Once again, I have a week off starting tomorrow, so my fitday account will probably not be updated. Who knows? Maybe I’ll have a picture of a pineapple drink, with a coconut “glass”, macadamia-agave whip, and an umbrella and straw when I return. One can dream! 
Hey! I plan on posting a few food pictures later today, assuming they turn out well, but I wanted to update on my raw journey. I decided about a week ago to go pretty much all raw, save for nutritional yeast or other smaller items that may not be raw. I wish I could say it was hard to do, in deference to all of those whose journeys have been difficult, but it’s been a piece of cake. I don’t desire cooked foods; all I want is raw, fresh produce and occasional nuts, seeds, and the like.
My energy level is excellent, as always, but I do notice a change in my eyes. They are clearer, brighter, and the brown has lighter spots in it now that reflect the light in a cool way. I feel like I got a new pair of goggles.
I have added my Fitday page link (below) at the top of my blog to demonstrate what foods I eat daily and how well my nutritional needs are met, not to mention the fact that I don’t gain weight and eat loads of fresh food! While it can be expensive to eat this way, I am learning more each day how to be more frugal and raw.
http://fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=cheriejanderson
I’m going on vacation and will return in approximately a week! I hope to have some great new posts at that time. Enjoy mid-January, everyone.
I don’t want to bore anyone; this post is simply the VeganMoFo quiz that has been passed around, with my own answers.
1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Trader Joe’s vanilla soymilk for coffee/lattes or vanilla hempmilk for cereals. Anything goes for baked goods, especially rice and almond.
2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
What I’ve got lined up is a parsnip-split pea soup, a brown rice-noodle-chickpea pilaf, and some Thanksliving holiday stuff, including pumpkin scones!
3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
I don’t eat popcorn a lot, but I’d say just salt for me.
4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
I once made a bulgur and spinach layered dish that came out terribly! The bulgur never cooked all the way through and the flavor was horrible.
5. Favorite pickled item?
Sweet pickles?
6. How do you organize your recipes?
Most of mine are in actual cookbooks, but I have some in transcript covers that are organized by main dish, dessert, breakfast, breads, side dishes, salads, and soups. The recipes I’ve tried from cookbooks are in a box with the cookbook name on a card and the recipes on smaller cards, with the page number.
7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
Trash, recycling, and garbage disposal.
8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?
Cilantro, broccoli, and pineapple.
9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Carrots and apples, some of the only fresh foods I ever had!
10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
Purely Decadent chocolate chip cookie dough (gluten-free, too!). But I don’t feel so well after eating rich(er) foods.
11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Immersion Blender (Kitchen-Aid)
12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Cinnamon
13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Soy of Cooking by Marie Oser
14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Bionaturae organic fruit-sweetened spreads (most notably strawberry)
15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Anything I make would be vegan……and I don’t have any omni friends. :p
16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Seitan if Sara and Rob make it. :p
17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Morning. A soup with a garnish!
18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Toaster oven (unplugged, out of the way), miscellaneous flours that didn’t fit in the cabinets, and organic fair-trade coffee (the coffee pot is right over there, too).
19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Spinach, peas, and chilies.
20. What’s on your grocery list?
Nothing at the moment.
21. Favorite grocery store?
Trader Joe’s would be if they had more organic greens, such as kale and collards, but Essene (I’d love it if it were closer!)
22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.
Nothing comes to mind.
23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it every day). Or maybe the top 3?
I often check Eat Air, Get Sconed, and Melomeals every day. I like these blogs a lot and they were some of the first ones I tagged as favorites, so I click on my Favorites and they’re right there without scrolling down. They are updated every day or every other day as well!
24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Equal Exchange organic fair-trade dark chocolate with almonds
25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
I don’t consider any food items extravagant.?
26. What was your favorite food BEFORE becoming veg*n?
I can’t remember. I was dead before I was vegan. :p
Be patient with me - I’m relocating again. The cookbooks are packed up in about 10 boxes!
Fruit Salad
Rawsome Tacos with Walnut Filling
Summer Salad Rolls with tofu, lettuce, bell peppers, carrots, mint, chopped cashews, served with limes and peanut sauce
Vegetable Bagnat with marinated roasted red peppers, carrots, zucchini, and roasted red pepper hummus (garlic also rubbed onto inside of bread)
Broccoli-Arame Salad
Avocado & Grapefruit Salad
Burritos with spinach, black beans, and potatoes
Green mango salad
Mango summer rolls
Satori summer rolls with coconut rice
Sloppy Joe
I’m leaving for Florida after tomorrow. Everyone have a great week!
Green Curry BBQ Summer Rolls*
Not-fried rice paper roll encases baby spinach, Thai barbeque glazed vegetables, smoked red onion, fresh ginger & basil. Served with soy syrup, dipping oils, side of jicama slaw. 8.25
Smoked Red Pepper Hummus Sampler*
Smoked red pepper hummus with chive infused olive oil, falafel topped with tomato almond romesco & pistachio topped baba ghanoush. Served with toasted rosemary focaccia slivers. 9.50
Quesa Havana~
Griddled whole wheat tortilla encases adobo black beans, cilantro, fresh mango and jack cheese. Served with avocado-roasted corn salsa & baby greens in chile lime vinaigrette. 13.75
Wild Blue Focaccia~
Saute of portobellos, oyster & shitake mushrooms, smoked tomato salsa, grilled onion, Tuscan white bean spread & gorgozola cheese blend stuffed inside a beautiful artisan baked focaccia round. Served with spring mix in maple mustard vinaigrette. 10.95
Falafel Wrap~
Griddled whole wheat wrap encases crispy falafel fritters, cucumber-yogurt dressed jicama slaw, chargrilled green curry barbecue red onions, roasted red peppers. Served with baby greens in chile lime vinaigrette. 12.95
Sonoma Sampler~
Exotic tabouleh grain salad of black beluga lentils & black berry barley, roasted sweet corn, grilled zucchini & pepper-topped with grilled pita hummus, guacamole & sesame eggplant.
Goat or Feta cheese upon request. 14.95
Hazelnut Toffee Basket*
Filled with rich chocolate buttercream mousse, caramlized bananas & toasted hazelnuts
Everything was really delicious and I was totally impressed with the dessert, especially! It was a creamy, rich mousse with the glazed bananas and the syrupy-nut thingy that’s like a tasty cookie cracker or something.
I do hope that Blue Sage chooses, in the future, to make all breads vegan. A bread that was on our table contained honey and it would be very simple and a step in a more peaceful direction for the restaurantn to choose agave nectar or other liquid sweeteners if they want to sugar-up the bread!
I’m going to D.C. this weekend, so I hope to return with some great pictures. I also have some gnocchi in the freezer, to serve with a sage cream sauce!
