10 day challenge

I know I have been MIA since September, but I'm back to pick up where I left off.

I have found a bunch of cool different blogs that have focused on clean eating. One of the best that I found lately is 100 days of real food. She makes doing this with kids so much easier! I think I will stick the kids on her meal plans but I'm still going to have to find something else for me. She incorporates a lot of meals with gluten in them, and I'm still struggling with some gluten intolerance. So going gluten free is best for me, but the kids don't seem to have the same sensitivities. What I really love about her site, is that she shows you how to eat well and on a BUDGET. I know eating organically on a budget, who would of thought you can do it. But she goes on a 100 day challenge and sticks to a budget and feeds her family of 4. Read her blog and see how she does it. It's very motivational, especially for those of us on a budget. (isn't that all of us these days?) And she has motivated me to get a bread maker and start making all of the kids bread.

So I think we are going to start a 10 day challenge on eating "real food". I'm going to wait until we get the bread machine in so that we can all do it together.


The other  super cool think I have found in my area is a cool fruit and veggie co-op. Bountiful Baskets gets you a big basket of 50% veggies and 50% fruit from USA or small mexican farmers for a super low price. The average contribution for a basket is $15 for a regular basket or $25 for an organic basket. They also have additional veggie packs, bread, tortillas, and seasonal items for an additional cost. This week we got a regular pack and a mexican theme veggie pack all for around $25 and we got a ton of stuff.

Isn't that so cool! We got some persimmons this week, so I have been researching what we can do with them. This is what I really like about the weekly baskets, you never know what you are going to get, so you get to try new things you wouldn't normally pick out.

My favorite recipe of the week is a cauliflower pizza It really tasted awesome! Now the crust does have cheese in it, so it probably isn't the best but it was gluten free so that was a win for me!

I'll try and keep you updated this week.

Vegan Carrot Cake

So I found this recipe for Sam's Famous Carrot Cake and decided I would try and make it a vegan version of this cake. We just watched Forks over Knives and have decided to embrace a more plant based diet. We are trying to stick to 80% veggies/20% meat.  I also watched Food Matters and they have a focus on more of a raw diet. They say to eat at least 51% of every meal raw. Watch the movie to get more info about that. They are both on Netflix in the streaming films. Netflix at least has a few things that are helpful on their streaming side! ;)

So I thought we would try and combine both of the plans and see if it works for us. We are still staying away from pretty much anything prepackaged. My mother in law Linda, who lives with us, is sticking to the very strict diet that they go over in Forks over Knives. That diet cuts out all milk products, oils and fats,  and is totally vegetarian/vegan.

Linda's birthday is today so I decided to make her a cake she could eat following her diet. So here is the recipe I came up with that is egg free and oil free. I did break the rules and added in coconut (coconut has high fat content, but I did use the reduced fat organic coconut). I also made it in a bundt cake pan and baked for 50 min. This recipe turned out a little too moist and sweet for my liking.It definitely does not need frosting of any kind.  So I'm thinking of reducing the sugar/sweetener even more. I read in another book to cut the moistness to add in some grapenuts, which may cut the sweet as well.

Vegetarian Carrot Cake:

Ingredients

• 3 T ground flax seed mixed with 9T water
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1 T organic apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup organic apple sauce
• 1 cups brown sugar or agave nectar or honey (you can lessen the amount even more if you want)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 cups shredded carrots
• 1 cup organic shredded reduced fat coconut
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x12 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine flax water combo, almond milk w/ apple cider vinegar mixed in, applesauce, sweetener and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
4. In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts, pineapple and raisins.
5. Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
6. Pour into prepared 8x12 inch pan, and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour. Check with toothpick.
7. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

12 servings- 233 calories/ 49 carbs/ 3g fat/ 4g protein

Ok, back on the wagon again

I fell off the blog wagon but I'm back. I've been trying to stick to the healthy eating diet, not always successfully but really good for the most part.

I finished my 60 day challenge for my yoga challenge. I finished 45 classes in 60 days. And now I am officially burnt out. I need to get back into the studio and see if I can find the yoga vibe again.

But in the mean time I have started training with a trainer. BJ is doing wonders for me. He is doing a combo of training, acupressure and resistance stretching. It is the hardest work I have done but I have never felt so good. The calm I have after working out with him lasts all day long. I have never felt this way after yoga. I mean I love my yoga and love the calm but it never lasts me as long as Bj's workout do. (If you are in the Dallas area and would like his info let me know and I'll get it to you. And he is super reasonably priced. )

I have also changed my eating up a bit as well. BJ gave me a new meal plan that I am trying out. We'll see if it makes a difference. And we'll see if I can stick to it.

I'll keep you updated!

Day 35

Meal 1- Protein shake

Meal 2- Whataburger jr/ 1 chicken strip (waiting a little too long before eating= bad food choices)

Meal 3- Chicken breast

meal 4- mediterranean chop salad/ small paciugo pistachio gelato

Day 34, 33, 32 & 31

Well shoot, I have totally gotten off task with this. But I have to say documenting everything for a month has made me very aware of what I put into my body.

This week I have been focusing on no wheat products. I have always had a sensitivity to wheat products but I am normally able to ignore the pain. Now that I have been so careful with what I eat the pain is much more obvious. So that makes it much easier to stay away from wheat products knowing that my stomach will hurt less.

So far so good this week. I'm going to pick back up today on food logging. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

day 30

60 min fire yoga class

meal 1- protein shake

meal 2- 2 eggs/ 2 pieces of bread/ strawberries

Meal 3 Fajitas

I totally forgot to update and also forgot what I ate. But I did pretty good all weekend. So we will start again today.

Day 29

feeling sick today. I don't think my hangover has lasted all week. And with 3 of the 7 family members all down with the stomach bug all in one day, I think that may answer my question. Going to have to go to yoga every day next week to catch up, but its better than spreading a bug or throwing up on someone. ;)

meal 1- south beach chocolate bar

meal 2- 2 eggs/ protein shake/ strawberries

meal 3- small orange

Meal 4- handful of almonds/cheese stick

Meal 5- 10 tortilla chips with beans and cheese and a little guacamole