Last year, about this time, I felt the desire to go raw. I did for a short time, during which I felt the best I've ever felt. Like all addicts who have just one taste of their drug of choice, I was immediately off the bandwagon when I had a pulled pork sandwich at the Whole Foods in Austin, TX. I knew then that I would never be able to go raw 100%.

A year later, I'm realizing something. I'm an all or nothing kind of person. If I commit to something, I better do it 100% or it simply will not work. And I need to give it time. I had a feeling, call it intuition, that I really must be raw. For now. And, isn't that what all the twelve step programs tell us? Just for this moment I must stay strong. I can stay strong. I am strong.

An addiction means being out of control. Not being able to have "just a little bit" because that little bit becomes a LOT more and before one knows it, she is binging on cookies and fast food and drinking freaking coca cola. With high fructose corn syrup. I know better.

So, I started raw again. I weigh 252 pounds. 252. I mean...really? I know how this happened so I'm not even going to dip into that cliché. And...GEEZ. HOLY @#$%&. What the HELL????

I need an intervention. I'm intervening on myself. My new running shoes arrive today. It is on.

I wish you the best of luck.
I too know how one taste of the wrong foods lead to what could be months of being off track and trying to get back on.
Amazing how our brains are all programmed for the wrong crap!!!
Vinny

Last night was interesting. I was on my first day without coffee - this always results in a migraine. I was out with a friend and started to get a headache...I prayed it wouldn't turn into a migraine. We had no painkiller. Sigh.

I left early and was so sick! How powerful an addiction is this that I repeatedly have done this to myself. Well. No more!

I'm re-reading Living Cuisine by Renée Loux. Such a great resource.

I hope your head feels better!
I have that book too

Yippee! So far I've lost 8.1 lbs! Yay!!

I've been doing green juices, eating fruits, making different special recipes because it's birthday week for my kids. Three of the four were born this week. I've made two raw cakes so far and will make a raw pie on Friday. I'm looking forward to simpler eating because all those nuts are SO heavy. LOL!

Tomorrow we're making some crackers in the dehydrator. I've been letting them have what's left of the cooked or to-be-cooked foods in our house. I can't wait until we have a good stock of snacks for them and get them transitioned because I can tell a difference already in how they feel, how they are sleeping, how much they are eating, and the overall joy they are experiencing. It truly is amazing how quickly these changes take place.

I originally wasn't going to have anybody else in the house go through this with me because I didn't want anybody to feel pressured or a sense of lack. I know my kids are worried about not having meat anymore. There were complaints of no hamburgers and what about hotdogs and, and, and. I'm keeping an open mind. Other's thoughts are most welcome. I think my husband is on board - he seems to be rolling with it. All the treats are helping a lot.

I need to get a cleaver for the thai coconuts I have - any suggestions? I'm doing a bit of research. I'm not sure it makes much of a difference what brand I get. I'm just not trying to wreck my chef's knives.

Also, I'm in search for a good nut-milk bag. Any recommendations? I guess they are pretty standard. I even read about a person using paint straining bags from the Home Depot. Kinda oogs me out, I have to say.

Yay!

mimi kirk made a burger for her husband mike and called it the mike burger

mike apparently was a diehard burger fan and LOVED it this is the recpie she posted ..maybe you can try it out for your kids and hubby sometime



Mimi Kirk
Mikes Burgers
2 cups sprouted kamut another sprouted grain should also be ok
2 cups walnuts
6 –7 baby bell mushroom
1/2 onion
1 sm red pepper
1 zucchini
1 carrot
salt and pepper
seed cheese made from
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 lemon
3-4 cloves of garlic
salt to taste
add enough water to blend smooth as possible
add the cheese to the bowl and mix in
a dash of braggs, some of you favorite herbs like an Italian mix or Mexican mix
(I used Italian)

Direction:
kamut takes about 3 days to sprout
put sprouted kamut through your juicer with the homogenizer blade. Put into a mixing bowl.
In your food processor,
Chop walnuts fine, but not until they get to oily. Take mixture out and put into the same bowl.
Chop mushrooms till fine. Take out and put into the same bowl.
Chop till fine onion, red pepper zucchini, and carrot put all into the same bowl
To make the cheese, put all cheese ingredients into your food processor. You do not have to soak the nuts if you don’t have time. (I didn’t)
You want to blend all this together to make a smooth mixture. Let sit for a few minutes then mix again make sure to get the kamut mixed in well.
Scoop the mixture on your coated dehydrator sheet about the size you want your pattie to be. Make burger patties a little over 1/4 inch thick. I made 4 on each sheet and used 3 sheets for the whole batch (12 burgers). Flatten them down to the right thickness. Dehydrate for 3 hr. at 105 degrees then flip over and remove the coated sheet leaving the burgers on the mesh. Another 4-5 hours seemed to do the trick. You want them dry on the outside and slightly soft inside, not too soft, but enough to keep the moisture in. I think that’s what made them so delicious, they were not hard and dry, we ate them warm. So you can always heat them up in your dehydrator before eating.

To assemble: I like 2 romaine lettuce leaves faced in opposite directions. You can trim the center stem a little so its more flexible.
Put some dressing on 1/2 of the leaf, put some sliced avacado, tomatoe, cucumber, a small piece of basil and thinly sliced onion on top of the dressing. Put Mikes burger on top and fold over the lettuce like a sandwich. Mike likes head lettuce.

Dressing –
in your blender add:
A couple handfuls of cashews
About 5-6 halves of sun dried tomatoes that have been soaked to soften
3 tbs lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
1 tsp of stone ground mustard or mustard seeds
salt to taste
enough water to get it moving and you can add water as it mixes in the blender to make it smooth.
When smooth remove from blender and put into a bowl
Add: and stir in
1/4 Onions and 1 stalk celery chopped very finely enough for a little chunk in the sauce,
If the dressing sits over night all the flavors meld together and has the taste of thousand island dressing, only better.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

i bought the soybella to do away with nut milk bags/paint bags .. i just didnt like the fabric-y taste from the bags .. and then having to clean them after ick

soybella is all stainless steel inside and clean up is easy .. so wish i had got this years ago but i really love it now [www.discountjuicers.com]

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Y'all are awesome! Thanks so much for that recipe! We made the cauliflower popcorn today and it was such a hit. WITH MY KIDS! I can't believe it.

This is thrilling to me. Really.