Foods That Heal

What’s up, buttercups?! (That’s what I say to my Doodle every morning, and I’m affectionately passing it on to y’all.)
I’m so sorry for not posting yesterday, but that just means that y’all are in for a doosey tonight! Here goes…got your coffee on tea?

First of all, recent eats…

Breakfast for the past two days: a yogurt bowl with greek yogurt, crumbled Rise & Shine muffin, smashed banana (New discovery: I LOVVVVVE this in yogurt.), Trader Joe’s cranberry apple butter, 1Tbsp Naturally More, blackberries, blueberries (that were going bad. You know that taste they have? ugh!), and 5 raw almonds for crunch.

And a Grande Starbucks 1/2 caff because our power was out, so we went to Starbucks for coffee.

For lunch, I wasn’t very hungry, and I knew we were going out for dinner, so I had some black beans, carrots, celery, and some Greek-style hummus…plus some more coffee. Our power finally came back on, so we made a pot.

My family went to watch the UNC Women’s Basketball team play NCSU…Carolina VICTORY!!! For dinner, a UNC tradition of Carolina Brewery. I LOVE their Copperline Amber Ale, so I started with that goodness.

“This brilliant red ale, brewed with caramel and pale malts is a best seller at the Carolina Brewery. Using traditional brewing methods, the ale yeast provides a touch of fruit and works in tandem with the malt to make for a very drinkable ale. Kent Golding hops lend just enough bitterness and aroma to round out the flavor.” It’s won GOLD MEDAL-WORLD BEER CHAMPIONSHIPS.

On to the food, hehe…I had a veggie burger with sweet potato chips. The veggie burger was the BEST I’ve ever had. You can literally see the black beans and corn, and you can taste the tomato in it! YUMMERS! And their sweet potato chips come with the tiniest amount of brown sugar for garnish/flavor. I even put a little ketchup on a few chips (SPLURGE!), but didn’t touch that mayo…gross! It was a perfect meal!

That concluded with dessert at the game. Another Carolina Tradition SMITTY’S Ice Cream!!! I licked on rolled with Carolina Blue Chip (like mint chocolate chip) in a waffle cone with FREE Carolina sprinkles. It was just OK, but it’s a tradition!

Like I said, breakfast was the same today as yesterday because it’s SO fast when you’re in a hurry. It saved me so much time over oatmeal.

I did 1 hour of RPM, a 20-minute core class, and BodyPump for my workout today. I got to see my beautiful friend Lindsay! We always miss each other during the week because I workout and teach in the  morning, and she goes at night! It’s weird…I wasn’t hungry at all, but I made myself eat lunch after a staff meeting at the gym. I went to Nil’s Bakery Cafe in Varina and got a greek salad. They are so yummy. It’s one of the only places that I don’t ask for dressing on the side because they use a perfect amount of balsamic that isn’t too sweet or too tart.

Afterwards, I went to a Healing Foods Workshop at One Heart Yoga by the beautiful Mira. She as kind enough to give me a scholarship to come! It was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had in a long time. Mira has so much knowledge about raw foods, which I am getting more interested in. The more I learn about food, the more I want to learn. Mira is a Christian, and the way she incorporates mind/body/soul makes sense to me. Our bodies function best when we are in balance in all these areas, I think. However, I also believe you have to do what works best for you (“intuitive nutrition”), but I want to learn more about raw foods and incorporate them more into my diet/go mostly raw. She talked for 2 hours, which FLEW by, and gave us a sample of “Herbal Energy Balls” and Hemp milk. I’m hooked!!!

Have y’all ever done a cleanse? I’m thinking about it. My body feels like it has so much acid, and after looking over past posts (especially with last night’s dinner), I understand why…too much coffee and alcohol, more meat than I’m used to, and I never juice or eat enough enzymes for my body to function properly. I’d really like to figure out what to eat for me to get my body back to regularity. I feel so fortunate to cross paths with Mira and hope to pick her brain a lot more and get some personal help. I know that cleaning and cleansing will cause withdrawal symptoms as I experienced those over the Summer as I went “clean.” I had no idea that it was normal, and I wish someone had told me, so I’m passing it along to any of you who go “clean” or raw. It’ll be OK and is absolutely worth it!

Like Mira said, “Recovery is available at nearly any point! Your life can change!” You have to do what works for you. I’m praying for grace from my family as I try to cleanse on another level. They aren’t interested right now, but I want to love and educate and pray that my withdrawal will be full of joy and grace. Plus, it’s an expensive change for my budget, but it’s worth it to me. Any advice?

When I got home, I was super pumped to start my new phase on the food journey, so I made my own Balls of Energy. Thanks for the recipe, Mira!

Balls of Energy

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Sunflower Seed Butter (leave enough in the jar for OIAJ hehe)
• 1/2 cup Light Agave nectar
• 1/4 cup coconut
• 1 tsp Cinnamon Sexy Spice
• 1/2 Twister Power Powder (hemp, cacao, maca)

Directions:

• Mix wet ingredients in a bowl.

• Add in dry ingredients, and stir together with a wooden spoon.
• Form “batter” into balls.

• Roll them in a topping if you want to. I used cacao nibs, but chopped nuts, maca, coconut, hemp seeds, etc. would be great too! You can even add other powders or chopped fresh herbs. Whatever makes you into a ball of energy!

• FEAST! -> FOODGASM!!!

For dinner, I had a salad beast (organic greens, a few cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, black beans, celery, carrots), bread with oil, 1/2 sweet potato with cinnamon  sexy spice and steamed green beans with Garlic Gold nuggets…plus some more green beans.

And dessert…a ball of energy (finally found a use for my sunflower seed butter that I like!), a Red Delish apple (Mom bought the fruit this week and didn’t get organic, but I’m grateful for the groceries!), AND some greek yogurt with berries! I’m hungry tonight!

NO COFFEE…I tried hot tea…decaf orange pekoe. What are your favorites? I’m a tea virgin!

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