that is how it will be for the next two weeks, although I think there will be plenty of "tulips" to distract me.

If the shoe doesn't fit...Don't buy it!

Duh. Common sense, right? Apparently not when your getting your shoes on sale. Meh, who cares if they're an entire size too big. And they're running shoes that you'll be wearing 5x/week for at least an hour. Who needs comfort when you can get a sweet deal? 

No need to chastise me on this because I definitely learned my lesson. About 5 months ago this exact scenario happened to me. I found a cute pair of running shoes at a ridiculously low price, and pleaded with the salesperson, "are you sure you don't have these in a size 8? Or even 7.5?" Nope. Only a 7. I was in complete denial about the pinch on my toes, the pressure on my heal, and the tightness over my arch. Who feels pain when looking at a new pair of black and pink Nike's? Besides, smaller shoes make your feet look cute. Deal. Swipe, Done. 

The buyer's euphoria soon wore off though as I laced up and went on my first run. Hmm. Ok kind of painful. Well, I still have to break them in! They'll be just fiiiiiine. A few months later, nothing changed. Working out had become second nature to me. I would set an alarm, but I really didn't need to, because every day like clockwork I would lean over completely awake and well rested and turn it off 5 minutes before it would have gone off. (I guess early morning seminary can be a good thing! haha) I love to workout. I love the way I feel, I love being empowered and sensing my strength as I progress everyday. But those darn shoes were making my life miserable; so yesterday, I decided to do something about it. Count on me to get another deal; I had a coupon to this specialty store called 26.2 (the distance in miles of a marathon). Now, I run, but I am not a runner. I do everything, yoga, cardio, strength...you name it. (This actually will work to my advantage I learned as I won't use the "mileage" on my shoes as fast on the elliptical or stair stepper as I would on the open road or treadmill. Sweet.) 

So this shoe place was pretty darn cool. They put me in a neutral pair of shoes, brought me to the back where there was a treadmill, recorded video of me running and then slowed it way down and analyzed my stride. Talk about customer service! I was very impressed. They then gave me three pairs of different brands of shoes that would accommodate my feet. I was sold once again on the Nike's (my favorites, always) and blissfully walked home on a cloud. 

The next day I awoke (before my alarm) and nearly jumped out of bed, thrilled to wear my flashy yet comfortable shoes to the gym. (photographed above are the GOOD shoes that fit). So if you can take anything away from this, it is: spend the money (get a deal if you can still) and invest in a pair of shoes that fit. Always.

Taste of...cream cheese??

So about three months ago (this would be prior to me owning a Vitamix, which has since transformed me from a health conscious eater into a healthy raw eater) I saw an add for a Taste of Home cooking class hosted at a local Marriott for *gasp* only $10!! My thinking was, "I'm engaged, I don't know much of anything about cooking, it's cheap, it's local, and it comes with free magazines, coupons, and giveaways that will make it all worth it! I'd be a fool to let this one slip by me." To me it was a no brainer. I went online later that day and signed up.
It's amazing what can change in three months. I was still looking forward to the class, but of course, the word "cooking" was in the title, and having changed my ways to mostly raw foods, I was less than exhilarated to YAY start cooking! I went in knowing this, but was still open to learning more about food prep, cooking, and presenting. After all, there is always more to learn, and I wanted my $10 worth.
Upon arriving solo, I realized that I had signed up to participate with literally, a mob of local Relief Society's that were drooling with anticipation over learning the newest combination of ingredients for their Sunday Casseroles. Hmm. Interesting.
I meandered slowly around the perimeter of the auditorium, checking out all of the vendors and trying to dodge the crazed buzzing crowd. Cup cake decorators, jewelry designers, candle makers, krazy koupon ladies, to name a few. The best part about going to one of these shows by yourself is that there is always an odd number of seats being taken in a row, meaning I was one of the last people to sit, but still managed to get a third row end seat. Nice!
The lady seated next to me was with her eight year old daughter. She quickly introduced herself and started talking all about how they go every year, how they always win big, how she loooooves the recipes and can't wait to get cookin! The demonstrations began, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I think all of the recipes had a hefty combinations of two or more of the following ingredients: mayo, butter, sour cream, whipped cream, cream of something, and lots of cream cheese. Any ingredient that my neighbor didn't agree with she would lean over and promptly say something like, "Now, if I were in my kitchen I would definitely substitute chicken for the shrimp. Blech. Seafood." (What is it about Utah people and their distaste for seafood!?) There are only so many courtesy chuckles that I can spare before I just start sounding fake. She just had to be that lady, you know, the really loud in-your-face kind who screams at every opportunity. "Time foooooor.......another giveaway!!" Cover your ears.
By the time it was ending, no one within a few rows of us had even come close to claiming a prize. Granted, we were in a room of probably 300+ women, but they had a lot of cream cheese coupons to give out. I was slightly relieved to get out of there, although I did learn a thing or two about cooking and what kinds of fatty creams and pastes are best for binding a chocolate eclair vs. a mushroom paste. Overall, I'm glad I went. I probably will hardly use anything I learned (one useful thing, they explained how to chop a mango). I didn't win anything (I didn't mind). And I met a lot of really loud mouthed women who took their creamy cooking very seriously (entertaining to me). Worth $10? For a one time thing, sure. Will I ever do it again? Probably not. Live and learn.

Never Say Never

That's what I said. 

For the last five years my opinion of blogging has evolved, starting out with the simple question, "What is a blog, anyways?" When I found out that it is really just a glorified journal posted online for the world to see, my next question was, "Who in the world would ever want the world to read their journal? Why would anyone want to share their innermost feelings with cyberspace? Tisk. Crazy people." I rolled my eyes and forgot about the subject. Then, of course, my family had to get involved. I think my brother and sister started their blogs around the same time, Kate's blog serving the purpose of keeping us all up to date with her travels abroad, and Joe's being a daily photo safari. My thoughts: "Hmm. That's cool." I was still in high school, living at home, where the community desktop was set to Joe's photo blog. I took guilty pleasure in looking forward to seeing a new photo post everyday, still in denial thinking "Pshh. Stupid blogs." My parents soaked up this new way of communicating long distance and urged me to start a blog. "Are you insane? I live with you! If you want to know anything about my life, just ask! I'm not going to publish it online!" To which my dad would say, "But it's so hard to get through to you, I just want to know what your thoughts are!" There's a reason thoughts are internal, and mine weren't about to venture any further than my brain cavity. Thank you very much. 

So a couple of years go by, I graduated and moved to Utah, finally giving my parents a legitimate reason to even discuss the idea of blogging. Ok. I'll think about it. K, Thought about it. And the answer was still a firm NO. No No No No way Jose. Sarah, my other sister, and my dad had started blogs and were getting into them as well now. Peer pressure? I think not. Occasionally my mom would ask, "Did you read the latest entry on Sarah's blog?" Nope. (Sorry Sarah.) That's one way to abruptly end a conversation. Lucky parents, once Kate started having kids, she would post photos on her blog, and of course, her being hundreds of miles away and me loving to dote on my niece and nephew (who are the cutest humans alive) I of course had to have her site as a favorite so as to check it regularly. 

Ok, so I've been sitting on this issue for 4+ years, letting the idea of blogging settle inside me, when I make the crucial decision to subscribe to Kate's blog. Yes. No more, "oh I feel like checking up on my sister's life." I deliberately made the decision to receive emails whenever she updated her posts. I genuinely enjoyed reading what she had to say! How could this be?! After a month or so of updates, I decided to rethink blogging. After all, I am getting married (less than three weeks away!), I finished school, and I have made substantial life changes in the last year including eating raw(er), working out, managing my money, breaking a terrible lifelong nail biting habit (to name a few accomplishments). Why not share? So after years, literally, of throwing this idea in my head, I have decided to spit it out, and give you: Dot's Blog. I am hesitant, I am nervous, I am excited, anxious, and a little doubtful that anyone will even care for it. But here it is anyways. The name is suiting, seeing as my thoughts are gold to me, but possibly trash to you (compost), but hey! Compost is a good thing! And it's fresh, meaning, well, depending on how often I decide to update this, there will be new posts to sift through. Enjoy and please comment (be nice!)