Update: Raw recipes and stuff!

Hello, loves!


Well, I'm still on track after the honeymoon return.  I'm down to 161.2 and skin is clearer by the day.  Here is a little current, and I'm putting it over the photos I took at the beginning of this whole journey about two months ago.

Enjoyed a nice green smoothie for breakfast, and Dan was fighting me for the last glass!  Simple:  grapes, spinach, pineapple and a little water.  Delish!

Also, I thought I'd share my RAW TACOS recipe.  I didn't make this recipe, I googled "raw tacos" and it's pretty much the same anywhere you look it up.  

Walnut Taco Mix
Ingredients:
1 cup raw walnuts
1 Tbsp. nama shoyu (raw, unpasteurized soy sauce)
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. EVOO

Directions:
1. Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse just to mix. Don’t over-blend, or you will end up with walnut butter!

Cashew “Sour Cream” 
Ingredients: 
½ cup raw cashews
juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
5 Tbsp. water (approx.)

(This didn't work so well for me because my blender is too big for this amount of food.  I ended up with more of a cashew nut crumble, which was equally as delicious, just not smooth and creamy.)

Salsa 
Two chopped roma tomatoes
½ orange and yellow bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Salt/pepper to taste if you want

Other Goodies you'll need:
ripe avocados (about ½ per person)
Romaine leaves (or other big leafy greens)
limes for squeezing
extra cilantro for sprinkling

YUM YUM!

I have to run but I'll follow up with some more yummy recipes soon, including raw nori rolls and the recipe / tools for the zucchini pasta!

Honeymoon Report!

So - TONS to catch you guys up on.  

First of all - I'm on a Raw Restart because I went off the Raw food bandwagon while Dan and I were on our honeymoon!  We went to Orlando and did Disney, Animal Kingdom and Epcot.  (Epcot had the wine and food tour.  I mean... yeah.  DELISH.)

This might be the longest blog post ever, just to warn you.  First, some honeymoon pics and food I ate there:

At Disney World they actually had a veggie burger option!  Holy crap, batman!  So I got that, no cheese, just pickles, lettuce, tomato and mustard on a whole wheat bun.  (Actually all their buns are whole wheat, imagine that?)  And I got an unsweetened iced tea, and they offer apple slices as an alternative side to fries!

This veggie burger, by the way, was freaking DELICIOUS.

There was a smoothie / ice cream stand and it was getting sort of warm.  Wouldn't you know it... they also offered raw pineapple.  HELLO!  That's awesome!  When I ordered it the guy seemed surprised, I don't think many people do.  But, I did and it was satisfying and healthy.

Dan, on the other hand, ate a cinnamon bun the size of his head.  I drank some water. ;)

Room service.  Amazing spinach salad with grilled peppers and goat cheese.  Okay, so I initially intended to stay vegan on this trip but I forgot about goat cheese.  And holy crappers was it delicious!

Downtown Disney (a block from our hotel!) -- They have this awesome place called Fresh A-Peel.  I had to get a photo and order a salad.  You got it right... smoothies and fresh salads.  The guy even added corn into mine when I asked.  Pretty sure that was a free bonus, y'all.

Character breakfast buffet at the hotel.  This is where I sort of stayed healthy but started to incorporate non-diet foods into my day.  That's a giant veggie omelet with no cheese (delish.)  Clockwise from there, the tiniest bit of corned beef hash (the chef makes it from scratch so I had to try it.)   Then some roasted potatoes (yum,) bacon (I HAD TO,) and a bit of a breakfast burrito.  Also delish.

I had to get some yummy melon in, too.

Epcot.  All the characters, and then... the food and wine festival.  And it started with Greece.  Griddled Greek cheese with pistachios and honey.  Sounds weird, but I'm telling you.  It was a miracle of food.

Hawaii.  Kalua pork slider with sweet and sour pineapple chutney and spicy mayo.

And from Hawaii... Tuna poke with seaweed salad and lotus root chips.

Argentina:  Beef empanada.  Crispy, delectable.

China:  Pork pot sticker, and caramel ginger ice cream (holy.)

Germany:  Nuernberger sausage in a pretzel roll.  I had a tiny bite of this but primarily it was Dan's.  I had the goulash soup.  Interesting!

We also stopped in the "Italy" and got Dan some chocolate mousse.  (His favorite dessert!)  And I got myself a ham and cheese croissant that was flaky and to die for.

I didn't take photos of all the food, unfortunately.  We also had:

Mexico:  Crispy shrimp taco

Scandinavia:  Swedish meatballs with lingonberries

South Africa:  Bunny Chow (vegetable curry served in a bread loaf)

Hops & Barley:  Pumpkin mousse with craisins and orange sauce

Portugal:  Calamari salad with fennel, smoked paprika and olive oil

Belgium:  Belgian waffle with berry compote and whipped cream (Dan's)

Then, later that night we bought the last bottle of champagne at the hotel shop and celebrated being married.  le sigh!

Animal kingdom - safari time!

Giant, very close to us, rhino!

Incredibly satisfying turkey sandwich on Focaccia bread with an apple side and a bottle of water.  Dan had a cheeseburger with apples and a mango shake.

Then, our "fancy!" dinner for our honeymoon celebration was our last night.  We went to Narcoosee's at the Floridian.  (Hello, GORGEOUS resort!)  The drinks were a perfect start to the night.  Dan got his classic mojito favorite, and I splurged with a key lime martini. 

/heart pounding - my Husband is so handsome.  It kills me.

For Dinner we had a full four courses plus a bottle and some glasses of wine, and coffee.  We were there 2.5 hours.  

Lobster Spring Roll

Heirloom Apple Salad

Shrimp and Crab Chowder (we each ate half the salad and soup to share them)

I got the Crab-crusted mahi mahi, and Dan got Filet Mignon.

Dessert was their famed almond crusted cheesecake, which is better than anything you've ever tasted.

They even decorated it for us:

SO!  There ends my saga on our vacation.  Pretty fun, eh?

And now that I'm at the end of this blog post, it's fifteen pages long and I realize I'd like to save the recipes and other info for next time.  Toodle-oo!

~J

Storm Chasing...

Yo!

So, many of you have commented or emailed me about my storm chasing.  I thought I'd let you know that the Convective Addiction DVD is now available!

It has the most comprehensive coverage of the major severe weather events this year that I know of, and it's intense and awesome.  And you can feel like you are sort of there with me.  This is something great to have if you're a weather fan, particularly if you love tornadoes.  AND, it's a KICK ASS gift for the weather junkie in your life.  Perfect for Christmas!

:)  Oh yeah, and those are my shots on the covers.  Yep. ;)

Don't forget to watch the trailer, it's awesome!

Now, go HERE to pick up a copy or two and be the cool gift giver this Christmas!

Health/diet/food/weight related update coming in a few days.  Promise!

xoxox,
~Jenn

Raw Food extravaganza - Day 28

Okay, a REAL update now!

Thanks for your patience.  We moved, and you know how that goes... major chaos everywhere and a few days without a solid internet connection (via computer) to, you know, blog and stuff.

So I'm back with some info for you.  I have measurements... but no weight.  Because... I can't find my scale. Dan packed it, and it's in a box SOMEWHERE.  So, we'll just do measurements for now, weight later. :)

Stats:
Weight = 173.0 / 163.0 (last known weight in Denver four days ago.)
Bust = 39.5 / 37.5 (-2)
Waist = 31.5 / 29.5 (-2)
Lower belly = 38.5 / 37 (-1.5)
Butt = 43.5 / 42 (-1.5)
Hips = 42 / 40 (-2)




I fit back into smaller clothes, and I'm feeling wonderful!  So... you might ask, "What have you been eating?"  Well, LOTS of salads.  Like these:

Oh yeah, and veggie Nori rolls.  Freaking yummy.  (That's riced cauliflower, not rice.) :)

More salads...

"Pasta" made out of zucchini, with baby bella mushrooms, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, italian seasonings, black pepper and evoo with fresh lemon juice.  Freaking delicious!

Oh yeah, more salads.  (key ingredients for me are sun dried tomatoes, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds and walnuts.  Usually I add half an avocado as well.)  Dressing = balsamic vinegar and a little evoo.

When I was in Denver, there was a unique set of challenges.  Like, eating RAW for every meal while traveling, not having my own kitchen, holy crap it was difficult.  I did a huge bunch of grocery shopping when I got there and bought a ton of fresh produce, fruit, etc.  I also bought my brother a juicer like mine with the stipulation that I get to use it when I'm in town. ;)

So, I had the juicer and a huge cooler of fresh fruits and veggies with me for the two and a half days I stayed at the hotel.  Here is the juicer in the room with me.

I did go off "raw" for one meal:  a celebratory sushi dinner with my brother and his new wife!  I had eight pieces of various rolls, and my own "riceless" roll, which was delicious.  I also tried the seaweed salad, which I HAVE to start making at home.  It was ridiculously delicious.

SO.  What has it done for me in these 28 days?

My skin has come upon a DRAMATIC difference.  My apologies for wearing the big baggy t-shirt in the last photo, but for that, I'll show you what it's done for my body.

I've had to switch to my smaller bra, (sorry, Dan.) -- And I can fit into this halloween costume, the one I could NOT get into (the corset especially,) even three weeks ago.

I love RAW.