Day 11/ Am I Nuts???

I'm not much of a nut person, but on a raw vegan diet it is best for one to consume nuts, seeds, and green leafy vegetables (along with fruits) to get all the protein your body requires. Or at least that is my level of knowledge at this point. I'm not eating any dairy, beans (because they require cooking), or meat, so I have to get my protein from somewhere, right? Of course, nuts must be consumed in moderation.

Besides, soaked raw nuts like cashews and almonds can be used to make all kinds of substitutes for dairy products. Everything from cream cheese, to sour cream to whipped topping, to milk. So it's actually kind of cool watching the nuts and seeds transform.

So far I have only made the Sunflower Cheese, but I want to try a recipe for Vanilla Creme Sauce from Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People. She uses it in recipes for Banana Pudding and also layered with another recipe for Chocolate Mousse....I can't wait to try them.

One reason that I am so motivated to do this cleanse (Join The Lifeit Detox 28 Days Raw Food Cleanse) is because I actually have a few additional health issues that I haven't mentioned in this blog yet. I don't want to share them until I see that they are totally gone, but I will say that I am seeing noticeable improvement with one issue in particular.

I'm basically using food as medicine, kind of like a prescription for my body...allowing my body all the tools that it needs to help it to heal itself. Being that I am already seeing some improvements, it appears that this method is working...and I'm motivated to continue to eat a raw vegan diet until my body is 100% healed.

Fasting is also a wonderful healing mechanism, and many people have seen great health benefits through fasting. But fasting works best when you can "take it easy" and rest your body...my schedule is so intense right now that I need to be 100% present. I will be taking a break in about three weeks, and at that time I should be able to fast for a few days.

Today's diet was typical...I had my usual smoothie, and throughout the day I drank tea and managed to abstain from my beloved coffee.

Over the last few days, I have had teeccino (www.teeccino.com) presented to me under three different circumstances, so I am taking that as a sign that I need to try it. It seems to be a really good way to help me to kick the coffee habit.

For dinner I had more Zucchini Hummus except instead of a sandwich, I made a salad with it on top of red leaf lettuce, red peppers, sweet onions, and black olives. Wow was it ever wonderful....I also snacked on more Medjool dates...they are quite tasty!

Everything just seems to be so delicious...which reminds me...earlier today I stopped off at QuikTrip to get gas, and since it was pretty warm outside, I wanted a slurpie.

Well, the one I tried (the orange one) was so sweet and sour and concentrated, that I puckered my lips through the first half and threw out the rest. I don't know if my taste buds have become more sensitive because of the cleanse, or if that slurpie was just nasty, but wow, I realized I should have just bought a bottled water. All of that sugar was way too much.

Day 10/ My Favorite Grocery Store, and Hummus With A Twist

This morning I didn't fix anything to eat...all I had was some Black Chai Tea. After I got out of class at 11:00am, I bought something to drink along with a raw fruit snack made out of raisins and sunflower seeds.

At around 1:00pm, I decided to do some serious grocery shopping. I had heard that I could possibly save some money buying my nuts and raisins at an Indian grocery store. I knew there was a Pakistani grocery near my house, so I decided to give them a try.

I was able to get raw almonds for about $5.99 a pound, along with regular and golden raisins, prunes, and Medjool dates at some pretty reasonable prices. I realize now that I could have done a lot better on the raw almonds, but at the time I wasn't sure.

I dropped those items off at home while I snacked on some of the Medjool dates. What is so funny about dates is that as a child I never liked them because I thought that they looked like big dead waterbugs (cockroaches)! What's even funnier is that I sill think they look like roaches, and I keep checking to make sure that a real roach didn't get accidentally caught up in the package of dates!

In spite of that, I ate them anyway and they were delicious! LOL!

I also bought some Tahini at the Pakistani store, but I didn't realize until I got home that I should have purchased raw tahini, because regular tahini is made from roasted sesame seeds. I was going to take it back but for $3.99 I decided to keep it this time while I figure out how to make my own raw tahini.

I grabbed an apple and headed back out to get more groceries...this time, I went to Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's is my favorite grocery store of all time. I always thought that they were my favorite, but I hadn't been in a few months and that was when I still ate meat.

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Now, they are REALLY my favorite! As soon as I walked in, I was tempted because they had all my favorite foods...all kinds of cheeses, chicken, plus I really like nearly every creation Trader Joe's comes up with...whether it be their frozen Thai Spring Rolls, or their Indian-style ready-made meals, or their Thai Red Curry sauce, or their freeze-dried mangosteen fruit.

I even saw that they carry the Ezekiel bread that I've heard so much about...it's a live sprouted bread. But I didn't want the starches so I decided against buying the Ezekiel bread.

But what I was most excited about were their prices! For instance, they had organic bananas for 29 cents each, and they had a large jar of raw almond butter for $4.99, whereas I saw a jar half the size at Life Grocery for $12! Even their raw almonds and raw cashews were really reasonable...they don't carry EVERYTHING, but what they do have is of high quality and very reasonable.

I went back home and made a quick smoothie and drank that on my way to a meeting. After I got back from the meeting, I ate a late dinner...I prepared my first recipe from Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People, the Zucchini Hummus, and I made a sandwich out of it using lettuce leaves, red sweet peppers, and black olives. YUMMMMMM......it was good. Zucchini is another one of those things that I never liked growing up, but now it tastes great, and it definitely tastes better raw than cooked.

Day 9/ Raw Food Made Easy

Today was kind of rough-going at first...I was up early because I had an exam at 7am and I was out of my usual smoothie stuff...so I prepared the Spinach and Sundried Tomato Salad and ate that for "breakfast". Then later in the morning I ate some fresh pineapple (boy was that interesting, learning how to cut a real pineapple for the first time), but in the afternoon I still felt hungry.

In fact, I really didn't feel that well today. I went to the bank around 4:30 pm and felt nauseous as I was talking to the teller. I felt that maybe it was because I was detoxing, but I also felt really hungry.

I wanted to get something in my stomach ASAP, and I knew I didn't have much to eat at home. So I stopped off at Life Grocery's Cafe.

They had both raw vegan and cooked vegan choices on the menu and on their buffet, and even though I was tempted (to order something warm and cooked), I ordered a raw vegan dish. I forgot what they called it, but it was basically a sandwich and a salad.

The salad was basically some romaine lettuce with dressing...I ordered the tahini salad dressing. The sandwich "bread" was really a dehydrated seed, onion, and spice combo. It tasted good but was not quite what I expected...it was denser than regular bread, but it held the sandwich together well and didn't get as soggy as regular bread does.

Inside the sandwich were two thick layers of sundried tomato hummus, and in the middle were cucumbers, sprouts, and I'm not sure what else. But it was good.

In fact, for $6.95 plus my member discount, I did better buying it from them than making it myself! I made a mental note to eat there a lot more often.

Now it's four hours later and I still feel really satisfied. It was a nice-sized meal and was worth every penny and then some.

Finally, this evening I stopped off at Barnes and Noble and bought a raw vegan cookbook that had 130 five-star reviews on Amazon.com. It's called Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People. I can't wait to read it (and try some of the recipes).

Oh yeah, I got my first compliment today. I told one of my classmates that I'm doing this cleanse (Join The Lifeit Detox 28 Days Raw Food Cleanse), and she said, "I knew there was something different about you! So that's why you're glowing!" She said that the food is changing my aura. How interesting.

Day 8/ Running Out Of The Good Stuff

This morning I didn't get to make my usual smoothie, so I just grabbed two organic apples and ran out the door.

Then later I got busy and didn't get to eat except for a small fruit cup, so by the time I got home this evening I felt weak and very hungry.

I'm also nearly out of all my raw vegan stuff except for a mango and a pineapple that I'm saving for tomorrow morning...so, my "contraband" food started to look a little tempting.

I opened the freezer and gazed at my tilapia, fish sticks, chicken, and Morningstar Veggie Cakes...took out the veggie cakes, heated those up and ate them.

Well, they weren't raw vegan, but at least they were vegetarian.

Then I ate what was left over of my bad batch of Creamy (Kale) Salad that I made yesterday, and after that I decided to make a smoothie out of the last of the hemp milk, frozen fruit, sunflower seeds, and agave nectar. I also added a heaping teaspoon of spirulina, and a handful of dried shredded coconut.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to go grocery shopping tomorrow evening...because if I don't, I'm in trouble because I'm running out of my raw vegan food. And you know what that means...more temptation.

I surprised myself, though...I really didn't want the fish, or the chicken, or the canned red salmon, or the tuna. I didn't even want the alfredo sauce that I briefly thought might go well with the bag of broccoli and cauliflower that I saw in the freezer. Wow, I'm really changing.


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Day 7/ Detoxing, Struggle, and Enlightenment

I didn't get this post out yesterday because I was so tired...I'm definitely detoxing.

But anyhow, yesterday my eating schedule was per usual: a berry-banana smoothie in the morning, and later I prepared the Cheezy Corn Chowder again and it came out even better this time (I added an extra tablespoon of nutritional yeast). Finally, I prepared the Creamy Kale recipe with Organic Spring Mix substituted for the kale.

Except this time the Organic Spring Mix came out bitter. I can't figure out if it was because I added too much garlic, or maybe because I substituted Bragg Liquid Aminos for the lemon juice and sea salt, or if it was because I ate it right after I ate the Cheezy Corn Chowder and the change in flavor made the salad taste bitter? I don't know...I made the salad from the second half of the same batch of salad that I used earlier in the week. I ate it anyway but I wonder about that.

I'm still struggling with my coffee fix. I've made things a little more difficult for myself because I ran out of ground coffee at home. So this means that if I want coffee, I have to take the extra step and go to the store and buy some. I'm hoping that this will discourage me even further.

I have been doing so much reading about raw veganism that I am slowly becoming a closet expert (well, not really). I've learned that you can heat raw vegan soups, as I stated in my previous post, and I have learned that you can use a dehydrator to make all the things you loved about Doritos, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.

I have also realized that eating fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, and seeds makes me feel closer to God. I think it is because now I am eating the food that He prepared for me to eat, for the first time.

I've noticed that I'm losing weight but I don't want to weigh myself until the end of the cleanse (Join The Lifeit Detox 28 Days Raw Food Cleanse). But I can see the difference in the mirror.

Day 6/ Cheezy Corn Chowder

I actually made this last night...I found this recipe on the LifeIt Community Forum (Join The Lifeit Detox 28 Days Raw Food Cleanse), and they got it from www.rawfoodtalk.com.

Cheezy Corn Chowder

1 c corn kernels (I used frozen)
1 clove garlic
1 T onion
1/4 c cashews (I used sunflower seeds)
2 T nutritional yeast
4 baby carrots (or 1 regular one)
1/4" ring of red pepper (I used green pepper)
2 T olive oil
1/2 - 1 t psyllium (depending how thick you wish chowder to get) (I just added more corn/less water)
1 t cumin
1/8 t nutmeg (I didn't have any nutmeg, so I used ground ginger)
1 T parsley (I think she means fresh, but I used dried)
1/2 t salt
grind pepper to taste
2 c water

blend in hi speed blender till very creamy
add :
1/4 c more corn kernels
1 T parsley

and warm up on stove till warm enough to eat.

I never knew that raw foodists could heat up their food until I read this. I've since learned that as long as the food is not heated above 108-115 degrees, all is good... the enzymes are still intact. I took it easy and only heated up the soup to lukewarm because I don't have a food thermometer, but that was still a lot better than having to eat the soup ice cold (especially since I used frozen corn).

This soup was delicious...it felt fresh and good. The nutritional yeast I guess is supposed to make it taste "cheezy"...I didn't really taste a particulary cheezy taste, but the corn had a really nice flavor that was just plain delicious.

I have been doing a lot of reading about raw vegans...so far my assessment is that everyone has an opinion! Here's mine: you have to do what is best for you.

Long-term, I can see myself having a diet of about 80% raw, but occasionally I will want a piece of baked fish. Also, I am still interested in raw dairy products as well (I have since learned that not all raw foodists are vegan!).

Raw milk and raw cheeses are harder to find, but are nutritionally easier to tolerate than even organic dairy. The pastuerization process destroys the enzymes that are needed to properly digest milk, which is why people who thought that they were lactose intolerant can actually tolerate raw dairy products.

However, the LifeIt Detox is a 28-day cleanse, and like all cleanses, it is designed for a specified period of time. So during this cleanse, I'm abstaining from all cooked food and dairy products (except for my occasional slip-ups that I write about).

TMI (too much information) warning...

One of the benefits that I am already seeing on this cleanse is that (okay this is embarassing but it's the truth) for a long time I've been having a problem of being "backed up". Just a few months ago, I had tried everything but still couldn't go for over a week. But since I've been doing this cleanse, I'm regular again. So right away that is a sign that my body is giving me to let me know that I'm on the right track.

Day 5/ Sunflower Seed Cheese

Today I tried a recipe for Sunflower Seed Cheese. I got the idea from the LifeIt Community Forum (Join The Lifeit Detox 28 Days Raw Food Cleanse), because they posted a video demonstration of how to make the recipe from YouTube. But the recipe is not included in the ebook.

So I Googled it, and I came across a recipe that I adapted.

Here is my version of Mexican Spice Seed Cheese: (adapted from www.almondessence.com)

Ingredients
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked 4 - 6 hours
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 4 - 6 hours
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder (I used Pampered Chef Southwestern Seasoning Blend)
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 small clove garlic, peeled, and minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup almond milk (page 40), water, or kefir (page 46) (I used Brita filtered water)
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice (I used Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar)

I had no idea about the soaking...I just dumped the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds in a jar last night and stuck it in the refrigerator. I didn't know if it was supposed to go in the fridge or not. Next time I won't mix the two seeds together, because it made it harder to separate out the sunflower seed skins. After you finish soaking the seeds, you are supposed to change the water, and then rub the seeds together to get the skins off. (Of course you know to buy the seeds raw and already hulled!)

Anyway, the skins will cause the cheese to turn grey if you don't remove them. They float in the water after you rub the seeds together (after soaking). Unfortunately, the pumpkin seeds also float. So that made it harder to separate out the skins... just keep it simple and soak them separately.

So the pumpkin seeds are supposed to add a smoky flavor to the cheese, but you can use all sunflower seeds if you want.

Just dump all the ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend until it looks whipped and smooth like ricotta cheese. Scrape down the sides and add a little water if necessary. It keeps in the frig for 2-3 days.

I'm so surprised at how much this version tastes like hummus. I think it's the cumin that really makes it taste like that. So this is a good substitute if you don't like beans or nuts.

One of the things that I really like about this cleanse is that it is stretching me to try recipes that I would normally have to buy at the store. There is something so freeing in knowing that I can make it myself.