Mama Mia, Pasta, Pasta, Pasta!

Happy Friday Everyone!!! It's been a rainy yucky one here. Actually, it's been this way for a few days now. Due to the gray weather (and PMS, sorry TMI) I've been eating a lot of comfort food. My favorite comfort meals revolve around pasta. Growing up we ate past at least 2 times a week, and pasta will forever remind me of my awesome Naunee (who is an 80 year old hottie).

Earlier this week I made some gluten free pasta with sun dried tomatoes, Swiss chard and canellini beans.
For lunch today I was in the mood for a smoothie, but my blender is so horrible now, it's not even worth getting myself stressed over just to make a smoothie. So instead I used the food processor and came up with this:

Lauren's Raw Sherbet
(A Spin-off of Gena's Raw Soft Serve)

2 Frozen Bananas
1/4 cup frozen mango
1/4 cup frozen pineapple
1/4 cup frozen papaya
1 tsp. coconut butter
1 tsp. shredded coconut (for garnish)

Add everything to food processor and let mix for 5 minutes or until it takes on a creamy texture. Stopping every so often to scrap down the sides. Put in ice cream bowl and sprinkle shredded coconut on top.

Tonight T and I went to Whole Foods for some groceries and we ate dinner at Osteria, a restaurant inside our Whole Foods. Going with my pasta theme this week, I had some gluten free pasta putanesca with vegan sausages. T enjoyed the sausages, since I am sure they had wheat in them. I did have a few bites and they were pretty tasty. I am not a fake meat fan at all, so this came as a shock to me.

As I was grabbing some coconut milk yogurts (they were on sale this week) I notice something new.. COCONUT MILK KEFIR!! I dropped the yogurts and grabbed the kefir. T drinks regular kefir everyday so he wanted to get his own bottle of this vegan gem. He got strawberry for himself and I got myself vanilla. I've already enjoyed a glass, YUM!! Although not raw, I do like to have coconut milk fermented products once in a while, since they are good for my stomach.

Have a great weekend everyone!! Don't forget to spread the love by writing in Crazysexylife.com for best blog! Only hours left until Veggie Awards polls close! http://ow.ly/iJxR

Heart Shaped Tomato

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I hope everyone is having a nice week. Mine has been going pretty well. I am looking into acupuncture for my Crohn's. Anyone have any experience with it? It was suggested by a few people and I think it's time to give it a chance. The only thing holding me back is cost, which shouldn't be a problem because my health should be most important..I wish that was how everyone thought..

Anyway, we have our first tomato!!!!! The best part about it, it's a heart shaped tomato! :) We haven't eaten it yet, it just sits in our kitchen looking cute!
I bought two new raw bars to try at Whole Foods this week. They are by the brand Go Raw! Let me tell you, best raw bars ever!!!!! They have so much flavor and so my quality to them, I am in love!

Earlier in the week, T wasn't feeling well from working outside in the rain all day, so I made this yummy roasted veggie dish with millet. I roasted broccoli, sweet potatoes, turnips, red potatoes, zucchini and eggplant. Turned out pretty well!

We have had an over abundance of cucumbers from our garden, so T decided we should make pickles! The first batch came out too salty, but this batch was perfect! YUM! Next we want to make raw pickles, any recipes to share?

Gena's Soft Serve us once again making an appearance on my blog! I am telling you, she wasn't kidding about it being life changing! I made myself a super-food sundae earlier in the week. I added some coconut oil to the banana mix and sprinkled bee pollen, goji berries and cacao nibs on top. I just loooved it!

Lastly, a big mug of juice I enjoyed recently. This was beets, cucumbers, celery, apple and lemon. I love the color of beet juice, it's so pretty!

Have a wonderful day everyone! I will have more info on the acupuncture thing in my next post. I am going to call today about an appointment! Wish me luck!

**P.S. I am not sure you all know that there is a Crazy Sexy Life Blog! Some of the most influential people in the raw food, vegan, animal rights, spiritual world are part of the blog posse and everyday someone different writes a post. There is not anywhere else (that I know of) online that has such a great dynamic group of people blogging on one page. Please spread the word and add Crazy Sexy Life to your blog roll! I promise you will enjoy it! :)

A Weekend Adventure

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! T and I did so many fun things! I took some pictures from Saturday evening when we drove to Frenchtown, NJ and New Hope, Pennsylvania.

T had wanted to check out New Hope for awhile, someone that works for him as been suggesting it, when I found out that the town next door (in NJ) had a raw vegan cafe, I was on board!

Frenchtown was about an hour or so away. A small quirky town with lots of charm and comfort. I took this picture of a blue horse statue that we passed while walking. There were lots of adorable little shops with expensive knick-knacks and things that you-have-to-have, but really don't need.
The place I ate at was called The Rainbow Garden Cafe. A cute little cafe with 2 tables and a bar set up for eating. I ordered my food to go and I started with some raw banana ice cream. This was just like Gena's soft serve, YUM!

I also ordered the raw veggie burger with a side salad. The veggie burger was made up of sweet potato, peppers, onion, and sprouted nuts and seeds. On top was raw pickles, avocado, Sunny Chi Spread (which was like raw mustard), lettuce, tomato and onion. This was fabulous!!

Sorry for the blurry picture, we took our food to a spot overlooking the Delaware River and ate in the car. This burger was not only filling, but filled with flavor!

After we ate we headed over the bridge into Pennsylvania to another charming town called New Hope. The winding scenic roads along side the Delaware River were beautiful. We walked around New Hope checking out a bunch of interesting stores. We even walked over a steal bridge and looked out on the river. This picture doesn't do the beauty of the view any justice. I took a few more pictures like this, but this one came out the best.

We plan on going back soon, it was so magical and romantic! :) Next time we will bring my brother in law and his fiance, we have so much fun with them!

So You Think You Can Dance..

Wednesday night on So You Think You Can Dance, this beautiful piece was preformed in honor of breast cancer. My mother had breast cancer this year and many in my family have not survived it. Luckily my mother is okay after surgery and radiation. Please watch this dance, I was touched.


Have a nice weekend everyone!

Salty and Sweet

Hey Everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I am taking it easy this summer, not stressing over blogging or taking pictures of food.

My fast went well, I got through Saturday and Sunday morning I felt I really needed food, so I had a smoothie and broke the fast. I feel good about it though.

Earlier in the week I made Melody's Dahl, only mine didn't turn that nice yellow color that hers did. I also added kale for an extra boost of green. It was really good and I froze a lot of it for later use.
My favorite snack/lunch right now has been a sliced cucumber (from my garden, of course) sprinkled with sea salt and a side of raw sauerkraut. This is the perfect salty treat and is definitely better than potato chips!

Continuing with my salt cravings lately, I made Philip's Raw Popcorn! Another perfect snack, although I had it for lunch! T looooves popcorn, I can't digest it well, so cauliflower popcorn fits the bill!

Another lunch from this week was some raw pesto flavored crackers from Livin' Spoonful with avocado, raw kraut, Parma, and ground pepper on top. I just love those crackers, they are so versatile and great just on their own!

At my Whole Foods this week, I noticed they had Love Street Living Foods Raw Chocolate Bars (and even chocolate syrup!). Ecstatic, I had to buy a bar, it was so fudgey and delicious! I am going to get some more next time I go and stick them in the freezer!

Have a nice week everyone! I will try to post again before the week is over, but don't count on it! :) I will be laying in the sun, enjoying the summer weather!

Scrub a Dub Dub!

Hey All!

Thanks again for all the support and feedback on my last post. I can not express how grateful I am to have wonderful friends like all of you! HUGS!

Those of you who follow me on Twitter already know that I've started green juice fasting. I decided to give it a go again to clear my mind, heal my stomach pain, and help me get all around centered again. Last summer I did this and I lasted 4 days, this time I am not putting any pressure on myself, I am just going to go for as long as I last.

Before I made the leap into fasting I had a few great meals that I will be posting today. Here is a cucumber salad with red onion, avocado, tomato and raw kraut and a roasted sweet potato. Perfect outdoor summer meal! Ginger like to sleep a certain way when it's hot outside. It's pretty funny! She sleeps in our bed with us at night but during the day you'll catch her lounging like this. Look at that belly! No more avocados for you Ginger! ;)Before my fast I made this juice for lunch one day. It was zucchini, cucumbers, lemon, celery romaine and an orange. Similar to some of the concoctions I've been drinking on my fast.
Another pre-fast meal was another Buddha bowl. T and I shared this one. It was millet with all raw veggies: dandelion greens, red onion, scallions, red peppers, green peppers, avocado, raw kraut, broccoli, sorrel. T enjoyed it a lot, I guess I will be making this again!
One morning for breakfast I wasn't feeling like my normal green smoothie so I had some raw raisin bread. This tasted just like the cinnamon raisin bread I ate as a child. The only problem was that I am so use to a light smoothie or juice for breakfast that this was really heavy and I felt "off" all day. No more changing it up for me!
The Weekly Gab:

*Check out a Ginger Is The New Pink, fan, Ed's new blog: Total Cleanse Guide. I am finding it very helping during my cleanse!

*Check out THIS article on fasting for Crohn's, Colitis, and other GI issues. I am really loving it right now!

*HERE is another Crohn's related article on healing children with the disease.

*Enter Earthmother's AWESOME Cukoo for Coconuts Giveaway for a chance to win a FREE 32 FL. oz. jar of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!! I have been using coconut oil on my skin everyday now and I am in LOOOVE with the stuff! Ginger likes it too! :)

*There are some great discussions going on right now at My Crazy Sexy Life, sign up and join in the fun!!

*Have you heard of THE HUGGING SAINT, I would love to get a hug from her! You can tell she brings people such wonderful positive energy!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

New Idea..

First, I wanted to mention two errors in my last post. First, I was telling my grandma how amazed people were at her doing Jazzercise for 50 years and she said she's only been doing it for 30 (it's only been around for 30 years), but she has been exercising for 50, she walks as well! Second, the juice I get at my Whole Foods is not fresh pressed, it's just juiced in a regular juicer. Someone had asked and I emailed my Whole Foods to find out. I also asked them if they could make more green juices and they said they had been thinking the same thing! Whoohoo!

Okay on to business, I am going to try to post a non-food related post once a week. Probably when I don't have any food to post! :) I promise food on Friday!

Over the weekend I had a minor set back. Like I mentioned, I had a party to attend (with my family). I am not very photogenic and really don't like getting my picture taken (especially now with the weight gain). Well, my lovely sister took some pictures and posted them for people to see. When I saw how bad I looked I broke down and couldn't stop crying. All Sunday I felt sick and upset over this. She kindly removed SOME of them and apologized (she really felt bad). But I couldn't help feeling so depressed over it. The pictures really opened my eyes and let me see how much weight I have put on. Almost like a wake up call.

On Saturday, I was so upset that I had to be around my family that I didn't say my
affirmations all day because I didn't feel "worthy"..on Sunday my little breakdown was related to this (and a little PMS). When I told my doctor about this he told me that I probably wasn't "breathing." Now that I think about it, I wasn't. I was carrying so much stress and tension due the fact that I had to be around my family that I forgot to relax and breath. When he adjusted my spine I felt the tension disappear. I couldn't believe how tight I was feeling over this.

This upcoming weekend I have to go to a family reunion (I know, can I get a break?). This time I am going to remind myself to breath and remember to say my affirmations. This will also prevent me from overeating (which I tend to do in stressful situations). I also have to remind myself that it's not worth getting sick over.

I am going to work hard on this and hopefully get through Sunday. I will have to do this every time I am with them and hopefully it will become natural. Wish me luck!

Let me know what you think about my new idea of a personal post once a week (or less)?

Thanks for reading!

So Grateful!!

Hey All!


I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Thank you all SOOOOO much for all the love and light you sent me. I am really working hard through all this mental stuff and your support means the world!

My grandmother turned 80 a few weeks back and over the weekend we had a surprise birthday party for her. She is the hippiest, most stylish, 80 year old I know! She is so classy and elegant and wears clothes that I would buy (they are modest and classy, nothing too young). She also goes to Jazzercise almost daily (and has been for 50 years!!! You should see this lady..she is HOT! :)

Anyway, during the week last week I made some interesting salads. Starting off was my favorite, Rawco salad! I used Ani Phyo's Rawco recipe and added some fresh peppers from our garden, avocado, cherry tomatoes, onion, lettuce, lime juice and little olive oil.
I also made Sarma's S&M salad from her new book Living Raw Food. YUM! This is my favorite salad from One Lucky Duck Takeaway and I was so excited to see the simple, yet decadent salad in the book. I used raw crackers from Livin Spoonful, they are my favorite. I am making this again for dinner this week!

The people from Sunshine Burger were kind enough to send me a bunch of coupons for some free boxes!! T and I went to Whole Foods this weekend, and stocked up! Or freezer is full!!

Speaking of Whole Foods, they finally brought back my favorite (and only kind I've ever had, besides from Pure Food and Wine), raw ice cream!! They even got bigger containers now! I enjoyed the Pistachio flavor. I still have some leftover for the week. YUM!

Sunday T and I went to Whole Foods for lunch and I got a fresh pressed carrot, beet and parsley juice. I also had a fruit salad. This was potent, but delicious. T had one as well and was not a fan (but he did drink it all down!).

Have a lovely Monday everyone! I see my doctor again today, I wonder what we will be working on this week. I will share with you in my next post! :)

Fill er UP!

Hey Everyone!

I went to my doctor again on Monday and we are working on a couple of things this week and I am feeling really good about it. He is not only helping my Crohn's, but with all the issues surrounding my disease. I am really enjoying a little "therapy"..feels good to be human! :)

I also wanted to add that I did not feel well at all on Sunday. After eating gluten my body was seriously upset with me. On Sunday I was sick at night and Monday I barely ate. I think I will be staying far away from the big G!

On Sunday night, when I had a little appetite, I made some more of "Gena's Soft Serve" I just can't get enough of this stuff. This time I added cacao nibs for a little crunch. I also blended in some coconut butter, YUM!
Tuesday morning I was back to feeling great again, I couldn't wait for my big green smoothie! This one has Thai coconut meat and water (need those electrolytes), E3Live, Banana, Papaya, Mango, Bee Pollen, Chia seeds and Green powder. How could I not feel better after this sunny smoothie?

Yesterday afternoon I made a BIG green juice for lunch. I was feeling the need for something strong. This was collards, cucumbers, lemon and apple. Heavy on the collards! I drank down this big mug slowly. Felt good to get my greens in!

For dinner I made a Buddha Bowl-Ala-Kris Carr. This one had a mixture of brown rice, millet and quinoa. I stirred in some raw veggies: kale, peppers, onion and avocado, and let them wilt a little from the heat of the grains. This was so satisfying, a perfect high raw meal!

Today I am going back to my doctor (he wants me to come twice a week, to speed up the process). I am looking forward to it. I always feel amazing afterwards, like a big weight has been lifting off my shoulders. Have a lovely day!

My hungry weekend..

Hello Sunshine's!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.

I started mine off Friday morning with some of Gena's banana soft serve with mango, coconut oil and E3live added in. Yup, that's right ice cream for breakfast, when it's this healthy, it's okay! :)
After that I was surprised to see these cucumbers T had picked from our garden that morning! I can't wait to get juicing this week! These are extra crisp and perfect with a little sea salt, Parma, or just plain.

We also have zucchini! This is only the beginning of what we are going to be harvesting from our garden.

Friday afternoon, I went with my future sister in law for a cruelty free-natural mani and pedi. Our hair salon only uses green/vegan products and they have a full service salon with waxing, massages, facials, manicures and pedicures. After getting pampered we went to our favorite Italian restaurant for lunch. I ordered a large garden salad. The waiter warned me that the salad was huge, but being a vegan, I know when they say huge it's usually tiny, so I ordered it anyway. Boy was I surprised when the waiter wasn't lying, this salad was a monster! It had red onion, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives. I had olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing. I couldn't even finish it. Good thing T and his brother showed up and helped finish it off.

After that we all headed to the shore to stay at my in laws house. We went to my sisters party on the river and watched the fireworks. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of younger (22/23 years old) drunk kids.. T fit right in, HA HA!!

Saturday afternoon I went to lunch with my brother in law and future sister in law (T was a little hung over and couldn't make it). We went to our favorite vegan cafe on the shore, The Twisted Tree. I made an exception and had a sandwich on their homemade oat bread. I had the hummus salad sandwich which had hummus, avocado, sprouts and tomato. I also had a small salad on the side. This was amazing, as always!! Now if only they made gluten free bread..

My mother is law was kind enough to order a copy of Sarma's new book: Living Raw Food, for me and my future sis in law. I am so excited and can't wait to make delicious recipes from the book. My mother in law is now high raw, she is eating 80% raw everyday! How great is that? She even ordered 3 other raw cook books, an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator, and a VITAMIX!!! You can imagine how jealous I am. But I will be using it when I am down.

On Saturday night we made raw lasagna from the raw cookbook Raw Food Celebrations. It can out really well, but again, a little to rich for me. For some reason raw Italian food doesn't sit well with me. I can only have one or two bites before I am full.

Luckily, I had a big salad on the side which I easily finished off. My mother in law makes an amazing salad!

For dessert we made Nomi Shannon's Raw Carrot Cake. The frosting was really tasty and had a lot of flavors, but the cake tasted more like a vegetable dish then a dessert. I think if we make this again we will use less carrots.

That is my weekend in food, we had a fabulous time and I will be making more gourmet raw meals with my mother in law in the near future! Yay RAW!

How does your garden grow?

I hope everyone has had a fantastic week! I am spending more time outside and less time by the computer, sorry for the lack of posts. I can just feel my energy being sucked out of me when I sit here for too long.

Anyway, I am feeling amazing this week. I am taking homeopathic pills for stress and nerves and I am doing more yoga. I am not sure what it is, but I am just super happy! Feeling a lot better emotionally!

I had the most amazing cantaloupe earlier this week. I even shared some with T and his father (they are working on our garage, residing and some other stuff). They agreed, hands down, most succulent cantaloupe they had ever had!
I also had this-happy looking-kale salad for dinner one night. I had yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, avocado and sprouts in it. How could anyone not be happy eating this? :)

I've been repeating most of my juices, so I don't take pictures of them, but this one was something different: kale stems, broccoli stems, lemon, apple celery and parsley. Refreshing and cooling, perfect for the muggy weather we've been having!

You are probably going to be shocked when you see the photos of my garden, it is growing uncontrollably from all the rain and heat! I keep telling T that people are thinking we use Miracle Grow or something, but this garden is all organic!

Here's a picture from the other side. You can see the tomato plants are growing out of control!

Some cucumbers are coming in! We are going to have so many, I am going to be juicing my brains out! Ahh!

Here's a not yet ripe tomato. I hope they are delicious Jersey tomatoes!! We are going to have to give some away, there will be so many!

No "weekly gab" this week, sorry! Have a lovely Fourth of July everyone!! We are going to a party at my sisters place on the river, we will be able to see fireworks there. I will try to take lots of pictures!