RawFu Challenge - Day 50

Sunday, 27 September 2009

Pardon the extremely long blog entry. I have just written a sentence or two in my word processing program every day for the past couple weeks, hoping to have time to string them together into a paragraph or two worthy of posting. It’s evident that won’t happen, so this is the awkward compilation of our continued RawFu adventure. It’s going fairly well. The challenges I occasionally have are not so much related to being on a raw food diet, but more just trying to accommodate everyone’s food needs within the confines of our schedule and my energy level. Some days I get a creative whim and come up with some really yummy stuff. Most days, Darren and I eat green smoothies, chia seed “pudding” parfaits, salads, fruit and chopped veggies. The kids eat a lot more salad now, and sample many of our raw creations, too. I supplement them with stir-fries, beans and rice, and gluten-free spaghetti with veggies, gluten-free oatmeal, buckwheaties with hemp milk, and a variety of fairly healthy snacks. I think we’re doing pretty well.

So, here’s a recap of the past ten days…

On Day 40, Flo and I went to Gold’s Gym to try a yoga class. The instructor is Flo’s former kid’s yoga teacher, so we thought we’d try out her class since it’s included in our gym membership. It was nice to see her, and it was relaxing to have an hour of solitude. I’d like to make a habit of going at least once a week.

The next morning, we were up early for our homeschooling co-op. I’d had a couple days where I’ve taken a green smoothie break. It’s not rocket science to make one, but I’m often in a rush, and it’s easier to just grab a couple pieces of fruit on the way out the door. But, this day I did manage to bring along the “green goodness.” That night I got in a nice long walk in the evening with Zofia. Walking isn’t always relaxing with the kids in tow, but tonight Zofia complied, and I enjoyed the exercise and fresh air. Unfortunately, it was followed by a rather restless night of sleep. I had been up late obsessing over how to simplify our overly busy schedule, and I guess that was just too much to think about right before bed time.

Thankfully, the next day was a rather lazy Saturday and we got a quiet interlude in the afternoon while my mom had Flo, Zofia took a nap, and Joe played by himself. We had quite a few butternut squash in the fridge from our co-op, so we decided to make raw butternut squash soup. We didn't really follow a recipe; it's pretty simple. We kept it more on the savory side, rather than sweet. We warmed it up a bit in the VitaMix, and topped it off with some of the leftover shredded cabbage for a little texture; “souper” yummy! The leftover cabbage was from our first batch of raw kimchi. We've just started dabbling in fermented foods. Fun!

The following day, Day 43, we headed down to Arlington, Virginia to watch Joe compete in a hockey shoot-out. He got to meet his favorite goalie, and is moving on to the final shoot-out at the Verizon Center on October 15. It was fun watching him, but quite a marathon with Zofia in tow. We stopped at My Organic Market in Frederick on the way down to get a few “raw” goodies, and then hit the produce section of Whole Foods after hockey. We didn’t get home until after 9pm, so it was a long day, and I was really dragging by the end of it.

Day 44, a Monday, was a busy day. I started out feeling kind of bloated from the previous day’s trip and haphazard eating in the car. Then we were off to a birthday party at the ice rink… back home for a few hours… then out to a board meeting at church… back home… took a walk with dog, Flo and Zofia… everyone asleep by midnight… But, then I was up until almost 3am trying to catch up with my to-do list. That’s a lost cause.

Day 45 was our weekly organic produce delivery day. I sorted everything, and then went over to my friend, Jessica’s, to drop her stuff off and visit for awhile. I left Flo there for the afternoon, so it was more quiet than usual when I got home, since Zofia napped for a couple hours, and Joe worked on his reading and math with Darren. We also opened the first batch of kimchi on this day. I really liked it, though I think we could tweak the amount of salt next time (too much). Darren thought it smelled bad and is hoping it’s an acquired taste. We’ll try another batch, or try some different cultured veggie recipes at some point.

Again, those feelings of being a bit overwhelmed lately with scheduling and my food prep responsibilities came to the forefront mid-week. I know I’ve been stress eating a lot lately. Rarely are my meals ever able to be enjoyed slowly and without constant interruptions. I was also been nibbling on too much dried fruit and nuts. We got a bunch from our co-op, and I guess having a lot around makes it easy to be more creative with recipes, but also lends to an extra handful or two here and there. So, I’ve been trying to be more conscious of that.

Regrettably, sleep deprivation doesn’t always lend to conscious eating, or conscious anything for that matter. I got up early the next day, after almost no sleep, to take the kids down to Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary for a field trip with our homeschooling group. Darren was on his way home from DC, so he stopped by and took the tour with us, then took Joe home with him afterwards. Flo, Zofia and I had intended to find a nice state park somewhere and take a little hike, enjoy the picnic lunch we brought along, and head home in the afternoon. As it turns out, Zofia got car sick, causing us to detour to find a place to clean her up. We then ended up down in Sterling, Virginia, in the parking lot of Borders. Flo enjoyed a salad from Chipotle, which was in the plaza, and I cleaned up Zofia. We then headed home on Route 15, which apparently is carsick-inducing, as well, because Zofia got sick again! We had just stopped at a produce stand to grab a couple pieces of fruit, and on our way out, she threw up all over herself. I pulled over again at a small park and cleaned her up, but we were out of extra clothing, so she was down to just her diaper in her stinky car seat.

We finally made our way to Frederick, and decided to look around the Good Will store for an excuse to stretch our legs and get Zofia a cheap outfit, so we could go grab a few groceries at the natural foods store without carrying Zofia around in a diaper. So, we went over to the Common Market, grabbed a few things, and sat at a picnic table beside the parking lot; me enjoying a nice salad from my cooler, and Flo, enjoying a sampling of a new hemp ice cream. Zofia must have been hungry, because she gobbled up half of my salad, too!

After getting almost home, then hitting grid locked traffic on I-70, we detoured through town and finally made it home around 7pm. I then put away the groceries, removed the cover from Zofia’s car seat and hosed the seat down. Then it was out the door for a half hour walk and back home to make Joe something else to eat. Then, finally, a little potential downtime availed itself around 10pm, but Zofia foiled that plan again. Drats!

Since I had given up trying to accomplish anything with Zofia awake the night before, and just went to bed with her around 11pm, Day 48 started off with a good night’s sleep behind me and a much more optimistic outlook of what I could accomplish in a day. The day was basically filled with a few household chores, lessons with the kids, making coleslaw for the next day’s monthly vegan potluck and taking a long walk with Flo around downtown Hagerstown, while Joe and Darren were at hockey practice at the ice rink.

Of course, to every high, there is a low, and the previous day’s good night sleep was negated by a night of insomnia. I was up until 4:30am, not particularly agitated about anything specific, though my mounting to-do list and overly-filled calendar are definitely fodder for anxiety. I had got a burst of culinary inspiration, and was up until around midnight making a raw pie to take to our potluck the next day. It turned out well, so at least it was worth the effort, but I made a note to myself to not start any kitchen projects after 9pm.

For our potluck on that Saturday (Day 49), we brought the pie, along with some raw coleslaw, smoothies and some bananas. Our meal was so yummy that we didn’t even feel deprived foregoing the array of vegan vittles. And our lovely friend, Shawna, even made a spicy raw carrot/coconut soup, and there were some nice salads, so we felt indulged. Despite not sampling all the dishes, it is still fun to see what people create and I enjoy sharing recipe ideas. After getting home from our potluck in the evening, I was watching a YouTube video on seed yogurt, and got inspired! So, I put a batch of pumpkin/hemp seed yogurt in the dehydrator (doubles as a yogurt maker). It’s always fun to have something in the dehydrator to check out in the morning.

Thus, Day 50, the halfway point, commenced with checking on the yogurt’s progress, then putting it in the fridge to try with lunch. It was definitely a bit tangy, and not very thick. I’ll have to work on tweaking it a bit. I have another batch in there now. I didn’t put any of the non-dairy yogurt starter in this time, so we’ll see how it turns out.

On that note, Day 50 comes to a close. We’ve reached the peak, and I think it’s all downhill from here, with the exception of the arrival of my in-laws the day before Halloween. They’re staying for a week, so, we’ll see how much salad they can eat before they throw up their hands and head out to McDonald’s! Ha! Well, I’ll try not to starve them anyway, but having guests is always a bit of a source of anxiety for me, when it comes to meals. I’m very aware that our eating habits have deviated pretty far out of the mainstream, and not everyone will be excited by our culinary offerings. But, I do my best, and we haven’t scared anyone away yet, though I think we’ve given a guest or two a case of increased fiber induced gastrointestinal distress!