Only 9 1/2 weeks left!!!

I just have to take one day at a time. I think I am doing pretty good. I'm watching carbs but not being too restrictive. I am aiming for about 125 g a day. And of those I am making sure they are good carbs. I bake my own bread so increasing the fiber there is easy. I already grind my own wheat but I can add bran or flax to the mix. I am also doing a superfoods green drink at least twice a day with a tablespoon of chia seeds all mixed into 4 oz of aloe vera juice, 4 oz water and a few drops of stevia. It really doesn't taste that bad and it is super healthy. Those are kinda like my snacks at about 100 calories per serving, 8 grams of fiber and at least 7 grams of protein. Then lots of raw foods. Today for lunch was a bbq onion sandwich with spinach, tomato, and avocado. I love those! I make sure the bbq sauce has no high fructose corn syrup. For dinner willl be a huge green smoothie with added ground flax. I do also have some yogurt for a snack for a quick protein. One day at a time. the next few days are going to be very hard. We are going away for church and it is always hard to say no to pop on the road. But I will try to be strong. I can do it!!!

Only 9 1/2 weeks left until I get to hold this precious little guy! I can't wait! He still doesn't move a whole lot. He moves just enough for me to know he is still alive! All of my other babies were real movers, I guess this one must be more mellow! :0) We'll see about that.

Raw Chocolate Cheesecake! Yum!

Chocolate Cheesecake W/ Blueberry topping
Crust:
2 C walnuts
1 C soaked dates
2 T cocoa
Blend in a food processor until doughy.
Cheese:
3 C soaked Cashews
3 peeled lemons
1 C raw honey
1 t vanilla
4 T cocoa
Blend well, I did take the seeds out of the lemons.
Topping:
3 C blueberries
1/2 C raw honey
3 T water or more until blended
Blend well!
Layer in a pie pan or small cake pan, crust, blended cheese, and topping. Put in freezer after each layer to set. This is very rich and a small piece does the trick. I thought the cheese layer was maybe a little too lemony. Is lemony a word? Anyway adjust according!
I found this recipe on loving it raw. com. I changed a few things to my own liking but will probably play with it a little more. It's nice to have something like this every once in a while!

Almost 27 weeks!!!

It has been about 3 weeks since I posted. So you are probably thinking I have been blowing it big time. But that is not the case!! I have been doing pretty good.
My husband took me on a surprise vacation for our 17th wedding anniversary! It was a fun time. I did not do the best on that trip. However here at home I have been doing good. I have gained some weight, kinda sad but I do want a healthy baby. I just have to keep on this right track and things will be fine!
I think I made my favorite green smoothie today. Here is the recipe!

Favorite Green Smoothie
2 big handfuls of spinach
2 c+ water
1 c frozen mango
2 peeled oranges
1/2 c frozen pinapple
2 T agave
Blend up and enjoy. so green and pretty and so yummy!

I'm really going to try to post some pics. Not sure if my dial up will let me but I'm really going to try!

Week 24~Progress report

Well, things are going very well! I am so happy to report that I am doing and feeling good! My vita-mix has been so much fun to use and the smoothies are sooo good! I have been at least 75% raw. Even while away at church I decided to bring some things so I could stay healthy. They were more than happy to have me eat different. They said not to feel bad at all. There is one man in our fellowship with diabetes and so they understand having to eat different. Food can be your enemy or help you heal. Just depends on what you feed your body.

My daughter and I canned salsa and it is SO good. No not raw but put away for the winter! I love canning salsa. I thought I would post my favorite recipe.

Hot Salsa
15 med tomatoes
3 white onions
12 jalapenos
12 oz tomato paste
2 C white vinegar
2 T salt
2 T sugar
1 bunch of cilantro
2 T lemon juice
Chop all ingredients (I use a food processor, so fast and easy) and combine in a pot and simmer for about 3 hours or until thick. Ladle into hot jars seal with lids, and I do oven canning. I put the jars into the oven, turn it to 250 and then after it gets to 250 I set the timer for 25 minutes. Then just turn off the oven and let them sit until cool. Works every time!

Now the FDA says it is not safe to do that, yet look at what the FDA says IS safe. People have been oven canning things like tomatoes for years and years. There are certain things that need to be pressure canned and I'm just not sure of all that. So do your own research and decide for yourself!

My Menu for today!!

Well, so I got my vita-mix and love it. I used it for several things tonight for dinner. For my cooked food family I made a nice black bean taco filling and chopped onion and cheese in it. I don't care for how it does cheese but oh well. I like to grate cheese. And it is something we shouldn't even be eating anyway.
So for my dinner I had raw enchiladas with raw sour cream made in the vita-mix. I have never had such creamy, smooth raw sour cream. The recipe is:
Raw Sour Cream
1 1/2 C soaked cashews
1 T cider vinegar
1 t lemon juice
1 t salt
1 t miso (I didn't use any)
1/2 C water
Mix it up! It is sweeter than regular sour cream but is wonderful on the enchiladas!
I used raw corn tortillas, and a nice veggie mix that I marinated in worcestershire. I really like worcestershire!
Okay so that was dinner, pretty much all raw. For lunch I had a sandwich on a whole wheat bagel. It is called a world class sandwich and it is pretty good. You saute onion in BBQ sauce and that is your sandwich filling, then top with spinach, tomato, avocado, and any other veggie you want. So not completely raw with the bread and cooking the onion but it is oh so good. I also had carrot & barley juice, of course! Now for dessert!!!
Chocolate Freeze
1 C almond milk
1/4 C raw honey
2 T cocoa powder
2 bananas frozen
2 C ice
I'll put everything in the Vita-mix and blend it up, Yum, yum!
BTW, the vita-mix came with a really nice whole foods cookbook that I am loving. You can easily swap raw foods for certain things and make raw meals! They have a value of $50 just for the book. I think I got a really good deal buying a refurbished vita-mix. It has a 5 yr warranty too! I feel like I am really going to be able to do this raw food lifestyle. Still aiming for 85 % raw for my daily total. However I can see being 100% pretty easy most days. Oh, and my weight was down again! I can already see a difference in my face. I was starting to look pretty fat. Again I am the same weight right now as when I delivered my 5th. So I know I do not need to gain any weight. It can come off the places it's not supposed to be. And baby is getting great nutrition. Now a confession...I still have to kick the caffeine habit. I know it is bad for my baby and can even mean smaller birth weight. I'm working on it!

My Vita-mix is HERE!!!!!

I just used my Vita-mix for the first time and I am in love!!! I made a Garden Fresh Cocktail. I used two tomatoes, 1/2 small red pepper, small handful of spinach, 3 baby carrots, 2 T onion, dash parsley, 1/8 t hot sauce, 1/2 t worcestershire, dash of sea salt, & 1 C ice, blended it and it was so good and smooth! Amazing! My children loved it! Tell you what.... I would much rather drink this than chomp on wet leaves! I get most of my greens in the form of a smoothie. I also highly recommend Barleymax from Hallelujah Acres. It is the most cost efficient way I have found to get that kind of nutrition. Their processing is done in a way to not ruin the enzymes and I Love the berry and mint flavors. I also have a greenstar but find it hard to use it. I did the math and it is much cheaper to order the juice on the go set from Hacres.com. It has carrot, barley, & beet which is what I usually juice anyway. For a month it costs less than buying the produce. Yes the old fashioned way would yield higher nutrition but I don't have the time. I'm actually thinking of selling my greenstar. I would only use it for fruit when doing a juice fast.??? And I know I won't be doing that for a long while being pregnant and then nursing for hopefully at least a year. All I know is that I am so very happy with my vita-mix. Wow!

Raw Chocolate (avocado) Pudding

Okay I think I promised this recipe. It is so very good and makes a great topping for fresh strawberries!

Chocolate Pudding
2 avocados
1/2 C almond milk
1/2 C raw honey or agave
1/4 C cocoa
Put everything in the food processor and blend up. Add more milk or honey for taste or texture preferences.

On a little side note, I will be getting my Vita-mix tomorrow, Lord willing! I am so excited. I have wanted one for about 5 years. I'll be able to make fresh raw baby food in seconds! My little guy who is 1 yr old prefers raw food to anything cooked. However he does eat cooked food too. So I'll be letting you know how it goes with the Vita-mix. Is it as good as people claim it is? We'll see.

!

Avocados for $.49

Wow!!! I was so happy to find avocados for $.49 each! I bought 21 of them. I thought I had 20 but oh well. So what am I going to do with all of them? Live on them! Today I made fresh homemade guacamole, it sure beats the store packaged kind. It was SOOOOOO good! Tomorrow I plan to make a lovely chocolate pudding/sauce to dip my fruit in. Then I'll also have plenty of raw sandwiches with my homemade raw onion bread! I have raw banana flax crackers and raw corn tortillas in the dehydrator. The banana crackers made way more than I thought it would. They totally satisfy my sweet tooth. I put almond butter, fresh or frozen berries and then raw honey on top and they are so yum!
Well, I am up too late tonight so no recipes but I'll try to post some recipes tomorrow for the pudding.
Today in my quiet time with the Lord He reminded me that I am blessed to hear Him and see the things He has in His word. I take that for granted. I forget that there are some who really don't hear or see. The Lord wants you to hear and see but it starts with repentance. Humbling yourself before God. Nothing is so important. What we eat doesn't matter at all if in the end of our measly 70-100 years we go to hell. When I think about how short our lives really are, wow, it's not much. No in the end all we get is a dash under our names.
Jenny Trask
Nov. 5, 1977- ?????????
That little dash is my life. I want to use it for my Lord. I pray you can say this in your heart as well!

Raw Fudge!!!

Okay, I'm not 100% sure how raw this is but I think it is very healthy and it keeps me on track. Just a small, very small piece satisfies any cravings for chocolate or sweets. It is very rich.

Raw Fudge
1 C Coconut oil
1 C Raw Honey
1 C cocoa
Blend all three together well and pour into a container with freezer paper, then freeze, try to catch it just before it is totally solid and you can cut out your little bites and put them in a freezer bag. These are a life saver IMO!

For today I had my carrot, barley, & beet juice. Then a spinach and pineapple smoothie with a little agave. I used my old blender and it is just not doing it, kinda chunky but it was okay. Have I mentioned yet that I can't wait for my vita mix? Then for lunch same as yesterday, guac, salsa, flax crackers, carrot sticks, broccoli, & califlower. It was good. For dinner I had a huge salad with garden tomato, garden cucumber, shredded carrot, romaine lettuce, broccoli, califlower, and sunflower seeds with an italian dressing. It was filling but it is starting to wear off. I have some frozen mango thawing and that is going to be my before bed snack. So yeah a great day food wise!
My weight was down today as well. Obviously while being pregnant my body is burning extra calories anyway, then with proper eating and all that fiber there is almost NO way I could not lose weight. YEAH!!! All the while baby is getting the best nutrition there is. Some people think oh you shouldn't be eating this way while pregnant. It doesn't make sense to me. Look at what cows eat, grass, hay, maybe corn but they are not designed for it, and water. Yet they have an 80-100 lb calf right? Then they have to produce all that milk, do they eat protein?? No, more grass, hay, and water. It's just hard to get over peoples responses to my diet. But it is what makes me feel good. I have 7 children to keep up with I have to do something! :0)

Flax cracker recipe

I thought I would share my diet yesterday. I had a nutrition shake for breakfast from Reliv. Then carrot, barley, & beet juice for a snack. Then I had guac, carrot sticks, and flax crackers with salsa for lunch, yummy! For an afternoon snack I had a fruit salad with mango, apple, strawberries, and grapes, SO good! A small handful of almonds too. Then for dinner was a spinach salad with carrots and honey mustard dressing. I also had one enchilada that was not raw. My family is trying to finish up some cookies and cream ice cream and I confess, I had some. I need things like that out of my house. All in all I feel it was a pretty good day.

My Vita-mix did finally ship today. It was a great deal but I can't praise them on fast shipping. Anyway, sometime next week it will be here! I can't wait I'll probably live on green smoothies for awhile. Great nutrition and I may even lose a little weight. I have so much to loose that it wouldn't hurt my sweet little man.

Speaking of him, he is doing great!!! He moves so much now and makes me ever so anxious to see him. However I have a lot to do before he gets here. I am finding cute cozy sleepers for him and I bought his first blanket. It is so soft and cozy!

Flax Crackers
2 cups flax soaked overnight (makes 4 cups)
1 lime juiced
handful of baby carrots
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
pepper to taste

First put in carrots and lime juice in the food processor and blend, add powders, blend again, add soaked flax, blend again, put onto dehydrator tray sheets and dry at 105. Once they are pretty dry you can peel them off the sheet and then dry them fully. These go great with salsa and guacamole!
Coming tomorrow is my favorite, Raw Fudge!!!

I'm very excited.....

I guess I have to start with being honest. I have been blowing it big time. If I keep going like this I'll be 250 lbs before this baby gets here. I have not been maintaining raw and have been drinking pepsi and eating ice cream. Boo for me!!!
Okay, now that I got that off my conscience I can tell you why I am excited. I am finally getting a vita mix!!! I am so excited. Oh, did I say that already? Well I am. I have been lacking a good blender for quite some time and I remember how key it was the one time I was successful in raw food. So it should be here next week and I can't wait. Raw food world here I come. Oh and I got a great deal on it too. Reconditioned and half price with all new accessories! It's the Vita-mix 5200. Doesn't that sound wonderful? :0) :0)
So today I did do pretty good. I had a nutrition shake and then a triomax. Then a large fruit salad with almonds. I am having some swelling in my ankles which concerns me. If it is not gone by the time my midwife comes she is going to drill me about my diet. She is huge on protein. In my previous pregnancies when I ate raw I was so healthy, NO swelling. But I ate a lot more raw veggies because I had an okay blender. The blender I am using now is worthless, so I just don't use it which means I end up eating a lot of fruit. Not getting any protein there. Really need the green smoothies.
Okay I am going to try to be more faithful. Post what I am eating. Oh, to finish my day I ate a cheeseburger at Culver's. :( It did have raw lettuce and tomato on it. Okay I know that was terrible. I feel bad. Now I am moving on!
Baby boy has been active tonight! He is a sweetie. Can't wait to meet him!

19 weeks~It's been awhile....

I didn't mean to take so long. It hasn't been good for me to not be writing everything I'm eating. I did do the saliva test but it took longer than I thought. All that really amounted to was that I would do better after and used it as an excuse to eat bad. Which sadly to say I have not overcome yet. Ugh, I'm so tired of this. Why do I have to struggle so. It's one thing or another. We can't afford the raw food right now so I am doing my best with low fat, but not really my best. Pepsi is low fat right? Isn't that terrible. You see right now I weigh what I did full term with my 5th. So I have 21 weeks to go and cannot gain a pound. Sounds impossible. Plus how I look right now, it is oh so sad. I will keep posting, it helps me somehow.
We did find out that we are having another boy! We were all really hoping for a girl this time but it's okay. The Lord decides that! I am excited to have another baby! I do wish for sleep as my 7th child is keeping me up like crazy every night. I'm not sure what to do with him.I need to let him cry I guess but I hate doing that. ?????? I just feel as though I am not keeping up. SOOOOOOO tired all the time. No energy, no motivation, I feel worthless.
So do you really want to hear how I started my day? Okay I do have an excuse, yesterday was my 4th child's birthday, so instead of high fat cake I made an angel food cake for myself with a fresh strawberry sauce and lowfat whipped cream. So for breakfast I had an instant breakfast with skim milk and then a piece of angel food cake with toppings. It was really good but didn't start my day very good. I have to start dong better. I guess raw food will be on the backburner until Sept as finances allow. I will still post what I am eating and how much exercise I am getting. For exercise I am walking 30 mins a day. Also some swimming! Okay thats it for today.

Ugh, honestly!

Day 2 has not been that good. I have had a headache since last night and my back is killing me. I mean really hurting. Hurting to breathe or walk. So I have taken it easy. I did have more caffeine which I feel helped me clean the house and make banana bread with my 3 little helpers. It's healthy banana bread but not raw. Hey, I had to do something with all those bananas! So for today I had cherries for breakfast, 2 cheese sandwiches for lunch loaded with lettuce and tomatoes ( I was REALLY craving that), and for dinner I will have a green smoothie with you guessed it, banana bread! :0)
I am going to do a saliva test tomorrow or the next day so I am going to just eat like I have been eating normally. Today is pretty close to normal except that I would eat the enchiladas my family will be eating. Anyway this test is going to tell me if my pituitary is off. I hope it is so I can get some energy through supplements and this raw food lifestyle. I guess the raw food lifestyle will help anything. I'm just so tired of being tired.
So this is it for today. I'll probably not post again until I am back on the raw food wagon and the test is done. So in a few days.

My First Day!

It wasn't a perfect day but pretty good. I have felt so tired. I did give into some caffeine. That I will have to slowly cut out. Anyway, here was my diet today: Triomax (blend of carrot, beet, and barley juice raw and dehydrated) 8oz, about 2 cups of sliced strawberries with avocado chocolate pudding on top, sliced cucumber, & salad with honey mustard. That was the raw part, now the not raw part was a little fish and some nondairy ice cream, just a little tiny bit. It is very satisfying so a little goes a long ways. So like I said not perfect. I plan to make raw flax crackers and raw corn tortillas tomorrow. I will try to post my recipes.
I guess I should add a little about myself. I am about 16 weeks along in this pregnancy. I usually gain too much. I have a record of my weight from the last 5 and I am about 10-15 lbs over where I should be right now. That is a sad place to start. Even that is not a weight I am happy with, I am just comparing to my best pregnancy for that. My last 5 children have been homebirths! I love homebirth! 3 have been waterbirths, love that too! I love learning about the Lord and how to please Him with my life. I love learning about health and am always seeking more on that. I do finally feel I have arrived though with raw food. I do feel it is right. I don't feel anyone has to be raw 100%, the Bible talks about bread, and Jesus ate fish. However our conditions now are not the same as then either. The bread I eat I make, grinding my own wheat and using honey for the sweetener. Our fish in stores are full of mercury, our meat, milk, eggs, cheeses, are full of hormones and antibiotics (no wonder we're all immune to antibiotics), and even our produce is grown in poor soil and covered in pesticides. So we really have to take our health into our own hands and do the best we can with what we have. I think that is enough ranting for now. I get really passionate about this because I have seen the results of poor eating and our wonderful bodies that God created and how they are self healing if we only do what is right!
Well, I am looking forward to a new day to serve the Lord! I hope to start it with morning devotions and prayer. Jesus is coming soon!

This time will be different!

Okay so I'm going to let you in on a little secret.....I'm pregnant with our 8th child and want to do things different this time. So how am I going to do it? By changing the way I eat. How we eat affects everything, our mood, weight, & especially our health. I believe that the Lord gave us amazing bodies that can heal themselves if given the right fuel. I have seen it over and over again. Raw food is the best source of nourishment for our bodies, living food for living bodies!
I have been playing with raw food for over 4 years. But sadly the most I ever got to was 3o days completely raw. Why do I say sadly because those were the best 30 days of my life. I was so full of energy. My food prep was the easiest ever (after you get the hang of it). I lost some weight and just felt GREAT. So why did I stop, money, social pressures, and family meals together. But I think there is a way to balance this stuff and that is what I aim to do. I aim to be 75-100% raw through this pregnancy and beyond. I want to nourish this body that God gave me as best as I can. I'm very excited!
So here on this blog I will try to post what I am eating, how much exercise I am getting, and thoughts of the day. Now I am not the best at posting on any blog but I will try to do this!
For my past pregnancies I did some raw food times and it was those times that I felt great and my midwife said I was doing so good! My midwife does recommend a lot of meat, dairy, and cooked food. I would not call myself a vegetarian or a vegan. I do believe we are free to eat whatever, however there are consequenses for what we put in our bodies. I think that raw food provides us with what we need nutritionally. I do take a B-12 supplement. I think even meat eaters could use that as a supplement. Anyway, reasearch for yourself. We need live food!
I'll post later how my first day went!