inSPIRITation

No ingredients in this recipe are processed or cooked.

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups of any type of nuts (Pecans, Almonds, Walnuts)
1 tbsp coconut oil
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
4-5 Medjool Dates (These hold the crust together)
Pinch of sea salt

Filling:

Strawberries
¾ cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
¼ cup water
Pinch of sea salt

Topping:
Shredded Coconut Flakes
Strawberries

Materials:
Blender/Food Processor
Pie Pan

Crust:

1. Take nuts and blend them into small crumbles in a food processor.
2. Add coconut oil, vanilla extract, and a pinch of sea salt. Pulse to mix.
3. Slowly add dates and blend one at a time until the crust starts to stick together when you press it together.
4. Oil the bottom of the pie pan with coconut oil and add crust mixture.
5. Start to press and shape the crust to the pan until it is as neat and fitted to the pan as possible
6. Place in the freezer for 30-60 minutes.

Filling:

1. Cut up strawberries and place in the blender.

2. Make sure to cut up extra strawberries to place as a topping once the pie is finished.
3. Add water and blend until smooth.
4. Add coconut oil, vanilla extract, sea salt and blend.
5. Pour this filling into the pie crust and place in the refrigerator or freezer for a few hours until firm.

6. Once firm add shredded coconut as a topping and remainder of the cut up strawberries.
7. Keep refrigerated.

Topping:

1. Once the pie is firm add shredded coconut and the remainder of cut up strawberries as a topping.
2. Keep Refrigerated.

Enjoy!!!

What are your perceptions about life? Do you see everything through positive or negative eyes? Do you think that people are mean and unfriendly or do you believe the opposite?

I used to have a negative perception about a lot of things and as a result I had negative experiences. I began to learn how the thoughts we think correlate with our life experiences. It made sense to me and I decided to try changing my thinking and perceptions about life. As I tuned into my thinking I realized that I was unaware of the destructive thoughts that I had. It was as if these thoughts were recordings playing over and over in my head. In order to make every thought a positive one I had to consciously pay attention to the things that I was thinking and change them. It was a challenge at first, but once I practiced changing the negatives to positives as they arose in my mind it then became second nature for me.

Trust me this works, it is like magic. I still have things that I am working on, but there are a lot of things I have changed. It has made a huge difference in my interactions with people and my day to day life experiences. Of course things happen, life happens, but you have the choice of how you deal with or react to every situation. We have more power than we give ourselves credit for. All it takes is a simple change in your thinking. That’s it. Sounds easy huh? Well it does take discipline to reprogram your thinking but with persistence and consistency it will become easier every day.

You are worth that. I know I am. I can sit here and confidently tell you that with practice I have been able to change my perception about life in general. When I wake up and in the morning I feel so refreshed and excited for the day. I used to wake up dreading the day. Ugh what a drag lol, but I consciously made a decision to change those thoughts and feelings and what a difference it has made.

Now, I can have one conversation with a person and see what some of their perceptions are about life. I love living in Tampa and some people I come in contact with love it too. As a result more things come for us to love about it. Then there are those who say they hate it and that seems to be their experience with the city they attract more things to constantly hate about it. You see how we are all in the same city but are having different experiences just based on our thoughts and perceptions? I was having a conversation with a lady and she went on about how she is new to Tampa and it is so hard to meet people. Well I am also new to Tampa, but I don’t have a problem meeting people in fact I am constantly meeting new people and I know it is because of my belief that it is easy to meet people.

So what can you do to change negative thoughts? It’s simple CONSCIOUSLY CHANGE them if they are negative. Sometimes we have negative thoughts that we have held onto for so long we don’t even realize we are thinking them so just pay close attention.
Here are some ways to change your thoughts:

Start to be more aware of all the thoughts you have throughout the day. Do this for a few days and you’ll notice that most of them are the same thoughts playing over and over. Once you figure out what these are then replace them with positive thoughts. This will take some getting used to, but when you think the negative thought instantly replace it with your new positive thought.

You could even try a 30 day positive thought diet where you commit to thinking positive everyday for 30 days. It only takes 21 days to form a habit so by day 30 you will continue on with little or no effort. You will feel a lot better too.

LIFE IS SUCH A GIFT AND ITS AMAZING HOW THINGS CAN CHANGE WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR PERCEPTION.

Love,

Keyana

“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.” ~Buddha

Ingredients:

One head of cabbage

Smart Bacon Veggie Protein Strips

Seasoning of your choice

Black Pepper

1. Rinse Cabbage

2. Break up or cut cabbage into pieces

3. Add a little bit of water to a pot and place on a medium heat stove

4. Add cabbage and let boil down until soft

5. Heat up veggie bacon protein strips in a skillet, cut up and add to pot for flavor

6. Season with seasoning of your choice and black pepper

7. Enjoy!!!

Serves about 4

Cabbage is a good source of Vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, vitamin B6, biotin, calcium, magnesium, and manganese.

Do you drink enough water?

How much water do you drink daily? Aside from the juices that say they contain high water content or the flavored water that eliminates all of the nutrients, because it contains heavy sugars how much GOOD OLD FASHIONED WATER do you drink daily?

I can honestly say I used to go some days without drinking any pure water. Ignorant to the benefits and need for a tall glass of water I chose to indulge in sugary fruit juices and sodas which clearly showed through on my skin in the form of horrible acne that I could not get rid of. I knew I had to do something, because I was constantly thirsty even after I’d just had a drink, sluggish from the empty calories, and my skin looked horrible.

I remembered in previous years when I was dieting how water made me feel healthier overall and caused my skin to glow. So I decided to up my water intake, because I was getting back on the path of leading a healthier lifestyle and those sugary empty calorie drinks were unhealthy for me.

Benefits Of Water

As a motivator I decided to research the benefits of water. What I found is our bodies are comprised of approximately 65 percent water. Our lungs expel between 2-4 cups of water daily and about 2 more cups if we workout and perspire. Adequate water consumption detoxifies our bodies, protects our organs and helps the organs absorb nutrients better, protects and moisturizes our joints, moisturizes the air in our lungs, prevents and lessens the severity of colds and flu, helps prevent constipation by aiding our digestive system with elimination, moisturizes our eyes, helps transport nutrients and oxygen into our cells, etcetera.

For all of you dieters out there water is definitely your best friend, because it suppresses your appetite, reduces sodium build up, helps maintain muscle tone, reduces fluid retention, and reduces fat deposits by assisting with metabolizing fats.

You may not know this, but every system in our bodies depends on water. Our brain consists of approximately 93 percent water, our blood consists of approximately 80 percent water, our muscles consists of approximately 75 percent water, our bones consist of approximately 22 percent water.

When we are usually thirsty it’s our bodies signal that it needs water to continue functioning. If we do not get enough water or are not replenishing our bodies with the water its losing on a daily basis we can become dehydrated which can cause a whole new set of problems. Some people are dehydrated and do not even know it.

Every day you lose water through sweating, exhaling, urinating and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you need to replace this water by consuming beverages and foods that contain a high water content. Fruits and Vegetables have a higher water content than most foods. Your body would prefer pure water as its beverage, because it takes the stress off of having to break down the sugars and syrups that may be in other drinks. Plus sugary or high caffeine drinks actually perform opposite of water by stripping our bodies of its water.

The recommended daily intake of water is 8-10 glasses daily and this also varies based on your level of activity. By following these guidelines every day we are restoring our body back to its natural equilibrium.

How do you know if you are not drinking enough water?

I knew that my water intake was inadequate due to my constantly being thirsty even after I had consumed juice or soda. When you drink water your thirst will be quenched. Also my skin was breaking out and most importantly my urine was dark in color. Urine should always be light or colorless.

If you have any of these symptoms or worse symptoms such as constipation or urinary tract infection there is a great chance that you may not be consuming enough water.

Some additional more severe signs may be dehydration, headaches, dizziness, and sluggishness.

Results

I decided to do a total transformation and eliminated all of the sugary unhealthy drinks from my refrigerator. Now I drink water 98 percent of the time. As a matter of fact I do not keep juice in my home at all. After drinking adequate amounts of water within the first week I noticed that I did not crave juice or sugary drinks like I used to. Certain drinks actually are too sweet for me now and I feel like I am drinking pure sugar. If this is difficult for you in the beginning at least try to drink your daily recommended allowance of water or drink water whenever you are thirsty trust me you will not crave sugary drinks shortly after consuming large amounts of water.

I decided to make drinking water fun. To mentally trick myself into drinking more I purchased an appealing water pitcher and garnishments such as lemons, limes, or any other type of fruit to add a little healthy flavor to my water. It actually worked and I unconsciously started to drink majority water. Lemons are actually great to add to water, because of their healthy benefits. Lemons are acidic, but when put into the body they make the body more alkaline which assists the body with fighting off disease. Disease cannot flourish in an alkaline body, but that is another article.

I have noticed a drastic difference from increasing my water intake my skin and eyes are clearer, my mouth is not dry, I do not crave sugary drinks, I feel healthier, I feel lighter and not bloated, and my stomach actually looks flatter.

I completely removed soda from my diet and when I do drink juice on occasion it is either a smoothie or juice that is not from concentrate. Not from concentrate simply means: the juice is pure

Warning engaging in the consumption of adequate amounts of water may cause Side Effects that you will enjoy:

Frequent Urination in the beginning due to toxins being flushed. After about a week your body will get used to the large water intake and start to hold on to that water instead of eliminating so frequently.
Bright Clear Eyes
Beautiful Clear Healthy Looking Skin
More Energy
Healthier Feeling Overall in your body
Quenched thirst
Decreased cravings for sugary drinks
Regular Bowel Movements
And so much more

This article just touches on the surface of how powerful water is and how important it is to our well being. I suggest that you also engage in your own research if you would like to learn more and need a motivator to drink more water.

Water is our best friend so we should develop a relationship with it and treat it as such. After all without it we would not be alive.

For those of you who love soul food you can still eat great soul food dishes without animal products. Upon first starting my journey I did not know there were this many delicious options with vegan meals, until I came upon a local restaurant while living in Tallahassee called Soul Vegetarian Restaurant. I fell in love with this place, because the food was delicious and free of animal products. This restaurant opened up my eyes to all of the different ways vegan food can be prepared and it has truly inspired me. When I first tried their food I was not fully Vegetarian, but shortly after I was.

Soul Vegetarian has a chain of restaurants located in Tallahassee, FL, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA, Atlanta, GA, and Chicago, IL. The food is delicious and non-vegetarians eat at this restaurant as well so that says a lot about it.

Today I chose to make Greens, Fried Tofu, and Macaroni with homemade cheese sauce.

Battered Tofu

Ingredients:

1 block of firm or extra firm tofu
Corn Meal
Peanut Oil
Flour
Seasonings of your choice

1. Squeeze water out of the tofu until completely dry.
2. Cut up into squares or rectangles
3. If you would really like the texture to be chewy like meat then place tofu on an oiled cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes.
4. Remove when tofu is slightly brown.
5. Season cornmeal for flavor of your choice.
6. Dip tofu into seasoned corn meal.
7. Saute’ tofu in the skillet on medium heat.
8. Cook each side for about 1 minute or until brown.
9. Once the tofu is cooked remove and let cool.
10. You can add barbecue sauce or a marinade of your choice to add more flavor.

Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

See Video post on How to Make Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe is a personal favorite, but after I became Vegan I did not know how to prepare them to taste good, because I was raised with greens that had some type of meat added to them for the flavor.

When I discovered this recipe I was ecstatic. It’s simple and contains no animal products.

Ingredients:

Bunch of Greens (Collards or Mustards)
White Onion
Garlic
Sea Salt
Olive Oil

1. Wash all of the dirt off of the greens. You may need to wash them a few times just to make sure they are clean
2. Cut up a white onion.
3. Put a little bit of water in a pot and place on the stove on medium heat. You do not need to put much water in the pot, because the greens will naturally cook down and create their own water.
4. Begin to add the greens and layer the onions in between the greens.

5. Place lid on the pot and let cook down. This usually takes a few hours.
6. Make sure to check on them occasionally to make sure the water has not evaporated and stir.
7. When they are cooked down add garlic for more flavor to taste.
8. Once the greens are done they will be soft and flavorful. You can add Sea Salt if you choose and a teaspoon of olive oil.

Enjoy!!!