Hola! I hope everything is going great in your world today. I’ve been feeling a bit blah recently, but fortunately today I felt better. I think that simply being 9 months pregnant and the subsequent aches and fatigue that come with it are partially to blame, and then the rest of it is due to feeling a bit trapped by not having a car. I’ve been living car-free for about 8 years now, well ever since I moved away from the USA. Don’t get me wrong, it has been an experience, one that I am happy to have had as my American sensibilities were entirely too comfortable with the status quo. Now that I am not as mobile as before, however, it has been increasingly difficult to get about on foot and in public transport to some places- most notably the mountains, as I am DYING to go have a dip in a cold mountain stream again before the baby comes. We’ll see how that works out, but for now I am just trying to be with my feelings and remember that nothing is permanent, even when it seems like it is.
We have been in the market for a new water filter for a while now because even though Madrid is said to have the best water in all of Spain, it smells. Some days are worse than others but you can seriously smell the chemicals they use in your drinking glass, even after having been passed through a Brita filter. As we aren’t planning to be here for much longer, we didn’t want to invest too much money in something that would be impossible to bring with us whenever we move. After much deliberation, we decided on this getup:
This is the Adya Clarity water filter system. It has a ceramic filter at the top, and then passes through another layered filter of carbon, zeolite, sand and something else that I can’t remember right now 😛
You can either use the Adya Clarity mineral solution with it, or not. We decided to give it a go, despite all the controversy with that product as at the moment the verdict is out and our water situation is so dire that we felt called to quite drastic measures!!
We ordered it from one of my favourite companies, Unlimited Health in Amsterdam. Along with our filter, I had to get a few more goodies that are impossible to get around here. I got:
A big bag of xylitol, coconut butter, mulberries, cacao paste and irish moss. I am planning on using the mulberries, irish moss and coconut in this Mulberry Mousse recipe at Sweetly Raw.
As a treat, I also bought myself this tiny little morsel:
I was honestly underwhelmed by this product. I was expecting something more, well..decadent I suppose, LOL! It was a glorified date/nut bar just like a Larabar or similar. Another peeve of mine is that it was sweetened with agave AND dates. I know that is a personal thing but I find it too much. Oh well, just more evidence that I prefer my own treats to store bought ones, which is a win!
On to my eats for the last few days…
Yesterday (Tuesday) I had:
- Breakfast- soy yogurt with sliced donut peaches and buckwheaties
- second breakfast- green smoothie with avocado, kale, frozen peaches, frozen berries, maca, health force nutritionals greener grasses powder and vanilla stevia
- that tiny Raw Decadence bar you see above 😉
- coconut oil+carob+goji+mulberry choccie . Hubby came home from work for lunch and wanted something sweet, so I whipped this up for him. Of course, I had to share! I had this with a a green tea.
- Lunch- brown basmati rice with tofu, red peppers, eggplant and kale
- watermelon gelato (like watermelon sorbet but with cashew milk instead of water mmmmm)
- small bowl of popcorn
- Dinner-corn pasta with red lentil bolognese sauce
I ate A LOT of food that day, mostly in the morning and then snacks between meals. I felt absolutely ravenous though, and I really don’t want to limit myself. I did go a bit overboard on the sweet stuff.
That looks great in comparison to today though!
So far today, I have had:
- breakfast-two rice cakes with some scrambled tofu
- soy yogurt with some oats and stevia
- lunch- three rice cakes spread with peanut butter and vegan tofutti mozzarella cheese
- coffee with soy milk and some gluten free cookies and peanut butter.
There are no veggies in there yet! I know that tonight a big salad for dinner is out of the question as we are using up all of the odds and ends from the fridge before our next organic veg delivery comes. Most likely, it will be brown basmati rice with a vegetable stir fry of sorts and a Thai peanut sauce.
Enjoy your afternoon!
xx
Here we are again, at the start of another week! My weekend was tiring but nice. On Saturday, we decided to venture into the city and have lunch. It ended up taking much longer to get in than planned, but we made it and decided to go to one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants in Madrid, Yerbabuena. If you are ever here, I recommend it as they have much more imaginative cuisine than most other veggie places here.
To start, I had corn tortillas stuffed with veggies, guacamole, pico de gallo and nut cheese. Then, I had an enormous salad with endive, lettuce, seaweed, sprouts, avocado and more! For dessert, I had a delicious mint sorbet. The hubby had a salad to start, with black rice, tofu, avocado, sprouts, and so much more, and a creamy pea risotto for his main. I don’t have any pictures because we were sooo hungry and way too excited to tuck in!!
Anyway, today so far I have had:
a breakfast parfait of vanilla-cashew chia pudding + apricots, peaches and nectarines mixed with a bit of lucuma, hemp protein powder and cinnamon.
For lunch, I had a big plate of sliced cucumbers, rocket and lettuce with a simple pumpkin seed and garlic cream, raw burgers from this recipe at the Sunny Raw Kitchen, my sprouted falafels and a simple zucchini/flax wrap (in recipe index if you are interested!) Those burgers are delicious, and next time I will absolutely use the jalapeño, I just didn’t have any on hand this time 🙁
I worked for a bit on my yoga projects, then decided I needed something sweet. We aren’t fully stocked up on chocolate making supplies at the moment, so I winged it with this coconut oil+carob powder+goji berries+raisins+pumpkin seeds+buckwheaties+xylitol creation. Simply mixed everything together in a bowl, poured into some silicon cupcake cases and put in the freezer to set. Took all of 5 minutes from start to finish. Talk about instant gratification! I may or may not have had more than my fair share 😉
I had these with a green/nettle tea.
Today, the husband came home with some non-GMO corn pasta, so I am going to make that for dinner with a bit of tofu, broccoli greens, carrots, zucchini and garlic in a coconut-curry sauce.
With some watermelon sorbet for afters.
So, that is a day in the kitchen of this high-raw vegan, pregnant lady!
breakfast:
coffee with oat milk and drop of english toffee stevia
chia pudding with oat milk, lucuma, maca, cinnamon, strawberries, bee pollen and honey
lunch:
zucchini pasta with fennel, fresh peas, carrot, olives, sauerkraut and a cashew/red onion alfredo sauce
green smoothie with banana, spinach and dried figs
snack:
bite of raw choccie cake with purple corn chocolate frosting
Tinto de verano (red wine with sweet tonic water) I was out to have a drink for a friend’s birthday.
Chai Soy Latte from Starbucks
Dinner:
artichokes with lemon butter sauce
tortilla de verdura (garbanzo flour, tofu, nettles, carrots, zucchini)
bit more choccie cake
All in all, I’m happy with the food for this day. The tinto de verano and chai latte were totally superfluous, but I’m trying to live in the world here and not be all crazy manic about my food.
Ideally, I would have liked a raw dinner, but it wasn’t meant to be. Some emotional stuff came up and I seriously was not up to the task of working through it. I needed some comfort, and that is what I got.
I’ve really made some changes in my life recently that I am happy about.
Two new classes fell into my lap and, I LOVE these students. They are Kundalini Yoga teachers and so we talk about KY, do kriyas in English, drink chai tea or talk about our lives. I am so grateful for the extra money and the companionship. Also, being around these women gave me the extra push I needed to..
Finally join a Kundalini yoga class again. I’m going Monday and Wednesday and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! My body has been neglected for so long that the past few weeks I was in so much pain the day after classes. Each class a new muscle group would hurt. With each week, I am getting a little stronger and I know that my body is loving all the extra care and attention it is getting. Also, having a special place for meditation is nice.
I’ve been a bit more social. I’ve reconnected with a friend that just kind of fell away a while back and am trying to get out of myself more. It helps not having long stretches of morning with nothing to do, except have temptation to stay on the Internet for hours at a time.
Anyway, with all of these changes, I have decided that it is a great time to return to raw foods. My diet has been pretty good recently. I’ve let go of the wheat for the most part, eating lots of wild greens, having green juices, etc., but there is always a bit more tweaking to do. The sugar beast has come again and I really want to deal with that. I had quit coffee for a few days but it just creeped back in. One thing at a time. Also, now it is Spring and the weather is warm and my body is feeling a strong need for salads and lighter, more easily digestible things. I want to listen to and honor that.
So, as a way to help myself and to share my way of being, I am going to post what I eat. It may not be 100% raw, but i am striving for a high proportion.