In my Raw kitchen this week

Spring Raw Food Cleanse

Spring is traditionally a really good time to cleanse our digestive systems. The energy of Spring is that of new growth, of change, those seeds have to push through the dirt to find light. Fresher food is more available. For the most part, the weather is warmer. Not so much the last few weeks here in Central California! It has been raining a lot.

I decided with the excited support of my nutritionist with whom I work to do a 21 day raw food diet. I have ( had) gotten too set in my ways what I was willing to eat and not eat. I had been partaking of too many ( albeit WAY less than in the past) starchy carbohydrates and grains. Dairy, to which I am intolerant, was creeping back in….. mmm, cheese! raw cream! so, this felt really right. I am at almost 2 weeks now and going strong. I am following an omnivore raw diet. This means that I am eating some raw fish, raw egg yolks which I have written about here, and no, it is not raw but have had a bit of seared very rare meat. I have had a bit of raw goat cheese as well. I eat as many vegetables as I can including some that are fermented, a couple of portions of fruit a day, nuts and seeds, and plenty of fat in the form of coconut, olive, flax, and hemp oil.

Yes, I have been hungry. Yes, I have had equal moments of being gloriously satisfied.

I feel different. I have lost some weight. ( I haven’t weighed myself in a very long time, but I can see it and feel it). My ankles aren’t as swollen. My joints are no where near as inflamed. I am sleeping even better than before. It will be interesting next week when I start adding in more meat, cooked veggies how I continue to feel. It will be a good time to really tune in. Do I feel better because of no grains? no chicken? Or, do I feel better because of how many vegetables I am eating ?

So, no cooking per se which is weird for me. But, lots of chopping and mixing and creating interesting things. The food dehydrator has come out a few times. Here are a few photos of some concoctions.

An old standby, beet and carrot salad, I have enjoyed it with tahini miso dressing, occasionally with some walnuts, and occasionally wrapped up in some nori like a sushi roll.

I love this version of seaweed salad, found long ago on the internet. I would love to give credit but now I cannot find it so thank you to someone out there in the seemingly infinite world wide web. The basic ingredients are green apple. wakame seaweed, and avocado. I mostly stick with this and make a dressing out of different kinds of oils, coconut vinegar and a raw egg yolk. Truly, the egg yolk just disappears into it. If you click on the wakame link, you will discover as I did that it is a very invasive weed that can do damage to boats, etc. It is so nutritious, I wonder what this all means for the future of eating it.

Not such a great photograph but oh so delicious. Cafe Gratitude Cafe in the San Francisco Bay Area is a pioneer both in their delicious raw cuisine but also in how they do business. I have raved about their onion bread in another post. Here is a Spinach Tortilla from their cookbook. I topped it with a bit of kefir cream and some salmon and halibut ceviche. Sadly, it was gone in a few bites.

So, another week to go. I do look forward to having a piece of chicken and some roasted vegetables. It feels good that the simple things are what are calling to me. We will see.

Are you intrigued by the raw food diet ? My friend mentioned above is leading a raw food cleanse starting with an informational meeting this coming weekend. Please click on the link above and you will learn more about it, or leave a comment here.

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