The breakfast Avocado Shake was simply delicious with; avocado, strawberries, water, ice and matcha. Dates or your favorite sweetener was also listed as an ingredient, but the sweetness of berries usually already does the trick for me. If you are trying to cut any corners to loss extra weight or are like me and don’t like drinks being very sweet try making the shake without dates or anything else. Try a sip or two and think about the flavors and taste. See if you really have to have this drink sweeter to drink it or if it’s something you would prefer to do just because.

The shake was more like a smoothie because of the creamy avocado. It even had an oily savory taste and I think this is what helped me feel so full. The avocado and strawberry had a tropical vibe to it without even having coconut or citrus fruits. I woke up before my alarm clock this morning and made this Avocado Shake right away. Thank goodness too; it was super filling to the point that I was glad I had some extra hours to digest it before going to yoga.

About an hour after having this shake I had a healthy bowel movement, YAY! It wasn’t a dam releasing or painful, just healthy and enough to get my stomach to not feel as hard.

My sciatic pain has been increasing throughout the day today. It was difficult for me to do poses in yoga that I can usually do without having to do much adjusting. The pain is heavily concentrated in my hips, lower back, behind and around the knee caps as well.

For lunch I had Ani’s Fennel Slaw with Dill Vinaigrette. The slaw calls for jicama, which I haven’t been able to find around here in a while now, so I subbed radishes in. Other ingredients in the slaw are fennel and sunflower seeds. I’m almost sure now that my stomach is sensitive to cashews but other nuts seem to not be a problem. Nut sensitivities and allergies are rather tricky, it’s possible to be allergic to just a specific type of nut. This recipe only calls for 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. I thought the sunflower seeds would taste and look better in the slaw. It’s been over an hour since I had the slaw and my stomach is still feeling fine.

The vinaigrette for this slaw is creamy, salty, sweet and delicious! It has apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, fresh dill, miso, and lemon zest. I did use both the “Thermo Charger” and ” ‘Bot Boost” in this. The thermo charger of nutritional yeast added a great saltiness that goes great with the licorice taste of fennel. The ‘bot boost is black pepper, something I usually put in my salad recipes 🙂 This slaw is up there on my list of favorite lunch dishes from Ani’s Fat Blast. It’s crunchy, green, sweet, salty, creamy and pleasing to the eye. I like the color the radishes added to the slaw too, it ended up being a great replacement.

For dinner I was supposed to have Pesto Wraps, but just trying two tablespoons of the nut based pesto gave me a terrible stomach ache. I’ve been doing quiet a bit of research on nut sensitivities, and it looks like my stomach can not handle the protein in them. This may be because I never really eat much nuts, and since I am vegan I cut out meat, dairy other heavy proteins. My stomach has symptoms of not being able to properly digest nuts. The few tablespoons of sunflower seeds and almonds I have been consuming during Ani’s Fat Blast have been fine. But it looks like having more than that irritates my stomach. Cashews seem to be the worst, even a few tablespoons causes almost instant discomfort.

Instead for dinner I made sushi, which I had a few nights ago. I made one sheet with radishes, sprouts, cucumber and miso. The other with carrots, cucumber, sprouts and miso.

I had a friend ask me some good questions about making raw vegan sushi at home.

Does the nori sheet need to be wet or do I need to wet my hands? It’s best to not wet the nori sheets or your hands. Roll your sheet on a dry surface and make sure you hands are not wet either. If the sheets become too moist they rip easily and are difficult to roll.

How should I spread on the miso? It’s best to spread the miso on before any other ingredients. Use a knife, preferably one that isn’t very sharp. A spoon or fork is difficult to spread across the nori evenly. The miso also helps keep the nori rolled, also keeping the seam down and nicely flapped over. This way nothing spills out.

It’s best to keep the sheet not too packed with items and evenly spread out. Keeping this is mind you should be able to roll the nori with much more ease.

Bon appetit!

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