Raw till dinner

Indian summer! It has been rather nice and warm outside, 20C for this time of year is definitely above average. So I've been trying to consume more raw food again, with various results. The-green-smoothies-for-breakfast-routine is most definitely a keeper, rest of the day is more of a hit and  miss. Some days I've been high raw, some days rather low raw. Like yesterday I had marmite toast for mid-morning snack, savoury hemp pancakes (by Gillian McKeith, delicious and filling, not foldable though...) with organic cheese for lunch and salmon for dinner. By evening I felt like I had swallowed a brick, so to compensate this I started the day today with 1 litre of green juice, followed by 1,5 litres of green smoothie, then 1/2 melon and raw salad for lunch (see recipe below). I felt rather proud of myself, and no bloated belly. But then it was time for dinner, and hungry husband coupled with slightly grumpy toddler meant something more substantial than raw salad was needed, so it was fish and potatoes with steamed vegetables. 

So I can definitely do "raw til dinner", but will I ever be able to go 100% raw? Not sure, but I'm not too worried as long as I eat as much raw food as possible during the day. 

Today another raw "uncook" book arrived, by high profile raw foodist Ani Phyo. Her book Anis Raw Food Kitchen - Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes has been praised as great source of easy and tasty raw food recipes. I had a quick look and there are quite few I'd like to try, and today I had one of her salads for lunch. I was worried a bit about the onions, but after marinating they are quite mild. Both me and Maya loved it!

Wilted spinach salad with marinated onion in mustard seed dressing 

Serves 1-2

Marinated onions

1/2 smallish yellow onion, sliced

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos or Nama Shoyu (in worst case, light soya sauce will do)

Pinch of black pepper

Mustard seed dressing

1 tbsp soft dates or agave syrup or maple syrup or raw honey (I used honey)

2-3 tbsp of apple cider vinegar 

3-4 tbsp of virgin olive oil

1 tsp of mustard seeds

1/2 tsp of seal salt

Salad

Couple of handfuls of spinach

1-2 carrots, julienned

Pinch of ground black pepper

To marinate onions, combine them with vinegar, pepper and Braggs and set aside while preparing the salad. For dressing, mix all ingredients in a bowl (if using dates, soak them in little water for 5 minutes and then mix the dates and water until syrupy). Place spinach and carrots in a bowl, pour onions and marinade over, toss a bit and then pour the dressing over, toss again. Serve the salad with some freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!

I have been off from work for 3 days as our nanny is on holiday, and I have really been enjoying spending time with Maya. She's been having her toddler conversations with me, stringing together 4 word meanings already. And of course, copying almost anything I say. It's now I can see that trying to continue with OPOL (One Parent One Language) approach is going to be a challenge, as she speaks mainly English and it's often easier to respond in English. Especially when she asks: What's that? (sounds: sssat). But I'm determined to talk Estonian to her and I'm now reading bed time stories to her in Estonian (thanks Karin for the books!).

Off to bed now, I'm back to work tomorrow...

Cold weather and raw food

It’s cold outside! Well, maybe not today, but the weather is definitely getting colder. And this is my first winter on raw food journey. I feel already now that it’s going to be a struggle, as I’m not lover of cold food when I’m freezing – my winter favourites are hot soups and spicy casseroles. So I'm going to still have them, but the soups and casseroles will be vegan and vegetarian this winter.

We’ve had to make some adjustments with our food shopping as very high part of our income will be going to childcare in a month time. I’ve been keeping track of our food bill for few months now and it’s high. Being on organic high raw food diet is not cheap, that’s for sure. So I’m now doing weekly menus, shopping lists and I’m also hoping to do most of the shopping online to avoid the impulse shopping I’m prone to when in supermarket (and I sooo hate supermarket shopping, too many people). I’m trying to make simple, quick meals during the week, and then have something nice at weekends. Breakfast is still a green smoothie, then some snacks at work and for lunch salad or vegetarian meal. My goal is to get the food bill down at least 30%, if not more. 

When I have time (which is not very often) I try to read other raw food blogs and information about raw food on the net. It's amazing how much different views there are about raw food, which is very confusing. One says that fruit is best and should be a major part of raw food diet. Other says that fruit is not good, it feeds candida and all sorts. One says supplements and superfoods are the key for successful raw food diet, other says that no supplements should be consumed as it puts stress on liver. One says that good quality mineral salt is ok to consume (not table salt), other says that all salt is dangerous. One promotes green juices, other green smoothies. Some say that only 100% raw food intake is the only way to be true raw foodist, others say that steamed or roasted root vegetables and whole grains are the key for successful high raw food diet. So what should one do? 

After some googling and referrals from other raw food blogs, I got myself e-book by Frederic Patenaude: Raw Secrets . I haven't read it yet, but he claims to be able to bring some light on all this confusion and also help to overcome fall-backs. He even has a chapter about how to to stay raw in cold climates. Will be interesting, will let you know what I thought once I've read it. 

Our little green warrior still managed to get some nursery bugs despite my superfood feeds and has been having snotty nose and been a bit off food. She's been eating lots of green stuff though - raw spinach and salads, vegetables and bean sprouts and seaweed and fruits. It is such a good feeling when ones children are happily eating lots of healthy food, so I hope this phase lasts for a long time, if I'm lucky, forever!