The Raw Movement

While I sit here and add up today's calories to see if I can afford that Corona (yum), I thought I'd yammer on about the new thing...(Yep, that beer's mine) we are SO cutting edge here in Colorado...

I'm sure this isn't new to everyone.
It's the Raw Movement... a belief that the best way to eat everything is... well, raw. Your stove becomes storage (can you believe I just almost got my finger stuck in the corona bottle? How embarrassing would that have been? but my lime is stuck in the neck!) So you sprout beans and other things that sprout and eat those, you eat all your vegetables raw, and you incorporate more nuts into your diet and make milk out of nuts, like almond milk. Now, don't laugh at the almond milk. Seeing as my son can't have dairy, we run the gamut (is gamut a word?) from soy to rice to almond milk. Unless you're a total raw-ie, this essentially means you become a vegan, though some eat raw meat... You can use a dehydrator though.

Where am I on this? Well, I have the book, and it's got some interesting ideas and a lot of good information.(Lime has vitamin C, I think, so that's like, a plus for the beer) It's one of those situations where you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I cannot live without soup, my favorite meat, lamb, and warm cooked veggies such as eggplant and squash. Some eggplant just is BEGGING to be cooked. However, if you try to eat as much as you can raw, you end up, SURPRISE, eating healthily, because processed foods are not, well, raw. I really think what Americans need are a 'VEGGIE FAD" seriously. Lets face it. Most of our problems stem from the fact we have an aversion to vegetables more exotic than say, frozen brocoli, corn on the cob and carrots. Lettuce without a wrapper is suspicious. (Mmmm chilled Corona... I'm a simple woman...)

So, where does this leave mua? Nowhere new, really, except with some nifty new recipes to help me incorporate veggies and grains this family tends to lack, such as cauliflower, sweet potatoes (I LOVE sweet potatoes and replace russet potatoes with sweet potatoes, healthier and yummier) coconuts etc. I do plan on trying the Almond Milk recipe as soon as I figure out where to find a nutmilk bag. Not to be mistaken for other nut products, and having nothing to do with nut jokes or the nuts of the male half of the species.

Today, I just returned from the grocery store so my fruit-n-veggie platter is overflowing. That little idea for that big platter really is the best thing I did. Whenever it is empty, I know I need to shop, and the rule is the veggies and fruit get used, not tossed, so if something is looking pretty ripe, it's used somehow in dinner. The best thing is my kids eat tons of fruit and veggies, because it's what they see all day long.

I did add two new things that aren't usually there, and my new goal is to add a new veggie once a week, hopefully finding yummy recipes for usually ignored veggies.

This week we have butternut squash, which I love, and cauliflower, which I understand, is great cooked and mashed.

So the raw movement is great for the promotion of vegetables, but what I am interested in is traditional Chinese medicine.

According to my supermarket flyer magazine (yes they have one) food in TCM (traditional chinese medicine) is warm, cool or neutral. Yang is the energy that dominates the summer months and Yin the winter, and when we are in the Yang months, we need cool, foods such as vegetables, fruits and juices, mainly raw, and fish and chicken. In the winter, we need warm foods such as red meat and pork, and heavier herbs and butter and so on and so forth. This seems to be more in line with how I feel.

This is my courtesy recipe of the week, but it's my normal breakfast. This is quick and filling, and frankly, not original... but boy did I feel clever figuring it out on my own... Oh, and my kids LOVE this breakfast, too, though Turbo and Bear get soy yogurt. BTW, I hear soy milk is great in smoothies, rather than milk. I know this because Turbo and Bear didn't drink all of it at Mama and Papa Bear's house, so Mama Bear used it in her smoothie.

Some vanilla or plain yogurt, not flavored, and light.
Put in cup or bowl (even if it's one of those individual sizes, but it's becuase I'm picky about my granola)
Toss in some granola (proper granola, that's healthy and good for you and does not contain chocolate, or m and ms..)
A bit o flaxseed, cuz why not.
Fresh berries if any are on hand.

Yum. And better for you than cereal, and a lot more filling than you'd think.

Oh and, anyone have any ideas on what to do with coconuts? I bought them since they were on sale!

(new cast notes... Mama and Papa Bear equal Fatherinlaw and wife... Grandma Bear and Grandpa Bear equal Motherinlaw and husband... and yes yes it's corny but whatever)