Recipe: breakfast cake

I do have a little tasty treat to report, courtesy of Ani Phyo... Breakfast cake!

It's kinda like pancakes with maple syrup...

2 cups ground flax seed
1/2 cup raw agave syrup (or maple syrup)
1/2 TSP sea salt
2 TSP coconut flavoring/oil
1/2 cup water

Process in food processor. Top with maple syrup if you so choose -maple syrup is considered a "borderline" item like honey. Strict raw foodists don't use it, but lots do.

It's tasty and sweet and wow - the flax seeds really get the 'ole colon working hard!!

One day to go...

Tomorrow is the last full day of the diet, but I'll refrain from eating anything off of it until Friday night - partly to make up for having those noodles when I was sick and partly to have a real "Friday night date night" with Kirky. We haven't had one in a long time, and we're totally due for one.

I'm craving a fabulous filet something fierce!! I can't believe we're almost there!!!

One week to go

So we're in the final stretch. I don't feel like I have much to report. I'm feeling better, but still hacking and coughing all of the time. I'll take that over the fevers anyday. My appetite is pretty much back to normal. Diet has remained the same - Either juice or soaked buckwheat for breakfast, a salad or tomatoes and 1/2 an avocado for lunch, dinner is usually the same as lunch. I've become a huge fan of cherry tomatoes with just a little EVOO, a little salt & pepper, and some shredded basil. TASTY! Sure, it would be better with some fresh mozzarella, but in the meantime it still makes for a tasty treat.

My total weight loss to date is about 10 lbs with the help of my weekend illness and I'm officially back at my Miss Ohio competition weight. I'm curious how long I can remain there when we make our forage back into "normal food" territory. In some ways I'm looking forward to this being over, but in many ways I don't want it to be. I like eating right, I like focusing on health, and I like having something like this to do with Kirk.

A minor setback, Day 20

So I've been pretty darn sick since Friday night, fevered, dizzy, with no appetite. Sunday Kirk ventured out, bought a thermometer and we discovered my temperature was 103. So we headed to stat care (closed), then the ER. Turns out I just have a nasty virus so they gave me a power dose of motrin to break my fever and sent us on our merry little way.

I hadn't eaten since breakfast Saturday morning and this was Sunday night around 8:00, so I decided to break the diet for a meal to get my strength back up. I thought the most effective and non-upsetting thing would be to have some whole grain noodles. This turned out to be a mistake on several levels. First, they tasted awful and secondly a few hours later I had awful acid reflux, stomach cramps, and nausea. I got up around 1:30 a.m., threw up a little, and sat up watching TV until around 6:00 a.m.

So I'm back on the diet today and intend to add an extra day onto the end to make up for yesterday's breach.

Day 18

I am sick. Sick, sick, sick, sick, sick. Like fevered, dizzy, delirious, shivering, sweating sick. I had to work today anyway--Boo. But what can you do? People still need to get their married on. Let's hope this ends soon.

Day 16

We're officially over the 1/2 way point! It's all downhill from here, right? I really do feel differently that it's really a count-down now, vs. just counting up to the 1/2 way point.

The cold that has possessed me since Saturday is now starting to release its icy cold grip from my soul. I appreciate this. I know you're supposed to "feed a cold" but quite frankly the only thing I could really feed it was fruits, vegetables and vitamins. So I guess that's not really a bad thing.

Yesterday I had my cereal concoction for breakfast, leftover zucchini "fettucini alfredo" for lunch, and a salad and more cereal for dinner. I would post the fettucini recipe, but it wasn't bad, but it just wasn't anything worth retyping. It's from Ani Phyo.

Observations continue:
It is easier and more satisfying to just eat big salads and fresh fruit than to try to process them into something else. I've tried because it's what I thought I was supposed to be doing, but I really do feel nourished by a great big salad of spinach, some cranberries, almonds, and dressing. I think that is the best word to use--nourished. I see pizza commercials on TV and I can FEEL the joy of eating all of that oozing cheese, but those are just fleeting moments.

I do understand why people would want to eat only this type of food. It makes you feel healthy. Sure, it doesn't have that instant gratification of a big juicy steak or oozing cheese, but it does have a wonderful benefit. But am I going to turn raw vegan? I think not. But I do think that this little experiment gave me a newfound respect for those who do, plus it has reignited my love for fruits and veggies. It makes me want to incorporate more of this food into my diet. It really is food that feels good the entire time your body processes it.

Now would I recommend this diet to others? A difficult question to answer. The simple answer is that if you really want to try it for your health, I would recommend it to you. You will feel better, you will learn and understand a lot about fresh food. You will learn a lot about modern conveniences and decide if processed food is good for you or not (the answer will probably be no! I think even when I eat the dried fruits that I have which have additives, I can feel a difference in how I feel!)

But if you're interested in doing something like this just to lose weight and go on a regular "deprived diet," this is definitely the wrong diet for you. This isn't about deprivation. You should eat until you feel full and nourished and you should spend the extra money to buy the best products you can to give you the best vitamins, enzymes, etc that you can.

Now for the daily menu:
I had a HUGE bowl of buckwheat grout "cereal" this morning with a banana cinnamon mylk from Ani Phyo:
3 bananas
1 tsp cinnamon
4 cups water
1/2-3/4 cups soaked cashews
Blend until milky.

This is NOT as good as the almond vanilla mylk that I made yesterday, but it's still good. I didn't want to make almond vanilla two days in a row because it is rather sweet. Ani's recipe on the buckwheat cereal was to soak it overnight, then dehydrate, then use it like a regular cereal. I think it's better to soak it overnight, drain it in the a.m., rinse, and then top with mylk and eat immediately. It's less crunchy, but it does get all up in your teeth.

Lunch is a big leafy salad with almonds and cranberries. I bought some delicious looking organic pears yesterday which I wish I would have brought with me today--they looked divine! I can't wait to go home and eat one! YUM!

Side FYI - Tonight we start ballroom dance lessons with mom and Harvey at the community center. We'll be learning the foxtrot and the cha-cha! I'm excited to get out and do something and have a regular night of the week appointment!

Day 14... a new winning recipe!

YAY for Ani Phyo! She has come to save the day!

This morning I tried her breakfast recipe and I'm thrilled:
Soak raw buckwheat grouts overnight (you're supposed to put them into a food dehydrator after you soak them so that you can keep this "cereal" for a couple of months, but I wanted to eat mine this morning, so I just rinsed and it was ready to go!)

Then I made her vanilla mylk
1/4 cup soaked almonds
1/4 cup pitted dates
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean)
pinch of sea salt
2 cups water

Blend. Stays for 2 days in fridge and is YUMMY over the buckwheat crispies cereal!

YAHOO!! easy breakfast!!

Brava, Ani Phyo! Brava!

Day 13 closes...

So day 13 has come and is (almost) gone. Almost to the 1/2 way point! For some reason I had convinced myself that day 14 was 1/2 way (as in two weeks down, two to go)... DUH!

So Friday I felt a cold coming on, Saturday it got stronger, Sunday I was full-blown sicky-poo and had a bridal show to work which made things just totally spectacular for me. I'm sure I made a great impression on people, running behind my big framed poster to blow my nose in between greeting brides. I'm awesome like that.

Today I'm worse and as the evening progresses, I'm fairly convinced that an ear infection is beginning. Again - I am awesome.

Now the big question is - Do I think it's the diet? My answer is no. DearAdam has the same cold and he's not on the diet and we hang out all of the time and just about everyone I know has had some killer cold that I've been avoiding thus far, so I guess it's just my turn. I'm just hoping that I can kick it soon without a doctor's trip. We've switched insurance programs since my last trip to the dr and I'm not sure my old one will be covered. And when you're sick isn't exactly time to shop for a new doctor. They can't deal with the issue at hand without having you download your life story. Ugh.

On to today's meals, though... You know, the really fun stuff that you come here for. Riiiiight? LOL...

Breakfast:
I was feeling awfully sick and craving some mac n' cheese or chicken noodle soup to soothe me, so I went all balls to the wall and had dessert for breakfast because I knew it would satisfy me. I made myself a little apple crisp again. It improved my mood drastically!

I snacked on a few dried fruits while watching some white trash TV... Have you seen this show called Temptation? (I'm sure you haven't unless you're jobless Wa-tra) but it's a dumb show for shopaholics where you answer the dumbest questions and then the show encourages you ("yes you! watching at home right now!") to shop on the way in/out of commercial break. I think they spent more time on their product promotions than on trivia. Seriously I think they only asked about 3 minutes of timed trivia during the entire show. See? Total crap. But I wasted 1/2 hour of my life watching it. 1/2 hour that I could have spent soaking buckwheat grouts or pureeing flax seeds. This is what my life has come to.

Lunch was a delicious spinach salad with cranberries and almonds. I had almost forgotten (until this diet) how much I love fresh spinach. I got a big @ss bag in Amish Country last Monday for $1.99 and it's lasted all week. It's still fresh and lovely and we still have a ton left.

I went grocery shopping which was an interesting experience. I found myself judging what other people had in their carts, something I never thought I would find myself doing. I spent forever in the produce section, collecting all of the goodness that we require and when I had to jump through a few aisles to find the proper paper products, etc and I saw people loading their carts with garbage (for some reason a customer collecting an obscene amount of chef boyardee and various other unhealthy canned meals)... I just felt a little self-righteous. And I shouldn't--this is just a 30 day diet and I've had my fair share of McNuggets in my life. I'm not vegan, I don't intend to be and also I know that if I could have, I would have totally slammed on nacho cheese Doritos today. But jazzed up on my cart of produce goodness, I felt like a better person.

Here's the grocery list:
1 eggplant
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1 zucchini
1 squash
2 avocado
1 mango
2 pkg. dates
1 HUGE box mixed spring greens
1 HUGE pkg cherry tomatoes
1 bag oranges
1 lime
2 lemons
basil
alfalfa sprouts
3 jugs of juice (this has to be pasturized, so it's techincally cheating but it's the freshest, no additives juice that I've ever had)
1 califlour
soy sauce
4-5 lbs bananas
1 cucumber
2 pkg mushrooms
2 portobella caps
6 McIntosh apples

I'm forgetting a couple of times, but my Giant Eagle bill ended up coming to liek $65 and then I spent a couple of dollars at Mr. Bulky's (dried parsley, raw sugar, raw chick peas to make more hummus), and then like $20 at Marc's between extra groceries, birthday cards, etc.

For dinner I had some of the extra pate' from the sushi rolls Kirk made yesterday. I wrapped those in nori with strips of cucumber. Last but not least, I had some cups of juice later in the evening as well.

Lastly it's confession time since I mentioned the juice above and the fact it's technically cheating. It also turns out that the nori sheets that I purchased are actually toasted. I didn't realize it at the time, so techincally I'm a cheater. I'm also not 100% percent sure that the dried fruits that I bought in Amish Country were dried at the proper temperature, but I can't dry fruits daily. So there are a couple of things that aren't 100%, but still... pretty effing close if you ask me. And it's not like I'm cheating and sneaking to have something yummy like ice cream or the Doritos mentioned above. They're still vegan, but might break the rules on how raw/living they actually are. And while I'm confessing, I can't afford to purchase all organic produce. This diet is really super expensive, so I gotta cut corners where I can. Sue me.

So the official "cheat list":
Tea - I will not give it up
Nori sheets - actually toasted
dried fruits - not sure what temp dehydrated. Or they could be oven-dried for all that I know.
juice - pasturized
"raw" almonds - they're now legally required to pasturize them in the US, but they're still sold labeled as "raw." I read it on someone's blog while looking up a recipe and actually called the # on the back of the Giant Eagle package to verify.

I think that's it. So it's not an exciting cheat list, but whatever. I have not eaten any other food item or consumed any beverage that would be considered cheating. We also gave up alcohol this month to detox from that as well, although organic wines are allowed on the raw diet. I only craved any alcohol one night last week after work when I came home stressed out and annoyed. I had a nice cup o' tea and then got over it, though.

Day 11

Yesterday marked the 1/3 point. That is exciting. I like to envision a little measuring up filling up to make myself feel like this is really moving along.

I made fake pasta again last night and I'm eating it for my lunch today as we speak. Turned out just fine, but if we do it again, I will amost totally exclude onions.

Kirk feels like a million dollars and I think he's lost about 6-7 lbs. I'm starting to get a cold, but admittedly I feel less bloated all of the time. Last night my stuffy head kept me awake much of the night. Ick.

So I guess I'll just keep on keepin' on...

My rant

I got a little downtrodden last night. But I don't totally blame the diet - the house is a mess and I think I'm just a little upset that several days of food prep and trying to get ahead of the game so that we're well nourished at a decent hour failed so miserably. The bread and the falafel were the worst, but Kirk didn't like the flax seed crackers or the gazpacho and he thinks the hummus made him sick.

I thought the crackers were OK, just not great. The gazpacho is fine as a side dish, but not a meal. I thought the hummus was pretty dang good.

So tonight we're just going to eat easy food (salads and fruit) and spend the evening cleaning the house to alleviate that stress. I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Ani Phyo cook book. It sounds like she's the Rachael Ray for raw foodists.

I am DUMBFOUNDED by the way that people react to our choice in food. DUMBFOUNDED!! I can't even think of another word to use and all I can do is say it over and over. I'm dumbfounded. I cannot believe that a 30 day choice in food can cause people to break into such an uproar. The taunting, the rude comments, the attempts to negate any of the touted health benefits of it, the shock, acting like we're going to starve to death... I mean seriously people. It's a 30 day diet! People have survived on nothing for longer than that, so let's not get overdramatic. Lord knows I'm the queen (and Kirk's the king) of overdramatics, so if we can hold it together--so can you! I promise!

I hesitated to tell anyone about our diet beforehand because I just didn't feel like hearing any of the crap. But now we're sort of forced to because A) I work in a building that serves food daily and I get it offered to me all of the time B) anyone who sees me with a salad in-hand feels the need to say, "WHAT? DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FAT??" and egg me on until I just say we're on a 30 day vegetarian health kick.

Explaining vegetarian (let alone vegan or raw vegan) is like explaining quantum physics to some peole. I just don't see where anyone gets off commenting on a brief choice to maintain a fresh diet. Brief. 30 days. Not forever. We're not going to starve, we're not going to turn green, we're not going to join PETA. IT WILL BE OK.

Now that I'm typing this all out, it makes me look more angry than I really am. I honestly don't mind the good natured ribbing. Seriously, you CAN call me and ask me if I'd like to join you for a steak. You can eat your own piping fresh hot meal of mashers and chicken in front of me. I'm FINE. But what I do mind is being looked at like I am completely insane, and then this "I know better than you do" look. It's obnoxious. But now I see what vegetarians go through and I can't believe the way that we treat them - like freaks. I don't sit outside a McDonald's and heckle, so let's just not start that argument.

Why is that? Why is it okay to belittle based on making the best food choices one can make for themselves? They didn't say it was right for you; just for them. I have a newfound respect for those that make those choices. God bless ya, because the world is against you.

Raw Falafel Patties Recipe

Raw Vegan Falafel Patties (adjusted from recipe in RAW The Uncookbook):
2-3 cups sprouted garbanzo beans (aka chick peas)
1-2 cups soaked sunflower seeds
2 cups fresh cilantro
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1 TBSP lemon juice
Squeeze of lime juice
Dash of cumin
Dash of curry
1/4 Cup chopped onion
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Nama Shoyu (raw organic soy sauce) or 1 1/2 tea spoons celtic sea salt

Puree in food processor or blender, form into patties and dehydrate overnight (about 8 hours). Outside should form harder crust, but inside should be soft.

We're going to throw these back in the dehydrator tonight for a little while to warm them just a touch (dehydrators typically don't go over 100 degrees) and make falafel wraps.

Day 8

Day 1 is in the books! That is just great news! We're 25% there.

Kirk feels better today, so we're moving forward. I told him that if his signs didn't alleviate today, we were getting him some cooked vegan items to settle his stomach. I picked up vitamins and alka seltzer last night for him and those seemed to help.

No time for breakfast this a.m., but I did pack a nice salad for lunch (I'll just use olive oil and lemon juice for dressing b/c my RAW dressing isn't good anymore), along with some dried fruit, gazpacho, and a little leftover hummus. I think Kirk is just having a salad today and a smoothie for breakfast.

EVENING EDIT:
The falafel is AWFUL. Well, the taste at first is fine, but the aftertaste is DISGUSTING!! I don't know if I sprouted them for too long or what, but the patties just tasted rotten to me. Kirk didn't think they tasted rotten, but he just didn't think they were good.

So it was salad, veggies, and some dried fruit for dinner. Oh well.

Raw Vegan Gazpacho

1 cucumber, sliced into chunks
3 large tomatoes
1/2 pepper - any color but I used green
2 cloves garlic
2 celery stalks
1 tbsp lemon juice
Recipe called for 1/2 onion, but I did less than that because a lot of our recipes had been coming out too onion-y, so I needed to lay off.
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
dash pepper
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp basil
dash cayenne pepper

Blend or food process until smooth and I've heard at work that gazpacho is better on the 2nd day, as the flavors meld together. Serve cold.

I've heard that this is great and refreshing in the summer, but seriously, all I can think is that it's just like eating blended salsa. But whatever. At least it was something new and didn't involve jalapenos.

Day 7

Busy day, so I didn't have much time to report anything.

A little salad for lunch, some flax seed crackers, and some hummus and veggies. I feel fine, Kirk feels like TOTAL CRAP. Something has upset him big time and we're not sure of the culprit.

*PM EDIT*
I had some errands to run after work, so I just had a little gazpacho for dinner that I made last night (not a lot at all. Not even 1/2 bowl) and then noshed on some dried fruits. Kirk went to bed early and I think I'm going to follow shortly.

Tonight marked my first cravings and desire to eat real food. Specifically bread. Bread with cheese. A stromboli would rock my world right now. *sigh*

WEEK 1 IS OVER!!!

Tonight's Apple Crisp recipe

Handful of dates (maybe 1/2 cup?) processed with 1/2 orange's juice until it's a syrup-like consistency. Chop about 1/2 cup of almonds. Slice 2 apples, rub them in the syrup.

Place apples in 2 small bowls and top with chopped almonds. YUM!

Adapted from www.aniphyo.com

Day 6: The Book of Exodus

So this morning was a little rough for the first 10-15 minutes that I was up, so let's hope that my day improves and this type of matter does not continue. I think I scarfed too many dates yesterday. I love dates!!!

Headed to Amish Country for the day with my friend Adam to hit their antique mall, along with some produce and dry goods. Can't beat their prices and it's a nice little day trip. Hopefully I'll be able to score a salad for lunch and maybe I'll either make or pick up a smoothie on the way.

This will be my first attempt to order food in an actual restaurant, so wish me luck!!

**EVENING EDIT**
So I got all stocked up in Amish Country with just about every dry good that a raw vegan could desire, along with lots of produce. I should mention that this diet is effing expensive!! Sheesh!

I had an orange for breakfast and then some dried fruits while shopping. We had lunch in an Amish diner--my only food option was a side salad with tomatoes. BOO!!!

This evening I didn't really eat dinner, but I did make gazpacho for dinner tomorrow and made some raw hummus for dipping. I have another batch of flaxseed crackers dehydrating because my first batch of "Real Toast" I followed the recipe exactly and it was totally inedible. The crackers are SO EFFING PEPPERY that I can't eat them and neither can Kirk. They have peppers, jalapeno, cumin, paprika, and cayenne. They're awful. So I have a quick batch of just flaxseed going and tomorrow I'll have to pick up more wheatberries to sprout (takes 2-3 days!) and then try again, sans peppers. Ugh.

Last night I was surfing youtube videos for raw vegan cooking and found www.aniphyo.com. Ani had this great recipe for raw apple pie. I didn't have enough of all of the ingredients, so I made raw apple crisps tonight. I'm eating mine as I type and can I just say it's effing amazing??? Both Kirk and I had a wee bit of a chocolate craving today (maybe it was starting at the bar of French chocolate from Genevieve and James that we're DYING to bust into!), so I thought I'd try to make some sweets for us.

The Mass Exodus from earlier today did have a smaller repeat when I got home, but I think I'm OK now. I just need to lay off the dates...

Day 5

A.M Report:
Slept OK, but the cats woke me up a handful of times knocking things off of our night stands. Awesome. This a.m. brought a more... shall we say "fulfulling" restroom trip, but still nothing horriffic, painful or dramatic.

I know you totally came here to read about my poop. That's what you all really wanted to know about it. Just admit it.

Oh, and according to my scale this morning, I've lost about 3 lbs or so? Hard to tell without a digital scale.

**Afternoon edit***
The wheatberries have sprouted, so this morning I spent awhile trying to make fake bread. It's in the dehydrator now, so we'll see how it turns out. The "dough" tasted really onion-y.

Lunch was a big salad. I found myself pretty dang testy, but I don't know if that's just because of the huge amount of clutter we have right now with taking down the Christmas decor or if it's diet-related. Since it was the clutter that bothered me the most and I'm not having any cravings, I think the culprit may just be clutter. Or me.

**Evening Edit***
After lunch we did about an hour of gardening since the weather was so warm. We pulled out our entire huge mint patch (I'm sure the effing thing will STILL grow back, no matter how many roots we tried to tear out!) But after that I was exhausted, so I took a really long nap before our family volunteer night at Access Women & Children's homeless shelter.

I didn't really eat much for dinner. Kirk tried an avocado and olive tapanade type meal on lettuce leaves, but it was really not my style. I tried to eat a leftover nutloaf, but after eating it Friday night and all day Saturday I was not in the mood for it--and actually I wasn't very hungry. So I had a handful of dates and some almonds.

We did our volunteering at Access by painting 2 of the bedrooms there and held a Play Dough Bake-off contest with prizes. After that, Kris and his friend Jason held a jamboree. They played guitar and bongos and had a bunch of instruments for the kids and moms, so they all shook along. It was amusing.

Afterwards I had an orange and a big mug of tea--but this time I went with decaf chamomile!

Day 4

So today was normal as well. I had a leftover nutloaf for lunch and one for dinner, along with a small salad with my homemade dressing. Nothing really big to update. I have a weird thigh cramp/knot, but I can't imagine that is related. No stomach issues, no headaches, no tiredness, no cravings or temptations... nothing.

Boring!

*EDIT*
Oh wait.

Last night I had 2 HUGE cups of tea at my mom's watching "Miss America Reality Check" which proved to be a total mistake because I couldn't fall asleep and I kept waking up during the night. It was like my entire evening was spent in that half dreaming/half awake state. I felt OK in the a.m. though.

Two peas in a pod...I think not

I'm super duper excited for Meghan about her lack of shock, lack of uncontrollable urges to dry heave, constant hunger pangs, ability to fall asleep at a descent hour, being able to use her basic motors skills and to have no fits of absolute panic. I hold no animosity towards my wife who has always been able to just hum along and smile even when she's sitting in a rocking chair in the middle of a tornado while trying to balance an egg on her nose. Somethings just don't affect her the way they do others, and if there could be her opposite who fell madly in love with her, that would be me. I don't react to many things the way she does, not at all, if you know me well enough you know I have a slight tendency to over-react. This time its out of my control, this isn't simply mind over matter and a test of will, this is my physical self being taken hostage, thrown into a dark room blind folded and beaten with a sack of quarters.

"Poppycock" shouts the man with the moustache in the back row. He ads "You're exaggerating!" as he guffaws and tries to get the crowd to agree.

"Screw you Mr. Poppycock, I'll murder you with a candlestick in the library if you don't shut your mouth", says I.
Today I was and continue to be a mindless zombie who was too tired and weak to even eat dinner. Mentally I know I can do this, its the physiological thing that has me all topsy turvy.
Thankfully the food we have been eating has tasted really good. This process has made me appreciate the conveniences we take for granted, even if they do come at some health costs.

Day 3

So the one major thing is that it seems that I need a massive amount of more sleep while I'm getting used to this. No hunger pains, no cravings, no feelings of depravation... But by 9:30 pm, I'm ready to fall asleep and I'm dragging myself out of bed (barely!) at 8:30am--and I need to be at work at 9:30. With a 30-35 minute commute. So you see my issue.

This morning I didn't have time to make a smoothie, so I snagged some dehydrated apples and bananas that I made overnight, plus an orange. I discovered that my "cheap pageant diet" of popcorn and oranges has ruined my taste for oranges. I'm totally turned off to them. I think I eat them and think, "I'm poor and on a diet."

Lunch was leftovers from dinner last night (YUM!) and nice romaine and leaf lettuce salad with almonds, alfalfa sprouts, and homemade dressing. I finished everything, but I noticed that it takes me a really long time to eat this type of meal. There's so much chewing involved! Seriously, while I normally wolf down my lunch in about 5-10 minutes, this probably takes me 20+ minutes to eat. I felt full when I was done, but this is the first day that I've actually finished my lunch. Might be because I skipped the smoothie this morning. I have an orange for my afternoon snack.

Tonight I'll be making "meatloaf" which is really a puree of soaked nuts mixed in with spices, onions, peppers, etc. There's also a chili barbecue sauce that goes with it to put on top like you would ketchup. Side dish (this will be our first night with a side dish! Hoorah!) will be a corn stuffing.

***2:00 EDIT***
Hitting an afternoon slump. It seems that I read about bouts of sleepiness, irritability, mood swings, etc while transitioning to a diet like this. I can't tell if this is just my usual afternoon slump coming early today or if it'll stick with me.

**Post dinner edit**
Skipped the idea of the corn stuffing side dish because apparently frozen vegetables aren't a good idea if you're not going to cook them. Our first mistake was at least a cheap one.

I did make a side dish, though. Yams run through a food processor do not taste like rice, no matter what the book tells you. And if you don't like cooked yams you will not like raw ones. Mistake #2... at least this was a cheap one as well.

Had some dates over at mummy's watching "Miss America Reality Check" and two cups of tea... Man, am I glad that I didn't give up tea!

I managed to stay up until midnight, but I think I might have to sleep until noon to make up for it.

Day 2

This morning has been another smoothie and some dehydrated apples and banana chips that I made. I really like the dehydrated fruits! It's nice to have a little crunch instead of feeling like I'm chewing on watery things all day. I can see that getting old fast!

I made salad dressing--and it's delicious! Olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, ginger, soy sauce (then blend it all together) I think it's outstanding! Apparently it's the recipe for house dressing from RAW restaurant.

Lunch: Iceberg salad (YUCK!) from work, plus a pile of veggies (celery, cucumber, califlour, one tomato). I need to remember to bring fresh basil for my tomato tomorrow. Didn't eat all of my veggies, so I finished them off for my afternoon snack. I effing LOVE this salad dressing!!!

I had twinges of a headache this afternoon, but nothing really erupted. I might just be imagining it, though.

Will update later with dinner plans, I think we're doing a fake spaghetti recipe or something like that.

Evening update:
Fake spaghetti was actually pretty tasty! I do wish we were doing this in the summer so that the produce is at its best (and cheapest!) The fake spaghetti was squash, peppers, marinated onions and mushrooms, basil, tomatoes and the fake sauce was a puree of tomatoes, EVOO, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, oregano, rosemary, and soy sauce. The sauce was amazing and it's true when they say that a little bit a jalapeno adds a sense of heat to the dish without the food actually being warm. Kinda neat.

After dinner I snacked on a handful of nuts, some raisins, etc.

I know this sounds crazy, but I actually feel just fine. So far the food is actually good--it's just weird to change your perspective on food and eating. When I see things like brownies or bread at work, it's my usual instinct to reach for them, but I haven't had any cravings yet. I just start to reach, then think, "Oh wait... I can't eat that!" and if I'm actually hungry, I find something to eat.

We are breaking one rule - I'm not sure if I mentioned this before. But I will NOT give up hot tea. We're not drinking any alcohol and Kirk's not drinking any coffee, so I really needed this one thing.

Day 1

Yesterday marked the beginning of our 30 day raw vegan detox. We've been looking forward to this not as a New Year's Resolution or diet to lose weight, but trying a lifestyle change for better health. I've been hearing about this for awhile and we've done some research and decided January would be a good time to give it a shot. So as a test of willpower, culinary creativity, and strength... here goes!

Day 1 - Breakfast was a 1/2 banana/1 orange/handful of raspberries and blueberries smoothie. Next time I'll leave the orange out; it threw off the whole thing with the citrus. Do a whole banana vs. 1/2 of one. Add honey.

For lunch I made a huge salad with sprouts, spinach, veggies, almonds, etc. Olive oil and lemon for dressing with a little salt and pepper. I had some veggies on the side that I couldn't actually finish because I was so full, so I had them as a late afternoon snack because I had to stay at work late.

Kirk made a form of sushi rolls for dinner - seaweed, a nut pate', avocado, green peppers - IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! Simply outstanding!! I mean, I would eat this again when we go back to "normal." He had also tried to make a soup, but didn't have all of the ingredients, so I tried it. It was OK, but the sushi overshadowed it.

After dinner Kirk wanted to try a smoothie, so I did a banana, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and honey smoothie with the proportions I mentioned above. Tasty!!

A few cool things I've noticed right off the bat:
- You can eat all day long if you want. That's kinda fun.
- With something like this, you really have to concentrate on what you CAN eat vs. having tons of rules on what you CAN'T eat. For me, that little change of focus makes it different than going on a diet where you're trying to eat healthy foods you're familiar with vs. learning about new ones and really redefining how you eat, cook, etc. Since you have to change EVERYTHING, I think you're less tempted to cheat.
- We have two recipe books, so we're concentrating on those and learning a lot about various forms of produce, spices and raw seeds that I've never heard of before. So it's an interesting learning experience about food in general.

So Day 1 was good. No cravings, no issues, no hunger... just a normal day. I did, however, get tired around 10:30, so I went to bed!! That never happens!