Meri, hope you have a great time at the cabin!

I'm glad the yogurt is working for you....the gratitude goes both ways...I am so happy you introduced me to the green smoothies...I enjoy them every day now!

Bernie!! So glad you liked it....you're right it looks weird and so it takes a second to turn your mind off to actually give it a try BUT it's so yummy when you do! AND it makes your stomach feel satisfied but not bloated, nice and calm, and the best part is it keeps me from being hungry for hours and hours...longer than an all fruit smoothie can! Now you need to try the green angel and the crocodile mousse....try the croc and you'll never want ice cream again!!

Just had my first green smoothie in three days, relief :-D Makes me feel so good as well. It's always nice to go to the cabin and it's also nice to break the routines a little, but it's such a comfort to get back to them. I know, I'm quite a routine loving person. :-) Makes life more... peaceful? And I seriously need that since I'm a bit of an duracell bunny.

All the balancing acts such as routines, newly found yoga, free diving, reading books - they are priceless in the middle of my 110% requiring work (love working with people but it's exhausting... U know what I mean), intense workouts, meeting people, volunteer work, everything.

Bernie, so glad you liked the greenie as well!! It's a weird idea at first and not so tempting but luckily by the example of some people recommending you get to try it and bang! You're hooked. I also love the raw food "pies" and "cakes", have to find a nice recipe if anyone's interested in trying. Mainly uses seeds, nuts, a little fruit, sometimes dried but not necessarily and berries. I've done some brilliant ones with some dairy products as well, quark actually.

Now the sun shining and it's the perfect Sunday morning moment - silent, bf and dog still sleeping, having the whole free day to live. Sigh. Ain't life wonderful sometimes!

Ps. Jana, been running for three days in a row (getting seriously addicted again) and did one a bit more than 10K run - went superbly! Easy, enjoyable, fast. Aaaaah. So different running in the country side than here in the city. Just awesome! Only problem is that I had promised myself to have a day off from training yesterday but I sneaked to run a little... But it's an old thing, me over exercising. Trying to find the balance there as well. BTW, what do you have for protein at the breakfast with the greenie?

Hi Meri. Welcome back from the cottage...glad you had a good time. I know what you mean about routine...I'm much the same.

The raw pies and cakes sound great. Yes if you could post a recipe I'd love to try!

I usually have cottage cheese with macadamia butter along-side the green smoothie. A couple of days I was out of cc so I had an egg white and nf cheese omelette...that was good too.

A 10k run is very good Meri! I find I end up running most days too. I try to limit myself to every other day and just to brisk walk on the 'off-days' but a good song comes on my Ipod and the next thing I know I'm running again!! I don't go as far as you though. LOL!

Hello Meri --- Welcome back...
Jana --- Hii
My report to both of you... Croc mouse... I made a green angel (avo and banana) with a spoonful of cocoa (raw chocolate) and 1 sugar ... It was very nice... then, It was so good but could not finish all, so half of it I put in freezer and ate latter as "icecream"... so delicious... I surely try supercroc (that is how my kid names Crocodriles)
Ohh... and Spinach and pinapple... so nice... I made half blend by it self, and then 1/2 blend with protein powder added... also deliciouos...
For protein I've used as Jana suggested -- egg white tortilla -- with salsa, also added to my favorite list already.
I appreciate your ideas... and Meri, now you have a debt with us... we want to try your raw pies... already looking forward to try it...
I am happily getting use to your support. (also like routines, and being home) Thank you for being there !!!

Jana, uuuuuu I WISH I could get macadamia butter from somewhere..... Sigh. Can't have it all it seems O_O
How many blocks are you eating per day by the way? I'm sort of trying to slip a bit more in the zone by first roughly estimating my current block situation (which is just rebellious feeling based one ;-)). I'm quite aware tho how much. But I'm not sure what's the right amount for me. So asking for some example :-)

Bernie, yummmm good work there girl! Could be awesome with some cocoa powder! Try the crocodile if you dare :-) I'll try putting up a recipe for a "raw" pie, tho I use dairy as filling sometimes.

About the egg white tortillas: I like eggs and egg whites okay, but I just sort of personally think that it's not ecological and therefore moral to just eat the whites... I'm sure you are prolly using the yolks as well but I think you know what I mean? I'm very precise about what I eat but the world still comes first :-D We're in such a enviable position being able to choose whatever we want to eat when some people have nothing to eat... I don't mean to moralize anybody, I'm just thinking thing through... :-) So I'd prolly use the whole egg. And I also like my eggs boiled rather than fried, quite a rare treat tho. Basically on holidays in hotels that is :-D

Anyway I'll be back with a pie recipe! Take care you supporters <3

Okay, here goes!

Raw Monkeypie (ie. from my blog Monkeyfood.net)

Crust
-1 dl grounded almonds
-1,5 dl almond flour (possible to make self in a blender)
-1,5 dl coconut flakes
-1 tbs (raw) cocoa powder
-50g coconut oil/butter (preferably virgin coconut oil)
-a pinch of salt if you like
-something to sweeten it: honey, agave nectar, artificial sweetener OR you can use dried fruit, raisins, ripe banana or other fruit pureés if you like them better, I tend to use an artificial sweetener, agave or honey to keep the carbs down)

Melt the coconut oil/butter and mix everything in. Taste to adjust the sweetness. Could spice it up with some cinnamon or whatever you like. Put it in a pie tin (well the thing you bake pies in :-D) and pat it so that it evenly covers it and also the sides. Put it in the fridge or freezer to let it settle.

Filling option I
-500g quark
-2 ripe bananas
-1,5 tbs cashew nut butter (or other nut butter)
-something to sweeten it

If you opt for this filling, top with raspberries after you've filled the crust. Keep it in the fridge before eating. At least I've been eating it two days from the fridge so it should keep quite well.

Filling option II The Green Angel (not sure about the quantities for a full size pie)
-2-4 ripe avocados
-2-4 ripe bananas
-some water
-sweetener if needed
(-addiotional: raw cocoa powder to make it chocolaty. I prefer the green angel without cocoa but I think at least Bernie would like this one... :-))

Put the avocado flesh and the peeled bananas in a blender and add a tad of water to make it easier to blend, add a bit more if needed to make a proper texture. Taste to see if it needs anything to sweeten it. In my mouth when you use about equal amounts of avocado and banana it's sweet enough.

When you've filled the crust with green angel, you may sprinkle some coconut flakes (maybe toasted if you're you're not too lazy) on top or slice a little banana to decorate it. Or whatever you wish!

Filling option III: variable
-fresh berries
-ripe fruit
-fruit pureés
-dried fruit

Fill the crust with your favorite fruit and berries. If you want to make it sweet enough, mush some bananas first and spread the banana pureé at the bottom. Then top with berries and other fruit, maybe some small chopped dried ones as well. Could also use like oatmeal yoghurt or seed/nut milks in this if you make them thick enough.

Well there! A couple of suggestions where to start from. The possibilities are, again, endless, I know I keep saying that but I just feel so inadequate trying to give "one" recipe to try when I come up with new and different ideas the whole time... Anyway, this crust works if you want to make a "proper" sized pie and it's been liked by I don't know how many "normally" eating people. Try it and tell me. :-)

Of and like pineapple and coconut go very very well together so if you want to use coconut cream in the quark and then top it with pineapple (ripe or canned) it should be brilliant.

...and here's a link to the recipe in my blog, in Finnish, I KNOW I KNOW :-D Still. There's a picture.

http://monkeyfood.net/2008/08/03/pu...miopiiras/

Ohhhh, I've so ended up flooding this conversation but I just tried Sue's Brownie Batter Smoothie and yes, yes, YES it works! Mmmmmm pudding. And I don't even like puddings. Also the male part loved it. Made it with some fresh cherries frozen, I think I used just 6 or 7 of them but they were huge and when tasted it didn't seem to need more. A bit tricky cause I froze them with the stones in them but thought that they'd be fresher that way. And they were but I froze my finger cutting the cherry meat around the stone... The great sufferings of a brownie batter hunter! :-D And I used the flavourless protein powder, worked well, and some normal milk instead of the soya. Didn't need to add any extra cocoa powder either. Omitted the oil since I've had my share for today in nuts but don't think it makes a big difference, prolly just to balance the blocks? Wow.

I actually put the leftovers (didn't let the male finish it!) in the freezer to try it as an ice cream tomorrow :-)

Also did a version of a raw almond cake, this chocolaty thing and it turned out quite good, tho now I know what to make differently for some improvements. Will post the recipe after some trials if anyone's interested. I don't know if you've heard of this chocolate brand Dajm or Daim, it's by Marabou, a Swedish manufacturer. A milk chocolate with almond crocants. The cake's named after that in here, it's the Daim Cake. Anyway, was good.

Tomorrow morning 'll be up for a run! See you guys :-) And thanks Sue!

Ah! Glad you liked it! The finger...ouch! I've found that the cherries are the last thing to smooth out when you blend it. So to be more Zone friendly I stop blending before the cherries totally disappear in the mix, leaving them a little chunky. Very easy to do if you blend with an immersion blender. A tip, if he dosen eat the leftovers before you get to it, let it thaw a little before eating. The flavors come out in it better when it's not frozen solid. Same goes for my frozen yogurt recipes. I tried a new one last night, chocolate with a peanut butter swirl and chunks of chocolate fudge Dr. Sears Zone bars. I had it with dinner last night, and some more with my lunch today. I'll add it to my recipe thread soon.

Oh, and I looked at your monkeyfood site yesterday. Very nice! (wish I could read Finnish!) :-)

Yeah I also like a bit of chunks in there! And actually in the raw food "movement" it's also adviced to leave or to add something to chew on to start the production of saliva to ease the digestion so it's goooooooood (think of Jim Carrey in Liar, liar :-P) And yes I also always let the "lighter" ice creams to melt a little before eating, otherwise they're too hard and flavourless.

Surely be looking into your recipes as well! And if you see anything interesting enough in the monkeyfood let me know and I'll translate. :-) Tho it might a bit tricky since you don' even understand the tags :-D

Thanks for the translation offer. Exactly, I don't understand the tags either. It's ok! :-) I might put them into an online translator when I find the time. Liar Liar...ha!

I've dabbled in raw, but only in a way that fits into my particular Zone needs. Keep sharing with us!

Take a look at my food photos for more of my meal/snacks (album in my sig. below).

Sue, I also incorporate raw food for the parts it fits my nutritional life (and my tastebuds...) but I think it has a lot of great elements to be taken into use health wise. The problem is, the raw food people tend to have it all or nothing meaning the presumption is to go raw totally or else not at all. I think that's the reason some of their preparing methods etc. have not been in the use of the big public if you know what I mean... Even tho they are very beneficial for health and also gourmet nutrition. :-) But I love it when I can go raw with the morning green smoothie, my salads, some treats and stuff. Makes cooking interesting as well :-D

Ohh the run was good but it's gonna be a hot hot day... :-P Loving it! WOuld hope to be off work tho ;-) Take care!

Meri....so sorry I haven't posted for awhile, its been a really busy week!

You can't find macadamia butter and I can't find coconut oil!! LOL! Maybe I'll try the raw chocolate with olive oil...its more zone friendly too...do you think it will work? And thanks for posting the monkeypie recipe....we need to have more meals in a day for all these great recipes!!! I'm on 11 blocks a day. I usually break it up as:

.5 B before workout
2.5 B breakfast
3 B lunch
1 B afternoon snack
3 B supper
1 B bedtime snack

If I'm going to be doing more weight training than running for my workout I'll have a 1 block snack and a 2 block breakfast instead...but lately I find I run most days even if I do the strength.

If you want to calculate your blocks there is a link at the right side of this screen called the 'Zone Block Calculator' and you just have to enter some measurements to get your # of blocks....its easy.

Yes, Sue K's brownie smoothie rocks!!! I just LOVE it. I freeze it often and just let it melt for awhile before eating it...works great.

I tried the green smoothie with frozen peaches instead of berries the other day and it was great! I want to try Bernie's spinach/pineapple but pineapple is one of those foods that makes my tummy go nuts so going to try first with mostly strawberries or peaches and just a little pineapple and see how that goes...it sounds so yummy!

Got to go for today.....talk to you soon!

Peaches + Spinach... sounds like a deal!!!
I will try... I miss my spinach during the trip. Fortunatelly I am back home... and I will do blends again.
regards ladies...

Jana, well ohhh I wouldn't maybe try it with olive oil, it doesn't hold it together like coconut oil or cocoa butter since it doesn't become so solid when cooled down. But I dunno... It needs something to hold it together. In the raw food movement they use like soaked dates or raisins grounded into paste but that's too sugary for me. But it doesn't have to hold together if you make it in glasses and not like a whole pie. Have to figure out something :-) If I do something like this and it's not for a party or an event I usually make just a tiny batch, a little pie for me and a little pie for my bf. Not too much coconut oil then either :-)

Thanks for your block breakdown! So if you're not working out in the morning do you have 3B breakfast? Or are working out every single day and always in the morning? Oh and is it too much to ask you to post (not in a hurry, when ever you have the time) your menu for one day? That would be awfully kind, would be good to get a view for another person's zoned meals and the portion sizes. I think 11 blocks works for me as well, or would work. I've tried the calculator yes but never quite trust that kind of things ;-)

Peaches are indeed peachy... :-P We don't have any frozen ones here but it's good to use fresh ones. And Bernie, nice to see you back here! Also loving the fresh pineapple, yesterday had it for dessert in a restaurant, a rare treat to have a dessert! :-D

I'll just keep looking for the coconut oil then....maybe it will be at the health food store when I get there to get the goji berries, etc. I'm sure I'll find it eventually!

Yes if I don't workout then I just have a 3 block breakfast...but I do workout most mornings...its not very often that I take a day off completely...sometimes I'll just do a brisk walk on what should be a day off but if I don't exercise I never feel as good throughout the day. I always workout first thing in the morning...if I don't do it then I find my day gets going and then I don't get the exercise in. The only things I do later in day is swim in the pool with the kids and on weekends we'll have a big family soccer game. Most of them are teenagers now so its quite a workout!!!

What about you...how often do you workout?

I'm loving the peaches! Its even better with the spinach and celery than the strawberries are....but the smoothie is so bright green it almost glows! My kids thought that was funny :-)

Bernie is coming up with some great new combos for us too....so glad you've joined in Bernie!!!

Bernie and I both participate in another thread called Accountability...Are you in the Zone?. and we check in everyday and post our meals and share ideas, etc. Sue K and CC are also on that thread as well as several other fantastic ladies....you are more than welcome to join us there to get menu ideas. I'll post some of my meals here too for you...I'll do that on the next post.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Meri, here's a cut and paste of some of my meals from the accountability thread....

Tues...I went on a school trip to an amusement/water park with my DD...took all my own food...weighed a ton!!!
Pre-workout snack: 1/4c nf plain yogurt, 1/2 tsp macadamia butter (1/2 block)
breakfast: 4 egg whites, .5oz nf cheese, 1/2c salsa, green smoothie (spinach,romaine,celery,strawberries), 1 2/3tsp OO (2.5blocks)
Lunch: 3/4c lf cc, 1c strawberries, 1/2c blueberries, 2c celery sticks, 1Tbsp macadamia butter (3 blocks)
Supper: 3oz chicken over garden salad, 1/2c salsa, 9 almonds, popcorn (I know....) (3 blocks)
Snack (missed afternoon snack): white wine, 1.5oz deli turkey (nf), 6 almonds (1 block)

Wednesday:
breakfast: 3/4c lf cc, 1 Tbsp macadamia butter, 1/2c blueberries, green smoothie(spinach, celery, banana, strawberries) (3 blocks)
lunch: 4.5oz nf deli turkey over garden salad with 1/3c water chestnuts, 2tsp oo, red wine vinegar, apple for desert (3 blocks)
snack: 1/2c nf plain yogurt, 1tsp macadamia butter
supper: 3oz pork chop, 2c coleslaw with diced apple, ginger sesame dressing (3 blocks)
snack: 1.5oz nf deli turkey, waterchestnuts, 6 almonds

Thursday...
breakfast: Janet's modified smoothie...yummy and kept me EASILY ITZ until lunch
lunch: western omelette, slice of multigrain toast, apple for desert (lunch out so no options or measurements...)

Jana, okay great, I'll have a look at the accountability thread, I sort of didn't know what it meant :-D Seen the topic tho. Thank you for copying a sample here, it's very, very nice to get to have a look at the meals of somebody who eats quite similarly. But what is no fat cheese? Sounds awful ;-D I use 5% fat cheese which I really, really like and then a huge variety of different "normal" cheeses from the market next to where we live. Not much of them, but they are a delicacy that makes even a plain meal brilliant :-) Used sparingly, just to spice things a little!

And about the virgin coconut oil: are you familiar with Trader Joe's? I think they should have it. But never been to U.S. so can't be sure. Don't have Trader Joe's here!

HAVE to try the peaches! Soon we'll be off to an island near here for the day, have to go prepare the food. Some rye bread, smoked salmon, cheese, salad, apples and coffee. And the sunshine, sea, seagulls and a warm cliff. Lovin' it!

Almost forgot about the workouts: I tend to workout every day as well, trying my best to keep days off but ashamed how hard it is. I do crossfit (crossfit.com) which is weight lifting and other intense training like lactic acid endurance and then I run, swim, cycle and do some astanga yoga and pilates. Sometimes I do two workouts on the same day if they are compatible and if I feel like it. It varies a little depending on the season, in the winter time I haven't been cycling and I don't run as much but I do more weights. And in the summer time the opposite around. I like to keep things interesting by changing the sports, also do boxing, some brazilian jiujitsu sometimes andI've gone trough tens of hobbies :-D

At one time I sort of thought that I could have been really good like competion-wise if I'd concentrated on just one sport, but I've come to the conclusion that my way was perfect: no injuries, no bitterness of having to miss out something because of competitive sports and most importantly, I'm loving all the sports I do, I don't HAVE to do anything. So works for me just to keep moving :-) Yoga I've taken up just recently also to add some... balance to my workouts, not to over do things.

What about you Bernie, do you like to sweat? :-)

Hi Meri!

Yes I'm sure the accountability thread is intimidating to those who haven't been participating as its about 30 pages long now!

Funny you should mention about the NF cheese...it took me soooo long to find it....my DS (14yo) kept saying to to me 'you can't find it because it probably tastes awful so none of the stores are carrying'.....well I finally found it and Yep, it tasted absolutely terrible! LOL!!! I ended up throwing it out and I am NOT one to normally waste food! I definitely heard the 'I told you so's' about that!! Anyways, later I found a processed nf cheese by Kraft that is already in slices...this one tastes good in eggs, etc but I still wouldn't eat it on its own. I like Light Baby Bells and I also use a 4% fat cheese for most everything else. You can use full fat cheese in the Zone, you just need to modify the fat you add to the meal to compensate for the extra fat in the protein. For example, I had an omelette today and added 1/4c shredded nacho cheese to it and it had the equivalent of 9g of fat so I did not add any fat at all to the meal as that is the right amount of fat on its own.

Trader Joe's...I hear others talk about that store on this forum too but I'm not in the US I live in Canada so we don't have that chain here. I'll keep looking for the coconut oil though....its got to be here somewhere!

Your day at the island sounds wonderful! I hope you have a fantastic time!!

I like to mix up my exercise too....lately its been mostly running and weights, but now the nice weather is here I'll be doing more swimming and cycling. In the fall I'm going to join pilates and yoga classes when I can't get outside as much. A local town offered a mother/daughter yoga class that you do together so I'm hoping to enroll me and my youngest DD in that.

I had a yummy green smoothie this morning....it was basically the regular one mixed with the green angel...I started with just the green angel and kept adding different things to use them up out of the fridge....it was very good!

2 big handfuls of spinach (freebee)
2 celery stalks (.5C)
1/3 banana (1C)
1/2c frozen peaches (1C)
3Tbsp avocado (3F)

I needed 2.5 blocks of carbs so stopped there.....

Hello Meri and Jana...
it is so nice to be here...
I love the green blends with avocado.. but it is now so expensive in my city, I have to deal properly. So when I run out (I only got 2 avo this week) I will use blends with olive oil....
Sorry I am answering late... about the white eggs... Yes Meri, I do think like you. I do not like to waste food. More, I can not affort to do that. When I usually eat 2 eggs, 1 yolk. The remainding yolk I give to my dog a s a threat. My older dog eats mainly dog food and this morning threat.... but mainly I don't like to waste food. I check on my fridge every night, and I check to avoid spoilage on veggies.. so sometime I eat next day, not what I want, but what is more delicate to keep....
On sports... I used to be addicted to sports. I come here to this forums and read you and Jana excersice routine... and I wish I could do that... and maybe I can, just that I need to put an extra effort to extend my days. I have two kids... and work more than fulll time.
Actually I started to work up a little (please don't laugh... it is so little... but is a start...).. I don't know how to translate... is basic... lie on floor, face down, pull your weight up with your arms, but your body straight... 3 series 10 repetitions.. and another.. sidesaddle (is that a correct word??) .. stand up with your arms crossed on your chest, bend your knees until thigts are horizontal..count 3 sec, raise...
I know is too little.. but I am making my kids do it with me... so we can do together..
Well.. my lunch time is almost over... so I'll go back to it.
HAve a nice day !!!

Hi Bernie!

Welcome back! Any exercise you can do is good. :-) Those are called push-ups and squats. A tip to avoid injury, take care to use correct form on the squats and not over extend the knees.

Jana, oh you're in Canada! I seem to be sort of clueless about people's whereabouts, is there some sort of profile where I could check? :-D My friend is just returning from Canada having lived there for several years and another one's moving there in August... Would be great to get there, I've heard that Canada (it's so huge that probably some places but anyway) are quite similar to Finland actually. Regarding the weather and also people. Also occupational therapy (which is what I do) has strong roots there, one of the main models is actually called the Canadian Model :-)

But then no Trader Joe's apparently. I don't even know what that is btw ;-D My bf just found it out after I asked an advice. But I hope you can find the coconut oil. I know it's not favourable but there are many things that aren't and there's no need to have them a lot or every day, but then when you do have them they give some... sparkle to your food! :-) The smoothie with peaches and avo sounds delicious! I was so inspired by you and Bernie talking about peaches that I traded my everyday two apples into peaches and nectarines yesterday (and also this week totally). I've kind of forgotten those and my tummy seems to like them BETTER than apples! Anyway, I love to have a good variety on things to eat :-P Even tho I'm a slave to my routines!

Bernie, all exercise is good! You don't need to apologize anything but to be proud. People have different situations and backgrounds and possibilities and phases in their lives, we all do. And I kind of think that I'm overdoing my working out so maybe not a good person to take an example of.... But I'm working on it. The yoga helps, just went there yesterday. This astanga is like power yoga but it's not as intense as my other workouts which is good. Also good to learn to be quiet ;-)

And we have a dog as well and she sometimes gets a yolk (or even a whole egg) as a treat <3 And I also keep an eye on the fridge so nothing would get bad and I utilize the "have to eats" taking them for lunch. Works great! 'cause you can really put anything into a salad! I'm a salad master btw tho I say it myself ;-D I love to make them and eat them (sincerely I crave for salads) and am pretttty good at preparing them. Most commonly people forget to season the salad (not meaning you guys here obviously) and then you hear them say it doesn't taste like anything... Duh! A steak wouldn't either without some salt. Rant of the day! Hehehee.

Btw I also do a bit of personal training and it's so great to see the people progress! They begin to feel better and energetic and they learn to love a tad more healthier food and my absolutely greatest sport achievement last year was to get my DAD (at the respectable age of 63) to start going to the gym! And now he loves it! He's always HATED sweating and exercising and never done that but there he is now, going regularly twice a week (just added a third visit and made a new program) and it's pure heaven when I hear him say that he feels so good afterwords and when I see his improvement. :') Sniff.

I forgot to tell you! I got myself (finally!! couldn't find one before) a measuring cup for CUP! Actually it's a half cup (and a quarter of a cup is marked as well) but I've only had decilitre measurement cups. Meaning, it's a whole lotta easier for me to try out your recipes and I also can make recipes by cups. Happy days.... :-D It's the little things that make the difference!

(Btw. I can't get it why a nectarine is two carb blocks (in another words half nectarine is one block) but a peach is one block. At least the ones sold in here are bigger in size than the nectarines and I checked that the nutriotional value is almost the same?)

Meri, I have never quite understood that about peaches and nectarines, either! Only Barry Sears can figure that one out!