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Posts Tagged ‘Raw Food Diet’

Almond Butter – Raw

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), Sides (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , on October 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

The raw diet was definitely a success.  It’s amazing how much better I felt on the diet and I really only found myself craving anything non-raw near the end, mostly because I don’t understand life without grilled chicken.  It changed my views on processed food and showed me how much food is truly processed. It’s pretty scary that when you check the ingredients of your 100% whole wheat bread and realize it has soy in it.  Why does bread need soy?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m back to eating my meat and my occasional bagged bread, but I’ve learned the more natural and vegan-related foods I eat, the better I feel and the thinner I am.  If you don’t think you have the energy to try going fully raw, try out going non-processed and prepare to be amazed.  Here’s my last raw recipe and something I subsisted on.  I love almond butter and the raw almonds give it a completely different flavor.  You can find raw agave at your local organic store, like Mrs. Greens.  Even if you’re not raw, I suggest making your own butters with roasted nuts–the amount of preservatives in JIF is frightening. Plus, nothing is better than freshly ground almonds or walnuts…

Ingredients:

  • Raw almonds, at least 10 ounces or so
  • Salt to taste
  • Raw Agave nectar to taste

Put your almonds in a food processor.

Puree away until super creamy.  It will take some time, so pause every so often to let the food processor cool down.

and keep going…

and keep going…

and keep going…

and the balling means we’re closer…

And we are here.  Now add salt and agave to taste, preferably stirring by hand.

Enjoy!

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Raw Hummus

Posted in Sides (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , , , on October 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Yes you heard me ladies and gents, raw hummus.  Most humans who eat hummus don’t even realize that it isn’t raw because the chickpeas are boiled in the process.  I read about replacing chickpeas with tons of things such as cashews or walnuts; however, calculating the calories in my head made my hips grow on the spot.  Instead, I followed many bloggers’ advice and used zucchini and it turned out great.  My zucchini were smaller, NYC-sized ones (about 8 ounces each), so if yours are larger, adjust the amount of  tahini.  Yet, I would try to keep the amount of tahini down–it’s obscenely high in calories.  I didn’t take pictures because well, the process ain’t so interesting. But hey, try it.

Ingredients:

  • 2 zucchini, peeled and chopped, about 1 pound all together
  • 1/2 cup raw tahini (If you don’t care about it being raw, substitute regular.)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Juice of one lemon
  • Kosher salt to taste
  • Cumin to taste

Blend all ingredients together in the food processor until creamy and enjoy! About 65 to 70 calories an ounce.

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Watermelon Gazpacho — Raw

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , , , on October 3, 2010 | 1 Comment »

So far, the raw food diet has been life changing.  I have renewed energy, no issues waking up early for the gym, and I am basically never hungry.  Yes, every so often I miss the ease of a turkey sandwich, but there are still so many delicious things you can make in such a short time.  As you may have realized, the raw food diet is basically the food processor diet.  If you don’t have the funds to go buy a dehydrator that will cook everything at the allowed raw temperature, the food processor becomes your only way to “cook”.  The food processor is fast and has the amazing power to change simple veggies into purees and soups.  This raw diet comes at the perfect time for me, because I am COMPLETELY bogged down in TIVO trying to catch up on my 45 television shows and I do not have enough time in a day to cook and watch TV as well. (Did anyone else catch the season premier of regular NCIS, even if it was two weeks late like I did? I will marry Mark Harmon one day, although he–and his wife–don’t know that yet.)  Well back to the subject at hand, this recipe is light, fresh and surprisingly complementary.  Make sure you are use a good, ripe watermelon.  Otherwise, the soup will be very watery.  Blend and enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 watermelon, peeled
  • 2 small on the vine tomatoes or 1 large
  • 1 cucumber, peeled
  • 1 onion
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Chop up all the veggies and fruits and place in the food processor with remaining ingredients.  Process until smooth, yet slightly chunky.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Enjoy!

Makes 4 servings at around 150 calories a serving.

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Spicy Cauliflower Salad — Raw

Posted in Sides (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , on September 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

The nicest thing about eating raw food is the ease of preparation.  Everything is basically prepared and you are so limited on what you can eat, that it’s even easier to choose.  Luckily, lemon juice can tenderize most vegetables and turn raw cauliflower–comparable to eating dry sand–into something delicious.  I suggest altering salt, pepper, and spice to taste, and don’t touch your eyes after you take a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Not like I know anyone who would do that…

Ingredients:

  • Head of cauliflower, washed and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1  teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Toss all the ingredients and cover for at least 4 hours to let the cauliflower soften.  Enjoy!  The whole entire salad is around 200 to 300 calories, depending upon how large your cauliflower is.

I suggest not eating it all at once.  Raw cauliflower isn’t always fun to digest.

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Raw Food Diet

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on September 20, 2010 | 1 Comment »

So readers, I thought I should inform you on my new quest.  Rachel and I have decided to take on the challenge to become 95% raw for about the next two weeks.  What is a raw food diet you may ask?  Well other than pure torture, it’s eating only things that have not been cooked above a certain very low heat (basically uncooked, or just dehydrated foods) and eating vegan as well.  My 5% of un-rawness will be coming from the soy milk that I will be drinking to get B vitamins to make it through the work day and my daily coffee.  Otherwise, it will be smoothies, salads and nuts for me!  I’ll try to keep you updated with what I’m eating and how I’m feeling, so please excuse what will probably be sparser recipes and more babbling.   Now many of you out there might be thinking “she’s nuts!” and you’re wrong, because I would prefer to go with downright crazy.  However, it should get interesting…

And ladies and gents, new TV starts this week, so I hope you all have your TIVOs ready.  I don’t want you missing this new gem:

 

I can’t believe this show made it to another season.  Oh LL.

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