Day 19 and a catch up

Sorry about that long gap in my entries. First, I had a busy weekend and then I caught some type of tummy bug. I'm not going to try to remember what I ate for all of my meals. I'm sure I would get it all mixed up. Here is yesterday's though.

Breakfast: Green smoothie: spinach, bananas, strawberries
Lunch: 1 tangerine
Snack: Milk
Dinner: I ended up having a bowl of warm cooked soup last night and that seemed to help my stomach settle down.

My stomach feels fine today, but my energy level isn't back up yet. So here's the plan for today:

Breakfast: Granola, banana, and milk
Lunch: Almond butter and honey sandwich on sprouted bread
Dinner: Salad of mixed greens with falafel, shredded carrots, and chutney

Hannah, that's a great idea with the "Sprite." I do have a juicer and will have to try that. Do you recommend any particular blend of veggies for that?

Lynn, thank you for the prayers as well as all of the encouragement.

Friday

I went ahead and had cooked foods today, but easily could have stayed raw. It's funny how fast I've lost my cravings. The last 2 Fridays I drank Cokes. I've been drinking Coke since I was 13, so for 24 years. That's a long time to be addicted to something. The idea of having a Coke today was flat out unappealing. I think I'll stick with my Friday cooked days through January and then drop them. They've worked well for me, but I don't think I need them anymore. I checked my weight this morning and it had stayed the same this week, so I'm still at 9lb lost so far.

Lynn, you asked about the dehydrator. My husband gets an annual Christmas bonus. We have steadily over the last 6 years used part of the bonus each year to get something that will help us be healthier as a family. The dehydrator was something we bought that way. We have an Excalibur one and it is expensive but so fantastic. I love it and think it's worth every dollar! Also, I emailed you that gluten free bread recipe.

Day 15

I stayed busier than usual today, so was glad that I could go with such quick meals. I'm looking forward to eating cooked tomorrow, but nearly as much as I was the other weeks. I think that's a really good sign.

Breakfast: Sprouted tortilla spread with halvah and wrapped around a banana, Milk
Lunch: Sprouted tortillas used as pitas with corn tabouli and hummus
Snack: Milk
Dinner: Granola and milk with sliced banana

Lynn, good job on the salads! Regular salad dressings aren't raw, but this next week I'll try to post some raw salad dressing recipes. They're super easy to make and taste great.

Day 14

I got excited as I realized that this is in fact Day 14. If you look back at the 2007 posts, Day 14 was my last day I journaled about being raw. At that point, my desire for raw was gone and I wasn't even staying raw through the whole day anymore. I was really struggling. TODAY I'm on Day 14 and I'm still loving being raw! I'm still super excited about it and am feeling great! Woo-hoo! Yesterday, we headed out in the evening, so I ended up grabbing some granola to take with me in a bag instead of that salad I'd been planning on having. That made for an easy meal on the go. I'll have to remember that one. One thing I'm really enjoying about eating raw is how I can just prepare foods a few times a week and happily eat them all week long. That's great for a busy mom!

Breakfast: Strawberry banana oat porridge
Lunch: Falafel and chutney, Milk
Snack: Bananas
Dinner: Salad of mixed greens with broken up falafel, shredded carrot, and chutney

Today's Recipe: Falafel

3 mugs shrouted chick peas
2 cups soaked sunflower seeds (measured after soaking)
2-3 Tbsps. water
1 bunch parsley
1/2 small white onion
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp golden flax meal (ground in coffee grinder)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp white miso

Process in batches in your food processor, starting with the seeds and beans and water. Once those are all done and in a big mixing bowl, mix the parsley and the onion as a batch in the food processor. Put that into the mixing bowl with the bean/seed mix and then directly mix the rest of the ingredients into it. Roll into little balls and place on an oiled mesh dehydrator screen and flatten lightly with fork like you would a peanut butter cookie. Dehydrate for 8 hours at 105.

Days 12 & 13

Well, I'm not doing as well at posting daily as I was before. This still seems to be fine though especially since I wasn't trying to keep track of exact portions. I am just positively addicted to that Israeli chutney. I'm actually having to convince myself to eat something different for breakfast, figuring I need a little variety somewhere in my diet. When I eat it with falafels, it is more like a little falafel with my chutney than the other way around. Yesterday:

Breakfast: Granola and milk
Lunch: Falafels and chutney and avocado
Snack: Milk
Dinner: Falafels and chutney

Today:

Breakfast: Strawberry banana oat porridge
Lunch: Falafels and chutney, milk
Dinner: Israeli Salad: Mixed greens with broken up falafel, avocado, and (of course) lots of chutney

Lynn, falafels are a Jewish/Middle Eastern yummy little concoction made from a base of chick peas. Raw food preparation really is easy! I urge you and anyone else thinking about it to go for it! I'm feeling healthier with every passing day and my weight loss is coming along great. Which ingredients in particular did you have questions about and I'll tell you what they are and where I get them. :-)

I bought a new book that I'm SO excited about! It's by Alyssa Cohen and is called "Living on Live Food." I'm including a link for it.
http://alissacohen.com/

Day 11

I made falafel in the dehydrator overnight. They were good, but I think I dried them a bit too long. Next time, I'll decrease the time to change the texture. It was my first time making them. I also made Israeli Chutney for the first time today. Oh it was absolutely incredible! It was one of the best tasting foods I've ever had in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way, if you're enjoying these recipes, about 70% or so are slight adaptations from Rejuvenate Your Life by Serene Allison. It is the BEST recipe book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I highly recommend you purchase it yourself.

Breakfast: Granola and milk
Lunch: Falafel and Israeli Chutney
Dinner: Sprouted tortilla, almond hummus, corn tabouli, falafel, and Israeli chutney

Today's Recipe: Israeli Chutney

6 Granny Smith apples
2 big mangoes
3 lemons, freshly squeezed
1 big Vidalia sweet onion, chopped
3 Tbsp curry powder
2 Tbsp cumin powder
1/2 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos
1/4 cup raw honey

Process all together in a food processor.

Days 9, Friday, and Day 10

My internet connection went down. Sorry about that! Thursday, which was Day 9 of eating raw went very well. I've decided that getting off of my morning tea just isn't going to be a goal of mine for right now. My main goals that are motivating me to make these huge eating changes are #1 - Lose weight and #2 - Get healthy. I can feel both happening, praise God! If that means I still have tea in the morning and eat cooked food one day per week so that all the rest can be raw, then that's fine. Lynn, I'm proud of you for getting off caffeine!

Breakfast: Granola and milk
Lunch: Almond butter and honey on sprouted bread, Banana
Dinner: Mexican salad - salsa, Mexican veggie nut stuffer, cheese, avocado, mixed greens (This finished off the last of my salsa and Mexican veggie nut stuffer.)

That was the first day so far that I found myself really really wanting to eat cooked foods. I was happy that the next day was Friday! Friday I weighed in again and saw that I'd lost another 3lb, so that's 9lb so far this month. I'm so happy about that! I again got my cooked cravings out of the way and am now ready for another 6 days of raw and am all excited about it again. This seems to be working out very well for me. So on to today:

Brunch: Chocolate milk, granola, milk
Snack: Fruit
Dinner: Indian spinach salad

Today's Recipe: Indian Spinach Salad

Bowl of fresh spinach leaves
1 avocado, chopped
1/2 carrot, shredded
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp curry powder
Sprinkle with Nutritional Yeast
Sprinkle of ground sesame seeds