New Orleans, smoothie time, my juicer, and try these tacos

So! I didn't mention this (I meant to), but the week before my photoshoot, I did a juice fast (well, mostly... I did sneak some walnuts and my boyfriend snuck me a couple tomato/feta grilled cheese sandwiches while I was at his house.... seriously, he was eating one in front of me and was like "I'll totally make you one if you waaaaaaant." I couldn't resist; he makes the best (as I like to call it) stoner food ever. I reasoned that it was after dark when I ate it so it only half counted... yyyyep). ANYwho, it was fairly successful and I felt pretty great. My favorite combo was sweet potato/carrot/celery. Plus or minus an apple.

And then I went to New Orleans and ate a bunch of seafood and beignets. And spicy bloody marys and hand grenades..... OH WELL.

Also,  we did a lot of shopping.... I got three dresses (they had a buy two, get one free deal... come on), this hat:

and this bracelet:

And while I'm at it, here are a couple favorites from the trip...

 Bourbon St. from a balcony:

We had a great deal of fun. I went with my boyfriend Caleb and a best friend Katy. Surprisingly, there was no third-wheelage to be had. C and K have been friends for years and I'm persistent and needy, so no one was left out. ;)

Also I had a photoshoot! My photographer is editing (I just told her my favorites) and I should have some AWESOME photos to share soon! Woo!

So! Uhh... mostly why I opened the create new post window was because I got an idea for a smoothie.... and I thought I'd share. I'm thinking:
Sweet potato juice
Banana
Frozen berries

I'll tell you how it went by the end of this post.

Also, I made some of this raw taco recipe from My New Roots: Raw Taco Fiesta!

I made the walnut meat substitute (DANK! also, I just used regular soy sauce because it's what I had around the house), the cashew sour cream (mine turned out more like cashew sour butter... but that's cool, because it stays on the lettuce better... also dank), and then I just bought some black bean salsa, an avocado, and a lime. And then yes, lettuce leaves. It's been feeding me for days, I love it. There are some recipes I make where I think, "That was fun, but I probably won't make that again." This is not one of those recipes. I will make this all the time.

Also! I just stared at myself in the mirror for a bit, and I swear to god, I'm starting to get some abs. YEAH! This eating mostly raw thing is giving me ABS. Granted, I've been working out in some form or fashion almost every day. I'll either do yoga or short intense (12-15 minutes) interval workouts. But diet is a big part of tummy appearance. And I'm proud.

So, my smoothie:
I use an Omega juicer, and I love it. I'd been using a Acme juicerator for years, but finally outgrew it. The Acme is a centrifugal juicer, and it worked for when I occasionally wanted to juice. However, now that I've started juicing more often, I need something more convenient. The Omega is a single gear masticating juicer, which means it "chews" the veggies for you and extracts the juice that way, rather than chopping and spinning like in a centrifugal. This results in less oxidization (meaning more live enzymes, hurrah!) and a less terrifying noise when I'm juicing. Seriously, the Acme made me so nervous. It is loud, it spins, it shakes, and depending on what you put in it, it shakes violently. I tried to juice a kiwi and it lost its shit.

Also, the Acme was a bitch to clean. Huge parts, including a massive grated part that I never felt I got all the fibers completely out of... This Omega is way more convenient. The motor takes up the same amount of counter space, but the actual parts that I have to clean are way smaller, and the bit with a grate (to strain the juice) is small and easily cleaned. Also, way less noise. Way way way less noise. If I want to juice in the middle of the night, I won't wake anyone up. For that matter, if I want to juice without giving myself a panic attack...

Plus, I got my Omega for I think less than what I got my Acme for. Thanks, Amazon.

So all in all, I have to say, the Omega wins. Bomb dot com. And one of the parts is even sort of phallic, so when I leave it out to dry, it makes me giggle. Bonus!

As for my smoothie, I first juiced

• 1 sweet potato
• 2 carrots

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


Then I put the juice in a cup and added

• 1 banana
• some frozen cherries.... idk, like 7-ish

BLEND!!!

And smoothie! It's tasty. I like it. Sort of liquidy, I'd say add ice if you want it thicker. I don't really mind it going down quickly. I think next time, I might add some almond butter so that it's an even slower digesting smoothie (healthy fats!). I didn't mind that my juices were easy to digest during the fast, because then my body could focus on detox. But if I'm just treating myself to a shitton of nutrients, I try to add a bit of fiber or something to make it more of a meal. And so it is. I am satisfied with my breakfast without being full. Perfect for workouts soon. :D

All right then. Done!

Alisyn's "I have a photoshoot in a week!" Spaghetti

It's true. I do. You know that singer/songwriter thing I'm doing? It's for that. I'm pumped. In order to feel my best for the occasion, I've been working out every day this week and eating as nutritiously as I can. But good lord I love me some Italian. So I decided to try and come up with a spaghetti recipe. There are things I want to experiment with (it ended up pretty soupy), but for my first attempt, this is pretty dank. And the garlic/basil/tomato/Parmesan are all present and accounted for and my craving is sated.

So! How did I do it?

Sauce:

• 5 vine ripe tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• handfull fresh basil (you might add more to taste later)
• several leaves fresh oregano (same as basil... whatever you like)
• 3 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 to 1 inch jalapeno (or whatever pepper you prefer... if I could have found a red chili, I would have used that)
• spoonfull of almond butter (or any nut butter.... for more healthy fats to make it more filling ;))
• juice from half a lemon
• 2 large spoonfulls of goat cheese (I LOVE GOAT CHEESE)
• some grated Parmesan
• 2-3 tsp soy sauce

BLEND!

 lol it's orange idk

Noodles:

• Julienne 2 large zucchini (gluten free yaaaayyy)
• k, done

I then put my portion in a saucepan and warmed it up. I recommend doing this. You're not really trying to cook it, but heating it up enough to where steam comes off brings out something delightful in the garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, etc. Not my rawest of recipes, but it's still pretty dang good.

After that.... MORE PARMESAN! ....if you want. I wanted. I'm pretty lactose intolerant, but I do cheat with certain cheeses every now and then. Hard cheeses seem to be more forgiving than soft. Who knows.

I cleaned my bowl.