Food Fog

RawFu Challenge - Day 78

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

I’ve lost count of which day we’re on, but counting back from Nov 18, which is the end of the challenge, that would make today day 87… I think. Anyway, the raw food adventure continues.

This past weekend, Joe had an early morning hockey game in Reston, Virginia, so we stayed overnight down there as a little weekend getaway. Of course, I took the opportunity to visit a few Whole Foods Market stores in the vicinity during our travels. This pretty much blew the budget for the weekend, but it was fun!

Since we were going to be down there, anyway, we decided to check out a local raw foods MeetUp group that was having their potluck on Sunday after Joe’s game. We’ve wanted to go to several of their events, but scheduling and babysitting are always factors, and we’ve never worked it out. So, I made a batch of my pumpkin seed cheese to bring along. It was really nice meeting everyone and there were even some kids there, so Flo and Joe enjoyed themselves, too. After the potluck, they had a panel discussion, led by several long-term raw foodies. It was interesting hearing their experiences, as well as, just talking to other group members. I hope we can make an occasional event down there.

In the past couple weeks, I decided to start a raw food MeetUp group out our way, in hopes of just getting together once and awhile with others in our area who enjoy preparing… and eating… raw food. I don’t expect the turnout to be high initially, but it’s more of a fun thing for me. Attending the potluck in Virginia this weekend gave me some good ideas for meetings, and I got some tips on attracting new members. So, I’m curious to see how it goes.

We made our first batch of kombucha in the past ten days or so. We just bottled it tonight, and have to wait another five or six days before it’s done. Assuming all goes well, it’s definitely much more affordable than buying the individual bottles for almost $4 each!

Darren is doing well. He has kind of hit a plateau with his weight loss, and wants to start some sort of regular exercise routine, but hasn’t really been able to prioritize that yet, with work and helping tote the kids around to activities. I have a hard time getting my 30 minutes of walking in everyday, so I certainly know the challenges of adding just one more thing to the to-do list.

As the winter weather approaches, it’s natural to crave warmth, and Darren has mentioned craving warm foods, especially soups. So, we’re going to work on finding a few more recipes that we can “warm” up in the VitaMix or the dehydrator. We’ve also been indulging in some nice organic herbal teas, which is pleasant on a cold day. I haven’t made a conscious decision to give up my daily scoop of organic decaf instant coffee, but I find that more often than not, the day goes by, and I haven’t really wanted it. I have lots of other things that I enjoy.

My favorite dessert of the week has been something really simple. I mix a little bowl of hemp seeds, vanilla powder and a pinch of Himalayan salt and chop a banana and mix it up with the hemp seeds. Sometimes I will add a little cacao powder to the mix, for that chocolate banana combo. And, occasionally I will chop up a date to add to it, or just dip a date in the hemp seeds. Yum.

We also ordered a fancy juicer (Green Star Elite), which should be here this week with our order of goodies from NaturalZing. We’ve managed to rally together a small wholesale buying club to place fairly regular orders. I have a long wish list I’m working my way down. Flo’s favorite is a raw chocolate bar she calls the raw KitKat, and I have numerous things coming like raw cacao powder, Ulimana raw chocolate truffles, coconut butter, hemp seed, kelp noodles, vanilla powder and Himalayan pink crystal salt. Fun stuff!

Flo appears to have come down with the flu today, so I’m hoping it’s short-lived and she’s feeling better tomorrow. It’s hard seeing your kids not feeling well. And, I’m hoping it doesn’t make the rounds this week, because my in-laws are coming to visit at the end of the week for five or six days, and it would stink if we were all sick! So, I’m off to get an adequate amount of rest to help ward off the germies!

RawFu Challenge - Day 65

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

It’s astonishing to me how quickly time can go by, and how something as simple as sitting down at the computer to write a few paragraphs can become a real challenge. This past week was really busy, and I’m happy to see there’s finally nothing on the calendar for tomorrow! Well, for me, anyway. Darren is taking Joe to the Verizon Center in DC tomorrow night to compete in a hockey shoot out during the intermission of an NHL game. So, it’s a pretty exciting day for Joe. But, aside from yoga in the evening, which is optional, I don’t have anything on my calendar. Big sigh...

This morning, I took Joe to the allergist again. He had a bunch of allergy testing a few months ago, which revealed additional allergies to soy and wheat, in addition to dairy, tree nuts and legumes. We’ve eliminated soy and wheat from his diet for the past few months, but have been wondering how vigilant we should be with allergens that don’t cause acute symptoms. When Joe had his test for Celiac disease, we fed him a lot of wheat for the couple days prior to the test, and he had an obvious gastro intestinal reaction. So, that seems reason enough to not feed him wheat. However, after a long discussion with the allergist today, about the goals of managing allergies, I think it’s probably in Joe’s best interest to not completely eliminate foods that he can moderately tolerate, as there is some evidence to suggest that complete abstinence from these foods can actually increase sensitivity in the long-run. That’s not to say that these foods should be staples in his diet.

Nonetheless, I think we’ll just take a step back, keep his diet wheat-free, and maybe include occasional whole food soy items, like edamame and tofu. And, we’ll forego any further testing for now, because getting positive test for things that he’s already eating without apparent reactions is just likely to limit his diet even further without real long-term benefits. We’ll do some of our own food trials here and there with elimination and reintroduction, but only with the foods to which he’s never had a severe reaction. It’s fairly apparent that his allergies to nuts and legumes are going to be lifelong. I find the whole subject of immunology and allergies to be fascinating. I still feel that boosting the immune system with a healthy lifestyle (good nutrition, exercise, sunlight, good relationships, sleep, etc) is the best approach to having the best quality of life while still living with some allergies. So, that’s where we are with things for now… it’s a continually revisited topic.

Anyway, the 100 day raw food challenge is progressing smoothly. We go through a few days every now and then where we get a little bored with the routine of smoothies and salads, but usually, out of that boredom comes some new tasty dish. Last week I sprouted quinoa, and found that I actually like it better than cooked quinoa. It has sort of a nutty taste, and makes an excellent addition to salads, parfaits, or just plain with a little olive oil, sea salt and pepper. I even got the kids to eat it by mixing it with diced apples, a little agave, cinnamon, vanilla and hempseeds.

Today, I had a little more time at home, and was able to make raw hummus from the Raw Food Revolution Diet cookbook by Cherie Soria. She was at Vegetarian Summerfest this past summer, and I picked up her book there. A lot of the raw hummus recipes don’t use chickpeas at all, but this one uses sprouted chickpeas and zucchini. I sprouted some chickpeas a couple days ago. It was pretty easy. But, they have strong flavor, so they’re more of an accent to a dish, then the dish itself. But, the hummus turned out super yummy. We ate it on whatever chunks of veggies we had available, and put some on our salad for dinner, too.

I also got the idea for raw caramel apples, too, from Annmarie and Kevin on the Renegade Health Show (YouTube). I tweaked their recipe a bit, as they used almond milk. I just used hempseeds and a little water, room temperature dates, a tablespoon of coconut butter, a teaspoon of vanilla powder and a pinch of salt. I blended that all up and it came out like a creamy caramel. I just stuck chopsticks in the ends of a few apples, rolled them in the “caramel” and refrigerated them for an hour or so. I was quite happy with the results. It’s not the stick-your-jaw-together sticky caramel, but the consistency was really nice, and the taste was very much like caramel.

Then, this evening, I decided to start a batch of the raw onion bread from Matt Amsden’s RAWvolution cookbook. Several people have mentioned it to me recently, so I decided to give it a go, since I have a surplus of onions. However, it calls for sunflower seeds, and I wanted Joe to be able to eat it (he’s allergic), so I substituted half pumpkin and half hempseeds, and I used sea salt instead of the nama shoyu (raw soy sauce), so we’ll see how it turns out. It has to dehydrated until tomorrow night, then be flipped over and continue until the next morning. So, if all goes well, it will be ready by Friday.

Then, to round out the day, I made use of some of the eleven packages of sprouted corn tortillas I got this month through our food co-op to make dinner for the kids. I used some leftover black beans, and just spread it on the tortilla. I sprinkled on some raw “parmesan” cheese stuff I made from pumpkin and hempseeds, nutritional yeast, a little salt, and spices. To my delight, they actually ate quite a bit, and there were no looks of disgust or rolling of the eyes. They even ate some salad. Yeah!

So, it was a productive and fairly relaxing day, aside from a couple interludes of squabbling siblings and an energetic toddler. My mom stopped by in the afternoon and sat with the kids for an hour, while Darren and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. Well, Darren rode his bike alongside me while I walk with the dog, but we both got some exercise, fresh air, and time to talk. That’s always nice. Now, I’m hoping Zofia cooperates and falls asleep soon, so I can rest up for another day of fun and excitement with my Petite Trio!

RawFu Challenge - Day 60

Thursday, 08 October 2009

Joe woke me up early this morning because he was “starvin'.” I lovingly dragged myself out of bed and got him a bowl of quinoa with hemp milk, apples and a little agave… that seemed to appease his six year old appetite for the time being. And, knowing I wasn’t going to have any success trying to get any more sleep, and since Zofia was still sleeping, I decided to head to the basement to walk on the treadmill and watch the backlog of Oprah’s on my DVR. Things were going well… not even 9am yet, and I could check exercise off my to-do list for the day!

I then proceeded back upstairs to make my morning green smoothie. But, I guess it was lack of sleep that prompted me to not make the connection between the spicy taste of mustard greens and their lack of compatibility with a fruity green smoothie. So, I promptly stuffed the Vitamix with a full bunch of mustard greens and two apples. This combo always works well with dandelion greens, so for some reason, I just wasn’t thinking about mustard being so spicy! Well, needless to say, the first gulp was quite a surprise. Being the committed green smoothie drinker that I am, I forced myself to take a few more sips, but ultimately had to surrender to the fact that there was nothing I could add to this existing combo to make it more palatable. So, I chopped up a couple apples and sprinkled them with cinnamon, grabbed a container of kale chips, and got started on the mound of laundry awaiting me.

The rest of the day progress uneventfully. I found myself really bloated again, though. This has been a chronic symptom for quite awhile, to which I cannot really pinpoint a connection between any particular foods. I think my biggest hindrance to feeling really great these days is stress and lack of sleep. I’m not complaining. I know a lot of people have a lot more to deal with than I do. But, just the daily challenges of parenting, homeschooling and housework, leave little time for anything else, so managing stress is a big factor in feeling my best. It will always be something to work on.

On that note, I wanted to go to yoga tonight at 6pm. But, I knew I had to be done eating a few hours prior, or the bloating factor would make the class rather uncomfortable. So, around 2pm, I dug through the fridge to see what I could use to make a meal. I used the last of my butternut squash to make a soup and I had plans to make a nice salad, to go along with it. But, I was so tired, I didn’t feel like chopping stuff up, or chewing, for that matter, so I shoved the lettuce I had put in the bowl for the salad into the VitaMix, added and apple, a frozen banana and a few leftover frozen raspberries and called it a day.

I did make it to the yoga class in the evening. Flo came along with me while my mom watched Zofia and Darren and Joe were at hockey. It was a relaxing hour, and I came very close to falling asleep during the relaxation part of the class at the end. I think they should have a nap class for tired moms. Bring your yoga mat, light the candles, listen to soft music and sleep for an hour!

Tonight my body demands I go lay down, and I’m going to heed its insistent nudges and join Zofia, who is strewn out across my bed. Darren apparently fell asleep reading to Joe. I could go wake him up and tell him to come to bed, but I think I’ll let him have the possibility of a good night’s sleep without being kicked by a toddler. He got up at 3:30am today to go to DC, so I’m sure he feels equally exhausted as I do. At least if one of us is well-rested tomorrow, the day will likely go much better.

RawFu Challenge - Day 58

Tuesday, 06 October 2009

The past few days have been busy with a houseguest, homeschooling activities and just the general upkeep and maintenance of a home and family. I seriously feel like I just run out of time at the end of every day. Projects I intend to get to the next day, keep getting put off. This is leaving me somewhat distrustful of the fact that I will ever have enough time to feel I’ve had a fully productive day, and cognizant of the fact that I may have to make peace with this feeling and best utilize and appreciate the time I do have, rather than lamenting that which I don’t! Ya… easier said than done.

Today I finally had a day with not much on the schedule. This afternoon, I had to go into the grocery store to pick up a few things for the kids, so I ran down while Zofia was napping and Darren was working. It was good timing for napping, but not for shopping, because I went when I was really hungry. I got the few things I needed, then grabbed a couple bags of organic green and red grapes, thinking it’s the end of the season, and I’d splurge, since they looked really good. Grapes are like nature’s candy… love ‘em! But, when I eat too many at once, I find they give me the same feeling as if I’d eaten something really sugary. And, while I ran the rest of my errands, I munched on a few too many grapes, then arrived home feeling like I was on a bloated sugar high. Oh well, live and learn.

This past weekend, I decided to start a local raw foods potluck group through MeetUp.com. Two months into our raw food challenge, I’m feeling the need to commune with others and hear about some other people’s experiences. So, our first potluck will be on November 7, just a week or so before the completion of our 100 day challenge. But, I’m feeling good and having fun with this, so I won’t be changing much on day 101. I like eating this way, but if I ever crave (in a healthy, intuitive, not stressed out kind of way) something, I’ll eat it. I foresee maybe including some cooked veggies, beans and stuff like quinoa or rice in my diet over the winter, just to facilitate a few family meals that don’t involve dishes, but we’ll see.

I like the challenge of seeing what I can create with whole raw foods. So far, I do not feel deprived or like anything is missing at all. We’ve made cookies, chips, ice cream, chocolate, puddings, soups, dips, pâtés , noodles, salads, smoothies and more. Some days, it is easy to get in kind of a food rut, gravitating towards just smoothies and salads, but I don’t think being in a rut is inherent to the raw food diet, but just simply a byproduct of a busy life and fatigue. Regardless, I’ll continue to challenge myself to find balance, create tasty, nourishing foods for myself and my family, and be open to change, as it is inevitable.

RawFu Challenge - Day 54

Thursday, 01 October 2009

This week is flying by, but aside from not getting enough sleep, things are going fairly well. The week started off with a really nice day where things just seemed to align themselves; Zofia busied herself with the blocks, rather than pestering us, while I worked with Flo on some writing. Then Zofia fell asleep around 2:30pm and took a nice long nap, enabling me to do some stuff with Joe, catch up on some cleaning, make a meal and actually catch my breath for a moment. That’s not to say she wasn’t a challenge most of the time she was awake, but at least she afforded me a brief interlude.

Tuesday was was our produce co-op delivery day, so I spent the day sorting produce, then chopping up a ton of romaine lettuce and kale. Thankfully, a couple friends stopped in to visit, which made the monotonous chore of chopping up veggies less of a drudgery. Darren also peeled and cubed the rest of the butternut squash we had, so we made a nice raw butternut soup, which we warmed up in the VitaMix. It was a nice addition to the usual salad.

Also, after cutting the stems off of ten bunches of kale, we marinaded some and put a batch of kale chips I in the dehydrator. I made the marinade from pumpkin seeds, sundried tomatoes, pepper, garlic and water. The “chips” were done this morning, and we ate all three trays before the day’s end. They hit the spot!

Yesterday, Flo and Darren left this morning to head down to Martinsburg for Darren’s dentist appointment, then over to the C&O Canal in Williamsport to meet up with our homeschooling group for a scavenger hunt walk. Meanwhile, Joe, Zofia and I had a leisurely morning and afternoon catching up on a few chores and working on Joe’s reading.

Dinner last night consisted of rice noodles, tomato sauce and black beans for the kids, and a big salad with lots of chopped veggies (zucchini, tomato, red pepper, avocado, onion and carrots) that we all shared. For dessert Darren and I had a banana and a few dates with cashews stuck in them.

We also sliced up five pounds of sweet potatoes we had in the fridge and marinaded them in a little salt, pepper and olive oil, then stuck them in the dehydrator.

Today went by in a blur. Zofia tossed and turned a lot last night, and I got an interrupted six hours or so of sleep. I got up late, and dragged myself on the treadmill, hoping the exercise would give me some energy. No such luck. But, I did manage to do a little cleaning and make a big salad for me and Darren in the early afternoon, when he got back from his Thursday jaunt to DC for work. We also made “ice cream” out of frozen bananas, pumpkin seeds, dates and a bit of coconut oil. Tasty and very indulgent.

Despite feeling rather bloated and crampy, which I think was a side-effect of eating some dehydrated mushrooms, I headed out to the gym tonight for a yoga class. Even though my stomach was making weird gurgling noises for the duration of the class, it was relaxing and actually did make me feel better, so I’m glad I got myself out the door and went. Flo and Zofia came with me, since Joe and Darren were at hockey. I put Zofia in the child care area, and was surprised to have her stay without much protest, even without her big sister accompanying her. And, it was nice to spend a little time with Flo alone without distractions.

Zofia didn’t nap today, so I’m hoping for a quick descent into sleep for her, so I can run back downstairs and pack something for the kids lunches tomorrow, since we have to head out early for our homeschooling co-op. Then, with any luck, I can squeeze in a good night’s sleep before going another round!