End of the Summer Dinner at Candle 79

Hey Everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was really busy, and I am exhausted! On Sunday, we were fortunate enough to go to Candle 79 for dinner with my Mother in law, Brother(s) in law, and future sister in law. Kinda like an end of the Summer celebration!

I started off with a Limonade, which was lemon, lime and agave all icy. This was kind of like a Slurpee (from what I remember..it's been about 10 years since I've had one!). Anyway, I crave lemonade a lot and usually make it at home with Stevia, so this was a nice treat.

Next up, my appetizer. I ordered the special which was zucchini blossoms with grilled artichoke hearts and some kinda of slaw/succotash that T ate for me (I didn't want to fill up!). This was delicious!

For my entree I ordered something I rarely order: Seitan! I chose the Seitan Piccata. Which is always amazing (I ordered this the first time I ever went to Candle 79, a few years ago). I usually don't like Seitan and gluten tends to bother my stomach. But... pregnancy has brought on different preferences and for some reason, I like the taste of Seitan. Since I am in remission *knocks on wood* during pregnancy, gluten doesn't seem to bother me. Of course, I wouldn't go overboard, but once in awhile it's a nice treat. Anyway, this is served over creamy spinach, mashed potatoes and capers. The perfect comfort food!

You know I ordered dessert! :) The whole table did. No one shared! :) Well, I did give T one of my cannolis because I was too full to finish. He is pretty good at eating what I can't or don't want. Ha ha! Anyway, these are so good! I haven't had a cannoli in many years and they were a big favorite of mine, growing up in an Italian family. This isn't the first time I've had them there. But, every time they bring me back to my childhood. Nostalgia food..mmm!

So that was the highlight of my weekend. Did you do anything fun? I can't believe the Summer is almost over! Although, I will be relieved to get some relief from this heat and Fall is my favorite season. Plus, I have special package coming in November.. hehe! Have a wonderful day everyone!!!

Thank you, Nursery, Smoothies and Mac and Cheese!

Hey Sunbursts! Thank you all so much for the kind comments! You are all so sweet (and you sound like T!). Not many women talk about how large they feel when they are pregnant, I didn't want to come off an ungrateful, because I am over the moon happy about being pregnant. Just anxious about the weight. I can't wait to get a really good jumping workout in again. Right now it's prenatal yoga, walking and prenatal cardio. So I am itching for a good workout, and very excited to see my little bundle of joy!! So soon! We are under 100 days people!!!

Anyway, this week I enjoyed a yummy smoothie: Kristen's Cherry Chocolate Bomb Shake! This thing is goooood! I added spinach for some extra iron and I used Chocolate flavored Sunwarrior Protein in place of the chocolate powder and hemp protein. I drank it in the same reusable cup she has, in her honor! :) For those wondering, it's from Bed Bath and Beyond and it's eco-friendly and BPA free!

The nursery is just about finished! Check out this princess palace!

I hung a dream catcher to keep bad dreams away and a little plaque my mother in law gave us that says "Bless this Baby."

Here is one of the shelves we put up, there is a photo album, the angel I bought her, a Swarovski Crystal carriage my brother in law and future sister in law bought her and an organic bunny from Peter Rabbit.
This shelf has all the books we bought and she got as gifts. I am a big Peter Rabbit fan, as you can see!
Some pictures we added, the one above the door says "Dream" and the other 2 are of princess fairies.

Another view..

And finally, her little night light!

This is by far my favorite room in the house. So much love was put into every detail!

Anyway, back to food! Here is a green smoothie I made this week: Pineapple, Mango, Hemp Protein, Kale, Banana, Sunwarrior Protein, Almond Milk, DHA oil.

One night I made vegan/gluten free mac and cheese! For this I used Daiya cheddar in a pan with Nutritional Yeast, Unsweetened Almond Milk, Pepper and Sea Salt. I heated that until it melted, adding more "milk" to thin it out. Then I added it over some gluten free pasta and added a can (I only use Eden, BPA free) of kidney beans and a large sprinkle of gluten free bread crumbs and cooked it in the oven on broil for 15 minutes. Yummy, ooey, gooey, mac and cheese minus the gluten and dairy!

Have a great day everyone!

Lunch at Pure Food & Wine

Hey Everyone!

So the surprise lunch guest at Pure Food & Wine on Sunday was the famous, Veggie Girl! She is in the city for a few days and had to get together for a little date! I brought along my sister in law and she brought her dance partner, Slava and I also got to meet a new friend, Danielle.We had a lovely lunch. I do have a group photo, but I am so embarrassed about my pregnancy weight gain. I know, embrace it, but to be honest with you all, I have a double chin and my skin has been a mess. I am not one of those cute pregnant ladies!! As someone who has struggled with eating disorders in the past, the weight has been rough on me. I am almost at the recommended weight gain for my height and I still have 3 months! But, I haven't worried about what I've been eating because I am eating healthy good food..just lots of it. Probably too much! And I am exercising a lot less. So this is just how my body works. My doctor actual mentioned that a lot of women with crohn's gain a lot during pregnancy because they are actually healthy during that time. So I am happy about the gaining, just not ready to show the world! :) But, if you do see a pic on Veggie Girls blog, please be kind! :) I'll be sure to post pics after I lose the weight! HA HA! I don't want to come off as vain, but, like I said, with an eating disorder in my past, I don't want to revive anything. Maybe I'll post a pic from my shower in a few weeks! Let me get a good one!

Anyway, I started off with a Swan Greens Juice: Cucumber, Spinach, Dandelion, Pear, Grapefruit, Tarragon, Spearmint, Yuzu. This was really delicious! Sarma always tweets about this juice, so I knew it was a favorite.
I took pictures of my future sister in laws food as well. She ordered a melon juice that has watermelon and mint in it. Super yummy too (and I am surprised I didn't order this one!).
For my meal I ordered the S&M salad. I loooove this salad and try to recreate it at home all the time, but it's never the same! The recipe is in Sarma's newest book. The salad has greens, dulse, rosemary crackers, hemp seeds and avocado with a argon-lemon dressing. So delicious and filling!
My future sis in law ordered the taco salad: romaine, taco "meat", pico de gallo, guacamole, and cashew sour cream. I tasted this one! Spicy and flavorful. I would definitely order this salad next time!
We took our desserts to go since Veggie Girl has to catch a show. My treat was the famous Moonpie! This is my favorite dessert they have (besides both sundaes, of course).
I dug into it in the car on the way home. As always, divine and deliciously rich. Mmm, I'll be dreaming of Moonpies until next time! :)

What a wonderful lunch! I am so happy I got to meet my long time friend--Veggie Girl and some new friends as well. Have a great day everyone!

Socca, Garden Update, Belly Pic and Surprise Lunch Guest!

Hey All! Thanks for all the sweet comments on the nursery furniture! This little starshine has a nicer bedroom then we do! Hopefully after she is born we will be looking at bedroom furniture sets for ourselves! He he!

Anyway, this week I finally made the famous socca that Lori and Michelle make! I can see why they love it so much. So good! And easy! I enjoyed mine with a side of sauteed kale with garlic. I took the kale and placed it on top of the socca pieces..mmm! Heaven!
I wanted to show off what we have going on in the garden these days. Here is our cantaloupe!!! Ahh! I can't wait!
Some hot peppers for T's enjoyment!
And our watermelon! We actually have 3!! I can't wait to dig into these bad boys!
Finally, a new belly pic! This is about 26 weeks. I am wearing my PJ's in this picture. I don't go around wearing Christmas colors as outfits! :)
This weekend I am fortunate enough to be meeting with a friend (whom you all know!), at Pure Food and Wine for lunch! Come back Monday if you want to see who the surprise friend is! Have a great weekend all!

Living Fruity

Hey Sunshines,

I hope you are all having a great week! :) I've been super busy with baby stuff, and super busy with sleeping! HA HA! I need to get it in now. But all in all, I've been spending less time online. Trying to get use to life without so much free computer time. But don't worry all, I will still be blogging.. maybe not as often, but I will be here!

Anyway, cravings!!!! I think if I eat one more watermelon my belly button will surely pop out! I read that by this time (almost 26 weeks!) most woman's belly buttons are all ready out. But I think mine was rather deep to begin with..lol! I was so scared of this in the beginning of my pregnancy, but now I welcome it. My little gal is growing in leaps and bounds. I can't wait to welcome her into this world. Almost under 100 days until my due date! Eeek! Back to cravings, I sent T out on a mission the other night...
He loves watermelon too! In fact, I think I love it so much because this little girl takes after her Daddy and has a "thing" for watermelon.
I picked up some organic Champagne Grapes at Whole Foods over the weekend..
Yummy, grape goodness! Organic grapes tend to be pricey, so I rarely eat grapes (I won't buy them unless they are organic), but these came at a good price.
My lovely friend Zoe has partnered with my favorite Italian restaurant in town to sell her raw desserts! I was so excited when I heard this since we have NOTHING raw or vegan in town. I stopped by to picked up some of her raw macaroons. T and I shared these (although, I probably could of ate all 6!). The flavors were Orange, Chocolate and Amaretto Cherry. T and I both liked the chocolate flavor the most. I can't wait to try her Chocolate Mousse and Cheezecake!
This week I picked up this cantaloupe.
It was a different variety, but I forget the name. Tasted the same as a regular cantaloupe. Yum!
This squirrel was hanging outside my office window. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw him! I had to take a picture.
Finally, we got our nursery furniture! This is the dresser/changing table. We still need a pad on top.
And this is her crib (which she probably won't sleep in for awhile since I will be breastfeeding and having her stay in our bed or in a co-sleeper on the side of my bed). We bought an organic mattress for inside.

Have a great day all!!!

Book Review: Creating Healthy Children by Karen Ranzi

Hey Everyone!

I hope you had a great weekend! Today I bring you a book review. A few months ago, the very lovely Karen Ranzi sent me her book: Creating Healthy Children: Through Attachment Parenting and Raw Foods. Right up my alley! I couldn't wait to dig into to this gem. It took me a lot of time to read (I've been reading it since June), mostly because I wanted to absorb all the info and really enjoy it. Also, my time to read hasn't been as available as I had hoped. But, I am so glad I got the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

Karen gives a background on her life and the diet she grew up on. I found getting to know her, in the first few chapters, very comforting. She talks about raising her own kids on a raw food diet the struggles they had to face and how they overcame them. The book also has a lot of sited material to back up what she talks about in each chapter. I enjoyed reading her view on things and then the "professional" view from different people like, Dr. Gabriel Cousens, Dr. Douglas Graham, Dr. John McDougall, etc.

This book goes further then just raising children on a raw food diet. She has chapters on Homebirth, Nutrition for Pregnancy and Childbirth, Exercise, Digestion, Breastfeeding, Attachment Parenting, Feeding Babies Raw Foods, Personal Care Products, Caring for Animals, Transitioning Older Kids to Raw Foods, Kid-tested Recipes, Vitamins and Minerals on a Raw Diet, Water, Homeschooling, Vaccines, Vision, Dental and Sun Health. At the end of the book she even added questions and answers from parents trying to raise healthy kids.

I found this book to be one of the best books I have read on pregnancy, parenting and raising healthy children. Although I don't plan on feeding my kids exclusively raw, I do plan on having them eat a high raw, all vegan diet, as I do. All the tips in Creating Healthy Children were extremely helpful and I found no questions unanswered. I am so happy that I had the opportunity to read it before my baby girl is born. I will use it as a reference for now on. I can't wait to share the things I learned with my children so they can be as healthy and happy as possible.

Thank you Karen, for allowing me to read and review this book, I feel this is a must read for anyone who plans on including raw foods in their child's diet or is looking to raise their children with a holistic lifestyle.

Have a great day everyone! I have pictures of the crib and dresser I will post on Wednesday, see you then! XO

My Baby has Moves!

Happy Friday All!

I hope this week was a great one! We had another check up with my OB this week, everything is going great. The baby now weighs 1.5 pounds and is right on target! Check out the moves she has! That's her leg above her head!! I swear, I have a little yogi on my hands!
I haven't had anything "out of the ordinary" to eat this week, hence the lack of food photos. I did make this tasty lunch one day: 2 sliced of sprouted grain bread with avocado, garden tomatoes and Bubbies pickles on top. I grounded some pepper over top too, yum!
Although it has been really hot here, we did have a cooler day yesterday and I was craving lentils, so a warm meal it was! Many of you ask for my recipes, but the truth is, I wing it! I was super excited when I saw this lentil mix in the bins at Whole Foods, this has 4 different types of lentils. Here is what I did:

Lauren's Hippie Soup

Sauteed 4 cloves of garlic in olive oil, then added about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and let that cook down a little. After that, I added 5 juicy tomatoes from my garden and let them cook down (it was almost like a sauce now). Then I added the lentils and covered them with water and seasoned with Himalayan sea salt and ground pepper. I also added 2 vegan veggie bouillons at this time (make sure the ones you buy are MSG free!). I brought that to a boil and then to a simmer until the lentils softened, about 40 minutes. Right at the end I added 2 big scoops of soy-free chickpea miso (you can use regular miso) and a head of kale. I let the kale get warm and wilt a little with the burner off so it's still crispy. You can salt and season to taste after this. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend all!

Baby Gifts Galore

Hey All! I hope you are having a wonderful week! I sure am! Holy spoiled! I am so touched every time someone sends a gift for the baby. I get tears in my eyes, you are all so sweet!! Before I get into that, I wanted to mention that the fasting blood work I had done was a routine test they do in pregnant women for gestational diabetes. I didn't show any signs, it's just protocol at 24 weeks (at least with my doctor). Anyway, the test came back normal (of course), I wasn't really worried. It's not like I am slamming done Coke a Cola and candy over here! :)

Now onto the good stuff, lovely, sweet, kind, Bitt sent me this package in the mail the other day..
A Baby Bunch of organic onesies and 2 books for the baby.
Ginger also got a present..
When I gave it to her she ran around the coffee table with it in her mouth, 4 times, then took off upstairs, went under the bed for a minute, came out, ran back downstairs and finally decided to enjoy it in her bed. (Thank God because I was exhausted from following her, trying to get a pic!)
She really wanted to enjoy it in private, hence the dirty look. Thank you so much Bitt! Ginger was so happy you thought of her!!! On another note, dear Bitt, lost one of her own pups this week, Zuki. You can make a donation in Zuki's name to North Shore Animal League, a no-kill shelter that takes in special needs dogs and cats. Rest in Peace dear Zuki. I wish we could of met. :(
My other hot new momma friend, Kristen Suzanne sent me these gifts this week: off of my registry an eco friendly baby bath..
And an organic Swaddle Me! Kristen has been super helpful since the day we found out we could try to get pregnant. Now she sends me all sorts of new mommy tips and info that she is learning as she goes along. Little Kamea is one lucky gal! I hope our girls will meet one day!
My sister just got back from a trip to Europe. She brought her niece/God daughter this adorable onesie and bib from Paris. My baby is going to be such a trendsetter, she is so lucky to have such an awesome aunt! Thanks Amanda!
Sorry this post doesn't have much food, but I did have a Canary Melon this week..
So much better then the Santa Claus melon! This was super sweet and delicious! I gobbled up this whole bowl in minutes.
Finally, some things I picked up for the Starshine. For next Summer, 2 dresses. They aren't organic, but they were on clearance! I don't plan on dressing her in only organic, if I see it, I buy it, but I am not a purest. Besides, I will wash everything in chemical free/fragrance free detergent before she wears them.
I also picked up this adorable onesie at Target. I had to get it when I saw it said "Strawberry Fields Forever"-The Beatles. Since, I am a big Beatles fan.
Have a great day everyone! I promise more food soon! "Wish Upon a Star: Make a Wish and Expect the Very Best!"