Mel's Living Foods

Sit Ups in Bed, Corset Running and yet another Rainy Day.

2010-05-16T02:42:00.000-07:00

Have made resolution to get steely abs.
Not primarily because that looks kinda neat, but because my back has started to become a real pain in the backside. This is really beginning to interfere with doing things that I love.
Like running and going to Ving Tsun training.

So, as strong tum is supposed to support weak back I am now immersing myself in dedicated ab-pumping: at least 100 quick sit-ups in bed right after waking up. Same during Yoga practice and same at the end of theday in bed before wandering off to dreamland.

And this is not just a plan. I am actually really doing it.

Want to go for a jog right now. Risking angry back, though. Might give corset-running a try. Meaning running with some sort of orthopedic gadget that straightens out lower back but tends to squash intestines.

Perfect Brekkie, Twitter & simply "YES"

2010-05-15T01:29:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

Yeh, yeh, I am back, sort of.

My fave brekkie these days is: Mango as 1st course followed by Banana and Dates cut in little pieces. I've been seriously falling for Medjool Dates. They are the bomb. Quite expensive though. But well: invest in your health!

By the way, I allowed myself to get lured into the bizarre world of Twitter.
So if you feel like following my life-enhancing narrative there I'd be deeply honored.
My Twitter Name is: http://twitter.com/DaBiiird.
The Bird was already taken, as was the DaBird - just in case you are wondering about the deeper meaning of the three "i"s (which you surely did ...).

Have a fine day and feel free to adopt my motto for this day: Yes.

Yes, right. Simply "Yes". Yesyesyes. :)

♥

Beat the "Crackao"-addiction

2010-02-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

Before going to AWI in Puerto Rico I think I had dark chocolate almost every day. Since Jan 16th I've eaten it just twice (yay!).

Really helpful in drastically diminishing my appetite was this article, that I can hightly recommend to anyone who has a hard time battling the addiction to "crackao":
http://www.rawfoods.com/articles/cacao.html

This one here is also interesting:
http://www.raw-food-health.net/RawChocolate.html

Waaay healthier treats are carob pods (introduced to me by John Kohler from rawfoods.com - thanks for this. I was truly enraptured while eating it). They taste like candy bars, but beware of the pits inside of them. So far no success in tracking some down in Germany ... grrrr. Yet another reason to emigrate ...

Medjhool Dates also make a neat sweet treat (not everyday maybe, I think they might become addictive too).

Wanna feel comatose? Combine fats & fruits

2010-02-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Originally I started this blog with the intention to immerse myself in raw cuisine. The idea was to post my progress in the direction of creating more and more elaborate dishes (raw "gourmet" stuff so to speak).

I started this blog right after returning from a two-weeks certificate course at Ann Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico. As one can see on this blog I stacked up on nuts and seeds and created (mostly) nice tasting concoctions that combined fruits and considerable amounts of fat.
What struck me was, that I experienced phases of extreme exhaustion during the first two weeks after my return. Before my detox at AWI I had done up to 8 hours endurance training a week. Afterwards I had to drag myself to get physically active, I felt like sleeping all the time. I have a history of feeling fatigued often, but that was something else ...

I told my "living foods mentor" (hey Mike;-) - and all he said was "fruits". He then explained to me that the combination of fruits and fat has not a healthy effect on the body at all. Well, I immediately abolished those combinations - and felt better almost right away. I immersed myself in the 80/10/10 (80 percent carbs, 10 percent protein; 10 percent fat) concept by Dr. Douglas Graham, and the more I read the more it felt intuitively logical and a path worthwhile to follow. Which I am doing by a reduction of my fat intake and an increased consumption of fruit and hey, it feels right.

I have never eaten much fruit before, as I could just bear it on an empty stomach. Which I now do too, basically, I just have way more. And the more I eat, the more I want to have it. So, no raw cuisine recipes for the time being. As I feel the simpler and closer to their original state I eat my meals, the better for me. Which also means: Raw gourmet cuisine is nothing that I feel like pursuing much more at this point, as most of it is packed with dishes high in nuts and seeds.

Broccoli Salad with Red Bell Peppers, Dried Tomatoes, Alfalfa Sprouts and Pine Nuts

2010-02-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

Had intended to prepare Chickpea Hummus with soaked dried tomatoes for dinner, BUT chickpeas were not ready yet (they need at least another day of sprouting). So I had to make use of the rehydrated tomatoes otherwise. Which led to preparation of pictured creation. Dressing was made of nutritional yeast flakes, lemon juice and about a tablespoon of olive oil. Made great chopstick-food. Love eating with chopsticks. Will get some neat wooden ones as soon as I can find a nice pair.

Raw Puerto Rican Mofongo German Style

2010-02-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

I had raw Mofongo for the first time at the vegan restaurant Zona Naturale in Aguada, Puerto Rico. It was the first raw "gourmet" meal after doing a two weeks certification course on Living Foods at the Ann Wigmore Institute while eating (mainly) papaya and energys soup (okay, I skipped that one during the second week).

Traditionally it is prepared with fried plantains, garlic and all sorts of beefy stuff. As we don't have plantains here in Germany, I used a banana instead (guess the plantains provide a much tastier color ...).

Prep:
Semi-dehydrate banana cut in thin stripes.
Marinate Zucchini in Soy sauce and garlic (tastes fine like this, but I dehydrated them a bit).
Mash warm banana with fork, add crushed garlic, a dash of salt and (my version) a bit of hot pepper. Eat still warm - er ... and with eyes closed.

Second breakfast

2010-02-22T11:20:00.000-08:00

These organic oranges were sooooooooo good! Already looking forward to having some again for breakfast tomorrow morning. Sort of had forgotten how lecker (that's formal 'yum' in German) they can be. It is also a sheer pleasure to cut them with my new (and - oh so - very sensitive) ceramic knife.

Stacking up on Frooooots!

2010-02-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

For the avid fruitarian this might look like, er ... a piece of cake (sort of) ... for me this is quite a whole lot of fruit (yeah, zucchini and tomatoes are fruits as well). Lets see how long this juicy bunch lasts (three oranges, one banana, one tomato and half of the zucchini already had to say hello to my mouth today).

Weeee! My blog has its first regular reader!

2010-02-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome youngheart08, thanks for joining!

Brainfood

2010-02-21T03:22:00.000-08:00

Check out this raw food- / fruitarian blog: http://sweetjuicyfreelee.com.
And her website: http://www.30bananasaday.com.

Just for the record:

2010-02-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love Mangoes (not all too ripe) - and daffodils too.

Apple-Spinach-Cherrytomato-Salad

2010-02-17T12:56:00.000-08:00

I am beginning to discover the charm of fruit/veggie combinations. The spinach was heavenly: very crunchy and juicy. Had the rest of the spinach (sans apples and tomatoes) today with (shortly cooked) sprouted buckwheat and Guacamole. Very nice indeed.

Broccoli Salad with Avocado-Lemon-Dressing

2010-02-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

Whatsitsname?

2010-02-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

Tastes deliciously like garlic and looks like a giant scallion. Who knows how that tasty sucker is called?

OK, found out myself: it IS garlic.

In connection with garlic this article makes an interesting read:
http://debbietookrawforlife.blogspot.com/2010/02/garlic-less-popular-view.html

Easiest Pine Nut Pesto imaginable

2010-02-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

I am still licking my fingers! This was SO YUM! And so freaking easy to prepare. Soak pine nuts and salted dried tomatoes. Blend. Put on pasta. Eat and rejoice.

Next time the pasta is going to be raw. Promised.

Dessert à la Zest de Monaco: Fraises sur Litchi

2010-02-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

Spent the last three days in Monaco. All in all the chefs seemed to be overstrained by the task to create a satisfactory vegan meal (not even a raw one. Three times I got Risotto as main dish - two times it was made with butter). This however was one of the two desserts (even at one of the top places I received the inevitable fruit salad for dessert) that were sort of original: Strawberry-Puree on Lychee served at Zest.

Pinenut-Pesto with Tomatos and dried Tomatoes

2010-02-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

(yes, the pasta and mushrooms are not raw, but it still tasted very yum!)

Sesame-Sunflower-Cheese with Mushrooms and dried Tomatoes

2010-02-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

Lentil-Geen Pea-Sunflower-Scallion-Paté-Rollies with Alfalfa Sprouts

2010-02-07T11:01:00.000-08:00

Date-Sunflower-Topping

2010-02-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

... for Pear-Banana-Buckwheat-Cream mentioned below:
Blend soaked sunflower seeds and dates with a little water.

Waldorf-Salad

2010-02-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

Grate white cabbage, 1 carrot, a piece of celery. Mix with 1 tablespoon of raisins. Blend 1-2 tablespoons of soaked sunflower seeds, a bit of lemon juice and about 1 tablespoon of raisins for dressing. Mix. Enjoy.

Banana-Pear-Buckwheat-Cream

2010-02-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

Blend 1 banana, 1 ripe pear, 2-3 tablespoons of soaked or slightly sprouted buckwheat and some filtered water. Yum! This one I really like.

Banana-Buckwheat-Creme with two kinds of Almond Milk (au naturel and with Carob)

2010-02-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

Red Sauerkraut with Beets and Apples

2010-02-05T11:45:00.000-08:00

Buckwheat-Muesli with Apricot-Sauce, Almond-Sprinkle and Banana

2010-02-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

Green Pea-Paté

2010-02-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

Red Sauerkraut with Beets

2010-02-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

Sprouted Lentil Paté with Scallions

2010-02-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

Banana-Flaxseed-Breakfast-Crème

2010-02-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

Banana-Sunflower-Carob-Cream (for dinner ... yum!)

2010-02-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

Chickpea-Hummus for Lunch

2010-02-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

Snack that Zucchini!

2010-02-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

Banana-Pear-Smoothie

2010-02-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

Banana-Pear-Smoothie

Jet Lag Rollies

2010-02-01T10:04:00.001-08:00