Confessions of a Food Addict

Well I am sick today, but thanks to veggie juice I feel good. I just can't talk and it is very hard to teach preschool children without a voice ;) So my day has been very productive (or maybe not). I started my first sauerkraut! I will tell you how it turns out sometime next week.
I made some very garlicky hummus for my husband to enjoy as lunches (I always enjoy a little too). Finally I am now working on Spicy Peanut Kale Chips, I substituted the peanut butter for almond butter and tahini and they are coming out great!

 Well on to confessions :( I cheated. You know that juice feast I am suppose to be on, well I confess it, I cheated. I saw the fruit that I was suppose to be juicing and I just couldn't help it. I ate a pear one night, some watermelon another night and another pear the next night along with some raw coconut, almond balls I had made for my husband. Plus this morning while I was cooking I couldn't help trying the food I made, I have to eat when I cook. If you can cook without snacking on everything you make, more power to you. I get that from my mom, she always said she ate two dinners. So I am finishing Feasting on Juice a little early, but guess what! I lost all 10 lbs that had gained since school started. Tonight I am going to be making some raw soup, and will hopefully post the recipe later and a raw salad. YUM! I am soo excited!

Feasting on Juice this past week has been very eye opening for me. I not only lost the weight, but I learned something very important--when you eat healthy foods you are happier and less stressed. I have been so calm this week even though making four juices every night for dinner and then to take with me in the morning, takes a lot of time, I still felt more peace. My body really needs peace. I thrive on stress, which is why I am a teacher, but it is hard on my body. So I have decided that in addition to eating healthy foods more regularly and in a more detoxifying way. I am going to feast on juice about once a month or so, it will be my Peace Feast :) I will tell you a couple days before so you can do this with me if you want and I will try to post on my Facebook page what I ate that day.



Well I think I will end my post with two recipes I discovered this week. I have pictures for one but not the other. First a smoothie...
I was trying to make Vegan "Booster Juice" but I couldn't find half of the ingredients so I came up with my own 

Tropical Kombucha Smoothie

1 mango

1/2 pint strawberries

1 Frozen Banana

3 Kiwis

1/4 cup each Passion Fruit Kombucha and Guava Kombucha ( I like J.T.'s Kombucha best)

Pour everything in a blender and blend till smooth. Add ice if desired.

I am drinking this one right now :)

Carrot Papaya Pumpkin Pie Juice

It might not sound the best, but believe me, it tastes like pumpkin pie and I LOVE pumpkin pie!

4 carrots

1/2 papaya (Mine was on the firm side, otherwise I would have just eaten it.

1 bag Celestial Seasonings Sweet Harvest Pumpkin Black Tea

6 drops Vanilla Stevia

Pumpkin Pie Spice to taste (I put in quite a bit)

Juice carrots and papaya. Stir in tea bag, stevia and spice. I let mine sit in the fridge overnight, but you could probably drink it within half an hour or so.

Happy Juicing!

New Recipe, Challenge and ... Fast or Feast?

Well there has been so much going on lately I have not had time to post anything. I have made two resolutions since my last post which I would like to share with you. But first, the moment you have been waiting for...! 

Strawberry Rhubarb Juice (Creamed)

Yes I finally did it, I figured out the recipe--it is smooth and sweet!

1 pint strawberries

1 1/2 long stalks rhubarb

1 medium beet with greens (add extra greens if desired)

2 sweet apples

2 limes or lemons

Juice all ingredients and top with a little cinnamon and nutmeg (you may also want to add a little vanilla stevia depending on your taste-buds). 

To cream--after juicing the ingredients pour into a blender and add a banana and an avocado (I think that is what I did, I will have to look at this recipe again when I get home so the creamed version might change a bit in a few days) and blend until smooth. Top with toasted almond and coconut meal leftover from making nut milks. And most importantly ENJOY!!!

On to my two resolutions and I am very sorry but I do not have pictures for this part. 

There has been one constant in my life for the last two months...STRESS! It has ruled my eating choices and also my purchasing choices so I decided I was going to spend less money on groceries (I happen to be addicted to food shopping. Can anyone relate?) Well to do this I decided I needed a plan and there are soooo many amazing blogs with recipes on them, I decided to try and go through them making the recipes found on these blogs. I will try to remember to tell you on my page on facebook what I am eating that day. Also I will try to post my husband's and my favorites for the week. I am hoping this will be fun and also save me money :)

So my next decision... I recently looked at my eating decisions and they have not been good. Basically I have been eating everything I can get my hands on in the last couple of months and it has gotten so bad I cannot stop eating, especially chocolate and sweets! So Friday morning I stepped on the scale and instantly decided I needed to go on a juice fast because what I was doing was not working...Hello my name is Alissa and I am addicted to food! So I started with what I had, a green juice, two smoothies, and another green juice to end the day. Today, Saturday, was my first full-blown juice fast and I had a very difficult time. We didn't do much today--just play with my two-year-old nephew and wait for my newborn nephew to wake-up (which I don't think ever happened). So I got very frustrated today and finally went for a walk to clear my head, but I am going to do this fast because I do not want my life run by food adding to the stress that is already piling on top of me. 

I don't like the word fasting...Courtney Pool from www.CourtneyPool.com and www.SpirulinaJunkie.com calls it juice feasting. I love the term feasting because it is something you want to do not have to do and when you juice you are feasting on an extreme amount of nutrients. So I am going to use the word feasting. 

This week I will be feasting on juice. I will add in a smoothie Friday afternoon and for dinner raw soup and salad. Would anyone like to join me? Post on my facebook page the best juice you ate that day and I will keep you up-to-date on what I am drinking and how I am doing through out the week!

Happy Juicing!!!

Raw Cardamom Soup

I know I promised the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Juice, but you are just going to have to wait. I have perfected the recipe but as I was drinking it in the car the other day I thought, "Hey this would be good with crust and crunch!" So I want to try on more thing.

I am currently trying to be on a juicing fast, but I have cheated today (and it was my first day :( ) I just had to try the banana muffins my kids made and the raw carob cheesecake was in the specials isle at Natural Grocers and I must say, AMAZING!!!

So anyway on to the soup. It is sweet and has a nice Cardamom flavor--kinda makes me feel like I'm back in India. In fact, now that I think of it you could garnish this soup with raisins, pistachios, and cashews and make it really Indian! Huh, I'm going to have to try that! 

Raw Cardamom Soup

1 Zucchini or Sweet Potato

1 Avocado

1 tsp ground cardamom seeds (out of the pod)

Juice of 2 beets and a handful of greens (I like using beet greens)

1 dropperful Vanilla Stevia

Cinnamon and salt to taste

Blend everything in a blender and enjoy!

Nut-Butter Mocha Smoothie

This is my husbands FAVORITE breakfast recipe. I came up with it because he used to love the Chocolate Protein shakes I used to make for breakfast, but since I stopped buying processed foods I haven't bought any protein powder either. So this is what I came up with (and it definitely is super yummy!)

(Better-than-Starbucks) Nut-Butter Mocha Smoothie  

-About 4 cups of Chocolate Milk Juice   

     - 4 or 5 carrots

     - 1 head romaine lettuce or a couple handfuls of spinach

     - 1 or 2 beets (optional, but I like the flavor)

     - a handful of beet greens (optional, but I LOVE beet greens)

- About 4 cups cold coffee (I make mine ahead of time and put it in the fridge to cool)

- 1 to 2 bananas (can adjust for sweetness)

- 1 to 2 Tbls of cocoa powder 

- 2 to 4 Tbsp almond butter (or other nut butter)

- 1 dropperful chocolate stevia (can sub in regular or vanilla if you don't have chocolate)

- A handful of ice

- Optional add-ins

   - sometimes I add a cup of cranberries to the juice

   - If you like the Java Chip Frappacino at Starbucks (its my favorite) add in a tsp of cacao nibs. They give a  nice chewyness to the Smoothie

   - My husband likes to add about a cup of nut milk to the mix, although I don't think its needed.

   - a scoop or two of ice cream (I've never done this, but maybe I'll make a tray of Chocolate Covered Katie's and throw it in some morning!)

So this is just a tease of what is coming soon!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Juice ;)

ENJOY YOUR JUICING!!!

Garlic "Bread" and Iced Banana Cream

This post has been long in coming. We moved and I have been unpacking and trying to get started setting my classroom up. Its been really hard to start balancing my life and getting back into work. I also finished Natalia Rose's The Raw Food Detox Diet and today I began reading Raw Food Life Force Energy today. I love the health tips in both books, but I also have some reservations and different ideas about other things. Some day I will write a blog about my beliefs and how I feel that has led me into this diet, but not today. 


I did accomplish one goal. I ate raw for an entire day last week! I was VERY excited and it was not hard. I will do it again soon!

Today I did really well too. Although I did not do an 'all raw' day, it was a healthy day!


I started out with about 20 ounces of water.


A half hour later I had a cup of English Breakfast Tea infused with chocolate and berries.


A little later I had a Cucumber/Apple/Mint/Ginger/ Detox Juice (I added a few leaves of Kale)


Mid afternoon I drank a concoction of Beet Greens/2 small beets/1/2 cup cranberries/4 carrots/ 1/2 inch ginger root/1/4 inch turmeric root mixed with a Chai Kombucha.


A couple hours later I finished the leftovers of a yummy pizza type salad I had made for our family dinner on Saturday afternoon.

And last, but most wonderful, my day culminated in an amazing taste-bud sensation dinner, made with "gasp" vegetables!


I made Flourless Goat Cheese Ravioli  (compliments of The Vegetable Centric Kitchen). Added some parsley to a beet/sweet potato/yellow squash/zucchini pasta with pesto (found in Natalia Rose's books) that was also left over from Saturday. And because the most difficult thing for me to say no to during our Saturday dinner was garlic bread, I created Cheesy Garlic "Bread" Zucchini Style!

Cheesy Garlic "Bread" Zucchini Style

1 monster zucchini (this one is from my mom's garden)

1 Tbls Earth Balance Butter (or butter of choice)

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup shredded cheese (or not, I almost thought it tasted better without the cheese. But that could have also been due to the fact that I did not use a very good cheese)

Salt and Pepper to taste

  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Cut the Zucchini lengthwise into three pieces.

Lay on a cookie sheet. I sprayed it with grapeseed oil first and the bottoms of the zucchini browned nicely.

Place butter and garlic in a food processor and blend until smooth. (you may need to use more garlic and butter to facilitate blending)

Spread the garlic butter on the zucchinis and sprinkle with cheese if desired. 

Bake on 400 for about 40 min. or until the zucchini is soft and the cheese is almost browned. 

Sprinkle a little salt and pepper and enjoy!

We ended our meal with a most amazing dessert. Before I let you in on the secret, I have decided something! When we were kids our mom came up with "Dessert Days". We could only have dessert every other day plus Saturday (because it was a special day) and only during one meal on those days. Well, I think, by the time I have kids I will have this detox diet thing down so I am going to tell my kids that they are allowed to eat dessert EVERY day and  perhaps even for every meal! ;)

Ok, I know it looks like soup, but it's not! It is a most amazing concoction!

Almond Butter Chocolate Chunk Banana Cream

3 frozen bananas

1 6 oz container plain coconut milk yogurt

1/4 - 1/2 cup almond butter

1/2 large Bar Dagoba Dark Chocolate (I used Xocolatl, and it gave the cream a nice punch)

2 dropperfuls vanilla stevia

1 dropperful chocolate stevia

1 tsp vanilla extract

scant salt

Pour all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Then you must sit back and slowly, very slowly enjoy this wonderful treat!

We ate our cream with this lovely chocolate cake I made for (again) lunch on Saturday. (I think that The Vegetable Centric Kitchen must be my favorite blog). After I served the bowls I stuck them in the freezer while I finished cleaning the kitchen and the dessert was coldly refreshing in our hot apartment.

Isn't my cake pretty?!

Happy Juicing!

Green Juice and A New Goal!

Well I know I promised this post a couple days ago and I am sorry it has taken so long, I got a little sidetracked. I started reading Natalia Rose's book The Raw Food Detox Diet. I really enjoyed reading it, at first. Then I read the step about proper food combinations and I began feeling really depressed. I realized that I should not be eating some of my favorite combinations, such as sandwiches (bread, cheese, and nuts (for vegan cheeses) should not be mixed. I LOVE sandwiches. And, as a Hispanic, one of my husband's favorite meals is eggs, beans, and tortillas. Also should not be mixed. :(
So I got depressed and got out the leftovers from one of my vegetarian meats made from peanuts (also bad apparently), some provolone cheese, and smothered both in lots of miracle whip (also a favorite). So now that temptation is gone at least. But this is going to be a struggle, right now my goal is to practice making food in proper combinations that will make digestion easier on my body. That is all, not to be 'raw till dinner' or anything else. I'll let you know when I have to stop thinking about how to put things together and it comes more natural. (In the little test Natalia has in her book both my husband and I scored a 2, which is very high raw, but we decided we are not mentally ready for this level. We have been eating at a level 3 for a while so we will continue at this level until I need a new goal.)


Ok, Green Juice! I started juicing about 4 months ago and I HAD to use recipes and there are a gazillion on the internet. I came up with a couple REALLY nasty juices at first, but I have learned better combinations since. This week I made a few really good ones with some interesting ingredients. My mom grows lettuce, chard, cabbage, and other goodies in pots in the backyard and so a lot of these ingredients are from her "pot" garden ;)

 Zucchini Green Limeade

1 large zucchini (from my mom's garden:)

1 stalk broccoli (I eat the florets and save the stalks for juicing)

1 lime (with or without skin

1 Apple
1 handful Swiss Chard

1 handful Parsley

Juice, Pour over ice and enjoy. I like my juices tart sometimes, so you may need to sweeten this with Stevia

Sparkling Cactus Green Juice 

1 large cactus leaf 

2 lemons

1 apple

2 - 4 dropperfuls Stevia

1 bottle sparkling water

Juice the cactus first as it is slimy, then juice the fruits. Pour juice into a blender and add stevia and ice to taste. Pour into glass about 1/3 full. Add 2/3 sparkling water. Enjoy!

My husband told me that he thought this was the best juice I have made so far. 

My next juice includes Kombucha. I honestly still don't really know what this is, but I like it, ALOT. I was going to make Pumpkin Pie Kombucha from The Vegetable Centric Kitchen, but I was going for green juice this week and the Kombucha I naively bought worked out perfectly!

Green Juice Kombucha with Cactus

1 large cactus leaf

1 medium cucumber

1 big handful of parsley

2 handfuls of Swiss Chard

1 Bottle Green Kombucha

Juice all vegetables and place juice in a blender with a little stevia and ice. (The juice by itself is fairly good so if you don't have Kombucha you can still drink the juice). After blending slowly combine with the Kombucha and share with a friend or enjoy alone!

On a side note, look what I found at Natural Grocers today! Really good and raw! But kind of expensive, I won't be buying them often. 

HAPPY JUICING!!!

The Mail and Cranberries

Guess what I recieved in the mail yesterday!


I am so excited I started reading The Raw Food Detox Diet today, despite how busy I am!


I am going to let you in on how busy my life is right now, it will slow, when I get used to it. I just got a new job teaching preschool! I have been teaching Kindergarten for the past two years so I have a lot of planning and preparing to do! We are moving on Sunday, so I am supposed to be packing right now! And I am starting a Master's degree in Special Education in August. Now this may not seem very busy to some of you, but I will say this again, I am a teacher! That alone takes up most of my time. But I am determined to change my eating habits and find the Life Force Energy which will help me keep up with my adorable 3 and 4 year-olds :)

Tonight's Dinner, Veggie Fajits!

Lately I have been feeling burdened down and tired. And with all this talk on different blogs about cleansing I decided I needed a detox, so I started drinking juice for the first two meals of the day and just eating dinner. I was planning on doing a juice fast tomorrow and Thursday, but I am going to put this on hold. After beginning Natalia Rose's book I realized how much unhealthful foods I still have in my house and I decided that if I do not get them out of the house before I detox with a juice fast that the fast will end up being pointless. So I am going to continue juicing during the day and eat dinner until the unhealthful foods are gone and then I will do a juice fast, somewhere between 3 and 8 days, I haven't decided how long yet. 

So I guess today I am going to share with you a juice that has become one of my favs! 


First off, I swear by cranberry juice! I don't know if other women suffer from the same problem I do, but cranberries virtually eliminate the problem. After I started juicing I gave up my cranberry supplements and replaced them with a half cup of cranberries (juiced or blended) a day. The cranberries (I get mine frozen at Natural Grocers and let them thaw for a while before I use them, but when I can get them fresh I will!) go well with any carrot or beet juice. But I found a recipe I just had to try on The Vegetable Centric Kitchen  and I just made it my own.

Healing Cranberry Green Juice

1 Handful of Green (your choice, I usually use spinach or lettuce)

1/2 cup Cranberries

Fresh Coconut Water (absolutely love!)

2 cubes of frozen wheatgrass

Stevia or Chocolate Stevia to taste (I use 1-2 dropperfuls)

Directions: Put greens in your juicer and before you push them through the chute poor cranberries on top, this prevents the cranberries from jumping out at you if you have the same type of juicer I do (Breville). I always pull out the pulp and put it through the juicer again then run water down to get all the remaining juice dislodged (I don't like to waste anything). Pour into a glass, pop out the wheatgrass cubes and add to juice. Fill the glass full with Coconut Water and add Stevia. If I want something even more chocolaty I add about a tablespoon of cocoa powder! I will be adding variations of this drink periodically.

Tomorrow I will be talking a little about green juices that I enjoy! 

Until then, HAPPY JUICING!