JUICY CLEANSE 2015: DAY THREE (THE END)

We're done! The three days went by really fast and I think I have solved the issue of my skin rash (which was the goal of this whole cleanse in the first place). I THINK it's because ever since I started eating high carb (around a year ago) I ate WAY more fruit. I'm talkin' like 8 bananas in my smoothies, 5 mangoes as a snack... ya'll know what my diet has looked like in the past year or so. Just look on my Instagram. Now, I have never listened to those folks who are like, "You need to restrict fruit, it has too much sugar!" I have just scoffed at them and kept eating my watermelon - the whole thing. But maybe it's time I listened.

JUICY CLEANSE 2015: DAY TWO

Another day, another juice.

Today went pretty well. My skin is looking really good, and since the aim of this whole cleanse is to heal this weird rash around my nose and rebalance my gut flora, I'm happy about that. I am so glad I don't care about being strict with "cleanses" anymore. I remember a few years ago when I did a 10-day juice fast (you can find it on my blog) and I was crazy restrictive. I think a motivation for doing that juice fast had remnants of my disordered eating from the past, but this time there's none of that. I am not doing this to lose weight or any other sh*tty reason that doesn't matter. I am doing it to feel good.

MY FAVOURITE GREEN SMOOTHIE

I have made a lot of smoothies. I drink at least one, usually two, and often three, everyday and I have been doing that for years. I plan to continue doin' it for the rest of my life. I have written an entire cookbook on smoothies (it's coming out in December and you can pre-order it here). Let's just say I know a thing or two about them; including making their textures, flavours and colours the most appealing possible.

ORGANIC BURST SMOOTHIES!

Ey, babes, guess what time it is. It's Smoothie Time (AKA the best time)! This morning I got busy in the kitchen whipping up two different super nutrient-dense drinks for ya'll to slurp up with a smile. The special ingredients in these recipes are Organic Burst super foods! Within these colourful liquid concoctions are amazing concentrated forms of the healing and energy-giving plants: wheatgrass, acai berries, maca root and baobab fruit. Woo! Let's party cuz we can! Ain't no better way to start the day then with a giant glass of raw vegan fruity goodness in the most digestible format. Your body will be doing the happy dance.  Mine definitely is right now! Hence all the exclamation points!

RAW VEGAN BLOODY MARY

I was really surprised at how delicious this tasted. Then again, if I thought a moment longer I would've realized it shouldn't be surprising at all. I love tomatoes, garlic, lemon and spices! But I've never been into alcoholic drinks, so the idea of Bloody Mary was not exactly a turn on. However, it's one of my moms favourite cocktails so I decided to make a healthy vegan version just for the challenge. It turned out splendidly. I actually didn't want to hand the glass over to mom because I wanted it for myself! I didn't add any booze (to my mothers dismay) but if you want to, don't let me stop you. This is great a juice recipe on it's own, or a terrific healthy base for a real cocktail.

GINGER ORANGE CARROT JUICE (AND I GOT INSTAGRAM)

The title is pretty self-explanatory: I finally got Instagram, and I'm sharing a recipe for ginger orange carrot juice. First thing's first: follow me on Instagram if you want to (...  you want to). Secondly: make this juice and feel the good ole fruit and veggie vibes! Carrot juice and beet juice are my faves right now. I love adding ginger and garlic for extra flavour and nutrition; and cucumbers, celery, apples, oranges, bell peppers, greens and pineapple for volume (and equally because they're obviously super healthy). The colour of carrot juice is legit inspiring (same goes for beet juice)! You can't NOT want to drink up a glass of this vibrant, glowing juice filled with life. Get it in ya.

Now, moving onto Instagram! I mean I suppose there's not too much to say about it; but I am really excited to have this new social media platform to share my life with you guys on. My Instagram feed will be a good picture into my daily diet and lifestyle, which I sometimes don't show on my blog (instead I generally only share my "wow!" recipes, not what makes up the bulk of my diet). If you guys want to only see the food I eat, that's totally fine; but if you're also interested in how I spend my days personally, I'd be happy to share that with you too! Just let me know. *smile*.

In other news: I just got my manuscript for my second book back from my publisher today, with their notes attached for what I should change or fix. *excited*! I can't wait to bring this new book to all of you. It's bursting with juicy goodness and the food porn you've hopefully come to expect from me. *wink*. (I don't know why there are so many asterisks in this post). This book has 100 recipes for mostly juices and smoothies, as well as about 15 for energy bars and snacks. There are chapters for ingredients, equipment, methods, tips and tricks... everything you need to begin or master a juicing- and blending-filled life! Cheers to living long and being sexy (because you will, and you are)!

GINGER ORANGE CARROT JUICE

5 carrots
1 tablespoon chunk of ginger
2 oranges 

Wash, peel and chop as needed, then juice it up and drink it down! Mmm. 
Note: this is a snack-sized juice. Double or triple this to get a full tummy.... although if you do, watch out for the ginger. Even with huge juices, I keep my ginger to about 1 tablespoon. 

Did you like this post? Then *subscribe to my blog* and get all my posts by email!

WebRep

currentVote

noRating

noWeight

LIQUID FEAST: DAY FOUR & FIVE

Sorry I didn't have time to post yesterday about the liquid cleanse and how it's going. I am feel physically okay, but I think I am emotionally detoxing right now. I've been in a strange mood since I got out of bed, and I slept for a long time. I was taking the bus home in the rain, but decided to get off and walk because I loved the feeling of being soaked with the water falling from the sky. At the skytrain station I bumped into my friend from Vancouver island who is supposed to be staying with me this week... I had completely forgotten. She had tried calling my phone and knocked on my door for awhile but of course I was wandering around getting drenched and trying to figure out why I was feeling so grey, so I didn't notice my phone. Fortunately she had made plans with another friend so she's out right now, but I'll see her later. Once I got home, I realized I was really hungry so I made a mango-banana-date smoothie and it tasted good. Yet even after consuming it, I felt like laying down and crying. I've been feeling that way a lot lately, but I've been too busy to let myself actually give in. I don't have time to be sad.

I think that although I devote much of my time to actively confronting all my emotional demons, I let some become repressed unconsciously, and then convince myself they aren't hidden there. I have let that happen now, with emotions coming from my past relationship. My current partner's roommate is a friend of my ex-boyfriend, and so occasionally my ex will be over at my current partner's house. Inconvenient for us all, to say the least. Well, fate finally wanted to have a laugh so last week I went over there with my friends to see my partner and hang out but ended up walking into a room full of guys laughing together... my ex being one of them. My past relationship was very intense and emotional for me; I tell myself I have healed from it but obviously this is not so, because whenever his name is brought up, I have trouble breathing and speaking; and when I saw him a few days ago by surprise I was basically paralyzed. No one in the room seemed to notice this and they call kept laughing at jokes being told. I didn't know what to do so I just left. A little later I broke down in tears by the road without being able to explain precisely why. By the next morning I felt better... but evidently this was temporary because I think the same clump of suppressed feels has surfaced again and is making me glum as scum today. I suppose I need to allow myself to soak in these emotions and then hopefully they will leave me... I don't know. Sorry for making This Rawsome Vegan Life more like This Rawsome Vegan Depression but I gotta get my thoughts out somewhere.

As far the liquid fasting is concerned: it's going well. Yesterday was probably the toughest for me and partner, I wrote a final exam for archaeology then we went grocery shopping... we ended up getting way too hungry and really wanted to bite our meal instead of drink it, but we are strong willed and it wasn't a serious issue. We drank a bunch of amazing soup - seriously it was one of the best things I've ever tasted - and watched a documentary, then felt much better. And now we come full circle back to today: after having that mango-banana-date smoothie, I wrote the bulk of this post and did other blog/computer tasks. Then I made some soup, wrote in my journal, and still felt hungry. I made a blueberry smoothie with bananas, cacao and almonds. It's pretty good albeit a little grainy because I didn't let the almonds blend fully. If I feel hungry again later, I'll make some vegetable juice.

PARSLEY BEET JUICE

1 bunch parsley
2 beets
5 carrots
1 garlic clove

Juice. Drink. Mmm.

THE BEST CORN & CAULIFLOWER SOUP with TOMATOES & AVOCADO 

1 head cauliflower

2 cups corn 

6 field tomatoes

1 avocado

Juice from 1/2 lime

1 garlic clove

2 tablespoons miso paste

Cumin and coriander, to taste

Hot water, as needed

Steam the cauliflower and corn until tender (or leave it raw if that is important to you), then put everything in your blender and blend until smooth. This makes a lot of soup. It should taste amazing. If it doesn't, adjust according to taste until you like what you've got. 

MANGO-BANANA-DATE SMOOTHIE

1 frozen banana
2 mangoes
5 dates
4 ice cubes
Water, as needed

Blend it all up until smooth. 

MEXICO-INSPIRED SOUP 

5 tomatoes
2 cups corn 
1 avocado
Juice from 1/2 lime
Coriander 
Pepper, to taste
Vegetable broth, as needed

Blend everything until smooth. 

BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE with CACAO & ALMONDS

1 banana
1 cup frozen blueberries
3 dates
1/4 cup almonds
1 tablespoon cacao powder
Water, as needed

Blend until smooth. Enjoy.

Did you like this post? Then *subscribe to my blog* and get all my posts by email!

LIQUID FEAST: DAY THREE

Hey, guys. How's your day going? If you are doing this liquid cleanse with me, how are you feeling? If you haven't joined in the liquid feasting yet - jump on in! We're on day three of seven and I am doing terrific. I'm jamming to this amazing mix right now and it has got me in the best mood. I wanna go dance. Alas, I have my final exam for archaeology tomorrow so I gotta have a quiet night in. Once my exams are done and my second book manuscript is finished I'm gonna party like it's going out of style (it will never go out of style though, my life is one big crazy party). 

Energy levels are great, I had a very deep sleep and woke up at 8:30 am like I usually do. I'll most likely stay up until midnight again. I did some light stretching then made a big blueberry smoothie pretty much the same as the one I had yesterday (get the recipe here) and it was amazing once again. Later my partner came over - he's doing this with me - and we made a giant blend of kale from the garden, apples from the farmers market and organic bananas. That recipe is below. Later I was getting hungry again and decided to make what my mind was telling me to: potato soup. MMM. It ended up being phenomenal and totally hit the spot. The potatoes are local and organic, that probably helped a great deal with the flavour and creaminess. The nice thing about just keeping this cleanse to liquids is that I can make super nourishing and filling soups for dinner, instead when I'm on a juice fast... cold juice for supper can sometimes leave you missing warm meals.  

While we were sipping drinks outside in the sunshine (the weather has been so great lately) we were talking about how although the smells and textures of solid food we see around are very naturally appealing, that doesn't mean they're at all tempting. Yes, those foods would taste good, but we have this thing called will power and it's pretty easy simply choosing not to eat solids at this point. I think this is because we are making sure we stay fully carbed up. When you are low on calories and carbs, your will power and rationality go out the window and you wanna grab anything edible that is in your arms reach and devour it. I am speaking about this in terms of a liquid cleanse, but I think this can be more importantly paralleled to people's everyday diets and their cravings for processed foods. They cave in and buy a doughnut and then feel guilty about it. I think most of us have been there, or somewhere like there (we all have different degrees). Why does this terrible cycle of guilt and unhealthy eating habits continue? Because we don't feed ourselves enough of the good stuff! The good stuff = whole fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts and seeds. When we are REALLY full on these foods, we won't crave the junk we don't need. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people think they should limit their calories from fruit and that is tragic. I never count calories because I eat the right foods, so the more I eat the better! Having said that, I probably consume around 3000 calories a day and that is working out juuuust fine. Obviously, our bodies know what to do when we fuel them with the right foods. It's simple. It's easy. It's delicious. It's the answer. 

The power is in the plants. 

CREAMY POTATO & ONION SOUP (OIL-FREE, SALT-FREE)

6 potatoes

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

Enough vegetable broth to cover the potatoes and onions

Coriander, dill, fresh parsley 

Slice the veggies then cover with the broth and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let cook until tender. Put everything into your blender and blend until smooth. It is shockingly delicious! Add whatever else you like. 

KALE ME, BABY 

2 cups kale

4 apples

3 frozen bananas

1/16 teaspoon stevia powder

2 cups cashew mylk

Blend it all up until smooth. Drink it down. 

Did you like this post? Then *subscribe to my blog* and get all my posts by email!

LIQUID FEAST: DAY TWO

Hello, lovelies! I hope you're having a fantastic day; I definitely am. The liquid feast is going swell (but in any case life can't really be bad when you're listening to this). I've had decent energy levels all day. Actually... as I was typing that I remembered I woke up at 7 am today - an hour earlier than normal - because I couldn't lie still anymore! Hmm, so to correct myself: energy levels have been VERY decent. I'll probably stay up until about midnight tonight. My period has decided to align it's timeline exactly with this liquid feast and that is honestly for the best - I need all the instant nutrition I can get. For that reason, I will be adding cacao to some smoothies. Chocolate banana shakes, anyone? *everyone raises their hand as they sit at their computer - cyber unity*

My partner says he feels good and has more energy than normal. He did mention he was really noticing the smells of food when he was out and about and that makes sense because in my experience when you "fast", your senses are heightened. Of course, he likes a challenge and was much more anticipating getting over to my house to drink all the smoothies, juices and soups I made throughout the day. He tells me he is getting almost as excited about food as I am... this is the best news. If you and I ever get to eat a meal together, you will quickly learn I am very passionate about it. I scream, I moan, I fall over. As much as I love some good ole herbal medication, I really don't need recreational drugs when I have stuff like avocadoes, heirloom tomatoes, blueberry cashew smoothies, and super food truffles to enjoy. The experience of eating organic plants is trippy enough and my sensory systems are like "WOAH ARE WE ON SHROOMS OR WHAT?" Basically, yep.

You might be wondering if I have no life and if all I do is hug my blender and trip out on blueberries all day... well, you'd be partially right. These days I am spending most of my time whipping up juice and smoothie recipes, but I have REASON, OKAY? I am writing my second book, and these fab drinks are the main feature. So it's a perfect time to do a liquid cleanse, especially with another person, because my job is literally to make huge amounts of different juices and smoothies all day... every day. For real - my manuscript is due in a few weeks. I gotta hurry up. 

Here's what I made today that I will share with you: a blueberry cashew smoothie sweetened with dates, beet juice with garlic and carrots, and carrot and onion soup with tomatoes and bell peppers. I was awake for several hours before I made and drank a few different smoothies for my book, and the beet juice (saving half of everything for my lover), then I studied for my final exams for awhile and sunbathed in the nude. I got hungry again so I made the blueberry smoothie. Studied some more, went through my emails, etc. then at about 6 pm I made the carrot soup - it hit the spot. I might make super food hot chocolate later but I feel satisfied right now. I hope this feast is going well for you, too! Get my recipes below:

x

BLUEBERRYLICIOUS SMOOTHIE

1 cup frozen blueberries

4 bananas

6 dates

2 cups cashew mylk 

Blend until smooth and creamy. Mmm oh yes. 

RUBY RED JUICE

8 carrots

4 beets

1 garlic clove

Wash, peel and chop as needed. Put it all through your juicer and strain if you wish, then enjoy. 

CREAMY CURRY CARROT SOUP with BELL PEPPERS, TOMATOES & ONIONS 

4 cups carrots
1 onion
2 bell peppers
3 small tomatoes
Cumin and coriander 
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 dates
Vegetable broth or water

Roughly chop all the veggies. Cover the carrots and onions with vegetable broth or water in a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let them cook for about 30 minutes or until tender. Throw all the ingredients (including the veggie broth mix) into a high speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy, adding the spices as you like. Serve with tomato slices and cilantro if you like.

Note: if ya wanna keep this one totally raw, skip the cooking part! Simple. 

Did you like this post? Then *subscribe to my blog* and get all my posts by email!

SAVOURY GEM JUICE

Normally I like super sweet juices, but this one is more on the savoury side. The flavours of this recipe remind me of pizza because the juice includes tomatoes, basil and garlic. Even though I am finished my juice and fruit fast, I still incorporate juice into my everyday diet, and of course fruit continues to make up the majority of what I eat. 

I talked about this briefly in my last post about my cleansing, but I wanna go back to it now since it's important to me: I really am not a fan of calling this a cleanse. I'd rather just say I felt like consuming only juice and fruit for awhile, so I did, and now I am back to my regular diet. If I call this "cleansing", it implies that my normal diet is dirty. This is sooo not true. I also don't wanna call it a "detox" because it implies my regular diet is toxic! See what I mean? It just doesn't work for me. (But keep in mind that for some people, this could indeed be the case and they are starting off a new healthy life with a juice detox or smoothie cleanse. Yay for those guys!)

The only change now compared to when I was "cleansing" is that I am back to eating stuff like steamed veggies, whole grains, fermented soy, nuts and other fab foods. I absolutely love these foods (I could probably live off steamed broccoli and raw chocolate) and they certainly are a necessary part of a healthy diet - but every now and then I simply like to give my body a break and stick to the "cleanest" stuff with the highest water content and antioxidant amounts - fruit and juice! I love feeling lighter and refreshed after only having juice and fruit for an extended period (this time it was about nine days, but to be honest I lost count). In any case, I am LOVING this song at the moment. 

savoury tomato basil juice

1 large heirloom tomato
5-7 kale leaves, stems removed
Handful basil leaves
1 red bell pepper
1/2 pineapple
2 apples
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1 lemon
1 garlic clove
1 cucumber (optional) 
3 carrots 

Wash, peel, and cut your produce as needed. Put everything through your juicer, strain and enjoy!

DAY FOUR OF MY CLEANSE

People have been telling me I shouldn't call this a cleanse, since my system is pretty much as clean as can be. I'd have to agree with this and I'll say right now I am not concerned about becoming more pure or losing weight or anything like that. I just love how I feel when all I consume is fresh juices and organic fruit! I am not restricting my calories as far as I know (although I do not, and never have, kept track); I am drinking and eating as much as I want/need so I don't feel deprived.

That being said, everyone fasts and cleanses for different reasons. Your aim may be to lose weight, detox, transition into a vegan or raw food diet, etc. Whatever your situation, make sure you have a clear goal in mind and that you do it safely! If you're "cleansing" with me, I hope you're doing great!

Today I took it easy again, certainly enjoying not having to work on my book - for now (I get my revisions back in a couple weeks). I cleaned and tidied the house, watered the plants, picked blueberries and immediately ate them, and I am still currently trying to bleach this cute lingerie-esque dress I bought at a thrift store two days ago. I figured it'd look great in white instead of black but the colour is taking a long time to come out... we'll see. Then I watched Reincarnated and almost fell asleep. Following that I made this juice (recipe below)! Hope you like it as much as I did.

ginger jive carrot apple juice:

3 large carrots
2 green apples
1 cucumber
1/2 pineapple
1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh ginger

Wash, peel and chop the produce as needed. Put through your juicer, strain (optional) and enjoy! 

WATERMELON LOVE

My juice cleanse is going splendidly. I hope everyone else is feeling good too! This is my third day of just eating fruit and drinking juice. I am doing this to feel lighter, refreshed and give my system a break from heavier foods like nuts, grains and steamed vegetables. I started my day off RIGHT with a giant glass of watermelon juice. I'll give you the recipe in a minute below. Don't the photos just make your mouth water!? Yesterday I just ate fruit because I was lazy, and the day before I had a large glass of carrot apple ginger lemon juice and lots of fruit. Like I said, I'm feeling fantastic so I wanna continue with this cleanse for now. Maybe another day or two. In other news: you can pre-order my cookbook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble! I know! I'm freaking out! In a good way!sexy and satisfying watermelon juice with peppermint:1 watermelon1/4 cup peppermint leaves3 ice cubesChop up the watermelon and then blend it into juice - it will liquify almost immediately. I blended up my watermelon in two batches because it was huge. Strain your juice and then pour it over ice and mint leaves. Slurp! So hydrating and sweet!

gimme dat sweet hydrating juice

No better way to start your day than with a glorious glass of super charged energy elixir. Amiright!? I don't think I ate enough yesterday so this morning I was feeling a little weak (but also I have been doing mad squats lately so my legs were quite sore). I needed a pick-me-up and fast!

My regular breakfast of fresh juice took care of this and I was feeling strong and hyped again in no time. Is there anything fresh green juice CAN'T fix? I mean seriously, it reverses cancer. If I never find my soul mate I'll most likely do just fine because I will find a way to marry juice. (After I typed that out all the possible technical problems came to mind but I will push them aside in the name of love.)

After gulping down my juice while listening sweet tunes on the radio, I went to work prepping my dinner for tonight. I don't usually do fancy raw dinners, preferring to keep it simple and low-prep-time with big meals of salad, steamed veggies with whole grains, fruit bowls or smoothies; but today I felt like making something special that I could share with you. The recipe will be up tomorrow. If you want a hint, think: portobello meat balls with "slow-roasted" baby tomatoes and marinated zucchini noodles.

Dang. I just gave it away.

hydrating cucumber pineapple juice

1/2 pineapple
2 green apples
1 cucumber
1 small garlic clove
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1 lemon 
anything else your heart desires 

Wash, peel and slice your produce as needed. Put through your juicer than slurp away.