Dehydrated Mushrooms

Dehydrated mushrooms and a few kale leaves in the dehydrator.  Careful how much you spice things up since they shrink to nothing when they are done.

Before

After

I made some awesome raw "Cheez-Its."  So good!

Day 7 OP - THE Famous Onion Bread

Last night I felt pretty crappy. A general feeling of malaise, achy, tired, grumpy. And these little bumps all over my forehead and red welt-like spots on my leg. The ankles flaring with eczema. Not good. Not pretty. I thought I was coming down with the flu. And this was after restarting the OP for two days straight. The college football game and tailgating kinda hampered weight maintaining eating and living.

But I attempted THE Famous Onion Bread. With my little Nesco. And my little Kitchen Aid processor. I had to make the dough in two batches. And yeah, I can't spread out nice square sheets and cut nice square pieces like with an Excalibur dehydrator, but that's okay. I just kinda spread out my own little rectangles. Just think of it as meditative, right? I really had no idea how much 2 pounds of sweet onions were, so I figured the large yellow sweet onion I had was enough. And it was. It was just right as a matter of fact.

The final result was delicious! The kitchen smelled of toasty onion bread in the morning. It made a WONDERFUL ELT (eggplant, lettuce, tomato) w/Avo for lunch. But don't make that sandwich in the morning to eat for lunch. The eggplant bacon (at least MINE anyway) got soggy and leathery when sitting in the moist sandwich too long. And the bread cracks. So I pack up my sandwich unassembled and ready to put together at lunch time.

Yea for THE Famous Onion Bread...

Brekkie: Apple, Banana, bit of Lara Bar

Lunch: Tropical Kale Salad, Regular Salad w/Cilantro Vinaigrette, Zucchini fettuccine w Garlic Aoli w/chipotle

Dinner: Uh oh. Damn good tortilla chips, fresh salsa, gaucamole, vodka, shot of patron. It was my friends bday. what can you do.

Oil Pulling - Day 1

Okay, so I have finished 30 days of raw with good results. I have decided to try 30 days of Oil Pulling. Lets see what I can accomplish with this.

Oil Pulling (OP) is the practice of swishing oil around in your mouth and through your theeth for about 20 minutes. It pulls out all kinds of nasties and bacteria from your mouth causing detox, improvement of dental health and all over health. The mouth is the window to the body. Bacteria and infections in your mouth can lead to all kinds of health problems like, heart disease, arthritis, rashes, headaches, etc. Our mouth is dirtier than a dogs mouth.

I was only able to pull for 10 minutes today. Kinda made you wanna gag when you spit it out.

Sooooooo, here we go...

I also decided to another 30 days of raw. I mean didn't buy those cookbooks and dehydrator to only try a couple recipes. I figure a high amount of raw veggies in your diet can only be a GOOD thing.  I really couldn't see being a raw vegan though for an extended amount of time. I would imagine you would need some eggs or raw cheese in your diet.  I picture the very first human beings being raw (since they didn't use fire yet) but I am sure they ate bugs and even stole an egg or two to suck on. So they would not have been vegan.  I can see being vegan. or Raw, but raw vegan sounds a bit extreme to me.  I was a vegetarian for 25 years, and followed a vegan diet for 2 years, so I am not against the meatless diet in any way. Just that raw vegan doesn't seem the most natural to me. 

Another thing I noticed while doing the high raw was that my fat intake was the highest ever. A large amount of raw nuts and coconut oil and avocados. Yet the pounds still melted away. Just goes to show. A calorie is NOT just a calorie. A quality calorie or fat gram makes a huge differnce over a low quality refined processed calorie/fat gram.

Day 30 - A rough end

My 30 days are up. Another speeding ticket (not like me), my car being sideswiped, and the emissions light back on in my car. I'm in a low mood. I feel like all the positive thinking I have been trying this month is not so positive!

They had no veggie hand pies at the hockey game. I found cole slaw on a menu at another vendor only to be told, nope. they don't have it. And the Asian Bowl vendor was shut down. So I got a bucket of popcorn and thought about Kale Chipotle Salad. Literally. That is all I wanted.

So I have lost 7 pounds in this 30 days. I am disapppointed in this amount, though I know I shouldn't be. What counts is my waist went down almost an inch and my arm 1/2 inch! I am back into my favorite jeans. So its the tape measure that really matters. My skin seems the same. I admit I have more energy and don't get that fatigue during the day. I guess that is all positive and the fact that I am back in the kitchen again and enjoying myself and all the food is good.

Brekkie: Berry Green Smoothie

Lunch: Mixed Greens Salad w/Sweet Orange Miso Dressing, Celery Salad, Kale Chipotle Salad...yum.

Dinner: Kale Salad w/Chipotle Dressing, Romaine Lettuce

Cooked: Due to everything going wrong at work also today, I ate a Nature's Path Toaster Tart to patch up my shitty day. And several Mary's Gone Crackers crackers with my kale salad.

Day 29 - Hockey

I made Celery Salad from the Purely Delicious Raw Magazine and it seemed fairly simple but what an amazing mixture this is. The Granny Smith and red onion and radish and sage blend so well with the celery and lemon dressing. So refreshing.

Hockey game! Woot. So that means crap for dinner. They didn't have my veggie hand pie, of course. Stopped carrying cole slaw at another vendor. And the Asian Bowl stand was closed up. I wasn't very happy. I settled for some crappy popcorn and just thought about my kale salad at home in my fridge. *sigh*

Brekkie: Cilantro Pineapple Smoothie

Lunch: Large Greens Salad w/ Sweet Miso Dressing (Purely Delicious Magazine), Celery Salad (Purely Delicious Mag), 1/2 BLT with eggplant bacon and half a portobello for the bun.

Dinner: Raw Mexi-Flax Crackers and hummus

Cooked: Hummus, Vodka, Popcorn

Day 28 - My little Dehydrator

I am soooo enjoying my dehydrator. Yea, it's small, and it has a hole in the center, but I am really enjoying it. Although I think I may need to order the extra trays for it.

Last night I played with it and it helped get my mind off of my poor car. This morning i woke up to nice fresh Mexi-Flax Chips from Warming Up to Living Foods and Eggplant Bacon found on the Raw Freedom Forum.


I think I may have cut my eggplant way to thin and narrow. I must remember things SHRINK in the dehyrdator. But it is going to make a delicious "BLT" sandwich tomorrow.


Brekkie: 1 banana, 1/2 Raw Revolution Cinnamon Bar, Green Tea

Lunch: Large salad of Greens with a dressing made from the leftover bacon marinade. (Just added some honey and tahini to it). Celery Salad, Mexi-Flax crackers

Dinner: Celery Salad w/Romaine, Eggplant Bacon.

Cooked: Trader Joe's Garlic Hummus with my flax crackers at lunch. It was unopened in my fridge, and I hate wasting food.  So I had to eat it. 

Day 27 - Hit and Run

Last night my car was hit. While it was parked outside my house. I am not sure, but I think I am taking it better than I really should. Or would have? The peace and calm of my raw veggies?

My skin is nice today. But it always has its up and downs, so who knows. My feet are still rashy. My face looks thinner. Nice.

Did my dehydrator day (Dday) today. Eggplant Bacon and MexiFlax crackers are drying at this moment.

Last night, went to Pig and Whistle and I really wasn't hungry although I ate so lightly all day. I had three cocktails and never felt buzzed, so I didnt feel a need to eat. And really had no desire to. The normal bar snacks just didnt sound good to me. I was almost a pound lighter this morning. Thankfully.

Brekkie: None.
Lunch: Large Romaine Salad with spinach and celery and avo. "Ranch" Dressing.
Dinner: Avo w/ crackers and tomatoes. Hawaiian Treats.
Cooked: Mary's Gone Crackers crackers. I love those things. They have the texture and look of raw.

Day 26 - behind

Okay so the day after going out to dinner I gained over a pound. Sheesh. And I ordered a vegetarian dish that was all vegetables. Not good. I even made a point to eat huge salad with scrambled corn as my entree to keep light since we were eating out. Oh well.

Went to Happy Hour last nite and ate a salad with barely any dressing and nibbled on a potato cheese pancake to just absorb alcohol. Thankfully today, I lost 1/2 pound. Even with all my leftover fried cauliflower and eggplant for lunch. So that is good I suppose.

Today tough again. Gong to Hollywood,so I know I am gong to order some snacks for absorbtion. I had my collard burgers for lunch and a Healthy PopTart for breakfast. Cooked. Its the healthy vrsion from the HFS by Nature's Path. Love those things.

Tomorrow gotta really get back on track. But that should be easy. I look forward to my trips to the HFS and Trader Joe's. And I got my backissue of PUrely Delicious. Cant wait to try the recipes.

Day 24 - oops

Okay, so I have missed like a week of posting. But all is well. I am still 99.9% raw. Basically back into all my clothes that I grew out of!! Feels so good. Can't belive I am almost done with this one month. I did gain a pound after the tequila tasting and all the fried crap I ate while there, but the pound came right off after another day of High Raw.

My new dehydrator has been fun, to say the least. Today I enjoy my kale and collard Crisps. Mmmm!! Addictive. It looks like I am eating leaves. Definitely a great snack and a way for me to eat that damn collard that I discovered tastes like SHIT naked raw. But dinner date tonite, so I will have a cooked dinner and wine or cocktails. or both. So lets see what happens.

Brekkie: Cherry Berry Green smoothie
Lunch: Big Greens Salad, Goddess Ranch Dressing. Scrambled Corn with spinach and salsa.
Dinner: Salad w/Greek dressing, pickled beets, tomatoes

Cooked: Fried Cauliflower and eggplant. Hummus, pita bread. Kubbeh.

Day 17 - Mushroom Thief

oops. Missed a day. Came home from happy hour and didn't feel like logging on. But I did okay. Only had a few gardettos to absorb the alcohol and picked the mushrooms out of the pasta dish they were serving at the happy hour bar and enoyed a plate of sauteed shrooms for dinner. I felt bad doing that. I hate when people only pick out certain things of a dish, but....  I think most people only wanted the pasta and sauce anyway and have no problem skipping the veggies.

And then the person next to me looked at my plate and said, "So you just picked out the mushrooms and left none for anyone else?"

I also stared at my plate..."Yeah."

Day 15 - Enoying the Kitchen

I am starting to enjoy looking for my veggies at the market and looking at different varieties. I enjoy making a new dressing or recipe. I enjoy putting together my lunch for the next day. My lunches are always so nice and everyone wants to see what I have and I have people asking for tastes now.

Brekkie: Cherry Green Smoothie

Lunch: Woody Harrelson's Caesar Salad Dressing and big leafy salad

Snack: Carrots and bit of Raw Coconut Chocolate Bar

Dinner: Tomato, lettuce, avocado, cucumber.

Day 14 - Pear Pecan Salad

I attempted an egg salad. I found that diced button mushrooms have the nice texture of the chopped egg white.

And Woody Harrelson's Pear Pecan Salad is Delish!! Found that on The Raw Freedom Forum.


Brekkie: 1/2 banana, apple.

Lunch: Pear Pecan Salad

Snack: Raw protein bar

Dinner: Deviled "Eggs."   I chopped up the mushroom stems for the "egg" salad and then put the mix into the mushroom cap.  

Day 13- Bread and headaches

Last night I woke in the middle of the night with the worse headache ever. I slept bad. I woke up fine, but I felt like it was lurking all day, ready to pounce back into action. Detox??

 I made Ani's Black Sesame Bread so I could have pizza. Unfortuantely I didn't find raw macadamians so I had to use half brazil,half almond for the cheeze. OH well. It will be for my lunch tomorrow.

A great recipe I did try was Pear Salad by Woody Harrelson. Now that came out delish. But anything with balsamic vinegar is good I suppose.

Disspointing to fine my weight the same and fat percentage up when I ate so light yesterday.

Lunch: Green smoothie

Lunch: Pear Salad - Woody Harrelson

Dinner: Tasted Ani's Black Sesame bread with a bit of the Cheeze, mushies, and olives.

Day 12 - Collard is not my friend...

So I tried the Garden Wraps from Jennifer Cornbleet's Raw Food Made Easy. I have learned that Collard is HORRIBLE when raw. It argued with my taste buds. I can do collard greens cooked. But this was bad. Not only is the taste strong and offensive, but it was hard to chew. Geez. I ruined the beatiful veggies I had inside. It insulted the beloved avocado. I had to open the wrap up, trash the collard, and eat the innards alone. The insides were good. So now I have a bunch of collard, so I am just gonna have to steam or saute them up and have some cooked collard this week before it goes bad.

I WAS very excited to find black sesame seeds at the HFS today. And it was the only bag.









This morning, I was pleased with my own creation of a cilantro smoothie. Yum!

Brekkie:
Summer Cilantro Smoothie.
Pineapple
Cilantro
1/2 banana
1/2 apple
2 large celery stalks w/leaves
coconut water.

Lunch: Tomato, 1/2 avocado, romaine lettuce

Dinner: Cornbleet's Garden Wraps. Oy Vey.

Day 11 - Night out

Had to attend a going away party at a bar. I nibbled on the Gardetto Snack mix so I could have something in my stomach and not get completely wasted on one drink since all I had was veggie and seeds to eat and no dinner to boot. I had intended on buying a salad, but I ended up just pacing my drinks out and nibbling on the bar snack mix. I was home by 10 which is pretty good for me. Usually my fridays last until 2AM or later, but i really wanted to get home and to bed so I could make my grocery list for the new raw recipes I want to try!! crazy. Who am I?

Brekkie: Green Smoothie.

Lunch: Suicide salad. I basically finished everything in my fridge. All in one salad for lunch. And some raw crackers I found at my HFS.

Dinner: Nothing.

Non-cooked: 4 Fizzy Screw Cocktails. Gardetto Snack Mix

Day 10 - Egg Salad Sandwich

Brekkie: Left over green smoothie that I couldn't finish yesterday.

Lunch: Left over fettucini, marinara, and meat balls that I couldn't finish yesterday and a salad.

Dinner: I made the Hollandaise sauce into a "Egg" Salad by adding diced white button mushrooms, chives, dill, salt and pepper. It came out pretty good. I put it on top of a portobello with tomatoes, cukes, sprouts, pickles, and cilantro. I also had a piece of some raw crackers I found at the HFS.

Oddly, I wasnt too hungry again. I am surprised I am not having huge cravings. I actually crave romaine or apples a lot.

Day 9 - My Pet Basil

I am going to try my hand at a plant. I was actually shopping for packaged basil and they didn't have any! So with a big annoyed sigh, I wandered over to get some apples and there were all these basil plants on the floor. This one kept looking at me, so I thought it was a sign. And he was put into my cart.

Brekkie: Green smoothie of banana, strawberries, apple, collard, celery

Lunch: Zuchini fettucini with marinara and almond meat balls. I brought enough to give the work folks a taste, and everyone like it. And a big salad with beet dressing.

Dinner: Now oddly, I just wasn't in the mood for a heavy dinner. All I could think about was an apple. And when I got home, that is what I had and then I just wasn't hungry. Then as I was chopping celery for tomorrow's lunch, I suddenly wanted that celery, so I sliced a few sticks for me to snack on. And that's it. Its really all I want which is very weird. *shrug*

Non-Raw: Had to meet a couple friends at a bar to drop something off. Had 1 glass of wine and 1 Washington Apple. I was good and was home by 10 to do my stretching and into bed.

Day 8- Success w/ Sarma and the Gargantuan Grapefruit

So this morning makes 1 week completed of super duper high raw. I think i only had the coconut milk yogurt, several Mary's Gone Crackers Flax Crackers, 1 brown rice tortilla, and some lightly steamed patty pan squash for my non-cooked week.

I have lost 2 1/2 pounds. My arm (trouble area) went down 1/8 inch and waist went down 1/4 inch.

And I am happy to say I managed to teak the Sarma Cilantro Shake so I can like it. I used only 1/4 of the monster sized pink acidfruit. and one very small orange. I added 1/2 overripe banana and 1 small gala apple. Lotsa pineapple and raw honey instead of agave. Coconut water as a thinner. And this was good. I could do this. But I did notice it separates really fast. By the time I got to work, it was totally separated and that made me sad. I had to keep putting the lid back on and shaking it up. And not raw, but I had 1/2 container of Coconut Milk Yogurt.

Lunch: More Any Phyo Cranberry Butternut Rice w/ a large salad and beet dressing. Today everyone at work tasted it and everyone really liked it. It's something I think would go over well at a S.A.D. eating event.

Dinner: A simple green salad with marinated mushrooms and mashed avocado as the dressing. I wasn't that hungry and was really craving something very light.

Day 7 - A gift of tomatoes

Not much on the food today as I am eating all my leftovers.

I was a little tired today. Started feeling sleepy at my desk at the usual time. I did a quick little walk and woke up. Also had that dead squirrel in my mouth taste this morning. Like I had been at a Happy Hour Gone Too Long the night before. Weird. One of the things I liked when I first upped my raw intake is the fresh taste in my mouth in the morning and throughout the day. But today, yuck.

For brekkie today, I made a kiwi green smoothie with kiwi, apple, banana, celery, and some of the beet leaves from my beets.

Lunch was the Almond Polpettas, Marinara and Fettucini zuchini. For midday snack, I tried half of my new Raw Revolution Bar. Tropical Mango Flavor. At first I thought it tasted like plastic. I think I wasn't used to dried Mango. Later in the afternoon I tried again and it tasted okay. I wouldn't get that flavor again.

Dinner is more Cranberry Butternut Squash Rice w/Hollandaise

I am out of dressing so I may make some beet dressing tonite.

I was happy to receive a little bag of tomatoes from someones garden today and a lemon from their tree. I love homegrown veggies. I kill plants so I don't attempt to grow my own.

Day 6 - Raw Balls

I was stoked this morning to find my numbers on my scale much lower. And in total, I have lost 3 pounds now since I started on Tuesday. Woot!

Brekkie was Sarma's Cilantro Shake again but this time I used 1/4 of the grapefruit and one orange added. Also extra pineapple. Not bad this time. The battery acid flavor was doable. It would be actually quite good with an orange replacing all grapefruit and maybe some celery and banana added. Another day. Then I made my "meat" balls and stuck them in my oven to be ready for tonite.

Lunch was a salad with the Tomato Dressing and my Butternut seeds on top. The first few bites were great with the flavor and crunch of the seeds. But they sogged up right away when they sat in the watery dressing. boo hiss. So I will just enjoy the seeds alone then.



Mid afternoon I got hungry had made a salad out of the Cranberry Butternut "Rice". I used the last of the tomato Dressing on it to free up my dressing container for the Beet Dressing I intend to make tonite or tomorrow.

I found Russell James food porn photos and my oh my it makes you drool. So I decided to try his Salsa Finta and Almond Polpetta. His picture is way more beautiful than my pathetic picture. Quite nice. The zuchinni texture was really nice after massaging it with EVOO and salt and sitting as instructed in the recipe. I don't have a spiral cutter, so I just shaved off pieces with my potato peeler. It was really filling. I may not need my nightly piece of fruit tonite.

Day 5 - Battling a Butternut

I love to eat. I actually find it hard to think of a food that I DON”T like. And I love cilantro. And seeing ‘Sarma’s Cilantro Shake’ in We Like It Raw, my tastebuds soared. Then I saw the first ingredient. Grapefruit. I remembered one thing I don't like. Grapefruit. My tastebuds cried. I hate grapefruit. No matter how many times I have tried it. Or how many types I have tried. It doesn’t taste like grape. It tastes like battery acid to me. And it pollutes and overpowers every other flavor you put with it. I remember gagging when I was young as I forced it down when I was trying some crazy diet. But I thought this might be the way. The one way that I could stomach it. I used coconut water to water it down. Well, my first drink made my face crinkle. So more pineapple, more cinnamon, and ½ a banana went in. It was drinkable. I think I may have to give up on the grapefruit now officially. I think maybe tomorrow I will use half the amount of grapefruit and maybe put half orange.

Today I kinda just grazed and cleaned out my left overs. Last of Ani’s Gazpacho before I left for the HFS. Last of the Graham’s slaw w/Almond dressing after I came back. The last portobella topped with avo, cukes, sprouts and romaine before I made dinner. Oh I did put my organic Dijon on it. There goes the 100% raw.

For Dinner I made Ani Phyo’s Walnut Cranberry Squash “Rice”. I had my reservations. I love baked butternut. But raw? The recipe calls for cilantro, so there was hope. I used a few sweet cipello onions instead of the yellow the recipe called for. I used regular cumin powder since I didn’t have cumin seeds. I didn’t think I was gonna care for raw butternut w/o dressing or oil of some sort. But I was pleasantly surprised. Good w/o the hollandaise. It got better after sitting a bit, while I made Ani’s Hollandaise sauce to top it. Definitely good. Definitely filling. I actually think it even tasted more awesome after I added just a smidgen of raw coconut oil and a squirt of lime. Wow! And now I have a big bowl of it to last me a while.

After struggling with peeling the damn squash, I sliced it in half, and I noticed the seeds looked like pumpkin seeds. So I naturally thought, ROAST 'EM!! So I decided to "dehydrate" them in my oven. Gotta do what I gotta do until my little dehydrator comes. They came out pretty good with a bit of EVOO, garlic, vegesal, and cajun seasoning.

Day 4 High Raw

I guess this is day 4, since I started this on Tuesday. I am excited that I put in my order for a little dehydrator to try out. Nesco. Yea, it's small and round, but I figure it will do for my trial of one month kinda raw. Now maybe my Sunned Pattys will taste even better.

I had the same brekkie as yesterday since I had half the carton of Coconut Milk Yogurt left. Which is REALLY good. I may have to have that again in a couple of weeks.

At a meeting today, they gave out box lunches.
I noticed every single box had white bread. And some nasty macaroni salad. No whole grain choices. Annoying. I didn't eat mine and instead made a Beet burger with mushroom in place of the buns and was sad cuz I have no more beet burgers. Everyone commented that my "burger" looked really good. I swear I wanted my lunch way more than the cooked boxed lunch.

Dinner was leftover Ani Phyo Gazpacho and Cilantro Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing from Warming up to Living Foods. YUM! But I adore cilantro. I use it like lettuce in sandwiches and salads and add extra amounts in my guac.


It appears I have lost one pound since Tuesday. I also noticed I have not had my sleepy spell at work that I usually get. Especially when there are lots of transcribing assignments to do. I don't know if that is because I have been skipping the happy hours to try to keep raw, or its from raw energy. heh.

donna tries a bite

I'm gonna try this raw thing. I can't seem to keep the weight off anymore. I have known about raw for years. I figured, there's NO WAY. I love food too much. Trying new restaurants, trying new foods of different cultures. But I think I can do 90% raw. 95%. 99% for a while. Years ago I purchased a book by Dr. Graham? No spices anywhere. Lemon juice as dressing. or blended cashews. It was drab. The book was put away.

I try to add more raw foods to my diet. I blend some raw soups together in my beloved vitamix and try to have some soup everyday. I also blend raw veggies into my normal sauces and dressings and add spinach and/or celery to my smoothies. It seemed to stop the weight gain. But I am not losing much.

I am impressed with my new raw cook books. Amazing wonderful recipes. And so, I attempt a one month journey of high raw. I am gonna track this so I can keep track of what the hell I am eating and doing. And how do I blend this with my happy hours and trying new restaurants? Where there's a will, there's way.


I started my day with grapes and a banana. I decided to eat my coconut milk yogurt to get rid of it. It was acutally really good and I love coconut for its taste and its amazing health properties.


This morning I pulled out my Sunned Pattys from the oven (Elysa Markowitz's Warming up to Living Foods). They turned out better than expected. I had to use the oven since I ventured out to buy a dehyrator but Walmart, Target, and Bed,Bath&Beyond didn't have one!! So used the oven on the Warm setting. I put them into the last of my Brown Rice Tortillas (Trader Joe's) with avocado, organic honey mustard, and greens.

Also had leftover Gazpacho from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. It asked for a heck of a lot of oil, but since I figure i'm trying to lose fast, I only used a couple tablespoons and it still tastes great. Such a pretty shade of orange. Must say, the people at work said my lunch looked really good. No room for the salad I brought. I'll have that tomorrow.

For dinner I placed my Sunned Pattys on a portabella mushroom with guacamole, and tomatoes. I made the Tomato Dressing that I found on Sunny Raw Kitchen. I didn't have paprika so I used cajun seasoning instead.
Very light and summery. Also some cabbage with lemon and almond dressing.


And that completes a day of 99% raw.