First Day Hike

It's still cold here.  It didn't warm up as much as expected today.  I ventured out to Walgreens to pick up a photo order, Company's Coming to check out the sale, and to Walmart for a daypack and groceries.

I have plans to be more active in the new year.  Today I called two people at Ouachita Mountain Hikers to let them know I plan to start hiking with them.  I mailed in my $5.00 annual dues today.

The Ouachita Mountain Hikers hike on Thursdays and Saturdays.  The Saturday hikes are easier hikes that are 4-6 miles long.  The Thursday hikes are more difficult hikes on forest trails that are 8-12 miles long.

I bought the daypack today at Walmart to use on the hikes.  It will hold my stuff...my food, water, camera, phone, layers, etc.  This little daypack was $8.88, and I think it will work just fine.

My new daypack.

Tomorrow there is a 4 mile hike at Lake Ouachita State Park.  The state parks are hosting an event called "First Day Hike".  The one at Lake Ouachita will be on the Caddo Bend trail.  What a great way to celebrate the new year.  This is in coordination with a nation-wide movement to get people on the trails.  Weather permitting, I plan to be there at 9:00.

Lunch today was a fruit smoothie, 1/2 avocado, and two goodie balls.

After I returned from shopping I popped some popcorn in a hot air popper, sprayed it with organic olive oil Pam spray, and sprinkled nutritional yeast on it.  Then I had a pear and a banana.

For dinner I am serving steamed broccoli; steamed cabbage; salad (romaine, cucumber, green onions, tomatoes, and lemon juice); suaerkraut; goody balls, veggie cocktail, and peppermint tea.  I won't eat all of this, but that is what I will choose from.  It's better not to eat the steamed veggies, but sometimes when it is so cold I feel like I need them.

I have ordered a copy of The 80/10/10 Diet by Doug Graham to use this year to help me stay on point.  The biggest mistakes people make on 80/10/10 is not eating enough food, not getting enough sleep, and not drinking enough water.  The 80/10/10 diet is a raw food diet made up of 80% carbs, 10% protein and 10% fat.  The Ornish diet is similar, but uses cooked foods.

To health and happiness.

Mistlesnow

We had Christmas with Molly, Ken, Zac, Braeden and Ashlyn at our house on December 22.    It was a special time to give and receive from each other.  We had to watch our son and his family open their gifts in California via Skype.  Skype is a blessing when you can't be with each other.

Ashlyn liked her bike.

Braeden liked his television.

Zac liked his iphone.

Ashlyn liked her Ugg boots.

This is what it looked like when we got through.

Christmas Eve was warm, and you hardly needed a sweater, but look what happened early on Christmas morning.  They are calling it Mistlesnow.  It is the first time snow has fallen here on Christmas Day since 1926.  It snowed until it was 15" deep.  I have been hibernating ever since.

This is the view from my bedroom window.

I made snow ice cream using almond milk.

 Here is the recipe for snow ice cream.

Snow Ice Cream

1 gallon snow

1 cup palm sugar or other sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 cups almond milk

Travis was smart enough to leave one of the cars parked on the road, otherwise we would not have been able to get out to go to the store yesterday.  There was a forecast for freezing rain last night, but, thankfully, that did not happen

Cleaning off the windshield.

Travis shoveled us a path up to the road.

All stocked up and ready for the next round

I had a splitting headache through the night last night.  I am not sure what triggered it, but my suspicion is that it was caused by eating a can of Amy's  Organic Black Bean Soup.  The soup had 1240 mg of sodium in it.  And this is supposed to be a healthy brand.  Nevertheless, the cause is always in the lifestyle.

Durian Rider is a raw food guy that teaches on You Tube.  I usually can't share his videos because of his bad language, but he is dispensing really good information in a pure form.  He counseled a 450 lb female binge eater in a way that helped me.  He said that you are meant to be a binge eater.  The only difference in him and her, he said, is that he eats low fat, high carb, low sodium, low protein.  Eat as much as you can, just change what you put in your mouth.  It's a choice in the moment.  Just make sure you make the right choices.  Forget about this emotional eating junk.  We all eat emotionally.  Just binge on the good stuff.

To health and happiness.

Banana Bread at the Raw Food Potluck

Yesterday was our raw food group meeting and potluck at my house.  Even though it is so close to the holidays, we had ten people show up.  This group is always encouraging.  Even though no one is perfect in the raw food lifestyle, they understand the principles and they love the food.  The food was really good yesterday.

Jennifer and Erika.  Jennifer is studying at the Integrative Institute of Nutrition. 

Letizia and Gabrielle

Karl and Travis

We have decided to make a group study of  12 Steps to Raw by Victoria Boutenko.  Here is Becky checking out a copy of the book.

Jerry is giving his approval of the veggie cocktail which was made of juiced beets, carrots, and celery.

Linda, Janis and Becky

Letizia made her first raw food dish to bring to the potluck.  She made a ranch dip from nuts and served it with a veggie tray.

I made a Chia Seed Pudding for the potluck which uses almond milk.  With the almond pulp leftover from making the milk, I made this wonderful Banana Bread.  It was delicious.  I will be making this again.

Recipe for Banana Bread:

1 cup almond pulp

1 cup coconut

6-12 dates, not soaked

1 banana

1/4 cup coconut oil

Mix the coconut and dates in the food processor.  Then add the banana, coconut oil and almond pulp and process together to make a dough.

Spread on a teflex sheet about 1/4" thick then dehydrate overnight.  Flip and dry the other side.

Banana Bread

 It's time to get ready for a new start as we go into 2013.  I ordered two copies of 80/10/10 by Doug Graham to use next year.


I went to the Christmas party at the nursing home where my 90 year old Mom is a resident.  I passed on the finger foods but enjoyed the one-man band and Santa.  Mom even got up out of her wheel chair and danced a couple of times.

Mom and Santa

 Just a reminder of some advice I got not too long ago from Dr. John Fielder.  You need to be squeaky clean in your habits, even when you are around people whose lifestyles are unhealthy else they will drain your energies.  It's important to be very particular to ensure that this doesn't occur.  This means not indulging in too many late nights, eating in restaurants, eating wrong foods, insufficient exercise in the fresh air and sunlight, insufficient rest, etc., and generally not taking time out for yourself.  Worry is the icing on the cake.  Your body and mind are telling you to stop it all and get back to sanity.

To health and happiness.

Raw Vegan Chili Recipe

It is not my practice to count calories or fat grams.  My mentor, Dr. John Fielder, does not count calories, and it is not necessary with the lifestyle he teaches and practices.  That being said, I have decided to count calories and fat grams for a time, just to get a handle on what I am eating.

Too many nuts and seeds result in low energy and weight gain.  But on the other hand it's important to consume enough calories.  The cells feed on glucose so lots of natural sugars are important.  

The only fat I ate yesterday was in the Goody Balls.  The Goody Balls are half dried fruits and half seeds and almonds.  The Goody Ball Recipe contains a total of 769 fat grams.  Based on a yield of 175 Goody Balls, this equates to about 4.4 fat grams per Goody Ball.  Terrific!  Based on those numbers my total fat intake yesterday was about 30 grams.

Lunch was green smoothie (about three glasses full)  and an apple.
Dinner was raw vegan chili, red bell peppers, zucchini slices, and goody balls.   I ate over half of this chili recipe.  It was good.

For dinner I fixed a no-fat raw vegan chili from one of Dan McDonald's recipes. Here is the recipe (slightly modified):

No-Fat Raw Vegan Chili
2 large tomatoes ( I used 4 or 5 organic Roma tomatoes)
3 carrots
4 stalks of celery
1 green bell pepper
1 zucchini
1/2 onion
1" grated ginger
A few small sage leaves
Oregano
5 basil leaves
1/2 Tbsp cumin ( I was out of cumin so I used chili powder)
1/2 Tbsp paprika
1/2 lime, juiced
5 dates
1/4 cup dulse (available at the health food store)
Pulse in the food processor until it is the consistency you want...about 20 times. I had to start pulsing as I added ingredients in order to make it all fit in my food processor.  Serve with fresh vegetable dippers such as red or green bell pepper and zucchini.

Peppermint tea with honey has become part of my routine.  Dr. Fielder gave his approval if it is not consumed while too hot or too strong. 

I found a Betty Crocker stainless steel teapot at an estate sale for $7.00.  It's working out great.

Betty Crocker Stainless Steel Teapot

To health and happiness.

Raw Food Group Potluck

If you are interested in improving your health and lifestyle then a raw food group is a great way to learn more about raw foods and healthy living.  Our raw food group meets at my house the third Wednesday of every month.  These people are always interesting and interested.  We bring potluck where we share our favorite raw food recipes, and we encourage each other to live as healthy as we know how. Those that can't bring a raw food dish for one reason or another pay $5.00.  Good people and good food.  What a combination!

Here are some pictures from our last raw foods potluck.

Serving lunch buffet style.

Me and our new holistic doctor, Dr. Russ.

Visiting around the table.

There is always plenty to talk about.

Linda and me.

Pam and Letizia

The ones of us that come to the raw food group are at various levels of raw, but we all agree that raw foods are good for our health and they taste good.

Here are three of the recipes I contributed.  These are very plain recipes that I modified from Dr. Fielder's Farm Recipe book.  I need to eat as clean as possible right now and that is why I selected these recipes. 

IN THE PINK OF IT – SALAD (The Farm Recipe Book) - modified

1 beet

¼ or less of cabbage

6 parsley sprigs

3 celery sticks

1 sweet apple

Grate beet and apple.  Shred the cabbage, finely chop parsley and celery.  Toss all ingredients together.  Serve with raw milk cheese.

CORN SALAD (The Farm Recipe Book) - modified

1 package of frozen organic corn

1 red bell pepper

1 onion

A few green leaves – I used parsley

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp honey

Thyme

Place thawed corn in bowl.  Dice red bell pepper and onions.  Tear greens in to small pieces.  Juice lemon, stir with honey and thyme.  Pour over salad and gently mix.

PEARS A LA TROPIQUE (The Farm Recipe Book) - modified

6 soft pears

½ of a fresh pineapple

¾ cup grated coconut

¾ cup soaked sultanas or raisins (optional)

Mash pears, chop the pineapple into small pieces.  Mix fruit together with coconut and sultanas.

To health and happiness.

Fluoride-Free Toothpaste

Hot Springs Village is being forced to add flouride to the drinking water even though many are opposed to having medications added to the water whether you need it or want it or not.  Our state legislature mandated that all towns with over 5000 population must add flouride.  We hope this can be over-turned in some way.  If not, then we will have to find a way to remove the fluoride.  Fluoride is a poison.  If you don't believe it, read the back of your toothpaste package.  I searched Dollar General last week to find a toothpaste that did not have flouride added.  They had only one.  So this is what I bought.

Orajel makes a toothpaste that does not have fluoride added.

The back of the tube states the following:  You'll love having your child brush with Orajel Training Toothpaste because it helps clean teeth with a special ingredient.  Best of all, it's fluoride-free so it's safe if swallowed when used as directed.

The Orajel was $3.00.  That's better than paying $8.00 at the health food store for a fluoride-free brand.  Sometimes I make my own toothpaste, but this Orajel is pretty nice.  I like it.

To health and happiness.

Raw Food Potluck with Karen Hall

Last week my friend, Karen Hall, visited with us for eight days.  I met Karen last year at The Clohesy River Health Farm in Australia when I was interning with Dr. Fielder.  She spent a month at the farm detoxing and learning from Dr. Fielder.  Now she is traveling around the world doing all sorts of interesting things.  She recently completed Matthew Kenney's Raw Food Chef course in Oklahoma City.

While she was here visiting with us we went to church, toured Hot Springs Bath House Row, visited the Clinton Library, prepared more dishes than I can remember, and hosted a raw food potluck/dinner party for 19 people.

This is a lovely fall juice made with beets, apples, sweet potato and ginger.

Here I am trying my hand at making a sushi roll.

Karen Hall and me at the raw food potluck.

We made zucchini spaghetti with Red Pepper Marinara, Pistachio Pesto, and Cashew Cheese Filling.

Here is the recipe for the spaghetti toppings:

Red Pepper Marninara:
1 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked
2 tomatoes deseeded and chopped
1 green onion, chopped
2 tsp. lemon juice
4 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
1 red bell pepper
Squeeze out extra water from the sun dried tomatoes.  Process all in the food processor.

Pistachio Pesto
1 cup basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup spinach, packed
1/4 cup pistachios
2 T olive oil
1/4 T salt
1/2 T lemon juice
Pinch of pepper
Process in food processor.

Cashew Cheese Filling
1-1/2 cups soaked cashews
2 T lemon juice
2 T water
1/2 T lemon zest
2 T nutritional yeast
1 green onion, minced
1 tsp salt
1 T fresh parsley
Process in food processor.

We made Sushi Rolls with Jicama Sushi Rice.

 Here's the recipe for the Jicama Sushi Rice
2 cups jicama, peeled, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp agave
Put jicama in food processor and pulse until the pieces are the size of rice.  Use an almond milk bag to squeeze out the extra water.  Mix remaining ingredients in  bowl with a fork.  Mix together with the jicama in a bowl.  Place on teflex sheet and dehydrate until slightly sticky...2-3 hours.  Check every hour for stickiness.  It should be like sticky rice.

The carmelized onions were a big hit.

 Recipe for Carmelized Onions:
Slice 2-5 onions on the mandolin.  Coat the onions with the sauce and dehydrate.  Make the sauce with 1 cup dates, 3 T tamari, 2 T olive oil, and 1/4 cup water.  Blend in blender.

The marinated mushrooms were delicious.

 Here is the marinade recipe for the mushrooms:
2 T olive oil
1 T tamari
1 T agave

Gaylon, Dr. Russ, Ruthe, and Pam at the raw food potluck.

My grand-daughter, Ashlyn, finished off the raspberries at the potluck.

To health and happiness.

How to Make Goody Balls in Pictures

The recipe for the goody balls appears in The Farm Recipe Book from the Clohesy River Health Farm.  This recipe is a staple in my diet.   It keeps for weeks outside of the refrigerator.

Here are the ingredients.  Most of them I purchase from Nuts.Com...sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, sultanas, currants, dates, and peaches.

500 grams of sesame seeds

Grind the sesame seeds in the food processor.

Pour the ground seeds into a large container.  I use this blue plastic tub.

500 grams of sunflower seeds

Grind the sunflower seeds in the food processor.

Grind the seeds fine.

Pour into the blue tub with the sesame seeds.

250 grams of almonds.

Organic pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

250 grams of pumpkin seeds

Grind the almonds and pepitas in the food processor.

Grind them fine.

Add to blue tub.  That is the last of the seeds and nuts

Now we add the dried fruits.  500 grams of raisins.

Add to blue tub.

500 gms of currants

Add to blue tub.

500 gms of sultanas.  Add to blue tub.

500 grams of dates

Cut the dates into smaller pieces.  Be sure all pits are removed.

Add dates to blue tub.

500 grams of peaches.

Cut the peaches into smaller pieces using scissors.

Add peaches to blue tub.

Slowly process the goody ball mix through the meat grinder.  This is our newly purchased LEM meat grinder.  We bought it at The Culinary District for $245.00.

The goody ball mixture looks like sausage once it has been run through the grinder.

Form into balls and store in airtight containers.

To health and happiness.