Day 15 - Progress?

    Well, as an update- The Almond Banana Crepes were not dehydrated enough by the time we had to eat breakfast, so we ended up having a left overs morning. It was disappointing, but that's how it goes. We'll look forward to tomorrow's breakfast! The Zucchini Hemp Bread turned out better this time, and was used with last nights Lentil Sloppy Joe Dinner.  It was a very good meal!  I think the title of Lentil Sloppy Joes was misleading, since there were many more nuts than lentils in the recipe!

Terri's BG- 89
Melanie's BG-169

I am surprised that Melanie's BG level has not continued to drop as it did the first week.  It is discouraging to her, because she is doing so well with the raw diet, and working hard to exercise each morning at 5 a.m.! We decided to watch what inspired us in the first place, over again, Simply Raw,  the documentary about reversing Diabetes in 30 Days, to see if we are missing something.  It was again inspiring. There were two Type I diabetics in the study of six people.  One was able to get off of insulin completely after 2 weeks, and the other dropped his insulin level from 70 units each day to 5. The type 2 diabetics were able to drop all medications as well, and lost about 25 lbs. each.  I am encouraging Melanie to hang in there! I pointed out to her that the week  before we began, her Blood Glucose average had been in the 200's for several days.  I think we are doing what we are supposed to with it. The food is getting easier to prepare, is still tasty and it's exciting to try new things.  I still feel lots of energy and enhanced mental clarity.  Before this diet, I would have between 140-160 after dinner regularly. Now lately it has been under 120 even after I had eaten a lot!

Almost 1/2 Way! - 14th Day

   Each day we have a breakfast smoothie with fresh fruit and veggies.  For the past four years, we have incorporated a Green Smoothie with Spinach and Fruit for breakfast which has evolved to what it is now.  I feel it is a great way to get a dose of healthy greens going in the morning!  Very much fruit is a big glucose rush for diabetics though, so I've tried to add more veggies in them lately.  With Melanie's levels being so high before lunch, I've tried a different version.  Here are sample recipe of what I've done, though these are very interchangeable depending on what I have on hand. We call them Green Drinks- but they are sometimes purple or somewhere in between!

Fruit Smoothie
3 cups of spinach, chard or kale
1/2 banana
Strawberries
Frozen Grapes
1/2 carrot
2-3 small pieces of a beet
1/2 stalk of celery

Breakfast Smoothie

3 cups water
2 T. frozen juice concentrate
2 T. Flax seed
Stevia to taste
Blend on high in high powered blender.

Veggie Smoothie
2 cups spinach, chard or kale
2 fresh tomatoes
1/2 -1 carrot
1/2 stalk celery
1/4 red or green pepper
2 cups water
1 T. parsley or cilantro (Fresh is better)
1/2 t. sea salt
pinch of cayenne
(Use your imagination for other ideas)
Blend on high in high powered blender.

Breakfast- Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding (this is a stand by, it doesn't take much before hand prep.)
Dinner- Creamy Hemp and Broccoli Chowder (this was awesome-but I am a big broccoli fan!)
                w/ Buckwheat and Sunflower Breadsticks
Terri's BG-  108
Melanie's BG- 176 (She had a 280 after exercise and a couple of highs in the evening, which I think could have been a result of the Chili Cumin Almonds, and the raw Chocolate Mint Bites!)

** This morning I put a batch of Zucchini Hemp Bread for the Weds. evening meal on the dehydrator and  before bed, the Almond Banana Crepes for Weds. Breakfast.......let you know how they turned out!

Lucky # 13!

     Thirteen has always been my lucky number. After breakfast, carpool and a 30 minute brisk walk around Walmart for exercise, I came home to spend a couple hours in food prep. and clean up.  I started our Soft Shelled Tortillas on the dehydrator, made Pumpkin Seed Refried Beans to fill the tortillas, and Chili Cumin Almonds for a later snack.  I am thankful to realize that two different items can be on the dehydrator at once if the flavors are similar.  Wow!  I think the dehydrator has been almost running non-stop for several days now. The food preparation is time consuming, but I'm learning short cuts, and preparation for any type of eating is time consuming. It is just a different style. (at least I can put things on the dehydrator and leave it for several hours without worry about burning it, or burning the house down-there are perks!)

Breakfast- Oat Groats with Raisins and a Veggie Green Smoothie
Oat groats is a 'so easy' breakfast. I soak the groats for one day on the counter, then soak another day in the fridge, then they are ready. Raisins are good, but if you want great-put fresh fruit on it! (I rinse the groats every few hours too)
Dinner- Soft-Shelled Tortillas with Pumpkin Refried Beans and other fresh taco fillings. These were great! Almost as good as the pizza!

Snacks-The Chili Cumin Almonds on the dehydrator were delicious! And Minty Chocolate Bites were a keeper too, along with the Almond milk Eggnog called Nog It Up! My husband loves eggnog, and he indicated that he would be willing to give it up for this!

Terri's BG- 96 (best day yet!-must be my Walmart exercise)
Melanie BG- 169 (Still trying to figure out why her BG level goes to 289 or thereabouts after her morning workout)
 ** I will share our smoothie recipes with you on tomorrow's post!

11 Days and Our Favorite Meal!!!

    Today was discouraging for Melanie.  Her blood sugar levels though not bad much of the time, are really bouncing around. That has always happened, but of course, we wanted this 30 days to be a magical remedy from Day One on. I felt really bad that she was so discouraged and wanted to fix things for her.  While she was out, I decided to try to lift her spirits by making some Cauliflower Popcorn.  It looked and sounded good, and we both miss popcorn! It was easy to make, just cauliflower cut into small popcorn size pieces and covered with nutritional yeast, olive and sea salt.(see photo)  I had it on the dehydrator when she walked in.  My efforts were rewarded  with her excitement!  She really liked it.  It is like a cheese flavored popcorn (nutritional yeast has that effect).

Cauliflower Popcorn

    I was really excited for dinner since we were having the Buckwheat Pizza!  It was as delicious as it sounded to us.  It tasted so fresh, and yet a pizza taste.  Basically, we spread cashew  cream cheese and a tomato basil sauce  on the Buckwheat, Sunflower and Almond rounds that I had dehydrated and froze from a few days ago, and put fresh spinach, red peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli spears, Almond Parmesan and sprinkled the top with hemp seeds for extra taste and protein. (a photo below) We both bit into it at the same time and stopping after about 3 bites, agreed that this was the best meal yet!  After a somewhat discouraging afternoon, a delicious meal was a

                                                         welcome boost.
**Just a note about buckwheat- It is known to  prominently lower cholesterol!
                                                                                 

Buckwheat Crust Pizza

Breakfast-Chocolate Fruit and Buckwheat Almond Granola Bowl with Green Smoothie (this was very sweet, due to the dates)
Dinner- Buckwheat Crust Pizza and Spinach Fruit and Almond Salad
                Unfortunately the raw pizza acted as traditional pizza as far as raising the blood sugar level- but
                 we did 'pig out'.
Terri's BG- 115
Melanie's - 154 (range from  90-285)

12 days and it seems much longer!
I almost don't remember when we ate other foods.....but it's only 12 days!
 
Breakfast - Poppy Seed and Flax Bagels with Cashew Cream Cheese,  and Green Smoothie. This is a good stand by.  It took just a few minutes to prepare and they dehydrated through the night.

Softened Broccoli

Dinner- Hawaiian Haystacks Raw Style- We were invited to a dinner, so we took Cauliflower Rice and a couple of our favorite toppings to go with our Host's menu. One topping was one of my favorite raw snacks Softened Broccoli.(see photo and recipe below) For a dessert, I made Raw Peanut Butter Cups. We enjoyed our meal, even though we didn't eat everything the rest did!

Terri's BG-121 (only one reading)
Melanie's BG- 167 ( I think we are still suffering from the Pizza Pig Out and not regular exercise for a couple  of days)


Softened Broccoli
3 cups of broccoli florets (stems removed)
3 T cold pressed olive oil
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. sea salt
Toss together and set aside 15 minutes to soften.  ( I love this because it tastes better than lightly steamed broccoli, without destroying the enzymes through steaming. This curbs my snacking moods a bit)

Days 9 and 10- Some Hurdles...

   Thursday was our 9th day.  We are still hanging in there. Melanie's BG levels were really good today ranging from 59 to 191. I think that's a great  range, considering the lower dosage. Our Buckywheaty Hemp Granola that we finally got to eat was amazing!  I had to talk myself out of guilt feelings over eating something for breakfast that seemed like a dessert! It was worth waiting for. Our breakfasts  are almost always our highest BG reading, probably because we plug in the most fruit on that meal, especially with our green smoothie.  We'll have to work on that.
    That evening I did something I didn't think I'd ever do.  Delynn and I went out to eat with my siblings, and I brought my own dinner. It wasn't such a bad experience, mine was so delicious, I didn't  feel deprived, I took my own avocado to spread on the Zucchini Hemp bread, along with a delicious salad and bread sticks. (to me an avocado makes everything alright!) I also took a couple of our buckwheat bread sticks and some cashew cream spread, and a clementine for dessert.  I was so filled I didn't get to the dessert. Melanie made her own dinner from left overs and said it was good too!

Terri's BG average-109
Melanies's average- 115

Day 10- Friday January 24
     I think today was our biggest test yet!  We had been planning a special Sibling gathering for us and our children. I had planned to fix a Cafe Rio Meal for dinner, with the works.    Melanie and I had been debating whether we should just take a break for the 30 days, or to hold out. With her encouragement, we decided to just fix eat what was raw of the meal and add some of ours to it. We prepared all afternoon, while the Pork Barbocoa aroma hung around us in the air. Melanie was such a trooper to help me prepare  fresh limeade she wouldn't be drinking, and a few other things. Of course, we made sure the guacamole and fresh salsa were edible for our diet. We made Mexican Parsnip Rice, and Pecan taco meat and cashew sour cream to put on a taco salad along with the guacamole, salsa. Ours really tasted wonderful, but it was difficult to see what everyone else was eating. It was hard for me to not eat the black beans, that I had made from scratch, which would have been very healthy, just not raw!  The freshly grilled tortillas were also tempting, along with the Tortilla Chips.  Although we took sample tastes of some of the food, we held out, and were filled.

    Melanie reported that the worst part for her wasn't the main meal, but the desserts of various cakes and ice cream! With all of the time consuming other preparations, we hadn't prepared a raw dessert for us! We did make it through, and to our benefit, Delynn through away the left over cakes, which were driving me crazy on the counter.

Terri's Average- 99.5
Melanie's Average - 134 (a range of 47 to 197)

Breakfast- Left over Granola and Chia Seed Bowl
Dinner- Raw version of Cafe Rio!

Day #8 January 22- the hard part

 dd

 So yesterday the (22nd) was depressing for me. It seemed like no matter what or how much I ate my blood sugar was in the 150's or higher! My average was 151. I felt like the whole raw thing was pointless! It's not easy to be dairy free, sugar free and raw. Especially your dad eats fresh bread with lots of butter, and when your brother cooks pizza that smells amazing! Any way, that is how I felt yesterday. To some it up, I felt pointless. I kinda knew that I was being stupid because in the video "Simply Raw", no matter what one of the ladies does, her blood sugar is in the 300's and she feels horrible, which is just like how I was feeling except my blood sugar wasn't as high, and the lady gave up the raw diet. But I am not her and I will not give up. I gotta stay strong! I guess I need to listen to some more Beyond 5 music that will cheer me up!

So yesterday's meals were:
Breakfast:

Buckwheaty Hemp Chocolate Granola in prep.

Apple Almond and Ginger Chia Seed Bowl again( We were gonna eat Buckwheaty Hemp Chocolate Granola but we didn't prepare for it enough.

Dinner:
Curried Chickpea Stew



Terri's Average:102
Melanie's Average:151

 Yesterday we prepared Buckwheat Almond Sunflower Bread for the dehydrator, and we are excited! It smell EXACTLY like pizza!

Buckwheat Almond Sunflower bread

                   








                            Melanie

Buckwheat Almond Sunflower Breadsticks

7th Day -Still feeling good and satisfied

Today went well.  Melanie's doctor. gave us the message to lower the insulin level from 1:15 carbs to 1:20 carbs per unit after looking over her past weeks levels.  We hope to keep coming down. It was great to get some questions and comments about what we are doing on the blog. We hope it can help and inspire others.  

 I got thinking about the equipment we use to eat this way, and if any are seriously considering it, I recommend there are a few things that are a must! (at least in the recipes I've found) One is a high-powered blender- I have a Vita-Mix and I love it.  I use it two or three times per meal.  Another is a dehydrator with temperature settings. A food processor is recommended, but I've been able to get by with just the Vita-mix so far.  Also, I'm hoping to get a juicer, at some point, which is also a necessary item, but I did make apple juice in the Vita-mix and strained the juice from the pulp, and it works if you don't have one.  Some of the other items are more common; a cutting board, sharp knives, a mandoline  slicer, sharp-toothed grater, colander, vegetable peeler, a nut bag (for squeezing and straining pulp to make milk, etc.), glass storage containers. Most everyone has a form of these.

Our meals were successful again. Here's a couple of photos.

Breakfast- Apple Almond and Ginger Chia Seed Bowl (I think the fresh ginger made this meal-and of course anything can be made more special with blueberries on top.

Dinner- Pesto coated Carrot and Parsley Fettecine (the noodles are made from carrots and parsnips) It was beautiful to behold, and tasty. There is so much variety to these meals that I'm always excited to prepare and to taste!

Terri's BG average- 101
Melanie's BG average- 140 (Even though it is higher than it has been for a couple of days, it is still good, since she is on a lower dosage of insulin)

**I'm excited for tonight to make Buckwheaty Hemp Chocolate Granola to put on the dehydrator for tomorrow's breakfast!

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding         (From Eat Raw, Eat Well)
4 cups Almond Milk
1 1/2 cups Chia Seeds
2 Tbsp Raw Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp Raw cacao powder
Dash Raw Vanilla Extract

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well, using a wire whisk.
Set aside for 10 minutes so the chia seeds can absorb the liquid and swell.
Serve Immediately, if possible, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

* Cacao powder is powdered raw chocolate. It is similar to cocoa powder but tastes even better. Because it has not been heated, it maintains all of its healthy antioxidants and is much more easily digested. Cacao powder is available in well- stocked supermarkets, natural food stores and online.You can use High Quality Cocoa Powder if Cacao Powder is not available.


This pudding is almost kinda like tapioca pudding consistency. Chia Seeds are very nutritious and are a natural thickener, so they can be used to pretty much thicken up anything. You can make Jam, spreads, and other puddings with chia seeds too!

On the 6th Day of Christmas.... whoops wrong song!

Well on the 6th day, we were encouraged that Melanie's blood glucose levels were still coming down.   She experienced several lows, so we need to keep working on  the insulin adjustments. We seem to have plenty of energy, with all of the wholesome foods.  We  played basketball for an hour, and then Melanie came home to do a work out, while I fixed lunch.

Our recipes continue to be great!  I love the book. (which I covered with contact paper so it will hold up in all the use.)The author wrote an introduction with some things I will share now and then with you. "When I began to consume raw food on a more regular basis, I felt a sense of well-being and improved mental clarity.  I continued to work out and noticed that as my consumption of raw food increased, I was building more muscle mass and my cardiovascular level was improving.  Within three months I had lost the 40 pounds I had gained back while making poor vegan food choices. I was lighter on my feet and felt amazing." Douglas McNish

We are not after losing all that weight, but the mental clarity, and energy and over all health will be awesome!

Our meals were:
Breakfast-Buckwheat Porridge (my first with buckwheat and no disappointment)
Dinner- Creamy Spinach and Mushroom Casserole and a side of Softened Broccoli  ( I had never imagined a raw casserole-but it was delicious and sooooo flavorful!)

Terri's BG average- 101
                                          Melanie's BG average- 126 (which included some lows and highs during the adjustment time.

We had a movie night, I wasn't sure I could survive it without popcorn, but I was so full from dinner, I did.
However, after for a treat, I gave in to my chocolate cravings with our raw Chocolate Mousse with fruit!

Day #4 and #5

Day 4- Flax seed
Saturday was our grocery shopping day. We were so excited to go get all of our wonderful ingredients to take us through the next 15 days.  Forty tomatoes, 15 avocados, 22 cups of buckwheat and flax seed.... well the flax seed may not have 22 cups after all.  As we were finishing up our bulk bin process at Good Earth, Melanie let out a vocal signal of distress and I turned to see a continuous flow of the tiny brown seeds spreading from our cart to the cement floor. She held it up helplessly waiting for me to aid in a solution. We left embarrassed as the young clerk was sweeping our mess.  We were really wondering if it was a sign to not include so much flax seed in our diet, when the same bag was spilled 2 more times before it was safely put away in the kitchen.  Watch out for those little seeds! I think they or we were jinxed!

Breakfast-Delicious Cinnamon Raisin Flax Bagels with Cashew Cream Cheese were the easiest bagel I've ever made.

Lunch- Left Overs

Dinner-Raw Tacos, which are premium taco filling in a lettuce wrap.  It was supposed to be Taco Salad with Corn and Carrot Nachos, but when I started making dinner, I realized I was supposed to do the Nachos 12 hours prior to dehydrate them.  I was so disappointed!  But we found a night to switch and we'll try it again another time! But the tacos were amazing-just like a Cafe Rio meal! The meat is made from ground pecans, a little olive oil and taco seasoning spices. Yum!

Terri's BG- 134 my only reading of the day and after stuffing myself with Mel's wonderful home made granola bars!
Melanies BG-126 for the second day, even with a high of 207 from her basketball game.

blogged by Terri

Day #5 from (Melanie)
Today my blood sugar has been very low! I had to keep eating grapes and dates and juice with out insulin to get my blood sugar up to the 100's. It is a great sign but is also bad. After the 4th time below 100, my blood sugar was 48, and so my Mom and I knew we needed to change the ongoing insulin drip calculation on my diabetic pump. Before we lowered it, my pump delivered 12 units(around there) throughout the day. And then we lowered it to around 9 units a day, so we are hoping to see a change. Tonight for our Sunday Dinner, my Mom fixed the traditional 'Roast and Potatoes and Gravy' dinner for my family members http://www.kristendukephotography.com. (It is not just a photography blog) It looks like it will be a good, challenging workout! So, for our meals today,
who weren't on the raw diet and then she fixed 'Meat Loaf' and Cauliflower 'Mashed Potatoes' for her and I. It was ABSOLUTELY delicious! The ' Meat Loaf' tasted just as or better than the real thing, but it didn't dehydrate to the 'cooked' consistency. Tomorrow, I am going to start an exercising plan for 6 weeks that I got from
Breakfast: I had leftover 'Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding' and Cinnamon Raisin Flax Seed Bagels

Lunch: I had left over 'Raw Tacos' , which I think I like better than normal tacos now:)If you want the recipe,you can ask for it in the comment box) You are probably thinking, "Whats up with leftovers?" But if you go on a raw diet, you will realize eating leftovers is a lot easier than cooking another raw meal. I guess I shouldn't say cooking since its raw though:)

Dinner: 'Meat Loaf'', Cauliflower 'Mashed Potatoes', Marinated Asparagus, and Salad. It sounds impossible to have good, raw 'Meat Loaf ', (and you're probably scared when you see the '  ' surrounding it, but it is great! I'm not one for weird food.

Okay so here are our averages for the day.......

Melanie's Blood Glucose Average- 92 This is a crazy change difference! 6 days ago, before I started the raw diet, my BG average was 255!

Terri's Blood Glucose Average- 101 She is really doing great!

There are so many people who think that the only way to get through life is the easy way, which in my case, would be medication. But I can prove that the easy path isn't always the best. The harder, longer path might be more dangerous and stressful, but it is possible. So many people in the world need to realize that. And I am just one of those who have.

Beyond 5 (I have an obsession:)

" Gotta keep reaching, never stop believing, 
I know the road looks crazy, but you can make it through this storm. 
Gotta keep fighting , don't you dare stop trying. 
You've already come this far, so take a breath and keep your head up and never give up."
- "Never Give up" song by: Beyond 5

Melanie

Day #3 Still at it....

I'm a day late writing this, but this is about Jan. 17th.  We began the day with a yummy filling breakfast of Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding. (which reminded us of Tapioca Pudding)  It was delicious with a mild chocolate flavor from natural cacao powder,  It held me over several hours.  I am really amazed with the book, Eat Raw, Eat Well. by Douglas McNish. I don't think we could do this, unless we had been eating a raw here and there, and experimenting with these new foods and ingredients.  It would be overwhelming to me.
 I felt I was put to a real test of will power today.My husband, Delynn and I were shopping through the lunch hour, and I had brought along some cut up veggies in a baggy along with some zucchini hemp seed bread for lunch. Delynn, who is supporting us with the diet, but eats other things as well, was feeling hungry, and when we passed Arbys, that sounded really good to him.  I told him to go ahead, but I would just eat what I had brought.  It was a little tricky watching and  him with the two very aromatic French Dip Beef Sandwiches and order of curly fries, but because I am writing this blog and everyone is expecting me to be strong, I with stood the temptation, even when Delynn went into the bank and left his fries in front of me.  I felt so good to have held out! I'm surprised that the food is so filling and desirable!

Green Drink

Our diet for the third day consisted of:
Breakfast- Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding with bananas, grapefruit and green smoothie.
Lunch- Left over raw dinner food w/fruit and veggies (not Arby's)
Dinner- Lentil Chile over Quinoa Pilaf and Cashew Sour Cream (I was anxious for this one, since I had to begin soaking things three days ago)

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

 Terri's BG average was 105
                                                         Melanie's BG average was 126!!!!
(this has come down each day)                        I   think there may be something to the raw diet claims!
       

Day #2

      We made it through another 'raw' day, and without any real cravings of other foods!  The meals are very filling and delicious. I spent a good part of the day planning the meals for the next 16 days so I can go shopping and get everything on hand. Many of the ingredients are things I don't typically have on hand at least in large quantities, such as about 22 cups of Buckwheat groats, and the same for flax seeds, lemons for almost every meal, and about 30 tomatoes to mention a few. I'm not sure where to find Burdoch Root, but I think Good Earth will be my best chance.

Our meals were as such:
Breakfast- Soaked Oat Groats w/ raisins, Green Smoothie and a grapefruit
Lunch- Left over Moroccan Stew over Spinach leaves with an apple and banana
Dinner- Lemon and Cilantro Falafels in Lettuce Leaf Wraps* and Zucchini Hemp Bread and Carrot Hemp Seed Slaw.

*The falafels are a dehydrated chickpea patty with spices.  We smothered them with red peppers, avocados, green onions, and a home made salad dressing. A guest was with us for dinner who commented that "these are insanely good!"  We all had seconds!  So far so good with the foods.  It is not so hard to miss out on some things when there is something so good to take it's place.

Terri's BG average was 111- which includes a reading 2 hours after each meal. It is great to eat as much as I wanted and not raise the blood sugar.
Melanie's BG  was 153 which includes about 7 readings throughout the day.  Her's appears to be dropping. Yes!

Let our Journey Begin!

   The first day has been eye opening.  I realize almost everything we eat has something cooked in it!  Even though it seems healthy, our staples of Home preserved Grape Juice, and Sugar Free Applesauce are not raw.  I have found it so easy for a side dish with dinner to just open a bottle of Home grown green beans, or pull out a bag of frozen corn.  Once I prepared our Main  Dinner Dish, which took several steps, I realize I had no side dishes with it.  So this time, we pulled out the carrot, celery stick container and peeled an apple.  I'm sure I'll get used to better planning in a few days...  However, our Dinner of Moroccan Chickpea Stew over Cauliflower Rice was so savory and delicious, it almost could stand on it's own. Melanie helped by making a raw Snickerdoodle Cookie dough for the apples and celery though.
Terri

We will post our daily blood sugar averages, along with our starting weight, just to mark our progress, along with what meals we fixed for the day.

Breakfast- Flaxseed, Banana, Apple 'Oatmeal'.
Lunch- Spinach  Fruit Salad, an avocado and veggies.
Dinner- Moroccan Chickpea Stew over Cauliflower  'Rice' with the apples and Snickerdoodle 'cookie dough' Dip.

Moroccan Chickpea Stew with Cauliflower Rice

Terri's Blood Sugar Average Today- 101
Terri's beginning weight- 125
Melanie's Blood Sugar Average Today- 192
Melanie's beginning weight- 124     

Snickerdoodle 'Cookie Dough' Dip

This is going to take a while getting used to! Today at school I accidentally ate a pretzel because I completely forgot that I was even on this diet! Weird right? I mean, this diet is my life now!A couple hours after I remembered and felt horrible, because we have been planning this day since about November last year. Hopefully a little pretzel won't make a huge difference, but I really need to get my head in the game! The raw food is wonderful, despite how long the preparation takes (and, it doesn't always look the most appetizing:).

Lately my blood sugar hasn't been the greatest because  I have been literally 'stuffing' myself with the worst foods because I don't know when the next time is that I will eat dairy, bad sugars, hydrogenated oils, processed and cooked foods. I don't think I will want to go back to the average "American Diet" once I am through with these 30 days, if my diabetes has taken a absolute turn. I know that curing type 1 diabetes is possible, I just have to find the right pathway to it. "I don't need easy, I just need possible". -Cassidy Hooper
The Snickerdoodle Dip looks gross, but it is full of nutrients and is super filling and good! When else do you get raw, vegan, cookie dough that tastes good?
Melanie

Raw Snickerdoodle 'Cookie Dough' Dip
1 1/2 cups raw or dehydrated chickpeas
4 Tbsp nut butter of choice
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp baking soda
Heaping 1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup or agave
1/4 cup ground flax
2 1/4 tsp or more of cinnamon
*May need water for smoother blending
Directions: Blend all ingredients in a food processor  until very smooth.