we eat grass, er, drink, wheatgrass!

on the weekend paul got a manual wheatgrass juicer! YES!

i happened to be doing a coconut water demo at drive organics that day (btw, what an amazing grocery store! they have everything and everyone is so friendly and it has a real island vibe somehow) and they had trays of wheatgrass so i got one! $17 including a $3 deposit for the tray. same cost as organic lives though they don't have the deposit going there.

i got a ride home with ray and as i was waiting to cross the street to my building, i met a lady who was so excited i had wheatgrass and asked where i got it. then we got in a big talk about growing your own wheatgrass (which is what i'd like to do at some point soon!) and she mentioned her daughter just moved here and i've been in touch with her daughter many times since! they recommend this automatic sprouter sprouting machine and i'm so excited about trying it out at some point!

me and paul were kinda discouraged about how much juice you get out of the grass but it appears to be how it works. i found this site encouraging as it says 6-8 ounces per tray is the norm. and i learned from parvin that you can use one flat of wheatgrass twice... after you cut all the green and use it one time, there should be more growing again for you to use! i am nervous about the base getting moldy so we have been keeping the flat in the fridge. and you water it once a day in opposite corners. but not too much of course! so... we'll see. so far so good!

i would love to have wheatgrass growing for shots every day! 

hooray for new old juicers and local organic food and translucent lime green grasshoppers on car roofs!

i forgot to mention that while in seattle, i happened to lament that my juicer was burnt out and my friend's brother timo and his wife said i could have their juicer they were planning to sell as they just got a new one! eek!

i did carrots with beet, lettuce, parsley, cucumber, celery and added wheatgrass and spirulina and camu camu.

it's been MONTHS! maybe even 5 months! so many months!

what a glorious night because i can juice again! and now that i have all that pulp, i'm going to make crackers and bread again! YES!

okay and then today... i made a potato salad with potatoes from my friend's garden and basil, parsley and chives from my nannying job family's garden. splash of apple cider vinegar and olive oil with salt and pepper... ah, and i added sliced bits of pickles for extra kid appeal. but mostly, local and organic ingredients! love it!!! potatoes and pickles not raw but hey... works for me!

 and just before heading to the farmers market, i saw this amazing grasshopper on a car roof. isn't it amazing and cute? it didn't look real!

cascadas farallas, costa rica, day 1 (dinner only)

so i've recently come back from a 10 day trip to costa rica... to baru, near dominical, on the pacific rainforesty side of costa rica. i LOVED where we stayed (cascadas farallas) as i ate amazing raw meals there, had yoga every morning (except sunday) and we were right at waterfalls and in the middle of the rainforest and then just 5 minutes drive from the most amazing beach... amazing because it was pretty empty (rainy season! YES!), the people were totally laid back (ie foreigner? who cares?), raw coconut water right from the coconut for $1 and well, it was just the best.

we arrived later afternoon on tuesday the 17th after a flight from houston, texas where i grabbed a double wheatgrass shot at the jamba juice in the george bush airport....















the food on the plane (continental) was sucky but at least there were salads and the flight attendant gave me two. so i ate 2 containers of iceberg lettuce (gah, korea camp flashback!) with the hot sauce. woo.














but after landing in san jose and driving for over 3 hours to our blissful retreat in the rainforest (stopping along the way to see alligators and views of course), we had a couple hours to chill until our first dinner. we came to really get excited for dinner as, with any meal, we didn't know what we were going to have but also, there would always be a starter, entree and dessert. 3 surprises in one meal! yes! my friend was eating vegan and i was always raw (though lunches and desserts are raw regardless).

so our first night's dinner started with "saffron augo lemono"...



it was a cold creme soup with a hint of lemon and meatball type things that to me, had a strange filtered water taste to them somehow. i finished my friend's for her.

then, my main course (and one of my most favourite dishes from our stay): raw pasta primavera...



i loved the creamy sauce and that the noodles weren't just zucchini like i'm used to but carrots and something else! the crackers were a soft and buttery smooth compliment. it was total comfort food.


and then dessert was crepes! cacao with coconut ice cream... HEAVEN.








one of my top 3 favourite desserts from the trip.



and that started off my food/beach vacation of absolute bliss...

korean middle school cafeteria day 16

i started off the day with organic wheat grass powder mixed into water in my travel mug. i have been missing the taste (and smell!!!) of wheatgrass and thought this may help. not really. but i feel it did give me a boost to get through the morning. it didn't taste anything like wheatgrass but how can you have that amazing fresh taste if it's not fresh? and often i felt like i was drinking dirt grits as it didn't totally mix but i just kept adding water and it was just like a cold tea.













breakfast's excitement was the oranges. hurrah!













for lunch, i finished up my raw nori sheets, rolling up the salad with some tamari and pumpkin seeds.













but i ended up cutting them for easier eating. it was a nice lunch!













for dinner, i finished up my sundried tomato pesto on top of the salad with nutritional yeast. quite nice as well!