anulicious

The official last day of our raw food challenge is here. It is very strange that the time past so quickly because I can still remember how I felt when we started and I thought “Oh my God, raw food for four weeks. Am I crazy?” But as it always is in life: you can achieve everything if you just really want to. I am also very proud of my hubby, he stuck with the challenge bravely. And we both had just very little slip-ups when we went out to eat and had some Avocado Sushi, which happened three times over all. And this slip-up is still very healthy.

Now here are the things we stayed away from the whole time:

All animal products (which wasn’t a challenge, because we do this most of the time anyway)

Refined sugars & flours & artificial sweeteners

All processed foods

All cooked food (with the exceptions I mentioned above)

Alcohol

So, what did we consume?

Fruits (Bananas, Apples, Orangejuice, Pears, Berries, Papayas, Figs, Dates, Avocados, Raisins, Cranberries, Pomegranates…)

Leafy Greens (Spinach, Kale, Broccoli, Beet Greens, all kinds of salad)

Other Veggies (Carrots, Beets, Fennel, Celery, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchinis…)

Mushrooms, Shitake

Nuts / Seesds & Nutbutters (Almonds, Hazelnuts, Cashews, Walnuts, Tahini, Brazil Nuts, Pine Nuts, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds)

Nori, Wakame

Fermented Foods like Sauerkraut and Miso.

I have no idea, if I forgot something, but I think that’s quite it.

What I learned & achieved:

A raw diet is not dull at all

I think my normal diet is very clean, because I only had mild detox symptoms

I realized, how often I don’t eat because of hunger but other reasons like being bored, being used to eat at a certain hour, seeking comfort, etc.

My tastebuds changed. I even can appreciate an apple now and eat it with joy

My mind was very clear on raw foods

I didn’t get tired during the day (like usually after Lunch)

 I was actually very light hearted all the time

My cravings weren’t to bad. When I craved cooked food it was something simple like Quinoa or a Pasta dish

Over all this experience was awesome and I even decided that I will stay on the raw path and try to eat about 70% raw and the rest cooked. I will let you know how that turned out and I will keep the food journal so you can see how I am doing.

Speaking of which, today I had:

Two apples, a banana

Sauerkraut with tahini

Avocado

Green Juice

Nuts

I leave you with a little treat, with this lovely video of raw chef Ani Phyo, who shows you how to make super easy apple pie. Enjoy!

xoxo

I am a Summer girl. I love the  sun, the heat, blue skies, the beach, FlipFlops, sunglasses, watermelon,… I could go on for hours.

But unfortunately it is still winter and it is cold, wet and grey and dark most of the time. So when I came home from work I was longing for something summer-ly.

Luckily I had bought a papaya two days ago that was waiting for me in my kitchen.

So I created a Happy Hippie Summer Dreamin’ Smoothie. That’s how it’s done:

Throw together papaya & figs (or other exotic fruit of choice, Mango would be great, too), Nut milk, Nutbutter (I used Hazelnut), honey to taste, chia seeds and ice cubes. Blend well and enjoy!

I really love Smoothies as a Dinner replacement when you come home late and don’t want anything heavy. This was really satisfying.

Today I also had:

Two apples

Banana

A huge rainbow salad at work

Almonds

The Summer Smoothie

xoxo

I can’t believe that these are our last days of our Challenge already.

On Friday we are meeting two friends at a new restaurant in Düsseldorf, so this will be our official End of the Raw Food Challenge.

But I really have to say, even if it sounds weird, I am a little sad about that. I feel better than ever and I am really enjoying the food and got so much used to it.

Let’s take today for example. I made this wonderful lasagna for me and my husband and it was so good. It is just zucchini, tomatoes, olive oil, mushrooms and cashew cheese. No noodles, no cheese, no carbs and bad fats. And it was AMAZING and so filling.

Simple & beautiful!

But before I get all sentimental, let’s recap the last days.

On Friday I enjoyed:

Green Smoothie

Dates, Almonds

Sauerkraut with Tahini

Asian Shiatke Salad with Cucumber, Carrots, Avocado

 On Saturday I had:

Two Apples

A “Hawaii” – Smoothie with Berries and O-Juice

Apples with Nuts and Hazelnutbutter

3 Avo-Sushi & Tofu (yes, cheated again!)

On Sunday I ate:

Green Smoothie

One apple

Raw Macarons (Yum!) with Hazelnutbutter

Salad with Broccoli, Zucchini, marinated Mushrooms, Avocado and Carrots

Yesterday I munched on:

Smoothie with Mango, Banana, Cacao, Hazelnutbutter

Dates, Almonds

two apples

Sauerkraut, Tahini, Bell Pepper, Cucumber

Smoothie again

And today I had:

Green Smoothie

A date and a handful of almonds

Sauerkraut, Tahini, Nori, Cucumber

The lovely raw lasagna

On the next post I will give a summary on the Challenge, the pros and cons, how I felt, what I learned and so on.

So stay tuned

xoxo

TGIFriday!

The last days were a little busy, which is why this is my first post this week – sorry!

I can’t believe it is only one more week to go. Time has been flying.

Staying raw this week was pretty easy, except one little cheating on Thursday, when I went to the Sushi Bar with a friend and had some Avocado Maki with my salad. But that was the only little slip-up.

I don’t remember every thing in detail I ate the last five days, but I can tell you it was a lot of Smoothies, Avocados, Sauerkraut, Salads, Nori, Wakame, Nuts and Dates.

But one dish really surprise me so positively, that I have to tell you a little more about it.

On Sunday I wanted to make some  comfort food, something decadent, if you will. A real treat!

So I searched the Internet for inspirations and finally I found this recipe from the website Choosing Raw. It is a raw carrot cake. Yes, that’s right! Isn’t that awesome? I was really excited because me and my husband both LOVE carrot cake and I was curious how this would turn out.

So I thru all the ingredients together and put the “dough” and “icing” together in little glasses. Pretty!

So, here is the truth: This carrot cake was so YUMMY, I couldn’t  believe it. Just like the real thing.

BUT it was so sweet (I already put less dates, so next time a will put even less) and it was soooooo filling that I couldn’t finish more then half of it. Also my husband couldn’t finish it. It really was ridiculous, because we are actually very, very good eaters.

We put the rest in the fridge and ate the rest the next day. So if you are planning on trying this recipe, reduce the dates and be prepared that this is a whole meal!!! But it is a dream come true, I promise.

xoxo

Half time for our Raw Food Challenge and two more weeks to go.

I has been an amazing journey so far. Not only because on the different Food and Eating, but because of the experience itself.

How clear my mind is when I am on raw foods, but also how addictive cooked food is. So speaking of that, I have a little confession to make…

Yesterday my husband and I went to town to do some shopping and just wanted to stop by our favorite Sushi Place to eat a little wakame salad. We really had the intention not to eat anything cooked. But after two weeks of just raw foods and a hard time on Wednesday, where we both almost fell of the wagon, the craving was to strong (or we were to weak, if you want to put it that way).

We ordered the Wakame Salad, as you can see here:

BUT after that followed some Edamame, plus Avocado & Shitake Maki.

We enjoyed every bite without guilt. We just said to ourselves that this was the reward for our the first two weeks without a failure.

And honestly: there could have been worst foods we could have eaten. We also felt good after that, but we realized, although the portion was not huge and we shared it, we both were very, very full and immediately had this stuffed feeling that we are so familiar with when we eat “normal” food.

So, that was our little Cheating Story. But hey, nobody is perfect, right? We got back on track right after this and we are sure now we will also hang in the last two weeks of this challenge.

Here is what I ate yesterday:

Green Smoothie

Fresh Juice

Some bites of my hubbys Salad with dried tomatoes, olives, fresh tomatoes, walnuts, cucumber and olive oil

Our “cheating” lunch at the Sushi place

Salad at our friends home (bell peppers, pomegranates, Avocados, red radish)

Enjoy your Sunday!

xoxo

Happy weekend to you all!

I have been enjoying my weekend juice, which I always miss to prepare during the week.

Why this is, you ask? Well, lets admit: I am NOT a morning person. So I am not good in getting out of bed a lot earlier and prepare a juice. Not that this is very time consuming, but I already prepare a Green Smoothie for my husband and me every morning, I that’s where the green juice is neglected.

But at the weekend I catch up on it. Most of the time I put in some carrots or beets, apples, fennel and ginger, and some greens, like spinach or so. It doesn’t sounds like, but it tastes great and it gives me huge energy. It is like all the nutrients are directly absorbed by the body.

And in a fancy glas it tastes even better.

Yesterday we visited a friend of ours and his Mom (she is so sweet) wanted to serve us something and she knew we are eating all raw at the moment. So she thru on her Juicer and made the most amazing juice for us with apples, pears, carrots and oranges. I really appreciated her efforts so much to make us something we could enjoy. And we definitely did.

So, the food journal… I think I can not remember all the stuff I ate, but I will try…

Wednesday I had:

Green Smoothie

A Salad at work with beets, carrots, sauerkraut, tomatoes, cucumber, arugula and mushrooms.

Olives, Flax Crackers, Nuts

On Thursday I day:

(First I have to say, this was a hard day, because in the morning I was in such a rush, that I couldn’t make our Green Smoothie. My body really missed the nutrients from it. I felt like I have to quit the Challenge, because I had so much cravings. And my husband felt the same way. So this showed me how important and nutritious this Green Smoothie is for me. Luckily I made it through the day without quitting. Yay! Not again I will miss my daily smoothie at this challenge.)

Two apples

two pears

Salad with Sauerkraut, Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Tahini Dressing.

Wakame Salad and Broccoli with Sesame Dressing at a Sushi Place

three Dates (they give me great energy before the gym)

Yesterday I had:

Four dates

some almonds

Avocado

Green Smoothie

Grapes, Two Apples

Lovely Juice from my friends Mum

So, enjoy your weekend, enjoy your food, have fun!

xoxo

I am in love.

And it is this woman’s fault: Sarah Britton from the My new roots – Blog.

I told you about Sarah before in this post, when I wrote about the awesome Raw Taco Recipe.

And now she got me again with a Raw Chocolate Milkshake.

The great thing about Sarah’s recipes is, that you don’t primarily make them because they are so healthy for you (which the are) but because the taste so amazing.

Same with this recipe. I am normally not really a chocolate kind of girl, but the last days this image of Sarah’s raw milkshake didn’t go off my head, so I went to the Whole Foods Store and bought some raw cacao powder.

The great thing is, you can drink this milkshake without any guilt, because it is super healthy for you.

Raw Chocolate has so much benefits and is even a superfood. Read the whole blog post from Sarah here. There is a lot of interesting information concerning this.

Yesterday I had:

Green Smoothie

Salad with china cabbage, cucumber, tomatoes, sauerkraut and Tahini Dressing

Carrots

Raw Chocolate Milkshake

xoxo

Raw Food is not all cucumber sticks and apples.

There are actually some really cool raw chefs out there and they can make some fancy, fancy food I tell ya.

Ani Phyo is one of them. The good thing is, Ani’s recipes are not all complicated and time consuming. Most of them are actually pretty easy.

So on Sunday we tried a recipe from this video:

I can tell you, it was sooo yummy and super easy and fast to make. What surprised me the most was, that the marinated mushrooms really get this cooked texture after 15 minutes of soaking. And the sauce… No words for how good it was. And so satisfying, too.

Girls, when you are crazy about low carb and are looking for some yummy dinner alternatives: that’s your dish!

Here is my complete food journal from Sunday:

Green Smoothie

Vegetarian Salad with Miso Dressing & Wakame Salad at Lunch with my pals

Ani Phyo’s Mushroom Bul Go Gi

Yesterday I enjoyed:

Green Smoothie

Apple

Salad with Cucumber, Tomatoes, Sauerkraut & Tahini Dressing

Avocado

Some Nuts

Broccoli with Raw Cheeze Sauce

What me and my husband both discovered is that we really have so much more energy, while we are eating this way. You know when you had Lunch and after that you really wanna take a nap because you are so sleepy? With raw foods this doesn’t happen. Our mind is clear and sharpe the whole day.

So, we made the first week. Over all it was much easier than I thought and just after this few days I see how much less food I need already to satisfy me. And I also sticked to my Workout Plan and went to the gym five times the last week. So, pretty proud at the moment

xoxo

I have to admit that I never was really into eating leafy green vegetables. I mean, I always liked carrots, beets and all this stuff, but greens?? Not so much. When I leaned to a plant-based diet this didn’t change immediately but soon I learned about this great thing:

The Green Smoothie!

Fruit Smoothies are familiar to most of you I guess, but what the heck is a Green Smoothie you ask?

Well, it is made of fruit PLUS green leafy vegetables blended in. Yes, that’s right. When I learned about all the benefits of this, I started to incorporate green smoothies in my daily meals. It is my  breakfast now.

Now on christmas I got the book “Green for Life” by Victoria Boutenko as a gift. Victoria actually really made this whole concept very popular. She, her husband and her two kids healed themselves from chronic diseases with a raw food diet and are consuming a lot of green drinks on a daily basis.

Victoria explains, that the chlorophyll in the Greens is very similar to the hemoglobin in our blood. So drinking greens gives us extra health benefits.

But who really eats a bunch of Greens every day? That is almost impossible. So Victoria had the idea, to blend them in the Smoothies, with the fruit. The great thing about this is, when you have the right ratio, you don’t even taste the Greens, only the fruit.

Also, when you blend the greens very high, Victoria claims, that makes them easier for your body to digest.

You can read more about the Green Smoothies here at the Boutenko website.

I already started to drink Green Smoothies some months ago for breakfast and I really felt the difference. It gives me so much energy and it decreases my appetite for unhealthy foods. Even if you don’t eat anything else the whole day that is healthy (what should’t be your goal) you have this super healthy drink in the morning.

I always make enough in the morning for my husband and me and I take 500ml with me to work in this pretty jar.

I mostly put frozen banana and mango in there and rotate my greens (read here why this is important), sometimes it’s baby spinach, kale, romaine, lettuce,… And I also like to add some super foods to it for the extra health kick.

I also recognized that drinking my Green Smoothies helps me easily reducing and controlling my weight.

If you now think, this could be a great thing for you, I have a video at the end where Victoria Boutenko’s daughter Valya shows how to make tasty green smoothies.

But first here are my food journal of the last two days.

On Friday I enjoyed:

Green Smoothie

Salad with Cucumber, Tomatoes, Sauerkraut and Baby Spinach

Avocado

Broccoli with “Cheese” Cashew Sauce (Sooo good), Kale & Pomegranate Salad

Raw Bread

Yesterday I had:

Green Juice

Green Smoohie

Red Beet Salad & Tomato Cilantro Salad at one of my favorite Cafés

Wakame Salad & Avocado Salad at a Sushi Place before we went to the cinema

two dates

Have a lovely Sunday!

xoxo

Okay Guys, this was a good day.

No more detox symptoms and I really felt satisfied with my meals. I enjoyed:

Green Smoothie

Salad with Baby Spinach, Cucumber, Cherry Tomatoes, Avocado, Sauerkraut (my new favorite, who did see that coming?) and Tahini Dressing.

Kalamata Olives

A few Nuts (Brazil, Walnut, Almond)

And for dinner a had this Beauty:

Aren’t the colors amazing?

It is massaged kale (yes, that’s right, kale in a salad!), pomegranates, raisins and pine nuts. I also added some Nori for the iodine intake (not in the pic).

I tell you the flavors were just amazing. Such a simple dish, and so tasty. That is the great thing about exploring raw food. You realize, that the simple things can be so amazing and bursting with flavor. And of course they are so healthy for you!

So a win-win situation!

xoxo