Day 9-10 Finals day - Mind Body & Spirit

Day 9

Thursday mornings breakfast was

Banana & Pear puree with Choci-Jo, goji berries, cacao nibs & cashews

With the usual for morning tea

Kitz Crackers with Guacamole

Which is simply

Ingredients:
Onion
Avocado
tomato
Salt & pepper to taste
Either
Cajun spices
Italian herbs
Fresh parsley & coriander

Preparation:
Dice onion, avocado & tomato and add flavourings of your choice then mix to combine or blend for a smooth guacamole.

A good afternoon just going with it and it doesn't seem to be too hard but I think he is looking forward to some cooked food. Afternoon tea has turned into raw cake with a green tea or dandelion tea which is a bit of a favourite right now. Dinner was a cauli couscous and blended salad. Some medjool dates after dinner snack while watching TV.. rugby finals coming up so Footy show tonight definitely.. :)

Day 10

Another breaky of

Blended pear and pineapple with Simply Granola.

after a good swim and run at the beach. It all seems to be going well again today although it is becoming obvious that he is over it now and ready for some cooked food. He had the usual crackers and guacamole for morning tea, left over dinner for lunch and the cakes and fruit in between.

Today is the last day and it was decided when he started that he would end it tonight as we have family arriving and it has been organised that we will be having dinner together.. mmm Pizza!!! can you believe it.. breaking 10days raw with cooked Pizza. So for dinner he had 1/3 of a light beer.. Yes!.. and about 3 pieces of pizza, some seafood and a gourmet vegetarian. They where fairly good pizzas .. as far as cooked pizza goes anyway. Good quality home cooked type pizzas that have been given the heart foundation tick.. mmm that's debatable too.. but worth mentioning I thought.. :)

I think he has done really well and there has defiantly been a lot of good come out of the whole experience.

Positives have been:

• Cloud lifted - much happier and approachable
• Motivated - getting a lot done on so many levels. Business and personal.
• Empathy for others who have to restrict their eating for weight and health issues
• More relaxed with life
• Clarity - can see more clearly what he really wants to do on many levels
• Realisation that what he has and what he thought to be not what he really wanted are actually the things he is enjoying.

And for me

• he has no smell.. now he doesn't smell bad, it's just a smell, now there is NONE!! that's nice.. :) as I have very sensitive smell as do most raw foodists.
  
• I can be really open and honest with him all the time, I do not have to put up a guard or sneak around wondering . 'what's on his mind?'
• The kids are finding him more fun and approachable
• I loved the person he was for the last 5days.. it was just fantastic. I felt a real connection and we do get on really well anyway but I loved that he had made a effort to try what makes my life so fantastic.. he was just so happy, energetic, motivated and I could see him gaining clarity on so many levels.. things that has been troubling him for many years where getting sorted out.
• Lots of little things where getting done around the house.. :)
  

The negatives have been

• He is getting a bit sick of the raw treats he used to enjoy so much
• detox was a bit uncomfortable . but definately worth it!
• restricted... really missing having more choices and the variety.

Negatives for me

• I needed more input into the types of meals he wanted, that would have helped to make it much more enjoyable as I have been on raw food for so long that I like very simple things that are not suitable enough when first starting out on a raw diet.
• The first few days where a little stressful and we tried to sort it all out, he didn't want to complain about anything so he didn't hurt my feelings and I was getting annoyed that he would not put a bit of effort into helping to decide and prepare his meals.. while he was also detoxing!
  

He said he was a bit worried about how he would feel after the pizza dinner but he drank a lot of water with it and after it and said he felt OK. Oh.. I forgot to mention that he had about 2-3 chocolate cupcakes that I made for me nieces 8th birthday.. :)

:)

love K xxoo

How it going now?

Nearly a week after finishing and he is still doing very well, eating very high raw but enjoying his healthy cooked food. We have had some dinner outings in the last week with family here and good healthy choices have always been made. No alcohol except for last friday night 1/3 bottle beer so that's great. There has been a bit of Chocolate mud cake as we have had 4 birthdays to celebrate in the last week.

Day 8 - Mind Body & Spirit 10 days raw

All going great! Beach was a bit windy and the ocean a bit choppy but still managed a swim.
Here is breaky that was waiting for him on his return

Fruit Salad Ambrosia with
Kitz Cinnamon Agave Wanuts

Same ole same ole for morning tea. Left over Couscous Salad for lunch and some new cookies for afters!

Chewy Bircher Cookies

With this horrible dust storm we have got here today he is very busy going to Fire Calls. They say that the fire alarms are probably going to be going off all afternoon! & I hope there are no traffic accidents as visability is poor.. :(
I made a new cake that was inspired by and online blogger, it is an

Almond Vanilla cake with a goldenberry, cherry filling with a Berry Frosting..

The dust storm made day really weird and almost depressing by the late afternoon. But Craig's day was still fairly productive, got a bit done on the business and a few more fire calls. Seems to be fealing great other than that as mood and energy levels are good. Although he did have an afternoon nap.. but then so did I - lets call it a power nap!!

Raw Pizza

for dinner on Kitz Pizza Bases went well followed by some Exotica Mix.. Goji, cashews & cacao nibs! Then later a dandelion tea with some more Berry Nice Cake with Berry Frosting..

PS. I don't know if I mentioned it but after Monday's gym session he said he'd had a great session, felt very strong and uped his weights.. :)

Day 7 - Mind Body & Spirit 10 days raw

Normal start to the day.. nice breakfast of

Banana, pear & apricot raw bircher Muesli..

Guacamole and Crackers for morning tea, then a large

Salad with notmayo, almonds and crumbled Kitz 4-Seed crackers,

Raw Banana Cake & choc cake for afternoon tea and a new dinner creation I came up with after perusing another of my cooked foodie mags for inspiration.. ..Curry cauliflower couscous, blended carrot, broccoli & tomato salad with rocket and avocado with an orange vinaigrette dressing

We had a good talk this afternoon and Craig is really feeling great!.. :) He is now finding it a lot easier and can see that there are a lot of things he will continue to do. He really wants to cut right back on bread, feels he will decrease his meat consumption even more and he will not go back to his decaf coffees as he is finding the green tea more enjoyable.
Personally I have noticed that he is a lot more positive and constructive. He is getting a lot of work done for his business .. things that he has talked about doing to years are finally getting done and I can see he is enjoying doing it and feeling great about it! Sami-Jo & I talked about it this morning and she also feels that his temperament is much more relaxed. We can say things to him that we probably would not have before and it's much more fun..
He had a hearing test this afternoon that gave him a bit of a shock.. his hearing is not good. The specialist feels that it is caused from swimming in the cold water each morning. And as getting ear plugs is quite expensive he went a bought a swimming cap to wear.. ( I will sneak down to the beach one morning and get a photo to post, should be hilarious!! lol)
So another day done and dusted on a really positive note.. it's great!.. :)

Rocket & Macadamia Pesto with Zucchini Pasta & Italian Sundried Tomotoes

Pesto

Ingredients:
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup macadamias
50g Rocket
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preparation:
Process garlic and nuts until finely chopped. Add rocket, oil & lemon juice and process until smooth.

Pasta
Ingredients:
2 zucchini's - spiralised
1/2 cup Italian sun dried tomatoes - recipe follows
1 tomato
2 mushrooms

Preparation:
Place the pasta ingredients into a bowl and add Pesto and stir. You can then place it into a dehydrator for about 1 hr stirring every 20 mins until warmed through and the veggies have softened. If you don't have a dehydrator you can place in the sun or just not worry about it!
To serve top with more rocket, chopped tomatoes, mixed Italian herbs and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy! :)

Italian Sun dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:
1 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons Italian or mixed herbs
About 1/4 cup water.

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients together that place into a sterilised jar and let sit for about 24hrs before refrigeration.

Sunbaked Breakfast Cakes, Cashew Cream & Strawberry Sauce

These Breakfast cakes are inspired by Ani Phyo's .. This is the breakfast I gave my husband Craig on Day 5 of his 10 days raw journey.


Ingredients:
2 cups ground flax seeds
1 cup dried or freshly grated coconut
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup agave syrup
Water - enough to make a firm dough

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl with just enough water to make a firm dough, add the water slowly so as not to over do it and make them too runny. Shape into balls then flatten into flat round pancake shapes then place in the sun for about an hour.
Whilst they are doing there sun baking you can prepare the Cashew Cream and Strawberry sauce.

Strawberry Sauce:
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh strawberries, cleaned and top removed
1/2 cup dates - soaked overnight in 1/2 cup water

Preparation:
Place strawberries, dates and date water into a small blender and blend until smooth.

Cashew Cream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup cashews soaked in 1/2 cup water overnight
2 tablespoons agave
1/3 teaspoon vanilla powder or extract

Preparation:
Rinse cashews then add all ingredients to a small blender with about 1/4 cup water. Blend until smooth and creamy.

NOTE: I use a personal blender like the Tribest or the Magic bullet for the cream and sauce. I find them fantastic when you only want to do a small quantity.

Extras

Apricot Jam
Ingredients:
Organic dried apricots - soaked in water
dates - soaked in water

Preparation:
Blend in personal blender until smooth or chunky - depends on your liking!! :)

Raw Abbs.. on a high fruit .. low protein diet!

I only say that because I always believed that you had to eat more protein with less carbs to keep lean. Well I have proved this year that that is not the case. I eat a lot of carbs in the form of fruit. Heaps actually! and I have really cut back on my protein. I used to eat at least 80-90g per day, at one stage up to 120g. This made me very lean I will admit.
I then went off it for a while as I was really looking gaunt and ill. At the same time without knowing until I had a higher protein day that when I was waking in the night I would get fairly severe back pain in the mid-lower back whilst becoming upright.. it felt like pain in my kidneys. This came back after the higher protein day. To me it was saying that my kidneys do not cope with the higher amounts. I am finding moderate to low protein is working great for me and I have filled out a bit, my skin is not so crepe.
But I still believe that protein is very essential to good health. It is what our bodies need build, repair, and maintain body cells and tissues like your skin, muscles, organs, blood, and even bones.It also forms enzymes and hormones that enable your body to function normally. Enzymes enable chemical reactions to take place in your body. Hormones signal the appropriate enzymes to start working on what the body needs.
Proteins as antibodies protect you from disease-carrying bacteria and viruses.
Proteins help regulate the quantity of fluids in the compartments of the body to maintain your fluid balance. Protein also controls the composition of the body fluids.
Proteins control your body’s acid-base balance. Normal processes of the body continually produce acids and their opposite, bases, which must be carried by the blood to the excretion organs. The blood must do this without allowing its own acid-base balance to be affected. The proteins in your blood accomplish this task.
Only protein can perform all the functions described above.
I now get most of my protein from greens, vegetables and fruits.. My daily protein intake is now about 40-50g and is working well.

Day 5 -6 Mind Body & Spirit - 10 days raws

Craig started the day nice and early.. 6am swim down at at Kirra. I got up and made some breaky for him so that it could sun-bake on the deck while Roxi (our dog!) and I went for our Sunday morning walk down along the beach.
I came home to him reading the paper in the sun on the deck with a warm cup of green tea So I set about finishing the breakfast of sunbaked Breakfast Cakes - inspired by Ani Phyo, with strawberry sauce, cashew cream, apricot jam, agave and strawberries with an Orange and Pineapple smoothie. Well there was not a lot of excitement but he did eat it all.. :) Here is a picture of what was on offer before being consumed.

Lunch was left over Pizza.. he saved 2 pieces, thank goodness! Afternoon tea was raw chocolate cake with a Banana Smoothie. He found it all a bit mundane and boring and was continuously asking himself....
"Why am I doing this?" and admitted to me that because I was blogging it he felt compelled to finish. I asked him if he wanted to go out for a cuppa, something we usually really enjoy on the weekends but he kept declining.
In the end I said "come on lets go" and then realised that it was because he would not be able to have his coffee that he thought it would be best to keep away from temptation. I talked him into going and sharing pot of Green tea.
You wouldn't believe it.. it was packed and all he could smell was the fresh coffee others had ordered and the kebabs cooking in the cafe next to us.. all whilst we looked straight into a really nice Sushi restaurant. I felt a little mean but it was a great test for his tolerance and stamina .. a lesson on so many levels. We talked it all through. Lucky we couldn't stay too long as he had to be at the Fire Station by 2.45pm..
For dinner I marinated mushrooms, soaked some Wakame seaweed, and cut up some zucchini, rocket, tomatoes and chili's then dressed it in a really nice Asian inspired Miso sauce. I also slice really finely some raw Atlantic Salmon. (he's taken it out of the freezer for his dinner) and he marinated it in Tamari, onion, chili and some fresh squeezed lemon juice. He loved the Sashimi.. and the Asian Mushroom, Wakame salad was OK.. he said too salty. I hadn't added any salt just the unpasteurised miso & tamari. So that showed that his palette was cleaning up.. a good sign, although Tamari & Miso are fairly salty.
Some raw Chocolate Balls to finish off the evening and Day 5 done and dusted.. except that we were rebels.. we watched Rove until 11pm.. we are usually really boring .. his in bed by 9.30, me by 10!
Mood for the day was fairly sombre.. I think he was feeling deprived. But on the same note mentioned that he thought he would stick to the lighter meals that he was having now just adding some cooked meats like the seafood & occasional chicken and his egg breakfasts on the weekends. He is finding that eating this way all the time is taking the enjoyment out of the raw desserts, treats and breakfasts that he usually loved. :(

Day 6
Another good start to the day with the usual early run and swim at the beach. Usual breakfast of fresh fruit, nuts, seeds & dried fruit made into a bircher type meusli. Mid morning Guacamole & Kitz Crackers and then a Salad for lunch with Notmayo and sprouts. Good strong session at the gym in the afternoon with a Banana & Raw Honey smoothie afterwards. Snacking on fresh fruit, raw cakes & choc balls.
I am having to think of simple meals that are going to be satisfying for someone new to raw so I read through one of my cooked magazines and come up with

Rocket & Macadamia Pesto with Zucchini Pasta, Tomato, Mushroom and homemade Italian Sun dried tomatoes.

I then sat it in the dehydrator for 1hr to warm up. He ate it all so I suppose you've got to take that as a good sign.. :) and the rest of the evening went of without a hitch.. another good day 100%raw!!

Day 1 - 4 Body, Mind and Spirit Challenge

My husband, who eats a very healthy diet anyway that includes a lot of raw food has decided to do "10 days raw".. Today is his 3rd day..

I am going do a small blog on his journey. As a 100% raw fooder who has never struggled with this way of eating it is interesting to see the challenges others have with changes in their diet and how it affects more than just their cravings...but other things as well.. it certainly is a journey.

Day1
He started on Wednesday which went well up until afternoon tea.. this usually consisted of home-made bread with raw honey.. This was replaced with a Chocolate Banana nutmylk shake and some raw chocolate cake that was in the fridge.
Dinner was also a success with Zucchini/carrot pasta Alfredo with sun dried tomatoes and avocado with chilli and coriander(cilantro). His mood that evening was great, upbeat, energetic and quite happy.. more than usual. it was great!.. but only day 1.

Day 2
Up early for his usual morning beach run and swim with our 12yr old, then some meditation by himself whilst Jordi comes home to get ready for school. I tried something different for breaky.. cut banana,Choci-Jo and strawberries with almond nutmylk.. He did not like the running mylk. I usually do up more bircher muesli type breakfast using ground nut/seeds, fresh fruit, coconut and dried fruits blended a little with a sprinkle of one of the Kitz Granolas. Morning tea was banana flan & choc cake - both raw! He really missed his usual home-made guacamole with Kitz Crackers but for some reason I thought there was still some in the fridge. He had Engine Keeping at the Fire Station all afternoon.. he is also a Fireman and regular training is part of the job. He arrived home at 5pm starving with a bad headache. Now this was unusual. He had his banana strawberry nutmylk shake and some Kitzbarswhich seem to take away the hunger but the headache remained.. he then lay on the lounge under a blanket.. and it wasn't even cold.. Hmm looks like a bit of a detox happening here. He ate some of his dinner which was a Carrot & Avocado Bisque with Vegie sushi. Lay down again after dinner under his blanket and was asleep by 8pm.

Day 3
A great start to the day.. up early and down to the beach. Arrived home ready for a great day ahead.. Enjoyed his breaky of lightly blended pineapple, apple, orange, banana, walnuts, sunnies, Pepita's, figs, dates, sultanas, coconut, ground vanilla bean and cinnamon with strawberries.. with an Orange and Pineapple Green smoothie chaser. Guacamole and crackers for morning tea, salad for lunch with chopped up Cajun Active Almonds a chocolate smoothie for after his gym workout and an extra Raw bircher muesli for if he needed it.. My great fried who visited me this arvo commented that he seemed really genuinely happy, talkative and in a great mood. She is very intuitive. :)
I also thought mood all day was great, energy seemed great.. all good. Dinner he prepared himself with our daughter.. well it wasn't vegan but it was raw.. they had sashimi salmon. Craig made his into roll ups with lettuce, tomato, avocado, mushroom etc. He seemed to enjoy it which was great.
After dinner I spotted a hint of guilt.. and proceeded to coax out of him that he had had a coffee during the day with his mate at the coffee shop.. :( O Well it is his journey and he justified it by saying if that's the worse thing he does then it's all OK! I feel he was a little disappointed with himself so I tried not to judge. Sometime we have to do these things to realise that we really don't want to do them again. .. so lets see what tomorrow brings.

Fridays Fare

Day 4
Well things didn't go to plan last night.. the TITANS lost! But there's consilation, at least, they don't have to play the Bulldogs to get into the final next week. Phew!
And then this morning after discussion abouth the whole raw thing and if he really wanted to do it?, was he doing it for the right reason? and the negitive situation it was causing between us because I was left to prepare all of his meals with no imput from him at all.. As I eat a very simple raw food diet as you tend to do after 4yrs I was trying to make him things I thought he would like, well it seams I was getting them wrong. Then after much discussion about what to have for breakfast as he got out some bought yoghurt I explained that it's not raw.. then he said he didn't know if he'd continue so we made Honey Vanilla Yoghurt out of some fresh home-made yoghurt I had made with raw honey and raw vanilla powder. Half way through breakfast with the new yoghurt it it he got the shock of his life when I said the yoghurt was not raw! :(.. Like my dear frined said.. 'Trail & Error'.
Well he has moved on from that with the rest of the day being raw. We talked about the reasons for doing this. What for and why.. he felt he would just re-tox after it, and he already eats healthy anyway. My thoughts where that with the grease, fuel and chemicals he works with and has to smell in his car it was great for him to do a detox to let his system regenerate and recuperate and regain some strength. Then back to healthy cooked food, with a high degree of raw.
I personally really want him to experience the high you get from being raw, the energy, the happiness, sense of calm and positiveness.. it's just amazing to me, So good that I can't bring myself to do anything else. To me it's just all to easy and anything else would take all of that away, I actually feel deprived if I can't have my raw food. Inside I allow myself to eat what ever I want... I'm not anything, not raw, not vegan, not vegatarian even, just ME! So I am trying my hardest not to sound judgmental or make him feel that he has to do this. I want him to enjoy it, without the enjoyment it's just not worth it.
Will update later how the rest of the day goes. Tonight is another favourite. home-made Pizza!! Will tell you how it goes. Also got a loaf of bread in the oven for Jordi.. that's another of Craig's fav's.. so another test of will power and determination. xx
Well after a little walk, some soccor practice with Jordi and a good talk.. Craig has never had to restrict his eating in any way.. not for weight or health so this is a real challenge for him. I explained that it was giving him insight into how others feel when trying to do this for both of those reasons and why it is so hard. He was making all the same excuses they do.. all of a sudden the important reason he started it wesn't important anymore.. Isn't that what yo-yo dieters say to themselves everytime they break their diet! and Craig was always very critical of them.
The afternoon headache was setting in again, we had some shopping to do and tolorance was not good. Then to top it all off when we got home the bread machine had just finished a fresh.. hot! loaf of bread..:) But guess what he made a warm.. not hot cup of green tea and had some Raw banana cake. So I picked that he was going to try to stick with it so I made up a Raw Pizza on a Kitz Pizza Base and put it into one of the dehydrators so that it would be perfect for dinner... 2hrs!

He ate the whole thing except 2 peices.. said he enjoyed it and was really happy and contect after his meal. Then for supper .. more warm black green tea and fresh dates! Wow.. well done I say.. he's hoped back on the horse big time.

Tomato Salsa Tartlets

Something savoury for a change, this is nice and fresh and light. You can make up a batch of the little tart crusts and keep them in an airtight container for when you need them.. they are fairly quick and easy to make and taste great. I am also going to make up some other savoury fillings for the one I have left over.

Tartlets:
Ingredients:
2 cups buckies
2 cup active almonds
1 tspn garlic
1 tspn Italian herbs
Sea salt to taste
Fresh parsley - a good handfull
1/2 zucchini
1/4 to 1/2 cup Olive oil

Preparation:
Ground buckies and almond to a food processor and blend until fine then add remaining ingredients minus the olive oil and blend to combine all ingredients together then slowly add olive oil down the shute until it sticks together when pressed into a ball.
Then press into a pie shell or a cling wrap lined muffin tin for small tartlets and place in the fridgte for about an hour. Remove from tin and place onto dehydrator trays and dehydrate for 24hrs. Let cool and fill or store in an airtight container in a cool dry place until ready to use.

Filling:
Ingredients:
3 tomatoes - deseeded and chopped
1/2 red onion - chopped finely
Splash of red wine vinegar
Pepper
Fresh bococoncini or avocado slices
Fresh Basil or coriander -,I used coriander as I didn't have any basil!

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl with just enough vinegar so it's not to wet as this will make the crusts go soggy. Spoon into crusts and top with bocconcini or slice of avocado, decorate with coriander or basil. A sprinkle of pepper would also be nice as well as fresh chilli if you like a bit of heat.

Hummingbird Cake

Everyone loves Banana Cake and something was screaming at me to make a raw Hummingbird cake as I had some beautiful pineapples, organic sundried bananas and beautiful organic coconut flour.. so here's what transpired..

Hummingbird Cake - raw vegan!

Cake Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups walnuts
1 cup organic coconut flour
1/2 cup organic dessicated coconut
1 tspn vanilla powder
1 tspn cinnamon
2 cups pitted dates
2 cups fresh pineapple
7 organic sun dried bananas

Preparation:
Add walnuts, coconut, vanilla and cinnamon to bowl of a food processor and process until a fine meal then put into a large mixing bowl. Then add dates to food processor and blend until a paste then add pineapple and chopped bananas and blend until roughly chopped and combined. Add wet mix to dry mix and stir until well combined then press into a cheeze cake pan, I put paper on the bottom to stop in sticking. Smooth the top and refrigerate for about 4 hours then run a knife around the edge and release it from the pan and slide onto a plate then spread frosting..

Frosting

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cashews or macadamias
1/2 cup agave or honey
Lemon - juiced and zested.
Dessicated coconut and cinnamon agave walnuts to decorate

Preparation:
Soak nuts for 4hrs then rinse, in a blender combine nuts, agave or honey, lemon juice and blend until smooth adding water until it starts to just turn, don't add too much or it will be too runny. Keep blending until smooth then spread onto cake and sprinkle with coconut and lightly crushed Kitz Cinnamon Agave walnuts

Treats for the Girls.. and boys..

Having fun making new treats with the new Blixer...

Strawberries are in abundance at the moment and they smell devine! So in a burst of energetic enthusiasm I threw a heap of ingredients into my new blixer to see how it would go.. in no time at all I had a delicious batch of chocolate fudge. Here is the result of on the spot choc fudge and fresh strawberries..

Chocolate Strawberry layer cake

Strawberry Macadamia Cream Tarts

They must have been ok .. there are none left..:)