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anjou pear

Raw Diet Day Four: ¡Raw Fiesta!

by Jenn (j3nn.net) on July 15, 2010

I found myself grazing most of the day yesterday. A piece of fruit here, handful of nuts there, a piece of cheese, a raw no-bake cookie, and before you know it, I really only ended up with one complete meal. My lunch consisted of olives, a piece of Jarlsberg Swiss cheese, and a Diet Coke (Is diet Coke a cooked food? Do they boil those chemicals? lol)

These olives were amazing… not raw, but part of my 20% or so that wasn’t. ;)

Sadly, they’re all gone now. I finished off the whole half-pint in 2 days. :shock: So salty, so YUMMY! :mrgreen: I guess the olives qualify as my one and only cooked food for the day, besides the dairy products.

I came up with dinner while thinking about what to use baby bella mushrooms for. Then it hit me: Raw mushroom tacos!!

Raw Mushroom Taco “Meat”

  • About 8 small baby bella mushrooms (or any mushrooms), chopped up in small taco-filling sized pieces
  • Chili powder to taste
  • Cumin to taste
  • Garlic powder and garlic salt to taste
  • Black pepper to taste
  • A few splashes of Cholula hot sauce (or any hot sauce that you prefer)
  • 1 cap-ful distilled white vinegar
  • Generous drizzle of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

Toss all ingredients together, cover, and let sit at room temperature for at least 3-4 hours until you are ready to eat it. Makes enough filling for 3 romaine lettuce leaves.

Raw Mushroom Vegetarian Tacos

  • 3 romaine lettuce leaves spread with Fage Total 0% plain Greek strained yogurt as the “sour cream”; raw mushroom taco filling, fresh Haas avocado, grape tomatoes, and the rest of my raw milk cheddar cheese, about 1.5oz

These were SO GOOD! JUST like a taco! :shock: They were a little watery from the mushroom filling, but it tasted just like eating a taco salad. I wasn’t crazy about the creamy avocado texture with the soft mushrooms and lettuce shell — it was a little too much for my preferences, but other than that, these were a very successful raw recipe! Ways to improve it: Drain the mushroom mixture so that it’s not so watery; use crisper lettuce, like iceberg; or, use a food dehydrator to help with the mushroom filling. If you remove the dairy components, you have an honest to goodness raw, vegan dish. :)

Raw Diet Day 4 Menu:

  • A few pieces of Jarlsberg Swiss cheese
  • Olives from olive bar
  • Diet Coke
  • Handful of raw cashews
  • 1 medium banana
  • 1 Anjou pear
  • Raw mushroom tacos: romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, mushroom taco filling, Fage Total 0% plain Greek strained yogurt, raw milk cheddar cheese, Cholula hot sauce
  • 2 scoops organic nectars cherry chocolate raw non-dairy frozen treat
  • Raw cacao nibs
  • 1 raw no-bake cookie
  • A few licks of raw almond butter from butter knife

I’ve arrived at day 5 of my high raw food trial without any noticeable improvements in my stomach situation. All I have noticed so far is that certain raw foods and possibly dairy make it even worse. I’m still much hungrier than I usually am with cooked food, but like I said yesterday, I’ve been managing that much better. Shockingly, I don’t miss bread that much, I just miss warm food in general. :( All of my food fantasies have revolved around grilled salmon and cooked vegetables. Weird, for me anyway. I’ve gotten to this point where I’m eating less because cold, raw foods just don’t sound appealing, so I’d rather go without than munch on something I’m not interested in. I can see this type of diet leading to an unhealthy relationship with eating in general because it can be so unattractive and exhausting. It takes a lot of work to chew a raw carrot and 10+ other raw fruits and veggies a day. Then it goes into your stomach cold and there’s not much comfort in a heavy, cold fibrous meal. Not to mention, all of the nutrients that you’re NOT absorbing from the raw foods. So in essence, upwards of 25-50% of the raw foods that you eat are taxing your metabolism, but not providing nourishment. Good for satiety and creating a deficit, but not good for optimal health.

Soooo… after today, just 2 more days to go!!! I’m so excited, but a little nervous, lol. I really do feel like I’ve been on a vacation outside of my body. It’s crazy. I still have some raw recipes up my sleeve, in fact, I’m going to finish one right now! Be back later. :)


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Raw Diet Day Three: The Joy Of Not Cooking

by Jenn (j3nn.net) on July 14, 2010

I’m trying to find the joy in this raw diet, which isn’t always easy, lol. There haven’t been any noticeable changes in the tummy situation, though I haven’t eaten much today and I also have a lot of questionable contributing factors, such as dairy. I took some Gas-X a few hours ago, but haven’t noticed any changes yet. I’ve started to expand my raw diet menu beyond the typical salad. Yesterday morning, I made a batch of no-bake raw cookies:

No-Bake Raw Cookies

  • 1/2 cup raw rolled oats
  • 2 TBSP raw almond butter
  • 14g raw sweetened cacao nibs
  • 14g raw slivered almonds
  • 1 teaspoon raw honey
  • A few Tablespoons water

1. Mix all the ingredients by hand, in a blender (I put mine in the Vita-Mix for a few seconds), or food processor until dough forms
2. Roll little balls of the dough (it’s sticky!!) into as many balls as you like
3. Set on plate and let air dry with ventilated cover (I used a colander) for 6-7 hours. You could speed up the process by using a food dehydrator, but I was lazy, lol

So easy, so tasty!! I ate 2 of them. You can imagine my heartbreak this morning when I went to eat one and discovered that fruit flies had found them to be delicious, too. :cry: After they were dry enough, I covered the plate with plastic wrap, but the little buggers got underneath it anyway! :evil: I made a new (double) batch right away. :D This time I put them in the oven to dry, lol. Not turned on, of course! :shock: Surely my food dehydrator would work so much better, but alas, I’m not up to taking it out of the box yet. I’ve had it new in the box for over a year now. I hoard appliances, LOL. :oops:

In other kitchen news: I’m going through fresh produce at the speed of light! I went to Hannaford with my mom yesterday afternoon to replenish the dwindling supply. I ate an entire one pound tub of organic mixed spring greens in 2.5 days. :shock: Plus, a lot of the fruit that I bought at Shop Rite on Sunday isn’t ripe enough yet, including 6 avocados!! :( So, I went shopping once again. Don’t have to convince me to shop 2… 3… 10 times a week. I got another cart-full of assorted fruits + veggies, but before we left I had an amazing lunch to stave off hunger while in the store. So incredible that it’s something I would eat even when not following a semi-high raw diet!!

Raw pea salad, strawberries drizzled with raw almond butter and raw honey, and sprinkled with raw pumpkin seeds, anjou pear, and PURE raw food bar

Lovin’ these organic PURE raw fruit and nut bars! Veronica, you’re A-Ok. :)

A bowl of defrosted frozen peas with chopped red onion, tossed in cold pressd organic extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt + pepper

Pure, unadulterated raw decadence… fresh strawberries drizzled with raw almond butter, raw honey, and raw pumpkin seeds <3

This was my favorite meal, thus far! I LOVE peas with EVOO + vinegar, it’s so good. Typically, the peas are cooked every other time I’ve had it, but it tastes just as good raw. YUM!!!! And the strawberries… WOW! What a truly magnificent combo. LOVED them.

I did something I normally don’t do yesterday: I hit up the olive bar at Hannaford. *chorus of angels* I usually avoid them because they’re sooo salty, but I’ve kept my sodium ultra low this week, so I felt like I could indulge. And indulge I did. Holy scrum-da-dilly-umptious!!! I only got a half-pint, but I haven’t been able to stay out of it ever since I brought it home, lol.

Just like I said, my dinner included a boiled potato with a generous helping of Fage Total 0% plain Greek strained yogurt…

Assorted olives on my leafy greens <3

I felt kind of weird to eat something cooked and warm! :o My mom cooked it for me, and I think it was overdone because it was sort of mushy–unless I’m so far removed from warm cooked foods already, LOL. It still tasted VERY good to me. I ate it all, BUT I kept moving it to the side to eat my salad. I’m telling ya, I have an affinity for olives. They are SO YUMMY! Bitter, salty, fun texture. Mmm! Wish they weren’t so high in sodium, I’d seriously eat a pint of them a day! I’ve never come across a raw olive in my life, I’m hoping to find them one day. That would be a dream come true. :D

While we were in Hannaford yesterday, I remembered a raw vegan non-dairy frozen ice cream that I tried not-so-long ago: organic nectars gelato

Move over Ben & Jerry, there’s a new chocolate cherry frozen treat on the block!

I’ve had the chocolate hazelnut before, but the chocolate cherry is new to me. It was AMAZING! Dustin loved it, too. It’s so hard to believe that it’s dairy-free and made from cashew milk! It’s so creamy, and a little creepy — it doesn’t melt very fast! LOL It’s perfect. And so delicious. I had a little taste of each flavor for dessert…

Not only is organic nectars raw gelato made with 100% pure, raw, wholesome ingredients, but it’s also low in calories: 120 calories per serving, 5 servings per pint. I’d buy this even when I’m not on a raw diet. Yum!

I’ve been managing my bouts of hunger better by snacking when the tummy calls. After eating the boiled potato last night, I honestly felt fuller and more satisfied than I have since I started this trial on Sunday. I haven’t eaten anything cooked (besides cheese + yogurt, technically) today and probably won’t. I’ve been picking at cheese and olives all day. :oops: I have an awesome dinner planned, which I’m totally excited to make and eat. That will be on tomorrow’s update. ;) Only 3 more days to go! I’m looking forward to cooked food again, but I still have some raw recipes to try. I’m REALLY surprised that I’m not craving bread AT ALL! :shock: Weird, right? Probably because I know I’ll have lots of it in 72 hours, lol. I’m sure if I was trying to give them up permanently I’d be in the corner shivering with cold sweats, LOL.

:lol:

Alright, I’m going to start on my mystery dinner now. Yay!


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