*After The Cleanse*

[christinem]

Hi to all. I certainly relate to all of the "getting it right" about perfect food consumption. I want to say "relax". I was debating about doing another 10 day cleanse between now & the holidays, but I really, really want to join the NY cleanse to start 2007 with. As some of you know, I was in a serious car rollover on 11/11 this year, and have a skull & multiple vertebral compression fractures. I'm requiring oxygen day & night at this time, too. I believe I'm healing, but was too weak to go beyond fasting in lieu of Thanksgiving dinner. There are alot of serious astrological portents going on since end of October & I believe alot of souls of godly intent for planetary healing are "holding the balance" for the sins of the world, while Armegeddon is going on...here & now, fallen angels who have controlled so much of the planet are being bound & judged & ALL of us here are seeing people choose to go to the right, or the lefy-handed path. We're on the forefront of bringing in a new Golden-age of enlightenment, but the fallen ones are wroth, knowing they have but a short time left to wreak havoc on the sons & daughters of God....of whatever denomination. The Age of Aquarius is upon us. Jesus said "This kind cometh out only by fasting & prayer", Remember to consciouysly pray for protection. I may do a day or 2 of MC fast before the holidays, and I find the cleansing & lemonade still helpful & very healing. I truly believe that the momentum of as many of us starting the New Year out with MC may have beneficial effects for the planet. United we stand, divided we fall. Forgive my fanciful meditative ramblings, & I hope I offend no-one by my musings & bakhti yoga (divine intent in all daily tasks). Peace on Earth, Goodwill to all men & women of good will. Those evil ones of lifetimes of malintent...your time is up! Get gone. Love from Montana, Christine M:)

[Res]

Christine: I think it's a good idea that you're waiting to cleanse in January. With the trauma you suffered it may be a really good idea to focus on nourishment right now. I'm so glad you're feeling better and healing. :)

Love,
~Res

[VNB]

Having just completed my first cleanse last Thursday, I'm now grappling with post-cleanse issues. Whoever said post-cleanse is harder than the cleanse was right. Of course: Having no choices is easier than having choices. A friend of mine who did her first cleanse in Jan06 told me that she kept her weight off by fasting once a week and having a raw food day once a week; she also eats only fruit before noon Mon-Fri. I have adopted that regimen, but after tonight's dinner of salmon and salad (my first "normal" eating day), I feel bloated and huge as if the results from the 10-day cleanse are gone (although I know that can't be true). Maybe if I should fast every other day. Uncertain about what to do at the moment, but certain that I don't want to go back to where I was (in terms of weight and eating habits) pre-cleanse. I'm determined to keep the weight off (10 pound loss) and maintain the healthy lifestyle. Best to all who are trying to do the same.

[sopheetsa]

dear VNB welcome to *After the Cleanse*! I will be interested to hear how it goes for you here on in. much of what u say crosses my own mind...

christinem I've been wishing you all the best after your "rollover"-- my god! I actually didn't see the original post, just the one that healthybiz quoted, and I was beside myself --- just reading it. it seems like you've been pole vaulted by all that's happened into a heightened spirituality-- and maybe you were this way all along-- but thanks very much for sharing it with us-- and I'll add my prayers to the heap.

Res-- my prayers are with you also-- I was on that other thread -- and felt like it would be intruding to write there-- but I felt like everyone over there was so earnest and heartfelt-- and all I could think was how great you all are.

right now-- i'm sitting on the edge of my bed-- with nary enough space-- and at some point I have to pack up a storm for a trip i'm taking to florida via rhode island-- 2 conferences. i can hardly keep my wits about me-- and I haven't exactly planned-- it all... i'm on cleanse day 4 but this is a resumed cleanse, which i broke on day 6 come to think of it-- exactly a week ago! so if you add it all up, tomorrow will be 10-- although i know- we can't count 'em that way! anyway this is all part of the "I don't know how to eat" when I'm off the cleanse-- so I'm back on the cleanse" for a spell. not forever-- but a spell. hoping to do a controlled "modified" cleanse for some of the days I'll be at these conferences. Maybe I shouldn't call it a modifed cleanse-- because I will be eating. I should call it a "substitution diet". The hard part is figuring what I can take on the plane with me. Today-- I imagined trying to explain the cleanse to some security person looking dubiously at my suitcase filled w mini limes, and a strange and suspicious sticky brown liquid-- permeating all my belongings!http://www.therawfoodsite.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

all the best to you all.

love,

s

[christinem]

Had a raw avocado tonight...delicious, and am keeping my alfalfa sprouts going. Even those minimal raw foods make my body elemental happy & give me raw food power. Bananas & tea were all I ate for the first 1-2 weeks after the accident. Prune juice is my friend with the binding effects of pain medicine, and sparkling water over chipped ice keeps the nausea at bay. I walk, with oxygen, to my mailbox & back about 5 days out of 7. Raw pecans are a special treat, sometimes 1/2 bowl of cereal with bananas/pecans are tolerated early in the day. Some protein, seitan, salmon, rare poultry, seems to be what I desire & can tolerate. MC lemonade is a good energy boost & seems to supply needed enzymes/minerals. Honey & milk in my tea deel comforting at other times.
God bless all, I'm stating in touch. It's vital to have someone care & I'm grateful to all here. Christine M:) Trying to smile, but shedding a few tears too. My faith in God seems to be somewhat shaken. I'm hoping by sharing to let loose of this....some kind of detox, I'm sure. A little post-traumatic trauma crisis. "This.too, shall pass". I'm hoping & praying.

[Res]

Soph: I'm not sure which thread you're referring to, but you could *never* intrude My Dear. ;)


Christine: Your food sounds good!

Don't worry too much about your wavering faith. God is pretty big and he understands. He's still remains steady even when you aren't. :)

Love,
~Res

[sopheetsa]

dear Folks:
my maple syrup did indeed spring a leak==so be careful what you joke about! ;)

luckily I double bagged it-- and it didn't permeate my clothes...

ChristineM your posts are poignant-- and boy do I crave your avocado! tomorrow starts the conference-- so-- I'm probably going to be on food again-- God please give me the strength to keep my resolve and not go bonkers. Res been thinkin about you-- and hoping all's well.

Oh-- btw this finishes my mini-cleanse-- of 5 days... :)

All my best wishes to everyone on your healing journey.

PS-- ChristineM, thanks for reminding me-- to be grateful for what I accomplish-- even though it may not be all i want it to be. I think getting to the mailbox is awesome! Congratulations to you. I'm trying hard to get to certain places/things I'm trying to do-- and sometimes it feels like I don't have the "oxygen" I need or something. anyway-- gonna try to sleep.

LOVE TO ALL.

[bayareababe]

comes in blowing kisses to all her lemon mates :)

gentle hugs to christine m, another christine :D that makes 3 Res too!

most of my patients coming in are hacking away with colds and flu. :( I take my lemon drink with me in the morning for breakfast and lunch. It has made the bad germs stay away from me, I swear. People are dropping like flies in my bf office and all. I am not going anywhere without my drink! Since my last MC, I continue to eat healthy, with some little back steps like chips sometimes, atleast they are organic with no transfats :) My bf, did a 2 day trial run for the MC, likes it and we will do it together in January. Now this is the guy who used to come over while I was cleansing and eat ho-hos, and beef tacos! I am very impressed with him. He saw how great a cleanse it was for me, and now wants it as well :D Miracles never cease!

wishing all a peaceful holiday season:)

[Res]

Now this is the guy who used to come over while I was cleansing and eat ho-hos, and beef tacos! So we're soon to have a new convert? ;) Way to go Babe!! :)

Yeah, there are Christine's springing up all over the place around here. :)

G'night Lemon Land,
~Res

[ilovelemon]

I am starting my third cleanse today, but only planning to stay on it for 7 days. I did a 10 day cleanse in the beginning of November, and another in the beginning of December. I went to my in-laws for a week during the holidays and totally blew everything. There was so much temptation everywhere, all the time!! I don't really even like junk food but I ate it anyway in massive quantities. Needless to say, I have gained the weight back and feel very depressed and mad at myself because I ruined all of my hard work. I like to run, but lately I haven't wanted to because I feel heavy. I feel like I am so weak and have to prove to myself that I can do this.

My husband really didn't want me to do another so soon, but I feel like I have to get back to where I was quickly and start over. He thinks I am becoming addicted but I swear to him I'm not. Our compromise was 7 days and then we will both eat very healthy and raw as much as possible. I don't think he is right, but I was out of control during the holidays, but I had so much willpower on the cleanse, it makes no sense!! I am an extreme person, so this all or nothing attitude is common. When I finish the cleanse for the 3rd time, how can I over come this and not throw in the towel if I cheat a little on my new diet??

[Res]

ilovelemon: this appears to be a universal dilemma: What to eat? How to eat? We're dealing with more than food here - and of course it's obvious that those of us who gain weight have returned to over-eating for a variety of reasons. A biggie is emotional eating or eating for comfort. :o

Pick a lifestyle and stick with it. You probably won't learn this overnight - none of us have. Fit for life offers a great plan. An all raw diet is fantastic if you can stick with it. There's so much more and since my mind is mush at the moment I'm hoping other's will chime in on what they're doing. :)

The big thing is dealing with emotions and handling stress without turning to food.

Love,
~Res

[sopheetsa]

Res, I couldn't say it better-- and I have to thank you-- for all the help you've given me -- but despite that-- I STILL feel like I CAN'T DO it, ie, "pick a lifestyle and stick with it". I HAVE done it (in the past)--and it WORKS when you pick a good one. I am fortunate to be affluent enough to be able to "pick", but unfortunately, at this time in my life-- I'm one of those who "returned to over-eating for a variety of reasons." and definitely for me: "A biggie is emotional eating or eating for comfort."

And like you ilovelemon (I love lemon too! :)), I am an "extreme person"-- I have done well on the cleanse-- and I have gone out of control on other occasions and it feels like "it makes no sense!!"-- or like I'm not doing things intelligently-- or undermining my own progress by what I do. Right now I'm on the cleanse but my big issue is figuring out what that "lifestyle" should be when I go off. I didn't go completely out of control on the holidays-- or rather-- I went out of control in a "controlled" fashion. I was deliberate about it-- because I thought carefully about how out of control I was already in previous months and I made a plan. It was scary to realize how "out of control" I can be-- and that it takes less time being "out of control" to GAIN weight-- than it does to LOSE the same weight. I'm afraid to really look at it-- but I think the ratio is something like 1:3 or worse, meaning it takes only 1 "out of control day" to put on what I can lose in 3 on the cleanse. It ISN'T that I HAVEN'T been a "healthy" eater for LONG stretches of time and don't know how to do it. I've read a lot about nutrition and I know a lot, and I've already put it into practice for many years in my life. I was a vegetarian for over 20 years. I've kept my body in pretty good health. I've exercised daily, eaten mostly organic food...and not had food issues for LONG periods of time.

But right now-- my life is at a place-- where, I'm finding it very difficult not to make food the kind of "friend" it really isn't--and--I'm sorry to say that this is a very difficult thing to share with you all. But really my problem is how to learn to live with food, how to learn to take care of myself, my body, my health-- and I'm sorry that I've gone on so long to say this.

http://www.websmileys.com/sm/love/636.gifMy love to you all-- and my hope that together we can do this and find a way.http://www.websmileys.com/sm/love/lieb24.gif

soph

PS: To put this in perspective on the national level--here are some excerpts from "USA TODAY":

Weight gains as a health concern (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-12-26-obesity-review_x.htm)<--click for whole article

http://fulcrum.physbio.mssm.edu/~sdy/images/obese-large.jpg

Epidemic among children and teens

•One-third of children and teens in the USA — about 25 million kids — are either overweight or on the brink of becoming so, the highest number ever recorded, the government said in April.

•Even babies in the USA are heavier than they used to be, a report found, adding to the growing concern that childhood obesity is spiraling out of control.

•One-third of the USA's adolescents are unfit, and overweight teens are more likely to fail a cardiovascular fitness test than those at a normal weight.

The problem is one of the 21st century's "most critical public health issues," says Jeffrey Koplan, chairman of the report committee. "There is no one segment of society that's going to solve this alone. It has to be a concerted, coordinated effort. That's one of the things that's missing now."

Time bomb for adults

The news is pretty grim for adult Americans, too. About two-thirds of adults, about 136 million people, are overweight or obese, the government said. Public health officials fear an explosion in obesity-related health problems.

Other research found that overweight Americans are sicker late in life than normal-weight people and die prematurely. One study concluded that obese women spend an average of three more years in ill health than normal-weight women. Heavy men, on average, are sicker one more year than their thinner counterparts.

[TeePee]

Day 10 is tomorrow and I think I will end after that. I have never gone longer than 12 days as my body always seems to say "enough" by then. AFter the first cleanse 2 years ago, I stopped eating all meat and dairy. I think the biggest influence for me was The China Study and Diet for a New America. I then began eating fish and cheese a few months later. I have not been eating well for several months now and I am cleansing as a way to get a fresh start. I have been reading so much about the raw lifestyle, and I am convinced it is the best choice. I bought several books and began reading them BEFORE i started the cleanse this time. I bought a juicer last week (New Year's Eve) and I am going to start that way. I think I will do the 2 days of OJ, then on the 3rd and 4th days post mc- I will begin juicing vegetables and other fruits. I have not had any problems ending the cleanse the prescribed way in the past. I am hoping this will be fine as well. I have been researching raw restaurants in my area, and hoping to check one out next weekend. That will be 6 days post cleanse. Closest one is about 1 hour away. I know how easy it is to fall back after the mc. I am hoping this doesn't happen.

Everything I'm reading supports how amazing people feel 100% raw. I would love to take that amazing mc feeling and have it last for good. It seems like the raw people have that feeling all the time! I am really struggling this time though, because in the past on the cleanse, when I would crave something, I knew I would be able to have it soon enough. Now, while detoxing, I'm thinking to myself "if I go raw, I won't even be able to have that when I'm off the cleanse!!" I know I have to take it one day and step at a time, but it is overwhelming to think about it while cleansing sometimes!! The biggies for me will be my homemade pasta w/ red sauce and locatelli cheese. and parmesean reggiano. Oh, any cheese for that matter. I try to imagine myself making nut and seed cheese. And dehydrated crackers and bread!!

The thing to consider also is that we are constantly changing beings and although change is difficult, it is necessary to thrive. A great book about that is Who Moved My Cheese?(NO PUN INTENDED) It is an easy read and can be applied to just about any situation in which change is needed, even when you don't want to admit it. I find people thinking I'm crazy when I talk about the raw food lifestyle, but it is so much easier for people to always do what they have always done. I am going to give it my best shot!! Here's to change for a new year!!

[lakefront]

Heya -- So I'm done! It's Day 11 & I've just been chugging some fresh apple juice and bits of OJ (which tends to be tougher on me.) So far so good: I'd say I feel a little bloated -- which means, I guess, that the juices are sitting in my belly longer than things have been this week? So that's a feeling I'd be happy not to have, but no pains or anything, so that's great! I _was_ worried about how this transition would go, but it seems to be going OK... Yeah for that!:)

Lakefront

[jenjasper]

Hi Christine: Welcome-- and CONGRATULATIONS! It sounds like you've figured out a lot--I think you're right about the "reset" button-- the cleanse is really great for doing that. I hope that you stay with us now that you're going to come off the cleanse and join us here *After the Cleanse*.

We're all here trying to figure it out-- and trying to remember to push that "reset" button everyday. Kim-- I HEAR YOU-- I haven't exactly done FOUR cleanses -- I'm between number 3 and number 4 (although since both of those were interrupted one could make a case for my having done five already...) but however you count 'em-- I am STILL struggling with what to do-- and how to EAT-- either BETWEEN them or AFTER them-- or whatever you want to call it-- and I could use "h-e-l-p" too!

I think we all know that great as it is to get outside help-- the best help-- is the help that comes from conviction from within, the determination we all can have-- to do what really is right for us-- and I know you really get it mtmouse in what you're say about "balancing" our energy!

http://www.goddesscafe.com.au/images/amLIB.jpg

Learning to love our own selves is part of this equation,-- not only our hips, butts, and thighs (in my case my enormous oversized waist), peannutterb, but all of who we are-- which includes what it took for us to get to this place and be who we are. This is part of finding balance. Because the place of judgement is not in balance, only the place of compassion is. And all too often-- as we run around taking care of others-- we forget--to take care of ourself-- and that self-- needs to hear something positive coming from within.

Like Res says-- it takes baby steps sometimes. One little baby step at a time-- to get past this "emotional/self image stuff which goes deep into the psyche"-- and if anything is clear-- from this bb-- it should be that none of us has to feel ALONE--because we're here TOGETHER.

This is one place, as HealthyBiz reminds us, where we can stay connected and get support. I know that I can come here and tell you guys what's going on, and if I'm having a bad day-- people will come through for me-- and this is the greatest blessing! It is truly amazing. But sometimes-- the most important thing-- is to find your own self.

Today I went to a retirement party for someone who is 80 years old, fit as a fiddle, retiring on his birthday. I had to remind myself every minute-- that everything I do is a choice. I didn't eat the muffins, cake, cheese danish, or the macadamia white chocolate fudge cookies, and there were plenty of them. Instead I had the melon, apples, grapes, blueberries and pineapple-- and, as I was fighting with someone for the blueberries, he teased me: "Where's your blender? Where's your blender now? You have to take all this stuff and BLEND IT!" and getting a good laugh at me-- and I was laughing too.

Believe me-- this is not easy-- and I hope, with every baby step, it gets better.

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/sehrgrosse/large-smiley-015.gif
My love to you all.

soph

I just wanted to say thank you for your post and your opennes and your honesty...there are pyshcological changes that take place with the fast as well and after reading many of your posts i see that i am not alone...i can totaly relate to how you feel being out of control..for me, being on the fast is comforting to me because i don't have to think about what to eat and how to avoid the vegan chocolate chip cookies at whole foods...i totally feel that i have some sort of eating disorder, don't know what it might be called, but i feel like i have very little authentic control of my eating and i feel dissappointed in myself that that's the case because i pride myself (or so i thought i did) on being in control and able to handle anything-you know that whole mind over matter thing...i am on MC 3 and i had intended to go 21 days and talked myself out of that and then planned on 15 and have since talked myself out of that and basically i'm struggling to make it to day 10- which sadly is only 3 days away...this is just a crazy feeling but it's comforting to know that others are battling similar feelings as well...good luck and take care

[sopheetsa]

dear Jen

believe me I understand how hard it is & thank you too for your openness and honesty! please remember, that ultimately it isn't about how many days you do on the cleanse. please do remember, that the most important thing of all (to repeat what I said that you quoted) isn't so much to have "control" -- but to have compassion. notice that everytime you read my post, or someone else's, you are probably filled with compassion as you hear about our struggles. the hardest thing of all is to have compassion for yourself, the way you would for someone else. at the point when you can do that, then maybe you can begin to take care of yourself the way you would someone else, especially a dearly loved one.

learning to take care of ourselves is truly important.

-- wish you all the best!

love, soph

[Res]

Wow Soph; that photo. :o

I think you said it all here; But right now-- my life is at a place-- where, I'm finding it very difficult not to make food the kind of "friend" it really isn't--and--I'm sorry to say that this is a very difficult thing to share with you all. But really my problem is how to learn to live with food, how to learn to take care of myself, my body, my health-- and I'm sorry that I've gone on so long to say this.

Never apologize. Your honesty benefits all of us. *hug* Yeah, it's not that the cleanse is earth shatteringly difficult, it's always how to deal with food afterwards.

Was is Jen who voiced the same thing we've all said or thought, (paraphrased) "the cleanse is safe because I don't have to think about what to eat or drink"? Yes, most of us go through that and a certain sadness develops when getting ready to end the cleanse because our "safe place" suddenly becomes wide open and we feel as if we're on shakey ground. The best way to deal with this ahead of time is to come up with a "plan" and stick to it no matter what. Even if you have to force yourself. You should plan on doing this for 2 weeks or a month. Just something to help with the transition.

More later, have to run.

Love and compassion to all of you!
~Res

[belle411]

OMG I don't have time to post too much but after 12 days of the cleanse (ended Sunday), I have NOT been doing well post cleanse! I've been eating in the evenings, and it's back to my old patterns but just not as much. :mad: And I do GREAT on the MC! I was SO depressed about it:( , but just coming here & seeing other people struggle w/ similar emotional eating issues made me feel like not such a failure (not that I want others to have the same problems but it's nice to see the support).

I don't have time right now at work to read it all and stuff but I do feel a little better. Today I think I'm just doing all day lemonade / juice again. I'm fine during the day, it's the evenings at home that have been killing me.

Anyway, thanks Res, peanutterbe & Soph for all the wise words.

[HealthyBiz]

I just have to share an article I just read tonight on Prevention's website. Some of you will have heard about this study, but this is the first I've read about it in any detail. The director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University has done a series of experiments proving we eat with our mind and our expectations, rather than with true hunger or letting our stomachs or bodies lead our choices. Fascinating. Some big learnings in here for me. Enjoy!

The article is called: Fridge Wide Open: Step inside one scientist's food lab to learn why we eat as much as we do--and 10 ways to stop ourselves
http://www.prevention.com/article/0,,s1-4-88-103-7671-1,00.html?cm_mmc=Spotlight%20Weight%20Loss-_-1%2f10%2f2007-_-Weight%20Loss-_-Fridge%20Wide%20Open

[CitrusB]

well its definitely "after" for me- i sort of missed having the lemonade all day but i knew it was time so i made the fresh squeezed oj &added water to it- i feel a little odd but ok. what i am sooo wanting is something salty- i almost missed the SWF just for something different other then citrus! i was looking over the soup recipes to make myself feel hopeful but am a bit confused as to when i get the soup- since today is one day after do i start with the soup/broth on 3 days after or can i start this tomorrow at night...please can i?..haha. i am getting a little weird here and some of it is from the unbelievable temps here in califor. i know. we are wimps..but please it is 27 degrees out and there is no food in me to fuel that cold. ok. i am done. tomorrow is another day- veryvery grateful for this BB!

[San Diego Cleanser]

:eek: It's my first day of breaking the fast, I did 11 days and I agree with most of you that it's way easier and safer while doing lemonade only. I went to the organic market to buy oranges (the ones on my tree aren't as ripe as I thought they were - eww) and while there I decided to buy the veggies for tomorrow night's soup. Just the act of buying something other than MS and lemons was so scary, thinking "I could buy anything in here". So I'm going to have to make a conscious decision every day to eat healthy, and for me, that is one of the hardest things.
I have a question for all of you - Is it OK to have some lemonade in the morning while I'm breaking the fast? I did this morning, I hope I didn't blow it! It was about 1/2 a cup and it actually tasted better than the OJ! I think I will miss it. I noticed Stanley Burroughs recommends it for breakfast, so I'm guessing it's still OK to have. Thanks in advance for all your help - I never realized that this would be the hardest part.

[mtmouse]

Sure, you can keep having lemonade! Just don't do the tea or SWF.

Enjoy your new freedom--but as you say, choose wisely! :p

:)

[Res]

SD Cleanser: I liked this part, "I never realized that this would be the hardest part." :)

I don't know if you've experienced the "grief" part of ending the cleanse but many of us have. When we start the cleanse and food goes away, it feels as if we're leaving a close friend behind and it's difficult to do. Then breaking the cleanse feels the same and it's a bit scary because now we're faced with making "the right" choices on our own! :o What a fantastic journey this is. :)

All the best to you on the next phase of the journey. :)

Love,
~Res

[hawkjeff]

SD Cleanser: I liked this part, "I never realized that this would be the hardest part." :)

I don't know if you've experienced the "grief" part of ending the cleanse but many of us have. When we start the cleanse and food goes away, it feels as if we're leaving a close friend behind and it's difficult to do. Then breaking the cleanse feels the same and it's a bit scary because now we're faced with making "the right" choices on our own! :o What a fantastic journey this is. :)

All the best to you on the next phase of the journey. :)

Love,
~Res

Res has really reminded me of exactly why this message board is so important to the process.

I stopped my first MC after ten days. I made it two days longer than my friend who joined me on the journey and about 9 1/2 days longer than I expected I'd be able to! <wink> Immediately after stopping, I felt guilty that I had not gone until my tongue turned pink. Then I had a little soup broth at the end of night one instead of waiting til' night two. It tasted so good and I loved it, but again, guilt. Mind you, I was eating an all vegetable soup made with not a drop of fat product after having not eaten anything but juice all day, where I've been known to munch on McDonald's meat mulch in the past. I had a small amount of soup, but more than I should have. Again, I felt guilty.

Even as I look forward past this initial transition off the cleanse, I realize that I will make mistakes, I will eat things I don't really think I should, and I will indulge in things that might be best for me if I avoided altogether. Not only am I not perfect, but I've only dedicated myself to being better. More conscious. Cleaner. Not to eliminate everything, but to be better about all of it.

The extreme nature of giving up food for ten days, the ability to KNOW you are only ingesting organic material - to KNOW your body is getting good exactly what it needs at that time, I think that it is hard to ignore the peaceful nature of that simplicity. But life isn't simple and in the end, if it were, we might not even need the MC. We need the MC because we live in a crazy world, so it is important not to fear going back to that world.

For me, I hope I'm more conscious about what I put in my mouth. I hope I savor every morsel of food as much as I savored the soup I ate too soon last night. I hope that I listen to my body as well as I was able to listen to it while on the MC. I hope I never forget that this is all a process and I will be here again, posting about the end of a cleanse, and that I will still be talking about how I should be better. And that's a good thing.

[San Diego Cleanser]

Hi MTmouse, Res, and HawkJeff,
Tonight I had the most delicious soup I've ever tasted in my life! And yes, I did eat a little more than I should have and also felt a little guilt. But I feel better knowing that I too am more conscious now about what is good for my body. I think that was one of the most valuable things that came out of this. I am so grateful that I am craving good wholesome food instead of junk that is full of chemicals. To think that a few short weeks ago I had a 2-cans-a-day diet soda habit. Just giving up that alone is a huge benefit. Thanks again for being there.

[vicki5]

Well I did it!! My first MC is successfully over and it feels good. I drank my OJ and made up a small pot of veggie soup and man is it tempting. I did taste a small sip of the broth and I am looking forward to a nice cup of it. Congrats to all who make it past 10 days but 10 was enough for me. I am going to continue drinking the lemonade in the mornings but I was wondering if it is also ok to continue with the SWF in the mornings. I do not intend on keeping up with the tea at night as it usually woke me up at 3 am having to use the bathroom and I love my sleep! ;o) I look forward to sharing my next MC with all of you!

[Res]

Jeff: Because of "your decision" to embark on the cleanse journey you've not only lost some weight and gained back health you've gone "deeper" into wisdom and appreciation. Not everyone gains the insight into the cleanse as you have but many others have and you are the people I would go to the trenches with any day. To walk away from the cleanse feeling cleaner in your mind is almost miraculous. To make better health decisions for yourself is what this is all about.

A wise person once told me "Never make decisions based on guilt". We've lived our lives eating incorrectly. One cleanse or two isn't going to make us perfect. If all raw is what floats your boat then GREAT - go for it but it may not be the answer for the person next to you. Respect, knowledge, compassion. These are what will enable us to help other people make better health decisions for their own lives.

See you next time. ;)


SDCleanser: hahaha, yeah it's amazing isn't it? Did the food sing to you? :D I'm so happy for you and glad you reached your goal!

Love,
~Res

[katheg]

Last Friday was my first day of food. I took it slow...fresh squeezed watered down OJ, vege salad, made the vege soup. I have been eating mostly veges all weekend, cooked and raw, plus fruit, some brown rice, beans and lentils. Lots of water and drank the lemonade a couple of times (I miss it!). Meat doesn't appeal to me much. I have been so weak and tired and my gums are bleeding when I brush. Can anyone help? I haven't had a BM yet either...4 days...how long should this take? I originally did the fast because of a history of constipation, but I can't imagine I could be constipated after doing the cleanse and then eating so healthy and fibrous!!! Please comment....I am worried and feel almost like I should drink the tea again and salt water flush tomorrow morning!!!! Thanks--

Kathe G.

[CitrusB]

so interesting- last week i could of killed for some veg broth now that its been 4 days past the cleanse and i am having that broth + some cooked veg i am ready to eat "real" food- i am craving chewing more then anything. hopefully i won't be craving the old foods that never did me anygood except created more toxins. i went to a food support group for "food addicts" last night and they have very strict food plans- none of it raw but you weigh&measure all yr food, you call it in to someone else and you go to these meetings min. 3x weekly- all to insure that you are supported in yr. food addiction. i am not sure i belong but i thought it good to see my options as i move into a healthier life. another day eating well! thanks to all.
CitrusB

[hikingchick]

Well, my fiance and I are on our 15th day and going 1 more. We were going for 20 days but he is taking a class on Saturday with a Raw foods chef and wants to be able to enjoy some of the wonderful healthy foods that they will be preparing. So, I feel really good about the cleanse and absolutely cannot believe I've gone this long without solid food. I realize what an attachment I had to food and this has brought such freedom. We will start Thursday with the oj. And from what I'm reading, it is still ok to drink some of the lemonade even after going off that fast. So, I may have some lemonade in the am. I'm going to really try my hardest to make this a lifestyle change and stay away from the junk food that I used to indulge in on occasion. I'm allergic to dairy and have known that for years but continued to eat it. I've made a commitment to stay away from that from now on - to the best of my ability!!!
This website is awesome and the help and information I've received has been invaluable. I will continue to post after the cleanse - more on my new eating lifestyle.
Best of luck to everyone out there who is just beginning or who thinks they can't do it. If I can do this, anyone can!!!!!:D

[lefsj]

I am on day 4 post MC1-10, and after reading the eat to live book recommended in here, I'm chosing to follow that path. It's been so nice to chew food!!! And the only thing I really miss (so far) is chocolate and coffee. I figure I can do coffee with soy milk on the weekends if I get bad, and I'm holding off on the chocolate.

I am so grateful to have done this fast prior to going into healthy eating. It's been such an eye opening experience! :D

Is anyone else following eat to live? thanks!

[happyhonu]

So, I have completed my very first master cleanse. It has been almost a week since I had my last lemonade and have been too busy til now to post.

My first day of orange juice went alright. Honestly, the juice first tasted disgusting to me. like garbage, even though I used really good quality stuff. I had 4 people taste it too just to confirm it was me not the juice. I think it is because my tongue was coated with the white film, and felt thick and probably blocked off my taste buds a bit.

I didn't wait until my tongue turned back to pink, but wanted to get back to eating again. Now that I have, I honestly feel like goiing back to the MC. Food bores me even. The vegetable broth was so delicious and heavenly. My first solid food was a delicious plate of fruit, and my was it good! I had some more fruit, some nuts and a salad the next day. Fruit and smoothies continued the days following.

Last night, I ate one of my favorite things, a yogurt/cucumber/garlic sauce, with tamari corn chips, but got SO sick this morning, i imagine from the yogurt! Such bad cramping and discomfort. I am sad in a way. I like yogurt a whole lot.. and while I am pretty lactose intolorant when it comes to milk, and sometimes cheese (which i still ate) i do okay on yogurt.

I also have been experiencing the same sadness, almost missing the lemonade and the cleanse, simply because I knew I was getting good stuff, and feeling pretty good about cleaning out my body. I did try a bite of ice cream the other night, and honestly, it didn't even appeal to me so I threw it out. I don't want to go back to the bad habits I had before, and my body doesn't even crave those things anymore, and sometimes just smelling what it is people are eating is enough to satisfy the craving, just like what I did while I was on the cleanse.

How soon would it be safe to go back on the MC after coming off of it? I mean is there a certain safety issue that exists with your body as far as needing a break? needing solid foods after a while, or what.
Also, is soy milk, or almond milk still okay to ingest instead of milk even while doing mostly raw otherwise? i have been using almond for a while and like it. I want to eat cheese, but I don't want to pollute my body, or cause myself really bad discomfort again! what to do.

Anyhow, I am SO proud of myself for completing this cleanse, and I would probably do it again, though while on it, i said i wouldn't do it again! :p

good luck to those still on it, and wahoo to all who did it! good job!!

[Res]

Oooh you guys. I know what you're saying about missing the cleanse. People can't believe it when I say they'll miss it. :) The cleanse is a faithful friend. :)

Kathyg: It happens - some people don't "go" right away and it happened to me once (and I'm fine there). Make SURE you're not eating too much too soon. Your bowels have had help throughout the cleanse and needs to adjust to going back to working on it's own. It make take a few days to go. Hang in there. :)


citrus: Whether the group is for you or not it's great that you're seeking out support for a healthier lifestyle. :)


hikingchick: You're amazing! You've come a LONG way and I hope others are encouraged by your attitude and progress. :)

lefsj: Congratulations! :D


I used to support going "right back on the cleanse" until I experienced my own adverse reactions to it (my fault completely). If you cleanse too often before building up necessary nutrients unnecessary things like, nails, hair, skin will suffer for it. :o Be sure you're eating plenty of greens, *green smoothies, juicing - before going back on the cleanse. Burroughs and Peter know what they're talking about when they say cleanse UP TO 4 times a year.

Love to all!
~Res

[peanutterb]

happyhonu, congrats on completing the cleanse!
It's normal to go through lemonade withdrawal :) after the cleanse. it felt so good to get on a schedule and to feel so light and in control while on the cleanse. but it's not a plan for eating you know? it's only good for a limited period of time.

what i found worked great for me was to break a cleanse by going raw for a week or two. that helped me gather the self control necessary and keep eating healthy after the cleanse. plus i continued to lose weight.

here is an except from an article in the Article for Breaking a fast and life thereafter thread:

"Ending the fast by eating raw food for half the days you have fasted will serve as an effective transition from the world of fasting to the more demanding world of eating.
I hesitate calling a raw diet “fasting,” some people have made raw their lifetime diet. But there are real benefits to approaching a raw diet with a fasting mentality. Fasting demands a disciplined focus and determination. Once off the fast, we naturally loosen up focus. A raw food fast is just as demanding as juice fasting. I personally find a raw diet more challenging than juice fasting."
and
" Raw food will always taste best after a fast. Eat as much as you please. You will continue to lose weight on a raw diet. In fact you may lose it faster, especially if most of your food is vegetables. There are far fewer calories in raw vegetables than juice. Raw food is bulking, fibre-filled, low density food. The abundance of soft fibre has the added benefit of cleaning out any toxins that have been deposited in the colon during the fast. Also, as you reawaken digestion the body will pull out of the fasting state, your metabolism will increase, hence you will burn more calories on a raw diet. A higher metabolism and less caloric intake equals weight loss."


Burroughs says to proceed with caution with dairy and meat after the cleanse because your system is so sensitive. Maybe you ate the yogurt too soon. If you do another cleanse in the future, keep that in mind, and hopefully your discomfort will be a lesson to others to remind them to TAKE IT SLOW going back to regular food, even the ones that you love.

As for cleansing again, I do think what you're feeling is the withdrawal and will pass soon. However, I've always been against cleansing too soon because it just can't be good for you, physically or mentally.
Mentally, I think it leads you into a place that's borderline eating disorder because you are depending on not eating real food to maintain your weight and keep you in a comfort zone with food by not dealing with it at all. Physically, I think it's jarring on your system to start and stop eating all the time. Like going from hot to cold water then back to hot.

I found an article that gave other reasons as well, here's an excerpt from the General Help for newbies thread:

"If fasting is overused, it may create depletion and weakness, lower resistance, and allow diseases to begin. Certain people are not good candidates for fasting or cleansing. Others may enjoy fasting so much that they overindulge in it and take it beyond the limits of normal elimination, resulting in protein and other nutritional deficits, reduced immunity, and loss of energy. While fasting allows the organs, tissues, and cells to rest, clean house, and handle excesses, the body needs the nourishment provided by food to function after it has used its stores.
taken from http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?ID=1996"

Give yourself at least 2 months before starting another cleanse. As Res suggested, doing green smoothies is a better option than going back on the MC too soon. You can go raw, vegan, count calories, do many things to keep your eating in check and make sure you are eating healthy and feeling good. Be sure to drink lots of water and exercise as well.

Best wishes.

[happyhonu]

Thanks peanutterb for the advice. I too think it may have been too soon with the yogurt, and so, I will stop.

I have stopped really having withdrawals and have enjoyed eating raw and it has been working well for me so far. It feels good to nourish my body.

I have to let everyone who doesn't already know, eat raw cacao nibs, and raw cacao powder, if you're craving any sweets. It's delicious, and it makes you feel good too!

Again, thanks for all the support and ideas here, the wisdom is priceless!
:D

[CitrusB]

well its been 6 days after the cleanse and i am so surprised how much i like raw veg- even better then the cooked veg from the soup. i found oat milk ez to use/digest ( fingers crossed) &so far have no cravings for dairy - especially 1/2&1/2-
i was wondering if anyone out there has any suggestions for a raw food recipe book- there are too many to choose from& i just wanted something ez to follow.
tomorrow i see the surgeon for my back and i am very scared... who has ever heard of sucessful back surgery? i am hoping w/ a strong start towards a healthier life in many areas i can postpone all of it for now anyway. so glad i can post anything on here; rants, concerns, etc. thanks to all/CitrusB

[peanutterb]

CitrusB, I wrote a review once, don't know where it is now but the book I recommend is The Complete Raw Food Book. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Raw-Food-Vegetarian/dp/1578261430

[TeePee]

:) I am 11 days post cleanse now. Besides the veggie soup coming off on the second day, I have been eating exclusively raw and I LOVE IT!! Since ending the cleanse I have lost at least 5 more pounds. 14 pounds total since the beginning of the 10 day cleanse. I bought Raw Food Real World and RAWvolution. Both books are fabulous and I have been using them nonstop. Feel great and totally satisfied, except for a bad sinus infection. Of course all of the people around me want to blame the sinus infection on the "diet"! I am wondering if I am still detoxing some, with the raw foods?

[peanutterb]

teepee yes you are still detoxing! eating raw garlic and ginger are phenomenal on clearing up that infection.
you can even put them in your green smoothies to mask the taste. i do it all the time.
and get this - cayenne and lemon juice are two of the best things to clear up mucus.

[TeePee]

peanutterb,

thanks!! I will try the garlic and ginger. Acually I had ginger juiced with apples this am and that was great!

[belle411]

I know I read this from one of the moderators on this board (was it you, Res?), but I've been eating the celery date banana combo and LOVE it!! I've been using it at work for either a mid morning snack or just my lunch.

I've been trying to eat raw as much as possible and do better w/ it during the day until I get home for dinner. I got Natalia Rose's book The Raw Food Detox Diet and once the craziness at work subsides, I plan on following her eating plan. And we've been having great fun w/ the juicer - I actually juiced celery & a Fuji apple together the other night and even the baby drank some!:D

[Res]

Belle: Yes. :) Someone else embellished though and suggested ground walnuts. I tried it and it was even more perfect! Glad you're enjoying it!

Love,
~Res

[patriotgirl]

Hi Res.... I too added chopped nuts to mine and thorouly enjoyed it! I used almonds. EXCELLENT!!!
See ya
Patriotgirl

Awesome Snack, I added it to my recipe box.

[frannyknight]

Hi everyone. I am post MC 7 days and did well breaking it and decided to do the Okinawa Diet Plan, because I wasn't ready yet to do the Raw Diet. Then I finally got my 12 Steps to a Raw Diet book (back ordered) and when I started reading it Wed. night, I couldn't put it down. I had no idea what was in store for me and what the Raw Diet was really about and why! I am so convinced now that it is the way to go that I am planning a 2 month Raw Diet experiement. I want to first learn more, go to some support groups and learn to fix some basics, grow grains etc.... It is such a life changing event!!!! I truly believe that my life is in a major transformation and quite divine. I am also nervous and anxious, mostly just learning what to do and how to do it with my circle of people. I would have never in a million years been able to taken the Raw Diet serious if I had not done the MC and would have never made it through the MC if it wasn't for this website. So I am hoping to find the same kind of support for the Raw Life. Not sure it exists here, yet. I hope so. Wish me luck! Franny

[Sim]

Hi all~
I'm on Day 2 post-cleanse, doing my OJ and looking forward to broth and raw food for another 8 days. (I did a 40 day cleanse). I'm happily committed to starting a raw diet, reading books, (Frannyknight, I feel the same way you do!), but I'm getting such conflicting information, even on reliable sites, about which juicer to buy. I have a food processor and a citrus juicer and a blender, so....do I need a centrifugal pulp ejector or a single or double auger? Do I need a Green Star, a Green Power, an Omega 8005? I'm so confused but I thought I'd ask here because I feel like we're all friends, all in this together. Any advice you can give, any experience you can share about your juicer equipment, would be so welcome. Thanks and peace to all.

[christinem]

Hi all~


I'm getting such conflicting information, even on reliable sites, about which juicer to buy. I have a food processor and a citrus juicer and a blender, so....do I need a centrifugal pulp ejector or a single or double auger? Do I need a Green Star, a Green Power, an Omega 8005? I'm so confused but I thought I'd ask here because I feel like we're all friends, all in this together. Any advice you can give, any experience you can share about your juicer equipment, would be so welcome. Thanks and peace to all.

I love my Champion juicer. Superior juice, frozen banana ice cream & frozen fruit sorbets, makes "manna bread" from sprouted grains, great nut butters & can purchase a (used to be $60) grain mill appliance for fresh-milled flour or seitan-making. Christine M
mmmm....craving a carrot-celery-parsley-beet(just a little) juice...my juicer is in Pa...I'm in Montana.

[taebogirl]

Hello, I'm on my first day after the MC and dont know what I'm gonna eat tomorrow:confused :confused: I had grapefruits today and one cup of the lemonade. Please help I want to continue been good, I lost 10 lbs. but I need to loose another 20. I don't have the book so please tell me about the vegetable soup and the energy snack.:) I also never got the burst of energy and my tong is still white

thank you so much

[j_bozon]

hi all. i have successfully finished 10 days of mc with really no difficulty. never felt so hungry, just very little on maybe couple of times at the end of the day. no cravings. felt a little tired at the end of the day some days. but over all, i feel great. i'm on my 2nd day after mc & i started taking probiotics. i have a scheduled oral surgery this jan 30 & i will be sedated & will be taking antibiotics starting the day before until 10 more days. my question is, do i take probiotics while taking antibiotics? please help. thanks. J

[mini me]

Yea! I am on day 1 post cleanse and I am so happy that I was able to complete it without any cheating. The MC was probably one of the most challanging things I've had to do, but knowing that I was able to accomplish it makes me so much more confident in myself.

I am loving the OJ this morning. I am totally learning to appreciate every sip that I am taking and it is darn GOOOOOOOD!

Thanks to all of you for all your support and encouragement. I wouldn't have been able to get this far without your help!

[mini me]

Hello, I'm on my first day after the MC and dont know what I'm gonna eat tomorrow:confused :confused: I had grapefruits today and one cup of the lemonade. Please help I want to continue been good, I lost 10 lbs. but I need to loose another 20. I don't have the book so please tell me about the vegetable soup and the energy snack.:) I also never got the burst of energy and my tong is still white

thank you so much

Hi Taebogirl,

There is a section under the "Raw Food Lifestyle" called "Vegetable Soup Recipe". Take a look and hopefully this will help you out. Also, try doing a search for "vegetable soup recipe".

Good luck on continuing your journey!

[HealthyBiz]

Congratulations, mini me on a successful cleanse! I wonder how the rest of our group did. My first 10 days have been the best 10 days ever on a cleanse ... or perhaps is that 20/20 hindsight when we tend to pull out our rose-colored glasses? Hmmm.... Anyway, I'm inspired to hang out on the cleanse for a week or so more. I'm still (4 nights now) dealing with strong RLS symptoms and have big eruptions on my face. Not really pimples ... almost boils! :0 But not quite that bad. And, to tell the truth, I knew when I quit my first cleanse that I still had deep cleaning work to do. So enjoy that OJ and soup and I'll look forward to joining you in a bit ... probably in February sometime.

[janed]

hey everyone,

so i'm post-cleanse about 5 days ( i just did my first 10-day cleanse). i was really happy with the results, and with the cleanse in general, and i definitely plan to do it a few times a year.

but, as i've noticed so many people are, im having a lot of trouble post-cleanse. part of the reason i did the cleanse was to learn to eat less (i primarily eat healthy foods, but i eat way too much!). i know that much of the time, im not eating because im hungry, im just snacking out of habit, and i want to stop doing that.

i lost 10 lbs on the cleanse, and i am really thrilled with the size i am now. im just annoyed at myself because i dont seem to have the willpower that i did while i was on the cleanse. ive been eating much more than i wanted to, and i feel like at this rate, those 10 lbs will creep right back on. basically, i just went right back into my old habits.

i know there probably isnt much advice anyone can give other than "have some self control," and i know that alot of people struggle with this. i guess i just wanted to vent a little. but if anyone has some tips to share about how to get yourself out of old habits--for good, not just for during the fast--i'd love to hear them.

[Res]

Lemonheads: Sophie sent this to me What does it take to live to be 100 (http://www.mercola.com/2007/jan/26/what-does-it-take-to-live-to-be-100.htm). It's more about "eating less". Take a peek. :)

Love,
~Res

[Lucky07]

What a great thread! I'm on day 22 of a 21 day cleanse... I've decided to keep going, as I'm only now really starting to see and feel the benefits, and because a lot of the issues here, and my fear to come of the cleanse until I deal with some of the mental issues that resulted in my not coming off my last 21 day cleanse all that well... so I'm reading your motivating and moving words, collecting some great recipes for a month's worth of meal plans, and doing some intense thinking and writing about why I am cleansing, what I want to accomplish, and what my relationship with food is. I will be here for real when I come off - not sure exactly when that will be - either the 1st (making it a 30 day cleanse) or the 10th (for a 40 day accomplishment). And I really look forward to having the support here this time around to help me do it better! See you in a few weeks!:)

[mini me]

Congratulations, mini me on a successful cleanse! I wonder how the rest of our group did. My first 10 days have been the best 10 days ever on a cleanse ... or perhaps is that 20/20 hindsight when we tend to pull out our rose-colored glasses? Hmmm.... Anyway, I'm inspired to hang out on the cleanse for a week or so more. I'm still (4 nights now) dealing with strong RLS symptoms and have big eruptions on my face. Not really pimples ... almost boils! :0 But not quite that bad. And, to tell the truth, I knew when I quit my first cleanse that I still had deep cleaning work to do. So enjoy that OJ and soup and I'll look forward to joining you in a bit ... probably in February sometime.

Hey HealthyBiz!

Thanks for the support and encouragement you gave me throughout the cleanse. I really appreciated it. I know that it was only 10 days and that I still have a lot more toxins in me, but it's a start. I'll be doing this again sometime later this year.

Sorry to hear about your RLS symptoms and the breaking out. The breaking out happened to me too, but I think the change in weather played a factor. My face doesn't deal well in the cold and it's been cold for a while now - atleast for me :) Just not use to it.

Anyway, stay strong and I'll see ya around. Good luck to you and thanks again!!

[cleansing15]

hey everyone,
i know there probably isnt much advice anyone can give other than "have some self control," and i know that alot of people struggle with this. i guess i just wanted to vent a little. but if anyone has some tips to share about how to get yourself out of old habits--for good, not just for during the fast--i'd love to hear them.

I did this cleanse for the same reason - discipline! I came off it on Sunday (my Day 12) after deciding at Day 9 I'd go for 15. Well, I indulged thinking it was okay since I'd been so good and realized I wasn't through so I started over to really get disciplined and get the food **** out of my head. I'd say that you should keep on the scale every morning just like when on the cleanse, b/c that's helped me keep focused. You'll soon realize that you can't expect to keep healthy, and keep that heavenly figure if you overeat, even the healthy foods. That's my plan for when I finish.

[munchkinstudent]

I see now what people mean about how damn good an orange can taste!:) Going to see "Dreamgirls" this afternoon so I'll carry my water and some almond slivers to help get me by the concession stand. Drinking a lemonade as I write which surprises me as I never thought I'd want another but I'm almost afraid to trust my restraint with soup. I'm hoping to keep with the program and continue to eat much better than before the cleanse.
This BB will continue to be my inspiration as I struggle to lose thirty more pounds.:rolleyes:

[Sim]

Hi~
I'm just finishing post-cleanse Day 5 and doing okay, I think. After my 40 day cleanse (the first one for me!), Res advised me to really take it easy and go about a week or even more on oj, veggie broth, and some raw (I plan to do a raw diet, not SAD, and my new Omega 8005 just came in the mail..yay!). I've been taking probiotics (one on the morning, one at night) and I feel great...except I'm hungrier than I ever was on the cleanse~ I know that's pretty normal, but it reminds me how difficult it is to deal with eating a healthy diet and keeping hunger in check. I've lost almost 30 pounds, which feels great but also instills fear that they'll reappear as soon as I start to eat again for real. On the other hand, I've gone out to Wild Oats and now have glass jars full of raw nuts, dried organic mango, sesame seeds, etc. along with Bragg's and nama shoyu and all my new books. I'm ready to start a new way because I don't want to regain weight with a diet rich in garbage ingredients. If anyone would like to be in touch to swap ideas and thoughts on post-cleansing and new habits, just let me know. I hate to burden everyone on the thread with a conversation they might not want to wade through, so I'd be happy to get a personal message using the User CP. I hope everyone has an easy time getting back to "normal". Hugs to all!

[Elka]

Hello everyone!
5 day after MC and I'm still loosing weight!!!:) .I'm very careful what I eat.Yesterday could not finish my veggie soup,(the old habbit-big portion),I love my fruits.I want to keep wy weight down for my son wedding.Now I have to run to work and is snowing outside - love ya 8) :)

[Res]

Sim: It definitely would NOT be a burden to converse here (unless you prefer conversation privately). This thread is all about support and learning how to live AFTER cleansing. :)

I've been reading Boutenko's book on raw diet and green smoothies (I'll never go all raw) and I'm amazed at the wisdom here. I also subscribe to Mercola's way of thinking and believe that some of us need meat - but not the Carl's Jr type of meat.

Make up a 30 day menu and stick to it. Once you develop the habit of healthy eating, then incorporate other healthy foods into the menu. Keep us posted on how it goes. I'll still be here posting, but I'm starting the cleanse on Saturday.



Elka: Way to go! :D


Love,
~Res

[TeePee]

Hi Everyone,

I am officially two weeks now eating raw . My last cleanse was ten days only. I did the juice day 1 post cleanse, the juice and the soup day 2 & 3 post cleanse. Since the 4th day post cleanse (Jan11) I have done 100 % raw and I love it!! I lost about 8 lbs on the cleanse and another 7 lbs since coming off. I feel exactly like you Sim, except for the 40 day cleanse!! WOW!! I too have lots of new books and some shiny new kitchen equipment. I am really and truly enjoying this way of eating and living and having SO MUCH FUN!! The absolute best part is the freedom of not worrying at all about anything I eat anymore. When I am hungry I eat. I feel like I have been "dieting" since I was 12 years old, (I'm 36) and this finally doesn't feel like a diet anymore!! From everything I have read, it seems like your body will find it's natural weight this way. I no longer have a set date in my head of how much I can weigh by a certain point. It is very liberating. I have made so many cool things to eat, all really yummy!! I never thought I would be soaking pine nuts on my kitchen counter, but here I am!! Keep up the good work!!

[Sim]

Hi Everyone,

I am officially two weeks now eating raw... Since the 4th day post cleanse (Jan11) I have done 100 % raw and I love it!!...WOW!! I too have lots of new books and some shiny new kitchen equipment. I am really and truly enjoying this way of eating and living and having SO MUCH FUN!!... It is very liberating. I have made so many cool things to eat, all really yummy!! I never thought I would be soaking pine nuts on my kitchen counter, but here I am!! Keep up the good work!!

TeePee~
I'm so happy to hear about your success and obvious enjoyment of raw! Yesterday, Day 6 post-cleanse, was my first salad (avocado, cress and spinach) in the evening, after oj and broth during the day. I've just soaked my first batch of almonds and I'm on Day 2 of sprouting mung beans! It's very cool and I'm psyched, too. What have you been making yourself to eat? I'm curious and since I don't know any other raw food people (except what I read on the Internet), there's no one in my area who offers classes, and so I feel like I'm doing this in the dark, reading books and hoping that I'm doing it "right". My Excalibur will be arriving in 4 days, can't wait. I'd be happy to read about your new adventures in eating. Keep us informed :)

Res~
I'm amazed at how good I feel! Thanks for all your advice. You're right on about taking it easy for a week to ten days. So far, even with my salad of last night (see above), I have absolutely no stomach or energy problems. There's just one little (?) thing...I haven't poo'd since my last day of the MC(7 days). I'm guessing that's not unusual, but wondering how long I should go before I do something about it...unless my body will take care of itself. What do you think?
~Much love, Sim

[TeePee]

Hi,

Sim, I hope you enjoy your Excalibur as much as I am enjoying mine. Its a good thing this way of eating gives you so much energy because I have had to rearrange all my cabinets and counters!! I have been making lots of stuff from Matt Amsden's RAWvolution. It is really easy and I love that it has pics of almost every recipe. I too like to know that I am "doing it right". I need the picture clue!! I have also used Raw Food Real World. Since you asked, for the most part I have juiced or whole fruit all morning. Either grapefruit juice, apples juiced with ginger, or almond milk blended with bananas (YUM). Then lunch is a big salad with olive oil, basil, pepper. I have made "tacos" out of walnut meat, eggless egg salad, onion bread, (all from amsden's book). I also made sunflower cheese and "ricotta" cheese from pine nuts (raw food, real world). The authors of Raw Food Real World have a website oneluckyduck.com and they sell their crackers and snacks. I actually ordered my dehydrator and nut milk bags from them. I am addicted to their raw snacks. The grawnola is fabulous and so are rosemary crackers. I have to practice making them because very expensive, but yummy. With standard delivery I get things in 1 -2 business days.. (I am in NJ, they are in NY) I am going to check out the restaurant in a couple weeks with boyfriend!! I hope this helps!! Keep me posted on your progress and how you make out with dehydrator!!:) :)

[TeePee]

HI,

Help!! Does anyone know about date paste??? The recipe I am following for granola says date paste. Can I make it from the pitted dates I have?? I was thinking about grinding them up w/ a bit of water in the food processor. Is this totally wrong?? And are all dates raw? would they say so??Mine just says "organice date pitted deglet" on the container??

[Elka]

it is 6 days after MC, and I'm unhappy with my self,yesterday few frends get together ,was so much food and beer,I'm hungry again...........:eek:

[Res]

teepee: Good to hear that you're doing well. Thanks for letting us know! :D

I just googled date paste and apparently they take the water out of these dates. This is the description:

Organic date paste is a form of date juice concentrate.

I'd just use the dates. ;)


Sim: It can take a few days for your body to adjust to digesting food again. That's why we stress to take it slow and break the cleanse correctly. Make sure you're still drinking water. This aids in elimination. :)


Elka: Make a few amazing salads for yourself over the next few days and Juice veggies and fruits together for breakfast. Don't be discouraged, get back on the horse by eating pure foods for the next few days. :) *hug*

Love,
~Res

[AMA]

[B] there's no one in my area who offers classes, and so I feel like I'm doing this in the dark, reading books and hoping that I'm doing it "right". :)


SIM - i found this on another thread, visit www.alissacohen.com, there you can find people who can teach you about living raw who are physically located around the country. i'm sure there's someone near you.

i am actually on Day 32 now, going for 40 as a first timer as well, and planning to 'go raw'. one thing i do realize is that i need to buy a dehydrator, where you order your Excalibur from?

so i get it that 40 'day-ers' need to change up the post MC schedule, how did you do with your first salad?

gotta pee, bye

[Sim]

[QUOTE=AMA]SIM - i found this on another thread, visit www.alissacohen.com, there you can find people who can teach you about living raw who are physically located around the country. i'm sure there's someone near you.
i am actually on Day 32 now, going for 40 as a first timer as well, and planning to 'go raw'. one thing i do realize is that i need to buy a dehydrator, where you order your Excalibur from?
so i get it that 40 'day-ers' need to change up the post MC schedule, how did you do with your first salad?

Hi AMA~
Thanks so much for your reference to alissacohen.com! I found it but there's still no one too close to where I live...I guess I might make a field trip :) But there's another resource that was terrific: The Living Light Institute has a website (www.rawfoodchef.com) and an email newsletter and you can download chef Cherie Soria's cooking demos! I just watched a 45 minute video clip on how to make Mushroom Stroganoff and I can't wait to try it. It seemed easy enough and delicious too.
Good for you on your cleanse...way to go! I ordered my Excalibur from Excalibur online (www.excaliburdehydrator.com) because it's the only site where you can get the 9 tray dehydrator with the built-in 26 hour timer. It's also the only place you can get one in white, if that's important. I liked the idea of setting the timer so that it turns off if I'm not home when something is ready. The dehydrator was a few dollars more with the timer but I also ordered the Teflex sheets (Excalibur calls them Parallexx) and they were the same price or lower than other sites. It takes a week to ten days to receive it via Ground Shipping.
I have had absolutely no problems post-cleanse! My first salad tasted delicious and I had no adverse effects. I've been totally raw for several days and I'm loving it and loving how I feel. Bye bye cooked and meat, hello vegan organic raw! The health difference in me between mid-December and end of January is astonishing, the energy level and clarity amazing. Keep up the good work, finish your cleanse and enjoy all the benefits. And thank you so much for your guidance to alissacohen.com.

Res~--You were correct, of course! Poo problems resolved, it just took a few days for my body to recognize that salt water would not be back until June :-) As you can see from the above message to AMA, I'm doing great and I'm so, so happy to have met you all, discovered the MC, and engage in learning about a healthier way to live. Our BB rocks!

[dkd45805]

To maintain weight loss, is it okay to use the lemonade as a meal replacement for at least two meals a day?

How does everyone else manage to maintain their successful weight loss? Thanks.

[TeePee]

Hi!!

Sim, you seem to be finding your way into raw really well!! Isn't it an amazing feeling?? I am happy to hear someone else is discovering this new way of living!! You will love your Excalibur!

Well, I did have some of my very good friend's homemade wine. First glass in a month. ANd let me tell you...wow does it hit harder and quicker than ever. I had read that in one of my raw books... I know wine isn't the purest thing, but this has a least no preservatives and is homemade, so I know exactly what is in it. I have read in one of my books it is okay to have on raw food lifestyle. And yummy!! I made some delicious walnut "cheese" to go with it!!

Oh, Res, thanks for the quick reply on date paste. I acutally found a reference in the same book that recipe was in (was not in index). It said "soak pitted dates in water for about 1 to 2 hours. Drain and reserve the water. Process the dates in a food processor, adding the soak water 1 tablespoon at a time as needed, until you have consistency of a thick jam or butter. Refrigerate for a week or much longer frozen" (raw food real world, Kenney and Melngailis)

I am so appreciative of this board and hearing how everyone is doing. It is such an inspiration to hear eveyone's stories. Thanks!!

[AMA]

[QUOTE=TeePee]
Well, I did have some of my very good friend's homemade wine. First glass in a month. ANd let me tell you...wow does it hit harder and quicker than ever. I had read that in one of my raw books... I know wine isn't the purest thing, but this has a least no preservatives and is homemade, so I know exactly what is in it. I have read in one of my books it is okay to have on raw food lifestyle. And yummy!! I made some delicious walnut "cheese" to go with it!!
[QUOTE]


TEEPEE - today is Day 35 for me, going till 40. SIM - gave me a heads up to the Excalibur site where i bought one with the 26 hour timer. I can't wait for it to arrive and make "onion bread" from Rawvolution.

so let's get serious now - WINE!!! i'm a bonified oenophile. so with all this extra time not spending eating on the MC i've been able to catalogue my entire 1366 bottle collection. here's the best part - i've also made my own wine. and as any wine lover knows ---- sharing is the best part. i would love to send you a couple bottles. i've made cabernet, merlot, cabernet franc, zinfandel, and barbara. then also have blended them into meritages. so send me a PM with info where to send -- and there on there way!:)

i see you're in NJ, i'm in NH, i go to NJ often as my daughter lives there. some states cannot receive alchohol by mail is that a problem for you? but then again, nobody needs to know what's in the box:D

OOOOH, i just love to talk about wine!

[AMA]

oh and TEEPEE - i just wanted to add, when i made my wine i had the grapes sent from california via. refrigerated truck to me. that means i was at the loading dock, 5:00a.m. picking up grapes and in that bucket stomping away by 6:00. my wine was not made with grape concentrate that is sold in alot of Beer & Wine hobby shops.

so this makes is more raw - - right?

[Sim]

AMA and TEE PEE~
You two are just too much! :D
I love hearing you share and I love hearing the enthusiasm, whether it's for wine, a food dehydrator, the raw lifestyle...whatever. What started as an MC support board (and will always remain that of course) is also a wonderful place for sharing other things. I cannot believe how much fun it is to read all this.

My Excalibur came an hour ago and I can't wait to get it going. The delivery date was exact. I also got Saladacco so that I can make raw pasta more easily. I'll let you know how it works out and whether it's worth buying.

One more share: I made Sunny Paté, from Nomi Shannon (The Raw Gourmet) and it's also in the Complete Book of Raw Food, and also Jennifer Cornbleet's Not Tuna Paté (Raw Food Made Easy). Both were excellent and very different from each other. I also made Victoria Boutenko's Not Chicken Noodle Soup (From 12 steps to Raw). Okay. Those were ingredients I never would have thought of putting together but the result was incredible! Coconut, celery, garlic, pepper, carrots and parsley. I'm beginning to wonder if every dish will be delicious because IT'S RAW:) Seriously, this is the most physically comfortable I've been in years and I'm believing it's the raw diet.

Nice to "talk" to y'all...drink up!

[TeePee]

Hey!

Sim, so glad your excalibur came!! Fun!! Fun!!

We are having our anual "soup-er bowl" at my school tomorrow. This year I will be making RAW SOUP. I hope some people try it. I've decided on Creamy Carrot. I think most people will at least give it a go. Have to get cracking on it!! I wanted to try the Celeriac soup, because the book (raw food, real world) said it was awesome for winter. BUT, I don't have time to make the 45 minute trek to WHole Foods for celeriac tonight and make soup and take daughter to dance....so I will try that for myself soon. I am piecing together a few carrot soup recipes. Let you know how it goes!!

AMA, Wow!! That's quite a wine collection!!! Sounds awesome. I think it is a shipping issue. I know it is from Florida to NJ and from Cali to NJ. But I agree about "the box"!!

More later, off to make soup!!!

[TeePee]

okay, the soup is pretty decent. I know the people at work will probably throw their bowl into the microwave!!

ANY IDEAS ON MAKING SWEET POTATO CHIPS?? I just sliced up two on the mandoline. I am thinking about tossing them with olive oil and sea salt and throwing them in the dehydrator.... What the heck..I'll give it a shot. I will probably be eating chips at 7am before work tomorrow!!!

[Sim]

okay, the soup is pretty decent. I know the people at work will probably throw their bowl into the microwave!!

ANY IDEAS ON MAKING SWEET POTATO CHIPS?? I just sliced up two on the mandoline. I am thinking about tossing them with olive oil and sea salt and throwing them in the dehydrator.... What the heck..I'll give it a shot. I will probably be eating chips at 7am before work tomorrow!!!

Tee Pee~
The chips sound like they'd be perfect...and if you like spicier chips, throw some cayenne in with the sea salt. You've inspired me; I'm doing that later!
Encourage the work people to eat it raw, so they can taste the carrots for real. You're terrific for doing that...from everything I've read, SAD eaters always love raw food when it's prepared for them. You're doing a good thing by bringing raw.

A question for you raw enthusiasts: in RAWvolution, Matt Amsden doesn't specify whether he soaks flax seed (for breads and crackers) or anything else, as all the other books do. Do we just assume that everything, all the nuts and seeds, should be soaked to release the enzyme inhibitors? Or are flax seeds ground without soaking? In some cookbooks, it will specifically say "soak" in some recipes and not in others; okay, that's easy. But in his book, he doesn't specify at all. His recipes look great but it's a little ambiguous. Help! I can't wait to try the Onion Bread!

Have a great day all...the sun is shining every day, even when there's snow!:)

[TeePee]

AMA, quick answer. don't soak flax for amsdens onion bread. I wrote a longer response, but it went away???:confused: at work maybe that's why. more later

[TeePee]

OH MY GOSH!!:p

SWEET POTATO CHIPS RULE!! :D

I think I ate half of the dehydrator already!!! I guess I won't be hungry for anything else tonight!!!

AMA Amsden and Kenney & Melngailis both don't soak the flax.

In Renee Underkoffler (don't know if I spelled these all correctly, books in car), she soaks flax. It gets really weird feeling. It looks like a brain when you put the soaked flax in the blender to break them. eeewww. If you put in blender dry you get a soft flour. Don't go too long or they will get paste-y.

The onion bread is simply wonderful!! I recommend using the mandoline to slice onions very thin. I had gotten a food processor by the 2nd time I made the onion bread and used it to slice the onions. IT doesn't do them as thin as the madoline. I have a cheap plastic one. You will start sampling it right out of the dehydrator after several hours. So easy to prepare, just a long drying time. It is fabulous with his eggless eggsalad, sliced tomotoes and greens!! Gourmet sandwich!!

[TeePee]

AMA~, sadly to say, I have noticed that the wine has slowed down my weight loss. I was pretty steady at about 1/2 pound loss a day average since coming off the cleanse. Last week I had 1-2 glasses of white wine 5 of 7 nights (oops:eek: ) and I have not lost any more weight!!! It has to be the wine b/c all else I've pretty much done the same. I guess I will need to be more "selective" of when enjoy!!!

Keep up the great work!!!!:)

[mtmouse]

SWEET POTATO CHIPS RULE!! :D

I think I ate half of the dehydrator already!!! I guess I won't be hungry for anything else tonight!!!

The onion bread is simply wonderful!!

LOL! I've been gone for a while, but your sweet potato chips in the dehydrator seem to have met the same fate as my eggplant chips! I actually used two big eggplants the second time I made them so there would be some for another day.

I have tried a search for the onion bread recipe but can't find it. Can you point me in the right direction? It sounds yummy.

[AMA]

oh no TEEPEE - you usually post only pleasant messages. the wine story does not please me. i still have about 6-8lbs to drop, i guess i'll just have to bump up the exercise schedule.:(

so onto happier things, how did the carrot soup go over? and how long did it take to get the sweet potato crispy? i met with a local raw foodist today and she's got a "tootsie-roll" receipe - any interest? she also did what you did with the sweet potato but used zuccini (cut lengthwise) and said it was out of this world.

MTMOUSE - here's the onion bread receipe:

3 large yellow onions
3/4 cups flax seed, ground in a high speed blender
3/4 cups raw sunflower seeds, ground in a food processor
1/2 cup Nama Shoyu
1/3 cups olive oil

Peal and halve the onions. In a food processor, cut the onions with the slicing disc. Transfer the cut onions to a large mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Spread 2 cups of the mixture evenly on a dehydrator tray pined with a teflex sheet. Repeat until all of the mixture is used. Dehydrate at 100F for 24 hours. Flip the tray over onto a work surface, and gently peel the teflex sheet off the bread. Return to the dehydrator for another 12 hours. Once dehydrated, cut into 9 equal pieces (make 2 cuts horizontally and 2 cuts vertically).

enjoy!

[mtmouse]

MTMOUSE - here's the onion bread receipe:

Thanks! I intend to try this soon!

[TeePee]

mtmouse~ i was just getting my book out, and I see AMA already sent the onion bread recipe. Make sure you have about 3-4 trays available in dehydrator.

By the way, last time I made the onion bread I was also making crackers and cinamon crispies cereal. I was a little concerned about the cereal ending up tasting like onion:eek: , but no worries. It came out fine.

That (cereal) AS OPPOSED TO THE SOUP, (AMA) made a big hit a work. One lady told me she would buy it if I would make it for her. I think I'll just bring her a surprise batch for a treat!! The soup, people tried but I think if it were a little warmed they may have been more accepting. Plus it was up against some 10 or so other really beefy, cheesy, gooey other soups, so there you have it!!

Yeah, bummed about the wine. I need to lose about 30 pounds!!! Perhaps the gym will help. I went for the first time in months last Sunday. Losing the 15 or so pounds since Christmas has made it more fun to workout!!

[TeePee]

Oh, yes to the tootsie roll recipe. a thousand times yes!!!

[mastercleansenewbie]

I think I'm going to go off the cleanse after day 9. I was wondering when I can start eating my yogurt and pudding again.

Also, if I want to, I can eat fruit on the first day right? It won't be hazardous to my health or something? I only have chicken broth, so what if I cook vegetables in that watered down? As long as it's not hazardous I'm willing to try it and risk maybe a minor stomach ache.

I did the cleanse mostly to lose weight so I was wondering if eating yogurt right away would matter if I'm not doing this to detox (detoxing was just a perk). Thanks Also, when can beans and crackers come into the mix. I think mostly I'm just afraid of breaking the cleanse and hurting my health in some way....if eating these foods right away isn't going to really hurt my health then I'd want to eat it.

Thanks!

[Sim]

Mastercleansenewbie

I think I'm going to go off the cleanse after day 9. I was wondering when I can start eating my yogurt and pudding again.

Also, if I want to, I can eat fruit on the first day right? It won't be hazardous to my health or something? I only have chicken broth, so what if I cook vegetables in that watered down? As long as it's not hazardous I'm willing to try it and risk maybe a minor stomach ache.

I did the cleanse mostly to lose weight so I was wondering if eating yogurt right away would matter if I'm not doing this to detox (detoxing was just a perk). Thanks Also, when can beans and crackers come into the mix. I think mostly I'm just afraid of breaking the cleanse and hurting my health in some way....if eating these foods right away isn't going to really hurt my health then I'd want to eat it.

Hi Mastercleansenewbie~
Please, please, please go to the information thread on breaking the cleanse so that you can do it the right way without hurting yourself! I think you might have a terrible stomachache if you eat fruit on the first day and yogurt and pudding too soon afterwards. Milk products will really do a number on you after you've cleansed for 9 days. So here's the deal for you: first day, orange or grapefruit juice only. Second day, same thing. Third day, oj or grapefruit juice in the morning and some vegetable broth without veggies in the afternoon, salad at night. Fourth day, eat carefully, crackers might be okay, but I'd avoid any milk products for at least a week. This is not the exact way to break a cleanse, but you sound like you can't wait to eat, so at least eat carefully, okay? Congrats for doing a 9 day...you've done your body good!:)

[Sim]

Oh, yes to the tootsie roll recipe. a thousand times yes!!!

Hi TeePee, Hi AMA~
Any chance I could get that recipe too? Sounds awesome.
So my dehydrator is my most favorite piece of equipment! I made the onion bread and sweet potato chips, which I dipped in a little tamari before I dehydrated them. I also did beets...terrific. No one could get enough!
Then something funny happened: I had made a loaf with flax seeds and veggies, but I accidentally used soaked flax instead of grinding them raw. The loaf came out mushy and not even suitable as a paté. So I spread it on a Teflex and dehydrated it and got the best bread/crackers ever! It's like you just can't go wrong when using raw foods. RAWvolution has great recipes!

Here's another question: how is everyone's weight doing? Are you gaining, losing, staying the same? I expected to lose more weight, but I've gained four pounds since coming off the cleanse and I don't understand why: I'm exercising an hour a day and I'm eating all the right things the right way. Maybe my body is just doing what it's supposed to do. I'm not overweight in any way (5'2", 115) but I was wondering what happens to everyone when their cleanse is over. Please "weigh" in on this issue. (Sorry, I have a stupid fondness for puns!) :o

[TeePee]

Hi ,

Sim~ Your flax crackers sound great. what exactly did you do? I'd like to try. right now i'm dehydrating onion bread and pine nut "parmesam". Isn't the onion bread awesome?? I LOVE matt amsden...:p

as far as weight, I have continued to lose since coming off the cleanse. I only did 10 mc. lost about 7-8 lbs on that, then went into the raw (except for the typical soup on days 2-3 post mc). Since ending on January 8, I have lost 9 more pounds. I had really put on weight in the last year tho. I have about 30 pounds to lose really. The only thing that has slowed me down was several evenings one week having a glass or two of wine. I had been averaging about 1/2 pound a day. Perhaps because you are already light, your body is just finding it's natural weight. As long as you feel good, and are happy with yourself, don't worry!!

[mtmouse]

Thanks! I intend to try this soon!

And I did, today! My process was actually kind of interesting, so I'll share it.

I made up the recipe as given (above in this thread). When I went to "spread" it on a piece of parchment (I don't have those fancy plastic sheets and just use parchment for this kind of thing in my dehydrator), it looked all wrong! I would have dubbed it "raw onion rings" (except of course I'd halved the onion first, so "raw onion slices" or whatever). It was thick in some places, holey in others. I couldn't believe that was right, with all those intact slices in there! :) But I could tell it was going to taste yummy!

So I dumped it all back into my food processor and blended it up and spread it like fruit leather and got it into the food dryer.

Of course, all of you who have actually made the recipe as written probably know it works just fine! :o

Anyway, soon after that I did a search online for the recipe and came up with a picture--which looked just like what I had made at first! So I jumped too soon. I'll definitely try it again that way, and I might actually do it in rings and not even call it "bread", LOL.

However [drum roll], let me tell you, the "leather" method ain't bad at all! :) It was ready to turn off the parchment in only about 4 hours, and my first (thinner) sheet was ready to cut and eat in less than 8. I still have one thicker sheet in there, already turned out directly onto the dryer screen. So if you don't have a lot of time and don't care if it doesn't look so exotic (it kind of reminds me of Finn Crisp crackers), that method is easy and fast--and, of course, just as tasty! But doing it that way, there's no need to bother slicing the onion. Just chop it and dump it in the processor with the other ingredients, process, and spread immediately. Wowzer! :D

[Violet_B]

I did the cleanse for 8 days. Last day was January 25th. I want to start it again from February 12 - February ? to see if I can go all the way this time.

I recall reading here that it is bad to do this to your body. Something to do with your body not having enough toxins to expel which makes you really sick. In contrast, I read a different website where someone was advocating a rotation: 7 days of MC, followed by 7 days of regular eating, and so on.

Can someone chime in on this? Also, anyone else get insanely hungry after the cleanse was over? I'm eating things --chocolate, fried foods, other junk - i NEVER ate before the MC.

Very confused

[peanutterb]

there is alot of incorrect information out there on the internet. the best and only guide we suggest following is Burrough's instructions.


this is taken from the General Help for Newbies Thread:

How often?
As per Burroughs instructions, 3 or 4 times a year means ever 3 to 4 months. Seasonally even. Cleansing too frequently can be harmful on the body as well as the mind. However Burroughs does say that those with serious health issues can cleanse more often than 3 times a year. He also suggests a diet plan to do in between cleanses so you do not go back to normal eating and yo-yo cleansing.

Starting and stopping digestion can be jarring on your system and confusing to your body. Also, after a cleanse your body and metabolism need time to restabilize so the shortest recommended time between cleanses is 6 to 8 weeks.

The MC is good for you, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Known side effects of long or too frequent cleanses are hair loss and rapid weight gain.

-- If fasting is overused, it may create depletion and weakness, lower resistance, and allow diseases to begin. Certain people are not good candidates for fasting or cleansing. Others may enjoy fasting so much that they overindulge in it and take it beyond the limits of normal elimination, resulting in protein and other nutritional deficits, reduced immunity, and loss of energy. While fasting allows the organs, tissues, and cells to rest, clean house, and handle excesses, the body needs the nourishment provided by food to function after it has used its stores. (from http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?ID=1996)

[Sim]

[QUOTE=TeePee]Hi ,

Sim~ Your flax crackers sound great. what exactly did you do? I'd like to try. right now i'm dehydrating onion bread and pine nut "parmesam". Isn't the onion bread awesome?? I LOVE matt amsden...:p

TeePee~
Thanks for the word on weight...I always somehow want to be lighter, but I'm actually at a very good weight right now...I'm still working on that "image" thing! There are literally dozens of recipes for flax crackers, but the one I made was a recipe for a loaf called "What's For Dinner Loaf" from the Complete Book of Raw Food. I soaked the flax first, which I wasn't supposed to do :o So I took the mush, spread it on a Teflex, and dehydrated two sheets of it. Delicious!

mtmouse~ What a great idea! Of course we could just use chopped onion! Glad you made it and found out!

AMA~ You're at day 40! Good for you!!! An extended cleanse is amazing for the mind and body. Congratulations!

Here's something that's happening to me: at last night's Super Bowl party (and yes, there was the usual spread of all those crazy, gotta-have-it foods), I just looked at it all and it was almost like when I feed my dog...I wouldn't think of eating her food, so why would I now think of eating all those cooked food, since I've made a commitment to raw AND it really is beautiful and delicious! Maybe that will help some of you out there...there's a change that has to occur in the way we think about food. I feel so healthy in comparison to how I felt before my 40 day cleanse from December 11 to January 19 that I just won't allow myself to go back to fried chicken, steak, etc. It's just not worth it to me when I know I can make some pretty awesome new cuisine that appeals just as much. Yeah, there's a bit more planning, with the soaking, dehydrating, etc. but if you don't feel like doing that or you've run out of time, a gorgeous salad with a fresh dressing is just fine, too. Sorry...didn't mean to sound preachy, it's just that I want everyone to experience this good-health feeling that I have. I've always been a raving foodie--still am, only now I'm raving about Raw!:)

[TeePee]

Hi,

Sim~, you are so funny!! I love your inspiration, and no, you are not preaching. You are simply sharing your enthusiasm for something great!!

I felt like I was the only American who not only was not watching the Super Bowl, but not watching it with wings and chips!! Let me tell you, if you want to have your own personal shopping time with Target all to yourself, go at 6pm on SuperBowlSunday!!

I am going to try to make some corn chips in the dehydrator!! I have been craving corn and found some fresh last night in the market. I think I will make the RAWvolution "tacos" to go with!!

[TeePee]

Well, I didn't get to the corn chips because I ran out of corn making chowder!!! YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!! I had four ears of corn. Several handfuls jumped into my mouth as the kernels were being cut from the cob. I have been craving, craving corn chips, chowder, etc.

I tried to take the basic idea from a few different recipes. This is what I came up with. very quick, fast, easy, tasty!!

4 ears corn, kernels cut off
handful or two of pine nuts
water as needed to blend
sea salt
pepper

BLEND TILL SMOOTH AND CREAMY!!:D

[vincentc]

Anyone know of a good website that sells organic Cayenne Pepper? I'd buy it from this website to help suppot it but they don't sell Cayenne separately.

[cleanme7777]

RES,

Tried the banana, dates and chopped celery--it was the bomb. I've been eating raw for the last few days, dumped coffee habit, sweets, etc.

I'm trying to train myself not to want any of the horrible things I use to eat.

I need help with cooking for myself vs. spending so much at the Raw Food health restaurant nearby home.

Any suggestions out there?????:confused:

[Bogi]

Hi all,

I know this board is not about bitching, we are over our MC days, so no reason to whim...but I need to cry for help!!!!
I've lost 25 lbs on the fast. I was happy with the result, I felt great, still had 10 lbs to lose, but it was only 10 lbs. I wasn't worried, I thought it was going to melt away easily on my new 100% raw diet...

Man, I was wrong! I've read everywhere, even if you overeat yourself you'll lose weight on raw foods. Well, I'm here to annouce I must be one heck of a exception. On my first week of raw (right after finishing my MC) I succesfully gained 8.5 lbs!

I'm a compulsive overeater, I know, but I really hoped I can play safe on raw. :(
And now I'm already counting the days to start my second MC.

Any idea how to stop overeating?

[Sim]

Hi all,

I know this board is not about bitching, we are over our MC days, so no reason to whim...but I need to cry for help!!!!
I've lost 25 lbs on the fast. I was happy with the result, I felt great, still had 10 lbs to lose, but it was only 10 lbs. I wasn't worried, I thought it was going to melt away easily on my new 100% raw diet...

Man, I was wrong! I've read everywhere, even if you overeat yourself you'll lose weight on raw foods. Well, I'm here to annouce I must be one heck of a exception. On my first week of raw (right after finishing my MC) I succesfully gained 8.5 lbs!

I'm a compulsive overeater, I know, but I really hoped I can play safe on raw. :(
And now I'm already counting the days to start my second MC.

Any idea how to stop overeating?

Hi Bogi~
I'm another person who did not continue to lose weight after the MC. I did a 40 day and then went on a Raw diet, too. I'm loving it, but I have gained 4 pounds back. I tend to consume A LOT of food, so I know that I must cut down on quantity. I think it's fair to say that too much of anything will result in a weight gain, although too many vegetables might be a temporary gain while too much sugar and fat will deposit some stubborn pounds. So I think you're ahead of the game if you stay raw. Examine what kinds of raw foods you're eating. ARe you having too much shoyu or tamari? Too much salt? Too many dried fruits? All these are good, but in moderation because they definitely add weight due to water retention. I don't know how long your cleanse was, but please read about the danger of cleansing too often and too soon...that alone could result in "ballooning".

I'm so glad you wrote to moan and groan...that's why we're all here, for the support! Keep writing so we'll know how you're doing :)

[AMA]

I'M FINISHED!

40 DAYS and DOWN 32 LBS!

ooooh am i finished!!!!!. this past weekend was BRUTAL! at a ski lodge, going out dancing, still on the MC, BRUTAL!

:D i was telling BOGI that my ass doesn't shake so easily sober on the dance floor, 'butt' there's less of it to shake!:D

Who would ever think that a grapefruit could be so orgasmic;) ? well it was.

I did the shopping yesterday and believe it or not . . . . total bill . . . just shy of $900.00!!!! a Breville Juice Fountain, yet the rest went into the refrigerator and the cupboards. SO BRING ON THE FOOD!! sounds like TEEPEE is always got something delicious cooking. i'll have to look in previous posts to see the recommendations.

so SIM, you raving rawie - i'm going to read your previous posts as well cause you also came off of a 40 day marathoner.

I'm so glad to be part of this thread, rather than the "what day are you on and how are you feeling?" thread. being here gives me visions of sugar-plums dancing in my head, oooooooh i mean carrots and celery!:D

p.s. still working on getting the 'tootsie-roll' receipe.

[TeePee]

CONGRATULATIONS, AMA, ON YOUR 40 DAY CLEANSE!!!

THAT IS AMAZING!!

OOPS!! $900!! I've added up something like that for some of the shiny new toys in my kitchen too, including that Breville juicer!!:) It's all in good health!!

Stick to the raw. 32 pounds is awesome!! Keep us posted. I'm sure Sim will have great advice for you coming off a long cleanse like that. I've done the MC 6 times in the last two years, but never longer than 12 days at a shot!!

[AMA]

TEEPEE - QUICK QUESTION????? how many trays will i use up with the onion bread receipe? thanks in advance

and how do you like the Breville? does it do greens?

[Sim]

[QUOTE=AMA]I'M FINISHED!

40 DAYS and DOWN 32 LBS!

AMA~
YOU ARE AWESOME!!!
Congratulations, sweet thing! You even made it through the ski lodge, which goes to show it's all about celebrating and not just about what food and drink is on hand! I am soooooooooo proud of you!
So, $900, huh? Was that just for food or for "toys" as well? :) How do you like your Breville? I almost got one, but being the neurotic person I am, I wanted to be able to juice wheatgrass, citrus AND veggies so I got an Omega 8005. I love it, but I thought about the Breville because of the wide feed tube. Let us know how you like it. I also got the Excalibur with the timer and the Saladacco, to make raw pasta and you know what? IT'S THE COOLEST THING! Everyone in my family wanted my zucchini pasta with the sauce I made!

Here's something else: go to Living Light Institute and you can watch food prep videos! It's like watching the Food Channel, only on your computer and about Raw. (I cannot even believe I'm doing Raw...me, the original "stay-in-the-kitchen-and-amaze-everyone-with-gourmet-cooking" lady.) So far, I'm loving everything but then again, I also loved my cayenne lemonade:eek:

AMA, you rock. TeePee, you are so much fun! Everyone else, keep meeting up here for awhile until the next cleanse. It's so great talking to all of you. (By the way, I've scheduled my next cleanse for mid-May to mid-June. Planning on 30 days...) Love to you all~Sim

[Sim]

TEEPEE - QUICK QUESTION????? how many trays will i use up with the onion bread receipe? thanks in advance

and how do you like the Breville? does it do greens?

Hi AMA~ One more thing: I almost forgot and thought it would be interesting to see if TeePee and I had the same experience. When I made the onion bread this week, it took up four trays.
I don't know about the Breville, but the Omega 8005 does everything and the pulp comes out bone dry!

[AMA]

SIM, SIM, SIM - your enthusiasm about RAW is so OVER THE TOP! I could easily tell you that I'm right there with you!!!!!

So about my shopping spree: the only toys were the Breville and Saladacco, yup the rest were all my provisions. Inside my refrigerator looks so colorful. I actually moved all my husband's food stuff to the refrigerator in the garage. OOOOOPS!

I had an Oyster Juicer (from year 1912, i think) and I started it up thinking I could at least do my orange/grapefruit with it for a couple of days - NOT! So instead of using my citrus press I've used throughout my MC, I ran out and bought the Breville at 9:00 p.m. last night. My plan was to buy the GreenStar, BUT NO, couldn't wait a few days now could I. Have you done the wheatgrass yet? I'm interested in knowing if TEEPEE likes the Breville.

I am also usually whipping up some pretty good food in my kitchen. We have friends over for dinner frequently and in the future I'll definately throw in a few RAW dishes into the mix to check their response.:D My dehydrator arrived this afternoon, and the onion bread is in as i type. WOWIE, the aroma!!!! Do you use a VITAMIX? I have 3 blenders already, but I know myself, as soon as something doesn't blend properly, off i go buying another blender. Good thing my husband is such a good sport!8)

Living Light Institute - thanks, i'll check it out.

Oh back to the onion bread, i only filled 1 1/2 trays. i really mashed it down well, making sure not to have any voids. I did only use 2 onions though. Let's see what TEEPEE gets from the receipe.

Can't believe you're already thinking about your next cleanse - that's admirable. Love your posts, cindi

[TeePee]

Hi Sim and AMA~

You two crack me up!!! :D I am so glad there are others out there so excited and about raw!! I too am still shocked I'm doing this!! I have always loved cooking, eating, drinking!!! Although my cleanse wasn't as long as both of yours, I began Dec 28 and haven't had anything cooked since (minus MC soup 2 days).

Okay, the low down on the "toys". I have the Breville Juice Fountain Elite. Love it!! I am not sure about greens yet, says it will but haven't really tried. But the clean up is lickeysplit and it is all diecast and stainless steel. NIce..I know the Omega is better "raw" -wise, but I heard it was slower and more difficult to clean, so I knew that would probably deter me from using as much. I use it so far for apples, ginger, pears, celery, carrots, tomatoes. I will say the pulp leftover is bone dry, almost like a flippin sponge!! I also couldn't wait and bought mine New Years Eve. I needed "something" since I was cleansing and not celebrating!!

I have had the Breville Citrus Juicer for a year. Bought it after my last cleanse last year. Before this time around I had used it at least 3 times a week for grapefruit juice. This time was my first cleanse with it. Makes lemonade a pleasure!! Again, the rinds are completely cleaned. I use it at least once a day. Around 139 if you shop around on line. LOVE IT!! It drips right into the glass you want to use (or measuring cup) and rinses off in seconds. Again die-cast and stainless steel. Amazing. I don't know if you noticed, but soo many raw recipes have lemon or lime juice. I have grapefruit juice almost every single morning.

The Vita-Mix rules. Got the professional series. Use it everyday!!

Well then, ya know I just couldn't stop there. I was just going to settle with the cheapy mandoline, but boyfriend hooked me up with some cash for the food processor. Got the Cuisinart 11-cup. Seemed to be the best recommendation, plus 10 year warranty on the motor and 5 years on the rest. Love it also.

Of course, the dehydrator, you know...OH, I GOT 3 TRAYS ON THE ONION BREAD. USED 3 ONIONS.

ordered that spiral thing last night. CAN'T WAIT TO MAKE "PASTA". I am missing my homemade pasta and red sauce the most of anything...um with locatelli cheese. oooh, sorry. I did make parmesan pine nut cheese. Guess I' ll use that!!

So glad to hear the pasta turns out!!!

Keep it raw!!

[AMA]

TO ALL INTERESTED IN THE #'S
(also posted on master board)


1st MC
40 DAYS
32 LBS. Gone
120 Lemons
5-6 Lemonades Per day
1 Heaping Tablespoon MS in each
80 oz of Water daily
1 SWF per week - it was just so grose!
1 Smooth Move Tea in the p.m.
1 Senna Tea in the a.m.
3 :eek: bowel movements a day:eek:
1366 Bottles of Wine calalogued while on MC
0 Bottles consumed
900 dollars saved (no restaurant tabs)
900 dollars spend for appliances, books & food to go RAW
1 Million trips to the bathroom
18 rolls of toilet paper
1100 dollars extra to turn up the thermostat; i was FLIPPIN' FREEZIN'
1 winter hat worn to bed
2 pairs of socks as well
9 concerned family members
1 Supportive Husband
6 more lbs. to lose
1 vacation to plan

[AMA]

hi TEEPEE -

i just feel like yappin'. :rolleyes: So the onion bread . . . wow 24 hours, then another 12! that's along time, huh? my husband told me today that last night he thought the smell was just horrid and he had to go to the other end of the house to watch T.V. Here i'm thinking it smells so yummy and he's gaging.:eek:

so TOYS . . . i have more toys than man and woman combined. lawn toys, automotive toys, woodworking toys, kitchen toys, and just toys, way too many toys. I've also got the cuisinart, 3 of them, (sm.,med.,lg) and mandolines, couple of those as well. the mandonline is awesome for teeney, tiny julienne veggies to wrap in nori. Oh speaking of Japanese, is wasabi raw? i know i'm rambling:confused:

G-d knows i need another toy, so with the Breville Citrus Juicer i know you recommend it, but is it an electric gaget and do you have to peel the rind off? oh, that reminds me, my friends used to call me GO GO GADGET!

So the pasta, BOGI said she made the alfredo one and couldn't stop eating it, to the point she stuffed herself to the uncomfortable point. So Beware!

What did you "cook" today? i'll shut up now:(

[mtmouse]

Those of you who have the "spiral thing" - where did you order it? Can you use it for something like apples? (Cored?) Right now I'm eating just vegetarian, not all raw, because I really want the grains (pasta!) and beans. I've been kind of overdoing chocolate, though! :p

Anyway, I'm trying to decide whether the spiral thingy will help me actually give up (or cut down) on the cooked grains.

[TeePee]

Hey hey!

AMA~ Well, I only wish I had my old kitchen back to house all these gadgets!! It was awesome..(left the husband and the house!!) Now I have a townhouse for my daugther and myself. Much, much less counter space. But mine...ok, enuff of that..

The citrus juicer.. Yeah, it is electrical but oh so pretty and you will use it everyday, no doubt. No peeling rinds. Simply half your citrus fruit, place on cone and pull down handle. Operation is smooth like "butta". OH, don't forget to put glass under spout:eek: (first time i put on vita mix, I was so excited to get it, I forgot lid!!!) Cleanup is 1,2,3. It may be my favorite out of all!! Even for future MC alone, it is worth it. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!

So, today, what did I "cook"? Well, got more corn on cob and as I type I have corn "chips" in dehydrator. I made matt amsden's "tacos" out of walnut meat and salsa on a romaine leaf. Oh and the cashew cheese spread on the leaf. yum. Only thing, my tongue is killing from all the acid i guess. I used to get that before "raw" also with a lot of tomatoes, strawberries, sometimes wine and locatelli.

So the corn chips, I took a recipe from Raw Food, Real Word, but left out some of the spices. So I had: 5 ears corn, small red bell, 1/2 yellow onion, 2tbl lime juice, (breville!!) sea salt, 3/4 cup ground flax, bit of olive oil. Mixed in food processor. 4 teflex sheets. Flipping it in morning and hoping for a tasty after-school (work) snack with salsa I made today. :D Have some 'taco meat" left over too!!

By the way, I think the onion bread smells like heaven and I'm sure after your long cleanse, you've got to be drooling over the dehydrator!!! Wait til your husband tastes it!!! Everyone in my family loved it and they are not even close to ever being vegetarians!!

Let me know what you decide on the citrus juicer. I'll try to find the place I ordered mine on-line. I had the plastic electric kind for around 25-30$. They can't even compare-in use, result, cleanup, etc.

[TeePee]

Those of you who have the "spiral thing" - where did you order it? Can you use it for something like apples? (Cored?) Right now I'm eating just vegetarian, not all raw, because I really want the grains (pasta!) and beans. I've been kind of overdoing chocolate, though! :p

Anyway, I'm trying to decide whether the spiral thingy will help me actually give up (or cut down) on the cooked grains.


Mtmouse, I ordered mine from Alissa Cohen's site. Still waiting. Hoping by Friday. Geez I hope it satisfies my craving for pasta. with pesto, with red sauce, anything!! I think it was $24.95 or something. Plus she had the Nama Shoyu, which I ordered also. I haven't had any luck finding it around here.

[mtmouse]

Mtmouse, I ordered mine from Alissa Cohen's site. Still waiting. Hoping by Friday. Geez I hope it satisfies my craving for pasta. with pesto, with red sauce, anything!! I think it was $24.95 or something.

OMG, I looked at that site. Offhand, I'd say I could drop $125 and get about an hour's worth of snack food! :p

It sure is tempting, though. Is there anyone else on here who uses the spiralizer regularly? I don't know if I can wait for yours to arrive to find out how you like it! :)

[AMA]

good morning rawbies,

MTMOUSE - i have one (saladacco), but have yet to use it. 'trying' to ease myself back to eating. all that i've read, it's well worth the money. and i personally know about dropping a few $$$$ on alissa cohen's site, my first was over $200. :p :p EVERYONE MUST GET THE RAW CRUNCH BARS they taste like a PAYDAY candy bar without the sticky caramel part. i got the Blueberry - a little sticker shock of $30 :eek: though. heck, we deserve it! Obviously i'm eating a bit soon after a lengthy fast - but so far, so good.:p

hey TEEPEE - i'm going into the kitchen to make the corn chips and Matt's taco 'meat'. I'm such a COPYCAT!

oh and thanks for the ringing endorsement on the Breville juicer - now i have to buy one. i have a large kitchen and I'M running out of space. the Excalibur is obnoxiously hugh. i took off two folding doors that were holding all the baking things, mixers, scales, breadmaker, etc. and put all my new stuff there. mind you, i have 4 other appliance garages (with roll top fronts) in my kitchen. sorry to hear about both your divorce (maybe not?!?!) and about your limited kitchen counter space. Sounds like you've got it ALL under control though:D :D

I'm so close to returning my Breville Juice Fountain and getting an Omega. i'd get the Green Star - but it's white. (a little anal, huh?):rolleyes:

SIM - where are you? have a great day everyone:)

[steakeater]

I've seen alot of information about what to do after the cleanse. I think i am a pretty toxic person, (frequent marijuana and alcohol use) and I am planning on starting the MC in 10 days. I have stopped my bad habits due to health concerns and I am a bit worried about the detox effects. Is there anything I can do in the lead up to my 1st MC to reduce the toxins currently in my body and lessen detox symptoms?

[Sim]

Okay you crazy kids, I'm back!!!!
I've had such an adventure...while using my OXO mandoline, I sliced off part of my thumb!!!! (Don't worry, I made sure no one ate it. EEEWWW) So after a little trip to the hospital and a couple of days of throbbing pain, I'm bandaged and investing in all the right discs (small and medium shredders, graters, and slicers) for my 11-cup Cuisinart (God, I love that thing!) instead of using the mandoline. I still can't believe I did that! I'm sooooooo careful with this stuff and yet...just goes to show. I got so excited about what I was doing that I wasn't paying enough attention.
Now I'm really jealous...I absolutely love my Omega and the cleanup is not time consuming at all! I use it twice or more every day. But the Breville sounds so easy! Yes they do say that the Omega preserves all the enzymes because it doesn't heat up at all and it does do citrus (but I peel my oranges and grapefruits because those rinds are toxic; lemons and limes aren't) but you have to cut the veggies and fruits up because the feed tube is much smaller than the the Breville. Hmm. I'm a copycat too, ladies!! :) Nah, we're just learning from one another and that's the best! I feel like you're my friends and it's just so much fun. So, on to the toys: I absolutely ADORE my spiral cutter! I know it's called a Saladacco, but the brand I was sent was called "Metro" and it's exactly the same as the Saladacca picture. In fact, the website I ordered it from (happyjuicer.com) said they might send different brands because they're all the same. I've been making raw pasta out of zucchini since I got it two weeks ago and my whole family---and friends---are totally in love with the result! I've made all the sauces, including an arrabiata (hot, hot, hot!) that was to die for! Get the spiral cutter! It adds another dimension to the repertoire that you just can't get otherwise.
I've been using that demon dehydrator every day and love everything that comes out of it. I can't keep enough stuff in my house for the fam, either, and they're not little kids! Eggplant, yellow and white sweet potatoes, beets, apples, bananas...never enough! And all the veggie burgers and crackers! Yum! Who knew that this way of eating even existed??? And if I don't have anything ready, there's always some awesome salad that appears on a plate. I try to balance colors: lot of red (cabbage, peppers, radishes, tomatoes), lots of deep green (kale, rabe, spinach), shredded carrots, sprouts, pumpkin seeds or any other soaked nut I happen to have, enoki mushrooms (because they look so cool and funky) and some great salad dressing (try any of Matt Amsden's--they're unbelievable--I make one per week and it sits in a container and everyone in my house fights over it!) Now, I'm the only raw person here, but suddenly all my stuff disappears! It gives me such a giggle. I have four mostly-grown up kids and a new husband (well, six years into that) who is a doll for never saying anything about the expense of my new toys :D so I too know about that "other" life...and I lost my former Cuisinart too! That's okay...it was definitely worth it :D Anyway, counter space? What's that??? No matter, we're all surviving quite nicely I'd say.
On the subject of "what do you eat when you're just having a meal?" I'd have to say that I eat a lot of patés rolled up in collard greens or cabbage or kale or nori. That and salad, when I haven't had time for anything else. How about you, ladies? What's the standard when you're starved and are short on time?
Vita Mix blender...I'm saving up for it. About $400, yes? For now, my ridiculously weak Hamilton Beach will have to do, but the VitaMix is on my wish list (is my family listening?). And I purchased a Cuisinart Citrus Reamer when I started the cleanse, so when I just need a little citrus, I use that instead of the Omega. It does a nice job, it's easy to clean...it's okay, but if I had the $25 bucks back, I'd probably get some other kind of citrus press because it walks on the counter when I'm juicing.
I cannot tell you how much fun it is to talk to y'all. :) Okay, on to the day and some new recipe for dinner. I'll let you know what I come up with. Glad to be back among the living!!!

[Sim]

One more thing...
After really examining the Green Star and what it does and how hard it is to clean and how much it costs (astronomical!), I chose the Omega 8005 and as you know, I'm loving it. AND it's bright and shiny chrome and looks awesome on the counter (yes, I've even given it a spotlight on the premium counterspace because it's beautiful). Don't know if that helps, but don't feel badly about not getting the Green Star.
Have a great day!

[TeePee]

SIM!! You silly girl!! I have to admit, I 've had a few run ins with the madoline, but nothing dr. worthy!! Glad you are back!! Oh, I am getting ready to sit down to pasta two ways!!! alfredo, and my own red sauce!! Yep spiral slicer came today....more later!!

:o

[mtmouse]

Okay, now I want to know (details, please!!!) what you guys are eating on this spiralized zucchini. Like, what's the Alfredo? The marinara? Are you eating raw?

Tonight I made spelt pasta and did a carrot-onion sauce in the food processor with broccoli bits that was certainly tasty. However, it doesn't come close to raw. And I'd like to get closer to raw, without feeling like I'm eating cold leftovers! :p

Started marinating eggplant pieces tonight, though, to dry tomorrow.

[TeePee]

mtmouse-
alfredo was (this is the halved reciped and there was still much left -2 people)
1/2 cup macadamian nuts
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup cashews
1-2 tbls lemon juice
1-2 teas braggs liquid amino
2 or so tbl water (i think i used much more while blending)
salt, pepper

Blend all in blender, adding water as needed to liquify. I used yellow squash b/c that's what i had here and I just couldn't wait to use the silly spiral slicer!!

red sauce:

3 tomatoes
handfuls basil
clove garlic
5-6 dates
1/2 cup soaked sun dried tomoatoes
salt
2 inches of a long hot pepper.
1/4 cup olive oil

processed dates and sun drieds first. add other stuff. yum..I just made this up as I went along. I am trying to remember what I did as I type.

anybody know about parsnips?? I bought them last week as I remembered seeing them on some recipe somewhere. Now i can't find it. Can you "pasta-size" them?? Never ate them in my life. NOw I'm going to try to turn them into spaghetti!!!!:rolleyes:

[mtmouse]

Ooh, those do sound good.

Another question: for beet chips, yam chips, etc. - do you use a marinade or just slice and dry?

I'm getting closer to ordering mine! :) I'd been thinking about the mandoline, but after hearing Sim's story I think I'll stick to my knife! (Although, I will admit I'm missing part of my left thumb because of a knife many years ago!) I've got the Cuisinart slicing attachments but I don't like them. Too hard to control, and the pieces come out all cattywampus. :)

But can't the spiralizer make a thin wafer? Could you use that for beet chips and the like?

[Sim]

TeePee~
Dinner sounds delish...can I come over? :)
Tonight I made Matt Amsden's Soft Tacos AND THEY WERE INCREDIBLE!
I am never going back to cooked food!
Sesame Butternut noodles tomorrow...I'm already hungry :D

Mtmouse: the raw pasta never tastes like cold leftovers! It's really fresh...the tomato sauce I made was from tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, red peppers, olive oil, basil, oregano, garlic and cayenne. The alfredo sauce is coconut water, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pine nuts or cashews, and nutmeg. You stick all that stuff in a blender and it goes over zucchini pasta, made with a spiral cutter. The pesto pasta is coconut water, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pine nuts basil, and olive oil. With just a few changes, you have great sauces! C'mon...you'll love it!

Hey all~ I've decided I love RAWvolution's recipes, but I also love the Complete Book of Raw Food and the easiest one of all is Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer Cornbleet. If you have any other favorites, let me know, okay?
OOohhh, it's so good to be back, even without my entire thumb!

[Sim]

mt~ Cattywampus?!!! That's a new one for me, but I know what you mean!! I'm pretty good with my crazy, extra sharp Cutco knives, but that mandoline really got me good. I think I really will stick with sharp knives and all the blades of the Cuisinart because at least I can unplug it and keep it from attacking me!
The spiralizer makes cool ribbons and juliennes, too, but it doesn't cut anything very thin. I'm thinking that thin is what I want for my body, not so much for my veggies (!!) because when I dehydrate, the thin things get a little too crisp.
But it's all in the experimentation anyway, so enjoy the ride no matter what you do.

Parsnips rock! They are a little sweet, a little nutty, and I don't know if they'll spiralize, but you can shred them like carrots. You cannot go wrong with parsnips.

Are you using all organic veggies? I'm trying to but it sure gets expensive up here in Connecticut. Is it the same for all of you? I'd think that in California, organic might be more plentiful but here, you have to practically mortgage your house to buy a grocery cart full. Still, I feel like I'd rather eat less quantity and better quality if I can. What do you think?

[mtmouse]

Have you ever looked at Alissa Cohen's books? On her website the stuff sure looks good. And since I'll probably place an order for a bunch of the food products, I thought I might add in the book. I haven't seen those others you mentioned, but if they're better I could save some money (which, as we said before, is serious on AC's site!).

I like what you said about stuff not tasting like cold leftovers! I follow the blood type diet, and a lot of the exact ingredients in your stuff aren't for me, but I'm used to substitutions and it all certainly sounds yummy.

And I have to admit that spiralized zucchini (or winter squash) sounds a lot more appetizing than cubed or even julienned zucchini, even with the same sauce. Maybe I'm just a food snob! I certainly know I'm a gadget addict, LOL. (I eat julienned zucchini in my salads all the time, though.)

I'm getting close! :eek:

[TeePee]

Hey Sim!!

I LOVE MATT AMSDEN TOO!! THOSE TACOS RULE!! I made them this week for like the 3rd or 4th time. That was the meal that sold me to never go back too!!!

I didn't do his alfredo, b/c i didn't have a coconut on hand today. The one I used was from Alissa Cohen, don't have her book, but it was online on a preview of the book. I have Carol Alt's but someone at work borrowed it. I also have Raw Food Real World, LOVE IT and going to restaurant next Sunday. They have treats on website which i've ordered then made the same thing from their recipes. I love to compare the bought version of it to my homemade version..Fun!!

So I don't have the Complete Book of Raw. May have to get that. Living Cuisine by Renee Underkoffler is a wealth of info. Almost encylopedia of ingredients, veg, fruit, seed, nut descriptions plus procedural info on soaking, sprouting, drying, etc. A great reference tool. I haven't tries as many recipes from her book, but those I have done, all good. So I wonder if "Complete....RAW" is similar?

Now, I really want some great knives!!! I had to buy cleaver for coconuts and last week new chef's knife!!

going to Whole Foods tomorrow on way to see friends brand new baby. She is soooo anti-raw & vegan, but she really wants me to bring her up one of my banana-almond milk smoothies!!:p

[mtmouse]

Sorry about "cattywampus", LOL. I don't know why I came up with that one! I probably even spelled it wrong.

Yes, I know what you mean about thick slicing for dehydrating. I've certainly had dried stuff get too fragile to eat. But I wonder if you dried it for less time? But at least that would make the spiralizer a good thing, no?

[mtmouse]

Aw, TeePee, now it looks like I'm going to be bankrupting myself over new books! Who knew this site would be dangerous to my ... wealth? :p

[TeePee]

you are right!! i dont even want to add up my spending. I know I dropped over $100 at borders when i was still on the cleanse!! THen I tortured myself reading it all. I get nothing done anymore b/c I'm always slicing, dicing, drying, AND BUYING!! At least i'm not buying any clothes. I"m just hoping all the old stuff will grow back into me soon!!!

[TeePee]

Oh, I'm trying to buy organic as much as possible. it's not as available in my town, just the basics. Whole foods 45 minutes away. But at my acme organic cukes $4 for 2. same for grapefruit. $4 for 4 gala apples. romaine like $5 !! there is an "organics" about 2 miles down road with the raw nuts and all, so that is cool. the produce is "okay" there. Somethings i just can't always get organic, so I have to go conventional or go without.

[mtmouse]

I buy organic whenever I can, but I also use a list of "Top 20 Foods to Buy Organic" (which I found online), and I will relax on others to save money.

[Sim]

Oh my oh my!
More books to buy! More lists to look up? More recipes! Oh my!
TeePee, you are soooo right! I too never get things done anymore! I'm always reading something online, soaking, draining, drying, chopping (including thumb)...at least it's better than always eating! And where is that restaurant???
I want Raw Food Real World because you rave about it and Living Cuisine, because even though some of the books have good information, none of them have ALL the info. The nice thing about The Complete Book of Raw is that it's a compilation of all the best recipes from all the chief raw gurus and so far, they've all been super and I'm not kidding. But as you said, just eating those tacos (tacos? Well, I don't know about that; without a corn tortilla, I can't classify it was a taco. It's much more of a wrap...a totally delicious wrap, couldn't get enough!!) was enough to make me ask why I would ever want to go back to eating any other way.

mtmouse~Too funny! "Dangerous to your...wealth." Yes!!!! I'm still playing with the temps on the dehydrator versus thicker/thinner...even the failures aren't failures :) And I like the word "cattywampus"!!! It's perfect! Thanks for the tip on the list of important organics to buy. It's so helpful!

Alissa Cohen's website IS dangerous...I'm desperately trying not to order snack stuff online, but it all looks so good. I keep reminding myself that the cleanse took off 29 pounds, Raw has enabled me to eat hearty and I've put back on 4 pounds, not too bad because it's been stable since the first week, and it's probably because I don't snack on anything except veggies. I'm gonna make sure my size 4 jeans keep me on track. (I didn't weigh this little even when I was BORN!) I'm not bragging, I swear. I'm just amazed that this is happening and that I'm actually eating practically as much as I want to (except for those tacos...could have eaten them all night!)

I have one suggestion: get the best knives you can afford. The sharpest knife can do anything and it's worth the expense, same as a juicer, same as that Vita-mix that I'm coercing my family to buy me for my birthday. Knives are really super-important. I have Cutco, but only because my son was selling them and he got me a set for free because he was so good at selling. At $800 for the set, I couldn't have afforded them, but for free, well :D

Okay, so here's one more thing to think about: I'm starting to formulate a plan in my head to attend Chef/Instructor classes at Living Light Institute or one of the others because I can see a real need for education here. Plus it's absolutely wonderful food. I wanted to make sure I'm committed to this and to tell you the truth, I have absolutely no desire for cooked food. It's weird, very weird. Like a light switch...and I'm not normally like this. Kind of like what Matt Amsden experienced. Very interesting. Anyone else interested in maybe taking a trip to California or somewhere for a short weekend or week course on Raw? Just a planning thing in my head for the future. Maybe. Something to think about.

Off to try to attend to the rest of my life. Have a great day all!

[mtmouse]

mtmouse~Too funny! "Dangerous to your...wealth." Yes!!!! I'm still playing with the temps on the dehydrator versus thicker/thinner...even the failures aren't failures :) And I like the word "cattywampus"!!! It's perfect!

Hee. I could have just said "they don't come out even". I just got out a beet to slice and dry, and I decided to try the Cuisinart, since I just had the two halves of the beet. I used the 4-mm slicing attachment. My Cuisinart is old now and the bowl lid tops have broken, and so I have to push down manually on the top to get the thing to turn on. As such, it got started before I was ready, and brrrrrrp! there went all the slices. And they weren't at all even (all cattywampus!). Some look like they'd be fine, some I can practically see through already.

That's why I was thinking the mandoline might give one better control. Besides, as I said, I've already sliced off part of my thumb! :p But I'll probably just go back to using a knife and eyeballing.

Oh well. As you say, even the failures turn out okay. I put the slices into the marinade I'd done this morning for my eggplant pieces (which are already partly dry) and I'll see how the various thicknesses turn out. (BTW, I wouldn't change the temperature on your dehydrator--it should be right around 100 or 106. Rather, change how long you leave stuff in there to get the desired result. I think you can kill enzymes at 120, right?)

[Res]

Egads this place has exploded! Coming back after being down, and I'm mean all the way down with the flu from hell. :o

I'm so happy to see all this chatter and all the amazing stories and recipes! When I'm up to it I'm going to try them all. :)

Love to all of you,
~Res

[TeePee]

Hi everyone,

Sim, the restuarant Pure Food and Wine is in Manhattan. I was in NYC at Christmas, but didn't make it there. Their menu is online. I can't wait. About the tacos, in the Raw food real world book is a recipe for corn "taco" shells. I think that is what i'm going to order next week at the restaurant, then make them at home. And if you do decide to buy that book, buy it online. On her website oneluckyduck.com you can even get it signed by author/owner and it is cheaper than I paid at Borders.

Just dropped almost $200 at whole foods.:( Stocked up on nuts and stuff tho. Bought the celeriac to make that Rawvolution soup. Prob tomorrow. I think I want to make ice cream too. I bought the book Vice Cream about 2 years ago after my first cleanse, along with the ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. Gotta tell ya, it is freakin awesome. I remember from two years ago!! bought strawberries tonight to make it with!! YUMMM.

So, Cali, huh? My good friend (who looks insanely identical to Matt Amsden) lives about an hour north of Rawvolution. I saw they were having a big opening today of their new sister store. DAvid Wolfe was speaking and they were having food samples AND A RAFFLE FOR A GREENSTAR!! It came in my email newsletter. I would love to do a class for a weekend, if not too expensive. Something to think about for summer maybe....

[TeePee]

Oh no, where is AMA? Hope no one else is off chopping fingers!!!

[AMA]

OH MY GOSH - I AM SO FULL!

Fetticini alfredo has done me in! i used the 'living on live food' receipe (cut in half) and ate only about 1/4 - but ooooh i'm stuffed. Note: most of the ingredients have been refrigerated and are cold so after i made this dish, i placed my portion on a plate and stuck it in the 'Big E', because it's always on, while i cleaned the kitchen. So it took the chill out and i found it more enjoyable.

I really wouldn't want to tally up the AMEX charges this week :eek: for the new RAW lifestyle. Thanks SIM i ordered the Omega, but if you order it with the VITA-MIX, yup i did, more savings. also some sprouting trays, and 5 additional TEFLEX sheets for the 'BIG E'. Oh, then had to make a trip to Barnes & Nobles, 5 more books to do what everyone else is doing, reading, planning, making lists, then slicing, dicing, soaking, drying, etc.....

WOW - i really have been consummed with this whole process - sure hope it curtails soon. But now i have Matt's taco wraps on the mind - thanks you guys;) . I made stuffed mushrooms (eat smart, eat raw - kate wood) yummy! 4 hrs. in the BIG E and R-E-A-D-Y!! Drying now is a rack of falafel (sprouted the chick peas myself:) )

The ORGANIC dilemma - definately buy as much as you possible can afford of organic produce. If you read about all the pesticides, herbasides, and all the poisons sprayed on regular produce, you really don't want that polluting your now cleansed beautiful bodies!:D

So Road Trip, i think it's a great idea. SIM & TEEPEE do you realize that we're all on the East Coast? Here's another idea . . . you could come to my house, Alissa Cohen is supposed to be opening a restaurant here in N.H., we could hire one of her instructors to come in and teach us for a couple of days. I've already met someone from Alissa's training and she is a ''''real stitch''''; i could contact her. MTMOUSE too. (oh and don't fear the mandoline)

SIM - be safe!;)

[AMA]

Coming back after being down, and I'm mean all the way down with the flu from hell. :o
~Res


RES - Hope this post finds you feeling better. Welcome Back:)

[TeePee]

Hi AMA,

I have more of the alfredo sauce and red sauce from last night left over. I got some zuchinni tonight for it, but I'm too tired. I am pretty hungry tho. I think I may just drink some almond milk. It is so cool to be able to make your own milk isn't??

Road trip and Alissa Cohen sound cool!! A lady I work with wants me to do a raw food lesson at her church next month. I hope I can pull if off!! I would love to really learn so much more!!!

Gotta go eat or drink something. Havent' had much today...

Res, hope you feel better soon!!!

[Sim]

Hi Kids~ This is a group email note, as are all of our notes, actually...I think I just love you all...Wow..we (collectively) are an impressive group! :D

First of all, Res I'm so glad you're back among the living! The flu is possibly the worst of all plagues because you know you won't die, you just feel like you will...welcome back!

mtmouse~ I've been reading up on the "Big E", as AMA calls our new "ovens" and the expert, Victor Kulviniskas, recommends starting foods out at the highest temps (145º) for two or three hours and then turning it down to 100-105. He says the dial setting is the temp of the food, not the dehydrator and it takes a long time for food to get to that temp therefore, if you start something out high, it just quickens the evap process but then you turn it down and it won't kill the enzymes. Pretty smart guy. He says he's tested foods cooked even to 145 and they're still enzyme-alive. It tried it on some fruit and it works: 2 hours at 145, then 2 more at 105 and I had perfect dried apples, banans, and pineapple, cutting the time in half, which was his aim exactly. Try it...all the info is in the booklet that came with the dehydrator.

TeePee~Pure Food and Wine in Manhattan? Sounds like an evening out to me! I live an hour from the city. If you want something from there, I can get it and send it to you. Thanks for the savings tip on Raw Food Real World. I guess that makes me One Lucky Duck! :p Are you making your ice cream out of bananas? I have a Kitchen Aid too, but I think I do it using the blank plate of the Omega. I've been holding off trying because I'm a sweets addict and so far, my only vice has been medjool dates...can't get enough and I feel guilty with every bite. But ice cream season will be upon us soon and I'm working up to it...let us know how it comes out. I'm signing up for the RAWvolution newsletter...sounds great. I already get the Living Light newsletter and it's always interesting and has great recipes and cooking class videos. TeePee, I KNOW you can pull off a cooking class, don't be afraid. Lucky ladies who get to benefit from you...

AMA~ Where did you get Living on Live Food? Sounds like you like the recipes a lot. Good! More info, more money to spend! Wait...that's bad! :eek:
I love your descriptive "Big E"...up here in CT, the Big E is the gigantic State Fair that features, of course, as much regional and "Fair" food that anyone could eat, along with the 4H shows, tractor pulls, and pie baking contests. Even New York City people wait for the Big E. I'm going to use the term to refer to the dehydrator. It's funny! So where did you wind up ordering your Vita-Mix from? My Omega came from happyjuicer.com and it arrived THE NEXT DAY, which was fantastic BUT since they were in CT, I had to pay sales tax ($12, not too bad, considering I got it for $211, instead of $249). And you made falafel AND stuffed mushrooms already? Good girl! Those are my next projects...I've got the chick peas trying to sprout as we speak. Do they really sprout or are they like sunflower seeds that soak, rinse, and then are left for a couple of hours, called sprouted, but nothing grows out of them.

I think we should all do a class together, although I'm feeling like I'm a little less capable than y'all...of course, I do have one less thumb to work with, but I'll catch up!:D

One more question: did you kids buy a nut milk bag, sprouting bags, jars, trays? How are you managing that part of the cuisine?
I'm planning on a huge garden this year....a first for me because I'm a known Black-Thumb gardener who can't even keep a cactus alive. But I have my Burpee Seed catalogue and I'm going for it, one thumbed or not! Sorry for the long email, but I do feel like I'm just chatting with my friends...:)

[mtmouse]

mtmouse~ I've been reading up on the "Big E", as AMA calls our new "ovens" and the expert, Victor Kulviniskas, recommends starting foods out at the highest temps (145º) for two or three hours and then turning it down to 100-105. He says the dial setting is the temp of the food, not the dehydrator and it takes a long time for food to get to that temp therefore, if you start something out high, it just quickens the evap process but then you turn it down and it won't kill the enzymes. Pretty smart guy. He says he's tested foods cooked even to 145 and they're still enzyme-alive. It tried it on some fruit and it works: 2 hours at 145, then 2 more at 105 and I had perfect dried apples, banans, and pineapple, cutting the time in half, which was his aim exactly. Try it...all the info is in the booklet that came with the dehydrator.

Oh, that's interesting! I'll try it that way and hope you're right! :)

[TeePee]

HI Sim,

How's the thumb?? I decided if I slice things very very thin on the mandoline and get any fingers, it will only take a thin piece of finger off!!! I've already done that about 3 times. I have learned to use the finger guard!!

I want to start a garden too. I am a black thumb as well, though. I still can't even believe I'm soaking things!! I had a basil plant last summer and it died. That alone would really help.

The nut milk bags- I bought two- from oneluckyduck. I use them all the time. I got a nice carafe from bed bath beyond and it is always full of fresh alomond milk. IN raw food real world they have a 30-second nut milk reciped and a fresh nut milk recipe. 30 second is:

2 heaping tbls raw almond butter (0r any nut)
2 cups water
pinch sea salt
2 tbls agave nectar or 1 packet stevia
1/2 teasp vanilla extract
1 tbl coconut butter (optional- i have not used)

blend till smooth. yum

long version:

1 cup raw almonds, soaked 4 or more hours
4 cups water
1/4 cup agave nectar or raw honey
pinch sea salt
few drops almond extract (optional-- i have used the vanilla)
1 tbl lecithin (optional- i have not used)

blend nuts and water on high for about 2 minutes. Strain thru nut milk bag or mulitple layers of cheesecloth. Rinse blend cup and place milk back in it with th remaining ingredients. blend to combine. taste for sweetness

This version is really just as easy except having the almonds already soaked when you are ready. The straining takes about 2 minutes. I generally have tried to keep it on hand. Makes a great smoothie with frozen banana pieces. (I have seen somewhere that you can use the remaining almond pulp to make "pie crust" or "almond flour" with, but haven't done it yet.)

I am trying to take some time today to get all the receipts and warranty info from all these new gadgets together!! Especially with the long warranty the vita-mix and cuisinart provide!!

Also bought some regular potatoes. Can I make chips out of them? What's the best way? I know there are a million recipes online, I just thought one of you may have one you've tried. Also got beets. Didn't one of you girls do beet chips??

Thanks for the vote of confidence on the class. I have about a month to prepare for it. I teach first grade, so adults should be a snap!!

I bet you are all slicing, dicing and dehydrating!!!;)

[TeePee]

OH, did any of you do any of the raw recipes that are in the big spiral recipe book that came with the Vita-mix? Wow, some of them sound pretty good, too. I just looked through it again as I'm getting my receipts together! Some yummy spreads. They are by Brenda Cobb from Living Foods Institute. I can't wait until summer for more time AND FRESH PRODUCE!! Or at least spring break. Have you guys read from the Boutenkos that after the first winter of being raw, you should have a much higher resistance to the cold?? That in itself is a reason to stay raw for me!!! If we can get thru this winter raw, summer will be heaven!!:D

[AMA]

hi girls,

lots of delicious smells coming from my kitchen:

after making the stuffed mushrooms, i had left over stuffing. i flattened the remainder and placed it into the "Big E" for another 12 hrs. took an avacado, 1 T. flax seed oil, pinch of salt; mashed it and spread it on a piece of the stuffing. Then sprinkled it with nutritional yeast = oh baby, yummmmy!. (nutritional yeast = parmesean cheese)

Today i made:
Breakfast: C-Blitz - The Juicing Bible (grapefruit, orange, kiwi, & Parsley)
Rosemary Crackers - Complete Book of Raw - (oooow, soaking those sesame seeds gets pretty gooooey)
Cucumber-Dill Salad - Rawvolution
Tomato Salsa - Living on Live Food
Corn Tortillas - RawFood RealWorld (even the raw batter was worth licking)
Hummus - Eat Smart/Eat Raw (made with sprouted chick peas)

took a tortilla, spread some hummus, sprinkled some chopped-up arugula, inserted 3 falafels, and topped with salsa - folded like a taco and VOILA!:D I thought my husband would not be satisfied, but i was wrong; he was a finger linkin' man!

I am spending way too much time in the kitchen. I'm a furniturer maker and haven't spent a minute in my studio since this new 'life-style'. This coming weekend we're going to visit our daughter in N.J. and i had hoped to finish a cherry kitchen table i've been working on,,,,, but no,,,,,i'm too busy whipping up new receipes for myself.

well gotta get my Candied Pumpkin Seeds - RawFood RealWorld into the 'Big E'.

love our little 'fam' - cindi

[mtmouse]

I am spending way too much time in the kitchen. I'm a furniturer maker and haven't spent a minute in my studio since this new 'life-style'. This coming weekend we're going to visit our daughter in N.J. and i had hoped to finish a cherry kitchen table i've been working on,,,,, but no,,,,,i'm too busy whipping up new receipes for myself.

Just take all your good food with--and share that! I'm sure all will love it.

My credit card cycle ends tomorrow, I think, and that'll be my first order from Alissa Cohen's site! :eek:

[AMA]

oh my gosh, so many thoughts:

SPROUTING - yup, i soaked chick peas, then rinsed for 3 days and they sprouted! I'M A SPROUTER! They looked like FAT SPERM!

GARDENS - 2 yrs. ago i planted a veggie garden. I started all my seeds indoors (taking over lots of space), lugged them outside during the day, lugged them inside at night until it was planting time. Made my raised beds, neat little rows with cute little tags:rolleyes: , and surrounded my new garden with marigolds (to deter animals). With all my new tender little plants in the ground, i slept. The next morning i see my neighbor and bring her to my masterpiece of a garden and . . . . OH NO! the only thing left are the green pepper plants. MUNCH, MUNCH, MUNCH those little bastards scarfed everything! I just stood there with tears rolling down my cheeks and my neighbor did all that she could do from "busting a gut" laughing histerically. Good Luck Black Thumbs - I'll be going to the market!

ALMOND MILK - i haven't made any and don't have nut bags. Do you make it to just drink it straight up? it doesn't sound so appealing to me.

POTATOES - i made sea salt & vinegar chips from fingerling potatoes. i really didn't care for them. maybe i soaked them too long in the vinegar.:(

ROAD TRIP - Lets Talk! Here's the deal. We can get a class 4-6hrs for $125.00 pp. She's taught by Alissa Cohen and happens to be a close friend to her. This class would be a "cooking" class. You can come and stay at my house (plenty of room - empty nest). It could be weekdays or a weekend, we just need to coordinate. Weekdays, i'm easy - the 1st weekend between myself & Lisa would be March 3Oth. Maybe the summer is more convenient - though i think we'll all be "professionals" by then.:D

So that's all the scoop - good nite

[darjeelingirl]

Hey all,
Just thought I'd check in - I officially ended the cleanse on day 26 - didn't really want to (my secret goal was 42 days), but, RES, I also had the flu from hell. (Actually all 4 of my family had the flu from hell - one week at a time ugh! what a month!) I couldn't drink anything but water during the flu, so kept "cleansing" so to speak. But by the time I felt better, I couldn't stand the thought of lemonaid, plus my son had finished his cleanse and all my new kitchen equipment and books from Amazon had arrived - it was just time to move on. So I'm still coming off with green smoothies and light juices. You know this cleanse/fast can be really expensive! New vitamix, Big E, food processor, sprouting stuff, books and stocking the pantry with organic stuff. But I feel good (dada dadda - hear that James Brown in the air?) I've lost 15 pounds so far since Jan 11. My son lost 15 pounds in 10 days - lucky duck!

Anyway, just wanted to say Hi and check in on ya'll.

[Sim]

AMA and TeePee~
I'm sending you both something via Private message...please check by using the User CP, okay?

[Sim]

[QUOTE=darjeelingirl]Hey all,
Just thought I'd check in - I officially ended the cleanse on day 26 - didn't really want to (my secret goal was 42 days), but, RES, I also had the flu from hell.

You know this cleanse/fast can be really expensive! New vitamix, Big E, food processor, sprouting stuff, books and stocking the pantry with organic stuff. But I feel good (dada dadda - hear that James Brown in the air?) I've lost 15 pounds so far since Jan 11. My son lost 15 pounds in 10 days - lucky duck!

Hi darjeelingirl~ Congratulations on finishing your cleanse...and with the flu!!! 26 days is a fantastic run...don't feel badly about not going longer!! Glad you and your son have recovered and have lost weight and feel great. Yes, it can be expensive...we're all finding that, but once you purchase your "toys", it's like any other thing. Ovens cost a lot of money too! The organic things do cost a lot...something like 57% more. But I looked online for a list of the Top 20 Foods to Buy Organic and it helps...some things definitely should be organic (apples top the list) and some things are a little less important. Check it out by googling the phrase and see what you find. We love our bulletin board and have become really supportive of each other...welcome and write often!:D

[AMA]

CONGRATULATIONS DARLJEELINGIRL !

That's awesome! Going RAW is awesome as well. It's easier than one may think and sort of exciting (in an expensive way) to be "cooking" in an unconventional manner. Once you fire up those shinny new TOYS you'll see what i mean.

hey TEEPEE - did you try any of those receipes from VM sprial book? Mine should be here by the end of the week, so i'm counting on you to whip up something tasty and just give me the page #.

Now this class you're going to do, are you going to 'shlepp' all your toys with you and feed them as well? Let me know how you're planning on structuring, so i can keep my eyes out for any receipes that would just WOW everyone; quick and easy ones of course.

and SIM - i also got my Omega for $211 (no sales tax in N.H.). i ordered from www.2-life.com and ordered an EasyGreen Sprouter w/Wheatgrass tray as well. Yesterday i made a juice, which had parsley, in my Breville, it mostly ended up in the pulp bin. Have you used the Omega for many greens yet?

I promised myself that i wouldn't spend my day in the kitchen today, but nooooooooo, this morning i had to make some Swiss Cheese - Living on Live Foods, 7hrs. in the 'Big E'; just so i had something for my Rosemary Crackers.
:eek: I think i need therapy!

[Res]

You guys are hilarious. :D This is what I was hoping this thread would morph into!! http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/bounce015.gif

Thanks to everyone for the "well-wishes". :)



darjeelingirl: I feel for you. *hug* This is the worst flu I've ever had. I was on Day 6 and thought I was impervious to any type of sickness while cleansing....boy was I wrong. :( I had a high fever for 4 days and couldn't knock it out no matter what I did. Just "moving" was painful. I'm so glad it's over. I hope you're doing better.


You guys are so inspiring. I can't wait to try some of these recipes and get the books! I've been "juicing" and enjoying it for the most part. I'm still a bit sluggish but look forward to diving in with the rest of you. I have another cleanse planned for the first week of March.


Love you all for your enthusiasm! :D
~Res

[darjeelingirl]

I was on Day 6 and thought I was impervious to any type of sickness while cleansing....boy was I wrong. :( I had a high fever for 4 days and couldn't knock it out no matter what I did. Just "moving" was painful. I'm so glad it's over. I hope you're doing better.


I'm with you on that. I felt sooooooo good on the cleanse the day before and was singing its praises to a couple of friends (who are still going to start a cleanse of their own in a few weeks). But the next day, WHAM! I could literally feel the virus crawling through my body like, like, like... I don't know what like. And it sounds like the same flu - 3 people (kids - poor things) even died from it here in MN! Glad we all made it through!

On a lighter note, thanks for all the kudos, folks. I am glad to have done the 26 days and will do it again in a few months. It just feels so good to get cleaned out. I can't believe I actually miss the after feelings of the flush :eek: !

I am loving my vitamix - use it multiple times a day. Wish I had 2 or 3 of them. The dehydrator and I are slow in coming - the sound of it humming continuously actually bugs me. Will probably have to put it in my son's room who likes white noise. After reading the posts I'm also looking into a juicer and spiral thingy (which got really bad reviews on Amazon - is it the thingy or the people trying to use it?)

I love this wing of the board - going raw has been the answer to my weight/health issue prayers and it fits me perfectly. I finally feel alive physically - what a concept! :D

Have a great day everyone!

[AMA]

:) here's a nice story::) (for me)

I had a routine eye exam today. So the Dr.'s assistant came to the waiting room, called my name, and while escorting me to the exam room with my file in hand, she comments, "oh, we have the same birthday, i'm also born on June 6th, and have another 6, mine is in 1986".

She starts to slow her walk, looks a bit puzzled, and continues "seems as there is a mistake, it says you were born in 1960, that would make you 46!" I inform her there is no mistake, I am 46.

While doing the preliminary tests she kept staring at me. I was worried she wasn't paying much attention to line 3, E, C, T, D, 5.:eek: All the cute-as-a-button 21 yr. old wanted to know was what products i use on my skin, I didn't dare tell her that I have just gotten off a 40-day fast. She also threw her own mother under the bus, "my mom is 38 but looks 60".

I have to say, the best part was that it came from someone so young. And just think, this weekend i'll be cutting ELMO cake at granddaughters 3rd birthday party! (but not eating it:D )

THANKS MC!

[TeePee]

hi girls!!

I am just getting in from work and need to take out the trash....such a busy day. loved the eye dr. story!! Isn't that awesome! You know, I think somewhere I read a raw diet can improve vision. I swear!!

quick answers, havent' made any V/m recipes yet, but i'm checking them out. more later. Mom's b-day tomorrow-gotta go get gift!! I too have been ALL CONSUMED with this. the class will be very short. i'm thinking of taking just the vitamix. I have to start with things people may be able to do. I was thinking : salad dressings, "taco" meat with wraps, maybe eggless eggsalad. (all amsden) they will be tasting after...

Sim, I will get to you on the pm.

more later girlies!!

[darjeelingirl]

Oh my gosh, I just had the cauliflower couscous from the RAWvolution book - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! What's more, I couldn't eat the whole bloomin' bowl of it like I thought about doing and would have (with other food) before the cleanse. That is just so weird to me - I was truly satisfied with one decent serving! But I am looking forward to lunch tomorrow :D

AMA - that was a great story - what can I say - how could anyone have said anything nicer? The raw 40s rock!

[TeePee]

oh, i want to try the califlower couscous. I don't really like califlower, but it looks so good. just made my almond milk for the morning. acutally, that's kind of what i had for dinner. "grawnola" and "milk"!!

[Res]

Okay - I have questions about the Rawvolution book. How "doable" is it really? My interest is piqued of course - but is this something you see yourself doing for years? I'm ready to buy the book - I just wanted to get everyone's input because, well, I just don't want another book sitting on my shelf. Know what I mean? ;)

Someone mentioned Vitamix! When I started feeling a bit better last week, I took some frozen berries and a small amount of apple juice and made berry sorbet. It was a God-send after my fever broke.

darjeelingirl: You mentioned that some people died from that flu. :( I can totally understand now how that could happen. It was a most horrid experience. My doctor stated that there are different iterations of it and it goes on and on. People here at my work come back to work after being out sick and then are out again with a different form of the flu. I'm doing everything I can to avoid that happening again.

Onward to health!

Love you all,
~Res

[kiropa]

the book is BEAUTIFUL & seems do-able (i haven't made anything yet). i bought several books & this one is, by far, my favorite to look at & read.

i do not have a dehydrator & there are lots of receipes that do not require one.

i'd recommend it. i also LOVE jennifer cornbleet's book raw food for 1 or 2 or something like that.

[Sim]

AMA What a great story! I was reading somewhere online about what happens to our physical outer selves when our inner selves go raw and it said something akin to what you experienced: we look better, we feel better and we're imbued with life and everyone notices. Of course! We're eating live, not dead, food! I loved your story! It gave me a giggle because a week after I finished my cleanse, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for my husband and the 30 year old guy behind the counter asked me what I was doing "later". I told him I didn't know, I'd ask my husband :D He replied, "I'm not inviting your husband to go dancing, I'm inviting you." I laughed and thanked him, told him he was adorable and that I'd be thrilled if I weren't happily married. He turned around and said to another pharmacist: "Why do I always get a good response from the 40 year old women but not from the ones my age?" I laughed about that one! 40? I vaguely remember 40, it was so long ago!

Res~ I absolutely love RAWvolution and at first, I thought it would be my least favorite because the layout of Matt Amsden seems so glitzy and self-serving. But you know what? Every single thing I've made from his book is absolutely tasty and comes out just right, as opposed to some of the other more utilitarian books and their recipes. Get it. You won't be sorry. I also like Jennifer Cornbleet's Cooking for 1 or 2 because it's a very simple book with reliable, if not sexy, recipes. I needed to know what to eat for everyday food and also what to make for "company". I like both those books but I'm going to get Raw Food, Real World and Living on Live Food because my dear friends right here rave about them.

I bought a cauliflower this week, too! Thanks, Darjeelingirl, for the Matt Amsden couscous endorsement. That's dinner tonight!

I'm so glad the flu has left you, Res and Darjeelingirl. Absolute havoc on your systems.

Oh! How I want a Vitamix! So much money, so many toys! Soon. In the meantime, I'll probably buy a small coffee grinder to do flax and other seeds and then add them to my old blender when the need arises. It blends liquid-y things okay and does smoothies just fine, just not anything too solid. Oh, the compromises!

By the way, the Butternut Squash Sesame Noodles were very interesting. Kind of like a cross between sauerkraut and salad. Try Butternut chips, too. They do really well in the Big E.

As for the spiralizer, it's a cool tool and I think it depends on the person using it. It's not perfect, but for those days when you want raw pasta, it's easy enough and provides a different texture. I don't care for the curly setting but for the pasta alone, it was worth it. I'd call it an accessory.

Have a wonderful day, my friends. Snow is coming to CT (finally) and I'm all ready with the stocked larder. (If there were a blizzard, I'd have enough for a week...as it is, we'll probably get two or three inches.):D

[Res]

Hi Kiropa: Thank you for your input. Looks like I'll be ordering the book this week. :)

Love,
~Res

[kiropa]

Hi Kiropa: Thank you for your input. Looks like I'll be ordering the book this week. :)
Love,
~Res

definitely order it! the pictures alone make it worth it. it is AMAZING to me how lovely everything looks.

there is a recipe for dumplings using thinly sliced jicama as the shell & it looks *just* like a real dumpling. amazing. i am excited to start experimenting. my spiralizer & mandoline arrived yesterday.

did your son complete the cleanse? i am quite taken by the idea of cleansing as a family. my kids are young & my husband thinks i am crazy. i guess that's why the idea intrigues me...

kim

[Res]

Hi Kim: Yup my son completed the cleanse and lost around 18 lbs - he had dropped 10 lbs a week prior to the cleanse so he lost close to 30 lbs in about 3 weeks. :) He's a happy camper and looks and feels great. The cleanse got rid of a bunch of junk from his lungs (ex-smoker) which was pretty gross but "better out than in". :)

Most people who haven't done the cleanse think the rest of us are nuts. lol We may be, but I'm happy in my craziness. :)

Love,
~Res

[mtmouse]

OMG,

I had asked a question a while back that no one noticed, about whether rolled oats were raw. I presumed not, and I still presume not. I was finding it hard not to throw some granola into my raw fruit and pink smoothie (yes, Res!) breakfast.

So when someone recently mentioned grawnola, I was intrigued. I searched online and found a recipe that used soaked oat groats. I searched my cupboards last night and actually found a bag of oat groats (don't ask from when, LOL!), so I threw them in some water overnight.

This morning I used them to make a grawnola, and man oh man, I'm surprised any of it went into the dehydrator! WOW, it was delicious! I'm drying the rest right now to see what it's like crunchy, but it works fine right out of the soaking water, so it wouldn't have to be made up in advance if one didn't want to. It totally handled my breakfast "grain envy" and was so satisfying! This is getting much easier now.

I ordered Alissa Cohen's book a couple of days ago, and I think I'll now order the Rawvolution book (plus another from Amazon so I can get free shipping, LOL).

Oh! I also made a second batch of onion bread. This time I split the difference: I sliced about a third of the onions, very thin, and then coarse-chopped the rest with the flax meal (and pumpkin seeds and walnuts for me, because I don't do sunflower seeds). It came out great! It's still beautiful, due to the onion slices that look so nice, but it's easier to handle and spread on the parchment sheets for drying. I can't wait for a chance to serve some of that to guests! It's really impressive.

Okay, gotta do some work now! Good eating, everyone!

[AMA]

hello fellow rawbies,

my $.02; Rawvolution is rawsome! I am making couscous today as well. May i suggest adding a pint of cherry tomatoes (deseeded & cut in 1/4's) also.

QUESTION?? - is anybody taking the probiotics? I am 1 week post a 40day cleanse, started with them 3 days ago, and it seems as though my stomach gets all twisted up after taking the a.m. dose. pain & bloat! Does anybody have an opionion? i'm thinking that by going totally raw maybe they're not necessary?!?!?? Scientific fact or just guessing, HELP.

:D So seeing as we're all so comfortable spending each other's money, go to www.oneluckyduck.com and check out their shirts. EAT RAW - LIVE LONG we ALL need one of those for our new beautiful selves!:D

For those with a dehydrator, you must make SWISS CHEESE - Living on Live Food:
1C cashews, 2T Nutritional Yeast, 1T Lemon Juice, 1/4C water. That's it. into the Cuisinart, flatten 1/8 onto Teflex sheet, "Big E" at 105 for 8-10 hrs.

TOP any crackers and VOILA! cheese & crackers!

:confused: PLEASE, don't forget my probiotic dilemma.:confused:

[TeePee]

Hi all,

Quick response-hope I don't sound short.

Res~ RAWvolution=GET IT!! Almost 1/2 of everything I've made is from there. Matt is my new boyfriend. :D LOL

mtmouse~ there is a great 'cereal' recipe in raw food real world using buckwheat groats-soaked, cinamon, agave nectar. few other minimal things. dehydrdate. very easy. exceptionally tasty. lady i work with said she would buy it from me if i would make it for her (not a raw or vegan lady) i'll look it up and post when i get home.

Sim~ I know, the vitamix. I had to get the professional series (i know, i know, but the color was right.) $500.:eek: :eek: well worth it. as far as grinding flax and sunflower, my little "magic bullet" blender someone gave me will even work for that. when your book gets published!!! (hoping for snow day to make stuff!!!)

AMA~ probiotics. I started after cleanse once I got on solid food. So far no problems, except Im still not done the 28 days, b/c i forget once in a while. I wish I had more answers for you on that one. the shirt!! eat raw live long~got that~love it!!

going to try the celeriac soup tonight i think (raw food real world)

okay, are you guys going to tell me i need the omega for greens???? drats!! I do love the breville for apples and such. i was going to try to do greens last night. i bought collard greens and tasted a bite of one. YUCK!! thought about putting it with apple and pineapple. also have beets and i heard the leaves from them are good?? i don't think i'm doing enough greens outside of salad. ANY IDEAS ON THE JUICING OF THESE?? will the apple or pineapple go with? also have a couple mangos home?? need a qood combo!!

[mtmouse]

TeePee, that may have been the recipe I found. I don't eat buckwheat, so I'll stick with oat groats. I just tried a bit of my grawnola from the dehydrator, and I don't think I'm going to like that as much as I liked the fresh-soaked grains I had this morning. It doesn't seem to be getting crunchy--just hard like a raw piece of grain! :) But I'll go ahead and dry that batch and see what it's like. If it's too dry, I'll just add water or maybe almond milk or something like that when I eat it.

I often juice spinach or collards in my Champion, but I do have to clean the cutter fairly often. Collards are great cooked, but for raw, I have my greens most often in [drum roll .....] GREEN SMOOTHIES!!! It's one of the easiest and tastiest ways to get greens (and all their fiber) in that I've ever found.

Somewhere on this forum (not sure if it's this thread--oh, may be the green smoothie thread itself) I gave my technique for making them palatable. Start with your blender (I have just an old Hamilton Beach, nothing fancy) and at least a cup of water. Then add a handful of spinach, collards, parsley, zucchini, whatever. Blend until the greens are as liquefied as they're going to get. Then add fruits (berries, banana, apple, citrus, whatever) and agave or stevia and vanilla, blending each in until it tastes good. If you want, throw in some soaked nuts. It's amazing how many veggies you can get in this way. Even DH has some every morning.

Less water - eat with a spoon
More water - drink like a smoothie

Because of HealthyBiz, I now always also add beets, so I really have pink smoothies--but they are filled with greens!

And I often use frozen fruit (blueberries, peaches, strawberries, banana, mango), because a smoothie is best VERY cold. :)

Yum! (Kathy waves to Res - http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/greet025.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org))

[TeePee]

mtmouse~

THANK YOU!! I' think I'll try it before i go to mom's. Then i wont' be feeling hungry in cooked food heaven!!!

[Res]

OMGosh, I just walked through the Lemonhead Recipe box looking for this recipe:

6-8 Carrots
3 stalks celery
1/2 beet
1 clove garlic
1 zucchini
1 apple
1/4 fresh lemon with peel
LARGE 1&quot; ring of fresh pineapple with rind

Wash ingredients and don't peel. *Cut in sizes that will fit the juicer. *JUICE IT!

Don't omit any ingredients (they may sound like a weird combo, but you have to taste it to believe it). *

*Note, the greens can be interchanged, i.e., celery and zucchini can be replaced with broccol, spinach etc, but I like it as is.

...and was astounded at all the fabulous recipes we have posted there!!! :eek: I forgot!!

The above has to be my all time favorite juice combo. It's best when the pineapple is fresh and sweet - I just LOVE this drink and it fills me up. The beets give it the color of cranberries and it's absolutely beautiful in a fancy glass with a straw. Mmmm.... Your body will thank you too - you can feel the health ooozing through your cells. lol

You guys have got me SO EXCITED about eating healthy-er! :D

Kathy- pink smoothies. HAHAHAHAHAHA Now we're talking Pepto Bismol! ;)

I actually love steamed collard greens with Tahini (this one is Sophie's fault :p). I can't wait to dig out my ancient dehydrator and start playing around with everything!! SO MUCH TO DO - SO LITTLE TIME! (at least it's not So many Men - so little time ;))

Love to you all and keep on posting your amazing ideas!!

~Res

[Res]

Kathy said: Less water - eat with a spoon
More water - drink like a smoothie


Less Less water - use as spackle. ;)

[Res]

Oh, one more thing: I can't wait to make that SWISS CHEESE! However, I'll have to find a "grainless" cracker to eat it on. I don't do well with any grains (unfortunately - and that means whole wheat as well). But it sure sounds interesting and fun to make! :)

Love,
~Res

[mtmouse]

Res,

My onion bread dehydrated to almost a cracker and was delicious. I'm sure just a bit more drying and it would be great!

Also, I've been dehydrating raw eggplant and it gets nice and crunchy!

:)

[darjeelingirl]

Kathy said
Less water - eat with a spoon
More water - drink like a smoothie

Or you could just use a straw either way :D

Res - Rawvolution - very yes. We're making cheese sticks tonight - I'll let you know how they turn out. Or, as long as we're still in $$$ spending mode, at the website rawvolution.com, Matt will send you ... a box of prepared, organic, raw foods that includes 2 savory soups, 4 gourmet entrée, 4 side dishes and 2 delicious desserts for $100!

flu - very bad. In today's news a 40 year old fellow died from it - the flu! Gosh when I was a kid we just toughed it out - never heard of people dying from it...

mtmouse - what does dehydrated eggplant taste like or do you just use it in other recipes?

AMA - probiotics - they actually help me feel better, but after 26 days I know that I had to keep it to drinks and smoothies for the longest time. I am just now starting solids again 10 days after the "official end" but I notice feeling wise, I still gravitate towards smoothie type stuff (maybe I'm just enamored with straws)...

I made a kickin' creamy tomato soup tonight. Had leftover tomato juice from frozen tomatoes from my garden last summer. Just run them under warm water, skin pops off, throw them in the blender and viola! tomato juice. So I added some celery, 1/2 onion, 1/2 cup tahini, fresh basil , little sea salt and mmmm, creamy tomato soup. Got the idea from RAWSOME! by Brigitte Mars.

So, how did everyone else's Cauliflower Couscous turn out? Tomatoes is a great idea to add - personally, I doubled the olives :)

[mtmouse]

mtmouse - what does dehydrated eggplant taste like or do you just use it in other recipes?

So, how did everyone else's Cauliflower Couscous turn out? Tomatoes is a great idea to add - personally, I doubled the olives :)

Darjeelingirl,

If you do a search to my name and eggplant in this thread (I think), you should find my marinade recipe. I actually did it twice: once with a more sweet-salty-hot one, and the last time with just watered-down Bragg's seasoned with garlic and onion granules and cayenne.

So mine just taste a bit salty/hot. I don't put them in other recipes at all, but consider them crunchy snack food. (I like crunch!) I often also use them as dippers for toona (recipe in Lemonhead Recipe Box thread) or pesto.

Would someone send me or post the cauliflower couscous recipe? I actually bought a cauliflower today, only to discover that I can't find that recipe online. I will be buying the book, I promise! :D

[Res]

Yikes, I made the worst raw hummus yesterday along with the worst raw tahini I've ever made. How disappointing...oh, and then on top of that I made the worst baked eggplant on the planet. It was so bland and boring that even the Marinara sauce did nothing for it. It was a bad day for cooking and non-cooking. Perhaps I should stick to making salads.

Oh! I made Swiss Cheese yesterday but have yet to try it. I don't have the kind of dehydrator that has "sheets" - it's the old carousel kind so we'll see if I destroyed that too! :rolleyes:

"Never give up! Never Surrender!" ;)


Kathy, I'm going to find and make your onion bread. It sounds fantastic. I might just try dehydrating the eggplant next time too so that I avoid the grains. This is so much fun! :)


darjeelingirl: I've yet to make it to the rawvolution website - I'll take a peek after I leave here.

Oooh, the tomato soup sounds fantastic! I made a raw veggie soup using my Vitamix and it was pretty darn good too! It was so easy. :)

Love to all!
~Res

[Res]

MTMOUSE - here's the onion bread receipe:

3 large yellow onions
3/4 cups flax seed, ground in a high speed blender
3/4 cups raw sunflower seeds, ground in a food processor
1/2 cup Nama Shoyu
1/3 cups olive oil

Peal and halve the onions. In a food processor, cut the onions with the slicing disc. Transfer the cut onions to a large mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Spread 2 cups of the mixture evenly on a dehydrator tray pined with a teflex sheet. Repeat until all of the mixture is used. Dehydrate at 100F for 24 hours. Flip the tray over onto a work surface, and gently peel the teflex sheet off the bread. Return to the dehydrator for another 12 hours. Once dehydrated, cut into 9 equal pieces (make 2 cuts horizontally and 2 cuts vertically).

enjoy!

Can I use parchment paper in my old fashioned dehydrator?

Love,
~Res

p.s. this recipe sounds so good. I can't wait to try it. :)

[mtmouse]

Yup! I don't have the fancy sheets, so I just use parchment and it works fine!

Res, my last iteration of the bread was the best. I thin-sliced about a third to a half of the onions, coarse-chopped the rest.

And on the parchment, mine have been ready to turn over in about 6 hours. I do try to get them off the parchment as soon as possible, so they can dry faster. Then just dry as long as you want to get them as crispy as you want.

Enjoy! So glad to hear you're back in the world of the living, sorry to hear of your culinary missteps. :)

[Res]

Yes it would be pretty embarrassing to die by my own hand. :o I'm going to have to figure out what to do with the hummus - perhaps adding a bunch of veggies to it after running them through the food processor. I can't stand raw peanuts and that's what this raw hummus reminds me of. blech....

Back to the onion bread: ok, so some of the onions you slice paper thin and the rest you coarsely chop in the food processor?

After you turn them (6 hours) do you dry them another 6?

I made the swiss cheese and tasted a little this morning. Since it wasn't exactly "spreadable" and I didn't use parchment paper they're a bit mounded but kind of flat. I'm not sure what it tastes like but I know it's good for me! lol 8)

How's everyone doing today?

Love,
~Res

[mtmouse]

Yes to the onions.

I don't time my drying. I dry them on the parchment until they hold together enough to turn over and peel off.

Then I dry them until they're as dry as I like them! I've made it leathery, so it can roll up like a tortilla. But I've also made it crispier, more like a cracker, which I personally like better. Kinda hard to go wrong, I think. (I know, I shouldn't tell you that, LOL!) Too moist, dry them longer. Too dry, humidify them a little. But mine rarely last long enough for any course corrections. :)

Now, my first batch was a bit strong on the raw onion flavor, I thought. That might have been because I didn't dry it long enough.

By the time I got to my third batch, I thought I must be using sweeter onions, because I didn't notice that at all. However, DH tried one and immediately said the onions were too strong! Go figure. I told him to get his mitts off my onion bread and soak his head in some almond milk. :D

[mtmouse]

BTW, here's a picture of the bread:

http://goneraw.com/recipes/2

The first time I made it, I couldn't believe the texture was right, so I blended it all up and made a leather. But this is exactly what my batter looked like! And now this is what my bread looks like.

It really is kind of lacy in places. It's pretty forgiving, so you just kind of mash it around on the parchment to start.

:)

[kiropa]

here's a cauliflower cous cous recipe:

basically you take a head of cauliflower and put it in the food processor.. grind it up till it's little tiny pieces.. (looks like couscous).

put it in a bowl.. add a little olive oil and lemon juice then any spices or anything else you want to suit your taste. Raisins. Pine nuts.

black olives, salt, pepper, basil, cilantro, and ground up almonds on top.

mix with a fork and enjoy!

[AMA]

Good Morning All,

RES - you said you needed a cracker receipe, this one is seeds no grains. i made this one and ate with my Swiss Cheese (chilled) receipe and thought it was great:

ROSEMARY CRACKERS:

2C golden flax seeds, soaked in 3 cups water for 4-6 hrs.
2C sunflower seeds (or almonds) soaked for 6-8 hrs. and drained.
4 carrots, chopped
1/3C chopped leek
1C Red bell pepper
1/4 dried rosemary
3T garlic powder or 3 cloves fresh
2T dried Italian seasoning
1/2t cayenne (it'll bring back memories:) )
1 1/2T celtic sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper

food processor - blend flax & sunflower seeds to a pate. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

food processor - remainding ingredients - until finely diced. Add seeds & mix together thoroughly.

spread onto sheets in dehydrator. 110 for 12-16hrs. keeps for 1 month.

My hubby (Mr. meat & potatoes guy) said these were the best thing i've made. good luck.

[AMA]

oooh RES needs some culinary help this week, let's all help!

so your hummus . . . how about making it into Falafel? when i sprouted my chick peas for hummus i used the remainder for the falafel receipe. Did you use chickpeas in your hummus receipe?

add to your hummus:

1 med. red onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4C fresh parsley
2T lemon juice (deja-vu)
1/4C olive oil
1t ground coriander
1t ground cumin
1/4 to 1/2 t cayenne
1t celtic sea salt

Place all in food processor. Form into small patties, about 2" wide & 1/2" thick, place on sheets in dehydrator. 16-18hrs at 105. Serve falafel on lettuce wraps w/sprouts, tomatoes, and/or cucumbers.

RES, hope you have nothing else to do but hang in the kitchen all day :p

[Res]

I told him to get his mitts off my onion bread and soak his head in some almond milk. :D LOL! After following the picture link and reading a few of the comments about this Onion bread, I can see why you're being possessive! I really can't wait to try it so I'm going to pick up the ingredients on the way home.

I checked out the Rawvolution site. It looks extremely interesting. Matt is really skinny isn't he? :eek: He needs to eat a bit more Onion bread. ;)

[mtmouse]

Thanks, Kiropa! For some reason I expected it to need dehydrating. That sounds yummy!

And thanks, AMA! I'm definitely going to try those!

MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm, such good stuff we're sharing! And it all started with all of us deciding to stop "food" for a while.

:)

[Res]

Thanks for helping me! lol You guys rock! :D

Check this out: this kills me; 'Why Wouldn't Drug Companies be
Interested in this Likely Cancer Cure? (http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/07/02/14/why_wouldnt_drug_companies_be_interested_in_this_likely_cancer_cure.htm)'

Forgive me for posting it too, but you have to be subscribed (I think) to Sixwise to view the page. If you know of anyone who has cancer, go quickly and buy DCA (dichloroacetate). This is too good to not share:

Why Wouldn't Drug Companies be
Interested in this Likely Cancer Cure?
by www.SixWise.com (http://www.sixwise.com/)

By repairing the damage that cancer cells cause to mitochondria, the components of cells that convert food into energy, it seems that a small molecule known as DCA (dichloroacetate) may realistically offer hope of a cancer cure.
"DCA attacks a fundamental and unique property of cancer. It puts the mitochondria back in the normal condition, and because the mitochondria can control cell death, that also comes back into the picture," says Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a professor at the University of Alberta department of medicine, who is a key part of the team of researchers who made the finding.
http://www.sixwise.com/images/articles/2007/02/14/32317925.jpg
In lab tests, DCA was able to shrink tumors in rats and kill human lung, breast and brain cancer cells.
It was previously thought that damage to mitochondria in cancer cells was permanent, and because mitochondria are also responsible for causing abnormal cells to self-destruct, the cancer cells were allowed to outlive other cells and become a majority.
"Cancer cells actively suppress their mitochondria, which alters their metabolism, and this appears to offer cancer cells a significant advantage in growth compared to normal cells, as well as protection from many standard chemotherapies," said Michelakis.
The groundbreaking study, published in the journal Cancer Cell, found, however, that mitochondrial damage is not permanent. DCA was able to repair the cancer cells' mitochondria, which in turn caused the abnormal cells to die.
DCA May Work on a Variety of Cancers and is Non-Toxic
The researchers believe DCA may treat many forms of cancer because all of them suppress mitochondrial functions. In the study, DCA was able to kill human lung, breast and brain cancer cells that had been cultured in a lab without affecting normal cells. Meanwhile, tumors in rats that had been infected with human cancer cells shrank significantly when the rats were fed DCA-containing water for several weeks.
http://www.sixwise.com/images/articles/2007/02/14/32317936.jpg
Because DCA cannot be patented, and therefore won't produce a profit, drug companies have little interest in funding further research.
Further, because DCA is so small, it is easily absorbed by the body. Researchers say that it could even reach areas of the body that other drugs cannot, such as the brain.
DCA is also relatively non-toxic. It has been used to treat patients with mitochondrial diseases for more than three decades, with minimal side effects reported.
DCA is "Dirt Cheap" to Produce
No less exciting than the fact that DCA seems so promising in fighting cancer is that the compound is incredibly cheap to produce.
While this ultimately is a good thing, it's also the reason why pharmaceutical companies have very little interest in funding further DCA research.
DCA is currently widely available at chemistry stores, in both liquid and powder form. It's not patented, it's not owned by any drug company, and it's not likely to generate a huge profit.
While the next step in the process is to run clinical trials of DCA in people with cancer, this "will depend on funding," Michelakis said.
Since DCA cannot be patented and drug companies don't make money on non-patented treatments, Michelakis adds, "industry is not particularly interested."
Still, funding can come from other sources beyond pharmaceutical companies, including charities, universities and governments, and Michelakis is hopeful.
"We hope we can attract the interest of universities here in Canada and in the United States," he says.
If you would like to know more about the University of Alberta's efforts to test DCA in people with cancer, or if would like to make a donation to further their studies, you can check out their DCA Research Information Web Site. (http://www.depmed.ualberta.ca/dca/)

[darjeelingirl]

Here's a question that I haven't quite found the answer to...

What is a Teflex sheet?

I have an Excalibur dehydrator that came with the "frames" and these plastic sheets that have holes in them (kind of like big sheets of plastic canvas that people use for crafts).

I went to the Excalibur website and bought some ParaFlexx™ Disposable Non Stick Drying Sheets - but that's not the Teflex is it? I googled Teflex but didn't find any clear answers.

I keep seeing these dehydrator recipes with "place whatever on a Teflex sheet and dry for x hours". Are the "plastic canvas" sheets Teflex?

Anybody?

[TeePee]

darjeerlingirl,

i think the paraflex is the same thing. Teflex is just nonstick sheets with teeny, teeny, tiny holes in it that get placed on top of the net looking sheet that goes on the tray. I think the difference is the brand name.

[TeePee]

ONION BREAD QUESTION

I have made the RAWvolution onion bread 3 or 4 times and love it. My question is, does anyone think you could leave out or replace the onions with something else for times when you might want a "plainer" type of bread?? And if you leave it out, what about the nama shoyu? Then it may be dry, so add olive oil??

any ideas:confused: :confused:

[TeePee]

darjeerlingirl,

one more thing, Teflex sheets are reusable as opposed to the disposable ones you are describing.

[darjeelingirl]

Yikes, I made the worst raw hummus yesterday along with the worst raw tahini I've ever made. How disappointing...oh, and then on top of that I made the worst baked eggplant on the planet. It was so bland and boring that even the Marinara sauce did nothing for it. It was a bad day for cooking and non-cooking. Perhaps I should stick to making salads.


Oh, Res, I'm with you. The first raw thing I tried was live garden burger from 12 steps to raw foods - {{{ewww}}} It still gives me the heebie jeebies - something about the sweet mixed with onions doesn't appeal to me. I've resigned myself to the fact that there will be a learning curve that will cost me. My goal is to have some regular favorites under my belt in 1 year like I had with our old menu planning with processed foods. But in the mean time, it still sucks to whip up disappointing dishes.

So far, out of 6 recipes, only the cauliflower couscous is a keeper...

The cheese sticks aren't bad (they're not really done yet, but we couldn't resist), but the marinara I tried to make didn't measure up - and they definitely need marinara. What's your recipe for marinara?

[Res]

Darjeelingirl: My Marinara was Trader Joes Marinara sauce (hahahahaha). Honestly, I work 9 hours a day and go to school now so when I get home from work I just want to watch Oprah. lol I'm not much of a TV person but when I found out from my son that she was doing a show on "The Secret (http://thesecret.tv/)" last week (which I've been into for a few months) I couldn't wait to see which of the teachers would be there. Now I'm sort of hooked on her show. :o

I'm a morning person (up at 3:40 and off to work by 4:15 am) so by the time I get home my energy is spent - I'm going to remedy that though and I'm still working on it. I truly believe that nowadays it's all about diet and that I can find the energy I need by fueling my body with things that it needs! You guys are all a part of it by sharing your ideas and recipes. I've said this before, but this is what I was hoping this thread would be all about and I'm so happy that it's finally happening. :D

Peanut posted a Toona recipe earlier that I can't wait to try with AMA's Rosemary crackers. This is going to be a fun weekend - after I get home from a health fair that I'm attending (working one of the booths) I'm going to make many of the recipes every has posted. Hopefully it will last through the week until the next weekend and then back to making food for the following work week.

I like what you said about having some regular recipes under your belt within a year. I think that's absolutely reasonable and something I'm going to shoot for as well. I cycle through tacos, chili, spaghetti etc and won't get out of that loop unless I'm experimenting with other recipes that I can replace those with. "Health" is really the name of the game and I think it can be FUN to incorporate good and healthy food into the lineup! :) Things won't change by themselves. ;)

You guys have made this thread so much fun and I'm either laughing my head off or writing down ingredients that I need to pick up from the store. :D I may even treat myself next month to a RAWvolution food box for the heck of it. ;)

SO - it's okay if my entire days worth of meal preparation was fit for the garbage disposal... HAH AMA, I might doll up the hummus except that I tasted it again today and it still reminds me of the flavor <<<<shudder>>>> of RAW Peanuts which I hate. :o I'm not sure if anything can help - of course, I do like the cumin idea (it already has fresh garlic, lemon juice and olive oil added). I may have to fry it to get it to taste decent. I really don't want to throw it all away. Hey Kathy the Hummus is so bad I'm ready to make and eat a green smoothie! ;)



Goodnight Everybody! http://www.embellishments.us/images/baby%20designs/just_f6.gif

Love,
~Res

[AMA]

hi TEEPEE - check out www.goneraw.com/recipes/2 and scroll down for suggestions of changing up the Onion Bread Receipe.

URGENT!a chocolate craving!!!oh my gosh RES aren't you the "chocolate connoisseur"? THE M&M's in the GLASS JAR ARE STARING AT ME - HELP!

started my period and i never realized i had a sweet craving (i think in my previous life i drank so much wine to numb the cramps) during this time that the cravings never registered.

I NEED SOMETHING CHOCOLATE!! :eek:Receipes anyone?:eek:

[Res]

AMA: If you're going to eat chocolate don't waste yourself on M&M's. Do you have a Trader Joes nearby? They have 81% Dark Chocolate that melts on your tongue and coats it...Mmmm. If I was there, I'd give you the bar I brought to work. ;) Actually, you can also pick some up at the Grocery Store in the "fine chocolate" candy section.

Also, Cacao Nibs (http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/cacao_nibs_raw_organic.htm)are amazing (no sugar) and really hit the spot! So, if you're in need of a chocolate fix, do it right Lady! ;) :D Your local heath food store should have bunches of Organice "Dark" chocolate to soothe the savage beast as well. I'm going to find the "carob mug" recipe I posted in the Lemonhead recipe box. That stuff is amazing and is also GREAT for chocolate cravings and you have to taste it to believe it.

*hug*
Love,
~Res

[Res]

Hot carob mug

1 Tsp raw carob powder
1 tsp regular postum
1 t whey powder (optional)
4 TBL shredded coconut (fresh or dried)
4 Dates
2 Cups spring water

Blend well strain and serve

[kiropa]

Just sharing a recipe that sounds good to me (haven't tried it)

Eggless Egg Salad
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pure water
juice from one small lemon
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
turmeric, as needed for color (approx. ½ teaspoon)
Directions:
1. Place the water, lemon juice, garlic, sea salt and cashews in the high speed blender, and blend until very smooth.
2. With a spatula, take the mixture from the blender and place in a medium sized mixing bowl.
3. Slowly stir in the mustard, white vinegar, and turmeric until it reaches the color and flavor you desire.

add chopped celery, peppers, whatever after
serve

[Sim]

Hi everyone~
I've been lurking lately, trying to write a book and figure out how to keep from experimenting in the kitchen, but our thread has taken on a life of its own! Res, I'm with you...this is the greatest place with the nicest people, all sharing...sharing even the "failures".

I love the idea of getting those "standards" under the belt (literally?) for about a year. And correct too: the failures are sooooooooo disappointing because it all takes time and then, ugh, a disappointment. But how will we know if we don't keep experimenting and then sharing? So from me this morning, I must tell you that I had oat groats for breakfast that were so satisfying that I was jumping for joy. I soaked them, with the intent of making the oatmeal as the recipe suggested but I was so hungry that I couldn't be bothered with the Cuisinart so I left the one cup groats as they were and added a chopped apple, 1 tbls. maple syrup (blast from the past), 1 tbls. water, 1/4 tsp. each cinnamon and vanilla, and some raisins. Now, you're supposed to eat that all ground up in the Cuisinart and add some almond milk, but I had no milk and I was feeling lazy. It was fabulous! Chewy but not too chewy, substantive, delicious...a real change from my usual morning juice.

All this talk makes me hungry...you good people are TOO good!
I'm making Abeba Wright's "It's Really Soup" for tonight...I'll let you know how it comes out. And for the mushroom addicts out there, this recipe for Mushroom Stroganoff was the absolute best. Time consuming, kind of, but no more than anything else we attempt. It comes from Cherie Soria at Living Light Institute:

Mushroom Stroganoff
Serving size: 6

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (or shitake is good too!)
1 1/4 cups water

Marinated Crimini Mushrooms
3 cups crimini mushrooms, sliced 1/8" thick
2 tablespoons red onions, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon wheat-free tamari
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Zucchini Noodles
12-16 medium zucchini, peeled (about 2 lbs)
1 teaspoon crystal salt

Cream Sauce
1 cup reserved mushroom soaking water
1 cup almonds, soaked for 8 to 12 hours
2 cups reserved zucchini centers, chopped (see direction #3, below)
2 tablespoons dark miso
1 1/2 teaspoons shiitake powder
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon crystal salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper, ground Fresh ground black pepper
1. Soak the porcini mushrooms in water until soft, about 1 hour.
2. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the onions, olive oil, tamari, and garlic powder. Add the crimini mushrooms and toss until all the mushrooms are thoroughly coated. Set the mushrooms aside to marinade for 30 minutes.
3. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the peeled zucchini lengthwise, rotating the zucchini a few degrees each time, to form thin planks resembling wide egg noodles. Once you reach the seedy center of the zucchini, stop and reserve the core for the sauce. Sprinkle the “noodles” with salt. Gently toss and set aside for 30 minutes.
4. Drain the water from the porcini mushrooms and rough chop. Retain the mushroom soaking water to use in the recipe.
5. Put the almonds and the mushroom-soaking water in a blender and blend to form a smooth thick cream. Pour the cream into a mesh bag and gently squeeze the mixture to remove the pulp. Only the strained cream will be used. Refrigerate or freeze the pulp for another recipe.
6. Drain the liquid from the crimini mushrooms and put 1/3 of the mushrooms into a high powered blender, along with half the cream, all the soaked drained porcini mushrooms, the leftover chopped zucchini centers, the dark miso, shiitake powder, nutritional yeast, paprika, salt, garlic powder, and pepper, and blend until smooth and creamy. Add the remaining almond cream and pulse to blend. Do not continue blending the gravy once the remaining cream has been mixed in, or it will become frothy. It should just be mixed in.
7. Gently squeeze the zucchini to remove the salt and excess moisture. Towel dry the softened zucchini noodles so they are dry (otherwise the moisture will thin the sauce and it will not cling to the noodles). Toss the noodles into the cream sauce.
8. Put the mixture in a shallow rectangular glass baking dish approximately 8 1/2-inch by 13-inch (lasagna-type), top with remaining marinated crimini mushrooms, and place it in the dehydrator set at 135 degrees for 1 hour.
9. Serve warm from the dehydrator, topped with a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper.

[mtmouse]

I must tell you that I had oat groats for breakfast that were so satisfying that I was jumping for joy. I soaked them, with the intent of making the oatmeal as the recipe suggested but I was so hungry that I couldn't be bothered with the Cuisinart so I left the one cup groats as they were and added a chopped apple, 1 tbls. maple syrup (blast from the past), 1 tbls. water, 1/4 tsp. each cinnamon and vanilla, and some raisins. Now, you're supposed to eat that all ground up in the Cuisinart and add some almond milk, but I had no milk and I was feeling lazy. It was fabulous! Chewy but not too chewy, substantive, delicious...a real change from my usual morning juice.

Sim,

That's exactly what happened to me the other day! Except my oat groats were already cracked when I soaked them. I did go on to make the rest into dehydrated grawnola, but I think I actually liked the fresh-soaked ones best! Anyway, it's a fabulous breakfast, all right!

And thanks for that stroganoff recipe. It sounds divine!

[mtmouse]

ONION BREAD QUESTION

I have made the RAWvolution onion bread 3 or 4 times and love it. My question is, does anyone think you could leave out or replace the onions with something else for times when you might want a "plainer" type of bread?? And if you leave it out, what about the nama shoyu? Then it may be dry, so add olive oil??

any ideas:confused: :confused:

I just saw this, TeePee.

My guess: you could substitute zucchini, really thinly sliced winter squash, turnip, rutabaga, maybe jicama, maybe even eggplant.

Not sure why you want to leave out the nama shoyu (I use Bragg's). But if you did want to leave it out, I'd substitute water and some sea salt to taste.

Adding oil, IMO, will simply prolong the drying time. However, I'm fairly new to these raw recipes, so I don't yet have a feel for how the ingredients all work together. Some oil must help to keep the result more soft. No oil would probably result in a much crunchier result, which might be terrific.

But, especially all sliced, the onions don't contribute anything to the bread but taste. The "bread" part comes from the flax meal, the seeds, the shoyu, and the oil. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you could make it just fine with just those ingredients.

But be sure to tell us what you do and how it turns out!

[AMA]

Still Shoveling here in N.H. :(

hey RES - don't worry, i certainly wouldn't reach into that jar of M&M's. With the chocolate pudding fiasco - when all else fails . . . throw it into the dehydrator! now it's like a chocolate coconut crumble good to throw on top of a frozen blended banana! :D

thanks for the Carob Mug receipe. . . had to google : postum. None of that in my house so just when I think the M&M's start calling me again, the door bell rings, MR. UPS, treats have arrived! Raw & Organic "duck chocolate" from www.oneluckyduck.com, little heart shaped treasures, just for me:D I think I'm in love with the UPS man! Do you think my husband will mind?

Ms. SIM - now where did you find all the time to make the mushroom stroganoff? I think i'll have to wait and try it at your house because making it for just myself, that would take alot of math to get it down to the correct portion, and honestly . . . i'm not up to that task.:(. I mean what is 1/3 of 1/4tsp anyway?

It's FLIPPIN' FREEZIN" out! What's for dinner?

[TeePee]

Hi girls!!

I just can't keep up with you all!! Everything sounds sooo awesome!! Thanks for the tips on the onion bread. I will try something and let you all know what magically transforms in the "Big E"!! I am thinking of doing a corn chowder again tonight!! I HAVE OFF TOMORROW AND I'M SO PSYCHED!!! To have a day to myself to research recipes and play in the kitchen!!! Then Sunday is Pure Food and Wine with boyfriend!! CAN'T WAIT!! They also have takeout around the corner with a juice bar. I will be SHOPPING!!

AMA, that chocolate stuff- you are killing me. Maybe I will eat some of those cacoa chips. pms....

[Res]

OK HELP! The onion bread "Mix" part is in the bowl and I've just stirred it. This can't be right can it? It's a mess of thinly sliced onions with a smearing of brown (3/4 cup ground sunflower seeds and 3/4 cup ground flax seeds with 1/2 cup shoya and 1/3 cup olive oil) and really it just looks like dirty sliced onions.

Is this right??? Shouldn't it be more "batter" oriented? :eek:

Love you all! ;)
~Res

[mtmouse]

Ha, Res,

That's what you get for not reading the whole thread! LOLOL. That's what I called it: "raw onion rings". :D

That's *just* what it's supposed to look like. You smear it as best you can on the sheets and kind of scootch it together where it needs it. Doesn't matter that it's kind of holey in places and thicker in others. Somehow when all is said and done, it does stick together and even looks pretty. And it tastes fine no matter how it turns out!

Don't lose faith now! :D :D :D :D

[Res]

http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/ashamed001.gif http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/confused013.gif

WHAT? You want me to READ the instructions too??? http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/taunt002.gif

*sigh* oh me oh my. lol Well thank you for letting me know that this is what it's SUPPOSED to look like. :D

SO, I've spread it on my parchment paper (no holes poked into it) and it did spread rather nicely and I could marry an onion so I'm excited about what it will look like by the time I get home from work tomorrow. :D

I like the idea of roasting red peppers and making a sandwich out of it. Mmm.

My tea is brewing (nope, not LAX yay!) and Oprah is just about on - so I'm going to go watch a psychic and probably judge her for exposing all of this for money on the Oprah show and then I'll feel guilty and be more curious than anything else. But if it creeps me out I'm changing the channel and eating a piece of chocolate. ;)


AMA: Duck chocolate? What the? I'll have to follow your "OTHER" link to my demise! ;)



Teepee: Mmm corn chowder. Fit For Life has a FANTASTIC corn chowder recipe that you just reminded me of. This is all so much fun isn't it??? :D

And HOLY CRAP Sim! I love Stroganoff! Fit for life has a mushroom cream sauce that they use with mock Shepherds pie that is amazing! My kids eat it up and there's nothing left. I'm going to try YOUR stroganoff on the weekend. I'll bet it freezes well to (if there's any left).

I love you guys! This thread is the BEST! :D

Love,
~Res & Oprah http://us.a2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/a/ya/yahoo_personals3/personals_heart.gif;)

[Res]

Oh, I couldn't find nama shoyu, so I just used some other organic shoyu. Will this be ok? :)


Duck Chocolate! What a crack up! :D Love the dark creamy stuff...mmm.

[mtmouse]

Oh, I couldn't find nama shoyu, so I just used some other organic shoyu. Will this be ok? :)

OH NO, Res! I'm sure you've ruined the whole batch and your life to boot!

Okay, okay, I know you're in a tender place right now, just coming back from the dead and all.

I don't even KNOW what nama shoyu is, LOL. I just used Bragg's myself. I'm sure your bread will be just ducky! :p

[Sim]

Okay, all of you!
YOU ARE NOW OFFICIALLY MY BEST, FUNNIEST, MOST TALENTED FRIENDS.
And that's all I'm gonna say for now. Yeah right.
This thread is the party that never ends!
Love you all. Gotta make something to eat...cauliflower couscous seems "quick" enough...oh and my soup! Talk to y'all later about it.
Thanks everyone for making life feel like a golden circle. Or maybe it's an onion ring. Inside the onion bread. With nama shoyu. Or just shoyu. Or Bragg's. Or not.
Oh my. I must be very hungry! :D

[mtmouse]

Kathy waves to Sim:

http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/greet024.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org)

We havin' us a PARTY!

http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/bounce016.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org)

Today I went to replace my "oat groats" that I'd made into grawnola the other day. I said they were "already cracked". Well, they turned out to be steel-cut oats. (Unlike rolled oats, I suspect those do still qualify as raw.) I got some whole oat groats to soak and compare, though, and I'll try those in the morning. II've decided I like the fresh-soaked oats with sweetener and fruit and nuts better than the dehydrated grawnola (at least, with the soaked steel-cut oats and then dehydrated whole batch).

Happy eating, all!

:D

[AMA]

THERE ARE TEARS RUNNING DOWN MY FACE!

You guys are KILLING me! :eek: :eek: It's a good thing i have on a SUPER MAXI pad otherwise i would have peeeeeed my pants AND wet the chair!!!:eek: :eek:

[frannyknight]

Hi everyone, just checked in for a few minutes, looking for a good colon cleanse and juicer recommendations. I have done very well over the last 5 weeks post 10 day cleanse - I am about 80% raw, experimenting, reading, learning. I have become quite obsessed, but not fanatical. I just read Kevin Tredeau's book "Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About" - I ordered it before Christmas and just got it recently. It has blown me away! I would have never been able to get into it if it wasn't for the MC and the Raw Food Books I have been reading. I recommend the book to anybody who hasn't read it.

I will be doing a colon cleanse soon and plan to do the MC around April for longer than 10 days. My sweety is going to do it with me. I have had a couple friends do it with my encouragement. It has literally changed my life.

Ciao! Happy Post Love Day! Franny

[Res]

HAHA, Have I told you lately that I think in pictures? AMA, what a sight! http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/happy051.gif

Shovelling? You poor thing. *If* I lived in the snow I'd have a fireplace that I'd plop down in front of with a pot of hot stew on the stove at all times! I can't imagine what it's like.



Kathy!! Oh No! A life ruined by Shoyu!! http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/shocked003.gif I always thought it would be the Green Smoothies that did me in. :p
So here's to "cracked groats"! http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/eatdrink004.gif




Sim: I think it's about time for a "GROUP HUG"!!! http://www.kurts-smilies.de/gruppe.gif



Well, the house smells lovely and onion-y. Eggless salad would go great on the onion bread! :)


Now I'm off to find dog treat recipes! Woof! http://www.academictips.org/forums/images/smilies/dog_running.gif

Love,
~Res

[Res]

Franny: I just received two of his books too!! :) I haven't read them yet because I have a stack of books to go through, but I did scan one of them and I know I'm going to be engrossed - so that's why I'm waiting.

Could be very informative and lots to share with everyone here! :D

Love,
~Res

[Res]

AMA: for the rosemary cracker recipes how much rosemary?

ROSEMARY CRACKERS:

2C golden flax seeds, soaked in 3 cups water for 4-6 hrs.
2C sunflower seeds (or almonds) soaked for 6-8 hrs. and drained.
4 carrots, chopped
1/3C chopped leek
1C Red bell pepper
**1/4 dried rosemary????
3T garlic powder or 3 cloves fresh
2T dried Italian seasoning
1/2t cayenne (it'll bring back memories:) ) Hahahaha ;)
1 1/2T celtic sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper

Smooches!
~Res

[AMA]

RES - OOPS! It's 1/4 C DRIED ROSEMARY sorry to create more stress for you after your Onion Bread fiasco!

You truly had me in tears on that one!:D

[TeePee]

Hello Wonderful People!!

Thanks to this board, and all of the recipes, I have not eaten and I'm hungrier than ever. I just keep reading, reading, reading....What an awesome group!!

:p Keep up the great work everyone!!

RES~ It sounds like you are completely recovered!! yay!!

[Res]

Teepee: I'm doing SO much better! :) This IS an amazing group of people. :D


AMA: Yeah, uh, um, the onion bread fiasco...*cough*. :o
So, 1/4 a cup of rosemary? Wowzers! I'm so excited about making these on the weekend. My dog is going to get homemade dog biscuits now too! I found a great site with lots of recipes. Why in the heck didn't I do this before? duh...:rolleyes:

YOU GIRLS ARE MY INSPIRATION!! http://us.a2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/a/ya/yahoo_personals3/personals_heart.gif


Now I'm off to bed with my other passion -- reading. ;)


Love LOVE LOVE You all!
~Res

[darjeelingirl]

Where in the world are you folks getting all these crazy animated smileys? I'm gonna make that onion bread this weekend and I know I'm gonna need some more smileys to tell you all about it.

Today I tackled a young Thai coconut and used some of the juice in my green smoothie for breakfast. YUM. Lots of meat that puppy had. Scooped that out and froze it for later recipes.

Added tomato to the CCC (cauliflower couscous) and munched on some real fresh pineapple. Why in the world did we ever think we needed to cook all these yummy foods? :rolleyes:

Happy Day to y'all! :D

[Sim]

I was off to bed too, crazy kids, but I had a very late dinner and OF COURSE I had to share the result and the recipe with you honeys! IT WAS AMAZING! I swear if I had fresh onion bread and a container of this soup on Monday, I'd eat it all week and forget about making anything else until the weekend. And then I'd probably make another batch of this soup!!! And...IT'S EASY!

Thanks for the hugs, you sweethearts :D Where do you get all those cool smileys from?

Here's the recipe...I'm giving it my highest endorsement yet, as if you couldn't tell :o

Abeba and Anna’s It’s Really Soup!
By Abeba Wright and Anna Fisk
Serves 8-10 and you’ll only need a blender!

10-11 fresh Roma tomatoes, chopped
½ red or yellow onion, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of peeled garlic
fresh basil or dried if you haven’t any fresh
fresh dill or dried if you haven’t any fresh
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Celtic salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 to ¼ cup raisins
1 or 2 red bell peppers
¼ jalapeño or to taste (or not at all if you don’t like them)
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped (divided in half)
1 avocado, cubed
1 ear of corn, cut from the cob
½ sweet yellow pepper
finely chopped parsley for garnish

In the blender, combine half the chopped tomatoes, all the onion, garlic, basil, dill, lemon juice,
sea salt, olive oil, raisins, red bell pepper, jalapeño, and ½ cup water.

Add ½ cup of the chopped sun-dried tomatoes a little at a time. Blend well.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, the avocado, corn, and sweet yellow pepper. Pour the blended mixture over the chopped vegetables and stir well. Garnish with the parsley.

[mtmouse]

Sim!

You keep doing this to me! All I do is print out your recipes--I don't even have time to make them, LOL.

And my Alissa Cohen book is due to arrive any day now. What's going to become of me?

:)

[mtmouse]

One smiley place:

http://www.freesmileys.org/free-animated-smileys.php

http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/dance007.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org)

[Sim]

Kathy~
We're all doomed!!! But what a great way to go...Thanks for the smiley place! Now I can spend even more time playing...great! When oh when will I ever earn a living? Ah, who cares anyway? A salary is only good for buying new toys anyway. WHAT AM I SAYING? No salary, no Vitamix! I better get moving....:D

[Res]

mmm, darjeelingirl: That coconut sounds delicious! :)



Sim: Just printed the soup recipe so that I can shop on the way home from work. This is great!

Getting ready to munch on the banana/celery/date/pecan breakfast. This food is so satisfying! :)



Kathy: Whats going to become of you is you're going to post a bunch of those recipes from that new book you're about to get. lol ;)


Kathy~
We're all doomed!!! hahahaha Too funny! Well it's about time we're all doomed! I can't express to all of you how much fun it is coming here daily - this thread is so *positive* and an absolute delight to be involved with. :D

Love,
~Res

[Res]

Zucchi-ghetti with Marinara Sauce

[/URL]
For angel hair zucchi-ghetti, finely shred 2 medium zucchinis in [URL="http://www.rawganique.com/kitchenequipment.htm"]The Spiral Slicer (http://www.rawganique.com/Cards.htm).

For sauce, blend 2 cups tomatoes, 1 teaspoon peeled ginger, 1 tablespoon peeled garlic, 1 hot pepper, 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves, 1/4 cup Nama Shoyu (http://www.rawganique.com/Food/raw-organic-black-sesame-tahini.htm) or 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt, 3/4 cup hemp oil (http://www.rawganique.com/Food.htm), 5 pitted sun dried olives, 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, 2 tablespoons hemp seed nuts (http://www.rawganique.com/Food.htm), and juice of 1/2 lemon in blender (http://www.rawganique.com/kitchen2.htm) until well liquefied.

For garnish, top with spearmint leaves and cubed red bell peppers & tomatoes and side-dress with cress leaves.

*still have to find the nama shoyu! I haven't tried this yet but it sounds so EASY and delicious. If you all get to it before I do let me know! :)

Love,
~Res

[Res]

Oh by the way: HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!! http://www.kurts-smilies.de/dance.gif

This morning the house smelled very nice - onion-y. By the time I get home it will be about 24 hours since starting the onion bread - then I have another 9 hours to go. Now that I'm no longer panicked about the "look" of the bread ;) I'm more excited than ever about doing away with the wheat in my diet. My dog is going to benefit from whole wheat/spelt dog bones this weekend. hah

Mmm, onion bread and a purple smoothie with soup! :D

Love,
~Res

[TeePee]

Res,

The Nama Shoyu is available on Alissa Cohen's website. I purchased that along with the Bariani? Olive Oil when I got my spiral slicer. I haven't opened either one, as I'm "saving" them. I have been using Bragg's Liquid Aminos in place of the Nama Shoyu.

[TeePee]

Going to my sister's this afternoon to celebrate mom's b-day. She is so funny trying to make me something I "am allowed" to eat!! She tried Matt's Creamy Garlic Dressing when I had it and actually wrote down the recipe and has been making it herself!! I guess I will make a huge salad to take down with us. Everyone will eat that!!! Off to the market!!

[mtmouse]

Mmm, onion bread and a purple smoothie with soup!

Okay, Res, are you trying to give me a heart attack? what's this world coming to? A PURPLE SMOOTHIE? Res is having a PURPLE SMOOTHIE? And looking forward to it? Egads.

:)

[mtmouse]

Res,

The Nama Shoyu is available on Alissa Cohen's website. I purchased that along with the Bariani? Olive Oil when I got my spiral slicer. I haven't opened either one, as I'm "saving" them. I have been using Bragg's Liquid Aminos in place of the Nama Shoyu.

For me the problem with nama shoyu (and most shoyu) is that it has wheat in it, which I avoid. (Res take note.)

I'll stick to Bragg's myself for soy-sauce-type flavors. :)

[TeePee]

THIS IS A GREAT ONE!!


Delicious smoothie::D

flesh of 2 mango
water from 1 coconut
drop of vanilla
ice if desired

BLEND!! Drink and pretend you are in Jamaica!!8)

[Res]

Egads, Wheat? Hmm, I do have a huge bottle of Braggs. I'll use it with my next batch of onion bread.

Purple smoothies: yeah, I actually love em <ducks> :rolleyes:



TeePee: thanks for the info. :)



Love,
~Res

[darjeelingirl]

Thank you for the smiley page! Now I just have to figure out how to make them work here - my cutting and pasting didn't seem to do it :rolleyes:

Question of the day:

Can GMO food be grown organically? Since it's genetically engineered to resist troubles, do growers use less pesticides? I'm still way pro-organic, but I'm trying to rank the evils if I don't have a choice...

Best
1. organic
2. gmo?
3. conventional and well washed?
Worst

Opinions? Facts? Thoughts?

[Res]

I don't know D. I just read up on GMO and personally I'll take my chances with what grows out of the ground instead of what's altered in a test tube.

I can't be sure that what has been genetically engineered is what I want to put into my body because in all actuality - they could do some crazy crap to the food and then I ingest it not knowing and 3 years later I have an ear growing in my armpit.

I mean - why would they do the following? Because they can.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Glowing_tobacco_plant.jpg/180px-Glowing_tobacco_plant.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Glowing_tobacco_plant.jpg)


A tobacco plant which has been genetically engineered
to express a gene taken from fireflies.

I have a hard enough time eating someone elses potato salad if I don't know whats in it. Know what I mean? People do some crazy things and I don't want to be their lab rat.

Love,
~Res

[TeePee]

I'm with you 100% on that, Res!!

[darjeelingirl]

they could do some crazy crap to the food and then I ingest it not knowing and 3 years later I have an ear growing in my armpit.

Crack me up! http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/happy001.gif

The firefly tobacco crop is a hoot too. It would stay funny if it weren't real! :eek:

I agree it's all bad, but I guess I'm just wondering which is WORSE - gmo or conventionally pesticide-ful.

I think I'm starting to realize: If you can't find real, go without. (Whoa! aint that a novel thought for an American?)

[Sim]

Hey all~
Serious question: what's wrong with having wheat? Is is supposedly not good for you or Kathy, is it just that you have a wheat allergy? Nama shoyu is just raw soy sauce, as opposed to regular shoyu which is technically fermented, which I still think of as Raw, since sauerkraut is fermented and we're encouraged to eat it by all the experts. Then there's tamari and wheatless tamari. Then there's Bragg's Aminos, and I can't figure out what that is at all...I know I'm not crazy about the taste, though. I also read that there's some controversy regarding Bragg's and whether or not it is healthy for the human body! It seems that Nama Shoyu (used so often by Matt Amsden), tamari, and Bragg's Aminos are interchangeable because they all have a similar taste. And if you don't have any of those on hand: Celtic with two tablespoons of water! The Magic of Raw! Anyway, here's another question: Celtic and Celtic Light Grey...is one better than the other? On the cleanse, I had neither! I used a coarser salt, even though it said fine salt, that was Pacific, no additives, not iodized and it worked fine. But for eating, what kind of Celtic do you all use? Right now I have the Celtic fine white, not light grey, which is coarser. Oh these technical questions!

I made Toona tonight and it was good in raw nori. But maybe not as good as the Sunny Paté from Nomi Shannon, my favorite paté so far. Now I've discovered something: every time you make something, it's a little different because the produce might be a little different or a little more or less fresh than last time, or you added a smidgen less/more than last time...or your mood is different! But that's what's so cool about live food...it changes because it's live! Just like us and our bodies...we're not the same every day either. Such philosophy for a Friday night. Anyway, I made the falafel from Complete Book and it's delicious...not finished dehydrating yet but I couldn't resist a bite. And that onion bread...different from the first time because this time I took all of the comments and combined them and...voilá! Chopped onion, onions rings, sweet onions, red onions, spicy onions...all together! And it looks positively awesome! Can't wait, can't wait!

Okay Res..I'm asking: what in the world is in a purple smoothie? Sounds like my kind of drink. Same color as the walls of my room! And I'm with you on the GMO (sorry Darjeelingirl) I don't trust the mad scientists. Bad enough that we have to worry about the pesticides but how in the world do we know what they're doing in those labs? I mean that's where Frankenstein's monster originated!

TeePee~ I am running out to buy mangos just because of you!!! I have the coconut water already...just need the mangos!

Have a great weekend, you rawsome girls. I'll keep you posted if I come up with anything new, but wow are my hands getting waterlogged from all the washing and drying of the toys!!! I might just eat soup, toona in nori, salad, onion bread, and falafel for a few days.
oh, one more thing: I'm still without the use of this thumb. Please be careful my friends...I am perhaps the clumsiest chef I know but oh, I have spirit! It's amazing how much one can do without the use of a thumb. (I don't do these things well, but I can still do them!) ;)

[darjeelingirl]

And I'm with you on the GMO (sorry Darjeelingirl) I don't trust the mad scientists.

Oh, hey, don't be sorry - anyone - who has any other ideas or opinions - that's why I asked - I'm still learning, collecting info. Like I said, I believe gmo is bad and I just wanted to hear stories, ideas, what people know about how bad it is and how it compares to the badness of pesticides in conventional foods.

So here's another question:

What if "they" use gmo seeds and don't use traditional pesticides - can they call it organic?

I think I'm just wondering how "damned" we may already be in this society...

Sorry to be so doomsday-ish. :o

On the lighter side, I made onion bread today. It was awesome and I'll be so surprised if there is ANY left in the dehydrator by the time it's "supposed" to be done! :D

I found that if I mixed the onion with the ground nuts and stirred that up first and then added the soy sauce and oil, it mixed uniformly. Then I put half on a sheet on my hard counter surface and spread it out with an oil coated spatula starting in the middle and working my way out. It spread nicely! Then I transferred the sheets to the DH tray. Ohhhhh, my house smells soooooooooooo good! :)

And for what it's worth, Sim, I like the grey Celtic sea salt. I don't know why. :rolleyes: But I did buy one of each kind of soy sauce the HF store had and we're trying to figure out which one we like best. So far the kids favor the shoyu - a slightly richer taste... Braggs tastes just like La Choy. I'll be interested to hear what the others have to say!

Thanks for all your thoughts dear rawies! I enjoy the food for thought as well as the kickin' recipes! :p

[Sim]

Hi all~
Darjeelingirl, you rock! See? That's why I love this board and everyone on it...we all care, we all want to know more, we all like learning from each other. I think your question is a great one: if a seed is GMO and "raised" without pesticides, can it be labeled "organic"? I know there has to be a ruling on this because the organic label is a pretty strict operation, but I don't know the answer to this question. Anyone?

Also, D, you asked (about ten pages ago!) about Teflex vs. Parallex sheets. There is no difference! They are both non-stick reusable sheets...don't throw away the Parallex! (there was some confusion about this on a later posting). The Parallex is the name brand of the sheet that's purchased through Excalibur; the Teflex is just another brand that can be purchased elsewhere and online. I actually got the Parallex when I ordered my Big E and it was cheaper than the Teflex on some sites. I think I paid $6.50 for each of 5 sheets, but I don't recall. Anyway, it's about the same price for the same thing.

And of course, I appreciate the thoughts on the shoyu...the "need to know" what others are thinking, tasting, uncooking, trying is tremendous. I feel like a newlywed learning how to cook all over again!

Have a great weekend everyone :)

[mtmouse]

Hey all~
Serious question: what's wrong with having wheat? Is is supposedly not good for you or Kathy, is it just that you have a wheat allergy?

Sorry, Sim, missed this somehow.

For me it's quite simple: I follow the blood type diet, and wheat's an Avoid for me. So I avoid it--most of the time. :) Most soy sauces and tamari have wheat in them, so I choose substitutes like Bragg's that don't.

And sometimes I use just salt! (I use only Celtic grey salt in my home, grinding it myself. I don't think there's much difference between that and Celtic except price and perhaps convenience.)

[TeePee]

HI Everyone!

I am starting to feel very sick. Cold, sore throat a bit congested, wicked headache. :eek: I am supposed to be going to the city for the weekend and have reservations for Pure food and wine. So what can I do naturally to feel better?? :confused: I really don't want to "take" anything as I haven't since back in December.

I was thinking about making a hot "tea" of lemon juice and maybe honey. I know to drink as much water as possible. REst. Been lying down all afternoon.

any suggestions?? Thanks!

[Res]

Sim: A purple smoothie is;

1. Handful of Spinach or swiss chard
2. 1-2 cups of blueberries
3. 3 or 4 dates
4. 2 cups of water.
It's delicious! :)

Regarding wheat: not sure if it's allergies or what. However, if I do eat wheat I gain weight. No doubt about it and I do experience allergy type symptoms, puffy eyes, sinus issues, running nose, ears plugged up (this is without dairy). It's probably not just wheat - I think it's any types of grain including rice (which makes me very sad). Dr. Mercola is on to something.

ooh, I worked a booth today for a side business at a Health Fair and when I walked around to see what the other vendors had I was given a "brownie" made with ground flax and chocolate chips and "Let Me Tell You!". I asked for the recipe and they said they'd email me. As soon as I get it I'll share it will you. It was AMAZING. No wheat, dairy, sugar (except for the chocolate chips and they may have been carob with stevia) and I didn't really get to pick their brains about it because my "wandering" time was limited.


D.girl: My onion bread turned out pretty fantastic too! The house still smells great and it was done yesterday. I'm going to cut back on the soy sauce though because it was a bit too salty for me.

So today I made up a batch of egg salad and spread it on the onion bread - then topped it with alfalfa sprouts - had sliced red apple on the side and garlic stuffed green olives. Very tasty and very satisfying. :)


Kathy: Did your book arrive yet?


Aww TeePee: *hug* I wish I had words of wisdom. I really thought that when I was cleansing two weeks ago that I was impervious to getting sick and boy was I wrong.

You *NEED* to rest. Sleep as much as possible and stay hydrated, i.e., soups, teas, water. Homemade chicken soup really does have *magical* healing properties, so sip the broth if you're up to it.

Let us know how you're doing. If we don't hear from you we'll know you're resting. All the best thoughts, love and healing energy are going your way. :)

Love,
~Res

[mtmouse]

Hi Res!

No, no book yet, boo-hoo! :(

Your purple smoothie sounds delicious!

Yesterday I bought a pineapple so I could make your other yummy-sounding "red" juice. Unfortunately, even with a pretty small clove of garlic, that's almost all I can taste and I don't like it. I'm sure I'd love the drink otherwise, and next time I'll forgo the garlic.

That's kind of funny, because I love my pesto and I love garlic in almost anything cooked (well, that's not so surprising, because garlic definitely changes when it's cooked). But I don't like any garlic at all in anything with fruit, it seems. Hmm. Maybe I'll substitute ginger--I do usually like that in my smoothies.

[TeePee]

Thanks, Res!!!:o

[Sim]

[QUOTE=Res] A purple smoothie is;

1. Handful of Spinach or swiss chard
2. 1-2 cups of blueberries
3. 3 or 4 dates
4. 2 cups of water.
It's delicious! :)

Thanks, Res!
Purple is definitely needed! Always puts a smile on my face...sounds delish, too! But those dates...addictive, in or out of a smoothie!

I've never thought about wheat as a weight-gaining item, but yes, it certainly could be. I've also wondered where I'm getting some congestion from, since I've had no dairy items since December. Wheat maybe? I'll experiment and use Bragg's or Celtic for the next two weeks and see if there's any change.

TeePee~ REST! And that's an order! :D

Here's something fun to share: I had such a dehydrator fiasco that I couldn't stop laughing this morning when I came into the kitchen. I made some garlic rosemary bread yesterday and the recipe seemed to come out oddly dry but I figured who knows? I mean the onion bread recipe looked odd too when I first did it and it came out just fine. So I continued. This morning I found crumbles :eek: , even though I had only dehydrated for half the time. I looked at the recipe again... I forgot to add the oil! Well, the crumbles are delicious, so I'll just have to make something wonderful and add them as a topping. Kamut, oat groats, almonds, rosemary and garlic...what could be bad? :)

[darjeelingirl]

HI Everyone!

I am starting to feel very sick. Cold, sore throat a bit congested, wicked headache. :eek: I am supposed to be going to the city for the weekend and have reservations for Pure food and wine. So what can I do naturally to feel better?? :confused: I really don't want to "take" anything as I haven't since back in December.

I was thinking about making a hot "tea" of lemon juice and maybe honey. I know to drink as much water as possible. REst. Been lying down all afternoon.

any suggestions?? Thanks!

Netti Pot (aka sinu-cleanse, etc.) to clear the congestion - You wash your sinuses out with salt water (sounds familiar..?) I use it whenever I have a cold and in conjunction with other rest measures, it cuts it down really fast.

Oh and lots of garlic and spices - like cayenne - maybe a short term lemonade fast?

[darjeelingirl]

I've never thought about wheat as a weight-gaining item, but yes, it certainly could be. I've also wondered where I'm getting some congestion from, since I've had no dairy items since December. Wheat maybe? I'll experiment and use Bragg's or Celtic for the next two weeks and see if there's any change.



Hey! My throat has been all mucousy and stuff since I went raw - is that an allergy? It usually is worst after I drink my morning smoothy - fruit and some green entity - greens, broccoli, spinach, etc. I thought maybe I was just still detoxing. What's the Mercola book?

[Res]

D: When I'm doing the cleanse I'm so happy and for the most part feeling fantastic even on the sucky days because I know I'm getting the junk out. But when I go back to eating food, it seems as if I have an increase in food allergies. Wheat wipes me out and as much as I LOVE bread I have to face this and be honest with myself (which is difficult because as I said, I love bread, cheese, garlic and wine). Dairy immediately plugs up my sinuses and I'm not going to eat fake cheese so I'm at an impasse at the moment deciding what to do.

Make sure that you're washing all your fruits/veggies BEFORE you make your smoothies because of the "unknown" junk that they either spray or dip our food into to make the shelf life longer or the fruit shiny. We know there's nothing we can do about irradiated food except to figure out which ones and then not buy them. It can be so daunting just to find the right foods!

Ahh Mercola - as in Dr Mercola - www.mercola.com (http://www.mercola.com). He's a bit controversial (I love that ;)) but I think he's closer to how I eat than anything else. He says ALL GRAINS are wrong, wrong, wrong for humans. I have his book and I REALLY LIKE IT. He has you figure out your Metabolic type and then eat based on that. I've done just about everything from Blood Type eating (which he bashes) to Adkins (he bashes this as well) and found that I fit better eating for my metabolic type. So there's "another one" to add to the list of "how to eat". ;)

Love,
~Res

[kiropa]

hmmm, not sure where to post this. it relates to weight maintenance after the cleanse. so here goes...

my recent 31 day cleanse has been *very* successful. i lost all the weight i wanted & i feel absolutely terrific. i want & intend to maintain my weight loss. for you numbers people (like me), i lost 30 pounds & exercised about 4 times a week.

for the nitty gritty:
highest weight ever (age 20-something): 163
weight i was all through high school & college: 158
figured some things out (added regular exercise, fell in love) & maintained 132 for many years
lost weight via diet center (post baby #3) to 112
bounced +/- 20-30 pounds since then
started this cleanse at 143 (highest since original weight loss)
weight at end of cleanse 113

i will continue to work out & plan to eat mostly raw (have been for the past week). i have not weighed myself since ending & want to know if a normal (quantity, not too much nuts/oil etc) raw diet will keep me at my happy weight? Or, is some weight gain inevitable?

any words of wisdom/experiences WELCOME!

kim

[Res]

I love this: Take a peek;


Food of the Week . . . Oranges

Oranges are our food of the week and are in the peak of their season. Did you know that although oranges are renowned for their vitamin C, they are also important as a source of dietary fiber? One medium-sized orange contains 13% of your daily value for fiber. While we usually consider most of the fiber to be in the fleshy orange pulp of the orange, research is finding that pectin and other forms of fiber found in the white layer immediately beneath the skin of the orange can help curb appetite and suppress hunger for up to four hours! And contrary to common belief, the white pulpy portion of oranges is not bitter. Whole oranges are also a healthy snack for people with diabetes because the fiber helps keep blood sugar levels under control. By selecting a whole fresh orange over a glass of orange juice, you will benefit from about the same amount of vitamin C, but you will also be gaining the 4 grams of dietary fiber that is lost through the juicing process! Read More... (http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=37)

http://whfoods.org/recipeimages/orangepineapplepapayasalad.jpg (http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=47)

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 medium sized pineapple cut into 1 inch pieces (http://javascript<b></b>:doClick('genpage.php?tname=preptip&dbid=92'))
4 oranges, segments cut out from membrane (http://javascript<b></b>:doClick('genpage.php?tname=preptip&dbid=94'))
1 large papaya, cut into pieces (http://javascript<b></b>:doClick('genpage.php?tname=preptip&dbid=93'))
2 TBS sliced almondsDirections:

Cut fruit and mix together, and sprinkle with sliced almonds

Serves 4Healthy Cooking Tips: Because of the simplicity of this recipe it is important to start with fresh, ripe ingredients. It is worth taking the time to check our animation of cutting orange segments if you haven't done this before. Cut correctly, you will eliminate the bitterness and rough texture of the membrane without the segments falling apart.



**Ready for a little controvery?

How does fruit juice compare to whole fruit?


Read more... (http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=24)

(http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=24)


Love,

~Res ;)

[Sim]

[QUOTE=kiropa]hmmm, not sure where to post this. it relates to weight maintenance after the cleanse. so here goes...

my recent 31 day cleanse has been *very* successful. i lost all the weight i wanted & i feel absolutely terrific. i want & intend to maintain my weight loss. for you numbers people (like me), i lost 30 pounds & exercised about 4 times a week.
any words of wisdom/experiences WELCOME!

Hi Kim~ I don't know if I have any words of wisdom :rolleyes: but here are my 2 cents: I did a 40 day cleanse and lost 29½ pounds, 141 (high for me) down to 111½. It was great and I happily went to a Raw diet, which I've been following since January 26. I've gained just a few pounds (115) and I'm happy with that because I'm eating really well, as much as I need, and I'm still figuring it all out (you know, like what dishes will be my faves, which are easiest in a pinch, what to have on hand...) This is such a new way of living that I've just decided to embrace the learning curve and pretend I'm like the newlywed I once was and I didn't know how to cook anything at all! This time I'm learning a different cuisine and although it takes some time to even learn what some of the important ingredients are, at least experience has provided me with a few cooking skills that I didn't have when I was that newlywed.
About weight gain post-cleanse: I asked the same question and didn't really get definite answers, but it seems to me that after a 30 or 40 day cleanse, having only liquid, a person would have to gain at least a couple of pounds when one switches over to solid food. I don't consider it weight gain as much as I think of it as impossible to avoid since solids weigh more than lemonade.
Hope this commentary wasn't too long! Congratulations on a job so well done...and your teeny tiny figure, mom-of-three!! Excellent!! :D

[kiropa]

Thanks Sim! That helps A LOT! your stats are quite similar to mine. i am actually totally okay with & expect to gain 5 or so pounds back, i just want to keep it at that if i can.

i really appreciate hearing about your raw success. i too think raw makes so much sense for me & i'm super excited for this new beginning of sorts.

it's interesting -- when i lost the weight via diet center, i actually stopped eating the prepackaged foods very quickly & relied on fruits & veggies. slowly that morphed from cooked to raw. so, i naturally gravitated toward raw (without even knowing about it) in the past.

anyway, thanks! and congrats to you too on your success. maintaining after the cleanse really is the challenging part.

everyone, please share your post-cleanse challenges, triumphs, experiences etc. THANK YOU!!!!!

kim

[darjeelingirl]

Howdy folks! Just checkin' in to say Hi (smiley face waving here)

Been a crazy few days - one kid sprained his ankle pretty badly yesterday and my daughter's kitty got stuck in an old window well under the deck all night. I live in MN so the poor thing was cold! A friend had to come over and dismantle part of the deck and then saw away part of the window well to get her out! The sides of the well were too slippery for her to get a grip and escape. Phew! To express her love and relief, dear daughter gave her a bath when we got home from school :D

Thanks Res, for the great info. I admit, I'm still getting the hang of buying purely organic fruit. It's a whole new game plan to find the right deals at the right stores. Although I have been very good at choosing raw raw raw foods to eat. But I will increase my vigilance and continue to fine tune how I shop...

I will say though, that I like the whole fruit thing - I was feeling a little concerned that I was missing something by throwing all that pulp away. And thanks for the Mercola info. I will check him out. I do enjoy sorting through all this new information.

Well, I'm off to make a corn/tomato salad from the Raw Foods/ Real Life book. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, I made my onion bread. yummy yum! I discovered that these nut breads are a good way to put the weight back on - gotta keep them in moderation! :o

Hope y'all had a good day! :)

[AMA]

hi everyone,

oooh, new toys arrived. An Omega juicer, Vita-Mix blender, and best of all an EasySprout system. Friday before leaving for the weekend, to visit my grandchildren :D :D , i put chick peas, barley, soybeans, wheatberries, and black-eyed peas into the Sprouter and when i got home, TAA-DA, SPROUTS! It soaks, mists, rinses and drains! More time left for me to read receipes.

Last night before bed i made an amazing CRANBERRY SCONE receipe, put it into the "Big E" and woke up to delicious, beautiful warm scones, here it is:

2C grated apples
2C carrot pulp after you make carrot juice
2C raisins
1C cranberries (i used frozen)
2T honey
2C almonds ground
1C flaxseed blended with 1C water
1/2tsp celtic sea salt
1/2C olive oil

Mix w/hands. Drop spoonfuls onto Teflex sheets. Dehydrate 105. 4 hrs, then flip onto dehydrator screens and wake up to heaven.
12 Steps to Raw Food - Victoria Boutenki - pg. 158

Not only are they so very yummy, they've got to be the most beautiful in appearance of all that I've whipped up while being RAW.

[Res]

OMGosh AMA: I *adore* scones so I can't wait to try these! Thanks for bringing these amazing treats our way! :D


D: Well what an eventful day! Poor kitty.

All this fantastic food you're all talking about! I can't wait to order my book!/s ;)

Um, what nut bread? You're scaring me! http://www.academictips.org/forums/images/smilies/worried.gif

Love,
~Res

[TeePee]

Hi all you fun people!!

Well, NY was a haven of awesome raw food. If you are anyhow able to get to Pure Food and Wine or their takeaway shop (many same menu items) or Quintessence BY ALL MEANS GO!!! And if you can't get there, buy the book Raw Food Real World and make some of these dishes because THEY RULE!!! Between boyfriend and I and two days, we had: califlower samosas, soft corn tortillas, flatbread pizza, spicy thai wraps, zuchinni and tomato lasagne, and marinated mushroom (tasted like what I remember roast beef to taste like and I never ate mushrooms in my life) with some stuffing type stuff. WOWSER WOWSER WOW!! :D :eek: :D Oh, and some pecan dessert and chocolate molten lava cake. YUP!! warm and oh so unbelievable!! Not to mention the mojitos and sangria!!! I can't wait to go back!!! I even saw "Sarma" working at the restaurant. Very cool place. At Quintessence we had "burritos" with mock refried beans and a "sausage" pizza that you would bet a million dollars it was sausage. Made from nuts of course. Truly remarkable!!!:p

All of the delicious raw food (made by someone other that myself!!!) made up for the fact that I was sick all weekend!! Still trying to recover. How I wish I could have stayed in our hotel (a block from pure) and had my meals and green smoothies prepared for me for a few days while I rested!! Ah, it doesn't cost to dream!!!