Integrating Raw

I'm still trying to figure out how to make Raw a bigger part of my diet now that the hubby is home. The easiest way is salads, we both like them and they are easy to do on there own or with a meal. Any morning we are home together we like to make a 'real' breakfast instead of our normal green smoothies. Now we use a berry and date syrup that is just made in a blender. We froze the left overs and used it over the next few times. Last night the hubby even ate flax crackers! I'm working on integrating more raw items into our diet and replacing some of our staples with their raw counterparts.

Does anyone else have good ideas on how to integrate raw to a house that is not 'into' raw?

I'm having a house warming/Entertaining at home party this weekend at my place and I'm thinking I might make some kind of sweet treat that is raw for everyone to try...we will see.

I also just bought a raw 'cookbook' for more inspiration. I'm really excited about it, I just need some time to dig through it...I can't wait for this bathroom to be done (this weekend!!!)

What is a CSA?

Photo by galant from everystockphoto.com

CSA stand for Community Supported/Sustained Agriculture. Its a monthly subscription to a local farm that delivers a portion of veggies and or fruit to you through out the summer. They can be delivered weekly bi-weekly and in different portions sizes. There are also different options as far as how the produce is grown, organic, sustainable and the like. Each CSA also has its own delivery protocols. Many have a designated pick up spot on certain days and you just let them know which one you would like to do. Some will deliver to your door, and others you need to go to the farm and pick it up yourself.



There are also options for sweets (maple syrup and jams) coffee, eggs and even meat.



One thing to realize is that this is not a groceries store you don't get to pick what you get whatever is in season. This means you might get a lot of spinach one week and have to wait for July till you get tomatoes and the like. It also means you may get some vegetables you have never heard of before or some that you don't like. That is fine give them away or switch with a friend.



If you interested in getting a CSA this Summer. I would suggest starting with these websites to locate one in your area www.localharvest.com or http://www.foodroutes.org/ you can find a listing for your area and start narrowing it down to which one you would like.



This is such a great way to support organic, sustainable and locally grown produce. Not to mention if your on a raw diet its a good way to get some new veggies in your diet.

Eating Raw Thoughts

I'm sick, I have the sore throat, stuffed nose, ear pain, sinusitis thing going on. Here is the interesting part, while I was eating raw I was on the edge of this I could feel the pressure in my ears but I was fine, a little stressed out and pushing myself but not sick. Now that I'm eating out more frequently (we are finishing up the bathroom and cooking takes time) and eating less raw I've been feeling worse and worse until Monday morning it hit me. I could barely swallow let alone talk. It seems awfully coincidental that this happened at the same time that my eating habits changed...

I believe that we should be eating as natural as possible, our bodies weren't created to eat all of these processed foods. They stress out our bodies an make it harder for it to do other things (like take care of cold and flu viruses before they take us out and we need an outside chemical to help us out, antibiotics. I think we shroud be taking care of ourselves in order to introduce as few outside chemicals as possible.

So this leads to the issue of organic vs current growing methods. I think organic is great, however for the majority of Americans it is just not financially possible. Therefor as much as possible I try to buy organic when I can and believe in the "dirty dozen" from the Environmental Working Group:

12 Most Contaminated
Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes (Imported)
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes

12 Least Contaminated
Onions
Avocado
Sweet Corn (Frozen)
Pineapples
Mango
Asparagus
Sweet Peas (Frozen)
Kiwi Fruit
Bananas
Cabbage
Broccoli
Papaya

Raw Week 3

Day 15~ Smoothie for breakfast and lunch (I was in a hurry) with carrots on the side. Dinner was and AMAZING Cashew cheese log and flax crackers from a local raw restaurant. I split it in half and had a 1/2 a grapefruit with it. Full Raw Day!!



Day 16~ Smoothie, and leftover cheese log and grapefruit. For dinner I was at a friends for spaghetti and puppy play time.



Day 17~ Smoothie, Yummy salad with avocado, tomatoes, red pepper, sunflower seeds, and cut up olives for the 'dressing' (the good kind soaked in all sorts of spices and oil from the local co-op) Dinner at friends, we had crock pot chicken burritos.

Day 18~ Smoothie, delish lettuce wraps with my home made tomato pesto (a few substitutions to the recipe) and a salad for dinner.

Day 19~ Smoothie and then hubby was home we had a snack of chips and salsa and then went out for PF Changs for his moms birthday.

Day 20~ Not raw at all celebrating the hubby being home. (ok that is kinda a lie instead of syrup on our pancakes we did a raw berry syrup that was amazing just dates a little water and berries!)

Day 21~ Smoothie with watermelon! Lettuce wraps with homemade sun dried tomato pesto spouts, red peppers and something else I can't remember. Dinner will be Italian before the hockey game we are going to tonight.






Observations~



I know I've said my skin is clearer but I've also noticed that when I do get a blemish it heals much faster. I feel like the world is much clearer, I don't know if this is solely because of the raw diet but I believe its a part of it. My brain just seems to be functioning better. I find I'm full faster and honestly a little longer (I still have a decent metabolism.) I have more resistance to the 'bad' snacks at work and am craving more healthy snacks. The other day all I could think about was an apple with cheese slices!!



Hopes for the future~



I want to keep raw as a part of my diet to help balance out the processed foods that will still be a part of my life. I'm hoping that 2 or 3 days a week I will at least be raw for 2 meals a day and maybe even a full day. Ryan likes salads and summer is coming so that will help a lot. I've seen improvements in my appetite, cravings, and skin, so why would I stop? :)



I want to get a dehydrator (I had a loaned one from my parents for years but they finally wanted it back) and a bigger food processor, I think mine is only 2 or 3 cups. Any suggestions for those to things in a 'normal' price range would be appreciated.

Raw week 2

Day 8~ Smoothie, leftover tacos from before the hubby left...gotta clear out the fridge. Dinner was raw spaghetti. It was good I reviewed a few recipes for sauce and decided to go basic 2 tomatoes, garlic and green onions all blended up in my food processor. Shredded zucchini as 'pasta.'

Day 9~ Smoothie, healthy frozen dinner, handful of raw nuts for a snack and Zucchini spaghetti and apples with aged cheddar for supper.

Day 10~ Smoothie (with fresh lemon juice a few carrot sticks) Green wraps for lunch with spouts, raw tuna salad, cucumber and carrot sticks on the side, Raw nuts for a snack and a grilled chicken sandwich for dinner.

Day 11~ Smoothie, Green Wraps and Leann Chin for dinner (a friend asked me out and I miss having dinner with people.)

Day 12~ Banana for breakfast, and some pistachios, Lunch was lettuce wraps, and dinner was Mexican out with the family (cuz's birthday)

Day 13~ Banana for breakfast, salad for lunch and apples and cheese for supper. (Day 1 of 4 totally raw.)

Day 14~ Orange and pistachios for breakfast, salad for lunch and banana, nuts and chicken noodle soup for dinner (tummy was bugging me.)

Observations~

My skin is still fairly clear it is definitely better than normal. I feel more awake during the day but still have a need for a nap when I get home. This might have something to do with not getting enough sleep overnight and the work load at home and work. I have noticed the first negative thing all though I don't have any proof it is from the raw diet it has been the only major change lately. I'm having a gas build up problem....embarrassing, it hurts. I found if I eat less more often then that helps a lot. I"m going to try that today and see what happens. As long as we are on gross and embarrassing topics I've also noticed that my body is processing food more efficiently and that is a big plus. Our bodies weren't created to digest all of these crazy chemicals and processed foods.

Fridays final thoughts

So you know all of those fun giveaways I post about? Well I won one!

How much fun is that I can't wait to pick out what I'm going to get from http://www.zazzle.com/, I won a $50.00 gift certificate and I just don't know how I'm going to decide. They have pre-designed and customizable everything, t-shirts, dog shirts, bags, shoes, mugs everything check them out. They even offer organic items. I have so many ideas in my head I just don't know what to do...


Oh and I have an amazing give away for all of you photo editing types out there. Check out this overlay giveaway from vol.25

Check out these examples of the use for overlays soo much fun!

Ok on to the raw update, I have good news I'm going to be adding another week to my challenge. hubby's business trip got extended to 3 weeks so, so is my challenge plus starting today I want to add another part. In the next 10 days I want to have at least 4 of them be completely raw not just 2 meals a day. I'm excited to try some new recipes!!





This also lets me take my time and not rush to finish the bathroom which is good because I was wearing myself out. I also am going to show my hubby via video phone and then post some pics for you next week so you don't' have to wait so long.

Cooper is getting so big so to end this week here are come pictures of the man in my life at the moment. Oh and someone asked he is a 42 lb 6 month old goldendoodle.

Going raw week 1

Click here for day 1

Day 2~ Breakfast was a green smoothie, Lunch was a healthy frozen dinner and yogurt, and Supper was an amazing salad with mixed greens, carrots, red pepper, avocado, and my fake-tuna salad on top it was great!

Day 3~ Today was my first full raw day! Smoothie for breakfast, 'tuna' salad (wanted to use it up) in a 2/3 red pepper for lunch with cucumber slices and and orange for lunch and another good salad for supper.

Day 4~ I honestly can't remember anything but the smoothie...oops.

Day 5~ Breakfast was as aways a smoothie, Lunch was leftovers (not raw) and Dinner was an event. I was in a rush and had to be on the road so I decided to eat McDonald's. This was a bad choice not only heath wise but turned out to be bad because I ended up calling the police on a crazy drunk driver in the drive-thru. She was even yelling at the guy that she wanted curly fries...lol. So lesson learned stick to the min of 2 meals a day raw.

Day 6~ Smoothie, duh. Lunch was a green wrap, yummyness. Dinner was a burrito, chips and salsa. It was dinner out with a friend and it was nice to sit down with a friend and eat looking at a person not a dog or a TV like I've been doing for a while now.

Day 7~ Smoothie, Pad Thai, much healthier and tastier takeout. Dinner was a great big salad with spring greens, tomato, red pepper, carrots, sprouts, green onions and more that I cant even remember.


Observations~
I've noticed that I have a lot more energy, I've also noticed my face clear up quite a bit especially for a 'time of the month' when it would normally at its worst. I've also noticed the fun I have finding and making new recipes. I don't have a lot of extra time since I'm trying to get as much done on the bathroom before the hubby comes home on Saturday morning...I hope.

I like the freshness of my meals they make me happy. I've also noticed my cravings starting to change, today for a snack the first thing I thought of was fruit not crackers or candy. That is the main goal of this self challenge. I hope to keep incorporating raw into my weekly meals after this challenge is over.

First raw day.

My first full raw day had a tough start I forgot my smoothie in the fridge. I know its not the best way but I make mine the night before and then re-blend in the morning. Well yesterday morning I forgot (I may have overslept just a little.) But I had a raw bar in my bag ready for such an occasion.
Anyhow I drank it this morning and as always yumm! Bananas, spinach, blueberries, apple and water de-lish. I really started with my supper last night I had a great veggie salad last night at Potbelly, while listening to two of my Friends sing at the restaurant. The salad had artichoke hearts in it, that is one of those things I never would of thought of on my own but they were great I'm going to have to go get some.




For lunch I had this amazing 'tuna' salad that Leslie mentioned to me. I took it to lunch with a whole tomato and then cut it up and ate it together it was great! However mine was a little salty I used some kiem (Korean word for seaweed) instead of kelp flakes,we had in the house and forgot it was pre salted. Oops. But it was good with the tomato to help tone it down. I know this isn't the greatest picture but its all I've got.

Last night we had a big family dinner and Korean food does not mix with a raw diet but it is fairly healthy. Since my goal was 2 meals a day raw I succeeded!!


I'm looking forward to bringing a raw strawberry pie to work next week for others to help me eat. I'm still looking for recipes to try. Oh I found one for a sun dried tomato pesto lettuce wrap the other day on one of your blogs and I can't find it again. HELP!







On a side note I just got my Posie pins from Pleated Poppy and they are soooo stinking cute!

I'm going raw! (briefly)

While the hubby is away on business, I'm going raw in an effort to kick some bad habits. Specifically the never ending struggle with processed sugar. When my parents leave on Monday morning that is it. I'm going to eat raw breakfast and dinner and for lunch at work it will very depending on what is on hand and what I can do at work easily since I only have a 30 min break.

So this will be a 2-3 week experiment and I'm really excited to try new things. I'm planning on lots of salads with new toppings, fruits, veggies, raw nuts (not processed, buy in the bulk aisle at my grocery store) and lots of other things I've found on the web. As always one of my fav blog for inspiration is Happy Foody, one dessert I've made before and I'm excited to make again is the Raw Strawberry Pie.
I'm going to continue with my green smoothies in the morning (lately they have been more purple since I've been using blueberries recently.) But the rest of my day is going to change, I hope we will see how it goes.

If you have any good blogs/websites/recipes for me to check out let me know!