8.05.2011

DETOX DAY 1.

For 15 days my sister, her boyfriend and I decided to do a raw food detox. Many people do these detoxes to cleanse their bodies of toxins and to ready themselves for workouts or just a change in their diets. A lot of people choose a raw food diet. We decided to to a raw fruit/veggie juice detox. We also consume fresh fruits, veggies and nuts.

For day ONE of my detox I made my own juice mixes.

For the first juice I juiced together:

1 stalk of celery
1 orange
1/2 a nectarine
1 handful of kale leaves (trader joe's has bags of washed and ready to use kale)
1 handful of baby carrots
4 small strawberries


This was a good juice but I didn't peel the orange first and the rind is VERY strong and very bitter. I think I need to peel them first since my juicer isn't exactly a Jack Lalanne, lol I don't think it would've been as bitter. Or maybe people like that bitter taste. Other than that this was a very tasty juice.

I also consumed a handful of baby carrots, a handful of raw almonds and 1 banana.
2, 16.9 oz bottles of water

Later on that day my sister made a juice that we all drank that consisted of:

1 peach
1 orange (peeled)
1 pear
1 red apple
1 green apple
a handful of spinach
6 strawberries
and a few romaine lettuce leaves

This juice was VERY good. I could drink this all day!

If you're planning on doing a detox make sure to stock up on A LOT of fruits and veggies because they go fast!

SPECIALS.

Specials (Uglies, #3)Specials by Scott Westerfeld

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I liked this one. I didn't like it as much as the first 2 but everyone was right, it is essential to the story. I think some things that bothered me about it were that a lot of the characters didn't have much of a story until the end. For most of the story Tally was with Shay or just by herself in the wild. I think I'm just a little bitter about the fate of some of these characters. I think it was a given that Tally would become special. It was obvious that each book was titled accordingly. But in the end I felt like her wanting to stay special didn't have to do with the fact that she was tired of people changing her. I felt like some part of her was still a little selfish wanting to keep her special senses and abilities. And poor Zane... I felt like there was no closure between Zane and Tally. I guess I just liked the other to more. It's still a good read, still a good story and an essential part of understanding this world and its characters.



View all my reviews

8.03.2011

"STROGANOFF"

MMM!!! This was a recipe that I was dying to try for a while now. I decided to try it today because tomorrow I am starting my 15-day detox where I will only be consuming raw fruits and vegetables in the form of juice. I have always liked beef stroganoff as a kid and it was something that my dad would make every so often. I started searching vegan recipes and I came across this one:

Mushroom and Kale “Stroganoff”

serves two

  • 2 servings whole wheat pasta

prepare the pasta as directed in salted water. When it is cooked, drain ad set aside, reserving one cup of the water for later use.

  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 T. olive oil
  • 1 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
  • 3 large kale leaves, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 t. fennel seed
  • salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pan, heat the olive oil and then add in the onion. You might need to add a little bit of water. You want to cook them until they start to brown/get a little crispy on the outer edges, though – so don’t use too much oil. Add in the mushrooms, kale, fennel seed and salt and pepper. Add in a couple of tablespoons of water and cover until the mushrooms are tender and the kale is bright green, stirring ocassionally.

  • 1 c. reserved pasta water
  • 1 T. white bean flour (for thickening – you could use any type of bean flour/flour/cornstarch, though I am unsure of amount exchange if using cornstarch)
  • 2 T. roasted red pepper hummus
  • 1/2 T. pub-style dijon mustard
  • 1 T. nutritional yeast

In a small mixing bowl, whisk all together until smooth. It is best to do this while the water is still hot.

Once the kale and mushroom mixture is cooked, pour in the liquid. Lower the heat and bring to a simmer, stirring often. Allow to thicken about ten minutes, still stirring often. Once thickened, shut off heat and let sit one minute. Gently stir in the pasta.

You can see the original recipe here.

I was very satisfied with this recipe because it did taste a lot like stroganoff but it was vegan.

Here were the steps I took:

I first cut up the mushrooms, onions and kale. I sauteed them in a pan with olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper and fennel seed. (I was a little apprehensive about the fennel seed because I'm not really a fan of the licorice taste but you can barely taste it here and I think it balances the flavors well)



While the veggies were cooking I boiled the water for the pasta and measured out all the ingredients for the sauce. In a bowl I added the nutritional yeast, flour (I didn't have white bean flour so I used plain unbleached all-purpose flour), red pepper hummus, and dijon mustard.



Once the noodles are cooked, before you drain them you want to measure out one cup of water and add it to the sauce mixture. Whisk this until it is smooth and add it to your mushroom and kale mixture.





After you add the sauce to the mushrooms and kale, bring it to a light boil and simmer until the sauce thickens. Then ladle the sauce on top of your noodles and voila! Vegan Stroganoff! =)


8.02.2011

FALLEN EDEN.

Fallen Eden (Eden Trilogy, #2)Fallen Eden by Nicole Williams

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I think it's pretty much written in stone that the most romantic stories end up flipping a 180 in the sequel. In the Twilight Saga, Fallen Series, Hush, Hush, the Celestra series, The Mortal Instruments, etc... The second book in the series always finds the tragic couple breaking up to save their lives. Either the girl leaves, or the guy leaves or they force themselves onto a third party to protect their lover. This book is no exception to that plot point. But it is an exception in the way it was written. It's truly an unconditional love between Bryn and William. One that began centuries before they even met each other. I really loved the writing and although it's not Shakespeare... it's poetic prose gives a pretty great depiction of a love that could give Romeo and Juliet a run for their money.

Okay.. enough of my hopeless-romantic side getting the better of me.

This book was great! It had so many plot twists and cliffhangers that you really feel like you're being chased through the story. You have to keep turning the pages (or in my case, pressing that kindle button) to find out what will happen next. I had no doubt that Bryn and William would end up back together in the end, but I did find that I was rushing to find the point when it would happen. Really awesome read and for fans of Paranormal Romance.



View all my reviews

8.01.2011

DELIRIUM GIVEAWAY!

Lauren Oliver, the very talented author of "Before I Fall" and the new "Delirium" has posted a new post on her blog about a giveaway for one of her books!!

"I know some people have seen it popping up in random bookstores, so definitely keep your eye out...The Special Edition of DELIRIUM (featuring a spanking new cover, a Q & A with yours truly, and an excerpt from PANDEMONIUM) is officially on-sale tomorrow!




And guess what?? I'm giving away a copy! Respond to this post (with an email address, please) for +1 entries, tweet about it for +2, and blog about it for +3! Get cracking--you only have until August 10th!

xoLauren"


You can find the post on her blog here.