Sharing the Raw Love

Last weekend my cousin, Monica, came down from Virginia to visit us here in Atlanta. We've been close friends all our lives, but haven't had much chance to spend time together over the last few years. She got to hang out with my girls, and I got to hang out with her super-cool cocker spaniel, Baxter. It was an all-girls weekend (except for Baxter).

For the last few years, Monica and I have talked about Raw food as the basis for a healthy diet, and I've shared how it's positively affected my health. But she's a country girl, like me. We grew up eating ham, fried chicken, meatloaf, and pork chops. Even though we also spent a lot of time getting our hands dirty in backyard vegetable gardens, and picking blackberries from thorny bushes, a plant-based diet of any sort was a big stretch for her.

My older daughter and I took her to Lov'n it Live for her birthday. She really enjoyed the Nori rolls, the stuffed avocado, and the sage burger. By the end of the afternoon, she was asking a lot of questions about Raw food. She spent a lot of time browsing through books at my house, like The China Study, Eat This and Live, and Carol Alt's Eating in the Raw. I took her to Life Grocery and walked around explaining some of the Raw products and supplements.

She went home yesterday with a stack of Raw food recipes and a Raw food book she picked up at Life! Yippee! She's shopping today to stock her kitchen for a 60 day all Raw diet. It will be interesting to see how she finds it.

This experience was the reason for yesterday's post about looking at what you personally need to stay Raw and sharing it with someone else. Explaining things to someone new provided an avenue for me to better understand why we eat and live the way we do, and it grounded me more deeply in my choices. It's not about recruiting new members to a cult of 100% Raw, just sharing with people who are open to it, and letting them decide how it fits in their lives.

Now, if I can just get Monica to start blogging about her 60 days . . .

Raw Veggie Burger

Everyone in the family loved this all Raw meal! The Raw veggie burger immediately appealed to me, because it's veggie based. Most raw burger recipes seem to be nut-based, and since my 11 year old daughter is allergic to nuts, those are pretty much out.

Raw bacon is always a favorite around here. You've never seen an eggplant (or two) disappear so fast. We eat a lot of salads, so it's always nice to find dressing alternatives. Ranch dressing definitely fit the bill. This one is nicely tangy. I'm prone to experimentation, so I rarely follow recipes exactly. The recipe is nut-based, but I had some sunflower cheese left over from yesterday, so I used that as the base instead.

Yummy deliciousness ensued!

We also made it to the Dekalb Farmer's Market today. This is only part of our haul. Some things, including 10 young thai coconuts, are already in the fridge. If you're in the Atlanta area, this farmer's market is a great place to check out, especially when the open-air markets are closed for the winter.

At a Crossroads

For the last several months, LB and I have been seriously thinking of the idea of relocation. This had been our original plan, to downsize and move closer to Los Angeles once my Fierce-as-in-Fabulous Teenager graduated from high school. Well, she's done her part, but we've had a tough time making a decision. I've lived here with the girls for about 8 years. This is home to both of them.

The for sale/lease sign is in the front yard. We've looked at homes that we loved, but haven't found the right compromise on price and location. It seems no matter what we choose, either Lovely Boyfriend or The Amazing Wonder Girl will have to make sacrifices. I feel torn.

In the meantime, the stress (along with the rest of life) has thrown me off-course. I'm behind on my novel draft. I've been less consistent with my workouts and susceptible to eating things I wouldn't usually consider.

Because we'll be traveling to visit family and take FT to college in a few weeks, I have to get myself in a strong and good place right now. Traveling can take its toll any time, but particularly when one isn't eating well. So I'm back to being very aware of what I consume and checking my workout record for balance. I'm prepping for Bunny Berry's 100 Day Raw Food Challenge, and no you don't have to commit to being 100% Raw for 100 Days, unless you want to! Check it out.

Shhhhhhh!

3 and a half hours into my first day of silence, and already I'm frustrated. Not good!

For a little over a year now, I've wanted to go on a silent retreat. I've even tried to devise ways to get everyone else out of the house, while I made my home into my own silent retreat. I haven't been able to pull any of this off. Recently, Phillip at LovingRaw blogged about going into silence at home. I thought about doing a media fast (no TV, computer, radio, etc), but I share my home with 3 other people, and it seemed too complicated. Finally, I settled on just shutting my mouth. (That's the thing that's most likely to keep me out of trouble anyway.)

So for however long seems reasonable (hopefully 3 days), I'm not talking. I communicate via text, email, im, twitter, and scribbled notes, but I can't speak. If I continue through the weekend, I'll have to make an exception for my friend's Open House on Saturday. Her daughter is graduating high school, and a vow of silence might distract everyone from the point of the day. I'll just try to do more listening than talking.

How's the fam handling it? I usually talk to my mother and sister on the phone everyday, so this will probably be both a surprise and a nice break for them. Lovely Boyfriend seems to wonder exactly what the point is, but he's supportive of it, just as he was when I wanted to do the Biggest Loser week, and when I wanted to dive back into Raw foods. He trusts that I'm striving to be better. Fierce Teenager said, "This is going to be annoying." I just shrugged. She basically thinks my love of the stairs (I recently did 12 X 225, a new PR), my passion for Raw food, and my hair are all freakish. Wonder Girls, keeps forgetting she can talk. She writes back to me instead, which is a nice opportunity for her to fall quiet, but makes for really drawn out communications.

In this short time, I've quickly run up against some of my greatest flaws: short temper, impatience, intolerance for whining/complaining, and oh yeah . . . short temper. To deal with some of this, I quickly instituted a no complaining AT ALL rule for the kids, and made up some cards to respond to their typical questions and requests. My favorite is: ASK ME LATER.

What am I hoping to get out of this? I don't know. I have major life changes going on right now: FT graduating from high school and going to the other side of the continent for college, moving out of the home I've lived in for longer than I stayed in any other place in my adult life, trying desperately to complete my first novel, shopping for a home in an unfamiliar city, launching a business, selling off and giving away things I've lived with for a long time. Many of these are wonderful changes, but they still add stress to the day.

Hopefully, being quiet will allow me to better hear my family and friends and to better see what they're going through, so I can be more available to them. Hopefully, I'll be more productive, move my projects forward, and spend more time in prayer. Hopefully, I'll work on some of the above metioned flaws, and gain a greater sense of how to deal with things without non-stop verbal exchange.

Horses for Sale

Though I rarely eat animal products, I am not 100% vegan. With that fact in evidence, I just finished watching a recent episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and found myself struggling with the segment on the slaughter of race-weary thoroughbred horses. Apparently owners will sell them to butchers for a few hundred bucks once they feel the horses have outlasted their money-earning utility. They showed footage from the killing process, and several times referred to the fact that the process was designed for cows, not horses. They highlighted individuals and organizations that work to rescue noble steeds from the cow-butchering machine.

Once again, I am not a vegan. Yet, is the hypocrisy here not obvious? What's good for the cow is too cruel for the horses.

Yes, change has to start somewhere, but are we still arguing that horses and cows are so different from each other? In other countries, where most of the horse meat is sold (7 days from stable to table), most people would scoff at us for being so sentimental about an animal that has served its purpose and can serve one more in death. We're not talking about people who have nothing else to eat. We're talking about cultural tastes.

Does a cow, or sheep, or goat, or chicken, or pig deserve a less noble fate than that of a horse that once ran a good race?

While I think Real Sports is one of the best news mags on television, I have had issues with the host over the years. Perhaps that bias is coloring my judgment. I don't think so though. Either its okay to brutally slaughter animals for dinner or its not. Let's not pretend our affection for one species, or the fact that it once had the potential to win buckets of money, somehow earns it better treatment.

Work it Out!

Yesterday, I went back to the stairs. I confess: they're an addicting workout. If they were closer to home, I'd hit them several times a week. And it's not because I'm such a stud. My friend's 13 year old son went with us, and the kid lapped us. (He had a head start...he had his ipod...he was dancing on the landings, so it was more fun, so it was easier--yeah right! Bottom line: he whipped our butts!)

It's really an exhilarating challenge, with the beautiful beach below us, and it's a great mix-up from my old routine. Twice now we've encountered women who use the stairs as their daily exercise. Twice now, we've been advised that the secret to sustaining is in remembering to breathe, and breathe properly.

The sun is shining. There's a cool breeze blowing, and I wish I could drag LB down to the stairs to practice my soft inhale and exhale. He's under the weather, so we're sticking close to home, but tomorrow is another day.

Way to Relax

Today I did yoga for the first time in quite a long while. After working out with Wonder Girl (710 stairs, pretty darn good for a 9 year old) I sent her to shower and nap. I could feel a knot of muscles twisting up right next to my spine, so I pulled out one of my yoga tape, led by the magnificent Rodney Yee. It's old enough that it's on VHS, for goodness sake. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

The keys to enjoying the tape:

1. Modifying through the difficult poses.

2. Paying attention to proper breathing.

3. No one saying, "Hey mami, look at me!" or "How the heck do I do that?"

4. Zero noise distraction.

Maybe yoga gets better with age. 4 or 5 years ago, I would've strained to complete all the most difficult segments. Not this time. This time I just went with the flow. Try it. You might like it.

Roll with the Punches

So I had my day all planned out, and it was supposed to start out with 1000 steps at 7 a.m. In Laguna Beach there's a set of 230 stairs, and we do them at least 4 times--down and back up. It's a nice change from my regular workouts and I can't wait to get LB and my daughters out there to give it a shot.

I was ready on time, but my friend and some-time workout partner never showed. We talked later and realized we'd had a miscommunication. We'll do the stairs tomorrow.

That could've blown my plan for physical activity for the day. No such thing! I jumped on my pitiful ol' treadmill instead and put in my time there. Let nothing stand in the way of the Bikini Challenge!

Greens, Anyone?

Even if you're not following a High Raw diet, green smoothies offer the opportunity to add a wider range of nutrients to your diet in one easily blended drink. Wonder Girl arose from her nap today requesting a green smoothie for lunch. The lovely concoction consisted of kale, spinach, kohl rabi leaves, ground flax seed, hemp oil, and a mix of frozen strawberries, mango and papaya. We don't usually have quite so many ingredients, but we wanted to kick it up a notch.

When I'm feeling less than 100% greens usually help. I had the above smoothie, as well as a juice of apples, lemon, ginger and wheatgrass (that magical green). And I'm feeling super-duper!


Check out the green smoothie video added to the left side bar.

Is Raw Too Expensive?

Our grocery bill has almost doubled since we switched over to Raw Foods, and it wasn't low to begin with. Part of the reason for the increase was that I stocked up on a lot of staples--agave nectar, Raw honey, coconut oil, Raw cacao, raw nuts--and these items can be expensive, especially if you don't know where to shop. Of course, you don't actually need most of them to go Raw, but I took the approach of making our meals very indulgent. It eased our transition.

Now we're bringing the grocery bill down. We receive a basket of organic produce from South Coast Farms each week, for the very reasonable price of about $35 per 30-pound basket. We shop at the local farmer's market. We buy prepared Raw dishes, then figure out how to recreate them at home for a fraction of the price. We eat simpler meals.

Does living off plant parts seem cost prohibitive? Check out this link I found through the Daily Raw Inspiration. LocalHarvest helps you find organic grocers, farmers' markets, CSA programs, and farms in your area. I found a couple of nearby resources that I hadn't known existed.

Yes, it costs somewhat more to eat Real food. I could feed my family a lot more cheaply if we ate from boxes at every meal. But you can make it work--even on a budget--if you learn to work your resources. This month's grocery bill will be more reasonable.

New Raw Restaurant (cont'd)

Does this look like a pleasant morning's hike? Think again! It's a killer (see those tiny people at the top) and we LOVED it!


After we went up the hill and down six times, I gave LB a choice: we could go for cooked pancakes at a local place we used to love, or we could try a new Raw restaurant. His heart said pancakes, but his head said healthy, so we headed over to Terra Bella Cafe, in Redondo Beach, CA.

There we found yummy goodness.


Raw Hummus

Savor the Goddess
Marinated kale, cucumber, red onion, cabbage, and avocado. I opted for the steamed quinoa add-on. It's not Raw, but it's a high-protein grain that some High Raw people consume. I usually don't, but decided to give it a shot. I eat kale salad at home a few times each week, but this one was worth ordering.

Veggie Quiche
Mushroom-spinach with cashew cheese and macadamia crust, topped with roasted tomatoes. Served on a bed of greens with dressing. This dish arrived before my salad, and after tasting it, I almost wished I'd ordered it. It was warm and satisfying--full of subtle flavors.

We ordered the Chocolate Raspberry Torte to go. Unfortunately, we devoured it before we snapped a photo. I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but we had this for dinner with a plate of strawberries and it was unbelievable. I'll be ordering one for my next grown-up party.

All in all, it was an amazing day. Thanks to Lovely Boyfriend for snapping the pix and for driving all over the freeways of Los Angeles, while I dozed and dozed and dozed. You're a true gentleman, LB.

New Raw Restaurant

Today was an awesome day, even though I was exhausted, and blue for some time, and kept falling asleep in the car! Lovely Boyfriend and I hiked up a huge sand dune 6 times and then treated ourselves to lunch at a new Raw restaurant. Terra Bella Cafe is in Redondo Beach, California. The meal was amazing, but I'm tired, so I'll post the details and photos tomorrow. For now, suffice it to say this restaurant stood up to the other 3 I've tried here in Southern California.

Raw Roasted Radishes

I like radishes, but I was getting bored of slicing them to toss on top of a salad, and they come in my CSA basket just about every week. The farm newsletter recommended roasting them. I figured what's good for the oven was good for the dehydrator.

Quite simple:

Cut the cleaned radishes into halves or quarters, depending on what size you want. Mix with your favorite Raw Italian Dressing. I used a modified version of this one. Dehydrate for 3-4 hours at 105 degrees. Serve warm over a bed of spinach, pouring the the excess dressing on top. Add whatever you want to finish the salad. I went with avocados and tomatoes.

I should've taken a picture. The dressing turns a lovely pink color. Try it!

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 Progress Report

Breakfast: Smoothie of tatsoi, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, ground flax seeds, coconut butter, and a couple of dates

I don't really love kiwi in smoothies. I think this one would've been better without it--still, it's potable. Yeah, definitely no kiwi next time. It's kind of irritating my mouth....seriously, like, burning.


Pre-workout snack: juice of pineapple and celery
That was my 1st go with the new juicer, so I figured I'd stick to something easy. It was quite green and yummy!
1 tablespoon hempseed oil
I usually get lots of healthy fats in my diet (I'm obviously not 80/10/10) but lately I've been getting less than normal. Combine that with a severe shortage on sleep and I'm looking a bit raggedy. Gotta up the fats.


Lunch: smoothie of spinach, avocado, tomatoes, sun-dried tomato, cayenne, sea salt, garlic, onion powder and celery juice
I love having these savory smoothies as soups. I add as little water as possible and enjoy it as a meal. This 2/3 of a blender carafe was more than I could consume in one sitting. Satisfying!

Dinner: The last of the lunch smoothie

Stop the Cravings!

Today, I wrestled with the devil. Okay, it wasn't really that dramatic, but I did face down a craving for a toasty veggie panini.

I haven't thought of one of those sandwiches in a long while, but as soon as I'm told to limit myself, my mind goes directly to whatever's off limits. Doing green smoothies has been great, but it's also meant giving up the marinated veggies, dehydrator breads and crackers which have taken the place of some of the cooked foods I loved once upon a time.

But it's only been 2 days!

I know. It's pathetic. Check out this juicy gal who has been juice feasting for 80+ days, shooting for 92. You don't hear her whining about paninins. But I aint her, and I was sitting in my car, ready to head down to the cafe and get my sammich.


Here's how I fought down the craving:


1. Did a quick self-check to make sure it wasn't a demand for emotional eating.

2. Told myself that if I still wanted the sandwich in a couple of hours, I could have it.

3. Asked myself how I would feel if I blew a simple 3 day challenge on one sandwich. How will I know how I could benefit from the smoothies if I didn't give the 3 days a fair chance?

4. Promised myself that if I still want the darn thing on Thursday, I can have it without guilt.

5. Reminded myself that it's only 3 days!

Normally I'd go through these steps with LB and he'd remind me of my goals, while reassuring me that one stupid sandwich won't kill me if I really want it. We have a zero-deprivation rule. But LB wasn't around, so I had to walk through this one by myself. And I did!

Green Smoothie Progress Report

Breakfast: smoothie of spinach, avocado, tomatoes, sea salt, cayenne and garlic


Snack: 2 cups of white/mate tea


Early lunch: smoothie of strawberries, spinach, chia seed gel and a couple of dates
This smoothie needed something, but I didn't have time to do more experimenting. It tasted okay, just a bit bland -- especially after my spicy breakfast smoothie.

Post-workout snack: smoothie of apples, an orange, cucumber, cilantro, lime juice, ginger and a touch of agave.
Wonder Girl loved this one. Next time I'll make a larger batch, but this one's just for me!

Dinner: smoothie of tatsoi, strawberries, mango, papaya, ground flaxseed, pineapple and an orange
1 cup white/mate tea

Dessert: kombucha

This all seems like a lot of food to me, but I've been putting in serious workouts, and I have to remember I often share my blender-full with the girls. It's hard to turn down kids who're begging you for greens, veggies and fruit!

Why Green Smoothies?

After dropping my percentage of Living Foods down to about 50% or less and indulging in highly processed cooked foods over the holidays, I've gotten back to about 90% Raw and Living foods. I'm comfortable with that number, and often can go days where the only non-Raw I take in is in the form of tea. So why the 3 day Green Smoothie challenge?

I know I did some damage with the way I ate in December and January. I'm taking these 3 short days as an opportunity to bombard my body with the goodness of greens to undo some of that damage. The large amount of fiber should help me detox/cleanse to an extent, and blending the food makes it a snap to consume large quantities of greens, while making it easier for my body to digest and assimilate the nutrients.

Honestly, it's easy in some ways. I don't have to wonder what my next meal will be. I leave the blender sitting out on the counter, and soon I'll put the juicer in action as well. An essential part of doing green smoothies is to get a wide variety of greens. Right now I only have spinach, but my CSA basket arrives tomorrow, and it always has lots of different leafy veggies in it. While I was on my hike, I was truly tempted by the wild mustard and dandelion greens growing all along the trail. No picking allowed in the park, though. Too bad.

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.