Raw Sierra

Sawtooth Backpacking August 2010

2011-01-19T15:18:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone! How have ya been? Sorry for the long break. Crazy times, but I will save the catch up for another post. Went backpacking twice this summer – and I was diggin it! Check out this pic of the Sawtooth Backpacking trip I took with the hubby my son, and his brother. We had a blast and the Sawtooths are awesome by the way! I fell in love with Sun Valley – too bad my bank account does not match my love for that area! Hope to chat with everyone soon!

My son took this pic on our first day entering the Sawtooth National Forest. Absolutely stunning!

A very sad weekend

2010-06-04T10:36:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone. My family got some very sad news on Thursday around 1 am. My brother-in-law passed away suddenly and we do not know why. He was only 58 years old and has left behind a 14 year old son who is going to need alot of love and prayer to get through this. My sister is devastated and is faced with the task of raising my nephew without a father. My brother-in-law was a wonderful uncle to my children and he will be missed. My family is going to get together and really help my sister with raising her son. I have a wonderful sister and she is a very caring person. She also has Rheumatoid Arthritis and another crippling disease (my mom and dad are genetic nightmares!) and she will need alot of love and support to get through this.

On another note, my Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is raging and I can barely get out of bed or brush my teeth for that matter. Trying to keep my chin up though and remember daily all the blessings in my life that God has given me. My family, my husband and three awesome children, friends that care and do not mind my crippled condition sometimes! – I am very blessed. I want to thank all my friends who have called me with their kind words of encouragement and support this week. It has really helped me get through tough times this week and I appreciate your caring so much!

As some of you know, I have not been raw for the past month. My Rheumatoid Arthritis was so bad, that it was basically agony everyday. After being raw for five months, I decided I needed to do something different with my diet to see if I could (once again) ease my RA symptoms. My RA became so much worse on the raw diet, I cannot explain it. I think I am the only person on the planet that can eat broccoli and feel worse! And as far as the pain goes, you learn to live with the pain, so not many people can tell that I am hurting so much (unless they see my hands and wrists, or wonder why I shuffle). I mean, its not like you are gonna be at the grocery store and screaming in pain the whole time. You just learn to tolerate it and get through each day and try to keep a smile on your face! I know many of you deal with health issues and pain daily, and I will keep you in my prayers! hugs hugs hugs :)))))))))))

Wow, sorry for such a sad post! I promise my next post will be happier! I think I need an voice-activated keyboard as typing is excruciating on my wrists! I wish everyone a blessed and wonderful weekend.

RA Gone Wild and Yummy Flax Cookies

2010-05-27T12:00:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! Long time since I posted. Sorry but crazy times around here with the son graduating college, the other son in baseball playoffs, daughter in dance recitals, end of school year stuff – all this and a really bad RA flare – and I mean really bad – wild bad. Cannot get out of bed bad. I think I need a rope contraption on the ceiling so I can somehow be hoisted out of bed!

As some of you may know from my other blog RA is Wild, I have been eating way more cooked food lately. After 5.5 months on raw, and my RA getting so much worse I had to make changes. I am still trying to be at least 50% raw throughout the day and seem pretty successful with that. All it takes is a huge salad at lunch, or maybe a hummus wrap with lots of veggies and a green smoothie at breakfast, and I find it easy to stay above the 50% raw mark. Last week I was feeling a little better but this week has been really, really (did I say really?) hard. Coping with extreme, chronic pain can be tough to deal with mentally too. I have the greatest husband in the world who is very supportive and helpful – Love you hubby!

So my RA has been really bad lately and my hands do not work at all. In fact when I wake up, they are numb and very painful (I know that sounds weird to be numb and have pain at the same time but that is how I describe it). My wrists hurt so bad that I am icing them in the morning. But when life gives you lemons, what do you do? Make cookies! lol - Even if my hands are not working I can make these easy cookies. Nothing will stop me from making cookies! I will make them with my elbows if I have too!

The other day I made Averie's No-Bake Vegan Flax Seed Cookies and these are really good! What a great way to incorporate flax into your diet and they are sooo easy! I added a TBSP of Almond Butter just because. Now she makes a much prettier version of cookies than I do, but remember I have mangled, painful hands! haha

Head on over to Averie's site as she has some wonderful vegan recipes and advice. She is a really wonderful person and blogger and is very inspirational!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Weekend! God Bless you all!

Quickie Blackberry Nut Milk Ice Cream & other confessions

2010-04-17T21:39:00.001-07:00

Happy Saturday night everyone! Hey, so my kids wanted Thrifty (now Rite-Aid) ice cream. So like a good mom I went and got them some and had to hold two pints of cookie dough and pralines and cream ice cream in each hand for the drive home..How agonizing was that? I do not care how healthy the raw diet is, I miss ice cream. So I decided to make a quickie raw version using some brazil nut milk I had in the frig and some fresh blackberries. It was like magic – well almost…it turned out pretty good and calmed my ice cream cravings down.

I have made some killer raw ice cream before using a recipe from Jennifer Cornbleet's Raw Dessert Book (and I mean it was to die for!). This was a quickie version and it did the trick. I kept the agave to a minimum as I seem to feel it if I eat too much of that stuff (kind of the way I feel when I used to eat too much sugar).

Now onto the confession part – Forgive me for I have sinned. I am a very bad raw girl! It has been five months on the High Raw Diet – and yesterday I decided to treat myself to some crappy fast food at my fav place Del Taco. I ordered a small bean burrito no cheese. Its VEGAN. So why did I feel so guilty?

I am sure the guilt stems from that the fact that there is probably crappy ingredients in the tortilla and beans. I can make my own beans and buy my own tortillas and at least know every single ingredient that is in there. I do know that Del Taco has vegan beans and tortillas so at least that is good to know. But I have to confess that I LOVED EVERY BITE OF THAT BURRITO. I do feel deprived on the raw diet lately and I cannot help it. I am going thru a "If I eat another salad I am going to kill myself" phase!

~ Although this salad with Creamy Tahini dressing (recipe from

www.kristensraw.com) was really good ~

It is such a pain in the butt to make salads and eat healthy sometimes!

Ya know Dr. Fuhrman (the Eat to Live Doc) says if you can eat healthy 90% of the time you have mastered the art of healthy eating. So maybe I should treat myself every now and then to vegan cooked stuff. I am still high raw (like on average 80-90%) but I do enjoy the cooked vegan food ALOT when I have it!

Here is a list of cooked vegan food I have had throughout my duration of being High Raw (I have been 100% Vegan since I started and NEVER deviated from that – my kids were daring me to try a bite of real ice cream tonight!)

Homemade Veggie burgers
Quinoa Spaghetti and Organic Spaghetti sauce
Stir Fry Veggies
Roasted and baked potatoes
Pinto beans
A few French fries here and there
Baked sweet potatoes
Gluten Free and Vegan Scones (Homemade and killer)
and ONE small Del Taco Bean Burrito NO cheese!

Now I have stayed high raw even though I have incorporated some of these items into my diet now and then. I could really see myself going more cooked vegan and REALLY enjoying it! So I am going to start making that transition. Especially since I cannot stay raw and backpack in the high Sierra's for two weeks, I better get my bod used to digesting cooked food.

I have to be careful though as I could easily be an overweight vegan. I like to eat ALOT of food and I can do that on raw and not gain weight. I know I would gain weight eating alot of vegan spaghetti and scones!

So I hope everyone has a great weekend! Summer is almost here! I went for a four mile walk today with the hubby and daughter. Trying to get into shape for upcoming backpacking trips!

Raw Bread Recipe Alert! – Kale-Hemp-Onion Bread

2010-03-31T14:41:00.001-07:00

Hey there! How is Wednesday treating ya? I have been meaning to post some raw recipes that have actually been successful! I have had quite a few bomb on me, but I have to say (as I pat myself on the back) that my raw bread recipe is pretty darn delish. I have mastered Kale-Hemp-Onion Bread. I have made it a few times and tweaked it a little (sunflower seeds for hemp seeds, to add garlic powder or not) but each time it has turned out awesome.

Trust me – this stuff is awesome! And packed with nutrition! This is a great way to use nutritional yeast to get your B12s.

You can make it as thick as you want – this is about 1/4" thick

So without further ado…the famous recipe from a newbie raw foodie:

Kale-Hemp-Onion Bread

2 cups of torn Kale
1/2 white onion semi-chopped
1/2 cup Hemp Seeds (or use pepitas, sunflower – whateva you desire)
1 cup ground flax seed (or Bob's Red Mill Organic Flax meal)
2/3 cup Nutritional Yeast (makes this bread taste cheezy and awesome)
1 tsp Himalayan Salt (or whatever salt you have…I love this pink salt)
1/2 tsp Organic Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Organic Garlic Powder
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Now toss it all in a food processor and process til that ball starts to whip around the container. The dough will be stiff – Now spread it or pat it with your hands on a lined dehydrator tray and score it in your desired shapes. I score mine so they will fit into a quart mason jar for storage (so like 3" x 3" squares) I put my last batch in the dehydrator at 10:30 pm and it was ready at 8 am. That is it! You should get about 8 slices.

This bread has a great flavor..you cant really taste the onion that much at all, but it really helps to keep it moist. The nutritional yeast really compliments the bread and gives it a yummy cheezy flavor.

Make veggie sandwiches – use avo and tomato slices, lettuce and organic mustard - can you say YUM!
Use it as a side to your huge raw salads!
Eat it as a snack!

I feel this is a great go-to raw snack/food item to have on hand. One day I am gonna make all 9 dehydrator trays full of this stuff. But I need the super large 12 cup food processor! Hubby do you read my blog? Cuz that would be a super romantic surprise present! (HAHA)

Have a great day!

WOW! LDL Cholesterol dropped a whopping 30 points!

2010-03-26T13:21:00.001-07:00

Hey Raw peoples! This is a quickie post and (sorry I have not posted but life has been crazy wicked) – Anyways, just got back from the Doc (a Hyst post-op appt) and my LDL cholesterol dropped 30 points – can you believe that? 30 points in four months. My LDL is now 109 – I am so happy! RA puts a person at much higher risk for cardio issues due to all the inflammation going on. So I want to do everything I can to lower my risks. My OB/Gyn Dr is so awesome. He is a firm believer in the overall total body approach and supports my veganism. All my other levels are great too. And I am not anemic – yeah!

So with that I will say…

"Goodbye In-N-Out Burger with melted, double cheese (for those who do not live in Cali, this is in fact a very traumatic goodbye) – Goodbye greasy french fries, Goodbye Ben and Jerry, Goodbye Taco bell, Goodbye fried chicken, Goodbye sourdough bread with butter slathered all over it - I shall miss you! Parting is such sweet sorrow (well sometimes it is!) and I am off to greener pastures!

Now if I could just lose that last 7 or 8 pesky pounds, my vegan life would be complete! lol.

The hubby's new pride and joy (I think he loves this Rubicon more than me!) We just got back from Utah – it was gorgeous!

Psycho Killer and Vegan Martinis

2010-03-15T14:54:00.001-07:00

I can’t seem to face up to the facts.
I’m tense and nervous and I... can’t relax.
I can’t sleep, cause my bed’s on fire.
Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire.

Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est?

fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa better
Run run run run run run run away
OH OH OH

This song is how I feel today~ It is one of those days! Especially the run away part! My RA is killing me, I am tired and could sleep the entire day away. I had a Chocolate Cherry Bomb Shake by www.Kristensraw.com and used Hemp protein powder that has E3Live and Maca in it. Hopefully that will energize these weary old crippled bones!

Yeah I know, this was NOT my Chocolate Cherry Bomb Shake…but it looks pretty good!

This puppy had raw cacao nibs on top…yum!

Here is the good ole Raw menu plan for today (I reserve the right to change this!)

Breakfast: Green Juice (I drank a quart!) – hey I save my Kale stalks from my massaged Kale salad and juice them later!

Lunch: Chocolate Cherry Bomb Shake with E3Live, MACA and Hemp

Snack: Apple

Dinner: Spinach salad with raw veggies and tahini dressing, my own Raw Kale Hemp Bread that I made and it was to die for…recipe coming soon.

Here is what I have been craving lately…

as if Raw martinis existed…raw vodka?

Good news! Vodka is Vegan – according to the Vegan Society in the UK…so that is good enough for me! I have not had a cocktail in four months. Now I am not much of a drinker at all (*cough* college days don't count), but semi-occasionally it is nice to mix a yummy, fruity martini and chillax a little. I used to love to go to the Cheesecake Factory with the hubby and sip on a Red Rasberry martini (one of the best drinks in the universe by the way.)

Absolut, Stoli, and Grey Goose are all Vegan. Just in case all you vegans wanted (needed) to know!

A GROSS, disturbing fact: Some drinks such as Campari are coloured with E120, a red colouring agent made from the red body material of scale insects (Dactilopius coccus). This is also found in some soft drinks and red wines. YUK – EEEWWW – Sounds like something Man vs. Wild would eat. The red body material of an insect. GROSS.

So what is everyone up to today on this ho-hum Monday? My 17 year old has a baseball game and then I am cooking chicken quesadillas for the fam. We are trying to go thru everything we have til payday. Of course my kids always tell me we have nothing to eat. Last night they fought over pizza or Subway. I said "what do I care, I am raw, I don't eat that crap" – Raw gets me out of alot of dinner disputes!

Sorry my blog post is all over the place today…Psycho Killer, Martinis, Raw Shakes, Menu Plan…I am all over the place today!

I better run run run run run run run awaaaaaaaaaay!

PS – Now that song will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day! hee hee

Gluten-Free-Vegan Blueberry Scones – Yeah baby!

2010-03-13T11:47:00.001-08:00

Life has been sooo hectic lately! I cannot believe I have not posted in over a week! So…will Blueberry Cinnamon Scones make it up to you? And hold on to your raw socks – These are VEGAN and GLUTEN-FREE! Yeah, baby, yeah!

These scones are rockin' my house! Cant keep the fam away from them! Good thing for me, as I do not need the calories (And here I thought vegan food would never contribute to weight gain?! These would definitely!)

Flying Apron's Blueberry Cinnamon Scones

These turned out so yummy! I have to admit that I tasted the dough and it had a weird taste to it. They are made with Brown Rice flour and Garbanzo bean flour so I figured the weird taste might be from these flours. But once cooked, they taste fantastic! You could spread Vegan butter on them or even coconut butter. The recipe is from the Flying Apron's Gluten Free and Vegan Baking Book. I am not a celiac but I am trying to watch my gluten intake, so alternative recipes make my heart soar! Yes, they are not raw, but a girl needs a baked treat now and then, don't cha think? I only had a nibble! But if I can get the family to eat healthy, vegan treats instead of the crap food they normally eat, then I have accomplished something.

So what's up Raw peoples? My raw intake the last week has been at about 70-80%. I am finding it hard to be 100% raw lately, as I am loving the stir fry veggies in coconut oil over brown rice combo – warm food just sometimes kicks butt over raw! And warm food just makes me happy sometimes. So I am all over that!

This past week I have been working out on the treadmill with walk-run intervals in my new Asics running shoes. I was hoping that running might jiggle loose some of this fat I am carrying around! Does it work that way?

Have a great Saturday!

Go Raw Cafe Vegas Review and Mid Life Crisis

2010-03-04T11:20:00.001-08:00

Hey raw vegan peoples! On our way back from Utah Anniversary camping we stopped into the Go Raw Cafe in Vegas. What a cute, little granola, hippy spot! When we walked in, they were having a yoga/vegan class which was kind of cool.

What a good sport the hubby is as he wanted the meat and potatoes thang!

Kind of a cafe feel to it…that's fine as I'm not a fancy girl

Anyways, short and sweet post here…everything here was pretty darn good. We ordered a Bruschetta Nut Cheez buckwheat appetizer thingy and I forgot to take a pic until the last bite! It was really, really, really, did I say really? good.

Bruchetta Toast - “Cheese”, tomato, basil, garlic, pine nuts, & herbs

This was rockin' good

Next was the Go Raw House Salad…one of the best salads eva!

Go Raw House Salad
A mix of any or all of the following organic ingredients:
Mixed greens, cucumbers, shredded carrots, bell peppers,
tomatoes, sprouts, avocado, onion, nuts & seeds.

Then…

Mexicali Pizza - Topped with Mexi “cheese”, “beans”, “rice”,
guacamole, salsa, sour dream, & hemp seeds

This was rock your raw-socks-off crunking awesome!

I so wish I could uncook stuff like this!

I felt like I was in Berkeley when we walked in the Go Raw Cafe. If you have ever been to Berkeley you know what I mean. My kid attends Cal, and Berkeley is a cool, hippy, vegan, granola town. Vegas..not so much, but this cafe had a little slice of that Berkeley feel. They also had raw food items you could purchase off the shelf. The only thing I did not care for here was their desserts. Amazing as I usually love raw desserts, but the ones here were so-so.

Utah Camping post to come soon! Got my hubby his 50th birthday present early. A Jeep Rubicon! He has always wanted a Jeep. Its kind of a man-mid-life crisis thing I guess. My son reminds me that 50 is NOT mid-life but age 40 actually is. I guess we are 10 years late on the mid-life crisis.

Moab here we come! Water fast may be in order for awhile so I can recover financially from the Rubi purchase!

The most amazing sunset and I'm out of here!

2010-02-25T14:24:00.001-08:00

McClure Meadows at Sunset – Evolution Valley August 2009

in the High Sierra Backcountry

Hey my little vegans! Quickie post! I am off for anniversary camping this weekend with the hub-a-dub-dub. No kiddos on this trip (bittersweet – I always miss them). So anyways, if I get a chance I will finally snap a pic of the food I tote along on these camping trips. High Raw, lots of fresh produce and a little vegan cooked meals at night. I will tell you a secret (sssshhh!) I might sneak a little popcorn in at night while we watch Lost on the I-Touch. I soooo miss popcorn! We are almost finished with season 3 – and yes I like Sawyer…can't help myself.

Quickie list of food stuff I am bringing:

RAW ITEMS:

Nut milk, a tad bit of raw granola

Frozen green juice

Teeccino herbal tea

Apples, oranges, pineapple – all fresh and organic

Massaged kale salad with carrots and hemp seeds

Fresh guacamole and salsa with raw corn chips

Pure and Larabars (But I am trying to stay off these lately)

Gena's Chocomole

VEGAN ITEMS:

Mary Jane's outpost Vegan backcountry meals

Quinoa spaghetti with Amy's organic pasta sauce

Bell peppers and onion for fajita stir fry with a brown rice tortilla

Popcorn (ssshhh!)

Hope everyone has a great weekend and see you in March! Oh and we have to see the tax man on Monday – boo!

Feeling Raw-Blah and yummy granola bars

2010-02-23T14:36:00.001-08:00

It's official! I have been raw (well high raw) for three months now. It is also my 18th Wedding anniversary this weekend! Well, the date is really February 29th but that only comes every four years. I am sure you are wondering why anyone would pick Feb. 29th for their wedding day, but that is another post! In honor of these two momentous occasions I decided to make some yummy treat to take with us this weekend as we are going camping (of course). My hubby and I are turning into hippies as we get older, and camping just seemed the right way to celebrate 18 years of bliss! (haha – mostly bliss).

So hop on over to Miss Averie's site and check out her recipe for High Raw Vegan Chocolate-Coconut-Chia-Oat Dessert/Energy Bars. These were so fantastic during the creation process that I could not stop licking the spoon! I did omit the banana as I still detest them. I also added some pre-soaked pumpkin seeds and pecans.

I should have taken a pic with the spoon in the batter but I was to busy applying it to the inside of my mouth!

This is just delicious goodness! High Raw yumminess!

Now I popped this into the freezer and later I will cut them into bars and package them up for our camping trip. I am still trying to lose a little weight (can I get a grrrr!) on the raw diet and having trouble with it even though I eat nothing but green juice and kale all day long. I will make sure to only eat one small bar a day while camping…maybe a snack. And just so you know, I did not have enough peanut butter, so I added some sunflower seed nut butter and they still turned out fab.

So my thoughts on this RAW diet thang– has it helped my Rheumatoid Arthritis?

I went through some NASTY detox symptoms (at least I think they were detox symptoms). Within one week of the raw diet (and I was 100% raw from the get-go) my knees were super stiff and hurt all day long. My RA got much worse everywhere. Basically I started a major flare and I think it was detox symptoms. Maybe us RA people detox in a weird, joint-associated way. I took more prednisone during this time period than the last 13 years of my RA disease.

Still injecting Enbrel into my thighs 2x/week. In fact, it does not work as good as it used to since I went raw – go figure!

Has my RA improved overall in the last three months?

Well, let me see – in a word – NO. How sucky is that? I am still worse than when I started. I think it might take longer to detox for people with auto-immune disorders. But I am no expert. I can only tell you what I have experienced.

Have I seen any health symptoms improve?

YES and can I get a YES. I know this a tabu subject but can we talk constipation? I am the queen of it. No the King of it. No the Galactic Ruler of it! I have struggled for my entire life with the number 2 thing. I lived on Senekot. I am sure I kept that company in business. I have tried it all, Benefiber, Metamucil, you name it I have tried it. Now I have always consumed massive quantities of water so that was never an issue. Before I went raw, I ate a ton of steamed green beans which seemed to help but then I would digress to my old sluggish ways. RAW has seemed to cure me of this awful problem. So was it meat, dairy, crap processed food? Do I lack enzymes that help me digest stuff? I have no idea, all I know is that the RAW diet has CURED my constipation.

How about weight loss on the RAW diet?

Yeah whatever (She says with arms folded and back turned!) – Seriously, damn it. I lost seven pounds when I first began this diet, but since then I have lost NOTHING. ZIP. NADA. In fact, I have put on two pounds. Now, to be fair, when I started RAW I had just had a hysterectomy so I basically laid around for three months due to a horrid recovery. So I am sure I lost some muscle mass. In the last month I have really stepped it up and I am lifting weights again and walking alot with the hubby. Yes, it does hurt to lift light weights and exercise when you have RA. At times I find myself cursing my own body parts (damn these wrists, damn you to hell!) but we RA people have got to keep moving no matter what. So maybe the two pound weight gain is muscle? At least I can tell myself that! But after three months of being RAW (two months 100% raw, and this last month high-raw), I expected to be down at least 10 pounds! What the heck is going on? I will have to cut off an arm to lose that last five pounds.

What about your hair and skin?

Is my hair fuller and thicker? NO. But keep in mind I have RA, and the meds make you go bald (seriously, I used to have 100 times more hair). Has my skin improved? Do I have that glow everyone talks about? NO! In fact I still have adult acne at times. I always battle clear skin. I was hoping going RAW might really help that but so far I have not seen any difference in my skin.

SO IS RAW WORTH IT?

Besides the obvious benefits of helping stave off animal cruelty and environmental impact issues, the jury is still out for me as far as my health is concerned. I really had high hopes for going RAW. I really thought I might be able to get off all my meds one day. So far, this seems to be unattainable for me. RA drugs have really nasty side effects, but the disease is so debilitating that most choose to take the meds (including me) or I will cease to function. Now I realize my inside health has probably improved since I am not eating animal fat. I do realize all the benefits, but my main goal was to overcome this dang, crappy RA thing.

My Ultimate Goal

I want to transition to a high raw diet/vegan. I miss cooked food. I miss stir fry and soups. I miss going out to dinner with my hubby. I can see myself doing Raw for breakfast and lunch and eating a cooked vegan meal for dinner. I already find myself assimilating some cooked food into my diet and so far my digestive issues have not returned. I tell you one thing, being a vegetarian would be a piece of cake for me now! I think being dairy free is harder than not eating meat. Not that I ate that much dairy. In fact, I love nut milks and all the dairy alternatives, but eating at a restaurant and being dairy free is almost impossible. My favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, offers basically zilch for vegan options. Even their pasta is made with eggs, and veggies are cooked in butter, and milk products are added to sauces. Yes, I could order a plate of veggies cooked in olive oil but why bother spending the money. I can cook or uncook veggies my way at home.

Lately I am finding it hard to be on the Raw diet. The excitement is not there and I am getting bored of my food choices. Maybe I will feel different tomorrow!

Is it just me, or does everyone hit a RAW plateau? Do you ever get bored of the Raw diet? Maybe I am going through Raw Mid Life Crisis! lol

Fave smoothie of the week – So Cherry

2010-02-19T21:14:00.001-08:00

Quick post and then I got to go spend time with the hubby as my butt has been in this computer chair all day and he is watching Star Trek NG without me. This is about the millionth time I have made Kristen's Raw Cherry Chocolate Bomb Shake and it is SCRUMPTIOUS! Now ya got to go visit that link for the recipe but I have tweaked it every time. Here are some additional yummies you can add:

Pumpkin seeds for extra iron (pre-soaked of course)
A touch of agave (if you have a sweet tooth)
Raw cacoa nibs for crunch
Maca – I like to just say that word!

Okay peoples, have a great Friday night. Off to watch Season 3 Episode 1 of LOST on HULU – dang I love that show, and I am big Sawyer fan!

WARNING – vegan cheese to die for! and camping too!

2010-02-17T17:50:00.001-08:00

Dreaming of Vegan Cheese? I know you are!

Hey peeps! Happy Wednesday! I hope you all had a fab Valentine's Day. We went camping with the kids – I know, not very romantic but we had alot of fun anyways. On the way home, I finally got my crippled hands (get it? I have RA - crippled hands?! haha) on some Daiya Vegan Cheese! Yeah baby! I was at Whole Foods in Henderson, NV and decided to see if they had any of this taking-the-vegan-world-by-storm cheese stuff in stock. At first I could not find it *sigh* but I finally asked some nice WF dude and we found it in the pizza/olive section. It was in plastic containers, so I am guessing they buy it in bulk? Who knows…I bought two kinds - yellow cheddar and white cheesy Italian – It kind of looks like cheese, but who cares what it looks like – WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE??!!??? That is the ultimate question for all you "wanna-be-vegans-but-wont-commit-cuz-you-love-cheese" people! jk - (BFF you know who you are! hee hee).

Daiya Italian Shredded and Cheddar Shredded

It kinda has a crumbly-shredded texture

So this raw girl decided to do some actual vegan cooking!

I am still trying to stay clear of gluten for the most part and these Trader Joe's Brown Rice Tortillas were a nice alternative. They are really stiff so they would be hard to eat right out of the bag. I decided to make a yummy quesadilla with my new non-cheese find.

This was one screaming-good quesadilla –with grilled onions and peppers – I thought I died and went to cooked food Heaven.

Check out the melty not-cheese action! Got it going on baby!

I wanted to play a Barry White song!

Can't get enough of your love baby! Oh yeah it was that good.

Daiya not-cheese rocks the house people! I mean it was really melty and greasy (in a good way) like real cheese.

And I think it tasted like cheese – although I have never been a huge cheese connoisseur. If I think about cheese too long, visions of spores, molds, and fungus fill my head – hee hee – its twu- its twu!

ABCDEFGHHIJKLMON

The verdict: Me like 'em Daiya not-Cheese!

ABCDEFGHHIJKLMON

Hey, we went to the Valley of Fire in Nevada over the weekend and took the whole fam damily camping. Even flew in the college kid to spend the weekend with us. The red sandstone scenery was spectacular. You will love this place if you are into rocks - rocks are awesome by the way – of course I am a geologist so I am partial. Check out this pic my son took of an arch in the park. Amazing.

Cool arch – looks like a scorpion tail

Cool campsite at Arch Rock Campground

Another cool shot of the campground – we used to have a big trailer and F350 when the kids were little. Now we just tent it. We like the easy set up. I could live in a tent and plan to for a few years when we retire – cannot wait!

It was 40 degrees in the manana, I have 3 layers of pants on and 2 tops and a jacket on! People with RA get really cold (in general). All the kiddos are still sleeping in the tent~

My raw breakfast – GoRaw Chocolate Granola with Brazil Nut Milk and my Sierra Sunrise Cocktail (juice). And while we are on the subject, as far as nut milks go, Brazil Nut milk is my all time fave! I also packed three days worth of Massaged Kale Salad, Carrot Juice, sprouted bread with some coconut butter, oranges and apples, avocados (of course), veggie burgers, Pure Bars and Larabars, and a vegan cookie – so I stayed about 85-90% raw on a three day camping trip – not bad eh? I did have one handful of popcorn before the fam buttered it up – man do I miss popcorn on the raw diet!

My Chiquitita

The Valley of Fire is a great place to see some thrust fault action. Younger, Jurassic sandstone is found beneath the older Cambrian Limestone in this area. I came here for a geology field trip back in my college days – I am surprised I can remember it. I am sure you have heard about geologists – hardcore partiers– hey, but not me! lol (in case my kids read this blog.)

View Full Album

Kale Rocks the Raw House!

2010-02-10T09:26:00.001-08:00

Hey peeps! I am having a love affair with Kale lately. Good thing it's not french fries anymore. lol - This salad is a MUST have in your raw food arsenal. KALE ROCKS in so many ways – nutrients, taste, sturdiness (it holds up really well compared to other lettuce like iceberg – bleh) My feelings towards iceberg lettuce is that it is worthless but that is just me!

Okay a few little facts about kale you probably already knew:

Kale is a form of cabbage
Kale has powerful antioxidant properties and is considered to be an anti-inflammatory (well my RA still sucks, but I'll keep eating it)
Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C and calcium
Kale has sulfur-containing phytonutrients that help fight cancer

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who is renowned for his Eat to Live Diet books, rates Kale on his nutrient density scale at a score of 1000 out of 1000. Hands down Kale is one of the most nutritious plants on the Earth. It is also high in magnesium which helps the absorption of calcium

Dinosaur kale is my favorite type of kale and has very curly leaves so you have to make sure you soak and wash the leaves. There are other types of kale, so you can be creative. You can always find kale at most farmers markets since it is so hardy to grow.

So onto my favorite way to eat kale (so far – as someday I am going to cook it in olive oil and garlic)

Massaged Kale Salad

1 head of curly kale soaked and rinsed

1-2 TBSP olive oil (start with 1 tbsp and then add more if you need to)

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt

*1-2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice (this is optional)

1 cup or more of baby carrots

1 Avocado

1 cup Grape tomatoes

2 TBSP Hemp Seeds

Dressing of your choice

Now simply destem the kale and chop it up into bite size pieces and put it into a bowl (I use a large glass Pyrex dish with a lid). Now add the olive oil, the salt, and the vinegar or lemon juice option if you want it. (I have made it both ways, right now I prefer to skip this option because I use alot of cider vinegar in my salad dressing.)

Now massage away! Get your hands in there and massage the oil and salt into all the leaves. You are done! Just put a lid on the bowl and place in the refrig and in a few hours the kale will have softened a bit. This keeps ALL WEEK LONG…and that is so convenient on the raw diet! I just grab some massaged kale and toss it in a salad bowl with veggies and dressing and I have instant lunch.

This recipe is adapted from Gena at www.choosingraw.com and Kristen's Raw at www.kristensraw.com and of course both these awesome girls have created the most yummy raw recipes on the planet.

This weekend we are headed off to the Valley of Fire in Nevada for a camping trip. My boy will be flying in from Berkeley to join us. I can't wait for a fun, family getaway! We used to take alot of vacations when the kids were younger, but as they get older, they don't like hanging out with their old parents! And you have to pry their fingers off the XBOX! I am going to take some pics all the raw food I have packed for the trip. I plan on staying raw except for one dinner which will be a cooked vegan backpacking meal and some organic muesli (maybe muesli is raw? idk).

Do you find that kids today are not as interested in old-fashioned activities like camping because of all the high-tech toys they have to play with?

Raw Cookie Dough Cleanse – Day 1

2010-02-06T22:37:00.001-08:00

Haha – gotcha! I am sure in heaven there is a cookie dough cleanse, but not here on Planet Earth baby! Even if they are made from all raw, vegan ingredients! These little beauties are courtesy of the lovely Averie at www.loveveggiesyoga.com – and I have to tell you she is a cookie dough genius! This raw version is so much better than the real, non-vegan version. You have to try these and they are super easy to make.

mmmmm….cookie dough (as Homer Simpson would say)

Have you ever seen such a beautiful sight?

Averie's Raw Cookie Dough and My Brazil Nut Milk

To be honest, desserts on the raw diet ROCK – it is the main dishes I miss. I mean I grew up on In-N-Out double double…and I still miss them when the carnivore family orders them -

In-N-Out is an institution here in California. In high school, I would order a double double, a single, fries and a chocolate shake. Holy cr@p! I would gain 10 pounds in one day if I ate that now. And yes, I have watched Food, Inc. and know all the bad and nasty stuff about our meat supply – but -

I STILL WANT A DOUBLE DOUBLE!

Now this would be excessive. But someone ate this 16x16 burger. I wish my desire for some of my old eats would just go away! But I am sorry, my kale salad sometimes just does not compare to the In-N-Out double double. You Cali people know what I am talking 'bout!

What do you all miss on the Raw diet? Do you have any desire for the old foods you used to consume?

I can has veggie burger? lol

2010-02-03T16:56:00.001-08:00

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I find myself feeling blah – and I do not know why. So I am trying to remind myself all the things I have to be thankful for and the list is long. God, husband, kids, family, friends, my life, etc. I need to express my gratitude everyday to all the good and wonderful things in my life. This seems to help the blahs!

So what's going on this Wednesday with you? This year is already flying by if you ask me. Of course ever since I turned 40 last year (ahem, cough, cough - lol) I feel like time travels at the speed of light!

So, I am starting to introduce a little more cooked, vegan food into my diet. Not everyday, but maybe twice a week. Got to get ready for a big backpacking trip in July (Sawtooth's? Justin you going?) where I will be eating cooked food every night. So I thought I would take a shot at some veggie burgers…..tada!

My first veggie burger thingys evah! Thanks to Angela at Oh She Glows for the Jiffy Spelt Burger Recipe (I used Oat flour instead of Spelt cuz I am trying to be gluten free these days). Heck I never even heard of Spelt until I went to Angela's site! How is that for ignorance! I do not think I have a gluten intolerance, but who knows what effects RA these days. So I am trying to cut out all that stuff. Its tough being raw and gluten free isn't it? Especially when your family is made up of voracious carnivores!

This morning I had green juice that was about the best green juice I have made as of late. I am trying to cut down my fruit in my green juice so I was a proud mama, only including one apple in this recipe. I LOVE celery in juice, do you? It gives such a salty kick to juice.

Today is ENBREL day. For those of you that do not know what this is, it is a Biological RA med that you inject 1 or 2 times per week depending on the type of ENBREL you are prescribed. RA is an autoimmune disease. So the short answer is, if you have RA, your immune system is attacking itself. Can I get a big BOO to that? ENBREL helps stop some of that bad-action-immune-system-attacking from occurring. So I got to inject this stuff and lately my thighs look like I am junkie. My bruises from the injections linger forever! Could I have a vitamin deficiency? We shall see as I am getting a full blood panel next week.

I hate taking this stuff. Yes, it makes my RA alot better, but the side effects suck – like Cancer, TB, infections, oh and even death. How's that for a cure for RA? Haha –

I won't get into the logistics of how ENBREL works to stop the immune system from attacking itself. But know this, ENBREL is EXPENSIVE. If you do not have insurance it is around $1500 for a one month supply. And it probably will not go generic since it is a biologic drug made in special facilities. It is very sad to think there are people with RA who cannot afford to take the latest breakthrough drugs to ease their symptoms. And if you are on Medicare fughettaboutit! With Medicare's tier pricing, you are in the donut hole in less than two months. Can you see why we need healthcare reform in this country?

*SIGH*

I started a RAW diet to see if I could get off this stuff. ENBREL helps me ALOT, but the side effects suck. Some of the side effects I have experienced recently are nerve issues in both hips and ENBREL warns about nerve damage among other things. But, if I do not take ENBREL, I will never get out of bed – Yes, RA sucks that much!

Let me list the positive things that the RAW diet has helped me with:

The good things RAW has done

Constipation (I know a yukky subject, but it has cured me of this chronic ailment – a miracle!)
Weight Loss – I was not heavy to begin with but I have lost about 6 pounds and I do not count calories – yeah!
Food Addiction – I pretty much eat to live now instead of live to eat (does this make sense? – food does not have as much control over me as it used to)

What I am still waiting for RAW to do

Acne – I do NOT have that glow or good skin yet? What is up!!!! Everyone on the raw diet says their skin clears up…well not mine! And I want it now! lol
Energy – I feel NO difference in energy levels – boo. Maybe its my RA, no duh, I am sure its my RA
More weight loss – having RA, I would like to be slightly underweight to put less pressure on my joints, but my body does NOT want to cooperate! I want to get to 115 lbs, but I think I will have to cut off an arm or something.
Cure RA – well one can hope right?! At least ease my symptoms
World Peace

Okay, so there you have my long-winded post! I hope everyone has a terrific night. My hubby and I are watching LOST on Hulu (my son, Cody, got us addicted, and we are on the final episode of season 1.

Love to all! – More backpacking pics for your enjoyment!

View Full Album

Sierra Sunrise Morning Cocktail – Rawlicious!

2010-02-01T11:49:00.001-08:00

This delicious and scrumptious juice is filled with Beta-carotene and Vitamin C and all sorts of raw goodness! Beta-carotene really helps boost your immunity and we RA sufferers know all about yukky immune systems don't we? I guarantee you will love this juice as much as I do.

Sierra Sunrise Morning Cocktail

8 medium-large carrots peeled (less earthy this way)

2 apples (green or red or mix em')

2 small-medium celery stalks

4 oranges (peeled)

Wash them all thoroughly and toss them in your juicer – I have a Hurom slow juicer, but any juicer will do. You can strain your juice to remove any pulp or don't strain it – it's up to you.

This recipe makes one quart and stores well for a few days - meaning it does not lose much taste integrity from oxidation.

Right now this is my favorite morning juice. I store it in a one quart mason jar with a plastic lid. I love mason jars to store things, and I am gonna ditch all my plastic tupperware with all its nasty toxins for glass mason jars and glass containers.

Hey I went camping in Death Valley over the weekend and stayed high-raw. I did have a vegan, cooked dinner and I did not notice any difference with my digestion. Death Valley, is quite beautiful and serene and filled with 10,000 abandoned mines – how cool is that? Death Valley Raw Food Camping post coming soon!

Duct Tape Use #479 - Tape knees in a backpacking emergency

2010-01-26T09:26:00.001-08:00

Another past backpacking adventure into the Sierra's. In July 2008 we trekked along the John Muir Trail (JMT) for most of the trip. We made our way from Piute Pass (near Bishop, CA) past the North Fork of the San Joaquin River into Evolution Valley and up to Dusy Basin, and came out Bishop Pass (and almost were killed in a rock slide but that is another post).

For the record Bishop Pass scares the crap out of me. It is just a series of steep, narrow switchbacks cut into the mountain. With each step there is the threat of the overhanging rocks giving way. There is even a sign that basically says "move your a$$" as you are in rockslide territory. Well it really says "Hikers should enter at their own risk and keep moving" – which means "move your a$$". This is just a section of the switchback you have to navigate your way around.

Anyways, I got side-tracked! Okay, back to my original post about duct tape, RA, and backpacking into the John Muir Wilderness.

Yep, this is me! Athletic Tape and an ole ace bandage to support my crappy joints! Hey whatever it takes right? This pic is up near Evolution Lake. Just taking a much needed rest. My wrists are wrapped tight as they get excruciating with RA pain, but…

Yeah…Whateva!

I know what you are thinking. "What a nice leg!" Haha. I got so many comments on my duct taped knees while hiking! I did not pack my knee braces for this trip, but I was trying to shave off ounces from my pack. I will not make that mistake again! By the way those are Montrail Hiking boots, and I LOVE them. They have the greatest heel support eva! I purchased them at REI – the greatest place to shop in the world.

This makes the duct tape and wrist braces all worth it. Evolution Lake in the High Sierra's. This is in the heart of the John Muir Wilderness. He was an amazing man and naturalist. Did you know he had memorized the entire Old Testament as a young boy? Among many of his accomplishments, was the founding of the Sierra Club and the preservation of Yosemite Valley and other wilderness areas. He considered the Sierra Nevada Mountains his home.

"The mountains are calling and I must go" – John Muir

One of my favorite places in the backcountry is Evolution Lake. I could live here all summer long. Me and the hubby stopping for a photo op. We decided to go a bit further and camp at No Name Lake…what a creative name. But there is no name on the map, so that is what we called it.

Our campsite at No Name Lake. Now this is really the high country. We are way above tree line and the camp site is a little rocky, but it was still pristine and beautiful.

A view looking back on our way up to Muir Pass. You can see Wanda Lake on the far right which was named after John Muir's daughter.

The John Muir Shelter (hut) at 11,955 feet in Kings Canyon National Park was built in the 1930's to provide shelter for hikers. A young couple (I say young cuz we are like the oldest hikers in the backcountry usually!) And if I recall they were vegan. Well she was, and had packed all vegan stuff. he was dreaming about In-N-Out burgers.

Until our next Raw food, Backpacking, Arthritis adventure!

Glaser Organic Farms – Fab Raw Food!

2010-01-20T17:38:00.001-08:00

I just received a big box of goodies from Glaser Organic Farms and I have to say that I am so in love with their yummy, raw food! They are based in Florida and grow most of their organic produce and carry a huge variety of raw items.

My Scrumptious Raw Food from Glaser Organic Farms

I ordered tons of raw goodies! Pates, Pestos, Salad dressings, preserves, granola, muesli, a few desserts, coconut water, agave syrup, hummus, and bread.

Here is a snippet about them from their website:

Welcome and thank you for your interest in our products. We are a Certified Organic farm dedicated to growing the finest naturally grown organic produce and preparing Gourmet Raw Vegan Foods for over 29 years.
Established in 1980, we specialize in growing tropical fruits such as mango, papaya, lychees, bananas, avocados, rare and exotic tropicals, winter vegetables and herbs. Our practice of organic farming is one of exceptional quality, using only nutritive components on our trees, garden and soils. It is our dedication to working and living with nature that allows us the pleasure of offering you foods of such exceptional quality.

They host an Organic Farmers Market in Florida every saturday that showcases all their organic raw food and chef's raw creations. Its called Coconut Grove and I so want to go there! Now alot of the good stuff is perishable so it has to be shipped overnight. You know how shipping is, a little costs alot and alot does not cost too much more than a little (did I just make sense?) – lol! In other words, it is more cost effective to order alot of perishable items if you need to overnight them to your state.

Today I had their Mock Tuna Pate which is made with Sprouted organic sunflower seeds, farm fresh organic dill, organic celery, organic macadamias, organic pine nuts, organic cashews, fresh squeezed organic lemon juice, organic scallions, fresh coconut water, fresh organic garlic, organic mustard, Celtic sea salt, and organic black pepper. This pate was super excellent. I am so excited to try their salad dressings and I ordered like different kinds.

They package their products for delivery really well

I know this was a boring picture but I wanted to show you how well they package their products for shipping. Everything is bubble-wrapped and taped. If you receive an overnight shipment, ice packs are inserted into a syrofoam box which is then placed in a regular shipping box and secured.

Here are some of the items that I have tried so far:

Orange Cranberry Grawnola – Fantastic
Mock Tuna Pate – Excellent
Temple Balls - (like fudge babies) – Excellent
Maple Cinnamon Walnuts – Yummy
Sprouted Chickpea Hummus – Very good

Here are some of the items I ordered but have not tried yet:

Spinach-Basil Pesto
Cranberry-Date Preserves
Salad Dressings
Muesli
Raw Chocolate Brownie
Raw Pineapple Carrot Cake

I am not associated with Glaser, but I discovered their site about a month ago and decided to order a few things and I was very happy with their quality and customer service. So I thought I would pass it along to everyone. I have looked online for a similar raw, organic farm that creates their own gourmet raw food items (perishable items, not just pantry items) but I have not found any besides Glaser. If you know of any please post in the comment section! So to sum up my raw opinion of Glaser Farms products, their raw food is outstanding! I told my hubby I want to go to Florida so I can visit Glaser's Farms

Can you say Road Trip?

118 Degrees – A Raw Restaurant in the OC

2010-01-17T16:19:00.001-08:00

After 9 weeks on the raw food diet, my hubby and I actually went out to eat at a restaurant minus our kiddos! I was dying to try this new raw food restaurant in Orange County. So we did a crazy, fast-paced 7 mile walk on the beach, freshened up and drove to Costa Mesa to dine raw style! We had a little detour as my hubby spotted a Patagonia store (this is like chocolate to him) – if you know anything about Patagonia, they make awesome clothing, but its soooo expensive. Anyhow, got him out of there and we walked on over to the 118 degrees restaurant.

Ok, so I was really, really excited to have someone else uncook for me! We have nothing close to raw or even vegan where I live, so I was gonna go for it and try lots of raw goodies. My darling hubby was game too even though he is still an omnivore (*sigh*) –

So I started out with their Lemonade and Hot Chocolate – I loved the hot chocolate as you can tell, but they did say it was hotter than 118 degrees (go figure) but the ingredients were raw, so I was happy. The Lemonade had cayenne and agave in it and it was tart for me, but the hubby liked it. He said it cleansed the palette!

Fried Avocado Mini-Tostada

Now this little dish was probably my favorite of the night. The Fried Avocado Mini-Tostada and it was awesome!. The avocado slices were rolled in some type of crumb mixture (they are on the side of the dish) and the buckwheat shell was topped with spinach, corn and peppita sauce. I would definitely order this yummy little dish again!

Coconut Ceviche

Next was the coconut ceviche, which was pretty good. It had fresh coconut (to mock the usual fish in ceviche) and fresh mango, cilantro in a ceviche sauce. It was a huge serving and came with the raw corn tortilla chips. This was very filling! But I liked the Fried Avocado Mini Tostada's better.

The hubby enjoying his non-raw (but organic) beer and coconut ceviche. I am lucky he likes any type of food and he is such an awesome guy for supporting my raw food thang!

Pomegranate-Blood Orange Salad

This salad was fab! It had a very light vinaigrette dressing and was just delicious! Hubby really liked it too!

Trio of Enchiladas

How gorgeous is this? We decide to split dinner as believe it or not we were getting full (and I had planned to pig out!). This was a mild, medium, spicy combo of raw enchiladas topped with avocado sauce, chipotle sauce and pine nut sour cream. They were pretty tasty. I preferred the mild one as it was stuffed with some type of nut cream and fresh corn and matchstick carrots. If you are expecting authentic mexican food, you would probably just think this dish was ok. I mean, there is a mexican place up in Bishop, CA, called Ms. Amigos that serves TO DIE FOR mexican food. Of course it is not vegan – so us raw foodies have to find replacements.

Now for the fantastic ending to our raw food adventure! Drum roll please………………………………………………………………….

Raw Apple Pie with a yummy caramel sauce

Da bomb baby! This was soooo good! The only thing missing was raw vanilla ice cream, and I asked for it, but they did not have it (shame on you 118 degrees! Didn't you know it is a crime to serve apple pie without the ala mode?) – haha…anyways, this was really delicious. They only had three desserts to choose from, so I was kind of bummed as I hear that their chocolate stuff is amazing. I saw a gal come in asking for their brownies to go, but they did not have any.

On a side note, we escaped the kids for the day but sat next to a cute family with two little ones. Their children were soooo cute and the little girl was just a doll, declaring in a loud voice for all to hear that her smoothie "was delicious!" – How cute is that? And how awesome that these kids already like healthy, raw food! I would come back to this restaurant just to meet the lovely raw people!

118 Degrees Overall Review (in my raw opinion)

Pros:

Nice, quaint setting
Next to the Patagonia store (lol)
Food is very fresh and not bland (ya know how raw can be sometimes)
Nice selection of juices and smoothies
Nice selection of appetizer dishes and salads
Food presentation is beautiful

Cons:

Dessert menu was very limited (C'mon, I'm a girl, dessert is on my mind 24/7)
Somewhat limited entree menu (about 15 of them – I guess I expected more, but maybe its just me)

The prices for all the entrees was about average for a nice restaurant, so that was no issue (I mean we were expecting to spend some money so I was ok with it). So overall, I liked 118 degrees and I would go back there if I was in the OC (which is about 2 hours away). I think next time I would order one of their salad entrees, more appetizers, and skip the main entree.

So this raw food critic gives them 4 out of 5 stars! Of course, I have never been to another raw food restaurant besides this one, so I have no comparison. I can make some pretty delish food using recipes from KristensRaw.com and some other raw recipe books I have, so until my next raw food outing, I will be uncooking in the kitchen baby!

Some Beach, Some where...

2010-01-17T12:22:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was an adventure in the Raw! My hubby and I drove down to Newport Beach for a romantic "stroll" on the beach. But it turned into a 7 mile butt-blasting walk! We stayed to watch the sunset before we headed out to a Raw Food Restaurant in the OC called 118 Degrees. I will post my official review and delicious pics soon!

Backpacking adventures – McClure Meadows High Sierra's

2010-01-15T21:16:00.001-08:00

McClure Meadows, Evolution Valley, High Sierra's – July 2009

How beautiful is this place? I mean, this was a breathtaking spot for a portrait. This is McClure Meadows, located in Evolution Valley in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We camped nearby and had perfect views of Evolution Creek. Now you can see why I am addicted to backpacking. This was July 2009 before I went raw, so those packs are filled with prepackaged Mac n Cheese and Clif bars! So I have a huge task ahead of me preparing to stay raw/vegan on the trail. When you are backpacking every ounce counts! So you just can't bring a bag of apples or my juicer along with me. I have a few ideas, like dehydrating fruit, crackers, bringing some Amazing Wheat grass powder, nuts, organic almond butter, oatmeal, larabars, pure bars, and dehydrated veggies. I will bring some GoRaw stuff as I love, love, love their granola and snacks! Backpacking burns at least 5000 calories a day so you are starving at dinner and ready for carbs! I am sure I will eat cooked at night and include some quinoa and other stuff. But, I hope I can get enough to eat!

Okay, I will post another gorgeous backcountry pic soon!
Hugs and prayers to my vegan/raw peeps!

PS – if you are wondering how I backpack with RA, well let me tell you it is very difficult. Lots of motrin, darvocet, and sheer determination. I really hurt ALOT when I backpack, but I will not bow down to RA, in fact RA can kiss my a$$. I have to tape up my knees and wrists and use lots of icy hot. Mornings are full of stiffness and pain. But I will crawl on the trail before I give up backpacking!

Oh, and Chocolate Covered Katie is having an awesome Vitamix giveaway! Go here to see!

The ugliest smoothie in the world! I name thee Primordial Ooze

2010-01-14T09:13:00.001-08:00

Good morning all my lovely raw and vegan peoples! Only I could create the ugliest, most unattractive smoothie in the universe!

But hey it has a good personality!

It is almost camouflaged with my granite countertop

What does Lucy say in her vita-veta-vegamin episode? "And its so tasty too!" NOT!…this was one of those "I know its good for me, so just chug it down cuz I dont want to waste it" smoothies. Why did it turn out this way? You are dying to know right?

Amazing Wheat Grass Powder! This was my first attempt to use it. Is it amazing for my insides? Yes. Did it make my smoothie taste good? Not so much.

Here is the rest of the culprits that formed the most ugliest smoothie in the world. Steamed spinach, blueberries, hemp seed, nut milk, chia seeds, and bananas. I also added a spear of fresh pineapple cuz its gonna go to waste.

It tasted like bentonite clay. Yes, some of us have licked rocks and actually know what clay tastes like! Yes, geologists are weird, but we know how to party!

So i dub this smoothie "Primordial Ooze" cuz that is what it looks like…not that I have seen primordial ooze but I am guessing it would look like this.

So on the agenda today is:

Workout with some type of Cathe weight tape
Walk with hubby at lunch time
Laundry eternal
Figure out what I will uncook for lunch and dinner
Take Cody to the Dr to remove stitches from his ear

So enjoy your raw and vegan day everyone!

Our two labs, Misty and Jake, littermates, being dorks in their kennels last night! They love to sleep in our room in their kennels. But they are definitely dork dogs! They escaped yesterday for like four hours, and you can see the results of their explorations…they were zonked out!

Say yes to carrots

2010-01-13T16:25:00.001-08:00

Well, today I made 2.5 cups of fresh carrot juice so I could make the lovely Carrot Avocado Bisque recipe by Gena at Choosingraw.com and I have to tell you that this “boup’ (bisque+soup=boup) is so totally awesome. You can drink it semi-warm straight from your vitamix or cold straight from the frig. Well, needless to say I had carrot pulp! What should I do..I hate to toss pulp into the garbage. So I made some carrot chia crackers and some carrot cupcakes with cashew vanilla cream frosting.

Today is a bleh day. I do not know why. Several mishaps these past few weeks include a traffic ticket, a blown out tire and a ripped up and stitched ear – all from the same kid. Is there a superfood that helps you not worry! lol…its called God!

For lunch today I had a few cups of cut up veggies over organic greens with some Tahini dressing and chia crackers. I cannot figure out if I like Chia seeds or not! Do I like picking them out of my teeth for several minutes after I eat the crackers? I will get back to you on that.

I have a few items on my list that I want to make. Oh She Glows Angela has these breakfast cakes that she makes that sound yummy…I know, I know they are not Raw, but they are vegan. her site is wonderful and she is really inspiring. She seems so sweet! I have never met her, but her writing style seems to exude a lovely person (reminding me of my bestie). I want to order some of her gluten free glo bars and I cannot wait til she offers them. Anyways, I want to make those breakfast cakes and I also want to make a few of the Rawmazing.com goodies like her newly posted Whoopie Pies.

Ever since my hyst-o-whatever-omy in Sept 09 I have been a sluggo…yes I have hiked some miles on the good ole PCT and around the neighborhood but I am not back to my presurgery workout self! I need to start a weekly workout plan and stick to it. If I just wasn’t so dang tired all the time. Oh how I wish I had energy! I have been off coffee for 3 weeks now, but I was in the store and had my nose glued to the Peet’s Coffee – literally I was hugging all the Peet’s 1lb bags! haha, I know I am weird. But I love the smell of coffee and Iove Peet’s Coffee! Okay off to work out and if I see my bed calling me I will not succumb!

Presentation - its all about presentation!

2010-01-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

We have been living with plastic glasses for like eons! Well, since my kids are older I decided to go buy some real glass glasses to drink my plant juice in. But now I am the one that drops and breaks everything (have you seen my hands! They dont work!) Anyways, Kristen at Kristensraw.com has great advice in her books about presentation and I am a firm believer. This juice just tastes better when I drink it out of a nice glass with a few little garnishes. Im weird I know..but whatever works right?!

The PCT thru hike is on my bucket list

2010-01-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

What is my obsession with the PCT? I dont know..but I am obsessed. My hubby wont do the thru hike with me in 2010 - is it that hard to take off 5 months from work! haha...I fear that if we wait until 2015 when he retires I will be to old and crippled - nothing prednisone cannot cure I am sure! I will start stocking up now...but then I would be the only person to finish a 2,650 mile, 5 month thru hike fatter! This is a pic of me last week hiking a section of the PCT along Silverwood lake in the San Bernardino Mountains.

I want to go to cool places with you

2010-01-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Hey hey! Long time no blog! I have been busy (i.e. tired) and also busy I guess! This fab dish is from Choosingraw.com and it is "peanut" noodles - a really great tasting sauce with miso and lime and namu shoyu or something like that...anyways tasted awesome. I am really staying away from fruit the last 3 days except for the occasional banana in my smoothie.

The hubby wants to get away on Saturday and try this cool place which is a raw food restaurant in Costa Mesa called 118 degrees but he forgets we have the children to look after...you know, those one that have been living with us for such a long time! Why not leave the 17 year old in charge? haha - those who know him would never ask such a question!

Lets see...about the RA (RA sucks - my new bumper sticker)...I had to take prednisone the other day as I was in agony..I sleep with both wrist braces on and rub icy hot all over my joints...and my hubby says icy hot is NOT an aphrodisiac...lol - well it is to me! I could bathe in that stuff. I was thinking of trying Epsom salt baths - anyone know if those will help me?

2010 and a neW YeAR

2010-01-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

How ironic that the letters R-A-W are in the words New Year...me and my warped thinking...Well after a laid back New Years Eve with best friends and family filled with juicing and homemade pizza for the fam (salad and spicy and sweet veggie noodles for me) - I caught up on some ZZZZs today. I took a huge, fat nap and stayed in jammies all day. But I did get busy and make Mountaineers' Hearty Hemp Pancakes - that is a pic of them in my dehydrator..and the batter tasted heavenly, but I am hooked on hemp, what can I say. These babies are for breakfast tomorrow and then we head off to hike the PCT at Cajon pass on the 15 frwy. Join me followers! Penny and Leslie that means you!

Look at my 5 lb Hemp Seed bucket from Manitoba Harvest....yum! hemp seed tastes awesome plain and in smoothies, and in everything else you can think of...I love the fact that they are so good for me too!

And that hot girl in the picture behind the hemp seed bucket is me...lol

Oh, and I cannot wait to work with Gena of Choosingraw.com - she will be my Raw food coach, friend, mentor, nutrition expert for the next month or so! She is going to help me realize my potential for a healthy new me in 2010...Thanks Kristen for the referral as I know I will love working with her!

So how am I feeling? my readers ask

2009-12-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Breakfast today was a spinach-acai-mango smoothie with a touch of cilantro. I have so many people following this blog (lol) - well just the ones that count! I was asked how am I feeling since I started the Raw diet almost 5 weeks ago. Let me list the Pros and Cons of what I have been going thru for you...

PROS:

Hmm..the biggest PRO - I GO POTY NOW! I swear I was in a new evolutionary phase when I was born as I never, ever go! One month on this diet and I go everyday with no senekot - woo-hoo..those that know me know how huge of an issue this was for me!
I love fruit - and I eat lots of fruit!
I eat all I want (lots of volume) - If I am hungry I eat more
Lots of variety actually especially when you get some raw recipes books
I have met some really awesome and cool people online

CONS:

Detox symptoms - I was so tired the first few weeks but I think my RA was flaring as I had bad joint pain too
No sourdough toast (well I dont seem to crave it now though) - should'nt have it anyways right?
Eating out is HARD to do - You have to plan to bring your raw stuff with you if you go somewhere
I still have to cook for my family who eats meat and other stuff I wont touch anymore - though I am getting more veggies and fruit in them now ( but this means I make two meals one for me, one for them)

I cannot really say if this diet has helped my RA, as I started back on my enbrel two weeks ago and I think that is helping. I am off prednisone now though. My skin still breaks out a little, so I do not have that glow everyone talks about! My hair seems like it has grown a little faster as I can see roots much faster this time since my last highlight. I am thinking of going natural. I am sick of the cost, and sitting in that darn chair for 2 hours just so I can be blonde.

Back on the PCT - awesome!

2009-12-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hey Raw peeps! My hubby and I decided to drive down to Palm Springs and check out the farmers market there for some organic produce...well, alot of vendors must have been on a holiday (which is OK) - got some pears, and lemons, and some dates..but the best part is we decided to hook up to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and found where it crosses the 10 frwy thanks to my BFF Leslie via texting. Here is a typical PCT trailmarker with the PCT crest symbol. That is my hubby in the background. More pics to come. I am so excited as I did 3 miles with almost no joint pain (lets talk tomorrow morning and see how I feel then - lol) I keep begging the hubby for a PCT thru-hike! Maybe someday!

That is me with Mt. San Jacinto in the background

ICE CREAM - YUM

2009-12-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

Who knew dairy free would be so fun? I made brazil nut vanilla ice cream and raw chocolate sauce with coconut butter and agave - yowza! Even he kept commenting on how good it was! I feel like I am eating too many nuts though lately...way more than I ever have (before I went Raw I hardly ever ate nuts). Well I was thinking on going on a 2 day juice and smoothie fast...just fruits and veggies juiced or in the vitamix...what do you all think?

Have A Merry Christmas! Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Oh and I have to tell you about the best corn tortilla chips I made...from The Raw Food Chef - fresh organic corn, red bell pepper, cumin...and lots of YUM! Dehydrated for hours, then fresh guacamole with yummy fresh garlic and cilantro and anything else I could toss in there...who said Raw was boring!

Can you say Fettucine? yep - that is right! Raw Fettucine sauce!

2009-12-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

I am learning to "uncook" - I made this today and it was fantastic... Tomato-Macadamia "mozzarella" Linguine courtesy of the Raw Food Chef - it was sooooo good...This was the first time in my life I have ever eaten a parsnip! They smell like perfume!

Breakfast in a Bowl

2009-12-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

Look at my new juicer in the background! The Hurom juicer...so far my hubby and I really like it. My breakfast is in the pink bowl...can you imagine trying to eat all that! Oh and the coffee cup is filled with Teccino (an herbal tea that resembles coffee) - our coffee pot broke the other day and we are not replacing it! We just use our backpacking filter presses to make Teccino (although the hubby sneaks in Pete's coffee sometimes!)

So I juiced everything in the bowl above, strained it, and voila! My green breakfast! Kale, celery, carrots, cilantro, ginger, apple, orange, lemon - Did I miss anything?

GOT MY JUICER!!!!! Im So Excited...and I just cant Hide it!

2009-12-19T22:33:00.000-08:00

Got the Hurom juicer tonight! In a flash we were shoving broccoli and carrots and apples down that thing! Tomorrow I need to buy pounds of celery and carrots and all that good organic stuff...what a great way to get more veggies into my raw lifestyle. Tomorrow for breakfast (before church) I have to use whats in the frig but I will hit our organic market and stock up on the way home! Pictures to follow soon...the hubby cant wait to make fresh juice for fresh fruit martinis! Haha, if only vodka was raw!

Rawlicious!

2009-12-19T18:14:00.000-08:00

Raw is Goooood! I made Jennifer Cornbleet's Raw Marinara Sauce with Zucchini Angel Hair Pasta and OH MY GOSH! This stuff ROCKS! If you had a plate of real spaghetti next to it I would turn my back on it! This so exceeded my expectations. I hope zucchini is good for you as I plan on eating ALOT of this!

This was super-duper yummy! Kristen's Chocolate Bread (check out her awesome site here http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/) I have Artisana Cocoa Bliss spread with Raw peanut butter and bananas on this baby! You can see the chocolate bread below this post on the dehydrator tray. It turned out awesome and the chocolate taste is mild. Tomorrow I am going to make Kristen's Rasberry Jam for Raw PB and Js...cannot wait!

I am so digging dehydrating!

2009-12-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

Look what I have been doing tonight! I made pancakes and chocolate bread and they are dehydrating away as I type. Of course both recipes are from Kristen's awesome recipe books. I cannot wait to have pancakes tomorrow! I am still waiting for my juicer and cannot wait to get my family into juicing. Goodnight my friends!

Kristen is a GENIUS! I had Velvety Chocolate Mousse for dinner!

2009-12-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

Hey all you non-raw guys and gals..guess what I had for dinner..na-na-na-na-na! I know I am acting childish, but OH MY GOSH. I just made Kristen Suzanne's Velvety Chocolate Mousse and I swear I died and went to heaven. This was WAY better (and I mean on a logarithmic scale better) than any normal chocolate pudding or mousse I have ever had in my life! I was licking the Vitamix blender container...seriously...I did have lots of veggies today too...Look at the bomb salad I made with fresh avo dressing...tons of organic veggies in this salad. And look at my pretty new bowl from Crate and Barrel!

It's Clean out the Frig Day!

2009-12-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

Hey all - Happy Wednesday! It's a clean out the frig smoothie breakfast kind of day! Let's see - Romaine, Kale, Cilantro, Pineapple, Mango, and Banana...one for now in a beautiful goblet fit for a queen and one for later. I cannot wait to get my Hurom juicer as I really need more greens and veggies in my diet. Chomping on salad all the time gets tiresome! I get plenty of fruit that is for sure - Today I am going to start doing yoga everyday. Since my hysterectomy in Spetember my exercise regime has gone down the tubes! And I always exercised! My RA is so bad though, but I don't care anymore - I have got to get my muscles strong again. Anyways, I will post lunch and dinner items later. I do not even know what I am having! Perhaps some guacomole with chia crackers and carrots and celery. Sounds good to me!

JUICER on the Way! Woo-Hoo! and NO MS!

2009-12-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

I just ordered my very first juicer and I am so excited to get more greens into my daily routine! I really did alot of research, read a ton of reviews, and watched video demos and I really feel I made the right choice! I will post a pic when it arrives!

Now the more important item of the day: The Neurologist at Loma Linda says I definitely DO NOT have MS...how cool is that! God has been answering prayers and has been so good to me lately. I had peace with the entire situation and I was ready for whatever was coming my way...and now I know I do not have MS...I just have an abnormal brain (abby normal)

UPDATE: I added a pic of the beautiful Hurom Juicer

Hey hey My my - Kiss my RA Goodbye!

2009-12-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

Haha, had that song stuck in my head! Hmmm...day two and a half from my 60 mg cortisone shot in the buttocks region and not much better - oh well, lets see what the good ole raw diet did for me today!

Breakfast was a nice large Kale smoothie with strawberries and papaya and cilantro, Lunch was the most fantastico Tuscan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto with carrots for dippen' by the lovely Miss Kristen at Kristen's Raw (a site fully-loaded with Raw tips, recipes, and excellent raw expertise!) Oh my gosh! It was so awesome I could not stop eating it - and why should I? Who counts calories on the raw food diet - not me! Dinner was a big leafy green salad loaded with veggies with some fresh lemon and herb dressing, some more fab pesto and some fresh pineapple. Ya know, I am such a dessert freak, I made one of Jennifer Cornbleet's desserts in her book Raw for Dessert - the Rasberry bars and it has a shortbread crust. Pretty darn good! I had more pineapple too. I think I am having a love affair with pineapple. It is soooo good and supposed to help with inflammation. On a side note, I have to hide my organic dates from my son as they keep disappearing and I know he is eating them!

Okay so what happened on the RA front today? Not much - my knees feel like I weigh 300 pounds - and I never had bad knees even with RA - this just started 2 weeks ago...but I did a Cathe stretch tape and a shoulder segment with light weights. I used to be able to lift so much heavier, but when Im flaring, I have to do what I can do right?

Goodnight Rawpeoples!

Bananas and Cortisone

2009-12-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

Hey raw peoples! Well, today as part of my foodage intake I had three bananas! More than I have eaten in a life time! I do not like bananas but I am making myself adore them and it is easier than I thought (now if I could just apply this logic to spores, molds, and fungus - i.e. Shrooms - yuk!). Anyways, I ate one by itself, and two in a yummy hemp smoothie, recipe courtesy of the beautiful Kristen at Kristen's Raw.

So off to the Rheumy Doc and ended up getting 60 mg of cortisone injected into my boo-tay....yowee it hurts still, but hoping it kicks in soon as I feel like an old rusty bucket of bolts! A nice hot buttered rum sounds yummy...is there a raw alternative recipe for that?

Okay another backpacking trip picture...Our 2004 Family trip to the North Fork of the Kings River. The kids had fun but at the end of 5 days they were dreaming about In-N-Out burgers (a California legendary burger joint). One of my tasks for going raw is to come up with a raw backpacking menu - now this will be a daunting task since you like burn 5000-8000 calories a day hauling a 40 lb pack for 8 hours at elevations above 10,000 feet! usually its carbs, carbs, carbs, and all boiled stuff. So, any of you out there have any ideas? I figure plenty of dehydrated veggies and fruit, and maybe larabars, homemade raw granola bars and raw nut butters and raw crackers. I am guessing I will have to have some cooked stuff like veggie and bean soup at night. I am going to research raw backpacking and see if there is any other crazy raw backpackers out there! Have a terrific night and I wish you a very peaceful slumber!

My hand modeling days are over!

2009-12-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

Okay its not a pic of a delicious raw food item, but I thought I better document in photos why I need to do everything I can to ease my RA! And as bad as my hand looks it hurts even more! Well, on to better thoughts this morning...for breakfast I had a Pineapple Spice Green Smoothie and the recipe is from the book Green for Life. I have to go down the hill today and see my rheumatologist. Should I tell him I am using the Raw Food diet to help my RA? He will scoff, they all do. They would rather have me on poisonous drugs that help ease your RA symptoms, but cause nerve damage, cancer, and TB. Sometimes I feel like a human guinea pig. I have to pre-pack my raw lunch so I don't starve. A little Christmas shopping today at Victoria Gardens and we will pass by my favorite restaurant The Cheesecake Factory that makes fab red rasberry martinis and deep fried macaroni and cheese...but I have given that all up for a healthier lifestyle and hopefully some relief from my joint pain! Everyone have a great morning!

Why the blog name Rawsierra you may be asking?

2009-12-10T16:07:00.000-08:00

Me and the hubby over Piute Pass at Golden Trout Wilderness in the High Sierra's - Summer 2009

Okay, well I had to choose a name for my blog and have the word RAW in it I suppose...and R.A. is in the word RAW...so I thought I would pair it with something I love! The High Sierra's - My backpacking buddy, soulmate, awesome hubby and I love to backpack every summer into the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Heck I want to be John Muir and just stay up there for months on end! We also frequent the PCT and would love to do a thru-hike one day...Maybe if this Raw diet can help my RA, a thru-hike is in my future? Yes? I will need lots of trail angels (Leslie that means you!). Okay peeps...my foodage for today included:

Breakfast: Banana-Coconut-Hemp Smoothie (super yummy and I dont even like bananas!)

Lunch: Cauliflower Jumble - well it has cauliflower and carrots and asparagus and fresh herbs all tossed in my food processor with some olive oil and fresh orange juice. I got this recipe from www.choosingraw.com - its a fab site and Gena is so sweet! I had some fresh pineapple too...wow, pineapple must be the fruit God eats!

Dinner: Spinach-Mango-Cilantro Smoothie with a sprig of mint, and a red leaf lettuce salad with carrots and yummy avocado dressing, a couple of raw chocolate dipped strawberries to top it all off!

My family had spaghetti - alas - my favorite childhood food! When I get my spiral slicer do ya think zucchini noodles will taste the same? I can dream right?

Say Hey! RA go away! My Raw Food Journey

2009-12-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome everyone - well where to begin...lets start at the beginning...At first the earth cooled and the dinosaurs came...oh wait, that is a different story. I started on a High Raw diet about two weeks ago. For the past 13 years I have battled that yukky disease called Rheumatoid Arthritis in which I will use the abbreviation of RASUCKS - just kidding - how 'bout plain old RA okay? Due to things beyond my control (like nerve pain and skin burning) I have to stop Enbrel - a great medication for helping RA but with super nasty side effects. So here I am - deciding to take control of what I can take control of - my diet. Thus, I started a journey to discover the Raw Food world. There are alot of awesome sites out there that will help you discover Raw food. I absolutely love Kristen's Raw - an awesome site filled with expert information on Raw Food and her books are the bomb! Okay I am rambling - off to make a banana-coconut-hemp smoothie (and you have no idea how much I hate bananas - strange I know).

Sidenote: After 13 days on a High Raw diet (for me at least 90% Raw) I still feel yukky! My RA is flaring bad! Knees are very stiff and I know I would feel much better if I could chop off my wrists and hands! (well I have thought about it from time to time as these joints cause horrid pain).