Harris Happenings

BMX-ing in Newberg

2010-08-23T00:47:00.000-07:00

This place is pretty sweet!

Joey enjoyed riding around the track while Micah and his cousin Riah ran next to him.

He got pretty thristy...

and a bit dirty too from a little fall.

But he kept riding.

Until he fell even harder and left the track with a bloody nose.

He was sad until the next day when he asked to come back!

We have one tough kiddo!

Drownings are hard to hear about...

2010-08-13T01:28:00.000-07:00

Watch this link: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38533071/ns/us_news-life/

This makes me so sad. I feel there should be some sort of drastic seriousness about water...maybe I'm missing something. I know there are warning signs about not swimming in dangerous places. I know there are tons of programs across the country getting people of all ages to swim. BUT surely this is not enough. There are lots of drownings.

I don't know how often parents are held responsible if their child drowns ... but the link above just really pisses me off. The first kid is in need of help then his friends start trying to help, then the parents make it to the shore and just watch the drownings because they don't know how to swim?!?! This is wrong on so many levels!! Why are parents taking kids places they cannot help their kids? If you can't swim, if your kids can't swim ... you can't go to water sources like deep pools, moving rivers or oceans. Even lakes can be highly dangerous. Any amount of water can be dangerous if you don't know what do to do in it!

Come on folks, water is awesomely refreshing and we all enjoy a dip when it's super hot out....BUT you gotta learn how to swim! Thinking you can just go in a few feet is so unacceptable. You can trip, fall, slip...so many things that could put you in a position that you cannot get up and help yourself out of the water.

Here are several scary statistics regarding drownings from this website: http://www.poseidon-tech.com/us/statistics.html

In 2004, there were 3,308 unintentional drownings in the United States, an average of nine people per day.(CDC 2006)
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
In 2004, of all children 1-4 years old who died, 26% died from drowning (CDC 2006). Fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years (CDC 2005)

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
It is estimated that for each drowning death, there are 1 to 4 nonfatal submersions serious enough to result in hospitalization. Children who still require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at the time they arrive at the emergency department have a poor prognosis, with at least half of survivors suffering significant neurologic impairment.

American Academy of Pediatrics
19% of drowning deaths involving children occur in public pools with certified lifeguards present.
Drowning Prevention Foundation
A swimming pool is 14 times more likely than a motor vehicle to be involved in the death of a child age 4 and under.
Orange County California Fire Authority
Children under five and adolescents between the ages of 15-24 have the highest drowning rates.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
An estimated 5,000 children ages 14 and under are hospitalized due to unintentional drowning-related incidents each year; 15 percent die in the hospital and as many as 20 percent suffer severe, permanent neurological disability.

National Safety Council
Of all preschoolers who drown, 70 percent are in the care of one or both parents at the time of the drowning and 75 percent are missing from sight for five minutes or less.

Orange County, CA, Fire Authority
The majority of children who survive (92 percent) are discovered within two minutes following submersion, and most children who die (86 percent) are found after 10 minutes. Nearly all who require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) die or are left with severe brain injury.

National Safe Kids Campaign

GET WATER SAFE!!

Family Time in Sunriver

2010-07-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

Joey got to spend a lot of time with his cousins: Kobe, Riah and Sierra (in order of the pics) and also hang with his Auntie Dine, Uncle Dan, Grandma Lori, Bill and Uncle Nathan while in Sunriver last weekend for the TNT race. It was great seeing you guys!!!

Joey's Bike - Before & After

2010-06-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

Before...Joey's pink bike

This kiddo is rather excited...Micah is upgrading his bike to one of his favorite colors...GREEN!

Daddy, Joey & the "new" green bike

Taking his bike for a ride.

We're a Climbing Family!

2010-06-15T17:40:00.001-07:00

Saturday's 5 hours playing in the water with lots sun will lead to this...

2010-06-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

Joey - Before & After

2010-06-15T17:34:00.001-07:00

Prasad Cafe in Portland

2010-06-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had a delicious dinner with my friend Dina who I met last year on Team In Training. We went to the Prasad Cafe which has many raw items to choose from. The funny part about this is I thought it was the Blossoming Lotus but it turns out they switched ownership in January. Cool thing about it is this new place has amazing raw foods too! I had my first raw soup tonight and it so seriously so delicious...I would LOVE the recipe because seriously it had a fantastic flavor to it that I can not describe but I will be going back for more!! The hummus and veggie plate is always tasty.

...Master Cleanse...

2010-06-03T10:21:00.001-07:00

Master Cleanse

I started this master cleanse on May 23 and finished on June 7. The first 3 days are called the ease in: day 1 raw foods, day 2 & 3 fresh squeezed orange juice. On the fourth day, I started the first day of the master cleanse which is 6-12 glasses (which were more like large shots) of the "lemonade" = 2 TBSP fresh squeezed lemon juice and 2 TBSP grade B organic maple syrup sprinkle with cayenne pepper (recipe calls for 1/10 of a tsp). Unlimited water throughout the day as well but most importantly a large glass in your other hand right after you take the shot of lemonade so you can chase it down.

Morning start with a Salt Water Flush (SWF) and evenings finish with a Smooth Move tea. The tea is a nice relaxing way to finish the day but the SWF...YUCK...not the best part of this cleanse!

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EASE IN - Day 1: Raw Foods Only

Raw foods only which included a banana, strawberry and spinach smoothie for breakfast, throughout the day I enjoyed 2 more bananas, 2 apples, 1 zucchini, handful of almonds. I did the Hagg Lake open water swim this day and there is a big bbq following the swims. I was tempted to push the 'ease in day 1' for the following day but told myself there will always be a temptation right?! So I stuck to my bag of raw fruits and veggies while other ate bbq food. Got a head ache most likely from lots of swimming and probably needed more water and food.

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EASE IN - Day 2: Orange Juice & Water Only

This has not been hard. I woke after 7 hours of sleep when Micah was up for work around 5:30 and stayed up the rest of the day. Had a few hours of crazy cleaning in the kitchen. Slowing down a bit right now at 3:30 in the afternoon...maybe it's time for another glass of oj. I've had 3 glasses today (11 oranges so far). The interesting thing today that I have realized is the amount of time my mind is consumed with eating. For the most part, I am an emotional/stress eater. I get sad, mad, hurt, angry, depressed...oh the list of negatives could go on....anyway I feel down and I eat! Well today since it is oj only, I have not put food in my mouth at all let alone when I've been feeling down. Yeah I know this is only the beginning but I feel like I have accomplished something by not feeding myself when I'm not hungry/when I'm emotional or stressed. Looking forward to how this whole deal will progress.

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EASE IN Day 3 - Orang Juice & Water Only

Thinking of stuffing something in my mouth every so often today. It has been tougher then yesterday. I know I like orange juice to it hasn't been hard but I am wondering how the "lemonade" is going to taste tomorrow. Feeling easily tired by doing too much. I noticed this while doing laundry. Spending most time relaxing and sitting. A little emotionally irritable.

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Master Cleanse - Day 1

Beginning was rough with the SWF...salt water flush. Very very hard to get down with a lot of gagging and almost threw it up. Got the lemonade down (maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper) surprisingly easy as long as I don't taste it and get the water to chase it down after. Later in the day I started getting frustrated with seeing Joey and Micah enjoying solid food. Not patient at all. Went to bed after the smooth move tea and had to hit the bathroom about 30 minutes later for a little bit.

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Master Cleanse - Day 2

SWF not quite so bad though some gagging at the end but didn't feel like I was going to throw up. Went for a bike ride with Joey and took Sumba too. It was really mellow and about 25 minutes and felts fine. Sumba did most of the work pulling me along my bike. Soooooooooo something odd happened today ..... I thought I had some gas but it was not! YIKES!! I will NEVER do this cleanse if I am unable to be at home for the most part of the day. Adjusting more to the 'lemonade'. I've got a good system of making it up, drinking it down and cleaning up my little station. Things are going good and I feel really positive about stuff. Good day! Towards end of day I was wanting food. I had open water coaching and spent about 45 minutes in a kayak so that made me pretty sore and kinda wanting some food but I had a lemonade with me so I had that and water.

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Master Cleanse - Day 3

SWF this morning was not so bad. Took 3 tries to get it all down. Still wasn't enjoyable by any means but I got it down. Feeling down today. Not really wanting to do this for a whole week from this point...Just realizing how many more days I've got with this cleanse. I think I will feel more positive about it once I'm passed the half way mark or maybe just tomorrow but right now kind of crabby. Today is dragging... A few rumbles in my tummy that made me think I was hungry, not just craving junk or something but after having a lemonade I was fine. This whole concept of a liquid diet and no chewing solids it really odd!

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Master Cleanse - Day 4

Woke up before I wanted but more because I needed to hit the bathroom. SWF today was no too bad at all. This time no gagging at all! Nice! Not that the drink itself is nice by any means but nice because I got it all down. Still took about 3 drinks. Today I am trying to take the lemonade at each hour. A couple juices are 1 1/2 of the serving because I juiced 3 TBSP of lemon and I am sick of wasting the pricey organic lemons! I'm feeling alright. It's 1pm right now and I've been up since 6:30am. Mornings to midday seems the easiest part and later in the day I get bummed at seeing Micah and Joey consume food. I have express my desire to eat but I'm sticking to the cleanse. I can eat later and this is just a temporary thing right?! Well I'm wanting to stick to mostly raw foods after this with a cheeseburger or bento or sushi from time to time. Ok enough talk about food ... it's making my mind think too much! Now the day is almost done...went by pretty well without much thought of food. I can tell that I've lost some weight. I like that!

(After a day or two I started getting cravings back so I stuck to the original recipe of 2 TBSP instead of 3)

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Master Cleanse - Day 5

Finally the SWF is not so bad. I was actually wondering if I put the right amount of salt in but I know I did, my taste buds just weren't so shocked by it anymore I guess. Today has been filled with whiney crabbiness! I am so disliking this day. I've told Micah several times, "I want food!" Man what a baby I'm being...5 more days and then OJ, OJ & RAW! Like I've mentioned today is SUCKING! I am wondering why the heck I even wanted to do this. Micah and I talked about why I really wanted to and I was reminded...but I'm back to whining again. It's almost night time and I am hoping tomorrow brings a more positive outlook on this whole deal!

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Master Cleanse - Day 6

Got an awesome nights sleep ~11 hours with 1 potty break at 4am. Feel good today. Focus is to remember my goal in doing this cleanse. SWF went down more easily again. Today is going good. I know with each "lemonade" ... swf ... lax tea from here on out is on the back end of this journey. Knowing I'm over the half way marker (even by just a few hours) helps me think positively about this. Watching Joey and Micah eat today hasn't been as hard as it was yesterday. I even sang with Joey while he and Micah were making their PB&J sandwich for lunch...sang the PB&J song and all. Overall an easy going good day.

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Master Cleanse - Day 7

Today has been trying. I feel like I have alternated good days and blah sorts of days. Though it was not difficult to prepare food for others (I did think of eating some of it but it was only thoughts) I got through with the lemonade and water. Honestly though I'm bored and would like to chew on some food! I'm not sure if some of the issue was me changing the recipe a few days ago...I did 3 TBSP of maple syrup & 3 TBSP of lemon juice for several servings and I think that may have caused me to go backwards and get some cravings again. Just a thought but I went back to the 2 TBSP original recipe. Couldn't get to sleep, probably cause I slept so much the night before.

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Master Cleanse - Day 8

Thankfully Joey slept in so I got some rest. Last night I just didn't feel like I was tired or could fall asleep at all. SWF hard today. I put a TBSP of the sea salt in the quart of water. Does 3 tsp = 1 TBSP?? Didn't taste like it today. While drinking the swf, I had flashbacks to day 1 & 2 where it was hard to get down. Yuck! Today is good but I do feel bored with preparing food for others and not getting to eat any. Just 2 more full days of this and then OJ!

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Master Cleanse - Day 9

Todays SWF was hard to get down. YUCK! Only 1 more flush to do (tomorrow) for this cleanse and that makes me happy. I'll be even happier this time tomorrow when I'll know I have zero more swf to do! I'm feeling good today. I am shocked I've gone so long without solid food. Yesterday I tried on a bunch of clothes. I'm at least a size smaller and am really excited about that! Once I've finished the cleanse I will slowly be building back into training and start working with TNT folks for the Portland 1/2 Marathon! I'm still coaching Pac Crest but I'm participating in the 1/2. I'm looking forward to some exercise. I haven't done much for fear of being too far away from a bathroom. I've road my bike a bit but leisurely, nothing intense. I've been looking through raw food books for a couple days now. I'm amazed that I can look at all these pictures without feeling like I need to eat something. I'm looking forward to trying some new recipes and eating some solid foods again!

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Master Cleanse - Day 10

Today went fairly easy and quick. I knew it was the last day so I was stoked. The SWF sucked and I almost threw up after taking it. Kinda crabby at the end of the day watching Joey and Micah eat food.

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Ease Out - Day 1: Orange Juice & Water Only

OJ!! This was exciting. Though I didn't not get the best oranges so it turned out not so exciting. I think because I was away from the house, out in the sun, doing too much I started thinking of food and feeling like I needed food. I caved...I ate raw cheese, hummus, dave's killer bread and some olives tonight. I wonder how this is going to digest and if it will be too much for my stomach...how will that feel...sucky I'm sure.

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Ease Out - Day 2: Orange Juice in the morning, Blossoming Lotus for Lunch/Dinner

Eating some food last night only gave me a small stomach ache. I picked up new oranges last night for today and it was just what I needed. The oranges from yesterday were not the best and left me wanting more. Lunch at the Blossoming Lotus was delicious. I had a zucchini pasta bowl with some delicious dressing with spinach, bell peppers and tomatoes. Also some fresh raw hummus...YUM! Dinner I ate some rice, beans and corn. Gosh I have not followed the 'ease out' very well. Felt alright. Went for a 25 minute run/walk shortly after. I felt good at the beginning and pretty weak the rest of the way. Walking was fine but the running really winded me. I tried on a box of clothes that I've set aside and just haven't be able to wear these sizes in awhile and a lot of them fit. Very very exciting!

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Ease Out - Day 3: Raw

I woke feeling really sore from the run/walk last night and hungry! So I ate a banana. This journey has been interesting. One I shall embark upon again but for sure not during training. I signed up for the Portland 1/2 Marathon with Team In Training which is in October so for now it's all about training and eating good.

This tends to happen when our garden gets watered...

2010-05-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

...this particular boy tends to run around without his clothes begging to get sprayed.

Just Pics: Sunday BBQ and Park Fun

2010-05-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

Taste of Jakarta

2010-05-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

While walking around Portland waiting for our date night reservation Monday night we saw this place 'Taste of Jakarta: Authentic Indonesian Cuisine" which is a place we are looking forward to coming back to and enjoying some good food!

This got us talking about Indonesia and how we have not been there since our honeymoon over 5 years ago. We would love to go back sometime soon.

Mr. Creative

2010-05-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

Focused on being creative...

Finished product: Joey called it his submarine. Then started singing, "We all live in a yellow submarine."

My Growing Boy

2010-05-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

I went into Joey's room a few nights ago to peek in on him while he was sleeping...I do this almost every single night. On this particular night I looked at his foot which was sticking out of the blankets. I was shocked. Maybe cause it was in a different position. He was on the top bunk of his bed so maybe his foot being at my eye level made it so shocking to me...Anyway I was like "wow his foot is huge!" I know they will get even bigger as he gets old but I just remember how small they where when we first met...so teeny tiny and now these big feet are riding a big boy bike and running around and doing so much. (insert big mama tear here!)

2010-04-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

The other day we went down by the Willamette River in Portland (near the Sellwood bridge, for those who know the area) and brought our doggie for some lessons...

There was some searching involved...

More specifically for sticks!

Then there was the introduction of the river.

Which she obviously really loved! See her jumping?!

So we'd toss sticks in...

And like a good golden retriever that she is...

She brought it back!

Check out our little swimmer!! Yeah our family likes water!!

"It's a part of riding a bike..."

2010-04-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I joined the TNT Pac Crest 1/2 Ironman group for their 60 mile bike ride and I fell about 40 miles into the ride. OUCH! It had been raining for about 10 minutes and we came up to some train tracks that were awkward to cross...as in to go perpendicular across the tracks puts you well into the road of oncoming traffic. So yeah I tried to go over the tracks in not the best way and with the wet conditions I felt like my bike slipped on a banana peel and landed on my knee!

Something that Micah and I tell Joey when he falls off his bike is "it's a part of riding a bike" and I took that advice, hopped on my bike and rode the rest of the way yesterday and went out for another spin today.

Go me :)

{this moment}

2010-04-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this yesterday for the Friday {this moment} game which was inspired by Sarah who was inspired by SouleMama

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember." So elegantly worded by SouleMama

Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest!

2010-04-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

Today I got to spend some time with my friend Kim and her little cutie Kellen at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest which has over 40 acres of the most colorful tulips!! Well I haven't compared it to any other Tulip farms there might be out in the world but wow this place blew me away. Rows and rows of vibrant tulips!

Harris Guys Fishing at Hagg Lake

2010-04-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

2nd 1/2 Century Ride of My Life!

2010-04-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

First attempt at getting a pic of both of us while riding our bikes.

Second attempt and I like it! I think this will become my new facebook profile for a bit.

Beautiful day riding around Hagg Lake!!

Tons of wind today! I kept thinking about how the Kona Ironman peeps talk about the heavy winds on the bike part of the race...not that I think the wind was as serious as they have it but for me it was seriously intense!

Good ride. It took an hour for me to finally get that "hey I'm totally doing this ride" feeling. I'm not sure if anyone else feels this way but it takes me a while to get warmed up. For swimming, for cycling, for running...even just waking up in the morning takes a bit of time before I feel "yup I'm up for another day!"

Micah rode with me though my pace is slower then his he came along so we could spend time together (insert big AWWWW here) so it was sort of like a training date :) I love going around Hagg Lake. Any place to ride that is near water makes this fish feel at home! it was a good time. Second 1/2 century ride under my belt now! Tomorrow calls for 20...man am I going to be sore.

{this moment}

2010-04-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Sarah who was inspired by SouleMama

Family Biking Around Newberg

2010-04-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

Joey is doing great when it comes to riding his big boy bike (meaning no training wheels!! oh yeah). Now he is learning the rules of riding on streets with mommy and daddy of course.

The other night we decided to take a bike ride to McDonald's for ice cream cones which is about 1.5 miles away from home I believe.

This hill proved a bit too much for Joey at this time but he got off and walked his bike up until he was ready to ride again.

There he goes!

My handsome guys!

Sharing french fries with daddy.

Tired Sumba! She is doing great learning how to run next to a bike.

Sumba was thirsty and her best buddy hooked her up with some water! Joey is so helpful!

Joey took a big spill ... big ... I mean face plant big (you can barely see the scratches in the pic but it looked totally worse in person)! He did it at a perfect location, right in front of a garage sale. A sweet mom came walking over with the teddy bear Joey is holding in the picture to cheer him up. We waited with Joey as he cried out the pain for a bit and we reminded him ... "Falling is a part of riding a bike." It's a motto that Micah's mom used when Micah was a kiddo taking all sorts of spills I assume he took cause my man is just crazy like that. After reminding him of that motto a few times and a bit more crying and hugging...

He got back at it and we rode home!

This was such a fun family outing!

1/2 Century Ride

2010-04-12T05:23:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I needed to go for a long ride. Well long for me. I needed to get in 5o miles. Nearly 14 more miles then I have ever rode before. Partly because I got sick and then became unmotivated to get going again for a couple weeks. If I had followed my schedule I would not have completely skipped over the 4o miler mark!

So I found myself procrastinating while getting ready to go. I didn't want to be alone. I posted on Facebook...anyone want to ride today?? No responses. Probably in huge part because our Team In Training group just did an amazing brick the day before.

Then I remembered I have an ipod portable speaker dock. Oh this changed everything! I quickly started adding albums onto my "on-the-go" ipod playlist ... yeah not just songs for a quick jog around Newberg ... albums to get me through me 3 1/2 adventure! So I clicked on Dave Matthews Band, Unwritten Law, All-American Rejects, Bad Religion, Eddie Vedder and The Killers. Great tunes for a good ride. The music awesomely distracted me while climbing hills and going mile after mile until I finished 50 miles!

I used scotch tape to attach it to my aero bars :)

Yeah I was riding while getting a quick pic...I did slow down so it was fairly safe.

Beautiful Hagg Lake...How did I get the chance to slow down and snap this shot you may wonder...well you probably didn't wonder but I'll let you know regardless.

I got the chance to work on my tire changing skills!

Happily done with flat and ready to be on my way.

All in all it was a great! I was able to average 13.98 miles per hour which I consider pretty darn good with all the hilly hills I climbed.

Raw Candy!!

2010-04-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

What is this glorious treat you may ask?! Well it's called Pepita Brittle from the Raw Energy book I posted about and it's rather delicious!

Ingredients: 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), 1 cup raw hulled sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup raw honey (this time I did not have the chance to use raw honey), 1/2 tsp sea salt

Soak seeds for about 4 hours then drain and drip-dry for 30 minutes
Pulse-chop seeds in a food processor only a few seconds until seeds are cracked not ground into a meal.
In a bowl, mix seeds with honey then sprinkle with salt and mix.
Dehydrate for 22-26 hours at 105 degrees until the consistency is stiff but bendy.
Store in a ziplock freezer bag in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe says: "A good source of iron, zinc, selenium, copper, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, essential fatty acids, natural sugars, vitamins B, D & E, protein, and fiber"!!

**YUMMY HEALTHINESS**

Has Been RAW Rejuvenated!

2010-04-03T11:50:00.001-07:00

Recently I picked these Raw Food books up from my library. The one on the right has grabbed my attention with loads of great pics, each page has a recipe and it is an easy flip through sort of book.

Right now I have almonds soaking in a water, agave and seal salt mixture for 8 hours then I will drain out the liquid, mix in some ingredients and dehydrate for 28-35 hours! I'm looking forward to tasting these almonds! Whenever a recipe calls for soaking, I will write a little note to myself of when the soaking is done, the recipe I am soaking for and sometimes if it is from a new book I'll add what page I can refer back to when the soaking is done.

Almond Crunch

Ingredients: 1/2 cup raw agave nectar, 1 1/4 tsp sea salt, 2 cups raw almonds and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine 1 cup of purified water with the agave and 1 tsp of salt to the almonds, stir well and let soak for 8 hours.
Drain the almonds for 15 minutes in a strainer. In a bowl sprinkle the remaining 1/4 tsp of salt and the cinnamon, then mix so all the nuts are coated with the seasonings.
Spoon the nuts onto mesh dehydration screens and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 28 to 35 hours. Then remove from mesh screens and let cool for 30 minutes.
Put the nuts in ziplock freezer bags and they can be stored in the fridge up to 6 months or in a dark, cool cabinet for up to 2 months.

**I hardly doubt 2 cups of almonds that sound this tasty will last 2 months in this household...more like 2 days!**

Another cool part about this book is each recipe states what this meal/snack/drink etc is a good source of...this almond crunch snack is a good source of calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins B & E, protein, hearty-healthy fat, and fiber! RIGHT ON!

I heart raw foods!!

It's been awhile...

2010-03-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in awhile but I do sometimes wonder where should I put my thoughts cause I end up posting way too many Facebook status thingies!! Hahah and the other day I was like oh yeah I totally have this online journal!

------------Some New Harris Happenings------------

*Micah is training hard with Team In Training for the Pacific Crest 1/2 Ironman in June (My Stud!!) and he is raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Go Team!!

*I am completely enjoying myself as the swim coach for the Pacific Crest Team In Training group! There are 3 swims a week that I write workouts for and am on deck at each workout...well I have missed 2 out of 30 so far due to being sick.

*Joey says he wants to do Team In Training cause he hears about Micah and I going to all the workouts. Too Cute! Our little athlete!

*Micah and I are signed up for the Seattle to Portland bike ride mid July which is a total of 204 miles in 1 weekend! 102 on Saturday and 102 on Sunday!! A few of our TNT friends are doing it as well so we are really looking forward to this ride.

*I am going to set out on quite the adventure shortly after the Seattle to Portland bike ride. I am going to ride my bike from our home in Oregon to Southern California. I found a really cool blog about a couple who went from the Canada border to the Mexico border in 2006. They referenced a few books which I have added to my library list that have great info about making this journey. Though I am not taking on the border to border...I think that Micah and I want to tackle that as a family some time. This time I am going to try to get a friend or more to join me riding 50-80 miles a day...with lists of campgrounds along the way...of course packing my camera and hiking boots cause there will be lots of hiking to be done all along the pacific coast! I have started building my list of things I will need to bring such as a tent, sleeping bag, etc. and a few things I'll need to find like a bike trailer to load up my tent, sleeping bag, etc! I think I will be heading out a week or two after the Seattle to Portland bike ride and guessing this may take about 3 weeks. I'm really stoked on this future trip!

*Simplify, simplify, simplify...we are going to get rid of the excess stuff we do not need. We are even thinking of renting out our house and renting a small little place closer to Portland. I am interested in being close enough to always ride my bike everywhere rain or shine! (in the Pacific Northwest you need to have that "rain or shine" attitude!!) Not that our 25 mile commute to Portland from Newberg is horrible to do...I would just prefer to not waste the time driving, not waste the money on gas and spend the time exercising as I get from place to place. Plus being closer to Portland keeps us close to the action...the zoo, tons of parks, the river, all our TNT friends! We are meeting all sorts of cool peeps doing Team In Training and it would be nice to live closer to more friends...though I would be leaving some dear friends in Newberg!

*Joey is growing...this coming fall is preschool time!! Though I haven't figured out if I'm going to homeschool his preschool year or what but he is getting closer to going to school!! Seems like the time has gone fast now that it is gone but I have enjoyed being home with him everyday of his life so far. I'm excited for him and excited for more schooling opportunities in Portland because it is a much bigger city then Newberg. Still leaning towards a Montessori school and Portland has a bunch while Newberg has zero. We'll see.

*Sumba...oh Sumba! Our not so little golden retriever who is 7 months now is doing great. We got her spayed last month so no hounds out there going to be knocking up our girl! Haha!! She is getting big and we took her for her first run while we were on our bikes tonight after dinner (it is staying lighter longer!! yippee!!) I think this is going to be good for her cause I can't run as fast as she would like to run!

A lot on my mind but this is already getting too long. Until next time my online journal!

Bunkbed Jump

2009-12-03T21:15:00.000-08:00

If you think the jump Joey is doing in this video is crazy enough well he wants to make sure he hits the chain hanging from the ceiling fan on his way from one bed to the next. Seriously crazy kid here!! Just like his dad!!

First Time Off The Diving Board

2009-11-28T20:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Pics Joey Took

2009-11-27T20:03:00.000-08:00

I let joey have fun with my camera last night and it was so cool to look through over 200 pics he took in a matter of 10 minutes or so. Some of them turned out really neat and I thought I'd share them with you...

Afternoon Walk Pics

2009-11-17T22:17:00.001-08:00

Home Improvements: Floors ... Part 2

2009-11-08T13:42:00.000-08:00

Another busy weekend of home improvements. Micah's brother Nathan was here yesterday to help us out.

A shot of our shining refinished wood floors!

Getting the hardie backer down on top of the subfloor in the kitchen.

Joey was a huge help!

Sub floor is covered with hardie backer

Tiles going down...

Almost covering all of the floor

Getting the grout into all of the grooves.

Looking good!!!

Home Improvements: Floors

2009-11-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

We've got some big improvements going on around our house. We are working on the floors. Here are a few pics to show the before of the wood floors in the living room where it met up with the dining room laminate.

Here is a pic of the laminate that is in the kitchen and dining room.

Then there was the process of removing the laminate...which was interesting. While taking up the large laminate we noticed they previously had square laminate underneath. While taking up the square laminate we realized they put laminate over hard wood floors in the dining room. Seriously!

Sanding down the floors. Micah and his brother Nate did a whole lot of sanding last weekend.

Even Joey helped out some.

This whole process was really noisy too but we had protection for our ears.

Micah and Joey were reading up on the next step...putting polyurethane on the floors to give it that shinny finished look.

Oh yeah ... so whatever was on the hardwood floors needed to be someplace else. This meant everything in the dining room, living room, Joey's bedroom, our bedroom, and Micah's office was either in the kitchen or the play room.

Yeah it's pretty packed right now in these rooms!!

But our hardwood floors are starting to look good!! All sanded and ready for polyurethane!

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-10-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

I asked Joey what he'd like to be for halloween today and mentioned he had his Thomas the Train costume from last year but he wasn't super excited about that option. Then I mentioned how he has his Bob the Builder tool belt and hard hat and he could be a hard worker like daddy and he was over the moon about this idea. So this year Joey is Bob the Builder!

Ready for some measuring!

Well measuring and some Trick-or-Treating!!

Joey and his buddy Colton

They are great friends.

We played "red light, green light" along the way. That helped when they were getting a bit ahead of us.

Heidi, Micah and Jason...proud parents of our little halloween kiddos.

There was a lot of door bell ringing...A LOT! I mean multiple ringing on every door!

Followed by lots of "trick-or-treat!!!" from the kiddos.

Sumba came too. She found a halloween treat along the way - a tennis ball.

There was a moment when Joey told Micah, "I'm just so tired" and I figured this would be the best picture to mention that comment.

Joey and Colton...a bit tired a this point.

We made a couple more stops when we got back to our street.

These neighbors got super creative. Spider with a skull for the body and a huge spider web.

A bunch of pumpkins and a giant spider on the wall.

Joey found this pretty funny...the legs would move up and down.

Hope you all enjoyed a fun, candy-filled Halloween!!

It is fall, it is fall, the leaves are falling every where!!

2009-10-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

With the leaves falling down, Joey has reminded us that he is a very hard worker.

He loves having fun with the leaves as well!!

"That was me in a pile of leaves" ... Joey just said as I'm typing up this post.

Ally and Joey having fun with the leaves.

Cyclocross and My TNT Friend Ali!!

2009-10-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

I went to the Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center to watch my friend Ali do some crazy amazing racing called cyclocross. These racers are such studs riding their bikes off road going up and down hills and tackling obstacles like a huge log in the road. There were a lot of riders and my friend Ali was in this group somewhere!

She is in black heading down the hill.

Go Ali Go!!!!

Great Job! You sooooooooo totally rock!!

I also got to see some other TNT peeps...Michele & her hubby Johan, Ricardo, and TNT Coach Lindsay. Great to see you guys!!

Good Friends, Good Food and Good County Line Dancing!!

2009-10-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

All dressed up and ready to go out for our first double date in years! We have had so much fun having our friends Ally and Jared Cook up here.

Time for some good grub. We went to Fuji's Sushi & Grill...one of our favorites in Sherwood.

My handsome cowboy.

Jared & Ally

We had a blast last night and it was so much fun to do some two-steppin and line dancing.

The Cook's and Multnomah Falls

2009-10-16T23:23:00.000-07:00

Our friends, Jared and Allison Cook arrived yesterday from Cali. We are super excited to see them over the weekend. Joey and Jared had fun with some coloring.

Off we go and here is a picture of our beautiful fall colors! So vibrant!

Sumba loves sticking her head out the window while the car is going.

More awesome fall colors on our way to Multnomah Falls...

Here we are in front of the falls.

Awww...our cute friends!

Not zoomed in enough but if you look closely at the bridge...Micah and Joey are peaking their heads out!! My crazy boys!

A hiking we will go...

Yes that is a snake in Joey's hands...Micah found it and Joey without hesitation grabbed it then set it back to his "home."

Wait what??? 9 more switchbacks? Yeah we hiked 1.5 miles up to the top view of the falls!

All this hiking made for a pretty tired Sumba!

When we made it to the top we had to viewing space to ourselves for a little bit.

Checking out the drop off.

Jared and Ally! Such a cute couple...9 months fresh into marriage! Love you guys!!

Sumba...resting up for the way down.

Micah and Joey sharing a moment together.

Ally loves Sumba!

*Harris Family*

I absolutely love fall!!

*Another cute Harris family pic*

Jared and Ally staring out at the Columbia River. I asked them to pose like this and thought it was pretty artsy fartsy looking!

Climbing through some big tree roots.

After a 2.5 mile hike my little puppy was super tired!

Good times with some good friends!!

Firefighter Story Time

2009-10-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today at the library they has a few firefighters come from the Newberg Fire Department and the kiddos got a super special story time.

Joey was really excited and grabbed his fireman shirt and put on some red pants that he said was part of his "Fireman Sam" outfit (he is a big fan of this kid show). So dress in his fireman outfit he put on his fireman rain boots as well and his outfit was practically complete.

When we got to story time they gave each kid a fireman hat which Joey was super stoked about.

After story time they let the kids get into the fire truck and check it out. Joey wanted to go for a ride!

Check out those huge wheels...bigger then Joey!!

Joey and the fire truck!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 29, 30 & 31

2009-10-11T20:38:00.004-07:00

Day 31...Final day of 100% raw foods!!

I have combined the last few days of my raw foods journey because there was not as much to write about. The challenge has been awesome. I have been consuming delicious, mostly organic foods for the last 31 days. Some things of course did not taste the best right away because my tastes buds were wondering what the heck I was eating. After a few tries though most often the food became a favorite.

Easiest way I combine all my fruits and leafy greens...with my new Vita-Mix...see my strawberry, banana, spinach smoothie below...I also added fresh squeezed orange juice to my smoothie for even more flavor.

I can also make soups and mix up recipes for my dehydrator. Love Love Love my Vita-Mix, my early Christmas gift from my hubby.

Some stuff is easier to try then others. I am still working on beets...they are packed with so much flavor that I am still enjoying them with carrots, cucumbers, and lemons. See all the cool layers of juice...cucumber first, then beets, then carrots!

That's the only way to get the beets into my system so far.

If you are wondering where I got such a cool straw from...well this straw made me pretty excited when I saw them at 7-11. They are heavy duty Slurpee straws. We picked up four. Perfect for juices and smoothies!

I still am amazed that my month is done. Before setting out on this journey I thought wow a whole month...this is going to be super trying. There were times when I thought about other foods but it was nothing compared to how I would crave food on Weight Watcher, LA Weight Loss or Atkins. These are not weight loss programs that worked for me. They work for others but not for me. Raw works for me. I love it. It doesn't feel like I am withholding from the "good" stuff because you start to realize there are so many naturally grown good foods that are so healthy for you and gives your body the nutrients that it needs. All this typing has me wanting a mango! They are delicious and I feel like I could eat them all the time. Love them!!

I will not be posting daily about what I am eating anymore. My challenge is complete but I will from time to time talk about new recipes I have tried. Thank you to those who have followed me on this journey by reading my blog and chatting with me about it. Blogging was probably a huge tool that kept me to the challenge. Last night I went to the store for more mangos and thought about chocolate peanut butter ice cream. I thought that I was so close why not have some ice cream. Then I thought about posting that on my blog, not finishing the whole 31 days of raw because I wanted some ice cream. Well it is so awesome to share that I have finished the whole month being 100% raw and I'll enjoy some ice cream this weekend :)

Raw Food Challenge: Day 28

2009-10-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

I've been eating lots of mangos lately. They are delicious!

Tomorrow for dinner I'll be meeting up with a raw foods group in Portland for a raw potluck. I've got some crackers going in my dehydrator for tomorrow nights dinner. I'm excited to get together with a big group of others and chatting about raw foods.

Today was great...I put my new Vita-Mix to use and enjoyed a tasty green smoothie: strawberries, bananas, fresh orange juice, and a bunch of spinach.

Day 28 was good!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 27

2009-10-09T23:19:00.000-07:00

Day 27 has me thinking of acquired tastes. New foods have been entering into my cart at the grocery store and our local produce market. I am really enjoying them as well. For the most part I am generally rather reserved with what I eat. Actually reserved sounds too nice...if I thought something smelled or looked weird I just would not try it. Even if the name sounded weird...yeah I know that sounds silly but I have only had cheese cake once in my life cause I thought the name was not appealing...I like cheese, I like cake but I never thought the two together sounded good.

So back to acquired tastes...I read or heard from someone that your taste buds change every 10 days. This is totally interesting to me because with my picky background I know that if I continue to try something the taste will grow on me. For this reason I picked up more dates at the store today because the last time I tried them I got all weird about the new food. Try, try again.

Since the whole raw foods idea came to me from my friend Sarah, some new foods I have been enjoying: flax seeds, bell peppers, onions, beets, almond butter, green smoothies and juices.

I have found a new favorite cracker! Similar to the cracker I blogged about a day or two ago but this time I added a shredded red bell pepper and garlic powder. Dang they are delicious!!!

I am not generally the type to go for the spicy stuff but I have found my tastes changes and I enjoy some spice.

4 days left of my journey!!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 26

2009-10-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of how I may eat after my month long journey is over. I would like to stay in a 75-85% raw range to keep a large amount of raw foods in my diet but part of me wonders how to stay away from old habits and long time food favorites. Though I do have some new favorites...mangos, bell peppers, flax seed crackers, and fresh juices! So much to think about and just 5 days of my journey left.

As the days god by I find myself more naturally grabbing raw foods to eat instead of needing to search food, smoothie and juicing lists. This gives me comfort in what is to come with food. One day at a time, one foot in front of the other.

Bye Bye Training Wheels!!

2009-10-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Joey's training wheels came off his big boy bike. We did a lot of talking about it and put them in the trash together and started working on riding his bike.

Today Joey waited very anxiously for the trashman.

He waved goodbye to the trashman and his training wheels.

Joey and his bike minus the training wheels!!

Check out this quick learner!!

Yeah he crashed at the end of the video.

He wanted to make sure I got a picture of his "battle wounds" though there was not much to see.

He was riding shortly after the crash.

Raw Food Challenge: Day 25

2009-10-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

Day 25 was a happy surprise....my husband sent me an Edible Arrangement and it was such nice treat to be delivered something I could completely indulge in and it fit into my 100% raw foods month.

Another sweet thing I am noticing is the clothes I usually wear are getting too loose! Oh no that is exciting :) So I am officially smaller...hahaha...yeah I've notice that I have lost some weight but it is nice when your usual clothes are too big! A sweet benefit of healthy foods!!

A couple days ago I made some crackers and they were super delicious.

Flax Seed Crackers
2 cups whole flax seeds, soaked in 2 cups water for 4-12 hours
1 to 2 cups diced onion...can also add shredded carrots or bell peppers
3/4 cup pumpkin or sesame seed, soaked in water for 2 hours
3/4 cup sunflower seed, soaked in water for 2 hours
1 tablespoon tamari or Brags Liquid Aminos
1 tablespoon Cajun spice, optional
1 teaspoon Himalayan or sea salt
more salt for tops

Direction
Mix the gooey flax with other drained seeds, any diced veggies and spices you choose and some really good salt. Spread thin onto dehydrator trays and sprinkle with more salt. Dry 'till crisp, about 6 hours on low heat, about 100-110 degrees.

I will be making more of these for sure!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 24

2009-10-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

I am really excited about friends and family who have connected with me and told me of their interest in raw foods. I wanted to use this post today to talk about all the stuff I use to prepare my food. Some I had before I started this all, some I have collect along the way and one item I am anxiously waiting for in the mail!

My Juicer

I bought the Jack Lalanne's Power Juicer and have used this almost everyday since I bought it. The clean-up takes about 10 minutes but it is so worth the benefit of being about to juice my fruits and veggies! One of my favorite juices right night is: 4-6 carrots, 1 beet, 1 cucumber and 1-2 lemons (which I juice with my electric citrus juicer). YUM! Today I made my first green juice: 2 large handfuls of spinach, 1 thing of broccoli, 1 cucumber, 1 green apple and 1 lemon. Yeah the last juice might have you thinking...YUCK...and it wasn't super bad but it also wasn't the tastiest thing ever but I consumed a bunch of veggies and some fruit for breakfast. I was pretty proud!

My Citrus Juicer

I love this machine! I was searching for the juice by hand ones and my hubby talked me into getting this electric juicer and I truly appreciate that he did! I juice my lemons, oranges and grapefruits (which added all together make a might fine drink!) with this bad boy and I'm able to get so much more out of it then just squeezing. The reason for a citrus juicer, for me, is that the first time I got my main juicer I assumed the whole fruit could go in but it did not taste so good with the rind and all! Peeling the fruit sometimes it too time consuming and if you have a cut anywhere on your hand that citrus fruit juice is going to land in it while you are trying to peel it! haha. Anyway this is more of a convenience purchase then anything.

My Blender

My current one is broken from blending so many smoothies and such...I ran that motor out! The blender I am waiting for is the Vita-Mix 5200. It is the mack-daddy of blending!! I'll post more about my blender when it comes in the mail. Blenders in general are great for smoothies, soups, recipes for the dehydrator, nut butters...all sorts of awesome delicious stuff!

My Dehydrator

I love this machine. I bought the Nesco American Harvest Gardenmaster from www.sears.com and they have other dehydrators as well but I picked this one for the temperature gage. It also came with 8 trays so you can dehydrate several recipes at one time. 8 no spill fruit roll trays and 8 tray screens came with this dehydrator and they sit on to of the original tray. All sorts of awesome uses with this cooking machine! I'd suggest this for making things to have on the go or to have snacks around the house. I have made crackers and strawberry breakfast bars with mine and looking forward to making more stuff with it as well.

***these are a few of my favorite things**

In the last 24 days I have only used the oven once and that was when I made Joey some blueberry muffins which I ate zero!

Last week of 100% raw foods! Though I will be dropping a few percentages off, I will be maintaining a high percentage of raw foods on a daily basis after this month long journey has come to an end. I'm feeling good!!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 23

2009-10-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

It absolutely does not feel like it has been 23 days and I only 8 more days of 100% raw foods. Right now my dehydrator is going cooking some flax, pumpkin and sunflower seed crackers...looking forward to snacking on those with some avocado slices.

Now it is time for bed. Good night :)

Puppy Love

2009-10-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

Raw Food Challenge: Day 21 & 22

2009-10-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Oops...2 posts in a row that are two days worth. Not as much exciting news to report about the raw except I am solidly still sticking to it! Today I was surrounded by gummy bears and did not have one! I have been thinking a lot about how my day to day meals will change once I step off the 100% raw food train. In a way it is really nice to have a rigid no to specific things like cooked, processed and/or junk food. It is nice to know that all the raw goodness it great for me to eat whatever I want. The feeling I get when my body has been nourished and satisfied is so absolutely refreshing. I used to just stuff myself...seriously eating more then necessary...way beyond the "serving size"! The problem with the serving size deal is that most of the time that amount of cooked, processed or junk food is not that filling at all. Well at least that is how my mind felt about it especially when it came to items such as ice cream, cheese, wine....the list could go on and on. Anyway I need to look ahead to how I will transition from 100% to a range of 75-85% and make sure I am fueling enough for the activities (swimming, running, biking, hiking, playing...etc) that I love doing.

9 more days!

A New Family Addition!!!

2009-10-02T21:40:00.001-07:00

We have a new family member!! Micah bought her today. She is such a cutie. We named her Sumba, which is an island in Indonesia that is very very special to us.

Joey is stoked!

Welcome Home Sumba!

Crashed out!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 19 & 20

2009-10-02T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today and yesterday I've been a bit under the weather with stuffy nose, sore throat and all that icky stuff that follows having a cold. Today on facebook I got some good advice from Sarah to cut up a garlic clove and swallow it like medicine pills and from Jennifer who mentioned bell peppers have loads of vitamin C which was wonderful news after eating 5 oranges today. Now my sore throat is gone but my nose is still stuffy a bit better but still stuffy. I am feeling a bit better so that is good and the nice thing is I did it without cough drops and other medicines.

***20 days completed***

Raw Food Challenge: Day 18

2009-09-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

Another day in the month of all raw foods! I woke up feeling good. Joey rode his bike while I jogged to our library which is over a mile away...he's such a stud. I packed a strawberry bar for us while we were out which was delicious and filled us up while gone.

Today was another day of thinking about processed foods. I was wanting to taste them again. I was trying to think of the reasons I am on the raw food (eating natural healthy foods for more energy and weight loss as well) and this made me remember why I am doing this journey. Hard part about this is that I have so much attachment to food...stress and emotional eater, eating for family and/or social functionals, meeting up with people over a few hours and food is bound to be involved. So many memories throughout my life have involved all sorts of food and I know for sure whenever there was a veggie tray amidst all the cookies, candies and desserts galore, I avoided that veggie tray. Now I'm trying to learn to love them. I do love fruit way more then veggies but both are pretty freakin good!

18 days of raw down...13 more to go!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 17

2009-09-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

Today I focused on getting more food into my system and looking back on what I did today - crazy house organizing - I am getting back on track regarding energy. Though I think when I do more intense stuff as in swimming, running or biking that is when I need even more calories in my system. Learning...always learning!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 16

2009-09-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

I did not eat enough today. If I stayed mellow activity wise I would have had enough but about 30 minutes into an hour and a half swim workout I was exhausted. Seriously I have never had an issue with getting enough calories in my day...normally it is quite the opposite problem, hence my search for better health. I've got some big goals ahead and some fun races so I need to find some better ways of getting more fuel into my body!

I finished my second batch of strawberry bars. This time they are actually circles. I could only find a circle at the store and figured it would be better then nothing and as I was stuffing the ingredients into the circle I thought the cookie cutter would be perfect for making patties...the veggie burgers kind of patties I can cook in my dehydrator. I'm going to look for some recipes tomorrow. Now it's time to go to bed.

Raw Food Challenge: Day 15

2009-09-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend we did tons of work on our bathroom and I didn't have much time to put into thinking about what I wanted to eat or searching through my raw books or websites so by today I realized after a few days of not getting crafty with my food ... I was cracky and I think it was a lack of food. I wasn't eating that much and I was getting frustrated. Tomorrow I plan on making more strawberry breakfast bars tomorrow which are an awesome take with ya snack!

Not much to report for today besides not being prepared which is an awesome reminder to me.

Raw Food Challenge: Day 14

2009-09-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Today has been a challenge. My soreness from last nights swim workout turned into a painful good morning as I woke up and went for a 22 mile bike ride with my friend Dina. I ate a banana before we left and brought 3 strawberry bars (recipe in a previous post). This was not enough fuel! It was a learning experience for future workouts.

I have been pretty drained today and took a 2 hour nap. Though you might say..."but Summir, you said you have so much energy while eating raw?!?!" and that is true I do have extra energy for regular day to day stuff but as I incorporate more and more training for my ambitious goals for many races to come, I will need to learn more about what will best fuel me while I go for long swims, bikes and runs.

2 weeks down! 17 days to go!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 13

2009-09-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

When I decided to look more into raw I reserved as many books from my library as I could find on the topic. Carol Alt has two books out (well maybe more but I know of two)...Eating in the Raw and The Raw 50. The first book was a great into to what eating raw foods is all about and the benefits she saw from eating this way with a few recipes I think. The second one has been a gold mine for me with loads of recipes. If you have any interest in learning more about raw food eating I would recommend both of these books. Found these crackers in The Raw 50 book:

***

Nama Shoyu Carrot Crackers

2 cups flax seeds
3 cups purified water
2 cups carrot pulp (reserved from when you make carrot juice)
1/2 cup nama shoyu (raw soy sauce)
1/2 cup bragg liquid aminos
1 small garlic clove, minced

Grind flax seeds and soak in 3 cups of water for at least an hour or until all the water is absorbed. Put the soaked flax seeds, carrot pulp, nama shoyu, bragg liquid aminos and minced garlic in a food processor (I put mine into my blender!) and process, slowly adding extra water if needed. The mixture should be moist, but not runny.

Then put the mixture onto the telflex-lined dehydrator trays thinly. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 6 hours then flip over and dehydrate for about 3 hours. Cut into however you'd like...I actually just broke them apart it gave them a little bit of a chip look to them. Then you can put them back into the dehydrator for more crunchiness...I did not because mine were already crunchy enough for my liking.

With dehydrating I have noticed that a recipe may call for a certain time but it is absolute and it just depends if the recipe is dry and at the right consistency for you.

These are tasty and I plan on making more tomorrow. Today seemed to go by rather quickly. I had one of my strawberry breakfast bars in the morning and now that I am down to 4 I know I need to make another batch! I'll probably get that started on Sunday.

We hit the grocery store tonight and I'm delighted to fill my fridge with fresh delicious. I think I'll go get a mango to enjoy right now. Goodnight.

Day 13...Done!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 12

2009-09-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

My carrot crackers are finished so I was interested in testing them out this morning. So I made some avocado mayo to spread on the top and the combo is delicious! The recipe for the avocado mayo is:

Avocado Mayo: Blend until creamy

1 cup pine nuts
1 large avocado
1 tbs. lemon juice
2 tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. Celtic sea salt
1 clove garlic

This recipe also called for 8 pitted dates which I picked up from the store but simple forgot to add them. It was really good...I said was because I finished it off by the end of the day.

YUM!!

Here are the "Strawberry Breakfast Bars" ... who knows why they are called breakfast bars because after my workout this afternoon with Sherrie my fellow raw enthusiast (which by the way was so much fun Sherrie and I hope you enjoy these bars) ... I ate two of these following my workout. Hopefully the wrapping will preserve the flavor though I doubt these will last more then 3 days :)
I have been thinking a lot about foods I have not eaten in the last 12 days ... teriyaki chicken with steamed white rice with a salad and gyozas! Yeah that is what I order from our local bento restaurant. Before starting this raw food journey, if I really wanted that I would either get it that day or in the next couple of days. It will be at least 19 days before the soonest moment that I could order this meal...if I stick to my challenge which is my plan. So like I said I've been thinking about it.

The thing that surprises me is that all my life I have been used to eating whatever I wanted or restricting what I eat with diets like Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss or Atkins. These are the kind of diets I got mad cravings and usually I would eat something "bad" and then try to get back to the diet. It was part of this weird diet cycle. Now I feel the food choices I have been enjoying have either blocked cravings or I am truly satisfied and my body is not asking for the food I would normally eat.

Fun with the some Neighborhood Friends

2009-09-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

Raw Food Challenge: Day 11

2009-09-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

This was the picture I posted of my chick peas when I first started soaking them...

They have doubled!

Another day of sprouting for the chick peas...do you see the little sprouts poking out??

I did a lot of food prep and dehydration today. Here is my beautiful dehydrator. If you are getting one to make stuff that is still raw, make sure it has a temperature dial.

First recipe Joey and I tackled was called Strawberry Breakfast Bar

These were pretty tricky to get into cute little granola bar looking shapes...I'm going to look for some cool cookie cutters soon! They are delicious!! I am trying my first one right now and I am so glad I cam across this recipe. Click here for all the directions. The ingredients are almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, strawberries and raisins.

Next recipe we worked on was the Cheese Crackers from Carol Alt's book, The 50 Raw which has tons of wonderful raw recipes. I have checked this out from my library several times and probably will continue until I've tried and blogged about all the recipes I like!

3 cups fresh corn kernels
2 cups shredded raw mild cheddar cheese, loosely packed
1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili pepper
1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt (I have sea salt so that will have to do)

Tossed it all into my blender, mixed it up and it looks pretty funky!

They are still in the dehydrator but once they are cut up into little cheez-it sizes they are a yummy snack!

Today was fun and filled with lots of raw food. 11 days down...20 more to go!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 10

2009-09-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Wow...Day 10! Thanks for those who have been reading this and also commenting to me about your interest or questions. It is so nice to be connected with others on this journey. I've included some recipes on this post especially for those who asked :)

Today was good. Though I did not get that much sleep, I still got up this morning and started the day. Got my day going with an awesome smoothie which was a tasty way to start the day. I snacked on almonds while Joey played at the park. Then we went to our local grocery store in Newberg, Fred Meyers and I picked up some great raw food options. I will be making onion bread, strawberry breakfast bars and more homemade cheez-its but this time with mild cheddar not sharp. I'll post these recipes when I have pics of the finished product.

The flax seed crackers I made are growing on me. I had 3 strips for dinner with hummus spread on them...YUM! This recipe was really simple and here is the directions and info I cut and pasted to share:

Raw Flax Seed Crackers Recipe

Dehydrated flax seed crackers are a healthy raw food snack.

Raw flax seed crackers are a popular snack for those on raw food diet. Even if you're just looking to include more flax seed in your diet or more raw foods, try this dehydrated flaxseed cracker recipe for a satisfying crunch. Flaxseed crackers are great with raw salsa, raw guacamole or raw hummus. I like to add garlic salt to my flax crackers, but this may not be suitable for those on a 100% raw food diet.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole flaxseeds
approx 2 cups water
1/4 cup tamari, Braggs Liquid Aminos or nama shoyu raw soy sauce
sea salt to taste
1 tbsp fresh minced herbs (optional)

Preparation:

In a medium sized bowl, cover the flax seed crackers with water and allow to soak for at least 1 1/2 hours. The water will turn to a gelatinous goo. Check the mixture, and add more water if needed. You want the mixture to be gooey, but not runny, and not too thick.

Stir in the tamari, Liquid Aminos or nama shoyu sauce, sea salt and fresh herbs. You can also get creative and add some extra flavors - a quirt of lime juice, minced ginger, chili powder or cayenne pepper - depending on your tastes.

Spread the mixture about 1/8 inch thick on your dehydrator's paraflexx or teflex sheets.

Set your dehydrator to about 110 degrees, and dehydrate for 4-6 hours. Turn the mixture over, and dehydrate another 3 - 4 hours. If you like a crispy and crunchy cracker, dehydrate a bit longer. I like my flaxseed crackers a bit chewier, so I dehydrate them a bit less. Break or slice your crackers into pieces when finished dehydrating.

Raw flaxseed crackers are an excellent snack on their own, or served with a raw salsa, guacamole, raw hummus or another raw food dip.

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Yummy Smoothies!!

Here is a general recipe I go by but really there is no set amount of any of these options that I always stick with. It's all about the way it tastes personally.

lots of spinach

1-2 bananas

1-2 cups of another fruit...this morning it was strawberries and marrion berries

1 oz of acai (from Whole Foods)

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Juices

I found several recipes online and I've tried the "Body Cleanser"

4 carrots

1/2 cucumber

1 beet

...I add an apple and a lemon which makes the carrots and beet flavor not as strong

I also like carrot juice: 4-6 carrots with 1 lemon

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In the making right now is homemade hummus. The chick peas are in a jar soaking. More about the hummus later.

My Hard Working Guys!

2009-09-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the bathroom got some much needed attention. We are replacing the bathroom tiles and I will post pics of our finished bathroom soon (hopefully next weekend!).

I love when Micah lets his construction talents shine on our home. Joey is such a big helper and he loves working with his daddy.

Raw Food Challenge: Day 9

2009-09-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I started a batch of flaxseed crackers and today I am so stoked to post about them. They have a different sort of taste but they were very good with the avocado on top.

I am soaking some garbonzo beans right now and looking forward to making some hummus in a few days. The hummus recipe calls for 24 hours of soaking and then 2-3 days of sprouting.

Made some zucchini chips which actually tasted more like steamed zucchini and was delicious!! I sprinkled the zucchini with cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and a raw version of soy sauce. Really tasty!

Today I have felt good and bad throughout the day...most of the day I felt good but I swam for 2 hours and felt pretty darn crappy. Part of me feels it is just cause I am 30 so I am not going to feel as good as it used to feel when I swam. Part of me wonders if all this raw, while being great for my system and cleaning me out, might not be enough to keep me going through longer workouts. I do not want to judge it by one poor workout cause poor workouts happen...so I'll wait and see how I feel for the next swim.

After I got home from the pool I did some juicing: 5 carrots, 1/2 a cucumber, 1 beet, 1 apple and 1 lemon. For the first time with beets in my juices I really truly liked this juice. After drinking it I felt a surge of energy...it is just after midnight and seriously I need to get to bed! I need to find a good juice that helps me become sleepy! Maybe I should try the night time tea...

Raw Food Challenge: Day 8

2009-09-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

Raw Cheez-it Update:

Definitely not the real deal but they are they are a homemade raw tasty snack. There are things I can do different with the recipe that will change the flavor. This batch was made with sharp cheddar and I generally prefer mild cheddar. This recipe I will be making again. My hubby took the rest of the bag to work with him so I seriously will be making more!

Right now the dehydrator is cooking flax seed crackers and will be finished tomorrow so I will update with some pics tomorrow. I am looking forward to putting some avocados on the crackers. I am also going to try to make some hummus soon which will be wonderfully delicious on some flax crackers!

Day 8 done! Seriously this journey is going well. I feel good. I have thoughts lately of the types of food I would normally enjoy stuffing my face with...Taco Bell - cheesy gordita crunch with a dr. pepper or the strawberry fruitista...junk food - butterfingers, reese's, chocolate peanut butter ice cream...these sorts of things. My feelings are no where near cravings for these items but more like memories of eating them.

Raw Food Challenge: Day 7

2009-09-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Today I am putting my dehydrator to use. I have been looking through a few books and have marked pages of interest. Being the cheese lover that I am, when I read a recipe which is similar to Cheez-it's...I just knew that recipe was destined for me to try.

The recipe calls for:

3 cups fresh corn kernels (which I cut straight from the cob)

2 cups shredded raw cheddar cheese - mild or sharp, loosely packed (I had sharp available)

1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper (picked a nice yellow one)

2 tablespoons chopped red onion (I hope onion powder will be enough)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon chili pepper

1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt (I have sea salt so that will have to do)

Cooking with a dehydrator takes awhile. I just flipped the recipe over after 6 hours and now it has 6 more hours. Then I will cut them into little squares and put them back in for about 10 hours to give them that crunch. I'll be posting about the finish of this recipe tomorrow.

Day 7 has probably been my hardest day which was not really hard but out of the whole week I spent the most time outside of our house today without knowing we would be gone as long as we were. We went to Home Depot for about 3 hours and we loaded the truck up to come home and it broke down so we waited for a tow truck then finally got home. I just did not bring enough stuff with us while we were out and about but I did not buy any junk at Home Depot...not eating just kind of put me in a dull mood. Feeling good again after a yummy dinner: bell pepper, avocado and some cheese. YUM!

A delicious snack today!

My kitchen has more space! Since I have not used my stove top this whole week I asked Micah if we could pick up something at Home Depot to cover the stove so there was more counter space. This is super light so if there was a time we needed the stove top then we could just lift the wood block off.

My hubby talked me into this electric juicer. I really wanted the basic one that is cheaper and I thought would be easier to work with...not sure why I thought it would be easier but anyway this is a dream! We had fresh orange juice this morning.

Raw Food Challenge: Day 6

2009-09-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Today my sweet hubby took me to the Blossoming Lotus. We shared a lovely raw meal together and I really wish I would have had my camera with me so I could post pics!!

We ordered:

*Live Cashew Hummus with tomato, cucumber and flax crackers

*Live Pasta zucchini ribbon pasta, spinach, carrots, & tomato, tossed in basil pesto and cashew cheese

*Live Pizza buckwheat crust with basil pesto, cashew cheese and covered with all sorts of yummy veggies in some sort of marinade or sauce that make them taste as though they were sauteed (I need to figure out how to do that!)

I loved every bit and wondered how my "meat and potato" loving hubby enjoyed it...he liked it so much he said we could go back each weekend of my month long raw food journey. This just thrilled for me. I liked being around a bunch of people who were eating vegan and/or raw meals here. We were sitting at this restaurant with the tables that are so close together it almost seemed like we were having lunch with the people on both sides of us. I chatted with a vegan nutritionist sitting next to me ... it sure is great to meet more and more people to talk to about raw foods.

When we got home I saw a big box on the front porch...my dehydrator has finally arrived and I am super excited about that!!

Wow 6 full days of raw foods so far. I'm really enjoying this process. I don't feel cravings for things the way I usually have in the past...which is awesome!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 5

2009-09-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Today was good. I made a salad that was really too big so I was rather bummed to only eat about half of it before I was done but seriously thankful that I didn't over stuff just to finish the meal. I made the dressing with an avocado and a lemon...next time I want to try to add a bit more for taste, at least another avocado!

Also that raw cheese I bought yesterday is gone....yeah I ate it all! It is so delicious! Not sure if I should have that in the house all the time cause then I'd need to buy lots :) I'm such a cheese lover.

Not much else to add but yeah 100% raw for 5 full days! Wooo Whooo!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 4

2009-09-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

I am feeling good! Just got back from our local grocery store Fred Meyers and found way more then I thought I would. I found raw cheese and I'm stoked because I thought I'd have to go to Whole Foods or Trader Joes...not that I don't enjoy these stores they are just a few towns away though. Anyway I was super excited to check out the little section for organic specialty kinds of items. With the different things I've been buying at the store I thought it would be neat to take a look at my fridge. I love how colorful it is when I open up the door.

My colorful fridge!

Beets and radishes

Carrots! I get the big huge bag so I can make lots of juice!

This raw cheese is delicious!

Here carrot, beet, cucumber and lemon juice freshly made!!

I think I put 4 carrots, 1 beet, half a cucumber and 2 lemons in this one. The lemon really helps me because the beet has a rather strong flavor.

Quickly becoming a favorite of mine: almond butter with an apple

Easiest way to get my kiddo interested in eating apples...this sweet peeler!

A bunch of tomatoes just picked from our garden which I have made into tomato juice or just snacked on them the way they are...well without the green tops.

The Newberg library has lots of books about raw foodism!! I'm every excited to get more ideas for recipes.

Raw Food Challenge: Day 3

2009-09-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Last night I fell asleep around midnight and normally I would be super exhausted by the time Joey would wake me in the morning...which this morning happened to be at 7:30. Though I thought I would like to sleep longer, I started to realize that I felt good and was ready to start the day. I am feeling like I've got more energy then I'd usually have in the mornings so I am going to head outside to do some work in the backyard....

Ok now it's night time and I'll look back on my day. Going outside was fun. I chopped wood for about an hour. Seriously! We have a bunch of logs on the side of our house and we've been putting it off but I know the rain is coming soon so I just started chopping! I have way more energy then usual.

Today I realized I need more options in my fridge and garden! I've got some good stuff....but my tastes are growing! Tomorrow I am going to pick up some bell peppers, avocados, bananas, romaine lettuce and I need to pick up the raw food books I reserved online from the library. The more options the better.

So day 3 and I know I need more....I want more. I am not talking quantity as if I am so hungry that I am having a hard time with staying away from junk food or something. I just want more and more options of flavors. Today my delicious eating included: kiwis, a green smoothie, apple and almond butter, juice of carrots, cucumber, beet and lemons, cheese and olives, sunflower seeds and drank tons of water.

I am really excited to go to the produce section tomorrow. Going to pick up some fresh delicious good stuff!

Raw Food Challenge: Day 2

2009-09-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

Am I really doing this? Have I decided to give up my lovely breads, yummy pastas, delicious Tillamook cheese with some cheap yet tasty wine, my favorite chocolate peanut butter ice cream? I could continue to list all sorts of food that has captured my tastes buds over my 30 years of life but here's just a few to make the point of the food I've filled my day to day life with. So am I really doing this??

YES I am!

Why would I do something so silly to give up the food that brings me such comfort? The food I grab when I'm stressed, having a bad day and then dive straight into an emotional eating binge...yeah the food that I've grown to get really frustrated with myself at overindulging. I have a major love/hate relationship with all the food I listed above along with many others as well. I have always enjoyed eating but I know that sometimes I completely just eat mindlessly! Eating while I am watching TV, on the computer or while driving. Rarely stopping to notice if I am full or need any more...because really most times I did not need anything in the first place.

This is one of the biggest reasons I am interested in trying all raw foods for one month. I have tried diets and I absolutely hate counting points, restricting carbs or other weird ways to try to lose weight. So now I am trying a new journey...eating these raw healthy foods to nourish my body. I have read and heard all sorts of good things like having extra energy, not having that heavy feeling after eating and actually feeling light.

Today I did not feel super hungry. I would think about when the last time I ate was and told myself that it was time to eat again.

Some of the food I enjoyed today was a green smoothie with spinach, grapes, blueberries and a banana ... large apple with almond butter ... just-fruit bar ... a bell pepper, olives and some cheese. This doesn't sound like much as I'm typing this out but I swam for 1 1/2 hours tonight and after I was done the bell pepper, olives and cheese were completely satisfying.

Raw Food Challenge: Day 1

2009-09-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

I've been introduced to raw foodism by my friend Sarah. I had mixed feelings about it because:

*I have always enjoyed meat....cheeseburgers, steaks, bacon and sausage, meaty pasta sauces!

*I love candy.

*I enjoy warm, cooked meals.

I have been eating more and more raw foods on a daily basis for a few months now but have not taken the full leap to 100%. The above things that I like about "normal" everyday food is not enough to keep me away from this journey.

Micah and I had a little chat last week and somehow we came up with a challenge for me...cause seriously I love a challenge. My raw food challenge is one month of 100% raw foods! So I'll be enjoying all sorts of fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, nuts, seeds, and raw milk cheese throughout my month long journey of all raw foods!

I was going to start tomorrow but by the afternoon I had realized I had consumed all raw things so why not start my challenge today. This morning I made fresh grape juice and put it into my blender with spinach, a banana, blueberries and raspberries smoothie for breakfast. I've munched on almonds, had an all-fruit bar, some raw cheddar cheese, and bell peppers and hummus. It's been a delicious day!

Kite Flying Fun

2009-09-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

Did I mention we are staying at a resort?? Haha...not an trailer park...it's an RV Resort!

A kite that Grandma and Grandpa Thompson would love!

We had some great wind today which was perfect for flying a kite! We had some fun.

Joey Flipping into the Pool!!!

2009-08-30T22:49:00.001-07:00

Joey picked up something new at the pool yesterday when some people where doing front flips into the water. Of course my little dare devil wanted to try as well...without hesitation he just went for it.

Here is a link to a little video I put together of some clips of yesterdays pool fun: http://www.youtube.com/summirlovin

Green Smoothies!

2009-08-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

I'm reading "12 Steps to Raw Food: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food" by Victoria Boutenko. The chapter I'm on is about green smoothies which I was super excited to get more info about because I've heard they are good for you and once you start drinking them for days and days in a row your body will start to crave them but even hearing this still didn't make it appealing to try. So I read the chapter and found out some cool info like...when you drink your greens in the form of a smoothie you reduce your consumption of oils and salt in your daily diet that you would normal use if you were eating your greens in a salad or dipping them into a sauce. I thought that was pretty neat. I have been adding spinach to my smoothies over the last couple of months and do not taste them but I usually put so much fruit in as well that it will change the smoothie to red or purple. Tonight we drank green smoothies!!! Tons of spinach with a banana and several strawberries...top and all since we are making green smoothies I've seen that you don't need to take the top off cause it will get blended in and you'll waste nothing! If you think I'm totally crazy...here's a pic of Joey. He loved his green smoothie and asked for more but we were fresh out of spinach so I'll be hitting the store tomorrow.

Slide

2009-08-05T21:35:00.000-07:00

I've been down in Cali with Joey for a week and a half. I have tons and tons of pics which are posted HERE

For now though here a cool video of Joey going down the slide at his great grandma's house in Westminster.

Charlie Brown "Waaa Waaaa Waaaaa"...

2009-07-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

First thing I'm realizing...I put the home phone in the wrong place!

Second thing...Joey just cracks me up.

This totally reminded me of the Charlie Brown cartoons where the adults would be talking like, "waaa waaaa waaaa" and you never knew what they were saying. Well check out what Joey says when I ask him what the person on the phone was saying. Too funny.

I just kept wanting to hear him tell me about what the person on the phone was saying.

He LOVES Water!

2009-07-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday Fun: Video and Lots of Pics

2009-07-15T17:22:00.000-07:00