Please keep in mind we are not nutritionist or doctors. We recommend checking in with your doctor before making any changes to your diet and exercise routine. Most of our information is based upon our own experiences and research, although we do hope you keep an open mind.
It makes us so happy that everyone is loving our t-shirts!!!!! We are so excited for them and think they will be great for everyone to wear and enjoy Hard to believe the Fitbloggin is only a few weeks away. Michelle and I got so much work to do from now till then.
on our blog a few times or two.. we like to call it our favorite cocktail Synergy is the brand, and you see it out in your stores and if you do not have the time to make kombucha yourself. But I promise making your own kombucha is not that hard! And makes it more affordable when you make it yourself!
There are just so many great health benefits about drinking this fabulous drink! I really think incorporating this drink into one’s lifestyle would not hurt because many people lack ‘healthy’ bacteria in their diets! A simple natural fermented aged culture, made with pure water, sugar and black or green tea. Kombucha is a probiotic. Pro = in favor of; biotic = life. Kombucha balances the pH naturally. Pro-biotic drinks are good for us, they aid digestive health and they give our digestive system balance. Probiotics – means “for life.” It is used to describe products which include microorganisms that are beneficial to health.
And once you drink kombucha a few times you will start craving the flavor and taste. It is sour and can be fizzy!
We find it a much better choice over regular sodas on the market because of the health benefits from drinking kombucha! So go give it a try if you have not already!
Now we are not experts but we have been making our homemade kombucha for a few months now and absolutely love it and know that if we can do it anyone can do it!
Here is the video of Michelle showing how we make our kombucha! Enjoy!
Now we purchased our Mother Scoby from Cultures of Health. They also sell kits that includes mason jars and strains!! But the Kefir lady sells them too. It comes with directions. And the mother comes in a packet on ice. Just place the mother in the fridge till you are ready to place it in tea. Only use pure black or green tea nothing with flavors.
As you will see in this video Michelle splits a baby from the mother, you do not do this with the one you buy. After your first batch you separate the two to make two batches, and the cycle continues with each scoby.
Like the music??? We are getting fancy over here, haha.
Have fun making your homemade Kombucha!!! You can flavor any way you like once it is done fermenting.
Recipe:
For One quart you will need
1 1⁄2 t. loose tea or 2 tea bags
1/4 c. sugar
3 1⁄4 c. (approx.) water
some starter tea from your previous batch (or first kombucha does come in tea)
For Half- gallon
1 T. loose tea or 4 tea bags
1⁄2 c. sugar
6 1⁄2 c. (approx.) water
1 c. starter tea, although we never do that much
Brew the tea with sugar to dissolve. Let it cool to room temperature before adding scoby. Put scoby in mason jar, with whiter side up, and cover with cheesecloth. Leave on counter at room temperature, out of direct sunlight for at least 5 days. We let ours ferment from 10 to 30 days. The longer it ferments the less sugar.
News:
St. Patty’s day is coming fast. And in honor of the great fun holiday we are going to be offering sales on our ‘green’ product line and offering some special extra treats for the holiday like mint chip macaroons and green cookie!
We will posting those new items up on our store here soon and we will let everyone know when the sale on our green crackers and flat breads will be going on for.
We wanted to go over a few things going along with our coconut kefir video. Michelle forgot to mention a few things. Many of you might see kefir starter packs in your local stores or online. The difference between the kefir starter packs and the grains is that the packs only last a few times while the grains could possible last a lifetime. That way you really only have to buy the grains once because they will continue to populate and make more. Though if you are just curious and starting out with making kefir the starter packs are a great way to go.
Going along with the grains there are two types water and milk. Both are great! We use both. And now for the ‘milk’ grains you do not necessary have to use dairy to make them as you saw in our video coconut milk seems to be working out just fine. Yes you all may be thinking that the ‘milk’ grains are not vegan, which is true. But we do not make our kefir using ‘real’ milk just coconut or hemp milks and we are loving it because it is very similar to real kefir and it has the sour and creaminess that we love. So to us it is ok even if it started out with real ‘milk’ grains. Though you may experiment with whatever type of grain and liquid you feel most comfortable with doing. We plan to show more on making water kefir later this week.
Anymore questions please just let us know. We are here to help and would love to see more of you trying out making your own kefir!!!!
Ok enough of kefir now onto our eats for over the past few days.
Going along with Gena’s theme of saying “I LOVE TO EAT!” And you all know Michelle and I love to do that. Though we have struggled with eating disorders too. Our journey was a little bit different (our food issues all were based around our stomach issues- we would not eat because we did not want to feel like crap) though eventually over time we finally learned to love food again and embrace ourselves and the food we eat. We also struggled with our body images that we know many of you deal with as well though we will save that big topic another day!
Therefore in honor of National Eating Disorder weekwe wanted to show you all that eating healthy can be fun, delicious, and comforting! And of course great for your body and mind!
Hits the spot of us both every time. We are huge fans of key lime!!!!
And of course to start our day today …. green smoothieThis delicious smoothie was filled with dino kale, grapefruit, coconut oil, sunflower lecithin, stevia and lots of fresh ginger
Lately all I have been craving is sauerkraut and grapefruit! Not sure why but I guess those are not bad things to crave
Ok well I challenge of all you to say you love FOOD and yourself!!! And talk about food and why you eat food. Remember food is not your enemy as long as you are eating what is right for your body and it makes you feel good. It took Michelle and I a very long time to realize this and now we are happier than ever! Though not every day we are perfect or 100% happy with everything, though we are grateful with the food choices we make and know that we are on the journey to a better health!
Now go out there and make some delicious food and tell us all about it.
Wow this week flew by. We have been busy here, and if you follow us twitter you would of seen that last night we got interviewed for a feature in a local paper in regards to raw foods in the area. It was very exciting to hear about all the things raw in our area, it is small but at least something. We will let you all know more once we hear more. ; )
Today we are going to update you all on our hormones. As you all know we have shared our issues with hormonal imbalance and birth control before. I know many of you suffer from hormone issues of your own and some of you have asked to give an update of how we are doing.
First, how is Michelle?
Last week I was a mess. My hormones were all over the place…my emotions, my appetite, my sleep patterns, my energy…I was not myself. I was eating more cooked food than normal…more sweets than normal. I started to get really bloated and then on Monday I woke up to realize I got my period!!!! So it explains my behavior and symptoms, but now I forgot what it feels like to have one. Remember it has been a little over a year since I stopped birth control, which is when I stopped getting my period. My skin still has breakouts, but I have seen improvements. I do not really have much else to say because this is just the first time since I have my period in year, so I will just have to wait and see how each month from now on goes. I will keep you posted. But I do believe my new changes in my diet have helped balance me, but again I am not healed yet, still have a journey.
I will now hand it over to Lori.
I have no idea. I mean really that is how I feel. I am not sure where or how my body/hormones are doing. I have my ups and downs still, no period yet for me. My breakouts are slowing down but are still happening. My overall skin appearance is alright, still have a long journey to go. I am staying optimistic because I know that everything that I am doing with my diet is going to work just have to give it more time. My sleeping has been great lately and my appetite strong. I still crave sweets but not as much as I used too. I have really been wanting my sauerkraut and smoothies It seems that I go through stages with my eats (which I am sure many people do) one week all I want is chocolate and than the very next week I do not want any; I want more savory things. I am still trying to figure everything out but taking one day at a time. Really liking all the fermented foods and msm. I have incorporated more into my diet. I feel they are really helping.
Well as you can see we both are still on a journey as each of you too. So we say hang in there and treat your body good with good food, exercise, and relaxation, and give it time!
Yesterday was a nice sunny, but cold day here yet we felt like going for a run. So we layered up and headed outside for a quick 25 minute run. Then followed the run with some Tracy Anderson mat workout. It was a hard intense workout yesterday, both of us were tired by the end. Luved it.
What did we eat afterwards to helps us recover?
Post-workout iron filled smoothie
Green smoothie filled with hemp protein, parsley, pumpkin seeds, lemon, yacon, maca and camu camu (high in Vitamin C,which helps absorb iron). Perfect! Very filling!
Check out our comforting dinner last night….semi raw fermented dinner ; )
Millet with sauerkraut, fermented veggies, cilantro, and coconut oil.
It totally hit the spot last night for both of us. Just needed something warm and comforting. It has a very long time since we have had millet. It was a nice change
So good…wanted more ; ) Love millet!! So easy to digest and quick to make.
Now onto something exciting….we finally made raw bread!!! This is a recipe we have practiced over and over and finally think we have it!!!
Now this is not your typically large loaf of bread, but for us this actually tasted like bread. It was moist, good texture, and very satisfying. This bread is not only raw but gluten free, vegan and nut free
Perfect with a nut butter…we chose walnut butter which is a mixed of walnuts and cashews. The amazing people over at Artisana sent us some extra samples of some of their nut butters. You all know we love their coconut oil and butter, so we were excited to try the nut butters.
It was creamy, rich, and wonderful flavor! It did not have to much of a walnut flavor which we liked. The texture was perfect for spreading onto our slice of bread!
We are very pleased with our raw bread!
Very smooth! A great source of your omega’s 3 and 6. We love our GOOD healthy FATS! Another great thing about this company is that their products are made in a facility that does not handle any peanuts, gluten, dairy, or GMO’s! Love that and we really enjoyed this walnut butter. The only con about their products is that they do not soak their nuts. But still a great buy in our opinion.
Well, time to get go do some yoga. Happy Friday to you all!
Love all the less meat protein sources support from you all! Lori and I are still trying to find our balance with everything though each week we feel we are understanding our bodies better
Lately we have been enjoying some delicious eats. We attempted to re-create the Little Debbie oatmeal creme pies (one of our childhood favorites) and this is what we came up with: our raw ‘oatmeal’ kreme cookies
Needs just a little bit more tweaking and I think we have it
We have been enjoying some fresh vegetable juices in the morning
Great way to start the day! So far our tummies have been enjoying our fresh juices again. By having such a light breakfast has been nice both with our ‘eliminations’ and giving us energy for the day!
Been enjoying lots of our homemade sauerkrauts Made a bunch of it this past weekend
This one we top with ground hemp seeds (which is another new thing we are trying – grinding all our seeds into flour form before eating, this helps with inflamed and sensitive stomachs by having things in flour form not whole seeds)
Our green smoothies have turned into our post-workout shakes YUM
Absolutely mouth-watering. We wanted to try putting some sweet (the tart crust) with something savory like sauerkraut mixed with tahini as the filling. Love the sweet and savory flavors together. Do plan on making more meals like this
Second part of dinner
Than dessert was this
And some of this
Just kidding, both of these raw desserts (oreo tart and banana kreme filled cupcake) are for our farmers market this weekend. I just love my job!
Later this week we will give a hormonal balance update! I know many of you have been asking us so we will discuss it again soon.
Glad to see everyone liked our pizza and key lime cookie sandwich! We both felt great after eating this pizza, which in the past was not always the case due to nuts found in most raw pizza recipes (Ian would understand your issue with too many nuts). We are happy we were able to make our pizza nut free ; ) We had happy tummies.
Check us out on Crazy Sexy Life…we are so excited to share our story!! Let us know what you think.
Today we wanted to talk about a topic that is a bit controversial.
P-R-O-T-E-I-N
Some readers asked us about where we get our protein? We have a lot we could say on this topic but going to try to keep it short.
When we first when vegan to be honest we never thought about protein. Actually we never thought about being deficient in anything. Our focus was to feel better, have energy, and most of all have happy tummies again.
We grew up with two older sisters that were into body building. They ate a very very high protein diet with little carbs and pretty much no fat. And they gained muscle, a lot of muscle. They looked great during their training, but Lori and I never wanted to look all muscular. We want to look lean and long….like a dancers body, even though we are not dancers ; ) (Note: our sisters do not eat this way…they are almost vegans now ; ) )
We eat for energy…we eat to thrive. Animal proteins and dairy cause acidity in the body, which can lead to gaining fat. Acid gets stored in fat cells. One of our favorite books is Eating for Energy by Yuri Elkaim, Yuri goes into this topic in great detail, check it out. Working out causes acid. Meat and dairy cause acid. Solution – eat raw alkaline foods….like greens to help the body use energy to restore muscles!!
Brendan Brazier has two great books about fitness and eating for optimal performance. (our review on Thrive fitness coming soon) And then our friend Tim talks a lot about fitness, food, and protein. Check out his video where he talks about protein myths.
When you eat to much animal products, whether they are high in fat or lean, you still make your stomach and digestive system work harder to break down these heavy proteins into their amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks to build muscle tissue. Plant based foods on the other hand are a lot easier for the body to digest due to being smaller chains and/or individual amino acids. Amino acids are a pure source of protein…this is what we are looking for!!
We do not eat beans or soy, and eat little nuts, so where do the twins get their protein?
Pure2raw Protein sources:
hemp seeds/hemp protein powder (full of amino acids)
Vega Health Optimizer (hemp,pea, and rice protein)
Tahini/sesame seeds (good source of calcium too which lost in workouts)
Dark leafy greens (the darker the better)
Spirulina (contains all 22 amino acids that the body requires)
Pumpkin seeds (also a great source of iron, which is lost when working out)
Bee Pollen (we do not eat this all the time, I know not vegan, gasp, but it a complete protein)
Chorella (great source of concentrated amino acids)
Greens have the highest amount of amino acid per oz than any other food….one reason we love our green smoothies!! We have noticed ever since we started eating a high raw diet, and following some of Brendan’s tips we have started to notice our bodies change. They are small changes, but positive ones, it is still a journey. Every thing takes hard work and time! We can work out hard for a shorter amount of time and are still getting results. We do not get sore, even after our marathon we were not sore. We can train less, which is great for us because with a busy schedule we can only get in short workouts.
Now to some people we may not be getting enough protein, but for us we feel we are getting the right amount. Plant based proteins are easy to digest and are easier for the body to absorb the nutrients, so you get all the protein. Your body does not waste energy digesting them as your body would if digesting animal protein. If you still prefer to eat animal products, please get organic and local!!! They will be better quality than what you find in the stores.
Lori attempting side crow
But for those who do not believe you can gain muscle while being vegan please check out the amazing Kristen’s blog about protein.
Our friend Heather did a great post here. Check it out. Remember everyone ones is different and can handle different amounts of protein….fats….sugar….carbs….etc. We have noticed the same results as Heather with eating more fats and less protein. You just find your own balance! Find what works for you to get the results you want. Remember it is a journey!
We just know from our experience we do not need a lot of protein. Protein tends to slow us down. Our workouts lately have been mostly yoga and our newest obsession is Tracy Anderson’s Mat workout. We bought a few weeks ago and started it over the weekend.
Well speaking of fitness it is time for us to go work out!
Glad to hear you all have been enjoying our story of how we started up our bakery. And thanks for all the nice compliments on the pics!
And our story continues….
So we looked into selling our baked goods at local farmers markets. We were terrified!! I can remember our first market. It was selling at the downtown market on Wednesday afternoons.
Lori and I packed up are the car and headed out. We both we were not talking much, which is unusual because the two of us together we sometimes can get carried away, so we both were scared. This was the first time we were ever doing something like this. Sure sure we have been cooking for people and made treats for others as gifts but to sell our gluten-free vegan peanut-free no refined sugar baked goodies was something new.
I remember we both recited the Lord’s Prayer in the car….we need HIS help!!
We put up our tent and table. Put up our sign and said, “Okay here we go, no turning back!” And then people came (this market was for the lunch crowd) so a lot of people wanted dessert to get them through their afternoon full of meetings!! We had samples, lots of samples (which we learned is a must when selling your product, especially if it is gluten-free and vegan!) A lot of people we shocked to try something that was “free” of so many things. Some liked it and others did not get it (which is a whole other topic).
First let me back up a little.
How did we know we wanted it to be a gluten-free vegan peanut-free sugar-free bakery?
Well because that is how we ate and thought that is what our bakery would be as well. Ever since we moved here we find out there was no allergy friendly bakery. So we started taking some of our family recipes plus created our own to be gluten-free vegan all naturally sweetened treats. Finding suppliers was a headache all together because we wanted to be peanut-free as well. Over time we perfected our recipes and Twin Cakes Bakery was born. And let me tell you, we spent hours in the kitchen creating recipes over and over again till they were perfect!! We had a lot of failures….trash full of bad recipes plus we enjoyed some of the not so bad ones ; ) We wanted our products to be different…to be better…to be healthier!! Our gluten-free baked goods are not your typical white rice flour, evaporated cane sugar, potato/tapioca starch filled, tofu infused gluten-free vegan treats. We wanted texture, flavor, so we created our own blend of wholegrain gluten-free flours, plus a few other tricks.
At the market, I remember some people’s excitement to find a treat they can eat…some could not have sugar, solved, some could not have eggs, solved, and most could not eat gluten, solved! It was a success!! Word was spreading fast about us. The only advertising we did was through word-of-mouth at the farmers market ; ) We love our customers!!!
Now the madness began…
Throughout our first months selling at the farmers market we got more and more request from individuals do we offer soy-free, corn-free, casein free, potato-free, rice-free products. I mean the request kept coming for us to make this without this and that. It was crazy. More light bulbs went off. Hearing all these request made us recreate all our products again to meet all these food allergies request. Which looking back on was not a very smart business decision, because we wasted more ingredients and time. Not good for a company just starting off….we are just people pleasers. Having this type of personality ended up hurting us…we eventually had to learn to say no.
By turning our bakery more into an overall allergy friendly bakery, it made our own personal diets to more allergy friendly. We started taking out soy and corn from our own diet. Finally we got some relief with our stomach issues!! The more we took out the better we were feeling.
Our mom made our table cloths and sign!! love u mom ; )
So what about our raw products?
Well one day at the market a new regular came to our table and asked us to create her some raw foods. She was already vegan but wanted to try raw. She just got back from NY and ate at the prestigious Pure Food and Wine. After a long interesting conversation we were intrigued. So immediately after the market Lori and I started researching….and we fell in love!!
We loved everything about raw foods!!! The idea, the health benefits, the people…it all seemed to make sense. So back to the kitchen is was…but with new tools!! And then Pure2Raw products were born ; )
A few months after we started this blog, to share our journey of raw foods.
Over the first two years of business we sold at 4 different farmers markets, done so many events for various charities and schools, done one TV show, and been in the local paper and magazines.
And then Lori became a certified Raw Vegan Chef and counselor and then we heard about the new culinary school opening…105 Degrees Academy, (check out my picture) and we knew we had to go!! Hello Matthew Kenney was running it. One of our biggest raw chef idols.
But which one of us would go?? We debated over this for weeks…time was ticking and we had to make a decision. So I enrolled. And the experience was amazing and I was lucky enough to spend it with another person I was thrilled to meet, GINA!! Love her!!
I sometimes still cannot believe I met Matthew and got to work at his restaurant….amazing!!! I was truly blessed for such an unbelievable experience!
Where we are now?
We still sell at farmers markets in the local area, side orders all the time for birthdays, etc, launched a mini online store here on P2R, and getting ready to launch our Twin Cakes Bakery Online store….finally are online bakery that we have been talking about for years….our dream is coming true ; ) We even more surprises ahead….much more to come from us.
Mom makes our aprons too!!
It sure has been a long and hard journey, but all the ups and downs were worth it. We have learned so much about ourselves, how to run a business (out of your home), how to start up an online store, how to wear all the hats of running a business (bakers, cleaners, accountants, sales personnel, marketers, errand runner, financial advisor, etc) all while trying to have a personal life (eat healthy, workout daily, blog, travel) and relax somewhere ; )
Who do we did it for?
You!!! All our customers, our readers, our family and friends. For the little boy or girl who gets so excited when they can come to our table and PICK ANYTHING off it because it is SAFE for them to eat!! And now we get to share that with more people….
Blessed, I think so!!
Lori and I thank everyone for their support and patience. We have many more business ideas to come so please hang around for the ride!!
Phew….that is how we got to where we are today!
Man I am hungry talking about all this food ; ) But before I go check out our amazing giveaway plus our friend Betty is have one too!
Our friend Lori had asked us to share our story about Twin Cakes Bakery. So grab yourself a something good to eat or drink here we go with your story. We hope you enjoy…
Background:
First, here is a little background on who are the twins. We were born and raised in Fort Myers, FL. We have two older sisters; we have Italian/German in our blood so food was a main topic in our family. We were definitely that family who continual looked forward to our next meals!
Don’t you just love my little grin and how Lori is not looking at the camera?? Love our brown paper lunch bags??
From a very young age were taught to make our own food mainly due to having 4 girls in the house we all wanted something different.
And now we are all grown-up : (
Lori and I really had some unique food habits. We ate completely different things while growing up. Lori wanted everything plain and I wanted everything with either cheese or mayo (which Lori hated both). Our mom was smart, a great way to avoid many fights she made us start packing our own lunches. This was the beginning for us girls to fall in love with cooking.
When did we start baking:
Although our baking really did not start till we were in high school. Our second oldest sis, Jen, was the one that taught us to bake. She loved it and still does, but due to severe food allergies she no long gets in the kitchen as much. She would create some delicious things for us to enjoy…our favorite mint chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, cinnamon buns, her famous sour cream coffee cake, and much more. As she went off to college, we started playing in the kitchen. And realized we loved baking!
Our grandma’s side of the family were German bread bakers, so I guess you could say baking runs in our family. It is in our blood to make things for others. All throughout college we would bake for our teachers, family members and friends. Everyone loved it!! And so did we! We got more joy for baking for others than ourselves.
Lori and I at graduation...yes with our Pluto and Stitch suff animals, hey we are Disney lovers!
How did you know you were going to have your own company?
We both majored in business during college. During college we worked for an entrepreneur so we got to see what was involved in starting a company from scratch. We knew we would have our own company one day just not sure what that would be nor when. After college we went home for a year to figure out what we wanted to do with our life…like most college grads due, right??
What happened next?
Well to make a long story short Lori moved to Richmond, VA as Michelle moved to Denver, CO. Both of us felt we needed to finally spilt up after 23 years of being together! Well as we both worked for other companies we started realizing what we were doing was not making us happy! So the massive research began and our dream started to be come real on paper. After many hours of talking on the phone, emails, and texting we knew it was going to be an online bakery. We wanted it to be a different type of bakery but still was not sure exactly what that would be. We had so many crazy ideas running around in our heads.
How do you realize you had food allergies?
We started to experiment with alternative foods and diets. We tried all different types of cleanses, food combinations, etc. because all during college we suffered from stomach issues. This is a health problem that our whole family suffers from but we did not really know why we were always feeling so bad all the time. We thought we were eating healthy. Nothing really worked.
Then our health started deteriorating and we started eliminating things out of our diet. We realized our bodies did not like gluten, wheat, peanuts, and dairy. For us we were never upset that we could not enjoy certain foods. We were actually excited to finally start feeling better and actually eating this way helped make us eat healthier. And we slowly starting cutting back on our meat intake. We were never really big red meat eaters though we did like our chicken and fish. But after years of still not feeling better we decided to try anything that help and if that meant no meat, etc. then so be it.
What changed?
We got more relief once we stop eating meat though we still were not 100% better. This lead us to even more confusion and determination to figure our health out.
Another year past and we both ended up in Raleigh, NC. Still working for other people, ugh. We kept working on the side as we also figured out what our bodies liked to eat and not eat. We then started creating meals that were safe for us and realized we wanted to help others that had limited diets.
Overtime and more research, our business plan changed (we wrote two different business plans, which is a must if you are thinking of opening a business). We decided to start as personal chefs and put our online bakery on hold.
How did we chose this career?
People reminded us since we love to bake and cook why don’t we do it for a living. It was like light bulb going off in our heads. So then came about Twins Kitchen Personal Chef Service, yep we both got certified through United States Personal Chef Association. And our first few months of business was a test. We both did not have good sales skills and had to learn to go out and sell ourselves. You must learn to grow thick skin! We gained some clients but realized there was still something missing. We were not having as much fun as we had thought having your own business would be.
Let me tell you starting up a company is not as easy as it may sound…unless you have tons and tons of money saved up. Now we had some savings, but still nothing to prepare us for what we thought. It takes a lot of work, many long hours and lots of sacrifices.
What happened next?
Baking!
That was the missing link. Sure we still enjoy cooking but baking was what we really enjoyed and could do it all day long. So we signed ourselves up for farmers markets, and that is when everything changed.
To be continued…
While you wait to find out what happens next be sure to check out these amazing giveaways:
I have been up for 2 hours and have done nothing besides writing this long and useful post!!! Don’t you just love Sundays!! An official excuse to be lazy, right??
Anyways our friend Averie asked us to share our favorite things. It has been a topic we wanted to do just never got around to it, so when she mentioned it we thought now is a great time to share.
Twin’s Favorite Things – again these are from our own experiences you can make your own call
How we go about getting our ingredients. We do most of our shopping online although if we are low on certain ingredient and we know a local health food store around us sells it we will just by it from them. We try to buy in bulk as well because in the long run it saves you time and money.
What we have been know to buy at Natural Zing: MSM powder, kelp noodles, coconut oil, tahini, maca, lucuma, yacon syrup, chia seeds, spirulina, raw cacao powder, raw cacao nibs, camu camu, and nuts and seeds, hemp seeds
Other overall decent hemp protein Ruth’s Hemp (we get from Natural Zing) or buying in bulk from Whole foods or Mountain Rose Herbs
4) Stevia – powder we like the best is Sweet Leaf the packets (which you can find in most heath food stores)
Second best is – KAL Pure Stevia Extract liquid (we get from health food stores)
Third best is – Stevia powder from Navitas Naturals (this is an acquired taste)
We find to like most Stevia products but we prefer liquid forms of it the best. We know for some Stevia is hard to get used to though we have been using if for over 3 years and we hardly notice it anymore. To us it is worth the after taste or getting used to factor from it having no calories and for us it is truly the best sugar substitute. We use it a lot in our bakery and personally!
5) Other random ingredients we use and where to find them
Nutritional yeast – most health food stores sell it (RedStar is our favorite)and Amazon
Irish Moss and Sunflower lecithin – I mentioned this yesterday
Pacific Foods – Almond milk (unsweetened) and Hazelnut milk, and Rice milk
Again how we go about purchasing these items varies every time we need something. Some times it comes down to money, convenience or brand loyalty. It really all depends what we are shopping for and what we are low on. It also comes down to personal preference and money.
This great lady also has great tips on buying in bulk. Also we know because we have done it that most health food stores allow you to buy in bulk (cases) like Whole Foods, Earth Fare, and any local health food store in your area. Just go and ask the customer service area and they should be able to help you out. Buying in bulk is great especially for a family with lots of mouths to feed! Mountain Rose Herbs again is a great place to do this as well because they offer bulk discounts to everyone and their products are organic
We hope this list of our favorites helps you along your journey of finding great healthy additions to your lifestyle like is has ours! Please let us know if you have any specific questions.
And Lori was correct in her guess with what our dinner was from last night! Kelp noodles though we a great twist And speaking of this lovely lady she is hosting a great giveaway – an ice cream maker If you get an ice cream maker you can start making delicious ice cream like this
We blended in our roasted Kabocha from earlier this week add in some salt, leftover sage that we roasted with the squash and some water. Threw it all into the blender and blended till creamy though ours we kept on the thick side
Than created a ‘green’ sauce to over the top, you know us with our greens! Green sauce was a blend of tahini, yacon syrup, apple cider vinegar, parsley, shallot, sunflower lecithin and water! Blend till creamy. And pour on top of kelp noodles and kabocha squash mixture.
We just mixed it all together and topped with more fresh parsley
Amazing! We think all squash lovers would approve of this sauce A great way to end a Saturday night. One reason why we created this dish was to show a customer at the farmers market yesterday morning what else to do with squash. She mentioned she does not know what else to do with winter squashes and that’s when we thought of using it as pasta ‘tomato’ sauce! Although we feel this would work with any veggie dish!
We got lots of goodies lined up today for the big game! Super bowl day! We can’t wait to show you all what we come up with tomorrow
Cheers from the Twins. We have no favorite for which team to win we just want a good game to watch and the commercials!
You will notice 3 product categories. Our RAW flatbreads, crackers, and snack bites. Orders right now are shipped via UPS.
These are some of our products, we will be adding more over the next few days. This is new to us, so please bare with us. There might be some bumps along the way, but we are soooo excited to offer our products to you all ; )
But we hope you all enjoy our goodies as much as we do, and some of our other fellow blogger friends Stephanie, Heather, Lori, Gina, Gena, Liz, and Katie.
Glad to you see you all liked the veggie mash Lori enjoyed earlier this week and we plan to re-create it tonight for dinner. Yes warm pureed veggies is perfect on a cold, snowy night : )
AND…
Well as we have previously mentioned we are going to be AUNTS!!!
We got a text from our older sis this morning and we found out she is having a BABY GIRL!!!! Another girl added to our family ; ) Sorry dad! Yep, Lori and I have 2 older sisters, plus our mom, so five girls! YIKES!! Now another little one is being added : ) We are so happy for our sister and her husband.
And we have briefly talked about her diet on here, and she is not 100% raw nor 100% vegan, although she most of the time her food choices are vegan. For those of you who have asked as about being pregnant and raw/vegan please check out the amazing Kristen who is a great example and is going through the great journey of motherhood. Plus there are many other great raw moms out there….Debbie, Lori, and check out this great list of super moms ; )
Have a great weekend. We have a feeling we will be snowed in, so might be taking the weekend off ; ) Maybe
Glad to see everyone liking our malted chocolate avocado pudding, so good. I will share the recipe with you next time I make it. It has been a little crazy around here, but it a good way They are predicting snow, sleet and ice this coming weekend! Which means not sure what is going to happen with the farmers market :/
Workout:
Yesterday Michelle and I took to the road for an easy run. We did about 40 minutes total of a mix of running and walking. We geared up in our Under Armour clothing that we were in for our marathon because it was in the 20s again for our morning run. It was déjà vu for us.
Does déjà vu ever happen to you?One thing that my boyfriend always says when it happens to him that he tries really hard to think of what is going to happen next! Now that is what I always think of when deja vu happens to me!
It felt glorious to just put our shoes and warm clothes on and just run. We didn’t really have any set time or goal we just wanted to get outside and stretch the legs a little. Sometimes I enjoy those runs more than when I actually have a set time or distance. Or maybe it was because I was not training for anything. My mind was free and ready to just enjoy the run
Though it was weird running outside freezing when there was nothing to be training for at the moment :/
To treat ourselves when we got back we whipped a creamy delicious smoothie
Gladly enjoyed this smoothie out of our marathon wine cups This green smoothie was filled with parsley, banana, spinach, coconut oil, msm powder, maca, lemon juice, and ginger! Superb! Great combination to have after a run, got the potassium, iron, alkalinity to put my body back to balance!
Little bit later got the munchies so grabbed some fermented veggies and a big scoop of tahini.
Was a little bit on the cold side so made some coconut milk chai tea with a slice of raw onion flatbread
Than it was time for LUNCH! Well it was a little late lunch. But we enjoyed an arugula avocado wilted salad with some dulse flakes, lemon juice, and a sprinkle of our cheez crackers Splendid!
We did enjoy this salad of real food while watching the all anticipated Oprah.
Our thoughts on the show:
1) Overall great that Oprah brought this very important topic to her show
2) Michael Pollen is truly inspirational and makes you want to really spread the world about how much the food industry has changed. Please go out and see Food Inc and make your own opinions! Knowledge is power!
3) Little disappointed that not more was said about really “HOW” to change the government and food industry to stop making Americans fat! Stop hiding sugar and corn in our foods!!!!!!
4) Wish they showed more of the impact of the meat industry and the overall food industry has on the environment – how it impacts your local community, local farmers, etc. And especially how it impacts our kids generations, and their generations to come! How it is so hard for people to get fresh produce? Why does have to be so hard for people to eat healthy? Why is buying a can of processed food ok with people? Remember you have choices and options!
I would rather pay $2.00 for an apple over paying medical bills the rest of my life. And with wholesome foods less is more!
Ok well that is my two cents on the matter! Sorry for being so bold about everything it is a topic that I am very passionate about. I just care so much for the general health of Americans and really would love to change how people view their food
What were your thoughts if you got to see it? If not, what are your thoughts in general about the food industry and how our food has changed so much over the years?
Do you think the overall show was a success or failure?
Dinner was a simple coconut kefir spirulina smoothie with coconut oil, sunflower lecthin, stevia, and yacon syrup! Sprinkled a little cacao nibs on top for a little bonus!
High raw gluten-free foodie enthusiasts. Passionate about fitness, nutrition, health, cooking/baking, running, yoga, wine and much much more. We are fraternal twins who are raw gluten free vegan chefs/bakers. Living our life long dream running our own bakery - Twin Cakes and raw uncooked bakery Pure2raw. We hope to inspire others to appreciate food as nourishment to the body. Embark on a healthier lifestyle where you enjoy food and exercise, and have fun living your best life to the fullest...pure&simple.
Hard to believe the Fitbloggin is only a few weeks away. Michelle and I got so much work to do from now till then.
Synergy is the brand, and you see it out in your stores and if you do not have the time to make kombucha yourself. But I promise making your own kombucha is not that hard! 
So good…wanted more ; ) Love millet!! So easy to digest and quick to make. 
© Pure2raw Yacon Pumpkin Spice bread
By turning our bakery more into an overall allergy friendly bakery, it made our own personal diets to more allergy friendly. We started taking out soy and corn from our own diet. Finally we got some relief with our stomach issues!! The more we took out the better we were feeling.
Don’t you just love my little grin and how Lori is not looking at the camera?? Love our brown paper lunch bags??
We just mixed it all together and topped with more fresh parsley 
Amazing! We think all squash lovers would approve of this sauce 
