green smoothie discovery

I've read how good green soothies are for you, but never quite got in the habit of drinking them. I preferred juicing. However lately I am reading about how more nutrient dense these are than juices, and I'm concluding each has it's nutritional 'place'.

I've always made my green smoothies with dark leafy greens and fruit. Well, I bought an ebook series on transitioning to living foods, and the woman includes some recipies that look really good. Level 1 is about incorporating 1 quart of green smoothies or energy soups in your current diet each day. I'm not starting from the standard american diet, and have been eating at least %50 raw for 6 months, however, her advice and reasons for the green smothies made sense to me. So I was considering a renewed focus on having a daily green smoothie (she gives lots of what look like great recipes for greens/fruit combinations too)

But the savory (soup) recipes seemed intuitively more intersting to me... Well, DUH!! My epiphany happened : ) Who says green smoothies have to be greens and FRUIT? I have more of salt tooth in general than a sweet tooth, and I lean even more toward savory now on raw foods. So I made a green smoothie with the following;

• big handful kale
• a few radish leaves
• small amount sweet onion
• very small garlic clove
• 2 tomatoes
  
• 3 small stalks celery w/leaves
  
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper
• 1/4 cucumber
• sea salt
• cumin
• sprinkle of Lydia's Seasoning (dried veggies, mostly)
• black pepper

Oh. My. Gosh!!!!!! Love it!!!!!!!

Granted I am drinking this and it's 1pm, so it's definitely more of a lunchtime flavor than breakfast. But even the fruit/greens smoothies were not doing it for me at breakfast. Too thick and sweet. It was hard for me to finish them and get them down.

Lately, I've gotten into manna bread for breakfast. Whole Foods sells a manna bread that tastes like the richest, moistest muffin. I have a small amount (it's calorie dense) with my black coffee. Yum! Around 10am I green juice with fruit, greens, wheatgrass and lemon (somehow lately I'm only juicing 4 or 5 days a week).

Now I will add my savory green smoothie for the afternoon!

: )

yummy salad

made this one up in my head last minute for dinner tonight, and thank goodness, it tasted just as good as I thought it might : ) Had it with some left over arugula salad, and an ear of steamed corn.

• jicama root, peeled and chopped
• cherry tomatoes, halved
• Papaya, peeled and diced
• 1 bunch basil leaves, chopped
• squeeze of lemon juice
• black pepper

toss well.

Enjoy!

reporting in

I have been doing so much reading regarding the raw food lifestyle, mostly books I have ordered and websites. There is so much information out there!! This movement is definitely alive and well, and many people have been eating raw for years or decades. I ordered a few DVD's, one I started watching and it's interesting. It's good to see the people speak "live" and also to watch the demos of the recipes. It's inspirational and motivational. There are lots of interesting videos on YouTube.

Hey, as I type this I am eating celery sticks with raw pesto dip that I made. yum.

The other day I tried a treat I ordered from www.rawbakery.com - chocolate macaroons. O.M.G. They were heaven. But only four came in the little package : ( They were dense and rich so I only had one at a time, but still, it left me wanting more and they were expensive. So, I decided I could make these myself (or try). They used cocoa powder, agave and coconut. I didn't have the cocoa powder so I went online and found a terrific one at www.sunfood.com. I am beginning to like David Wolfe a lot. Anyway, since I had to wait for that ingredient, I decided to make something similar, with what I had. A while back I purchased Artisana's Pecan butter to try. It was intense, but not naturally sweet like almond butter. I was left wondering what I would use it for. Bingo!

Into a small cuisinart I put:

• 1/4 c pecan butter
• 1/4 cup fine organic coconut - note - this is not raw. It is unsweetened Red's organic. I have found raw online, but want to use up my current stash of stuff before ordering new.
• 16 raw cocoa beans
• agave syrup
• chia seeds - I was thinking these would help with bulk since they swell. But they are also a nutritional superfood.
• a few raw cashews
• a few raw goji berries

ground this into a paste and made mini 1/2" balls that I then rolled in more fine coconut. They were good, but need a squirt of lemon next time for acid/balance. Also, I was missing the cocoa powder for a darker chocolate effect. But not bad for a first attempt!

A note regarding raw ingredients - a number of the raw food exerts I have been reading or watching have mentioned not to "sweat" the details making sure every single ingredient especially spices, etc. is raw. This is not the point of raw food eating. The point is to introduce as much raw live food into your body, because over time this will lead to the most healthful eating and state for one's body. This approach makes complete sense to me and feels right. It's unproductive to get dogmatic about things.

So for instance if a recipe calls for maple syrup or something not considered raw, it's not a big deal (for me anyway). It's the main/most ingredients that should be live or raw.

I read another "definition", that a raw foodist is one who eats 75% or more raw live food. This surprised me. In the past few days I think I have been doing that and yet I surely am not a raw foodist because part of the 25% is sometimes animal protein ( gasp!!) : )

So, while I am enjoying the journey of discovery and informing myself of this fascinating approach to nutrition and health, I have not lost myself in it. Yes, I am surely eating much more raw and health food in the past 5 months and I am happy for that! I love my daily green juices. I love being able to snack out of baggies filled with every fresh veggie that I take with me in the car, and not feel like I need to explain myself, even to myself! I love learning about the nutrition locked inside superfoods, about sprouting, about various preparation methods, etc. I've discovered some great raw foods that taste so good they easily replace non-raw snacks or foods I used to enjoy instead. But I sure will enjoy my 3 star lunch we're planning to attend in Paris. Or going to Aubergene. Or Carlos' roast chicken, for instance. Or baked sweet potatoes and squash. I still have coffee in the morning, and iced espresso in the afternoon. We're drinking less wine, but we still have it.

It's all a balance and an ongoing evolution. A trying out, and incorporating foods and practices that feel good and make sense, and shedding those that no longer work for me. And also keeping my head not to blindly follow advice or trends that while they might be good for some aren't for me right now.

: )

Food Stuffs, or, the Stuff that is Food...

a few my currents favs...

• Luscious Lemon Swirl cookies - These are fantastic. Coconutty and quite lemony. Not bitter as one other Lemon Macaroon I tried was (yuck). Alos like most raw food that I have tried, less does more. In others words, it takes more chewing and time to eat raw goodies, and they seem to be much more filling because of that. These are on the expensive side, since the package only contains 7 cookies. On average they are about $1 a piece.

• Mauk Family Farms Crusts - there are three flavors; Breakfast crusts, Mineral Crusts, and Wheat-free crusts. The Wheat free are the lighest and have a lovely light flavor. The Breakfast crusts are more substantial, have a little dried fruit, but still are not too heavy. The Mineral crusts use nori and onion powder for a really nice flavor! Not too strong and no bitterness. Love all these!

• Synergy Kombucha - I know, I know, bottled Kombucha is a no-no and we're all supposed to be brewing our own, right? But this stuff is good, and has the right amount of fizz. The fizz is hard to consistently master making your own (I hear), and flat kombucha is ho-hum. Now, if we could figure out a way beyond all the glass recycling (that part isn't so cool) but anyway.... Best favors are Original (citrusy, and better than their 'citrus' flavor), Cranberry, Passionberry, Botanical no.3 (has Lavander!)

• raw chocolate - you know, raw chocolate, when done well, is so much better than traditional!!! I am seriously getting hooked on raw chocolate. You all know my chocolate addiction, so I will be making a point to share with you my favs. Currently my fav is Gnosis, especially their Rose Lemon flavor. Stay tuned...
  

boo...

I'm baaack!!!!!!!!!!

OK, so much has been in my head that I have been wanting to capture in my blog! I'll probably break it up into several posts as I remember things. And I won't promise continuity or chronological order : ) .....

I have been doing so much reading (books and websites), internet searches, trying different products etc... I'll talk about each in more detail as I go. Since Feb I initially went through a rough period where I got away from eating raw beyond salads and veggie sticks, raw snacks, etc... I probably was at about 40%. "Low raw" hee hee.

I went to Tucson, we traveled to NY in Feb, and then there was a trip to Austin in April. In between hectic but usual 'life', somehow I allowed myself to stay off track. It really is a choice so I want to acknowledge that and not make excuses. However, when we got back from Austin I've been steadily getting back on track. These past days I've done really well eating raw the whole day until dinner. And I'm green juicing again. I'm not sure what percetage I'm at, but i'm feeling better and better, my nice nails are back, my skin is looking a little better, my hair is softer, etc. I am happy.

Today, look for updates to my favorite products list. I'll add some new things I am happy with. I am also going to delete Lara Bars. It's not that I don't like them now, but I find I've moved past these; they seem to heavy and dense to me now. I have a bit of a stash still, so I'll eat these (half or 1/3 at a time) and just not get any more once they are gone.

I'm also going to add some other list sections to this blog.

• "Favorite websites"- for shopping, recipes or inspiration
• "Rawfood lifestyle leaders" I'll comment on their books or websites, and my opinion of their teachings or advice.