Breftiss of juice 2 grapefruits, 2 oranges, couple inches cucumber and some water.

About to start marination of ye olde Shoyu Mushroom Wings (which includes a mess of chopped red bell pepper) (marinade is tamari, lil onion, lil pressed garlic, lil fresh ginger, teensy bit honey or maple syrup, olive oil, some dried chilis and maybe just a skinch of lemon) (and marination only takes like half an hour at most) (you could also go wasabi with this, that'd probably be awesome).

So yesterday, driving home from a cleaning job, I didn't go to El Pollo Loco.


Did you hear that?


Also, can we give a round of applause to Starbucks for coming up with a dairy-free, low calorie, just-sweet-enough-yet-not-artificially-sweetened caffeine vehicle that also has raspberries in it?!?!?!??! (They call them "blackberries," but I know better.) So clever I almost don't mind how expensive they are.


So yes, there are three El Pollo Locos on my way home from said cleaning job, and sometimes I'm so pooped from cleaning I think I deserve to eat fast-food chicken...tell myself it's a healthier raw food cheat than something bready...but somehow, how those birds are treated wouldn't let me, yesterday. Somehow yesterday it was relatively easy, like deciding to take the subway rather than the bus or something. Maybe it really is just a matter of getting into the habit of three raw meals a day...maybe getting a baseline amount of nutrition helps take the edge off crap cravings? We can hope.

$1 at Albertson's.
You probably need some.

Shale Talifero's recipe "Celery Root Pilaf" with yellow tomatoes and avocado.

I saw this recipe a couple months ago through Jinjee Talifero's Facebook page (Shale's her son), and have been thinking about it ever since...went through an entire celery root sitting in the fridge til it went bad, though, before getting down to the nitty gritty of actually making said pilaf last night (new root, of course!)

I recommend! Probably about one root per person. But next time will ask the produce person how to find the freshest root (this is also apparently called celeriac), mine was just a teensy bit woody.

Here's how to do it.

More on raw banana ice cream for your pleasure.

A woman my friend Chelsea knows makes raw banana ice cream with pieces of what she called "bitter chocolate" inside. Of course!

Frozen banana ice cream deal

So I'd been hearing for awhile now that people make raw ice cream from frozen bananas.

Ya whatever, I thought. Sounds sucky to me.

For the heck of it I froze a peeled banana today, and put said frozen banana in blender. (The blender scared me a little at first, but eventually got through it...have since read it's better to freeze the banana in chunks, duh.)

Well, I simply cannot believe how much like ice cream a frozen banana is. There's some banana flavor, but the cold mutes that a lot. Overwhelming is the ice-creamy way a spoon goes through it (think dense, heavy, creamy), and the ice-creamy way it melts in your mouth.

Next time (tonight!) I'm going to try this recipe for vanilla ice cream. You know my thing with that, olive oil and a little salt.

Day 5 of Seriously Hardly Having Very Much Sugar at All

I'm serious. Day 3 began an unsweetened cappuccino addiction...but for now, I think, if I can just make much-less-sugar my everyday, unconscious reality, I'm good.

I'm not doing this 100% raw. I'm frankly indulging all fat and protein cravings, El Pollo Loco included (meat only), and seeing if it makes eating less sugar easier. (It does.) (That said, eating raw also seems easier.) (Also my body tolerates meat pretty well, much better than breadstuffs or pasta.)

We are NOT eating breadstuffs or pasta, for sure not that. And I'm actually mostly eating raw, probably 80%.

By the way, I recently discovered the wonderfulness of black beans in a smoothie. It was a couple handful cooked black beans, handful blueberries, handful blackberries, couple chard leaves, a banana and some water. The beans lent no flavor, just substance and nutrition, iron especially.

Ok that's all. Love you.

So my sugar craving is out of control, which is why you haven't seen much here lately. I can't blame raw foods; I sense a physical/hormonal issue that was underlying a long time, and that raw eating brought it into the light.

In any case I am getting intentional, as they say. Stumbled onto a sweet little post about white sage in that effort this morning, which is fairly common in southern Californian (and my backyard!) Reading this about sage it occurred to me to look there for help. You know what the heck.

I like what the Chumash knower of such things says about herbal oils. Using the leaf, and only one in a cup, just sounds so sensible.

Isn't this beautiful? It's water plus the buds of maybe seven lavender stalks, chopped leaves from maybe the same number mint stalks, and about a third of a green apple chopped.


It sits in the sun all day and then the moon all night.


If the taste is strong enough I'll strain it, but if not everything stays in. Then it goes in the fridge.

From my girl Jinjee:

"WATERMELON !! Must Read and Share

The more we study watermelon, the more we realize just how incredible this fruit really is.

It’s full of antioxidants shown to reduce the inflammation that contributes to diabetes, asthma, atherosclerosis..., colon cancer, and arthritis - but that’s not all.

Other beneficial ingredients in watermelon are known as Phytonutrients - which are naturally occurring compounds that are bioactive and able to trigger healthy reactions within our body.

1. Asthma – The antioxidants, such as Citrulline in watermelon can reduce toxins in the body. Some of these toxins are believed to trigger asthma attacks.

2. Arthritis – Watermelon is rich in Vitamin C and Beta-Carotenes. Both have anti-inflammatory properties that can help relieve the symptoms of arthritis.

3. Bladder Problems – Containing 92% water, this melon acts as a natural diuretic that cleanses your kidney and bladder.

4. High Cholesterol – The cleansing properties of watermelon may also reduce the risk of clogged arteries. The fruit is also believed to increase HDL (good cholesterol levels).

5. Constipation – A glass of watermelon juice can naturally eliminate waste and promote proper digestion.

6. Bloating – Again, the diuretic effect of watermelon can eliminate water retention. It is especially recommended for women who retain fluids during menstruation or pregnancy.

7. Heart Disease – Watermelon contains Folic acid and Citrulline that works in tandem with other essential vitamins. Some research indicates that these vitamins may reduce the risk of a heart attack, stroke and colon cancer.

8. Itchy Skin – As the water from the melon cleanses your system, it can flush out the toxic waste that cause some forms of itchiness.

9. Prostate Cancer – The Lycopene in watermelon has been extensively reported to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

10. Blemishes – Watermelon can also be used as a beauty aid to reduce skin blemishes. Simply rub your skin with a small piece of watermelon. Leave the juice on for 10 minutes before rinsing.

Share If You Love this info about Watermelon."



Licorice root

So I'm addicted to sugar! 

So Maybe This Is True For Christ's Sake! So Would You Get Off My Back Already!

Don't want to do anything rash...but am thinking of chewing on a licorice twig when a craving hits and see what happens. One of my best enemies used to chew on licorice twigs. It definitely gave her a look.

If Lynne Rosetto Kasper says it,

well -- you know the rest. She says you can soak raw garlic and raw onion in (raw) lemon juice to "lessen their heat."

Hoping to confirm this means, "make raw garlic edible by Maggie," will report soon.

Last night's dindin

A zucchini "mandolined" into noodles...chopped red bell pepper...chopped tomato...handful of 24-hour-soaked garbanzos, chopped, for protein...half a chopped green onion...a sprinkle of capers...

Then a non-raw sautee, in just enough cheap, high-temp-ok cooking oil, of pressed garlic, the other half of the green onion chopped, salt, cheap white wine, a sage leaf and rosemary twig (not chopped, just for infusion's sake), and a last-minute teaspoon of nonfat plain "Greek" yogurt...spooned onto raw food above, along with a couple splashes of room-temp, non-cooked olive oil.

It was fucking fabulous!

A cucumber-and-chili-powder popsicle.

Yes.

It's really, really good. And a raw version could easily be made at home.

I love how Mexican cuisine doesn't underestimate the audience.

Not raw

but worth doing. Sassafras is a portal. I'm just saying.

Ok. Not that bad for getting back in the saddle after a month away. Morning blendered collards + apple + wawamelon + wawa, midmorning snack of a whole mess of dark chocolate truffles, lunch of apple and pear with Laura Scudders pb. F it, it's a start. Dindin will probably be the same as last night, which was really good.

We'll get there. (And then what will we do.)

Where we're at today, trying to get back in the saddle, is, we can eat whatever we want, but have to have 3 raw deals in the day. Dindin was melange of shredded raw cauliflower and spinach, drenched with a cooled saute (nonraw, but I'm ok with that) of vegetable oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, onion and a handful of squished tofu, with a drink of juice 3 oranges + 2 carrots + some water. Good!

I know...

I know...I know...I'm sorry!!!!!!!

No way to cover the lost ground so let's just start with this morning.

Maybe two weeks after one of my very good friends, living in Oregon now, told me she and her hub are all juicing now, without any evangelism from moi even, it was actually a little the other way around during the phone call wherein I learned this, and she was so expounding juicers and I thought to myself, well, my blender isn't that bad, and possibly easier to clean...maybe two weeks after this a free and brand new juicer landed on my counter, used this morning. Cucumber, mango, apple, the rest of the collards, a carrot. Delicious.

I heard once, though, that juicing as opposed to blendering drinks gives you a medicinal-level essence of the plant, which isn't necessarily what you always want...so to juice with prudence is all.

So much crapeating and I feel like shit and it's not all because of food but possibly some of it is. I'm getting back on the saddle here and now, to see what we can do about el mood.

Thinking about

getting herbal teas involved a little more. The thought of cold chamomile tea in a smoothie is making my mouth water. Mint tea could be awesome, too. Anyone out there doing this?

Did someone say equal parts

and



and



stirred together and then mashed into a bowlful of sweet/cooling type veggies like mandolined yellow squash, chopped cucumber, snap sugar peas and a handful of soaked lentilsngarbanzos?

Because if they did they would be even righter than when the garlic pickle first asked to come in on March 15. The only thing I can think to take this combo further might be a shy leak of orange juice, but I could be wrong. Anyway it's musical. A softer, stronger, sadder, wiser, even sexier garlic pickle, if that's possible.

Also,

I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do the daily fud thing anymore. Or for now, anyway. It just somehow went less than fabulous. And this is about the more, yes?

Did someone say

"Discover the taste of tradition with Mother's Recipe! Mother's Recipe Garlic Pickle is made from garlic cloves garnished with fenugreek, then seasoned with chilly powder and given the tangy component by tamarind. Simply irresistible!"

Did someone say this for only $2.89 screamingly flavorful and absolutely no animal or otherwise bad ingredients whatsoever?

Did someone say this with soaked buckwheat groats, lentilsngarbanzos + chopped cucumber and celery and a few dashes olive oil and salt and then a dollop of nonfat plain yogurt for fanciness sake? (For the record we will soon be trying to make coconut yogurt, k?)

Did someone say this? Because if so, they would be deeply, incredibly, wildly, maybe even pulsatingly right --

Today's Fud

smoothie of a grapefruit, half a cucumber, whole mess of green tea, good!

soaked buckwheat groats + molasses/maple syrup/honey mischung + nutmilk, good!

whole mess of cornchips

salad of a mango, the end of the soaked lentilsngarbanzos, lil tofu, good!

a Tiger Milk bar

a small bag of potato chips (though not raw, maybe not a true slip yet for moi...only made of potatoes, oil and salt, and caused no detectable physical reaction -- also I kind of applauded myself at the gas station where I bought them because the smoked cheddar hot dog looked and smelled sooooo delicious under those hot dog lights)

some dark chocolate

I know this day had a lot of slips. But this day also had 3 raw deals, which is something.

Today's Fud

smoothie of 3 oranges + 3 celery stalks + couple inches cucumber + 1 kohlrabi leaf + mess of leftover green tea + lil water, yummers

the rest of the raw burger mischung from last night minus wrappings

a 3dnfscm which knocked me out (with sleep, I mean), for the first time I can remember, driving home from class in Pasadena. So I guess the beloved 3dnfscm must now be considered a true slip (I only count true slips to be ones that put me to sleep or otherwise do something physically weird to me, and 3dnfscms never had before). Alright then.

a treinte (sp?) green iced tea with no sweetener

one of those Starbucks nutbars (term could be applied to me as well)

1/2 a cucumber

water and meat from 1 sweet young Thai coconut, so, so, so wonderful

chopped cauliflower, green bell pepper, corn and mushroom, topped with crunchies from sauteeing in olive oil pressed garlic, chopped white onion, salt and "Thai" seasoning...realized I could try just forking the lovely bits from the oil out and dropping them into the veggies, so as not to cook said veggies by coating them w/warm sautee oil...it totally worked. Soooooo delicious!

Today's Fud

smoothie of 1 orange + 2 apples + couple inches cucumber + bunch of hardcore leaves like kohlrabi, collard and kale + leftover green tea, wunderbar

nana pudding of 2 nanas + glob peanut butter + slice tofu blendered, with handful alfalfa sprouts on top, yummy and really did almost kept me from eating

some nondairy dark chocolate and handful corn chips

then made raw burgers from the nutgrounds after making a quart of nutmilk + maybe half-cup soaked buckwheat grouts and half-cup lentilsnsgarbanzos, chopped up + the end of the celery chopped + some green bell pepper chopped + fajita seasoning and salt + bbq sauce + alfalfa sprouts and chopped avocado + romaine lettuce as bun, superwonderful

Today's Fud (Not for Purists)

the last half of the pudding (first half went into soup-bone-holes, and then the freezer, for future licking by Senor Chatitosan) of 3 bananas + couple big spoonfuls chunky peanut butter + a bit of tofu in the blender, with a handful of alfalfa sprouts for interest's sake, smackdabulous

a tall 2-shot nfscm for habit and caffeine's sake (was heading into an afternoon at the hospital)

apple

handful macademia nuts

3 small artichokes, steamed, yes, but because they were small it didn't take hardly any time at all. Then dipped in mixture of sauteed whole mess olive oil, bit of walnut oil, probably 6 garlic cloves pressed, whole mess salt, and about a square centimeter of nonfat plain yogurt for a sense of protein, ridonculously indulgently fabulously delicious. Not purely raw nor vegan but kinda vegetarian at least, and so satisfying. After which I felt vastly grateful for my life and all the lovebirds in it.

Today's Fud

juice and pulp of 4 oranges + 3 small celery stalks + couple inches cucumber + handful spinach + leftover green tea from last night, super

1 3dnfscm, yes

small portion peach cobbler + small scoop ice cream served at a memorial service

1 banana

part 2 of a dish I made last night. After an entire day of reading 1 and 2 Samuel, I found myself reaching for ingredients that seemed...Bibley. Soaked a mess of buckwheat groats, then drained and mixed them with some soaked raw lentilsngarbanzos chopped up, chopped zucchini and chopped kalamata olives. Sauteed a pressed garlic clove, chopped white onion wedge, lil red wine, lil salt, lil lemon juice, lil tofu, some olive and walnut oils, and at the end dumped some spices in that my silly mind must've thought were middle eastern (turmeric, paprika (?), cumin, I think)...let the mischung cool a little, poured it into and mixed it in with the fud, then plopped a spoonful of nonfat plain yogurt on for effect. Really, really good! Tonight's installment employs landlord's homegrown kohlrabi as wrap.

Thought I hated

raw kale and collard greens, but they weirdly neutralize as wraps for raw burgers. Awesome.

(Also decent in smoothies, but you knew that.)

Today's Fud

smoothie of 2 Gala apples, 2 collard leaves, mess of green tea, couple inches cucumber, wonderful

hot green tea

bunch of dark chocolate

some frozen yogurt

salad of watermelon +blueberries + walnuts + macadamias + lil tofu + chopped spinach, loverly

part two of raw burgers (leftovers from yesterday) with kale and collard greens as utensils, terrific

I've been slipping

I've been slipping the past few days, I think from school pressure. Have been too embarrassed to detail it all here but needed to be honest and at least let you know. Am trying to detox today with rawness again. Need, need, need to stick to 3 deals a day. Why is that so damn difficult, as my mother would say?

Today's Foodstuffs / And Then,

smoothie of 2 big collard leaves minus spines + 2 gala apples, fragrant

raw chopped cauliflowers + handful soaked lentils'n'garbanzos +handful spinach chopped very fine with sauce of olive oil-sauteed white onion + garlic + ginger + wasabi powder + soy sauce + lil molasses/maple syrup mischung + lil lemon juice (sauteed and then let to cool so as not to cook the veggies too much), really, really good

raw burgers of 1/2 cup powdered mixed nuts + 1/2 cup lentils'n'garbanzos blendered + dash salt + few dashes fajita seasoning + 1 celery stalk chopped + couple inches cucumber chopped + maybe 1/8 green bell pepper chopped + 1/2 avocado sliced on top + bbq sauce + kale, collard and romaine lettuce leaves for scoopers, tasty!

dark chocolate, yes

green tea, yes

And then,

And then,

Today's Foodstuffs

1 pear

a few soaked garbanzos

pie of handful mixed ground raw nuts + dash salt, laid in bottom of a roundy thingy and pressed down with the bottom of a peanut butter jar + blendered half a large sweet potato + half a pear + dash olive oil, hella good!


and then,

Re: said vanilla ice cream

"Some" was a pint. A pint! (Oh, but with a little olive oil and salt it's just...so...gud...)

A pint's a lot. I woke up tired, I'm pretty sure from that. So it's...good, to know that dairy *does* affect me (at least that much dairy, at once).

That all said, at the time it wasn't just delicious and comforting, but I could feel my body needing something in there. Fat? Protein?

Next time I need to eat vanilla ice cream with olive oil and salt I'm going to eat a banana-peanut butter pudding (maybe even throw some tofu in) and see how it goes. And tell you about it, if you'll listen.

Thank you for listening.

Today's Foodstuffs

lil pre-jogging piece of banana (oh, I forgot to tell you, I started jogging, when I walk Chato, now...well, most days...started about a week ago, it feels so good)

juice and pulp of 2 oranges + 2 grapefruits + 3 skinny celery stalks + couple inches cucumber + some water in blender, very sunny and hearty

pt 2 of the raw cauliflower + sauteed garlic, onion and salt, tastypie!

the rest of the banana

1 ear of corn (raw, yes!)

most of the guacamole of 2 avocados + 1 tomato + guacamole seasoning, really good

some vanilla ice cream. yes.

The good thing about today

-- well, one of the many good things -- is that while I did slip a little, it wasn't in place of a nutritious raw meal. I got 3 deals in today, which is great. I barely feel bad about slipping, if I've gotten 3 deals. Trouble is, that hasn't been happening on a regular enough basis around here. And that's gotta change.

I dreamed last night that I realized I couldn't sustain eating raw by my own willpower, and asked God to help me. My body and life relaxed then.

Today's Foodstuffs

I don't know...3? oranges

some raw macadamias & walnuts

the end of the beet-orange-carrot pie

raw cauliflower w/sauteed garlic, onion, salt & olive oil

lil dark chocolate

banana

smoothie of spinach + kale + parsley + lot of watermelon + 1 orange + squeeze lemon + lot of water, lil intense but we did it

gonna break down and eat a piece of cooked salmon

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of juice 3 oranges and 1 grapefruit + bunch of celery + couple inches cucumber + bunch of leftover green tea from last night, wonderful
a frosted chocolate Valentine cookie a classmate had made for our class, probably not worth it

green iced tea

whole mess of walnuts

apple

more beet-orange-carrot pie

guacamole, salsa and...chips (wah)

Progress?

At the dollar store today it crossed my mind to buy some kind of junk food, I can't remember what. The next thing I thought was, "how will it make me feel afterward? Will I be useless the rest of the day?" And I didn't buy whatever it was.

Not buying it's sort of neither here nor there. But the question, "how will this make me feel?" does seem like progress to me.

Today's Foodstuffs

2 apples chopped w/"cream" mashed into them (macadamia nuts powdered, lil tofu, 2 dates and some coconut meat) + few pinches alfalfa sprouts on top

orange

green tea

3 celery stalks w/peanut butter shmears +alfalfa sprouts, yummy! Peanut butter isn't raw, but this doesn't seem to bother me.

1 guava, superb

smoothie of plenty spinach and parsley + couple inches cucumber + lot of watermelon + lil apple + tiny bit lemon + tiny bit ginger + bunch of water...good though not quite sweet enough, oh well

delightful pie of crust being handful of soaked walnuts, handful nonsoaked raw mixed nuts in grinder, pressed down into round lunch container thingy and dash salt sprinkled on, then filling being a couple small beets + 1 orange in blender, then dumped in a bowl and half a grated carrot mixed in for interest's sake. Really good!

Today's Foodstuffs

1 mango cut up with "cream" of 1/2 cut macademia nuts chopped into a powder + 2 big dates chopped + meat from a young sweet thai coconut+ couple dashes salt + a corner of tofu block to make it easier to blend up, all blended up. The cream is more the consistency of sour cream, though it's not sour. It makes everything so luxurious. Substantial, too. This feels hearty.

couple handfuls raw walnuts

raw burgers of 1/2 cup nuts powdered + 1 celery stalk chopped + some chopped onion + couple dashes olive oil + dash salt + couple dashes fajita seasoning +1/2 avocado sliced + bbq sauce + romaine lettuce as scoopers, wonderful

juice of 4 oranges

Pretty much, today

By the way,

this morning thought I'd start weaning Chato off meat and see what happened. Gave him I think 5 ounces of 1/2 soaked buckwheat groats and 1/2 soaked lentils & garbanzos + a couple tall collard leaf stems, in the blender with a lil water, added to 1 ounce raw meat mischung from Darwin's.

It was a rather tan meal from the beans and buckwheat.

He scarfed it then returned to lick the bowl.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of 2 apples and 2 big collard leaves and mess of leftover green tea and some water, baby angel fragrant

a triple decaf nonfat salted caramel mocha w/whip, yes

about a cup of soaked buckwheat groats + dab molasses/maple syrup/honey mischung + some nutmilk, good

1 orange

awesome leftover shoyu raw cauliflower and red bell pepper wings, mmmm!

You're quite right.

I've been gone a long time.

I left Orange County last Friday, and was in Los Angeles until Monday afternoon, for the funeral of Peach Manion. There's sort of a lot to say about it, but in a nutshell, as it relates to eating raw, she was 88, and knew me since I was three, and she was awesome and increasingly formidable to me probably starting around age 13. She was also somehow sort of a relative, such that my mother came from Minnesota to attend.

It was a surprisingly peaceful, kind weekend on a superficial level. But subterraneously (word?) pretty hot roiling tar. I knew that was my state on the drive up, then upon arrival forgot. But I compulsively ate junk the whole time. I think on Monday, heading out of LAX onto the 405 after seeing my mom off, it dawned on me that my eating was probably related to all the stuff that'd been going on. It was kind of a lesson, I guess. At this point in my eating raw, I probably should be journaling (yes, as opposed to blogging).

It's also taken a couple days back at home to get back into a 3-raw-deals-a-day kind of world. But I am, I am. Both yesterday and today.

Will start posting daily foodstuffs tomorrow.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of one big collard leaf + couple handfuls baby spinach + 2 apples + bunch of water to thin it down

I must say,

perennial arm bumps of last 2 1/2 years nearly gone. And skin all over seems awfully soft. Ima call it eating mostly raw January.

Today's Foodstuffs

juice 3 oranges + 1 tiny tangerine + 1 banana blendered with leftover green tea from yesterday

....

I'm sorry, I didn't complete this and now (Feb. 3) can't remember what I had!

Also,

recently a little bird reminded me not to draw conclusions about eating raw until I'm really in the habit of eating 3 raw meals a day (am not, yet). Ate somewhat substantially at roughly breakfast, lunch and dinner times today. Felt like such a luxury. (Actually, it is a luxury!)

I know that doesn't mean diddly to you. I just needed to say it.

Also need to say I didn't go to Starbucks today!

Getting some ironing done

So I soaked a cup or so of brown lentils for about 24 hours in water at room temperature and drained them this morning. I tasted them and they're sweet, soft, just slightly crisp (but no "al dente" feeling, just watery-crisp, like lettuce or something). I don't want to sprout them! I just want to use them like cooked lentils, and revel in how foods can also "cook" in water, with no energy/electricity/gas expended!

I can't find much online yet about eating a legume at this stage (before a sprout appears but after soaking), or I'd give you a link, I'm sorry. But try it and let me know what you think!

(One neat thing about sprouted lentils is they're a good source of iron and aren't missing any amino acids...apparently when you cook them they lose two of those.)

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of 1 1/2 big collard leaves + bunch of parsley + 1 apple + the top of a watermelon + leftover green tea + water + lil lemon + lil ginger, really, really good

handful mixed raw nuts

cup hot green tea

some dark chocolate

1 apple

burgers of 1/4 cup ground mixed raw nuts + 1/4 cup soaked lentils + lil chopped green bell pepper + 1 celery stalk chopped + some fajita seasoning + dashes olive oil and salt, topped with chopped tomato and avocado and scooped with romaine lettuce, totally good

juice 2 oranges and 1 grapefruit, wonderful

few bites of leftover kelp noodles w/olive oil, garlic, salt + olives

glass sweet Thai coconut water, very, very good

half a raw coconut cream pie (meat 1 sweet Thai coconut + maybe 1/2 inch cut widthwise from a tub-tofu-cube + lil nutmilk + handful shredded dried coconut + few macadamia nuts + spoonful light molasses-maple syrup-honey mishung blendered and dumped onto piecrust of nutgrounds from a recent nutmilk production with a dash of salt). I won't use molasses with coconut again, somehow it's not that great. And next time will add some avocado to the mixture. I bet that would be super creamy and rich.

Today's Foodstuffs

juice of 2 oranges and 3 small grapefruits and 3 inches cucumber and a lil water, really good!

kelp noodles + leftover nutmus heated + sprinkles of salt and nutritional yeast. Yes I know the heated part isn't kosher. Possibly not the yeast either. But it lead to a good discovery: nutmus could work really, really well as a fake melted cheese

In my defense,

we saw some mild progress yesterday (a volunteering-at-the-hospital day).

There *was* a Starbucks slip. But it was only half the slip it'd been the last volunteering-at-the-hospital day (& didn't involve anything glutenous [a word?]).

There was also none of last week's post-volunteering slippage.

So, we got that going for us.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of nutmilk + 1/2 box blueberries + 1 banana + peanut butter left in the blender after making pb+banana pudding for Chato's frozen bone deals

salad of 1 apple + 1 guava + handful spinach chopped + handful alfalfa sprouts + handful soaked garbanzos chopped, awesome!

Starbucks slip (I think you know what I mean)

some dark chocolate

juice of 2 oranges and 2 small grapefruits

nutmus (nut grounds + chopped onion + grated garlic + olive oil + salt + lil lemon + 7 olives chopped + splash olive brine) and romaine leaves, lil too fresh-garlicky, but eating it anyway

Thinking about

Ok. So I soaked a couple cups of garbanzo beans in water about 24 hours, and they puffed up and got chewable and a little sweet. This is the first step in sprouting them. But whenever I've sprouted them in the past, they taste less sweet than they do at this point, just after the soak.

So we're just going to eat them this way. F not tasting as good as fing possible, are you down. They're in the fridge now. The point is that this morning we were waiting for Chato's raw meat patties to thaw, which was going to take at least an hour, and he was hungry. So I thought, let's start experimenting with the raw vegan thing, now. Let's blender some soaked garbanzos and turnip greens and see if he eats them.

He fing totally ate them?!?!?

Then when the patties were ready, I grated about 1/4 carrot, then blendered another 1/4 with a little water, and mashed it up into the meat.

He totally ate that, too.

I have a very good feeling about this.

Today's Foodstuffs

juice of 3 oranges + 1 grapefruit + some leftover green tea

"cereal" of soaked buckwheat groats + smashed blueberries + nutmilk, fing awesome

Thinking about

I just noticed a couple of good things about my slips and eating raw in general.

1. The slips are really unimaginative. They're basically for fat, sugar, salt and a sense of human participation (this might be the most compelling pull), all of which can be satisfied on raw. Might that speak well of the flavorfulness of eating this way? (Chato's beloved teacher says she can't eat raw because it isn't flavorful.) I mean, I'm not craving an exotic, rarely-experienced taste forbidden by raw -- or even craving meat, for gosh sakes. Flavors that can be included are, pretty much, any spice (except, like, the bacon fat spice or something).

2. Oh, I guess that was all.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of juice 4 oranges + the end of the celery + 2 inches cucumber + lil spinach + whole mess of water, really good!

2 sweet lil yellow squashes mandolined into noodles, topped with the winenoilngarlicnsaltnlemonjuice-marinated buckwheat groats ("fake feta") of Jan. 20 + 5 chopped olives + handful chopped parsleys + some olive oil, tuddly gud

said noodle mash

(What do you think of noodles? I really, really, really love them, though when they're made of dough make me sleepy. Am still kind of reeling about how we can form them from nutritional foods! Having a hard time finding info on the history of the mandoline slicer, but it just feels ancient, to me. Please let me know if you know anything about it.)

Foodstuffs continued...

nutburgers of 1/2 cup mixed raw nuts ground + couple inches cucumber chopped fine + maybe 1/8 a green bell pepper chopped fine + couple dashes salt + couple dashes fajita seasoning + couple dashes olive oil = dumped on plate and clumped into 2 "burgers" + topped with 1/2 an avocado in pieces + some superphat bbq sauce + romaine lettuce as buns, incredibly satisfying and delicious!

Today's Foodstuffs / Sunday, Crappy Sunday

smoothie of juice 5 oranges + 2 celery stalks + lil cucumber + whole mess of water, wonderful!

2 bananas

couple handfuls mixed raw nuts

SLIPS MENTIONED IN POST BELOW -- the whole salted caramel mocha deal which you know so well by now + a chocolate croisant. PLEASE READ THE POST BELOW.

more raw nuts

2 bags plain potato chips + 1 cup coke

handful crappy popcorn

I'm in school to become a hospital chaplain. Recently finished training to be a volunteer visitor at a local hospital, and today was my first day visiting patients alone, rather than "shadowing" someone else. Am scheduled every Sunday afternoon for the duration.

I did a little volunteer-visiting at a different hospital a few years ago, and remember it as something I really wanted to do, but that I felt pretty shy and awkward about, too (in addition to being an energy sponge). I expected this time around to be the same, and, just before going in this afternoon (just after, too, come to think), found myself downing...crapola! I think to make me feel...bolstered? Energetically protected? Alert? Something like those.

The day actually went beautifully. It felt so much more natural than I'd expected. Each person I spent time with was open, kind, generous and tolerant of my weird need to listen to them. (Guess I'm also still an energy sponge, though, had to take a shower when I got home.)

I can't just dismiss this crap-eating compulsion around visiting patients. It's there for some reason, and I don't think banning it will help in the long run. I sense it might be better to let it live for now, praying about it and trying to understand it, and see what happens.

By the same logic I could end up eventually eating crap every workday as a chaplain, though, and we can't have that. In the interest of longterm sustainability, as they say, I've decided that for the time being, on Sundays I can eat some crap 1) if I want to, 2) if I do it with prayer and attention, 3) if most of what I eat that day is raw, and 4) if I have an end-date in mind for eating crap on days I go to the hospital. That end date will be Dec. 31, 2012. I'm going to try to eat much better during the rest of the week from now on, too. Volunteer Sundays are a free day for now, though, and you'll know it by the photo above.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of the end of the watermelon + LOT of spinach + handful parsley + 1/2 apple + lil lemon + lil ginger + whole mess of chilled green tea, superwonderful

the end of the soaked buckwheat groats (not the winemarination, just plain) + handful crashed blueberries + nutmilk + dab of heaven (= new mischung of light molasses + maple syrup + honey), so good

[News flash: Chato wants me to mention he doesn't like blueberries and I'm just going to have to deal.

Whatever.]

some magical banana bread that had only positive effects

1/2 cup coffee with some rice milk

AND THEN I WAS VERY, VERY BAD

triple decaf nonfat grande salted caramel mocha with whipped cream

BUT EVEN WORSE

1 vanilla almond biscotti, which totally wasn't worth the tiredness I'm feeling now.

can we call it a teachable moment?

Also thinking about

maybe having Chato go raw vegan. Can dogs digest sprouted lentils or soaked buckwheat groats? I don't know if you've seen it, but there's a terrible photo going around Facebook of the ground animal paste that becomes Chicken McNuggets. It looks like pink frosting. It's too evil to post here.

The problem is that while Chato gets a relatively "clean" raw meat deal, it's probably not even one full step away from pink pre-Chicken McNugget evilosity. Both are ground animal paste, Chato's just hasn't gone the extra steps of ammonia, bleaching and frying.

I don't like that! It's also true that the raw meat deal is expensive. I can afford it right now, but sometimes, in the past, expensiveness has been a clue to a thing's not-rightness, for me.

Does anyone out there know anything about easing a dog into a raw-vegan way of eating? Daily nutritional needs like daily protein and fat would be superhelpful. And if I find anything out I'll post it here.

It turns out

that buckwheat groats marinated in cheap wine + olive oil + salt + little lemon juice + chopped onion + grated garlic is fing awesome. It will totally work as a new fake feta, for me, anyway. Tried it in both $2 cabernet sauvignon and $2 sauvignon blanc and think I like the cabernet one just a hair better. Wowzers.

(Don't know if wine -- or should I say, this wine -- can be considered raw...probably not. We're ok with that.)

Thinking about

1. Nutrional ways to heal teeth. Apparently one woman healed her son's cavity with ghee and fermented cod liver oil (fermented?)! I guess together this pair is unstoppable (maybe something like grapefruit and cucumber?) Please let me know if you know any suppliers of "grassfed" butter and/or pleasant ways to take cod liver oil!

The article didn't used to say exactly how much she gave her son of the oils, but now it does, toward the middle.

2. I don't know about you, but I'm just not a huge fan of chewing! Drinking is so much more fun. Am thinking lately, though, that Nature might have me use the blender a little less, and teeth a little more.

3. How soaked buckwheat groats, in the right marinade, might make a fabuloso crumbled cheese (feta?) substitute...maybe wine, olive oil and salt or something? Will try soon.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of juice of 4 oranges + good handful fresh cilantro + 1/2 avocado + 2 inches cucumber + bunch of chilled green tea, really, really, really good!

clover tea with lil nutmilk and dab of beloved new mixture of light molasses + maple syrup + the end of the honey jar, so good!

soaked buckwheat groats + nutmilk + dab of aforementioned sweetness, wonderful!

turnip greens pesto + kelp noodles

the end of the turnip greens pesto + 1 romaine lettuce leaf + 1 carrot + 1 little yellow squash as scoopers, really good

juice of 1 grapefruit and 2 oranges, wonderful

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of watermelon + spinach + parlsey + lil lemon + lil ginger + 1/2 apple + tea + water, good!

2 different cups hot green tea, one with lil halfnhalf

1 Starbucks nut bar

apple + handful nuts (walnuts, pumpkin seeds)

SLIP of triple nonfat decaf grande salted caramel mocha with whipped cream, yes

banana smoothie of 2 bananas and bunch of nutmilk, wonderful

turnip greens pesto + kelp noodles part...is it 2? maybe 3? wonderful!

little dark chocolate

little crenshaw melon

Today's Foodstuffs

about a cup of soaked buckwheat groats + nutmilk + dab of nonraw but incredibly delicious blend 1/2 light molasses + 1/2 maple syrup

watermelon

turnip greens pesto on kelp noodles + chopped mushrooms + chopped olives + cheesy tasting nutritional yeast, pretty good

a homegrown guava, good!

more of the turnip greens pesto-mushrooms-kelp noodles deal, it seems to be getting better with time

more tea

some dark chocolate

a cookie at class tonight which I didn't even particularly want and wasn't even that great. WTF?!?!?!

Thinking About

A raw version of this recipe for turnip green pesto (I have all the ingredients!?!) And...might you happen to know how long homegrown turnip greens can stay good in the fridge? My landlord gave me a really inordinate amount maybe 3 months ago, even most of which I haven't been able to use. But they appear to still rage fresh today, kept in a closed plastic bag in the fridge (?) Your thoughts would be appreciated!

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of bunch of spinach + handful parsley + 1/2 apple + a LOT of watermelon + lil lemon + lil ginger + mess of leftover tea + some water, pretty good!

hot green tea

slip / progress of Earl Grey tea + sugar + lil half'n'half + Starbucks nut bar. Please note these weren't the triple decaf nonfat salted caramel mocha with whipped cream and/or chocolate croissant they could have been.

handful raw nuts

spicy shoyu mushroom wings part deux

iced green tea

some dark chocolate, yes

1/2 apple

banana shake of couple cups nutmilk + 2 bananas

nutmus of probably 1 cup nutgrounds from making nutmilk + probably 1/4 cup olive & walnut oils mixed + 1 green onion chopped + 1 clove garlic grated + few dashes salt + 1 lemon squeeze, blenderized and eaten with romaine lettuce as pita bread, superrich and delicious.

Thinking About

1. A raw "cream" I heard of lately made of 1/2 cup raw nuts (recipe says cashews, but maybe any will do...come to think we do have some macadamias around, hm...) + 1/2 young coconut + 2 Big Dates + dash salt. Gotta buy the dates. Will keep you posted.

2. How the mixed nut supply ran out the other day (about 2 gallons' worth). The last time I filled it, maybe 6 months ago, the nuts cost probably $35 altogether. Yesterday I bought cheap raw nuts for it, though (duh!) for about $20 altogether (sunflower and punkin seeds, and raw peanuts...those were probably $10, but then I got almonds too...) Anyway, I was just thinking, this is my "meat" supply for the next season-to-6-months. I just think it's so wonderful that it's cheap, stays fresh for so long, promotes physical health and doesn't kill animals.

3. I haven't craved meat so far, this year, at all. (Have craved chocolate, but not meat...and have craved meat when eating cooked vegetarian in the past, just not eating raw vegetarian.)

Today's Foodstuffs

juice of 2 grapefruits + 2 inches cucumber + yesterdat's green tea + lil water, RADIANT!

shoyu mushroom wings'n'red bell pepper tolly good

burgers of 1/2 cup ground raw nuts + 1 celery stalk finely chopped + 1/4 cup green bell pepper finely chopped + 1 green onion finely chopped + lil salt + some fajita seasoning + couple dashes walnut oil all mishungaed together, dumped on a plate, and clumped into 2 clumps. drizzled w/bbq sauce and topped w/avacado parts. eaten with help of super duper romaine lettuce scoopers!

Grapefruit and cucumber should get married

this is true. Just made a wonderful drink of juice 2 fat grapefruits + couple inches cucumber. I had a feeling the silent, subtle, always optimistic cucumber would have a salutary effect on Mr. Bitter Guy, and was totally right!

It'd be really, really great if this judgment could carry over to humans at some point here.

Today's Foodstuffs

juice of 5 oranges + 2 celery stalks + leftover tea + water, good!

1 apple + shmears peanut butter + chopped parsley, wonderful!

1 avocado + dash salt, divine

a banana which I'm sure is gonna be great

cup green tea

the end of a bag of gummi bears from August 2009, that did need to be rid of from the refrigerator. They were as good as they probably were the day of their birth(s?). I don't really like gummi candy but needed something sweet and that's what we had.

some Crenshaw melon

bunch of salsa + guacamole + a few tortilla chips (corn chips -- though not straight potato chips -- are a definite slip for my body, no way around calling these chips a slip today)

I really probably should think about getting more of Jinjee's "work ethic" idea going here. Even I'm getting tired of seeing so many slips.

I liked Jinjee's motivational message this morning, for us raw-year-people. It said something like, you probably have a decent work ethic. What if you applied it to exercise?

I'm not superexercising right now, but could try having more of a "work ethic" with eating raw and see what happened. Will ponder and keep you posted. (I mean I wouldn't want to do anything rash...)

Today's Foodstuffs

juice of 5 oranges + 2 celery stalks + 1 inch cucumber + leftover tea + water, blended, good!

1 apple + handful punkin seeds

cup green tea

french onion soup with very little cheese or bread -- sort of a slip, but wouldn't even have been sort of one, for my body, had there been absolutely no dairy or gluten involved. I was at a day-long class, and we all went to lunch together, and Panera just smelled so good...I broke. I really need to think about restaurants, ahead of time, though, here. There's got to be something just perfect to order, so I feel warm, nourished, satisfied, and like a participant, and also true to nutrition. A hot tea and clean veggie soup might be it -- and, like, a side of olives, or something, rather than bread. Not exactly raw, but still nutritious.

DEFINITE SLIP of triple-shot decaf grande nonfat salted caramel mocha with whipped cream. Found myself falling asleep toward the end of the class, around 3:45, and think the sugar in this might've been the reason.

another apple + handful punkin seeds

gazpacho of 1 tomato + handful chopped green bell pepper + handful mixed raw nuts + lemon slice + an avocado chopped up + 1 green onion chopped + few dashes olive oil + couple dashes salt + dab honey + some water + dried chipotle, all blendered, WONDERFUL!

Today's Foodstuffs

I'm sorry, can I get a pass today? Not for cheats, but somehow barely ate anything today and don't want to encourage that kind of behavior, and/or give the impression that that's what eating raw is about for me, and/or that it's my weight loss strategy.

I'd appreciate it. I'll be gone all day Saturday but will post that day's eatings when I get home.

Love,

Maggie

?

Re: said donut holes

They weren't irresistable. I was a little hungry, though, and embarrassed to pull my peanut butter jar with the rusty top, sloshing buckwheat and nutmilk, from my purse (see below).

I was afraid of being made fun of.

No...it isn't even that good. I was afraid of being thought weird/grody.

Now. At this point I sooooo want to triumphantly tell you, "Fing crap! No more of that! This is the '90s, and I'm over it! Never again will I be too embarrassed to pull out my wet weird food in an audience of strangers!"

But gosh...is it so wrong to feel confusedly, childishly ashamed, sometimes?

These days I'm thinking it's not the end of the world.

Hope you can handle that.

About this morning's drink

It might not sound good, and it might not be good, but I stumbled onto the salty-sweet-perky taste of celery and orange together a few months ago and really enjoy it. It's also pretty hearty, for me, anyway, especially, it seems like, when a couple greens are in there too. I read somewhere once that raw greens have a lot of protein, and it seems plausible. My body does seem to feel satisfied by them in a similar way to when I eat meat. Plus just by looking, most kale and collards these days could be sewn into purses, youknowimsaying.

By the way, what are your thoughts on cucumber? I kind of get this vibe it might actually be good for your skin, despite everyone who says it is. Since it seems so comfortable sitting around a drink anonymously I tend to throw it in a lot -- what about you?

Today's Foodstuffs

Except, not...though your employees are delightful.

smoothie of juice of 5 oranges + 2 stalks celery + 2 inches cucumber + handful parsley + mess of leftover tea = REALLY GOOD!

cup clover tea + dab honey, wonderful

2 not-great donut holes from a package a classmate had brought for the class.

1 cup soaked buckwheat groats + 2 cups nutmilk + tsp or so honey + dash vanilla extract (unnecessary) + dash punkin pie spice, lovely

2 Thai tea bobas after a hot afternoon of driving around in LA. Well, they seemed like a good idea at the time. The flavor was refreshing, and at the second place we stopped (photo above) Chato even got some extra-special lovingup from the employees and their relatives. But this boba, this boba fucking knocked me fucking out! Almost fell asleep driving home a couple times, yuck!

I guess this is my one issue with eating raw: my system becomes pretty intolerant of anything that doesn't vibe right with raw (rashy lips, tongue bumps, ridiculous fatigue, etc.). Have you experienced anything like that? And then foods I'd expect to irritate, my body has no problem with, like meat and dark chocolate (partly why I don't wholeheartedly call chocolate a slip).

Ok. Then had kelp noodle mushroom garlic spaghetti part 2, really, really, really good!

Then I finally opened a Christmas gift from a very kind coworker at my last job, which involved milk chocolate Ghiradelli (sp?) squares with toasted rice. I did not in fact throw them away. I in fact probably ate 7 squares.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of bunch of kale + handful parsley + 1/2 pear + juice of 4 oranges + 2 inches cucumber + cup leftover tea + water, good!

the rest of the INCREDIBLE coconut cream...let's call it pudding. Oh my gosh, this was soooo delicious, and filling/hearty. With the smoothie and a handful of nuts through the morning, I wasn't hungry untiil around 2 pm.

treinte (sp?) green iced tea no sweetener

handful raw nuts mixed

INCREDIBLE dish of raw kelp noodes -- rinse the packetful, then let it soak in a bowl of warm water, while you blender 1/2 cup raw nuts + juice of 1/2 lemon + few dashes paprika, salt and fajita seasoning. I cheated and heated some chopped onion and garlic in olive oil on the stove and also added this to the blender mixture. When it was all mashed up I drained the noodles, scooped the blendermash onto them, and chopped up my last 3 olives very fine. Massaged the creamcheesy stuff into the noodles with my hands, then chopped up a big mushroom pretty finely and added that in. A few splashes of the olive brine got into the mix, too. THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS AND HEARTY DISH! A+!

Also thinking about

Hm. I just improvised making a raw coconut "cream" pie, with crust of nut grains from nutmilk making a couple night ago + dash salt, and filling of meat from 1 sweet Thai coconut + probably 2 cups shredded coconut + maybe 1 1/2 cups nutmilk + teaspoon vanilla extract + probably 3 tbsp honey + 2 tbsp kudzu thickener in warm water, all blended in the blender, now setting in fridge. Hm! Can't wait to try it!

Thinking about

having a standing-type entry called "Thinking About," for dishes coming up around the bend.

And anything else I'm thinking about.

Right now I'm thinking about dumping a whole mess of buckwheat groats in a cup of water and soaking them for 20 minutes to an hour. Then drainking them, maybe grinding half of em to see what happens, and then putting the whole lot in a bowl with some punkin pie spice, honey and nutmilk and calling it comfort food.

(Oh my gosh -- just did a search and found this, which sounds even better! Will let you know how it goes!)

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of 1/2 qt nutmilk + 1 banana + about 2 tbsp peanut butter + 1/2 avocado + a lil leftover tea

1 orange + few handfuls raw mixed nuts

SLIP: yes, 1 triple grande nonfat decaf salted caramel mocha with whipped cream. I must say, though, that it wasn't as good as it used to be, and I didn't finish it.

SLIP: yes, few squares dark nondairy chocolate

shoyu mushroom wings and red bell pepper, part deux

juice and pulp of 5 oranges

venti green iced tea unsweetened

1 Starbucks nutbar

water from inside 1 sweet Thai coconut, about a juiceglass-full

some very, very, very good raw coconut cream pie

Today's Foodstuffs

1 pear + handful punkin seeds

smoothie of juice & pulp of 4 orange + 1 mango + bunch of water + little avocado, good -- maybe a little too thick and rich, but good

SLIPS galore: small bag Fritos, cup of Coke, small bag baked "goldfish" (the cheezy kind), 2 fortune cookies (this was at a hospital volunteer meeting I couldn't bring a purse to, and I hadn't had lunch yet. Gonna have to figure something better out when I volunteer at this place, in the future.)

another pear

bunch of raw nuts

smoothie of bunch of spinach and parsley + 1/2 pear + 1 apple + some crenshaw melon + bunch of tea and water + about 1/2 inch ginger + lil honey + I think that's all. Good!

shoyu mushroom wings & red bell pepper

Starting to feel a little foxier.

I'm just saying.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of 4 oranges, 2 handfuls cilantro, leftover tea from yesterday, 2 inches cucumber, 1/2 avocado, some water, really good

drink of 1/2 quart nutmilk + 1 banana

few squares of dark chocolate

"nut sushi" of 1/2 cup ground mixed raw nuts + 1 small cauliflower-flower + pat butter in which 1 grated clove was heated = all mashed in blender, then added to mixture in bowl where, waiting, were...

2/3 avocado + 1 big tomato + leaves (not stems) from 1/4 bunch cilantro + maybe 1/4 inch-wide full-length slice anaheim chile, chopped finely and stirred together with few dashes salt and few dashes fish sauce.

Totality then dumped on 2 sheets nori seaweed, rolled up & briskly eaten (more like a burrito than sushi) and GOOD. May try adding a lil lemon juice next time for brightness sake.

1 pear

for dinner, nut sushi part two, minus seaweed and plus romaine lettuce scoopers

few more dark chocolate squares...which I'm not 100% calling a "slip," yet, anyway. I know that needs an explanation, but must keep it for another day, if that's alright.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of 2 kale leaves + most of a package of blueberries + a mess of leftover tea + a couple inches cucumber + a little honey, good!

banana pudding of 1 banana + tablespoon or so of peanut butter (not raw but organic and somehow mild). Chato also says he likes this frozen, in the middle of rubber or bone treats.

tea + little honey, good!

orange

punkin seeds

4 smallish glutenful crackers

nutmus (recipe in "Today's Foodstuffs," January 5) + romaine lettuce leaves to scoop

YES, 1 triple decaf grande nonfat salted carmel mocha with whipped cream, to start the evening's slips, of

maybe 3 cups popcorn

1 can Coke

I think the problem with this day was that I was on a daytrip to Claremont, and didn't think about bringing a sweet raw comfort food (though bringing nutmus, fruit and nuts for lunch helped). More banana pudding would've been good, but that was gone at breakfast.

Onward.

Ok, I'm heartened. But also wanted to show this can happen quickly, and with PLENTY of slips! In case this is your first time reading, thank you so much for reading!, and five days ago, the scale read just-over 135. (Am normally about 120 and just want to feel like my old self again more...only, of course, better. )

Today I learned how to open a "sweet Thai coconut." When I got it open and scooped out the dessert inside, oh my gosh! Well, you've probably done that before, but...so scrumptious. I'd never understood drinking coconut water, before today. So delicate. Really heard the missing chord, drinking that.

The bad part is that unless one of these coconuts says it's organic, apparently it's probably had a bunch of...uh...bad stuff sprayed on it, to keep it fresh on its few-weeks-long journey to your market.

(Oh what the heck...the shell's thick, right?)

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of 2 oranges, 1 banana, 1 inch-round cut of avocado, whole mess of leftover tea from yesterday

about 2 cups nutmilk

handful blueberries

couple squares dark chocolate bar

REALLY REALLY GOOD raw "burgers" of 1/2 cup ground nuts, 1 chopped celery stalk, 1/8 or so of a bell pepper chopped (not 1/8 cup but 1/8 pepper), w/fajita seasoning and couple dashes of salt. Stirred it together, dumped it on a plate and clumped it into two burgery-sized things...put a little bbq sauce on them and ate them with romaine lettuce leaves as buns. Yay romaine lettuce leaves! This is a very, very delicious, SIMPLE, QUICK, hearty raw meal!

MEZZO-MEZZO celery "chowder" of 1/2 bunch celery + 1/2 cup brazil nuts + innards of a sweet Thai coconut (water included) + 1/8 a white onion + some salt + some olive oil + juice of 1/2 lemon. Too rich for me, couldn't finish it all, but good cause I learned how to open a sweet Thai coconut today, and tasted it for the first time. Sooooooo lovely on its own -- a dessert. I don't think I'll use it in savory stuff, but def for sweeties!

Ok. So.

So this is good. We're learning we're very...interested...in...well...protein...fat...and salt.

And that's, okay.

I know I haven't said much about Jinjee's year-long raw challenge plan thingy (the "Raw Empowerment Program") yet. I've been mistakenly daunted by it. Finally had a look around tonight, though, and it's so much simpler than I'd thought. Also big-hearted, exciting and sensible.

Sensible thing #1: She's got different "tracks" you can make meals from, depending on what you're really interested in (losing weight, low-sugar/carbohydrate, "balanced" or high protein).

Big-hearted thing #1: For each track, right upfront she gives you a year's worth of recipes, shopping lists and menu planners, and you can download materials for all four tracks at once. I think the idea might be to get comfortable from one track, with the online "community" and rhythm of meals, and then go exploring as other tracks call.

Another lovely big-spirited aspect of the plan is how often we're scheduled to eat! Breakfast, brunch, lunch, snack, dinner, snack! How civilized. I have been getting hungry sort of soon after each raw-food-intake this week.

Oh, I'm so excited about starting the high protein track tomorrow! (No, I don't have a life -- and that's, okay.) I guess the way it'll work is, breakfast -- any fruit recipe; brunch -- any nutmilk recipe; lunch -- any "veggie" recipe; afternoon snack -- any nuts'n'seaweed recipe; dinner -- any "veggie/nut" or nut recipe; and evening snack -- any green juice recipe, or a piece of whole fruit.

Fing how rich is this life!!?!?!?! I'm the luckiest girl in this whole studio apartment!

Slips

I don't have time to write about the concept of dietary "slips" just yet, but it's percolating & I'd love to hear thoughts, from anyone reading this, about them...will def write more later, just have to get a certain amount of school and other writing work done today, first.

I love you.

Todays' Foodstuffs

1 orange, did the job

I pretty salad of a chopped mango + 2 romaine leaves chopped so small it was almost like they were grated + about 1 1/2 inches cucumber, also chopped that small + a good shake, from the jar, of raw punkin seeds VERY, VERY DELICIOUS!

heading for another cup of clover tea

1 sheet of nori seaweed (the kind they use to wrap sushi in), yum, though not totally sure it's really raw

1 banana

SLIP: 1 cup or so of soy vanilla ice cream + drizzle olive oil + tiny bit of salt. Not raw, but we'll get there! And I do want you to know what a great combination vanilla ice cream + drizzled olive oil + a tiny bit of salt is. Insists you slow down. The idea came from a caller on The Splendid Table (do you feel, as I do, that Lynne Rosetto Kasper is a national treasure?) ...am def on the lookout for a cheap ice cream maker, to start making raw ice cream.

1 smoothie of big kale leaf + 2 small green apples + juice and pulp of 2 oranges + the end of the ginger + 1 1/2 inches or so cucumber + a bunch of water + a little nutmilk, good!

SLIP: 2 chicken wings, small, cold, not very good

SLIP: some Cream of Wheat (with nutmilk, though)

super, super, superduper delicious and satisfying hummusish dip of about 1 cup nutgrounds from making nutmilk + 1 clove garlic + maybe 1/8 inch onion slice + maybe 1/3 cup olive oil + squeeze of lemon juice + couple dashes salt + top part of an avocado. Raw garlic's a little gaggy for me, so I'd soaked the chopped onion and grated garlic clove in olive oil this afternoon, then heated it very low and briefly on the stove, then put it in the blender w/everything else plus a little more oil for fun. This was TOTALLY GOOD. I've heard raw chickpea hummus is tricky to make and usually sucks, would wager we have an exceeding substitution here!

Oh, also the end of a romaine lettuce head, as eating utensils for the...should we call it..."nutmus"?

I do count this as a minor victory, not just to've stumbled onto nutmus today, but also because it averted a popcorn situation.

I think my body must just really, really like a lot of protein, fat and salt. For now I'm going with it, and am gonna try to learn more about how to get more of that, raw.

(And that's, okay!)

You probably knew this, but I didn't -- that you can eat beets raw? So far I like them grated the best. They can make a really hearty salad-meal that way. One beet per person, some fruit (raspberries and apples are super), a handful of nuts, a little olive oil, dash of salt...maybe a squeeze of lemon...and woila! (Please forgive, I do like words like "per," "dash" and "squeeze"...maybe they remind me of my mom.)

It really is very good.

Today's Foodstuffs

smoothie of maybe 3 kale leaves + juice from 4 oranges + top 1 1/2 inches of an avocado + lil handful cilantro + cup or so of leftover tea from yesterday, wonderful!

sweet potato pie part 2, good!

cup of clover tea w/dab of honey, very good!

dark chocolate w/almonds and sea salt, maybe 5 little squares, good

banana and nutmilk smoothie

grated beet slaw with green apple chunks, chopped nuts, some olive oil and dash of salt, wonderful

1 cup clover tea w/lil honey

2 small chocolate-covered pretzels

the rest of the chocolate bar mentioned above

a packet of non-raw gas station peanuts

I'm telling you all my non-raw "slips" here, though I actually don't think of them in quite that same way myself. That's probably worth a post in itself, the definition of a "slip"...hm...

I'm not pure yet,

but was innocent again, for a second, in the elevator on the way to class this morning. I've felt little moments of innocence at other times when eating raw, before this, too (though each is also more unique than similar, so hard to generalize about).

Well anyway, I thought I should report.

Would love to hear if anyone else out there trying raw eating has encountered this random innocence of which I speak.

Today's Foodstuffs

2 tangerines + 1 carrot + about 2 cups nutmilk + the top 1 1/2 inches of an avocado + 1 dash vanilla + maybe 1 tsp honey in the blender for a MARVELOUS raw Orange Julius (I don't even like that drink, but this is such a stunning resemblance that I kind of do like it, in this form -- also another of the rare acceptable ways to eat raw carrots)

a cup of echinacea and rosehips tea with a dab of honey and smidge of nutmilk, not great

last 1/2 cup or so of Shoyu Mushroom Wings (recipe below-low), GREAT

last cup or so of Cauliflower Popcorn, not bad!

a regrettable 3-shot grande nonfat decaf salted carmel mocha, extra hot with whipped cream. Regrettable largely because 1) I had to tell you about it, and 2) it wasn't as delicious as usual. It seemed too sweet or something.

an orange shared with Chato

the rest of that chubby, sexy avocado we so enjoyed in the raw Orange Julius, earlier

the last of the quart of nutmilk made 2 nights ago

1 squeaky green apple + 1 patient banana + shmears of peanut butter (not raw -- dry roasted -- but organic and somehow kind) + chopped lettuce on top as decoration.

pie of ground sunflower seeds for crust (salted and roasted, but IDEAL for pie crust, for anyone non-raw reading this who just wants to make a healthier pie crust. Try it, I swear, it is so good. Just the right saltiness, plenty of oil, lovely crumbly texture, etc. And we do feel ok about this today, because these were the last of the non-raw nuts in the fridge. If these had been raw nuts I might've added dashes of salt and olive oil.) + 1 sweet potato + 1 green apple mashed up in blender. TOTALLY GOOD.

For the record, you can eat a lot of varieties of sweet potato raw. I seem to digest the ones that're orange on the inside better than the lighter colored ones so can only recommend those. But they do make a tasty sweet potato pie!

And please note we did NOT eat any of the donut holes offered in class this morning.

And so the contradictions began / Today's Foodstuffs

Well, Gabrielle said she'd like to hear what I'm eating...and I guess I can see an argument for it...so, though it's a bit cringeful, perhaps we'll list the daily foodstuffs. Until we just can't live with ourselves any longer. (Please do forgive, darling, I'm still in a "Mrs. Miniver" hangover, from last night.)

Not tolly sure how to do this -- let me know if you have any ideas -- but I guess for now I'll make a daily post which is JUST foodstuffs (called "Today's Foodstuffs"), and the list'll grow as I add to it throughout the day.

Today's foodstuffs so far:

1 green apple
a pie of another green apple, a red'n'yellow apple, a grated carrot, an avocado, and leftover groundup nuts from making nutmilk the night before
a venti 4-shot decaf nonfat iced salted carmel mocha with, yes, whipped cream
some shoyu mushroom wings (recipe below)
another tail end of a dark chocolate bar left in the fridge, which did need to be gotten rid of
a smoothie of a couple big leaves of nasty honking kale + a sweet, soft lil handful of cilantro + the tail end of a cucumber + about 1 1/2 cups leftover green tea + the juice of two tangerines and a grapefruit

and an unfortunate, unspecified quantity of actual popcorn

P.S. PLEASE let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like to know/hear/talk about in this whole raw year deal thing we got going here.

And what about you?

What about you, love?

Is there anything you'd like a witness to, as you go through it, this year?

While we're being honest,

Also, making Stuart Smalley smaller today, I noticed something called "AdSense" on Blogger. Apparently it's free to bloggers, and might send me some cashola, effectivo, greenstuff, etc. if anyone's -- reading? -- this. I hope you don't mind if we try it out for a little bit. If it becomes just too annoying I will def terminate and let you know that's what we're doing. And if you have any opinion on it in any direction, please comment.

Comment anyway, okay?

And that's, okay.

This occurred later.

And that's, okay.

I guess I just want you to know I'm aiming for honesty here, among other things...also that if you're on this same what they call path or whatever, for what it's worth I really do think that a nonfat decaf mostly-espresso-and-ice drink is not that bad in the scheme of things. Fuck it. For now we're happy to get 3 raw deals a day. I'm pretty sure nutrition eventually wins, if you stick with it in an inclusive rather than denying vibe. (I do constitutionally have a soft spot for the incremental, though, and know lots of others don't.)

For the record, we're also at this very moment ingesting fing AWESOME, 2nd-deal-of-day, mushroom wings (recipe below!) and red bell pepper (note to self: salty's a great context for red bell pepper).

On second thought,

no one wants to read what someone eats every day!

They don't!

And they're right!

For now I think we'll just quietly pretend that whole posting-the-day's-eating idea never happened, and try to move on from here, if it's alright with you.

So I'm thinking

we'll post what we eat here. Maybe not the most original year-long-raw-eating-blog idea ever in the history of humankind, but hey.

Hey.

So it'll probably grow throughout the day.

Well, hopefully!

Here's a start.

1 sort of cute green apple, on a walk

1 post-walk pie of crust being the nutstuff left over from making nutmilk last night; filling being a grated carrot (and carrots actually make me Very Angry -- am I right they're WAY too much work for the payoff, except when grated and no longer in a position to waste our precious life force chewing them? But in this, their proper form, they're harmlessly sweet-tasting, and can lend kind of a sense of the "missing chord," or something...maybe it's all the Vitamin A) + an avocado + a sort of cute red'n'yellow apple, blended into a mash + another sort of cute green apple sliced up for interest and texture's sake + a dash of salt + a couple dashes punkin pie spice. Gud.

Really very good

would she choose popcorn, or the raw cauliflower instead

One way I sometimes ease into raw eating is with heated sauces. I'll tell myself I can heat the sauce, but not what it goes on. This is how I avoided making popcorn tonight, for munching through the second half of "Mrs. Miniver". Instead, I grated raw cauliflower and topped it with melted butter (yes!), "Movie Theater Butter" salt and a little nutritional yeast. Not bad! Chato was pretty much totally into it.

I've noticed, when I go raw, that it can help me resist temptation and keep to 3 raw deals a day, to make multiple-deal batches of stuff. Like making too much "popcorn" tonight, so there'll be more for tomorrow.

I did it with another dish tonight, which was such fun to discover, I just have to share the recipe. Anything else wouldn't be right.

It's basically my mother's "Shoyu Chicken Wings" marinade, but with mushroom pieces instead of chicken wings.

Shoyu Mushroom Wings

maybe 2/3 cup tamari
maybe 2/3 inch ginger, grated
maybe 1 fat garlic clove, grated
maybe 1 green onion, chopped
probably 1 tbsp cooking oil (olive's fine)
maybe 1/2 tsp honey (raw's best, of course)
couple dry chili peppers if you like a little heat

Mix it all up and dissolve the honey. Chop up a couple portabello mushrooms, or maybe 6 medium sized mushrooms, and stir into the marinade so everyone gets wet. Marinate a couple hours, covered, in the fridge, stirring a couple times so everyone gets a relatively even soak. Do drain before eating. This can be a little salty, so might be good surrounded by something contrasty.

whozzose sessy shoyu mushroom wing and red bell peppers on the corner of this porch?