splashing Raw

A picture says a thousand words 

.... I'll leave it at that!

 ....... and yes, it is RAW!  find the recipe here.

getting acquainted

RAW for one week and feeling SO good, I headed into the garden yesterday on a spontaneous mission to cut back some dead foliage and allow the new, which is already peeping up through the earth, to thrive.

I had no idea that five hours later, I would be gingerly avoiding all contact with clothing and human touch, as I succumbed to a vicious sun burn.  Who would have guessed the early spring sun could do such damage!  On the up side, my compost heap has quadrupled its size and the garden is looking a bit more aesthetically pleasing.  Today, I am paying for my irresponsible hard labour with sunstroke. 
I am not a happy fishy!

On a more positive note, the following pictures taken after Sunday's visit to the grocer (unfortunately none of my own produce as yet).  Most of the produce is not organic, so I have to wash each piece in a citronella wash I have which removes chemicals and waxes.  It is quite a job, but now the kitchen is stocked and all produce is safe for consumption
(as far as I can tell).

It made such a lovely display, I went photo mad:
(I will not bore you with all 103)

I love the vibrant colours and textures. 

My camera however did a poor job of capturing what my eye could see.

There is a whole world of discovery inside each fruit
that I just wish I could capture.

These baby spinach leaves are one of the staples for my green smoothie drinks.  I battle to eat them RAW as they are, but in a smoothie, mixed with bananas and some dates, they are wonderful.

I have never eaten fennel root before, it just looked too odd to try, I have always just walked past them in the isle, however Beloved was shopping with me and grabbed two of these knobbly old guys.  I must say, they are quite refreshing RAW and work well as crudités with humus.

 As you can see, I am getting well acquainted with food .....

colour coding!

Isn't that fun! (tongue-in-cheek)

On a serious note though.  I am fostering a new relationship with food.  This may take some time to develop into something healthy and worth celebrating, but in the meantime, a bit of fun does not
hurt and goes a long way to keeping me sane on this insane journey of life :)

raw! raw! raw!

I have to congratulate myself; I have eaten RAW this whole week!

clap! clap! clap! clap! clap!

I intend for this to be a two month RAW FOOD experiment.  I hope to find that my energy increases and that my girth decreases.  It is not as difficult as it sounds really.  Just eat plant matter that is RAW and you are on your way.  I juice vegetables and fruit to make lovely health drinks and I make lovely green smoothies.  I make large oversized salads and I use avocado in just about everything even to make chocolate mousse!  I have learnt to make a RAW cheesecake which is delightful and I have made my own trail snacks ... all with RAW foods and NO cooking at all.

Beloved is not too charmed by this change, especially as he is cooking most of his own food.  As I get used to this change I'll probably take back some of his food preparation as well.  I refuse to bring junk into the house, so he has to go out and purchase anything he wants that is not healthy.  I must however say that he is beginning to ask for a smoothie or salad when he sees me making them and I am delighted to oblige!  He has also perfected his carrot/apple/ginger drink made with the juicer and I am delighted to help him with all taste tests necessary.

As far as my rather unhealthy relationship with food is concerned, I have made a useful affirmations powerpoint which I meditate on daily and this has become very helpful in keeping me focused on all this RAW eating.

Food for thought

Sue, over at What Are You waiting For? inspired me to write this post today.

I have been wondering why it is that I opt for coffee and toast most mornings when my kitchen is stocked with wonderful fresh produce which I took a lot of time to resource.  I know the answer of course, it is TIME.  It takes time to prepare something healthy and I realise today that I resent that TIME.

I resent spending hours and hours focused on food.

I have had a love/hate relationship with food since I was put on my first restrictive diet at age 6.  For the next two decades FOOD became all I ever thought about; how to get food, how to sneak food, how to not be hungry, how to use food for comfort, how to spend my pocket money on food and not be found out, how to put water into the milk bottle after I had sneaked a glass, so that it didn't look less empty ... you get the idea.

FOOD and I have had a very unhealthy relationship.  I am impatient around food.  I want food to be readily available with no fuss and no time wasted.  I want food that is easy to eat, I don't like fussy food.  Most of the time I really don't know what I want to eat .... so I eat the easiest and quickest thing in the kitchen ..... toast.  I don't usually care about taste too much; it has to be passable of course, but if the toast is a bit burnt - well OK, who cares!  I'll put anything onto the toast that is quick and easy; jam, marmite, anchovette paste and  peanut butter are usually available and do just fine ... I'm not really fussy and I don't have a preferance one over the other.


I don't like curry, I don't like the taste of BBQ sauce, I don't like apples and I don't like potatoes.  Everything else is OK.  However, ask me 'what do you want to eat?' and I am lost.  I stress over what to cook at night; Beloved LOVES FOOD and it needs to be good food or he will not eat it.  He has a well refined idea of his personal likes and dislikes and I orientate my own food around these.  Beloved spent a good many years in Europe eating fine foods and will not settle for second best.  Quality is important to him.  I like quality too, however, I don;t like the TIME taken for quality.

When I am in the mood, I scour the net for good recipes he will enjoy.  But if he is not around a bowl of cornflakes for dinner will do.  I am quite determined to ensure that he eats healthily, I want to eat healthily too, the desire is there, but the follow through is most definitely lacking .... WTF?! 

OK, so I think it is about TIME and perhaps about some other deep seated psychology I just have no handles on yet.

Whatever the reason the following is clear:

• Make peace with the idea that food takes time
• Set sufficient time aside to prepare food for each meal
• Connect with food on a spiritual level
• Love myself and nourish myself

AFFIRMATION:

1. food is good
2. Slow is good
3. It is my right and duty to nourish my body with food
4. Food is plentiful and always readily available to me
5. I delight in the purchase and preparation of food which nourishes my body and soul.  
6. Time spent on food preparation prepares me for a healthy and happy future.