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The Ideal Breakdown

The 85% Raw Portion

The dense living nutrients found in raw foods and their juices produce abundant energy and vibrant health while satisfying our cells’ nutritional needs, controlling hunger efficiently.

• Beverages: Freshly extracted vegetable juices, BarleyMax, CarrotJuiceMax, BeetMax, and remineralized distilled water
• Dairy Alternatives: Fresh almond milk, creamy banana milk, as well as frozen banana, strawberry, or blueberry “fruit creams”
• Fruit: All fresh, as well as unsulphured organic dried fruit (limit fruit to no more than 15% of daily food intake)
• Grains: Soaked oats, raw muesli, dehydrated granola, dehydrated crackers
• Beans: Green beans, peas, sprouted garbanzos, sprouted lentils, and sprouted mung beans
• Nuts & Seeds: Raw almonds, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, walnuts, raw almond butter or tahini (consume sparingly)
• Oils and Fats: Extra virgin olive oil, Udo’s Oil, flaxseed oil (the oil of choice for people with cancer, except men with prostate cancer, who may be better served meeting the essential fat needs through freshly ground flaxseed), and avocados
• Seasonings: Fresh or dehydrated herbs, garlic, sweet onions, parsley, and salt-free seasonings
• Sweets: Fruit smoothies, raw fruit pies with nut/date crusts, date-nut squares, etc.
• Vegetables: All raw vegetables
• Soups: Raw soups

The 15% Cooked Portion

Cooked foods follow the raw salad at lunch or evening meals and can prove beneficial for those trying to maintain body weight.

• Beverages: Caffeine-free herb teas and cereal-based coffee alternatives, along with bottled organic juices
• Beans: Lima, adzuki, black, kidney, navy, pinto, red, and white
• Dairy: Non-dairy cheese, almond milk and rice milk (use sparingly)
• Fruit: Cooked and unsweetened frozen fruits
• Grains: Whole-grain cereals, breads, muffins, pasta, brown rice, millet, etc.
• Oils: Vegan mayonnaise made from cold-pressed oils
• Seasonings: Same as the 85% portion, plus unrefined sea salt (use sparingly)
• Soups: Soups made from scratch without fat, dairy, or refined table salt
• Sweeteners: Raw, unfiltered honey, rice syrup, unsulphured molasses, stevia, carob, pure maple syrup, date sugar, agave nectar (use very sparingly)
• Vegetables: Steamed or wok-cooked fresh or frozen vegetables, baked white, yellow or sweet potatoes, squash, etc.

You Are What You Eat

If you believe we are what we eat, I would assume you also believe that your body re-acts directly to what you put into it.
Just something to think about ...

White Sugar: (not natural sugars found in fruits)
11 teaspoons of sugar is enough to knock out the immune systems' bacteria-eating white blood cells for about three hours. Guess what we consume on an everyday basis that contains 11 teaspoons of sugar. A 12 ounce can of soda!
Table Salt: (not sea salts or natural salts found in veggies)
Salt is toxic in high concentrations and can wreak havoc in our systems and in our cells. It is a major contributor to Arterial Sclerosis or harding of the arteries and also raises the blood pressure.
White Flour:
to make bread: The first thing they do with a natural grain of wheat is strip off the outer shell (or bran), then remove the wheat germ which contains all the nutrients, because it gums up their machinery and turns rancid quite quickly. What is left of the grain after all of this processing is something called endosperm, which they grind into a very fine powder. But it's not white enough yet, so they bleach it with something like Clorox. The result is a very fine white beached substance with no fiber and no nutrition.
Caffeine:
Caffeine is found in coffee, soda pop, chocolate and some teas. Your body will make every effort to reject it. Your blood vessels constrict, making your heart beat faster, causing adrenalin to pour into your system to deal with the fake "emergency" that's been created by the introduction of this foreign stimulant. The continual presence of unspent adrenaline causes chronic stress. Caffeine is a toxic poison that will damage the lining to your stomach and cause damage to your liver, kidneys and contributes to osteoporosis.
-- Other Dead and Deadly Products, Healthy News

Insomnia VS the foods we eat?

A woman shared her experiences after making serious changes to her diet ...  I don't have trouble sleeping, but my husband does. I've yet to experience if changing your diet really helps, but I certainly think it's worth a try. Don't ya think?

"I have now completed nearly 4 weeks eating RAW foods and have more energy than I ever did before. This go-around on the program also seems to have eliminated my insomnia. I used to stay up till 1 A.M., wake up at 2:30, go back to sleep at 3, wake up at 4:30, go back to sleep at 5 and sleep until 7. I was always tired, felt truly sleep deprived. Now I fall asleep at 10:30 P.M. and sleep till 6:30 A.M. What's interesting to me is that I now have ongoing energy until I lay my head on my pillow! Awesome!" -- Cindy S

Lentil Hummus

Made a tasty hummus using lentils instead of chick peas. It was so easy, I don't know what took me so long to discover it ... Instead of dipping with pita bread or chips, use carrot sticks and celery.
Here's the recipe ...
1 cup of dried green lentils
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons unsalted Tahini
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 handful fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup of olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook the lentils in a quart of salted boiling water until soft not falling apart, no more than 20 minutes. Strain the lentils and add them to a food processor along with the garlic, Tahini, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, parsley and olive oil. Process until completely smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Yummy. 

Cabbage Roll-ups

Served Raw with sauteed dressing drizzled over bed of veggies

The Wrap:
Large Red Cabbage leaf
2 tbsp Hummus
1 tbsp Tabouli
Raw Zucchini, chopped
Raw Yellow Squash, chopped
Raw Orange Bell Pepper, chopped
drizzled with dressing (see below)

The dressing:
saute all ingredients together
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
red or white onions, sauteed
garlic, sauteed
1 tsp raw honey
(drizzle over veggies warm or cool)

Roll up and ready to serve!

Smoothie "Pep" Drink

I like to start my morning with this drink. It fills me up and I feel I'm getting my share of fruit and it's refreshing.

Prepare following in blender:

1 cup of distilled water

1 cup of ice

1/3 cup of soy yogurt

1/3 cup of blueberries

1 banana

1 date

1/2 Tsp Raw Wheat Germ

1/2 Tsp Lecithin Granules

1/2 Tsp Rice Bran

1/2 Tsp Psyllium Husk Powder

1/2 Tsp Nutritional Yeast flakes

1 Tsp Soy Protein

1 Tsp Raw Honey

1 Tsp Sunflower Seeds

2 Tsp Spirulina

1 Tbsp Flax oil

1 Packet of emer'gen-C powder

Juice Up!

My favorite Juice for a mid-afternoon snack:

Carrot Juice as the base for everything, followed by a handful of spinach, one whole beet, 1/4 head of red cabbage. Juice together and enjoy!

The Perfect Snack

Slices of Avocado over a bed of Red Cabbage, sprinkled with cracked pepper makes the perfect snack. Add dressing for a healthy salad.

Dressing: 1 tbsp Olive oil, 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar, 1/8 of Red Onion chopped, 1 tsp minced Garlic. Sautee a couple of minutes and pour directly over Avocados.
Delish.

Apple and Pear Salad

One Golden Delish Apple (Cut into bite size pieces)
One Pear (Cut into bite size pieces)
3 Stalks of Celery (Chopped fine)
4 Dates (Chopped fine)
1/2 cup of Pecans (Chopped fine)
Juice of 1 Orange
Juice of 1 Lemon

** Pour Orange and Lemon juices over chopped apple and pear to keep from turning brown. Leave for about 10 minutes. Then Drain (juice to be used later for dressing).

** Once fruit juice is drained add Celery, Dates and 1/2 the chopped Pecans together in bowl and mix well.Dressing:

Take the rest of the chopped Pecans and put in food processor along with drained juice.Makes a tangy delish salad. Serving size 2

Did you Know?

Detoxification, healing crisis, or detox ...
As you begin eating a whole foods plant based diet, all those nutrients will start pushing out toxins that have been accumulating in your body for years. As the toxins are released into the bloodstream, you may experience physical symptoms that may cause some sort of discomfort.
Sixty percent of those on the HD and lifestyle do not experience major detoxification symptoms. For those who do notice any uncomfortable symptoms, this is perfectly normal! Rejoice that your body is releasing any bad stuff from your organs so that they can function better and make a transformation to a sensational slim you!
Some of the symptoms you may experience:
flu-like symptoms
nausea
rashes
pimples
coughing up crud
diarrhea or constipation
lack of energy
feeling under the weather
food sensitivities
vomiting
depression
lethargic
mucous buildup in mouth or nose
bad breath
tongue swelling
headaches
emotional for no reason
 -- Hallelujah Acres

My two cents: when I gave up caffeine in my coffee many moons ago, my body went thru a detox ... it was pretty amazing. My entire body ached with pins and needles for 2 weeks straight. It got so bad I had to take an asprin (which defeats the purpose) every day just to get thru the day. Then the pain just went away.

Foods to Avoid

Oh boy. Here we go ... 
BEVERAGES:
Alcohol, coffee, carbonatrd beverages, all artificial and sugar containing drinks, sport drinks, all juices containing preservatives ...
DAIRY:
All milk, cheese, eggs, ice cream, whipped toppings, and non-dairy creamers. (cows milk and cheese are some of the most dangerous foods we can place into our body. Read Dr. T Colin Campbell's book The China Study, for documentation.)
FRUIT:
Canned
GRAINS:
Refined, Bleached flour and white rice
MEATS:
Beef, Pork, Fish, Chicken, Turkey, Hamburgers, hot dogs, bacon, sausage etc.
VEGETABLES:
Canned
SUGAR:
refined white or brown sugar, chocolate, candy, gum, cookies, donuts, cakes, pie.
-- Hallelujah Acres

My two cents: Kill me now. right. haha

Did You Know?

What most people do not realize is that almost every "physical" problem they experience (other than accidents) has a diet related cause.

Because our physical body is designed by God to be nourished with living (raw) foods, it is imperative that the greatest percentage of our daily food intake be composed of raw foods -- and that we avoid the foods that are causing the problems in the first place.
--Hallelujah Acres

My two cents: I was just thinking the other day how we pay more attention to making sure our car gets the right grade of gasoline and oil to run smoothly, but don't think twice about what we put into our own engine (our bodies) to make sure we are fit and feeling 100%.
I am sooo guilty on this one.

The 60 Day Challenge

I just ordered the two supplements needed to start the 60 day challenge as soon as they arrive at my doorstep: 

BarleyMax 

Vitamins, minerals (including calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and potassium), essential amino acids, chlorophyll, flavonoids, many trace elements, enzymes and antioxidants, plus a high level of enzymatic activity that is necessary for building new, strong, healthy and vital cells in your body. $25.95

Fiber Clense Power

Fiber Cleanse contains a balanced blend of 28 herbs in a psyllium and flax seed base to help you cleanse the colon, restore optimal bowel function, and ensure timely elimination of toxins from the body. $29.95

New Beginnings, again.

I am currently on a journey to finding the right balance between what I consider "healthy" eating habits vs. my husband Domenick's idea of "healthy" eating. Let's take pizza for instance,  he says, "It has all the required "food groups" such as tomatoes, cheese, bread, and meat."  Ya gotta love the way he thinks.

I became a semi-vegetarian 5 years ago, but still eat fish. I've also attempted vegan (nothing with a face), raw diet (85% raw fruits, veggies, nuts, 15% cooked foods) and detoxing/fasting (flushing the system) ... and found it very difficult to maintain, but I'm not giving up.

I'm a huge fan of the "Hallelujah Diet" and discovered this really cool feature on their website called "60 Days to Reclaim Your Health" where they walk you thru the process of changing the way you eat. If you are not familiar with HD it is a Raw Food diet and lifestyle. I tried it before and loved it, but it's a lot of discipline and preparing and very difficult adapting when socializing at dinner parties or going out to restaurants because I am the only one eating differently.

With the step by step they are providing via video where you can see how they prepare their foods, I hope to have better success this time around. I'm going to give it another try and will journal my experiences. I hope you find my journey inspiring enough to make some healthier changes in your life too. 
Happy New Year!
-- Vivian