Monday, July 30, 2012

Phancy...Juices?

Fresh Papaya Juice
The hubs and I have been on a health kick...and we're hoping that it keeps kicking.
We've been blending green smoothies every morning for almost 9 months now, and we decided to do the crazy.

The Crazy = JUICE FAST DIET.

Yes...for 10 days, we were gonna drink, drink, and drink some more. After watching Fat Sick And Nearly Dead as well as Forks Over Knives, our friends and I decided to do a cleanse. Breville was out of the storage, pounds of veggies and fruits were bought, and TEAM JUICEFAST was starting strong and committed.

...until Day 2, when Ali and Ashley pulled out. But then Matt joined the crew on Day 3 to do a 7 day juice fast...until 3 meals later when he was clutching the porcelain bowl and praying for solid food. Team Juicefast was cut in half but going strong.

Day after day, we drank juice 4-6 times a day, each "meal" was 20-24oz. Dinner time was definitely the hardest - all I wanted to do was eat and all I could think about was eating. So...Day 7 came around, and we caved. We 3 decided that we did well and that it was time to eat something solid. (It didn't help that we had been craving burgers for the last 5 days.) So together we FaceTimed and stuffed our faces with fruit at 9pm at night.

I still consider our JuiceFast a success. I lost 5 lbs and have kept it off for the last month - I really thought that it would all bounce back, since I assumed all I lost was water and poop weight. (hehe)
But it was delicious, and the new recipe that i LOVED was this almond milk:

Homemade Almond Milk

Homemade Almond Milk:
  • 1 cup almonds (raw, organic is best)
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
  • 4-6 dates

Directions:
  1. Soak almonds overnight or for at least 8 hrs in water. 
  2. Blend soaked almonds, water, dates and vanilla (the bean is definitely tastier) until as smooth as possible.
  3. Depending on how pulp-y you like your milk, you can shake it up and drink as is or strain it through a cheesecloth or nut milk bag.
  4. If using a cheese cloth, use at least 2 layers of the cloth and secure it around the top of a container with a rubber band. You'll have to use a spatula or spoon to scrape the almond pulp off, to allow it to continue to strain properly.
  5. Then refrigerate and enjoy! (Will keep in fridge for 3-4 days)

Friday, May 18, 2012

Has it really been that long?

Wow...didn't realize that it's been a year since I've written on here!
Which of course means...that I haven't started/finished any new projects lately. :(

But we made a big move down to sunny Texas, and life's been crazy busy.
I have a few projects up my sleeve...just waiting for some time to do it. Once I get to it though, you can be sure that it'll be up on this site.

15min away from my home...not a bad way to live