Hello Summer!

Hello Summer!

Can you believe Saturday is the first day of summer? Spring and summer seem to go by so quickly. One of my favorite treats of summer used to be ice cream. Now, I rarely use any dairy products and the few times I have been out of almond milk and used a bit of milk in mashed potatoes or decided to have a few bites of my husband's butter pecan (his favorite), I got gas and stomach cramps, so somewhere along the way in the past few years that I have been a vegetarian, I must have developed lactose intolerance or maybe it was there all along and I just didn't make the connection. I still like to have ice cream on hot days, but now I have discovered the secret of having delicious ice cream without dairy and that is FROZEN BANANAS! It tastes just like ice cream. You just blend up some frozen bananas with a little bit of your favorite non dairy milk. I use almond milk, but coconut milk is delicious too. Fully Raw Kristina has a delicious recipe for Banana Peach "Nice Cream" as she calls it. I'm looking forward to trying this one! 

 


Kristina is also doing a fully raw challenge. This one has already started, but you can jump in and still see the videos and exercises that go with each day. I really want to do a fully raw food challenge, but first I need to make it through a week without eating junk food! I do fine as long as I don't go to long without eating or drinking water. More than a few hours and my blood sugar drops which creates a food emergency as it's called in The Daniel Plan. If I ever figure this out, I will have the key to success that has eluded me for so many years. I just keep on trying. I figure if I get whole, fresh foods in my body, that's better than nothing. Getting healthy is a continuous work in progress. 

I hope you enjoy the first day of summer! I will be in Celina set up with my husband showing our landscape pilings. We will be set up to support a Lupus fundraiser. If you are in the area, stop by and say hi!

Kathy

Juice Detox Fast or Feast?

I was so excited that yesterday was spring, I decided to do a juice detox as a form of "spring cleaning" for the inside of my body. I haven't had much luck with juice fasts in the past. I usually give in before mid-afternoon. I think the problem has been not drinking enough juice. Instead of a juice "fast" I need to think of it as a juice "feast" and be sure to drink plenty of juice. By evening I was super hungry. I could tell it was hunger instead of a craving because plain carrots was sounding delicious. I usually have to have hummus or peanut butter to eat carrots. I don't care that much for them raw without the dip. But, last night, I could have eaten a whole bag raw! I managed to get through the "spring cleaning" and felt really good when I woke up this morning. Besides giving my digestive system a break, I felt good that I stuck with my detox plan. For me, juicing is one of those things I have to work my way up to doing more often. I prefer smoothies where you blend up the entire fruit or veggie and have the pulp. I want to experiment with more juicing this summer. I think adding is much easier than taking away, so instead of taking the food away, I will add a juice a day. I normally drink 32 ounces of water with lemon and local honey first thing in the morning. It's a great way to start my day. I healed a year-long cough in a couple weeks with that concoction. I alternated the lemon and honey water with ginger, honey, and OJ. I read about it on a holistic website somewhere a couple years ago when I was looking for ways to heal my chronic lung infection. It worked! I've been hooked every since. But the other juices, that is an acquired taste for me. I'm getting there.

I would love to hear from you about your juicing experience and favorite juice recipe!

Kathy