For several summers I ate a primarily raw vegan diet. And I loved it. Or, I mostly loved it. I certainly loved how I felt: no migraines, no jaw pain, no crushing energy dips. I loved being trim and looking less puffy. I even loved the food.
On the other hand, I didn't love spending a lot of time learning a new way to prepare meals. I didn't love being the weirdo with the impossible diet when I went out with friends. I really, really didn't love how much everything cost.
So I fell off the diet. For close to a year I've been eating standard American fare. Sure, I eat a big salad most nights. But I've also been eating plenty of wheat, cheese, something meaty if Jake is kind enough to cook dinner. And my headaches are back. And I can grab my belly. And my allergies are kicking my butt.
So I'm going back to raw. Mostly raw. I'm not planning on giving up coffee, or my weekly black bean soup outing at the local Dutch Tavern. I'm not planning on being a giant pain in the ass if I visit someone's house. And because I'm running my soap business, working at a salon and working at a restaurant, I'm not going to be making labor-intensive meals or searching for hard-to-find ingredients. I'm also probably not going to be posting lots of food porn photos (sorry), because most days that takes more time than I have.
But I am going to talk about what I eat, both for myself and for my friends who sometimes ask how they could go raw without restricting themselves to salads. And I'm going to talk about how I work raw into my schedule. And I'm going to be honest about when I eat junk, or make boring, plain survival food, or even terrible-tasting food. I hope, though, that I'll also be posting simple recipes that taste good.
This time around, I've only been back to a mainly raw vegan diet for four or five days. I'm already feeling better: good energy, less brain fog. But having been away for it for so long, I've forgotten some of my raw food techniques. I'm relearning how to do this. I hope this blog will help me stay motivated, and also help other people who are interested in raw, but--like me--aren't experts.
Today's Chow:
Breakfast smoothie with one banana, handful of cherries, big handful of spinach (half a bunch), and a tablespoon or so of ground flax seeds. My basic recipe for smoothies is one third fruit, one third leafy greens, one third water, some kind of fat like coconut oil, avocado, nut butter, ground flax seeds. If I don't use a fat, I'm starving long before lunch.
Salad with a whole avocado, one big tomato, a couple stalks of celery, garlic, lime, olive oil, salt, apple cider vinegar.
Snack of a few almonds and golden raisins.
A whole pint of blueberries!
Dinner: A sauce made from fresh tomato, soaked sun dried tomato, parsley, cilantro, garlic, pecans, salt, olive oil, ground red pepper, nutritional yeast, salt buzzed up in the food processor served over raw shredded zucchini noodles; a big green salad.
An hour after dinner, I'm a little hungry. I have the fixings to make a little chocolate treat: coconut oil, dates, cacao powder. We'll see. Yeah, I think I'm going to need a little something.
On the other hand, I didn't love spending a lot of time learning a new way to prepare meals. I didn't love being the weirdo with the impossible diet when I went out with friends. I really, really didn't love how much everything cost.
So I fell off the diet. For close to a year I've been eating standard American fare. Sure, I eat a big salad most nights. But I've also been eating plenty of wheat, cheese, something meaty if Jake is kind enough to cook dinner. And my headaches are back. And I can grab my belly. And my allergies are kicking my butt.
So I'm going back to raw. Mostly raw. I'm not planning on giving up coffee, or my weekly black bean soup outing at the local Dutch Tavern. I'm not planning on being a giant pain in the ass if I visit someone's house. And because I'm running my soap business, working at a salon and working at a restaurant, I'm not going to be making labor-intensive meals or searching for hard-to-find ingredients. I'm also probably not going to be posting lots of food porn photos (sorry), because most days that takes more time than I have.
But I am going to talk about what I eat, both for myself and for my friends who sometimes ask how they could go raw without restricting themselves to salads. And I'm going to talk about how I work raw into my schedule. And I'm going to be honest about when I eat junk, or make boring, plain survival food, or even terrible-tasting food. I hope, though, that I'll also be posting simple recipes that taste good.
This time around, I've only been back to a mainly raw vegan diet for four or five days. I'm already feeling better: good energy, less brain fog. But having been away for it for so long, I've forgotten some of my raw food techniques. I'm relearning how to do this. I hope this blog will help me stay motivated, and also help other people who are interested in raw, but--like me--aren't experts.
Today's Chow:
Breakfast smoothie with one banana, handful of cherries, big handful of spinach (half a bunch), and a tablespoon or so of ground flax seeds. My basic recipe for smoothies is one third fruit, one third leafy greens, one third water, some kind of fat like coconut oil, avocado, nut butter, ground flax seeds. If I don't use a fat, I'm starving long before lunch.
Salad with a whole avocado, one big tomato, a couple stalks of celery, garlic, lime, olive oil, salt, apple cider vinegar.
Snack of a few almonds and golden raisins.
A whole pint of blueberries!
Dinner: A sauce made from fresh tomato, soaked sun dried tomato, parsley, cilantro, garlic, pecans, salt, olive oil, ground red pepper, nutritional yeast, salt buzzed up in the food processor served over raw shredded zucchini noodles; a big green salad.
An hour after dinner, I'm a little hungry. I have the fixings to make a little chocolate treat: coconut oil, dates, cacao powder. We'll see. Yeah, I think I'm going to need a little something.
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