Juice Fast

I've totally neglected my blog lately.  My apologies!!  I will try to be more diligent about posting regularly. 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I spent time with my husband's family, and ate way too much (most of which was NOT healthy!).  I followed it up with a liquid fast.  I wanted to go two days, but I made it 24 hours instead.  For a first time, it went remarkably well.  I think I will do this once a month. 

I started, as I do every day, with a large glass of water and apple cider vinegar.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were a 16 ounce glass of freshly juiced fruits and vegetables.  I believe a liquid fast requires a good juicer.  I have the Omega, and I love it.  Between "meals" I had raw coconut water and teas.  My favorite teas are ginger/lemon, rooibos, and rosemary/basil.  Surprisingly, I did not feel hungry throughout the day. 

I'm ending the fast with a whole food smoothie (recipe is in this blog somewhere!), raw fruits and veggies, and still keeping with the teas and juiced vegetables (I've been juicing everyday for the last two years).

If you have any health issues, check with your doctor before starting a juice fast.  If you don't have any health issues, but don't eat very healthy, I would wait on juice fasting until you start and maintain a healthy diet for a couple of months, at least.  Cheers!

Rice Milk

Rice Milk

Boil 8 cups of water with 1/2 cup of brown rice, and 1/4 teaspoon of kelp*.  Once it comes to a boil, turn down to low and leave for about three hours.  Rice should be super soft.  Pour half of the rice and water into the blender along with powdered cinnamon, vanilla extract, and agave nectar, all to taste.  Blend until liquefied.  Complete the rest just the same.  You can strain the milk, or leave as is.  You can also use less water if you like it thick.  It's nice as a thick warm drink as well as thinned and cooled in the fridge.  Enjoy :)

*The kelp is optional.  I added it because I have some.  It did not affect the taste at all. 

Buckwheat Pancakes

I generally don't eat solid, cooked food breakfast, but on the weekends I like to break the habit with these nutritious pancakes. Straight out of the Thrive Diet!

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup protein
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 banana
2 cups water
1/2 cup barley flakes

Mix first six ingredients.  Process banana and water while slowly adding dry ingredients. Stir in barley flakes with a spoon.  Cook in pan lightly coated with coconut oil on medium heat.

Sig's mix: I didn't have barley flakes, so I just didn't use them. I put a little less water.  I also did not process the banana.  I like banana chunks in my pancakes. To finish, I topped it with agave nectar and some cinnamon.

Tomato Basil Dressing

Brendan has a few dressing recipes and this one appealed to me because I have so much basil growing right now. I tried it tonight and really liked it. I think I will experiment next time with a little less vinegar and add a little lemon.

2 tomatoes
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp hemp oil
1 Tbsp dried basil (or 3 Tbsp fresh)
1 Tbsp agave nectar
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Blend and store in the fridge for up to a month.