Last weekend I went to the Can Fit Pro Conference and Trade Show in Toronto, Ontario.

I'd been asked to be an Eat Clean Ambassador by staff at Robert Kennedy Publishing, the producers of, among other things, Oxygen Magazine and Clean Eating Magazine! 

It was insane but in a totally cool and fun way!  I found out after it was done, that we were by far the busiest booth.  It doesn't surprise me in the least--Clean Eating ROCKS!

The pic to the left was taken during a very rare lull.  There were only a few people around the booth, and see all the others in the background?  They're lined up to see Tosca Reno, the face of Eating Clean.  She had a LOT of fans!

I decided to go to Toronto the day before, because they needed me to be ready to go by 830am.  I don't live in Toronto, and the idea of having to leave home at 6am, and then be "on" for nine hours straight was strangely not very enticing!  So I decided to stay at the Royal York Hotel, because it's not much more money than other places downtown (and less than some!), and it was only a 5 minute walk to the convention centre. 

I knew that I didn't want to end my super squeaky clean month early, so I had looked online last week at what might be around as far as food and restaurants, and found that in St. Lawrence Market, there is a raw raw food vendor!  So that's where I went for my dinner!

It was a burrito filled with raw chili, avocado, and assorted veggies and sprouts.  I also got a fruit smoothie.  YUM!

I also picked up some fruit and veg for the convention.  BUT it was so busy, I barely even realized that time was passing, and only took one 15 minute break in 10 hours! 

I was OK though, 'cause I had a really great and very filling breakfast of steel cut oats with cinnamon compote, and a fresh fruit smoothie.  It had me going for hours!  Gotta love healthy, nutritious breakfasts!

Always eat your breakfast!!

My challenge to myself, to be very clean eating (both raw and cooked) for the month of August has been going very well.  Not one morsel of chocolate, not one bit of sugar has passed my lips!  I no longer take any sort of sweet in my tea, even agave.  I was very surprised that I could easily switch to tea with just skim milk.  Who would have thought it, back in my 4x4 xlg tea days?  Not me, for sure!  I still marvel at it.  Truly.

I've also been marvelling at the fact that it's been MUCH easier than I would ever have thought to not only stay away from sugar, but from the saturated fats that I always crave if I don't have sugar.  And the idea that giving up both for this month would be actually easier, has definitely paid off.  Who would have thought?!

That's not to say that it's all been raw food and roses.  There have been days where it was more difficult to say no--today was one of those days.  I SO wanted some sort of cake--cupcake, slice of cake, didn't care, so long as it also had icing.  Of course I said no.  Thankfully there wasn't any cake around, otherwise it may have been MUCH more difficult, but I didn't try to placate myself with what was available.  I knew that the chocolate bars at my office weren't what I wanted, so there was no point in eating one, especially since I'd be breaking my squeak! 

Last week I wanted nothing more than a sausage breakfast sandwich from Tim Horton's.  Even now as I type "sausage breakfast sandwich" I want one!! They're so good, but so BAD!  NO NO NO! lol

I'm definitely not a breakfast sandwich person.  In fact, I would NEVER have bought one at any point, if I hadn't been told to try one.  I was leery...they're so often just plain NASTY LOOKING.  But I did...and they rock, unfortunately.  I luuurve them, which is very strange since they're just not my thing!  ACH well, what can ya do.  No sense crying about it now...  mmmm....   STOP THAT!!!

Sniff your screen.  Smell anything?  Maybe if you scratch it and then sniff it.  How 'bout now?  No?  Well that really sucks for you, 'cause my freaking house smells AMAZING!!

Currently in the dehydrator is onion bread.  I've heard rumours all over the raw 'net lately about an angelically-tasty recipe for raw onion bread.  The whispers were that it's the most amazing thing they've ever tasted, that it changed their views on raw food, and that it can perform miracles!

Well, not miracles, that's a fib, but when I ALSO found reference to it in a raw cookbook I was reading, and then was presented with that very recipe I though, "Oh my gosh!  It's pre-ordained!  I must make it, and bring it to Montreal this weekend!"  Carla, if you're reading this, you're in for a TREAT lady!

The recipe is as follows:

Onion Bread (the numbers in () are thirds of the recipe--the amount I made to try it.  It makes about one tray full)

Ingredients:

(1) 3 lg yellow onions

(1/4) 3/4 c flax seed, ground in a high speed blender

(1/4) 3/4 c raw sunflower seeds, ground in a food processor

(2 tbsp) 1/2 c Nama Shoyu or tamari

(5 tbsp) 1/3 c olive oil


Directions:

*  Peel and halve the onions.

*  In a food processor, cut the onions with the slicing disk.

*  Transfer to a large mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and mix until all are    thoroughly combined.

*  Spread 2 cups of mixture evenly on a dehydrator tray with a teflex sheet.

*  Repeat until all the mixture is used. Dehydrate at 100 for 24 hours.

*  Flip the crackers onto a tray with mesh only and remove teflex, and dehydrate another 12 hours. Once dehydrated cut into 9 equal pieces.

It's apparently from the book RAWvolution.  Click here to see how it's made on youtube.

 

I nibbled a piece from a corner, even though it's SO not done.

 

Can you hear them?  Can you hear the angels singing??!! 
 
Oh my great golly!  Even though it's like a day from being done, it's FANTASTIC!  It reminds me quite strongly of onion rings.  You know, that one time you found a place that had the BEST onion rings in the world?  The taste like THAT place!

The next day I brought the bread to work, and it was GONE.  People were exclaiming about it being so good, and one lady said that she "had to walk away" because she'd be back for another piece.  I told her there was nothing unhealthy in it, and that she should feel free to have another, or even a third slice!  This from a raw food poo-pooer!

I woke up this morning, and my first thought--after "Is it seriously morning already?"--was, "mmmm...I could go for a sausage breakfast sandwich!"  It was the morning of Sqeaky Clean Day TWO!  I mean sheesh!

Of course I said no!  All I have to do this month is say no to junk and yes to everything else that's out there.  That's not too hard, right?  Right??

So instead for breakfast, I had no-sugar-added ancient grains cereal with a smidge of raw wildflower honey and 1% milk, and a lovely decaf tea.  Good breakfast!

Mid-morning I had a hard boiled egg and a pear.  Then for lunch I had avocado shrimp ceviche (pictured above).  It was GOOD!  Actually, it was DELISH!  And as an afternoon snack I had a Kashi bar. 

Right now I'm hungry, which is usually when my resolve is weakest.  I want food NOW!  NOW NOW NOW!  But healthy food isn't always ready in this exact millisecond, so I just have to DEAL WITH IT. 

Commercial for PC chocolate chip cookies  NO NO NO!  Back danged cookies!  lol

Hey--I have fresh, organic, whole-grain tortillas I bought from the market on Saturday...I have eggs...I have veggies...I have clean hot sauce...  Me thinks I have the makings of a breakfast burrito!  Maravilloso!!

After dinner...

Addiction to junk food seems a bit silly to people who don't suffer from it, but it's a very real affliction.  And since junk- and Franken-food is everywhere, it's also pretty scary.  Imagine being a heroin addict, and having it laying around everywhere, sometimes cheaper than food! 

Refined sugars and saturated fat have been found to have the same effect on the brain as heroin.  The dopamine receptors in our brains are fed in much the same way as drug addicts when they get a hit.  And even when they're thinking about it, they still get some of the same feeling--which triggers a craving.

Hmmm...sound familiar?  Ever see a commerical and immediately want what's featured?  Ever hear that there's leftover birthday cake in the kitchen at work, and immediately head (or want to) upstairs, even if you're not hungry?

Strangely, knowing this doesn't make me less motivated to break junk food's hold on me--it's making me MORE committed.  The thought that I could spend my life in a constant battle with my addiction is absolutely HORRIFYING.  It gives me STRENGTH to know that kicking it to the curb once and for all now is so much easier than fighting/clawing my way back, is what keeps me going. 

I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT IT FOR MY WHOLE DAMN LIFE!  The time is NOW.  PERIOD.

This is Phase One of my year-long quest to find out just how healthy I can be.  Phase one is a biggie, but I need to do it now, not later.  It will stand in my way the entire time, if I don't overcome it now. 

Recipe for ceviche (1 serving):

1/2 avocado, sliced or cubed
1/4 red, orange or yellow bell pepper (or all three!), chopped
1-2 tbsp chopped sweet white onion
Small handfull of fresh cilantro
1/4 cup raw shrimp, chopped into smallish pieces
Juice of a fresh lemon
1 tbsp orange juice, or a small drizzle of honey
Sea salt to taste

In a small bowl, combine shrimp and most of the citrus juice.  Make sure the bowl is small enough that the juice will completely cover the shimp, because the citrus "cooks" the shrimp.  Allow to sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the peppers, onion, and cilantro. and remainder of the juice.  Mix.

When the shrimp is pink and white, with no grey bits, it's ready to eat.  Add the pieces of shrimp, discarding the marinating juice, and then the avocado.  Give the salad a quick toss.

Eat!