Monday, April 19, 2010 at 07:39 AM
Hello friends,
Happy Monday to you all!! 
Spain has been wonderful with so much culture and great foods! After having an amazing dinner on the water the next morning I enjoyed a Vega smoothie.
After a quick vega shake it was time to hit the streets again and see more of Barcelona.
Since my love for the market I wanted to go back to grab a few more smoothies 
They were soooo good I just had to have a few more!
But first we had to find something for Gary for breakfast. Luckily they had some amazing bakeries at the market was well.
Barcelona has some great looking pastries! I could stare at these pastries all day coming from a bakers stand point these are truly art to me. Ok maybe I am weird. I just love seeing what other countries and bakers created.
He got some chocolate covered pastry. It was huge!
It said is just alright, a little dry out.
Than it was time for more smoothies.
Gary got a banana, kiwi and coconut smoothie. Love the color!
I got a blackberry coconut smoothie. Both smoothies were delicious!!!! Again happy tummy. But my new love in Spain is these amazing snacks
Coconut chips. Well that is what they called them here.
These fresh pieces of coconut only cost me 1 euro. I was very impressed.
I snacked on these coconut chips all day. They were a perfect healthy snack! The texture and flavor were so unique. The coconut chips where thick pieces of fresh coconut and had a real hard crunch bite to them. The flavor was not too strong coconut either which I found interesting. I LOVED THEM! Gary enjoyed them as well. They were addicting Not sure how they made the coconut pieces so hard I assume they are from mature coconuts?!?!
Have you ever had coconut chips? Or anything similar?
We did some more walking around and sightseeing.
Barcelona has some truly unique architecture.
Plus checking out the Parc Guell! The park was truly an unique site to see. Though it rained a little while we were there and we forgot to bring our umbrella.
The park was huge. I recommend this stop for anyone in the area.
Be prepared to do a lot of walking and climbing
Though the park did over some breathe taking views of Barcelona.
After walking around the park sure did build up an appetite for us both. We did some research before leaving the hotel in the morning and found a cool vegetarian and juice restaurant that I wanted to check out for lunch.
The place was called Juicy Jones.
Juicy Jones was very colorful and lively vegetarian restaurant. They had a huge menu with so many delicious sounded food, juices, and smoothies. They also had some vegan options as well.
They had such a variety of options of juices to pick from I had a hard time picking one.
I ended up getting a fresh juice of beet, carrot, orange, lemon and ginger. I got the large size as well Pure bliss!!!!
Fresh juice = happy Lori!! I am easy to please sometime
Gary got a beer, classy!!
And he got a roasted veggie sandwich. He enjoyed it!
The other part of my lunch was their guacamole.
HEAVEN!!!!!!!!
Wow this guacamole was one of the best guacamole I have ever had, almost as good as my own guacamole
I give Juicy Jones two thumbs up. The staff was nice and food delicious. The service was a little slow though that happens a lot over in Europe restaurants, they really do not what to rush you A little different than in the States. I enjoy how they really leave you alone to enjoy your meal and company. It just takes some time getting used to!
We did not eat our lunch till 3pm and it was very large! Therefore both Gary and I were not feeling up for a large dinner. We decided to just a get a few drinks and maybe some tapas or something. Luckily there are plenty of tapas places to choose from
First place was called Tapa Tapa. We sat outside next to the heaters. It seemed to be a busy place so we thought it was going to be good.
The meal started off good, I got myself a glass of white wine.
Gary got himself some Guinness beer (one of his favorites).
My tapa was their grilled vegetables with olive oil and salt. They sure do like their olive oil and salt. The vegetables were WELL COATED (a little too much for me). They were alright.
Gary got the mussels and fries, he did not like them. Not very good quality of mussels, though ordering them at some tapas place was probably not the best decision either
He also got their guacamole. He said it was nothing like my lunch guacamole!
We ended leaving this tapas restaurant because the waiter was rude and the service was not good. Also the food was not worth it.
We headed back to out hotel and came across another little bar tapa restaurant. We thought why not give it a try.
We sat outside again. The service and waiters were much better here. Though neither place spoke any English but the waiter at this place was really nice!
Got ourselves one more round of drinks.
I got the vegetable tapa. Very similar to the other tapa restaurant. It was very small though the price was cheap. Therefore you get what you pay for right?
That is one thing that I have noticed in many of the restaurants here especially those in high foot traffic and high potential for tourist is that all the restaurants offer the same exact thing. Maybe with one or two things different but overall the same menu offerings. I was not a fan of that. Therefore you really have to go off the typical streets to find some authentic places which is not all a bad thing.
Gary got their chocolate cake. He liked it. After our tapa restaurant hopping experience we decided to call it a night. And I wanted some of my chocolate for my dessert
Another purchase I got a the health food store.
A little piece of heaven for me! I really liked this chocolate bar because it was really smooth and the perfect ‘chocolate’ texture. Perfect dessert in my opinion.
I am a few days behind on my traveling eats and great finds. I will keep posting all my great findings and interesting experiences soon. Thanks for being so patient with me.
Till next time,
Lori
The Twins
L&M
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Miscellaneous
Tags: coconut, Vega
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 07:54 AM
Hello luvs,
Michelle and I are slowly getting back into the groove of things. As I mentioned we will be making changes to our site trying to make it better for our lovely readers You guys are the ones who keep us going every day and inspiring us to do more! Please let us know if you would like to see different on our blog that we might be missing or any suggestions would be welcomed.
Check out Twin Cakes for more pictures of the Fitbloggin event we just sponsored this past weekend. Thanks again to all who came over to talk with us! It was a pleasure getting to know each and every one of you.
Today we have a very special guest post. Lori with Run Lori Run blog she is a dear friend of ours and she has a great name Thanks Lori for doing this guest post for us… we are honored.
Take away Lori!
When Michelle and Lori asked me to write a guest post on their blog I was thrilled (and of course honored), but what was I to write about…?
Well, I’m going to let all of you in on a little secret… This blog you are reading from right now, Pure2Raw, was the reason I started blogging. True statement.
I love researching. I research places to travel. I research new exercises. I research nutrition. And, being mostly raw and vegan-ish, I researched raw foods. Google is a wonderful place my friends. All this research led me to Michelle and Lori’s blog. I was instantly hooked, and loved reading about their workouts, their meals, and, oh, the recipes they post! Needless to say, yes, I started blogging because of those twins.
So, in keeping with the Pure2Raw spirit, I have decided to embark on a recipe no blogger has done before (well none that I know of)…
Raw Vegan Truffle-filled Macaroons, or as I like to call it, because it’s so much fun to say, Truffaroons!
The Raw Vegan Truffaroon
recipe follows:
Truffles
- 4soft dates
- 1/8 cup dried cherries1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cacao nibs
- 4 tbsp cacao powder
- dash of coconut water, or alternative liquid
Process all in a food processor until the cherries are processed but try to keep the “batter” chunky.
As non-messy as possible, not an easy task, form the truffle mix into little balls.
As you can see, mine are beautifully uniform…
Place the truffles into the freezer while you make the macaroons.
Macaroons
- 1 cup unsweetened dried coconut
- 1/2 cup coconut flour (or almond flour)
- 1/4 cup coconut butter (melted)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup agave
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
Mix all the ingredients together until they stick and are able to form a ball.
Now the skills are called forth! Form a handful of macaroon batter into a flat(ish) shape in your palm to make a bottom for the truffle to sit. Place a truffle into this and cover with more macaroon batter. Form, as well as you can, into balls. I dehydrated mine for about an hour or so, just for fun, but you can eat as-is or chill until ready to devour.
With any leftover macaroon batter, form into balls, and roll in raw cacao powder or cinnamon.
And just as a warning, these babies are BIG. I may have made my truffles a bit too large but hey, life is short, chocolate is good…
I told you!
Poor empty macaroon vs the Truffaroon
And I highly suggest to try out this version:
The Raw Vegan Spiced Truffaroon
Ingredients:
Same as above but add cayenne pepper, dried chili pepper powder, and cinnamon to the truffles or macaroons, or both like I did! I think the spice is a must.
Why a Truffaroon…? How did Lori (not the twin) come up with this crazy idea? It wasn’t easy. (Well, it was easy, but that’s beside the point) I wanted to bring together some of the amazing looking (and tasting! I’ve tried them) recipes that Lori (the twin) and Michelle always write about. My favorite recipe, the Candy Cane Macaroon, was definitely in my mind for the recipe but I thought I’d add some spice to the cold days.
You girls are awesome! Keep up the great work and definitely keep posting your recipes!
And, in closing of my guest post, a question….
What is your spice in life? Better yet, which spice are you?
Personally, I’d like to be Cayenne. It’s a little spicy, and goes with the sweets and the savory’s.
Or Turmeric because it’s mellow yellow (and turns things orange. Like a magic marker. Random, I know).
And my spice in life is exercise. No matter what, it makes me feel amazing and powerful.
Thank you so much Lori for doing this amazing guest post for us and sharing this delicious recipe. This makes us want to go whip these truffaloons now And everyone knows how much we love our macaroons!
We will be back here tomorrow with what Michelle are I are up to this week with our eats, workouts, etc.
Till next time,
Lori
The Twins
L&M
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Un-baked
Tags: coconut, FitBloggin, Twin Cakes Bakery
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 07:44 AM
Good morning friends,
Thanks for all the lovely and inspiring comments about staying true to yourself They really helped and brought a smile to our faces! So thank you!!!
As it is a nasty,cold and wet day here in NC we thought about trying to bring some joy and happiness to our blog today to help get everyone’s mind off the weather
Today we are going to share how we made our coconut rice stacked dish! This is a re-creation of Michelle’s final dish at school!
Seriously has become one of my favorite meals! It is easy to make, pretty to look at, and leaves your taste buds satisfied.
Pure2Raw Recipe: Coconut rice stacked avocado dish
Ingredients:
- 1-2 avocados
- 1 small red onion
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- pinch sea salt
- couple pinches of your favorite jerk seasoning (we created one by using cinnamon, cloves, thyme, nutmeg, & cayenne)
- 1 small head of cauliflower or half of a large one
- 1 cup coconut flakes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 tsp curry powder (mainly for color)
- 3/4 cup softened coconut butter (not the oil, though if you need use the oil I will up the coconut flakes)
Directions:
Take your red onion and slice it up into thin strips. Place on dehydrator sheet and coat with olive oil, pinch salt, & your jerk seasonings. Let dehydrate for at least 5 hours. *Or you may lightly sauté the onions and spices on a skillet. You want the onions to be lightly caramelized.
Next, take your head of cauliflower and lightly chopped it up (this helps when you put it into the food processor to keep them all similar in size)
Place chopped cauliflower into your food processor. *we used our small food processor so it took us two times to get all the cauliflower chopped finely
Pulse till finely chopped
Next add in your coconut flakes
Place into food professor with spices, garlic, and pinch salt. *we added in some lemongrass to ours love it!
Pulse till finely chopped again
Combine finely chopped coconut flakes with your finely chopped cauliflower and add in the 1/4 tsp curry or turmeric
Next add in coconut butter and stir till well combined!
Our all time favorite brand of coconut products Artisana!
That’s it. Time to put the whole thing together! 
Slice up your avocado, grab your onions, and bowl of coconut rice.
Time to build layers. We used a large circle cookie cutter to build our layers in. You can use anything you can find that is deep to build up the layers in but easy to remove.
What we did: first put a layer down of the coconut rice, next top with top slices of avocado, than top with red onions. Than repeat that same thing one more time. And it is done!
*note- there will be leftover coconut rice which you can save to make more stacks with or create another delicious meal out of it. Or you may eat plain Lots of options to play around with!
Seriously much better than rice out of a box in my opinion! And a lot quicker to make
Great way to ‘add’ more veggies into your diet and kids diets too!
Love how the red onions bring so much color and height to this dish
We love this dish: easy, full of nutrients, full of the healthy fats, raw, vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free!
Dinner is served! We hope you and your family give this a try and let us know how it is It is a fun way to experiment with new veggies and spices to bring in color and variety into your diet
Thanks for stopping by for another twins un-cooking lesson.
Till next time,
The Twins
L&M
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Dinner, Un-baked
Tags: 105 degrees academy, avocado, coconut
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 09:00 AM
Hello friends,
Here is a quick re-cap of our Monday eats. Now only 6 days till marathon. YIKES!
Morning: green smoothie filled with green kale, apples, hemp oil, cinnamon, sunflower lecthin
Again – made two cups worth each
Snack: hot chocolate and some chocolate fudge coconut bites
Lunch: romaine salad with fermented veggies, onions, hemp seeds
Lori’s salad
Mine – all mixed together
Pre-workout snack: coconut oil chia seed sludge
I added extra raw cacao to mine… yum
Lori’s version made with some spirulina aka… green sludge
Workout: 20 minutes of calisthenics and 45 minutes of yoga
Post-workout meal: another green smoothie this one filled with pumpkin seed kefir, dino kale, lemon, msm powder, turmeric, stevia, banana
*sorry no picture…figured one green smoothie pic a day is good enough unless of course you all want to see more!
Dinner: wilted arugula salad with more fermented veggies, garlic, lemon juice, dulse flakes, nutritional yeast, coconut oil
Overall we felt great! We had plenty of energy! Our stomachs are getting stronger everyday. We have had less and less gas, bloating, etc. We are finally seeing the other side. We know we will still experience some bad days but overall we are so HAPPY with where we are in our raw foods journey of good health. It always amazes us how each day we learn something new and how we can relate to something we have experienced before. Life truly is a journey!
As of now we are in the car driving down to Orlando,FL to hang out with the older sis and get ready for the marathon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Till next time,
The Twins
L&M
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Uncategorized
Tags: coconut, marathon, pre-workout snack, sunflower lecithin
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 06:43 AM
Hey everyone
Last week our friend Elizabeth gave us Over the top award, which we are completely honored…thanks girl.
The rule is for us to respond to the following questions with a single word. So we will give it go, this will be interesting with two people picking one word : )
1. Where is your cell phone? office
2. Your hair? up
3. Your mother? caring
4. Your father? wise
5. Your favorite food? coconut
6. Your dream last night? volleyball
7. Your favorite drink? smoothie
8. Your dream/goal? bliss
9. What room are you in? kitchen
10. Your hobby? blogging
11. Your fear? loneliness
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? successful
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren’t? perfect
15. Muffins? gingerbread
16. Wish list item? iphone
17. Where did you grow up? Florida
18. Last thing you did? bake
19. What are you wearing? PJs
20. Your TV? flat
21. Your pets? none
22. Your friends? funny
23. Your life? blessed
24. Your mood? hopefulness
25. Missing someone? family
26. Vehicle? jeep
27. Something you’re not wearing? bra
28. Your favorite store? itunes
29. Your favorite color? Yellow for- L and Green for -M
30. When was the last time you laughed? currently
31. Last time you cried? yesterday
32. Your best friend? sisters
33. One place that I go over and over? gym
34. One person who emails me regularly? family
35. Favorite place to eat? home
Here are 6 bloggers that we love and we do not think they have done it yet.
Erica – Discovering Raw
Robyn – Girl on Raw
Lauren – Ginger is the new pink
Stephanie – Cookin Fanatic
Mike – CanarsieBK
Averie - Love Veggies and Yoga
We hope you all have enjoyed learning a few random things about the Twins. We hope that everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday!
Till next time,
Lori and Michelle
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Miscellaneous
Tags: coconut, smoothie
Friday, July 10, 2009 at 07:49 PM
Hello Everyone,
Yesterday at our farmers market the market manager asked us if we could make a special birthday cupcake for her best friend that is coming in town. Her friend has been recently advised by her doctor that she has thyroid problems and needs to follow a strict diet. The thyroid gland controls the metabolism which regulates oxygen uptake and energy production. A lot of people struggle with a low or have under-active thyroid. I (Michelle) thought I had thyroid issues, which I found odd because I eat a very healthy diet, drink water, and exercise. I was tired all the time, sometimes completely exhausted, always cold, more tired in the morning with energy at night, and had headaches (which I never used to get). I was a bit frustrated and did not know what to do, so I get my blood tested. When I got my test back I noticed I was in range, but my numbers were a bit on the low side. This seemed to make me more frustrated because then way was I feeling so bad.
After so thinking, talking with others, and more researching, I realized most of my symptoms were coming from stress, lack of sleep (most nights) and not enough calories, which lately my sister and I have been busy due to our company. Therefore, causing me to run on very little sleep and not always getting a moment to eat. I of all people know how important it is to keep my own health in check, so that is what I am doing. Lori and I have been better at getting to bed at a certain time and we eat all day long it feels like now, and we are mediating every morning after our lemon water. We both have noticed we are not as tired during the day and no more headaches. Stress is a huge factor for one’s health, it can cause many health problems. So the key is trying to reduce your stress, which includes physical stress, emotional stress, and nutritional stress. I know, I know easier said than done, but somethings are worth the extra effort.
We are very excited to make the cake because our bakery items are safe for people that have thyroid issues . Majority of the recipes are sweetened with agave (low glycemic) and we use coconut oil (we use Artisana), which is one of the best things one can eat to help your thyroid. Coconut oil is one of our favorite things to eat for energy and boosting our metabolism. It might sound funny that a fat is good for your metabolism, but it contains lauric acid and capric acid. These 2 compounds are big anti-microbial agents and are helpful in preventing illness and infection. Due to coconut oil’s MTCs, they are quickly broken down and used for energy, which is great for people wanting to stimulate their metabolism.
So, we try to get at least 1 tbsp of coconut oil a day. Easy ways to add coconut oil into your diet are:
- smoothies
- salad dressings
- sauces and spreads
- puddings
- raw desserts and snacks
- spread onto sprouted bread
- if you do cook your food, we suggest and recommend using coconut oil instead of other fats
Well, these are just some suggestions there are plenty more. There is even coconut ice cream that taste better than the real stuff. And it is sweetened with agave nectar.
- yummy coconut mint ice cream…our favorite!!
The brand that we perfer and LOVE is coconut bliss. It is a nice treat on a hot summer day. Now we do not normally eat ice cream, unless we make our own raw ice cream, but sometimes it is just one of those days.
Well I hoped you enjoyed my story with thyroid and my new love for coconut. I wanted to share my experience with you and please share yours with me. I would love to hear them. I feel that is the best way to learn…sharing with others. I will keep you updated if anything changes, but so far I am doing better…now just have to learn to control my coconut cravings : )
Have a good night,
The Twins
Michelle and Lori
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Hot Topics, Reviews
Tags: coconut, ice cream
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 07:39 PM
We had a very busy day in the kitchen baking away for our farmers market, which left us very little time to eat let alone drink water. We always try to get our 8 glasses of water a day in us because water is so important to your health.
Drinking water is one of the simplest things everyone can do to help feel better. Everyone knows how important water is to your body. Water is life….our planet is 70-80% water just like our bodies and just like produce. Produce is living water and is easy for our bodies to absorb and use. Our favorite produce for water is romaine, cucumber, celery, zucchini, and watermelon. So get some from you local farmer today.
Here are some benefits of water:
- Transport nutrients
- Aids digestion
- Regulates body temperature
- Cleans out our bodies
- Skins keep healthy and young
One thing we hear a lot from people is, water gets boring or I do not like the taste. Well good news there are things you can do to help you get water in you. First try adding fresh lemon or lime juice into your glass. Who doesn’t like fresh lemonade (minus all the sugar and fillers). Another tip is try coconut water. We love coconut water. Coconut water is living water. Great source of electrolytes, so good for athletes and after you have been in the sun all day, also useful after a fun night of drinking.
Fresh coconut water is the best, but we know not everyone has access to fresh nor has the time to split it open and enjoy the benefits. So for those of us who have busy lifestyles the brand we like is Zico.
The taste of Zico is very similar to fresh coconut water. We love to use coconut water in our smoothies because it helps with the flavor. In addition it helps hydrate us from those days we do not get much water or to replenish us after standing outside for hours at the farmers market. One of our favorite simplest drinks is a glass of coconut water with 1 tbsp spirulina. Yum…the best after when you feel all tired and depleted.
If you do have access to fresh coconuts, there are two common types in the store you might see, young coconuts and brown (mature) coconuts. They are both coconuts just simply at different stages of maturation. We have tried both and enjoyed each flavor it brings. Please share your experiences with coconut water with us.
Till next time,
The Twins
Lori and Michelle
Posted by: Pure2
Posted in: Miscellaneous
Tags: coconut
