Transition -- Day 10

Breakfast: Two slices of Ezekiel toast with coconut oil & a light smear of raspberry-pomegranate french jam. A long espresso on the side.

Lunch: 32 oz. Parsley-Canteloupe-Clementine Live Green Smoothie. Three sliced bananas with cinnamon. A few organic tortilla chips.

Transition -- Day 9

Brekkies: A very pretty creamy Live Green Vanilla Shake made from a smallish bit of parsley (1/2 C.), one small avocado, a 2-inch piece of vanilla bean, 2 bananas, a heaping T. of raw coconut oil, and a bit of Himmy salt. With water, of course. :)
Woulda added ice but discovered I'm out for the moment.

Also made a lovely long espresso I haven't yet touched...the vanilla shake is winning out and I'm going back for refills. *grin*

(Update: Ditched the espresso & did the whole 32 oz vanilla smoothie. :)

Lunch: Open-Face Avo-"Tuna" mash on Ezekiel toast (3 pieces).

(One avocado chunked up with chopped "Bubbie's" bread & butter pickles, organic horseradish mustard, Himmy salt & fresh ground pepper.

Snackies: 32 oz Live Green Smoothie made with Parsley-Red Grapes-Coconut Oil and dash of Himmy salt.

Dinner: Grilled cheese dipped into a bit of tomato soup.

Nightcap: Glass of Malbec with friend...

Transition -- Day 8 (Valentine's Day!)

Brekkies: Two of the fluffiest pancakes I've ever made (from scratch, of course...)

Lunch: 32 oz. of Dark Chocolate Live Green Smoothie, made with parsley and all the same goodies as last night. Delish! And certainly in the spirit of the holdiay!

Let the theobromine flow! :D

Dinner: Spaghetti in a broth of tomato paste sauteed with olive oil, red onion, and garlic, with a bit of parm.

Transition -- Day 7

Brekkies: 32 oz. water blended with 1 T. raw honey, 1 T. Braggs apple cider vinegar, and ice. So refreshing!

Also, my standard of late: Ezekiel toast with coconut oil, raw honey, and cinnamon.

Lunch: Ezekiel toast with 3 local-raised eggs, over easy.

Afternoon: Another 32 oz. of water with raw honey & ACV.

Dinner: 32 oz. Dark Chocolate Live Green Smoothie (3 bananas, 1 cup parsley, 3 heaping T. raw cacao powder, 1 T. coconut oil, 1" of vanilla bean, and dash of Himmy salt).

Followed by dinner out with friend: Large delicate Bibb lettuce salad with sliced cherry tomatoes and a few shavings of parm, with a bit of garlic dressing. Dark tequila cosmo on the side. :)

Transition -- Day 6

I woke up this morning and instantly felt dramatically lighter...when I hit the pavement for my 5:30 power walk, it was such a relief to feel how much less energy it took to move my body! My mind is also clearer and I woke up on my own, before my alarm went off. Good signs. :)

Brekkies: Same thing as I've been having lately: two slices of Ezekiel toast with coconut oil, raw honey, and cinnamon.

Snack: Glass of Parsley-Apple-Grape-Coconut Oil smoothie.

Lunch: Full 32 oz. smoothie of 4 carrots, 1 apple, and leftover greens & red onion from dinner last night.

Also, Open-Faced Avo-Cilantro Sammich: one avocado mashed up with handful of chopped cilantro, chopped small piece of red onion, some smashed cumin seeds, a dash of habanero salsa, and black pepper & Himmy salt.

Dinner: Something raw...can't remember...it's all a happy blur of raw fruit & vedge right now. ;)

But also took my son out to the local watering hole to celebrate his 21st birthday. Had a dark tequila cosmo ("not sweet, pleez"), a bit of his mahi-mahi and a couple of his calamari pieces.

Transition -- Day 5

Brekkies (7:30 am): Two slices of Ezekiel toast with raw coconut oil & raw honey, sprinkled with cinnamon. Long espresso with bit of organic cane sugar.

Snack (10:00 am): Large plate of sliced fruit (3 bananas, 1-1/2 apples) sprinkled with cinnamon.

Lunch(11:45 am): Finished off fruit above with a Lydia's Organics Ginger-Lemon bar and a cup of fresh-brewed pau d'arco/nettle tea with raw honey.

Dinner: 4 cups of fresh parsley/kale/carrot/apple/beet juice, diluted with equal part water. Plus a cup of jasmine rice.

Evening: G&J's chocolate/almond bar...not candy. Like a meal, and truly delicious. But already feeling it to be a bit too sweet, as my taste buds have become more sensitive to sweetness.

Transition -- Day 4

Brekkies: Two slices of toasted Ezekiel bread with raw coconut oil and raw honey, plus three bananas sliced & sprinkled with cinnamon. Delicious black espresso with a bit of cane sugar.

Late Lunch: 32 oz. Kale-Orange-Apple-Coconut Oil smoothie. So creamy...

Snack: Lydia's Organics "Ginger Lemon" bar.

Dinner: Large red-leaf lettuce salad w/ red onion, and a cup of jasmine rice with homemade vegetable curry...which hurt my tum a bit. Still feeling it here at end of the day.

I woke up this morning feeling the clarity that emerges with eating a majority of raw foods. My body felt lighter as well. Progress. Am beginning to acclimate mentally to the culture of eating raw.

Enjoyed a smallish dark tequila/pomegranate juice nightcap.

Transition -- Day 3

For Day 3, another good day:

Breakfast: 32oz Kale/Blueberry/Goji/Parsley/Banana smoothie

Snack: Long espresso with, yes I admit it, a splash of heavy cream.

Espresso is still delicious to my taste buds. I have never gone too deep into raw foods without completely losing my taste for coffee as long as I don't eat cooked foods, so I would be surprised if it doesn't start falling away soon. But no hurries. I do enjoy it. And it has always been about taste for me...I don't need it for energy, I don't suffer withdrawal symptoms when I stop, I can go for days without it & be quite happy...and actually don't like the feeling of highly caffeinated beverages. ("What? Doesn't espresso have more caffeine than regular coffee?" Nope. But that's a discussion for another post... ;))

Lunch: Bown of homemade soup made with jasmine rice & veggies

Snack: 32oz Parsley/Apple/Red Grape/Bee Pollen smoothie

Dinner: Gigantic salad of tender red-leaf lettuce. A bit of guacamole made from an under-ripe avocado...yah, I don't recommend that.

Snack: Lydia's Organics "Ginger Lemon" sprouted seed bar.

Transition -- Day 2

Met my goal for the day. Save for a small chocolate cupcake & cappo at Starbucks in the afternoon, some Ezekiel toast with brekkies and a few crackers with dinner, the rest of my meals consisted of live foods.

Breakfast: Blueberry-Kale-Goji smoothie. Toasted Ezekiel bread with Artisana's "Goji Bliss" coconut oil & sliced banana. And a very delicious long espresso.
Snack: Dried Mango-Lime-Chili
Lunch: 3 Bananas, Dates & Pecans
Snack: Cupcake (quite little) & cappo at sbux. Fruit: green grape
Dinner: Spicy guacamole. Wanted to have it with the organic tortilla chips that are usually in the house but there weren't any, so used some regular crackers.

One thing I intend to address, without which I know I will not be able to achieve a 100% raw state at this time, is how to make some good raw crackers & "bread". People who are very big into sweets seem to thrive on all the fabulous raw desserts one can make. I'm not into sweets so much -- I'll enjoy them, but what I crave most are *savory* dishes, not sweets. I love bread in many forms...with a hot beverage, with a sandwich filling, as an accompaniment with soups. When I'm eating a live food diet, I like to make savory sandwich fillers with avocado & sprouts and need something to put them in. Maybe in the future I can rewire my habits & live entirely without with "bready things", but for now, if I want to set myself up for success with a 100% raw lifestyle, I need to incorporate this into my kitchen.

Thing is...I cannot stand flax seed. Just disgusts me. Very few things make me feel that way, I'm not a picky eater in that regard. But the taste of flax seed...practically gags me. Problem is, in the raw world, flax is the "binder", like eggs are in the cooked world.

Enter...my latest discovery...chia seeds! When soaked, they have the gelatinous quality that flax seeds have, with a much more neutral taste. And they are extremely nutritious.

Am going to try my hand at a chia seed bread or cracker later today.

Transition -- Day 1

Well...I met my goals for the day. Am very pleased!

For breakfast: The afore-mentioned pancakes, made from scratch (organic flour, milk, eggs, butter...the whole nine yards. Chica may still be eating low-vibrational crap, but at least it's "clean" crap. Heh."

For lunch: Blueberry-Kale-Gojiberry smoothie (a full 32 oz). Had the color of squid ink. The color combinations in nature are quite interesting...I love to see how they combine.

Mid-day snack: Raw pecans and jumbo medjool dates.
"What pecan pie wishes it tastes like."

Dinner: Dried Yakon (tastes like smoked, dried apple chips). I just munched on these til full. I woulda made a salad but I was on a roll working at the computer on my new business and didn't feel like stopping.

Evening snack: Some tea made from pau d'arco, dried nettles, and gojiberries, with a side of a few crunchy pecans.

Nightcap: A bit of Argentinian Malbec.

Let me be clear: I may love being raw, but I have no interest in renouncing a glass of wine, my favorite tequila (Jose Cuervo Black Medallion...anyone who knows me well knows this. ;-) or even espresso. The more raw I become, the less I desire these things -- actually, I tend to virtually lose my taste for coffee in any form. But I've acquired an appreciation for a smart cocktail at the end of the day. I pay no mind and have no worries on this subject. I certainly don't go against the grain and try to "give something up" which I enjoy so full-heartedly! Someone who's raw tends to be verrrrry sensitive to alcohol consumption so it has it's own limiting factor.

On that note...tomorrow's another day. :D

Transition to Raw

So, I've been *intending* since last fall to go back to at least an 85% live / raw foods lifestyle...and I've been *intending* since last fall to do a Juice Feasting adventure...

I know I was waiting for my work & financial situation to shift, because of the cost of fresh organic produce. But...meh...not waiting anymore. I'm not in a position today where I could fund a Juice Feast, but I can do Raw well enough.

So, today begins my Transition to Raw. Ultimately, I want my diet to be 100% comprised once again of raw, living and superfoods. For the moment, I'm aiming for at least an 85%. For example, if I'm raw all day but have some bread and a bit of something cooked at dinner with a salad, I judge myself to have hit my mark.

One thing that has got to stop immediately is my reliance on the cooking of starchy things for my family, for both the convenience and the cost-savings. As someone who is *not* choosing a vegan path for moral reasons, I'd rather roast them a chicken than the dead pasty crap that has settled into our recent eating habits...exactly the sort of crap that most people eat a lot of when they are "stretching the budget".

So...am happily saying good-bye to the dead pasty junk, and gratefully digging into my goji berries and hempseeds. ;)

As I'm very much into measuring progress toward achieving all of my goals right now, I'll be posting my daily intake here.

So, starting with today, am off to a most excellent start... pancakes! :)

It'll get better...I promise. Heh.