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.