366

I have an idea. Don't get to excited, because I have a lot of random ideas, but I think this is a good one. Again, don't get excited because I tend to be pretty flighty and inconsistent. Okay, here's the idea. Are you ready? You sure? Now, let's remember that this is ONLY an idea.

Insert really dramatic drum roll here...

I want to document the year starting with January 1. I am going to start changing my life on January 1. During the coming year I will be making major lifestyle changes, homeschooling full time, consistently teaching hair classes, starting a Rite of Passage program for girls, and considering one for women. My goal is to document all of it to keep myself accountable! I am so excited about the things I have planned. I'm going to be really busy, but hopefully really happy. I am a teacher more than anything else and that is what makes me happy and lawd knows I need some happiness right now. What say you?

Btw 366 because 2012 is a leap year.

$5 and no groceries

At first I was embarrassed to post this, but I think that it may serve as an encouragement to others at some point. We are not, in my humble opinion, truly suffering from the recession but we are feeling it.

Here's the story. I was ordering my veggies weekly from the organic delivery service. Well, that ran me about $50 a week. Sounds like a lot, but we were mainly only eating what came in the box which meant that my grocery bill was vegan, organic, and regulated for the most part. My husband suggested that we change to receiving orders every other week to save money. Even though I didn't like it I did it, recognizing that I can be a little spoiled at times. I am the only one that shops for grocery or cooks, thus, I am the only one that knows what it costs to feed the family. He, however, is the one that pays all the bills. This was a lesson for me in balance and learning to figure things out together. Last week was the off week. If not for Thanksgiving leftovers we wouldn't have had any food. So today I kept looking in my cabinets feeling discouraged and stressed because feeding my family falls to me. As I looked in my cabinet I saw pintos and boxes of cornbread. In the fridge I found 1/2 of a very large purple onion. I decided that I was going to make pintos, purple slaw, and cornbread. I didn't have eggs, cabbage, or mayo. Remember I had $5.

I went to the store and bought a small head of cabbage for $1.29 and then there was a problem. The smallest jar of mayo was $3. As I stood there trying to figure out what to do, I saw that there was a large jar of mayo that was 2 for $6 WITH A $.35 coupon!!! I took my two items to the front and with the coupon my total was $4.94.  As I drove home disappointed about not having eggs for cornbread I remembered something wonderful!!! I have egg replacer!!! Basically it is a vegan way to replace eggs! It's a flour and basically you just use 1.5 Tbsp replacer + 2 Tbsp water to equal 1 egg.

Long story short, too late I know, the meal was delicious AND healthy. Unfortunately my husband, the one that I was most excited to impress, got sick to his stomach and didn't eat any of it. I was so disappointed. I still popped my collar a bit at my ingenuity.

Look What I Made!!!

As you know I am making an effort to do the Lifeit Raw Food Detox. Today I made what I consider to be my first complete meal. When I tell you it was delicious, I mean every word. You must try these recipes!!!

Creamy Kale Pre-massage. I could have eaten it right then and it took all I had not to eat it. SN, don't add any extra salt. 1 tsp is plenty as it turns out. You are going to love this dish!!!

This is the Creamy Kale after being "massaged". David begged to have more after a little taste. Mari really loved it too. I want to see if my carnivorous niece likes it. Then I will know it's the bomb!!!



I can't even express how good this tastes. You just have to take 15 minutes out of your day and make it yourself!!!

Here it is all plated up. I knocked the chill of the marinara as suggested at the end of the video above. It tasted so flavorful and fresh. It feels good to know exactly what is in your food.

I know. I know. You hate okra. Well, I hated okra until I grew and made my own last summer, and now I'm sold. Anyway, this dish actually had me addicted...literally. It is totally raw and totally packed with flavor. This is from the Lifeit detox.

I was so excited to find organic stuff for cheap at my local Food Lion grocery store. I use the ground flax seed along with ground chia seeds in my banana smoothies. It makes them really thick and tasty. I made on for dessert today and used coconut water in place of my usual almond milk.

Yea, I know it's not organic, but it IS cold pressed and it IS available at my local Food Lion. Oh, AND, it was ON SALE!!!

Forget this!!!

My stomach is still a train wreck! I still have cramps which I don't usually have when I am eating a vegan diet. I can take the MC symptoms and I can take menstrual symptoms but the two combined is too much. I am conceding defeat and just going on to my vegan diet. Not to mention that the MC headache has already started. It's not that I can't do this, but I am choosing not to torture myself unnecessarily.
Here are the lifestyle changes

1. Walk at least 9 miles per week
2. Eat a vegan diet, but may make vegetarian pescatarian exceptions for special occasions.
3. Continue with chlorophyll daily
4. 1 gallon of water minimum daily
5. Fruit/fruit juices and water before noon
6. Vegetables from noon prior to evening meal
7. Light vegetables, fruit, or smoothie for dinner

I'm going to listen to the Creator concerning listening to my body.