Banana Diet and Annie Chung is NOT IN THE HOUSE!

TGIF, I think I have spilled just about everything today which definitely means it’s time for the weekend! Thankfully my delicious green monster made it both safely to work and into my tummy!

This however, did not It sat so beautifully on the table awaiting me to devour it, but when I jumped up to go change, SPLAT! All over the floor. Nothing like mopping off the clock. I don’t know if I was more frustrated about the spilled smoothie, ruined lunch, or wasted $$ as I was calculating the Vega powder, fruit, milk, etc. Does anyone else do that? I hate wasting things.

At least I had my afternoon snack to munch on, so I just ate that instead. Not as satisfying but it got me through-who can complain about juicy summer fruit that is so colorful?? And, you know how I love my Pure bars!

There has been more chaos at work this week so poor Anita, who was supposed to hang out and go berry picking with me after work got called in on her day off, so our plans got averted. Thus, I went wandering off to do some errands, found myself lusting in a bike shop, but ended up only returning with a big bunch of rotten bananas perfect for smoothies at 82cents!

  Why can’t bikes be 82cents? Hmm…I wonder if I just lived on bananas for awhile how long it would take me to get a bike?

This pondering has sent me on an hour or so google search of pure nonsense. Some guy apparently ate 27 bananas in less than twenty minutes and got his stomach pumped.  Others say you’ll get constipated, while the other spectrum ended up with banana diarrhea. Some people say you’ll turn yellow and have renal problems, and as always, you can always count on coming up with “the banana diet.”  I think I’ll stick to making a budget and trying to maintain a healthy eating balance

So ever since coming down to NC, I’ve been on the quest for some good pad thai. I saw these two Annie Chun products on closeout and thought I’d give them a shot since I was exhausted and microwaving stuff can be fairly spill proof.

This was her pad thai sauce and some sprouted brown rice that you just had to nuke for 90seconds. I add some steamed veggies to balance it all out.

Now being microwaved, I was not expecting anything great, but this was DISGUSTING. The pad thai sauce did not resemble anything pad thai’ish I have tasted before, not even asian like, just blech! The rice was very sticky and the portion (meant for 2) was extremely small. The rice, I guess, would have been good for sushi rolls, but other than that, notta. Annie Chun won’t be at my house for dinner again anytime soon, that’s for sure.

Still Thailess in NC,

Faith

Product Review Policy & NN WINNER!!

I just wanted to let you all know about my product review policy. I will always be upfront and let you know if the product was sent to me as a free sample or if I purchased it. I am going to give you my direct and honest opinions-even if I got it for free, that will not bias my opinion in any way. When I seek out products I look for things that are good for my body and I love companies that have a strong mission statement! I am going to be upfront, if I don’t like something I will say so, and if I love something I’m certainly going to pass that on as well! I’m not super cool to get a ton of things for free anyway, so most of my stuff will be purchased most likely, but I have been fortunate enough to be blessed with a few sample thus far! So those are my thoughts..do you have any??

Any in general?? My commentary has been so silent, I don’t quite know how to get that going….maybe with a daily question, speak up folks!

So I’m sure you want to know who the winner of the awesome Navita Natural Products are. Well, I’m still on my maca power from this morning, so I busted out the random number generator and out spouted:

24. Kelsey |  July 28, 2009 at 10:36 am

such a sweet giveaway! if i could, i would try the chia seeds. there are just so many good things being said by bloggers about these little things that i have to try!

Send me an email with your address at bb0517@gmail.com so I can get you your seedlings!!

Remember, the rest of you can still enjoy 25% off until August 27th and I can’t tell you enough how great their stuff is. I know I’m going to restock my lucuma, acai, and maca powers!!! The coupon code is thxu25.

My plans had a last minute change, so we’ll see what’s up for the day, but TGIF!

MM#3-Extravagant Ear!

. "The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." — Ralph Nichols

Our ears are one of our body’s powerful instruments! It allows us to hear music, listen and capture voices of our most prized relationships, hear impending danger, and enjoy conversation among many other things. Could you imagine what it would be like not to hear?

We can find balance and harmony with our bodies, and we can keep our balance thanks to our wonderful ears!  Did you know that the body’s equilibrium is kept in balance by the amount of pressure of the inner ear?  I was cleaning out my ear’s one day and accidentally knocked that q-tip a bit too far in, puncturing a hole in my ear drum…DISASTER! This was during my years as a gymnast, let’s just say I was not doing balance beam that week!

The middle ear bones are the smallest bones in our entire body and the cochlea is the hardest bone! The amplitude of the vibrations made for barely audible sounds is comparable to the diameter of a hydrogen atom, crazy! We are able to hear by sounds traveling down the external auditory canal which cause the tympanic membrane to vibrate.

Take care of those ears. Listening to sounds over 85 decibels can begin to damage your ears. Examples of such are rock concerts (110) and Boeing 747 (140). You may just want to turn that IPod down once in awhile

Ears are funny things. At one point in my life I had about six piercings and have always wanted to do one in the middle part of my ear, but have been prone to getting bad scarring Ear piercing dates back to ancient times holding symbolism for pubescent rituals to male status symbols such as Shakespeare. Now, they adorn us more as decoration and are limited in number by most employment companies.

Regardless, we learn about another amazing part of ourselves. I am so thankful for my ears, even if they may be a little funky looking. I am VERY THANKFUL for my hearing and the fact that I am able to balance, YEAH YOGA!

So remember to wash behind those ears, keep them clean (if you do use q-tips despite the warning, be careful!) Listen carefully to you, your body, and everything special! Definitely, turn a dear ear to all that negativity, who needs that!

“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for your soul is at stake…”-Isaiah 55:3

Have you done your body pledge yet?

Hump Day and Hippie Pizza!

Oh man, my body was sure feeling hump day this morning, thank goodness for super juice! Take a peek at my fun fridge It’s probably one of my most decorated areas at the moment because magnets are small, easy to save, and send

Work was a bit crazy today, or maybe it was just me. It was Wild Wednesday after all, hence the orange polo (and the crazy knee socks you can’t see). Whenever it gets cloudy down here in the south, I swear people come out of the woodwork. I was spilling things left and right to top it off.

PTL for Green Monsters!! I also made another Rocket Maca Shake around lunchtime, but I had to stay late at work so that got slurped up in a rush before I could even find my camera.

Besides, you know what shakes look like by now, a bunch of stuff mucked up together that end up in some funky color. YOU ALL appreciate it, my co-workers just go, “what is it that you are drinking…..”

NUM NUM for delicious summer fruits!!! Some beautiful red plums may have disappeared from this container before photo was taken…..darg gone munchies.

Today was a catch up day on the homefront since I was gone from dawn til dusk yesterday. I juiced, did laundry, swept up a bit, etc. I decided it was time to do another deep clean on my juicer by soaking the filter in lemon juice. Mr. Brutus works hard to produce me such deliciousnesss!

Then I set to work on dinner. I adapted the following recipes out of Thrive by Brendan Brazier-which is an awesome book full of some very good information.

Quinoa and Pink Eye Pea Pizza Crust-

Here is the raw crust that was blended all together in my food processor. I got to use my pink eyed peas from the farmers market!

    

• 4 cloves garlic (if you like garlic, use less if you don’t)
• 1 cup cooked pink eye peas (or sprouted to make raw) you can sub black eye
• 1 cup cooked or sprouted quinoa
• 1/2 c chickpea flour
• s+p to taste
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4c hemp oil
• (if you like it spicy, add 1/2 tsp cayenne and 1tsp chili flakes)

Sundried Tomato Marina-

Process everything together in a food processor or blender:

• 1c sundried tomatoes, soaked for 20mins
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1c chopped tomatoes
• 1/2c grated cucumber
• 2T hemp oil
• 1T flax oil
• 1T balsamic vinegar
• 1T italian seasonings
• sea salt to taste
• 1c water

Topping-

• 1/2 sliced red bell pepper
• 1/2 diced onion
• 1/2 grated sweet potato
• 1 grated med beet
• 1c cauliflower florets
• italian seasoning
• if you like spice, add some chili flakes

Here it is out of the oven. I cooked it at 325 for about 40mins…cooking time will vary depending on moisture from veggies, crust, and how crispy you want it. I was actually pleasantly surprised. I’m sure the marinara would have been better had I not screwed up the recipe but it was still very flavorful! The veggies, despite the odd combination, was quite good and made up for any lack of cheese though I found myself kind of wishing there was at least a sprinkle of feta. I think I might try adding nutritional yeast to the sauce next time. The crust was very good, thick, crispy, yet still doughy enough. Yeah, it wasn’t the usual light and fluff pizza crust, but I wasn’t expecting that. It was very filling and very nutritious, and I don’t think you could ever find a personal pizza THAT BIG and get that much good nutrition out of it at the same time! I’ll definitely be experimenting with this again!

Don’t forget, you only have two day left to tell me what Navita’s Natural’s product you want in my giveaway! Also, they are offering a 25% off discount until August 27th!!

Maca Power and Mocha Tastings

Woohee! That Maca stuff is crazy powerful! I have put it in my shakes now for a few days and it leaves me talking a mile a minute, I think I need to be careful with it. It is definitely one powerful superfood, let me tell ya’! No need for any extra caffeine when adding just a teaspoon of that!

photo courtesy of www.navitanaturals.com

Fun Facts about Maca:

• possesses building blocks for seretonin
• helps with stress by helping adrenal glands regenerate
• from a root vegetable related to the turnip
• a little bit will do! only need about 1/2tsp a day

  After work today, I gathered a few of my ‘Bou buddies and we did a Mocha comparison with some of our coffee competitors to see if our new chocolate really lived up to it’s standard and actually came up with some good results! To preface, I love coffee, and just because i work somewhere doesn’t mean I’ll drink their stuff. I go after taste. For example, I worked at Starbucks in Seattle for years, but I LOVED Stumptown and Cafe Vita, and would always go there whenever I wanted to actually purchase a cup of really good coffee or espresso. As I have mentioned before, there is an art to coffee and espresso, and tasting it is much like tasting wine.

MOCHA ADVENTURE!!!

Thus, the mocha comparison began. It was free mocha’s at McDonalds, so we ventured over there and nabbed two small ones, very scary as it was literally pumped out of a machine, milk and all, and topped with Reddi Whip.

Then, it was off to Starbucks for a Grande Mocha and a Grande White Mocha, had to take off my Caribou shirt before going in there, hehe.

Once back at the ‘Bou, we poured them all into disguised sample cups, made one of each Caribou white and dark mocha, and then blind tasted them all:

THE RESULTS:

MCDONALDS: You pay what you get for I guess. If you want a gas station tasting mocha with flat milk and something that tasted like an instant cappucino mix with a very bad aftertaste for $1.90, then go for it, but you could probably make something better at home. BLECH!

STARBUCKS: This one was creamier, and we ordered it with 2% but one tester said it tasted almost like breve. The biggest complaint about both the white and dark mocha was the big oils on top, it was disgusting. “When is exxon going to come clean this spill up?” said tester #2. Biggest disappointment….major sludge at the bottom.

CARIBOU: Creamy, smooth, very rich. Good consistency throughout, and no sludge! One change I would make is less chocolate in a hot one though, because it might be too rich for a medium hot mocha if you were to drink the entire thing. Best one overall though and no oils!

WHITE MOCHA-

STARBUCKS: I used to love these, this one was creamy and smooth, but had a very bitter aftertaste and was almost too sweet. Once again, major oils.

CARIBOU: Very creamy consistency, nice and smooth, not too sweet, nice vanilla undertones, good balance. I think this recipe is right on.

WRAP UP-

None of the testers will ever be going to McDonalds. I used to hit up the ‘Bux for their White Mocha’s but once Caribou does their full run on their new chocolate, they have definitely won me over with their new White Mocha. We all agreed that Caribou’s new chocolate is better than Starubucks in both consistency and quality, in part due to no disgusting oils on top of the drink and no sludge at the bottom.

Once again, these are my honest chocolate buds talking, I am not partial to any of the companies. I will actually be quite sad when we have to go back to our old chocolate until the true launch, because I am not that big of a fan

If you are in the CHAPEL HILL, NC area, you can receive $1 off any size mocha, hot or iced at either the downtown Franklin store or Franklin/Estes store for the next two weeks by bringing in this coupon!

#571(Yes, my scary photo and this code is the coupon, my boss didn’t want me to get sued for using the logo)

(Sorry I couldn’t make it nationwide, but currently the chocolate launch is in test mode and only limited stores have it, but stay tuned for October!!!)

Affirmation for the day: It’s okay to be myself around others:) Especially when chocolate is involved!

A few bites forward, and a few bites back…

I spent some time in the kitchen this weekend trying out some new ingredients, recipes, and techniques. I had both successes and failures, so I guess it balanced out.

I was very excited to find the perfect filter for a non-cheesecloth Almond Milk method. I can now make my own almond milk in about 2mins (minus the soaking time) and I love it!

This is a Kitchen Aid filter I found for about $6 and has the perfect holes for straining the milk quickly still leaving you the almond meal to use later.

In just minutes I have NUTRITIOUS and DELICIOUS, fresh almond milk, complete with froth, LOVE IT!

My current favorite recipe is:

• 1c soaked almonds
• 4-5c filtered water
• 2 dates
• dash of sea salt
• dash of amaretto agave to taste (not much at all)

VERDICT-SUCCESS!

So then I tried to cook with some hemp products again. There must be a special art to using hemp that I do not possess. I tried making Crunchy Hemp Protein Bread off a recipe from the Manitoba site, and as you can see below, I quickly nicnamed it “slime bread” because that is what ended up on my cookie sheet.

It did not rise at all like it was supposed to, so I stuck it in a loaf pan to bake in hopes of mending this monstrosity somehow. However, upon tasting this green, bready, brick….Definitely, two steps back.

VERDICT-FAIL!!!! Either hemp is a required taste, or it’s just not for me. I like it on salads, I don’t mind it in smoothies, but apparently I can’t cook with it, for this is the second recipe I’ve mucked up.

Well….maybe third time was a charm? Manitoba was incredibly generous in sending me all that stuff and hemp has so many great health benefits so I didn’t want to give up on it just quite yet. Besides, one thing I have learned through baking, pretty much anything can be masked with banana’s and chocolate

Thus, the creation of Hemp Banana Chocolate Bread!

I am proud to say this one actually came out, did not taste hempy, was not green, and actually tasted quite good. I made two small mini loaves so I could put one in the freezer and take the other to work to have some taste tests and get some feedback! I’ll let you know tomorrow!

The Recipe-

• 2 eggs
• 1/3c unsweetened applesauce
• 2T lucuma powder
• dash of stevia
• 11/4 c whole wheat flour
• 1/2c garbanzo flour
• 23/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2tsp salt
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1/4c hemp seeds
• 1/4 72% dark choc ghiradelli chips chopped (in food processor)

Mix together all ingredients. Fold in the chocolate bits last. Pour into chosen baking pan and bake at 350 until toothpick comes out clean.

VERDICT-SUCCESS!

Homemade Raw Energy Bar Attempt #1-

My next adventure was my first attempt at making my own raw energy bars with no recipe. I had just made my almond milk and saw all that wonderful, nutritious almond meal, saw some very ripe bananas, and my mind got whirling. So, out came my very small (at least for energy bars) food processor and I started dumping things in.

• 1/2c sunflower seeds
• 1/2c pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 almond milk mush
• 5 dates
• 2 bananas
• 1/2c flax meal
• 1c oats
• 3/4T lucuma
• dash of sea salt

Here is the pan after awhile in the fridge, and as I feared, there was too much moisture left in the almond paste so they needed more dry ingredients. However, my head was keeping a nutritional profile tally, and I didn’t really want to add anymore…so, they are currently in the freezer…. I still had a taste test. They came out of the pan so-so. Not as firm as a Larabar, but they were very tasty! Nice and sweet, maybe a dash too much salt, but I’d say not bad for a first go! We’ll see what the boss says tomorrow.

VERDICT-To Be Determined…

And to end the day, a little Operation Beautiful action at church Did you see the custom post-its we made??

Don’t forget to enter the Navita Natural’s giveaway I’m hosting!! This is from me to you!

I am learning to take life one day at a time…

Rocket Maca Shake+Farmers Market

PTL!!! Today was such a gorgeous Saturday and I’m so glad I had it off! I still wake up super early, which is fine, because that just enables me to have a full day ahead! My body also craves my juice by 6am, so I must not deny the superseed!

It was charmed: Faith, Hope Love! Until I shook it too much and it splattered all over the floor….oooph.I think I cleaned the kitchen about three times today, and that includes, mop, broom, etc. That’s okay though, cleaning is good for the soul!  I appreciated not having to rush out of the house, but at the same time I was eager to find the big State Farmers Market so I made my shakes to go. (Hmm…my green monster pict seemed to have cannibilized itself, but if you don’t know what a lot of spinach and wonderful other nutritious goodies looks like all blended up, see archives)

Besides, the real star of today was the Rocket Maca Vega Shake!! Holy Cow, did this sucker keep me satiated and pump me full of crazy energy that blasted me through the afternoon. Plus, it blended all creamy and smooth so it was almost like ice cream! Definitely making one tomorrow!

• 1c almond milk
• 1pkt Vega berry blend
• 1tsp Navita Natural Maca powder-KEY INGREDIENT
• 1T Acai Power
• 1/2 froz nanner+bit of froz berries

I could go on and on about my love for this shake, I was talking a mile a minute the rest of the afternoon, there is some serious power in that Maca stuff :p Definitely no need for coffee, I think I will start adding it to my morning shake

The farmer’s market was AMAZING! I think it’s the closest thing to Pike Place I will find down here in NC. They literally had towers of peaches and corn today. I feasted with my eyes, as well as trying a few samples

I thought of Polly and her Almond Butter with all these peaches!!

  Too bad they were watching or I just might have devoured this entire melon, so juicy!

Poor tomatoes, how can any veggie be ugly?? All delicious!! 

Fresh bread! I stayed far away from here, but I am always a sucker for it….they are always so pretty and reminds me of my time abroad!

I was pretty well behaved. I wanted to get a ton of peaches, berries, melons, greens, etc. However, I left with a few nummy, and NOT UGLY tomatoes, a HUGE $2 sweet melon, a bag of pink beans which I have never tried, a purple pepper, an a white squash!! I got all of this for under $7, because I’m pretty sure that was all I had in my wallet when I left  

“Today I will live and let live!”

Get your Custom Operation Beautiful Stickies!!!

Design#1

Design #2

If you haven’t heard about Operation Beautiful, you definitely need to check it out. These are pretty spiffy if I do say so myself. Caitlin started this amazing operation and is changing the world one post it at a time and now it’s even easier to get the word out! They have a great inspirational Helen Keller quote on top and leave room to write your own message on the bottom. If you are interested in ordering one, please let me know so I can place a big ol’ bulk order. Let’s get posting beautiful ladies!!! (and gents) if you’re out there

Caitlin and I have worked together on this, so no, I’m not stealing her thunder here, she has done an incredible job with this movement!

The Helen Keller quote is: “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”~Hellen Keller ~

The more orders we get the cheaper each pad will be, though I’m estimating around $2 including shipping and handling. They are the normal square post-its with 50sheets per pad! Not bad, I say!

Let us know if you’d be interested in ordering a pad and which design you like better. We will be selling these to you at cost, so no profit will be made, just the real deal to you guys!

Happy posting!

Get some Power! Cheap Chia and Navita Natural Giveaway!!

Hopefully you have been able to check out my product review on the awesome Navita Natural Products I’ve been able to try-they have a very extensive line and so far I’ve been very impressed with everything I’ve had so far.

They are an incredibly generous company, and are offering all Faith in Food readers a 25% off coupon to use between 7/27 and 8/27! How awesome is that!  That means you could get yourself some chia power for only $4.50, and those will last you!  Check out there extensive line of a lot of other amazing superfoods as well that might not be available nearby.

To use the coupon:

at the checkout cart, enter code:

thxu25

I think I’m going to get me some of their other Twister Power smoothie mixes, they are buy one get one free right now…anyone want to go in with me???

THE GIVEAWAY!!!

1)Leave a comment telling me which product you would like to try and why.

2) For a second entry, post a link to back to my blog/giveaway or add me to your blogroll!! Share the wealth, this is a great deal!

The winner will receive product of their choice, courtesy of me! I was so blessed to receive such wonderful products, I am going to personally pay it forward! My weekly tips are being saved as we speak, cause I love ya’ll just that much!

The winner will be announced on Friday, July 31st.

Chocoholics need to come to North Carolina….

And the Caribou I work at!! That’s right folks, we are a test site for a new gourmet chocolate that Caribou is testing our and let me tell you, it is DIVINE!!! It is a top-notch culinary chocolate that is organic and in the process of getting rain forest certified. We are offering it in milk, white, and dark chocolate, and WOWZERS!!! It is such an improvement off the old stuff, which let me tell you, tasted like blech :p

Behind my superseed juice is the little chips that actually get melted into the mochas we are testing out, oh so nummy!! It makes them very rich, so my review is that one should actually order a little less chocolate until we officially change our recipe.

Even though it was Friday, I busted out our “Monday Happens” shirt Hey, it was a good Friday and even my real Friday, much deserved since I just worked about ten days in a row…phew!!! That’s okay, my super creamy green monster fueled me through the morning!

So here is a peak at dark chocolate iced mocha. The dark chocolate is velvety and smooth and really compliments the espresso. I have worked in coffee for a very long time, and I can honestly say, this is one of the best mocha’s I have ever had. I am very pleased with this change and can’t wait until they get all the bugs worked out and the company wide launch happens!!!

Until then, if you are in the Chapel Hill, NC area, send me a message and I can hook you up with a free mocha test. I would love to hear some other food bloggies review!! If not, you’ll have to wait. Remember you heard it first here

Have FAITH, your chocolate hearts will be fulfilled soon enough, patience is a virtue!