*After The Cleanse*

[mtmouse]

Okay, you all!

I have just got to say: Sim's chocolate sauce ROCKS!

http://www.therawfoodsite.com/forum/...postcount=1022

I've made it several times already, but tonight was the best. I used half dates and half maple syrup, letting the dates sit in the blender for a while before blending them. It turned out velvety smooth and thick and just divine!

But I guess with MS it's not technically raw, right? I think next time I make it, I'll do just like tonight, but try half agave instead of MS. (But then it might need the maple extract, which isn't raw either! And I think the maple flavor in the sauce is really what makes it.)

Anyway, I've made my own chocolate sauce for years (with evaporated milk), and this beats my recipe hands down! I am in complete awe.

And, you know, Sim, when you first exclaimed to the list that you saw no reason to eat other than raw I kind of envied you for your commitment. Now, having tried so many raw recipes (and having finally discovered soaked grains), I have to say I feel exactly the same way! I'm completely satisfied. I still don't consider myself a fanatic, and I'm sure I'll accept cooked stuff when we visit MIL and such, but at home, for me, there doesn't seem to be anything I want that I'm not getting eating this way. I am so shocked with myself.

[Sim]

Quote from Kathy~
And, you know, Sim, when you first exclaimed to the list that you saw no reason to eat other than raw I kind of envied you for your commitment. Now, having tried so many raw recipes (and having finally discovered soaked grains), I have to say I feel exactly the same way! I'm completely satisfied. I still don't consider myself a fanatic...but at home, for me, there doesn't seem to be anything I want that I'm not getting eating this way. I am so shocked with myself. [/QUOTE]

You are the best, Kathy! I do get kind of "exclamatory" don't I?
But as you wrote, I too am shocked that I'm actually telling people I'm a raw food vegan. Me, the original "I'll have the whole cow, thank you," patron in a steakhouse restaurant. I have never in my life felt this well, with no worries about what I eat, how much I eat, whether or not I'll have a food hangover, and is any of my intake actually killing my health. I don't whether I'd describe myself as "committed" anymore...I sort of actually just shrug and say, "This is how I eat now," when others still give me those, "I can't believe you're not having any (fill in the blank)" looks. I don't put any effort into [I]not[I] eating anything, only into what I'm preparing for the next few days ahead so that I don't get bored. Does anyone else feel this way? It's been only two full months of raw eating plus my 40 day cleanse before that, yet I know I'm a different person. Why spend money on a shrink when you can spend it on organic veggies and a VitaMix?

I've discovered a few things, kids, that I'd like to share and tell me (tell us all) if you've found the same to be true: different cookbooks offer different amounts of prepared food, using much the same recipes but with very different results. For example, I like Matt Amsden's RAWvolution so much, but he uses nama shoyu in everything in great quantities and I have definitely discovered that the shoyu does funny things to me. So now I use wheat-free tamari instead and much less of it than he insists on. Also, his recipes make huge quantities of things. Not necessary in a one-raw foodist household. I've made two different recipes of falafel, Complete Book of Raw Food's was the better, instead of Matt's. I love Jen Cornbleet's Cooking for One or Two because he recipes are the basics of raw eating in manageable amounts. Her raw apple pie (with the Walnut Crust) was awesome and exactly right. Raw food not-cooking can be very gourmet, with young Thai coconut water and Nama Shoyu and shitake mushrooms that need to be soaked...or not! If you don't have Thai coconuts, leave the ingredient out and use good water or celery juice. No nama? Use Bragg's. No shitakes? Use white button mushrooms. It doesn't really matter, except if your intent is to make a truly gourmet meal to impress. At 7pm, I just want to eat something that tastes great and is fairly simple. On the weekend or if we're having company (so rare!) I'll make the effort to do something fab. But since no one knows the difference anyway, good is good and it's always good enough. I think we need to remember not to let ourselves get too crazy so that we don't have to feel commited to this way of eating, we just have to enjoy it so much that we don't need to think about how we used to eat.Ooooh. I'm so preachy today. Must have been that whole avocado I just ate with a spoon and some sea salt....have a beautiful day, everyone! And just for the record: I love you all!

[Res]

Now *I'm* the one who shouldn't be in here. Did I hear ch- cho- chocolate?

[mtmouse]

Get outta here right now, RES! (Do we have a "shakes finger and tsks" emoticon?)

And no, we NEVER said the "ch" word! But my crepes with strawberry sauce weren't bad today!

Now you go to your room and be a good girl and slurp a little lemonade. We'll give you the key to this room after you've had a little time-out!

[darjeelingirl]

Hey y'all,

Long time, no post - but I've been lurking. Busy busy 'round here with school and all...

Speaking of chocolate, we've been indulging in the dark chocolate ganache tart from Real Food Real World - I'd share the exact details, but I'm afraid of copyright laws? No matter - go buy the book - this recipe alone is worth every penny!

But it's only 3 ingredients:

cocoa powder
maple syrup (using the left over from the fast)
coconut oil

mix and mmmmmmm! It gets firm and set over night - it's supposed to go into a pie crust, but why bother? It would be great to dip bananas and strawberries in before it sets. It's sooooo rich and creamy!!! We each get one spoonful per meal for dessert. I'm on a quest for itty bitty sauce bowls (like the smallest Japanese sauce bowls) to serve it in. My kids are really thinking that going raw aint so bad...

Here's a question, besides making a pie crust from the leftover almond meat from making almond milk, what can I do with it? I'm getting a freezer full of that stuff.

MMMMM! that reminds me of the raspberry cream smoothies (with spinach, no less!) we've been making for breakfast. Life tastes good!

Hope you're all doing well!

[darjeelingirl]

Here's another question -

Who - before or after the cleanse - has altered their water supply with a filter of some sort? Anyone invest in a whole house filter? Which one? Anyone use a distiller? What info did you find/use to make your decision? I've been researching cause I'm getting really sick of all the water bottles we're throwing out... Plus I'm not convinced it's as pure as it claims to be on the label! I'm also concerned about the chlorine and fluoride when bathing... The smokers patch and hormone patches soak into people's skins, why not bath water? Any thoughts, info?

thanks,
d.girl

[mtmouse]

Here's a question, besides making a pie crust from the leftover almond meat from making almond milk, what can I do with it? I'm getting a freezer full of that stuff.

I'm saving mine, too, with the intention of putting it into some kind of sprouted grain dough for pizza or bread or whatever. But so far I keep forgetting!

[Res]

How bout giving yourself a nice facial?


I'm uh...gonna go

[mtmouse]

Oh no you don't!

I save my GREEN SMOOTHIES for that!

[mtmouse]

I found this recipe and made it Sat and again tonight. It rules and is THE EASIEST I've made so far!! It is with mushrooms and I NEVER touched a mushroom prior to raw. NEVE SAY NEVER!! It was on Gone Raw. Herb Encrusted Mushroom Steak. Unbelievable.
http://goneraw.com/recipes/125-Herb-...Mushroom-Steak

Wow, TeePee!

I guess where you will go, I will follow! I made this tonight too. One thing I absolutely love about it is that you can make it at the last minute! No thinking several days ahead to sprout grain and then dehydrate something for 50 million hours, LOL.

And I found it really delicious, too! And beautiful! (Have to wonder, though, maybe it's something only a raw foodie can love? DH wasn't as impressed as I am. )

But for me it's a keeper!

On another note, I think I'm giving up on grain-based "dough" used to wrap stuff. I made crepes with strawberry sauce where the crepe was just processed and dehydrated bananas, and that worked out okay. But when I try the grain-based recipes, I can't get the texture dry enough to get off the parchment without getting it too hard to roll up, and it cracks.

It might be because I use parchment instead of Teflex sheets. Maybe there's something about them that allows for more even drying.

At any rate, my waistline is expanding anyway, and I suspect it's because of my love affair with grains again now that I've discovered sprouting! So it's probably just as well that I go back to more straight veggies and fruits. Sigh.