raw

Valentine’s Day Cookie Sandwiches

Valentine’s day is just around the corner. You’re probably imagining a romantic day filled with love, teddy bears, flowers and chocolate. That’s right, mouth watering, stomach ache inducing amounts of chocolate. Americans will purchase around 58 million pounds of chocolate during the days leading up to V-day. Oh my goji, that’s a lot of chocolate! Instead of going the traditional route of store bought truffles in heart shaped boxes, branch out and make something healthy and delish!

These gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, vegan bite-sized treats provide healthy plant-based fats, natural sugars, macronutrients, and tons of flavor that will satisfy your sweet tooth, give you a little burst of energy, and keep you away from the truffles! Oh, and did I mention… No baking required?!

If you’re short on time, skip the filling and just make the outer cookies for a fun dessert!

Valentine's Day Cookie Sandwiches
Valentine's Day Cookie Sandwiches
Valentines Day Cookie Sandwiches
Makes about 24 one inch heart shaped sandwiches

1 cup pitted Medjool dates (pitted)
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup walnuts
3 Tbsp raw cacao powder (or 4 Tbsp cocoa powder)
1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Filling:
1/2 cup raspberries
2 Tbsp coconut flour
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp honey or agave
1 tsp vanilla

Blend the sunflower seeds and walnuts in a food processor until finely ground but not a nut butter consistency. Add the cacao powder and vanilla extract and blend again until mixed evenly. Remove pits from dates. Add the the dates and process until a dough like mixture is formed. You should be able to sculpt the dough without crumbling. Remove the dough from the food processor and transfer onto a large piece of wax paper. Cover the top of the dough with wax paper, and flatten with a rolling pin. Place the flattened dough in the freezer (with both sheets of wax paper) while you make the filling. For the filling, combine raspberries, coconut flour, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla in a food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer the filling mixture onto a large piece of wax paper. Cover the top with another piece of wax paper and use a rolling pin to flatten. Transfer the filling (with wax paper) to the freezer. While the filling is setting, remove the outer dough from the freezer and remove the top layer of wax paper. Using a 1 inch heart shaped cookie cutter, cut the dough into hearts. Remove the filling from the freezer and remove the top layer of wax paper. Using the cookie cutter, cut the filling into hearts. Place one heart of filling over one cookie heart, and top with another cookie heart to form a sandwich. Store in the freezer until served.
Note: I used frozen raspberries in the filling to expedite the setting process.

Valentine's Day Cookie Sandwiches

Back From Hibernation!

Guess who’s back, back again.
Catherine’s back, tell a friend.

Catherine

I have always told myself that I would be completely honest on my blog, so here it goes… Shortly after my surgeries I got completely overwhelmed with a series of events in my personal life, gained 20 pounds, and as a result I ended up completely relapsing into my eating disorder. But you know what, I’m human, I’m not perfect, and that’s life. We always get through it! During this time dark I felt that it was necessary to remove myself from social media and take some time for myself to get better. It took months of therapy, and it wasn’t easy, but I feel that I am in a much better place now. I’ve always stayed true to my word about practicing what I peach, so there is absolutely no way I could’ve been blogging and giving advice during that time, I wouldn’t have been right. I’m so happy to be more relaxed, healthy, and back blogging! I really appreciate your kind words and positive thoughts throughout my hibernation! You guys are the reason that I have been able to turn my blog into a professional career, and you have no idea how grateful I am for each and every one of you who reads RFFMBT. I’m sorry I didn’t give an update on what was going on sooner, but I didn’t have the strength at that time. The most important things… I’m healthy & RFFMBT is back!

You guys totally made me blush on Saturday when I announced that I was coming out of hibernation! Thank you so much for your hilarious comments, tweets, and hundreds of likes! I was worried I would’ve lost all of my readers after being gone for so long!

hibernation

Now for the good stuff
Here are some updates from while I was away:

I was finally able to get my thyroid levels regulated with Synthroid.
The tootsies are all healed.
I’m going to a specialist to do further testing for PCOS… rrr
I caught the bouquet at my friend’s wedding in Texas.
My dog turned 11.
I found the best sushi restaurant in CA.
I reunited with old friends.
I ate my weight in Christmas cookies.
I went lawn bowling.
I watched “Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead.” Again.
I made two amazing new friends Jacquie and Robyn.
I moved.
I was initiated as a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, Beta Xi (UCLA).
I started to like cats.
I realized I’m allergic to everything.
I missed my little bunnies a ton.
I wished upon a shooting star.
I did a lot of cleaning and organizing.
I got unmotivated… and then motivated again!
I watched every episode of Downton Abbey seasons 1 & 2 (no spoilers please!).
I worked on some graphic design jobs.
I laughed a lot, I cried a lot.
I wrote down tons of new recipes to share with you guys.
I was recognized by a reader in public!
I will be making more shirts in the near future.
I found out that you can actually call Hogwarts (781) 452-4077.

And the best news yet: I was asked to speak on a panel at the Produce for Better Health – Consumer Connection Conference in San Francisco! AHHH! SO EXCITED!!!

Don’t even think I forgot what day it is!
MOTIVATION MONDAY!

“Eat clean
Train Mean
Get Lean
In 2013”

I know how addicting the couch potato lifestyle is (trust me, it happened recently), but a healthy lifestyle can be just as addicting! It’s a new year and it’s time to get healthy together!

Get pumped for new healthy recipes, motivation, support, long rants, giveaways, and fun DIY projects!
Health & Happiness xo
Catherine

Now it’s time for some rabbit food. Raw green beans and sugar snap peas.
Two of my favorites & the reason my nickname is green bean!
Fresh, crunchy, sweet, and oh so healthy!

Green Beans and Sugar Snap Peas

Joe the Juicer

Motivation Monday: “To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” -La Rochefoucauld

I hope everyone started their week off right with a healthy breakfast! Last week was completely exhausting. I have stitches in my bottom of my foot, crutches, am waiting for my skin biopsy to hear if my mole was cancerous, and feel pretty crappy all around. To top it off, I went to a new doctor for my thyroid issues last Wednesday, and my recent lab work showed that my thyroid is getting worse and worse. Do you ever feel like when it rains, it pours? Like everything happens all at once? I was surprised to learn that my thyroid has gone out of whack in the completely opposite direction than before. My previous doctor told me that I had HYPERthyroid, but after retesting and seeing a new doctor, my results showed up as HYPOthyroid. With my current lab results and all of my symptoms, my doctor wanted to do a more in depth panel of blood work for my thyroid, and test me for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I dealt with painful ovarian cysts in high school, and have literally every symptom in the book for PCOS: weight gain, hair loss, acne, depression, severe mood swings, etc., so I am really curious to see my results. Right now, I’m at a point where I just want everything to get figured out. I feel terrible all the time and I just want to feel better!

I went back to my doctor the next day for a fasting glucose/insulin test and more thyroid panels. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything from 9pm Wednesday night until after my insulin/glucose test on Thursday. The test was not fun at all. Not that blood tests are a party… but they are usually quick. In, out, and done. After running thyroid panels (so many tubes!), I had to stay for 3 hours of glucose/insulin testing.


First draw: normal blood sample after fasting
Then I had to chug a bottle of “Orange” 100 Glucose for my test. Ohhh my gosh. Sick. Not in a good way. In a nasty, bad way. I had to drink the highest level possible, which was 100 grams of glucose! That’s more than anyone should have per day, omg! It was thick like syrup and tasted like a mix of orange Gatorade and Tang! A few minutes later I got a huge sugar rush and felt so sick. There’s no better feeling than being hungry, and then pumping your body full of sugar, right? ughhh.
Second draw: 30 minutes after consuming the drink. Then had a rash all over my arms from where the cotton ball and tape were, so we had to switch to kid’s non adhesive Band-Aids.
Third draw: 30 minutes later
Fourth draw: one hour later, couldn’t get any blood out of my vein and had to switch arms and be re-poked
Fifth draw: one hour later
End result: 7 pokes, 1 Scooby Doo Band-Aid, 1 Strawberry Shortcake Band-Aid, 2 bruised arms, 1 allergic reaction, and extreme hunger.

After I was finished with all of my tests I met my mom for the world’s biggest lunch. While hobbling up the 3 small stairs to the restaurants one of my crutches slipped on some water and I ate it, and stepped on my injured foot. Omg, it was a hot mess. Love that everyone watched it happen and no one came to help me… that was super duper! After I have my championship comeback moment and got myself back up on the crutches I was literally shaking because I was so hungry. I’ll just end the story there and say I ate, and got home safely!

The next couple of days were okay, I was just exhausted and my foot was in so much pain. I finally felt like things were looking up when I remembered that I was going to go see Joe Cross from “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” speak at a conference! I was so excited that I couldn’t even sleep on Friday night, so I watched “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” on Netflix while I put together some T-Shirt orders. I cannot remember how I found out about this conference, it was so random. I only remember seeing online that Joe Cross was speaking in Orange County, and then saw that it was at a conference called “A Day for M.E. (Mom Empowerment)” by an organization called Moms In Charge. I have to admit I felt a little awkward buying a ticket to a mom conference haha. Just a bit out of place… but I just had to hear Joe speak!

Saturday night, I managed to get myself to the conference and even better: a front parking spot, and a second row seat! I bought a half day ticket to the conference, so I arrived around 6:30pm and caught a cooking demonstration by Chef Jenny Ross, owner of the raw restaurant 118 Degrees.

Chef Jenny was adorable! She gave a great presentation with fun and easy ways to make kid friendly raw meals. She made a raw PowerFull Parfait, raw Deviled Tomatoes, and gave an excellent demo on how to cut open a young coconut. Extra points because she used a Vitamix! She finished her cooking demonstration with a quote that I absolutely loved:

“There are no diets, no calorie counting, and no measuring fats, carbs or protein grams. None of that matters if you choose real, whole, fresh, live foods. If you choose quality, the rest takes care of itself.” -Dr. Mark Hyman

In between speakers the founder of Moms In Charge, Dotty Hagmier went up on the stage to speak about the organization. Before arriving at the event, I had no idea what this organization was, nor did I really care, because of the word “mom.” I figured it was a conference for mom and baby types of products, but I was so wrong. The organization is a “resource for moms who are searching for ways to give their kids the best chance of living healthy, vibrant lives. It is also a movement for moms to become empowered with informations of what is in our food and products so we can make the most informed decisions and transition to a healthier, vibrant life with our kids to ultimately: change the shape of our future.” –Source

The conference showcased everything from healthy recipes and snacks, to safe chemical free cleaning products to use in your home. Although I’m not a mom, I felt like I really related to this group of women, because I too am part of a movement to help and inform others to make healthy choices. Now only am I excited that I bought a ticket to this conference to see my juicing idol Joe Cross, but I am so happy that my money went to such a fantastic organization which shares similar beliefs as I do. If I didn’t think this organization was this fantastic, I wouldn’t have mentioned it at all and would’ve just talked about hearing Joe Cross speak, but I think this group deserves a shout out. This is the type of group that I would love to be a part of if I have children one day. If you are a mommy who lives in the Orange County area and is interested in Moms in Charge, checkout their website for more information! I wish them success and hope that they open more chapters in other areas as well.

Next up was the main event: JOE THE JUICER CROSS
OH MY GOSH!!!!!


Joe started off with a general intro about his film and then went into some details about how he got started and where he’s at today. I couldn’t help but laugh because three minutes into his speech, he grabbed a pice of Kale that was on stage from Chef Jenny’s cooking demonstration and held it for the entire duration. The photograph above is the only one that I have without him holding a piece of Kale. I think its pretty symbolic and amazing that he’s holding kale in all of my photos though! Just the way that I had pictured him… Joe, with kale.


I honestly wish I had a timestamp on these photos because although it may look as if they were taken at the same time, these photographs were taken throughout his 1.5 hour speech! Serious kale love right there!

I enjoyed his speech because not only did he bring up important points about the benefits of juicing, but he also showed us that he is a normal person who struggled with weight and health issues before, and still deals with temptation today just like anyone else. He gave us a little story about his life before the documentary. Joe said that “as a child I used to turn to sugar as a pick me up. It’s always there, it never lets me down, and it never talks back. I find myself still doing that today, and I want you to know that.” He also mentioned that while on dates, he used to be very self conscious of what he was eating so he would order a salad because he wouldn’t want anyone to see how he really ate. He then laughed as he informed us that he would buy a pizza on the way home because he was so hungry!

We also got a little behind the scenes information on before the filming began. Up until midnight before the filming started, Joe had his “last dinner” which consisted of chinese food and beers, and then… another round. We were cracking up as he told us that he went for yet another round when he realized that although it was midnight in New York, it was still 9pm on the west coast! After a night of feasting, he said that it made the first few days of his juice fast even harder. His tip for anyone who is starting a juice fast: “don’t do what I did,” and start eating only plant based foods a few days prior. Excellent tip Joe haha. I can’t imagine going from such a large volume of food to just juice! Yikes! Midway through his speech, Joe spoke about consumerism and his love for Oreos. He said “I love Oreos. I love them. I would marry one if I could!” I think everyone felt relieved that even Joe the Juicer still gets tempted by foods like Oreos!

After Joe wrapped up his speech, it was time for some book signing! I was so excited to meet Joe and have him sign my “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” book! He was full of personality and super energetic. As he signed my book he was sipping on a green juice so I asked him what kind of juice it was. He replied “I have no idea, everywhere I go people give me juice. I eat too!” with a laugh. He then asked what happened to my foot and helped me stand sans crutches for a photo with him. He’s a great guy with an incredible story. If you haven’t seen his documentary, you have to watch it! It’s available for rent or purchase on both Amazon.com and iTunes, and is streaming on Netflix. If you are interested in doing a reboot visit Joe’s website: Reboot Your Life, become a fan of Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and Joe on Facebook, and follow Joe on Twitter!




My weekend ended yesterday with a broken iPhone, pinched nerve in my underarm form my crutches, and food poising. Fun times. Luckily my Monday was a very happy one indeed as I received a thank you note from my “23rd Birthday Giveaway” winner, Megan J.! Seriously made my day. Things like this are why I continue to blog and share my journey with you every day!


Hearing Joe speak and meeting him in person was such an amazing experience. He is so inspiring that I am thinking about doing a reboot soon! Is anyone interested in doing a juice reboot?

You can read about my previous 5 day juice cleanse here:

Juice Challenge Day 1
Juice Challenge Day 2
Juice Challenge Day 3
Juice Challenge Day 4
Juice Challenge Day 5
Juice Challenge Ended

Healthy Vegan Banana Split

Happy friday and congratulations to the winner of my Chobani Giveaway: Nicole B.!
I love to use greek yogurt to make salmon salad with smoked salmon, capers, red onions, cucumbers and dill. YUMMY :)” -Nicole
Start making room in your refrigerator for that yogurt! haha

I wanted to say thank you to all of my readers for being so supportive during this roller coaster of a week or so. Between my surgery, thyroid acting up, possibility of PCOS, and countless blood tests I am absolutely exhausted and you guys have really cheered me up! I really wanted to post Part 4 of my Q&A yesterday but I was sidelined by another trip to the doctor and more blood work! I will definitely give you guys a more in depth description of what has been going on in the health department some time next week. For now, have a great weekend, make yummy healthy food, exercise outdoors, and enjoy a banana split! xo

Oh yes you read read the title right, HEALTHY VEGAN BANANA SPLIT! In honor of National Banana Split Day (August 25th) TasteSpotting will be featuring none other than banana splits on their home page this Friday, August 24th to celebrate. To make this holiday even sweeter, DOLE Bananas gave me a challenge to create a healthy banana split under 350 calories. You know that I am not into counting calories, but I couldn’t pass up this awesome challenge. I’m always excited to make healthy versions of often unhealthy favorites.

Right now you are probably thinking, ya right… good luck with that, but I have created an awesome Banana Split that won’t split your pants! This is my take on the old fashioned banana split. My b-split consists of a creamy raw vegan ice cream made with only three natural ingredients and no added sugar, topped with a fluffy vegan cashew cream and juicy bing cherry all for only 295 healthy calories! Now that’s some NICEcream!

Made of avocado, mango, and banana, this nicecream is filled with heart healthy fats and over 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. Plus it tastes oh so good! Helathy and tasty? Win win.


Healthy Vegan Banana Split
serves 1

Raw Vegan Nicecream
1/2 (63g) frozen banana
1/2 cup (70g) frozen mango
1/4 (50g) medium avocado

Cashew Cream
1/8 cup (14g) cashews + 1 1/2 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp stevia

On Top
1 cherry
remaining 1/2 (63g) of the banana

Prep: Peel and cut the banana in half. Freeze one half (for ice cream) before hand. Also slice and pre-freeze mango and refrigerate the avocado. Combine cashews, water, vanilla extract, and stevia together in a jar and let it sit for at least 1-2 hours.
Directions: Combine the 1/2 frozen banana, frozen mango, and avocado in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer the ice cream to a bowl. Rinse the food processor and pour in the cashew mixture and blend for 2-3 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Top your ice cream with cashew cream and garnish with fresh banana slices (from the leftover banana half) and a cherry.
Note: If you eat the nicecream directly after blending, it will be similar to a soft serve consistency. For a more solid ice cream like treat, transfer the ice cream to a container and freeze for about 1 hour before eating.

Show me and DOLE Bananas your healthy banana split creations on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and hop over to TasteSpotting for more mouth watering banana splits!
RFFMBT Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram
DOLEBananas Twitter & Facebook

Cherry Chia Jam

Happy Toast Tuesday!
I decided to change things up a weeee bit for this week’s Toast Tuesday by posting a toast related recipe! This recipe if from one of my favorite blogs: Eating Bird Food! Brittany has some really fantastic healthy recipes and she is basically a chia genius. She is super creative with her recipes & ingredients and gives the term “bird food” a whole need meaning!

Brittany’s Easy Chia Seed Jam used strawberries, but since I am allergic to berries (with the exception of raspberries), I decided to go for cherries. It can be really tricky to find yummy jams and jellies other than orange marmalade and grape, so once I saw Brittany’s super simple recipe I was pumped to make my own! You will not believe how easy this recipe is. Only three steps stand between you and some fresh homemade jam! It is so delish, you could actually enjoy this jam as a vegan Jello-O snack which counts as 1 serving of fruit, and one serving of plant based fat!


Cherry Chia Jam

Makes about 1 cup of jam

1 cup black cherries (I used frozen pitted)
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp water

Defrost the cherries under warm water until thawed and remove pits if necessary. Place the cherries and 1 Tbsp of water in a blender and pulse until cherries are mashed, but not completely pureéd. Transfer the mashed cherries to a jar and stir in the chia seeds. Refrigerate for about 60 minutes until chia seeds expand and turn the content into a thick jam.

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