Eating Out

Every now and then I like to have a cooked meal at a restaurant just to remind me why I eat raw foods. Well, I don't go with that intention but I always come back with that result.

I haven't been eating raw for long and yet I am truly amazed by not only the transformation in how I feel eating primarily live foods but how I feel when I eat cooked ones. Me, the ultimate lover of cooked foods. Now I eat a cooked meal and I feel so sleepy, heavy and drained. Initially I wondered if it was all psychosomatic but the proof is in the pudding, even when the pudding is made from soaked cashews, dates and water.

What is it about a cooked meal out that leads one to feel this way? A number of things.

1) When we eat a heavy meal the body responds by releasing large amounts of insulin. The insulin ensures that the blood sugar gets to the liver, muscle and fat cells. Within an hour or two, insulin levels have dropped dramatically as has blood sugar. The result - a crash. For me the crash manifests as fatigue, irritability (which I would be right now if I wasn't so tired), and sugar cravings.

Since going raw my sugar cravings have been almost null. When I get them they are very manageable. But give me cooked food and give me death, or at least a cookie.

2) When we eat cooked foods, especially out at a restaurant, we tend to overeat. Cooked foods do not have the digestive enzymes or the minerals so abundantly provided in raw foods. Much more energy is required to digest a cooked meal. Raw foods actually supply the body with the enzymes necessary for digestion whereas a cooked meal usually causes the body to draw on its store of enzymes for proper digestion. We end up depleting our enzyme reservoir.

3) Digesting takes energy. Raw food gives the body energy and requires much less effort to digest - actually aiding in digesting. Much of our energy during the day is used to digest cooked foods!

These are only a few of the reasons why eating raw foods provides us not only with energy and enzymes but a whole new outlook on life!

Cherry Malt

Today being a lazy, rainy, Sunday afternoon my son, Asher, and I decided to make a "Cherry Malt" from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. Asher has always loved to cook. I think I may have made him that way. It was clear from early on that my daughter had little interest in the kitchen. So when my son was born and he was a Cancer (just like his mom - and everyone knows all Cancer's love to cook) I was convinced he would be my little chef. I told him so on a regular basis putting a lot of faith in astrology and the power of suggestion.

And guess what? It worked! O.K. I have no proof that it worked. Perhaps he would have loved to cook even if he had been raised with astrologically ignorant parents and no mind games. But I'll never know. All I know is that I got my wish.

So, on this lazy, rainy day we decided to make a cherry malt from cherries, almonds, dates, carob powder and water. Simple enough.

Here is Asher pitting the cherries:


Here he is before our all powerful "Vitamix" blender, blending it all up.



Nearly done. It's time for the true test - will he like it?




He loves it!


His comment, "It's better than ice cream!" Quite a statement coming from a boy whose favorite food group is sugar. A success indeed.

Pizza and raw food

I did an experiment today. After working for about seven straight hours (something I definitely do not recommend to clients) to finish all my preparations for the big day tomorrow and having eaten next to nothing, I was quite hungry when dinner rolled around. And what do you know - we ordered pizza for my kids. Mmm... raw food? pizza? raw food? pizza? Difficult decision. So I opted for the ultimate experiment.

How would my body react to pizza after eight days on almost all raw food? I figured, this was important information. A good way to assess data. Since I have no control group I am both the control and the experimental group. Therefore I must take on the difficult role of doing both.

If all of this sounds like a bunch of b.s. just to have some pizza - well, you are mostly right. I also opted for raw food. I made myself a very healthful green smoothie and between sips noshed on, all said, about 1/2 piece of pizza. I wish I could say it was good pizza but alas such was not my fate. Did I destroy my raw food adventure? Hardly. It's all part of it. It's all good.

If there is one thing I wish to communicate to anyone -whether I work with them or not - it's just that. It's only food. Let's enjoy it.

Next time though, I'm ordering better pizza.

Raw food diet challenges

O.K. I admit it. Day 8 was not easy.

Now, granted I have been working very diligently for the last several days to get my 8-week teleseries The Wisdom of Wellness off the ground so my energy level is lower, I believe, than it normally would be. However, and here is the big however, I don't know what to eat!

I've spent so many hours in front of the computer I haven't had the time to peruse all the recipes and come up with exciting new possibilities. As a result, ready to eat, I open the fridge and what do I see? Lots and lots of veggies. Now, I do love veggies but when you really want something soothing and satisfying a carrot just ain't going to cut it - not right now anyway.

So one of the biggest challenges? Snacks - comfort food snacks. Snacks like chips, toast, quesadillas, popcorn - you know, starch. Somehow flax sunflower seed bread just doesn't qualify. So today, somewhat low on energy and looking for that quick fix, proved rather challenging.

If I didn't have this interview with David in two weeks I would have caved today - I admit it. My pride is the only thing keeping me from grabbing that last tortilla, spreading some feta on it and a slab of turkey and frying it up in the pan. Pride. To be able to say to David - in honor of our call, I have been raw the last three weeks. Damn pride.

So now what? I have my kale, garlic, lime, avocado and date smoothie sitting next to me on my bedside. Mmmm - not quite what I had in mind. So what I'm really saying, yet another time, is if you plan on going raw either have loads of time on your hands to really get down and dirty in the kitchen or be prepared to spend a small fortune on the myriad raw food snacks and goodies now available online. Either that or just dip your toe in, have a salad and eat the quesadilla on the side.

Green Smoothies

Day Seven and I got my first, "your skin is looking good" comment!

One of the big things, apparently, about eating raw food is the "raw food glow." A certain glow the skin gets when a person eats raw food - hence "raw food glow." Truthfully, I don't see the glow myself and just as my friend was looking at me the sun was setting giving just about everything that rosy early evening hue. But hey, a compliment is a compliment.

I bought the book Green For Life yesterday.

Victoria Boutenko wrote this book after being raw for seven years (and curing her entire family of severe illnesses) only to notice certain symptoms of decreasing vitality. After completing months of intensive research, Victoria discovered she wasn't eating enough greens. In fact she was hardly eating any greens.

Despite her revulsion of the leafy green giant - feeling nauseous just at the smell (I'm sure a few of you can relate) - she continued to experiment with the food until she arrived at not just a palatable but a pleasurable solution: the green smoothie. By mixing greens like lettuce, kale and celery with bananas, apples and mango she was able to drink more than a daily portion of her body's nutritional requirements. After a month or two she even began craving what she had once despised. Of course, when one experiences such a transformation it is nearly impossible not to want to sing it from the rooftops. And that is what she did. Or more accurately, write it from her desktop and distribute it via planes over the rooftops to people around the world.
To learn more go to: www.greenforlife.com.

Given my love of veggies (I come from a rare breed) and my passion for nutrition I knew this was a book for me. And so today, having spent sufficient time yesterday reading and skimming recipes, I sampled two of Victoria's savory green smoothies - lettuce, lime, red onion, celery and avocado in one and kale, dill, garlic, and lime in the other. Suffice to say only one brave neighbor (a fellow green juicer) was even willing to try it. But I quite liked them both. I did, however, have to add dates to the latter as it was just a little too bitter for me (I do have a bit of a sweet tooth as you may recall).

I have wondered lately if, as adults, we don't intellectualize our taste buds. Knowing something is good for us and therefore wanting and even liking it. I mean if tomorrow someone told me kale, garlic, dill and lime wreaked havoc on my system, would I no longer appreciate the taste? Hard to say. I imagine thousands of people would, at the very least, be greatly relieved.

I'll make another tomorrow and take some pictures. You won't be able to taste it but at least you can see it and judge for yourself.

Transitioning to raw food

Day 6! It's almost been a whole week. I took the last two days off writing so I feel as if I am overflowing with information. Bear with me.

So many ups and downs. First, a confession. I haven't been 100% raw (as you may have already noticed). We went to breakfast with my kids and I just couldn't resist a few bites of my son's gloriously delicious Belgian waffle overflowing with maple syrup and whipped cream - I mean come on! And then there were the few french fries and oh yes, a small piece of turkey. Hardly raw. But overall I would say this week has been a huge success.

First some things I have learned:

1. Have treats on hand. Making a transition like this is big and although my cravings are almost nil there are times when I am hungry and just want something sweet or easy or doesn't taste like kale. So I highly recommend you stock up with a few raw food treats for just those special moments.

2. Research. Either I am unfamiliar with the ingredients in many raw food recipes or I just don't have them on hand. Raw food cooking can be quite simple because well, you don't cook the food. As soon as all the ingredients are assembled you often just blend, process or juice them and voila - your meal. But the trick is having all of the ingredients. So research a little ahead of time - check out the ingredients, find places to buy them, and shop for them. Then when hunger strikes, you will be ready.

3. You don't have to go all raw all at once. In fact, having attempted it, I don't recommend it. If you eat 51% of your foods raw you will benefit tremendously. And honestly, I think it is a heck of a lot easier.

4. Having said that, I feel great! I have lots of energy, I feel clean, I love eating the foods I eat and I love how comfortable I feel in my body. So it's a trade off. Jump in whole hog and end up eating mushy, hardly palatble flax sunflower seed "burgers" at 10:30 pm because it's all you got or take it slowly and accept that it may take longer to feel many of the positive benefits.

5. Forget intuition. I've been cooking for awhile now and I love it. After years of diligently following recipes by the letter, then little by little stepping out into my own creativity, I realize I am back to square one. I understand cooked food. I know how to make adjustments for certain flavors or the lack thereof. I get why things taste the way they do. But raw food - forget it. Think about it - all our lives we've been eating mostly cooked food. I learned to cook by cooking. Everything is new to me and so I must redevelop a relationship with food. Relearn the art of fine cuisine. It's a bit of a roller coaster with a few extra trips to the compost.

6. Have fun. You get to be a kid in a chem lab all over again. Enjoy the mystery and see what emerges!

That's all for now.

Raw food adventures

Well...it's only day three and it has already been a rather interesting adventure.

One of the challenges in making raw vegan vanilla pecan ice cream to satisfy a craving is that you can't actually eat it when you want it because it has to freeze first. Didn't really think about that one. The other challenge is not having exactly the right ingredients - like lecithin (the thickening agent used in place of eggs and whatever else thickens ice cream). So I ended up with my treat about ten hours too late and still more like sweet iced milk than frozen cream. Lesson # too many to count - don't use substitutions in a recipe until you know what you are doing.

I love to cook and have cooked for many years but my specialty, up until three days ago, has been food that gets cooked. I can saute, steam and stir-fry until the sun comes home but hand me a blender and a bunch of flax, sesame seeds and some chopped veggies and you'll choose to dine elsewhere.

At least that is what happened after my ice cream enlightenment (when I realized it would have to freeze first). I tried to make some sunflower seed raw burgers and even my husband, who will eat just about anything, passed it up. I say all this to let you know that if you are even considering a raw food diet, learn from my experience. Get a few raw food cooking tips and allow yourself the cooked default (just in case).


Having said all this I have had some victories. I made my children "oatmeal" for breakfast (soaked oat groats, almonds and dates). A little later that day a neighbor came over with her adorable son. Not only did he like the oatmeal (see above picture) he kept asking for more. Nice to have such a satisfied customer!

Marinated Portobello Steak

In my enthusiasm (and as a way to support my cookbook buying addiction) I went out and bought "ani's raw food kitchen." I chose this book over all others because of the words, "easy, delectable living foods recipes." Actually it was really just the word "easy." I LOVE to cook but I got a lot of things going on and hours in the kitchen is no longer relaxing. So a raw foods cookbook that looked quick and simple - that was the one for me.


On the way home we stopped at our local coop, picked up a few ingredients and then made this for dinner:

I'm no food photographer so unfortunately the picture doesn't do the meal justice but it was delicious! (and pretty easy too).

This was the first meal I ever made that was intentionally a raw meal. And well...I just had to share it with you. Mmm mmm goood. Even my meat-eating, fluff 'n' nutter loving, pop tart tasting neighbor gave it a thumbs up. Can't beat that.

Day Two: To be raw or not to be?

My package came today! My first ever package from Elements for Life. It is filled with all sorts of goodies - maca, cacao, marine phytoplankton, blue green algae, even chocolate!




So now the big question - with all of these incredible super foods, do I take the plunge? I mean if I am going to be filling my body with massive amounts of organic vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, essential fatty acids, minerals and more, does it make sense to add into the mix sugar, cooked meat and whole wheat flour breads? Or should I just go pure and really see what happens? Make my super smoothies, eat my veggie laden salads and just say goodbye to everything else?


I have always recommended slow and steady steps. I believe in the right to indulge. I don't favor deprivation and I don't thrive under strict regulations. And yet, I am so tempted to just jump right in and go for it. I want to know - how will I feel with so many powerful herbs, plants and berries in my body (and no crap to interfere)? Well, tomorrow may be the big day. I had a heavy meal today and all I can say is, uuggghhh. Feeling very full of food and not so full of energy.

Tune in tomorrow and find out what I decided.