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.)