June 2008 Archives
About a week ago, my friend Rick Ryerse (Husband of Pam of Radiant Health Imaging) called me up and said I needed to bring the kids down to see the current show at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center- Robby Benson is the writer and star in the comedy musical. Well, I thought about it all week - I wanted to go, but I also wanted a weekend at home. On Friday when I was at lunch with my co-workers, I saw a poster and Robby's beautiful face beckoned me - I have adored Robby for 30 years - how could I NOT go see him. Hell, he traveled to IOWA! Small town Iowa even. So, I called Rick and said "Get us tickets - we will be there for the Saturday matinee." I felt I owed it to the arts to support Hollywood visiting Iowa. While Rick was choosing seats for us (he works at the ACC) he casually said "Robby is here talking to us right now." Suddenly, I can't get there fast enough!
Today I (really we, but this is about me!) saw Robby Benson, Karla DeVito (his talented and beautiful wife), and Stan Brown (a warm, rich, vibrating voice that sends - ya know, sends) perform a wonderful romantic, comedy musical. AND I shook Robby's hand and got their autographs because, of course, I had to buy their CD and his book. My teenage kids stood by while their mother went a bit ga-ga over her first movie screen love. It was Ice Castles and I was in Junior High. "Big Sigh" at fond memory - make that memories - I watched Ice Castles every chance I got. Sadly, my brain didn't register to GET A PICTURE! I am appalled at my brain malfunction here - right now, I could be posting a nice picture of me with Robby and Karla. I even had my camera in my purse. So, so sad. Here is the link to his official site with a spectacular picture: www.robbybenson.net.
Since this blog is about food I must tell you where we ate dinner - Small Planet Restaurant and Bakery. It is less than a block from the civic center and the smells are amazing. I was torn - nothing raw on the menu but a salad that I could make at home. I had a great juice beverage called the Ginger Snap and the bean and millet burger. They put squash in the burger along with other mouth-watering ingredients. It was heavenly! I am craving salt, so I indulged in their home made chips with lots of sea salt added. Small Planet does not have a web site, but you can get their address and phone number here: http://www.fairfieldiowa.com/chamber/business_dir.php?show=291.
I had another gift today - a package arrived from Raw Revolution - I will share it tomorrow when my brain cells are restored from my Robby encounter! They deserve a "revved" up entry of their own.
Angela
Today I (really we, but this is about me!) saw Robby Benson, Karla DeVito (his talented and beautiful wife), and Stan Brown (a warm, rich, vibrating voice that sends - ya know, sends) perform a wonderful romantic, comedy musical. AND I shook Robby's hand and got their autographs because, of course, I had to buy their CD and his book. My teenage kids stood by while their mother went a bit ga-ga over her first movie screen love. It was Ice Castles and I was in Junior High. "Big Sigh" at fond memory - make that memories - I watched Ice Castles every chance I got. Sadly, my brain didn't register to GET A PICTURE! I am appalled at my brain malfunction here - right now, I could be posting a nice picture of me with Robby and Karla. I even had my camera in my purse. So, so sad. Here is the link to his official site with a spectacular picture: www.robbybenson.net.
Since this blog is about food I must tell you where we ate dinner - Small Planet Restaurant and Bakery. It is less than a block from the civic center and the smells are amazing. I was torn - nothing raw on the menu but a salad that I could make at home. I had a great juice beverage called the Ginger Snap and the bean and millet burger. They put squash in the burger along with other mouth-watering ingredients. It was heavenly! I am craving salt, so I indulged in their home made chips with lots of sea salt added. Small Planet does not have a web site, but you can get their address and phone number here: http://www.fairfieldiowa.com/chamber/business_dir.php?show=291.
I had another gift today - a package arrived from Raw Revolution - I will share it tomorrow when my brain cells are restored from my Robby encounter! They deserve a "revved" up entry of their own.
Angela
People keep asking me what I eat, so I will share one big secret of Raw Food regimen: Smoothies! Most Raw Foodies slurp at least one smoothie each day. So, now you are going to ask me for a recipe or two and I have none. There are tons of smoothie recipes on-line and in cookbooks, but I haven't used a recipe yet. Sometimes my smoothies take awhile to drink while other times I suck them right down. The secret is to find out what you like and what works for you. Tonight I am having a late dinner and the smoothie has what was ready to go in my kitchen - 1 banana, 1 peach, 2 cups (about) of watermelon, 1 teaspoon of raw honey, and 1 tablespoon of black strap molasses. I am using the molasses as a source of iron and calcium. I think I talked about it yesterday.
The color is not so great actually because blackstrap is, well, black. Mix watermelon with blackstrap and you get a pukish red-brown color. But I am not attached to it looking delicious, just tasting delicious and it does. Very refreshing for a summer time beverage.
One tip is that bananas always make everything taste better. If you get a smoothie with bitter greens in it or just an odd mix of flavors, add a banana.
I went to three green networking and education events tonight except one doesn't count because only one person was there when I arrived. I always meet great people! I always have fun! That is another blog though!
Raw Energy Happening Here!
angela
The color is not so great actually because blackstrap is, well, black. Mix watermelon with blackstrap and you get a pukish red-brown color. But I am not attached to it looking delicious, just tasting delicious and it does. Very refreshing for a summer time beverage.
One tip is that bananas always make everything taste better. If you get a smoothie with bitter greens in it or just an odd mix of flavors, add a banana.
I went to three green networking and education events tonight except one doesn't count because only one person was there when I arrived. I always meet great people! I always have fun! That is another blog though!
Raw Energy Happening Here!
angela
So far I have blogged about eating great food, having lots of fun, and a bit of my health issues that led me to Raw Foods. I am also hoping to lose weight as part of my getting healthier plan. I was a bit disappointed when the scale revealed only a 5 pound weight loss for the first 35 days.
I am also extremely tired lately and decided to begin taking a supplement called MSM. It stands for methylsulfonylmethane. The jar says it supports joints. I don't know anything else about it, but Chef Robin and Chef Sheree strongly encouraged it. I would love some feedback from others about MSM.
I also tried some coconut water for the first time today and it is delicious! It has potassium, sodium, calcium and a host of other vitamins and minerals. It replaces electrolytes naturally.
Keeping Raw Faith!
Angela
I am also extremely tired lately and decided to begin taking a supplement called MSM. It stands for methylsulfonylmethane. The jar says it supports joints. I don't know anything else about it, but Chef Robin and Chef Sheree strongly encouraged it. I would love some feedback from others about MSM.
I also tried some coconut water for the first time today and it is delicious! It has potassium, sodium, calcium and a host of other vitamins and minerals. It replaces electrolytes naturally.
Keeping Raw Faith!
Angela
Okay, I will confess: it has been hard to blog this last week and a half because I am so very, very tired. It is everything I can do to maintain the minimum. I wish I could take naps during the afternoon. I think my body is healing some of the inflammation and wants more rest. I don't really have detox symptoms other than the occasional morning headache that fades as I eat and drink water. It is a good kind of tired - I know the Raw Food is assisting me with overall health.
In the Thermography entry I listed all the parts of my body that want attention, so one of my first stops was with Lisa Kamphuis, ARNP at Whole Woman Health. Lisa ordered some blood work to mark my current condition. I hadn't had my cholesterol or anything else checked in about 3 years, so I was curios what the results would reveal. Since I have been a "flexible vegan" for several years (meaning I only eat meat and cheese when there are no better options or the menu is limited or when I felt like eating the beautiful food in front of me)
My lab results were interesting: I won't list everything she ordered, I will just cover the abnormals. Damn, I left it in the kitchen and I think I am too tired to retrieve it. :)
What is low: B12, iron, T3, red blood cells, white blood cells, Vitamin D and progesterone.
What is high: estrogen.
I had the blood labs for my hormones and there are different opinions about the accuracy - some feel that saliva testing is the only accurate test. I chose to trust Lisa's advice to use the blood testing for me and my situation. She offers the saliva testing also.
I did start taking a B12 supplement right away as that is difficult to achieve in a vegan diet. And I am consciously laying out in the sun for Vitamin D and I am trusting that the Raw Adventure will help my body to balance out the other items that are low. I also picked up some Blackstrap Molasses to add to my smoothies for iron, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Lisa did write a prescription for natural progesterone pills to be filled at a compounding pharmacy, but I decided to wait to fill it.
Tonight 5 of us dined at Dos Rios and talked about how to maintain the Raw diet in social settings and at restaurants. We had fresh, hand made guacamole and salsa with veggies. They were great about giving us veggies rather than chips. We had carrots, celery, jicama and radishes.
I forgot to take pictures...but it was Chef Sheree, Chef Robin, Daryl, Wendy and me. The information we gathered from the local celebrity Chefs was great! They will get it on their web sites soon!
Raw Joy and Raw Energy!
angela
In the Thermography entry I listed all the parts of my body that want attention, so one of my first stops was with Lisa Kamphuis, ARNP at Whole Woman Health. Lisa ordered some blood work to mark my current condition. I hadn't had my cholesterol or anything else checked in about 3 years, so I was curios what the results would reveal. Since I have been a "flexible vegan" for several years (meaning I only eat meat and cheese when there are no better options or the menu is limited or when I felt like eating the beautiful food in front of me)
My lab results were interesting: I won't list everything she ordered, I will just cover the abnormals. Damn, I left it in the kitchen and I think I am too tired to retrieve it. :)
What is low: B12, iron, T3, red blood cells, white blood cells, Vitamin D and progesterone.
What is high: estrogen.
I had the blood labs for my hormones and there are different opinions about the accuracy - some feel that saliva testing is the only accurate test. I chose to trust Lisa's advice to use the blood testing for me and my situation. She offers the saliva testing also.
I did start taking a B12 supplement right away as that is difficult to achieve in a vegan diet. And I am consciously laying out in the sun for Vitamin D and I am trusting that the Raw Adventure will help my body to balance out the other items that are low. I also picked up some Blackstrap Molasses to add to my smoothies for iron, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Lisa did write a prescription for natural progesterone pills to be filled at a compounding pharmacy, but I decided to wait to fill it.
Tonight 5 of us dined at Dos Rios and talked about how to maintain the Raw diet in social settings and at restaurants. We had fresh, hand made guacamole and salsa with veggies. They were great about giving us veggies rather than chips. We had carrots, celery, jicama and radishes.
I forgot to take pictures...but it was Chef Sheree, Chef Robin, Daryl, Wendy and me. The information we gathered from the local celebrity Chefs was great! They will get it on their web sites soon!
Raw Joy and Raw Energy!
angela
WOO HOO! One third of the way there! And I am definitely enjoying the food. Before beginning my Raw Adventure, I chose to do several different tests to mark my beginning point. I am going to outline all these in the coming days. The first test I did is called Thermography - it is a digital infrared camera that checks out the physiology of the body. It finds the hot spots and they show up yellow, orange, or red. I went to Radiant Health Imaging, owned by Pam Ryerse. Pam has offices all over the Midwest - she covers Iowa and every state around Iowa. For more information, check out Pam's website. She has a done a great job covering the topic. She also does fantastic presentations for free if you have a group that is interested. (Thermography is completely safe! It does not use radiation.)
I had my complete body imaged, which breaks down into more than 30 images of various body parts. If you run into me, ask to see it - I probably have it in my bag! It is drying right now as my sun roof was open during the shower we had... Pam, I might need another copy! :)
I have inflammation in my sinus' and teeth, my cervical spine (or neck), my lower back, coccyx, transverse colon, and my feet. In fact my toes did not show up due to lack of circulation in them. I also have a few vein issues in my legs and mild inflammation in my hands, knees, and feet. I have lived with most of this discomfort for a long time and I really was minimizing it, if not completely ignoring it. But seeing it in hot, bold colors made me sit up and take notice. I am doing some things in addition to eating raw and I will share more in coming days. I know most of these issues stem from being overweight for....ummmm....17 years. Ugh. I said it - I am in the position to lose lots of weight. That sounds nicer. :)
Pam has agreed to image my full body again at the end of the Adventure to mark any improvements.
Raw JOY!
angela
I had my complete body imaged, which breaks down into more than 30 images of various body parts. If you run into me, ask to see it - I probably have it in my bag! It is drying right now as my sun roof was open during the shower we had... Pam, I might need another copy! :)
I have inflammation in my sinus' and teeth, my cervical spine (or neck), my lower back, coccyx, transverse colon, and my feet. In fact my toes did not show up due to lack of circulation in them. I also have a few vein issues in my legs and mild inflammation in my hands, knees, and feet. I have lived with most of this discomfort for a long time and I really was minimizing it, if not completely ignoring it. But seeing it in hot, bold colors made me sit up and take notice. I am doing some things in addition to eating raw and I will share more in coming days. I know most of these issues stem from being overweight for....ummmm....17 years. Ugh. I said it - I am in the position to lose lots of weight. That sounds nicer. :)
Pam has agreed to image my full body again at the end of the Adventure to mark any improvements.
Raw JOY!
angela
I want to share another Raw blogger with you: http://bunnyberry.blogspot.com/ - she is my inspiration today to write. Bunny does a video blog every day - every day! She is on day 68 of 100 days raw. She is energetic and funny and consistent! First of all, I don't have the guts to do a video blog and secondly, I am woefully inconsistent. I love to write and communicate, but I am tired of the computer at the end of the day.
I am pledging to blog three times a week from now until the end of the Adventure. And starting tomorrow I will tell you all the medical things I have had done before I started the Raw Adventure. I have lots of reasons to be pursuing balance and harmony in my body and I will start sharing them with you.
Overall, I am tired and last weekend I didn't plan ahead and found myself having to make choices between bad and bad. I had lost my camera card reader and just got another, so I will be posting more pictures soon.
As BunnyBerry Says: "Eat your veggies!"
~angela
I am pledging to blog three times a week from now until the end of the Adventure. And starting tomorrow I will tell you all the medical things I have had done before I started the Raw Adventure. I have lots of reasons to be pursuing balance and harmony in my body and I will start sharing them with you.
Overall, I am tired and last weekend I didn't plan ahead and found myself having to make choices between bad and bad. I had lost my camera card reader and just got another, so I will be posting more pictures soon.
As BunnyBerry Says: "Eat your veggies!"
~angela
Last week, I was invited to dine at Chef Sheree Clark's home. The most amazing part was that all of the guests contributed to the preparation of the scrumptious meal! Pictures will follow. We had Mock Tuna Salad stuffed tomatoes on a bed of greens with three mouth-watering dressings. Sheree had prepared crackers and bread in the dehydrator in advance. And then, the part that I forgot to take a picture of: Strawberry Cheesecake (dairy free!) that was a perfect ending to an enormous meal! I am so busy eating that I forget to write!
And Chef Robin Moyer gave me Mock Chicken Salad this week that has me moaning in pleasure with every bite! And of course I stocked up on her gRAWnola, flax crackers and corntilla chips before she leaves for vacation. Oh, yes, and the chocolate cookies are a sweet treat that are for ice cream sandwiches. YUMMY! That demo had to be canceled last Saturday, but I think we can learn how to make them in July!
I realized my vocabulary is quite small - I keep wanting to use the same words to describe the food. Hopefully, this will expand my vocabulary AND make it more interesting and believable if I don't repeat myself. Tonight I shared samples of Chef Robin's Mock Chicken Salad and it was a hit! Adam wants to know when he can buy the Salad!
The creativity that comes with Raw Food makes me smile in gratitude constantly! When I picked up the two sacks of food from Robin - that is exactly what it smelled like in the car - FOOD. The aroma of real food, real herbs and spices are totally enticing me and exciting me.
Please tell me about your raw food experiences - I meet so many people that are enjoying raw foods and I want others to hear about why you chose raw or what have you made lately?
Raw Joy!
angela
And Chef Robin Moyer gave me Mock Chicken Salad this week that has me moaning in pleasure with every bite! And of course I stocked up on her gRAWnola, flax crackers and corntilla chips before she leaves for vacation. Oh, yes, and the chocolate cookies are a sweet treat that are for ice cream sandwiches. YUMMY! That demo had to be canceled last Saturday, but I think we can learn how to make them in July!
I realized my vocabulary is quite small - I keep wanting to use the same words to describe the food. Hopefully, this will expand my vocabulary AND make it more interesting and believable if I don't repeat myself. Tonight I shared samples of Chef Robin's Mock Chicken Salad and it was a hit! Adam wants to know when he can buy the Salad!
The creativity that comes with Raw Food makes me smile in gratitude constantly! When I picked up the two sacks of food from Robin - that is exactly what it smelled like in the car - FOOD. The aroma of real food, real herbs and spices are totally enticing me and exciting me.
Please tell me about your raw food experiences - I meet so many people that are enjoying raw foods and I want others to hear about why you chose raw or what have you made lately?
Raw Joy!
angela
Robin Juicing
Raw Working Girls
Corntilla Chips & Salsa
Flax Crackers
gRAWnola
Raw Working Girls
Corntilla Chips & Salsa
Flax Crackers
gRAWnola
Join me June 5th at East Village Books for Sheree Clark's Raw Food Demo! It starts at 6pm and you can sign up here: http://rawfood.meetup.com/360
Yesterday (the last day of May) was such a blast! In the morning I was at the Downtown Farmers Market to buy food from my friends Robin Moyer and Kelly Ayers of RAWphoriaLIVE as they launched their fabulous raw food line in beautiful eco-friendly packaging! I took a few pictures of these amazing women and their booth and then some pics up close of the food and packaging at home.
After market, Kerri from Fresh Cafe and Market in West Des Moines, called to say she had some meals to deliver! I have pictures of one of them - I dove into the other meal before remembering I was going to take pictures. I can tell you the Eggless Salad was delightful and filling. She used fermented tofu and other delicious ingredients. Fresh Cafe and Market is closed right now until June 9. When they re-open they will be sporting a brand new menu offering raw cuisine and many dishes from their previous menu. She uses organic produce and has funky eco-friendly silverware and plates.
I have eaten VERY well this weekend! This afternoon a smoothie sounded good and what I have discovered is that bananas dominate the taste if you allow them to! I used fresh produce from Campbell's Nutrition:
As fellow raw foodist Bunny says at each sign off: Eat your veggies! (Link to her blog on side bar.)
Yesterday (the last day of May) was such a blast! In the morning I was at the Downtown Farmers Market to buy food from my friends Robin Moyer and Kelly Ayers of RAWphoriaLIVE as they launched their fabulous raw food line in beautiful eco-friendly packaging! I took a few pictures of these amazing women and their booth and then some pics up close of the food and packaging at home.
After market, Kerri from Fresh Cafe and Market in West Des Moines, called to say she had some meals to deliver! I have pictures of one of them - I dove into the other meal before remembering I was going to take pictures. I can tell you the Eggless Salad was delightful and filling. She used fermented tofu and other delicious ingredients. Fresh Cafe and Market is closed right now until June 9. When they re-open they will be sporting a brand new menu offering raw cuisine and many dishes from their previous menu. She uses organic produce and has funky eco-friendly silverware and plates. I have eaten VERY well this weekend! This afternoon a smoothie sounded good and what I have discovered is that bananas dominate the taste if you allow them to! I used fresh produce from Campbell's Nutrition:
- one banana
- 7 or 8 strawberries
- spinach greens (half the bag)
- one half of a cucumber
- a bit of filtered water
As fellow raw foodist Bunny says at each sign off: Eat your veggies! (Link to her blog on side bar.)
