Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Juicey Juice Time Once Again.....

The last time I did a juice fast was at the beginning of the year.   I did more of a juice feast for six weeks.  At that time, my diet consisted of fresh homemade juice for breakfast and lunch followed by a dinner composed of vegetables.  This time around, I decided to go right into a fast.  However, my plans changed after three days of fasting. I won Red Sox tickets to Fenway and was not about to turn them down!  I was bringing my niece with me to the game so I decided to lay off the juice for the weekend.  Upon my return back to NYC, I decided I will do a juice feast for the rest of the week and then kick into the fast on the weekend.  My diet this week will consist of juicing for breakfast and lunch followed by veggies for dinner.

So far I've been doing variations of the Mean Green recipe, made famous by Joe Cross of "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" fame.  If you haven't watched that documentary, I suggest you stop reading and start watching that film right now.  It will change your life, and if it doesn't, hopefully it will begin to change your perspective of what is healthy.

Why am I doing this fast, you ask?  Well, I'm headed to Mexico for vacation with one of my girlfriends in September and am hoping to take a few pounds off before hitting the beach, and the pool, and of course, the pool bar.  The fantastic thing is, I saw her this past weekend and explained to her how I was taking a reprieve from fasting for a few days.  She was interested and wanted to know more.  Now she is prepping herself to start fasting next week!! I AM SO PROUD!!  I will be fasting alongside her every step of the way to ensure she is a success over the next few weeks.

The healthy lifestyle takes education, but before education, one has to be exposed to the potential dangers of what the typical American lifestyle will lead to.  Knowledge has to start somewhere.  I love the snowball effect just my juicing has on those around me and love it when people ask questions and decide to make a change for the better.

As for my fast, I plan to go for the remainder of August...all the way up until vacation.  Then once I come back from Mexico, I am pretty sure I will need to detox myself once again.  Aaahhh....vacation how I love thee!


Friday, May 25, 2012

A Swap Box comes to Brooklyn

I love surfing the net for new ideas of vegan treats, goodies, blogs, recipes, and just whatever I can wrap my hands around that's new.  I stumbled across a fantastic idea for vegans around the country...a Vegan Swap!  The link I found is The Verdant Life.  What a great idea! The concept?  People who are vegan around the country can sign up to join this monthly swap.  How do you do it? Easy!  Early in the month you will get an email noting who you will be contacting to send $20 worth of vegan goods to.  Most people have a web site, so you can get a view into their world.  You contact them by email to find out any allergies, diet restrictions, etc.  Once you get a response, it's on to the fun.

This was the first month I participated, and I had a blast figuring out what to get.  I won't reveal what the contents of the box I sent contained, but when mine came, I was super excited.  My box came all the way from Olympia, WA. Sage, who runs this site, My Name Is: Sage was my Swap Sender.  What awesome stuff I got!


Inside the box, I found amazing goods.  The Ricemellow is one thing I am most excited to try.  That, combined with delicious peanut or almond butter on a sandwich, is going to bring me right back to my childhood, only healthier.  Lucy's cookies are DELICIOUS!  I continue to be amazed at how good vegan cookies can taste.  The Fruition bars are perfect for an on-the-go snack.  The crunch dried fruit snack is coming with me on my drive up to Boston this weekend.  

The vegan swap is a super fantastic idea.  You get to connect with vegans around the country and try new foods in the process.  What's better than that?  If you are vegan, or are transitioning into a vegan lifestyle, I highly recommend this fun, monthly swap.  In the meantime, enjoy your veggies!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

How Now Brown Cow

It has been a few months since my last post.  I created this site to blog every week at a minimum.  However, an opportunity to write for a publication in Brooklyn (for the Food and Drink section I might add) was presented.  That opportunity fell through though, and the publication is being shelved for now.  So here I am back on the blog. 

Quite a few personal changes have occured since the beginning of the year.  I did a juice fast for about six weeks and in that time did a ton of research on nutrition and how it affects the human body.  You really are what you eat.  Towards the end of the fast, I realized that processed foods and meats affected me in a way I never took the time to notice before.  Having eaten a vegetarian diet while on the juice fast (I would eat vegetarian for one meal at night), I started to notice that I slept better, my mood was better, and that my body wasn't sick at all.  I even lost the sniffles that would never go away during the winter.  With these noticeable changes, I began to research.  EVERYTHING!  I poured over articles, watched documentaries, scanned recipes, etc.  I learned that I could easily change to a vegan diet pretty effortlessly, and so now, my journey towards veganism has begun. 

I'm excited about the new lifestyle.  It's a fun challenge to create meals with foods I've never used before, such as seitan, nutritional yeast, tofu, just to name a few.  By the way, Tofurkey cream cheese is waaaaay more delicious than any cream cheese I've ever had.  I'm addicted to the stuff!  However, I've learned that eating out can be more of a challenge.

Thank God I live in a city where vegan restaurants are plentiful.  including right here in my lovely Brooklyn.  I discovered a brand new vegan bakery right in my neighborhood, Clementine Bakery.  Can you say, "thank you sir may I have another?"  It's a small shop with a few tables and chairs that serves vegan deliciousness and coffee.  I tried a peanut butter cookie as a start, since I didn't know if I would want to spit it out from blandness or chomp it down and beg for more.  I chomped it down, and yes, I'm begging for more.  This is the place to go if you are vegan and need to bring sweets to a party where all your carnivore friends will be, since they won't be able to tell the difference from the dairy filled stuff. 

Another delicious sweet treat made in Brooklyn is Raw Ice Cream.  YOWZA! This stuff is so damn good that even some of my friends prefer it over the "real" thing.  It's super creamy and is loaded with flavor.  I don't know how they make it, but I'm already on the hunt for pints in the city.  I was introduced to this creative genius of a treat at the NYC Vegetarian Festival a few weeks back.  They had a booth set up and once I tried the tiny spoonful, I just had to fork over a $1 for a few scoops.  If you can't eat normal ice cream without feeling like poop, then you absolutely must try this stuff.  Again, it's totally vegan so there will be no side effects if you crave dairy and can't have any.  Trust me, it is the shizzle!!  Go here for info if you are in the NYC area:  Raw Ice Cream Company.

As always, I will continue on the hunt for deliciousness and will be blogging much more frequently.  Any requests?  Please let me know.  Until then, happy eating!

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2011 2.0 aka 2012

Happy New Year and welcome to the first post of the year.  Did you imbibe in too much bubbly last night only to wake up with a killer hangover?  Are you still in your pajamas?  Well, grab some V8 juice and eat some super greasy food.  If the headache just won't quit, munch on some chocolate.  That resolution of losing weight that was made yesterday is now officially blown.  Welcome to 2012!

Waking up with a hangover is a bitch.  It's even worse when there's nothing in the fridge to satisfy those cravings of grease.  Eggs?  The thought is unappealing.  A sandwich?  Too boring.  Some chips?  Not unless it's Doritos, which were finished off last night.  The thought of getting out of those pajamas and walking to the take-out joint down the street is too much of an effort.  You could order a pizza, or perhaps some chinese food that is pretty crappy, but neither of those sound great right about now.  The next best thing? Order online.

Two great web sites to use on such an occasion are seamless.com and grubhub.com.  They are incredibly easy to navigate.  Just plop in an address and a list of restaurants in the area will pop up.  Select a restaurant and from there just choose the menu items you'd like and pay online.  You can even include the tip with payment if you have no cash on hand to tip the delivery guy.  An email confirmation with an estimated delivery time will then be sent.  Super easy!  Now go ahead and order that double cheeseburger with fries to satisfy that hangover craving.  Start that resolution tomorrow.  With no hangover.  Enjoy!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

End of 2011...bring in the New Year!

As 2011 comes to a close, this blog now comes alive.  Welcome to the blog that will discuss local eateries, bars, wine shops, you name it.  If it has to do with anything that goes in your mouth, it will be written here.  Most posts will be written about places in New York City, where the possibilities to venture into hole in the wall restaurants or tiny wine shops are endless.  On occasion, posts will be written on places outside this great city, when travel offers the opportunity to discover new places in different parts of the country (or world).  Suggestions on posts are welcome.  Welcome to the blog!