And on another note, I have dipped below the 200 pound mark!  It’s been quite some time, perhaps 2 years, since I’d been below there.  I never was a ton above that, but always stuck around 203-205 literally for most of that time, until recently when I “ballooned” to 214 and then went raw.  Just got on the scale at a nice 199.  So I certainly am excited with where raw has taken me, and will take me.  Sometimes I get a little “bllaaaahhhh” with the food and am un-inspired to eat the cold or room temp food in the dead of winter.  But, I think about what it’s doing for me, and make it happen.  Plus having a recipe book helps out SO much.

Till next time…

Ingredients

Taco Seasoning
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

1.5 cups walnuts
1 Tablespoon Braggs
2 collard greens
1 avocado
1/2 tomato
1/4 white onion

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.  Grind walnuts and add the seasoning mixture and Braggs.  Assemble the taco as normal in the collard green, wrap up and enjoy!

Most days have been 100% raw for us and we’ve each lost 11lbs so far – it’s really been quite easy, which is exciting!  We’ve also been enjoying our Needak Rebounder that we got on RawGuru.com – I knew I’d love it – rebounding is so fun!

Chris has struggling with getting bored of the “nut” foods – he would rather eat fruit all day long.  I typically enjoy salty foods more than sweet, but I am finding that I enjoy eating fruits a lot more than I used to and I am getting turned off by foods that seem too salty.  I have some olives in particular that I can’t tell if they are overly salty or if my taste buds are more sensitive now.  We have been buying more fruit lately – mainly stocking up on what is on sale at the grocery – last week it was pineapple for $2.99/each & clementines for $5.99/box and this week grapes for $.99/lb.  Chris always had a big supply of bananas on hand, but I stil don’t like them.  I tried a banana yesterday just in case my taste buds had changed enough, but apparently not yet because I was still grossed out!

Here is a picture of a meal I really enjoyed, but Chris was on the fence since it was pretty nut-heavy:

Raw Pecan-Carrot Burger w/ Jicama Fries

As Chris has mentioned in previous posts, he purchased Alissa Cohen’s book & DVD set recently…  I watched the first DVD the other night and was so inspired by how easy all her recipes were to prepare.  As a result of watching her, my new favorite thing is to use a collar green leaf as a wrap!  It has a wonderful crunch and feels so alive – I don’t miss tortilla wraps at all.  Her video gave me a sense of a couple “staple” items that we needed for eating raw – in particular Braggs Amino Acids. I picked up a bottle the next day & also got a bottle of their raw salad dressing too.  The Braggs has a flavor similar to soy sauce and gives a nice salty dimension to certain foods.  For the wrap pictured below, I marinated the mushrooms & sun-dried tomatoes in some Braggs before adding them.

In the photo on the right, you’ll see an excellent fruit salad Chris made – ingredients include cauliflower, clementines, raisins, onion, dates & clementine juice.

Tonight I had another wrap for dinner, but this time spread a layer of  “cheeze” on it, then added red cabbage, tomato, mung bean sprouts and a couple shakes of the Braggs apple cider vinegarette.  I rolled it up and ate it easily with one hand and no plate!  Such a quick, good meal.

Chris made Alissa Cohen’s “American cheeze spread” recipe in the food processor last night, and we were amazed!  I wished so much that we had someone around who didn’t know it was raw to try it, because it really tasted like cheese spread!  Unbelievable!  I’ve been snacking on the cheeze on celery sticks today (photo below) and this is what I spread on my wrap tonight.

Since we started just a little over 2 weeks ago, I have lost 8 pounds!  Holy guacamole!  The meal I made last night included strips of zucchini for a wide pasta and Alissa Cohen’s marinara sauce, which was totally awesome.  Had lots of pineapple and a papaya for dessert, and then went off to rebound a bit more, and read more of Alissa’s book.  I am totally psycked about the sheer volume of recipes in this book, as it’s exactly what I was looking to have.

So, off to more rebounding and then some breakfast!

Chai Cookies – Courtesy of Roshi’s Raw Lifestyle

Ingredients
* seeds of 6 whole green cardamom pods
* 2 tsp fennel seeds
* 1/2 tsp cinnamon
* 1 pinch salt
* 1/2 cup almond pulp, leftover from almond milk making (he just used almonds)
* 1 1/2 cup cashews
* 2 tbsp coconut oil
* 1 1/2 tsp rose water (we didn’t have this, but I bet it’s good!)
* 4-5 dates
* (optional) agave nectar

Directions
In a food processor (Chris used our spice grinder/aka coffee mill), combine cardamom, fennel seeds, cinnamon, and salt. Allow food processor to run until entire mixture is powder like. Next, add cashews, and run until cashews are in small granules. Put the mixture into a mixing bowl, and add the dates, coconut oil, rose water, and almond pulp. Mix and mash everything together by hand. If you’d like more sweetness, add the optional agave nectar. Place mixture in small cookie like shapes onto a plate covered with wax paper, and put it into the freezer for at least 4 hrs, then transfer to coldest part of fridge.

Raw Chai Cookies