Eureka! I’ve found the eating style that works for me. As you know, I have been experimenting with the raw food diet. My limit was about 4 days of eating raw and then I would cave in and have some sort of startch. For me, 100% raw is not in the cards. But I have been about 75% raw and feel great. Usually a smoothie with fruits for breakfast, a nice raw salad for lunch and nuts and fruits for snacks comprise my eating style. Dinner I will have cooked vegan foods only. No dairy or meat products. It was hard giving up dairy but I have a food allergy to lactose and react whenever I indulge so over all it was a health issue. And giving it up has improved my overall health…ie…less mucus, joints are not inflamed in the mornings and improved digestion. These are what I have noticed.

Having read that cayenne pepper and tumeric are important to include in your diet, I have been using them in salad dressings and in my cooked foods.

Rereading “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards. I read this book years ago and remember doing some of the exercises with amazement. There is one exercise where you turn the photo upside down and draw it. When you are finished turn what you have drawn right-side-up and it will look amazingly similar.

Did yoga…think I’ll do the walk after work.

Rainy overcast day today…

We had quite a storm last night! I’m glad I had someone to hold on to!

I’ve been thinking alot lately about getting back into sketching people…just paper and pencil. Like the old days. I’ve lost the confidence of being able to draw what I see. Never was I good at drawing people…still lifes, yes, people no. And the desire to sketch people was never there…but now it is.

Some how I have to make some time to practice this. With the kitchen all torn up due to remodeling it seems any order around here is lacking…but hell, I can make some time and just do it.

Let’s see…
yoga @ 45 min.
walking @ 45 min.
shower and dressing @ 1 hour
eat @ 20 min.
work @ 7 - 10 hours (counting drive times)
pick up house and cook dinner 2 hours
sleep @ 8 hours
= about 23 hours….

There’s always weekends! I HAVE to find a way…

So this weekend our plans are to paint some of the lower cabinets in the kitchen…I post photos when we are done…all the counter tops are laid now…the bookcase is made and painted…the bar is mostly done. Left to do are the painting, new hardware, electrical, the tiled backsplash and putting in some can lights. Oh how great it will be to cook in a new clean kitchen!!!

We had sushi last night…the seaweed salad was the best. The waitress said we could buy it at the local Publix (grocery store) or at Asian markets.

(c) http://www.atento.ru

Sorry for the absence in writing, to those who do read this. I’ve just been busy with working and doing things around the house.

I have a few spare hours today to walk Mattie…already did yoga. Still eating healthy…though I do cheat and eat cooked foods. No animal products though…and I’m feeling good. This past week I think I had a cold or some allergies where acting up. What I have noticed is that by not eating dairy or meat, my digestion problems have cleared up (we won’t go into those…haha). No huge increase in energy levels however. One plus is that I don’t need to wear tons of deodorant like I used to. My body odor is much less by eating only plant based foods. And when I was able to stick to the raw food diet I didn’t even need deodorant…4 days was my limit. It seems after that I crave starches like rice and potatoes. Is there something I am missing in my diet that my body is telling me to consume? And how do you get starches from veggies? If that is the thing I was deficient in…I wonder.

So I am going to walk 45 min…it is drizzling…
This time I will bring the camera.
I have been working on 3 little paintings…

Blessings…

SNAKES!

Yesterday after dropping Mattie off for grooming I went to my favorite park to walk. There are a few small ponds there along the path and on passing one I glanced at the grass surrounding it and saw, to my amazement, 2 huge snakes laying side by side…one was dark grey and the other one had faint yellow and orange stripes on it. Like I said, they were huge!! At least 6 feet long and a diameter at least 2 1/2 inches. I backed up to get a closer look…they didn’t move…were sleeping I guess. So I walked about 2 more steps and saw a third snake! Another striped one…again laying in the grass. No camera on hand…I continued my pace…and looked not 1 foot to my right and saw a fourth snake!! This one was slithering in the grass right next to me…I thought ok, this is enough…and hurried my pace being sure Not to look in the grass any longer!! haha… However, I am certain that if I wouldn’t have been the little freaked out that I was, and I would have looked harder, I would have seen many more snakes. These were all about the same size…and I am always concerned that when walking Mattie she may alarm a snake and get bit. Thank God she was not with me this day.

I found this little monkey a couple of months ago in the parking lot of the Mexican restraunt we like to go to…he is wanting to made into something.

Just back from a 45 min. walk with Mattie…and will do some yoga and then go to work.

More later…

seaweed salad

Yesterday I made some seaweed salad!!

We had bought some dried wakami from Harry’s.
The directions say to soak for about 6-8 min. The seaweed is all shriveled up and small. So I took out a hand full thinking that would be enough and OH MY GOD! The seaweed grew 110 times after being soaked!!! I had about 5 cups of it or more.

Here’s the recipe …

chopped seaweed (soaked) as much as you want to make in your salad.
grated zucchini (about 1 cup)

Dressing
1 c. olive oil
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper
fresh dill chopped
white poppy seeds 1/2 t.
orange peel finely grated 1/4 t.

Pour dressing over the greens let sit for about 1 hour or more and ENJOY!!

It was really quite good…I would have added 1/2 squeezed lime or lemon if we would have had one.

Have lots of errands to do today…Take Mattie to get groomed, do yoga…pick up Mattie and then go to work. So I better get moving…

The hardest part about the raw food diet for me is the social eating problem. When eating with others, it is no fun eating raw!! So I have a little of this and a little of that and before I know it, I’m eating foods that I know I shouldn’t.

How do you eat 100% raw when your human contacts have usually revolved around the food you eat with them? This is my dilemma.

When alone, or just with Rich I do great! But when others are over or we are out…it seems impossible to stay on this diet.

I spent most of the weekend working on the monkey quilt. I should have known that when I blab about what I am going to do…it inevitably changes. We also worked on the kitchen.

My summer of lots of work days off are over…back to the regular working hours. And a few more of them due to picking up a second job. I need the $…

Mattie is in dire need of a grooming…

The monkey quilt is coming along.

Recycled neckpiece

Found metal tag in my neighbors driveway, stereo components and hemp. I bought some leather working tools…something new on the horizon…

The diet is going ok…It is harder than I thought. Over the past few months I have completely cut out meat and dairy. It is the grains that I have been craving! Something in them that my body needs…I’ve been caving in. However, I am 85% raw. Ok so I couldn’t “cut the mustard”, (but I sure can cut the cheese!….I heard that somewhere.) but I am eating extremely healthy and I do believe in time it will make a difference in my health. The puffiness under my eyes has dissipated and has the congestion.

Enough about eating…

Jewelry making weekend has started!

Raw Foods #5

I won’t continue posting my menus…it is getting boring for me…but if I make a special concoction I will post the recipe.

It seems like I will finally have a whole weekend with no obligations…Yeah!

As far as the diet is going, I have cheated a little…added some chick peas to salsa this afternoon…and I won’t lie some tortillia chips (organtic and no chemical additives) I am being honest here. This afternoon for some reason I was HUNGRY!!! Up until now I was having NO hunger pangs. So I caved in….

I’m happy to report that I am loosing inches on my waistline. Since I didn’t measure I’m not sure how much but my clothes are fitting me much better.

We got the much needed rain last night and this morning….so the tomatoes will be producing in bunches soon!!

Off to the herb shop I go…

Raw Food Day #4

I did excellent today….that is until……………………………………..
I got home from work and was craving some mashed potatoes!!! We decided to go out to eat…but I did keep it simple…and had:
mashed potatoes with no toppings a cup of sauted mushrooms, onions and peppers
I put the veggies on top of the potatoes and ate! Oh broke down and had a Margarita and some of a bloom’n onion….I’m a bad girl! Hey, I’m still on the diet, still doing the walking and yoga…just broke for one night. Like I said the morning was great…I’m not a loser!

Breakfast Smoothie of:
1/2 cup rice milk
carob powder
honey
almond butter

Lunch salad with:
romaine lettuce
tomato
kale
beets
olives
olive oil
lemon juice
salt and pepper
fresh dill

Snack:
carrot sticks
dates covered in almonds

Tomorrow I will go to the herb shop and pick up a colon cleanser. That will be this weekends treat!! EEEE YEIKES!!

Good night.