Day Two

Today's feature recipe comes from my favorite food group: Dessert.

This whole entire Rawvolution would not be possible if it did not include this most delicious category. Luckily my new BFF Ani Phyo has an entire un-cookbook dedicated to this very subject.


Flip to page 115 of Ani's Raw Food Desserts, and the crowd goes wild! Cookies! My most favorite thing ever. Carob Walnut Cookies are the special delectable treat you will find on joyous page 115. How do you make "raw cookies" one might ask?

• 1 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup raw walnuts
• 1/4 cup raw carob powder
• 1 teaspoon mesquite powder (available in the raw section of the Boise Co-Op)
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Process until dough begins to stick together. Press the dough into 2-inch cookie cutters placed on a tray lined with parchment paper (or if you are uncool like me and don't own cookie cutters, roll them into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls and flatten). The cookies should be 1/3 to 1/2 an inch thick. Place in freezer for 3o minutes. Remove from freezer and thaw for 5 minutes before eating. The best part... you can make a big batch and they will keep for many weeks in the fridge/freezer. However from my personal experience, they will not last longer than one day. The second best part... You can eat as much cookie dough as you want and you won't get sick from raw eggs!

VOILA:

(Please note that I am a cheater and the picture above is a picture from the uncookbook - mine were not nearly as pretty).


Special Side Note - I took a picture today of my beautiful lunch salad, just to prove how pretty they make me feel when I eat them:

One final thought... I refuse to give up the fight to reduce the size of my two friends that follow me around each day - aka Ass Cheek One and Ass Cheek Two. Today, the ass minizing saga continued with me converting my desk to a standing desk... Good bye desk chair, may you rest in peace. Here's some motivation for you and why I did it: Is Your Desk Job Bad for Your Health? Never give up the fight, baby!

Peace Out Small Booty Scouts!

Day One

Today was officially Day One of Tara's Rawvolution! I felt great and my tummy thanked me!

Today's Rawsome menu consisted of:

Breakfast: Flax/Milk Thistle Seed/Kale/Amond Milk/Banana/Blueberry/Cocoa Powder Milkshake (my favorite breakfast choice & something I enjoy almost daily)

Lunch: (the most amazing salad ever) Kale/Spinach/Escarole/Cilantro/Beet/Mint/Shredded Carrot/Raisin/Avocado/Walnut/Ani's Orange Miso Dressing (from pg. 101 & left over from yesterday)

Plus Ani's Asparagus (pg 152 minus the Cheezy Sauce)

And for dessert, Ani's Chocolate Raisin Bark (pg 75 in Ani's Raw Food Desserts)... This one was also a smashing hit with the peeps at the office (I had to share so I wouldn't eat it all). My favorite remark "MMMMM.... So smooth!).

SNACK: Nectarine (in season right now and soooo yummy!)

DINNER: **special note** I was so full from all the yummy food today, that I really wasn't that hungry dinner (this was a first for me). This could also be in part because I got distracted from dinner by some rather large sales at Target and Old Navy on my way home.... (shhh)

HOWEVER, I did feel the need to tag down another recipe from Ani's uncookbook, since it is Day One and I need to kick this Rawvolution off right, I took one for the team (it was rough, let me tell you) and created Ani's Creamy Curry Dressing (page 96). This is a Curry dressing with ginger (yum), apple, lemon juice, curry powder, garlic, sea salt, & extra virgin olive oil all blended together and topped on greens for an extra yummy dinner salad. I didn't stick with Ani's recommendations for adding the dressing on top of rainbow chard, cabbage, dill, rosemary & cilantro... Instead I used what I had in my fridge: kale, spinach, escarole and cilantro. I also added some cashews and raisins. This was a super happy salad.

It's a good thing that I like salads, because so far, all I've had time for at my meals are just that... Definitely looking forward to creating some of Ani's other recipes that mimic cooked fare.

DESSERT & my favorite part of my day: Chocolate Raisin Bark again (shocker, I know)

Here's to a happy tummy and a smaller ass!

Day Zero

I am calling today "Day Zero" because today is the day I decided to begin my journey through Ani Phyo's Raw Food Kitchen cookbook (or should I say "un-cookbook") and switch from a vegan to a raw diet! Pretty sure I am the newly self-elected president of Ani Phyo's fan club... I heart her. Seriously.

Here is my personal experiment in becoming the Julie of Julie & Julia of Raw Foods...

I have two goals:

1) Consume only raw foods by trying each & every recipe in Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.

2) Lose 18 lbs, bringing me to a fantabulous 135 lbs (goal #1 plus regular exercise should easily bring me to this goal). Do the math and that means that today I weighed in at 153 lbs (insert gasp here), totally porkalicious for my 5' 7" frame.


Here's the very most recent picture of me at an 80's party last weekend:




Yes, I am pushing up my bicep and yes, I am sucking in my fabulous sugar-loving gut.

Here's how I prefer to look... That is me in 2007 at approximately 140 lbs:

Yes, my goal is to be 135 lbs (fist pump)!!

So, now we've established the goals, next it's time for ACTION. Today for a test run, I made:

- Beet Salad with Orange Miso Dressing (super yummy!) - Pg. 101 in Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

- Raisin Bark (This was so amazingly delicious & I ate so much of it that I am quite certain I will never hit my weight loss goal if I make this ever again. So. Good. On. The. Lips.) - Page 75 in Ani's Raw Food Desserts

Today is Day Zero because I had one last cooked celebratory breakfast of oatmeal with blueberries, banana, & walnuts (my favorite) this morning. Okay, I'll admit I had some sauteed tofu for dinner too in honor of my upcoming rawvolution. Farewell, hot food! RIP.

Tomorrow is Day 1. Giddeup!