YU 30, Day 28

Thursday, February, 28th

Happy Thursday all!! Bay & I had a car funeral for "Bay Cab" today. We got into a car accident a week ago. Her car was totalled after another person backed into us without looking in her rear view mirrors.

I never realized how attached I get to items until today. There are so many memories in that car. It was our first kiss, so many long conversations of "wait, wait, one more thing..." before going into my house, and when I asked her to be my girlfriend. 

Luckily, we also got the last kiss before they took the car to the junk yard. Good bye car! Now, to make new memories in her upcoming vehicle.

Breakfast:
We made a smoothie/milkshake inspired smoothie from This Rawsome Vegan Life (image right.) We made two smoothies at the same time and didn't have enough strawberries. We added rhubarb instead. Rhubarb is in season. I am so excited. I can't wait to make strawberry rhubarb pie, it's my favorite!





Lunch:
I made the Ethiopian Teff Injera. I would recommend making the pan and burner size the same. I noticed not all of my injera was cooked evenly. I switched to a smaller pan and it worked a lot better. Also, I would recommend making the bread super thin. After I got the hang of it, I would lift the pan, add a little bit of the mixture and move the liquid mixture around. This helped spread the injera and be less thick. 

It is perfect to make a burrito (image left!) Next time I am going to make a double batch for extras. I don't like the gluten free tortilla's. They tend to get moldy after two days and it's not recommended to freeze. However, this in this recipe injera lasts for a week and tastes so much better. 

Dinner:
Smorgasbord. I had some leftover garlic hummus with some veggies. I also had some Chickpea Jerk goodness on fresh injera and some chia dessert. 

I gave my friend Dana some leftover food. She didn't want to try the Chia dessert because she doesn't like sugar. However, I don't add sugar to anything I make. I either use honey, maple syrup or vanilla bean as a replacement. She tried it and kept saying, "this is amazing. you made this? omg. thank you so much!" ahah. Night. Night. xox.

YU 30, Day 27

Wednesday, February, 27th
What a day. What a day. 

After practicing voice interpreting at school, I ventured home to make some delicious grub. But, first I went to my favorite food coop People's (image of basket left). Yes! I asked the very friendly and informative coworker 20 questions. ahah. I bought some BPA free one cup bags. This way I can cook beans, measure them, and freeze them. I also bought for the first time unbleached parchment paper. Oh and they had Jerk powder! I went to a coop near my house yesterday and they didn't have jerk powder. 

Breakfast:
I tossed in: a handful of kale, 1 cup blueberries, some fresh pineapple chunks, 1 frozen banana, 1 cup coconut water, 1 tbsp hemp powder and blend.

I had a smoothie. Ha! I bet you would have never guessed that. :) *remember when freezing the banana's to cut off the brown part at the end. 

Lunch: 
I had my leftover salad with the ranch dressing sauce. YUM! I just figured out what the soy free gluten free ranch tastes like. Ready? Ready? You know the "Hidden Valley" Ranch packets you get from the store? THAT! I paired it with my delicious vitamin water. 

Dinner:
Woah! I tackled a lot for dinner. For some of you, you may not know what my cooking situation looks like (image left.) Two hot plates (far left), counter (middle space), and sink (far right-filled with dishes.) That's where the magic happens. If you are thinking, "oh I can't" or any other gamut of excuses... Look at the picture again. ahah. If I can, believe me, you can too!!

Any who, I made Buckwheat, Chickpea & Sweet Potato Jamaican Jerk Wrap (or Salad). I posted poned on the Authentic 1-Day Ethiopian Injera: Gluten-Free 100% Teff Flatbread because I was really tired and it didn't look like the picture- the brain. I let it ferment longer than 24 hours. The cheese cloth accidentally fell into the mixture. Whoops! I am not sure how long it was in there. I'll make it tomorrow and it was be delicious. I can feel it. I ate the Buckwheat- Chickpea dish as a salad and added ranch. Yum!

The Buckwheat was so easy to make. They look like cute little hearts before they are soaked and cooked. When I made chickpeas for the first time, I used the rice cooker which was super fast. This time I wanted to see if I could make it on the hot plates. Success!! I was paranoid that I was going to burn one of the chickpeas and ruin it. Paranoia went out the window. Comparing the rice cooker to the hot plate, the ricer cooker was faster but the chickpeas were really dense and hard (perfect for hummus since you blend the chickpeas), and the hot plate was perfection. Oh! The chickpeas made popping noises too while it cooked. My guess is the skins were popping off, but I am not really sure.

I didn't have a steamer for the kale and sweet potato so I used a strainer instead. Ha! My first time steaming vegetables and it wasn't too hard. Except, Bay told me next time I should use the bigger pot next time and the process will be faster. Doh!

Dessert:
What, I made dessert too? Oh, yes I did. And I made a few mistakes in this recipe Blueberry Pie Chia Pudding (to the left, to the left.) 

I blended all of the ingredients together and added the chia seeds and put it in the refrigerator as I was working on the dinner. 
After about thirty minutes,  I had a feeling it would be finished. I ventured over to the fridge and all the chia seeds didn't expand. I was very perplexed onto why this would happen. Then I scooped out some seeds and sure enough they were not chia seeds. They were quinoa seeds! HA! Luckily,  I was making extra ranch dressing. I already had cashews, soaked and ready. 

Today, I was looking at Facebook and found a cool, all natural, cleaner - recipe seen here. I can't wait to make this (image above, left). Now my cat won't be digesting any chemicals while I clean; he is everywhere in my studio.  Also I found a cool way to have a garden without a raised bed here (image above, right.) The only problem is the metal leaking into your food. So I thought, why not get heavy duty BPA free plastic and line it. I am going to try to convince my dad to help me make it. 

YU 30, Day 26

Tuesday, February, 26th

Hello all! Today was a very interesting day. I had a lot of energy. While on the bus I received notification that my teacher is sick and class was canceled. I hopped off the bus to transfer back home and found out I have a group meeting at school. Doh! I am still not used to my iphone calendar. 

Last night before I went to bed I prepared this...


Kim's Homemade Vitamin Water: 

Water filled up in a mason jar with a handful of frozen: blackberries, raspberries, strawberries & rhubarb, with one thinly sliced: lemon, zucchini (it was supposed to be cucumber. but still tastes delicious.) & kiwi. Put the mason jar in the refrigerator overnight or 4-6 hours (add ice for shorter time.)

Even though my jar is large, this is a lot of fruit. You can definitely do less fruit. I was so excited to put everything together, I got a little overzealous. Homemade vitamin water without all of the added sugars and other "natural" *cough, cough* ingredients. Bam!!

I also tried to get rid of my black circles under my eyes. I tend to rub my eyes, a lot, out of habit. I tried the remedy with honey and almond oil found here.  Maybe I need to lather more of the mixture while I sleep. This morning I didn't see a difference in color. I think next I will try the remedy of tea bags on eyes.

Breakfast: 
Smoothie: frozen strawberry (1 cup) & banana (when freezing banana's break them in half. they blend better.), Maca powder (1 tbsp) with homemade almond milk (1 cup) - blend.

Lunch:  
Leftover buckwheat pancakes. I had my friends try it at school. They looked terrified of this round, brown, food item. They took one look at it and made an instinctual decision to not like it. After they had a bite, there faces lit up and with an unanimous response of "that's delicious. what's in it again?"

Dinner: 
Salad which entails:  chopped: lettuce, mixed greens & purple onion, two tomatoes, one large orange pepper, almonds diced 1/4 cup, topped with homemade Ranch dressing(middle image.) The ranch dressing is soooooo good!! It tastes just like the packet from the store. Trust. 

Tonight I am soaking a lot of different things. In the last image, I am soaking cashews (sm. round jar), cashews & sunflower seeds (sm. square jar), chick peas (metal bowl), buckwheat whole grain (blue bowl), and teff flour (cheese cloth). Tomorrow I am going to tackle these three recipes: Buckwheat, Chickpea & Sweet Potato Jamaican Jerk Wrap (or Salad), Blueberry Pie Chai Pudding and Authentic 1-Day Ethiopian Injera: Gluten-Free 100% Teff Flatbread, which requires soaked legumes, nuts and flour.

*Random fact: Did you know that a peanut is not a nut? It is a legume.*


After going to the coop today, I've decided that I am going to start bringing my measuring utensils with me. It's really hard to guess how much a cup of flour is versus beans. The volume of each food item makes the weight and quantity different. 

Anything I buy from a coop, I am going to  make a list of the different bulk items. Eventually I will have a full list of legumes and nuts tera weights. Making my shopping easier and more cost efficient. 

YU 30, Day 25

Monday, February, 25th

I felt so refreshed this morning and extremely relaxed. I felt a sense of accomplishment when I make delicious food all by myself. 

Last night Bay & I had some self care time which continued into today. We took a candle lit bath with a glass of water. I typically get too hot in the tub. I recommend using an icepack around your neck. Then you can reap the benefits of a nice long bath.


I'm a hard core believer in self care. If you don't take time for you who will? We are always worth it. Their is always time, no excuses!!Take ten minutes for yourself everyday and you'll see how fast the time goes by. Today Bay and I waxed our eyebrows. I love seeing how much hair is pulled off. Ha. Ha. 

Bay is extremely knowledgeable. She'll usually sends me a new article to read  everyday. I love it!  Knowledge is power. We've talked a lot about legumes and how to store them. I am a little forgetful on soaking beans and finding a recipe to match it. I never know what my taste buds are going to be craving until I start getting hungry; then I look for recipes that make me drool. I've steered clear from the canned beans due to additives to make the product last longer. A can made of aluminum that is marinating my beans doesn't sound appetizing. This morning she told me their is a cool article on Feed Your Skull on how to soak and freeze legumes. YES! The answer to my indecisive days. I am really excited to prep a whole bunch of legumes. 

I also learned two things from Heather from YU. One: we can make our own garden in our house with the right lighting as seen here. Two: She also mentioned, "Add Maca powder to all of your smoothies every day (regulates hormones). Increase your intake of magnesium, especially the week before, and week of, your period. Drink some CALM Magnesium powder for this. When cramps are especially bad, I make a cream out of shea butter, almond oil, ginger oil and menthol crystals and rub that on your lower abdomen—it helps so much hot/cool relief. It‘s like Tiger Balm or Icy Hot without the chemicals and petroleum. Recipe posting soon." Also Maria mentioned that if you use coconut water has "electrolyte combination,sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, it works for any cramp, may help your case. Just be aware that magnesium may also increase bowel movements."

Bay made for breakfast: "day 7 of 7!! 
today's flavor made by cheddar cat (inspired by YU): dandy blueberry green smoothie. dandelion greens, blueberries, mixed greens, water, local raw honey, banana.

i made it to day 7 feelin' super amazing! so i've decided that i'm gunna take this to the next step and keep going! happy monday y'all!! xo meow"

Breakfast:
This morning we had some delicious leftover buckwheat pancakes, so many left, with summer time smoothie. I know I have said this so many times but leftovers are the best! I've saved so much money over the past month on eating leftovers. I usually will spend around $114 or more a week for groceries, expensive I know.  That means I will spend over $455 in one month on groceries alone. That's over half of a pay check. So far this month I have only spent on groceries and a handful of times going out to eat a total of $284, $171 less than I normally do. I used a website called Mint to help me organize my finances and was shocked too! This makes me want to make my own food and only go out for date nights. 

Snack:
Yesterday, I was craving roasted hummus. I soaked a cup of garbanzo beans over night. The beans tripled in size (image left)! I added some kale and tomatoes to a GF cracker. (image bottom right) 

This is the first time I have made hummus using soaked beans, not from a can. Just a warning they kind of stink. Ha! Bay and I are curious what the garbanzo bean plant smells like. Since I don't have an oven in my little studio and I want the taste of roasted garlic hummus, I sauteed the 15 cherry tomatoes and garlic in a pan using raw organic press coconut oil. I think it tastes just as good at the oven. The trick is low heat and covering the lid for 15 min or more. I don't have a lid for my pan so I used a plate instead. I added some kale and tomatoes to a GF cracker. Yum! 

Lunch:
Leftover I ate some delicious Thai Chili Coconut noodles. I added so crushed peanuts and dried coconut flakes to give it some extra crunch. Bay showed me how to crush peanuts by using the bottom of a jar. Cool right?! No need to bust out a knife.

Dinner:
I ate more leftover buckwheat pancakes. I warmed up frozen blueberries and strawberries the same way I did in the hummus recipe above. Delicious. Delicious. Delicious. Now for another candle lit bath.

YU 30, Day 24

Sunday, February, 24th:

After being woken up to car alarms and neighbors screaming at each other, got to love the Northwest, Bay and I made her six day cleanse smoothie for breakfast.

"day 6 of 7. 
today's flavor is: forrest park greens. cucumber, spinach, dandelion greens, green apple, mint, ginger, water, honey. topped with bee pollen. 

gettin' ready for a hike at forrest park! happy sunday all!! xo"

This smoothie was inspired by Smoothie Alchemy. As you can see from their recipe "Green Ginger Apple Smoothie" we made some adaptations. 

If you wait to drink your smoothie, your fiber will rise to the top and separate from the green juice goodness. This is a great drink to start off our day with our blood flowing and great energy booster for our hike. We were zipping with energy.

  For tonights dinner I, Kim, made pancakes for the first time using this recipe: Gluten-Free Orange and Toasted Sesame Buckwheat Pancake Snackers. I struggled with flipping the pancakes at first 

but Bay showed me how. It's all in the wrist. Ha! Also I read the recipe wrong, I soaked some sesame seeds! At least I noticed before adding them to my mouthwatering buckwheat pancakes. 

Today we went to a new shop near my studio called Food Front Cooperative Grocery. I got some yummy organic, local maple syrup.

The picture to the left is me, Kim, making homemade Organic Shea Butter.

The picture to the right is a picture of me today, little over a one month later, making pancakes for the first time.

It's crazy how much I have changed over the past month!! I still can't believe I have a few days left of this challenge to go. I wonder what else will change.

This is Bay a month ago to the left. She was getting her hair cut by her sister in law.

To the right is what Bay looks like today.

She notices lately that the results are amazing!

YU 30, Day 23

Saturday, February, 23rd

Kim: Today my day was off to a really good start! I was on my way to work and sprung out of bed. I got my smoothie ready to blend at work. Their is nothing I can drink there. I arrived to my bus stop early and waited for the bus. I was sitting there for a good ten minutes and saw a taxi cab drive by. I had a gut instinct I should take that cab. I call Trimet and my bus wasn't going to arrive for another 15  min. *shakes fist* Luckily, I have Bay Cab. ahah! Bay drove me to work and I arrived on time.

Something I have noticed about myself is that when I am hungry I feel shaky.  I am curious if anyone else has this problem? I think part of it might be that I started my period today too. But, the shaking been happening for the past few days. I've noticed when I eat food the shaking will stop within 20 minutes. It's as though I have a built in timer and instead of a ding, I vibrate. Lol. 

Bay: "day 5 of 7. today's flavor is: the pink maca smoothie (banana, strawberry, maca root, almond butter, almond milk, dates- image left) and wheatgrass shots (image right) from my favorite juice cart. Sip Portland." 

For dinner we made another new recipe called Thai Chili Coconut Noodles. This dish was so easy to make! We used our mandoline to slice the zucchini. We substituted a carrot with tomato and sliced both the tomato and peppers with a knife in small pieces. 

Something I would suggest to people who want to try this recipe is to make sure the sauce is thicker. We let our zucchini noodles marinate in the sauce for a good hour. We noticed the water from the vegetables make the sauce super thin. Either way, sauce thick or thin, delicious! I, Kim, love tasting the sauce as we go along. Also, we didn't have any coconut butter so we substituted raw coconut flakes to make the sauce thicker. I definitely got my Thai craving fixed!

Tonight we tried the new Dandy Blueberry Green Smoothie from YU (image below). It is a beautiful purple color and tastes heavenly. It feels a little intoxicating. It feels like we're drinking grape juice. We changed the recipe slightly. We had a handful of spinach instead of sweet pea shoots. This is our first time trying Dandelions. I thought we had to go to a park and hunt for Dandelions for our smoothie. Bay told me, "no, it's a green leaf." Ha! I learn something new everyday. We also found the excellent health benefits from Dandelions too. 

My lovely, model Bay-Bay, showing off this delicious beverage. She takes 95% of the photo's posted. My little artist. ;)

Today Bay and I played the game of what is different about our bodies. She showed me and I was SHOCKED! She has lost over four lb. in the past five days and 14 lbs thus far. She is looking good let me tell you. I used to be a breast girl but her butt, calves, arms, and hands are scrumptious. You can see the fat and muscle separate as two separate entities! I kept telling Bay, "now show me your butt again." ahaha. 

I've noticed for my body that my underwear I just bought are fitting me better. When I first bought them they were really tight. You know the quad butt? It looks like you have four butt cheeks, that! Now I've noticed my underwear lays on my butt instead of suffocate it. I also noticed this about my pants that are normally stretched to the max are a relaxed fit. Everyone keeps telling me I don't need to loose anymore weight. However, I am not loosing weight actually. I have lost toxins and fat and replaced it with muscle. I have eaten enough to keep a consistant weight this whole time by making sure that I eat until I am full. It's mind boggling to think this whole time my body was clinging onto toxins with fat and I had no idea. It's still weird to feel good all of the time, not going to lie. I have dealt with eating awful, processed, chemically based, "that is even called food?" for 26 years. For almost a month, I have been treating my body right and in return "I'm glowing" as our friend Kara says. 

            What I Love About My Cat:

Usually I will, sign EAT in American Sign Language (ASL) to Cheddar and purr, in hopes he will purr if he wants food. Today we had a break through. I signed FOOD and he purred loudly to me. He is one smart feline!

The picture to the left is Ched rubbing his scent and sitting on, Bay's "Lucky Hat."

Have a good night! Cheers.

XO

Kim, Bay & Cheddar

YU 30, Day 22

Friday, February, 22nd

Bay-Bay:

"day 4 of 7. today's flavor is: 
drink 1 (image top left)-frozen banana, fresh squeezed lime and orange juice, fresh mint and coconut water. drink 2 (image top right)- bay's crazy grape: grape juice, fresh squeezed lemon, coconut water, bee pollen, chia seeds, and apple flavored fish oil. 

my energy level is crazy insane!! had a refreshing 4 mile walk in the rain and topped it off with some meditation."

WOW! I'm exhausted today. My sleep schedule is off. I was trying to study for my Theory test and fell asleep. Luckily, I woke up to my circuit breaker turning off. Even though I'm pretty tired, I feel great. Usually I am super nervous when speaking in front of a class and today I was at ease. I'm not sure if it was because I was tired or my eating or both. 

Kim's Breakfast:

Today I made up my own smoothie. I had a handful of kale, an apple, big spoonful of peanut butter, 1 tbsp. hemp powder, banana, and 1/2 cup water. It tasted like dessert for breakfast. It tasted just like Georgianne's smoothie.

Lunch: LEFTOVERS! haha. Yes, I ate another burrito. How could I not? Bay can't eat what I make with her seven day smoothie cleanse. 

Dinner: With my left over Meghan Telpner’s Spicy Sweet Potato & Refried Bean Burrito recipe I made nachos. I added gluten free chips with avocado, mixed greens and tomatoes. 

I believe tomorrow I am going to tackle "Thai Chili Coconut Noodles." Yum! I've been craving Thai food and chili.

Today I learned about various hair products to use on YU. I've been using Dr. Bronner's shampoo afterwards my whole body is extremely dry. I had various suggestions I am willing to and excited to try such as: Coconut milk shampoo called Organix, John's Master Hair products, La Bella Figura and no poo.

Cheddar walking on a leash.

YU 30, Day 21

Thursday, February, 21st

I feel super energetic today. Even though I only had a few hours of sleep, I was ready to go. I actually woke up to my alarm clock with out hitting snooze repeatedly to wake up. Who knew that our bodies will wake up when you tell it to?

I was told today that I am glowing. Ha! I am loving the compliments. I also like how my body feels. I feel so energized and ready to go. Usually by the time I am done with school I'm all tinkered out. It's a weird feeling to know that I was used to abusing my body with chemicals and things I would never give to my cat; yet I was an acception. I have noticed more positive thinking today on my ride to school too. Usually I have all of these negative thoughts wondering my head such as I could do better; why bother; that's never going to happen, etc. Now those thoughts are replaced with: I feel great. I feel awesome. I can't believe I was so used to the negative Nancy and accepted her criticism for so long.

Bay's-day 3 of 7. (pic. left)
today's flavor is: wild green smoothie. coconut water, pineapple, ginger, banana, avocado, and arugula.

Kims':
Breakfast:
I had a smoothie. I used a bunch of kale, mixed greens, strawberries, banana, squeeze of lemon, rasberries, and an avocado.

Lunch:
I had my a burrito from yesterday. It tastes even better a day older. mmmmmm.

Dinner:
I love leftovers. I love cooking too and being proud of myself. At the same time, I love being able to eat leftover and not have to cook anything. Burrito number three. Yum! I had some gluten free chips with the salsa. I am definitely making this recipe again.

YU 30, Day 20

Wednesday, February, 20th


Bays: day 2 of 7.
today's flavor is: fresh pineapple, avocado, fennel, lime and coconut water.

Breakfast: 

No school today!! Yes! Today I chugged a full glass of water when I got up. I made myself this “Okay Oh Kale” smoothie. I accidently forgot to put in the dates and added a banana along with some cacao powder. Delicious.


Lunch: 
Again, I’ve had some more leftover filling from the peppers. I’ve added avocado and some salsa to the mix to give a different taste. We made so much! I love leftovers. xoxox

Dinner:
I will be tackling this recipe, “Meghan Telpner’s Spicy Sweet Potato & Refried Bean Burrito"

              

OMG!! This was BOMB! If you love burritos and you love mexican food, you must try this. I can’t believe that I made it by myself. Usually Bay helps with chopping or telling me what to do. I only ate half of my very stuffed burrito because I became full and I can’t wait to eat more tomorrow. 

I edited the recipe a little bit. I didn’t add corn to the salsa but replaced it with half of a jalapeno. I also forgot to soak some black beans. Ha! The main part of the dish right? I used refried beans instead. The sauce tasted too much like lemon for my liking so I tossed in some nutritional yeast. I accidently added pine nuts instead of sunflower seeds but I think it tasted delicious. The sauce was a little runny. I think next time I will add some more unsoaked raw cashews if I want to make it thicker. Bay gave me that awesome tip. She is the cashew cheese queen. She also suggested adding water or lemon/lime in last. Then you can get the perfect consistency.

Today I learned about a new shampoo I could try called Prairie Naturals. I am really excited to try it. I am still struggling with my dry scalp and skin. Now, I need to figure out where I can buy some.

YU 30, Day 19

Tuesday, February, 19th

Bay has decided to do a week of detox smoothies. Her decadent smoothie starts with...


day 1 of a 7 day green smoothie challenge.
today's flavor is: water, celery, apple, parsley, cilantro, jalapeño, lemon, chia seeds and bee pollen.

Kim:
Breakfast/Lunch: I took some leftover stuffed mushroom filling for lunch to school and made myself a delicious Green Berry Smoothie. Once I saw the cat chilling in the sun I was sold!! Haha.

Dinner: I’ve ate some leftover filling from the peppers. I’ve added tomato, little bit of avocado and some salsa to give it a different taste. Mmmmm. leftover's.

I've been thinking a lot about dried spices, herbs and how to make your own. I researched on how to make them and it's super easy. You dry the spice either laying it out or in the oven, use a coffee grinder, and put it in a jar. Bam! You have spices and herbs. I looked at this website for an easy how to: http://consensuslife.com/2011/make-your-own-dried-organic-spices/