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Lunch, Raw, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

Summer Salad

I hope that everyone had a nice holiday weekend! It is getting hot hot hot in Los Angeles, and I couldn’t think of anything more refreshing than a cold fruit salad with a twist! Instead of the usual all-fruit salad, how about combining some other plant based components of protein, whole-grain, and fat to complete your meal!

Hold the dressing… This salad consists of 4 different flavors that perfectly compliment each other to make a tart yet sweet and refreshing dish, so there is no need for anything else. I’m so hooked, I could probably have this every single day!

P.S. If you are trying to incorporate vegetarian or vegan meals into your diet, this is a great easy option for meatless mondays. On a high note, this salad is boyfriend approved and my sister went back for seconds haha

Summer Salad
Serves 1

1 medium grapefruit
1/2 cup chilled unshelled edamame
1/2 cup chilled corn
1/4 medium avocado

Remove the skin of the grapefruit by cutting with a knife between the rind and flesh. Once the outer skin and pith has been removed, separate segments of the grapefruit and remove all of the membrane, pulp, and seeds so only the grapefruit flesh remains exposed. Chop the segments into smaller cubed pieces. Remove 1/4 avocado meat from it’s skin and cut into cubes. Add the chilled corn (rinsed and strained) and edamame  to the grapefruit and avocado and gently toss. Serve chilled.

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: grapefruit
Whole Grain: corn
Protein: edamame
Plant Based Fat: avocado

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Hurdles, Juicing, Raw, Recipes, Vegan

Juice Challenge: Broken

I wanted to start off by saying happy motivation monday, and thank you to all of my new and “old” readers! I have no idea what happened last night, but my website went viral and I got THOUSANDS of views and a rush of emails in my inbox in a matter of minutes! I’m so happy that people like my blog enough to share it with others, it means so much to me!

I went to my friend Behnaz’s house yesterday for craft day and in her refrigerator among piles of healthy fruits & vegetables, was a carrot cake that she had made from scratch the night before. It was just sitting there staring at me with it’s cute decorative frosting carrots perfectly drawn on top. I just couldn’t resist a slice of her amazing cake. After all, it is a vegetable, right? After 5 days of my Juice Challenge, the fast was broken! Never fear, the juicing will continue with “A Juice A Day In May!”

I have a weakness for Behnaz’s cooking. She makes amazing Persian dishes from her family’s recipes and occasionally the most intricate and perfectly decorated cakes. I was worried about how my body would react to solid food after a 5 day liquid diet, but my tummy loved that little slice of heaven, and I’m glad I was able to enjoy it without the guilt of ending my juice challenge.

Later that evening, I sat down with my new Gingergrass & Lemon candle, From A to P juice, and new book Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Elyse Resch, MS, RD, FADA. I have had a few readers suggest this book to me, and have read countless reviews by other bloggers, so I thought it was about time to buy it.

This reminds me so much of my dear family friend Karen. If anyone had a problem or was searching for an answer for anything, she would have the perfect book for it! If Karen could see this blog, I’m sure she would have dropped this book off on my doorstep by now! Intuitive Eating offers a new eating approach to free yourself from food prison to help yourself become at peace with food to reach the weight you were meant to be. I’m not much of a reader, but I have become passionate about healthy living and how food can change our body & health, so this book looks very intriguing to me. I will be reading this book in my free time, and I’ll keep you guys posted on new things that I learn!

Question: Has anyone read Intuitive Eating before?

When my usual snack time came around, I experimented with a new juice to curb my cravings. Not to toot my own horn, but TOOT TOOT! This juice was AMAZING! New favorite for sure, and the color was absolutely gorgeous!


Rainbow Sherbet
serves 1

2 fuji apples
½ lime
¼ pineapple
¼ large cucumber

Extract your fresh juice over ice and enjoy cold.

I have noticed a huge change in my mood since starting my juice challenge, which is a big change from where I was last Monday after returning from San Francisco. I actually feel really happy today, and feel a lot healthier overall. Although I still get cravings for coffee, I feel like I have tons of energy from the micronutrient rich juices. I am thinking about sticking with a few juices throughout the day but want to start incorporating smoothies for a little while since the outcome has been pretty positive!

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Juicing, Raw, Recipes, Vegan

Juice Challenge: Day 5

Hola Conejitos!
Feliz Shrinko de Mayo!
 I hope everyone is celebrating with tons of raw heart healthy avos!

Now onto the Juicinggggg! Day 5 flew by!
I had so much fun playing with my new Breville juicer last night that I made a Shrinko de Mayo fiesta of rainbow juices! I loved ALL of my juices today! WOOOO!

Emotions & Hunger: Drinking only juice is getting progressively easier. Maybe because I jut got a new juicer and am so pumped to use it? I’ve been feeling great physically, and love not having to drink 2 cups of coffee to get through the day. I will definitely be incorporating juice in my regular diet because it makes me feel healthy and refreshed. I have also noticed that my skin has been more dewy and fresh than usual. All of these micronutrients I’ve been taking in seem to be helping!


For The Love Of Kale
makes 1 serving

5 carrots
2 small red apples
6 kale leafs

Spring Beet
makes 1 serving

6 carrots
1 fui apple
6 sprigs of parsley
1 small beet

From A to P
serves 1

1 apple
8 carrots
6 parsley sprigs

Sherbet Lemonade
makes 1 serving

2 golden delicious apples
1/2 lemon

Mean Green
makes 2 servings

6 Kale Leaves
1 Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 small piece of ginger

Juice Critique:
For The Love Of Kale: I had an overload of green juice in the past couple of days, so I wanted to make some sweeter juices that still incorporate veggies. I love the combination of apple & carrots. It was so sweet that I could’t even taste the kale!

Spring Beet: Ok you guys, I am trying so hard to use up the rest of the beets left in the fridge and well… I did it. The first beet drink that I actually liked! I started with my favorite new base of apples and carrots, and then added in some beet and parsley. It was sweet and fresh and I actually loved it! So glad I didn’t give up on the beets!

From A to P: Apples, carrots, & parsley oh my! my favorite sweet combo and some parsley, yummmm!

Sherbet Lemonade: DELICIOUS! I was so happy with the outcome of this one. It tasted like rainbow sherbet! This would make such a yummy summer cocktail over ice! R&R: Refreshing & Raw. Mmmm!

Mean Green: This is Joe Cross’ original juice from the film “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.” I had the same reaction that most taste testers had in the film: “This isn’t too bad!” Considering all of the greenery that is incorporated in this juice, I was worried, but the lemon, apple, and ginger added a great balance to the veggie taste. I’m not sure if I could drink this juice 6 times a day for 60 days like Joe, but I did like it!

Loved these juices so much, I cannot wait to make more!

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Juicing, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Juice Challenge: Day 4

4 Days of Juice Down!
I got my new juicer today and it is AMAZING! I ordered the Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain from Amazon and it came overnight!
It has so much power it can juice whole apples and citrus! I even did a test and ran the pulp through again and no juice came out because the pulp was dry! This is the real deal! I am so glad I invested in a nice juicer, because I am definitely getting my money’s worth, and I will save so much on fruits & veggies now!

Emotions: I was really busy responding to emails and phone calls all day today, and spent a lot of time working on my DIY Fashion Friday project for you guys. I did just fine with all of my juices, and didn’t have time to think about wanting food to chew on. The juices were actually quite convenient for my busy day while I worked. I have to say that juice is getting kind of boring though. I miss cooking my rabbit food! Plus tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and I’m going to miss out on all of the yummy tacos and guac! Wahhh! To break the cleanse or not to break the cleanse?

Hunger: Kept busy and made it through the day just fine. I started to get intense cravings for something sweet after dinner, so I brewed a hot cup of tea and started reading my new book to distract myself.

Green Machine:
makes 3 servings

3 green apples
15 carrots
15 leafs dinosaur kale
3 cup spinach (packed)
1 cucumber
23 stalk celery
15 sprigs Italian parsley

Lean ‘N’ Green
makes 3 servings

1 head romaine
2 green apples
8 dinosaur kale leaves
6 stalks celery
1 large cucumber
8 carrots
1 lemon

Juice Critique:
Green Machine: This is one of the original juices I made on my first day of juicing and I have come back to it a few times.

Lean ‘N’ Green: I really enjoyed this juice yesterday, but thought it could use some apple to sweeten it up a but, so I added 2 apples today.

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Juicing, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Juice Challenge: Day 3

I made it through day 3 of only juice!
I started running low on ingredients, so I only made 2 different juices today. I alternated between Shocking Green and Lean ‘N’ Green to keep from getting too bored.

I wanted to say thank you again to all of my readers. Each and every one of you keep me motived and so excited to blog everyday. Your emails and comments have been so inspiring and encouraging! I always try to email everyone back but I have actually had an overwhelming amount of emails in my inbox, so don’t think I am not responding! You guys know I can be quite chatty and I really like to take time to respond to my readers. I was so surprised the first time someone said that I inspired them because YOU guys inspire me!  I love hearing your stories, and opinions! Love you little bunnies!

Emotions: I did not sleep well at all last night. I couldn’t get comfy and then after I feel asleep I woke up a few times in the middle of the night with a full bladder. Is there such thing as too much water intake? I guess the 8 glasses of water, tea, and the addition of all of these h20 loaded veggie & fruit juices really adds up. I just keep thinking about all of the icky toxins flushing out of my body. This morning I stepped on the scale and was excited to see a 2lb loss which got me really excited for the day. I felt great throughout the day but later in the afternoon started having one of those sad moments again. I could not stop thinking about how I let myself overindulge and get to this not so comfy weight. I hate that these thoughts even cross my mind, when I am doing something proactive to change. I tried to distract myself and with my friend’s genius idea, started catching up on the past few episodes of New Girl that I had missed. I also made a trip to Barnes & Noble to find a new book to read during my down time.

I definitely feel less bloated, and am getting more motivated to stay on track with healthy eating once I am done cleansing. I am not sure how long I will juice, but a lot of people have raised concern that it is unhealthy for longer than 10 days. As usual, I started researching! Juice fasting is a controversial “crash diet” that is strongly recommended by some, and extremely discouraged by others. Both advocates and opponents of juice fasting agree that there are some significant pros and cons. A juice fast is a temporary diet that consists of only the juice from fresh fruits and vegetables. The idea is that by consuming nothing but juice, the body will cleanse itself of impurities, fat and toxins, resulting in weight loss. Juice fasting does not contain nearly enough protein or healthy fats to be considered a substantial diet, and I have to agree. So far I have felt more tired than usual, and there is no way that I could workout while continuing my cleanse. Although I agree that a long term juice fast is not ideal, I do like the idea of cleansing the body with pure micronutrients.

Hunger: I am really surprised that I haven’t felt actual hunger in-between juices. If I am “hungry” it’s my mind craving food, but not actual physical hunger. I am craving a bite of actual fruit, but am staying strong and sticking with juice! I have to say that my worst withdrawal and strongest craving is for coffee. I am really surprised that I haven’t gotten headaches from the caffeine withdrawal yet, but I’m not complaining! The last time I gave up coffee I was miserable!


Shocking Green
makes 3 servings

3 green apples
10 stalks celery
1 large cucumber
14 sprigs of Italian parsley
10 dinosaur kale leaves
2 inch knob of ginger

Lean ‘N’ Green
makes 3 servings

1 head romaine
8 dinosaur kale leaves
6 stalks celery
1 large cucumber
8 carrots
1 lemon

Juice Critique:
Shocking Green: I think I may have added a tad too much ginger to this one, because I was a bit… shocked after my first sip. The ginger was a nice change compared to the usual green juices. Plus ginger has great nutritional benefits, so I’ll take it! I may use a bit less next round though.

Lean ‘N’ Green:  Mmmm this one tasted nice and fresh. The lemon definitely helped to cut out the bitterness of the kale. I’m starting to really love the green juices, especially with carrots! I’m really like these more than beet juices! Plus I am actually starting to enjoy the taste of celery!

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