Sept 2012 - 30 day raw challenge! Join anytime of the month!!!

[mellow_yellow]

I would love to join the monthly challenge! I'm on my second day 100% raw and so far I'm loving it. Yesterday I felt good, but I feel like I crashed in the afternoon. My head hurt and I was tired. I fell asleep at 7 at night! I feel better today, but I'm wondering if it was detox. Is one day too soon to be detoxing?

Anyway, I had lots of good stuff. Buckwheat crispies with figs and cranberries, salad and fruit for lunch and butternut squash with marinated mushrooms and a spinach cashew sauce for dinner. Lots of snacking of fruit in between. I love the feeling of not being totally stuffed!

So far today I've had a cocoa smoothie and a cup of berries. Looking forward every day to new food and feelings

[MysticTree]

Raw bread man strikes again :) I'm wondering if putting Irish moss in would give it a slightly spongy texture.

[robh]

Yeah, it turns out irish moss is a very popular ingredient in raw breads. That and psyllium husk. I think flax and chia seeds could do something similar. I notice it in my latest bread. The chia seeds that I used are gluey and prevent the bread from full dehydrating so you end up with a spongy texture (very much like real bread). I want to get my hands on some irish moss. I saw it on amazon for like $24 a pound (yikes). It seems like psyllium husk can be obtained from just about any health food store. Anyway, yes, raw bread man it at it again. :)

mellow_yellow, welcome back. That username is hard to forget.


I made a raw pâté last night. I was trying to make meatballs but ended up with more of a spreadable meaty mixture. I enjoy it. It's nice to bring a new flavor and texture into my bag of tricks. If I want to make meatballs out of it, I need to add some Italian seasoning maybe some onion, garlic, parsley and oregano.

For breakfast, I brought an apple, an orange, a plum and a couple of bananas that I intend to eat with almond butter.

For lunch, I brought a raw sandwich from the raw parsnip bread, lettuce, tomato, onion and the raw pâté. I may also hole one of the banana and enjoy another banana-almond butter snack after the sandwich.

Dinner is a mystery right now. Last night, I did the salad and the spaghetti. I have to figure out something different.

Today is my 30th consecutive day at 100% raw. I am feeling great (have been for a few weeks). Prior to these 30 days, I was on and off 100%. I was probably hovering around 90-95% raw for 6 months. After 6th months and a loss of 55lbs, my weight loss plateaued. I don't think I dropped any weight in that 6th month. This month, however, being 100% raw I suddenly dropped another 10 lbs (65 total now). Also, for some inexplicable reason, 100% raw seems to have condensed my body to the point that people are noticing the weight loss. They don't see the first 55lbs, but take notice to the last 10? That's wacky. I have never felt better emotionally or physically. One of the benefits that I didn't really see coming is the freedom from craving and all thoughts of eating cooked food. I have come to really value this benefit because it removes the difficulty. I don't have to try to be raw anymore because now it's effortless.

I know there are different flavors of raw vegan. (Low fat, Sproutetarian, All juices etc etc.) For right now, I am enjoying gourmet raw. I enjoy making tasty stuff and knowing I can eat as much as I want. I will, for sure, stay 100% raw. I am not going back to that dreadful battle that I waged for 6 months.

Anyway, have a RAWsome day everyone. :)

[turquoisecosm]

yesterday i was out all day and no juicer, so i caved at around 6pm and got a raw revolution bar and some juice at the supermarket and ate a peach when i got home around 9.
hopfully today will be easier with planning, apples for breakfast, yerba mate and water all day, for lunch carrot and avocado salad and oranges and grapes. have a good day everyone =]

[turquoisecosm]

yesterday i was out all day and no juicer, so i caved at around 6pm and got a raw revolution bar and some juice at the supermarket and ate a peach when i got home around 9.
hopfully today will be easier with planning, apples for breakfast, yerba mate and water all day, for lunch carrot and avocado salad and oranges and grapes. have a good day everyone =]

[mellow_yellow]

Thanks for the welcome back, robh! For over a year, I've tried to incorporate more and more raw into my diet and now I finally feel like I can do it.

Today is my third day 100% but I haven't eaten anything yet today, so I'll talk about yesterday. For breakfast I had a smoothie and berries. For lunch I had leftover spinach dip and bell pepper sticks. Then I was craving something sweet so I made some fudge out of cocoa, coconut butter and agave. Yum! I think I ate way too much of it though. . . For dinner I made a raw Pad Thai which is my favorite thing I've had so far and I can't wait to have it for lunch today.

All in all I didn't feel too great yesterday. I was still very tired and I'm not getting that raw energy that I remember in the past. I think I might have just eaten too much

Sipping on herbal tea now, contemplating my meals to come.

[Traceyraw]

I will be joining you great folks tomorrow. I need to get back 100% raw this is how I felt my best. I have some shopping to do. I have sprouts soaking. Looking forward to 30 days 100% raw. My weight today was 164lbs. I am so upset I have let myself get like this.

Peace my veggie loving friends. till tomorrow.

[Bananna]

Hey everyone! I haven't read everything on here but I did read some...I would like to join in. I have been floating around this site for a few years now and have had a few stints of all raw so do have some knowledge in what to do!

I am on day 2 so far of 100%.

robh...do you have a recipe for your killer tomato sauce?? It is the one thing that evades me, I am never happy with how mine turn out. ...also I am not sure where you are at with the bread but I know therawtarian.com has a spongy one, I do think she uses psyllium.

Anyways, HI TO YOU ALL!!

[ReneeH]

Been trying to catch up in all the progress you guys are making! Sounds fantastic!

Congrats ROB!!!!!! I'm SO proud of you!!!!

My Hubby is having surgery in the morning. It's been quite a crazy week for me. Relying mostly on fruit and Salads and food from my raw kitchen. All I had today is a Salad for lunch and nibbled on a Banana Nut Fudge Cookie (LOLF). Hopefully I'll be back to posting photos next week while my Hubby is recovering, but I may be back and fourth to hospital, so I may not have a chance to post....

[LexieW]

Everybody's doing so great! Congratulations to everyone hitting their goals, and keep going!

I'm on day 13 or 14 now I think - I haven't weighed myself but I know I've lost quite a bit of fat from the good ole' stubborn areas (hips, butt, thighs).

Robh - I did notice the flavors in the marinara sauce mellowing overnight. My next experiment is going to be raw coconut curry - I'm feeling the need for something really filling, as I've started to pick up my workouts again.

Also, gotta remember not to have sprouts before bed - they interfer with my sleep! Make me wanna stay up :P Much better to start the day out with them, and get that extra boost of energy first thing.

[Traceyraw]

I am re rawing today. My husband said he is going to join me on Monday. I have wheat sprouts that will be ready today. My alfalfa are still growing hopefully by friday they will be ready.

I started my day with My Spinach Water ( 3 cups spinach,3 cups water, 1 cup fresh orange juice blended) YUMMY. I have grapes and banannas for snacks. Lunch is a tomatoe salad. YEAH I love raw.

Im trying to keep things simple I have very little time or energy to prep. I am hoping for that raw energy to surge threw my body soon.



ReneeH. I wish your hubby a speedy recovery.

[ReneeH]

Hey yau'll,

Thanks Tracy!!!! Hubby's surgery has been resched for next Wed, so he's restricted to bed rest till then. It's been a REALLY, REALLY long and stressful day! Homeschooling and taking care of a sick Hubby is a full time job in and of itself! But, my day continues cuz I gotta go work at my raw kitchen tonight. I don't mind that, though! It's actually a lot of fun for me! I truly LOVE what I do.

I only had water this morning till noon. Then I snuck off to Chili's for a Salad:



I asked to leave off the Croutons and Cheese and asked to add Mushrooms and Avocado....paid extra for Avocado. The total price was $4.90. Not bad, huh!!! The Vineagrette was really good, too. The Mushrooms were far from fresh, so I had to sift through them to find some good ones! But, normally when I get this they are ok! It actually filled me up pretty good and it was nice to get away for a hot second!

Hey, check this out...see anyone you know? :-D

[bcrunner]

another week raw and loving how i'm feeling, except for a problem this morning. my gums started bleeding when i brushed them.

i stopped brushing teeth with toothpaste. was just using a brush in morning then rinsing with mouthwash. going to buy some naturalish toothpaste (don't think my health food store has ideal products) and start oil pulling. will also start getting more sun exposure, this past week i slacked big time there.

also re diet: i'm something similar to a LFRV. i do a green smoothie in morning, been doing 3 fruit meals a day, 1 big salad for my 4th meal. i'm looking into starting to sprout/grow wheatgrass. any other advice or thoughts appreciated.

[robh]

ReneeH, your name in lights. That's cool. Congrats.

Traceyraw, nice to see you around again. welcome back.

LexieW, 14 days - that's awesome. Good luck with the curry experiments. Sounds yummy.

Bananna, thanks for the raw bread tip. It sounds like psyllium husks are easily obtained from the health food stores. I'm gonna give that a try for sure. On the tomato sauce, I will make a formal recipe, but it goes something like this:


Raw Pizza Sauce (works great on spaghetti too)

In a bowl, I mix sliced tomatoes with chopped onion, diced garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and, fresh oregano. Be generous with the onions and garlic despite the fact that they are overpowering in their raw form. That will change.

Spread the mixture thinly onto teflex sheets. I say thinly because you want to maximize the air flow between the tomatoes, onions and garlic. Dehydrate on a high temp for two hours (the standard proceedure) and then drop it down to 105 for another 4-5 hours. (This should smell awesome.)

At this point, I personally put it in the fridge overnight. It's not required, but the taste of the onions and the garlic change overnight. They mellow out. Then, when I am making the sauce, I can taste it and have a more accurate gauge on how the end product will taste.

Next, load everything into the food processor. Process it. Taste it. Add one of these: sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, dates, salt. Process it. Taste it. Repeat. Onion powder and garlic powder give more depth to the existing onion and garlic flavors. The same is true for the dried oregano. Olive oil lubes everything up and gives substance. Sun-dried tomatoes give it body and deepens the tomato flavors. Dates add sweetness and body. Salt is very important. In a pizza sauce, your taste buds are looking for salty, sweet and sour. Without the salty, it all falls apart (sweet too imo).

I need to nail down the amounts I used a write up a traditional recipe.


Anyway, I'm still 100% raw and loving life. Everyone is doing great. Keep up the great work.

[Traceyraw]

Thanks Robh. Your sauce sounds yummy.

Good morning my veggie friends. I SLEPT SO INCREDIBLE LAST NIGHT. Like a littel baby sound asleep. I feel much better today. I started my day with my spinach O.J. Lots more spinach this time more of a thin smoothie instead of juice. I was so hungry after work. I need to amp it up today. My alfalfa sprouts are coming around nicely. I am starting more wheat to make bread. My mung bean sprouts I let go to far they turned bitter and yucky. Ill try again.

Dreaming of an avacado, tomatoe , sprout on my fresh escene bread.

Did anybody notice the price of almond butter on amazon. I used to get it auto shipped for about $12.00 a jar. Now Marantha is like $17.00 per oz. can't figure out why 1 jar would be over $100. Just curious if anybody knows.

Lunch is carrot/celery sticks with almond butter and agave. Have tons of grapes, banannas and apples for stacks. Dinner is salad. I am making a huge salad for the pot luck tomorrow. Like a chopped salad without lettuce all of the other goodies.

Have a rawesome day.. Good to be back.