Why flatline when you can ride the waves?

I think that title is a cross between quotes of Tony Robbins and Mastin Kipp. We all say that we "just want to be Ok", which is sort of like flatlining. No super happy, or really sad. Being Ok is more like mediocre, really. Theres no living, experiencing, or emotion  in "OK". Riding the waves is living, experiencing ups and downs, emotional highs and lows. Whats's the point of life if not living, experiencing and feeling?

With that said... it has  been almost two months since my last post. I totally crapped out on Gabby, and Marie, gained a bunch of weight, hated myself, went on vacation, loved myself, had a birthday, possibly one of the most miserable days of my life,  and decided the best thing to be able to fulfill my dream is put it on the back burner for now. That is some crazy shit and maybe one day i'll reflect on it all and actually write the posts that I probably should have written bout it all. Whateves.

Today I am starting a smoothie cleanse, and going to do Gabby again. I realized that I know I am an emotional eater but it is really a problem, more like an addiction. Since I got to my goal weight about 9 months ago, I think I gained about 2/3 of the weight back. That is a bummer. I fell off the work out/eat right/mentally take care of myself wagon when stress got to me. I know Moe... join the club! Getting back on that wagon has become more of an obsession then an act. I am obsessed about doing it... but I can't find the strength to actually do it.... so I eat more, don't exercise, and mentally I am kicking my own ass about it.  I have been so hard on myself for falling off, and then that turns into a barrage of more negative self talk. That shit is so no bueno.

 I have been "collecting" web sites and articles all about habits of successful people, and manifesting, and bla bla bla, and not practicing any of it... and hating on myself even more. As of today, aside from Gabby, I am taking a break from all of it. Maybe I am just too overwhelmed with one person saying "meditate every morning and heres why"... then finding another person saying "if meditation isn't ok for  you then don't do it". WTF! So much for help! And then ultimately it all comes down to... once again... we all have to find what is right for us. The universe is perfect, we are perfect and we are right where we need to be. I don't know about you, but my first instinct  after that realization is to go "well, why don't I just go fuck myself cuz that is no help." But sometimes, little Moe in the back of my brain who is fiercely trying to get out of the cage says "don't be silly... that just means you can do and be anything you want! Embrace it!"

I'm glad that little Moe is a fighter!

I would like to document my smoothie cleanse here, and post some recipes. Wish me luck!

I'm sharing my thoughts with everyone!

Hey, so sorry it has been over a month with no post. I promised myself and everyone that I wouldn't slack and I did. This month has been so crazy for me. I am doing Gabrielle Bernstein's "May Cause Miracles" and it's totally a mindfuck because it gets so real. I have had so many discoveries about myself, and what I really want my life to be... rather what my life is MEANT to be. Sometimes its super exciting and other times it is so scary and overwhelming. I have been living in this sort of happy but also uncomfortable place for the last month because my brain is in this weird transition. It's cool, i'm in, it is just a crazy place. Sort of like i'm in the Fire Swamp, all proud of myself, feeling good, i'm trucking through, always something in my way but I got it ...then bam! an R.O.U.S. catches me off guard and I really gotta wrestle it... but I fight through it, and i'm better then before.  I know I gotta get through it because the real me, reveling in my truth, will thrive on the other side. It's not even that I got to get through, I want to.

 With that said, I signed up for  Marie Forleo's B-School which is also exciting and scary. In doing the prep, I researched some companies already successful doing similar stuff to what I do. I found Emmy's Organics, and read Samantha's blog... spend over two hours, watched every video. They are so inspiring and so real. It is beautiful. Samantha has inspired me not only to share recipes with you, but to actually share everything going on in real life, and in my head about Moefriendly. Maybe this blog will keep me more grounded. I write in my notebook everything that goes on, and my thoughts and stuff but nothing sticks... I go from point A to point N in my head. Gabby says a lesson in the course is "Only infinite patience offers immediate results". Time to put this ADD to rest!

I have been in talks at work about creating a program where I work with my guys and sell Moefriendly. It would be great for them, the recipes are pretty simple and they will be accomplishing something great, helping to heal the world with yumminess! Meetings coming soon, keep your fingers crossed! I'm also looking up places on Staten Island where I can begin to sell Moefriendly, probably contact the Alice Austin House, the Greenmarket at the Mall,  Enchanted Events, The Richmond County Fair. Where else do you know of?

In my blogging absence,  I have been experimenting with a new ingredient- Irish Moss. It is seaweed, and it smells pretty gross. You clean it off... rinse away the sand and other random sea remnants, and soak it for at least 4 hours, rinsing and changing the soak water. Once it has gone from a cloudy white, light yellow color to almost clear, and gelish.. give it a few whirls in the food processor until its a uniform gel. The smell sort of goes away. Not going to lie... it lingers until you blend it with other ingredients. But once it is all blended, no icky sea smell! I made a Berry Tart with the Irish moss, that I wish I took pictures of! Chocolate crust, coconut filling, and berries on top! Super Yummy! My next creation was similar. Almond crust, coconut filling, and pineapple topping. I'm calling it Pina Colada Tart. The census at work is it might be one of my best recipes yet! Awesome!

 At work I made with my guys a fudgey coconut berry bar. Super tasty too, and so easy to make!Our recipe is just one modification that you can make with this one by Natalia.

 Fudgey Coconut Berry Bars
1/2 cup coconut nectar
1/2 cup coconut oil
 1 cup cacao Powder
8oz coconut manna
2 cups chopped berries

 Line an 8X8 baking pan with parchment paper
 Mix half of the nectar, oil, and cacao in a large bowl.
Take the mixture, and cover the bottom of your pan. Put in refrigerator.
 Heat up your coconut manna so that it is thick but manageable. Take chocolate out of fridge, pour coconut on top, and put pack in fridge
 Mix the other half of your chocolate ingredients, the coconut nectar, oil, and cacao. Take bars out of fridge
 Spread second chocolate layer on top, than evenly spread berries on top as well.
 Put back in freezer for at least 15 minutes, or fridge until set.
 *You could also make all of the chocolate at once, put half in pan, then coconut, then more chocolate, and your bars will have a more marbled look like ours did.

Thank you for reading. I hope you are enjoying the recipes!
Cheers!
Love *Moe*

Lemon Curry Chicken with Cauliflower Rice

A few weeks ago I was prepping myself to do a 21 day juice cleanse. I ended up getting a cold, and when I'm sick, my body needs some protein. I think that was totally my body saying "cleansing is springtime cleaning Moe, not in January!" I'm cool with that, and as it gets closer I will totally post some info on why cleansing for the beginner is a springtime affair. So, now the kitchen is overflowing with gorgeous fruits and veggies. This is rad, i'm in... except the number of fruits and veggies you need when eating versus juicing or making smoothies is very different. I had lemons, and parsley like whoa, and I don't eat them often. Needed a recipe ASAP so they didn't go to waste. Additionally, I had this whole container of coconut milk to use before it went bad too (from the pancake recipe). What is a girl to do with lemons, parsley, and coconut milk? Put all those words in a google search and hope it doesn't suck! After sifting through a whole bunch of recipes with 55 ingredients... I felt confident enough to try my hand at my own original version of some curry type concoction. It came out amazing yummy! My next thought though, was what to have it with! Rice, being a grain, is off limits. The stuff isn't that great for your body (yes, even brown rice... but that is also another blog post) so I tried making cauliflower rice. Cauliflower tastes great cooked or raw and has a whole bunch of  perks, like being anti-inflamatory and full of antioxidants.  So, super easy, super scrumptious meal, and  super stoked to share this recipe! Main meal stuff isn't usually where I get creative but this just proves how awesome energy makes everything rock!
*Love Marissa*

 Lemon Curry Chicken (Makes 4 servings)

1 package Chicken Breast

1/2 head large Cauliflower

1 Can  Coconut Milk (minus 1/4 cup)

1 cup parsley

2 whole medium lemons

1 tbsp  Vindaloo Curry Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon Powder

3/4 large onion

Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix well

Put half of sauce in a jar and store in refrigerator.

Clean and trim chicken. Cut into chunks. Place in baking dish

Cut onion into large chunks, add to baking dish with chicken

Take second half of sauce and put into baking dish. Mix well and refrigerate at least 8 hours, or over night.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Bake chicken, onion, and sauce for about 25-30 minutes.

While that is baking rinse head of cauliflower

Using a food processor, with the grating blade, grate cauliflower.

When lemon curry chicken is done, serve over cauliflower “rice”, and top with some extra sauce!

Paleo Pancakes

I'm not a fan of following recipes. If I have something in mind I'll look it up at a few sites and see what the overall gist is, but I rarely follow one. I dig the satisfaction of creating my own thing... but then I get all excited and don't write it down and cannot reproduce it. #Moefriendlyproblems! I decided to start out 2013 decadent style cause that's what i'm working towards. Working with what I got, always through positive eyes, and living it up decadently! Enter Paleo Pancakes. This recipe is more nutty then sweet because I topped it with coconut nectar and berries. There is only so much sweet anyone can take! They would be awesome with a little vanilla and cinnamon, or even with cacao. Feel free to use it as a base and add whatever sweeteners and flavors you like. I will totally be playing with it! This recipe makes about 8 pancakes, about 2 spoonfuls per pancake, for 2 servings.
 *Love Moe*

 Paleo Pancakes
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup crunchy almond butter
1 large egg
 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp coconut oil

 Mix all ingredients well until you get a batter like consistency.
 Grease pan, and drop 2 spoonfuls of batter per pancake into pan
When sides begin to bubble, flip
 Top with whatever edible goodness you can think of, and enjoy!

Reboot!

So it has been over a year since I blogged. I have been meaning to try working on it again but life just kept getting in the way. For some people 2012 has been pretty good, for others, it was pretty shitty. I can say that 2012 probably wasn't the worst year of my life but I know it WAS the year that I grew the fuck up! Every year I make New Years Resolutions, just like everyone else... to stick to my goals and lose weight. This past year I lost about 30 pounds (from my heavies to my thinnest), but since gained back about 10, 15 of 'em. Even when I was the thinnest, at the goal weight I wanted to be my whole life... I wasn't happy. It still wasn't the body I wanted. So many goals came and went this year but one that stuck was Moefriendly. I am the Queen of "this is what I want to do with my life" ideas and then I drop the ball. Moefriendly has been around for a while now and I know I have found my Element (check out Ken Robinson's book The Element for more about it). The last like, 4 or 5 months of the year was spent being overwhelmed by all this goodness and growth. Silly as it may sound, too much of anything can be bad, even good stuff.. because even if there is too much good stuff GOING ON, there leaves little time for YOU. No time to take a break, dick around, be lazy, decompress. Everything that you HAVE to do takes over... and good, bad, or otherwise... that's kind of shitty. Que up those 15 "stress" pounds and Moe is not a happy chick. I began watching a lot of videos on youtube and reading books/websites by Brian Johnson , Gabrielle Bernstein and Kris Carr I was checking websites like en*theos, positively positive, and finding my muchness, daily. My classes at school to be a Mind Body Wellness Practitioner shifted from nutrition to Life Coaching (Thank you SWIHA and Dr. Henele!). People began to tell me I was much calmer, more relaxed. My first thought was "what the fuck? Me? Really?!" Looks like that is the situation. A huge part of it is that I have learned to own my shit... the choices I make and the things I say. No one can make me feel anything I don't want to, or hold me back. Sure anyone can throw a wrench in the plan and make life a million times more difficult and crappy... but letting that be the crutch for failure, or crapping out is just an excuse. That is the choice you make. I'm not about crutches anymore. I have goals and dreams and I am about finding constructive ways to make them happen... not dwelling on all the reasons why I can't. Forgive, let it roll off your back and move forward. Not giving something/someone that kind of power over you is pretty fucking empowering dude! We grow up learning that failure is not ok. A lot of us become terrified of it... I know I was. But I have learned that with each failure is a lesson, and what good is getting what you want all of the time if you don't learn anything from it? We have to appreciate, and be grateful for lessons learned. You can't grow from getting what you want all of the time. However great that may sound... it is really so disconnecting. And so... getting back to fear... I also think a huge part of not blogging for the past year can be attributed back to failing. Failing through a blog? Moe, WTF? Well friends... by having this blog and everything I want to do with it, I hold myself accountable to you. I have a fear of being responsible, and accountable and then not. Failing you. Ever have this idea in your head... for a long time... and then you say it out loud, or write it down... and all of a sudden it becomes real and this thought or idea has a whole new effect on you? That is what it's like. I want to put all of my thoughts on food, and happiness, and recipes, and exercising, and trials and tribulations with Moefriendly, and Rebooting myself, on here and take you all with me. Thats pretty heavy stuff. I don't want this to be another New Year's resolution that I crap out in in six weeks. Putting all of that stuff on here makes me accountable to actually go trough with stuff. That is kind of scary. However... I have learned that once you get passed that road block of fear, on the other side is endless possibility. So this is a Reboot of the old Moefriendly. It didn't suck at all, but time for a new phase. Hooray for being accountable, learning, growing, and food that doesn't suck! *Love Moe*