Day 5 - Kiwano and Passion Fruits

When I went to the store, I saw this orange-yellow spiky fruit that looked quite interesting, so I bought it. I now know it's called a Kiwano, aka African Horned Melon and is rich in iron, magnesium and vitamin C.

I tried a bit of it an it tasted a bit like cucumber with a salty sour aftertaste.Unsure whether I liked it or not, I decided to put it in a smoothie along with  some strawberries and watermelon.

I'm still not too sure about it, but hey, 21% of my daily Magnesium and 13% of my iron intake. I'll keep working on a better recipe though, before I post it for good and stick with my passion fruits for now.

Week 1 Summary

At the end of the week I like to post changes I've observed, just to keep track and give feedback more accurately.

Week 1:
Eating habits:
I've always liked food, but in the past I've never come home looking forward to what I'd have to eat. I like to cook, but after a long day at school I'm usually too lazy or just won't have the energy to do so. Even just a few days after going vegan, I think about what deliciousness I'll have for lunch or dinner that day. I look forward to making meals and eating them. I do eat more frequently, since I eat when I feel hungry and I eat until I no longer hungry not till I'm full. This way, I usually eat about five times a day rather than three meals and lots of snacking. I used to snack sometimes just because there was snack food around, sometimes because I was bored. Now, I don't feel the need to snack in between meals, and I feel no temptation for snacks or candy because I'd rather have my home-made food.

Sleeping habits:
I also find myself waking up more easily and refreshed. I used to wake up very tired in the morning, not willing to get out of bed and not feeling very rested. Now, even though I'll still choose my bed over getting up for a few minutes, I don't fall back asleep as soon as I close my eyes and no longer need my afternoon naps after I come home from class.

Exercise habits:
Before, I didn't really have the drive to exercise more than biking to the grocery store. Although the goal of this lifestyle change was not to loose weight or get fit, I find a quick 15 minute workout at some point in the day a habit I could get used to. I only do five yoga sun-salutations, about 20 (girl-) pushups, 20 sit-ups and a couple of leg exercises for now, since I am embarrassingly out of shape compared to high school. But with my new found energy and drive I would like to start doing more as time and fitness level allows.

Day 4 - Avocado Strawberry Apple Salad

I had an avocado that needed to be used soon, so I came up with this simple fast snack salad also using strawberries, an apple, nuts and chia seeds.

Salad:
1 avocado
4 - 6 strawberries
½ apple (I used a gala apple)
½ cup of chia seeds

All you need to do is dice the avocado, strawberries and apple and evenly mix in a bowl along with the chia seeds. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds, cashews, almonds, pistachios or anything else you may like.

Day 3 - Carrot Cake with Cashew frosting

For this deliciously healthy carrot cake I used crushed pistachios, black chia seeds, dried coconut, cranberries and strawberries to decorate the frosting.


Frosting:
2 cups cashew
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons coconut oil
¼  cup maple syrup 

Cake:  
2 large carrots, peeled  
1 ½ cups cooking oats  
1 cup dates
½ cup dried coconut   
½ teaspoon cinnamon

For the cake mix: Shred carrots into a bowl and mix with the oats and cinnamon. Put the dates in your food processor and blend with the coconut until they are in small pieces. Add the carrot mix and blend until everything is evenly mixed.

Take about half of the mix and put it in the fridge for later, spread the other half into a cake form.

For the frosting: Blend the cashews in your food processor until they are a fine powder, then add the other ingredients and blend until smooth.

Spread about one quarter of the frosting over the cake mix in the cake form, and put the form in the freezer until the frosting has hardened, to maintain the layer separation. Refrigerate the remaining frosting.
Spread the remaining cake mix in the cake form and remove the form. Cover to whole cake with the remaining frosting and decorate as you like.

Day 2 - Strawberry Salad with Cranberry-Cashew dressing

Quick, easy and even better: healthy, this is a great lunch option if you're in a hurry, or even for a packed lunch for in between classes!

Dressing:

½ cup of cranberries
½ cup of cashews
½ cup of coconut oil

1 tablespoon of lemonjuice

water as needed

Salad:

1 shredded carrot

2-3 Strawberries

lettuce
½ cup of sunflower seeds

Blend the ingredients of the dressing until smooth, then cut strawberries and lettuce to bite-sized pieces and mix in the carrot shreds. Add the dressing over top and garnish with sunflower seeds.

You can also add avocado, tomatoes, corn and anything else you'd like as desired.

Day 1 - Hazelnut Squares

This recipe is adapted from Emily's Caramel Chocolate bars (link), to which I have added cranberries and substituted sweetener for hazelnut butter.

I don't own a scale and am not too fond of measuring things too precisely, but I will do my best.

You do not need to clean the blender between each of the layers, either. I made carrot cake right after these squares, to soak up the left over hazelnut in the carrot dough. I prefer doing this since it cuts down on wasting food in those hard to reach corners of the blender.

Base layer:  
1 cup almonds or other nuts   
1 cup dates 

½ cup of cranberries

Almond:
½ cup cashew or almond butter  
½ cup coconut oil
½ cup of almonds  
1 cup dates

Hazelnut cream:
1/3 cup coconut oil  
2-3 tablespoons cacao powder  
½ cup of hazelnut butter

To make the crust: Remove the seeds from the dates, then process the almonds into flour in your food processor, add the dates and process until it all begins to stick together. Press into the bottom of a lined baking pan and refrigerate.
 
Almond and Hazelnut cream: Blend the ingredient in each list until smooth, then spread the almond paste onto your crust, freeze for a few minutes to maintain layer separation. Next spread the Hazelnut paste onto the almond layer and refrigerate until completely set; this will take a couple hours.

About Me

My name is Angelika and I am now a senior in university two quarters away from graduation.

After a few weeks of greasy cafeteria food at university, I decided for my second last quarter here I will eat a whole raw food diet. I've been living of campus my whole time here, and have been struggling with eating right, enough, but not too much. I have always struggled with self image and being fit, since i am not naturally thin, and any sweet or fatty food immediately show up some on my body.

Last quarter got very busy and I started eating at the cafeteria a lot more often. Lots of meat and sugary glazes, rice, and too little exercise made me fell constantly tired and easily stressed. Then, I started to think more about whole foods and wanting to feel better I am now trying this diet for the next few months.

In this blog, I want to document my experience and share my recipes as well. Since I am on a student budget, I will also share some numbers of what I spend on this diet over the next three months.