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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

   Hi everyone!  I just wanted to leave a quick note and wish a VERY Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!  Enjoy this time with your loved ones and eat, drink and laugh a whole lot!
Oh, and here's a little sample of what we made today:
Semi-raw bee-hive cookies with a lemon kream filling. Vegan!
   We had so much fun making these little bee-hive cookies!  Aren't they adorable?  I'll share the recipe in an upcoming post.  I'm told they taste really yummy but, unfortunately (for me) I lost my taste buds today because I'm so congested (boo) so I can't give you my opinion.  I'm hoping I get my taste back in the morning because I'm totally having one of these for breakfast!

Enjoy your Holidays!
Love,
Ves xx

Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Mele Kalikimaka!

   I love the holidays!  Especially spending time with my family, baking yummy treats, and eating tons of delicious food!  I'm really excited about the time off of work as well.  I wish I could say that I'd be relaxing, but what I really need to be doing is homework.  I've been neglecting it a bit, especially this week, which means I have lots to catch up on!
Aren't they cute!?
    But, I won't bore you with anymore homework talk.  And by the way, I do plan to spend a bit of time baking, hanging out with the family and of course, Boxing Day shopping.  If you're not Canadian, Google "Boxing Day" and you'll understand.  I also need to get over this cold that I finally caught.  Trust me, you're bound to catch one when you have tiny children sneezing on you all day and all of your friends and family seem to be sick as well!
   Anyway, I promised you some info about my raw food workshop that I attended and I'm sorry it's taken me this long to post!  Here goes:   
The location...
   The workshop was held at Marbles Restaurant where Renee (our host) is a Raw Food Chef.  It's a cozy restaurant with a charming atmosphere.  Renee was very enthusiastic and informative.
   She began by introducing herself and talking about why she went raw in the first place.  She initially went raw to try and clear up a skin disease when nothing else would help.  Well, she cleared it up and after 6 years on the raw food diet she's still loving it.
   We talked about what it means to eat raw foods (foods that are whole and unprocessed and still have there enzymes intact).  We covered some raw food basics like equipment: a blender and a knife is really all you need to get started.  You may also like to have a food processor, juicer and dehydrator down the line.  We also went through some pantry essentials, like raw nuts, seeds, herbs and spices, fresh produce, etc. 
Here's what we ate:
Pasta Marinara with sesame seed parm and microgreens

Chocolate truffles with cashew kream
   The food was of course super delicious and definitely great for people new to raw food.  No crazy ingredients to scare the newbies away!  I'm glad I went and would totally go to something like this again.
   Anyway, I also promised you some holiday baking!  Well, I'll definitely have more pictures and recipes soon, as we plan to do some baking tomorrow on Christmas Eve (fingers crossed that I'll be well enough to participate).  But, here's a pic of a couple of goodies that my mom made the other day (yes, they're vegan).
   She made way more than this and different kinds too, but they were gone by the time I thought to take a picture! Ha.  I'll try and do better tomorrow!
   Oh, and one last thing.  I've been trying to beat this cold for a while with lots of green juices and smoothies, and even though it finally caught up to me, I'm still going strong with them.  Here's what breakfast has been looking like lately:
Cucumber, lime, celery, romaine.
    If you haven't tried a green juice yet, you really should.  You won't believe how much energy you have after drinking it!

Have a wonderful holiday!  May it be filled with joy and laughter, family, friends, food and fun! (and maybe a green juice or two!) 

Merry Christmas!
Love,
Ves xx

Friday, December 09, 2011

So... what's NEW with you?

   I have been so busy lately that I've been neglecting one of my favorite things:  my blog!  I don't like when I stay away for so long but unfortunately it can't be helped.  I've been so busy lately and will continue to be busy, so I thought I would share with you what's been going on with me.  *inhale*


   First of all, I haven't really talked about school with all of you.  Those of you who know me, know that I've "gone back to school" in the sense that I am taking a course through distant education.  I'm studying to become a Holistic Health Coach through The Institute for Integrative Nutrition.  It's really exciting and I'm learning a lot!  For some people it may seem like it came out of left field, but, for those who know me it seems like the 'right' next step.  Since changing my diet and essentially my lifestyle, I haven't been able to stop reading and learning about healthy living.  I also find myself answering questions and giving advice to so many people that I figure, why not go to school and properly train for this?  So, I did my "homework" and researched a ton of different programs and finally chose the one from IIN.   It teaches over 100 dietary theories and many of them by the forefront educator or speaker for that theory.  I'll be hearing lectures from David Wolfe, Deepak Chopra, and Andrew Weil, just to name a few.  The main focus, or teaching, is of a well rounded, holistic lifestyle, which I firmly believe in.  I'll keep you guys up to speed and let you know when I'm able to take clients.
    Oh, did I mention that I'm still working full time while I complete this course?  Yup, I am.  And some days I feel as if I can't breathe because I have so much to do!  But, that's okay, because I love my job and I love this course.  I'll just work on time management and try not to do everything all at once!
My new living room?
     The next thing I have going on is that I'm moving!  I'm so excited about this as well!  And, even though I won't be moving for another month and a half, I can't seem to stop decorating the apartment in my mind, and searching for furniture and paint colors on the internet.  Talk about time consuming... but oh, so much fun!
Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles!

   In the midst of all this, I'm also knee deep in Holiday prep and fun!  'Tis the season' for Holiday parties, gatherings, baking, and shopping!  I love the Holidays and tend to go all out at work and at home.  My favorite thing of course is the baking!  Recently, I made the most delicious Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles from the genius herself, Isa Chandra over at the PPK.com.  I brought these to a Holiday gathering where everyone loved them, but they almost didn't make it there... my family almost gobbled them all up!  I'm getting ready for more holiday baking... some new recipes plus veganizing old, loved recipes... so stay tuned for that! 
   The last thing I want to share with you is that I'm going to a RAW Cooking Class with my Aunt tomorrow!  I'm most excited about this because I get to share with you guys everything that I learn!  I'll be charging my camera battery tonight and making sure that there's plenty of memory as I plan to take tons of pictures and notes to share with you guys!  I have no idea what we'll be making or how many people will be there but I'm excited to meet the chef and also more 'like-minded' people.  *exhale*
  Stay tuned for my next post where I'll be sharing pics from the raw food class!  Also, if you have any questions about health coaching or if you'd like to be a part of my mailing list, leave a comment below or send me an email!

Have a fabulous weekend,
Ves xx
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