What a Day!

What a day I had yesterday. First I attended a viewing of the film Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days. I've been wanting to see this film for a long time and was glad to finally get the opportunity to see it. I also got to meet some of the members of the meetup group, Raw Food Tribe, who sponsored the film. There was good food, smoothies, mango & pineapple sorbet and raw chocolate. Now, it's up to those of us who were there to spread the word to others that raw food is the way to go if you want to get off your meds and cure your diabetes.

The other event I attended later that day was the monthly Earthsave dinner which happened to be in the same location. Since I had time to kill between events I helped set up. Good exercise. More great food, mostly vegetarian, but just as good. The speaker for the evening was Susan Weis, owner of Breathe Books in Baltimore and Ayurveda practioner. Susan gave some great information about how Ayurveda changed her life. I'm ready to check out her five week course coming soon.

All in all it was a wonderful day spent learning more ways to be fit and healthy.

RawFu Challenge-Week One

Just completed my first week of the RawFu 100 Day Challenge. I've decided to document weekly because it's just more practical for me. The operative word for my week one experience is challenging. Many feelings (positive and negative) and cravings (positive and negative) have sprung up but I'm still holding on. I haven't been nearly as raw as I planned but I feel encouraged by the fact that some of my favorite raw heroes have taken years to reach their goal. Knowing this I can stop beating myself up and allow things to transpire naturally while not becoming too complacent.

One of the obstacles this week was not having my pantry stocked with the right ingredients. I'll remedy that situation this week by getting all the foods I find satisfying so I'll have no excuse. My goal, at least initially, is to be high raw (80%).

I have a confession to make. This is my third raw food blog. My previous blog incarnations have been Inspired Raw and Raw in Black. Regardless of what happens, I intend to keep this blog so I'll be JazzyRaw for a long time to come. Looking forward to what's in store for week two. Also looking forward to my Raw Food Tribe meetup on Saturday with a showing of Raw in 30 Days. Nothing like being around other raw food enthusiasts to be enlightened and inspired.

Vegetarian Times E-Newsletter

I'm really beginning to appreciate some of the recipes I get in the Vegetarian Times newsletter. I didn't expect to find so many appealing raw meals. Here's another one that looks like a real winner. I can't wait to try it.

Papaya-Avocado Salad

Ingredient List
Serves 4

4 ripe papayas, divided (When buying ripe papayas, look for firm (not hard) fruit with a yellowish rind that has no spots or bruises)
2 small avocados, diced (1 cup)
1/3 cup unsalted cashews, chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro or fresh mint
3 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 medium shallot, finely chopped (2 Tbs.)
1 cup packed arugula, coarsely chopped

Directions
Halve 2 papayas and scoop out seeds. Set halves aside. Peel remaining 2 papayas with vegetable peeler, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut peeled papaya halves into 1/2-inch dice, and place in medium bowl.

Add avocados, cashews, cilantro, lime juice, and shallot to diced papayas in bowl, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in arugula. Fill papaya halves with salad, and serve immediately.

Nutritional Information
Per SERVING: Calories: 252, Protein: 5g, Total fat: 11g, Saturated fat: 2g, Carbs: 39g, Cholesterol: mg, Sodium: 162mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugars: 19g

I really appreciate the nutritional information since I need to watch out for FSS (fat, sugar, sodium). It's also nice to know what to look for in a good papaya. Enjoy!

RawFu 100 Day Raw Food Challenge

Just discovered that the next challenge starts tomorrow. This is perfect, one might say divine, timing. It's short notice but I'm glad of that. This way I don't get the opportunity to obsess about it for days and build myself up into a big ball of nervous energy, unable to do anything but eat myself into oblivion, and I'm not talking about with salads and smoothies. My kitchen is not stocked as I'd like but I can take care of that over the next few days.

I'm giving deep thought to what really satisfies me because that has been my downfall in the past. I'm sure I wasn't eating enough, nor eating things with enough substance. I always felt empty. To avoide this I plan to add more nut dishes. I understand that Philip McCluskey ate like this in the beginning and still lost weight so I'm not worried about it. Anyway, eventually I hear one loses the desire for heavier dishes as the body embraces lighter, healthier foods. The other thing I intend to do is be high raw rather than trying to be 100%. This was another source of pressure that has led to sabotage in the past. It's taken me a while but I'm finally learning what works for me. I'm confident I'll find success this time around.

Recommit

I haven't been eating well lately and I can feel the results. So today I've decided to recommit to embracing a healthy lifestyle. I recently read a wonderful post by Karen Knowler about transitioning to raw. It's more than just saying you want to eat better or exercise more, it encompasses your entire state of being. I have to examine my life in its entirety--mind, body and spirit--and ask myself, how do I really want to live? I see so many overweight people hobbling around, you can see their discomfort. I see them and say to myself, I don't want to go out like that. I see so many unhappy people, spreading their misery around because that's all they have to offer and think, I choose to be happy regardless of my circumstances. My faith in God is what helps me to accomplish this. You can't always control what happens in your life but you can control how you react, how you operate. You can live your life with joy, and if you accumulate enough joy, you can spread it to others. You can live a life of integrity where everything you think, say and do is in line with your highest vision for yourself. That's what I call success.

Mango-Wrapped Bananas

I just got this recipe in my inbox from Vegetarian Times. I subscribe to their recipe newsletter.

Mango-Wrapped Bananas

Serves 4
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 Tbs. fresh orange juice
2 Tbs. honey
1 large mango, peeled
3 bananas, peeled
1/2 cup fresh raspberries

Directions
Whisk together yogurt, orange juice, and honey in small bowl. Set aside.
Cut mango from top to base into 16 4½- x 1-inch strips using vegetable peeler. Cut bananas into 16 1-inch pieces. Wrap 1 mango strip around each banana piece. Arrange on plates cut-side up.
Mash raspberries in separate bowl until slightly liquid, but still chunky. Spoon mashed raspberries atop center of each mango-wrapped banana piece. Serve with yogurt sauce.

Nutritional Information
Per SERVING: Calories: 169, Protein: 3g, Total fat: 1g, Saturated fat: 0.5g, Carbs: 42g, Cholesterol: 1mg, Sodium: 17mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 30g

Now this is the recipe is shown as they give it but it seems to me you could easily make this raw (and with less sugar) by eliminating the yogurt and honey. Without them you could leave out the OJ as well. Voila, a great raw breakfast!

Organic Air?

For April Fool's, Whole Foods Market posted this ad on its homepage. Kinda makes me think of Total Recall. Let's not give the corporations any ideas.

JazzyRaw's Sock-it-to-Ya Salad

This salad is named for that ground-breaking show, Laugh-In. Some of you may be old enough to remember it. I tried to embed a video without success. You can check it out on YouTube. Again this picture is only a representation. (Aren't the flowers pretty?) Instead of sockin' it to ya with laughs, this salad socks it to ya with great taste and serious nutrition.

JazzyRaw's Sock-it-to-Ya Salad

Include the following ingredients in whatever quantities suit you.

Lettuce (spring mix, red or romaine), shredded

Grape tomatoes, halved

Sugar Snap Peas, cut into bite size pieces

Red, orange or yellow pepper, cut into bit size pieces (for that all important crunch)

Pepitas (that's pumpkin seeds to you!)

Thompson raisins (adds a touch of sweetness)

Sliced raw olives (optional)

Combine ingredients and toss with your favorite salad dressing.

Of course there are many other items you can include but this is my favorite basic salad that I enjoy on a regular basis. It may become your favorite too.

Progess is Being Made

I don't want to get over confident but just this afternoon when I was feening for a bag of potato chips I had raw carrots, snap peas and italian dressing instead. Got my crunch on, which is what I like best about chips, that and the salt.

Next up, a nice juicy (organic) Gala apple.

I'm doin' it, one meal at a time.