This post is participating in Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop!
Dehydrating Sun Burgers
Last week, I began majorly experimenting with raw foods. I checked Ani Phyo’s cookbook out from the library, spent extra money on raw essentials (raw carob powder, raw buckwheat groats, sundried tomatoes, etc.), and started cooking! I mean – NOT cooking. My goal was to eat 99% raw breakfasts every day (I say 99% because sometimes I used pasteurized honey, or vanilla extract), and to aim for 50% raw or more for lunch and dinner.
Flaxseed "Pancakes" with fruit
I started out with Phyo’s Flaxseed “Pancakes.” (Click here for the recipe, and here for an awesome version by one of my favorite bloggers, Swell Vegan.) I’m sorry to say, I HATED these! The agave syrup made them so sweet, I found it sickening. (But I forced myself to eat them because those flax seeds are a bit pricey!) I will try making them with a different binder next time. After I finally finished those off, I stuck with smoothies, and there are tons of great smoothie recipes in Phyo’s cookbook.
Delicious Zoodles with Marinara Sauce
Dinner for Monday and Tuesday was Phyo’s Noodles and Marinara Sauce. As I was making it, I thought to myself, “This is going to be disgusting. I HATE raw zucchini! What am I doing?!” But surprise: I LOVED it! This is a really great, fun recipe (click here for the recipe and here to watch Phyo make it on VCN). My one complaint is that the colder it is, the less pleasant it is. I had it at room temperature on Monday, just after preparing it. On Tuesday, it had been in the fridge for 24 hours, and it was COLD! Next time, I’ll let it sit for a while.
Wednesday and Thursday were a major challenge for me. I met my goals for breakfast and lunch on both days, but on Wednesday, I did some major yard work, and let myself go too long without eating. By 7PM, I was STARVING, and ate everything in sight – most of which was not only NOT raw, but which was highly processed (crackers, frozen appetizers from Trader Joe’s, etc.). I felt pretty guilty after that. And Thursday was my mother’s dinner party, which means EXTREME STRESS. This is one of those toxic family patterns I mentioned in a previous post. These parties usually end up with me at the appetizer bar stuffing chips and dip into my mouth. By the time dinner comes around, I’m usually pretty sick from the compulsive overeating. Yikes. And did I mention I had a brownie and piece of pie for dessert? Needless to say, I felt pretty bad about myself after two days of falling off the Raw Wagon.
The best raw zoodles, ever!
Friday was better. I ate 100% raw until 8PM. I had a smoothie for breakfast. For lunch, I wanted more “zoodles” (zucchini noodles), but didn’t have any more marinara sauce to put on them. I thought of the pesto in Phyo’s book, but I didn’t have enough basil. I decided to improvise. I added olive oil, sea salt, pepper, 4 leaves of basil, 1 clove of garlic, and a squeeze of lime juice to my zoodles and stirred it up and let it sit in the sun for 10 minutes. I also added some raw sunflower seeds for texture. This was SO GOOD! I could’ve eaten five bowls of this. I added a side of Phyo’s Black Sesame Bread, which I had made several days before. For dinner, I had Phyo’s Sun Burgers with more Black Sesame Bread.
However, it was Friday night, and I always bake cookies (vegan) on Friday nights. It helps me chill out from the stressful weekdays. I ended up eating four large cookies (I missed flour and sugar and chocolate SO BADLY this week!), and boy…you can really feel the cookies sitting so heavily in your stomach after eating mostly raw for a week. I’m definitely regretting those cookies…
Yummy Sun Burger
I don’t want this post to get too long, so I’ll list a few challenges below that I’ll be working on for next week. I’m not trying to eat 100% raw – maybe around 50%, or better yet, 60-70% during the summer. I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions!
-I find eating raw to be a little expensive and time-consuming. These recipes are so different than what I’m used to, and it seems I have to use my blender and/or food processor at least twice a day! And it is hard to keep fresh food on hand EVERY DAY, and to eat it fast enough to keep it from going bad. (I’ve come to grips with the fact that I may have to start using…insert ominous music…menu plans! I honestly think that would help me keep cost and waste down.)
-I feel that my consumption of nuts and seeds has skyrocketed. I always ate some every day, but I now feel that I’m eating more than I should – that the amount is disproptionate to other foods I’m eating.
-Phyo uses flax seeds a LOT as a binder. I’ve found that I really don’t like the greasy texture of these seeds in high quantities. The burger recipe is great, but I don’t like the Black Sesame Bread. Too many flax seeds! I’m not fond of the texture. (This is part of the problem I had with the Flaxseed Pancakes.)
Any suggestions you can throw my way would be much appreciated. I’d love to hear how you all incorporate raw foods with other foods, like breads, rice, etc. I’ll report back on my Raw Progress! 
We eat a relatively high raw diet, but we don’t eat many fancy foods to make it happen. And, we also include living foods in our definition even though they may not technically be raw (sour cream, cheese, yogurt, anything with live cultures).
Here’s how we do it.
~We eat smoothies rich in raw eggs and raw milk A LOT for breakfast. Other mornings we cook the eggs but still drink raw milk and serve up raw fruits on the side instead of something like toast.
~We drink 70-90% of our liquids in raw/living form: raw milk, kefir, water kefir, kombucha, etc.
~We eat a giant salad for one meal a day, full of LOTS of FUN raw veggies and fruits and nuts. (Basically, whatever’s in season.) Usually I’ll throw something protein rich on the salad in a portion no bigger than the palm of my hand. The protein can be leftover meat from the previous night’s dinner or another salad (like chicken, egg, salmon, or tuna served in a raw/lacto-fermented mayo dressing).
~ We generally eat a cooked meat for one meal a day (unless we’re fasting — as Orthodox Christians we’re vegans for a good half of the year), a cooked veggie on the side, and then a raw/fermented veggie on the side.
~Dessert is usually raw fruit.
~We usually make our own condiments, and they’re all raw AND lacto-fermented to make them incredibly enzyme rich and probiotic.
All total, I’d say we’re at about 60% raw/living foods.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
This is great, Kristen. Thanks! I think I felt like I had to make all these fancy foods to become more raw, but of course…you don’t! I’ve always tried to eat a salad a day, and that’s raw, right there!
Thanks for the feedback. This is a really healthy balance of foods!
This recipe looks great – I watched Ani’s video and it looks easy too. I’ve had a raw lasagna before and it had so much flavor, I’m excited to try this.
Thanks for joining in on Real Food Wednesday!
Kelly
This was very interesting to read- thanks so much for sharing your journey! I’m glad how upfront you were about your thoughts, I think I would feel the same way. I do crave raw foods like fruits and raw salads (I don’t like condiments, so no dressing!), but I find it difficult to make variety happen.
Andrew and I were just talking about trying to eat more ‘raw’ foods (although he didn’t put it that way hah) and a trip to the grocery store is in order! (local veggies!)
Can’t wait to hear about the next step!
Hi Lisa!
Yeah, I’ve been having some interesting experiments around here! I’m still having cost issues, but I’m getting closer to finding a system that works for me. And I’m trying to focus mostly on SIMPLE raw foods (salads, for instance), and incorporate more complicated recipes into my menu three times a week, or so, rather than every day! More to come…
wow, thanks sooo much for trying out my recipes! sorry you didn’t enjoy the pancakes though. i’m writing my book, out in spring 2010, and am including dehydrated pancakes you may enjoy more. have you had a chance to check out my latest book, “Ani’s Raw Food Desserts” yet? all desserts made with fruits, nuts, seeds. for more info and to watch more videos and free recipes, visit me at:
http://www.AniPhyo.com
My only complaint with the pancakes is the agave. I just don’t like it in large quantities. I’m planning on trying some variations on the recipe. I just tried the Zucchini Hummus, though, and WOW! Addictive. I ate half a cup straight out of the bowl.
Can’t wait to try the dessert cookbook.
Don’t forget that there are some really nutritious foods that you should include that are cooked. Broth is one of them and stews of all sorts can be exceptionally healthful. And some vegetables don’t like to be eaten raw – plants generally don’t want you to eat them so they have some chemical weapons to keep you from it
Brassicas are one that should be eaten raw in moderation and fermented or cooked otherwise.
I try to eat some raw or fermented foods everyday, and try to eat raw animal food as often as is reasonable. Otherwise, I work more on reducing “bad foods” like sugar and carbs.
I have heard other good reviews of those zucchini noodles, though… I just might try that!
I will definitely never become a 100% raw foodie (except maybe for occasional cleanses). I love hot miso soup, and grilled veggies, pasta, rice, etc!
I think it’s easy to load up on seeds and nuts when you’re first trying out raw, because they’re filling like carbs or other heavy foods that aren’t raw, and they’re in a lot of recipe books if that’s what you’re relying on. It sounds boring, but I think eating a lot of salads and experimenting with flavors that way is a good way to avoid the “gourmet” and nut-heavy items. Also, fruit salad! Make a huge one and add cinnamon (and maybe cardamom and ginger) and raisins and it’s so satisfying. Well, to me at least… it can last me a day or two.
Good luck with everything!
Yes, that’s exactly it! It was so hard for me to cut back on carbs – and then I found myself eating or using recipes filled with nuts and seeds.
I actually LOVE salads, but for some reason, I felt like that was too “easy.” So I kept trying to make a lot of special recipes. Now I’m getting back into balance with more salads and smoothies, and fewer special recipes. It is way easier! And not as expensive.
Thanks for visiting! I just love your blog and want to come over for dinner!
Congrats on adding more Raw into your life. Whoohoo! Good for you!!!
It takes some time, but you’ll find a comfortable pace with recipes that are staples for you (cutting down on the cost a bit).
Simple green smoothies are a great way to fill up with terrific nutrition. And, huge salads with all kinds of different yummy dressings are great! I tend to make big portions of stuff, too, so it lasts me a couple of days. For example, I’ll make a raw soup and it’ll be 6 cups, so it’ll last me about 3 days.
Cheers,
Kristen Suzanne
Kristen’s Raw
Yeah, I’ve found that smoothies and salads are the easiest thing for me – and I love them!
[...] he found them too sweet and too heavy. I like them pretty well but can see what he means (and others, it seems), and have a few issues of my own (like how they taste terrible the next day). I think [...]
i am 100% raw..i started out using Anu Phyo’s recipes and Julliano Brotmans as well…love them!!!