RAWctober!

[Panserbjorne]

Hey friends! How are you handling the cooler weather? Any new and different dishes surfacing?

My kids are addicted to smoothies-which is fine by me. I have been playing quite a bit but finding myself on an almost exclusive green smoothie diet. I drink three quarts a day most days. The supplemental food is usually just some sliced veggies and sprouts. I feel awesome. Looking forward to this yummy season and many pumpkin treats!

[sheilajolene]

I'm not a rawctoberist, but I wanted to come in and say hi because I LOVE LOVE LOVE the title of this thread. A nice golf-clap for you!

[425lisamarie]

Ooooo please do tell about anything you can make with pumpkin, I need new easy ideas! We are trying to incorporate more raw snacks in our diets

[Marlet]

we've been sacking. We had DSS here last weekend so we slipped back to almost all cooked. And we both feel like crap. DD1 is more ornery too.

We have managed to juice at least a couple times a day though. I juiced the second half of a canteloupe last night. So good! We've juiced a couple things like that that we wouldn't normally...like cucumber. It's kind of disturbing to see what color juice really is. So far the only thing that's been florescant was when I forgot to peel an orange before sticking it in there. Everything else is NORMAL colored.

I made some tasty avocado dressing last week. Here's the recipe:

1 large avocado
2 teaspoons olive oil (I know it's not iideal for a raw diet)
chives
basil
sea salt
pepper
lemon juice (I juiced 1.5 lemons and it was a bit much for the qunatity I made...for the recipe I'd say .5-1 lemon)

Combine avocado and oil in blender and blend. Add in lemon juice and seasonings and blend until smooth.

It's more like a spread than a dressing. I needed something for some wraps I made. That recipe is:

1 cucmber
2 carrots
5 radishes
lettuce leafs (any kind)

Shred cucmber, carrots, and radishes. After shredding mix together (I shred them all together and then stirred). Spread avocado mixture onto lettuce leafs. Spoon veggie mix on top of avocado. Either roll up or fold in half.

It ended up being a ton of veggie mix so you could easily do less. You'll want to strain it too. By the time I got the avocado mix on all the water settled to the bottom of the bowl and everything was watery. I used some of it later on a salad. Nice and tasty!

I posted in last months thread asking to see your raw kitchens. I saw on the other day that was to die for! It made me want a cool kitchen. I took the stove top burners out and the took my cutting board out of the counter (slide in kind) and laid it on top of the stove. Even if we weren't going raw I think I would keep it there! So nice! I have so much more "counter" space because of it now. I stuck my pots and pans in the oven and used the cupboard they were in and took my fruit in bowls and put them in there. DD1 has access to them and I cleared up even more counter space.

[calynde]

Hi everyone,

We're doing well over here....the farmer's market is overflowing, lots of grapes, figs, apples, pears...and loads of greens! I must say, I've been making greens the priority lately and it makes me feel so amazing. Today I've had purslane, parsley, carrot tops and arugula. Plus, 2 bananas, half a mango, half an avocado, a handful of strawberries with their tops, half a red pepper, and a few olives. I love eating like this...so simple!

I finished Victoria Boutenko's new book...I learned a few new things. It seems like it would be really great for beginners especially.

My current goal is to focus a bit more on exercise...I tend to get all caught up in intellectualizing my food intake, then forgetting to move! I walk in the forest with my ds for about an hour to an hour and a half every day, but I feel like I need something more. Will first start doing yoga again, maybe some rebounding, too. I really struggle to find the motivation, but I know it's holding me back...

[Marlet]

We had our first green lemonade today. It was AWESOME! I put a tad too much celery in DH's and I wish I had had more spinach in mine but man! I've been jonesing for more since I had it.

It seems to me that we (DH and I) are on the "extreme" (for lack of a better word) of simple. I read all these things on simple is best. I don't focus on getting all the extras. For example a juice is 2-3 fruits/veggies. I don't add anything extra to it. I keep reading all these "simple" recipes though and they start throwing in coconut oil and agave etc. It seems like they (general they) are trying to optimize each and every meal rather than just eat. Is that how we should be doing it? I don't want to have to think about my food in the sense that I know exactly how much of everything I am getting and adding in extras. I jsut want to eat what sounds good.

[maryeb]

Hi everyone,
We just moved to a new community and are finally getting settled in. Green smoothies have been our best friend. Right now we are loving pineapple, orange, kale, and chard or spinach. Sooo good! We had my sister's wedding a few weeks ago too, so I prepared 3 batches of donut holes, granola, and cookies for the trip. We took some nuts too, but mainly ate watermelon, green smoothies every morning and afternoon, and juices from the hfs. It was great!

Pizza crusts are in the dehydrator right now, my first recipe since moving in. Really easy: 1 1/2 c sunflower seeds, 1/2 c flax seeds, 1 red pepper, 1 celery stalk, bit of salt, TB olive oil. Going to make a pesto and tomato sauce and cover with veggies.

Would love to hear any dessert recipes/ideas if anyone is doing any. Mary

[maryeb]

Originally Posted by OtherMother'n'Madre

We had our first green lemonade today. It was AWESOME! I put a tad too much celery in DH's and I wish I had had more spinach in mine but man! I've been jonesing for more since I had it.

It seems to me that we (DH and I) are on the "extreme" (for lack of a better word) of simple. I read all these things on simple is best. I don't focus on getting all the extras. For example a juice is 2-3 fruits/veggies. I don't add anything extra to it. I keep reading all these "simple" recipes though and they start throwing in coconut oil and agave etc. It seems like they (general they) are trying to optimize each and every meal rather than just eat. Is that how we should be doing it? I don't want to have to think about my food in the sense that I know exactly how much of everything I am getting and adding in extras. I jsut want to eat what sounds good.

We do a morning smoothie with lots of bonuses like goji berries, maca, tahini, etc. Dh requests it every day. Ds will take a few sips. But other than that we really have not focused on recipes lately. I mean, we've been eating watermelon as a meal for a while now! And green smoothies. It's just what sounds good and what we want now. When we first started out we wanted lots of pizza stuff, cookies, pies, chocolate almond mylk...now that is out of the ordinary. And we don't think really hard about what we're eating, we truly go with what sounds good. Last week I was craving sesame soo much. So I made an almond/sesame drink every day for a week. Today I've had 4 glasses of green smoothie. My pizza sounds good today, but maybe it won't tomorrow. Kwim? Does that help??

[Panserbjorne]

If I knew how to get pictures on the computer I'd show you my kitchen! I'm rather proud of it. It's lovely...I feel so abundant in it. There are greens and brightly colored fruits everywhere. IT all feels so....CLEAN. Like you are outside even when you are in! It's small-ish and not fancy at all (old stove, not like I care!) but it has a great vibe.

I posted before I am doing green smoothies pretty much all day. It's kinda pricey, but I have found something interesting. Everytime I make one (I make a half gallon at a time and each has at least a half pound of greens minimum) my kids BEG for it. Every batch I made yesterday a quart was split between the three of them and I had the other. Now, if I had stated, "okay guys, smoothie time" I think I would have hit a bit of resistance after the second. However yesterday and today they actually WHINED for more smoothie! That, in my opinion, is priceless.

I am a simple eater at heart. I don't enjoy cooking. I don't really enjoy un-cooking either. It beats the heck out of the alternative, but I have better things to do that concoct in the kitchen. I love blending my meal and moving on. As for hte kiddos, as long as they get at least 2 GS a day, I feel fine about the rest of the day. They love cut veggies and they help themselves to fruit. I do occasionally make a dessert, but we've been pretty light on nuts over here. I make their smoothies with nut butter and coconut oil at least once every day to make sure their fats are up there. But greens are not a problem. My dd also steals my salads most of hte time. \They also will eat seaweed all day long.

Farmer's markets are getting so harvest-y! I got he most GLORIOUS celery today! I have never seen anything like it. IT was unbelievably verdant, a color I have personally never seen in nature before. It had all hte greens intact and I can't wait to put it in my smoothie tomorrow! My dh thought I was a freak. I just kept smelling it and looking at it. Ultimately I *did* take a pic as it was truly a gift of nature.

I am working out quite a bit, it's something that is very necessary to my well being. Calynde, glad to hear you're getting yourself back on the path. Getting started (as you well know) is the tough part. You'll be back in the swing of things soon.

OtherMother'n'Madre-so glad you loved your green lemonade! IT's dh's fave too. How'd you make yours?

[Marlet]

Originally Posted by firefaery

OtherMother'n'Madre-so glad you loved your green lemonade! IT's dh's fave too. How'd you make yours?

It was spinach, celery, lemon, and apples. I stuffed my juicer (a Juiceman..not the jr. size) to the max and tightly with the spinach twice (so maybe 2-3 cups worth of spinach leaves....hard to tell...it was a bag of Dole brand that we needed to get used up ). Added in two stalks of celery and then 3 Gala apples and 1.5 lemons (with rind). Soooo tasty! I've had the lemony flavor in my mouth all day teasing me.


Speaking of kids. How do you do it with young ones? DD1 is 2.5. She loves to eat and will sometimes eat a ton like she's catching up. She has a good appetite. The days where we are more raw though I worry she isn't getting enough. She has only had one juice/smoothie and it wasn't a green one. I think it was lemon, peach, and apple. She doesn't really snack on veggies. I've cut up carrots and other ones and set up a tray but she won't touch them. She'll eat apples and oranges. The other day she had something like five slices of bread with some fresh honey (we get it from our store that has a hive with a tap...bees are a common site at that store ). She can't live on oranges and apples and honey bread can she? She's not picky but if she doesn't want to eat she won't. Most days I feel ok with her eating since she does eat all day long but I do get worried its not enough and not enough of the good stuff. How do I make sure she gets enough but also let go of the traditional thinking that you need three "meals" a day? It wasn't an issue when we were just veggie but I think it was because I prepared food and it felt complete yk?

[Panserbjorne]

This is so funny. I just hung up the phone with a friend and we were talking about the same sort of issue.

My kids are eating me out of house and home. They eat non-stop and there are definitely NOT 3 squares offered here. I do get concerned sometimes-but I'm totally neurotic about food so it's not anything "new" : I guess the green smoothies are my saving grace in that way. I'm okay with fruit, fruit and more fruit as long as the greens get in. My kids will eat avocado, cukes, pepper, sprouts, most lettuces, zucchini, cabbage and broccoli without a huge fight-more often than not they are begging. Carrots are also big. Celery is hit or miss. Fruit of the 'sweet" variety is big though.

There are many people in the know that believe our natural diet should be 50% calories from fruit. That's alot of fruit! I know that I have concerns about the cultivated hybridized vs. wild forms, but still I don't think eating alot of it is going to be bad. I don't really limit it in our house.

Bread on the other hand is a different story. I am always slightly concerned with the potential for allergies. OF course in this house we all have them so that's a big part of it. I know my dd didn't start eating well until gluten was removed. She has since become alot more adventurous. OF course she never had what I would have called a "good" appetite. Ds did (and does) though, and he also has a gluten allergy. It's a tough call. I believe that our bodies self regulate quite well when fed the right (read *not* damaging) things. So, with all my kids allergens out I do tend to trust their instincts more. If they had days where they lived on apples and oranges and drank smoothies I wouldn't bat an eyelash. I guess ultimately it really is all about hte big picture. That was one example you gave....what does another average day look like for her?

beyond that...if there are no underlying issues, she'll eat when she's hungry. It's so healthy to start cultivating that understanding from an early age. Feed her when she is hungry, and don't if she's not. If everything she is getting is nourishing and not empty or addictive you can trust her to follow her hunger signals. AT least that is what I think-I am certainly no expert! I stopped fighting the "time for dinner" thing awhile ago. They graze all day (sometimes to the point of borderline absurdity!) It takes pressure off of me and i have never had to deal with them starving at bedtime. Ever. IF I get super neurotic and chart it for a week I am always impressed with the variety they get. They understand their bodies way more than I could hope to so I just defer to them.

[Marlet]

Damn cultural brainwashing!

I know that the best way to eat is to follow hunger cues in regards to when and what. I just have a hard time at times thinking that's going to be enough yk?

I was just making myself a fruit juice (turned more smoothie though due to the banana making it nice and thick) and she grabbed a mushroom and asked me to wash it and then ate half. She also had some of my smoothie. I guess I need to just let her decide....is that ok with a 2.5 year old though? I can't help but feel irresponsible letting my toddler pick and choose her foods and when she eats.

Can you juice lettuce? I keep looking at the lone head in my fridge and wondering about it. I did read a green lemonade recipe that used a head of Romaine but that just seemed weird to me.

[425lisamarie]

What do you put in your green smoothies? I can never get it quite right, and they don't care for them much. This would really be helpful for my DD, who would rather drink all food through a straw!

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by OtherMother'n'Madre

Can you juice lettuce? I keep looking at the lone head in my fridge and wondering about it. I did read a green lemonade recipe that used a head of Romaine but that just seemed weird to me.

Yes, you can. I sometimes juice iceberg lettuce, but I have a Green Star juicer and even then I don't enjoy doing it, but is better than juicing cabbage. For the most part I juice celery, parsley and cucumber/Zuchini with a very little (absolutely max 10%) carrot.

While I am on, I have a couple of questions for those whose kids are 100% or close to it vegan raw. Do you supplement with B-12 if they aren't doing raw dairy? If you let your kiddos graze on tons of fruit and raw veggies, how to you make sure they are getting enough good raw fats? I can't get past young children needing a high raw fat diet. I guess because mine are so skinny I am obsessed with getting lots of raw butter, cream and milk down them. I alwasy try and get them to consume most of their fruit with raw fat because I am concerned with that too much raw fruit eaten without fats, and for vegan rawfoodists this can be coconut cream or avocado, can leech fats from the nervous system which can lead to lesions in the myelin. For growing children still laying down myelin this wouldn't be good IMO. I would also be concerned for their teeth if they were eating lots of fruit.

Originally Posted by firefaery

There are many people in the know that believe our natural diet should be 50% calories from fruit. That's alot of fruit! I know that I have concerns about the cultivated hybridized vs. wild forms, but still I don't think eating alot of it is going to be bad. I don't really limit it in our house.

I can't say I am "in the know", but 50% of my children's calories coming from fruit, no way, that is way too many carbs from fruit alone. Optimally, I would like to see my children getting 25% of daily intake in raw fats.

ETA: my children are not on a 100% raw diet.

[Marlet]

What's food cominbing about?

I've seen it mentioned a lot all of a sudden on the things I've been reading and it seems that most think it's super important. Is it? What are the basics of it?

uccomama that's what I'm worried about! That letting her pick what she wants to eat may equal a lack of important things like fats and what not. I know she'll eat all of it but I'd rather not worry everytime she ate something about whether or not she needed something else yk?

[Mirzam]

Oh I completely forgot, I wanted to tell you all about the healing power of raw foods! My 10 yo DD came down with a sore throat (probably step as it is going around DS's school) on Thursday night. By Friday morning she had a very painful throat, a slight fever and headache. I gave her my favorite raw food throat remedy: warm mineral water with the juice of a lemon, apple cider vinegar and lots of raw, unheated honey, she didn't like it but drank it! For the rest of the day and half of Saturday she only ate raw foods, we did our regualr vitamin C drink, the juice of 2 to 3 oranges blended with a raw egg and raw honey, and smoothies, a little fruit, in this case mango, with raw goat milk kefir, raw cream (I mixed goat and cow milk!), a raw egg, raw butter and raw honey. Throughout the day she had spoonfuls of raw unheated honey and another vitamin C boost before bed. She was completely better by Saturday evening. No antibiotics needed!

[Mirzam]

My last post as I need to get off this computer and go juice a ton of veggies.

Re Food combining, OtherMother'n'Madre, I don't think I can help from a veg*n raw food perspective. In my case, we always combine fruit with raw fats, cream, butter, raw (unsalted) cheese, homemade coconut cream or avocado, reason as per my post above. I also never eat raw meat or dairy within 45 minutes of drinking raw green veggie juice. As you guys don't eat raw meat, you probably don't need to know why!

[Marlet]

I want to know! I'm curious thats for sure. You can pm if it's not veg*n friendly.

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by OtherMother'n'Madre

I want to know! I'm curious thats for sure. You can pm if it's not veg*n friendly.

I just didn't want to clog up the thread with info that wasn't necessarily of interest to the majority of posters! The reason I don't combine veggie juices with other foods is that juices are alkalinizing and require an alkaline digestive environment for proper digestion. Meat, eggs, milk, cheese, nuts and seeds require an acidic digestive environment for proper digestion. However, raw butter, raw cream and unheated coconut cream are neutral and may be eaten with either acidic or alkaline foods. Bland fruit like tomatoes and avocado are not vegetables so may be eaten with either acidic or alkaline foods. Raw milk needs an acidic digestive environment for proper digestion, so I don't drink it within an hour before or after drinking veggie juice.

ETA: I am talking about all raw foods here.

Adding more to this post:

I thought it might be helpful to put the above in a veg*n context, this is based on info I have learned concerning food combining and non-animal raw foods. I only eat very small amounts of whole veggies, more as flavoring to meat/fish dishes, however, whole veggies should not be eaten sooner than one hour after any other food. As veggies move through the intestines slowly, any acidic foods consumed will catch up with the veggies and interfere with digestion, so in that case no other food should be eaten within 5 hours after eating a salad. If I ever eat a salad, it will be the last thing I eat at night, so I have plenty of time to digest it.

With regard to fruits, with the Primal Diet, it is advised not to eat alkaline fruits such as bananas, peaches and figs more than once a day. They should always be eaten with coconut cream or avocado.

Now, I am sure the above info isn't the same as the advice given to veg*n raw foodists.

[Panserbjorne]

Just quick....my kids aren't vegan at this point. We had/have too much gut damage in our lives for me to be comfortable with that. They were in the past, but are not now. However, regardless in their smoothies they get coconut oil and nut butters in copious amounts. They also do eggs which contain fat. We have a ton of avocados and olives in our lives too. I don't feed them a low fat diet.

I am not "in the know" either, but I read alot. Several people that are reputable as far as I'm concerned say that a high fruit diet is essential for kiddos. Because my kids eat a wide variety of foods I really don't worry. They do eat their greens (alot of them!) and get fats. Dd has issues with myelinization as she had an autoimmune disease. IT is nothing to mess with. She got HIGH doses of cod liver oil starting very early on to combat it. Of course breastmilk helped as well!

We take supplemental B-12 in our house even though they eat eggs. IT's as much of an issue for meat eater as veggies so better safe than sorry. Not as much of an issue for raw omnis however-do you supplement? I wouldn't think you'd need to.

Uccomama: 50% of calories from fruit doesn't preclude a high fat diet. You can absolutely still do 25-35% of calories from fat and still get tons of greens as they are so low cal. A pound of greens doesn't amount to much calorically speaking. I don't advocate a fruitarian diet by any stretch...but in the breakdowns I have seen this is acceptable.

Yay for your kiddo! MY kids have never had antibiotics and I love that!

More to say...I'll be back later. Thanks for staying with us, Uccomama. I love seeing different perspectives. I jsut tried out a new way to eat raw to test a couple theories...I'll break it down after kiddos go to sleep.