Work it Out

Recently my Cousin Mike, an athlete and physical therapist, asked what I'm doing for exercise these days. After hemming and hawing and making some excuses, I realized I hadn't really found my workout groove since moving to Georgia.

In California, I had the foothills in my backyard and the beach a few minutes away. Hiking was a no-brainer, and though I could only watch the back of Mike's head when we hiked together, I always knew I could lace up my shoes and hit a trail. Easy.

Not so much here in Atlanta. And I refuse to join a gym. Nothing against them, but I can just see the monthly fees hitting my checking account while my gym bag gathers dust. Most days I take my 11 year old to the park or for a 3 mile walk/skip/gallop/jog/sprint, but those are more for her than for me.

What's for me? Body weight resistance training, and shaking my bootay to dance cardio videos. That's right. I watched 2 a.m. infomercials and while I was tempted by Brazilian Butt Lift, (who wouldn't be?) I ordered Zumba. And darnit, I like it! It's so much freaking fun. If you see me at the club hitting my salsa or reggaeton moves, now you know why. Seriously, they break the steps down to such a basic level, even I can do them. That means anyone can. The heart rate goes up, I break a sweat, and my daughter gets a good laugh. What else could I want from a workout?

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 Food Today

Breakfast: Chia pudding with chopped nuts, diced apples, and raisins (Shocking, I know.)

3 cups green tea

Lunch: 2 apples, a handful of banana chips

Early dinner: huge salad of chopped spinach, marinated mushrooms (olive oil, salt, Raw apple cider vinegar, a bit of agave), and a handful of zucchini and squash chips (dressing: olive oil, crushed garlic and lemon juice)

Raw Pasta & Asparagus

Celery root noodles tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and topped with marinated asparagus, avocado and onion. Super-delish!

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!

Happy Birthday to my Dada!

THE BEST DADDY IN THE WORLD!!!

Raw Food Today

Pre-workout green powder drink

Breakfast: chia pudding with chopped apples, pecans and raisins (This is sooo easy and delicious!)

3 cups green/roobios tea

Snack: smoothie (pineapple, strawberry, coconut water and green powder)

Lunch: a chopped plate of avocado, tomato, and sweet onion, topped with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Snack: 1 cup of coffee (This can be dangerous for me. I've had coffee 2x this week, and I don't want to go back to needing it daily.) 1/2 banana

Dinner: Bed of spinach topped with shredded squash and zucchini marinated in olive oil, tamari and spices and dehydrated for a few hours

Dessert: Sliced pear dipped in Raw chocolate? If I'm hungry, that's what I'll have.

Raw Food Today

Breakfast: 1 and 1/2 chopped apples, topped with raisins, chopped walnuts and chia pudding (soaked chia seeds) 3 cups* green/roobios tea

Snack: 1/2 apple, 8 oz. green drink, 1 Raw bar

Lunch: salad of shaved fennel and apples, with olive oil, * balsamic vinegar, sea salt, and a dash of agave

Snack: 1 cup *coffee

Dinner: Cheezy Squash with Spicy Tomato Sauce (all Raw, except a bit of Nutritional Yeast)

Lots of water. I start every day with about 32 ounces of pure water and keep knocking it down throughout the day.

How to Stay Raw for Life

I subscribed to more Raw food blogs than you can shake a stick at. Even after avoiding those that conflicted with my personal choices in lifestyle and philosophy, there were 40+ popping up in my reader every morning. Recipes, links, books, health news, calls to action, challenges, and social networks--I enjoyed it all, but couldn't keep up. Unless Raw food was to become my full-time job, I'd have to cut back.

Being a woman of extremes, I didn't just cut back, I cut out. I stopped opening my reader and popping into goneraw or giveittomeraw to see what was going on in the online Raw community. With the move from Southern California to Atlanta, Georgia, I lost real world access to Raw folks as well. (Yes, I'm sure there are some here in the city, but certainly not as much as there was back in the land of sunshine.) Not long after I isolated myself from the Raw world, I drifted away from Raw foods. It happened slowly at first, and gradually my reliance on real foods in their natural state decreased.

I never stopped eating Raw foods. I love them, and I want to feed my family what's best for them, but I went from eating mostly Raw all the time, to eating some Raw some of the time. Consequences, not surprisingly, quickly followed--weight gain, my face breaking out in response to wheat being added back into my diet, overall diminished energy and reduced productivity. Bummer!

So putting aside my usual excuses (not enough money, not enough time), I returned to Raw. Rawfoodrehab has been my support system, and I'm back to visiting a few blogs and thumbing through my Raw food cookbooks. The excess weight is dropping away and other problems are resolving themselves.

How do you stay Raw for Life? Don't try to do it by yourself. While Raw isn't a religion, it is a lifestyle, and any lifestyle is easier to maintain when you surround yourself with people who support it.

Nutritional Excellence with Raw Veggies

Check out this video from Vegsource. The title of the clip is What You Ate as a Kid Can Give You Cancer, but it's really a positive, hopeful look at how the eating-style we take on in adulthood can prevent cancer. Here, Dr. Joel Fuhrman promotes a raw vegetable-based, vegan diet. In this clip, his focus is not so much on what harm we may have done to ourselves by eating a typical western diet as kids, but rather on what we can do about it now. Good stuff.

Vegsource.com is a great resource for articles and videos about nutrition.

Recital Madness

What Can You Give?

As I tighten my belt, my Raw food meals have become increasingly simple. I don't miss the prepared foods or superfoods as much as I thought I would. Truthfully, we could afford to keep eating as we always have, but it would be foolish. The economic future can't be predicted, and we want to be prepared for whatever comes. That means cutting back where we can, paying off debt, investing wisely, and saving.

But what of those for whom the economic crisis has already been a life-changing event? Imagine choosing between paying for your home or buying food for your family. Not a nice choice to have to make.

Recently our church did a huge food drive to help stock local food banks. (What I love about my church is the ACTION it takes.) They even encouraged young children to bring in boxes of their favorite cereal to be donated.

Since then, Wonder Girl and I have been picking up a few extra things each week when we grocery shop. No, we can't just donate Raw food. We recognize that it would be ideal to give the healthiest food available, but that's not practical. Our goal right now is simply to make sure one less child misses a meal. So we buy the best quality cereal and canned goods we can find. We buy extra boxes of quinoa and lentils, and canned veggies. After a few more weeks, we'll donate it all.

What can you give? Every box, can, or bottle makes a difference. Look for sale items and buy what you can afford to donate. Skip a meal out, and use what you save to help someone else eat. Let's make sure no one goes hungry in this country. We voted for change, and our president-elect called for sacrifice. Filling plates and stomachs is a great place to begin.

A Seat at the Table

I, Too, Sing America

by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Happy Election Day! (I hope)

If you're reading this, and you're a United States citizen 18 or older (sorry, Fierce Teenager), I gotta believe you're voting today. Make history, people!

I'm leaving now to head to my local voting location, where I'll turn in LB's ballot and cast my own vote. California has a lengthy ballot, as always, but there are some truly important issues being addressed, so I don't mind. Wonder Girl 's going with me to the polls, and she's psyched for our election party tonight.

Happy Election Day, yall!

Having "The Talk"

Recently an acquaintance was visiting while I was in the kitchen making a Raw salad dressing for the night's dinner. This young lady is getting married in less than a month, and she still didn't have a dress. The problem: she was desperate to get down a size first.


Finally, she got around to asking me, "So how'd you lose all that weight?"


I hesitated. I was really busy, and not in the mood to explain all the theory behind Raw food, so I just said, "To tell you the truth, I mostly eat fruits and vegetables."


Note that I didn't even use the word Raw, and I didn't say I only eat fruits and vegetables.


"You mostly eat fruits and vegetables?" Yes. "And you don't get sick?" Huh?!?


Seriously, I didn't see that one coming. I might've expected the Protein Question, or a question about whether or not I get bored with my food, but not a question about getting sick.


If I thought she was really interested, I would've sent her to a few of the wonderful Raw websites, but not this time. I gave her a couple of recipes, advised her to give up soda and coffee drinks, and closed the conversation.


I know. It was, perhaps, a bit selfish, but I was busy, man! Do we owe it to everyone to have "The Talk" every time we get the chance?

A Nice Place to Visit

The Internet can consume so much of our time. Online news, blogs, email, and social networks can encourage you to plant your butt in a chair for hours at a time. But sometimes its worth it.

Have you visited Green Bean Dreams? Hers isn't a Raw food blog, but it fits well with the Raw lifestyle. She writes intelligently and accessibly about living a sustainable life, lessening our impact on our environment, and being a responsible citizen of the world (and enjoying the pleasures of fruits and veggies along the way).

Right now GBD is calling on us to recognize how affluent we all are from a global perspective, and calling on us to wield that power consciously. Check her out. She's good peeps.

Raw Spirit Festival

I won't be in Sedona this weekend, but I'm wishing safe travels and a fabulous Raw time to those who are going!

Looking forward to reading all the blogs, and seeing the pix and videos from the lucky attendees. Have fun!

Family Reunion

What a great weekend! Yesterday, Lovely Boyfriend and I got to have lunch in Little Ethiopia with a friend he hasn't seen in about 20 years. Algernon and his wife Kim, own the best burger joint in Jackson, Mississippi, Cool Al's. Pretty interesting line of work for a couple of vegetarians raising 2 kids who've never eaten meat! I hear they serve a mean veggie burger and delectable sweet potato fries.

We went to Rosalind's Ethiopian Cuisine, for a meal which was vegan, but not Raw. It was delicious, though I did pay a small price with an upset tummy last night--no biggie, just a little hard to handle a big serving of cooked when I'm staying High Raw. I love the huge communal plates and the fact that we all eat with our fingers. On the front of the menu, there was a full explanation of how to properly eat with one's fingers. The Enjera pancake replaced utensils. Finger -licking was highly discouraged!

We enjoyed split-pea Alicha (peas steamed with onions & seasoned with garlic and ginger), vegetable alicha, collard greens, lentils and other yummy dishes.

I'm definitely inspired to convert some of the dishes we enjoyed into Raw versions. I'll start with those greens!

To slide back into Raw, LB and I had that simple tomato/avocado salad for dinner last night, and Earth Cafe's Raw peach cobbler with lots of fruit for breakfast this morning. This will be my first day back to our local church without my Fierce-as-in-Fabulous teenager. I miss her! We usually whisper during the sermon and crack each other up. (I know. I'm a bad influence.)

Get out and try some cuisine you've never had before. I hadn't had Ethiopian in years, and I'd forgotten what a nice experience it could be. Even if you're staying all Raw, lots of ethnic places can come up with salad combinations you've not thought of.

And, call an old friend!

More Mango Slaw

A quick treat on my way to a barbecue. This kept me on track, and was easy to prepare.

1/2 bag shredded cole slaw mix

1/4 small yellow onion

about 1 tbsp olive oil

1 mango chopped

1 jalapeño diced

Celtic sea salt

You can up the flavor with chopped cilantro, sliced red peppers, or added spices. What I love about this, is that it takes about 5 minutes to throw together and it travels rather well. It actually tastes better after a couple of hours. Both of my daughters love the sweet and spicy balance of the mango and jalapeño.

Okay, I know the plastic bowl wasn't the best. Let's pretend we didn't see that, shall we?

P.S. Sorry for the awkward formatting--Blogger!

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!