Baltimore's Vegan and Raw Food Stores and Restaurants

I haven't been updating as often lately because I've been exploring the wonderful vegan, raw, organic stores and restaurants in Baltimore and enjoying the outdoors! Here are a few of my newest discoveries:

The Health Concern is a small independent store in Towson. Many of the vegan, raw, and organic goodies that are difficult to find, even at Whole Foods, can be found at this little jewel! The vibe here is fantastic, please support this store:)

Zia's Cafe is also in Towson and is filled with healthy goodies: fresh coconut water, spelt/vegan pizza, fresh juices and smoothies, wheatgrass shots, and much more! Zia's is also hosting a Raw Dinner Event on June 28th! Make reservations soon:)

I have also made a habit (with my hubby) of visiting Waverly's Farmer's Market on Saturdays and Jones Falls Farmer's Market on Sundays. Waverly has a wheatgrass juice vendor (B-More Alive!) and Don & Renee Gorman at Harmony's stand offer lots of vegan treats! Jones Falls has many organic farmers (its where I get my kale and romaine) and a fresh juice/smoothie stand!

I have also visited Liquid Earth twice in the past week:) Liquid Earth offers a large raw food menu, fresh juices/smoothies, and wheatgrass shots! Almost the entire menu is vegan too.

My next stop is Yabba Pot...I've visited Yabba before, but not since beginning my juicing, mostly raw diet! I'll report back soon.

xoxo

My One Hundredth Post! Happy Birthday Veggies:)

This is my one hundredth post at Baltimore Bliss. It was around this time last year that I became a vegetarian. Its funny that I took a step further recently by transitioning into a vegan diet. I am dedicated to continuing this journey. Next year, I'll be writing my 200th post and remarking upon the new healthy lifestyle choices I've discovered. It just keeps getting better.

Thank god for blogs. Sometimes I get a little blue, unmotivated, blah, whatever you want to call it. After reading a few entries by bloggers like Kris Carr, Bueller, LolaBloom, Bunny Berry, the crew at We Like It Raw, and many many more, my mood lifts and I feel motivated to get off my butt and do something productive (or at least be more positive and thankful)!

I think there is a Vitamix in my future...My hubby knows that it is at the top of my birthday wish list, so I'll let you know in a few weeks if he delivers! Hopefully, I'll be in Green Smoothie heaven soon:)

It is my fourth day on Natalia Rose's 21 day Life Force Energy Plan. So far, so good. I am keeping a food/mood journal and I hope that this exercise will help me realize patterns in eating and how certain foods and habits effect my well being. I am sticking to Rose's food combining guidelines, which has helped with digestion and general comfort throughout the day. Although breathing exercises are something that I became familiar with through yoga, the fact that these exercises are part of her plan help me to make time for them throughout the day. I am also paying special attention to my sleeping patterns and the amount of time between meals. Overall, my diet has become more raw and vegan over the past few days. I have integrated 70% organic dark chocolate into my diet because Rose states that 50 grams per day is ok...we'll see. Its difficult for me to stop at 50g! I am eating more fruit in the morning also.

Its too soon to tell how this new lifestyle has effected me, but I'll let you know over the coming weeks!

ps- Oprah is doing a 21-day vegan cleanse, check it out!

A Weekend in Asheville

This past weekend was wonderful! My hubby and I drove to visit our dear friend Pepper (aka Jed) in Asheville, NC. Asheville is a GREEN city:) Lots of juice, vegan cuisine, earth-friendly businesses, and hippies! I enjoyed fresh veggie juice at the Green Sage, raw food and the Laughing Seed Cafe, UliMana's Raw Dark Cacao Truffles at the Grove Corner Market, and vegan cake at Rosetta's Kitchen! We watched lots of movies, walked around for hours, took a nap in the park, and spent time browsing local bookstores and shops. It was fantastic!




I picked up Natalia Rose's book: Raw Food Life Force Energy at Malaprop's Bookstore. The whole weekend supercharged my motivation to move forward with a healthier lifestyle. I started Natalia's 21 Day Program today. My favorite part was dinner, which was so simple and easy! I picked up organic tomato sauce (ingredients limited to organic tomatoes, spices, and olive oil) at Whole Foods today along with an organic zucchini. I heated up the sauce and used a peeler to slice the zucchini into linguine-like strips. I topped my pseudo-linguine with the sauce and added a few ak-mak crackers and voila! It was delicious:) today was about 90% raw. I feel great. I'm going to end the day with a hot, Epsom Salt bath. I'm documenting my progress in a journal, noting my diet, moods, exercise, etc. I'll keep you posted!

xoxo
Sundari

If you were on the fence about becoming a vegan, here are a few more reasons...

I just read an amazing blog post by Dan Paul at Kris Carr's blog. I wanted to email it to every person I know, but thought it might be better to post it here. I touched upon the issue of animal treatment in this post concerning a Human Society video released in February. Although I am probably 80-90% vegan (ice cream always gets me!), this post has inspired me to take the 100% vegan plunge.

NYC Vegan Restaurants and Raw Vegan Chocolate

I had the pleasure of visiting two raw vegan restaurants earlier this week in NYC. The first was Bonobos at 18 E. 23rd Street. Bonobos is named after the Great Ape that lives in Africa. We share 99% of this ape's DNA. Bonobos website explains:

"Wild bonobos are happy pleasure loving creatures whose lifestyle is dictated by instinct and Mother Nature. They are very healthy and live long lives, dying from old age, accidents or predators. There is no evidence of degenerative disease like there is with their human relatives. Instinct is responsible for their diets instead of social custom and food manufacturers. Their diet is predominantly raw, wild and plant based: fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Since there is so much discussion about the correct diet for humans, bonobos can give us tremendous insight into what we are meant to eat and what kind of lifestyle we should have."

The food was fantastic! I enjoyed coconut water with my meal of a big green salad, lots of raw veggies and a yummy nut meat pattie:) I felt wonderful after my meal. There are so many tasty options for raw vegans that are packed with the good stuff we need to be healthy and vibrant. Check out Bonobos' menu here. If you live in NYC, be sure to stop in! I'll be back at Bonobos for the first Crazy Sexy Posse Meetup on May 3. Check out the Crazy Sexy Life forum here, you may want to join us!

The second restaurant I visited was Pure Food and Wine at54 Irving Place. This restaurant is the creation of Sarma Melngailis who wrote Raw Food Real World (a raw cookbook that I've mentioned in previous posts). The restaurant was a cozy and inviting place to settle in for a 3 hour meal! We enjoyed: Spicy Thai Lettuce Wraps with Tamarind Chile Sauce, Marinated Shitake and Avocado Sushi Rolls, and Rawviolis for starters. For the main dish, I ordered the Zucchini and Roma Tomato Lasagna with Basil-Pistachio Pesto, Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce, and Pignoli Ricotta (picture from flickr.com). Last, but NOT least, I savored a raw mint ice cream sundae, topped with unbelievably rich cacao truffles. To die for. I also enjoyed coconut water with my meal:) Its a good thing that I do not live in NYC, because I would want to eat there every night!

I had a wonderful conversation with a new friend that evening about raw vegan food. I've struggled with following a mostly raw, vegan diet in social situations, especially with family. My wise new friend helped me regain my confidence in my choice to follow this path. She helped me turn my insecurity into pride! Next time I feel like compromising my diet to "fit in", I am going to bring a delicious raw food dish to share with friends and family.

Lastly, I was just at Whole Foods picking up some greens for the weekend, when I got a hankering for chocolate. I'm not someone who can have a bar of chocolate hanging out in my cupboard without devouring it in one sitting, so I was looking for a single serving, organic dark chocolate treat. I was pleasantly surprised to find 100% Organic Vegan Raw (single serving) Chocolate bar! The chocolate (70% cacoa) is made by Love Street Living Foods. You can read an article about this company here. The article explains:

"The chocolate, made with a low-temperature (melted below 108 degrees) process, contains no processed sugar or hydrogenated fats or chemicals. The ingredients list starts with organic raw cacao (70 percent), which they source from Ecuador (cacao typically is roasted for chocolate). The rest: Organic raw cacao butter, organic raw coconut oil, organic raw agave nectar (the sweetener), organic raw whole vanilla bean, organic raw maca (powdered South American root vegetable), organic raw cayenne (a subtle touch of it) and Himalayan crystal salt."

The texture is more gritty than traditional chocolate, but it is still delicious, rich, and flavorful. Not to mention very satisfying:)

I am more and more motivated each day to continue on a (mostly) raw vegan path...people keep telling me I'm getting "the glow". Its not just the food, its part of a lifestyle, which I discovered through Crazy Sexy Life (CSL), Sivananda Yoga, and numerous spiritual teachers. Since returning from NYC, three friends have approached me on how to start on the CSL path and I love sharing my knowledge and resources. Thanks CSL!

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
– Margaret Mead

p.s.-I picked up Alba's Body Sunscreen (30 S.P.F) today at Whole Foods! I'm ready to enjoy the sun (safely).

xoxo,
Sundari:)

Groggy? No More!

If you've been reading this blog for more than a few weeks, you know that I was struggling with the morning blues. I had to peel myself out of bed in the morning (kicking and screaming in my head). Lately, I wake up naturally, around 7:00 or 7:30 am. Mostly, I credit my diet (and juice!). I've been faithful to juicing each morning, cutting out refined sugars and flour, and eating lots of greens. Plus, I've added a B12 vitamin. I have even resisted my late-night sugar cravings (which does get easier). These are not easy modifications, but necessary to my long-term health and happiness (inside and out).

There are a few wonderful resources that I attribute these changes:

Kris Carr and the Crazy Sexy Crew. The Crazy Sexy Life Forum is up and running and it will change your life if you open your heart and mind to it! Whether or not you are a cancer survivor, this is a place for anyone wanting to nourish their body, mind, spirit, and the planet. It is packed with priceless knowledge and positive people from all over the world!

YOGA! Traditional Hatha Yoga (Sivananda Lineage) guides my practice, but there are hundreds of styles to choose from:)

BOOKS! Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, T. Colin Campbell's The China Study, Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips...much more on my nightstand:), including Fast Food Nation.

BLOGS! Allie's Answers (helps me learn about how I can care for the planet and protect my family from harmful chemicals, etc.), We Like It Raw has taught me about raw food living, Radical Radiance has taught me about juicing, and Kris Carr's blog-need I say more about Kris?

VEGAN! I've cut out all meat and dairy from my diet and it feels great!

Also, dancing, journaling, and nice long baths have helped to reduce stress:) When you have a toolkit filled with these positive habits you are never alone or lost. Try adopting one new healthy habit a week and soon you'll see and feel the difference. The sky is the limit:)

What healthy habits have you incorporated into your life that have made a difference?