Eating Out

[qetta]

So I'm meeting a friend at Panera for lunch today. This will be my first time eating out raw, other than the two times I've eaten at Ecopolitan. So I checked the menu online because I want to do this right. (Especially with having slipped and eaten cooked food junk food yesterday.) I noticed they have lemonade, which they say is, "All natural, freshly prepared and served over ice." So I checked the ingredients. Unbelievable. The ingredients are, "Sugar, syrup, water, high fructose corn syrup, concentrated lemon juice, lemon pulp, lemon oil, lemons."

Isn't it sad that they can call it all natural when the actual lemons are the last thing on the list?!

[Curtis]

Yep you can thank big business and our government for that. :)

[Wrecked Spark]

:mad:

That's what I say!

I'm not even going to get started with all the MSG the food in restaurants are loaded with. I have strong reaction to MSG so can always tell how badly the food is loaded with it. I just finished reading an interesting article about it... the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) doesn't have ANY regulations about the amount restuarants/prepared food manufacturers can use in their food. THere is also an interesting connection with MSG and obesity (of course).

:mad: :mad: Argh!

[Curtis]

Well at least Wrecked your government lets farmers grow hemp for many products that can be made from it. :)

[Wrecked Spark]

Ah yes. A speckle in the desert of sand... ;)

LOL ~ yes, thank goodness. I love my hemp seed protein.

I must admit the Canadian government is slightly more conservative when it comes to the area of Food & Drug, but America does set an interesting example that is VERY influential to the Canadian marketplace. Both countries are similar in their consistent disrespect for the individual's natural pursuit of health. We are different in many respects also, but one fact remains clear: it doesn't matter where in the world weou live... if we don't educate ourselves, how on earth are we going to make a difference? All of us make differences everyday with our pocketbooks... "the new voting", as I like to think of it.

Oh dear. I seem to have veered of course!

:o

Ah-hem... where were we?! Ah yes... ingredient listings on food... by the way, did you know that manufacturers are not forced to list ALL of the food's ingredients when there are only traces or minute amounts within the food? And we all know what havoc can be caused when there are only "traces" of peanut products in a foodstuff...

[Sharon in Colorado]

When my raw friend goes to Paneras, she gets the Greek Salad without the Feta, and of course no bread.

[Rawism]

I don't know of the havoc that peanuts cause. Can you please enlighten me?

[Wrecked Spark]

Peanuts are one of the only foods that cause cause severe/acute respiratory allergic reactions to people who are allergic... if not treated in time (often within minutes) the sufferer can go into cardiac arrest and the condition is often fatal.

There are new regulations (placed in the early 90's by Health Canada) with regards to peanut/nut allergy warnings in ANY food sold in this country. I'm not sure if America has similar laws?

[Wrecked Spark]

... that also applies to any food produced in the same building as products made with any nuts.

We're quite strict up here. I think that's a good thing. :)

[CherimoyaMel]

From what I've heard, peanuts aren't good for anyone, allergic or not. They have some sort of fungus in them. :(

[Wrecked Spark]

Yes I have heard/read that also, although I seem to be fuzzy on the source of that information... I think it was a book on candidiasis warning sufferers to stay away for that very reason!

[Analeah]

I think in the US it is a law as well to mention on the package if any of the contents could have come in contact with peanuts. I have heard they are really high in arsenic? Don't know if that is true or not though but I have heard they are in general not as healthy. I used to LOVE peanut butter but now since trying raw almond butter it doesn't even compare. Anyone tried raw peanuts before?

[Jay]

I'm a peanut butter lover myself, and am sad that I can't eat it anymore... somehow, I don't get all the fuss about almond butter, I have it here at home, purchased from eatraw, but I don't really like it... :o

And yes Analeah, I've recently purchased raw peanuts from Orkos, and they taste nothing like the roasted peanuts, they taste a bit like dirt to me... not very fond of them. I was planning to make peanut butter with them, using my Champion, but I'm not sure if I should make some or not, since the taste of the raw peanuts wasn't really attractive...

anybody has a good recipe for raw peanut butter??!?

[rawjojo]

Yes, I also agree!!!

"Nuts" ~ great---"Peanuts ~ not so great!!! I am going to try and find a link but I have acouple of articles to post on peanuts definitely not being raw. I think some "newbies" might not know about that.
Wrecked - I am glad you added on the peanut allergy. My nephew has a severe peanut allergy and unless you've really studied it, you cannot believe how many things peanuts or peanut oil are in not to mention the "may be made in a factory that produces peanut products". It is unreal how many item he can't have. They are a S.A.D. family but I keep trying to convince them to go raw. I actually see a little glimmer of hope. We and her doctors suspect that the allergy was deleloped during his 2nd trimester when she was using peanut butter as a main source of protein. If I only knew then what I know now...................., Oh Well, Live and Learn!

I am going to check out the panera website right now!
rawjojo

[Analeah]

I haven't tried the almond butter from eatraw yet but I think they soak the nuts before don't they? I know I have had some like that from living tree and it doesn't seem to be as rich/creamy as the unsoaked almond butter but I am sure it is probably much healthier. I think I could live (lol probably not healthy) on bananas and apples with almond butter! Raw peanuts.....they probably don't taste good raw because its not actually a nut and only reminds us of one when it is roasted because it makes it taste similar to other real nuts.

[Jay]

Analeah,

about the peanuts, exactly! The actually grow in the ground, the soil, the dirt, the earth, whatever you want to call it, so that's also probably why they taste like dirt to me...

Soooo, anybody wants to buy some raw peanuts from me?!? :D

oh, and I wouldn't know about the soaked nuts or not in the almond butter, it's just really dry when I taste it, like peanut butter, but even worse, and I need to drink a lot of water, just to be able to swallow it!

[rawjojo]

I wanted to share something with you about Almond Butter! When I first bought a jar, I wasn't crazy aobut it either. IT was okay, but I couldn't figure out what everyone was raving about. SO, I mixed it with raw honey and cinnamon and when I dunked apples in it it was about a close as you are gonna get to a yummy caramel apple. (I hope you "liked" caramel apples). I realized though that I had to limit this to a special treat because I was eating it like mad. However, since that concoction, I do like almond butter even more and now I even use it plain with celery or other fruit and veg that I like. I just use it for snaking purposes, but it cures my craving for sweets. I hope that this helps you make use of your jar!
rawjojo

[Jay]

Thanks for the tip RawJoJo!!

I don't know if I'm thinking of the same thing as you when you say caramel apples.. but I can imagine what you mean :) I will try it, otherwise it's so sad to see that jar standing there, when I paid good money for it!!

Question: if you dip you celery in it, do you add salt? Because that's another thing I noticed, the taste is just so... plain... :confused:

[rawjojo]

I think that is what I didn't like about it was tht it was kinda "plain". I thought it wa sort of boring! I have never tried it with salt.

My idea of carmel apples are big, hard yummy apples dipt in sweet shewy caramel. Usually you see them alot in the fall. Also, some people have a hard time eating them off of a stick so they just dip thier apple in caramel. That's kind of what I do with this almond butter mixture! Is this what your idea of a caramel apple is?

[Jay]

Yep, it sure is!!

I always wonder about the apples on the stick though, they are bright red, such an artificial colour, and then you see these people struggling with it, lol!!

I used to make the following, when I was younger:
peel an apple, core it, but with this tool that leaves the apple whole, so that just takes out the core, and then put some raisins in the middle, add some butter and some cinnamon and/or brown sugar and place it under the grill or in the microwave... yummmm, I liked that so much!! And it's a bit like the caramel apple I guess...

[Jay]

And I just noticed that we got way of track here, this thread was about eating out! whoopsie, sorry Lisa!! :o

[Analeah]

Interesting you thought it tasted plain but I guess it is all what you are used to and normally peanut butter has a lot of salt in it. You could try adding some salt and see if it makes the flavor better. Other than that the only thing I can say is that the more raw you eat and the longer you eat only raw for your taste buds will really change a lot.

[rawjojo]

I totally agree, I tend to enjoy by food a lot more bland now a days! I sitll like some spice every now and them but for the most part I really enjoy my food plain. (And I was a major salt -a- holic)

[qetta]

rawjojo - How long did it take you to get over being a salt-aholic?? I still crave salty stuff every day.

[rawjojo]

Well for instance, I literally put salt (tons of it) in EVERYTHING! It has been a joke at my house for quite some time. I have been mostly raw for about the last 6-8 mos. I have had slip ups here and there and when I have had a slip up the food was way to salty for me. What a surprise! It almost gagged me. AND the funny thing is, it wasn't even salted food. I mean it had salt in it, but I didn't salt it any extra. I am not exactly sure when I got over salt like that BUT I will say that occasionally I still get a craving for something salty and all I do to satisfy this craving is: (this is probably bad but it works for me) I have a jar of organic green olives, {it's a small jar probably about 30-40 olives in it} and when I get a craving I get out my jar and suck on "1"olive until the craving subsides. I never used to like green olives at all so I don't mind only having "1" but they are soooooooooo salty that it takes care of my salt problem. My goal is to bee 100 percent within a year (no cheating), I have about 20 more olives or so in my jar and hopefully I will not need them but they only have until spring in my fridge and then they are getting thrown out. Hopefully by then I will be able to calm my cravings with other more natural items like celery. Hope this answers your question or at least helps you out a little bit. I can't wait until something tastes way too salty for you, it's a great feeling of accomplishment!
rawjojo

[rawjojo]

Oh, I almost forgot to ask what did you end up having for lunch at Panera?

[qetta]

Hey rawjojo - thanks for the tips! The sucking on a green olive one is a great idea.

At Panera I had a regular salad - greens, tomatoes, onions, and cukes. They had to make me another one because they drowned the first one in Caesar dressing. (Bob wasn't paying attention when I placed my order.) But the salad stuff was really fresh and tasty!

[FEELIN'GOOD]

About Almond Butter- the Trader Joes Raw Organic Almond Butter is the bomb! My favorite raw dessert by far is sliced bananas and strawberries drizzled with Raw Almond Butter and Raw honey!!!! YUM! Trader Joes also carries a 'creamed' unfiltered, uncooked honey which is equally as wonderful! Brands do make a difference here... I made an oops once and bought roasted Almond butter- :eek:

[Analeah]

Wow thats great I didn't know TJ's had raw honey there as well. I love their almond butter (I have my mom send me jars from the US lol). I have heard Marantha brand is not even raw and is more expensive. I am curious to know if anyone has any facts on TJ's almond butter but one would think since it says "Organic Raw Almond Butter" on the label that it would in fact be raw. What is Panera? Is that a veg restaurant?

[glad_2beme]

Our Panera's is a soup and sandwich shop with lots of fresh breads and pastries, somewhere that I would not have the strength to even walk by the front of.....

[qetta]

Yeah - Panera's is a soup/sandwich shop chain. (Not veg, but veg-friendly.) I wasn't even tempted by the bread, which is weird. I used to LOVE breads. And "samiches" were my favorite food. :D But apparently the only cooked food I'm missing is chips. :mad:

[Rawism]

I used to LOVE peanut butter but now since trying raw almond butter it doesn't even compare. Anyone tried raw peanuts before?

I agree!! I am addicted to Almond Butter. I am so mad at my mother for not introducing it to me sooner. :) J/K

The only cooked food I miss are french fries. I tried the jicama but it doesn't compare. * Sigh*

[Analeah]

Lol yes I can't believe I didn't know about almond butter sooner too. I prefer it way over peanut butter now and I am sure as a kid it is much healthier to grow up on whether raw or not. As for french fries the closest thing I have tried is avocado sliced and dipped in ground flax with salt. Also I tried once grating raw potatoe and marinating it in olive oil, salt and garlic and then dehydrating it. I thought it actually came out pretty good but I have heard potatoe isn't really the most healthy thing to eat so I haven't made it much recently.

[Laurel]

Ok, I am confused. I have heard several people mention drizzling almond butter. But my almond butter is very thick, my local farmers market lets you grind it fresh and it is not really creamy. How on earth would you drizzle it? Is the almond butter you have more liquidy?

[Analeah]

Hmm I don't think the fresh ground is as oily for some reason. When you buy it like from TJ's it has some oil on the top (not added but just naturally) and it is easy to drizzle on things. Is the fresh ground stuff you get crunchy like?

[vegangelist]

my answer to everyone about a salt or sweet craving is: juicing. do a juice fast...that is what originally started me on my road to being vegetarian, then vegan, then raw. A juice fast for about a week will help with detox (of course) by cleaning you out and will clean your palate as well. Lots of water too, naturally.

and, as far as foods go....i say, whenever you have a craving for salty foods, or sweet, try to drown it as much as possible in water. then, if still not enough....munch on some celery...nice and cold celery. heck, i eat it for breakfast sometimes!

kristi

[Sharon in Colorado]

Were the almonds at the Farmer's Market roasted?

[Analeah]

Some are and some aren't. You can usually tell by the flavor and how the almond looks but if you aren't sure you can always ask the farmer if they have been heat treated in any way. You might want to word things carefully though as I have found often times they want to tell you what you want to hear lol. I asked once if this juice was raw and they replied yes then I asked a week later if it was pasteurized and they also replied yes lol so if you ask a farmer about the almonds maybe it's good to say something like "are these roasted" first?

[vegbaby]

I had never eaten raw peanuts until recently, but we had a bag in the freezer because my husband used to make all our peanut butter. he would roast the nuts and make it fresh. anyway, he found this salad recipe by Rhio in Just Eat an Apple magazine, and the dressing called for raw peanuts. I wasn't too sure, but it tasted ok.

[Analeah]

Hmm, interesting...did you taste the peanuts plain? What did they taste like?

[glad_2beme]

I am in Alabama...i.e. peanut country.. Raw peanuts are fine, eaten them all my life. they are not a nut though actually. carrots grow in the ground, onions, so many other things do too. anyway, we all have differnet tastes, and I dont understand where this peanut allergy all of a sudden came from. My son has a kid in his class that cannot even sit near someone with peanut butter, he swells up and turns red!!! Anyway, if you like them, eat them.

[Alissa]

i moved this thread to this forum because i think this is something everyone deals with and it was not 'off topic' its very relevant to how we live and what we eat and I wanted people to see this and not have it get lost.
Thanks!
Alissa