sweet raw

well things have been gloriously raw for me lately. i've been reading angela stokes' raw emotions and enjoying it thoroughly. i've been chomping on fruit salads with honey, spinach salads, and nori wraps with sprouts and avocado. i've been drinking lots of water and kombucha... i recommend trilogy. things have extremely delicious.

yesterday was my first day of detox. although i have a small sore on my tongue that i contribute to my raw change, yesterday's migraine and cold sweat was the worst of my detox so far. interestingly, it was on the 4th day of raw... last summer i did an OJ cleanse and the 4th day of that was absolutely terrible. i think i've figured out how long it takes my body to get in gear and realize something's goin down. ;)

the only cooked things i've eaten... my favorite sun-dried tomato vinaigrette (which is almost all sugar... ugh) and about 1/2 c. of roasted red pepper hummus (over the course of the past two days). i am addicted addicted addicted to hummus. i love it. i love the raw version, too, but... sometimes i feel like i should just cut it out completely because it's rather high in fat and i tend to eat cups of it at a time.

that's about it in my little raw world. glad to be back in the game.

HAHA JUST KIDDING

WELL! I have a friend who wants to go raw for a spell.

So I'll be doing that. I'll let you all know how it goes... hopefully I will be strong enough to stick with it and stay away from dried fruits and nuts, something I mentioned I had a problem with before.

Hooray!

But still read the new blog. :)

Peace!!!!
Sam

wrap it up

i looove veggie wraps. yesterday i made one with avocado, snow peas, green onion, delicious local tomato, greens, hemp seeds, sprouts, and mushroom, all wrapped up in a nori sheet. it was so good! wraps are a nice way to feel like you're eating a sandwich. they're also super portable and quick and easy to make. fun!!!

AVOCADOS

go eat one. right now!!!

they're so delicious. i think i was an avocado in my previous life because i feel so much LOVE for these delicious little fruits. they're simply perfect...and so incredibly healthy. protein, healthy fats, vitamin A, B6, C, E, K, riboflavin, niacin, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, and even some selenium.* now, i'm not sure what all of these do, but they are certainly GOOD for you!!!! avocados have them all, and not in small quantities. and they taste heavenly.

i suggest wrapping an avocado in nori and adding a little sprinkling of sprouts (which are also insanely healthy!). it's incredible.

peace,
sam, the avocado princess
*info from ND

Yes!

i'm still alive!

i've been eating a lot of nori/avo/spinach/alfalfa sprouts wraps lately. and working... and jamming. i wrote a song!

anyways, i'm thinking about doing another cleanse soon... i don't know. i end up eating lots of food and feeling great but feeling so clogged up and just... full, i guess. we'll see. i'm debating.

go outside and enjoy the weather!!!
peace,
sam

raw hummus!

today i made raw hummus!!! the base is zucchini instead of sprouted (or cooked) chickpeas. it was very easy and very inexpensive- my jar of raw tahini was under $5, which i was worried would be much more expensive.

this is one of the best hummuses (?) i've ever had. it was amazing!!! i halved the recipe and it made nearly two cups- way more than one person can eat in a serving, but enough to hopefully last me a couple of glorious hummus-filled days. the only thing i'd change is using a little less salt than the recipe calls for. in this instance i used half the garlic, as well, but that's because the garlic i had was super-pungent since it's more than just a few weeks old.

here's a (blurry) pic!


anyways, as you can see, i had my hummus with carrots and celery (locally grown!!! awesome!). so filling!! i wish i had a better camera... i'm going to be getting one sometime soon, since i want to get one before i head off to arizona. we'll see!

there are lots of great options when making home-made hummus... you can add red pepper, jalapeno, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, basil pesto... anything! yummmm. i can't wait to try more flavors and combinations.

what a relief to have had this delicious dish- i thought i'd never find a hummus recipe that was raw! before i went raw, cooked hummus was my favorite food in the world, so this is good, gooooood news! :) my thanks to GoneRaw.

now go try the recipe!! :)
peace,
sam

oh man... yum!

this is what i made for lunch!


zucchini pasta with sun-dried tomato basil sauce on a bed of lettuce. it was absolutely divine.... i'm definitely in a great place. the best part is: i got the zucchini out of chump at work! aka, free.... and i have two more in the fridge!!!!!!!! yum. yum. yum.

peace!
sam

The Amazing Adaptable Human Body

Well, things have certainly been interesting in my neck of the woods... and in my stomach!

I guess the most interesting thing is that I've completely lost all interest in dried fruits and nuts. It could be that I've had enough of the nutrients/fats/sugars found in these fruits, but I really have no desire to eat them anymore. It's good, but scary, emotionally. Why's that, you ask? Well, I'll tell you!

I've realized a lot of my bad eating habits over the past month or so. Some of them are very common, like eating when bored. Others, I'm not so sure about, like eating for rewards, or eating when sad. I suppose they're relatively common, but it's certainly hard coming to terms with it.

I've found that I'm unable to eat the same quantities that I used to. This means that I'm going to have to find another way of easing the negative feelings associated with boredom and sadness, and find another way to reward myself. It's good, of course, that I'm not able to consume as much unnecessary nourishment and level my caloric intake. However, it's rough to realize the bad habits that have plagued me over the years. Then again... they're going to stop!

Basically, my body is adapting to the raw food lifestyle. I get stomach aches if I eat too much, and if I know my body wants me to stop and keep going anyways, the stomach aches are often accompanied with other non-so-pleasant consequences.

Another interesting story is my trip to Michigan! I ate non-organic produce the whole weekend, and boy was my body pissed off. Another positive change (my body recognizes and tells me about the bad things on conventional produce) but again, something difficult to handle, especially socially (I'm very limited in what I can eat).

Anyways, all I crave right now is light and watery fruits. All I have in the kitchen are avocados and locally grown organic greens... and half a conventional watermelon. I'm sure I'll be fine, since I've been scarfing down avocados like they're... popcorn? They're fantastic. I'm trying to get variety in my diet but it's hard because I'm trying to eat my remaining stock so I can go on the Master Cleanse and find myself not wanting to buy groceries.

OK! Enough writing today. I'm reading this and want to get back to it! I've also got camping and berry-picking plans to daydream about. Here are a few lovely pictures!

A forest in Michigan, near the dunes and Lake Michigan.


A strawberry field!


The Swiss Alps! I've been there and I miss it.

The International Southern Winds in the Swiss Alps.... oh those were the days!

Peace,
Sam

Raw day

Today I've had:
1 banana
1/4 fuji apple
1 smoothie with 2 bananas, raw peanut butter, and hemp seeds (water; ice)
1 nori wrap with 1/2 avocado and hemp seeds
1/4 cup raw peanut butter
about 1 liter of water
3 spirulina tablets

Short-term goals:
More IRON!!!
More water, of course :)
More fruit variety

Life is swell! Sorry I haven't been writing.
Peace,
Sam

ExraVEGANza!

Oh I am overwhelmed by my own cleverness.

I'm moving in with Hillary and Shana this week!

We're having a big vegan cook-out at Lake Monroe on Friday. Then we'll be off to Bedford for some unspecified adventures.

Then.... Shana and I are going 100% RAW. Hillary will be 90% RAW. We are amazing!! We're all looking forward to it with eager anticipation.

Peace and love,
Sam

PS Angela Stokes rules!

Beautiful Food

Raw food is just so pretty! This is what I ate today. Click it to see it full-sized!


A salad of romaine, half an avocado, a little red onion, and oil & balsamic. It was delicious, and it made me feel great!!

I had orientation for my new job at Bloomingfoods today. Cooking is going to be so fun! The people there are really nice, too, of course. Hooray!!!

Stayin' strong after a week raw...
Peace and love!
Sam

Fabulous Friday

Hi, everyone!

Yesterday was very fun. I fasted on distilled water until late afternoon, even throughout my interview at Bloomingfoods! Bloomingfoods, our local co-op grocery store, is hiring part-time cooks to work on the hot/salad bar and grab-n-go items. I'm fairly certain I'll get the job, which is absolutely fantastic!

After my interview, I headed over to Shana and Hillary's place. Hillary came home from work, we talked for a bit, then headed over to Bloomingfoods. I broke my fast with a piece of absolutely delightful red pear that was being offered as a sample at the store. We then sampled strawberrries, pineapple, and some sort of tangering hybrid. It was delicious! The most exciting part of the trip was the raw trail mix. This trail mix had dried goji berries and cacao nibs in it, both of which I hadn't ever tried before. They were both absolutely delicious!

We had (vegan) Indian cuisine at Bombay House for dinner, then went back to Bloomingfoods for dessert. More trail mix for me!!! That's three trips in one day to my favorite place in town!

Working there over the summer should hopefully help me stay raw and keep motivated. I've been thinking a lot about my motivation lately. I think I'm going to watch a raw video on YouTube each morning after I wake up, which will hopefully keep me positive and excited about eating raw. Matt Monarch's feature on the Raw Food TV Spot is particularly enjoyable and uplifting:



It just makes me smile!
Peace and love,
Sam

Frustration!

I'm so frustrated! I want to go raw right now. I wish I had the money to do it. I think I'm going to try to get as near to 100% raw as I can starting now...I keep reading Angela Stokes's blog and I get so inspired and I feel so happy and enlightened...then I make something with tofu or rice or cooked vegetables and feel guilty and depressed, even though it's vegan. Worst of all, I feel like a traitor to my little enzymes. I'm going to concentrate on getting greens, keeping my refined sugar intake as low as possible (which is really a difficult thing for me to do but hopefully will be easier if I'm eating a greater percentage of raw foods), and learning even more about raw living. I'm going to focus on forgiving myself and not being too hard on myself if I have a slip here and then-- that doesn't mean I won't try my best! I'm going to develop my relationship with my juicer, too! ;)

By the by, does anyone know the status of tea? Is it raw?

Peace and love,
Sam