Treated to Bliss

My wonderful husband wanted to treat me to lunch at Bliss Raw Restaurant and Elixir Bar. 

What a treat it was!!!

It was very "LA Chic" and some of the most delicious food I have ever eaten.

We started off with the superfood elixir sampler: The chocolate bliss {raw cacao, agave nectar, coconut and cacao butter}, Goji Paradise {goji berry and aloe lemonade, agave nectar and coconut oil}, and the Minty Hemp {peppermint hemp seed milk, mesquite and agave nectar}. So yummy and refreshing! That chocolate bliss was right up my alley. 

{I drank most of them before I even thought to take a photo...lol. They were THAT good!}

For our lunch, we got this awesome spread

Coconut Kale Enchiladas

Marinated kale with "nacho cheeze," pico de gallo, salsa verde, and cashew "sour cream" wrapped in coconut tortillas.  They were spicy {maybe a tad too spicy for my chicken taste buds} but the flavor was dead on. You wouldn't even think that these enchiladas came from a raw bar if you tasted them! SO good! That nacho cheese and sour cream was so close to the original!

"Rawko" Tacos

Crisp corn tortillas topped with chipotle flavored "beans," guacamole, "nacho cheeze," pico de gallo, salsa verde. This was daddy approved- if you know my husband, enough said! They tasted just like yummy authentic tacos!! 

Bliss Burger

Sunflower seed patty served on onion bun with crisp lettuce, beefsteak tomato, red onion rings, avocado, Bubbies kosher pickles. YES, YES, YES! I could eat this every day and not get sick of it. IT WAS OUTSTANDING! I loved every bite and because raw food is so much more filling, I have half of it left! That is mayo and ketchup in those small dishes and they were both so great! 

White Chocolate/Chocolate swirl cheesecake

{not the actual photo, but one off of their site. I took mine to go.}

When I heard the waiter listing off deserts to a table near us, I knew I had to see what they tasted like. I mean, raw cheesecake?? HOW?? Is it good?? 

...UM, YES!

Best cheesecake that I have EVER had. Hands down better than cheesecake factory, or any other place I could think of. It was so rich, sweet and creamy. I wanted to buy a whole one to take home! Crazy thing about raw, vegan desserts: THEY ARE GOOD FOR YOU! So much protein!!

Our happy faces

I cannot wait to go back!!

Eating Raw: Day 7-10

Things are going surprisingly well! I have crossed the hard "first week" hump, and feel like I am getting in a groove with it. My taste buds are changing, and I am finding such joy in the yummy natural flavors of foods I have eaten my whole life. 

Can I just shout, "I HAVE LOST 8.2LBS IN 8 DAYS!!!" How great is that for rewards?? Clothes I wore before I was pregnant are starting to fit big! 

Found some yummy recipes I wanted to pass on. First up, "Chocomole." Don't freak out, but this is "chocolate pudding" but with an avocado base. {don't worry- you cannot taste the avocado AT ALL!- promise}

Avocado Chocolate Pudding (aka, Chocomole!)

1 ripe avocado, pitted

6-10 dates (depending on size of dates and desired sweetness – I’m usually happy with 8 medjool dates), soaked if necessary

½ tsp vanilla

4 heaping Tbsp cocoa or 2 Tbsp. carob powder

½ cup water

Place all ingredients in a food processor (you can use a blender or Vita, but food processors work much better for this recipe) and begin blending. Drizzle water in, stopping to scrape sides of bowl if need be, until the mixture resembles a thick, chocolate pudding. Let it continue mixing until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!

I also whipped up some pasta alfredo with mushrooms, spinach and sun dried tomatoes- Raw, vegan, and A.MAZ.ING!

My wonderful husband treated me to the restaurant  

And what a treat it was!! More on that soon! 

We made another trip to Whole Foods to pick up some food for me to take on our trip. We are leaving this morning to go to visit my family for a bit and take the kiddos and my neice to a rangers game, ft worth zoo, and dino world. SO EXCITED! I was also super excited to see that they had a wonderful "raw" aisle. I dont know why I didnt see it the first time we went, but I WAS STOKED to see some of the yummy treats lurking on that aisle. I picked up some goodies to take with me to the rangers game, zoo, etc  so I would have something to munch on while they were eating popcorn and candy. 

I picked up some of these raw bars:

Flax bar, banana bread flax bar and granola bar. I am really excited to try them!

Of course, I HAD to get something yummy for dessert. My mom has the same sweet tooth I do and I just know that there will be tempting sweets in her house. I wanted to be prepared and know that this yummy chocolate tart will do the trick! 

Apparently, raw chocolate {cacao} is one of the highest sources of antioxidants and improves blood flow, reduces inflammation, and supports weight management. Raw chocolate is GOOD for you and HELPS you loose weight! wow! Can't argue with that!!

SURPRISE!!

I love a good surprise party. I love attending one even more!

I mean, just look at that face! Isn't that awesome!!

love her :)

I think all of us ladies needed a good girls night! We had such a great time and ended up closing the place down!!

{this was taken moments before Mel fell on her bottom being silly!}

And the lovely birthday girl!

{HUGS}

The post that will rock your world!

If you didn't see my post a few days back about the soft serve you WANT your kids to eat {or you yourself will never feel guilty eating}, I wanted to share with you...

THE POST THAT WILL ROCK YOUR WORLD!

As you may know, I have been eating raw vegan for the past week and will be for at least the next 20+ days. In this adventure I stumbled across the most amazing soft serve.

Banana Soft Serve!

Freeze 2-3 bananas {great use for the ones that are too ripe to eat} in a Tupperware or zip-lock baggie. You will want to take it out of the peel and chop it in to thin slices first. Then throw them into the food processor {i used a blender and it was fine, but i had to use the pulse only and keep scraping} until it is light, fluffy, and smooth {around 5 minutes}. When you are done, it will resemble soft serve and taste better! {not to mention how good it is for you! ; )  }

Be prepared to have this blow your mind! I still cannot get over it, and the fact I ever ate ice cream that is so bad for you and robs your body of nutrition- this is really better!!!

Tonight we made some with strawberries added in! Little man wanted to make it, and with the addition of a new food processor, why not?

and look what we had for a yummy, healthy dessert!

YUM!

7/22

Eating Raw: Day 4, 5 & 6

I have been supa busy with the family the past few days, but wanted to post some great yummies I have found along the way of my raw vegan adventure. 

For breakfast I have been eating mostly huge fruit salads and drinking my coffee with almond milk and honey. Wednesday at sprouts, I picked up some yummy raw granola with freeze dried strawberries in it. It has made the most amazing cereal- honestly better than any cereal {kashi, total, special k, ect} that I have ever had!!! so yummy and just full of nuts and grains!!

For snacks, I just make sure that all of my veggies and fruit are either prepped or easy to prep in a hurry and munch on them. Very easy- and packing them with me when I run errands, etc, make it so much easier to fight temptations every place you go. 

I did make my little man some yummy ants on a log- he loved it!!

For lunches, I have been eating left overs, yummy salads full of toppings, veggie plates, or guac and veggie chips, but I found a new treat! 

This tortilla is completely flour-less and is nothing more than sprouted seeds and grains mushed together and dehydrated. So simple and so so so yummy! It is an Ezekiel tortilla by the way.

For dinner, I fell in love with this recipe and modified it a tad to make it perfect! I wanted to share because it truly is a WONDERFUL sauce, even if you aren't a raw vegan. 

It is a cream of spinach soup with zucchini and squash noodles- so stinkin' yummy i think i licked the bowl! Daddy loved it and cannot get over how much the zucchini and squash resemble noodles. Little man used the sauce to dip the rest of his bites it. so, there you go! now you KNOW it has to be good!!

For dessert {I am the kind of girl that HAS to have dessert EVERY night!}, I finally got a food processor so my options opened up a bit! I made these yummy Mint chocolate chip "cupcakes." They were so delish i almost ate the whole batch in one night {which in this case, would have been fine =) }!!

We have also made tons of the banana soft serve i mentioned in the earlier post and had fun with different add- ins! Separate post on that to come!

Oh, I almost forgot! I am down 6lbs in 6 days too- crazy huh!!

{nice little added bonus ;-) }