As I mentioned before, I am attempting a semi raw regiment. We won't call it a diet because that is not the goal. Although I will say my husband's enthusiasm for this veggie infused eating stems from a desire to trim down and after a week, he's already seeing results.
From what I can gather, raw claims to be the best digestive processing for your body. Fastest absorption, most concentrated nutrients and minerals, yadah yadah. The part that intrigued me, was the claim to solve various bodily ailments: migraines, diabetes, severe menstrual cycle symptoms.
It was the last subject that caught my eye. Every time I emerge from the fog of pregnancy, and instantly win back my periods (Oh great), the monthly symptoms seem to compound and strengthen their miserable qualities. After my first child it was nausea and then severe exhaustion for 2-3 days every month. Oh, AND headaches accompanied by the joy of lower back pain! After baby number two, and the varicose veins that came with her, I have one or two days a month where my legs throb so bad I can hardly stand up.
So I'm trying a month of raw in hopes of experiencing some positive results at the end of the cycle, if you get my drift.
The upside of going raw in July is the abundance of seasonal fruits and veggies this time of year. Farmer's Market has always been such a treat for me each week but now I'm more determined to try a greater variety of items. Like black kale, green plums, pluots, dates, beet root, radish and sunflower sprouts, and fragrant ripe melons. I've eaten my weight in salads this week alone.
The mainstays of a raw kitchen appear to be a knife, a cutting board, a mixer/blender and the occasional food chopper. Cleanup is a cinch-no grimy pots and pans, no greasy cookie sheets.
What do we eat?? Well, let me first say that I am not subjecting my children to this craziness. And, as mentioned before, I'm not going extreme. John and I have agreed to include, on occasion, eggs, yogurt, the occasional splash of milk in our coffee, some whole grains (barley, rice, couscous) and meat or fish a few nights a week. Dessert could not be cut out so I got my hands on Coconut Bliss, chocolate flavored, which is quite possibly some of the best ice cream (well, non-dairy, gluten-free, etc) I've ever had!
If nothing else, so far, RAW has spilled over to my everyday habits as sole provider of snacks and meals for my kids and myself. I consider myself a fairly healthy eater and pride myself on stocking a balanced pantry with plenty of fruits and veggies and whole grains. But convenience trumped healthy more and more often and my habits were falling into that Costco bag of goldfish and wheat thins, fruit snacks, juice boxes and pretzels. Only a few weeks ago I introduced my almost 3 year old to her first bag of McDonald's Happy Meal! God bless the drive thrus. See my problem?
Since returning from our road trip, hitting "processed food bottom" and directing my energy at raw foods, snack have appeared as sliced apples with peanut butter or watermelon and strawberries. Breakfast is a nut and fruit muesli (pictured above), www.rawfoodsdiet.wetpaint.com/page/Muesli+Recipe , or a fresh fruit smoothie. I am including yogurt and eggs (both organic, if possible) occasionally throughout the week. Lunch is fruit and a salad usually leftover from last night's dinner and then sometimes the crusts of my kids' sandwiches. Dinner is usually two different salads (one veggie based one fruit based) and then some sort of whole grain to share with the kids, like germinated brown rice or organic couscous.
I have a renewed enthusiasm in the kitchen as everything is a new, exciting and almost idiot proof meal. How do you screw up chopping and whisking? The trick is to use farm fresh produce that's in season.Here are some websites I've used and a few recipes I've really enjoyed.
http://www.rawfoodnation.org/ I really like the summer salad series here, good suggestions and pretty quick and easy recipes for a 15 minute or less food prep to dinner time! Summer Salad Series: Spinach Powerhouse was enjoyed by our whole family (kids included). The Raw Beets Series with jicama and oranges should have been glorious but fell flat when I realized after a few bites my jicama was a bit old and soft
****************************On a sidenote, I can't recall which website I visited the other day that advertised a "Raw Singles" section....ew?!
http://www.goneraw.com/ These recipes tend to be a bit more complicated (soaking, sprouting and even dehydrating), I found one that doesn't look too intimidating to try for dinner tonight, the Kalach Salad (Kale and Spinach with avocado mash dressing). Good pics, too.
www.living-foods.com/recipes/ I like the way this site has a multitude of recipes organized by category (soups and salads, entrees, etc.) and it mixes raw foods with other vegan and vegetarian recipes. No extremism, just healthy food suggestions.
http://www.rawsacramento.net/ where I found a pretty awesome salad dressing, Joshua's Amazing Dressing. This is a great site for recipes, resources, links, and some rpetty pictures.
I am also intrigued by http://www.welikeitraw.com/ a blog and recipe list about raw food. This is where I first met (virtually speaking, of course) Ani Phyo, raw food chef extraordinaire.
My absolute favorite recipe for breakfast is this apple
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