"Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead"

I just saw the documentary, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  It's the story of Joe Cross who had a debilitating disease and was obese.  He decided to heal himself with a juice fast and raw food diet.  He spent 60 days crossing the U.S. juicing for himself and random people he met along the way.  In doing so, he healed himself and inspired others to do the same. 

If you're interested in learning more about the benefits of a juice fast as part of a raw food program, you may want to see this film.  It's available on hulu and netflix.  

Click here to see a short trailer. 

3 days to go!

New Thingamabob

So, I'm trying to figure out how to make this whole blogging thing more interactive and came across this little doohickey (a synonym for thingamabob).  It lets you see what foods are in season based on the month and location you choose.  Just click on the arrows and select your location.  The other arrow is for month.  

Unfortunately in late December, nothing is available in Illinois.  But I've been able to see just what produce will be harvested early this spring and beyond.  Hope you enjoy it.

This Pool Is Made For Walking - And That's Just What I'll Do

I used to be very active.  Then reasonably active.  Then mildly active.  When it turned out that most exercise hurt me, I became very inactive - and hated it.  Doctors and friends have suggested swimming.  Great - I don't know how to swim.  That's right - I can't swim a length, let alone enough to be considered real exercise.  But I wanted to see if I can walk in the water and apparently I can.  On Sunday afternoon I began a 1-week trial at Lifetime Fitness.   If this works out, I'll join and keep going.  Day 1 I walked 15 minutes in the water.  (Amazing to me, because I can't walk 5 minutes on a sidewalk.) Day 2 I took a water aerobics class.  I took it easy and was able to complete the class.  It felt great in so many ways.  And my knee isn't screaming at me.  I'll leave in a couple hours to walk for another 15 minutes.  And I'll swim my almost 1/2 length.  I hope that in a few weeks I'll be able to complete a length - then a lap, then a couple laps.  If I can do that maybe I'll even work on flip turns. :)

So, here's my question.  If I like raw foods so much and walking/exercising in the water feels so good, why are these habits so hard to maintain?  Both make me feel good physically and positive mentally.  I know that with winter coming, it will be easy to skip jumping (well, stepping) into a pool.  And after an especially lousy day, a pizza will look awfully good.  And a really great mac and cheese (with crust on top) will be a devilish temptation hard to pass up.  I'll let you know if and when I encounter one of these challenges and how I handle it.

As for food, I'm trying to have an inventory of foods ready for the start of this program.  I've been dehydrating so much kale.  And it disappears around here so quickly.  I'm glad to see the kids are enjoying them.   And yesterday, I made zucchini chips for the first time.  Some chips were a bit too salty, but they'll be a fabulous alternative to potato chips, etc.  And I think they'll be a good replacement for popcorn at the movies.  This week I'll try flax crackers for the first time.  Can't wait.

5 days to go.

OMG Cheesecake!

So on my first day off for the holiday break (yes, my employer is closed for 11 days during the holidays) I went to the office to work.  Amanda joined me so she could get some work done on her thesis.  Seven hours later we both felt good about accomplishing so much and decided to go to Borrowed Earth Cafe for lunch/dinner (lunner?).  Borrowed Earth is a raw, vegan restaurant in Downers Grove.  I've eaten there a number of times and love their food.

We split the Perogies for an appetizer and loved them so much I'll try to make something similar later this week.  Amanda had the Sweet Potato Quesadilla which I've ordered a few times and highly recommend.  It's delicious.   I ordered the I Can't Believe It's Not An Egg Salad Sandwich and I couldn't believe it wasn't egg salad.  It was also delicious. I'm amazed what you can do with nuts and veggies.

Then, even though we were full, when the waitress asked us if we were interested in dessert, we broke down and ordered the Pomegranate Cheesecake (I wanted the pumpkin, but was being a good mom since this was what lit up Amanda's eyes).  It was raw, vegan heaven.  No, it was cheesecake heaven. 

BORROWED EARTH'S POMEGRANATE CHEESECAKE

For anyone interested in trying raw foods, Borrowed Earth Cafe would be a fabulous introduction.  For seasoned raw foodists, you'll appreciate the quality and flavor.  For myself, it gives me a chance to try out different foods - prepared properly.  Now I know that I'm going to work on raw cheesecake recipes - quickly.  Here's a link to Borrowed Earth's website: http://bit.ly/UHNo

My Family Needs To Eat, Too

All the kids are home on breaks for a couple weeks.  Nobody is interested in following a raw program.  I got home from work late tonight.  What's to eat? (Please don't anyone say "pizza!")  So, how about a salad bar.  Becky ran to the store and picked up a rotisserie chicken.  We cut up some veggies and voila! 

SALAD BAR

From the top:  romaine and curly leaf lettuces, red cabbage, red peppers, carrots, raw Peruvian black olives, cucumbers, sprouted wild rice, scallions, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, rotisserie chicken.

Everyone ate happily.  Thanks to my family for helping me out and being so cooperative.  I stayed on program (about 75% raw this week) with 11 days to go before I shoot for 90%.

Simple Salad - Easy as Pie

Simple Salad

I prepped a lot of kale to dehydrate and had a bit left over that just wouldn't fit on the shelves.  I'm actually glad, though.  I added some romaine and some green leaf lettuce, sliced cherry tomatoes, sprouted wild rice and a touch of olive oil, splash of balsamic, and sprinkle of salt.  Easy and very good.

Sweet Potato Soup - YUM!

Sweet Potato Soup

I received my first delivery from Fresh Picks, an organic foods delivery service.  I looked through some of my cookbooks to find a raw recipe where I could incorporate foods I don't typically use.  I adapted this recipe from "The World Goes Raw" by Lisa Mann.  This cold soup was absolutely delicious.  Amanda is home from school for the holidays and she loved it, too.  Here's the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 clove garlic

1 Cup peeled and diced sweet potato

1/2 Cup water

1/2 Cup raw almond butter

3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 Tbsp. raw honey

1 Tbsp. raw coconut oil

1/2 Tsp. sea salt

1/2 Tsp. cinnamon

Blend in a high powered blender until smooth.  I topped with a diced Asian pear and a sliced scallion.

We roasted some brussel sprouts and onions to have along with this.  (You're right - this was not raw.  But I'm still just on the road and not yet raw.  If I can eat foods as good as this soup, it won't be hard to transition.)

The First Experiments

Well, I read that first book, "The Raw Food Primer" (clever name - just what I needed) by Suzanne Alex Ferrara from cover to cover pretty quickly.  It's a very small book with beautiful, creative drawings of the food.  What could I make that would be easy and taste good?  Sweet and Sour Ginger Dressing, of course.  I happen to love salads, but they're all about a delicious dressing.  And this was a delicious dressing that I've made time and time again!  Okay, but in the end it was really just salad dressing and not a meal.  Then, because the name was so compelling, I tried Avocado Heaven, which is basically a cold avocado soup. YUM!  And I made my first raw meal that was not a salad.

Then I found Jennifer Cornbleet's book, "Raw Food Made Easy".  Her marinara sauce on zucchini pasta was fabulous.  The zucchini soup was great.  I even served it for company and everyone loved it.  Her recipes were simple and didn't require lots of equipment.  I was going to be able to prepare these recipes.   As a matter of fact, I think this is the book I'd recommend to anyone interested in a first book on raw foods.

I decided that I wanted to actually eat and find out if I liked some of the more complex dishes that I couldn't prepare myself.  So, off we went to Karyn's in Chicago with Amanda, Fran and Izzy.  Omigosh, the food was marvelous. If I could eat like this, I could be 100% raw.  I was inspired.

During the summer of 2010 I decided to try 3 days of eating only raw foods.  I felt so good that I kept going - and lasted a little over a week.  This agreed with me so well that I thought I could stick to it.  Then I got home late one night and ordering a pizza was easy.  Before I knew it, I was back on the SAD (standard American diet).  And I wasn't feeling as good.  I knew then what I should do - eat more raw - but...I kept coming up with one excuse after another. So, I've been dabbling for a long time.  I want to feel better.  I need to be more purposeful and plan my meals more efficiently and I can do this. 

15 days to go - I'm getting ready.  Amanda and I will make raw nori rolls today.  And maybe a Mediterranean Kale Salad. (Lots of organic produce was delivered yesterday. I'm going to have fun.)

How This Started

A few years ago I had some health problems - nothing life threatening, but a definite impact on quality of life.  After 4 surgeries I developed some complications which meant more meds and daily restrictions along with no hope for a cure.  So, I began researching alternative options.  I kept finding stories about people who cured multiple health issues with a raw food diet.  It sounded funky and I had images of raw eggs and sushi.  As happens on the Internet, I fell into a site that explained the diet in more detail.  Fruits, veggies, nuts, and the like sounded pretty good - especially because I wouldn't have to eat raw fish.

I went to the library and checked out a couple raw food (un)cookbooks.  This was a paradigm shift.  I didn't understand most of the recipes, the vocabulary was different, and I really didn't know how to prepare any of the food with some of the weird equipment required.  If this was going to be complicated, I couldn't try it.  I returned the books to the library without trying a single recipe.

As I continued my research I found some "you tubes" with raw food chefs prepping a variety of recipes.  This opened up a new world for me.  I dragged my husband off to Cousins, a raw food restaurant in Chicago, so I could buy a few ingredients and try some foods- agave, flax crackers, nama shoyu, and "cheesecake".  After tasting the cheesecake with no dairy included, I was immediately hooked on raw desserts.  I also bought a couple primer books that made a lot more sense for a newbie and had great explanations.  Now it was time to experiment and I'll discuss that in my next post.

In the meantime, in 16 days I'll begin this program full-time.  I'm committed.  I'm preparing by eating more raw than I normally do and beginning to eliminate meat and dairy from my diet.  Yup, dairy will be the tough part.  I signed up for a service that will deliver organic produce to my home on a weekly basis.  Today will be the first delivery.  I can't wait!

The Very First Post

This is my first post on my first ever blog.  I've been dabbling with a raw food diet for over a year now and have made a decision to pursue this lifestyle in a more committed way.  I'll explain more about my reasons and what I've discovered up till now in future posts.  Then I plan to actually begin eating raw full-time (or almost) on 1/1/12.  Thanks for joining me and I appreciate the support.

13 days to go.