Week 1: February-In-The-Raw

How did your first week of February-In-The-Raw-Go? Mine, well let's just say, bring on the emotional detox...

I stated here, when one does a raw diet, some experience a sort of detox due to the cells releasing all the harmful substances, both physically and emotionally, that they had been housing for how ever many years. This detox can cause some intense physical and emotional effects to occur. To say that this release of toxins was a gentle process for me would be a complete understatement. Bring on the tears (poor Z man, he's so patient with me, Thanks Brat).

I have been an emotional roller-coaster. One second I'm riding high and on the up and up, and then next I'm am soaring at a rapid speed in a downward spiral. And I know that my emotions may be a little irrational to put it lightly, but I can't help but feel these intense sensations no matter how ridiculous they may be. It took me a few tears to figure out why I was having such highs and lows, but once it dawned on me I was releasing years of unhealthy toxins it made me feel less of a wack-a-doo. Now I am just trying to ride the coaster and let the tears fall - I've cried more in this week than I have in the 5 years the Train and I have been together. I'm actually talking about my emotions and getting them out. I think of the tears as washing the toxins out of my body. Everyday, I'm getting farther and better than I ever have before.

Have you been experiencing any emotional tidal waves? What do you do when you're emotional to feel better? Cry? Shop? Exercise?


Now, let's talk Almond Milk.

Isn't it funny that we complain about $2.99 a gallon for gas, but some of us are willing to pay some where up to $3.50 for a 16 oz carton of almond milk? I'm not a math wizard by any means so I'm not even going to attempt to do the breakdown on this equation. But I do know what thing, the equation looks a little like this: Crazy-outrageous-overly-priced + sweet-healthy-nutty-deliciousness = spending far to much on almond milk in the stores. The solution? Make it yourself!

Almond milk is so easy to make, you're going to be kicking yourself for spending so much for so long (I know I was). I said yesterday that the overall process is slightly time consuming, but this is only due to the fact that you need to soak your almonds overnight. Here's the breakdown.

Homemade Almond Milk:

1 cup almonds - soaked overnight
4 cups water
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
2 tbsp agave or 1 packet stevia - you can use honey but know that it's not truly vegan at this point (optional)

Start off by placing your almonds in a large bowl and covering completely with water. Place in the fridge overnight (8 - 12 hours).

Drain the soaking water, the almonds should have almost doubled in size. Place the soaked almonds in a blender along with the 4 cups of water on high speed for 5 minutes.

Place a couple of paper towels or a cheesecloth over a colander and place the colander over a large bowl. There should be enough room between the bowl and colander to allow the milk to drain. Strain the almond milk. After it has strained, wring out the paper towels or cheesecloth to assure you have gotten all the milk.

Place the milk back into the blender along with the vanilla and agave. Blend for another 5 minutes. Place the milk in an old milk carton (cleaned and rinsed). The milk will keep for a week. A week of inexpensive, fresh, luscious straight from the source almond milk. And keep the leftover almond pulp because I have some really great things we can do it!

It really is that simple.

Tomorrow I'll show you what you can do with that leftover pulp. I'm thinking raw nachos or maybe homemade chelseabars, my take on a larabar. We'll just have to see.




  

A night of chili and football

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I'm not sure if everyone grew up in the midwest surrounded by football or had 6'2 300lb D-lineman brother, but I did and I love football, meaning I love Super Bowl Sunday (it's usually my birthday too!). 

Tonight was spent in a very cooked fashion meaning, vegan chili with some cold beers, followed with some obscenities yelled at the television - and the Train - and sadly, very few laughs at the commercials (was it just me or were they particularly bad this year?). But don't worry, I went into tonight prepared. I had a giant green smoothie for breakfast and a giant salad loaded with greens and things. So, I did not lack in the raw department today. And to be honest, I needed a little chili to warm me up - or maybe that was the beers. Either way, I feel good. 

Anyways, I don't have much to write tonight, but I did want to prepare you all for what is to come your way tomorrow. Homemade Almond milk. 

Yes, you can stop throwing away $3.00 for a 16 oz box of this glorious drink and start making it yourself to throw into your smoothies, oats, and baked goods. I will warn you, it is somewhat of a time consuming process, but that is only because you need to soak your almonds at least 12 hours in the fridge. Otherwise, it's a few minutes in the blender and ta-da, rich, creamy, straight from the source almond milk. Not to mention, the things you can do with the left over almond pulp. But that is another post for another day. 

Did the Super Bowl turn out to your liking? Did you watch the Super Bowl? What's your favorite way to use almond (or any kind) milk?

A little rant followed by 2 recipes

It's Thursday! I hope you're all excited for the weekend to begin - even those of us (me) who have only worked one day this week.

So I have to start today by getting something off my chest. I'm a little anxious right now because today I have been a bottomless pit. I have been hungry all day long no matter what I seem to eat. For some ease these hunger pains (it could have been that 6 miler I did yesterday, but logic is hard to come by right now). This usually kicks me off my path of wellness, I'd say 8 times out of 10 time, letting the ED voice ring loud and clear, but today I stood strong by allowing myself to sooth the pains with food. Without even a second thought at that too, well, until now.

Night time usually is my hardest time because I would usually rehash everything that I'd done for the day to calculate what I needed to/could do tomorrow - what I could eat, how long and how hard I needed to workout, etc. But tonight I'm trying to just sit and feel. Feel the fullness of my stomach, the satiety from a wonderful dinner, feel the emotions - anxiety and all - that are racing through my heart and head. I have to admit in the back of my mind the ED wants me to do something bad, but in my heart - and the rest of my mind - I know that I'm going to be ok (ED 0, Burns 1.7 million!).

Yes, I'm going to be ok.

Thank you for letting me get that out. I'm still a little anxious, but like I said I know I'm going to be ok.

Well like I promised yesterday I have two raw vegan recipes to share with you all today. And like I promised, you won't be disappointed. First off, I know some people are still a little confused at the whole raw thing. I am trying to achieve as close to a fully raw diet as possible, but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself - nor should any of you - to be 100% raw 100% of the time. I aim for a softer approach of 80/20, meaning either 80% of my day I eat raw food followed with 20% cooked and/or 80% of each meal is raw with 20% cooked.

For example, I love beans and right now I haven't gotten to sprouting yet so I take the route more traveled and do the cooked beans. Vegetables have a great amount of protein, but I need the beans to satisfy and get my nutrients. So until I have my own kitchen to do my own sprouting, I'll put these in my 20% cooked category for that meal. I also happen to love oats for breakfast - or any time really - so until I find the time to soak them, I'll resort to cooking them. And I'm ok with that, 80/20 after all.

Today I wanted to share with you a raw wrap that is so good and so easy, you'll be wondering why you hadn't been doing this sooner.

Wraw Wrap:

1 large collard green
2 - 3 tbsp hummus
Any and all vegetables you can fit in it (I used an avocado, a tomato, and a carrot)

First, remove the fibrous stem (about 1/3 the way up into the actual greens) from the collard green like so.

Next, cover with the hummus followed by your vegetables. Then fold the two longer ends up over the vegetables and roll together as you would a tortilla.  And enjoy!

I had to wrap mine in foil (please recycle if you do too) because I got a little over zealous with the hummus - oops - a delicious mishap. The collard green has a slight sharpness and spiciness to it, but it has much more flavor than a store-bought tortilla. Talk about a great way to get some more greens in your day.

The second recipe I have for you all tonight is seriously going to change the way you think of mousse again - and avocados come to think of it. This is my raw carob mousse recipe adopted from Gena's and Lyne's recipes of chocolate pudding.

Raw Carob Mousse:

2 ripe avocados
8 medjool dates - pitted and soaked in 2 cups very warm water
2 heaping tbsp carob powder - you can use cocoa powder if you don't have carob but make sure it's fair trade and organic
1/2 tbsp vanilla
2 tsp raw turbinado sugar
1/2 - 1 cup water from the dates
pinch of salt

Start by soaking the pitted dates in the warm water for about 20 minutes so that they can reconstitute.

Place the ingredients into a food processor or a blendor starting with 1/2 cup of the date water. Turn on high speed and slowly add the other 1/2 cup of water 1/4 at a time. You probably have to stop every few minutes to scrape down the side. Once it has all come together it should look like this.

It looks super rich and decadent and a little soft and fluffy too.

But refrain from taking a spoon to it yet. It has to refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld and the fats from the avocado to solidify. I promise, it's worth the wait.

After an hour it should look more like this, very rich and decadent, silky and creamy, and oh so chocolatey.

I'm still working on getting the necessary ingredients for my tofu recipe I want to try so I can give you a tutorial on using tofu. Until then, enjoy these two easy, very nutritious, and super delicious raw recipes!

Did you try something raw today or maybe even something different?

A little Q & A

Hello everyone! I really can not thank you enough for the comments, encouragement and your interest in raw food, myself and veganism! I am so happy to know that my words are not only doing things for myself, but they're reaching people. So excited!

I have gotten a few question - great, keep them coming - on learning more in depth the topic of veganism and raw foods. And although I have quite a bit of knowledge on nutrition and health, I'm going to refer you all to some fantastic authors who have a better grasp of the topic than myself. But do feel free to ask me any question you do have. As I've mention before, I do specialize in nutrition and wellness (even though sometimes I don't take my own advice, do as I say not as I do syndrome, but I can assure you all, I am so much better at listening to my advice).

After trying to force asking the Train to go to the bookstore with me for a little bit of research, I decided he was right, it was too darned cold to get out of the house today. And why go to the stores when the stores are at my fingertips! I warned him though, I can do some damage to the ol' bank account internet shopping for cookbooks - and lululemon while I was at it. All for a good cause though, I couldn't let you all down.

Perusing the many isles (?) of vegan, raw vegan, and raw food cookbooks - and reading all their reviews -, I decided on these as recommendations (I also asked my fellow raw and vegan blog writers their opinions on books). They all present easy delicious recipes, great advice for easy transition into veganism and/or raw foods, and a vast array of information on the benefits of veganism and raw food.

*Crazy Sexy Diet - Kris Carr
*Kristen Suzanne's Easy Raw Vegan Transition Recipes - Kristen Suzanne
*Ani's Raw Food Essentials - Ani Phyo
*Raw Food/ Real World: 100 recipes to get that glow - Matthew Kenney & Sarma Melngialis
*Raw: The Uncook Book: New Vegetarian Food For Life - Juliano Brotman & Erika Lenkert
*Everyday Raw - Matthew Kenney

The list could go on and on, but these are some great ones just to name a few. The only reason I haven't purchased any of these yet myself is because, well frankly, I have far too many cookbooks that I don't use collecting dust somewhere - however, 95% of them aren't vegan so that is why they're dust bunnies now. This doesn't stop me from hours on end at the bookstores soy chai tea latte in hand reading each one and getting inspiration for my own recipes from them. A basic raw vegan cookbook is a great investment though to make because they offer insight and many basic recipes for you to try and add your own spin on once you become comfortable with the process. I highly recommend finding one you like to have at your beckon call.

I know I promised a tutorial on tofu, but the grim weather would not let me outdoors to get what I needed - or more like I wasn't about to let myself outdoors in the grim weather. So instead I promise two amazingly raw vegan recipes for you tomorrow, a raw wrap and raw carob mousse. You won't be disappointed.

  

Day 1: February-In-The-Raw.

Day 1 of February-In-The-Raw is about come to a complete and I must say, it felt so much better than I'd imagined (despite this blizzard that ensuing around us).

The first of this 28 day endeavor began with a vamped green smoothie. What better way to start of a month of raw with other than a delicious cup of Banana, Greens, and Maca smoothie.

Banana, Greens, & Maca smoothie:
1 c almond milk - or milk of your choice
2 bananas
1 handful spinach
1/2 bunch of kale
1 scoop raw vegan protein powder
1/2 tbsp Raw Red Maca powder

Place ingredients into a blender on high until thick, creamy and smooth. Enjoy!

Maca powder, for those of you new to this ingredient, comes from the root of the maca plant of Peru and is a highly nutritious. It is considered the superfood of the Incans, dating back to the 16th century as a form of medicine used to balance hormones, boost energy and endurance, and increase overall well-being. However, start slowly with Maca. It can cause you to feel gittery as if you'd had too much caffeine due to its properties as an energy booster.

I'm sure you're aware of the blizzard of 2011 we are all suffering from, which meant no work for me or the Train. I hate to admit this, but enough with the snow days already. Anyways, before the storm could force us inside for good, we headed out to get a workout and some reserves of the essentials (milk, bread, cheese and meat for the family, lots of fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, nuts and soy milk for me).  I forgot to mention, Day 1 of February-In-The-Raw also consisted of Day 1 of training for Dam-to-Dame 2011 (a 20K race I do every year). Not only am I challenging myself in the dead of winter to eat a raw vegan diet, but I'm also back to running. If today is any inclination on how training season is going to go then I am more then ecstatic. I got 6 miles in 50 minutes and felt great!

After a few curse words and some sliding in the snow drifts, the Z man and I declared defeat and headed home - very slowly - for who knows how long, weather permitting. We sat down for lunch together which consisted of a mile-high mound of vegetables - mixed greens, half a red pepper, cabbage, and carrots - with two heaping scoops of Basic Hummus, an avocado, Bragg liquid aminos, and nutritional yeast. It is a pretty typical salad for me - only with the volume turned up -, but today it felt like so much more knowing that all this raw nutrition is helping to make me physically and emotionally fabulous. Later I snacked on a Larabar (raw) and an almond milk chai tea latte (not raw) while doing some damage in the homework department.

I'm not sure if it's the raw food, the 6 miles, or my change in perspective, but I am feeling on top of the world. Like I was feeling pre-move only better with the Train by my side. I have found myself saying "Positive. Positive. Positive." any time I begin to have any thoughts of doubt or hear the ED start to squeak its nasty little voice. No matter what it is, I know I am the one creating the change, I am the one causing the action. I'm finding that strength again!

Dinner I broke out the ezekiel sprouted pita pockets that I have been so excited for. I discussed the wonder of sprouted grains here. You all must try these. They are light and airy, but still dense enough to be satisfying. I spread hummus and quacomole on the inside and stuffed it with mixed greens, sliced red peppers, 1/2 an avocado, and red cabbage. Not too much not too little. It was perfect. This is what feels to be satisfied - in every sense of the word.

Tonight is going to be spent working on a little more homework and doing some research for this week's menu. I have some tofu that I want to do a little tutorial on since I know a lot of you are either afraid or confused on how to use it. I'm thinking something Asian if my cupboards permit. We'll just have to see.



What did you do today that made you feel satisfied? Are you joining me in February-In-The-Raw?

The first annual February In The...

In the what?! Are you tired of me leading you on already? Out with it right? What is this mystery project that I have been eluding to this past week. Alright, here it is. I'm really excited! Introducing the first annual February-In-The-Raw.

February-In-The-Raw is project that I was inspired to do after enjoying three glowing and (mostly) peaceful months pre-move-to-midwest. This project is going to consist of 28 days of a raw vegan - but none the less delicious - diet. Why a raw vegan diet? I hope after the 28 days - if you'll please join me on this quest - you'll appreciate why.

What does this all mean? Why raw foods?

Raw foods are a living source of nutrients. A raw vegan diet consists of nutritionally-dense living organic uncooked and unprocessed foods to optimize health and alkalizing the body. Cooking food kills it, destroying many of it nutrients. Some forms of cooking, lightly steaming or boiling, damages the food but does not render it completely devoid. However, many raw foodist believe heating food over 118 degrees  kills the food, destroys the enzymes within it and changes the structure of the cells which create a toxic harmful substance. At the rate our elimination system works, eating cooked foods is consuming acidic toxins faster than your body can eliminate them, disrupting the acid/alkaline balance causing a range of problems from cancers and diseases to excess weight and psychological disorders. In thought, it is as if one would be eating rotten apples. The fruit is dead, void of nutrients and is harmful to the body, ultimately causing you to be ill. Same is the thought of cooked food.
 
As I stated before, February-In-The-Raw was inspired while I was in Boise. Previous posts here and also here all touch on a time when I was finally coming into my own - sans ED - and finding happiness. I tribute this discovery of self to adhering to a semi-raw vegan diet (semi-raw to me was 80% of each meal was raw while the other 20% was cooked foods). I had done quite a bit of research on finding happiness within and being healthy mind, body and soul, which kept leading me to a raw vegan diet. I started reading articles and books, listening to podcasts, and speaking to other bloggers on their experience as a raw vegan. After much research the vote was unanimous, in order to determine fiction from faux I had to try it for myself. And that is just what I did. 

I had never felt better. I felt this glow this livelihood within me that others said radiated everywhere. I felt confident, healthy, at peace. I did go through a short phase where I felt extremely tired and emotionally challenged, but after discussing this with other raw foodist, they explained this was my body's way of reacting to the elimination of toxins from my entire body. They described it as detoxing each and every cell of years of built up toxins, stress, anxiety, things I had internalized both physically and emotionally. They were all being flushed from my body. After this, I felt radiant.
February-In-The-Raw as I mentioned before is going to be 28 days of a raw (semi-raw) vegan diet. I choose February to launch this project because it is the shortest month of the year so it was a great chance for me to test it out. On this quest of raw veganism, I am going to be consuming as many fresh fruit, vegetables, sprouted grains, nuts and seeds, all while not skipping on flavor, nutrients or originality. Along the way I will be sharing with you recipes, answers to questions, exercise tips, alternatives methods to health and wellness and of course my ups and downs.

Here is what we have to look forward to this week (weather permitting):
Many different recipes for Green Smoothies, salads, raw soups and raw desserts to start with, followed by raw oats, raw wrap, and raw sandwich recipes.

So welcome to the first annual February-In-The-Raw! I hope you will all join me on the soul searching quest to health and happiness. 



**One of my final research papers for a class I did last semester was on reversing diabetes with a raw vegan diet and the information I found was amazing. Check out Choosing Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days, a truly inspiring documentary proving diabetes is curable on a raw vegan diet.  

Beautiful roses and spouted grains

Hello everyone! I hope your having a fabulous weekend. Thank you all for the posts and words of encouragement so far. They have been such a blessing and an inspiration!

In light of my upcoming event - which you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the final revealing - I decided to start the week off right with a very healthy and semi-raw (hint hint) recipe that I'm sure you all will love. Not to mention can all do effortlessly. All you need are a few ingredients and a blender (or food processor) and you are well on your way to Hummus Heaven! Behold my super easy, succulent and healthy hummus recipe.

Hummus Basics:

1 can Garbanzo beans
1 lemon - juiced
1 tbsp Braggs liquid aminos
2 tbsp seseme tahini
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients into the blender or food processor on high speed.

You may need to stop every few seconds to scrape down the sides and ensure everything is blending well together.

After 5 - 10 minutes here is what you'll have.

A flavorsome spread to put on anything your heart desires: sandwiches, wraps, salads, vegetables, cardboard (it's that good!). If you can dream it, you can do it. And the best part is, this is just the basic recipe that you can play with. Add some sun-dried tomatoes for a touch of sweetness or maybe some roasted broccoli for a little something different. Like I said, if you can dream it, you can do it.

What I'm really excited to put this hummus on are these, Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 Prophet's Pocket Bread.

Based on a recipe from the bible, Ezekiel breads are created from sprouted grains which are incredibly nutritious because sprouting grains before baking them produces a living substance. What does that mean? Many things that everyone needs to know.

Germination changes the composition of the grain or seed. Think of it as a seed of an oak tree. It has all the potential to becoming a 100 year old beautiful giant, but it must be given the proper circumstances to become a tree. Same goes for any grain or seed. Germination allows the dormant seed to become alive.

 Sprouting increases many of the vitamin content such as vitamins C and B. Carotene increase somewhere around eight times the amount of nongerminated grains and more importantly sprouting neutralizes phytic acids which inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc. Sprouting also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors that can have the ability to neutralize our own enzymes in the digestive tract. Lastly, sprouting produces numerous enzymes that assist in the digestive processes.

How is this different from any other grain or seed that creates our delectable breads and pastries you ask? Well unfortunately when grains are not given the opportunity to germinate or sprout, they do not contain the nutrients sprouted grains do and they retain the naturally occurring antinutrients which make digestion of grains rather difficult. Sprouting also makes the grains alkaline which are essential in creating internal pH balance and maintaining good health. And you are not eating a living substance,  but rather almost to the equivalent of eating a rotten fruit or vegetable. After all, you want your fruits and vegetables fresh and living, why not your grains.

Here is a great article on the topic of sprouting. I hope you all found this information eye opening and at least somewhat interesting.

Well tonight is going to be full of homework and reviewing articles for class and for the project. I hope everyone is getting excited tomorrow's revealing!

*Isn't this rose beautiful? I had such fun photo shooting it!