Avocado Prep for Lunches

[hackerm]

Hi, everyone! I'm a total newbie. I'm getting to know more and more about raw and it's something I want to do. Kmik and I are going to Whole Foods at the end of the week to get me started. I'm more than jazzed!

I work in an office, so I see myself bringing big salads most of the time for lunch. I would be preparing my salad first-thing in the morning and keeping it in the fridge at work. I'd like to add an avocado to the mix as well. To avoid it getting black-icky, is this something I need to wait to cut-up right before I eat the lunch or does anyone have any tricks for keeping it fresh while waiting for the lunch-hour?

Thanks!

--Heidi

[Raw_Medic]

Hi Heidi!
welcome to the site and to raw foods! Avocado's are my fave I eat like 1-2 a day. I would suggest if you have a kitchen or food prep room at your office to cut it up right before you want to eat it, it will look and taste best, imo. However, if that's not an option, some say that if you squeeze some lemon juice over the avocado it will help keep it from turning. Also I've read that if you leave the pit in with the slices it will keep it from turning brown...in my experience that doesn't work. Hope this helps!

[sweetgoddess]

I dont feel leaving the pit in the opened avacado makes one bit of difference either. I also would wait until I was about to eat to open the avacado. It's quick and easy. Just slice in half, remove pit, cut the avacado into cubes right in the skin, turn upside down over your salad and there you go. It will have a way better texture and flavor.

Welcome! So glad to hear you have a chum to help you get started.
My best wishes on your raw food journey.
Carmel

[SamuelWilson]

I just wanted to add that for simplicity reasons, even if you cut the avocado on your salad in the morning and eat it at lunch, that will be fine. It may suffer a slight coloration change, but will still be very good. Do not make things more complicated than they have to be. It is much better to be simpler and stay with being a raw foodist, than to over complicate things and later convert to SAD food again.

This is where a lot of people slip. They get tired of all the extra steps. I mean with a SAD lunch, you just eat it. There is no slicing. So in my opinion, try to keep your "away from home" meals as simple as you can. Once you have been a raw foodist for a period of time, then you can be more liberal. But it is important to stay on track initially. You might even consider the 30 day raw challenge if you have not already.

I recommend keeping a good stock of apples in your fridge. These can be your back up raw food on days you do not have all the ingredients to make one of the more complicated dishes.

[SamuelWilson]

hackerm, I wanted to add one more thing. Be aware of personal attacks from co-workers. When they see you eating all this raw stuff, they may be tempted to make a mockery of you. Remember, you do not owe anyone an explanation on the way you eat. My technique is pretty extreme on how I deal with these people and it may not work for you, but this is what I do. Now be aware, I only encounter negative energy when I am at a restaurant. At my office, since I am self-employed, I do not encounter problems. At a restaurant, I am free game to come under scrutiny.

Ok, here it goes. The first moment I pick up negative energy from someone, I put them on ignore. If the person ask me why I am not getting a steak. I ignore them, this is much harder to do that it sounds. Especially when other people are looking at you at the table and wondering why you are not answering the person. However, in time I have learned this technique and it has done me well. I promise you this, if someone ask you why you are eating a salad and why are you not eating meat and you do not answer them, they will get the message loud and clear. Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words. I find that they may ask 2-3 times. They finally say something like "I was just curious, I wasn't trying to offend you." Again, still ignore them, don't give in. In time you develop a reputation and people will learn not to question your eating habits. It is very rare that anyone questions me now.

[raeannasun]

I'm a teacher in an elementary school and have only encountered positive inquiries because people have seen the weight drop off, but my mom has had a lot of negative remarks in her office environment. She has been persistant in eating well and people have eventually started seeing the benefits and trying to eat healthier because of her example! So, don't be discouraged if others are negative, your example may be what motivates them to change!

[hackerm]

Thank you all for your tips. I never really thought through about what to say to coworkers should they ask. Although 4 out of 5 days I eat my lunch in my cube.

My plan is to keep it very simple and easy. I'll make a nute pate to last through the week and some flax seed crackers, but for the 30-days I'm challenging myself, I'm going to keep it simple! It will be a learning experience, but I have you guys to guide me along the way.

Thanks again!

--Heidi

[twinyoga]

If you squeeze some lemon or lime juice on the open avocado it will keep from turning brown. But like an apple, it turns brown because of oxidation. So I still eat it even if it's turning brown.

[rawpriestess]

I first heard about eating raw foods when I was in a vegan cooking class, and the person next to me didn't want to take any leftovers home, because he was going to start eating raw, so I asked him what that meant.

He was kind enough to answer me, and we started talking, now if he hadn't talked with me then I wouldnt' be raw, my hubby, my son, my friends, about 200 peopel that I know wouldn't be raw. Or at least not at this time.

So, if someone asks you about your eating habits, be kind, answer them.

They are just curious, it doesn't mean they are attacking you. Maybe they have some health challenges, and YOU are put there by God/dess to give them the path?

Can you imagine where we would all be, if no one answered us, when we all asked the first raw question? humm things to ponder.

[SamuelWilson]

rawpriestess, I agree with you. We should be friendly and answer questions. Who knows, we may influence someone to go raw. However, if I pick up negative energy surrounding the question, then I don't answer. It is a personal choice and I respect the choices of others.

[Sicilian Girl]

People at my work that I see regularly in the breakroom all know why I am doing what I am doing and how much it has helped me. They have even tried some of my homemade crackers etc. One person (the cynic of the bunch) comments on things like my Mock Salmon Pate ("looks like cat food") and my salads ("looks like you're eating grass") and I smile and joke back with her. I find a smile tames most cynics and my sunny disposition and radiance makes people wonder.... it's always good to keep em wondering! :)

[SamuelWilson]

Sicilian Girl, if that works for you, then that is what you should do. Every person should find their own way.

[ReneeSC]

He was kind enough to answer me, and we started talking, now if he hadn't talked with me then I wouldnt' be raw, my hubby, my son, my friends, about 200 peopel that I know wouldn't be raw. Or at least not at this time.

So, if someone asks you about your eating habits, be kind, answer them.
( RawPriestess )

___________
Today, yet again, I was in our healthfood store and yet another person began asking me a myriad of questions surrounding flax ( oh, like I'm such an expert...ahem... but I answered what I could )... I'd just finished about 45 minutes of reading in our little library over in the corner: Raw Knowledge, Raw Power, Eating Super Green, The Sun Food Diet, Conscious Eating, Eating for Beauty ( I have fun there )... so I was "stoked".. I did not approach her, she approached me, though.

I had her all over the store - she walked out different than she walked in, and she is my 3rd person that's been led to me - and I'm a NOVICE!.. but it's still CATCHY.
We also found out that she and I lived in the same city in Florida at the same time, attended the same church at the same time.. and other facts about ourselves that matched. It was WILD.

She wants a "support group".. :)

So, I think it is good to answer ( in and out of season), just becareful what you say to whom. Yeah, that was clear as mud. What I mean is - I guess you'll become more adept at what to say at certain times with certain people as you go along.

Samuel has a good approach for people who are intentionally trying to drive you batty. It's okay not to engage in arguments.

[kmik]

It's ok Samuel... you don't need to be defensive. You shared what works for you, and others are sharing as well.

I personally subscribe to the "answer with a smile" camp. People often come on negatively because that's all they've known... to put down something different. While it's not our job to enlighten them, occaisonally one of them will suddenly realize that what we're saying makes sense. They may even become a convert :)

This is just a bit personal for me, because my father is negative. My mother used to say "Instead of looking at the world through rose colored glasses, he looks at it through sh_t coverd glasses!" However, he's my father and I love him... and now he's having health issues, despite a relatively healthy version of SAD most of his life. He has been critical of my raw endevours, but through my caring patience toward him, he finally said to me Saturday "Maybe I'll take you up on that 30 day raw challange!"

Granted, most of the people questioning you aren't anywhere near as important as a parent, and I'm not suggesting you change your ways. I'm just saying where there's life there's hope, and a great deal of us can't resist answering life's camoflauged cry for help, with an offer of hope ;) So on this board, you may be a minority in that regard... not wrong, just a minority, but we need your perspective just the same!

[SamuelWilson]

I just wanted to add that I am friendly to people who inquire with me. I mean if someone at the health food store questions me, you are already dealing with someone who is already interested in health.

However, if you get a traditionalist who eats meat and believes that real men hunt deer, then I think it is a waste to even speak to them. It is all on how the question is structured.

It is the same way with my SUV (will not mention the make or model). If someone comes up to me and ask me the gas mileage while I am pumping fuel at a gas station. I already know that is a "baited" question and I say something like "I don't know" just to avoid having to conversate with them.

There is nothing wrong with helping someone out who really wants to be helped. It all boils down to your environment. When I am in Miami, you have more open minded people, but when I am in Tallahassee, you have more negative people. Basically, any town that is a so called "traditional" town is going to generally have negative views towards raw foodism because they feel that you are disrespecting their meat eating lifestyle.

[Sicilian Girl]

I am going to stick my neck out here with the expectation of getting it hacked, but I feel as though alot of the energy that we percieve is really a reflection of ourselves.

If you feel as though people are negative around you, you are projecting a negative energy and people feed off of that. However, if you are like Alissa, for example, people feed off the positive energy and get excited about what she is saying. It's all in how you carry yourself and project your energy.

There are always exceptions , however, I find that most of the time this is true. A really basic (non-raw food) example, smiling at people. Smiling is infectious. It's hard to stay in a negative mood when someone looks you in the eye, smiles at you and tells you to have a nice day or that are excited about something. This is basically what I am talking about.

<winces and sticks neck out> hack away!

Ps. To the OP, I find cutting avos before work does not spoil them for lunchtime. A little oxidation won't kills us eh?! :)

[SamuelWilson]

Sicilian Girl, I agree with you. I should mention more of the postive feedback that I receive. I definitely have encouraged many of my friends and family to be more raw than they were.

It tends only to be the "traditionalist" who want to be negative. So, once again, it is all about your current environement. This is why you have lots of raw food restaurants in Miami and New York. Any place that is more liberal and new age tends to be more open to raw foodism. If you have someone who is already interested in health to some degree, those people are more likely to be open to ideas relating to health.