Roadtrip - Music festival!

I'm on a roadtrip to the southern part of Sweden. On my way to work actually, but along the way I make a stop to attend the Bråvalla festival. I hope I will hear a lot of great music and eat some nice vegan food at the festival! 

We're staying at a hotel, so it is kind of a fancy way to stay for a festival, but I prefer to not sleep in a tent a the festival. Not my cup of tea. So this morning I almost emptied the bowl with fruit salad at the breakfast and now I'm carbed up and ready for a long day at the festival! 

I try to eat a lot of raw food, but I do eat other foods too. The raw food gives me the best energy though. I like that it seem to get more and more easy to get your hands on vegan food at festivals. 

I'd better go to the festival now. 

Raw Bounty

At last I'm at my home for awhile. This spring has been crazy! Travelling all the time for work. And finally I'm home, for a couple of weeks.. then some more work and then... vacation! I'm so exited for the summer.

When I'm away from home I don't get to eat things I like to all the time, but then it gets better when I finally do. For some time I've had cravings for Bounty bars. I've never done Raw Bounty but I thought in my mind that it would be quite easy and tasty. Yesterday, when I went through my groceries I found some grated coconut and decided to give it a try, and it turned out really yummy!

This is my recipe. I have just estimated the amount since I actually didn't measure the ingredients, so maybe you have to add something or have less of something, but it should be quite right.

Raw Bounty
3 dl grated coconut
1 dl agave
a pinch of vanilla powder
3-4 tsp coconut oil
Blend the ingredients. Form into bite size pieces, and put in the freezer for a while.

For the chocolate cover:
4 tsp coconut oil
4 tsp raw cacao powder
4 tsp raw carob powder
1-2 tbsp agave
a pinch of vanilla

Let the coconut oil melt on very low heat. Add the rest. Then dip the freezed coconut bites in the chocolate, it is a bit messy, but what a nice mess it is. Double dip if you want the chocolate cover to be thick.

Then try to let the Raw Bounty sit in the freezer until the chocolate cover has hardened. A couple of pieces accidently jumped into my mouth before they reached the freezer. Accidents can happen...

Enjoy! I will!

Tap some birch sap

Tapping birch sap in the spring is an old swedish tradition. The birch stores nutrition during the winter to use in the spring when the leaves are about to burst. 

The nutrition get released when it gets warmer and the tree starts to suck up water. At that time you can collect the birch sap, which contains minerals and antioxidants, and it is said to be a real remedy for cancer. 

This is also our local "coconut water". Drink it as it is or use in smoothies. 

A shot or two in the day is supposed to do wonders. And don't forget to thank the tree. Cheers! 

Heartbeet dressing

Tonight's dinner was so tasty! I've been away from home for almost a week, been working in Stockholm again. Have had a great time, but it is even more great to come home, and prepare my own meals. I love to cook! Well, there is not so much cooking when it comes to raw food, but you get me.

It is so satisfying to create a meal of raw foods. I have had cravings for beetroot so today I made a dressing. Beet is good for your immune system and can lower your blood pressure, so your heart likes it too. I didn't have whole beetroot at home so I used beet powder.

This is what I used for the dressing.

Heartbeet dressing
2 tsp beetroot powder
1 orange (peeled)
1/2 avocado
some fresh basil
some water

Toss everything together in the blender and then blend. Pour it over your salad and enjoy. I had some green salad, cauliflower salad, the rest of the avocado, semidried tomatoes, and some chopped almonds to go with my dressing. Taasty!

Back on it!

Been a while since I made a post... Can't really say I've been a good raw fooder, but I'm eager to get back on track! I haven't lost it all together, and my mind is starting to set for this lifestyle for real. More and more I feel that it is the food that my body craves and long for. 

Here is tonight's dinner. 

Smooth green orange

2 Bananas

Some kale

1 tsp Wheat grass powder

1 tsp Nettle powder

2 tbsp Chia seeds

2-3 dl Almond milk

1/2 Orange 

Some water

Mix together and have the rest of the orange on the side. 

That green grass taste is quite special but I've come to like it a lot and sometimes I like a smoothie that is less sweet than if you just use fruit and berries. And for dinner I like it more savory than sweet. 

Now I'm longing for the snow to go away and for those green little nettles and leaves to grow and bring even more life to the food! 

Struggling

It has been a while since my last blog post. I've had very much to do a work, been away quite a lot, and just haven't been inspired to post something on the blog. I got a real boozt when I got the results for my blood tests, and that has continued to motivate me to eat a lot of raw food. But I want to be honest and I have to admit that I have been struggling too. I haven't eaten as much raw food as I would have liked to. I guess I want to blame it on stress and old bad habits.

I also had a real backlash when I one day felt an enormous pain in my belly, and I even had to spend a couple of days at the hospital because of that. I was in Stockholm for a conference, but I had to leave the conference. I turned out that I had got diverticulitis, inflammation in the gut. I hadn't really been sticking to the raw food so I guess that was the result. My blood tests were still good though at the hospital, except from the infection.

I learnt that the diverticulitis got cured by not eating and drinking for a couple of days. Isn't the body a wonderful construction? Cures itself if it just get some rest. You could say it was a kind of water fast, but I got the water straight into my veins, at the hospital. I did the hardcore version ;)

I got quite hungry in those 3-4 days that I couldn't really eat, and when I started to eat again the food had never tasted as good! The fruit and the smoothies tasted awesome! I did have cravings for really fatty foods though but I tried to hold back.

I have had some really powerful reactions in my body the last months, probably related to stress, because it has mainly occured when I've been away for work. My plan is to try to cut down on stress related situations. Not so easy though...

This looks like my goal - totally relaxed and stress free.

Amazing!

I've been to the doctor for my yearly check up today, and I was really excited to hear about my blood test results, I got the best answer ever! All the results are good! Then you should know that some of my blood test results have never been normal.

I've had rheumatism since I was a kid, and eaten tons of medicine, but even when the rheumatism stopped being active, like 25 years ago, there has always been something wrong. Medicine has never been able to fix it, even though I've tried.

And now it is all good! This is AMAZING! And it is all thanks to one thing - RAW FOOD! Since I started eating a high raw diet the results have got better and better. I haven't just imagined that it feels good for my body.

Now I've seen it for myself: Food is my medicine!