Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Lazy Woman's Raw

Sometimes I think we make raw and living foods more of a production number than it has to be. I look at other people's gorgeous pictures of their raw creations and I drool a little on my keyboard, and I feel so proud of them and of how I could eat *if I chose to.* This has got to be one of the downright yummiest cuisines in the world, a fact which downright SHOCKS people. I had horrible ideas about raw before I tried it (boring, suffering, deprivation) and didn't realize that when you don't cook (ruin) food, the flavors go "pow!" You can also have those yummy treats that were off the table because they are "fattening" like avocados and nuts. Uncooked fats do not make you fat! Amazing!

But as proud and wowed as I am by raw and living food artists, that is just not how I eat on a day to day basis. I do what I call "lazy woman's raw." I eat a green smoothie for breakfast, and mid morning when I get hungry, I eat some fruit. When I get hungry again, I eat a huge salad. Even my salad is lazy: I buy pre-washed organic greens (dirt cheap for me) or I grab some greens off my salad bowl garden on my deck. (Even my garden is lazy. It is in big plastic tubs that come up to my thighs so I don't have to bend much to weed or harvest.) I use cherry tomatoes *no chopping* and just take bites out of a whole cucumber and carrot as I go along. The dressing I make up ahead of time. I might eat an avocado out of the skin with a spoon. The next time I get hungry, I will grab a handful of soaked nuts (once a week I soak and dehydrate back dry.) Sometimes I chop and get fancy and make a nice proper salad, but at work, in a pinch, my lazy method works fine. Then when I get home, I make some vegan, bean or legume and veggie based dinner for the kids (and I might have a g few bites, so I say I am high raw, not 100%.) For myself, I may spiral some zucchini "noodles" and throw some more cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, carrots, onions, and garlic in a blender and put it on top for a sauce. The whole meal takes 10 min, far less time than it takes me to cook my kids' dinner. I will probably eat some more salad and make a proper one for my kids and add spouts that I grow in a salad spinner. (Did I mention I'm cheap, too?)

I am not against making fancy recipes, I just don't have time. I wonder if my way has some advantages, though.
I don't dehydrate a lot. If my goal is to have high water content, enzyme rich foods, why do I want to evaporate the water or risk accidentally killing the enzymes? I don't. I dehydrate a bit on the weekends when I have more time, but I don't think its good to dehydrate all the time.

I also think a lot of recipes are really bad food combining, like nuts with raw sources of sugar or fruits. Again, fine for fancy treats, but not for everyday. I was taught that fruits should be eaten solo. I do combine them with greens in my green smoothies, but those are blended so half the digestion is done for you.

I treated myself to Rawdawg Rory's "Gettin' Raw" ebook and a fake spirooli so I could try some more exciting meals when I have time. (I have some other books but that was my 60-lbs down reward.) I love to read Gone Raw and I'll still look at all the member's pics and dream that it was on my plate. I'll take you up on an invite to a raw restaurant any time. But I feel ok about my lazy way of doing raw. Whatever works, my friend. Whatever works!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Did I read that right? You sprout your sprouts in a salad spinner? Tell me more!

And also? That's my version of raw, too: smoothie, salad, raw veggies, zucchini noodles with something...

I still eat cooked dinner sometimes, or sometimes nothing after 6. Just depends on how I'm feeling. And it's no big deal. It's kind of amazing after a lifetime of food issues, kwim?