Raw Sexy Soft Serve

What an incredibly beautiful weekend we are having!  It's so gorgeous out that I am going to blog quickly today to get back outside, but I promised you some raw ice cream, so raw ice cream it is!

The weather couldn't be more perfect if it tried.  Sunny and hovering around 80 degrees, with a light breeze... it's almost fall like... I ran-walked 5 miles this morning -I suck at running consistently but I'm working on it- in preparation for my 5k in October.  I'm a sprinter and ran (and won) lots of 100m dashes and 100m hurdles on the track team in H.S. so instinctively, I want to sprint.  I am working on pacing myself more and reigning myself in so that I don't go all out in the first 10 minutes.   It's hard to hold back sometimes and just run at an easy pace, especially when I'm listening to The Killers or Dropkick Murphys or Eye of the Tiger...man I just want to sprint!!! haha  I did learn recently that running backwards for a bit in the middle of the run helps me run so much longer the minute I spin back around and go forward again...my thigh muscles feel rested after running backwards for 30 to 60 seconds, so I'm using that trick to help me go the distance!  It's fun too, and you look all cool and in serious "training" mode when people see you running backwards.  Even cooler if you are wearing a Road ID! :-D


After my run I had this fabulous green smoothie made with 2 cups of spinach (packed), one 'nana, one peach, one orange, 1 and a half cups of spring water and a teaspoon of raw coconut oil for that 'this tastes like I should be sitting on a tropical island' flavor.   It was delish.  Two bees buzzed by and I had to fight them for it.  They know the good stuff when they see it!

Lunch was an easy salad of spinach, roma tomatoes, kalamata olives and 2 small avocados.  Dressing was my go-to favorite of balsamic vinaigrette mixed with a high quality dijon mustard and sea salt.  Sometimes that's all I want and it was perfect.

Eating outside in the sunshine is so nice...I just LOVE it!!!

Yes, that salad is the size of my head.  Yes, I ate the whole thing.  I always make giant salads, and I always eat all of it.  I love veggies.  I get cravings for veggies.  It was a simple salad, but so good. :-)

And now what you've been waiting for...the EASY SHMEAZY RAW ICE CREAM!  It's so easy, you're going to say, nuh-uh...there's no way that's all you have to do.  And I'll say, yeahhh-huhhhhh!  Watch this...

Take 3 RIPE bananas.  Chop them into 2 inch or so pieces.  Put them in a freezer baggie or a Tupperware container and put them in the freezer for a few hours, or overnight.    When you take them out, they will look like this:

frozen 'nanas!

Take your frozen 'nanas, and put them in a food processor.  I added one tablespoon of raw honey, but you don't even have to do THAT.  Pulse it a few times to get them to break up.  My food processor wanted to dance off the counter, but that's because I had left these in the freezer for 3 days and they were hard as rocks.  Not necessary to do - just a few hours or overnight tops is all you need.  So put the 'nanas in, and pulse a bit, and when it looks broken up just press down the on button and let it run for 5 minutes or so.   

I added less than a quarter cup of spring water as the food processor was running just to make it a little creamier.  You can do that, or not, or add a little nut milk, or add nothing - totally up to you.

After 5 minutes, it looks like THIS:

Yep.  That's all you had to do.  Put frozen bananas in a food processor and blend.  

I flavored mine with a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon and a tsp of nutmeg to give it that spicy fall pumpkin-ish flavor and I also added a chunk of frozen (real) pumpkin.  It worked! I had pumpkin spice ice cream!  Next time I make it I'll use less bananas so it tastes more pumpkin-y.

If you want to make raw chocolate ice cream, just add a tablespoon of raw cacao powder ...you can even add raw cacao nibs!    If you want it to taste like strawberry ice cream, just add a ton of frozen strawberries to the food processor.  

It's so easy.  This has no dairy, no added sugar (unless you want to with some raw honey, agave, or dates), no chemicals, no food coloring number 5, nothing you cannot pronounce. This soft serve is just BANANAS!  That's IT!  Flavor it however you choose!  Get creative.  It's pretty hard to mess this up.  It also looks quite pretty in a glass :-)

And tasted quite yummy in my tummy.

Hope everyone is outside enjoying this beautiful weekend!  
xoxo
Lauren

Oasis Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Do you LOVE the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte?  Doesn't it just taste like autumn in a cup?!  


Did you know that it has 380 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 49 grams of sugar???!!!!!!!  


I HAD NO IDEA that the Starbucks version was that loaded with fat, calories and sugar.  Of course you can get it with skim milk, but I'm not a fan of dairy.  And when they use a sugar-free syrup, you are getting chemicals instead!  Who wants a cup of chemicals?  Not me.  Gross. Bleh. Ickypoo!


***I finally FOUND a delicious alternative!!!!  One that is all natural, made with fresh, real, pumpkin, no added sugars, dairy-free,  under 200 calories, and tastes so good that I can't stop saying "OMG THIS IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!! OMG I WANT TO EAT THIS ALL DAY LONG!  JUST THIS!  ALL DAY!!!!"***


It's INSANE.  INCREDIBLE...and if you live in the great state of Pennsylvania, you can get one!  If you don't live in the great state of PA, well, maybe Tiffany, the owner of Oasis Living Cuisine (Raw Food Specialty Shop and Cafe) will tell you her recipe...but you might have to do lots of begging.  Or maybe I can convince her to let me share it with you!  We'll see.  But for now...GET THEE TO OASIS CAFE AND LIVING CUISINE!  And ask for the Pumpkin Spice Smoothie.    IT IS SO DIVINE!!!!!    It will make your entire day perfect.  Even if people threw rocks at you, you would think, "hey, that doesn't matter, because I am drinking this insanely delicious drink, and you're not. "   THAT is how good it is.  I need a thesaurus because seriously it's just beyond delicious.  It's also healthy, all natural and GOOD FOR YOU!  Imagine that!  
HOW REFRESHING!!!!!!!!!! 


If you are used to the Starbucks version, this will top it flavor wise...and if you are looking for that caffeine kick, just ask for a shot or two of espresso in your pumpkin spice smoothie!   


So yummy, I want to live solely on giant cups of it...     


Seriously kids, this smoothie is no joke.  It's the real deal.  Not lacking in taste in ANY WAY.  


Here are some photos to make you salivate...

Oh and feel free to grab some AMAZING YUMMY RAW GOOD-FOR-YOU SNACKS to go with it!!!!!  Who knew dessert could be healthy? Raw foods baby!  RAW FOODS!  :-)

MMMM.
RAWWWW CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!  Ok.  I just drooled on my keyboard.


Check out OASIS at:  
http://www.oasislivingcuisine.com/


Follow the NEW OASIS BLOG!
http://oasislivingcuisine.blogspot.com/


Oasis Living Cuisine
134 Lancaster Avenue
Frazer, PA 19355(610)647-9797

Cafe & Store Hours
Tuesday- Friday 11:00am - 5:00pm Saturday 11:00am -3:00pm
Sunday & Monday : Closed
oasiscafe@msn.com

Sexy Olive Cheeze Spread

I love wine.

I love cheese (but I don't eat dairy anymore)

I love olives.

I love the idea of a healthy dairy-free *cheeze* that tastes amazing and is actually GOOD FOR YOU! (I changed the s to a z in *cheeze* so that you know it's dairy-free!)

After mixing things up in the kitchen, I came up with this fabulous recipe that will satisfy cheeze & olive lovers everywhere  (and you won't wake up with extra cellulite stuck to your hips!)  

Gotta love raw!

Check it out - you won't believe how simple this recipe is!

SEXY OLIVE CHEEZE SPREAD:

Sexy Olive Cheese Spread (yields 1 1/2 cups, or 6-8 servings - feel free to double this recipe if you are having a par-tay!)

1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked at least one hour
 juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup of katamala olives

1) Place soaked seeds, salt, and lemon into the bowl of a food processor and blend until creamy!

2) With the motor running, drizzle 1/2 cup water into the food processor, so that the mixture becomes light and creamy. Do it slowly and use your judgement so that you don't make it watery!  If it looks good, just stop adding water.

3) Add the katamala olives and blend until mixed throughout the cheeze.

You end up with this!  

Spread this on raw crackers, use it as a veggie dip, add this as a cheezy pate to wraps and sandwiches!  There are so many things you can do with it!  This got 2 huge thumbs up from the Mom so I know it's good.  And I ate everything on that plate  (also how I know it's good).

If you hate olives - feel free to switch that out and use sundried tomatoes instead!  You would end up with a Sexy Sundried Tomato Cheeze Spread!  MMMM!  I'm making that one next!  

ENJOY!

Sexy Like A Chocolate Strawberry Smoothie

I was in the mood for raw ice cream tonight but didn't have any frozen bananas left in the freezer (stay tuned for another raw ice cream recipe tomorrow!!!), so I went with more of a dessert smoothie instead.

This is my Sexy Like A Chocolate Strawberry Smoothie (oh yea, I said it!) - did I mention it's guilt-free, dairy-free, and fabulous!?

In a blender:

1 Ripe Banana
2 cups of frozen strawberries  (toss some fresh strawberries into your freezer in a plastic baggie or tupperware container for a few hours - or you can use store bought frozen organic strawberries)
1 tablespoon of Raw Cacao Powder
1 cup of spring water
...and blend!!!

This was so yummy and totally hit the spot.  You could make this super creamy by switching out the water and using almond milk instead (alas, I am out of almond milk...so I went with water - gotta use what ya got!)

You could also add sliced strawberries or raw cacao chips as toppings!

Be creative and don't be afraid to mix it up!  The blender is your friend.

Enjoy!
xoxo
Lauren

Inspiration

Happy Friday!

Every week I will be updating my INSPIRATION section with new images - feel free to click on the page link above to check it out! 

Here is some new inspiration that you will find posted there - along with many others!

Enjoy! 
oxoxo

Before & After Photos

Curious about my story?  Check out the About page to read about my journey and check out my before and after photos!!!

If I can do it, so can you!

IT'S TIME TO GET RAW AND SEXY!
xoxo

Lauren

Finding Balance

I am discovering that finding balance and feeling inner peace lies in the little things I do each day.  Making a smoothie.  Being active.  Breathing fresh air.  Feeling sunshine on my face.   Driving with the windows down...barefoot.  Using my favorite natural organic lavendar soap.  Sticking my toes in the sand at the beach.  Getting knocked around by the waves in the ocean.  Writing.  Going for long drives on windy back roads.  This feel-good list will change when Autumn hits and pumpkin picking, chai tea making and watching the changing of the leaves will take over.  

Throughout each day though, a handful of things always remain the same.  The things I know that I absolutely need to do for myself in order to feel balanced each day.  Exercise.  I need to break a sweat.  I need to get sweaty and hot and salty and just push my body as much as I can...releasing the stress, feeling that second wind kick in, feeling that natural high that can only come from physical activity.  I crave that feeling on a daily basis, and if I don't make time for it, I find myself feeling down.  Sad.  Depressed.  Bummed.  Not looking at life with the same eyes.  Our bodies were meant to move!  We were created with such amazing abilities, and so many of us have sedentary jobs in unnatural environments...we need to get outside and move more than ever!  The other two things I need to do each day are eating my raw veggies/fruit and using natural organic body products.  I don't feel like "me" unless I am drinking a green smoothie or covered in raw coconut oil after a shower... Might sound silly, but those little things make me really happy.  There are so many things that can happen during the day but we need to make that time for ourselves...make time to do the little things that help us feel centered and happy.  Do the things that restore our energy and spirit.  If we take the time to love and take care of ourselves, we will have an abundance of energy and love with which to give to others...and that can only be a good thing.

What do you need to do during the day to find your balance?

A Raw and Sexy Lifestyle

You may have noticed that my blog is changing shape a bit...but that makes perfect sense seeing as how I am changing right along with it.  I want my blog to be more of a lifestyle blog that focuses on overall health, nutrition, fitness, and how to achieve it in the best possible ways.  I will still be writing about raw foods and sharing recipes etc, but I am changing my blog to be more of a reflection of my lifestyle, and not just solely about raw foods.  After all, a balanced healthy happy life is what we are all after, right?  What better way to help each other achieve that than to talk about more than just food!  

I was chatting with my best friend Jodi the other day about how amazing it is...all the food blogs and websites out there.  It's as though we have forgotten how to feed ourselves.  Fifty years ago the world was not covered with food blogs, food magazines, food shows, food this food that...  people just ate food and lived their lives.  But they ate real food, because the world wasn't completely saturated with junk food, fast food, or processed food then either.  Now it seems that food has become some of our lives.  People post about it all day long.  They laundry list everything they eat.  That can be definitely helpful for some who are interested in seeing more healthy options and knowing what others are doing, but we have to remember that life is meant to be lived.  Not just eaten. ;-)

Raw Is Sexy will have lots of raw food-whole food-healthy food posts, but I'll be adding much more fitness, daily activities, goals, photos, etc to the mix!  Because that's what being raw and sexy is really about... living the life, sharing it with others and hopefully inspiring you to take more steps in a raw and sexy direction!

So without further ado, I give you, Friend Fitness Weekends!

My bestest friend in the universe *Jodi* and I came up with the awesome idea of fitness weekends! Jodi lives in Connecticut and I live in Pennsylvania and we’ve decided to spend one weekend a month together (alternating locations) to work on our training-fitness-health and try out new things! The in-between weeks we can work on our personal goals and then when we meet up, share our progress.

Recently we racked up 2 (two) SIX MILE hikes-runs-walks together, had an outdoor movie night, cracked open coconuts and made the most divine smoothie EVER with coconut water, coconut meat, banana, spinach, apple, and Sunwarrior Raw Vegan Protein. 

Jodi has lots of 5k's and races planned for fall, and I signed up for my first 5k in October!  So we have lots of running and training ahead of us.

For those of you wondering if I am still doing a fitness competition,  the best answer I can give you is yes and no :-)   Yes, eventually I would like to do one.  No, I am not going to be ready for the Sept. 18th show as I had originally planned.  I work a lot, and have about 3 side jobs outside of my full time job, and finding the time to spend more than an hour and a half in the gym is difficult sometimes.  Sometimes I don't want to be doing weights, sometimes I just want to ride my bike.  Sometimes I just want to run.  So I'm torn, because I don't know if the fitness competition is for me...I set out to do it to just prove a point, but I put so much pressure and stress on myself to be this example and motivate the world, that I ended up just stressing myself out and juggling 18 balls at once, and burning out.  I think I have a Superwoman Complex.  I am always taking on so many things and I think this time around I spread myself a little too thin.  So we will see... if i can get in the groove where I have the time to train for that type of competition, I will most definitely do it.  But right now, I'm trying just to stay on track with my healthy balanced every day life and living in a gym is just not fitting in.  Don't get me wrong, I work out in the gym at least 5 days a week.  I also run outside, ride my bike, etc.   But with my day job (executive assistant), my nutrition blog and cancer blog, writing my book, doing photography and modeling, nutritional counseling, and figuring out my next move, the fitness competition requires time I just don't have this second.   I would like to do it though, (as I would like to do EVERYTHING! ALL THE TIME!!! haha) but I will have to pick another date.  Once I have one I'll keep you posted!  So that is the update on that for now... 

I can definitely find time to train for my 5k in October and I am super excited about doing that!  :-)

I am also super excited about spending one weekend a month with Jodi!  Fall is almost here (can you believe it!!!???) and having lots of healthy activities to look forward to makes me really happy. 

I am realizing more and more that life really is about having a healthy balance across the board and not being so hard on ourselves all the time to be perfect.  At least I am working on that one for myself.  Because perfect doesn't exist.  It never has.  It never will. 

Jodi has known me forever, and recently made a comment to me that I always seem to be doing doing doing and working towards something... but she said she wondered what would happen if I just stopped and enjoyed the present moment.  Just embraced exactly where I am at right now... and saw the "now" as being good enough.  How I am in this moment is good enough.  The things I am doing are good enough.  They just are.  That's a hard concept for me because I think I've always felt pressure to achieve achieve achieve and be "successful" and what's funny is that I put more pressure on myself than anyone else ever could.  To save the world.  Make everyone healthy and fit and happy.  Heal everyone.  Make people laugh.

Maybe it's not a Superwoman Complex I have..maybe it's a Mother Theresa Complex. 

Whatever it is, it's too much.  So I am taking a step back and looking at the big picture.  The big raw sexy picture that is my life and figuring out where to hit the breaks and where to accelerate.  Figuring out what area needs more balance and doing a whole lot more of living in the moment.  Because the present moment is all we have. 

I'll be sharing many of those living in the moment "moments" with you...and keeping it real.

Real.
Raw.
and of course, Sexy.

xoxo
Lauren

Oh Stanley

I love Stanley.

Stanley is my amazing green thermos sitting here on my desk.

Stanley holds 32 ounces and keeps your beverage cold or hot for 24 hours!  I also own Stanley's big brother, who is 64 ounces, and keeps things cold for up to 32 hours!  And when I say cold, I mean COLD.  Cold like it just-came-out-of-the-fridge cold. 

I bring Stanley to work with me on a regular basis.  He holds my green juice, smoothies and soups!  This morning he's carrying my banana, strawberry, spinach, almond milk smoothie.  YUM.

I think everyone should have a Stanley.  But you'll have to get your own because this guy is mine.

Well, actually, that's not true.  This guy belonged to my grandfather.  My awesome Irish, Pepperidge Farm-truck driving grandfather who took 2 Stanleys on the road with him.  One filled with coffee, and one with soup.  (at least I think that's what my Mom said).  I wonder if Pop-Pop would laugh if he saw me filling his Stanley with green smoothies.  I wonder if I could have gotten him to try a green smoothie.  The same man who put extra oil on his hoagies and extra salt on everything.  He was the best though. I always felt the love coming from him and he always made us laugh with either stories or practical jokes.  I think he would have tried a green smoothie.  It is GREEN after all. That should be good enough for the Irish. 

Anyway, I love this Stanley, not only because it works like a charm, but because I know my grandfather took it everywhere with him, and every single time I use it, I think about him. 

If you need something to tote your smoothies-juices-soups around in, I don't think any brand is better than this one.  After all, this Stanley Thermos has been working for decades now.   You can take my word for it...and my Pop-Pop's...the Irish know their stuff.  :-)

Click here to check out the Stanley website