Back Up

So, I’m back.  After recently re-discovering my juicer and finding Raw Model, I find myself newly inspired and determined to bring back healthy habits into our home.  Nicky was just diagnosed with eczema.  His doc said the most likely triggers are wheat and dairy allergies.  Awesome!  I can FINALLY cut dairy out of his diet and not get any grief from family and friends about it.  Hera loves green juice and Nicky loves green smoothies.  I think we might be all right.

Ebay is baaaaad for raw wannabes

So, I just bid on a Vita Mix.  Its a 3600- that’s the kind that Tanja from Freshtopia has.  I got my dehydrator from there too.  Ebay is baaaaad for raw wannabes.

Yummy and Juicy

I made AMAZING juice tonight:

3 celery stalks

1 carrot

1/2 lemon

1 green apple

1/2 bunch parsley (or more)

Juice and enjoy!!

More Success!

Okay, the Mediterranean Almond Bread is DELICIOUS! I’m so glad! Not a bit of flax flavor. Psychologically, I find that I need that nutty, chewy quality that bread provides… but I want to eat it raw. This bread is wonderful and I can’t wait to make my first sammie. I’m thinking I’ll spread a bit of that dressing I made yesterday down as a “mayo” kind of thing and then pile it high with veggies. I suppose I could do a pizza as well. Forgot to get sundried tomatoes yesterday, so tomato sauce is out for today. Oh well… the possibilities are endless!

RAW RANCH DRESSING!!

I found this amazing recipe today on The Sunny Raw Kitchen site:

Ranch Dressing/Dip
Posted by Snowdrop on Raw Freedom Community

For those missing that hidden valley feeling.

Soak time: 1-2 hrs
Preparation time: 5 Minutes
Number of Servings: 24 (or 3 cups)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups nuts (cashew or mac or combo) soak them for a creamier dressing (1-2 hrs is fine, then drain)
3/4 – 1 cup filtered water for blending
3 tablespoons lemon juice (translates into approx 1/2 lemon)
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons agave (or 3 soaked dates)
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon garlic pwd
3 teaspoons onion pwd
1 teaspoon dill
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon basil

And to add after it’s done:
1/4 cup finely minced parsley
another 1/2 t dill, minced

Directions
Blend all ingredients till creamy and smooth except the last 2, then once blended, stir in the last 2 ingredients.

Thickens in fridge.

Thin to desired consistency if using as a dressing- or toss into wet lettuce leaves as is.

I put the parsley and extra dill in the blender and blended instead of mincing it on my own. I would recommend mincing it and mixing it in by hand. I ended up with green dressing that tasted more like dill then anything else. It was still amazingly excellent, but I think it would be better the other way.

I cut up some tomatoes, broccoli and cucumbers and drizzled this dressing over the top. I then cracked some Lemon Pepper over the whole bunch. A hearty lunch!

Juicing Success!

I made a delicious green juice this morning and it didn’t even take all that much produce:

1 stalk celery

1/3 bunch parsley (I used curly cuz its cheaper)

About one apple

1/2 cucumber

It was very sweet, but I liked the taste. I may try a lemon as well. The juice was the most beautiful green color. I was very pleased and very encouraged.

I plan on picking up the pH Miracle this afternoon at Borders. I have a coupon for 30% off, so I should get it for pretty cheap. I’m hoping this book will convince me to give up the big vice- coffee.

My “Crazy Sexy” Juicer

I broke down and bought a manual wheatgrass juicer- a Lexen Healthy Juicer to be more precise. I tried making apple juice in it earlier, but the apples were old and it turned to mush. The Healthy Juicer folks anticipated my dilemma and posted something about this in their FAQ section of their website. I bought a bunch of green leafies and cruciferous veggies to juice in the morning. Looking forward to it.

I watched a FANTASTIC documentary a few weeks ago: “Crazy, Sexy Cancer”. It told the story of Kris Carr, a young woman like me, with 24 tumors hiding within her lungs and liver. Twenty-four tumors that will never go away. Ever. All she can hope for is that the tumor growth will slow down. Her cancer is incurable. Conventional treatments are hopeless. Her film documents the first two years that she lived with cancer, as she strove to find her own way to fight this horrible, painful, deadly disease. She decided to treat her cancer naturally- through diet, yoga, and “spirituality”. She started with macrobiotics. When that proved to be too much (I’d get sick of chewing my food 30 times a bite too!), she found her way to green smoothies, but not the delicious kind that Victoria Boutenko talks about. Eventually, Kris went to Hippocrates in Florida. I was AMAZED as the transformation. They did blood work at the beginning of her stay and found a huge build up of acid in her blood. At the end of her stay, her blood was moving and alkaline and GORGEOUS!

She used my new juicer to do her wheatgrass in the documentary. That’s where I got the idea.

Anyway, her film inspired me. She has this amazing courage and all-out determination to LIVE and FIGHT and do whatever it takes to live and long and healthy life. I need to think of her when I reach for anything cooked. I need to put big freaking signs everywhere that say “CANCER”. How about a post-it in my organic dairy creamer that I put in my coffee every morning. “Good day, Cally. Drinking this cream will give you cancer. Please throw it in the trash where it belongs.”

How can I feed milk and meat to my babies?

I just need little reminders. I do not NEED that “granola” bar for a snack. I really don’t need Doritos, even to fill my gnawing stomach. I DO need that grapefruit. I DO need to drink some water. I DO need a Vita Mix, ha ha.

But seriously- I’ve known too many people who’ve been affected by cancer: my great aunt, my grandpa, my dad, my best friend’s mom, my best friend’s BIL just to name a few. I’m terrified of getting it.

So WHY THE FRAK DO I EAT GARBAGE? SERIOUSLY!!

I’m hoping the juicer will help me get on the right foot. I know I’ve been talking about this for MONTHS. Will I ever get serious? Will it ever happen? I suppose it would help if I found some raw food that I really liked. I’ve had to toss most of what I’ve tried because it just isn’t that great or, it is that great, but it goes bad before I get the chance to eat it. How many cups of nuts have I wasted making pates that I don’t get to eat or don’t like well enough to eat up fast enough?

Does the Vitamix really make nut pates creamy like cream cheese?

Okay, I’m rambling. Its very late and I need to get to bed. Wish me luck on the morning’s juice!

Crunchy Kale Salad

Every raw foodist has a kale salad recipe that they love and rave about.  Most kale salads include a lovely leaf massage with avocado.  Well, what if you’re like me and you don’t like avocado?  You branch out on your own and create something new!

Crunchy Kale Salad

1 head of Kale

Lemon vinaigrette (juice of 1 lemon, enough olive oil to cut the sour out of the lemon, a bit of mustard to help emulsify)

Any other crunchy veggies you like

Cherry tomatoes

Lemon Pepper

Wash the kale leaves.  Separate the leaves from the tough stems.  Cut the kale into small, bite-sized pieces.  Massage a bit of sea salt into the kale to tenderize and wilt.  Toss and massage with lemon vinaigrette.  Massaging the leaves again will wilt the leaves a bit more and make them less bitter.  Add other veggies.  Grind lemon pepper over salad generously.  Toss and serve.

This salad fills me up like nothing else.

Pushing Me Over the Edge

I got an email tonight from a “concerned” friend who was basically pleading with me to reconsider my raw food diet.  Let’s not even mention how this is none of her business, shall we… I was pissed for a while, but now, as I’ve been thinking through my response, I’ve been forced to consider my commitment to the conviction that a raw vegan diet is the best diet for optimal health.  If I really believe this, then I need to start living it.  Right here.  Right now.  That’s just the bottom line.

Of course, this is the opposite effect that my friend has intended, to be sure, but I don’t really care.  I know what I’m doing.  I know what I’m talking about.  I feel confident that this is the right choice for me.  She’s pushed me over the edge.  Instead of telling her to mind her own business, I should thank her for being the impetus to really take the plunge and just go raw.

Beginning Again… Again

A few months back, when I was eating a very high raw diet, I felt great. I had energy. I’d pretty much eliminated my need for coffee. I looked great- lost twenty pounds with ease. I didn’t need as much sleep. Basically, I had all the benefits of eating raw that could be measured externally. I have no idea if my cholesterol was lowered (probably not, as I’m still breastfeeding) or if my pancreas had gotten up to speed in the past year since having Hera… but my guess is that I was getting better internally as well.

But as most people do at some point on their raw journey, I slipped back into old eating habits. It started with a little sugar here and there… I’d totally cut out soda from my life completely for several months. And then I had one swig of a Coke and I fell off the wagon. I’d gotten to the point where that poison didn’t even tempt me anymore and now there are 2 2-liters of soda on my counter right now. I got them for a party the other night, but they are still there. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe I should toss them…

I kept saying to myself- when I get my Vitamix, I’ll be able to go 100%. I will! I’ll be able to make perfectly creamy nut cheeses and pates. All will be well. Do I even need to say that I’m pretty sure this is not true? We are getting a Vitamix at the end of the year, but I’m not at all convinced that this will be the solution. The discipline has got to come from inside.

So, I’m starting again. I’m transitioning, though, and not going 100% overnight. I still love my grandma’s potato ribble soup too much and I have no intention whatsoever of EVER giving that up. I need to find a raw bread recipe that I like which contains very little flaxseed. My dehydrator works great, but flax crackers are yucky.

Heidi and Justin over at Raw Food Right Now! have posted an amazing article on ways to keep eating all week long. I think I’m going to print it out and carry it with me. It’ll be like a cheat sheet to keep me eating raw as much as possible. I will get there. I really do think so. I don’t actually like cooked food too much anymore… I just need to find more raw dishes that I like. And I need to find out what’s on the INSIDE that is keeping me from getting to my goal.

I plan to blog here more often and go back to Victoria Boutenko’s Twelve Steps to Raw Foods. Remember step one? Admitting you have a problem.

Well, here I go. I’m a cooked food addict… and I love love LOVE coffee.