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.

Vegetable stock from juiced vegetable pulp

Just another use for my vegetable pulp. I juice veggies everyday, and my juicer yields a lot of pulp. I usually put it in my compost, or feed my trees and herbs with it. This weekend, I made 12 cups of veggie stock! I threw the pulp in a large pot of water, along with an onion, salt, thyme, and sage from my yard. Boil and let simmer for 30 minutes or more. Strain, bag, and freeze until ready to use.

Post-workout Pudding

Straight out of the Thrive Diet.  This is great after a long workout.  Chock-full of antioxidants...a MUST for outstanding recovery!

2 bananas (I put one)
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup soaked almonds
1/4 cup flax
1/4 cup hemp protein
1/4 cup cacao nibs
2 tsp rooibos tea
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt

Throw it all in a processor and that's it.

Pre-Workout Pudding

This is right out of Brazier's Thrive Diet.  It's great before a workout.  Easily digested and a great simple carb source.

2 bananas (I only use one)
1/2 cup dates
1/4 cup flax seed
1/4 cup cacao nibs
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt

Throw everything into food processor.  I make this the night before a long workout and store in the fridge. 

Apple Cinnamon "Bars"

These are straight out of the Thrive Diet.  There are different recipes for fruit energy bars, but this is the best one I've tried.  That's my granola in the top of the pic.  The "bars" are at the bottom.

1 apple
1 cup fresh dates
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup hemp protein (you can substitute this with wheat germ)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp sea salt

Put all ingredients into food processor.  Blend until desired consistency.  I like my to have chucks of almonds, so I don't process it too much.  Wrap individually and store in the freezer.  They defrost really fast, so you don't have to take them out in advance.  A perfect snack!

Homemade Almond Milk

Who knew it was so easy to make almond milk!?  Soak one cup of almonds overnight.  Rinse well in the morning.  Throw them in the blender with 2-3 cups of water, pinch sea salt, two tablespoons of agave nectar, and a teaspoon of vanilla.  Blend well and drain the pulp through a sifter.  Voila!  Store in the refrigerator and drink in 3-5 days.

Sprouting legumes

This is so easy to do, and so much better than their cooked counterparts! Set lentils in a bowl and cover with plenty water. Cover the bowl with a paper towel.  Make sure to place them in a large enough bowl, as they will double in size. Also, you don't want to keep them for longer than a week or so, therefore only soak as many as you think you will eat in a weeks time. In the morning, use a collander to drain the water well. Place them back in the bowl and cover with a paper towel.  Every 12 hours, rinse the lentils in fresh water and drain well.  They only need to remain moist, not covered in water.

These are my lentils after 2 days.  I let them go for 3 or 4 days.  Once you've sprouted them to the desired length, cover and refrigerate.  You can add them to salads, sandwiches, wraps, whatever!

Here are a couple of links regarding the nutritional value:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2472/2

http://www.livestrong.com/article/528531-nutritional-content-of-sprouted-lentils/