Well, some of you might be wondering how the ol’ anniversary weekend went celebrating with a salad…well, well my friends! Not quite so! Curty, being the sweetheart that he is, found a raw restaurant in Santa Monica that we decided to try, and the experience was fantastic, not to mention tasty! :) This last Saturday began with us heading down to the Getty Museum to check out the medieval art displays and the gorgeous outdoor gardens. It was a beautiful, if not incredibly, smog-free day down in LA with temperatures in the high seventies. After spending several hours of wandering over the grounds and through the expansive halls filled with art and sculptures, we headed down into Santa Monica – which was just a few miles away – to find the raw food restaurant Living Cuisine (check out the Juliano’s Raw link to see the restaurant and food pictures!) I have to say, I was really nervous about trying the restaurant! Maybe more so that the people there would all be raw-food snooties able to sniff out my recent conversion and pizza-roll eating husband as soon as we walked through the door—and assume we’d know the in’s and out’s of dining raw. I was way off. We were pleasantly surprised by how super nice everyone was, and how our waitress took time to explain the menu and how things were done. The dwindling daylight, candles, relaxing music, and the fragrant smell of orchids soon lulled us into the raw-food eating atmosphere, and when our first item arrived, we were excited to begin! I was most delighted to find out, they recommended starting with dessert, for food combining purposes and to get the digestive acids going in your stomach [suuurre, whatever you say!]. Umm… I believe the magnet on our fridge says it all: “Life’s short, eat dessert first.” Needless to say, I was happy to comply with their suggestion. I ordered a chocolate shake, and Curt got a berry iced-tea concoction. The shake was out of this world! Curt fully drank half and said he couldn’t tell the difference between that and an ice-cream based chocolate shake. Not bad to start the night off…. Creamy, cold, and delicious – three of my favorite “food words.” After enjoying our drinks, our appetizers arrived: pumpkin tortellini and spring rolls with Thai dipping sauce. YUM! The pumpkin tortellini’s were unbelievable….seriously. They were made by slicing raw pumpkin really thin to mimic raviolis, and filled with nut-cheese, and then dehydrated to get them warm, chewy, with a slight crispness to the “pasta” shell. Curt loved them too (whew!). The spring rolls were decidedly yummy as well, and save for the mint (which I enjoyed but not so much Curt) we were thrilled with the tastes, textures, and flavors. Oh, in case you were curious, those were made with cabbage, different veggies, avocado, and rolled up in minutely thin coconut wraps. Our second to last item was the Garlic Ranch Salad with mixed greens, beets, radishes, tomatoes, cucumber, and “croutons.” You absolutely could not tell that the dressing was all raw and made with nuts instead of dairy…it was crazy good! Even Curt had to admit he would have no idea it was a raw dressing if he was served it somewhere else. To top off the night (even though we were stuffed by this point), we decided to go for the raw caramel-apple pie. Oh my goodness. I swear it was just like a warm apple-caramel crumble from Costco – only better. The apples were a mix of fresh and dried, with raw whipped cream, candied pecans/walnuts, and caramel, chocolate, and strawberry sauces drizzled all over it! I honestly couldn’t believe that it was all raw…but it’s amazing what a person can come up with if making raw cuisine is your business and passion. :)
Well, I’m sure you get the idea that eating raw can be quite the dinning experience and a pleasure for your taste buds :) I really wanted to try everything on the menu just to see what all the textures and flavors were like…So come visit and we’ll sample some more!
Cheers!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
TaSty tid-BitS
Well today I thought it might be fun to update the ol’ blog and maybe give you all an idea of what I’ve been munching on the last week and a half. I have to say, at least at this point in the experiment, it hasn’t been too hard eating in the raw…at least from much of the taste standpoints. The real challenge is usually finding enough to eat – or eating a varying amount of foods – i.e. not just fruit smoothies or salads. I’ve been wanting to make my own crackers and granola with my dear friend Andrea’s dehydrator, which she graciously let me borrow (“Thanks Andy!”), but have not yet made the effort. I am planning to change that, however, by firing it up tomorrow! As I'm finding with most things on this eating plan, it’s time consuming when you must first soak all your nuts and seeds and then dehydrate them for several hours—only to find that I may have put the ingredients together wrong and the whole batch and my $$$ is worthless. On the other hand, my pocket book says I can learn to love cardboard granola! haha. At any rate, I am excited to try! And I think as time goes on I’ll get into the swing of things and become more proficient and quick at preparing meals and snacks.
Currently, a typical day consists of things like this: When I first wake up, it’s 30 oz. of fresh fruit and veggie juice (something like: celery, spinach, carrot, pear, apple juice). This usually staves of my hunger for about 5 min., so following this might be a peach or a banana and almond butter. Lunch might consist of a big batch of fresh guacamole, which, I have to say, I have become pretty stellar at making. Avocado + red onion + red chili pepper + coarse sea salt + lime + cilantro = yummy! :) I usually dip baby carrots into it and these raw flax seed crackers I bought. A couple hours later it’s a LARA bar (raw dried fruit and nut bar—my favorite is Apple Pie) and then probably another piece of fruit later. For dinner, a huge salad filled with veggies, fruit, and maybe a few nuts or seeds with a lemon/lime/mustard seed/olive oil/sea salt/raw honey dressing. Before bed, a smoothie or raw ice-cream – my favorite part of the day! My two favorite smoothies at present are chocolate/banana and bunny-spice. Bunny spice, if you perchance are curious, consists of two frozen bananas, 4-5 ice cubes, ½ C. fresh carrot juice with a splash of fresh ginger juice, 1 tb. of almond butter, 1/2 C. of purified water, and a dash of cinnamon. Blend and enjoy cold and creamy pumpkin-pie in a cup! Some of you I know personally might be a tad sickened by this concoction, but it is soooooooooooo good if you like cold pumpkin pie (which of course I LOVE). My chocolate/banana smoothie is made up of 2 frozen bananas, 6 ice-cubes, ½ C. purified water, 1 tb. Coconut butter, 1 tb. Almond butter, 2 tb. Raw agave nectar and 1 tb. Raw cocoa powder. Creamy, cold, and delicious people!!
The fun part is, this way of eating does not limit sweet treats! So, for those of you that know I have an insane sweet-tooth, I haven’t felt deprived in this way at all – it’s just that I am using raw, natural sweeteners. Yipppeeee! (Okay, yes, you are still probably suppose to limit these yummy goodies, but I am just not at the point yet where I look forward to and/or crave a spinach smoothie! Yuck)
The part that gets tricky is when I’m teaching, because then I start my day with a smoothie (for more calories and substance to stick with me until lunch), and have a salad for lunch (so now what the heck do I have for dinner??). This is why I want to make crackers and granola, b/c then I could do these for dinner if needed! Anyway, we’ll see. I’m taking things ONE day at a time, and just going with how I feel.
Also, for anyone concerned about my getting enough calcium, certain vitamins, etc. (mom) :) after doing much research I have begun taking these brand new RAW vitamins from the Garden of Life (my favorite supplement brand – their products are amazing! I take their HSO Probiotics, digestive enzymes –less occasionally now however, and starting yesterday, their vitamins, which are called the Vitamin Code – I take the one for women) – and they are 100% natural/raw/non-synthetic designed to be completely absorbed by your body. I am definitely excited about them, and would encourage anyone interested to check them out. I’m hoping this helps with my energy levels, because after doing a little more research, I found that I haven’t been getting certain B vitamins (like B12) in my diet for the last two weeks, and that’s not a good thing. So yeah...the raw experiment continues! (Ask me how I’m feeling after this weekend, eating out with friends and celebrating our 4 year anniversary with a salad, haha).
Oh, and one night I did have a small piece of cooked chicken and some cooked squash – but then had the most horrible stomach ache until the next morning! My poor stomach, like it hasn't been through enough in the last few years! After that I decided right now I can do 100% raw, and if a day comes when I feel like a piece of fish, than fish it is! I just don’t want this to control my life or become some terrible chore. Right now it’s fun, and I’m excited to see what lies ahead! (Come on skin, clear up!!!!) :) Until next time………
Cheers!
Currently, a typical day consists of things like this: When I first wake up, it’s 30 oz. of fresh fruit and veggie juice (something like: celery, spinach, carrot, pear, apple juice). This usually staves of my hunger for about 5 min., so following this might be a peach or a banana and almond butter. Lunch might consist of a big batch of fresh guacamole, which, I have to say, I have become pretty stellar at making. Avocado + red onion + red chili pepper + coarse sea salt + lime + cilantro = yummy! :) I usually dip baby carrots into it and these raw flax seed crackers I bought. A couple hours later it’s a LARA bar (raw dried fruit and nut bar—my favorite is Apple Pie) and then probably another piece of fruit later. For dinner, a huge salad filled with veggies, fruit, and maybe a few nuts or seeds with a lemon/lime/mustard seed/olive oil/sea salt/raw honey dressing. Before bed, a smoothie or raw ice-cream – my favorite part of the day! My two favorite smoothies at present are chocolate/banana and bunny-spice. Bunny spice, if you perchance are curious, consists of two frozen bananas, 4-5 ice cubes, ½ C. fresh carrot juice with a splash of fresh ginger juice, 1 tb. of almond butter, 1/2 C. of purified water, and a dash of cinnamon. Blend and enjoy cold and creamy pumpkin-pie in a cup! Some of you I know personally might be a tad sickened by this concoction, but it is soooooooooooo good if you like cold pumpkin pie (which of course I LOVE). My chocolate/banana smoothie is made up of 2 frozen bananas, 6 ice-cubes, ½ C. purified water, 1 tb. Coconut butter, 1 tb. Almond butter, 2 tb. Raw agave nectar and 1 tb. Raw cocoa powder. Creamy, cold, and delicious people!!
The fun part is, this way of eating does not limit sweet treats! So, for those of you that know I have an insane sweet-tooth, I haven’t felt deprived in this way at all – it’s just that I am using raw, natural sweeteners. Yipppeeee! (Okay, yes, you are still probably suppose to limit these yummy goodies, but I am just not at the point yet where I look forward to and/or crave a spinach smoothie! Yuck)
The part that gets tricky is when I’m teaching, because then I start my day with a smoothie (for more calories and substance to stick with me until lunch), and have a salad for lunch (so now what the heck do I have for dinner??). This is why I want to make crackers and granola, b/c then I could do these for dinner if needed! Anyway, we’ll see. I’m taking things ONE day at a time, and just going with how I feel.
Also, for anyone concerned about my getting enough calcium, certain vitamins, etc. (mom) :) after doing much research I have begun taking these brand new RAW vitamins from the Garden of Life (my favorite supplement brand – their products are amazing! I take their HSO Probiotics, digestive enzymes –less occasionally now however, and starting yesterday, their vitamins, which are called the Vitamin Code – I take the one for women) – and they are 100% natural/raw/non-synthetic designed to be completely absorbed by your body. I am definitely excited about them, and would encourage anyone interested to check them out. I’m hoping this helps with my energy levels, because after doing a little more research, I found that I haven’t been getting certain B vitamins (like B12) in my diet for the last two weeks, and that’s not a good thing. So yeah...the raw experiment continues! (Ask me how I’m feeling after this weekend, eating out with friends and celebrating our 4 year anniversary with a salad, haha).
Oh, and one night I did have a small piece of cooked chicken and some cooked squash – but then had the most horrible stomach ache until the next morning! My poor stomach, like it hasn't been through enough in the last few years! After that I decided right now I can do 100% raw, and if a day comes when I feel like a piece of fish, than fish it is! I just don’t want this to control my life or become some terrible chore. Right now it’s fun, and I’m excited to see what lies ahead! (Come on skin, clear up!!!!) :) Until next time………
Cheers!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
What in the heck have I gotten myself into??
Back by popular demand….It’s an update to my blog! I actually wrote a spectacular bit two nights back, but in typical computer fashion, something went hay-wire and I lost the whole darn thing. I could have cried…oh wait, I did. Well, it’s useless to cry over spilled milk, or almond milk in my case, so I’m over it, and moving on! :) In short, it basically recapped my experience thus far, and exemplified my thoughts on some of the interesting view points that accompany the raw food movement. Let’s just say that I am not on a quest for spiritual enlightenment… and can safely attest to the fact that I was not feeling the “life-force” of the veggies dripping in tamarind almond sauce wrapped in collard greens I ate the other night. (Ugh)
Here are some things I’ve learned in the past 6 days:
1) This is hard. And…
2) This is hard. And…
3) This is hard.
I think I had visions of craving bowls filled with dark leafy greens and biting into sumptuous tropical fruits and vowing never again to return to the evils of cooked food! It has not been so simply my friends. Reality hits when you are starving (all the time) and making dinner takes 2 hours, you waste half or all of some precious and expensive ingredient on a recipe you’ve never tried and it ends up tasting like raw veggies with a side of raw veggies with a sauce of raw veggies complimented by a mystery spice. I have definitely asked myself on occasion this week: What the heck have I gotten myself into here?!? Hitting upon a more serious note, I promised myself that I wouldn’t do anything to compromise my health, so hopefully going to bed so hungry I feel sick doesn’t indicate this…Wait a minute….Yeeeaaah. That can’t be good. I hate to give someone the opportunity to say “I told you so,” but Amanda, “you told me so!”
Being the type A personality I am, I jumped in with two feet and thought, the heck with this! Go big or go home! All or nothing people! (I may have been slightly mistaken). Now, many people have turned raw one day and never looked back, but I don’t know if I can be that person. So, long story short, I may incorporate a few steamed veggies at dinner for the first part of this experiment and perhaps a sliver of baked fish or chicken. Mind you, I am still eating nothing else for the rest of the day that isn’t completely raw! I promise! Nada.
So on that note, feeling like a failure already, I vow to keep going….I will not relent! The experiment may take on a new twist as I ease myself into a new way of eating, but I hope that by the end of my 3 months raw (give or take a few steamed dinners if you will pardon them), :) I have much good news to share about how I am feeling and can produce a list of benefits that eating raw has bestowed upon my science experiment (i.e. body).
On that note, one might be wondering; “How is she feeling?” Besides being perpetually hungry (which is getting better by the day), I have to say that I feel great! I definitely think my body is still in cleansing mode, as I have headaches off and on and still lack in the energy department at times, but after I eat, I feel good. Not heavy, not sick, not remorseful (haha)… mostly just refreshed! It really does feel good to put good-for-you-food into one’s fuel tank all day long. Imagine that! :) Anyway, the beat goes on. Day 7 tomorrow… Oh, and I got my herbal cleanse in the mail today! OH MAN. I did this one last December… and it was not pretty, in more ways than one. I will spare everyone the details...at least for now.
Cheers! :)
Here are some things I’ve learned in the past 6 days:
1) This is hard. And…
2) This is hard. And…
3) This is hard.
I think I had visions of craving bowls filled with dark leafy greens and biting into sumptuous tropical fruits and vowing never again to return to the evils of cooked food! It has not been so simply my friends. Reality hits when you are starving (all the time) and making dinner takes 2 hours, you waste half or all of some precious and expensive ingredient on a recipe you’ve never tried and it ends up tasting like raw veggies with a side of raw veggies with a sauce of raw veggies complimented by a mystery spice. I have definitely asked myself on occasion this week: What the heck have I gotten myself into here?!? Hitting upon a more serious note, I promised myself that I wouldn’t do anything to compromise my health, so hopefully going to bed so hungry I feel sick doesn’t indicate this…Wait a minute….Yeeeaaah. That can’t be good. I hate to give someone the opportunity to say “I told you so,” but Amanda, “you told me so!”
Being the type A personality I am, I jumped in with two feet and thought, the heck with this! Go big or go home! All or nothing people! (I may have been slightly mistaken). Now, many people have turned raw one day and never looked back, but I don’t know if I can be that person. So, long story short, I may incorporate a few steamed veggies at dinner for the first part of this experiment and perhaps a sliver of baked fish or chicken. Mind you, I am still eating nothing else for the rest of the day that isn’t completely raw! I promise! Nada.
So on that note, feeling like a failure already, I vow to keep going….I will not relent! The experiment may take on a new twist as I ease myself into a new way of eating, but I hope that by the end of my 3 months raw (give or take a few steamed dinners if you will pardon them), :) I have much good news to share about how I am feeling and can produce a list of benefits that eating raw has bestowed upon my science experiment (i.e. body).
On that note, one might be wondering; “How is she feeling?” Besides being perpetually hungry (which is getting better by the day), I have to say that I feel great! I definitely think my body is still in cleansing mode, as I have headaches off and on and still lack in the energy department at times, but after I eat, I feel good. Not heavy, not sick, not remorseful (haha)… mostly just refreshed! It really does feel good to put good-for-you-food into one’s fuel tank all day long. Imagine that! :) Anyway, the beat goes on. Day 7 tomorrow… Oh, and I got my herbal cleanse in the mail today! OH MAN. I did this one last December… and it was not pretty, in more ways than one. I will spare everyone the details...at least for now.
Cheers! :)
Saturday, September 6, 2008
RAW....day one :)
Today I woke up after a night of pizza, Cesar salad, ice-cream, and two bites of a dark Milky-Way, to the grim reality that my body really, truly, seriously... cannot handle these types of foods. I mean, ice-cream is my favorite -- and I hardly ever indulge, but lately, dairy, wheat, refined sugars, and convenience foods have slowly crept back up into my life and generally taken over. oops. How did this happen?!? Not three years ago I was barely functioning, terribly sick with a stomach disorder and a mass of food intolerances, and changing my eating habits was a big part of what helped get me well.
Sooooo.... I'm now realizing that as I started to feel better and better, my wonderful healthy habits of yester-year faded ever so gradually, until it was looking more and more like my college days of chocolate milk, doughnuts, carrot cake, diet soda, and ice-cream at lunch and dinner. EEEewwwwww. Did I just admit to that?!?
No way! I'm not going there! I'm tired of feeling.... well, tired. And achy -- and moody, and having a perpetually upset stomach (and I'll spare you the details). So as I pondered the gravity of my situation, I began revisiting the natural healing info I began collecting last summer on RAW foods and the awesome outcomes people have had. But would it work for me? Or, more importantly, how the heck can a person do this?? Eat this way?? I'll be an outcast! A crazy! :) Nooooo... no. Still the same me, just a much healthier version, full of living enzymes I can't live without. I figure, I spend enough money every month buying enzymes so I can digest my food, so why not try eating foods that are packed with their own?! A novel idea indeed.
So let's start with the facts.... It's day one, and this is where I'm at: I'm 26 and 3/4 years old. I still break out (darn it all). I ache constantly in the joints of my wrists, hands, ankles, feet, hips and in the muscles of my arms. (I'm definitely risking sounding like an old person here, complaining about all my maladies, so bare with me). My stomach sucks -- upset at some point every day with a variety of symptoms (use your imagination). I also have trouble concentrating, I've found 4 gray hairs, I do NOT deal with stress well, and I do not sleep well at night. I could go on, but you get the point. Now, I'm not expecting RAW food to cure every ill, and make my life a fairy tale of sorts, but I am interested in giving it a try -- to see if I can tell a difference in how I feel and how my body responds....
Will I feel better? Will my stomach settle down? Will my skin clear up? Will I be able to focus more clearly and handle stress better? Might I finally start sleeping through the night without Benadryl?? These questions and more will be the focus of this experiment! Join me if you will......... day two begins tomorrow, and things can only get more interesting!
Sooooo.... I'm now realizing that as I started to feel better and better, my wonderful healthy habits of yester-year faded ever so gradually, until it was looking more and more like my college days of chocolate milk, doughnuts, carrot cake, diet soda, and ice-cream at lunch and dinner. EEEewwwwww. Did I just admit to that?!?
No way! I'm not going there! I'm tired of feeling.... well, tired. And achy -- and moody, and having a perpetually upset stomach (and I'll spare you the details). So as I pondered the gravity of my situation, I began revisiting the natural healing info I began collecting last summer on RAW foods and the awesome outcomes people have had. But would it work for me? Or, more importantly, how the heck can a person do this?? Eat this way?? I'll be an outcast! A crazy! :) Nooooo... no. Still the same me, just a much healthier version, full of living enzymes I can't live without. I figure, I spend enough money every month buying enzymes so I can digest my food, so why not try eating foods that are packed with their own?! A novel idea indeed.
So let's start with the facts.... It's day one, and this is where I'm at: I'm 26 and 3/4 years old. I still break out (darn it all). I ache constantly in the joints of my wrists, hands, ankles, feet, hips and in the muscles of my arms. (I'm definitely risking sounding like an old person here, complaining about all my maladies, so bare with me). My stomach sucks -- upset at some point every day with a variety of symptoms (use your imagination). I also have trouble concentrating, I've found 4 gray hairs, I do NOT deal with stress well, and I do not sleep well at night. I could go on, but you get the point. Now, I'm not expecting RAW food to cure every ill, and make my life a fairy tale of sorts, but I am interested in giving it a try -- to see if I can tell a difference in how I feel and how my body responds....
Will I feel better? Will my stomach settle down? Will my skin clear up? Will I be able to focus more clearly and handle stress better? Might I finally start sleeping through the night without Benadryl?? These questions and more will be the focus of this experiment! Join me if you will......... day two begins tomorrow, and things can only get more interesting!
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