RAWlicious!

OMG, I went to a raw restaurant last night and I'm going again tonight, not even 24 hours later. The food was face rocking and that's putting it lightly. Seriously I want to try everything on the menu, and I mean everything. Last night I feasted on a sage burger and a slice of pizza. Hey, I know it's a weird meal combination but I was hankering for something savory and exciting and I'd already had a hugh jass salad earlier that day. Oh yeah, I also had a strawberry mango pie for dessert. Yummo. At the request of a friend I took some pictures but I forgot to get a picture of the dessert, oops. In my opinion the pics do very little to illustrate the awesome flavors of the dishes, maybe its the photographer, but hopefully you get the idea. Without further adieu ....

This scrumptious pizza is made with flax seed bread, topped with spinach, tomato sauce, pine nut cheese, chopped tomatoes, black olives red bell pepper, and some kind of crumbles - the name escapes me at the moment. This baby was bursting with flavor!

This foodgasmic burger was served with organic greens, pine nut cheese (I think) and tomatoes between two slices of kamut grain bread. Oh wait, there was also some sort of house sauce on that baby as well. Heavenly!

Moral of the story, if you have never given raw cuisine a try don't be afraid to brave it because you just may enjoy it. Even when I'm no longer on the raw detox, I'll still visit that restaurant because the food was absolutely wonderful. In fact, I'm even more inspired to learn how to prepare more raw dishes.

As for the financial impact, uh yeah, raw eating is definitely not cheap eating. I think I've spent more thus far than I normally would on my regular diet. To be fair, raw eating requires a lot more preparation and if you don't prepare properly then you can and will spend more money than you should. It's the equivalent of going to the grocery store without a list.

Summer Tune-up

Since things have been quite hectic around these parts it's high time for a summer tune-up. Today marks the beginning of my attempt to do a raw cleanse, diet that is. I'm super excited and super nervous at the same time. Thanks to the wonderful blogsophere, there are tons of resources to help me through the next 21 or 30 days. In my last post I promised changes to the blog, changes that would not only incorporate personal finances, but to include other things that I enjoy, such as eating.

Why cleanse?

I usually do a detox/cleanse at least 2x a year. There are certain busy times of the year when I don't have time to focus on my diet the way that I should. Luckily or unluckily, my body responds noticeably to what I put in it. If I load up on processed and junk foods, then I feel sluggish, heavy and just down right not at my best. When I load up on healthy foods, then quite the opposite happens. I'm more vibrant, energetic and alert.

Why raw?

Oh boy. In the past I would do a somewhat vegan cleanse ... except for a minimal amount of cheese. This time I wanted to up the ante and go gusto. Now, if I begin hankering uncontrollably for hot food, I may allow myself some steamed veggies and/or wild rice ... ONLY. Beyond that, no cooked foods ... that's the goal. There may be something that I choose to eat that's not completely raw, like a salad dressing for example, but at this point I will not panic over those types of intentional or unintentional slip-ups.

Since I do love to cook, I'm looking forward to making and possibly creating some new raw recipes. This is a new world to me so hopefully I won't get bored. I think I will have more success doing a raw food detox in the summer months (especially living in the south) versus trying this for the first time in the winter. Hopefully I'll have an arsenal of new recipes to add to my collection. With that, here is a picture of my very first raw recipe ... Raw Almond Macaroons:






The key ingredient in macaroons is coconut, of which I am NOT a big fan. But hey, part of this raw experience is trying new things right? Instead of putting the amount of shredded coconut that the recipe suggested, I used 1/2 the amount and substituted the remaining amount with oats. Bingo!

Here's my recipe in case your interested:

• 1.5 C of dried coconut
• 1.5 C of oats
• 1.5 C of almonds
• 1/2 C of maple syrup or agave (I used an organic maple syrup/agave blend from Trader Joes)
• 1/4 C of coconut oil (again I'm not a big fan of coconut so I substituted earth balance ... feel free to use your oil, butter of choice)
• 1/2 TBS of vanilla
• 1/4 TBS of almond extract
• 1/4 TSP of sea salt

Ground almonds in food processor. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Using an ice cream scooper or TBS measuring spoon, spoon onto dehydrator tray if you have one. I don't have one so I used parchment paper & a cookie sheet. I put the macaroons on the lowest setting of my oven and left the door slightly ajar. "Dehydrate" approximately 7 hours or so. Of course, if raw is not your goal, feel free to crank that sucker up and bake away. ;-)!

This is going to be a very interesting month! Wish me well ...