Raw Festivities (Nov./Dec. thread!)

[Marlet]

I figure we should start a new thread since October is over. Is it ok with everyone that I combined this month and next month? Since both months are heavily centered on food it would be good to just do two in one.

We are doing Thanksgiving at my sisters house this year. They (her and her family) were vegetarian but they since gone back to eating meat. Not hardcore omnis by any means but still omni. We were going over the menu the other day and a good portion of it is off limits to us just as vegetarians. I suppose we could be lax and eat something that has gelatin in it but we don't want to. Since we aren't full raw yet we have no problem eating something cooked (unless we manage to make it totally raw which is our goal). I am bringing a raw salad (the saucy salad in my blog) but that's all. She doesn't really want me to bring anything else (mostly because we live 3 hours away and we don't want food to melt/wilt etc.). She also doesn't know we are making the switch. I have avoided telling her mostly because when we've talked about it in the past she had only negative things to say. Maybe later when we've gotten the hang of it and have a wide variety of "recipes" to show off and can share more than "uhh because" as our reason.

I'm having to start an elimnation diet as well. I guess that will just spur me to be more onn track regarding raw. It seems to be egg, dairy (which I've suspected since she was born), and grains (not sure which since it was a multi grain item). All things that are easy to avoid being raw yk?

I've been living on a cucumber, tomato, avocado salad these last couple days. I just chop them all up, add some salt, and then our dressing (oil, vinegar, pepper, chives, basil, and thyme). Mix it up and mmmm. It's a variation of my MIL's cucumber tomato salad and it's soo tasty! I've had it everyday, multiple times, for the last three days. I think I've used up 5 or 6 avocados by this point. Needing fat maybe?

So what is everyone contributing to holiday meals?

[witch's mom]

Thanks for starting the new thread. I've been wondering how to handle Thanksgiving and Christmas. We're not all raw--I'm about 80/20 strict vegetarian and the rest of the family is somewhere south of that, right on down to DD1 who won't eat ANYTHING raw or vegetable-ish. (That's another story entirely.)

I'm not telling anyone what I'm doing. I haven't even really told DH. He's eating what I put in front of him at dinnertime and he's supportive of getting healthy, but if I were to spell out exactly what I'm doing, he'd roll his eyes and accuse me of being some kind of zealot. I don't want to apply a label to myself or draw a lot of attention to myself with this, especially while I'm in the new stages and might need to adjust some things for detox purposes.

Both holidays will be laden with SAD foods, but there will be salad and raw veggies. My goal at this point is to just bring/eat lots of salad and raw veggies and to try and food combine the best I can with the rest of it. I'm hoping I can slip by with my plate going relatively unnoticed.

One problem is that I'm hosting Christmas Eve, and people will expect a SAD meal. Since my goal this year is to just survive the holidays without falling way off raw/food combining, I'm not eager to make any statements. But there will be a HUGE salad on the table that evening, for sure. Just not sure what else yet.

Anyone have the guts to throw a raw holiday meal for the SAD eaters?

[mama kate]

We are getting ready to take the plunge (well me & DD at least) & do 75% raw. I picked up a juicer yesterday. I need to hit the store to pick up stuff for green lemonade.

Any milk alternatives for DD - I am struggling with this as well as the fact that a lot of things call for almond/almond milk & she's allergic to almonds. I'm hoping by adding more juicing/smoothies will curb her desire.

Any great yummy (easy) recipes are appreciated!!

[callmemama]

Originally Posted by mama kate

Any milk alternatives for DD - I am struggling with this as well as the fact that a lot of things call for almond/almond milk & she's allergic to almonds.

I make cashew milk for ds. Toss 3/4 cup of cashews in the blender then fill with water to about the 4 cup mark (adjust to taste). You can drizzle with some type of sweetener if you want. Then I store it in a couple of mason jars in the fridge. You need to shake it before using.

[Panserbjorne]

Are her allergies only to almonds? You can make "milk" from any nut or seed. You can do hazelnut, hemp, sesame, pecan...whatever you want! They are all tasty.

We don't drink "milk" in our house but I do occasionally use them as the base for our smoothies. Yesterday I made a "pumpkin" shake that was about 3 cups carrot juice, one cup walnuts and pumpkin pie spiced blended. THen I added frozen chopped bananas and blended those into it. They were gone in under 5 minutes...very festive! They were also packed with nutrients.

There are many yummy combinations you can come up with...keep playing!

We will NOT be doing a raw holiday-LOL. But as usual I will bring about 4 raw dishes both christmas eve and christmas day. On thanksgiving I make an entire meal and bring it with us. I make a vegan stuffing that is grain free and EVERYONE loves it. I think it would be easy to made raw so I'm experimenting.

Witch's mom-haven't gotten my Omega yet! The tracking says it's due on tuesday. I'll let you know. What I would recommend is that you can make several SAD dishes because people may well be looking forward to them. Just make several raw ones too. Salads, veggie side dishes and desserts are so easy to slip into SAD eater's lives. In fact, almost every time I do this everyone asks for recipes. It's something!

[mama kate]

Thanks for the milk tips - When her allergies were tested almost 2 years ago -it just came up as an almond allergy but I was cautioned to stay away from other tree nuts - we've had some here & there without any issues so I guess all we can do is try - her reactions aren't severe. rashing thats about it.


Since I am new to this - as in I have my grocery list all ready to head to whole foods today to stock up - what is your typical day food wise? do you mainly do smoothies or just fruits/veggies?
I am sort of following the raw food detox book. I have a bunch more on hold at the library. This week I was planning on implementing it mainly breakfast/lunch/snacks - dinner I will probably do a bit cooked but am trying to make it mainly organic & keep chicken consumption at a bare minimum.(I do have to say the more reading up I am doing I will be completely meat free soon!)

I am going to make the green lemonade
plus got a bunch of great ideas for lunch since I am a bit more of a "picker" throughout the day anyway.

Has anyone tried the liquid gold from that book. I am hoping it will work on salads & sandwichs & wraps since I don't want to make too many things. My goal is to be at 80% raw by the beginning of the year.


I hope you all don't mind all the question!

[witch's mom]

Yes, I made the Liquid Gold. Mine did not come out thick enough for to be a sandwich spread. It's barely thick enough to be a salad dressing. But it tastes good.

I'm relatively new to raw, striving for 80/20, after several years of transitioning from SAD to vegetarian to strict vegetarian. In Natalia Rose's book, I'm a Level 3--almost a Level 2 (score 8). Here's what I've been eating in a day:

Morning
•Smoothie with fruit/greens. Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, banana, greens (kale, spinach, turnip tops, beet tops, bok choy, cucumber), hemp protein powder, green vibrance powder, flax seeds, a little water to make the Vitamix go. Sometimes I add other fruits like grapefruit or grapes. Kinda depends on what's in the house. This makes about three cups of smoothie, which I drink in stages as I get hungry. I'm not sure how it stacks up food combination-wise (I'm banking on food combo rules going out the window when things are blended), but it works for me.
•More fruit if I get hungry--apples, grapes, pears, whatever's on hand.

Lunch
•Huge salad with lettuce and sprouts and any number of other toppings, including avocadoes, tomatoes, onions, radishes, cucumbers, carrots, olives, raw broccoli
•A cooked side--some examples: soba noodles and veggie broth; a bean and avocado burrito on sprouted grain tortilla; a bowl of lentil/vegetable soup; bowl of steamed tofu; avocado/tomato/onion/lettuce/mustard sandwich on sprouted grain roll

Mid-afternoon snack
•Yerba mate tea
•Larabar, 71% chocolate or dishful of nuts and dried fruit

Dinner
•Huge salad with lettuce and sprouts and a bunch of different topics from lunchtime's salad.
•A cooked side--usually heavier duty than lunch sides. Last night, for example, I had a huge bowl of soba noodles and steamed broccoli. Night before last, it was a couple cups of butternut squash, potatoes and turnips roasted with garlic and olive oil.

I hope this helps. I'd love to see what others are eating.

[callmemama]

Originally Posted by firefaery

I make a vegan stuffing that is grain free and EVERYONE loves it.

I would LOVE your recipe if you're willing to share!

[Marlet]

I don't really have meals or any sort of format. We just eat as we go. Right now I'm eating that salad I mentioned above two or three times a day. I've been craving green juices but have been too lazy to make any. On a good day though we'll have one or two juices (with something green in at least one), some fruit, nuts (though I have been eating less since I was gaining weight ), and a salad of some sort. That tends to keep me and DD1 happy.

[Village Mama]

Subbing!
I have been about 90 percent raw for about three weeks or so. I ate a couple of cooked meals over the past few days and got gut aches and mucousy. I am craving raw like crazy when I am not eating it!
Today I had a dehydrated banana finger and a glass of carrot juice. I made nori sandwich rolls for lunch with a ground nut and seed pate as the base. I put cucumber, red pepper, carrot, scallions, sprouts and non veggie... but some raw cheese in there too. Super yummy. Tonight will be some sort of rollup in romaine leaves... I am thinking some sort of seasoned cumin chili powder, nut or sprouted bean mix... maxbe some pine nut " cheese sauce" and some spicy fresh cut salsa. I think I am going to need some sort of green smoothie in the meantime after spending a couple of hours in the garden with the pick axe ( and the day is super long with daylight savings!)

[callmemama]

I liked what someone said about not announcing their raw intentions, and when I was trying this before, I got so frustrated with attempting "gourmet raw". So this morning for breakfast (the whole family ended up wanting some), I tossed in the food processor: apples, walnuts, flax seeds, sesame seeds, raisins, dried apricots and a little cinnamon. I think I read that spices aren't raw, but I think the dried fruits are, right?

[Panserbjorne]

Reason 5,672 that I won't ever be 100% You can't know if dried fruits are raw unless you get them from a reputable source that states they are raw, or unless you do it yourself.

In the raw food world as far as I've seen people don't sweat it too much. There are the more...dedicated folks that would caution against using dried fruits because you can't be sure if they are raw. I'm not that...dedicated.

[maryeb]

Mmmm, that breakfast sounds good! I made a granola of apple, gojis, raisens, buckwheat, sesame seed, almond, and cinnamon last night. It's yummy.

We don't do a lot of recipes, but I do enjoy playing around with them. Simple is good for us. Yesterday we started off the morning with a gs: mixed berries and collards. Later had almond milk with maca, lucuma, carob, cacao, and sweetner. We don't do set meal times either, just grase a lot. In the afternoon we had green smoothies of kale, celery, orange juice, and pineapple. My sister had a shake with strawberries, hemp milk, dates, and agave. It was awesome. Flax crackers and guac were eaten in the evening as well as some seed beans and celery.

Last week I made the blueberry pie from Naked Chocolate. It was sooo good!!! I highly recommend it if you have the book. If anyone is interested I'll post the recipe with my modifications.

[callmemama]

I think I live in the wrong part of the world to eat raw ... organic avocados are going for $2.49 ... EACH! I ate a ton of them a few months ago when they were going for "only" $.99.

[callmemama]

Originally Posted by firefaery

Reason 5,672 that I won't ever be 100%...

LOL! Thanks firefaery!

I juiced today for the first time in ages! Cabbage, celery, carrots, lemon. It was pretty tasty - ds even had some. It was my lunch. I'm cooking tonight, but I consider this day 1 of trying to be "more raw" ... again! I think it will make the whole vegan/gf thing much easier?

[Panserbjorne]

It's how I found it. I was vegan, gf, soy free, legume free, grain free (all grains!) and free of some nuts and seeds too. This was the easiest diet for me.

[Village Mama]

We have been gluten free for a couple of years now, and I don't tolerate any grains. I actually got into raw foods initially to make " breads" and treats that I could eat.

[MerelyGod]

Well my dad was here for a week and I got totally off track. Now I feel like I am starting all over again (which really isn't bad, because I wasn't very far along! ). Anyway, I feel predictably crappy. Seriously, as bad as I feel after eating so much cooked food, wouldn't you think it would be REALLY EASY to stick to raw? Not so.

I'm not sure what to do over the holidays. I usually do a small Thanksgiving just for us and my father, so that's easy enough! I will probably cook something, but also make sure there are some raw dishes (I didn't do any uncooking this time, but my dad will definitely try things out).

December is trickier though! I've been a lacto-vegetarian for years, but actually very, very little dairy (my stomach is sensitive), and I always find it a little difficult to eat well over the holidays. There is too little "real" food that is suitable so I end up filling in with snacks and sweets. On the other hand, I have noticed that I'm really not as hungry when I'm eating raw foods, so maybe if I'm doing raw over Christmas, I won't feel so tempted to snack. I'm very lucky though, because we spend Christmas with my MIL who is super accommodating when it comes to food. I can e-mail her a list ahead of time and she will make sure there are plenty of fresh fruits and veggies I like. I can even bring my juicer along (which is just a small cheap-o one, so no worries if anything gets lost... think I could sneak an Omega on to my grocery list? .

[calynde]

Time to revive our poor little holiday thread!

I've been so busy the past week....my little one turned 5!!! It's so hard to believe. Man. Anyway, we had a big party for him on Sunday...just with family, but there was so much preparation. And because this is Europe, it can never be *just* a kid's party...one must offer proper food. The last little kids party we were invited to was a 3 course lunch, involving wine and hours at the table. It's incredible. :

Back to the holidays...

Because we don't have any food allergies or any health problems, I must say we take a pretty relaxed view of holiday food...being once a year and all. Again, we aren't in the States and people here are good about avoiding excess. We definitely skip the meat, though!

We treat ourselves to special raw things that we don't normally get: raw chocolate truffles and gojis for example. Some excellent mexican style raw crackers. I make a raw version of a traditional Swiss Christmas cookie which everyone loves...things like that. We make sure to bring a large salad to the big family dinner and then we eat small portions of the sides: maybe potatoes and green beans or whatever. Usually this works for us and we all leave feeling fine...and if not, then I suppose it makes us even more motivated to get back to the live stuff.

And ds isn't raw, but veg and I am insane about making everything for him from scratch. There is so much going on at the moment, his birthday celebration at his playgroup is tomorrow, Martinsmas dinner and parade, expat thanksgiving, and then St. Nicholas' Day...advent, etc. Every one of these requires cake of some sort...it's nuts!

[Panserbjorne]

Wow. Can I come????? Man, my ds turns 5 in just under 3 weeks. I haven't even thought about it yet. Maybe you should come here...

My juicer arrived! I am in LOVE. I am shocked at what a difference there is! I had me some juice this morning and even dh commented on the difference. Witch's mom-anything yet? I must know what you think!