veganfamilia

RAW

veganfamilia — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 02:06:27 +0000

I’m getting ready already for my lunch tomorrow! Do you think ahead? I’ve got zuc marinating in vinegar, oil and a slight dash of sug and salt. RAW baby! Ain’t nothin’ betta!

There is nothin’ better.

veganfamilia — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 01:40:22 +0000

Amigos, friends, people….I have to say….I have missed CAFFEINE far more that I would have ever guessed. My little one is officially 1 year old. Which means, bring on the caffeine. Right? I’m sorry. I gave up coffee and tea when I found out I was pregnant over one year and nine months ago (real tears were shed). WOW. Why don’t we put this into perspective. Before pregnancy = 2 pots of coffee plus some tea everyday. YES, it’s for real people. Caffeine – WOW! My CASA was sooooo clean – I was in heaven. I brew green tea at night so I can chill it and drink it in the morning. I made the mistake of drinking my brew all day – which left me AWAKe aWAke AwAke all night. Seriously, I would have never thought green tea had this power – but after caffeine soberity I can say that IT is REAL! Be careful – BUT enjoy it’s magic folks. I don’t need to explain the benefits here. GOOGLE is your friend. Antioxidants, fat burning, clear skin – you name it – plus a CLEAN house. Come on Peeps. Here’s a peek at my brew:

It is strong so I add Slim & Sassy (doTERRA oil) plus some water. I only drink it till noon – otherwise I’m literally up all night. Click here to read about the benefits of green tea.

Terra do Sol

veganfamilia — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:25:36 +0000

Oi, tudo bem galera? Hello there. It’s been quite a while friends. Life has been happening and I’ve been caught up in catching up to my life here in Fortaleza, Brazil. They called it Terra do Sol because it is so damn hot all the time. Adjusting to a new city, the weather and being a wife again has kept me away from the blog much longer than expected. Here is another reason why I’ve been gone:

Watching these two play together has been exactly how I dreamed it would be. Lennox and I were in the US for 6 months while Daddy was taking care of business here in Brazil. They had a lot of catching up to do.

We arrived at the beginning of June, we planned this of course to make sure we could all be together for Lennox’s first birthday! Making the 24 hour journey by myself with the little guy actually wasn’t as bad as I expected. The key to an easy trip was traveling late in the day so we could sleep most the way. We got really lucky and had a row all to ourselves on the longest flight from Chicago to Sao Paulo. We both slept most the way. A huge difference from our last trip – which consisted of NO SLEEPING at all.

Lucky me, my husband works in produce. I have an unlimited supply of yummy fruits and veggies coming my way everyday. Sounds dreamy right? Here is something delicious we had the other day:

Chu chu com cenoura e cebola. Chayote squash with carrots and onions and my favorite assortment of spices called tempero Baiano. Yum yum.

As our house gets more in order I should be posting more and more. Until next time!

Beijos!

Goji snackers

veganfamilia — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:47:19 +0000

This blog still exists {I promise}, although it seems I’ve disappeared, I haven’t exactly. One week ago while in Lake Havasu for business I had a little water skiing accident. Oops! Let me start from the beginning. My business partner Amy and I were in Lake Havasu promoting our doTERRA business. We had a successful two days in the blazing heat and were on our way to Santa Monica when the AC went out in her car. It just so happened to be 112 degrees at the time. We couldn’t have stopped at a better mechanic shop to hear the bad news {turns out the guy was a friend of my Dads}. It was going to take two days to get the necessary parts so we decided to head back to my Dad’s. I decided to take advantage of the situation and sneak in some more skiing time before the sun went down. I buckled Lennox in his life jacket and off we went for some fun on the river. I had already skied my heart out in the morning but was fresh and ready for some more. The water was perfect so I just kept going and going telling myself I would stop when the water got bad – it never did. The sun was setting and shining right in my eyes, just when I was about ready to stop I somehow caught and edge or something and had one of the worst crashes ever. Somehow I was pulled into the splits with the ski twisted and I don’t know what else. All I knew was that I really had hurt myself. Ouch. I couldn’t get the ski off or even move. I was shaking so bad and was in terrible pain. My Dad got the ski off and used his life guarding techniques to get me back into the boat. Lennox immediately wanted me to hold him, but I couldn’t stop shaking. I was in shock. Hugging Lennox we got underway back to the house. I couldn’t straighten my leg, at all. My Dad carried me back to the house and I laid on the floor in great pain. Luckily Amy is a massage therapist and she immediately got to work on my leg, massaging lemongrass, frankincense and Deep Blue into my leg. We decided to make the trek back to Utah in the middle of the night since we were without an AC. We arrived home at 4am. Amy’s husband Jon is a chiropractor {check out Jon’s blog} and lucky for me was willing to get out of bed and x-ray my leg to make sure nothing was broke. The good news was I didn’t break anything, the bad news it was going to take a long while to heal. Jon adjusted me and sent me on my way, I was actually able to straighten my leg after he adjusted me. I’ve been diligently applying lemongrass, frankincense and patchouli to help heal the muscles and reduce the swelling. What a blessing the oils have been in my recovery. Who knows where I would be without out them. It’s been one week and I’m walking much better than I expected. The pain is still intense, but I’ve been healing myself from the inside by eating well and drinking loads of water. I’ve been staying off my leg as much as possible and haven’t made anything yummy or exciting vegan treats to post lately. I did forget to share with you all my Goji Snackers I made for our trip to Havasu last week, so I will share now:

Goji Snackers

2 cups whole almonds

pinch of salt

12 dates

1/3 cup coconut butter

5 drops doTERRA lemon oil

1 cup goji berries

1/3 cup salba or chia seeds

water as needed

Directions:

Whizz almonds and salt in a food processor until finely chopped. Add dates, coconut butter and lemon oil. Pulse in salba and add water till a moldable consistency is achieved. Mix in goji berries by hand. Roll into balls and enjoy.

Very Berry Goji Smoothie (veganfamilia.wordpress.com)

Life happens

veganfamilia — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:55:44 +0000

You know those days when the hours seem like minutes? Lately it seems there isn’t enough time in the day to even get half my daily to-do list taken care of. Taking deep breaths and going at life slowly is what I’ve been attempting lately. Caring for my 84 year old grandmother is a much harder task than I expected. She is getting to those final stages and requires much more attention than little Lennox at times. Emotionally it’s exhausting and I try to sympathize – I have no idea what she must feel like but it all seems overwhelming too often. Taking a time out with Lennox to blow bubbles on the lawn was the highlight of my day. Watching him watch the bubbles pop and seeing this little mind try to figure out where they went is so innocent and lovely. During his nap I miss him and his happy spirit. With him by my side it is easy to stay upbeat and not feel overwhelmed. How am I going to find the time to pack for our move back to Brazil while caring for grandma and doing life? Tomorrow is another day and hopefully one where the time doesn’t fly by. I hoping to pack in some baking tomorrow to get ready for our next road trip…my diet has be sorta blah the past few days…here’s a peek and what I had today:

Gluten Free Oats with Sliced Bananas and Raisins

Zucchini and Avocado Hummus

Zucchini and Avocado Hummus

1 small zucchini

1/2 avocado

1 tbsp tahini

1/2 can of white beans

1 tsp cumin

1 pinch of sea salt

1 pinch of pepper

3 drops doTERRA lemon oil

1 tbsp olive oil

water if needed to blend

Directions: Blend all ingredients in food processor. Enjoy!

The best recovery smoothie

veganfamilia — Thu, 10 May 2012 04:48:54 +0000

More than anything I love a great workout. One where your legs are trembling the whole way through but you keep going anyway. Yesterday I was lucky enough to get one of those in. For me they don’t happen enough. Needless to say I knew I needed a great recovery drink and I made one that really did the trick. I know because today I feel great and would normally be hobbling around the house cursing under my breath. Maca really does the trick I’m telling you…you must give it a try.

My Recovery Smoothie

1 1/2 bananas
2 tsp cocoa
1 tbsp hemp protein
1 tsp vanilla rice protein
1 tbsp maca
handful of ice
coconut milk

Whiz everything in your magic bullet! Feel great the next day!

This smoothie was so thick and dessert like it felt like a treat. What is your favorite recovery smoothie/meal?

Very Berry Goji Smoothie

veganfamilia — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:00:57 +0000

Finally after all the illness and moving Lennox and I are finally getting back into the groove. We’re staying with my grandma to help her out. She just got out of a rehab center after a nasty fall. {Please God, don’t let me get old!} Just more motivation to keep moving everyday and eat a healthy diet full of life. Grandma is too stubborn to take my advice on eating less processed junk, heck, we’re lucky to get her to eat at all. It just kills me to sit back and let her eat that “fake” food. What can I do? Just keep on nourishing myself and my wee one with a smile on my face…right? Let’s start with a smoothie – how about a yummy Very Berry Goji Smoothie packed with antioxidants to keep us young. Don’t mind if I do…

Very Berry Goji Smoothie

1 big handful of mixed frozen berries

5 strawberries

1 small handful of goji berries

1 cup coconut milk

Directions: Whiz everything in your magic bullet or blender. Sprinkle with chia seeds and enjoy with giggles and a good book.

My first real meal in two days

veganfamilia — Sun, 06 May 2012 20:53:56 +0000

Ugh. We got sick – the worst kinda sick we had the flu. Yuck, I know. Lennox had it first {poor baby}and then it was my turn. If moms got sick days I woulda taken advantage for SURE! But, we are back to normal {mostly}. My appetite is still MIA but I’m sure show up some time soon. I knew I needed something good for me, but I wanted something to warm me up. Taking what I had in the fridge I came up with this:

First, I sauteed some green onions. Added sliced yellow squash and some curry powder, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper. Then some pea pods, grape tomatoes. I covered it all with some baby spinach and let it wilt. Then I added some left-over tomato coconut soup. Wah-la. Lunch is served.

Vegan Coconut Non-Curry (veganfamilia.wordpress.com)

Did you say avocado ice cream?

veganfamilia — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:50:35 +0000

Did you say avocado ice cream? Well, yes I did! Don’t be scared, it’s totally different than it sounds. OK, so vegans know about the versatility of avocados and are clearly more open to crazy sounding ideas like this – we’ve all had some Chocolate Mousse made with avocados, right? When I found Tanner O’Dell I just plain fell in love with this kid. Yes, he’s a kid and he’s got way more on his resume than I do! Check out his recipe for Avocado Ice Cream here. {I used a few tablespoons of agave nectar to sweeten mine instead of stevia.} Take my word for it, the ice cream maker is a must. I tried it both ways and wouldn’t recommend doing it without. Does this sound like something you would try? What other ice creams have you made? I’ve been dreaming of another wacky ice cream idea – stay posted for that one once I master it….

xoxo,

Crystal

Today I feel more like a turtle than a gazelle…

veganfamilia — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:08:25 +0000

We all have those days where we feel sub-human rather than super-human. Today is one of those days for me. I know a good old fashion run will cure me, but I’m feeling more like a turtle than a gazelle. Umph! Out into the wind I go {I strongly dislike wind}. Why is it so windy here? Did I mention I don’t like the wind?

veganfamilia

RAW

There is nothin’ better.

Terra do Sol

Goji snackers

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Life happens

The best recovery smoothie

Very Berry Goji Smoothie

My first real meal in two days

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Did you say avocado ice cream?

Today I feel more like a turtle than a gazelle…