Zesty Lentil Salad

Zesty Lentil Salad

2 cups green lentils (uncooked)

2 bay leaves

zest from 1 lemon

3 Tbs lemon juice

1 red bell pepper, core, top and seeds removed, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup chopped fresh dill

salt to taste

Optional topping : roughly chopped raw almonds

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Add lentils and bay leaves, bring back to a boil. Lower heat and gently simmer with a lid tilted for 25 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water, discard bay leaves. 

In a large bowl combine cold lentils, red bell pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, dill and garlic.  Season with salt to taste. Mix well preferably using your hands. Serve on a bed of greens (I used spring salad mix), topped with chopped almonds. if desired. 

This salad is very filling, refreshing and healthy. If you do not use almonds, this salad is low fat. 

Šopský salát (Shopskee Salad)

I love salads that have twenty different veggies, nuts, seeds and fruits. However, my absolute favorite salad is still the one I used to love as a kid. Šopský salad is very simple, flavorful, refreshing salad that reminds me of spring and summer in Czech Republic. It is a bit labor consuming (lots of dicing) and it is not originally vegan because the topping is crumbled feta cheese (Balkan cheese). 
You can get this salad at most Czech restaurants. It is originally a Bulgarian salad but it has been very popular in Czech Republic for decades. I veganized mine by using Almond feta cheese instead of dairy feta cheese. I added more salt to make it more authentic. It was almost as good as I remembered from Europe.  I like to serve mine in a glass bowl for a better visual effect. The vinegar should be a white vinegar but since white vinegar is not very healthy, you can use apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar or red wine vinegar. Don't use balsamic though. 




Šopský salát (Shopskee Salad)


2 large cucumbers, peeled
1 red bell pepper, top cut off and seeds removed
1 green bell pepper, top cut off and seeds removed
4-5 large tomatoes
1/2 onion (white or yellow), peeled
1 Tbs olive oil (or more to taste)
1 Tbs vinegar (or more to taste) 
salt to taste
vegan feta cheese topping of your choice (as much as you like)


Finely dice all vegetables and place them into a large bowl. Don't drain the vegetables since the juices will make a great addition to the dressing. Pour vinegar and olive oil over vegetables and stir until well combined. Season with salt to taste. You can add more vinegar or olive oil until you reach desired taste. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour before serving. 
Serve in bowls topped with crumbled vegan feta cheese. 


If you add some cooked Israeli couscous you will have a tasty, light and refreshing dinner. 

RAW Soup

My detox (reboot) is going well so far :-) I lost 3 pound since Monday. I am still fighting with cravings and trying to find a balance in my diet, but I am proud of myself to go so far and not to give up. I am dry brushing every night before shower and my body feels better already. 


I made a tasty raw soup today. I used a base of cucumber, celery, lemon juice, parsley, spinach, kale, avocado, garlic and red bell pepper. I topped the soup with radishes and red bell pepper and later I added raw pumpkin "parmesan cheese". It was pretty good. Much better than my other raw soup experiments... 

A promise to myself (and a reboot day #1)

 I don't know how it happened, but it happened.... I fell off the healthy eating wagon few weeks ago. Unhealthy, sugary, processed, fatty, white flour based and other poison foods found their way into my kitchen and my stomach. 

  

Well, they did not exactly found their way into my kitchen, I brought them in there. When I started eating healthier few month ago, I felt better than ever for a while, but then my poison food addiction took over again. It started by eating white bread and vegan mayo.....then the other foods joined the party. And the results? I gained back all the weight that I lost since January and my health problems are back! I feel toxic, depressed and weak! I feel sluggish, tired, constantly hungry and unhappy. The more garbage I eat, the more I want. It is like a drug addiction. I needed to admit to myself that I have a problem and that I am addicted to white foods (white bread, sugar, etc), chocolate and processed vegan junk food. I realized that in order for me to break the addiction, I have to detox myself first and clean my body and mind from all the toxic food, toxic emotions and stress. I have a mentally and physically demanding job and the stress often makes me crave bad foods and I "reward" myself for the stress and hard work with garbage foods. Recently I decided that I need to break this addiction and get better. I made a promise to myself today to get healthy, to eat better, to lose 27 pounds by December, to make time for myself and not to give up or make excuses. I want to be radiant, healthy, full of energy and love. I want to start living my life to the fullest!
This is not going to be easy, this is not going to be an overnight fix and I am fine with it. I have a lot of knowledge and support this time around. I found a lot of inspiration online and in books. I just finished reading "Crazy, Sexy Diet" by Kris Carr and I am feeling powerful and ready to do this! 


I started a 5 day Express REBOOT today. I modified my reboot slightly to eat mostly raw, living veggies and fruits, juices and smoothies. No grains, no beans, gluten, condiments, etc. 
I drank a gallon of unpasteurized green juice (cucumber, celery, lemons, spinach, parsley) and a small cherry juice. I had two smoothies, one with spinach, banana and mango, and the other was carrot, banana and mango. I am not used to drinking so much and not eating all day. I felt very weak at times, but I would get bursts of energy and mental clarity. I noticed I was more cranky and sensitive today than ever. To make it even worse, I had to do grocery shopping and get fresh bread for my husband. I was almost drooling over his dinner while sipping on my smoothie.... That was a real torture! I did some dry brushing, meditating, cleaning and reading. I bathed my dog, too :-) 

My husband is my biggest support and inspiration :-) 


My friend Brennan has been a huge inspiration, too. He rocks!!!


I found a lot of support and inspiration in Raw Rebecca (including the idea of having two jars with little stones representing total pounds lost and total pounds left). She is amazing!

I also have a lot of support via several Facebook and Twitter friends, too. 

Here are some foods that I will be eating for the next few days. Raaaaaaaw :-)

My work lunch and breakfast for tomorrow

My dinner smoothie: spinach, banana, mango and purified water. 

Kitty Birthday party

Our sweet kitties celebrated their 4th birthday today. Abbey and Bear are twins and we are so lucky to have these beautiful, fun kitties as a part of our family. You can read a story about how we got them because of Halloween here.

I made them a miniature birthday cake from canned mackerel, grain-free cat treats and grain-free cat kibble. The peas was just for a decoration because they did not even touch it. (Shelly ate the peas later). For those of you wondering why my cats are not vegan, please, read my post about the vegan cat dilemma.

Bear checking out his cake

Curious Abbey checking out the cake

Let's dig in!

Yummy

Cake and presents :-) Nobody had any interest in the grasshopper toy but the dragonfly on a stick entertained them for a while.

Shelly joining the party and enjoying a piece of this awfully smelling cake

Still eating......

Bear doing what he does the best with toys......chewing on the string......

Abbey checking out her new toy

Bear trying to play with the string again. He lost interest shorty afterwords and wanted to play with a plastic straw instead....... Typical cat! No store bought toys can replace the free toys made out of paper, plastic straw, or a plastic bottle cap.

Do you cats like the "free" toys better than store bought? Do you celebrate your cats birthdays?

Apple Strudel Muffins

Apple Strudel Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup almond or soy milk

1/3 cup oil

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 large apples, peeled and cored

1 cup raisins

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 F (204 C)

Coarsely shred apples and squeeze out extra liquid using your hands or mesh strainer. Set aside.

Line muffin cups with muffin liners.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, mix almond or soy milk, oil and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until well combined, but not over mixed. Fold in shredded apples and raisins.

Fill muffin cups all the way to the top with batter. Bake 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. I sprinkled my muffins with extra cinnamon before baking.

A package from my Croatian friend

I have been exchanging tea and chocolate with my Croatian friend Enola for over a year now. I love having friends and family all over the world. And I love sending and receiving surprise packages full of vegan goodies and tea. Yesterday I received a package from Enola full of sweet surprises. She sent me vegan Nutella, baked apple flavored fruit tea, jelly pralines with cherries and chocolate, orange marzipan chocolate eggs, vanilla blueberry tea, Apple & Cinnamon tea, vanilla & chocolate pudding, Orange & Rum tea, dark chocolate with lavender, nougat wafers, hazelnut almond nougat candy, and Rum chocolate candy bars.

Do you have any international or out of state pen pal with whom you exchange packages with?