Every Disappointment Shows You a New Turn To Take

Happy New Year Everyone and hope your year is going great so far. Mine was going good until my favorite kitchen appliance broke up with me. My 2-in-1 Cuisinart food processor of 8 years finally kicked the bucket! And right when Nina and I were about to make a Raw Vegan Mango Cheesecake. We hadn't even gotten to the cheesecake (cashew and co) part yet and the food processor gave up right in the middle of us making the crust, well, the crust was almost done too. Either way I had to use my my back-up blender to come up with something different for dessert. But first here is how my day went:

My 8 year old Personal Trainer, Nina

I decided to let my daughter be my personal trainer for the morning and she almost killed me, seriously, an 8 year old made me work so hard that I almost cried, I am not joking when I say this, I was aching all over when we were done and the morning after. SHE IS GOOD!!! hahahahahahaha I have to give her that. We've made an agreement for her to coach me in the mornings, also gives us time to spend quality time together, have fun and all while exercising, not a bad deal huh? Then we made a vegetable juice for breakfast, well, for me mostly, the kids decided to do their usual banana/strawberry smoothie:

GOOD morning Vegetable Juice

2 Lbs bag of organic carrots
1 lemon, seeds removed
3-4 Granny Smith apples, cored
2 handfuls spinach leaves

Run all ingredients through a juicer and enjoy. I had a glass of this deliciousness at around 11 am and another around 4pm.

For Lunch I decided to go for a tasty Nori-wrap

Tasty Vegetable Wrap

4 nori sheets (or lettuce leaves)
1 big parsnips (some people call them white/albino carrots), grated
2-3 Tbsp agave nectar
2 small avocados (Haas), thinly sliced
1/4 cup Braggs Apple cider vinegar
3-4 big carrots, julienned
1 medium jicama, thinly sliced

Directions:

Soak julienned carrots in Braggs apple cider vinegar and set aside
Sprinkle a dash of salt and paprika on sliced jicama and set aside
Double nori sheets, lay on a flat surface. With fingers, lightly smear water all over the sheets (don't have to do this is you are using lettuce leaves)
Start vertically adding ingredients to roll in nori sheets; parsnips, drizzle of agave over length of parsnips, carrots, jicama and lastly avocado.
Roll tightly and use water to seal ends of nori sheet.

This was very delicious and quite satisfying.

For dinner we were going to make a mango cheesecake but disappointment turned into a sweet surprise when our food processor broke down ( Can't do without a food processor, have to get one really soon because I make most of my raw foods and desserts with it)

The- mango- thingy- that -was- meant- to- be- a- mango- cheesecake- but- couldn't

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup almond meal (ground almond)
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dates
pinch of salt

Put in food processor with an 'S' blade and blend till it starts to stick together and form and dough. Press half of the dough 5' pan and set aside. * Since my food processor broke halfway my walnuts were coarse which really gave it a crunchy feel, yummmy!!!*

Mango pudding:

3 cups frozen mango
1 cup coconut flakes, (dry)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp coconut oil
3 Tbsp water

Add all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend till smooth and creamy. Pour a layer of mango pudding over crust and then sprinkle the rest of the dough over first mango layer. Top with the remainder of mango pudding, cover with an aluminium foil and freeze for about 1 hour. I just couldn't wait so I got mine out sooner and it was semi-firm but still wildly delicious.

EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

10 QUICK WEIGHT LOSS TIPS FOR 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

I can't believe how fast the past year went by. I hope you are proud of all you accomplished when you look back, if not don't give up, as long as you believe, are ready to work at it, you will be successful. Here are a few weight loss tips to aid you this year:

1. DRINK MORE WATER: 

-It makes you fuller faster

-Increases your metabolic rate

-Helps flush out toxins from your body

2. LIGHT BREAKFAST:

- Fruits and vegetable juices are great for breakfast, takes very little time to digest but keeps you energized and satiated.

Anti-oxidant galore YUM

3. SAY NO TO SUGAR & REDUCE SALT INTAKE

-Use fruits, dates, organic maple syrup, honey, stevia or agave to sweeten

-If you crave salt, use dulse flakes, braggs amino acids, or dried celery flakes, you can also eat strawberries or mangoes, they have enough sodium to soothe your cravings.
-Himalayan salt is the best quality salt I know and use, unlike regular table salt whose minerals have been bleached out, himalayan salt still has all its elements.

Raw vegan apple pie

4. AVOID DAIRY PRODUCTS (if you must then buy organic)

-Collard greens, broccoli, almonds are all great sources of calcium

-Have big salads with your meals
-http://www.notmilk.com/
-Get the facts on MILK...click here!

Veggie casserole

5. DETOX

-Excess weight is caused by excessive waste in the body and calories the body can't use

-Do a juice fast or the FYR 21-Day detox (ebooks available at top right hand corner of this site)

FYR 'Fire'

6. EXERCISE before you eat breakfast:

-Forces the body to burn fat as opposed to the body burning sugars from what you just ate

Doing jumping jacks with resistance bands

7. AVOID ALL 'WHITE' FOODS and foods that contain them

- White sugar, rice, breads etc

-Substitute that side of potato or rice with some steamed or raw vegetables instead

8. TRY NOT TO EAT AFTER 8PM OR EAT AT LEAST 3-4 HOURS BEFORE YOU GO TO BED

-Teas or water is fine

9. EAT AS MUCH RAW FOODS AS POSSIBLE

-One of the quickest and safest ways to lose weight is to eat more raw foods.

-You could do raw until dinner and then have some cooked food

-Raw-vegan foods include fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts

-Raw food contains live enzymes which are denatured by heat when we cook food

-Live enzymes help cleanse the body and get rid of waste

-Eating 70-80% raw will yield tons of benefits to your health, you only need to try it for a few days to know what I mean

Delicious spinach and banana smoothie

10. KEEP YOUR STRESS DOWN

-Please refer to my blog entry titled 'Stress, the silent killer'

-Most people respond to stress by overeating

LOOKING FORWARD TO READING MORE SUCCESS STORIES THIS YEAR.

EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from FYR

Good Mommies Have Santa Over for Tea?

(Thoughts of a deep-thinking mommy)

Am I a bad mother because I feel somewhat disgusted at the number of presents I see underneath the Christmas tree? Whose birthday is it anyway? Are those gifts for the one whose birthday we’re celebrating? Will these have to be topped the following year? What gifts do we bring to Him this year? Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that they receive such love and attention anytime, I'm just a worrier, a deep-thinking mommy a I mentioned earlier.

Does it make me too self-righteous for wanting to give more than receive? How many people out there who won’t have a single gift this Christmas? Better yet, the little child who will receive one book or one toy or even just a hug from his/her mommy and have such joy in receiving….but over there another child receives hundreds of gifts but is not happy because maybe mommy and daddy or Santa forgot one thing from the list.

The helter-skelter back home in Cameroon when Christmas was nearing had nothing to do with gifts or presents--even though we sometimes got a new pair of shoe or dress. It was just an infectious season of happiness, more like Thanksgiving over here—gathering around a table to share a meal (rice, stew, chicken, chin-chin, chocolate) to enjoy those things that we usually don’t get to enjoy all year round like candy and cake.

Am I a bad mother for wishing I hadn’t fallen into the fairytale of Santa with my children? For wanting my children to know from the onset where their gifts really came from-- for not wanting the stress of buying for Santa as well? For wanting my daughter to know that one or two gifts is more than enough and means much more than truck load of gifts. But I am on my toes with my children everyday to build in them empathy, character and the joy of giving and thinking of others, sometimes even before ourselves. 

We live in a country which preaches SELF-SELF-SELF but I want that acronym changed for my children: S. selflessness, E. empathy, L. love & F. faith. I will fight with all I’ve got to teach them what is right and what I know deep in my heart that is true: that Jesus Christ is Lord…because I know and I thank God everyday that I have ears that hear (sometimes) hahahaha and that my eyes are opened a bit to ‘see’, that amidst all the distractions the SPIRIT within never ceases to call out and if we just quiet down some, we just might hear…

These are my thoughts this season, as I grow older some more is revealed to me.

So many people (including myself) tend to go with the flow “Oh, it’s harmless fun” “Oh, we think it’s okay to celebrate both sides, the Christian and the Un-Christian”. I will never boast to be so morally fit as to say I have no speck in my eye, but I strive to be more like Christ (it’s not always easy but I will not give up). He is the example I choose to follow and hopefully my children and my children’s children will choose the same path.  There is a RIGHT and a WRONG, a HOT and a COLD, a NO and a YES and though I sometimes join the ‘luke-warmers’, I do so knowingly.

I guess what I am trying to leave with anyone interested is that 2012 is another year to make things happen. Leave the anger, failures, resentments, bad habits and all that is ugly behind you and enter the new year all shinny and new. Think a little deeper, choose a little more wisely, love a little longer and harder, pray a little more feverently, listen a little more actively, talk a little less, give more freely, hope a little stronger, smile a little broader, walk a little slower, take time to make time for the things that matter, get a journal, dare to start that little business you’ve always wanted to start, be kind to a stranger, love like a mother, hug like a father, eat like a king/queen aha! This is where we talk about FYR. Are you going to carry your procrastinations from last year into the New Year? Or are you going to buy your eBook and attempt to do what you planned at the beginning of last year? Time does fly by doesn’t it? 

Enjoy time with your family all year round, give gifts all year round, say ‘I love you’ all year round, hold on to the beauty inside of you, make your own decisions, make wiser decisions…. And please if you see me at the store or on the street “No, I’m not offended by your ‘Merry Christmas’ greeting. I like to keep the ‘CHRIST’ in Christmas.”

p/s Before I begin to read any of your thoughts, I want you to know I am not judging anyone, my convictions won't just let me be, so I am always thinking  and searching and learning and relearning and un-programming but above all GROWING and striving to be the BEST version of me there could ever be...

Once in royal Davids city,
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby,
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little Child.

We have so many BIG SURPRISES from FYR in 2012, JUST YOU WAIT and SEE!!!

Can you tell my daughter and I ( (c) Nikotaphotography ) had a blast taking these pictures? We love colors and all things ARTSY.

May the blessings of God be upon us all this Christmas, May He bring us Peace and Joy as we face this daunting world together. May we Grow and Give and Glow: 3G Mom-ly...

COMING SOON: 3G MOMS

The picture below is some of the gifts my beloved daughter bought for me using some of her savings. She is a giver, always making things for people, always thinking of others and not just during holidays, she does it all year round. I love that most about her, such a thoughtful little one, and she's mine :)

☻ just ♫ call ♫ to ♫ say ☻ ♥ U ♫

Give if your heart compels you to. Here is Nina's WATER4LIFE Fundraiser site: Nina's WATER4LIFE

EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH. YOU'LL THANK ME LATER...