1 Week Excursion in Raw Foods

Going raw for a week was a fun learning experience. I finally got out the mandolin and made raw pastas with zucchinis, experimented with sprouting, & blended some spinach smoothies. All were quite tasty. Truth be told, I'm typically a very lazy vegetarian/aspiring vegan. I have no problem eating steamed veggies and tofu most nights. I'm a foodie at heart but I can be satisfied with some tofu spritzed with Braggs and sprinkled with nutritional yeast. I don't even bother sauteeing them in stir frys and sometimes I don't even blot the tofu dry.  I don't make the nutritional yeast into a sauce either. Lazy or simple, does it reeeaallyy matter? 

Today I decided to make a quick stop to the nearest grocery store to pick up some tofu now that I can have it again. I was browsing the ethnic foods section and boy was I in luck! Clearances a plenty. Picked up some large jars of tahini & tumeric and some cans of hummus and baba ghanoush to deviate from the typical Sabra tub from Costco. (Even though they have been carrying interesting variations such as spicy peppadew, sundried tomato,  & cranberry fig.)  Also picked up some decent priced lower sodium black and garbanzo beans. I'm stocked on hummus and supplies to make more and I'm thinking it is time to utilize the habaneros in a salsa and make tacos with the black beans and corn tortillas from today's outing.

I'll post a picture of the hummus I altered soon. 

Here's what I put in it:

A few sprigs of parsley

1 dash of tumeric

5 slices of jalapeno

Some leftover liquid from a jar of spicy marinated artichokes

3 sundried tomatoes

A couple twists each of fresh black pepper & sea salt

Going Raw

For two weeks that is. I'm going back to Oahu for a few weeks and I thought what better time than after the Halloween vegan goodies and year and a half of Obama campaigning to experiment with raw foods? Right? Well it is something I've been meaning to try for quite some time and finally going to give it a shot.

After reading multple un-cook books and wonderful raw sites, I felt somewhat ready to attmpt a raw food "cleanse." Although, with eating nuts, dates, bananas, and some of my other favorite foods, it does not feel like a deprivation exercise.

Day 1: Let me start by admitting my addiction: Nature's Path cereal and soymilk. I'm a huge believer in breakfast (not the kind that involves a skillet) but the bowl. I did not start this raw food adventure off right, I had oatmeal and raisins. I discovered that oats are steamed for freshness and therefore not a raw option.  For lunch I snacked on some nuts and a sun dried fruit leather. Later on I had a zuchinni hummus alongside a salad with cucumbers, carrots, dark romaine and celery.

Day 2: Much better raw day. I finally conquered my fear of "Green Smoothies." I honestly did not taste the spinach and romaine that I blended with water, followed by 1/2 and apple, some celery, a squeeze of lime and dash of stevia. I'm actually a fan :) Late afternoon snack was another pomegranate fruit leather and a different type of nuts. For dinner I had salad, hummus, and some sprouted quinoa. Hunger craving set in later and I blended ashews with agave. Rather tasty and sinful.