Country Folk

(I can't resist)

Peace Fam,

One of the reasons why I am so glad to get out of Michigan and head back home is that I have to deal with these country folk far more than I would like to. None of my family are from the country nor do they practice anywhere close to a similar lifestyle.

So last night, my almost 9 month old goes to spend time with his paternal grandparents. I provided some baby food and that mesh feeder thinking they would put some apples in there, or an orange...

Someone had the ingenious idea of sharing some fried catfish with him.

....

First of all, my Seed is Vegan. Second, even if he wasn't, you don't give fish to a baby. FRIED???!!!! He is not a country boy: he does not and will not suck on the bone of anything that has a face.

C'mon, look at him:



He doesn't want that foolishness!!!


Anyway, the Green Smoothie thing is still in effect. I wasn't really in the mood for much creation though, but I will definitely tomorrow.

Yum yum yum

Peace!!!!

I'm feelin' so good right now. That's all I can really say. LOL

So today I began my Green Smoothie Feast. Surprisingly today I haven't been that hungry so on the menu for will just be two smoothies and a salad. Since the keyword in this challenge is Green, I opted to supplement my meals with salad instead of fruit.

I made a Cucumber Melon smoothie today that tastes really clean and fresh. I think I added too much lime juice; which turned out to be a good thing because I got to use more of my honey =^_^=

Cucumber Melon:

• Equal parts cucumber, watermelon and cantalope
• Flat leaf parsley
• Fresh squeezed lime juice (to taste, but I added half a lime to my 14 oz serving)
• Honey, agave or sweetner of choice (optional)

You know cucumbers are a really good food to help flush toxins. You could use lemon too if you want, I already had a lime out waiting for me. *grin*

Yesterday I did my grocery run and got a lot of good stuff at the 'ghetto' Krogers. I'm tellin' you I don't know what's so ghetto about it, I think it's the nicest one in town. But of course in true Ravynn fashion, I forgot my coconut water.

• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Watermelon, cantalope and honeydew (pre cut)
  
• Turnip greens
• Lemons
• Avocados
• Lara bars
• Flat leaf (aka Italian) parsley
• Radicchio
• Pomegranate juice
• Shredded lettuce
• Shredded red cabbage
• Veggie stirfry mix (aka pre chopped veggies)
• Red onion
• Craisins

That's a pretty heavy grocery list right?

This will be my first time using turnip greens in a smoothie. I tried kale a few times and found it very fibrous. But I will be saving up for my Blendtec after my move to NY because I'll be making smoothies for a lot of people in my household. If it can shred an iPhone, it can shred some serious greens.

Tonight's smoothie will most likely have strawberry, OJ, watermelon, banana, and turnip greens. No stems (I hate those).

Until tomorrow, Peace!!!!

Green Smoothie Feast

Peace!

The past couple of days I've really been banging out some crazy delicious smoothies. Last night I had one (drool) that consisted of watermelon, banana, orange juice, lemon and a lil' bit of honey (tryin' to use it up before I leave Michigan-imagine me trying to get past airport security with that). The smoothie I made that morning was kiwi, orange juice (i'll touch on that in a second), pineapple and spinach. What?? Yesterday was fantastic.

Ok so Saturday night I made a grocery run to pick up a couple of things and we went to two stores. The first store's produce department was MIA by about 2/3. It was the most desolate and depressed thing I had ever seen. The only thing I could buy (that I needed anyway) was organic spinach (you know the ones in the plastic containers? $1.79), bananas, and orange juice. It was the only thing they had in that entire store that I could've used as a base in my smoothies. No Bolthouse Farms or anything. *SmH*

What I was really looking for was a bit more variety of fruits (or just any of them rather) to get creative with. In the second store I was able to get a mini watermelon, kiwi, and pineapple. Now this was the store that's right by me which never disappoints but I don't know-maybe they were expecting a shipment or something that had not yet arrived.

And yet in both stores the meat dept was fully stocked.

Anyway, since I'm on such a smoothie kick, I figure it's time to up the ante for about 2 weeks and end this year with a Green Smoothie Feast. My goal is to consume 2-3 green smoothies a day and supplement with the occasional salad or simple fruit if needed. I would love to give you a list of ingredients I'm looking to buy, but I have to cross my fingers first to make sure they even have anything in stock at all. *frown*

Tomorrow I will post my grocery list and a recipe for a cucumber smoothie that will serve as a good cleanser for your body first thing in the morning.

Peace!

Smoothie Recipe

Peace!

I just wanted to post a quick smoothie recipe for y'all. I'm in the midst of packing and getting ready for my move to NY in less than a month so I'm being pulled in 10 different directions at once. Pure Craziness I tell ya'.

This smoothie I'm actually sippin' on now:

• Freshly squeezed lime juice
• Orange juice
• Coconut Butter
• Banana
• Big handful of flat leaf parsley (if using curly use less remember it's stronger in taste!)
• Honey, Agave or sweetner of choice

Sooooooo goooooooood. I would've used pineapple too but I didn't feel like cutting it up.

Enjoy!

Cravings

Peace!

You know you're progressing on your raw food journey when you begin to crave fresh foods.

For instance, since yesterday I've been craving a salad with sprouts and avocado. I made good on that (which I'm actually eating now) by mixing some alfalfa sprouts, avocado, fresh sweet corn, dill, broccoli florets, lemon juice, Ms. Dash and a sprinkle of sea salt in a bowl and calling it a day.

I know to the 85ers looking at what I'm diggin' into right now they would not be able to comprehend nor would they even try to. Cause to be honest, it's not visually very appetizing. But it's fresh, delicious, and alkaline so I could care less. No bubble guts for me!!! =^_^=

The only thing that I still crave on occasion that is not raw is Papa John's Veggie pizza with no cheese, no olives, extra sauce and pineapples. I haven't gotten past that yet; in due time I'm stop salivating over it. =D

So I realized that I don't really post what I'm eating on a daily basis. Initially that was the premise of this blog but once again the science takes over and I just have to share it with you all.

Ravynn's Rundown 12-4-08:

Lara bar
Apple
Pomegranate Plunge (from Tropical Smoothie)
Sprout and Avo salad
Green Tea
Water

Note to self: drinking a frozen ass smoothie in 20 degree weather is probably not a good idea when you're out running errands all day. I was very very cold.

Here's my music drop for y'all-it's played in a continuous loop in my head since this morning. Pharrell and the Yessirs's remix of 'Take it Off (Dim the Lights)'. It's ill!!!! I sent this to my hubby to be and it's stuck in his head now too (love you!). LOL



Peace!!

All about Sprouts

Peace!!!

Today I want to touch on the topic of sprouts.

I remember before I went raw and I would get a veggie wrap or sandwich somewhere they always had sprouts in there and I hated them. Looking back, I don't even know why. (I'm telling you, once you go raw your whole palette changes. Now I love them!)

This is an amazing food; alkaline and nutrient dense as well as rich in vitamin and protein.

Eating sprouts in your daily routine can increase your bone density thus preventing osteoporosis (especially if you're already eating alkaline), and will help alleviate both PMS symptoms and hot flashes for those going through menopause.

Remember too, that sprouts are abundant in oxygen. You can't lose with sprouts!

So everyone is already familiar with alfalfa sprouts and mung bean sprouts. But you can change it up with onion, red clover, broccoli, wheatgrass, cilantro, sunflower, etc.

I wish I could touch on the topic of how to sprout but I have not tried that yet. In due time I will most likely get one of those sprouters that will do it for me, but I hear that sprouting at home ol' skool style with the jars and such are pretty easy.

Check out Sproutliving.com for all the wondeful amazing looking sprouts I've ever seen and they also have sprout powder and edible blossoms. (yes, I know!)

Here's a video that Philip McCluskey did last year on his sprout salad and I'm so jealous. I'm going to one up him and enjoy my Big Daddy Sprout Salad in Central Park so haha take that! (the pic up at the top is a close up of his beautiful dish).

Grocery Shoppin'

Peace Fam,

Decided to drop some late night love to y'all before I call it a night. I've kinda been all over the place mentally recently; been caught up in the rapture like Anita Baker so to speak but...it's all good! I'm happy it's Love and it inspires me more to bring some knowledge to you.

=)


Ok so today I hit up the grocery store to pick up a few things (what I really wanted to get, I actually forgot-water).

Off the top of my head my purchase was as follows:

• Bolthouse Farms carrot juice (I love using this in smoothies)
• Strawberries
• Fresh corn on the cob (an occasional thing)
• Avocado
• O.N.E. Coconut water and Acai juice
• Clementines
• Lara bars
• Bananas
• Alfalfa sprouts (containers on sale .79 each!!!)
• Blueberries

Yeah...I bought all that and didn't even get my damn water. lol

Funny thing is, the grocery store I went to (Kroger's), was referred to as the 'ghetto Krogers', and yet they had a lil' health section where I was able to find some other goodies-but on my side of town they don't have it. What's up with that?

Tomorrow I'm going to drop a post on Sprouts and how beneficial they are in your dietary routine. I'm not big on mung bean sprouts like I was when I was vegan and threw them in my stir fry, but those alfalfa sprouts are on point!

Ahhh, so I used my last fresh coconut the other day and was fiendin' for another one. Sadly I can't get them anywhere closer than Detroit so I settled for a store bought version. I do not buy canned coconut water, or the kind that is not refigerated. My personal preference is the ones in the cardboard looking containers b/c they seem to have the best quality. No preservatives, all natural and are really good.

Before I drop my song of the day I will give you a quick smoothie recipe to try so you can flex some creativity and experiment on your own.

• Coconut water
• Carrot juice
• Banana
• Strawberry
• Purple Corn powder (i use no more than one spoonful)
• Honey

Tomorrow I'm goin with the Acai, blueberry and strawberry.



Peace!