A More Raw Raw Bar

When I first went Raw, I relied on Larabars to get me through tough spots. I always had one or two in my purse, and stocked up on them for travel. I still think they're one of the healthiest snacks widely available in conventional markets, but their Raw quotient varies from one flavor to another, and I want something more reliable. Still in need of a Raw convenience food I can slip in my purse, I went looking for an alternative.

Gopal's Healthfoods had me with their tagline: Raw is Good - Raw & Sprouted is Best! I ordered the brazil nut and macadamia Sprout Bars from VegSource. One of them reminded me of the coconut candy I used to eat when I was a kid, but I'm not sure which it was. I guess you could say I enjoyed them both. I had planned to share them with the Lovely Boyfriend, but I looked down and they were finished!

Four raw, organic ingredients made up each of these delicious bars. The nuts used in the bars are germinated, which is awesome! Soaking the nuts so they can germinate gets rid of the enzyme inhibitors, making the enzymes available to aid in digestion. It also reduces the phytates, compounds which bind with minerals and prevent them from being absorbed. The only slight downside for me is that the bars are made with agave, which I've drastically reduced in my diet. That's not a huge deal for me though, just something to keep in mind.

Both bars I tried were delicious, and I'll be ordering more for my emergency snacks-to-go stash. If you've got a favorite Raw bar, leave me a comment so I can check it out!

Deciding for Ourselves

Earlier today I read an article that claimed a Raw food diet is a healthy alternative, but is not advised for children, or pregnant or nursing mothers. Huh?!?! That's the second time in a few days that I've read such a statement from an "expert" or nutritionist.

I understand and appreciate specific advice about most things, including Raw food. Consider B-12 or calcium supplements. Make sure to include a wide variety of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and seeds. Avoid white potatoes and yucca in their Raw form. I even appreciate opinions that suggest you include Raw dairy, or plenty of Raw fats, or not too much Raw fats, eat mainly fruits or minimize them, avoid nuts and avocados, or embrace them. I may not agree with some those suggestions, but they at least suggest the author has done some amount of thoughtful analysis of the topic.

If a Raw, plant-based diet is dangerous for children, then why the heck would it be healthy for adults? And what's the specific danger? And how is it more dangerous than the typical American way of eating? Is the expert assuming all cooked foods are excluded from a Raw diet?

Seems it would make more sense to advise people as to how they can address any specific concerns, rather than ruling out the way of eating as a whole. I'm just saying.

Raw Food Today

Breakfast: 3 cups green tea, chia pudding with chopped apples, dried bananas, raisins, and pecans

Lunch: Raw bar with 1 apple

Pre-workout Snack: Green drink

Dinner: Chopped collards (marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, Raw apple cider vinegar, crushed garlic and ginger, and sea salt; dehydrated for 6 hours at 105-degrees F) topped with tomatoes, avocado, onions, and sesame seed

Raw Sparrow-Grass

Raw asparagus, anyone? It's a good source of lots of yummy goodness. Anti-carcinogens, fiber, calcium, iron, Vitamin A, folate, zinc, potassium, Vitamin B6 and more.

In the 1600's, asparagus was referred to as sparrow-grass. (I just discovered this fact today while reading a book completely unrelated to food.) I'm in love with the name, not surprising given my affection for archaic terms.

Asparagus is a family fave around here, but it wasn't always that way. My first sampling of the green stuff was a soggy, mushy mess. Repulsive. It may have been frozen, or come from a can, or simply have been boiled to death. Whatever the case, I didn't dig the stuff until I had it grilled and the roasted. After that, I couldn't understand my friends who turned their noses up at it. If I could eat it every single day, I would.

Once I decided to go Raw, I thought sparrow-grass would be one of my cooked hold outs. I never saw it on the menus as Raw food restaurants, and assumed it was one of those veggies that required cooking to be enjoyed. Oh silly cooked foodie.

Marinated sparrow-grass is one of my all time favorite foods. (It's not in season here, but when my Lovely Boyfriend makes a rare grocery trip, I don't turn my nose up at anything in the bag.)

I love the skinny stalks. I chop them on a bias and marinate them in a combination of olive oil, garlic, lemon juice (or vinegar), and salt. If the stalks are thick, I use a peeler to create ribbons, but I don't like to do the extra work. They don't need to be dehydrated, but I like to throw them in a pyrex, cover with foil and leave them in the D overnight, at say 105-degrees F. The longer they marinate, the better. Just don't let them dry out.

Try it!

Simply Delicious Salad

Lovely Boyfriend went to a local farmer's market on Sunday, with the goal of getting peaches for breakfast. He came back with lots of delicious fruits and vegetables, including heirloom tomatoes, and Reed avocados. If you haven't tried Reed avocados, you're missing a creamy treat.

This salad is a simple combination of heirloom tomatoes sprinkled with avocado oil, Celtic sea salt and pepper, topped with thinly sliced red onions, and the most amazing avocado. Nothing fancy, right? I know, but it was one of the dishes that's so delicious you just want to savor it. It must've taken me 15 minutes to eat that small plate.

Try it. You'll love it!

Take It To the Limit!

For a while now, LB and I have talked about taking some kind of physical vacation, the kind where you take a week to go hiking, take gym classes, get massages, weight train, do yoga and focus primarily on your physical being. I did one years ago at Canyon Ranch, in Arizona, and it was a paradigm-shifting experience. Unfortunately I was so out of shape at the time--considerably overweight, stiff, suffering frequent muscle spasms--I didn't get to fully immerse myself.

Realistically, such a vacation doesn't fit our budget or our time constraints right now. So this week, we've decided to bring the wellness retreat home to us. Granted we'll still have real life to do. The bills, errands, work projects and chores can't be set aside, but we will be streamlining those areas to focus on physical challenges.

My favorite reality show is The Biggest Loser. Even with all the editing and time-condensing, and the occasional drama, it's a show that's about taking control of one's life and health. In the end, every Loser is a winner. I love that! Inspired by the fact that the shows participants work out 4-6 hours each day, and even more than that as the finale draws near, we've decided to take on something similar.

While we won't have their trainers or facilities, we've got more than enough to get in intense workouts. This week will be a good push toward June's Bikini Challenge. (Okay, it's really the Swimsuit Challenge, since the guy's are participating, but I find Bikini more motivating.) It will also be interesting to see how far we can push ourselves.

Because a sudden increase in physical activity can lower the immune system, we'll be eating particularly Raw and well, with lots of greens. I'll continue to use my green superfood powders, probiotics and multivitamin. I'm also throwing in some DHA (an omega-3 supplement from algae), and enzymes. It wouldn't do to get sick during our Biggest Loser week.

I'm excited about this! As the theme song says: What have you done today to make you feel proud?

Muscle Spasms and Green Drinks

Sundays are optional workout days for me. Yesterday, I chose to rest. LB wasn't feeling well, and by early afternoon my back muscles were in major spasm mode. Motion usually eases the pain, but it takes a lot of fortitude to commit to exercise when I know it will get worse before it gets better.

I've dealt with this problem since I was 19 years old. A few years ago I started taking prescription medications for it, only submitting to the Rx every six months or so. Yesterday, the pain was bad enough for me to consider taking the pills, but I had 2 brown bottles in the cabinet, and I couldn't remember which one was for muscle spasms. I looked them both up on my friend, Google.

I quickly differentiated between the two, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but, "Users have an increased likelihood of heart attack." Gotta say, that wasn't a real turn on. For the first time, I searched for "muscle spasms" and "natural" or "homeopathic." Here's the first page I found:

I would look to your liver and digestion or the lack of digestion for help here. The liver in Chinese Medicine rules the muscles. If they are in spasm, there are toxins in the body and all your healing is not taking affect. I would recommend green magma or chlorophyll to give your body back basic nutrients. I would also recommend enzymes and don't' be afraid to take 6-8 at a time.

Bottom line: Eat (or drink) your greens, girl! It's just not that complicated, is it? How many other pages could I have chosen? It wasn't at the top of the search results, so I can't believe it's a coincidence that I clicked on that page. I could very well be dealing with toxicity built up over the holidays, though I still believe I tweaked my knee on the sand dune. If I'd stayed with the greens over the holidays, I might've avoided that tweak, or healed from it more quickly. Either way, I'm not taking the heart-stopping meds, unless I get to the point of unbearable pain. For now it's ice packs, heating pads, and green drinks.

Fennel & Orange Salad

Fennel has a mild licorice taste. I don't love licorice, but fennel really appeals to me. To temper the unique flavor, I slice the bulbs into 1/4 inch rounds, separate the slices, and toss them in olive oil , sea salt, and balsamic vinegar. The vinegar, which isn't raw, adds a nice flavor. You can marinate without it--using Raw apple cider vinegar and other things, like Raw agave. Dehydrate at 105-degrees, for 4-5 hours, or until the desired state of chewiness is achieved. I usually leave mine in overnight.

Fennel & Orange Salad

3 bulbs fennel (marinated & dehydrated)

3 oranges (peeled & sliced horizontally)

sea salt (to taste)

black pepper (to taste)

Break the orange slices into little segments. Toss everything together and allow time for the flavors to blend. LB really doesn't like licorice and didn't love this salad, but I enjoyed it. Next time, I'll serve it over spinach. Very satisfying!

Today's Yummy Food

Morning Pick-me up: juice of beet greens and apples


Breakfast: raw peach cobbler
2 cups white/mate tea blend


Lunch: cantaloupe & kiwi
Cauliflower couscous (cauliflower pulsed to bits, parsley, onions, tomatoes, garlic, sundried tomatoes, lemon, olive oil, and sea salt)

Dinner: 2 bulbs of fennel--drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, dehydrator roasted

Dessert: 5 dried figs

Green Smoothie Wrap-up

So the Green Smoothie Challenge ended on Wednesday, and what did I learn:

• I really do love green smoothies, but the savory ones are best for cold weather.
• Living Foods has to be about abundance for me. When my mind clicks over to a scarcity mentality--focused on what I can't have--I slide into panic mode.
• I need fats to function well.
• Having a dedicated smoothie container makes things much more convenient.
• There's definitely a more intense feeling of lightness that comes with living off of green smoothies. I can only imagine the energy I'd have if I did it for a longer time period, or if I did a juice feast.
• I'm incredibly fortunate to have access to so much fresh, organic, local produce.

There will definitely be more green smoothies in my future--I'll likely invite LB to do a challenge with me when he returns--but I still love fruits and veggies in their original forms best of all.

I'm off to finish my juice of beet greens and apples.

Green Smoothie Report

Breakfast: Smoothie of spinach, strawberries, coconut water, cinnamon and ground flax seeds
The only problem with this was that I used frozen strawberries, so it was cold. I sat under a heavy throw blanket while I sipped, but my poor fingertips were chilled to the bone.


Post-hiking meal: Smoothie of spinach, avocado, lemon, garlic, tomatoes and sea salt
After my workout, I really wanted something substantial. This smoothie is based on a recipe in Victoria Boutenko's book, Green for Life. I put it in a bowl and ate it like a soup--all the more satisfying for the little bits floating around for me to chew. I was quite hungry, and this green smoothie quickly satisfied me.


Snack: White tea with Raw honey

Dinner: Smoothie of pineapple, coconut meat & coconut water
I thought I'd have another smoothie after this, but I wasn't hungry. That means I missed my 3rd green smoothie for the day. No worries. I'll plan better tomorrow.

Three Cheers for 118

So our Valentine's Day dinner at 118 Degrees was marvelous. (I'm speaking only of the food. Our server made us feel like we'd arrived at a truck stop, rather than the chic Raw restaurant we know 118 to be. On the plus side, the other staff was friendly and attentive, including the partner-owner, who checked on our table a few times.)

I used to dine at fine restaurants and linger over 5-course meals, but it's harder to do when you're eating Raw. We enjoyed the starter: wild mushroom rosettes on vegetable crackers. A serving amounted to one cracker, which was perfect. It was followed by an amazing cream of asparagus soup. This might've been my favorite dish, as I do miss soup and haven't been able to create one at home that satisfies. LB and I both enjoyed the salad (Wilted Sweet Spinach Salad with Crispy Tomato, Olives & Basil Cheese). We weren't served the oversized portions common to modern restaurants, but after this course, I couldn't eat another bite. In the old days, I would've either continued to nibble on my food or rested a while before diving back in. Instead I had my entree packed to-go, tasted LB's Basil Ravioli, and called it a night.

I enjoyed a glass of organic Cabernet with my meal, while Lovely Boyfriend indulged in Yogi Juice: Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, Berry Juice, Bee Propolis and a splash of lemon juice. We both brought home our desserts, the Famous Chocolate Ganache, and we'll dive into those tonight.

We usually stay home on big ocassion days, avoid the crowds and high prices, but this outing was worth the time and effort.

Eat Food

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Thus begins the introduction to Michael Pollan's latest book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. It's a call to action for people everywhere to move away from processed junk, to limit meat consumption and to depend once again on a wide variety of plants to nourish us. Mr. Pollan is not a vegan nor a raw foodist. He's not pushing a diet or any supplements. He simply wants us to go back to eating food in its recognizable forms and to stop relying on what the fake-food industries push on us--all things boxed, bagged and canned for our convenience.

This books walks us through food history, describing how man hath fallen from enjoying what nature intended for our nourishment, to devouring whatever scientists suggest. After pointing out some of the damage being done by currently popular food-like substances, Mr. Pollan spells out some specific steps the reader can take to move away from a Standard Western Diet and begin eating food which our great-great-grandmother's would recognize as such. (What the heck is a Frito anyway?)

This book has the nerve to suggest that we shouldn't stuff ourselves with whatever's cheapest and easiest to attain. It has the nerve to state plainly that scientists don't really know much about why certain foods are good for us. It has the nerve to encourage us to enjoy what we eat. It's a worthy read.