A Tale of Two Salads

The "Cool, Crispy, Crunchy Salad," and the "Fiesta Five Salad" are the highlights of the weekend eating of raw food.

Cool, Crispy, Crunchy Salad

The Salad: handful of mixed greens; half of a Romaine heart (the inner half); 2in. of a seedless cucumber, quartered and sliced thinly; handful of snowpeas, snapped in half; 1 baby red bell pepper, sliced; handful of mung bean sprouts; sprig's worth of fresh Asian basil leaves.

The Dressing: 2 green onions, sliced; small cube of fresh ginger, grated (microplane grater) or pressed (garlic press); 1-2 T. Bragg's vinagrette; 1-2t. Bragg's liquid aminos.

Note: Soak sliced green onions in dressing while you assemble the salad for better flavor.

Fiesta Five Salad

The Salad: 1/2 avocado; 1/2 large mango; 3/4 C. sliced jicama; 1/8 C. chopped cilantro; 3 T. sliced red onion. (cup measurements are estimated)

The Dressing: lime juice; (optional) 2 tsp. Bragg's vinagrette.

Note: Mix avocado, cilantro, mango, and lime juice. Stir and let marinate while cutting jicama and assembling salad plate with a bed of 1-2 handfuls organic spring mix. Scoop mixture onto the middle of the plate. Sprinkle red onion over the top. (optional: sprinkle dressing over spring mix) Surround with jicama slices. Sprinkle with cayene pepper. Enjoy!

Yummmmmmmm! =)

Revision

Ok, so I've totally bitten off more than I can chew...pun intended.

I'll get back here with favorite recipes and pictures (started taking them yesterday! woohoo) of food, but I've already realized that trying to get on here and type in what I've eaten all day every day is too much.

I'm going to keep a notebook. That I can SCRIBBLE in. A blessed, time-saving notebook, because I have to face the fact that I am STILL trying to do too many things.

And the first thing I need to do is get my time organized. So. Off I go to do just that.

I'll stick to posting the highlights.

Oh, did I mention I have company this week? Yeah, that blew my schedule. So, I'll be back soon. With bells on. =)

Day 15: Daily Menu

This is actually my very first post, but I didn't quite get my head on straight until, oh, about yesterday, so I'm starting my raw journey log from here. I may mention stuff from the first two weeks, but from here on out, I will be keeping track daily (or as close to daily as is possible!) for my own benefit; however, for anyone who is curious, here it is, freely accessible to all.

BREAKFAST: Smoothie

Smoothie Ingredients: 2 raw eggs (nope, not yet a vegan); 1 banana; handful of frozen pineapple (1/2 to 3/4 C.?); handful of frozen mix: strawberry, papaya, pineapple; 1/2 C. ground flaxseed; filtered water (to desired consistency; in this case, probably about 10 ounces).

LUNCH: Salad and Friends

Salad Ingredients: two handfuls organic spring mix (hands are easier than measuring cups!); handful of bean sprouts; 10 or so fresh basil leaves (Asian basil); small handful snow peas; 1 roma tomato; 2-3 T. Bragg's Vinagrette dressing.

Friends: handful of green beans dipped in raw almond butter (under 1/8 C.); handful of fresh strawberries; half a mango; handful of raw, unshelled peanuts (of course, I didn't eat the shell); 8oz. filtered water (forgot to bring lemon or lime wedge to squeeze in it).

SNACK: Pudding

Pudding Ingredients: 2 bananas; 2 avocados, 1 T. raw agave nectar.

Pudding Directions: Process together, put in pudding cups or small bowls, chill (I put mine in the freezer for about 15 minutes), serve. Note: Three of us ate this, but it could easily have made 4-6 small servings. We eat dinner from 4-6, so it's more like the first course of our light dinner.

DINNER: Some "dead" food and some JUICE!

After sleeping off the pudding, which didn't seem to go over well with my blood sugar--I'm still not sure if I am intolerant of the agave nectar or what; will have to keep an eye on that--I had 3oz. of medium rare steak, several spoonfuls of my husband's chocolate pudding (hmm...it's tough when everyone in the home isn't "raw"), and some kick-butt juice**, ingredients to follow.

Juice Ingredients: 4 organic carrots; 3 "stalks" of a fennel bulb top (the part that looks like celery with fringe); half of a lemon, yellow skin peeled; 1 pear.

**I saved my JuiceMan juicer from a long time ago and it is really coming in handy now! If you've never had fresh juice, you're missing out on a wonderful treat. You'll have difficulty enjoying "cooked" juice ever again!

Note to self: It feels like once a week I get a major craving for MEAT. My body didn't want anything else, and believe me, I asked! I'm doing a lot of intuitive eating, and I hope that works out in the end. At any rate, it's what works NOW, so I'm sticking with it.