Stepping Up Wellness: Day 2

Superbowl Sunday! Like many of you, I'm tired of being treated like a social pariah for not liking football, and my general response when asked which team I'd like to win is either, "I only wish both teams could lose," or "I'd be asleep by the end of the first inning." As a pseudo-joke I offer a special discount on massages to individuals who wish to book during "the game."  But all kidding aside, I made an exception and watched this year, since of course, the real winner was Madonna's halftime performance. Go Madge!

Getting back on task, yesterday began with a green veggie smoothie, roughly consisting of celery, zucchini, carrot, tomato, cucumber, red bell pepper, and parsley.  I threw in some protein powder to keep myself going, and let the Vitamix rip.  The end result was a very thick, creamy, if not lukewarm vegetable drink which resembled V8 in flavor, without all the added salt. Would I make it again? Yes, but chances are this is a recipe I will adapt.  Also, if you want to try this one, use ICE and not water, because you'll it's definitely a dish best served cold.

Later in the day, it was time for italian style "rawsage."  Lettuce and pumpkin seeds comprised the bulk of the "meat," with several spices added in(caraway seeds, basil, etc.)  The recipe suggests dehydrating until the edged of the patties become slighty crispy, but if you don't have a dehydrator, you can put them in the oven on very low heat with the door open.  If, like me, your oven doesn't heat to temperature below 170F, which is about 50  degrees (or more by some standards) too high to still be considered raw, you can cheat.  I turned the heat to 170 just until the oven preheated, turned off the heat, put in my rawsages, and let them stay in there until the oven cooled.  Repeat this process a few times, and you'll get the same effect.  Fortunately the rawsages don't take a long time to dry out, this would not be a practical method to employ with most dehydration recipes.

Two recipes on tap for today: Simple Cantaloupe smoothie, and raw Gazpacho.  I'll be making a pilgrimage to Whole Foods this afternoon for a few essentials, (please guys, can you open up a store in Madison, CT? We're all rich, and ready to spend money in your store, trust me.)


In other news, I've dropped another pound since being back on solid foods, my energy level is way up, and I feel ready to really kick my yoga practice back into gear.  Part of that will involve some core training, more on that later.