Overnight Blueberry Chia Seed Pudding ~ Raw/Vegan

This one is super easy, almost zero effort involved, and perfectly amazing on the belly! I'll keep the yapping brief tonight, as it's the end of my 4-day awesome weekend with my husband! We celebrated his 30-something birthday with days packed full-o-fun...so essentially I'm tired and looking to turn my brain off and relax, cocktail in hand of course ha...ha

I'm currently on my 2nd week of RawTill4. I'm beginning to consider making this a lifestyle choice for a few reasons:

1. Even though my husband and I were traveling all over the place Friday and Saturday, I managed to find places to eat that adhered to my new dietary regime.
2. I've never felt less bloated throughout the day as when I am eating clean, uncooked foods
3. I don't calorie count <--- huge deal for me
4. I've slimmed down - this is because of less daytime bloat AND continuing a strict workout regime. Eating healthy is great, but without physical activity and strengthening your body you're looking at a physique that may appear optimum but isn't. Skinny doesn't equal healthy. Strong and toned is what I shoot toward!

Anyway! On to the easiest of RawTill4 recipes yet!

Recipe Deets

1 air tight container (12 ounce or larger)
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or coconut milk)
1 cup fresh blueberries
3 tbsp chia seeds (protein explosion!!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon

- Place all ingredients in mason jar (or airtight container) and refrigerate overnight
- The End

So good. Like hide in a corner so your kids don't see you and ask for you to share...type of good.

Below is a little picy collage of my weekend with the husband...food and all! Now back to reality :s

Morning Wake Up Smoothie Bowl ~ Raw/Vegan

Welly-well, I've just started day 3 of RawTill4 and you know what? It's going super great! Minus the 3pm headache my-body-needs-caffeine moment, but who's keeping track? hrm. ANYWAY. This new (very new) way of eating has actually illuminated a few things for me:

1. Whatever I used to eat was actually slowly building up in my digestive track causing me intense pains due to bloat.
2. I was *always* craving salt, actually, to the point where I thought about it throughout the day.
3. Whether I was eating salads with steamed vegetables or egg whites, I always felt heavy and sluggish.
4. My brain was foggy and tired all of the time.

Over the weekend I made the drastic change to only eat raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc. from the moment I wake up until 4pm. In those 2 days I've lost almost 2 pounds from water weight alone. I wake up feeling light and well rested. And best of all? I'm looking forward to coming up with new, easy recipes that may help me change this "diet" into a lifestyle! As with any life altering decision, it's all about preparation and patience (the latter I'm super not so goods with...bleh).

 Now on to the recipe! Smoothie bowls are a well known, very popular way to smash some nutrients in our faces! They're super easy and you can pretty much take a basic recipe and switch it up a gazillion different ways. So feel free to use the recipe below as a base to take your own smoothie bowl off in to new exciting frontiers!

Recipe Deets
2 cups frozen/fresh fruit - pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, mango, etc.
1 banana
1 cup water
1 tbsp raw nut butter (optional)
1 tbsp maca powder (optional)

NOTE: If using fresh fruit, add 3-4 ice cubes

- In a high speed blender or food processor, blend everything until smooth
- Pour in bowl and top with lots of fruit, chia seeds, raw granola, hemp seeds, etc.!

Seriously the highlight of my morning!

Raw Zucchini Pasta w/Marinara ~ 1st Day RawTill4!

It's time to reset the mental and physical clocks! Winter is over, the weather is starting to creep into the 60s, and I'm ready to break free from some bad habits I've held on to for the past few months!

Bad Habits 101 

1. Bad habits are sneaky - one day they're like "hey, I'm new here, would you mind showing me around?" And before you know it you're their best friend, they can't do anything without you, you've shown them the best of times and without you life just wouldn't be worth living...

2. Bad Habits are rude - they only take take take. They demand this, and want that! Oh I'm sorry are you busy trying to do something beneficial for yourself? Too bad! Bad Habit here needs some YOU time...N.O.W. 

3. Bad Habits like salty snacks all day. Like even at 2 am. As I said, they're rude.

4. Bad Habits make you eat your toddler's snacks in mass amounts because they don't care who else may need them (psst...the toddler).

5. Bad Habits eat dinner, dessert, and second desserts even when full. Why? BECAUSE THEY'RE A BAD HABIT!

6. Bad Habits give you tummy aches because they tell you to consume things that they know will make your insides cry (i.e. stuffs that contain sesame...ugh)

7. Bad Habits are costly and create larger-than-life food budgets

So - how did I make it through the past 3 months without gaining a pound and actually losing a few inches round the ol waist? Lots of gym time, lots of crash diets, lots of skipping meals, lots of poor dietary decisions that I knew wouldn't last.

Well here we are - day one of RawTill4! I'm hoping that eating only raw vegan foods from my waking moments until 4pm will aid me in reseting the internal clock so that my cravings for salt/caffeine/anything that fits in my mouth...will subside. Generally the RawTill4 diet involves eating a million calories during the day and high carb/low fat at night. Lots of bananas, lots of dates, fruits a la all the time, smoothies fo' life, 100 ounces of water, etc etc...well I ain't doing it that way. As with almost anything I set out to do, I tend to change things up to fit my life and what I know about my body. Plus bananas and smoothies all the times sounds boring. And I'm easily bored...

So! Along with regular healthy recipes, I will be including my raw food journey and posting recipes I've come up with as I move along.

Recipe Deets (you will need a spiralizer or some contraption to spiralize the zucchini)

Noodles
- 2-3 medium zucchini
- a bit of sea salt

Marinara 
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 1 shallot (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (sliced)
- handful of sundried tomatoes
- handful of chopped cilantro
- bit of sea salt

1. Spiral your zucchini and place in colander. Cover with a bit of sea salt and allow to sit while water drains. You may need to press the noodles with paper towels.
2. In a high speed blender add all marinara ingredients and blend until smooth
3. Place noodles in a bowl and top with sauce - feel free to add some cherry tomatoes and basil!

Now go get a coffee at 4pm on the dot like I did, because coffee is awesome and only lame people think they can avoid caffeine allllll day!

Quick Rice and Bean Fritters ~ Toddler Friendly

It's Monday, it's 5pm, and you just arrived home to a *very* hungry toddler. She's following you with her slow, exaggerated, not-quite-steady gate and she...wants...food...now. Not in 5 minutes...N.O.W. As her little square head looks up at you, you think "Is this my life for the next few years? Attempting to navigate the insatiable hunger of a very small, but very hungry person? NO!" I refuse to be controlled by two tiny hands yanking on my leg, accompanied by a tiny mouth repeating "ra ra...ra ra...RA RA" (i.e., ma ma) over and over and over. So I lean down and calming say, "Mirabelle, we do not whine in this house" as I quickly give her some empty plastic containers and a couple pots and pans to keep her occupied for 10 minutes...ugh...10 minutes, what can I make in that amount of time??

YES! Leftovers...yet not. Tricky tricky mommy >:D

Recipe Deets
1 cup pre-cooked, leftover rice (I used sprouted brown rice)
1 can refried vegetarian beans
2 tbsp flour of choice
1 eggy (or flax eggy if vegan)
a handful of panko breading (optional)
ANY SEASONING YOU WAAANT! (I used sea salt, thyme, and parsley)
1 tbsp coconut oil for frying

-  In a large bowl combine all ingredients except the oil
- Mold into small patties about the size of your palm (if they don't hold, add more flour)
- Heat oil on medium/high in a large skillet
- Add patties and cook on each side for about 5 minutes until golden brown
- serve with homemade tahini sauce, ketchup, sriracha, anything!

Done and done! Now go get yourself that much deserved cocktail!