It turns out there was a reason for my ravenousness those last few weeks of eating raw…   I was pregnant.  And still am thankfully – 14 weeks today.

The first trimester came to town with its bullying friends Nausea and Fatigue that lasted from about week 6 through 13.  I still get nauseous if I don’t eat regularly – or if I eat too much.  And especially if I get anywhere near the smell of marinating or dehydrating mushrooms or kale chips.   Just typing about them makes me queasy.  So it’s mildly amusing that my last post to date was a picture of the retched culprits.  The Husband still loves them.  I have to beg for him to dehydrate them in the laundry room if he’s going to make them.

Other than fruit I haven’t had much raw food in the past two months.  A green smoothie every other week perhaps.  A raw carrot ginger soup that The Husband made me when I was laid up with a bad cold and ear infection after a trip to St. Louis.

Now that I’m feeling better and off the bedside cracker regime, I’m ready to start adding more raw foods back in.  The heatwave that’s hit the East Coast has me wanting watermelon by the pound.  I had a delicious soup made with it, ginger, cucumber, yogurt*, and mint last night – not sure what else as it was out at a restaurant – but damn it was good.  I also had some linguini* (the kind made with pasta – not zucchini – sorry folks!) with pesto and key lime pie*.

The fridge is stocked with green smoothie ingredients.  I had a coconut shake for breakfast from Lifethyme and I’ve got some watermelon, strawberries and Greek Yogurt* for later.

*Not Raw or Vegan

Marinating Portabellas, originally uploaded by katstan.

I was never a mushroom fan before I started eating raw. I’d eat them about once a year – stuffed and baked on Thanskgiving – but that’s about it. I thought portabellas were even worse than their smaller brethren. Some vegetarians devoured them like steak but I always turned up my nose.

But raw, I suddenly love marinated portabellas. They’re amazingly delicious marinated for about an hour in 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s, the juice from one lemon, 1 Tbsp or so of ginger, and a clove of garlic (blended). Then you can pour the leftover marinade in the caps and dehydrate for 4 to 6 hours. I’m making my third batch now. The first one was amazing. The second one I let dehydrate too long and they got a bit leathery for my taste. I can’t wait for this batch to be done. I ate one of them while they were marinating.

Just Salad, originally uploaded by katstan.

I’ve been satiated on simpler things during the day. Volume is key lately. Yesterday I had chia seed pudding for breakfast and 6 bananas for lunch!! And something else. I forget what. Dinner was at Quintessence.

Today I had two bananas for breakfast, then a green smoothie, then this lovely cabage and arugula salad all while at work. Dinner was a mock tuna sandwich on the most amazing bread ever from One Lucky Duck.  How does she do it?! It tasted like real bread. Yum.  And a chocolate shake for dessert.  Maybe two.  But I’m not telling. 

 Oh, and two coconuts yesterday and two today. Don’t come too close or you might find me gnawing on your arm.

Creamy Miso soup for a late lunch/early dinner. Now I’m hungry again. Hrmph.

We got in the car about 45 minutes ago to head back to the city but then the cat jumped out when I stopped at our mailbox. Now he’s hiding in the bushes outside and we’re sort of stuck here. Grrrr. Maybe I’ll go get a coconut for a smoothie snack.

Update: The cat came back but now I think I’m going to take the bus back to the city and the animals and The Husband are going to stay here.  The cat wins.

Craving liquid foods lately but still just as ravenous.

Had a watermelon and mint salad for breakfast and then throughout the day: a few glasses of o.j., a huge bowl of tomato soup, a piece of onion bread and red pepper with some zucchini hummus that The Husband made (this was a first – it was good), and a big cacao coconut shake.

We’re stil up in Woodstock so after I was done with work The Husband, dog and I went for a shortish hike in the woods and did a little tempering with cold water in a stream along the way. I have to say, the going in the cold water part is sort of like WTF?!! but you do feel great after.

Hmm, I love it up here.

Check out the Raw Woodstock Meet-up Group

I am nothing if not impulsive.

It was hot today. I saw 90 on the thermometer at one point. The Husband has been telling me all about how good tempering the body with cold water is so after doing a little container gardening and getting myself completely filthy we went and jumped in the swimming hole that is down the street from us. It was freezing (it’s a mountain stream so it’s freezing even in August) but did feel good afterwards. And I’m at least a little bit cleaner.

I had pretty much a liquid diet today with just a few bananas for breakfast and then later a carrot-apple-parsley-ginger-beet juice followed by about 1/2 of The Husband’s green juice – also known as a sip – followed by a, “HEY!” from him to which I responded we could always get another. I don’t know why he puts up with me.

Then I had a big glass of O.J. followed by a green smoothie (with dandelion greens that The Husband picked from the yard!!), followed by some tomato basil soup (I am loving how simple and delicious it is) with rosemary quackers from One Lucky Duck, followed by a cacao-coconut shake (my daily indulgence on the weekends!!). I felt like I had a water balloon in my stomach after all that.

Oh, and we saw a bumper sticker for “Nature’s First Law – www.rawfood.com” on a car parked here in town. Not surprising that there would be raw foodists here in Woodstock – I think there was even a raw food restaurant here at one point but it was gone by the time we got our house up here last summer – but still fun to see!

I was worried about what to eat for the hike as I am The Ravenous Raw Vegan after all. I had a cacao and coconut shake for breakfast before hand on top of two leftover mole enchiladas!

For the hike I brought mock tuna and onion bread in zip lock bags – that made for a perfect lunch at the top of the Mountain. Had some golden raisins and a piece of raw chocolate for dessert and a banana when we got back to the car. Good to know that hiking in the raw is not so difficult as I imagined. Figuring out backpacking in the raw is the next challenge.

I noticed on the drive home from the mountain that I had no cooked cravings whatsoever – despite being quite, um, ravenous.

When I got home I was kind of exhausted and starved so ran out to get some pre-made guac and mango salsa (both fresh) to have with some leftover corn tortillas.

Then I had a coconut water. And then a green smoothie (just 1 cup – tasted a bit like rotten lettuce ) and then I just made tomato basil soup, which I love and it’s so easy. (Just throw a couple of tomatoes and 1 -2 dates per tomato in the blender with a few spoons of olive oil and blend till creamy. Then add some basil and pulse to chop it in. Top with sea salt. Couldn’t be easier or better.)

They had meyer lemons at the store here so the husband wants to make some meyer lemon almond pudding? Sounds weird but lately I’ve been a human vacuum for just about any food in my path so I’ll try it.

Update: The meyer lemon pudding was indeed weird. But not bad.

I really just wish I could go out and get a coffee this morning. I like tea. But I love coffee. There’s just something so comforting about it. Hmm, not sure what all the cravings are about of late. PMS perhaps.

My skin also broke out the other day. I really do want to stick with raw for a good 6 months to see if things like my skin get better but last night I just wanted to go to the movies and eat popcorn and I also wanted to go get enchiladas (though the ones I made were terrific!) and now I would love a croissant and a cup of coffee.

Sometimes I wonder why I have to make my life so difficult.

Yum, these came out so good. So good I’m having another for breakfast as soon as I’m done posting this. I made up the recipe and I was really just adding things til it tasted good so I’m not sure if these proportions are exact.

Corn Tortillas – (Makes 12 tortillas)

• 2 bags of corn
• 1/2 ground flax seeds (I used yellow and ground up them up in a coffee grinder)
• 1 small onion
• 1 tomato
• 1 Dash of Cayenne Pepper

Puree in food processor and then form into 6 inch tortillas on teflex sheets – I made balls on the teflex sheets and then simply patted them down (to 1/4 inch thickness) with my hands.

Dehydrate at 105 for 6 hours and then flip onto mesh sheet for another 2 hours.

Plantain Filling

* 1 Large Ripe Plantain sliced into thin rounds.
* 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
* Juice of 1 Lime
* 1/2 Tsp Chili Powder
* 1/4 Tsp Cinammon
* 1 Tbsp Agave

Mix all ingredients in bowl and let marinate for at least an hour.

Spinach Filling

* 2 Cups Spinach
* 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
* 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt

Combine ingredients in bowl and massage with hands til spinach breaks down a bit.

Raspberry Mole Sauce (this made lots of extra but I think you could freeze the leftover sauce)

* 1/4 Cup Cacao Nibs (or Cacao Powder)
* 2 Tbs. Pumpkin Seeds
* 2 Tbsp Flax Seed
* 1 Tbsp. Oregano
* 1 Tbsp. Cumin
* 1 Handful of Fresh Cilantro
* 1 Red Bell Pepper
* 1 Jalapeño
* 3 Tbsp Agave Nectar
* 1/4 Tsp of Sea Salt
* 1/2 Cup Raspberries
* 1/2 Cup Coconut Water
* 1/2 Cup Coconut Meat

Blend all dry ingredients in a coffee grinder (you’ll need to do this in batches) and then add these ingredients and the remaining ingredients to a high speed blender. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Coconut Cream Sauce

* Remaining Coconut Meat and Water from Coconut used in Mole Sauce
* Meat (but not water ) of 1 additional coconut.

Blend in blender until smooth and creamy.

ASSEMBLY:

Lay each tortilla out flat and put a large spoonful of plantains and spinach on top. You can then warm them up in the dehydrator for 15 minutes or so if you like.

Roll up and put on plate and then cover with raspberry mole sauce and coconut cream sauce. We also had guacamole on the side and mango salsa on top. Divine.