I love food!

I have been so thrilled with eating again. Exploring all of the textures and tastes of raw food has been a delight. I am getting back into the swing of things since going off my juice feast. My stomach is feeling better, I am no longer suffering from the energy drain I experienced in the first days after introducing food and I am actually a pretty regular visitor to the bathroom so woo hoo for me!

I had my first meal with seeds yesterday and I have to admit that I felt a bit of an addictive force re-enter my life for the first time. I made the Ginger Almond Pate from Ani Phyo's book, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen but I substituted sunflower seeds for the almonds. I made nori rolls with it. I put spinach, the pate, leftover marinated vegetables and bean sprouts.

OMG, it was seriously so good. I was shoving them in my mouth and I just couldn't stop eating them. I ate two rolls around 4:00 and then I made a third at 6:30 and ate it. As much as I truly enjoyed it I have to say that I don't really like the way I felt like I couldn't stop eating them. In fact, just typing this out has made me want to go make some more nori rolls! I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of them.

I spent the evening planning out a few things I want to make in the next several days and I went shopping for the ingredients today. The photo above is a salad I made with romaine lettuce, broccoli slaw, walnuts, dried cranberries and an orange cucumber dressing from Ani's book. The dressing sounded so good but I found it rather bland and lacking. I have quite a bit leftover so I am hoping as it sits the flavors will intensify and meld to enhance the taste. I love the crunch of the broccoli slaw in a salad though.

I went to an Italian restaurant for dinner with my family on Sunday. When I made the reservation I told them that I had a special diet and I was assured that I would be taken care of. I told the waiter that I only ate raw vegetables and asked if the chef could prepare a salad for me with those ingredients. The chef actually came to the table to talk to me. I told him again what I ate and that I was leaving it up to him to create something wonderful for me.

When my plate came out it looked absolutely beautiful. He had arranged it like a piece of art. Unfortunately it wasn't too exciting in the taste department. He had simply cut up raw zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, mushrooms and grape tomatoes. That was it. No flavor, no nothing. Luckily I brought 1/2 of an avocado with me which I slathered over it like a dressing. It was fine then.

So overall I am doing fantastic. I am loving food and loving my life. I have such excitement about every meal and I am really excited about heading over to the raw food restaurant for a treat. I am hoping I can get over there in the next week.

Here I go!

I am beginning this blog to keep track of my ongoing (and soon to be ending) battle with food. I went raw for about 4 months in the summer of 2006. I lost a good amount of weight, looked good, felt pretty good, and then I fell off the wagon.

I can remember while I was raw hearing people say that they had fallen off the raw wagon and I couldn't understand how it could happen. Well, now I know. For me it was a mixture of the cold weather approaching and the feelings I was having that I was missing out on something. I started by saying to my husband, "I will just eat a cooked meal when we go out for dinner". Then I was at a hypnotherapy class and it was cold outside so I ate cooked food that day and by the end of the week, I was off raw.

The funny thing is I didn't just go off raw and start eating a healthy cooked food diet. I went crazy! I ate processed foods, sugar, pizza, beer, anything and everything I could get my hands on. I went berserk and in the process I have gained back all my weight and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror yesterday and it scared me. My skin is dull, my face is round and I have more than one chin. I have lost that vibrant and healthy look that I had.

OK, so I screwed up. I need to deal with that and move on! Now, what to do? I am going to ease back into the raw thing. I have decided that for right now I am going to be gentle with myself. I am not up for a heavy duty detox and after listening to Sergei Boutenko on Raw Summit 2 talking about the detox symptoms being unnecessary I have decided that makes a lot of sense.

I will not rush it and I will not allow myself to feel like a frozen popsicle. I will begin by eating one cooked meal each day; something warm and comforting. I will drink tea to keep me warm. I will not punish myself for not being 100% raw. Every step I take will be a step in the right direction so I intend to take it easy and not get too freaked out about everything.

I think this is a good path for me because it isn't too radical. I tend to do things full force for a while and then I back off. This is new for me so it is an experiment. I will keep track of what I eat, how I feel and I will share any recipes I enjoy.

So here is what I ate yesterday:
For breakfast I had 2 bananas
For lunch I made a RAW cranberry cole slaw. I didn't really like it so there is no sense sharing the recipe.
I made this RAW cranberry fruit salad that was yummy. I had that for a snack. My 7 year old shared it with me.
For dinner I had COOKED Moroccan Vegetable Soup which was simply lovely.

I felt good for most of the day. I ate dinner rather early because I was so hungry. I was worried that I was going to want to eat all night long but I didn't. In fact it was probably the earliest I stopped eating in a long time. I had a cup of herbal tea about 9:00 and that was it. I am feeling excited. I think this is a good move for me!

The two recipes I will share with you are ones I got off the Internet. I didn't think I was going to be starting the blog so I am unable to give credit to the creator of the cranberry salad.

Cranberry Salad (raw) -
1 orange (grate the peel and then cut up the flesh)
2 C. cranberries chopped (I threw them in a mini food processor)
2 pears chopped
1 sweet apple chopped
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans chopped
4 ribs celery chopped (I used less cuz I am not a fan of celery)
1/2 c raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 c raw honey (I didn't have any so I used a drizzle of agave)

Moroccan Vegetable Stew
by Kendra LaPreste, Massachusetts
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small white onion, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 med. carrots, chopped chunky
14.5 oz can diced organic tomatoes
1 large pinch saffron threads (I didn't have this so I threw some turmeric in instead)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
15 oz can cannellini or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C. peas, fresh or frozen
1/2 lb spinach, washed, stemmed and chopped

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and saute until softened.
2. Add tomato paste and cook additional 3-4 minutes
3. Stir in tomatoes, saffron, red pepper flakes, cinnamon and ginger and simmer uncovered for 5 min.
4. Add beans, salt and pepper and 1 3/4 cups water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 min.
5. Add peas and spinach and cook uncovered another 2 minutes, just until the spinach is wilted.