greens are not cooperating!! lol need some help

[sptygl]

Need some recipes suggestions..... Any easy recipes you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Tough time tolerating salads and green smoothies. I have literally been forcing myself to get these down, but I am not at all enjoying it!! The taste to me has been more yuck and bluck!!!

I have the following on hand, napa cabbage, red cabbage, spinach, celery, carrot, cilantro, garlic, jicama, grapefruit, and frozen fruits
Assortmenta of nuts and seeds, sunflower, almonds, black and white sesame seeds, chia, and flax seeds.and .... I have several kinds of mushrooms... Which I need to use right away!

The problem is I can't stand to eat another salad!!! I mix various greens, pulp from my juice (also sick of this!), flax seed and sunflower seed, soybean sprouts.....etc

I want to try to stay on raw.... But I am not at all enjoying it. And I definitely don't feel any benefits.
Help??? :)

[Rawkinlocs]

Do you have a dehydrator? If so, have you tried making kale chips (any flavor)?

How about making a "stir-dry" out of those cabbages, carrots, mushrooms and some onions. Basically, you're cutting them all up (even pulse-chopping until rough-chopped in the food processor is sufficient) and then marinating it all in some Nama Shoyu, ginger (I use powdered), garlic and onion powder and I add a little agave as I like to balance flavors out with sweet and salty. You can even add a little cayenne if you want a little spice to it. Then mix it all up well (I use my hands) and let it sit a few hours or overnight (the longer it sits, the softer the veggies will get) and if you have a dehydrator, you can warm it up in there (which will also lend to the softening) and it's delicious! Not "salady" at all but more like a comforting "cooked" dish of stir-fried veggies.

Also, if you are not quite feelin' greens right now, don't sweat it...sometimes we go through such phases...eat what IS appealing to you right now (raw, of course) such as fruit or raw desserts or whatever. My feeling is that once your body really and truly needs those greens, you won't have to be choking them down as such. Sometimes I go through periods where I don't want to even THINK about a green smoothie or a salad and then other times, I'm actually craving one or the other...or both. It just varies and depends.

So, are there any raw foods you are craving or at the very least, able to better tolerate right now than greens, salads and green smoothies?

Don't force it down if it's not what's working right now. Raw food should be enjoyable and you shouldn't have to eat things you don't like.

As for smoothies...can you tolerate fruit smoothies at all? If so, make it mainly fruit with just a little bit of greens and gradually increase the amount of greens overtime. Maybe start out with one leaf of something. What types of greens are you using? Maybe that's it. Or...are you trying to forcefully blend a higher ratio of greens to fruit because of an ideal of what "should" be?

I also wanted to add, for me, I eat salads best when I have a delicious dressing. Have you found any dressings that you love or like? What kinds of (cooked) dressings were your favorites? Did you like salads before going raw?

[JEN]

I love napa cabbage. I had ani phyo's ginger almond pate in a cabbage wrap earlier today. It was delicious topped with diced red bell pepper, carrots, and mung bean sprouts. Here is her recipe....

I add a little nama shoyu to the pate recipe for extra flavor.

Almond Ginger Pate

1 Tablespoon ginger (I use fresh ginger root)
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup almonds, dry
1 lemon’s juice
1/4 cup filtered water

Blend all in a food processor.

I like simple green smoothies without too much green. I prefer baby spinach as it is very mild in flavor. I like banana/orange/baby spinach, peaches/baby spinach, banana/pineapple/baby spinach. I usually only put 1 big handful of spinach but start with less. Best of luck!!

[sptygl]

Thank you so much for the recipe ideas! I try so hard to be healthy, and you are right... Because it's what I 'think' I am suppose to be eating I then force myself to do that!
I have been juicing, and I guess I stopped doing so for taste, but for health. I would add every green I had on hand... It wouldn't taste very good but, I would drink it anyway! Yuck!

So, that's a great idea, trying a simulated stir fry! I am also hoping I have the ingredients for some sort of mock meatloaf!! I have so many mushrooms... And I need to use them! :)

I may also need to find some yummy salad dressing recipes too!! I have been just mixing various pulp with some spices.... And it's not very good!!! That's no salad dressing, right??!!
HELP???!! :)

Thanks again for the kind words and suggestions.... They should help. Sometimes, we need someone else to point out the obvious and keep the motivation.
Did I say I still could use some encouragement? Lol!
Much appreciated!

[brownies]

I take my vegis and chop them all up pretty small in a food processor, add some seasonings and put them in foods like sushi, spring rolls, & raw pastas. The trick is to add seasonings. If you don't like the taste of the vegis them make them taste how ever you want. If you have a hard time putting seasonings together then just get some pre mixed seasonsings like curries or old bay seasoning.

[Stina]

Wee-little suggestion- I juice a cucumber and several stalks of celery, always organic, with a moderate amount of leafy greens and just a little ginger. I do this several times a week for breakfast. It's kinda a pain in the butt but so worth it for how good I feel; my body just thanks me. That chlorophyll is so important. I used to sweeten it with apple but to my surprize my taste buds have changed and now I actually prefer it to not be sweet.
The major ways we can consume greens: juice them, in green smoothies, salads, or blended soups. I'm glad you brought the question to the board; it's a matter of not giving up and keep experimenting until your taste buds resonate with your unique health needs.

Rawkenlocs posted some excellent feedback.

Use the Search buttons and check up salad dressings. You'll get some great ideas. Lots of us raw vegans make up a big batch of salad dressing and use it for the rest of the week.

Keep up the good work!

[sptygl]

trying all of your suggestions!!

even made my first flax crackers -- and they came out perfect the first time!
they went quickly though, so i see how you all make big batches up!

i think i will try to get back to incorporating my juicing again........ i think that is a big part of what i am missing in my schedule, and maybe what is causing me in some part to feel like i am lagging........

i love the cucumber, celery and greens............. i have done that -- but my problem is i add every kind of green i have, plus sour grapes and i may just go overboard causing me not to enjoy it!
i def. try to put as much health punch into what i make, but then ultimately it leave me feeling like i am just going through the motions....... without the enjoyment!

so..... thank you!!! i will mix up how i do things........ and try to keep an overall good balance.

i am especially interested in these super powders/foods === like dulse, to-fi (not sure if that was right!), maca, lucuma
have been trying the lucuma, maca, and raw cocoa -- but nothing yet!!!!!!!!

:) hope to get some reaction to these

[gingincal]

I suggest that you take it easy on the maca. A little goes a long way. Keep on keepin' on! :)