The Return to Point A!

Last night for dinner, Natasha and I decided to return to Pure Food and Wine, the place where I enjoyed my first raw meal.

We decided to make the absolute most out of our visit and ordered the five course tasting menu. If anyone reading this blog ever makes a visit to this restaurant, you MUST try the tasting menu.

IT. WAS. FANTASTIC!!!

I have never, in my life, enjoyed such a decadent, yet totally guilt free meal. Every single course was amazing and totally opened my eyes to a whole new level of raw food, at the top of which is nut cheese! Man is that stuff delicious! I haven't been missing the cheese all that much, but now that I know about nut cheese, it will definitely never be a problem!I'm happy to say that I'll never be faced with the threat of missing it again!

I wish I could remember everything we got to taste, but all I can 100% recall is the strawberry shortcake with strawberry ice cream! Totally dairy free and phenomenal! The fact that this wasn't real ice cream really pushed the realm of believability! It was really just that good!

Something New for Lunch

As I expected, one of the good things about being in New York this week would be the opportunity to try new raw restaurants and get ideas for new recipes.

Today I went to Adelina Vegetarian Restaurant for lunch and truly enjoyed the zucchini spaghetti primavera. It was delicious!

Tonight I'm going out to dinner with Natasha. I look forward to sharing that experience!

A Rough Few Days

It all started with a bag of salt and pepper chips from Trader Joe's.

We went to my aunt's house to help with her garden and she grilled burgers for lunch. Obviously I wasn't going to eat one of those, but I was definitely hungry, despite the fact that I had eaten a salad right before we left the house.

So, one thing lead to another and the next thing I know, I had rationalized, to myself, that it was ok to eat some of the salt and pepper chips my aunt had sitting on her kitchen counter. Please don't ask what the rationale was, because I swear I don't know! But, apparently it was good enough at the time, cuz I ate the chips . . . and they were good!

Over the next couple of days, I began feeling overtired, overextended and overworked. I'm not usually an emotional eater. But, for some reason, this time I was. Finally, I decided to just let go of the guilt of wanting to eat cooked foods and allowed myself the weekend. As a compromise, so that I didn't totally betray the changes I've made in my diet, I made sure to incorporate as many colorful vegetables as I could into everything I ate. I'm proud to say that I stayed away from my biggest evil temptation . . . pasta! I did allow myself carbs two times . . . but I chose the healthiest option available to me at the time, brown rice.

Overall, I can't really say I feel that guilty about my transgressions. For whatever reason, it was something I felt I needed at the time. I refuse to feel ashamed, because I don't think that will accomplish anything.

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better today! I'm in New York this week and I'm excited to try some new raw restaurants and renew my inspiration to continue on the path that has made me so much happier and healthier over the last month!

June 8 & 9 - Lunch, Dinner , Breakfast and Lunch

Yesterday for lunch I had my basic salad again. Later, for a snack, I had half a raw brownie.

For dinner, I made my, now perfected, spicy avocado corn salad. Man is that thing DELICIOUS.

This morning for breakfast, I had my usual almond bar with a glass of fresh strawberry orange juice and a sliced granny smith apple with a couple teaspoons of almond butter.

Today's lunch will be more of the same. Since I'm still pretty busy and really want to spend any spare time I have with the kids and my husband, I'm keeping it really simple. So, I'll have my favorite basic salad again for lunch. It really is quite satisfying.

Next week, I'll be back in New York and plan to enjoy plenty of intricate raw dishes. I've already planned a visit back to the birthplace of my new raw lifestyle, Pure Food and Wine. I'm also excited to try some new raw places while I'm there!

I'm sure I'll come back newly inspired to do some more experimenting in the kitchen!

June 8 - Lunch

For today's lunch, I enjoyed my favorite basic salad.

Ingredients: mixed greens, thin slices of red onions, chopped fresh oregano, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, with a dash of sea salt.

Super easy to make and never fails to satisfy me!

For an afternoon snack I had a sliced granny smith apple with almond butter. Always delicious!