One girl’s tippie toe steps into the world of raw food. Maybe.

I need to put this blog off until 2009. I got downsized last week, getting holiday stuff done, parents coming into town, I have some projects I need to wrap up, things are crazy.

I did read this book over the weekend and have been enjoying the hell out of green smoothies: Green for Life. Today I’m sipping kale, banana, peaches and apple juice. The baby has a nice green moustache, which is much better for him than a white milk moustache, I’m sure.

Take care, eat well, be well, see you in 2009!

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I’m going to regroup and start again tmorrow. There’s so much stuff in the fridge from yesterday, it’s just kind of depressing. I didn’t sleep well last night, woke up at one point in agonizing cramps, spent a good half an hour in the bathroom with pain reminiscent of what I felt prior to starting this experiment. It really was quite unpleasant. And the gas … wow.

So what did I do when I got up? Made everyone breakfast burritos with leftover mashed potatoes and corn from yesterday, leftover taco meat from Friday, eggs and cheese. My husband had pumpkin cheesecake for breakfast dessert after he finished his burrito. We’re going to have leftovers all day and then birthday cake at a party at Invesco (Mile High) Field … and I don’t care at all. I know that I’m going to feel like crap, but my frugal side just can’t stomach the thought of throwing all of these leftovers away.

So tomorrow? We start anew. I’m looking forward to it but I’m not going to feel bad (mentally) about the abuse I’m going to do today.

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I forgot to weigh this morning and am not even going to bother recording what I ate. We had “Thanksgiving” today because my in-laws are leaving in the morning and because my sons will be at their dads’ for Thanksgiving this year, so we had a lot of cooked food. I should probably mention that I feel like crap.

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Slept like a baby last night, for the first time in recent memory - or un-recent memory, for that matter. I noticed yesterday that my chronic back ache was not bothering me, but I don’t know that I’m ready to attribute that to eating more raw since in my opinion, I’m not really eating that much more raw. That isn’t true, really - I’ve gone almost completely raw for breakfast and lunch, which is most definitely a huge change, but until my in-laws leave and I can make that jump to 95% at least by eating mostly raw at night as well, I don’t think I’m mentally able to really give credit.

My two sons tried the spinach/apple/grape juice combo that I made this morning. They were wary, given the bright green color of the beverage (dear husband was ever so supportive when he commented that it looked like Shrek piss … now really, I ask you - how do we know what color ogre urine is??), but both said it was good and I caught the nine year old sneaking a few more sips while I was unloading the dishwasher. He said he would be quite happy if I made it for him every morning.

Foods eaten:

• Juice - spinach, apples and grapes.
• Baby greens with I don’t know what kind of dressing (hotel convention dressing)
• Roasted zucchini, potatoes, yellow squash and asparagus
• Two rolls
• Tacos for dinner

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So, my routine was a little jacked up this morning because I had to go to a conference up in Boulder and I forgot to weigh. Oh well.

The conference lunch wasn’t really a challenge, but I also didn’t go all raw. In-laws are still here and we’re having roast tonight.

I had some cramping in my feet and hands today - not sure what that is, if anything. I did pick up some dulce flakes tonight at the store to get my iodine but I don’t know if iodine has anything to do with cramps. I have cut way back on salt in general, though, so I need the iodine regardless.

Foods Eaten:

• Spinach/apple/pineapple juice
• 2 cups grapes
• 2 almond butter balls
• 2 cups spring mix salad w/ranch
• 2 spinach raviolis with what I think was a vodka sauce
• 1/2 c asparagus
• 1 big strawberry
• 6 ounces roast beast w/wine and mushroom sauce
• 1 large slice sourdough with butter
• 1 c peas (canned)
• 2 cups romaine with ranch

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I took a recipe from Alissa Cohen’s book Living on Live Food and tweaked it and oh my gosh, these are honestly better than Halloween candy. I’m not kidding. I’ve tried enough recipes (and tossed enough horrible tasting stuff) at this point to know when something is a keeper, and this is a keeper.

1 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup raw almond butter

3/4 raw honey (you could probably reduce this a bit and I will next time - this recipe is seriously sweet)

1 c shredded coconut - not roasted or with sulphur stuff!!

1 c raisins

Put the sunflower seeds in a food processor, process until pretty much a coarse flour. Maybe a minute or so, depending on your food processor. Add the almond butter, honey and coconut and process until mixed well together - it’ll turn into a dough ball. Turn out into a bowl, add raisins. Form into small bite size balls and refrigerate.

If you have kids, they will LOVE these.

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OK, I’m at least a partial believer in the “energy” bit about eating raw versus cooked. After eating both a cooked lunch and a cooked dinner yesterday, I was TIRED this morning and didn’t get up to go to the gym. I slept more heavily throughout the night as well, but just did NOT want to get up. I’ll take the lighter sleeping and wanting to get out of bed and go do stuff, thank you very much.

So, in response to my sluggishness this morning (and the feeling that I was less than flowing in the posterior area), I had spinach juice this morning and I LIKED it. Instead of the bunched spinach that I tried before, which I think I did not rinse well enough, I used organic baby spinach in a tub that was already pre-washed. Maybe that made a difference. It might have also been the two apples and few chunks of pineapple that I threw in … but regardless, three cups of raw spinach, two apples and a little pineapple is not a bad way to start the day. I was really surprised again at how little pulp was left over. I’m loving the heck out of this juicer - Breville JE95XL Two-Speed Juice Fountain Plus. I really felt a little high for a few hours after I had that juice, like I was floating.

Oh - I just remembered something. This morning as I was driving into work and listening to my current book on tape, The Pillars of the Earth (which I’m loving, and no, I didn’t choose it because it was an Oprah book), there was a bit about one of the characters talking about how he had gotten used to living in a monastery and being up in the middle of the night. He only needed naps in the afternoon if there was meat for lunch, which I assume was cooked. Hmm.

Foods Eaten:

• Three cups raw spinach, two apples, three large chunks of pineapple - juiced.
• Four flax crackers
• 1/2 cup zucchini hummus (zucchini, tahini, olive oil, garlic)
• Big salad - romaine, iceberg, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, purple onion, red pepper, not raw cheddar (maybe an ounce - and that’s generous) and a few croutons. Did have a little ranch for dippin’ and regular french dressing.
• 2 ounces raw cheddar
• 1/2 c pasta with marinara, one meatball, 1/2 Italian sausage (still working on leftovers)
• 1 large piece garlic toast with mozzarella
• 2 almond balls

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Nine days in and I’ve lost a whopping one pound - woohoo!

That’s OK, though. I’ve had some other benefits. I honestly do think that I have more energy, even though I’m not 100% raw. I’m sleeping less but not tired, waking up ready to go to the gym instead of feeling that it’s just an impossible dream. Another huge benefit is in the elimination arena … it’s just not difficult anymore. That may seem like a minor thing but for me, it’s not. Since I was 13, I’ve had a constant battle with my innards. Some people get headaches when they’re stressed, I get “stuck.” Since starting on this little journey, though, I have felt no strain and that is an incredible relief and reason to stay on track all on its own.

12:00 - Went to lunch with a friend today at a Middle Eastern restaurant. I tried to focus on the cucumber & tomato salad but ended up eating some other stuff too. But honestly, I really wasn’t excited about any of it. I have to go to lunch with someone else tomorrow but will be able to direct that meeting to some place with salads.

3:00 - I had a meeting with my kinda-new-boss this afternoon to go over my new work responsibilities. I’m looking forward to it, and it fills up my day a little more. That’s good from a paycheck point of view and bad from a home project point of view.

7:30 - OK, Grandma finally cooked in earnest today, which is particularly impressive given that she picked up whatever stomach bug the family has had last night. She was up half the night puking and still doesn’t feel well today. Whatever this bug is, it spares no one. My friend at lunch today said she had it Friday and still doesn’t feel 100%.

Foods Eaten:

• 1 cup zucchini hummus (zucchini, tahini, garlic, olive oil)
• 4 celery stalks
• About a cup of flax seed crackers
• 2 cups red and green grapes
• Cucumber & tomato salad with olive oil (I don’t know what it’s called)
• 1/2 c saffron rice
• 1/4 c baba ghanoush
• 1 ounce chicken
• 1/4 pita pocket
• 1 falafel
• 1.5 cups pasta with marinara
• 3 large meatballs
• 1 Italian sausage
• 1 piece garlic toast

Activities:

• 30 minutes on recumbent bike

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Today’s experiment is from Alissa Cohen’s Living on Live Food. I won’t list the entire recipe because it’s hers and that would be infringement, but will say that I found it interesting that whole flax seeds were used. They have to be soaked first, two cups of seeds with two cups of water, for four hours or overnight.

I was thinking that soaking these would be like soaking nuts and such - a difference in size but not dramatic. I was wrong. When we got home from errands and I saw that the flax seeds appeared to have absorbed ALL of the water, I was really surprised. Even more surprising was when I went to touch them and they gave like a foam or something - ew!!!! And when I turned them out into the food processor - oh my gosh, gloop city! Soaked flax seeds make SLIME!!!!!

As Alissa notes in her book, putting the flax seeds in the food processor doesn’t actually break them down into a powder, it just mixes the other ingredients in better than you could probably ever do with a spoon or a spatula. I have read that flax seeds in their whole form are pretty worthless from a nutrition standpoint because your body can’t break them down, so I’m a little confused about their role in this recipe. It may just be for crunch, or perhaps soaking them breaks down the outer fibers so that your body can get to the insides. At the very least, it seems like they’d be good little brooms for your innards.

These were slightly difficult to spread around given the truly disgusting texture (I’m going to let my nine year old do it the next time, if these are tasty - he’ll get a kick out of it), so they may end up being too thick. We’ll see. They’re in the dehydrator now and won’t be ready until morning ….

Next Day Update …

They’re great!!  One layer didn’t dry out as much as it should have, but the other did and they’re crisp and yummy. I didn’t even put any salt on them, which is huge for me, the original Saltaholic.

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