Wow, I am so amazed that we've made it this far! Well, sort of. Last night for our date night there was little to choose from. We ended up at a Japanese restaurant and ordered the tofu/veggie plate. So we had cooked food :-( The craziest part was how we felt afterward. We both had this heavy feeling, almost hung-over; and we both woke up grumpy. So this morning, after drinking fresh fruit juice, Travis went for a run outside and I did Yoga while he took the kids to Farmer's Market. Then we both jumped right back onto our RAW diet. It feels so much better eating fresh food! Tonight I made RAW pizza. I blended flax seed, almonds and Italian spices and then dehydrated them for about 6 hours. Topped them with fresh tomato sauce, spinach, zucchini and tomato slices. So Yummy! Tonight I'm making a RAW brownie recipe I found. Probably won't be as good as baked, but at least it's chocolate!!
Another great day! Started out the morning with a delicious fruit smoothie. Took a 20 minute walk. Then played Legos with my kiddos. In the afternoon I began making crust for RAW pizza. Mostly just soaking nuts and seeds right now. Then tomorrow I'll be grinding them up and dehydrating. I am very excited about our new dehydrator! There are so many more possibilities for meals. I just need to be more organized about planing our meals out since it takes HOURS to dehydrate certain foods. I am also excited about date night tonight with Travis. We were going to go to a RAW restaurant in the area, but just found out it's closed. Not sure what to do now, maybe try a place with great salads? I'm sure we'll figure something out. It's just going to be nice to be just us for a few hours.
Today has been a fantastic day! For the first time in, I don't even know how long, I woke up feeling refreshed. Brianna had climbed in next to me this morning so when I woke up, I was holding my little girl. Great moment!
Then as I was cleaning up breakfast (fruit juice and bananas) UPS showed up with the dehydrator I ordered on Monday. Woo Hoo! More options for meals now. So I tore open my RAW cookbook and found a recipe for avocado tacos. The taco shells (blended corn, a red pepper, ground flax seed, and lime juice) were quickly whipped up and put on the sheets to dehydrate. They smell really good.
I am so very happy to be past the grumpy detox stage. It's amazing how fast it passed.
I also exercised this morning. Crunches, weight lifting (only 3lbs weights mind you) and a 20 minute walk. I almost don't recognize myself. I very passionately dislike exercise. So doing it twice in one week is amazing.
It's day 3. I'm starting to wonder if I can make it a whole week! They say the third day is the hardest. Your body is transitioning to it's new diet and wants to tempt you to getting back to what it's usually eats. Change is hard. But I just keep myself surrounded by healthy, RAW foods.
We went to the park with our friends today and everyone had some great food to snack on. So I kept myself as far away from the temptations as possible. (I did sneak some tortilla strips to dip in some hummus) The great thing about our friends is that most of the snacks were fruits. So even if I did grab something, it would have been okay for me to eat. But the sandwiches, and pretzels looked so good and I was feeling week today.
Tonight I am making a quinoa salad. The quinoa just needs to soak in the water for a little longer since the water doesn't get heated. I love quinoa, so I'm excited about dinner tonight. Plus the quinoa will help me feel like I'm getting more substance in my body.
I am also making a meal for a friend of mine who just had a baby. She requested my famous brownies. Let me tell you, the smell of the brownies is torture! I think I need to research some RAW dessert recipes!
I woke up so hungry! I caved in and ate an egg this morning. Then continued with RAW for the rest of the afternoon. Fruit juice, plums, plums and more plums. and a few oranges. So far.
I must be starting the detox that comes with changing to a RAW diet. I am so grumpy today and have noticed a few zits on my face this morning. As annoying at detox side effects can be, there is joy knowing that my body is getting rid of the toxins that have been building up in my body. I am really looking forward to having a healthy clean body at the end of this.
Tonight I am making RAW lasagna. I've made it before and it is very delicious! This is a picture of the one I made a few months ago. I am going to attempt it again tonight.
I am also looking forward to getting over this grumpy stage. It's so good to have Travis and my friends supporting me through this week. And my kids who force me to pull myself out and take care of them.
Here's the recipe for the RAW Lasagna:
"Ricotta": 1 cup pine nuts (soaked for 1 hour or more) 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 3 tablespoons water
Brushetta sauce (you can use pre-made or make yourself) 3 or 4 ripe plum tomatoes diced 1 clove garlic, minced ½ tablespoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar 3 or 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Pesto (you can use pre-made or make yourself) 2/3 cup chopped fresh basil 1/3 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons pine nuts 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 clove garlic, minced
For assembly: 2 med. zucchinis - thinly sliced lengthwise 2 large tomatoes - thinly sliced 2 fresh basil leaves
Place about 4 zucchini slices, slightly overlapping, in the center of each plate. spread brushetta sauce over zucchini, top with dollops of "ricotta". Add pesto then top with tomato slices. Repeat twice then garnish with fresh basil leaf.
RAW Foods are plant-based foods that have never been heated above 118 degrees. The foods are still in their "living" state, where the enzymes are still active.
Why RAW you ask? About a year ago, my husband, Travis and I attended a introduction to Eating RAW foods. We were blown away by the presenters. They were a couple in their 60s and looked like they were 40 something. They had amazing energy, great skin, and love and peace was present all around them. After meeting them, we knew we wanted what they have. We then began dabbling in RAW foods off and on for the past year.
A week ago, after engorging in the usual summer fares of BBQs and ice cream, we realized that we have not been taking very good care of our bodies. We decided that for one week we will eat only RAW foods! And then go back toward our vegan/vegetarian lifestyle, having RAW foods be the main substance of our diet. Eventually, we may become full RAW, but right now, I still like eggs, cheese and my baked desserts!
Then I realized I need to get more organized about this new diet and research recipes and such to figure out what we are doing. That is when I decided to blog. I read "Kristen's RAW" book and she mentions blogging being a great way to keep yourself on track. So here we go.....
Today we start this journey!
This morning I started out with a banana. Checked my email and FB (Facebook) Then ordered a Dehydrator.
Travis makes fresh fruit juice every morning: oranges, apples, strawberries, grapes, and whatever other fruits are in season: peaches, raspberries, etc. We blend them in our VitaMix and enjoy it throughout the morning. It is very filling!! (and cleansing)
This afternoon I exercised. I walked for 20 min. and then did some strength training with weights, sit-ups and squats. NOT my favorite things to do. I would have much rather been playing with Legos with my kids.
I then made our two kids' (7 and 5 years old) lunches. PB&J for our son and grilled cheese for our daughter. I was hungry at this point and stole a few bites of the grilled cheese. I acknowledge that mess up and will jump back on track. I then ate a fruit salad. Saving the veggie salad for dinner.
Still feeling hungry as I write this, so I am off to eat an apple and then play with my kiddos!
We made it a week on 90% RAW foods. A couple of slips along the way, but we did it!
