April 2012 - 30 Day Raw Food Challenge - Join ANY day of the month!!!

[Aleesha Sattva]

Welcome welcome welcome!!! :excited:

Welcome to the 30 day challenge and welcome to our new monthly format.

This is our monthly challenge thread. We are choosing to do one (or perhaps split into two) continual threads so we can create a community of support within this challenge. You can join this thread at any time during the month. Don't be shy... we love new posters!!! So if you want to join us... please do!

I welcome people who are already 100% raw to join in the conversation - supporting our challengers in their quest! :cheer:

This thread is specifically for those of you who are eager to commit to 30 consecutive days of eating 100% raw foods and seeing miraculous results!

I will start a new challenge thread on the first of every month. If I forget... send me a quick email and remind me... I'll get the challenge thread online for you quickly.

The focus of the monthly challenge is on staying raw and accountability. Therefore, if you have eaten all raw and then slip up and have something cooked, don't beat yourself up over it or dwell on it - but this is not space to discuss it. You are more than welcome to document it in your journal/blog or ask for help in the discussion area, but it is not necessary (and not allowed) to discuss your slip-up here in the challenge threads, just get right back on track and keep going! This thread is about celebrating what you are eating that IS raw!

I welcome you all to share pics of your dishes, ask questions, share what you are consuming (as long as it's raw). We are here to listen to your emotional and physical challenges. So share share share!!! :hug

OH and the best part of this (not only the support but...) you can subscribe to this thread and get notified every time someone posts to it. This way you will be connected!

So let's get this party started!!!:throwhearts:

[Aleesha Sattva]

Please do not post in this thread until the first of April 2012.

thanks,
Aleesha
Admin

[Mayaya]

Seems I'm the first to post here, but it's not an April fool's joke. I'm starting tomorrow (actually, that is today) morning 100% raw. Along with my best friend we are going to fix our eating habits. Even though our reasons, goals and way of doing it is going to be the different, the motivation and support will be the same from both sides. I'm excited!!! So, yep count me in!!!
You can also say a good word for my decision :D Just saying :P

[qwerty988]

Seems I'm the first to post here, but it's not an April fool's joke. I'm starting tomorrow (actually, that is today) morning 100% raw. Along with my best friend we are going to fix our eating habits. Even though our reasons, goals and way of doing it is going to be the different, the motivation and support will be the same from both sides. I'm excited!!! So, yep count me in!!!
You can also say a good word for my decision :D Just saying :P

Welcome, Mayaya! :heart:

How great you have your bestr friend for support! Feel free to share your reasons and goals here with us, too.

I'm starting April with a renewed commitment to stay raw without slips and to continue my current daily exercise routine. I have a big weight loss goal in mind for this month. I also have a goal to heal my recessed gums with raw food and oil-pulling. I saw big progress last month on both fronts and I intend for it to continue this month.

Happy April my Fellow Challengers! :heart

[PansyLo]

Welcome Mayaya :welcome:

It's great that you have a friend to join in too! You can keep each other accountable, share recipes and meet up for cook-ins!

I'm in again for April. I was not 100% for all of March so with April I'm doubling my commitment to stick to it this month without slip ups.


Also have the huge challenge of quitting smoking. I've cut down but I haven't gotten there yet. New plan, for every pack of cigarettes I don't buy I'm going to buy a book on amazon worth the same price.
I'm addicted to books and wanting to build a small library in my new house so the though of a new book over a pack of cigarettes is a no brainer.

[GoodCat]

I'm going to be doing a few day juice fast and then its all raw for me. I've been trying out a few new raw recipes that I think will be great for this month (and the following months:)

Raw enchiladas ... amazing...
Raw chocolate brownie with chocolate frosting .. again.. amazing..

So for today it will be juices... but they're all raw anyways, so I'm good :)

mayaya... qwerty.. and pansyLo.. it will be great being raw with you all !!!

Cathy

[Mayaya]

Thank you qwerty988! Oh what an easy nick to type!! lol
It's good that you exercise, well done! I haven't got the courage to do it.

Right now I'm 66.6 kilos (double it and it's more or less the equal pounds) and I don't know ecxactly my goals, but my first big goal is under 60 kilos and my final goal will be around 50 kilos. I'll see how I'll feel and if I like my appearance and stop when I'm sutisfied. My height is 1.56m (sorry, I don't know how to transition it) so it's not like I'm going to dissapear if I reach 50 kilos lol!
Other than that, I've got psoriasis both in body and head, breathing problems in almost anything (like inhaling dust, chigarette smoke, some kind of perfumes or just when there is not enough air) and being overweight helps it appear, energy around zero (so that's why I don't exercise), thyroid and other hormonic problems, easily gaining back pain or other pains that god knows what caused them -when a problem dissapears some other comes to bother me and that's a constant think & the list hasn't ended yet. Oh and my immune system barely excists so I'm the first to catch all winter colds. If you are in a full bus and sb caughs, that's me.
I've got not much money to spend and it's a tricky bet to hold, but I believe raw is an investment and if you don't spent all you've got in your health then where will you? What I don't do is eat organic and I've also given up the thought of gourmet dishes, perhaps one per week, just to keep motivated that "I have to stick to it so in Sunday I can try a new raw recipe as a reward". But I'm happy with that cause I do the best I can and that's what will keep me going.

Today I needed sleap so I woke up at 12. Since then what I've consumed is aloe, royal jelly (I don't know if it's raw) a banana and a salad with some fats in, that is a spoon of olive oil and some nuts. It was delicious with all the colours of the rainbow in lol. For the dressing I added a spoon of honey, no sugar, no salt (I don't know if honey is raw either). I'm full and happy right now and it's been over 3 hours. Maybe in a while I'll have some snack and I know this first day is going to be ok ;) I even prepared my tomorrows dishes for work.

[Mayaya]

Thank you Cathy, this time I'm going to stick to it, even if I slip, I'm going to be here for support.

PansyLo, I wish this friend that diets with me wanted to quit smoking too. I never pushed her cause I know that if sb doesn't want to, he'll never do it. That's a taugh but good decision, and you want it, so well done!

Congrats for your new home and coming library. I am moving to my own home in one or two months and it is going to have libraries in two rooms. Also, after everything is set and we are comfortable (and of course find the money) I am going to order an exculiber and a vitamix. And when my energy levels go up, I'm going to start moving a bit, at first dancing and some things from tapes and then I'm dying to buy inline skates and start rooooooooling! If I don't brake anything on the process of learning to stand on lol!

[PansyLo]

@Mayaya: it can be difficult to tell what's raw and what's not at first. I'm still not totally sure with one or two things, it's a learning process.
With honey, if it doesn't say raw it's not raw. I've found raw honey very easy to get though, you can get it in any supermarket here. If you can't find it there health stores are your friends.

I'm terrible when it comes to exercise too. I don't even really know where to start with it. I think the trick is to find something you actually enjoy and something that's progressive so you want to go back and work towards something.

I tried running but found it way to embarrassing running in public even though it was at like 6am so I'd avoid people. I also was the clumsiest runner, my keys jingled the whole time, I was trying to time periods of running and walking and was a total fluster as I didn't have a stop watch. :( I still like the idea as it's something I could build on but I need to organise it better.

When I move into the new house I'm going to sign up for ballet lessons and an intense yoga class.



I'm going to take it easy this month with the raw food. I'm planning on fasting for a good deal of it. I still have salad ingredients to use up but after that I might just stick to a juice fast. I want to keep things simple, I don't want to concentrate too much on food this month as I want to work on other areas of my life.
I don't know, a month is a long time I may change my mind.
When I want to concentrate on food again I have a few challenges for myself which include sprouting new things, buying new ingredients such a hemp/chia seeds, trying a few more adventurous recipes.

[Mayaya]

LOL for your keys!! :D
I also love yoga. Hope I can keep on a yoga program some day. And those last days I'm concidering zumba too, cause the only way you can move me is by nice music.

[PansyLo]

I want to do ballet again for the movement.

I used to be pretty hardcore with it. I started at some ridiculously young age before I was even two. Once you get out of it though it's so easy to just forget it all. And I couldn't physically do it even if I wanted to! I'm so unfit and inflexible!
It's a good emotional type of dancing though it's good for putting your feelings into. And it's so beautiful.

Off to do more grocery shopping already. Tesco employees must thing I'm totally bonkers coming in to buy MASS amounts of fruit and veg, especially when juicing as you need so much!

[breathless]

Hello, I'm in for the challenge for April. I made a promise to myself that if I can maintain 100% raw for 30 days, I will allow myself to purchase a Vitamix. So far, so good. LOL. Today for brunch, I had a strawberry smoothie and spinach salad with tomatoes and a dressing made of olive oil, lemon juice, and Italian herbs. Then I had cashew cheeze (I can never get my cheeze to come out tasting great, but it was okay, so I ate it anyway) on flax seed crackers bought from the health food store (the crackers are called "Flackers") and a bunch of red seedless grapes.

@Pansy: I do think ballet would be good for you. Excellent choice! I wonder if your desire to begin dancing again could be a side effect from raw foods. It is so natural for us to want to move our bodies, and eating dead food buries our natural desires. I am feeling inspired to start working out again myself.

@Mayaya: I'm so glad you have someone to do this with, but don't forget this is a great place for support as well!

@Qwerty: It's so good to see you here again. I am looking to lose a lot of weight too!

@GoodCat: Raw enchiladas sound wonderful! The thought of enchiladas makes me wish I had a dehydrator.

[PansyLo]

Today:

Super green juice: carrot, apple, kale, spirulina, broccoli stalk (figured it would be a good way to use it rather than binning), ginger, orange.
Salad: water cress, broccoli, tomatoes, avocado, pumpkin seeds, vinaigrette dressing.
More of the green juice, very watered down this time to save some for morning.

Not really all that hungry. Went out to buy more groceries and just haven't felt like eating much more really!

[foxyflowerchild]

Hello everyone!

Although technically i started yesterday, today will be day one of my 30-day raw challenge!

I am really excited/nervous about it! It will for sure be a challenge to stick to it 100%, but I'm in!

Hell yah April people! We got this!:woot:

[PansyLo]

^ Love the enthusiasm!! :woohoo:

It's a tad contagious. :dance:

@breathless: you know I think you could be onto something. I always loved ballet and had thought about going back before but never really did it. Since starting raw though I have had this real urge to use my body in a more challenging way.

Since starting raw even though I haven't been 100% the whole time and noticed really radical changes I have just had a lot more urges to do things. It may partly be that I've reached a point in my life where I need to turn things round but I've been planning and wanting to do a lot more.

I think there's a few of us who are not brand new starters but really want to stick to 100% this month. I really want to do it this time since I couldn't last month.

[queenkel]

Wow, so many comments already! I'm in for the challenge. I've been on and off this site for a few years, but never stick to the raw even though I love how I feel when I do. I just cleaned my entire house and now I'm enjoying a carrot, celery and kale juice. I tend towards slobbiness, but LOVE having a clean house. I'm going to do my best to keep it nice this time :) I've been having green smoothies for brekkie and raw lunches all week, but when I get off work I have a bad habit of eating comfort food. Anyways, I'm super excited about this. I'd like to lose about 20 pounds and tone up all the jiggly bits. I'm also hoping this will help with my skin. I don't have very bad acne, but my skin scars ridiculously easily so it looks worse than it is. I'm mostly excited about all the extra energy though! Anyways, I'm off to have a nice candlelit bath in my freshly scrubbed tub with some herbal tea (I'm allowing myself herbal tea because I really don't think there's anything bad in it and I need a cup of something hot in the mornings and for my nightly bath). Congrats to everyone for being here! :heart:

[qwerty988]

Good morning all!

Ready for another great raw day. :throwhearts: Yesterday I had:

- smoothie: 3 bananas, orange, celery, kale, collards, avocado, cacao, honey
- Creamy Mushroom Soup
- a banana, a grapefruit
- Mixed greens and spinach salad w cucumbers, avocado and carrot with dressing made from orange/garlic/tomato/celery/evoo and salt
- smoothie: bananas and strawberries w some vanilla and honey

Welcome queenkel! :heart

[tvillemom]

Hi all. It has been a really long time since I have been here. I won't go into my history with raw foods, but I've been eating raw for a few years. I am always striving for 100%, but most of the time not successful. This is due to committment and time spent getting prepared. I realized this morning when I woke up that it was April 2nd, and the perfect time to jump in to a 100% raw challenge. I am also doing p90x, and after a couple of weeks of pushing vegan protein (cooked) I am not feeling my best and I know it's because I'm not getting enough raw foods in.
Hope everyone is having a great day so far. This morning I am going to have a raw protein drink and then some clementines, and later (probably lunch) I will have a green smoothie.
I will try to post later.

[rawsomejen]

@ mayaya welcome! I saw a video a while back and its helped me with being raw while still not going broke. She said to eat what's in season, since you'll get the prices. It makes a lot of sense too. Also look for things that will fill you up faster for less.

@ flower child, welcome to raw as well! Don't be nervous, this is an adventure of a lifetime and we're all here to support you. :)

@pansy its nice to know there's a fellow former ballerina amongst us. ;) maybe we can motivate each other to go back!

@ cat those raw enchiladas sound amazing, care to share any pics or recipes?

@qwerty welcome back ol friend!

And just a little catch up on me, im technically on day 41 of being raw, I feel amazing, I'm more comfy in my own skin and I'm loving it. My friends always talk about "oh when you're done being raw, we can go out and eat this and drink that blah blahblah"

Guess what guys! I don't think i'll ever want to stop being raw.

My goal for this month though is to remain a minimum of 80% raw, you guys can kick me out if you want, but id figure is spill the beans first.

Yay! Happy raw April everyone!

[breathless]

Congratulations, Rawsomejen on your 41 days! Have you noticed any changes?

After being on and off since the beginning of the year, today is day 2 for me.

Last night I had the most amazing raw food soup. Even my husband enjoyed it! I got the recipe from the blog Raw on $10 a day or less. Here is the link:
http://rawon10.blogspot.com/2012/03/5-simple-and-delicious-raw-soups-for.html
I had the carrot avocado soup, and I will definitely be making it again.

So far for today I have had:
green smoothie with pineapple and spinach
2 bananas, a pureraw bar, and GT's kombucha

For lunch:
red seedless grapes, kale avocado salad, marinated mushrooms, tomato arugula salad

I love being raw!:heart

[Juicing Juli]

I'm beginning today!!! Have been about 95% raw but need and want to go 100%! This is the month!

[GoodCat]

Good Morning everyone,

This morning I'm sipping on honey/lemon water. Its actually very nice and filling :) I really need to accomplish eating all raw to gain health in my body. When I'm not 100% raw its so much easier to "slip" up, etc.

rawsomejen... I will totally share the recipe. I'll put it in the recipe section in a few days. I didn't take any pictures though this time around, but everyone loved them that tried them... Thats always good ..lol..

Cathy

[magglepie]

I'm in :) I struggled in March, and did not do 100% raw... So, here I am in April going again :) I NEED to keep checking in here daily too. Otherwise, if I don't get encouragement, it's to easy for me to say that one little bit of cooked won't hurt... Anyway, here we go! I got a new blender the other day (nothing fancy, but as my old one died on me, it'll do well for now.) and I've been going smoothie crazy the past few days. Which is great because I love smoothies. I've not had one today, but I had an apple and a banana before I went to work out.

[magglepie]

@rawsomejen - I think it's so...interesting when people say stuff like "Oh when you're done being raw.." as if it's just some phase. The weirdest and maybe dumbest thing that happened to me was: a couple years ago, before I fell of the raw wagon hard, I had been completely raw for maybe two or three weeks and I met up with an acquaintance at the Asian market in our town. So I had on my coat, because it was March but still chilly enough for a coat (you know, Minnesota) and this acquaintance looks at my face and says something like "Why is your face all puffy? It looks wrong." Well, at this point I had been off coffee and soda for a little over a month and had been drinking only water and was, of course, completely raw. Then she proceeded to grab my arm, push my coat sleeve up and poke my skin saying something like "You're skin is so puffy, I think you need to go to the doctor and get it checked out." I wanted to look at her and be like "Listen here lady, just because I insist on filling my body with healthy food doesn't mean there's something wrong with me, so back the h#4* off." I find it very interesting the way people act when you decide that you're going to do something healthy for your body like go raw. They get very weird about it.

[Rosco]

Woops, wrong section.

[robh]

Welcome to all the new usernames in the thread. It looks like April is going to be rawsome. :)

I am in for another month of trying to be raw. (I’m getting better.)

This weekend was a big win for my new raw food lifestyle. This was my first 100% raw weekend since I started in January. It was socially challenging, but I prevailed. Remembering how bad I felt a week ago, after eating cooked food again, really helped me through all the temptations I faced this weekend.

Breakfast – Lunch: grapefruit, plumb, two bananas, orange, apple, raw tomato soup, a green smoothie and lots of water.

Dinner: sweet peppers, spinach, romaine, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red bell pepper, flax crackers and guacamole

[queenkel]

Good Morning!

Good job on the 41 days Jen! I can't wait until I can say the same for myself!

RobH - Awesome to hear about your raw weekend. Social situations are so tough. I'm going to a potluck in a few weeks and I'm not too sure what I should do. I'll probably eat a big meal first and then make some raw dessert to wow them with.

I'm feeling pretty energetic today. Woke up and worked out at the free gym across the street first thing. It's an outdoor gym that the city put in last spring. It's pretty great, but you have to work out in front of people which can be a little embarrassing. One of the things I'm really trying to work through is to stop caring so much what other people think, but it's still tough. I'm going to make some veg juice for breakfast, green salad for lunch and some marinated veggies and maybe a fruit salad for dinner. I have to work later so this depends on whether I can prepare it before I have to go in. I work at a hotel/restaurant so the temptation to just order food there is always pretty strong.

Here's a pic of my snack last night. It was SO good and only took me five mins to whip up:

0

Ok, nvm. I can't figure out how to upload a photo! I've done it before. Anyways, it was stuffed tomato cups. I scooped the tomato flesh out and mixed in some finely chopped mushrooms, garlic, green onion and cilantro and then tossed a bit of oil. Then I scooped it all back into the tomato shells and topped it with sprouts. Sooooooooooo good! Hopefully I can figure out how to post pics eventually. Anyways, have a great day everyone!

[Lucy76]

Hello hello!! I'm so excited to be here for another month!

Today I had, carrot juice, apple spinach orange juice, orange strawberry juice, big green salad, a handfull of walnuts, 3 bananas, 5 oranges, and some marinated broccoli.

Good luck everyone!:heart

[qwerty988]

Hello again!

I'm done eating for the day. Here's what I had:

- smoothie: 3 bananas, orange, celery, spinach, collards, cacao, honey
- 2 bananas, ½ avocado
- massaged kale salad w cabbage and grated carrot
- Natasha's Spicy Tomato Soup
- Strawberry shake w bananas, strawberries, almonds, vanilla & honey (YUM)

Great to see everyone here! :throwhearts:

[Juicing Juli]

Querty,
Hi there! Just curious why you are done eating for the day??? Are you in China...lol.
In Chicago, it's 1:15 pm. Do you try to stop eating after a certain time?

Glad to see you here!
Juli



Hello again!

I'm done eating for the day. Here's what I had:

- smoothie: 3 bananas, orange, celery, spinach, collards, cacao, honey
- 2 bananas, ½ avocado
- massaged kale salad w cabbage and grated carrot
- Natasha's Spicy Tomato Soup
- Strawberry shake w bananas, strawberries, almonds, vanilla & honey (YUM)

Great to see everyone here! :throwhearts:

[Mayaya]

PansyLo, every time you post sth, I discover sth in common. I used to take a ballet class when I was on the second year of elementary. Well I was extremely slim and flexible back then, however my ballet career ended the same year.

Today I did ok with my diet, I even keep records of what I eat every day. Just tonight I ate a low fat yogurt with 1 teaspoon of honey in (not raw as I discovered here) and that was my only non raw 'dish'. So I was not 100% raw, but I knew from the beginning that I won't beat myself up cause sometimes I'll just HAVE TO skip the programm. My point was that "At least I won't skip my diet" and I'm happy with it.

I still can't drink enough water. A couple of glasses top...

But I moved for about 10 minutes, dancing around the room the way I felt like. I let a youtube zumba tutorial video run, but for me no rules, I just let my body do whatever it needed to do and that was a fun little time. I'm happy with it too, cause after 10 minutes I run out of breath and my goal is not to push my limits. Just keep going as long as I have fun with it.

So second day rolled as planned for me :)

Now I'm going to read all of you new April participants, good luck to you in advance! :throwhearts:

[robh]

My first stab at a raw tomato soup was not very tasty. I am hungry right now and I do not want to eat it; it's bad. I found a recipe with just tomatoes and cashews (creamy tomato soup). Some people added sweet elements like dates and agave. I may play around along those line and see how it goes.

qwerty, I wish I had your self control. The evening is when I always want to snack. I too get my day going around 4, but I hold off on eating until 9am so I can be done around 6. Even then, I find myself munching on fruit and nuts after dinner.

queenkel, thanks for the encouragement and for the details on your stuffed tomatoes. Sounds like a great alternative to salads for dinner (getting pretty bored with them).

Lucy76, if I may ask, what do you marinate your broccoli in?

Mayaya, congrats on your raw day.

[qwerty988]

Querty,
Hi there! Just curious why you are done eating for the day??? Are you in China...lol.
In Chicago, it's 1:15 pm. Do you try to stop eating after a certain time?

Glad to see you here!
Juli

Great to see you too! :heart:

I'm working on a weight loss goal, so I've given myself a cut-off time of 2 p.m. since every day I wake up at like 3 a.m. and eat and eat and eat hahahahhaaaa! I was going to bed feeling stuffed and I like I had eaten too many meals..... so I decided to try a cut-off and just drink water after 2 p.m. IT WORKS! I go to bed with an empty stomach, the extra weight is melting away, and I don't feel STUFFED. :D

[qwerty988]

My first stab at a raw tomato soup was not very tasty. I am hungry right now and I do not want to eat it; it's bad. I found a recipe with just tomatoes and cashews (creamy tomato soup). Some people added sweet elements like dates and agave. I may play around along those line and see how it goes.

Here's a recipe for a TOTALLY creamy and delish tomato soup -- no cashews required!

Natasha's Spicy Tomato Soup:

1/2 red bell pepper (seeds and pith removed)
1 stalk celery
5-7 roma tomatoes (green stems removed)
1/2 to one whole cucumber (peeled)
1-3 cloves garlic (I usually use 1 -- 2 if they're very small)
3 tablespoons of EVOO
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/8th teaspoon organic cayenne pepper

Blend till creamy and warm -- or warm gently on the stove if you don't have a Vitamix.

[PansyLo]

Today:

Super green juice from yesterday.
A huge jug of orange juice.
Lots of tea.

I kinda want to eat something but I'm not actually hungry so much as feeling the need to have a good chew.

I did really well during work, surrounded by food but instead ordered mass amounts of oranges for lunch and juiced them.

[joyfulyogi]

I'm in! : )

Will be back tomorrow to post! Of to collect kids from sports practices!

[magglepie]

I think I mentioned that I've kind if been going smoothie crazy lately. So for lunch I had a smoothie with 4 bananas (but only because they all fell off the bunch, literally), peaches and some pineapple. And for supper I'm having another smoothie with 2 bananas, strawberries, blackberries and some spinach.

Have a great night!

[PansyLo]

Detox has hit again! Woke up full of what feels like the flu.

While it feels rotten it's a little comforting to know that my juice fasting is really kicking in.

Today (so far):
Super green juice
Mixed leaf salad with tomatoes and flu remedy dressing (incase it actually is just illness) of half a bulb of raw garlic, hot red chillies, raw bioactive honey (my more expensive one that I save for illness fighting), half an avocado (to mellow the kick! also stimulates the immune system) lime and coriander.

I'm going to stink of garlic all day but that's always the first thing I do when getting sick. :)

Sitting in bed with my salad, a huge jug of iced water and a hot water bottle. I'm up SUPER early so I'll relax for a bit and have a mid morning nap before I go off to the studio.

:sick:

[robh]

Hope you feel better Pansy.

qwerty, thanks for that recipe.

Dinner last night:
* raw tomato soup: started with an emulsion of olive oil and pine nuts, added seeded plum tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and a little salt
* green smoothie: bananas, apples, spinach, romaine
* guacamole with Mexican-flavored flax crackers
* handful of nuts

Today (before dinner):
* green smoothie: bananas, apples, spinach, romaine
* grapefruit, orange, apple, plumb, banana, grapes, mini sweet peppers
* leftover raw tomato soup

[PansyLo]

^ Mexican flavoured flax crackers? They sound good!

@qwerty: Glad you shared that again, think you posted it before when I made my tomato soup failure (it just had a horrible consistency and a bland, slightly nasty, flavour), or perhaps it was someone else. I didn't save it last time anyway so it's good to have a saved new one to try that comes recommended. I also like that it's quite fresh without loads of blended nuts or too many fat heavy ingredients.

Really disappointed that I had to text the girl at the studio and cancel helping today. After my nap I just woke up feeling worse and have a fever. Think I should probably stay in bed and if it is contagious I wouldn't want her to catch it. I'm sorta hoping it's detox though as at least that's worth feeling miserable.

[qwerty988]

@qwerty: Glad you shared that again, think you posted it before when I made my tomato soup failure (it just had a horrible consistency and a bland, slightly nasty, flavour), or perhaps it was someone else. I didn't save it last time anyway so it's good to have a saved new one to try that comes recommended. I also like that it's quite fresh without loads of blended nuts or too many fat heavy ingredients.

Really disappointed that I had to text the girl at the studio and cancel helping today. After my nap I just woke up feeling worse and have a fever. Think I should probably stay in bed and if it is contagious I wouldn't want her to catch it. I'm sorta hoping it's detox though as at least that's worth feeling miserable.

Yeah, I also like that it's such a simple recipe. Also it comes out CREAMY -- which is all I care about with a tomato soup hahahahaa!

I am hit with detox today too, Pansy. Aching chest, sore throat, chills..... YUCK.

If you've quit smoking, or cut down a lot, that could be what's going on! I feel my detox is smoking-related, even though I quit years ago -- it just feels like my body's cleaning house around my lungs and throat right now. It could be the oil-pulling bringing it on.

Last night I decided to make some patties I named Disaster Burgers, since I was expecting them to be a disaster as I was just throwing together ingredients I happened to have on hand -- sunflower seeds, pecans, ground flax seed along with onion, garlic and carrot and LOTS of poultry seasoning.........

I tried one this morning and they actually turned out pretty good! A nice change from my recent routine of soups/salads/smoothies.

I am staying in bed today as well, with my laptop and my Disaster Burgers. Think I'll just have smoothies today.

Wishing everyone else a healthier, more energetic day hahahha!! :heart

[Basenjimamma]

Hi there fellow Aprilers...

I am excited to start this month of with a BANG!! of course I have slacked an dnot gotten on here to record my days so here it is...two days late..lol.

Sunday was a semi fast day for me, so started the day out with only water...as teh day progressed had two super green and large smoothies two.

Monday was a new week so my excersise routine started back up...after a longish hiatus of two weeks while family was visiting from Sweden...
Breakfast was a large green smoothie, then an intense spinning set of 40 minutes ...after spinning and throughout the day I sipped on another smoothie this time I also added some hempseeds.
Snacks in the pm was fruit mainly bananas, dinner was a huge guac salad...

Today...I know I am having smoothie..yet again =)..for snack after my workout...but breakfast will be juicy fruits..mainly pineapple...yum...

I will update throughout the day or if nothingeles..later this evening..

Have a great day folks...oh and qwert...thanks for the tomatosoup recipe...thinking that might be my dinner...yum!!

[tvillemom]

Good morning everyone. Yesterday was a great day. Today my food plan is:
raw protein shake
2-3 clementines about an hour after my shake
Lunch: curried cabbage/arame salad
Snack: homemade granola
Dinner: Tomato soup!
Lots of water!!!
If my meals differ, I will post the changes. I usually write everything as a "plan" for the day, it helps me not to stray!:dance:
Have a great RAW day everyone!!

[rawsomejen]

@Magglepie I told my family last night that i think I'm going to stay raw and they FLIPPED OUT! They were saying stuff like I'm going to have vitamin deficiencies and i won't get enough protein, and this and that.... Saying I'm going to have health problems and brittle bones. It sucks because I want to stay respectful but at the same time I just want them to accept that this is MY choice and MY body.

As for any changes I've experienced, I feel like I am thriving and living more than I ever have. It's really wonderful what I've done for myself in the past month and a half. My skin is clear, I'm sleeping better, and I'm aware of making smarter decisions. I love it! I just want to be the best I can be.

[breathless]

Day #3 and still raw! :throwhearts:

Last night I made a raw apple pie, but it didn't turn out as good as I was hoping for. Way too much cinnamon...

Today, I have had a green smoothie made with kiwi, arugula, banana, and watermelon. It was delicious! I think the watermelon balanced out the spiciness of the arugula nicely.

Also for today, I have had 1 pint organic blueberries and carrot sticks dipped in cashew cheeze. I also packed a romaine salad with avocado, a banana, and a couple oranges. Tonight I plan to stop by the health food store and pick up some raw bars. I like the purebar and the raw revolution bars. Probably, I also will get some walnuts to make Allisa's mock salmon pate. Tonight, I don't know...that tomato soup recipe posted above sure looks good!

It is a hard thing to tell family that you want to be raw. I got the same reaction when I told my family. That was a couple years ago. Now, I am raw and haven't told anyone. There is a challenge coming up with Easter, but I will just tell them I ate before I came over.

[robh]

I see lots of people staying raw. Way to go everyone!

My mom gave me a similar "talking to" when I told her I was adopting a raw food lifestyle and that this was not a diet.

Pansy, those flax crackers are great. Sadly, it requires a dehydrator. You got the juicer instead, right? After I make the flax batter, I just add a packet of onion soup mix and two tablespoons of taco seasoning. After that, you just spread it out onto dehydrator sheets and dry until crispy. Once you get a dehydrator, I can explain in detail. The batter is a bit tricky but can be done with a cheap blender.

[ShantiDass]

Hi there,

I'm going to join in but don't know how much I'll be on the boards. I'm a long time vegan and go raw on and off for short periods. I really want to stay raw or high raw. I've been having problems with allergies and asthma, which have resulted in a lot of urgent care and doctor visits, so I'm hoping this will help. Today is day 16 for me. The longest I've done is 3 months. I cleaned out my kitchen (Mostly. I left some food for earthquake preparedness) bought a juicer and a BlendTec blender as I really don't like the VitaMix, drug out the dehydrator, food processor and spiralizer and am ready to continue.

My biggest challenge is finding things I like. I made onion rings in the dehydrator last night and they upset my stomach. I need to find a salad dressing I like so I can eat a lot of salad. I've tried several and have had no such luck. I know I had a recipe for some kind of cheeze-it like thing and need to find that again. I will do a search and see if it comes up. I have so many raw recipe books, it's scary. I've taken 2 raw food uncooking classes and have another one next week. I like being able to taste what is made so I know if I like it. I have found a few recipes that way. I think the salad dressing is really the problem for me. If I can find a favorite or 2, I'll have a base from which to work.

[qwerty988]

My biggest challenge is finding things I like. I made onion rings in the dehydrator last night and they upset my stomach. I need to find a salad dressing I like so I can eat a lot of salad. I've tried several and have had no such luck. I know I had a recipe for some kind of cheeze-it like thing and need to find that again. I will do a search and see if it comes up. I have so many raw recipe books, it's scary. I've taken 2 raw food uncooking classes and have another one next week. I like being able to taste what is made so I know if I like it. I have found a few recipes that way. I think the salad dressing is really the problem for me. If I can find a favorite or 2, I'll have a base from which to work.

Welcome! :heart:

There's a wonderful raw ranch dressing DebB posted on this board:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?67993-dip-spread-for-veggies&highlight=dressing+dip

I can also suggest my favorite dressing, I love it and never get tired of it!

- 1 orange, peeled
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 roma tomato
- 1 clove garlic
- a few Tablespoons evoo
- salt to taste

Blend till smooth and creamy -- YUM!

Also, here's the thread with a recipe for raw Cheez-Its, I've been meaning to try this recipe myself!

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?57985-Cheeze-Its!-(Hopefully-raw!)&highlight=cheez

[ShantiDass]

Thank you so much. I'm so excited about the cheeze its. I've never had any "real" cheeze its since I've been vegan for a long time but the raw version is delicious. Thanks for the dressing recipes. I can't wait to try them. I made a ranch dressing from a book last week and it tasted like nuts and ACV (which I can't stand) so it went in the trash. This one looks better since it has more ingredients. I'll be going to the store tonight!

[Mayaya]

@PansyLo Get well soon! Garlic is a wise decision ;)
@Robh thank you!
@Breathless what's your country? I'm curious cause you talk about Easter and in my country we eat a lot meat at Easter time. Just wondering if...we talk the same language :) Ah and Easter is going to be hard for me as well. My parents invited my bf's family outside the town, so we have to stay there, so I can't use your excuse of "eating beforehand". Moreover, I LOVE Easter dishes.

Today is my 3rd day. That was a tough one cause I was on a constant run, stressfull day to catch everything and somewhere between 12 and 4 in the noon I didn't have the opportunity to eat. The same happened between 5 and 9, where the only raw thing that I wanted to eat was those frozen bananas I kept for some time now. The original plan was some raw soup, but I didn't have garlic, onion and kayen & when I arrived home the markets where closed. So I decided that this was about time to try this banana ice-cream. Earlier in the evening my feet brought me outside an organic store, and I bought raw cacao, in the hope that I'd definately find sth to do with it. Two hours later my raw banana/cacao ice-cream was ready. Good news stops here. Cause there was two drawbacks. I almost broke my cheap little blender who was struggling to cut the frozen bananas and in the end my kitchen smelled burning plastic (I have to save money for this vitamix!). And second, the ice-cream didn't turn that good. It had a weird bitterish or sour taste (that wasn't due to the blender burn) and the cacao didn't get smooth -I could feel it in my mouth somewhat like a powder. Maybe it's the blender who did an awful job, maybe I added too much cacao powder. Maybe I shouldn't improvise and add coconut milk to be able to blend it. The thing is that though I was HUNGRY I couldn't eat more that a couple of spoons. And I definately won't give my bf to try -as he requested.
Can anybody tell what I did wrong? The consistency was perfect though...! I read it would be perfect but would never believe it. If only it was sweet like a normal ice-cream, I'd stick to it forever.

Overall the day was good-meaning I managed to stay raw and not spoil the diet, but I got a bit hungry. Also, around afternoon I had NO energy AT ALL. I almost slept waiting for the bus lol!

Be strong everyone, till next time!

[yoru]

Thanks for inviting me here qwerty, i really appreciate it

so today started out well, i'm gonna go with what some people told me to do and have smoothies, and not eat anything cooked

but i finally figured out why i would always stop the change and start eating cooked foods again, it's because the healing crisis would be too strong, and i know i'm supposed to continue, but the urge to vomit would always come and i always felt the need to stop it. so here's to going through with it



I almost broke my cheap little blender who was struggling to cut the frozen bananas and in the end my kitchen smelled burning plastic (I have to save money for this vitamix!). And second, the ice-cream didn't turn that good. It had a weird bitterish or sour taste (that wasn't due to the blender burn) and the cacao didn't get smooth -I could feel it in my mouth somewhat like a powder. Maybe it's the blender who did an awful job, maybe I added too much cacao powder. Maybe I shouldn't improvise and add coconut milk to be able to blend it. The thing is that though I was HUNGRY I couldn't eat more that a couple of spoons. And I definately won't give my bf to try -as he requested.
Can anybody tell what I did wrong? The consistency was perfect though...! I read it would be perfect but would never believe it. If only it was sweet like a normal ice-cream, I'd stick to it forever.

Overall the day was good-meaning I managed to stay raw and not spoil the diet, but I got a bit hungry. Also, around afternoon I had NO energy AT ALL. I almost slept waiting for the bus lol!

Be strong everyone, till next time!

the bad taste was from the cacao, it isn't very sweet at all, you should definitely use coconot milk, and a lot of it since you have a cheap blender, to come out like a smoothie. i don't think you make the ice cream without a vitamix, or another high powered blender. there's a blender that works about as good as a vitamix, but takes a bit more work to get the same results, but i can't remember the name of it, if i find it i'll let you know!

[qwerty988]

You're welcome, shanti! I hope some of those recipes work for you.

@ Mayaya, yeah cacao isn't sweet and it sounds like you added too much. When I make chocolate ice cream, I usually add a teaspoon of cacao and some sweetener (honey or agave) along with a splash of vanilla and some liquid (almond mylk or coconut water) to ease blending. Then I taste it and increase cacao and sweetener. Play with it, you'll figure it out! (EDIT: Also, if your blender isn't great, I recommend using a food processor instead, if you have one.)


Good morning my Fellow Challengers!!

Yesterday I had my sore throat so didn't eat much except for:

- unknown quantity of Disaster Burgers
- smoothie: bananas, orange, celery, spinach, kale, cacao, honey
- Strawberry Shake: bananas, strawberries, almonds, water, ice, honey, vanilla (SO GOOD hahahhaaaa!)

It's so great to see you all here!!! :kisses:

[breathless]

Mayaya, I live in the United States and there will be a lot of meat served at my family's home for Easter. It's interesting how everyone will be eating the food while discussing their health problems. Don't they see the connection?

Today is day 4 for me and I'm so tired, but still doing okay and I am determined. Last night, I had zucchini pasta and raw marinara sauce and guacamole on flax seed crackers.

This morning, I had a smoothie of cantaloupe and romaine lettuce. Then, bananas and salad for the rest of the day. I'll make Alissa's mock salmon pate tonight.

Good to see everybody...

[sjpersonal]

I'm here, doing good so far, just a lot of raw smoothies with a lot of greens and salads. Still trying to find a raw salad dressing that I love, experimenting a lot with raw ingredients.

Good luck to us all

[Peachy_Q]

I want to start this 30 day challenge!!! I am new to online forums, and raw food. I was raw for a week last year. It was amazing!!! I felt so alive, lost 15 lbs, had so much energy! it was hard to stay raw because of my job. I waitress at a small cafe, but it is time to move on and reclaim my health. I am looking for a new job, but I am not going to wait until I find one to be raw. I am so glad I joined this community... now I have support! so here goes day one of my 30 day challenge!

[sjpersonal]

Welcome. I am startimng over again. Transitioning is definitely not the easiest thing to do, but I know it is the right thing. I will just keep trying til I get it right. Right meaing committing to being 100% Raw. I had planed to keep using the store bought Almond Milk, but have decided to just make my own.

Anyway welcome again and good luck


I want to start this 30 day challenge!!! I am new to online forums, and raw food. I was raw for a week last year. It was amazing!!! I felt so alive, lost 15 lbs, had so much energy! it was hard to stay raw because of my job. I waitress at a small cafe, but it is time to move on and reclaim my health. I am looking for a new job, but I am not going to wait until I find one to be raw. I am so glad I joined this community... now I have support! so here goes day one of my 30 day challenge!

[Mayaya]

Thank you yoru and qwerty! Yes I did add a LOT of cacao :( And it is so expensive here...

qwerty I'm not sure what you mean by 'food processor'... what I have (or had :P) is the one that chops onions and stuff. And in a couple of months I'll have a bigger one with an s blade.

breathless I'm so so far away from you.. Europe. un-lucky guess :P But yes, we do the same in our country. Last year I did the mistake to pass an information to the table, that due to the way we eat today (meaning SAD) we don't need to add more than 2 tablespoons of oil in our plates daily-if we want not to gain weight & be healthy. The answer came quick... "How am I suppose to enjoy my life then?". I didn't answer or commented again. I realized that everybody is having what he really wants. He wanted his own way of 'joy', instead of stopping to think what I was talking about. Then the parents of the company (above 58 each) compared once again the levels of their blood tests. You know, this game where the sicker one wins...

Today I messed up by purpose cause I was out in the road (had to take a little trip to and from my doctor) and even before i go there, I felt really awful. So I took cheaps for salt and a small chocolate bar and water cause I was so weak. I lucked of sleap, had a difficult day at work and these challenge days I haven't got energy at all. Around 18.00 I feel like a zombie. So i messed it up again but you'll pretend you don't know, ok? My best friend said I must luck of protein. And I realized I'm so uneducated about being raw... I'm going to check out where to get my protein and what I did wrong.

The good thing is I'm still around here, which means I'm working on it and I feel like a member of a warm family. How couldn't I, you guys are so supportive, you hugged me with your answers and concern, thank you! Every time I see sb answered me, it makes me so happy! :heart:

Tomorrow is theatre night, so see you as soon as possible after that ;)
Stay strong!

[RawK@]

Here we go!

You're all doing so well!

My name is Kat, I've been following you all the past couple of days with moderate success and finally decided to just register. :heart:

So I'm im. Bring it on!

[ShantiDass]

Welcome RawK@! I'm glad more people are joining in. Thanks for registering and posting.

[yoru]

so far today i made myself a smoothie of oranges, pineapples, blueberries and a lemon. but i keep feeling like i need to eat something cooked and my head is driving me crazy. is this what it's like for people trying to get off cigarettes? just one more drag.... one more drag....

i'm really trying to acknowledge i have the urge, but to not fall into it. i need to make sure my kitchen stays free of things i could cook. i should just throw out all pots and pans, oven - everything!

[yoru]

oh forget this.... i'll just have to do a juice fast! i seem to be able to succeed on a juice fast, not allowing any foods at all, rather than on a raw foods diet. i'll do it for 30 days, then after, i'll implement in the raw foods. i just hope this'll work

[Basenjimamma]

Hey guys...sounds like every one is doing great so far...I am trucking along as well...just keep on forgetting to get on here at the end of the day and post my eatiin's and drinkin's...so here it is.

Tuesday started with green smoothie for reakfast, then I did my spinning an dafter that another smoothie.
Lunch was a salad and then I snacked on fruits. Dinner was more fruits.

Todfay wednesday,

Had two very yummy mangoes for breakfast, one which was sprinkled with hempseeds....yum
Snacks throughout my day was apples and bananas, lunch was a salad.
Some more fruits for dinner as well.

Tomorrow I am thinking smoothies...at least until later in the day..just love how amazing they make me feel with energy and all....oh and I am doing my first kettlebell workout...just received the Kbells today...so exciting...look out muscles...'cause you will hurt!!

[qwerty988]

Good morning all -- and Welcome New Challengers! :heart:

I love those smoothies too, B-mama!

@ yoru, I started raw by going on a long juice fast and it was wonderful! Really eliminated lots of cravings and re-set my appetite, I loved it. Good luck with it!

Yesterday I had:

- morning smoothie: bananas, orange, celery, kale, collards, cacao, honey
- mixed greens salad w spinach, avo, cucumber and grated carrot w my fave orange/tomato/garlic dressing
- Strawberry Shake: bananas, strawberries, almonds, vanilla, water & ice (YUM!)
- too many Disaster Burgers!

Yuck the nuts/seeds in those burgers was making me seriously nauseous yesterday! I am much happier with a simple, veggie-based diet. Nuts and seeds work great for me but as supporting players only. On their own they trigger over-eating and make me feel sick!

Oh well. Lesson learned.

My local market has kale going on sale so I'm thinking there's going to be tons of kale smoothies and massaged kale salad in my future this week, OH YES. :eat

[robh]

yorus, good luck on your juice fasting.

jpersonal, transitioning is hard at first. Stick with it. You will find it becomes *much* easier after you get started.

Basenjimamma, congrats on working out. I've been taking my boys down to the basketball court. I've get so tired. :(

qwerty, sorry to hear your burgers weren't a success.

I've been eating much the same. I'm still doing well though. Being raw is easier these days. For April, I am still 100%!

I wanted to share the yummy raw taco sauce I made: I mashed walnuts and olive oil into a creamy slurry (used my blender). Then, I added taco seasoning, raw garlic and some of this 'Onion Onion' stuff I have (basically dehydrated onions). I got two big leafs of romaine and topped it with sliced up tomato and topped that with this awesome taco sauce. It was so friggen good. walnuts! you'd never guess it.

[Lucy76]

Hello everyone!

Yesterday was a rrrrreally great day.
I had bananas for breakfast (around 5-6)
A green salad and some cauliflower for lunch
Some more bananas and oranges
a whole bag (200gr) of chocolate truffles made of dates, cacao powder and almonds,
and another green salad for dinner.

Today I had 1.5L of carrot juice for breakfast
green salad with endives and dandelions for lunch, some chips I made from beet greens (not bad) and an orange and strawberry juice
For a snack I had a couple chocolate truffles (same as yesterday), 3 bananas and a few shots of wild cherry juice with spirullina powder
For dinner I'll have some fruit, probably oranges and bananas.

I'm at work righ now (health food store) and I've got the munchies. I want something salty but there's isn't anything raw and salty that I can have. Unless I eat those strawberries in the fridge and add some salt to them lol, or I could take a jar of olives from the shelf and eat it hahahah.

[ShantiDass]

robh - that taco sauce sounds so good. I will give it a try.

I made the cheeze its yesterday and am enjoying them today. I pretty much just eat salads and then some fruit except for when I get a craving for something "bad" and sweet, I usually eat dates with almonds inside. I have had 2 slices of the raw cheesecake I get at Whole Foods since going raw this time. I also have found some lemon fruit tarts that are so good at my local HFS.

I've lost 13 lbs in 18 days. Not too bad. I had a lot of water weight that has come off and my ankles are nice and skinny again. (but the rest of me isn't - yet) I'm just going with the flow and trying to feel better. I think I feel better but I'm exhausted as I get home at night and prepare food for the next day or so and don't go to bed until midnight. Still trying to find my groove.

[qwerty988]

Good morning all!

Well, I have a full-blown head cold, yuck. Not much appetite, so I'm going to go easy and just have fluids today -- smoothies, maybe veggie soup or miso soup w seaweed. Also a friend sent me some young coconuts so I'll probably have one of those.

Yesterday I had:

- smoothie: bananas, apple, kale, celery, cacao, honey
- massaged kale salad w cabbage and grated carrot
- strawberry shake: bananas, strawberries, almonds
- mixed greens salad w avocado, cucumber and onion
- miso soup
- a Disaster Burger

Lots and lots of food! Mainly comfort food to feel better. I'll stop eating so much today and let my body concentrate on healing, not digesting. I want to be healthy again so I can exercise! Oh well.

Have a great day everyone and BE RAW!! :heart

[rawsomejen]

Happy raw bday to meeeeeee!

9068

[yoru]

Good morning all!

Well, I have a full-blown head cold, yuck. Not much appetite, so I'm going to go easy and just have fluids today -- smoothies, maybe veggie soup or miso soup w seaweed.

Have a great day everyone and BE RAW!! :heart

qwerty, what's in that veggie soup or miso soup?

and what are these disaster burgers you keep talking about?


Happy raw bday to meeeeeee!

9068

happy bday!

[Rainie]

Hi All!!
I read your posts both impressed & inspired so I guess I could say you talked me into this....:D(didn't know your own gifts of persuasion, did you?!) I've needed to clean up my act for months + months & finally in a place where I'm REALLY ready for it. It's kind of tough cuz I'm caregiving a SAD eater & cooking more than I have in years. She isn't open to the tiniest of upgrades, which I respect, but I'm naturally gravitating towards comfort dishes from childhood. And tho we were fed w/love back then, it's a testament to the healing power of the body that we've all survived to adulthood w/colons + limbs intact. Finally, after going thru a number of blenders, I recently broke down & spent a small fortune on one - so I've got the added incentive of getting my money's worth!!! Here's to Health..... Let's change the world w/our forks!!!! Thanks for being here.
:heart

[yoru]

rainie, i wish you luck and hope you make through having to cook such foods

[yoru]

oh crap, i'm trying my best, but i really think i'm gonna need a dehydrator - there are so many thing i want to make! so far i'm succeeding, let's just hope i keep it that way!

this morning i made a juice of oranges, spinach, dandelion leaves and kiwis. then for lunch i had a spinach salad with a spicy almond dressing i got from one of raw cookboks

[Rainie]

rainie, i wish you luck and hope you make through having to cook such foods

Thanks Yoru! Re: your dehydrator - I hope you can get one. It will add a new dimenson to your food prep & bring
some fun to the process. Every little bit helps!
:eat

[qwerty988]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN!!!! :throwhearts:

Acccchhhhh.... my cold is much better today, but I'm not quite normal yet hahahahaa! I will try and remember what I had yesterday:

- several cups miso soup w seaweed
- Natasha's Spicy Tomato Soup
- massaged kale salad w cabbage and grated carrot
- two smoothies w bananas, kale, spinach, orange and cacao
- one deliciious young coconut, YUM!

I didn't take any cold meds but did take aspirin for the pain.


qwerty, what's in that veggie soup or miso soup?

Now, for the miso soup I just make it really simple when I'm sick: a tablespoon of brown miso paste dissolved in a cup of hot water with some dried wakame thrown in. Very soothing! But my FAVORITE raw veggie miso soup is here, it's called Miso/Miso and is in this thread, along with several other great soup recipes:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?63867-Soup-soup-soup

The veggie soups I make lately are always either Natasha's Spicy Tomato, the recipe for which I've already posted on this thread a few pages back, or this AMAZING creamy mushroom soup:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?67623-Creamy-Mushroom-Soup&highlight=creamy+mushroom+soup

I agree a dehydrator is lots of fun! I don't make many gourmet meals but I do enjoy making crackers and snack foods like kale chips and eggplant jerky....... and even veggie burgers sometimes, although I tend to over-eat them. I called my recent batch Disaster Burgers because I just threw together ingredients I had on hand and expected a distaster! (They came out fine, btw).

Welcome, Rainie! :heart

[PansyLo]

Happy Belated Birthday Jen, those strawbs look good :)

I've been a bit low on money so I haven't really been making anything worth mentioning.

Been living off juice mostly. That and a bit of salad. Very simple, nothing elaborate.

Tonight though I am going to make raw hummus to have with carrot, cucumber and celery sticks. Really just because that's all the food I have left in the house!

[PansyLo]

Hummus was amazing. So amazing I ate an entire bowl of it... I still have more too.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/This_Beautiful_Let_Down/Photoon2012-04-08at00542.jpg

The stuff on top is herb drizzle and some paprika.

[RawK@]

That Looks AMAZING!!
:drool:

[Basenjimamma]

Hey guys....back to write again...jeez..if I could just remember from day to day.

Just finished my first Kettlebell workout ever...loved it..I am hooked.

Breakfast will be a huge glass of OJ...and then som smoothie for later this am..snack; an apple or two...lunch a salad, something green that is for sure.
Dinner...well that taco sauce mentioned on page 3..I think (forgot who made it, sorry..;)) sounds delish, maybe I make that for dinner...either way..
Stay Green, Stay Raw, Stay Alive..

[SisterMckay]

Wahoo I'm so excited, I'm going to be 100% raw for 30 days beginning today. I enjoy having a forum to find support and be supportive.

[Mayaya]

Happy birthday Jen! Sorry I am late.

Yesterday I was one week..hm can't call it raw. But this was my first week of my healthy raw diet and though I didn't comitt as much as I should, at least I didn't have any emotionally eating and I had much more fruits and vegetables than usual. My weight loss was nothing important, however my scale went slightly down and this is sth positive to get me going. So, still here and walking my path.

Tomorrow I'm going to taste celery for the first time in my life. Not sure what to do with it, I think I'll just use it in a salad and let you know what I think of it. And this week I'm going to stick to raw. My refrigerator is full of raw salads and fruits and I'm out of money for the rest of the month (I'm going to buy 3 different multies and blenders this week). For the same reason I don't know what I'll eat when I run out of supplies. But till then it's going to be raw.

[Rainie]

Hello All ~
Hope you made it thru the Easter weekend unscathed. Patience is my word of the day as I expect to wake up a new woman after a few short days. The body moves according to its own healing rhythms, not the speedy schedule in my head. This I need in a tattoo!

Welcome SisterMcKay. Congrats on your 30-D committment! Such a great thing to do for oneself.

[ShantiDass]

Hi there,

It's nice to see new people joining in!

I was sick for part of the weekend and never made it on here. Today is 3 weeks raw and down 16lbs. I'm liking that.

I attempted to make food in the dehydrator and most of it was gross and ended up in the trash. I spent 2 days making the Avocado Skins from one of Alissa's books and really didn't like it. I did like the marinated broccoli that was on top and will make that again. The eggplant bacon was a big, big fail. I think I'm going to stick with mostly simple foods and make kale chips, zucchini chips, cheeze its and a few other munchies in the dehydrator and give up the gourmet food. I can't remember really having any success with it.

I won't use nama shoyu and that seems to be an ingredient in a lot of things that sound good to me. I was told I could use the raw coconut aminos instead and am not sure if that has been the problem. I wouldn't think it would change the taste all that much.

qwerty - please tell me about the eggplant jerky! Is there a recipe in one of the books or is it something you create? I hope you are feeling better.

[RawK@]

whew!! What a journey this has been so far everyone!

How are you all feeling? I feel a lovely buzzing sensation most of the day, and an increase in energy soon after each meal which has replaced the predictable lethargy that typically accompanied my SAD meals of the past. I also feel particularly safe and blessed to be in a community of change... double rainbows to all of you who have chosen to embrace change rather than fear it!


I havent posted any daily foods, but today has been particularly good to me so I'll try and share what today was like!

I must preface this with a request: Be Gentle, Im not sure if all I've had was perfectly raw.

Breakfast:

Green Smoothie - spinach, celery, parsley, cucumber, apple, ginger
SF Fog - Jasmine tea with scoop of raw honey and warm frothed almond milk

Snack:

V8 low sodium veggie juice

Lunch:

Zucchini with sauce - tahini, lime juice, nutritional yeast
V8 low sod. veg juice
Smoothie - thawed frozen berry mix of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries

Snack:

Green Smoothie - Red pepper, garlic, apple, orange, jalapeno, beet

Dinner:

Zucchini and Squash with sauce - avocado, apple cider vinegar, ground flax seed, nutritional yeast, tumeric, paprika, cayenne, sea salt

Dessert:

Big mug of warmed, frothed almond milk with honey and cinnamon

LOTS of H2O throughout the day, sometimes with aloe vera juice in it : D

One thing is for sure,.. I LOVE how delicious it all is..
I've been trying to start this week with more of a juice feast, that's why there aren't more 'meals' throughout my day.. I got to about 2 o clock today and had to chomp something - being very kind and forgiving with myself while I shoot for more juices and less fats.

Im going to do some yoga poses (5 Tibetan Rites) realllllly slowly with lots of deep breathing and call it a night.

I hope EVERYONE's day was as transforming as mine,.. I certainly had to let go of the slipping and sliding of easter weekend with family and friends and rededicate to the cause here haha! Transformations, inside and out physically, mentally and spiritually!

((Encouragement to you all))

[RawK@]

Welcome SisterMckay!! Good Luck on your Journey to a healthier you!

[Lucy76]

Hi everyone!

Pansy Lo I love love love raw hummus. I can eat tons of it!

I 've been really busy and haven't had any time to write. I don't even remember what I ate the past couple of days.

Today I had carrot juice, broccoli beet and orange juice for breakfast
Big green salad with avocado for lunch
6-7 bananas
10 dry figs
Another big green salad for dinner.
I'd like a smoothie right now too, but I have no time to make one. Gotta put the kids to bed and clean up a little. So I'll have a banana instead.

:heart

[qwerty988]

Good morning, all! :heart:

Well, I was SOOOO sick over my son's holiday break -- spent 4 days in bed with this ridiculous cold! But I think all my salads and smoothies really helped me feel better sooner than I would have otherwise. I couldn't get to the store for oranges but I had stocked up on greens just before the cold hit so that's mostly what I've been eating.

Warning: don't use mustard greens in a smoothie hahahahahaaa!

Anyhow I'm back on my feet and will begin recording my daily meals again. I have been going through a real love affair with salads, playing around with different kinds of fruit and veggie-based dressings in the Vitamix, it's really been fun!


qwerty - please tell me about the eggplant jerky! Is there a recipe in one of the books or is it something you create? I hope you are feeling better.

Now, I call my eggplant "jerky" instead of bacon because I don't have a mandoline so I decided not to even worry about trying to slice it extremely thin. I just slice it and soak it for a few hours in a mixture that's got EVOO, ACV, some kind of soy sauce, agave or honey, cayenne and chili powder. To get that smokey flavor I used smoked chipotle chili powder, but you can also add liquid smoke. Then I just let them dehydrate overnight and YUM they're ready for munching!

Juicing Juli mentioned using her leftover "bacon" marinade to make kale chips out of and really liked how they turned out!

Another nice simple way to dehydrate eggplant for use as sandwich "bread" from Natasha St. Michael:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEW_y0LmMU4

Welcome, RawK!! :heart

[Mayaya]

There's just one thing to say today: How on earth can you ppl eat celery?!!! And actually enjoy it??!!

Tomorrow I'm buying my new blenders. Hopefully blending experiments will be much more sucessfull than tasting celery. I'm so exciteeeeed to get them home!

[qwerty988]

There's just one thing to say today: How on earth can you ppl eat celery?!!! And actually enjoy it??!!

Tomorrow I'm buying my new blenders. Hopefully blending experiments will be much more sucessfull than tasting celery. I'm so exciteeeeed to get them home!

Hahahaha!! How do I love celery? Let me count the ways......

Celery + tomato + orange + garlic + evoo + salt = YUMMMY dressing
Celery + mango + jalapeno + garlic + evoo + salt = YUMMY spicy dressing!

Any blended soup or V8 juice type savory smoothie -- celery, oh yeah!

Carrot/celery juice -- a delight to consume!!

I add FP processed celery, carrots and onions to soaked walnuts to make delicious nut pates! I also add them to my flax cracker batter, yum..............

And I ALWAYS add a stalk of celery to my smoothies -- the sodium adds a great savory flavor that offsets the sweetness of the fruit! I crave it....

Chopped celery, onions, red pepper in mock egg salad or un-tuna salad, YUM........ or in Raw Angel Mom's shredded sweet potato salad, delish!!

Enjoy your new blenders, woooo-hooooooooooo! :heart

[ShantiDass]

qwerty - I'm sorry you were so sick. I was down for 2 days and am glad it wasn't for longer. Thanks so much for the eggplant info. When I made mine, I sliced it with a vegetable peeler and it's a tad too thin. Plus, I didn't like how it turned out. I decided after I made it that I needed to add some liquid smoke to really bump it up. I can't wait to try it again. I'll check out the youtube link later. Thanks again!!

[qwerty988]

qwerty - I'm sorry you were so sick. I was down for 2 days and am glad it wasn't for longer. Thanks so much for the eggplant info. When I made mine, I sliced it with a vegetable peeler and it's a tad too thin. Plus, I didn't like how it turned out. I decided after I made it that I needed to add some liquid smoke to really bump it up. I can't wait to try it again. I'll check out the youtube link later. Thanks again!!

You're welcome! The link, I just realized, is over 7 minutes long hahahahaa! Ouch. Really all she does is cut the eggplant into rounds, sprinkles them with (I think) garlic powder and maybe some other spices, and dehydrates them. The rounds come out as nice, very simple, large cracker or bread-type things. I've been meaning to try it, but everytime I get an eggplant I want to make the jerky!

[robh]

I read that jerky post qwerty. sounds yummy. I love salty raw snacks (too much so, maybe).

I am busy, but I am still here and still trying to be raw. I have been doing good the past few days, but Monday I slipped a little. I'm still feeling a little "detoxy" because of it (probably not a word). Products made with white floor and dairy products seem to hit me the worst.

Anyway, I got my sprouts last week - WOOHOO. I like them a lot. It's really nice having something else in my day to day eating routines. Not to mention, legumes (sprouted) are good to have in a raw diet. I need to sprout some grains as well. I just need to figure out which ones. I know some are toxic. I was reading my book that raw diets should include legumes and grains. They suggest either cooking them or sprouting them. I found that interesting given the title of the book is "Becoming Raw" - hah!

Also, I made that raw ranch (the one with deb'd tweaks)... holy cow, I'm in love. That stuff is awesome.

I'm at the end of this book where they have recommendations, menus and recipes. I'm jazzed up to try some of those. I notice the menus have ENORMOUS amounts of food. There's no way I'm eating 7 cups of food for a meal. I also got Alissa's book. It's got some yummy stuff in it too from the looks of the pictures. That's the next one I'll read through.

Anyway, my daily eating habits this week are something like this, currently:

1-2 green smoothies - kale, spinach, red swiss chard, banana, apple
veggies such as celery (I like it too), cucumber, tomatos, carrots, broccoli dripping in raw ranch
sprouts: beans, legumes, peanuts, almonds, etc these are mixes of sprouts I don't have the bags here at work to list all the components.
salads
apples, oranges, pears
guacamole with spicy flax crackers

oh, one night I tried that thing where you put an avocado, agave, and cocoa powder in the blender to make chocolate pudding. that was awesome. I found it on this forum via google.

Anyway, sorry it's been so long. Work has been fraking crazy and I hate looking at computers after I leave work.

Good luck everyone.

[ShantiDass]

qwerty988 - I watched the video anyway. I want to try it and see how it works out. I'm going to a raw class soon and one of the items on there is eggplant bacon. Can't wait to see how they make it and how it tastes.

[qwerty988]

qwerty988 - I watched the video anyway. I want to try it and see how it works out. I'm going to a raw class soon and one of the items on there is eggplant bacon. Can't wait to see how they make it and how it tastes.

YUM -- please report back on the eggplant bacon and post any recipe you get!

DebB posts the BEST recipes so I'm not surprised her ranch was good....... it's on my list of recipes to try (all from her) which also includes corn chowder and spanish "rice"......... she the bomb! :heart:

The holidays were hard -- but it's a journey!!! Juicing Juli said this recently during the challenge and it meant a lot to me: focus on your SUCCESSES!!! We really do tend to give ourselves a hard time, here.

It's A LOT to take on this raw challenge and make yourself publicly accountable.... we're all doing an AWESOME job! :dance:

My love affair with salads continued today:

- smoothie of sunflower seed mylk, 3 bananas, 2 oranges, vanilla & ice....... YUM.
- two small mixed green salads( spinach, turnip and mustard greens w sliced red onion) with that AMAZING asian inspired dressing!!!!!!!!!!
- huge massaged kale salad w cheezy sauce
- one-half an avocado, YUM!
- smoothie of 2 bananas, strawberries, sunflower seeds, ice, vanilla,

And that's me for the day! RAWK ON, people!!!!!!!!! :cheer:

[qwerty988]

Hi all!

Just about to stop eating for the day. Here's what I had:

- smoothie: 3 bananas, orange, turnip greens, kale, celery, 1/4 avocado, cacao
- big mixed greens salad w avocado, cucumber, red onion w a dresing made from blended: celery, tomato, garlic, evoo, acv, spices
- massaged kale salad w grated carrot and mustard greens w a dressing made from: evoo, acv, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, honey
- strawberry shake: bananas, strawberries, sunflower seed mylk, vanilla & ice

Later gators! :heart

[Lucy76]

Hello everyone!
It's been pretty quite here for the past couple of days I see :)

It's Easter for us today, and it's pretty sad... In Greece everybody roasts lamb for Easter. It's horrible :(
At least I feel good knowing my family doesn't take part in any of this.

Today I had:
Breakfast: carrot juice, broccoli orange apple juice
Lunch: broccoli and cauliflower
carob banana buckwheat cookies
huge green smoothie with spinach, banana orange juice and chia seeds
Dinner: pizza with pine nut cheese, tomatoes and olives.

i don't remember what I had the past few days lol!

good night everyone! Keep rawkin':heart

[magglepie]

@Magglepie I told my family last night that i think I'm going to stay raw and they FLIPPED OUT! They were saying stuff like I'm going to have vitamin deficiencies and i won't get enough protein, and this and that.... Saying I'm going to have health problems and brittle bones. It sucks because I want to stay respectful but at the same time I just want them to accept that this is MY choice and MY body.


Oh, dear. It drives me nuts when people even hear someone utter the word vegan and automatically thank that there is no way you could possibly get enough protein or other nutrients. Unless all you live on is water, you're going to get enough protein. *sigh*

Well, I won't go into details, but I have struggled this month. Bad! BUT, today is a new day :) I had a pear and two bananas for lunch, and this week I am going to make a real go at trying some recipes from Alissa's book. I've had it for a few years and have never tried any of the recipes (shame on me!) and this seems like a great time to break them out :) Hope everyone is well!

[magglepie]

oh crap, i'm trying my best, but i really think i'm gonna need a dehydrator - there are so many thing i want to make! so far i'm succeeding, let's just hope i keep it that way!


I was thinking the same thing about the dehydrator! I have a blender, but I want (NEED) a dehydrator too! There is so much you can make with them :)

[Rainie]

Hi All

I've been so bad at checking in but I'm still in the game. Mostly juicing lots of grapefruit before the season ends & green smoothies.
Way too lazy lately for more elaborate prep. Random cravings have been strong this week but the greens definitely
helps. Sounds like you're all doing well & hanging in there. I love the saying "nothing tastes as good as great health feels."
Love Love Love...........
:throwhearts:

[mellow_yellow]

Today is my first official day back in the raw lifestyle and I am so happy and excited to see and feel the results after 30 days. For breakfast I had a recipe from one of Ani Phyo's books. It was called Yum Yum Mylk. It's part of a vanilla bean, raw almond butter, raw tahini, dates (I used Majool) and water. I blended it up and tried it. I didn't love the taste so I added another date and a banana with some raw caoco nibs. It tasted awesome after that. Very creamy and rich.

I feel kind of feel that it may have been a little too rich for breakfast though because my stomach is saying something, I'm not sure what it is yet though. I'm not sure what I'll be having for lunch or dinner yet but I'm sure I'll post here to keep myself motivated! :dance:

[ShantiDass]

Hi all,

Today is week 4 for me and all is going well. I've lost 17#'s and feel great! I went to a raw class on Friday night and another one on Sat morning. Didn't learn anything earth shattering but was nice to meet new people who are interested in raw foods.

qwerty - the eggplant bacon we had on Sat was pretty much the same recipe you use. I had sliced mine way too thin so I'm going to try it thicker. Also thinking about adding liquid smoke. I've had the eggplant bacon on sandwiches at restaurants and it didn't taste like bacon (which is fine with me) but kind of tasted like the fake cooked bacon and I can't figure out what is missing. The bacon on Sat was good but I'm hoping to improve on it. There are so many spices to try and I think I'll try what you use next and go from there.

Also, DebB's salad dressing is awesome! I hope you try it and really like it. It's a game changer for me. I haven't been eating much since I'm kind of bored and couldn't find a dressing but today - IT'S ON! I brought a huge salad. I also want to try your simple dressing as I think I will like that. I just never seem to have all the ingredients at the same time.

[robh]

Rainie, the cravings go away, don't worry. Unless you have someone in the house (like I do) that doesn't eat raw, you won't even think about the food that you used to eat.

mellow_yellow, welcome to the thread and congrats on your first day back to raw.

I was reading back about the holidays. They were rough for me too. This was my first holiday being raw. It was very difficult watching my family and the in-laws eat their traditional, cooked, non-vegetarian, SAD food. I didn't crave the food. I really just hated being an outsider, weirdo, veggie eater. I stayed the course, though, and didn't eat any of the bad food. I suspect I will grow to hate holiday meals.

magglepie, I use my dehydrator all the time. The only appliance I use more is the blender. I have a cheap one without a thermostat. It's probably cooking my food a little, but I haven't noticed any issues (detox, etc) eating stuff I make in it.

ShantiDass, I just made more of DebB's ranch last night. Today, I had it on my cut up veggies, on my sprouts and I intend to have more on my salad this evening! I was just thinking that I need more fresh dill and more cashews for the next time I run out. :) You are right, it's a game changer.

Well, today, in addition to the cut up veggies, sprouts and salad, I've had a lot of fruit a little granola. I also intend to make some guacamole (if I have a ripe avocado when I get home) and I'll probably dip flax crackers in it.

I'm having a hungry day. I think, honestly, it's because social situations (beer) caused me to slip a little this weekend (again).

[mellow_yellow]

I have had an amazing first day! Like I said in my previous post, I had that Ani Phyo recipe for breakfast which was a great start. Then I had an apple. I went to work after that and had a bit of a hard time because I'm not sure how much I need to eat yet because I got a little ravenous before my lunch break even came! I had a nice big salad for lunch which held me over until after work but I was still a bit hungry.

After work I went to a new health store I found online which was amazing. It's just a little shop and juice bar but the woman there makes homemade raw desserts herself so I tried her raw cherry cheesecake and it was to die for! I also bought some Go Raw chocolate super cookies which is a very good idea for me to carry around so I don't feel like I'm starving myself.

After that I headed over to tell my mom all about everything, lol. I'm very excited because she actually wants to do the challenge with me so I'm going over there tomorrow to make our first weeks food from the Living on Live Food book. Then we had tons of veggies and some watermelon.

Now I'm back home sipping from a coconut. I know it's only my first day, but I feel wonderful. It might just be because I'm excited but I feel really energetic. Almost to a fault though, like I don't know what to do with it. Also, I'm not sure what causes this but I feel like I'm getting canker sores in my mouth which is going to be sucky for a little bit.

All in all, it was a great day. I feel great, I ate great stuff and everything just seems awesome!

:cheer:

[robh]

I have canker sores too. They seem to have gotten worse when I went raw. Not sure what's up with that.

Today is another day of raw for me. I experimented with a non-banana kale smoothie. I thought blackberries would be sweet enough and a cucumber was a more vitamin-rich alternative. I don't know if what I produced was high in vitamins, but I know it was hard to drink. I may try a different fruit or maybe just kale and water. I won't ever put a cucumber in a smoothie ever again, though.

I have nothing against bananas or fruit in general. I just feel like I don't eat enough stuff that's high in phytochemicals. I feel like I get full on fructose and fat. If I didn't force myself to eat a smoothie made with greens everyday, I probably wouldn't.

Anyway, my new school of thought is to consume veggies, sprouts and greens first, early in the day. Then, after that's done, I'll hit the fruit, nuts, avocado, etc. I think I'm also going to try and get two green smoothies in a day. I'm such a slacker on my greens.

[R'Mila]

Hello Ms. Lucy, please tell me the source/recipe of your cookies! I've been looking for simple and delish raw cookie. Thanks!


Hello everyone!
It's been pretty quite here for the past couple of days I see :)

Today I had:
Breakfast: carrot juice, broccoli orange apple juice
Lunch: broccoli and cauliflower
carob banana buckwheat cookies
huge green smoothie with spinach, banana orange juice and chia seeds
Dinner: pizza with pine nut cheese, tomatoes and olives.

i don't remember what I had the past few days lol!

good night everyone! Keep rawkin':heart

[RawGirl4Health]

HI all! I am presently on day #9 of a raw Juice FAST and once i hit day 30 I want to transition over to this group (by then it will be May! May 10th will be the day I join horray!). I would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for my transition from fasting to raw. I am part of a fasting group on facebook, have a general idea of how to break it but want to gather and research as much info as humanly possible! I have been raw vegan for 2 years in the past and it wasn't until i went too low fat i had some problems, but am determined to go back to just plain ol raw w/ not too many rules in place other then maybe listening to my body as well as food combining. Thank you!!

[theburningsoul]

Hello ,

I am beginning 30 Days Coconut Water diet from today

6 Coconuts a day . 2 in the morning 2, Noon, 2 Evening

I wish to lose 30 Pounds before June 10th . I am currently 230 Pounds.

Ash

[Mayaya]

Hey, how are you all doing?

I'm back home and I've got to confess, I was a BAD raw girl. But I've got good news. Today I ate chicken (no, of course this is not the good news) and though chicken is the only favourite meat that I wouldn't say no, though I ate meat the previous days, today I DIDN'T like it!!!!!!! It felt like no food, tasted disgusting. And I smiled cause it seems sth is changing!!!! It was not sth mental, like "the pour chicken", it was just it's smell and taste, it tasted unfamiliar and unpleasant. Wooohoooo! :encore:

@theburningsoul, good luck!

[Mayaya]

Oh and I've got some bad news too... There was a market offer for one day only (the day that I had programmed to be out of town) for a good and very cheap blender. I asked a friend to go and get it, but when I returned she told me she didn't go. So here's how I will continue my raw month:

No juicer
No dehydrator
No blender
No recipes
A knife
:eat
Whatever!

[Mayaya]

@Lucy76

I'm jealous of you cause in Greece -my family takes part in all of these and I didn't want to attract the conversation on me, so...

;) Patriotaki e?

[R'Mila]

Ms QWERTY, the mushroom soup is superb!!! Creamy, but not nut heavy. Will def make this one of my go tos. Thanks for sharing!!


The veggie soups I make lately are always either Natasha's Spicy Tomato, the recipe for which I've already posted on this thread a few pages back, or this AMAZING creamy mushroom soup:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?67623-Creamy-Mushroom-Soup&highlight=creamy+mushroom+soup

[mellow_yellow]

Today was a very goo recipe day! This morning I made a very decadent dessert. they were Chocolate Hazelnut brownie Bites with Chocolate Avocado Frosting. They. Were. Amazing! These will for sure become a dessert staple in my house. Later today I made my first ever Tuna Pate. I've never really liked tuna but I love mayo and everything that goes into tuna salad except tuna so I thought I should try. And goodness, it's just wonderful! It tasted like it had the perfect amount of mayo but it was just the sunflower seeds! I'm sure I'm just saying what everyone here already knows, but gosh. I'm really excited that raw can taste like things I used to eat in every day life! Even my omnivore roommates were going around the kitchen saying it smelled just like tuna salad. They still refused to try it though! Too bad for them :)

Also, I'm extremely excited that I'm losing about .5 to 1 pound a day! My goal was a modest 1 pound a week so this makes me ecstatic! My goal might happen quicker than I thought. :throwhearts:

[cccheer88]

Jumping in late if that's ok. I just joined the forum and am on Day 5 of my Raw Food Lifestyle. I am feeling SO SO SO good! I had headaches and sluggishness the first couple days because of the no caffeine, but not anymore! Today I made a really yummy salad for lunch; olives, carrots and spinach and then I made up this dressing with Avocados and Limes and Olive Oil that was super delicious! I don't have a dehydrator (yet) so most of my food has been salads, raw fruit/veggies and juices. :)

[robh]

I want to try that mushroom soup. I just read such bad things about raw mushrooms. :( It sounds like they are less toxic cooked (inverse from most foods). I don't know how it might impact the flavor, but I think I will cook the mushrooms first. I bet they loose vitamin d when they are cooked. :(

[Lucy76]

@Lucy76

I'm jealous of you cause in Greece -my family takes part in all of these and I didn't want to attract the conversation on me, so...

;) Patriotaki e?
oh how coo!:cheer:


Hello hello hello!

I had my carrot juice and spinach oj juice this morning like I do almost everyday (addicted to carrot juice)
For lunch my usual green salad with avocado and some broccoli sprouts
Some apple slices with tahini
strawberry and banana slices
And for dinner I'm thinking an X-large green smoothie and some fruit.

Right now I have banana flax cookies and onion bread in the dehydrator. I have no idea how they'll turn out since I didn't use a recipe and just improvised, but they sure smell good and I can't wait to try them.

I wanted to ask, can your stomach still handle cooked food if you have it once in a while? I find I can't handle it anymore, I even get diarroea. I wonder why that happens.

[Lucy76]

Hello Ms. Lucy, please tell me the source/recipe of your cookies! I've been looking for simple and delish raw cookie. Thanks!

Aw, I don't really have a recipe, I just blended some buckwheat sprouts, ground flax seeds, and bananas, and added vanilla and carob powder.
I guess it was something like 2 portions buckwheat sprouts, 1 portion flax seeds, 2 teaspoons or so carob powder, just a dash vanilla, and enough bananas to make a nice dough, not too thick. In fact it was a little watery, but it was ok because the turned out really thin and crispy. With less bananas they'll probably be thicker, and maybe more chewy. Sorry if this isn't much help. I usually don't follow recipes, just improvise. :)

[Mayaya]

oh how coo!:cheer:


Hello hello hello!

:excited:

I always wanted to ask sb, but I know no greek who eats raw. And the only greek raw forum I've found is abandoned or sth. So since you have a dehydrator (I'm jealous!!!)...
Do you have an exculiber? I wanter where can I buy one in Greece. You know, making sure it's got the proper plug for greece and if sth happens (eg need to use my guarantee) I can speak with sb here... Internet insecurities :D Or whatever you've got, from wherever can be helpful.
I think a dehydrator will help me be less worried of "what I'll eat" for snack. NO variety for sb with no tools :(

[TheRawPilgrim]

Today is my third day at 100% raw (after falling off the wagon HARD, and staying off for a looooong time. Some health problems got me thinking about raw again. Ate raw until dinner for a while and saw a huge increase in energy. Recently though I've started getting very ill anytime I eat something cooked so it really pushed me to go 100%. Going great except for the lovely detox headaches :s).

Today I had...

-black grapes
-a couple raw lemon cookies from The Rawtarian
-more grapes (was going to have a salad but I was craving the grapes)
-a couple flax crackers with broccomole
-more grapes (I actually didn't care for the broccomole, so I just ate more grapes LOL)

I have family coming tomorrow which has always been a MAJOR hurdle as they always buy dinner and I've always given in, this is the first time where I feel very confident that I can watch them eat and not give in :woohoo:. I've got corn chips in the D and I'll make some fresh salsa that I will enjoy while they all eat theirs :cheer:.

[Lucy76]

Okay, what happened to my post?? Oh well here I go again.
Helloooo everyone!
I had carrot juice, and broccoli orange juice, and pineapple juice for breakfast
Then I had some strawberries, a banana, and the banana cookies, that totally tasted like banana bread, and the onion bread with olive paste, which was awesome!!
A few minutes ago I had 3 oranges, and no lunch yet because I'm at work. I plan to have a green salad with the onion bread used as croutons.
For dinner I think I'll have a couple of smoothies. A green one, and maybe a red one, with raspberries.



:excited:

I always wanted to ask sb, but I know no greek who eats raw. And the only greek raw forum I've found is abandoned or sth. So since you have a dehydrator (I'm jealous!!!)...
Do you have an exculiber? I wanter where can I buy one in Greece. You know, making sure it's got the proper plug for greece and if sth happens (eg need to use my guarantee) I can speak with sb here... Internet insecurities :D Or whatever you've got, from wherever can be helpful.
I think a dehydrator will help me be less worried of "what I'll eat" for snack. NO variety for sb with no tools :(
Where do you live Μayaya? You can buy a dehydrator from me I have a health food store. i sell the excalibur.

RawPilgrim, Good for you for sticking to the raw diet ! :)
Have a great day everyone!!

[Mayaya]

@Lucy 76
How wonderful! I am sending a PM ;)

Tomorrow I am invited for lunch, so no raw, until dinner when I think I'll have a lettuce salad with sundried tomatoes and other stuff (who knows yet!).
But for Monday lunch I am thinking of soaking some chickpeas from Sunday night, and when lunch time comes I'm going to put olive oil & lemon juice (mixed together) and some garlic over the top. Maybe I'll improvise and put some onion too. This is the first time I make such a thing, so I'll let you know how it turns out.

[triciaRAW]

i have asthma and acne scars. When I go 100% both seem to magically improve. Go Fig right? Yummmm figs...

Today I had a green smoothie: RAW Meal replacement Garden of Life powder mix (this is RAW right???) with, black kale, purple kale, carrots, grapefruit.
Then a Tangelo and a Banana.

I can only have 1/2 of the kale smoothie and have to mix it with a bunch of water because otherwise I get really nauseous about half hour later. This used to not happen...but I probably should use softer leaves and work up to kale? right???

It's can be tough in Montana with lots of good micro brews and local meats. I've been probably 70% 30% because of that. So I'm ready for 100% because getting rid of my asthma is a far greater reward! :)

TA DA!
Tricia

[Mayaya]

@triciaRAW That's good news what you say here. I've got breathing problems and once I experienced a little asthma crisis (this year). Breathing problems is one of my reasons -if not my major- that I want to go raw. Also I've got psoriasis in that extend that if I wanted to wear a bikini now and go to the beach I simply...would forget that. Medicins are really expensive for me, but hey, hyppocrates said that "Your food is your medicine", right?

How long are you 100% raw?

[TheRawPilgrim]

RawPilgrim, Good for you for sticking to the raw diet ! :)
Thank you :). I made it too! There was some temptation but I stuck to my guns! Everyone thought it was odd that I sat there to a bowl of vegetables while everyone else ate "normal" :p , but everyone was surprised at how much energy I had!

[longrun]

Hi all,

I'm starting up my raw food lifestyle today. I have dabbled in raw foodism in the past, but never lasted for longer than a few days at a time, only because of social pressures. But now my aunt has been diagnosed with cancer (and my grandmother was diagnosed only a couple of years ago, too), and I'm ready to make big changes for myself. I'm hoping I can finally place my health over negative social influences! I've always considered myself fairly healthy -- I've been eating vegetarian for 5 years now. But lately my diet has been lifeless. I ran my first marathon last fall, but have since been lacking energy and spending lots of time filling up on beer and pizza. Pure awful. I'm ready to go 360. Bring on the raw! I'm in for the long run.

[PansyLo]

I had to fall off the wagon again because I became unbearably poor.

It started when I started my intern job. I didn't have enough money to buy food to take with me and as I volunteered to come for free the girl I was working for fed me lunch etc which of course was cooked. Then I became busy meeting different fashion contacts with her, going for lunch or drinks which further drained my account and ruined my diet. When I wasn't doing that I was doing things like eating any of my flatmates food that was going out of date while she was away visiting family. When I buy food at home I can't afford to do an actual shop so I buy one or two things that are reduced, normally reduced ready meals.

I've not had much room to pick and choose what I've been eating. :/

Now rent and bills are due again and I don't even have the money for them. I've totally ignored council tax as there's just absolutely no way I can pay it so I'm probably going to be getting into trouble for being in debt to them.

I really miss raw food. I feel like crap on what I'm eating now. I'm eating so much less, just whenever I can get it but I've still gained weight.

:sadtears:

I'll be back on the challenge again when I can afford to actually eat at all. Probably when I move back to my mums at the end of May. It's not so far away. Kind of messed up my schedule but this internship was really important.

[PansyLo]

Also my flatmate took her blender home in preparation for moving as she never uses it.

Pretty hard to be raw without a blender.

[TheRawPilgrim]

I'm sorry things are so difficult for you Pansy :( .

Oh.....my.....GOODNESS y'all! This morning I got Alissa's carrot pecan burgers going in the D and got the raisins soaking for the curry sauce. I just had them for supper and they are DIVINE!!! The burger looked and tasted like...well... A BURGER!! And the sauce was so tangy and delicious....soooooo good!

[Traceyraw]

Pansy So sorry to hear about your down time. It may be sucky for you now but you will be a stronger person in the future because of it. Keep at it. It looks like you are really motivated in your field. You will come out on top. Sorry I sound like my grandma.

[Rainie]

robh: thanks for your encouragement re: cravings. it's easy in the middle of them to forget they will pass. congrats on your raw holiday. that's a huge success. especially w/family!!

theburningsoul: welcome! your coconut fast sounds delicious.

mellow_yello: sounds like you are quite the chef!! i love all the mylks but sesame is my favorite. it's such a condensed food tho, so it's easy for me to drink too much of it.

therawpilgrim: welcome back aboard the wagon! it's practice not perfection. congrats on your decision to start anew.

cccheer88: a warm welcome to you!! congrats on your no caffeine zone - i wish you further success.

trishraw: welcome to you!! i suffered from asthma for years. not anymore! it's truly amazing to experience the healing powers of the body. i hope you hang around long enough to see for yourself!

longrun: welcome! have you ever tried raw pizza? un.believe.able. i can't think of a raw subsitute for beer but there are lots of creatives among us so you never know....

pansylo: i'm sorry things are so tough right now. but "this too shall pass." time moves so quickly these days it won't be long and life will look much better.

all you other brave + lovely souls: thanks for being here. your triumphs + your struggles encourage my journey. none of us is alone when we're in it together.
:cheer::cheer::cheer:

[PansyLo]

Lol no need to apologise everyone. My life is fantastic the only part that's suffering is my diet. I'm pretty gutted about that but sometimes other things are much more important. Like this internship and the people I've met. I'm making loads of contacts and have some really fantastic opportunities which I value more than my diet.

I'll have more freedom once I move back home and don't have so many outgoings without much incoming funds. I'll be able to go raw properly then, I'm really looking forward to it as eating rubbish really is awful in comparison!!

[TheRawPilgrim]

An alternative to beer? Well, if you do kombucha then this might be of interest. Homemade Gluten Free Beer Replacement (http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2012/02/homemade-gluten-free-beer-replacement.html)

[MeredithLee]

Hey! I'm just kind of poking around here since it has been a few months since I frequented this site. I still haven't figured out how to be raw in cold winter months. But, winter is over. It is time to go back. I just finished reading Raw Food Controversies and it really renewed my choice to eat raw and be healthy. So, I've been transitioning in hopes to starting back 100% in May. Then I realized, that is still a week away, so I'm starting now. Trying to give up a couple of bad habits/addictions as well. My pot a day coffee habit and my occasional drinking and smoking. I figure the coffee will take me a while. I'm going to go a cup less every couple of days and hopefully by mid-May I can just be drinking tea. And the drinking thing won't be all that hard except during a vacation for a rugby tournament.

I've grown a chubby belly through the winter even though I was exercising quite a bit. Weights, biking, running, Zumba, Pilates, Insanity workout, etc. So now I want to get back to raw and try to keep the current activity level. Soccer and Ultimate Frisbee have started already, so between healthy eating and healthy amounts of exercise, I should get to my ideal size before too long.

Hope to see you all in the May challenge!

[robh]

PansyLo, I was curious where you had gone. A lot of folks seem to come and go. (even qwerty is missing) I am sorry to hear about your financial situation. Eating is hard when you have no money (much less eating raw). I wish you a fast return to raw foods.

TheRawPilgrim, triciaRAW, longrun and MeredithLee, welcome to the raw food lifestyle.

Rainie, nice to see you posting again. How are you doing with your raw food journey?

Coffee is one of my vices too. This weekend, I told myself I was going to give it up (along with the beer and the occasional SAD food on the weekends). Honestly, I'm tried of detoxing over and over.

Today, for example: I am super tired; I've had a headache coming and going; my thoughts are foggy and slow, my stomach has been upset and I couldn't keep my green smoothie down this morning. Why, you ask? Friday, I had 2 slices of pizza and a handful of chips. Saturday, I had 2 beers and 2 plates of cooked food Saturday night (chicken and pasta). Sunday, I ate raw, but my body does this delayed reaction thing.

I told myself I was going to take all the toxins out: cooked food, alcohol, and even caffeine. Sadly, this morning, I couldn't keep my eyes open so I had one last cup of coffee. The hardest part in all this is my border-line alcoholic friend that uses me as an excuse to drink every Saturday. His vices aside, he's a good friend and dread tell him I won't drink with him (he won't drink alone). It's probably for the best though.

Anyway... sorry about that. I just had to get it out. No one around here cares. lol

As I said, I've been raw the past couple days again (depends how I view the coffee this morning). Today, I've had:

* bell pepper
* mini peppers (it's a pepper day, apparently)
* grapes
* bean sprouts (lentils and whatever else is in "Beanie's Awesome Mix")
* strawberries

later, I'll probably have a salad (romaine, spring mix, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, sliced cucumbers and the famously awesome raw ranch dressing people pass around this forum) and probably guacamole and Mexican flax crackers.

I'm also sprouting some grains: barley, kamut and rye. The only one I've tried so far is the kamut and it's pretty good. The Barley doesn't seem to want to sprout (may just eat them as they are soft now). I've been sprouting the Rye for 2-3 days now so I can make a Rye crackers recipe from a book I read recently. Curious how that turns out.

I'm also making a second batch of granola out of the same book - love my dehydrator :)

Anyway, if anyone reading is curious what to eat (as I have been), there are a lot of options: fruit, veggies, sprouts, nuts, seeds, avocados and loads of recipes out there. Everything from dressings to deserts.

Reminds me - I think I'll try to make some banana cookies (thanks whoever mentioned that).

[qwerty988]

PansyLo, I was curious where you had gone. A lot of folks seem to come and go. (even qwerty is missing) I am sorry to hear about your financial situation. Eating is hard when you have no money (much less eating raw). I wish you a fast return to raw foods.

Hi, robh!

Firstly, please forgive yourself! This is a journey and we're all giving up some major habits and addictions in going raw -- try to celebrate your successes and SO WHAT if you stumble along the way? You're just doing GREAT. :heart:

I haven't really disappeared -- not forever, anyway -- and I'm STILL raw -- wooo-hooooo! :throwhearts:

However I'm trying a new approach that's different from Alissa's, so out of respect for her and her forum I'm taking a break from posting here for the time being. I hope to be back joining you again in the near future -- wonderful to see so many new people joining in!

Keep up the good work my Fellow Challengers! :heart

[Mayaya]

Even though I don't comment, I read everyone's posts every day.

Firstly, welcome for the newbies! Wish you an easy start.

@TheRawPilgrim, at this time it's impossible for me to go with my salad to a dinner, attract the looks and feel ok with it. That's admirable. It takes courage!

@PansyLo, would it feel better if I told you that from the middle of this month I've only got sth more of 10 dollars both in hand and bank? To be excact, I've only got sth more than 2 dollars on me. And every month it comes, ends (or should I say starts) more or less like that.

Right now I've got two ripe bananas and some apples, lettuce and stuff from raw. And I plan to consume these and whatever -raw or not- I've got in the fridge. Well, this is not a plan actually, it's a necessity. Anyway..
Oh and I agree about the blender difficulty. I burned mine, trying to make raw ice-cream. I can't afford any new one right now. And I've got no other tools. No blender, no juicer, no dehydrator, (almost) no raw foods, no money.

@Meredithlee, it's really difficult to be raw in winter. I saw this this year, when I got tired of my beloved (really love them) oranges but couldn't find variety of fruits. I am waiting June with such anticipation to get more raw.

I promised a review of the chickpeas. This is another raw recipe that I didn't like. The chickpeas wouldn't get softer after a whole 10 and more hours of soaking. I'd call the taste as "irritating and getting on my nerves" and obviously I didn't eat this dish. I ate up to 3 spoons, making faces as I pushed myself to be openminded and chew it. Dissapointment!

Anyway, I'll keep in touch, as I said I read all of your posts, but I'm afraid I'm going to follow you in the May raw challenge again, in a week or later, starting all over.

Take care!

[TheRawPilgrim]

Thank you :) . It was HARD (it smelled so good!) though!



@TheRawPilgrim, at this time it's impossible for me to go with my salad to a dinner, attract the looks and feel ok with it. That's admirable. It takes courage!

[triciaRAW]

HEY Raw friends,
ate:

RAW garden of life powder, kale, carrot smoothie, in the morning
Strawberries
Basil
Broccoli
Pistachios, cashews, pumpkin seeds
kale/ spinach
cucumber

I'm still getting stomach nausea sometimes when i eat...? Anyone know what that means? Wait it out a few days?
Are there foods to avoid at the beginning of going 100%??? Its frustrating because this has never happened before with me and eating this way...

I'm gonna eat avocados and bananas have coconut water tonight for dinner because of my tummy.

[rawwannabe]

I've only had two non raw meals. I decided to not be so "militant" and it's actually easier this way! The problem is I'm doing hot yoga or vinyasa hot yoga (in other words A LOT of , shall we say......water loss via my pores) but my weight loss is virtually nil. Although I can SEE a difference., the scale doesn't measure a significant difference.

The only daily non raws are 2-3 cups of coffee w/ skim milk. I know I should try nut milk instead, but......that's about it. Okay, so my day invariably starts w/ 1 3/4 - 2 cups almond milk w/ 1/2 frozen banana, 2 TBSP. Nutiva chocolate hemp powder, 2 TBSP Dr. Schultze Superfood, 1-2 tsp maca and occasionally some (non vegan, obviously) bee pollen.

Then, during the day, 1-2 glasses of green juice than an all raw dinner.

Tonight guacamole on 2 slices Glaser Farms raw Olive Bread. Last night Zucchini Angel Hair pasta w/ Alissa's delicious sauce. Tomorrow, Alissa's rawvioli- although I couldn't find a small turnip so I may just have to pull out my mandoline instead of the saladaco. Another night I had Ani Phyo's collard wraps and so forth. Aside from the skim milk in my java and 2 meals out in about five weeks, it's been....raw w/ no pressure. Actually, I am enjoying it knowing that I am not "forbidden" anything. I probably go without food too long during the day because by dinner I am ravenous. However, I always plan to have dessert (raw) but am usually too full.

Additionally, I am SO tired at night which is a good thing as I usually am an insomniac. Detox has its benefits!

Nice to "meet" all of you.

[RawOlympia]

Hi All,

I'm new here (just signed up) and I wanted to announce that I will be starting my 30 Day Raw Challenge tomorrow (technically a few minutes from now!). I have been learning about the Raw Lifestyle for the past few years and finally feel up to the challenge of 30 days (and ideally permanently) Raw.

It has taken me quite awhile to get to the point where I thought I would be ready for this, but I have been slowly cleaning up my formerly horrible diet for the past few years. I made a huge leap forward with my health last June 21st when I went Gluten Free after being in denial that I needed to do anything about a severe gluten intolerance. On 3/20 I started following the Fit For Life food combining plan to heal my severe psoriasis (it's nearly healed completely as I type this) but realized this past week that I have been heading towards more and more raw food with my diet (it's been 80% raw for the past two weeks).

I'm sure the 30 days WILL be challenging at times, but I feel that I am finally ready and in the right place mentally and emotionally to do this. Becoming 100% has been a goal of mine since I started learning about the many health benefits of it years ago.

I have no idea where my weight will finally settle, and I am curious to find out what my total weight loss will be. I have lost 10 lbs since I started with food combining on 3/20 but still have somewhere between 50 and 80lbs to go and am looking to take my weight loss and health to the next level by going 100% Raw.

Olympia

[robh]

hi qwerty! it's nice to see you posting again. :) I read the forum rules too. I understand. Good luck with your new approach.

RawOlympia, welcome.

triciaRAW, I eat everything you have listed there (except the powder). Of those foods, the only one I have a problem with is Broccoli. It seems to kick off my acid reflux. Also, are you eating a lot of basil? I tried putting a lot of cilantro in my smoothies. That made me sick. If it continues, you should see a doctor.

[PansyLo]

@qwerty & robh: thanks guys, nice to see you're still here too. I thought it would be still nice to check in and say I'm still on a raw journey, just a slight glitch in it just now. I have not totally jumped the wagon. ;D

@meredithlee: I'm not sure where you live but I live in an almost permanent winter in Scotland. Even in Summer there's cold miserable days.
I started raw in February when we were still getting snow. It's not bad! You have a lot more energy which helps in winter days, helps keep you positive when the weather is depressing. Invest in a selection of good teas.
I'm not picky with my teas, I still drink those that contain naturally occurring caffeine. It's a personal choice and some people like to restrict to more herbal varieties but with tea I just like to keep my options open.
On a cold wintery day a good big pot of hot chai is a good warmer. Or ginger tea? Hot water with lemon and ginger?

You can do things like eat richer raw foods with warming spices. Dates, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg. Apple, carrot and ginger juice? Super powered and gives you that wintery comfort! :)

Get yourself into raw for the Summer then you can be prepared with ideas like this for the winter! :)

@RawOlympia: Welcome! Good luck with your transition.

Everyone is in the same boat so it's good to have this forum for support. I miss it!


I have actually been eating high raw since posting about my situation. Not 100% and not with the same flourish and dedication as before where I was making juices and raw meals all the time. I'm not able to do that. But I have been living off salad and tea and feel a little less bogged down for it.
I'm still using raw condiments for flavours and dressings too - except for honey as I got through more of that and raw honey is about £7 a jar and you can buy the regular type for about a £1.

Only 5 weeks until I'll have moved to the sticks into a house with my mum and wont have to pay for everything anymore. :P
I also finally got a letter with an appointment with a psychiatrist! Fiiinally. :)

That's all my news really. I'll pop in and out.

[RawOlympia]

Day One is going well despite what I suspect are really bad allergies. My stats should now show up in my signature but here they are

Starting weight: 195
Goal weight: 130

I didn't feel good at all today, felt like I recaughta cold that I had last week or my allergies are really bad today. Took a Claritin so if I feel better in a bit, it was allergies.

I had juice twice with kale, turnip greens, carrots, ginger, apple
Salad with fruit and nuts in it for lunch and salad with sprouts for dinner.
Raw chocolate (need to make more soon) and some granola.

I really would like to learn to make raw granola bars as the Two Moms in the Raw brand is good but really pricey.

:)

[RawOlympia]

Also, I had a thought today... I'm going to have to branch out and learn to prepare things like nut cheese, raw ice cream etc or salads are going to get old fast lol. Going to tackle cashew nut cheese tomorrow and maybe some date/nut bars too

Hopefully the kidlets will like those as much as they like the raw chocolate pudding I make them. :)

[PansyLo]

^ Don't be intimidated! :) They're dead easy. Well cheese like sauce is anyway. I've never actually made anything resembling cheese lol. Just aim to do a couple of new things each week.

My first week I kept it to salad, my second I started making smoothies, my third I tried a couple of more gourmet type recipes (well making raw food that resembles cooked), my forth I started sprouting and sooo on.

Just have one or two new challenges each week and aim to buy one or two new food that you've never eaten before. (eg. my first week was raw honey and dates, I can't remember week for week but I started buying braggs and raw almond butter, spirulina, chlorella etc)

It's a fun way to keep you motivated and not take on too much at once.

And I like your idea of putting stats in your sig! I might do that when I join in properly again.

[triciaRAW]

YES it WAS Broccoli. That seems to be what was giving me the stomach pain. I'll just have to work it in slowly.

Today was good.

HAD GARDEN of Life Powder, Banana.

Spinach Salad with Pistachios, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, kale, tomato, oil for dressing.

Salad again, Yellow Pepper, Spinach, Collards, Pumpkin Seeds, Avocado, cilantro

Banana, Strawberries, Dried Cherries


I have a headache. Detox and Grad School no doubt.

When the semester ends I need to vary it up with some recipes. Right now I'm too busy to try and get fancy. BUT YES, I'm getting bored. Bust out the ol' food processor. Thank goodness it's almost summer and the Market will be going on and all the produce in the stores will be awesome and cheap again! :)

[TheRawPilgrim]

Well I weighed myself this morning. Let me start off saying that the energy I've gotten and how good I feel is more important to me. I'd keep eating like this even if I never lost any weight! That said, after 7 days 100% raw (even after one slip up) I have released NINE POUNDS!!!! :woot: And my Vitamix is due to arrive tomorrow.....:woohoo:. Can you tell I'm a little happy this morning? :throwhearts:

[Traceyraw]

Way to go Pilgrim:)
Hi Tricia: I love Garden of Life. I take there greens in capsules for now.

I am in now 100%. Started my day with watermelon slushie. I have spinach/o.j smoothie for lunch.
Kale chips and chocolate cookies for snacks. I seaseame/flax seeds, dates, and agave. + raw chocolate powder.

Have a great day my raw friends.

If you can try it it is easy and soooo goood. Watemelon blended with a squeeze of lemon. My kids love it we have even made popcicles out of it.

[yoru]

hey everyone! i know i haven't been on in a few weeks, but that's because i was being unsuccessful and i really needed to think about and implement all the ideas that everyone on here gave me. so i did some thinking, some real hard thinking about why i want to do this, what i want to get out of this, and that's it's ok if i fail. i then i figured out something to eat. and for the past two days, i have been COMPLETELY RAW!! WITH ABSOLUTELY NO CRAVINGS!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY!!!!

really, i couldn't have done it without everyone's help on this forum, thanks so much guys!! and also reading alissa's book has helped a lot too, she was so right, you really have to eat lots of food to feel full, although it doesn't seem like a lot! let me tell you all what i've been eating:

a salad of spinach, dried cranberries, and tomatoes with a little lemon juice and balsamic vinegar (i also throw a dash of black peppercorns, garlic powder, herbamere and some sea salt w/sea veggies added)

a fruit salad of mostly mangoes, but i'm gonna start adding in strawberries and papayas and maybe some oranges or other things

juice of pears, strawberries, pineapple juice (i buy it from trader joe' which is pasteurized, but i mix it with fresh juice of other fruits, and i'm gonna add some pineapples now) and oranges

and as well as a smoothie of various fruits

i'm feeling so great!! and totally doing it without a dehydrator!!

:D :woohoo:

[Lucy76]

Hello my favourite raw people!

Yoru good for you, that's great news!
It's very important to have lots and lots of food always available, to make sure you don't fall of the wagon. I always get cravings of bad things when I'm hungry. Fruit is always great.

Let's see, today I had,
Sesame mylk smoothie with frozen bananas, vanilla and some pea protein for breakfast
Huge salad with mixed greens, and a dressing made of raisins for lunch. It was really good, maybe just a little too sweet for me, next time I'll use less raisins.
For an afternoon snack I had lots of delicious strawberries, about 4 oranges, 3 bananas, 6-7 dried figs...
For dinner I'm having another green salad with avocadol

and that'll probably be all for today...

Have great day everyone

[triciaRAW]

Hey Friends,

Tracey: garden of life is soooo great. i'm going to try those flax choco cookies you made!

So I'm still detoxing I believe. it come and goes...but i know the process...I had a headache last night and decided to go lift weights and I felt way better afterward!

I've had no cravings...I usually want cheese! I want fruit and my yummy salads and avocados.

I forget who said that but I love the idea of watermelon popsicles!

So today.

Brazil nuts, dried cherries, 2 smoothies (lettuce, 1/2 banana, orange, grapefruit, hemp seeds, kale), apple, coconut water.

Going to do some work then go for a big long run. I guess I am trying to lose some weight for the 1/2 marathon in July more or less to get faster. I've never been scale obsessed but recently i noticed I hit my all time high and that can scare a girl who's turning 30 in a month. 10 lbs a year is not a good habit to get into. Especially with SAD eating. RAw will change that I know!

BEST!
Tricia

Starting weight: 159
Goal weight: 140

[RawOlympia]

Still feeling like crap today, I think it is a mixture allergies and cold. Not much of an appetite either.

Breakfast: orange and a banana
Lunch: Salad
Snack: 2 spoonfuls of chocolate "pudding" (avacado, banana, raw cacao, and agave)
Dinner: a few bites of salad and a mushroom cap filled with nut cheese (2 cups soaked raw cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic clove and fresh chives)
After dinner: lemonade sweetened with agave.

Seriously not hungry at all as you can tell. Yesterday I was eating every nut and granola in site lol.

[Traceyraw]

Good Morning Everybody.
Raw Olympia Sounds like detox. Hang in there it will pass and you will feel better.

I must be very toxic. I got hit by a bus last night ( detox bus). Sweated all night woke up with a headache, back ache and sinuses draining. I know I will feel better when the toxins are gone.

This morning I had a chocolate smoothie. Sunflower seed milk, 2 bananas, agave, raw chocolate powder. So creamy and yummy like a chocolate shake.

snack I have Kale chips and flax seasame cookies. Lunch we are having a party so big salad for me.
Dinner I bought honeydew and watermelon. I will blend one of those tonight.

Have rawsome day. Remember detox is temporary and benefits are a lifetime.

[Lucy76]

Hello everyone!
RawOlympia, if you had too many nuts yesterday, this may be why you're not feeling so well. Too much fat can make you feel drained.
Or it could be detox. Either way I hope you feel better.

Today I had:
breakfast: 1L of carrot juice, 1L of spinach and orange juice
4 bananas, a few strawberries
lunch: huge green salad with avocado and buckwheat sprouts
a few dried figs, some olives
3-4 pizza crackers
dinner: 1L of sesame seed mylk banana, chia seeds, raspberries and pea protein smoothie

that's all folks :))

[TheRawPilgrim]

MY VITAMIX CAME TODAY!!!!!! Oh I LOVE it! So far I've made a cashew/vanilla shake, a green smoothie, warm cream of celery soup and strawberry banana ice cream! Not only did I love everything, so did my kids! They are all excited about eating raw (they eat raw with me during the day then for supper they have a choice between what I'm eating and what I'm cooking for dh. Tonight 2 out of 3 chose to eat my raw soup :D.

[LexieW]

Hi there,

I'm LexieW, and this is my first post in this forum. I've been between 50% and high raw for about 2 years, and have decided it's time to finally go high raw and make it a permanent lifestyle.

I have a feeling this forum and all the posts by you wonderful, inspiring people is going to help me get over the detox/new habits phase.

I'll officially start my challenge in May, but I just couldn't wait! I had to get in here and thank you all for the excellent recipes and inspiration :wuv

See you all on the boards!

[triciaRAW]

Hi all!

Finally a day with no detox symptoms. I have to work a weird shift tonight at midnight however so i hope that doesn't mess with my rest. I felt awesome today!!! those 3 detox days were horrible! i hope its gone for now...I felt good and hungry, no headache, my run was great, i wasn't cranky, no nausea (which was the worst...) and I had energy to spare.

So I got motivated and made some neat things while I worked from home.

I hammered open a thai coconut, drank the water and ate some of the meat.

I made a Carrot Cake mash: carrots, dates, coconut, raisins, cashews, pumpkin spice, nutmeg

I soaked a portabella mushroom in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, some of my dressing and pepper and ate it with spinach.

I shaved a zucchini in to noodles and made a pesto with pine nuts, basil, oil, and hot pepper, and tomatoes.

I also snacked on dried pineapple, an apple, some salad with chia seeds and pumpkin seeds.

My boyfriend offered me a small bite of his sandwich. I didn't even want it...I had no desire. It smelled weird.

So horray for RAW!
Tricia

[Alby]

i am kinda new to raw but ive been reading a ton of books about it and i really want to do this challenge next month. any suggestions on how to stay away from temptations and stick with only raw food? im going to do a juice cleanse until the first of may to help get me started, is this a good idea?

[LexieW]

Abby, the best way to start is one that feels natural to you. A lot of people ease in with juice fasts, and find that it helps speed up the resetting of your metabolism, tastebuds, etc. It's also easier than a straight water fast. A lot of people find that they aren't even really hungry! You will be getting so much nutrition that those sudden, urgent needs for food just don't appear. You may, however, miss the feeling of gnawing on something. I find melon to be helpful, in that case, or any other type of really juicy fruit.

As far as staying away from temptations - know what your cravings are (sweet? salty? crunchy?) and be prepared. I crave sweets and chocolate, so I often make chocolate ice cream out of cacao powder and a frozen banana, or raw brownies from cacao powder, dates, and nuts. Try out a few simple recipes and keep the ingredients onhand, so you can whip up a treat really quickly at home.

Good luck, see you in the May thread!

[effortlessvegan]

Hoping to join next month's challenge. I have been raw for awhile but we have been away for the month of April in Europe where it was quite a challenge to eat raw but I did manage quite well considering. I am looking to get back on track at 100%. I've done a number of these challenges and have enjoyed sharing with everyone.

[robh]

Hi everyone. Congrats on the progress!

I am still raw. The weekend is upon us so I will find out how strong my resolve is. Anyway, I don't have much time this morning.

Keep up the fight everyone. :)

[Traceyraw]

Welcome New Rawbies. I am so glad your here to share.

Pilgrim: Love that you love your Vitamix. I am loving mine right now too.
Tricia: I am glad no detox. your food sounds amazing.
Hello to all challengers.

I am no prepared today I do have a banana: Last night I made a smoothie of Honeydew and cucumber it was very refreshing.

I have Kale chips dehydrating. I plan making so much stuff this weekend for next week. I lost 2 1/2 lbs this week I really wasn't going to weigh myself but I just felt lighter.

Detox is hitting me hard. I was sweating all night long. I plan on water till lunch time to speed it up and get it over with.

Have a rawesome day.

[RawOlympia]

Pilgram congrats on your first weeks results :) Tracey, I think you were right and it was a detox which is weird because I have done two 1 week stints in which I was raw for a week and the other juiced for a week and didn't have it. I guess I was long overdue for it lol.

I felt really bad yesterday so I kept it light with juicing until I actually had an appetite in the afternoon. I discovered these raw macaroons at whole foods called Hail Merry. really really yummy. For dinner I had bruschetta on jicama slices (really good) and a bit of raw nut free ice cream. I belong to Philip McCluskey's newsletter and the recipe was just sent out the other day. Highly recommended but stick to one batch, I doubled it and 1 batch would have been fine for me and the kidlets since it is very rich. Here's my tweeking of their recipe...

Raspberry Sorbet
Ingredients:
1 large avocado
juice from 1 lime
2 cups of frozen raspberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Agave nectar to taste

Run in food processor until the consistancy of gelato.

I had leftovers and didn't know if I should freeze them or stick them in the fridge (half out of my head yesterday from lack of sleep lol) so I split the leftovers to see what would happen...fridge it is!

I'm going to start looking for some of my favorite snacks online to see if I can get them cheaper.

[Alby]

hi guys, im very new to this, despite reading a bunch of books about raw. do yall know of any really easy starter raw recipes for a very much beginner at raw meal prep?? pasta would be a big deal for me for a cooked meal.

[RawOlympia]

Hi Alby,

My favorite to date (and it's a hit with the kids too) is Chocolate Pudding. We call it Breakfast Pudding around here because I let them eat it for breakfast if they want lol. The Raspberry Gelato I posted yesterday came out really good too. I made a raw corn chowder tonight but I think it needs tweaking a bit before I'd post that because it wasn't that good following the recipe I had for it.

Chocolate Pudding

2 avacados (remove pit and scrape out avacado)
2 peeled bananas
1/3 cup raw cocoa
1/3 cup agave nectar (more or less)

Put everything into the food processer using the S blade (I heard you can use a blender too, but haven't tried that) and run it until smooth. Keeps a few days in the fridge. I try not to eat it too late in the day because raw cacao jacks me up like coffee.

This Kale Salad is really good too.


APPLE & KALE SALAD
Salad Ingredients
1 bunch Kale (organic if possible)
3 Granny Smith or green apples
1 cup raw walnuts, soaked in water for 4 or more hours
½ cup dried currants, or craisens

Dressing Ingredients
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup agave nectar
juice and zest of ½ lemon
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Directions
Separate Kale from the stems and tear into bite sized pieces.
Slice the apples ¼ inch thick and place into a bowl of cold water and the juice of half a lemon
Combine all the ingredients for the dressing and whisk together
Pour over the kale, and using your hands, massage the dressing into the kale leaves softening them in the process.
Drain the water off the apples and walnuts, add them along with currants to the kale and toss.

[RawOlympia]

Still not as hungry today but feeling a lot better than yesterday since I slept from 11pm until 7am. I did wake up a 4:30a with a headache but 1 advil pm knocked me right out again and took care of the headache too. I must be detoxing because I am breaking out like crazy.

Breakfast: strawberry, kiwi, mango and lettuce smoothie
Lunch: bruschetta on jicama, some nuts, some granola
Dinner: raw corn chowder, some salad, and a bit more bruschetta.
Possibly later I might have some more of that raspberry gelato I made yesterday.



I think tomorrow will be a mainly juicing day because I'm still not eating all that much and I have a ton of lettuce that I want to juice before it goes bad. Why is it I eat salads just fine (big ones too!) when I buy the smaller container of lettuce, but when I get the big container of lettuce, I end up barely eating it? Going back to the smaller containers from now on.

[Alby]

thanks rawolympia, i will definitely try those. im going to try to do a three day juice fast (at least three days) before the start of the may challenge. i really need this, my body is just horrible and i know ill feel better if i can do this. wish me luck.

[Traceyraw]

I love all of these recipes. I am so short on time to make too much. I am going to focus this weekend on them.

Breaking out can be toxins moving out through your skin.

Off to the WF after work. I am out of seasame seeds.

Online buying: I get my almond butter for $13.00 amazan subscribtion. Its $22.00 at WF. I usually fill my cart and use supersaver shipping on amazon.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Bfast is Mango's... Yummy....

[yoru]

Hi there,

I'm LexieW, and this is my first post in this forum. I've been between 50% and high raw for about 2 years, and have decided it's time to finally go high raw and make it a permanent lifestyle.

I have a feeling this forum and all the posts by you wonderful, inspiring people is going to help me get over the detox/new habits phase.

I'll officially start my challenge in May, but I just couldn't wait! I had to get in here and thank you all for the excellent recipes and inspiration :wuv

See you all on the boards!

Welcome!!


i am kinda new to raw but ive been reading a ton of books about it and i really want to do this challenge next month. any suggestions on how to stay away from temptations and stick with only raw food? im going to do a juice cleanse until the first of may to help get me started, is this a good idea?

ooh good one! i just overcame this all through this past month! and i can tell you what worked for me: staying full on fruits and salads. let me tell you what i ate:

mangoes, lots of mangoes

strawberries,

apples

and for a salad, i made:

spinach, broccoli and tomatoes into a salad using balsamic vinegar seasoned with some sea salt w/ kelp, dried pepper, herbamere and some other stuff. feel free to add whatever you want, it's really been working for me!

just be sure to stay as full as possible, so eat LOTS. i got that idea from reading alissa cohen's book, and it really works, she also has the best recipes i have seen out of any raw food book, if you don't have hers, get hers for sure

and good luck


hi guys, im very new to this, despite reading a bunch of books about raw. do yall know of any really easy starter raw recipes for a very much beginner at raw meal prep?? pasta would be a big deal for me for a cooked meal.

i'll post one of alissa's recipes for pasta, you'll need a saladacco to make the noodles out of zucchini or squash, or whatever you want to use

Fettucine Alfredo

Fettucine:

2 zucchini
2 summer squash (& add other veggies if you'd like of course)

Alfredo:
1 Cup Cashews
1 Cup Macadamia Nuts
1 Cup Pine Nuts
3 Cups Lemon Juice
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Teaspoons Braggs Liquid Aminos
2 Tablespoons water

mix the ingredients for the alfredo in a food processor, then mix it with the noodles with your hands, let me know how it comes out! i wanna try it

[Alby]

thanks, ill try all of that. but first i really want to do a juice cleanse to get everything started: weight loss, detox, etc. anyone know of juice recipes that a person who is not a big veggie eater would like? this morning i tried romaine lettuce, kale, a couple apples, and a lemon; and it was not the best...

[magglepie]

Good to see some new faces here :). Welcome.

Supper today was a smoothie with 2 bananas, an avocado, pineapple, and some spinach. Delicious! I had some raisins as well. Been trying to cut back on the raisins though. Just because of them being extra sugaryish.

[yoru]

thanks, ill try all of that. but first i really want to do a juice cleanse to get everything started: weight loss, detox, etc. anyone know of juice recipes that a person who is not a big veggie eater would like? this morning i tried romaine lettuce, kale, a couple apples, and a lemon; and it was not the best...

juicing lettuce is no good for one, and kale, you have to watch how much you put unless you can handle the bitter taste, and you had the right idea with the lemon juice to help with the bitterness.

but if you think you can handle a juice cleanse, then go for it! the guys in the april monthly juice fast can help you more, but i like to use:

oranges, apples, pineapples and spinach. spinach is the least bitter of the greens, so if you want to start with some greens, i say start with that, it has a pleasant taste. and you can throw in some carrots as well (but don't do too much, and don't add in a large variety of fruits, vegetables and greens, the flavors won't mix well)

[RawOlympia]

I want to try that fettucini alfredo recipe. Does it say how many it feeds? It seems like a lot.

Breakfast: OJ
Lunch: green juice with lettuce, cucumber, carrot, apple and lemon
Snack: nuts
Dinner: Kale and apple salad and romain wraps with sunflower/green onion spread and the remainder of the bruschetta.

I need to get more salads back in. I was eating 2 decent sized ones a day until I started the raw challenge and between the detox and trying to figure out what to eat, I've been ditching the salads. I do love that Kale and apple salad and have enough for a few days even if it hit it hard. Switching to romaine for this week too. Maybe getting bored with Spring Mix is my body telling me to rotate my greens because I have been eating that for about a month now that I think about it.

I made the most awesome chocolate balls today too. I made a half recipe of those and the sunflower seed cheese because I didn't like the cashew cheese I made the other day and didn't want to waste a bunch of seeds/nuts on stuff that I wasn't going to eat.

Chocolate Balls (I made half this recipe and still ended up with a decent amount. I used to food processor for both steps, but think a blender might do a better job of the outer coating. Also, I could only find sweetened coconut at the store I went to so I didn't use any agave. I'm going to look for the unsweetened dehydrated kind but the PMS will be hitting soon and i wanted to be prepared lol)
1/4 c sesame seeds
1/4 pecans
3/4 c raw dehydrated coconut
1 c raw almond butter
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 T raw cacao powder
1/2 c raisins or dates
1/2 cup cacao nibs


Place sesame seeds, pecans and all but 1/8 cup coconut in the food processor or blender and run until blended, set aside. Place almond, butter, agave, cacao, raisins or dates, nibs and 1/8 cup of the coconut in the blender or food processor until you have a gooey dough. Roll balls of dough in the seed/nut/coconut mixture and refridgerate.



Sesame Seed Onion Cheese (I made half and should have just made a quarter of the recipe. It's really good as a wrap spread, I just don't think I can use it all before it goes bad)
2 Cups sunflower seeds, soaked 2-4 hours, then rinsed and drained
1 cup pine nuts
2 lemons, juiced
1/3 cup olive oil
1 bunch green onions
1 T sea salt

Combine the sunflower seeds, salt and pine nuts in a food processor until it's a fine meal. Then add lemon juice and olive oil. Process again until smooth. Add a little water if necessary to keep it smooth but thick. At the end add the green onions (all but the roots) until the onions are little pieces. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.


Does anyone know if you can freeze nut cheese?

[TheRawPilgrim]

Still RAWkin' out over here! I'm down to 168lbs, I have not been under 170 for as long as I can remember (I do have a pretty bad memory though lol). I had mixed melon (watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew) for breakfast and felt like a chocolate cherry softserve for lunch (got full after half of it). Haven't had my greens yet today so supper will either be a salad or a mango spinach pudding.

[Lucy76]

Hi everyone!
Keep up the good work RawPiglrim!

Yesterday I had carrot juice, spinach orange juice, smoothie with orange juice, broccoli blackberries, blueberries and banana, green salad with sunflower seed cheese and avocado, orange and strawberry juice, small slice of raw pizza and some marinated broccoli.

Today I had the usual carrot juice, and spinach orang juice for breakfast (as always),
a green salad with avocado and a smoothie with sesame seed mylk vanilla and frozen bananas for lunch (reeeally yummy)
Some strawberries for dessert
And I have no idea what I'll have for dinner. Hmm... Maybe an extra large green smoothie, that sounds good. :)

So it's the last day today! Good job everyone!! Good luck to all the people who are continuing in May! Yaaay!!

[Lucy76]

Raw Olympia those recipes look great!!:drool:

[TheRawPilgrim]

Thanks Lucy76 :)

Today I'm having a green sorbet for breakfast, a mexican corn soup for lunch and a salad for supper. I have Alissa's granola in the dehydrator and it smells wonderful! I'm also going to make eggplant bacon and a buckwheat flax bread today.

[TheRawPilgrim]

Mmmmmm, the sorbet I made for breakfast was delicious! 1 cup frozen cherries, juice of 1 lime, 1 heaping tbsp of dates soaked in coconut water and mashed up (frozen), 1/2 frozen banana, 1 almond milk ice cube and a handful of mixed greens. All Vitamixed together into frozen bliss!

9070

[Traceyraw]

Good morning my raw friends. I started this challange late. Hope to see you all in the may challenge.

BFast Sunflower seed chocolate milk. Thick and yummy.
Lunch/Snack. Blender watermelon.

Dinner not sure I am going to the farmers market hopefully for some mangos. I am out of greens so I must go tonight. I miss my greens.

[RawOlympia]

My period showed up 4 days early yesterday. Has anyone else noticed this when going raw? I guess that explains all the chocolate and nut consumption right before it. My weight was down to 192.5 but is up a whole lb today. I expect that will go down quickly after today.

Breakfast: just the normal lemon water. I wasn't hungry (cramps) so I just had a few chocolate balls. I made more of those for the coming week since I had only done a half batch before. My husband and kid like them too.
Lunch: cucumber, celery, carrot, cabbage and apple juice.
Dinner: will be more Kale salad.

Yesterday was chocolate banana smoothie for breakfast, kale apple salad for lunch and asian inspired romaine wraps with sesame onion spread, carrot & cucumber shreds, bean sprouts, cilantro and a touch of tamari sauce. really good, and will probably make more of those tonight.

[ShantiDass]

Hi All,

I joined in to the April challenge even though I'd been raw for a few weeks. I'm still raw. Today is 7 weeks. I feel great and am down 25 pounds.

This weekend I made some jalapeno poppers that were so good. I found the recipe on here somewhere. Whole Foods had the peppers on sale so I bought a few pounds. They take over 24 hrs in the D but it was worth it. I now need to make more as my friends and family have been eating them. My next batch will be hidden.