Raw Cheese!!

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Hi Everyone!
I made the most Rawesome Raw cheese the other day- first time too! Here is a picture of the finished product:

Raw cashew cheese, flax crackers and noritos= WOW!! I so love raw food more than "normal" food. When I made my cheese I let it sit out for 48 hours since I like my cheese with muscle aka strong tasting cheese ;-)  I would have eaten it the day before this, but was too lazy to get my camera, so I let it sit in the fridge an extra day, lol. So last night was the big taste test- Rawesomeness!! It wasn't as firm as I would like, but it should firm up more after a few more days of aging in the fridge (if it lasts that long!!) A heart shaped mold is all I have at the moment, which was a bit too small as you can see I had to "mound" the cheese up.

YAY- it slices!! just like REAL cheese!! :)

It's actually more spreadable than slicable, but as you can see it still slices well.

Ingredients:
1 cup soaked cashews
1/2 cup water (which I will try reducing in the future)
1/2 teaspoon acidopholus (any probiotics should work fine)
Blend. I tried putting it in a paint straining bag, but it was too wet so I ended up wrapping the whole thing in 3 layers of cheesecloth too. Set in a strainer over a bowl, place mason jar filled with water on top so as to PRESS the water out (not SQUEEZES the water out- you don't want to squeeze it so you lose all your cheese! Just press gently- a little cheese squishing out is okay, but not too much). Let sit 24-48 hours (lesser for milder cheese).
I unwrapped and placed in a bowl and added 1 t. salt and 2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Then I placed the mold on waxed paper and pressed in the mold and refridgerated- the longer it sits in there the more firm it will become. I got this recipe/method from Russell James, and he says it can stay good for as long as a couple of months! I'm sorry, but I'm sure I will never know! :P

Next time, which will probably be SOON, I will experiment with flavors- garlic in particular :) Can't wait!

This common dental procedure could be interfering with your health!

Hi Friends,
 If you don't subscribe to Dr. Mercola's emails, I highly recommend you do that now. He has great information that could save you lots of health problems, and you can learn a lot to help those you love as  well. 

I'm not sure exactly what it has been that has made me procrastinate getting my dental work overhauled. I have known about the dangers of amalgam filings (and NO- the video/this post is NOT about amalgam) for a long time now, and have had it on my long list of expensive things I'd like to get done. So yeah, probably the expense is one reason I've been putting this off. Another reason is b/c of the dangers of having the amalgam extracted. But b/c of Dr. Mercola's post I was able to find a holistic health conscious dentist at http://www.toxicteeth.org/ near by- woohoo!! I think I'm going to pursue this now. I think I would like to get my root canal tooth extracted (as I had wanted to to begin with, but was talked out of it! argh!) and have all my amalgam replaced with porcelain (probably). And b/c I'll be having a tooth extracted and my teeth are somewhat crooked, I might look into invisalign braces as well. I'm finally feeling like this is the right time to start addressing this issue now that I see a safe and clear path has been presented to me :)

Day 6 of Break Fasting

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Day 6 of breaking the juice fast
Feb. 16, 2012
Thursday AM

Wow, has it been since Monday that I last blogged?! I have not stuck to fast breaking protocol exactly. I kept eating soaked prunes (which I really like), but just couldn't get into fruit much. I couldn't wait to get into a salad!! I had my first HUGE salad Tuesday night for dinner, which was a day early for doing it "right". But from all the other stuff I was eating instead I thought the salad would be much better for me. I was so craving GREENS!

Sunday night I had some tomatoes and cucumbers with a thick ranch dressing (raw/nut based) and man did I pay for that mistake the next day! UGH! The plumbing got completely backed up :(  Everything was going pretty well until I did that. I have had pretty intense cravings for cayenne and salt and those 2 things go perfectly in dressing and humus. I ate Cascara Sagrada all day Tuesday along with a couple of scoops of magnesium citrate to make sure to get things moving yesterday- it worked!! Whew!! I'm still going to continue to take magnesium and cascara for the next couple of days just to make sure to keep things on the move ;)

I'm also eating too much. The day starts out fine, but by evening I'm very full, which I hate. I really do not like the feeling of being stuffed. I'm not sure if it's that my stomach shrank, or if I really am eating that much. If I am eating a lot it might be because my body is used to the nutrient density with the juice that it just isn't getting in chewable food??? or because my body was rebelling at being 126 pounds or because it's just craving stuff it's needed and didn't get, like FAT! or a combination of all of the above. I hope things settle down soon. One other interesting thing I noticed yesterday was a soreness in the jaw, lol!! I hadn't been chewing for over a month, so now my jaw is getting a workout, ha! I've never had a sore jaw from chewing too much before.

I haven't been feeling like going to the gym- I guess that takes some will power I just don't have the reserves for yet. I've been using the time to catch up on my website- and doing a pretty good job with that I must say. I built out 4 more pages including a new section and secured a couple more inbound links- woohoo! I'm also continuing on the action guide and learning about content 2.0, and also need to learn how to link up to my blog.... moving right along! (still so much to do though!)

So, one of the things I was really looking forward to trying when I got off my fast was Dale's Raw Food Protein Bars. He had a sale shortly before I started my juice fast- over 50% off on a batch of bars that they made with some date paste that wasn't up to his standards- it was too moist. Dale makes all his stuff fresh, so the order can take a little time coming, but it's well worth the wait!! I had my first bite of a chocolate cherry protein bar yesterday- oh oh oh my goodness!!! WOW! As a former weight lifting gym rat I have had my share of protein bars. Nothing even comes close to what I had yesterday. Dale uses the freshest, finest and mostly organic ingredients in his bars, and you can seriously take the quality. I want to eat one for breakfast, but they are such a delicious treat that I want to save them as a dessert food! I'm also a little fearful of devouring the entire box in short order!!

As an affiliate I feel it's my duty to try all his stuff ;-)  but for now I've only tried the Chocolate/Cherry bars. 5 stars on that product! And if everything is as good as those, Dale will have a direct link to my checkbook!! It's no wonder how fast his company has grown over the last several months- his stuff is awesome!! I also love his graphics and packaging- quality all the way!! "Best Protein Bars on the Planet"? You betcha!!

Day 3 of Break Fasting

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Day 3
Feb. 13, 2012
Monday AM

Hubby tells me I was so cranky on my juice fast that he couldn't go through it again with me!! (And he wasn't even the one doing it!) I guess it was much harder on me than I realized- so sorry hunny!!

Well I finished off the crumbs of Doritos left in the bag last night. Wow- I can't believe how totally addicting those things are w/o any satisfaction!! They left me craving more, not at all satisfied. On raw food it is easy to stop when "satisfied". I almost never ate until feeling full. But on processed/cooked food- so easy to eat PAST being full and still not be satisfied!!! Wow!! I'm so glad the Doritos are gone!

Nicki- author of Chenaraw suggested I try Noritos! I found a recipe and will be making these babies ASAP!! Going to the health food store today to see if they have raw nori sheets. They DO have Teccino- another suggestion by Nicki to replace coffee- so many raving reviews I can't wait to try it.

So I haven't been sticking to protocol in breaking my fast as you can see. BUT, I do start the day with prunes as I am supposed to, and eat a bowl full at dinner as well. I added a little bit of fruit in yesterday and will continue to do that today and tomorrow. Wednesday and Thursday are salad days- I can't wait for that!

The plumbing is working very well despite veering off the breakfasting path :) I didn't take any cascara yesterday and am doing fine. I do feel full though- almost uncomfortably so. I feel like I've put all the weight back on that I lost, but my clothes tell me that is absolutely not true. I think my stomach shrank down so the least amount of solid food makes me full pretty fast. I try not to eat too much "other foods" that I'm not supposed to be eating, but it's tough. I seriously crave HOT cayenne laden and salty food!!! I am consuming quite a bit of 100,000 HU cayenne on small amounts of raw humus or macaroni salad.

Once I'm done with this breakfasting week I don't think it will be too hard to go back to 100% raw, or very close to it. I'm not happy with how cooked/processed food makes me feel- the reason I went raw to begin with.

Gotta go to class- TTFN!!

Lamaze, Doritos and Will Power

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Day 2 of Break-fasting
Feb. 12, 2012
Sunday AM

So what does lamaze, Doritos and will power have in common that they should all be mentioned in the sentence/breath? This post will seem like random thoughts- kind of like a murder mystery movie. Hopefully all the incohesive parts will come together into an elegant point at the end- bear with me here ;)

So of all the blogs I've seen on Juicefasting- they all end on the first day of eating their prunes....

In 1982 I was the model lamaze student at the hospital classes held 2 or 3 times weekly. I was 19 years old and having my first child. I didn't work so attending classes was a must, in my opinion. I wanted to be totally prepared- I was scared out of my wits! Well nothing could prepare me for the horrendously painful labor that was to ensue. My first son weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces and ironically was also born on 9/11!! It was a 9-11 experience for both of us!

Labor was 12 hours even with pitocin and doctor directed water breaking! The compassionate replacement doc I had said he "didn't want to have to hang around all day" while I was in labor!!! But I do digress just a tad... So yeah, baby was born... then, then.... what? WHAT?! The baby was out, so what the heck was that... and THAT! Another contraction? for what?! I was totally unprepared for anything except complete and total recovery- I was exhausted after pushing for 2.5 hours!!! Did you know that you "give birth" to the placenta?! They didn't go over that part in class! That totally took me by surprise.

So maybe now you know where I'm going with the whole lamaze thing. There is more to the story than having the baby- not much more, but more nevertheless. And there is more to breaking a juicefast than just your first bowl of prunes.

Will power...

Well you might be able to guess why will power and Doritos are mentioned together, but not so fast! I have some iinteresting facts to share about will power that might surprise you.

Did you know that you have a limited supply of will power, and that you can use it all up? Yep, it's true! A study was done on 2 groups of kids. One group went to the beach and was allowed to play and romp at will- doing whatever they pleased to have fun. The other group was put in a classroom and tortured with math problems the entire day. At the end of day both groups of kids were put in separate rooms, but given the same instructions. A large bowl of cookies was placed on a table in the center of the room, and the kids were told not to touch/eat them. The kids that were allowed to play at the beach had seemingly little problems following the instructions. But the kids who were heavy laden with math burdens could hardly control themselves- it didn't take long for the cookies to completely disappear!

The kids who were forced to do math all day had used all their will power to do the task demanded of them- see where I'm going with this now? ;-)

I was not keeping this in mind when I was battling so hard to stay on the juice. I was really wearing down my will power reserves. And, apparently I was quite cranky too, so reports my husband! He said that yesterday (the first day of breaking the fast) I was a completely different person. But there was a lot involved with that change in disposition, not just breakfasting. The news of a 3 day respite which initiated the break was also huge in my mind. But again I digress (I told you there would be randomness! ;)

So yesterday started off with a cup o' joe!! (as did this morning as well :) Oh coffee, coffee coffee coffee- how I've missed you!! I don't want to start this back as a habit, but I am giving in to my weakened will power for now- I'm tired of battling. Then came the bowl of prunes- yumi! But I also took 2 cascara sagrada caps too- big mistake!! lol I sooooo did not need to do that! hahaha I do believe the prunes would have done an ample job w/o any help whatsoever. No cascara today! Oh the rumblings that took place all day yesterday- wow!! I also had some fruit juice as well- same as today again.

But yesterday I made macaroni salad for Ken and Steve, et em... yeah. I don't usually much care for macaroni salad, but food in general has been a torment to be around. I didn't eat much though, about 3 or 4 condiment bowls throughout the day, but it had turkey meat and I had to put horseradish sauce on it!!! Oh my, how I used to love horseradish sauce on my sandwhiches!! And yes, then there were the Doritos! I didn't have a lot of those either, thank goodness, but the fact remains.... several times during the day I did dip my hand in the bag for a chip... okay, okay... or 2!

I felt badly knowing these things were the complete antithesis of the juicing I had just finished, but I resolved to not feel guilty. The whole will power concept came back to me, and I gave myself compassion. I had just completely run out of fight. I have to admit though, I was concerned about how long that would last. But to my pleasant surprise I'm not a bit hungry today :) And even though I will probably indulge again today in something not especially good for me (raw) I don't feel the compulsion or drive to it that I did yesterday- whew! It kinda feels like I got that out of my system. I'm feeling much more in control today, ahhhhh :)

Lessons learned?
1. There's more to JuiceFasting then your first bowl of prunes.
2. Don't push yourself past your reserve of will power. There will be a resulting backlash.

It's been a long time since I've felt like I have come to the end of myself, but by day 42 I guess I really had (and was practically unaware of it- how is that?!). I'm almost glad for the experience though- it gives me more compassion for those who suffer in life with things that sap them of their reserves. My husband is one such person who uses a lot of will power to do things on a daily basis that he just does not like to do.

I really don't care to see any more green juice again for quite a while though. I did dump a couple of quarts down the drain this morning- just can't do it (Oh the blasphemy! lol). I cleaned up the kitchen- put the juicer away for now, and am getting all my raw things out where I need them again :) sigh.... I love a clean kitchen!

42 Day/ 49 year old JuiceFeasting Body Pictures

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Okay- it's time for the big reveal, drum roll please.... hahaha! j/k
I only lost 9.5 pounds, but all my clothes are so loose! Sorry I didin't take any before pics, but you can tell from the pants that there was a pretty big change. The pants were never tight, but they did fit a whole lot better 43 days ago.

If you read the comments from the previous post you will see that I said I was not at all disappointed that I quit earlier than I expected. The OCD part of me is a little miffed that I didn't make it even half way, but I'll get over it :P  I also said I probably should have quit earlier b/c I feel like a kid who was brought up by over protective parents and has finally been set FREE!! FREE to INDULGE!!! (and bulge- NO!!) I feel a little out of control tasting everything in sight regardless of what it is!! That is so NOT me! I'm forcing down juice to try to help curb that.

I ate my prunes very happily this morning, but 8 oz. was a lot! It took me a while to eat them, and afterward I was pretty full. Transit time? 6.5 hours!! lol   which is pretty good- I heard up to 12 hours is healthy. I'm actually looking forward to 2 rounds of prunes tomorrow. The hubs was out late last night. I called him to ask if he could pick some prunes up for me on the way home- what a sweetheart, he did! So I got up right away and put them in water so I could start to break first thing :)

Oh oh oh- sorry... the drum is still rolling? okay okay!!

Had to throw in bodybuilding pic in there :P

Again, I lost all the fat (9.5 pounds) in just 2 weeks. After that it was detoxing, cleansing, healing and lessons in self control.

So I'm done for now... well, sort of. I do have 6 days of breaking out of this. I will continue posting though as I do plan on making a career of sorts out of the raw food/health/nutrition field. I will continue to educate myself on the culinary arts as well as in nutrition and health. I plan on posting lots on those topics as time goes by.

Celebrate life- keep it raw!
~(RawesomelyFit) Wendy

Time to Break it!!

Day 42
Feb. 10, 2012
Friday night

Well I just got word that the foster care agency is going to provide us 3 days respite next weekend!!! I am so excited! The hubby and I haven't had any alone time since we got Steve back in July- 8 months!! We have Valentine's Day this week as well as his birthday, then 2 weeks later is our 12th anniversary. I am breaking my fast so we can celebrate. Usually every day around here is just like the one before, even if it's supposed to be special. So to have 3 special days in a row and 3 days off is really something to celebrate- I'm so excited and I can't wait to go out to eat with my husband!! :) yay yay yay!!! happy dance!!! Can't wait to shop for prunes first thing in the morning!!! I'll have just the perfect amount of breaking time to go out to dinner next Friday night!! woohoo!!! I am so ready!