Review: UliMana

Oh my goodness, can I just start by saying that I love this company! That being said, Shawn and Theresa with UliMana sent me this awesome variety of samples that you see Rahjah sniffing above. When I got the box in the mail I could not WAIT to try them. 

Let me tell you a bit about their products first. UliMana was started in 2005 and thought to be the first raw chocolate company ever! All their truffles are vegan, organic and raw. All the words that we love to hear! All the truffles are made from pure cacao and sweetened with agave. No soy lectin or sugar in these truffles!

Just one truffle packs some FLAVOR let me tell you! I could only eat one per day, because they are so rich and flavorful. Which is great because I usually go through any chocolate in my house so fast. This will totally ease your chocolate crave with just one truffle. I can't tell you favorite one because I honestly liked all of them equally. They all have their own unique flavor. I guess if I HAD to pick I would say either the goji cherry truffles or the dark cacao truffles. You can't even tell these truffles are raw! They are just pure raw goodness. 

These truffles come in ten different flavors: Hemp, Dark Cacao, Peppermint, Coconut, goji Cherry, Cacao Nibs and Mayan. The three newest additions are Coconut Nectar, Harvest Nectar and Chia Moon. I think everyone should try these UliMana truffles. Just to warn you, once you try them you will be addicted. Please visit their site and try some for yourself. Totally worth every penny! You can also follow them on Facebook HERE.

Thanks so much for the chance to review these products Theresa and Shawn. As always, I was not paid for this review and UliMana sent me these products for free to sample.

I'm done!

I am done with the detox guys! It was a great experience, but I am glad to be done. Yesterday, day 4, I drank orange juice, carrot/apple, and then for dinner I had a smoothie with blueberries, banana, strawberries, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, and coconut milk. My stomach was ok with all that.

This morning I woke up with my stomach feeling a little weird. I am had a big glass of water with peppermint oil in it and some oatmeal for my first official meal off the cleanse. I ate about half my oatmeal. I got full really fast! I want to eat more, but I don't think my stomach can handle it right now. 

~Org oats, org coconut milk, org peanut butter, chia seeds, blueberries and org maple syrup~

Oh, I wanted to show you all my shopping list that I had compiled while detoxing. Note to self: Do not go shopping while hungry. I walked into Whole Foods yesterday and my heart about exploded. I was grabbing all kinds of stuff! So here was my list:

Veggies & Fruits

*Avocado-guacamole & sandwiches

Jalapeno- for the tamales & mex rice

*Frozen Blueberries

*Daikon-Vietnamese Sub

*Kale

Carrots

*Apples

*Banana

Plantains?-tamales and omelet

Shitake

*Frozen Peas-for samosas

*Cilantro-mex rice & tamales & subs, etc

*Parsley

Cold section

*Bubbies Sauerkraut- for reuben & hot dogs & potato pancakes

Kimchi

Parma-Eat in the Raw-lasagna 

*Vegan Cream Cheese

*Salami

*Daiya motzerella -lasagna and pasta

*Thousand Island

*Ceaser salad dressing

*Bubbies Pickles

*Puff Pastry or Phyllo Dough 

Beans & Things

*Oats

Buckwheat

Sun dried tomatoes -raw refried beans

*Raw sunflower seeds

*Garbanzo-hummus

*Cashews

*Flax oil or flax seeds

*Hazelnuts-vegan nutella

Cocoa nibs or alternative chocolate

Masa organic & corn husks-tamales

Shredded coconut -Indonesian rice

Marmite or vegemite-Allotments winter vegetable recipe

Canned

*Lasagna noodles

Spatzlee vegan

*Canned beans, navy, black, garbanzo (organic & bpa free)-for beans and rice, etc

*Artichokes-pizza & salad

Canned tomatoes

Chili- for chili cheese dogs

Random

*Almond milk

*Veg margarine

Veganese

*Rye bread & bagette

Hail Merry Raw cake

I put a star next to everything I actually bought. I also broke it down in order to not have to go back and forth in the store. I know where everything is located so I sectioned everything off. I know. I am crazy. There were some isles I didn't even go down because I knew I would buy more if I did. 

For lunch, a vietnamese baguette! All you need is a baguette spread with Veganese and loaded with pickled carrots and daikon, jalapenos and cilantro.

Pickled Daikon & Carrot

1 Large Mason Jar

Carrots

Daikon

Vinigar - fill jar about 3/4 full

2 Tbsp raw sugar

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp salt

Let this sit overnight at the least. The more days it sits in the refrigerator the better! I grew up eating pickled things and I love love love pickled daikon. It is a acquired taste. 

Thanks for hanging in there with me for my fun journey of this detox by the way. Love you guys!

Day 3 of MC

Hello friends. It is day 3 of the Master Cleanse and I am getting sick. This morning I woke up with a sore throat, bad headache and slightly nauseous. I called in sick today. It's 12 pm now and I am feeling a lot better. I have just been laying in bed and drinking my juice all morning. When I finally felt good enough to get up I made some Smooth Move. There is still stuff coming out by the way. Ew.

My husband asked me to stop this cleanse today. He doesn't like when I get sick and he knows that normally when I feel like this I start passing out and throwing up. He worries about me when I am at home alone because we have no friends here so he doesn't want anything to happen to me. He's so sweet. So I am starting the Ease Out process this afternoon. I could go until day 10 though! It is true what they say, the first two days are hardest. I am not even hungry today, which is weird for me because I LOVE eating.

My husband couldn't find any organic orange juice so the best he found was Simply Orange. I am mixing it half with water. They say that if you drink too much and don't water it down you will get a headache. I am still drinking my lemon mixture as well as my Smooth Move morning and night. Tomorrow is Orange Juice, Lemon Juice and Vegetable Broth only. Just so that you all know, aside from feeling sick, my body feels great! 

Day 2 of MC

*Warning again, do not read any further if you don't want to hear words like poop.*

Day 2 has been a lot harder than day 1 was. Day 1 was pretty much a breeze with hunger pains towards the end of the day. I think it was because I ran out of juice around 2:30 at work and didn't get home until 6:30. I contemplated giving up after today and just making this a two day thing. My husband has been trying to not eat in front of me as much which helps. We also have not been watching any Food Network which we normally watch a lot of together. I am drinking some peppermint tea today which is a nice change of flavor from nasty lemon juice :) 

I pooped about 6 times today and it is only 2 pm. I starting reading blogs online about other people who did this cleanse and it is helping to encourage me to not give up tomorrow. On the plus side, I feel really good! I am a little tired, but not too tired. I already went through almost 2 bags of organic lemons! My mind is very sporadic. I am starting to get a few pimples and I've been very cold lately, even inside my own house. I am hoping that what they say online, that the first two days are the hardest, is true. If so, I will keep going tomorrow:)

*Side note- I MIGHT try the salt water thing tomorrow morning. We'll see.*

Day 1 on MC

Yup, that about sums it up for me! Except I AM doing the laxative part. Don't read any further if you don't want to hear a little "too much information." With my friends, I am known as the queen of too much information, so they just expect me to say random things at any given moment. So, yesterday, I drank my laxative tea in the morning "Smooth Move" and had the same tea the night before. I prepared myself by waking up an hour early for work in case I had to go to the bathroom. I would say yesterday I had a "BM" as we write on the toddler sheets at my work, at least 7 times. That is like....a world record for me!!! It was hard though, because working while doing this cleanse has its challenges. Plus I am super shy about going number 2 in public but with this detox, you have to! Last night my treat (hah treat) was Chocolate Smooth Move tea. It's basically the same as the Smooth Move original but I think it adds cacao nibs. My husband sat next to me while we watched our shows on tv and ate chicken and rice, so that didn't really appeal to me. My brother was making spaghetti upstairs and kept offering it to me like a jerk. I would say that today I was totally fine except for when we had to serve lunch to the toddlers at school, which just so happened to be almost ALL vegan that day. I was so mad. Oh well, it's all for a good cause!

The morning of day 2 is upon me. I am up bright and early making my juice and tea for the day. I make my lemon juice with VERY minimal cayenne pepper. For some reason, too much gives me a headache and I can't afford to have a headache while working. Being a teacher gives you a headache in itself. That's pretty much all I got for today. I will keep keeping you all updated. Thanks for all your encouragement! 

Master Cleanse

So...I am attempting, key word attempting to start the master cleanse tomorrow. I tried it once before when I was not vegan yet and addicted to coffee. After not even a day, I got an extremely bad migraine. I am thinking it may have been my body going into withdrawal over coffee. Needless to say, I didn't even last a day. It's embarrassing really. I am hoping that now that I am vegan, my body won't go into a super withdrawal. Also, I don't like lemonade. Pray for me guys, pray for me. If any of you have done the cleanse with success any tips or encouragement would be great! I will try to update you as I go. That is...if I go...I especially need tips on getting the salt water down in the morning. For those of you not familiar with the cleanse, here it is in short:

In the morning: Down 1 liter of water with 2 teaspoons of unionized salt water.

Throughout the day: Drink your lemonade mixture every time you feel hungry. The recipe is the following-- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, 2 Tbsp grade B maple syrup, 1/10 tsp cayenne pepper & 8 ounces pure water.

At night: Drink a laxative tea like Smooth Move. You may also "cheat" and drink an herbal non-caffeinated tea as well. Just to change it up. 

Hippy Pack Number 4 & Spring Rolls

This morning I had some Moroccan Mint Green Tea to start off the day.

Also had some lovely oatmeal. I added dried cranberries, golden raisins, chia seeds & maca powder.

I had some pomegranate for a snack while watching documentaries all day. I like documentaries, I don't know about you guys. Today I watched the Earthlings (horribly sad movie, but I wanted my husband to see it), the Gerson Therapy & the Beautiful Truth. All are well worth your time to watch! If you have streaming Netflix the last two I mentioned are streaming. 

Hippy pack time!!!!!! This is my fourth or fifth hippy pack exchange so far. It's something fun that I invented :) This hippy pack was from Jenny over at Vegan & So Forth . I got so many awesome things I don't even know where to begin! 

This was from her daughter. How sweet huh? Jenny you can show your daughter that I have this hanging up on my fridge now :)

Here's the loot! Organic brownie mix, unbleached eco friendly muffin cups, chickpea fritatta mix, organic jelly, an awesome soy pine scented candle and holder, two different types of organic tea, hazelnut butter, superfood mix, candies, vegan bubble gum & plant lollipop! 

This was so cool I thought. It looks like a lollipop but it's a parsley plant! Isn't this just the coolest idea?? I can't wait to plant it! Where did you get this Jenny? This is a good gift for my coworkers during Christmas or Valentines Day even :)

My husband already claimed the soy pine candle. He LOVES pine scented candles. This is already lit in his bathroom as you can see. Thanks so much Jenny for all the great things in my hippy pack! I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoyed mine!

Zuchini in my Spiralizer. (I cut my finger pretty bad trying to clean the blade.)

Here is the veggies all cut up and ready to go in the spring rolls. Here we have organic golden carrots, organic zucchini, avocado and mint. The mint looks weird because I had it in the freezer. 

Here is the final product that we had for lunch with some peanut dipping sauce that I made. 

I only have $20 left to last me the next week and a half until payday, so what better to spend it on then fresh veggies! I bought two bags of organic carrots and I already had some oranges and lemons in the fridge. 

I bought two bags of organic apples. We need these for juicing. I also got myself a glass tupperware for work lunches since my schedule recently switched from part to full time so now I need to bring lunches. If anyone else wants to do a hippy pack I'm down, but it'll have to be spaced out as I don't have any money at this very moment:) Have a great nights rest for work tomorrow everyone!

Gerson Therapy aka The Cure for Cancer

Have you guys heard of this? I just watched a documentary on it and read about it online. It is amazing! I copy and pasted the information from the website.


The Diet:

The Gerson diet is naturally high in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, micro-nutrients, extremely low in sodium and fats, and rich in fluids.

The following is a typical daily diet for a Gerson patient on the full therapy regimen:

• Thirteen glasses of fresh, raw carrot/apple and green-leaf juices prepared hourly from fresh, organic fruits and vegetables.
• Three full vegetarian meals, freshly prepared from organically grown fruits, vegetables and whole grains. A typical meal will include salad, cooked vegetables, baked potatoes, vegetable soup and juice.
• Fresh fruit and fresh fruit dessert available at all hours for snacking, in addition to the regular diet.

Medications:

All medications used in connection with the Gerson Therapy are classed as biologicals, materials of organic origin that are supplied in therapeutic amounts.

• Potassium compound
• Lugol's solution
• Vitamin B-12
• Thyroid hormone
• Injectable Crude Liver Extract
• Pancreatic Enzymes
• Enemas of coffee and/or chamomile

Detoxification:

A very important part of the Gerson Therapy is frequent detoxification of the tissues and blood. This is accomplished through a variety of means, first and foremost through the use of coffee enemas.

The scientific basis for the use of coffee enemas is well documented, and can be obtained from the Gerson Institute. Patients report that the enemas decrease pain and hasten healing. Biologically, enzyme systems of the gut wall and liver are stimulated, and bile flow is increased. This has been shown to enhance the body's ability to eliminate toxic residues from environmental, chemotherapeutic, and other sources.

Tumor and other diseased tissue is also more rapidly eliminated as it is broken down.
Other means of detoxification include castor oil, used as an additional stimulant of bile flow and as another way to enhance the liver's ability to filter blood. In addition, digestive enzymes serve to enhance absorption of nutrients as well as assist in the elimination of damaged tissue.

Info from: http://www.gerson.org/GersonTherapy/gersontherapy.htm

Eating Out or To Go

 We went out for breakfast a couple days ago at Garden Cafe, and I think this was all they had on the menu I could get. I was fine with it though, because I like oatmeal in the morning. This oatmeal was pretty plain. It came with raisins and brown sugar on the side with a banana. My favorite part of it was the pan it was served in. *Just a reminder, it's always good to ask your server if the oatmeal is made with milk or water. Most places make it with water, but some use milk.*

I have a bunch of lemons that I haven't been using and don't want to go to waste so I had a little lemon water. I zest the lemon and squeezed the juice out into my water. Lots of vitamin C.

My husband and brother wanted pizza the other day, so we stopped at Papa Murphey's by our house. According to Yelp, the crust and tomato sauce here is vegan. I got the medium pizza with tomato sauce, zucchini, artichoke and garlic. It was really good! The guy who was making the pizza was so confused. He was like, "Sooooooo, no meat right? And no cheese either?" Yeeeeeees, that is what I ordered :) So he started making the pizza, and my husband has designated himself as the inspector of my food to make sure they get it right, because I am always too nice about it if they make it wrong. Lucky for me, he was watching them well this time. The worker making the pizza, made it WITH cheese. Go figure. Fudge, my husband, kindly told them, "Excuse me, but she doesn't want cheese." The guy remade the pizza correctly and we were on our merry way. 

You guys know that I love my plants! I have missed having plants and fresh veggies and herbs since moving here. Since it is winter here I have not been able to start a garden yet. I was able to get this parsley to grow fairly well inside my house near my kitchen window though!

Here is my basil. It is slowly making its way upward.

Last night, my husband surprised me with taking me to Omahas ONLY all vegan restaurant! It was about 7 pm by the time we got there, so I apologize for the quality of some of the pictures. This place is called Daily Grub. They have sopes, soups, sandwiches, sweets and drinks! 

They have very simple decor, but I really liked this place.

I decided to get the Banh Mi which was a Vietnamese sub sandwich on baguette filled with daikon, carrot, cucumber, mint, cilantro, slices of marinated tofu and ancho cashew cream spread. I meant to ask for no tofu, but my husband wanted to get home and asked for me to get it to go, so I was kind of in a rush. He told me to get two sandwiches so I could try out two things here so I also go the Hummus Sandwich. This sandwich had hummus, cucumber, romaine and roasted red pepper on toasted baguette with salad or chips.

I ate this one last night. This is the Banh Mi. It was so so good! I love daikon! Thanks babe!

PS- Today is day 1 of going "poo free". I have tried it once before in Hawaii and my hair got so greasy that I had to quite. I am giving it one more try in this climate here. We'll see...

Snow Day Eats

The last two days have been "snow days" here in Omaha. I work at a school who has an all day center including before and after school care. We are open almost every holiday and open on snow days. I love those little boogers though.

Greeness

1 Banana

4 Collard Green Leaves

1 Tbsp Chia Seeds

Ginger

Cinnamon 

Water to incorporate

Thanks Ali for the recommendation on the ginger and cinnamon :)

I wanted to show you guys this because this is what I have to work with in Omaha for healthy eats. We went out to eat one morning for breakfast. My husband got the breakfast buffet. I looked the menu over and this was about it if I didn't want anything fried. So I got the toast & oatmeal combo with coffee. It was good, but not really what I wanted. 

Lunch today I stopped at Wholefoods after work and got some mango & blueberries pre sliced. 

From the hot food bar, I got the potato & pea samosas, pineapple rice and some type of bean polenta. 

Dinner a couple nights ago I made some fresh vegetable soup. I put way too much beans.

Dinner last night was red quinoa with black beans, avocados & tomatoes. For the quinoa, I cook it in my rice cooker just like how you would cook rice. After it is cooked, I add coconut oil & lots of basil! 

Next, I soaked the organic dried black beans in water overnight. In the morning, I poured fresh water inside and threw it in the slow cooker. I let it cook all day on low.

Lastly, I chopped up an avocado, a tomato and half an onion. Mix all that together. Then add a few cloves of chopped garlic, fresh organic lemon juice, Himalayan salt and pepper. Mix that together with the avocado mixture. 

Layer your quinoa, black beans and avocado mixture and top with nutritional yeast.

Snack was a pear

My wonderful friend in Hawaii sent me some Hawaiian tea for Christmas. I really like it!

Sonic looking out the window at the snow and other doggies walking by.

Question: What is a food, beverage you will never ever give up? 

Mine used to be cheese, but look at me now all grown up and vegan.

Peanut butter noodles & raw chocolate cake

Today's breakfast was a collard green shake. I didn't get a picture of it though. I added blueberries, bananas, collard greens, hemp seeds, chia seeds, spirulina, maple syrup and enough water to incorporate. 

I also had some lovely red pomegranate. Pomegranates are so good for you! They help to prevent different types of cancers, illnesses and heart attacks! They are also packed with antioxidants!

Isn't it beautiful? I think avocados are so beautiful.

Lunch was Sesame Ezekial Bread with sliced avocado and nutritional yeast.

My husband took me to Trader Joe's and I picked up a few things. I got 2 batches of bananas, organic sugar, almond meal, vegetable pasta, sweet chili sauce, organic marinara sauce, thai green curry sauce, mango ginger chutney, cocoa powder, organic peanut butter and medjool dates. 

We got these to try. I MUCH prefer fresh pineapple. 

This stuff on the other hand, I LOVE! There is a thai brand I use to buy in Hawaii but haven't seen it here yet. It's so good! I used this in my peanut butter noodles for dinner.

Thai Peanut Butter Noodles

Coconut oil

1/2 sweet onion

3-4 cloves garlic

1 inch sliced ginger (more or less depending on your taste)

1 can organic coconut milk (I used light, regular is better for creamier though)

1/4 - 1/2 cup plain organic peanut butter (more or less depending on taste)

4-5 Tbsp sweet chili sauce

Himalayan Salt

Pepper

Basil leaves

1/2 package Thai rice noodles

Precook rice noodles and set aside. Saute onion, garlic and ginger in a little coconut oil. Add coconut milk, peanut butter, salt, pepper and sweet chili sauce. Add a few fresh basil leaves last. Once everything is blended together well, mix in noodles. Serve with peanut on top if you wish. I ate mine with some fresh cauliflower and broccoli.

I made raw chocolate cake for dessert. This is a shot of the cake before I added the frosting. 

Pretty Much Raw Chocolate Cake

1 cup chopped dates

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp vanilla

Himalayan Salt

1/2 cup cocoa powder (cacao nibs are best but more expensive)

1 1/2 cups almond meal (Trader Joe's carries this and it's fairly cheep)

1/2 cup cashews (that have been soaked overnight in water to soften)

1 cup shredded coconut

Blend together all ingredients. Add water, just enough to blend.

Frosting:

1/2 cup cashews (presoaked)

1/2 cup macadamia nuts (presoaked) 

1 cup canned organic coconut milk

1/8 cup organic agave

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp vanilla

Himalayan salt

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1 Tbsp psyllium husks

Blend everything except last two ingredients. Add coconut oil and psyllium husks last. Blend. Let this sit in the refrigerator for an hour before adding to cake. After it sits, frost cake and then add sliced bananas. I really enjoyed this cake, but my husband didn't prefer it. He is picky about this kind of thing though. I already ate three pieces since yesterday! Give it a shot guys.

 I got this recipe from the Sunny Raw Kitchen, but just changed it a little :) Please visit her blog as well.

~Goodnight my friends~

PS...

Thanks Rose!!! I love it :)