The Organic Climber – Vegetarian running, cycling, swimming, rock climbing and raw foods.

Well, once again I only have a few moments to write this post. So, I will make it brief. The cleanse is still going well. Yesterday I operated at 110% with only 6 hours of sleep, and restless sleep at that. Today was another restless night as well, and yet I feel like I have a lot of energy. Today I have been eating mostly fruit and drinking water. I have had a little bit of raw granola I made, thought. I decided yesterday I have been eating too many nuts and seeds. I wish I had been juicing more.

I really feel like the cleanse has been helping me focus more on my day-to-day tasks. Even though I still have a slightly foggy head, my ability to focus and get work done has seemingly increased. Just this morning I rocked out a ton of Bearded Brothers samples, shipped off several orders, and prepared several wholesale orders for delivery later this week. I feel like I’m on fire!

I will say my fitness level has been a bit less than I was hoping for this week. I was hoping to exercise daily, but that has yet to happen but mainly because of a busy schedule, not for the lack of desire or energy. I was planning on going rock climbing tomorrow, but decided to take an impromptu trip to Stephenville, TX to the Barefoot Market to celebrate the last day of the cleanse with part of the Cleanse America crew. I’m looking forward to enjoying some of the delicious raw foods prepared in the wonderful cafe at Barefoot Market.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now, aside from this delicious kale chip recipe I made earlier this week; and devoured within an hour! Warning, they are addicting!

Spicy Cheesy Raw Kale Chips

• 2 bunches of kale, washed and de-stemmed
• 1 cup of soaked cashews (drain after soaking)
• 1 red bell peper, chopped and de-seeded
• 1 cup of nutritional yeast (or more)
• 1 medjool date, pitted
• cajun seasoning
• paprika
• sea salt

After washing and de-stemming your kale place it all in a large mixing bowl. Blend the soaked cashew, chopped bell, nutritional yeast and medjool date in a food processor until you get a creamy consistency. After that, season to your liking with cajun, paprika and sea salt.

Once your mixture is seasoned to your liking spoon out on top of the kale in the mixing bowl and mix until all the leaves are well coated. After that, place on mesh dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 5-6 hours. Now, enjoy!

Life and Motivation, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
america, cheesy, chips, cleanse, detox, food cleanse, kale, kale chips, RAW, spicy
1 comment

Raw Vegan Chili

It’s almost the end of day five, and I’m feeling pretty good! Tonight we made the Raw Chili from the Recipe Guide. It was one of the best raw meals I have had, and it was very easy to make. It’s one I will definitely have to incorporate into my regular rotation of meals. I think it’s good to have as many simple raw food recipes so that it’s easier to make a regular part of your life. Many raw recipes I see in books are very complicated and take lots of time. It’s essential to have simple things to make if raw foods are going to be a big part of your life.

Yesterday I took my trip to San Antonio and brought some leftover beet burger mix and flax crackers for lunch. I also had several pieces of fruite and some spicy cashews and Bearded Brothers bars. It just goes to show it’s still possible to eat raw on the road. It all boils down to keeping it simple! The day was also a “foggy headed” day, but thankfully the fog lifted again this morning and I was able to get out and enjoy a run around Town Lake.

I was planning on running 8 miles but my wife talked me out of it since I was cleansing and hadn’t run in a few weeks due to an injury. So I settled for a moderately passed 4 miles. Aside from the humidity the weather was great, sun was shining and there was a nice breeze as well. I’m hoping to get in some more outdoor activity tomorrow. But, it was good that I decided to cut down the mileage because around the 4 mile mark I started feeling like I needed to eat and rehydrate (even though I had drank 16oz of water during the run).

So, after the run I swung my Juice Land, formerly Daily Juice on Barton Springs and picked up green smoothie. I was sort of disappointed in the taste, but it was still filling and provided the nutrition I needed after my run. The smoothie contained papaya, lime, agave, and green vibrance. I chose this particular smoothie because I rarely ever have papaya, and wanted something different.

I already mentioned dinner, but for lunch we ended up having raw bbq tacos (recipe contained in link) instead of a salad since we had some romain lettuce leaves that were going to go bad. The recipe is another simple one, and an all time favorite of mine.

It’s hard to believe I have now gone 6 days eating 100% raw, even in the height of my past raw food experiences I had never gone that many days on all raw foods. I doubt I had ever gone more than 3. It has definitely ben a pleasant experience so far, but a little bit of hard work involved for meal planning and recipes. But it has definitely inspired me to up the raw food intake in my life and be more cautious of the little things in my diet.

Just a few more days of the cleanse left. I look forward to sharing more of my experience with you, especially doing a final recap of all my thoughts.

Health & Fitness, Life and Motivation, Recipes by OrganicClimber
america, cleanse, detox, food cleanse, RAW
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So, my attempt to post every day has already failed, and I almost missed today too, but decided to take a few minutes for a quick update. So please forgive any gramatical errors in the post. I won’t have time to go back through and proof it – yeah, I’m that busy. Let’s just say I normally sit down in the afternoon to work, and it’s now 9 p.m. and I just sat down 30 minutes ago.

Anyway, day three went pretty well. I felt energized and my brain fog had lifted. I ended my day with some rock climbing on The Greenbelt, here in Austin. I felt really strong and confident despite not having climbed much in the past month. It was great to be outside enjoying the amazing weather. It was a perfect afternoon for climbing. I was surprised more people didn’t show up. The only crappy part of the day was crossing the creek to get to the climbing wall… my iPhone was in my pocket and got submerged. So my phone is now burried in a bag of rice in attempts to dry it out.

Today, though was very interesting. I was full of anxiety, stress and worry. My work day in the Bearded Brothers kitchen was jam packed, and the afternoon was filled with deliveries to stores. We are growing fast, which means I’m doing a lot more, but don’t have any extra time. I have had days like this in the past but wasn’t as anxious as I felt today. After hearing Paul Risse talk about his irritability symptoms on day 2, it leads me to believe that heightened anxiety was very possible.

Despite the anxious feelings I attempted to take deep breaths as much as possible and pray. Prayer is definitely something that hasn’t been as present in my life as it should. I’m constantly distracted by work problems, so even when I do pray my mind alway seems to gravitate towards solving work related problems. I definitely see the need for more quiet time in my life, but struggle how to make that happen.

I was also pretty bummed out my work day was so long and hectic. It caused me to miss my group run this evening. I was really looking forward to getting outside and de-stressing in nature. But, on the bright side I was able to go to the grocery store again and pick up some more delicious raw foods and prepare a meal for my wife and I. We enjoyed one of my favorite raw meals “Beet Burgers” (recipe below), along with some flax crackers and guacamole. Time with my spouse has been lacking lately too. We are both looking forward to spending the weekend together. We plan on going to Beets Cafe for a raw desert with the money I’m saving from not buying any coffee or tea this week.

So, overall I would have to say I’m feeling pretty good. Tomorrow I will be attending Entre Leadership One Day in San Antonio. I’m hoping the time away from work will refresh my mind and the commute there and back will give me time to reflect and pray. The conference I am going to is lead by Dave Ramsey, of Financial Peace. His material is helping my wife and I get out of debt and he is also helping me grow my business with passion and integrity.

Anyway, that is all for now. Daily posts throughout the weekend are questionable since we don’t have internet at our house. If you don’t hear from me this weekend expect something from me on Monday!

Raw Beet Burgers

• 3 Beets
• 2 Carrots
• 1/4 cup pistachios
• 1 avocado
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• pinch of sea salt (or more if you like)
• 2-4 teaspoons of dijon mustard (my modification to original recipe, original calls for 1-2)
• several romaine lettuce leaves
• capers for garnish (highly optional)

Directions: Grate the carrots and beets using a food processor or grater (food processor highly recommended). After the carrots and beets are grated, transfer into a large bowl and attach the S blade to the food processor. Pour the grated beets and carrots back into the mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients, except for romaine lettuce leaves. Process the ingredients and then pour back into serving bowl.

Finally place the mixture on romaine lettuce leaves and enjoy.

This recipe goes really well with spicy flax seed crackers and guacamole. I will likely post that recipe later this week. It was a modified version of the flax crackers in the Cleanse America recipe book.

Life and Motivation, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
america, cleanse, detox, food cleanse, RAW
2 comments

Well, it’s almost the end of day two, of Cleanse America – a 10 day cleanse with people all across the US participating. I officially decided to take part in the cleanse just a couple days before it started. Prior to that I didn’t thank I was going to be able to afford 100% raw for the 10 days, but thanks to a friend, it has become possible!

I’m extremely grateful to be able to take part in the cleanse. Having formerly eaten a diet as high as 80% in recently years I didn’t think I would begin experiencing detox symptoms at all, much less at the start of day two. I woke up this morning feeling foggy headed, the feeling stayed with me most of the morning and lifted later in the day, but returned just before beginning to write this post. It just goes to show how much diet affects the body.

I think the thing I’m most excited about it just getting to eat raw foods! Since moving to Austin my food budget has drastically decreased, thus not really giving us the option to eat as much raw foods as we would like. And, to be completely honest, Austin got the best of me with its local eateries and taco joints. When I first moved here I was trying a new restaurant every week. However, my wife and I had to tighten the reins on the food budget which has lead us to cooking almost every meal at home; though my breakfast and lunch is usually raw.

I’m also looking forward to a variety of salads and other yummy raw meals. For the past year I have been stuck in a salad rutt, eating the same salad nearly ever day, which had caused me to move away from raw foods for weeks at a time. So, I hope the cleanse will break my salad boredom streak with some variety and new recipes. Just this morning I made a delicious walnut vinaigrette dressing (recipe below) that went really well on my apple and hemp seed salad!

I also hope to break my “addiction” to coffee. It was something I had given up for about a year previously, but got addicted again when I moved to Austin and started working from coffee shops. Sort of ironic, since I was in the planning stages of Bearded Brothers, my raw organic snackfood company! I was originally planning on allowing myself tea during the cleanse, but I decided yesterday that forgoing caffein for the entire cleanse was going to be best. I went sans coffee through the weekend and had my last cup of tea yesterday!

I’m also hoping my energy levels will rise. Even though I get consistant sleep and a good amount of exercise, and still eat an overall healthy diet my energy levels are not what they used to be. I remember when I was able to run half marathons and then still go out and have fun doing other things in the afternoon, without a nap. Lately, though I’m wiped out after a 10 mile run or 40 mile bike ride.

And finally, I hope to get motivated to exercise more, even if it’s just pull ups on my hang board at the house. It was one of my new years goals that I have failed out due to lack of motivation, and honestly remembering to do it. So hopefully the cleanse will help clear my mind as well and help me to remember better. I plan on getting exercise nearly every day during the cleanse.

To learn more about Cleanse America, check out their website and Facebook Page.

I hope to make daily updates about my progress during the cleanse.

Walnut Vinaigrette Recipe

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup of water
• 3/4 cup of walnuts
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 1 TBSP of raw honey
• dash of sea salt, to taste

Instructions: Place all the ingredients in the blender and whirl! If the mixture is too thick add a bit more water. I like the constancy of mine fairly thick though, it sticks very well to lettuce leaves.

Health & Fitness, Life and Motivation, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
america, cleanse, detox, food, organic, RAW
2 comments

Ok, now this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard… a zero calorie energy drink. Seriously? The only people that will fall victim to this gimmick is likely the average “health conscience” consumer who are somewhat clueless to what actual energy and food really is. Gatorade has a low calorie sport drink, but PowerAde is trying to one up them with a zero calorie beverage. They are taking the angle of carbohydrates as a source of fuel, and are claiming athletes don’t want, “wasted calories.”

Carbohydrates alone won’t continue fueling your body for long without essential calories. Simply put, calories translate to energy, but so do carbohydrates, right? So what is wrong with a zero calorie drink that has zero calories? Well, can you think of a high carbohydrate food without any calories? One medjool date alone contains 66 calories and is packed full of carbs (18 grams). To put it simply, PowerAde zero is highly unnatural.

Just look at the standard list of ingredients: water, high fructose corn syrup, salt, potassium citrate, phenylalanine, sucralose, sodium citrate, malic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B2, etc. Notice any natural ingredients in that list, other than water and salt? I sure don’t. Nothing in this beverage is natural, other than the water. This beverage is the last thing I would want to consume during or after exercise.

So what does make up a good energy drink? There are very few beverages on the market I would consider a good energy drink, but you can create your own, highly nutritious energy drink that packs a punch. Below is a recipe based of Brendan Brazier’s spots drink from his book, The Thrive Diet.

Homemade Energy Drink

• 2 cups of water
• juice of one lemon
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 4 medjool dates
• 2 TBSP of agave nectar (optional)
• 2 tsp of coconut oil (optional)
• pinch of sea salt

Directions: Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until mixture is drinkable

I have used the above recipe to help provide energy during half marathons and long bike rides. Combined with my shot blok recipe, the pack quite the punch. Not only is it 100% all-natural, it’s highly nutritious and good for you. Since discovering this wonderful recipe, I have always made my own energy drink. The taste is great too, it has plenty of carbohydrates, salt and coconut oil – to help replenish electrolytes, and CALORIES, to help provide you with lasting energy.

Also, on a side note. We are still raising funds for Adventure Naturals on Kickstarter, and we still need your help. We are currently close to 40% funding and have just over 30 days left to meet our $5,000 goal. So, help us bring our 100% organic, raw, vegan, gluten free, energy bars and seasoned nuts to market. Please consider donating at the $35 level or greater, but anything you can give is greatly appreciated and needed.

Recipes, Whacky Wednesday by OrganicClimber
beverage, calorie, energy drink, exercise, fitness, health, zero
5 comments

One of my all-time favorite foods is pizza. If I had to only eat one food for the rest of my life, I admit – it would be pizza. One of my favorite raw food dishes is also pizza…go figure! I’ve tried many a different raw crusts, but haven’t found any I truly liked. The other day, I stumbled across this recipe for a sprouted chickpea flat bread and decided I had to try it out. Although it wasn’t raw it was still very nutritious because of the sprouted chickpeas. It seemed like it would make an excellent pizza crust. Below is a picture of the sprouted and pealed chickpeas. It probably took about 1.5 hours to shell 2 cups worth, which made one 10″ flat bread.

Sprouted and pealed chickpeas

The recipe for the bread was pretty simple, but I don’t know that I will ever make it again. It was very time intensive. The bread was okay as is, but lacked flavor. If I ever did make this again I would season up the bread for better taste. But I’m sure it would be great for a wrap.

For the raw pizza, I made a sauce from Matt Amsden’s Rawvolution book. Then, I topped it with kalamata olives (my favorite olive), chopped red onions, chopped orange bell peppers, all topped with nutritional yeast to create a yummy cheese flavor.

Raw pizza on a cooked, sprouted chickpea crust

The Sauce

• 1 1/2 c. blended tomato
• 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice
• 2 T. Nama Shoyu
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 T. chopped yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic (I used garlic powder, but fresh is best)
• 1 c. sun-dried tomatoes
• pinch sea salt

This is by far my favorite raw marinara sauce. It’s even great to slather on a raw portobello mushroom. YUM!

The Crust

Top with nutritional yeast and your favorite raw veggies.

RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
chickpea, chickpeas, crust, marinara, pizza, RAW, sprouted
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What makes an energy bar and energy bar? Watch the video and find out, and listen to by short plea about how you can help launch my new energy bar company – Adventure Naturals.

The $5 Plea

Now, through Christmas, if you donate just $5 to our Kickstarter campaign you will receive an extra energy bar. These bars will retail for around $3 each, so you are essentially saving $1, AND you are helping start an AWESOME company, dedicated to bringing nutritious energy foods to the masses.

Think about it, $5 doesn’t go very far these days. Five dollars barely will cover a large latte, you can’t even buy a move ticket with five dollars, it will barely even get you food off a value menu, and five dollars won’t even get you two gallons of gas. So, when you think about it, your five dollars is going a LONG way by helping start our company.

So, check out our project and make a donation today!

Climbing, Cross Training, Cycling, Health & Fitness, Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes, Running, Smoothie Tuesday, Trip Reports, Uncategorized, Whacky Wednesday by OrganicClimber
carbohydrates, energy bar, fats, kickstarter, nutrition, protein
1 comment

Wheat Berries and sunflower seeds in the soaking stage of sprouting.

Sprouting nuts, seeds, and grains yields a plethora of nutritional benefits. As an athlete, the biggest advantage of sprouting is the energy the sprouted nuts and seeds provide. Sprouting takes the seed out of a dormant state and releases all sorts of nutrients and beneficial enzymes that are only accessible through sprouting. The nutrients and enzymes released from sprouting vary depending on what you sprout.

In addition to being highly nutritious, sprouted nuts and seeds are more easily digested by the body, making the nutritional contents more usable by the body, thus how the provide an abundance of energy. The sprouted nuts, seeds and grains are best consumed raw. Heating them above 116 degrees begins to destroy the healthy enzymes and reduces the nutritional content.

Some seeds, such as sunflower, buckwheat, and pumpkin seeds yield a higher protein count when sprouted; making them an excellent source of protein for people with an active lifestyle. Consuming sprouts is easy. You can include them in a recipe, such as my raw granola recipe, or toss them in a salad. You can even season your seeds to make them more tasty.

Sprouting is very simple to do, it doesn’t take a small garden to accomplish, as I first thought when I heard about sprouting. You don’t need anything more than a mason jar and a sprouting lid, or something to cover the mouth of the jar, such as a fine cheese cloth.

Below are instructions on how to sprout seeds, nuts, and grains. In regards to nuts, almonds are the only nut that actually sprouts, but they typically have to be raw, organic, and unpasteurized, which is hard to find – but it is possible. Either way, soaking the nuts still makes them easier to digest, as with any nut. Almonds typically need to soak 8-12 hours. Most other nuts only need to soak for about two hours.

After sprouting seeds and grains, you will see tails grow on them, as pictured below. The length of the tail will depend on how long you soak them. Sunflower seeds will yield a small tail after just one day of sprouting, but if you sprout them for several days you will have a really long tail, making them a nice crunchy treat for salads. I prefer to keep my sunflower seed tails small though. It’s up to the person doing the sprouting how long they want the tails.

Sunflower seeds and wheat berries, "sprouting." Sunflower seeds take about one day to sprout. Wheat Berries take two days.

How to Sprout

1. First you will need to soak your seeds (pictured above). Refer to the chart below for the time it takes to soak your seed or grain. Place them into a mason jar (half full, as the sprouts grow and expand) and fill with filtered water, just until they are fully covered. You may need to periodically add more water as they will soak up a lot of it.
2. After your seeds have soaked for the appropriate amount of time, drain the sprouting jar and cover with a sprouting lid, or a fine cheese cloth (secured with a rubber band).
3. Set the sprouting jars at an angle so excess water can drain from the jar. I usually place mine in a drying rack as pictured above. Let the seeds set for the amount of time indicated on the chart below. You will also need to periodically fill the jar back up with water and drain to keep the seeds wet.
4. After your seeds are done sprouting place them in a dehydrator until thoroughly dry. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can leave them spread out to air dry. Store them in a mason jar inside your refrigerator for longer life.
5. Optionally, you can season your seeds and, or nuts. I prefer to season my sunflower seeds. This is best done immediately after soaking. Just place them in a mixing bowl, toss in some seasoning, and mix away. Garlic and sea salt is one of my favorite flavors to season sunflower seeds with.

Sprouting Chart

Sprouting Chart

And there you have it. All the information you need to know for simple sprouting at home. So, have fun with it, do some google searches for recipes involving sprouted grains. I have seen many great recipes, both cooked and raw, but remember, consuming them raw is best.

Sprouted wheat berries. Notice the white tails?

Sprouted chickpeas after two days of sprouting. Nice looking tail, eh?

Have you ever tried sprouting? Do you currently sprout? Let us know what you think about sprouting in the comments.

RAW Food, Recipes, Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
energy, enzymes, healthy, nutrients, nuts, seeds, sprouting
2 comments

Cinnamon Girls - A yummy raw dessert. Great for Holiday parties.

1. Proper portions are key. Continue maintaining a healthy portion of food at every meal; even at the big extravagant meals with family. The rule, “eat until content” still remains the same. If you eat until you are full, you have already overeaten.

2. Bring a healthy dish. Make sure to bring a healthy dish to your next Thanksgiving or Christmas feast to share with everybody. This will ensure you have something healthy to eat and are able to share the love with others at the same time. This might especially be important if you are vegetarian like myself.

3. Avoid the grazing tables. Fortunately, I no longer work in an office so I won’t be faced with the constant barrage of Holiday treats in the break room. You are best off avoiding them all together. Once you indulge it’s hard to not keep going back, unless you have a lot of self-control. Rather than grazing at the table, bring your own healthy snacks to curb your hunger, and as always – drink lots of water.

4. In addition to the grazing tables at work, avoid lingering around food when at parties. The temptation to constantly consume food is far less when it’s not right in front of you.

5. Make healthy holiday snacks. One of my favorite raw deserts to make around the Holiday’s is my raw oatmeal cookies. They are not only delicious, but healthy too! But remember, just because it’s raw food doesn’t mean you can’t overdo it.

6. Continue exercising. It can be easy to slip out of your regular exercise routine with all the extra time off work and time spent with family. Make sure you still maintain your normal level of exercise, if not more, because lets face it – you are still going to consume more calories, even if you manage to follow most of these tips.

7. Self-control is key. Just say no! When you are tempted to over indulge, just refuse to give into the temptation.

The Holiday’s can be a difficult time for even the healthiest of eaters to maintain a healthy diet. The tips above are just a few suggestions that have helped me at times. There is no magic formula for success, but I will say don’t forget to enjoy yourself. The Holiday’s are meant to share food with family and friends, so be careful that you don’t grow too pretentious about your “diet” that you alienate yourself from loved ones. Living life with loved ones is more important than food.

I would also like to share with you one of my favorite recipes that I like to bring to Holiday gatherings. This desert is one of my all-time favorite raw deserts.

Cinnamon Girls, from Matt Amsden’s Rawvolution

The Recipe
2 cups of raw almonds, finely ground in food processor
1/3 cups of cinnamon
1 cup of raisins
¾ cup of agave nectar
2 tbsp of olive oil

Directions: in a medium mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir until mixed well. Next, add the agave and olive oil and mix until a dough like consistency is reached. Using your hands, form ping-pong-sized balls and place into a container or large serving platter. Serve as is, or freeze overnight for a more solid consistency.

Health & Fitness, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
christmas, fit, health, holiday, RAW Food, thanksgiving
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Well, my wedding day is almost here and I managed to complete our Kickstarter project for Adventure Naturals. I knew I could get it done, but a small part of me freaked out when my business parter had to cancel our shoot last week due to flooding in his house. But we were able to shoot Tuesday morning, and I managed to edit the video in a short amount of time. It’s not perfect, but it will do until I get back from the Honeymoon and redo the entire thing!

I hope you will take a moment to check out our project and consider donating. Donating as little as $5 gets you an energy bar. We are trying to raise $5,000 on Kickstarter, but we really need $10,000 to get started, so please, keep on giving after the $5,000 goal is met. You still get gifts for the donation and we get closer to what we actually need to start.

Anyway, I will be out of pocket for the next week and a half (going on a cruise with my lovely new wife), but my business partner will be answering any emails and messages through Kickstarter. It’s always been my dream to run my own business, and what better business to start than a raw food company? It truly combines all my passions. So, please, help my dream become a reality

Climbing, Cross Training, Cycling, Health & Fitness, Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes, Running, Smoothie Tuesday, Trip Reports, Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
business, energy bar, food, kickstarter, RAW
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