Feeding Time At The Zoo

I decided I was sick of smoothies this morning. Not surprising, I’m sure.

I decided to make banana “pudding” instead. Actually, as I eat this, it’s really more like raw COCO Wheats.

This is a bowl of 3 mashed bananas, some dried, grated coconut, and about 1T of ground flax seeds. I also stirred in about a tablespoon of this amazing junk:

I may not be able to eat the whole bowl but I’m certainly going to do my best. What this yields is a sweet, toothsome mash that You could probably dehydrate into some amazing chocolate crêpes as well. I ‘m just going to eat it.

Oh, I feel I should mention, even though my week of “science” is at an end, that my skin is looking phenomenal. That alone is enough to keep me eating mostly raw. However, the mood balancing, ease of preparation, lack of guilt whilst eating “junk food”, and energy booting magnificence are also good reasons for me to keep it up. Yeay!

Day 5: speak of the Devil

Yesterday, some of you will remember, I mentioned that I wasn’t really feeling any of the  detox crappiness that some people talk about feeling once they go raw. . . Well, I may have spoken too soon. Nothing serious, I just had a little trouble sleeping.

This morning, though, I feel fine! I woke up only half an hour later than usual and I don’t feel like I tossed and turned all night. Ah well, that’s the main thing, right?

In other news, I think I need to lay off the cashew dip. I had it last night with carrots and broccoli fir dipping and I kind of had the feeling of a rock in my belly. It was just too heavy for me to enjoy. . . .but it tastes so good! Today I’m having a salad to give myself a break.

in other other news, Mr. Crow invited some friends over for food (or something) tomorrow. Yikes! I feel like I’ve got very little time to prepare/shop for ingredients. Mr. Crow has requested some “raw-violi” from the Living Raw Food book. I’ll be gathering ingredients today and dehydrating tomorrow, I guess. The “pasta” requires young coconut flesh, as well so I’ve got to devise a good way to get into my coconuts fast! this solves that!

Now I’ve got to make a grocery list, do my push-ups and crunches, shower, drink breakfast, go to the library and pick up another recipe book (I think I’ll have every singe one out of the library when I’m done), go to the store (thank goodness it’s cold), and then head to work by 1:30. I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough time.

mood: 9
energy: 9
hours of sleep: 8.5 (time spent in bed)
Appx% of raw food consumed yesderday: 98%
notes: Skin is actually looking better!

A new year. . . I’ve been avoiding you.

That’s not true.

Yes is it.

It’s really taken me this long to get back to normal from the holiday season. I spent most of the month of December working/traveling/eating food I wouldn't even think of eating any other day of the year. What a joyous time! I have no pictures.

Long before we decided we were finally going to get married, I had taken up a crusade of health. When the end comes, I know I will not be one of the strong so I know I must be one of the fast to survive. Heloooo treadmill. I know, I know, but it’s wintertime and I’m a beginner so cut me some slack. Then I found this website posted on a friend’s Facebook page. So I’m about to start that as well. In 2 months, if I work hard, I should be able to do everything this program says I can. I will be a beast. rawr.

On the nutrition front, I’m heading in a new direction as well, mostly for amusement and love of the scientific process. Today is the first post in a series called “Miss Crow goes raw(ish) for a while to see if all the crazy stuff people say is true”. I’ll need to come up with a better title soon but that’s good for now.

So, yeah, people DO say all kinds of crazy things about the benefits of a raw food diet:

• excellent detoxification
• Increased energy
• Improved skin appearance
• Better digestion
• Weight loss
• Reduced risk of heart disease
• euphoria
• relieves PMS/PMT
• cures cancer

ummm. . . . Now, I’m skeptical of anything that says I can cure cancer, especially when there’s only some sketchy science backing it up but, hey, it’s a free country, you can say what you want as long as you have a disclaimer stating that it may or may not be true. (scientists have studied that eating fruits and veggies protect from free radicals and also seems to change how blood supplies are directed to pre-cancerous areas, but “cure”? I don’t know.)

However, even if half of the stuff they say comes half-way true It’s worth the experiment. I’m ready for clear skin and weight loss. Increased energy, YES! Euphoria may take some getting used to.

The only other thing that freaks me out it all the talk of “purity”. It makes them seem a little cultish. I asked Mr. Crow last night if I freaked out and got really new-agey after eating a bunch of green smoothies if he’d still love me. He said “yes”. Whew!

So, I’ve been easing myself into it for a while now by eating about 40-50% raw on most days in the forms of salads, crudité, and whatnot. Today is day one of 75% or greater. For breakfast I had a green smoothie, upon which I am totally sold:

3 clementines, peeled and split up
1 fuji apple, cored and chunked
1 kiwi, peeled and chunked
5 big leaved of romaine, washed and torn
brita water

I put the fruit in the blender and pureed it. Then I added some water and the romaine and pureed it again. It mostly tasted of apple with a romaine aftertaste which was surprisingly fresh and definitely not offensive. I’ll be going to the store today to pick up some baby spinach and kale for the rest of the week.

I’m also heading to the library to pick up some raw “cookbooks”. Can you really call it a cookbook if there’s no cooking in it? I wish the library had delivery. I REALLY don’t want to go outside in the cold.

Okay now for the science part. (Some of this is going to be somewhat subjective since I’m not going to sit and count every little blemish that’s working it’s way through my skin but I’m a sociologist so I’m okay with that.) Mood and Energy numbers are on a scale from 1-10:

mood: 4
energy: 5
hours of sleep: 10
Appx% of raw food consumed yesterday: 30%
notes: Craving noodles. Curse you wheat.

Tomorrow I’ll be back to document again.

Thoroughly Satisfying

Sunday morning. The heat is finally broken after a fabulous rain. The sun is out and the world feels  a little more peaceful up here in the tree house.

The big question was what to have for breakfast.

Mr. Crow ate some eggs on toast about 2 hours ago and I was still left without a clue.

I contemplated a smoothie, my usual choice, but the blender was still in need of washing so I nixed that right off.

Do I have waffles? No, I really want something fresh.

Fruit on waffles? No, I don’t really want any grain right now.

What to do, what to do. . .

Then, suddenly, it came to me! I’d seen a recipe for a salad recently that sounded too good to pass up. I checked the clock, because, for some reason, I didn’t want to eat this too early.

Ho-kay! Now that you’re tempted, here’s the recipe:

1 avocado, sliced
6 strawberries, sliced
2t lemon juice
2t balsamic vinegar
black pepper

1. Put the strawberries and avocado in a bowl.
2. Drizzle the vinegar and lemon juice over everything.
3. Toss gently.
4. Sprinkle fresh black pepper over it.

Shove this in in your face right now for it is the BEST THING EVAAAARRRRRR!

Nearly Raw Tahini Noodles from Vegan Yum Yum

As the title states, this is a picture of the Nearly Raw Tahini Noodles from Vegan Yum Yum. If you haven’t picked up this cook book yet, I highly recommend that you do with haste! These recipes can stand up to the most biased of omnivorous palettes. For instance, this cool, creamy dish was really a delight on one of the hottest days of the year. The only heat applied was to boil the noodles and I didn’t have to stand there and roast the whole time, thank goodness. Also, I used udon noodles instead of fettuccini or whatever the recipe calls for so they only took 3 minutes to cook instead of the usual 8-10. I made one other change as well, instead of the regular green cabbage this recipe calls for, I used a small nappa cabbage which I like much better for its delicate texture and frizzy appearance. This would be a great dish to take to a picnic or potluck as it doesn’t have anything that is overly temperature sensitive and it’s meant to be served cool or at room temp. I can hardly wait to have it for lunch tomorrow!