100 Day Raw Challenge: Day 1

Of course today I'm psyched. Anything new is exciting for me. It's when things start getting normal and food starts being repetitive that I need encouragement. But today, day one, I'm really excited to take this raw journey. It's right after the Thanksgiving gluttonous days and I'm ready to start feeling healthy again. All day yesterday I had a headache. I never have headaches. Of course I attributed it to eating too much meat. I really don't have much self control at all! And I'm pmsing. Sorry if this it TMI. I just have to be honest in this journey. I hope to lose some holiday weight instead of gain some, which I know I have just from these past few days. But I want my main focus to be on health, vitality and feeling my best, because honestly I feel tired and yucky. That's just the best way to put it. I had half a parsemon for breakfast and some grapes. I wasn't satisfied with either of them so I stopped eating. I just don't want to eat anything I'm not satisfied with because I know that will discourage me. Better to eat nothing and find something else that will satisfy me than to eat something raw that is not appealing at all and get discouraged from eating raw altogether. It really is a challenge for me to find things I really find tasty raw, that compete with cooked food. But I know I'm lazy in making recipes, finding all the strange ingredients at the health food store. But i hope this time will be different.

Robyn is also starting day one today on raw again. We are going to try to encourage each other when we feel like going off raw. Now I wish I didn't sell my dehydrator on craigslist. Grrrr...

spaghetti

julienne zucchini
blend sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, fresh oregano and mix with zucchini. Top with grated raw cheese and nutritional yeast and black olives. can also add fresh grape tomatoes

tamarind candy

plastic packed raw tamarind. (asian section)
mix with sucanat or turbino sugar

raw pancakes

Blend all dry ingredients first until made into powder:
2 cups golden flax seed
1/2 tsp salt

add and blend:
1/2 cup agave
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp cocunut oil


flatten and make into the shape of pancakes. put extra agave on top for syrup.

Favorite Salad

SOOOOOO good. Even my die hard cooked food fan brother inhaled it.

romaine lettuce
organic cherry tomatoes (they're sweeter!) but in half
pepperchinis
montago raw cheese
black olives
himalayan or celtic sea salt
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
nutritional yeast

Mix all ingredients. a few dashes of salt. Maybe 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. go heavy on the nutritional yeast. sprinkle it last.

Raw Muesli

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 apple, diced as small as possible (food processor works well)

1 pear, diced as small as possible

1/2 cup craisins

1/2 cup raw soaked almonds (that's 1/2 cup before soaking)

3 tbsp honey

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix everything together; chill for a couple of hours so the fruit juice can work into oats. Enjoy!

jacki's accidental fruit salad

1/4 of a fresh raw pineapple, chopped small
1 apple, chopped small
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

tastes like baklava

1 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup honey
10 pitted dates
juice of a lemon

Spinach and Fruit salad

Spinach-fruit salad (serves 2)

4 cups raw spinach
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup red grapes -- halved
2 kiwi fruit
1/2 cup almonds, pecans, or walnuts

Mix dressing in a small bowl and then pour over salad.

dressing:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp dill

Taco Salad Rice (makes 2 large servings)

4 oz black wild rice, soaked for 2 days
8 leaves of green leaf lettuce, shredded
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
20 medium olives, sliced
1 avocado, chopped
1/4 cup diced onion
2 Tbsp taco seasoning

granola

In a blender or food processor, chop until crumbly:
1/2 cup raw soaked almonds
2 Tbsp any dried fruit you like
2 Tbsp any other nuts you like
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Dump that into your cereal bowl. Stir in:
2 Tbsp rolled oats
1/2 cup almond milk (I actually used 1 cup, but I had a BIG cereal bowl)
a drizzle of honey
any fresh fruit (optional, but how could you have breakfast without fresh fruit?)

Pineapple-Cucumber Gazpacho (serves about 5)

Pineapple-Cucumber Gazpacho (serves about 5)

Blend until smooth:
3 cups chopped and peeled cucumber
3 cups chopped pineapple
1 cup pineapple juice
1 small jalapeno, seeded and diced (I omited this, and it was fine)
1 green onion (the white part and 1 inch of the green part), chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tsp sea salt

Dump that into a large serving bowl. Then pulse chop until chucky:
1 cup pineapple
1 cup cucumber
1 handful fresh cilantro
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

Mix those together in the serving bowl. Just before serving, divide evenly and add to each soup bowl:
2 Tbsp madademia nuts or cashews
a small drizzle of olive oil

Jacki's coconut banana pie

I mashed up 2 bananas, about 1/2 cup shredded coconut, some lemon juice and honey, then spread it out over the crust and sliced up another banana to decorate the top. I also chilled the pie for a couple of hours so it would hold its shape better.

use crust from fig berry tart

collard greens wrap

2 avocados
4 roma tomatoes or 2 regular ones
a big handful of chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp salt
collard greens

mock spagetti (serves 2)

use a vegetable peeler to strip an ordinary summer squash into "noodles." Mix in:
2 Tbsp olive oil
10 large cherry tomatoes, quartered
10 mushrooms, diced
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp sea salt

Watermelon Gazpacho (serves 4 or 5) by Kenney and Melngailis

3 cups watermelon, seeded and pureed in a blender
1 cup seeded watermelon, diced small (next time I will use 2 cups; I like my gazpacho more sweet than spicy)
1 cup seeded tomato, diced small
1 cup peeled, seeded cucumber, diced small
1/2 cup red or green bell pepper, diced small
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 small handful cilantro leaves
1 tsp ginger
1/2 small jalapeno, seeded and minced (next time I will omit this; my inlaws have a low tolerance for spicy)
1 green onion, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Stir all ingredients in a large bowl and serve thoroughly chilled.

Guacamole

in a blender or food processor, blend until smooth:

2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted

1 tomato

2 Tbsp diced red onion

2 Tbsp cilantro leaves

juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp sea salt, or more to taste

Fig and Berry Tart

For Crust:
Blend (in a blender)
2 cups dried figs
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
Remove and mix in a bowl with1 1/2 cups chpped pecans (set aside)
Spray pie pan with olive oil and add 2 tbsp honey to coat bottom
Add fig mixture to bottom of pan and flatten

For Filling:
(mix in a bowl) 3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp orange juice concentrate
2 cups thawed frozen mixed berries
2 tbsp tahini

Spread filling over fig crust

For Topping: 3 Cups sliced strawberries

Cocoa Clusters

1 cup pecans
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup hazelnut butter
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Mix together in a bowl
Roll into balls (oil hands first using the oil that sits on top of the hazelnut butter)
Freeze for 30 minutes

Makes 10 balls

Wil Rice Pilaf

Wild Rice Pilaf

2 cupsLong grain black rice (must be blended first, soaked 2-3 hours, sprouted 4 days)
1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
1 tsp pinto bean seasoning
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup chopped black olives
Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients and set on lettuce leaves
serve with a side of sliced avocado with salt
and cucumber slices with lemon and salt