Exercise: Resting
Food: Water fast
After zooming around New York, plus all the other exciting stuff I've been doing over the past few weeks I've taken some time yesterday and today to dig deep spiritually. There are things that I need to do, but I don't want to lose sight of who I am called to be.
Right, I've decided that I'm going to introduce a new exercise programme, because the weather is not conducive to my running at the moment. I'll keep running on the weekends as much as I can. I'm learning the importance of asking myself what I'm really aiming for when I set a goal. One of my goals was to run outside everyday, and I have successfully achieved this until recently. I was getting a bit frustrated at being thwarted by the weather. So I had a think about the reasons behind that goal, and they are to get fresh air, start the day doing something life-enhancing, keeping physically fit. So in order to keep those elements, I'm going tweak my physical fitness activities, get fresh air every lunchtime (more, plus run at weekends), and start the day with prayer. Win, win.
Same thing with eating raw, work out your 'why' first. The 'how' will be different for different people and will change as your life changes. For example some people will start of eating partially raw or raw gourmet i.e. eating their previous cooked food menu but in raw form, but later on they may find their body doesn't like that anymore and their health may be impeded, or that they want to spend less time in the kitchen, or find that it is not an easy cuisine to travel with, so in that case remembering their 'why', they may then decide to eat gourmet or cooked at weekends or special occasions only, and begin to introduce simpler raw eating strategies to motor them towards their 'why'. Win, win.
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Showing posts with label raw gourmet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label raw gourmet. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 November 2007
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Back To Simplicity
Exercise: Up and down escalalators, push ups
Food: 7 very ripe large bananas, smoothie with mango, goji berries, cacao, banana and spinach, salad of baby greens, cucumber and pomodorino tomatoes, coriander dressing. Four Lara bars
I bought the goji half-price on special as a treat to add to my smoothies, gives a glorious colour. I bought the cacao nibs ages ago and decided I need to use them up. So putting in my smoothie. Tasted great for me, but probably wierd to someone else ;0 Like my food simple now, but do enjoy experimenting. Don't know that I'm bothered about the whole raw chocolate thing. I'm not knocking it, I see it being fine for the occasional indulgence but not really the point of eating raw if you know what I mean. Karen Knowler carries an excellent article on this on her blog of the same name, and I have also seen an informative article by raw teacher, Paul Nison. It all comes down to the 'why' we choose to do anything.
No avocado for a while because I'm sure my fat quotient went up at the raw food restaurants (plus am eating Lara bars), as most of the desserts epecially are based on nuts, ground, chopped, or creamed for 'ice cream'. The creativity at these restaurants is quite simply amazing. And they are great for a treat, or even more frequently if you are wise about the meals you choose.
In Pure Food and Wine, I started off with a sea vegetable salad with grated carrot and a sesame vinegrette. It was lovely although a tad vinegary. Just needed a touch. My main was 'ravioli' with a pesto sauce. Very innovative but too rich for me. Before eating I had a 'mighty amazon' smoothie made with acai berries and banana. This tastes chocolaty in the way I think chocolaty should taste. And had another one for dessert. Hmm you heard right another one. The ambience in the restaurant was spot on, very sophisticated and would make a great date space. Pricey though and we didn't have wine.
At caravan of dreams I had a delicious spinach and coconut raw soup. I loved this and hope to recreate it at home. I brought some raw sundried coconut back from Wholefoods. My main was a salad of leaves, avocado, sea vegetables, cucumber, baby tomatoes and a Thai dressing. Very yummy. For dessert I had berry cheese cake which was fab and beautifully presented. And made with fresh fruit and nuts. I had an acai smoothie here too made with coconut water. This was my favourite restaurant. The waiter was extremely helpful. The venue has a hippyish feel in a welcoming earthy way. It also serves cooked vegan fare.
At Qintessence also in the East Village, the atmosphere is very cosy. It is a tiny affair. The waitress was great. My starter was dips and chips, one was raw guacamole with flaxseed chips, and raw salsa with raw corn chips (dehydrated at a low temp to preserve vitality). Had a carob smoothie but tasted powdery. My main was a sea vegetable salad with a sesame sauce. The sea vegetables had been soaked. They were very soft with no trace of salt. No other vegetables involved. For dessert I had pecan pie with nut ice cream but it was rich so I didn't eat any of the crushed walnuts on top.
So to summarise Pure Food and Wine, beautifuly presented raw gourmet cuisine, high end restaurant with prices to match. Very helpful staff. (Flatiron/Gramercy)
Caravan of dreams, fantastic salads, best desserts, great staff, real and earthy, brilliant prices. Would recommend everytime. (East Village)
Qunitessence, cute local restaurant, get a lot of one to one attention, lots of gourmet dishes like Indian Thali and pasta with marinara sauce. (East Village)
Buena Noche
Food: 7 very ripe large bananas, smoothie with mango, goji berries, cacao, banana and spinach, salad of baby greens, cucumber and pomodorino tomatoes, coriander dressing. Four Lara bars
I bought the goji half-price on special as a treat to add to my smoothies, gives a glorious colour. I bought the cacao nibs ages ago and decided I need to use them up. So putting in my smoothie. Tasted great for me, but probably wierd to someone else ;0 Like my food simple now, but do enjoy experimenting. Don't know that I'm bothered about the whole raw chocolate thing. I'm not knocking it, I see it being fine for the occasional indulgence but not really the point of eating raw if you know what I mean. Karen Knowler carries an excellent article on this on her blog of the same name, and I have also seen an informative article by raw teacher, Paul Nison. It all comes down to the 'why' we choose to do anything.
No avocado for a while because I'm sure my fat quotient went up at the raw food restaurants (plus am eating Lara bars), as most of the desserts epecially are based on nuts, ground, chopped, or creamed for 'ice cream'. The creativity at these restaurants is quite simply amazing. And they are great for a treat, or even more frequently if you are wise about the meals you choose.
In Pure Food and Wine, I started off with a sea vegetable salad with grated carrot and a sesame vinegrette. It was lovely although a tad vinegary. Just needed a touch. My main was 'ravioli' with a pesto sauce. Very innovative but too rich for me. Before eating I had a 'mighty amazon' smoothie made with acai berries and banana. This tastes chocolaty in the way I think chocolaty should taste. And had another one for dessert. Hmm you heard right another one. The ambience in the restaurant was spot on, very sophisticated and would make a great date space. Pricey though and we didn't have wine.
At caravan of dreams I had a delicious spinach and coconut raw soup. I loved this and hope to recreate it at home. I brought some raw sundried coconut back from Wholefoods. My main was a salad of leaves, avocado, sea vegetables, cucumber, baby tomatoes and a Thai dressing. Very yummy. For dessert I had berry cheese cake which was fab and beautifully presented. And made with fresh fruit and nuts. I had an acai smoothie here too made with coconut water. This was my favourite restaurant. The waiter was extremely helpful. The venue has a hippyish feel in a welcoming earthy way. It also serves cooked vegan fare.
At Qintessence also in the East Village, the atmosphere is very cosy. It is a tiny affair. The waitress was great. My starter was dips and chips, one was raw guacamole with flaxseed chips, and raw salsa with raw corn chips (dehydrated at a low temp to preserve vitality). Had a carob smoothie but tasted powdery. My main was a sea vegetable salad with a sesame sauce. The sea vegetables had been soaked. They were very soft with no trace of salt. No other vegetables involved. For dessert I had pecan pie with nut ice cream but it was rich so I didn't eat any of the crushed walnuts on top.
So to summarise Pure Food and Wine, beautifuly presented raw gourmet cuisine, high end restaurant with prices to match. Very helpful staff. (Flatiron/Gramercy)
Caravan of dreams, fantastic salads, best desserts, great staff, real and earthy, brilliant prices. Would recommend everytime. (East Village)
Qunitessence, cute local restaurant, get a lot of one to one attention, lots of gourmet dishes like Indian Thali and pasta with marinara sauce. (East Village)
Buena Noche
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
A Bite of The Big Apple
Exercise: Walking for England
Food: Miscallaneous, bananas, fruit smoothies, raw food restaurant fare (salads, soups, puddings, 'pasta'), Lara raw fruit and nut bars
I have been in New York for the past five days. And got to road test three out of the myriad of raw food restaurants there. Worked out great that our hotel was only ten minute walk away from pure food and wine. I'll go into detail later on the dishes I sampled. It is so easy to eat raw in New York city, there is a salad bar on practically every corner and most delis have fruit. Then there is the phenomenon that is Wholefoods. Right now I need to get to get to bed as I arrived back this morning, and haven't slept properly in 24hrs. I went out this evening and mentioned that fact. And my friend said wow you look so perky how do you do it? There is nothing like hard evidence to spur you to keep doing what you are doing, or to help you decide to stop what you are doing.
Food: Miscallaneous, bananas, fruit smoothies, raw food restaurant fare (salads, soups, puddings, 'pasta'), Lara raw fruit and nut bars
I have been in New York for the past five days. And got to road test three out of the myriad of raw food restaurants there. Worked out great that our hotel was only ten minute walk away from pure food and wine. I'll go into detail later on the dishes I sampled. It is so easy to eat raw in New York city, there is a salad bar on practically every corner and most delis have fruit. Then there is the phenomenon that is Wholefoods. Right now I need to get to get to bed as I arrived back this morning, and haven't slept properly in 24hrs. I went out this evening and mentioned that fact. And my friend said wow you look so perky how do you do it? There is nothing like hard evidence to spur you to keep doing what you are doing, or to help you decide to stop what you are doing.
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Keep it Simple?
Exercise: Push ups
Food: 14 small bananas, pineapple and spinach juice, mango, apple and spinach smoothie (3 mangos, handful of spinach and 2 pink ladies), a small handful of raw pistachios, salad - baby leaves, baby spinach, tomatoes and avocado with coriander and lime dressing. Had juice at noon followed seven kids bananas, then had the smoothie around 2pm, pistachios around 4pm followed by the salad. In evening had rest of juice and seven more small bananas.
On the whole I like to eat simply, it fits with my lifestyle and I spend minimal time in the kitchen. However I do want to experiment more with gourmet raw vegan fare. Mainly so I can offer up guests food that they can deal with while introducing them to raw. I don't think many will be able to cope with a meal of seven bananas straight up...intellectually or physically.
As with most things in life the surer you are about a vision of something the more you will continue to prune what needs pruning in order to get you there as fast as you can. It's the same with eating raw as we go along the road to optimum health we find we are eating simpler meals, and certain things begin to drop off the menu, food and otherwise. I think those that come to raw through eating vegetarian, particularly vegan, (ie high fruit and veg versus grains/beans, not high grain and processed products versus fruit and veg) have an easier ride. Their bodies are already detoxing but at a slower rate. They are also used to abandoning an attachments to different foods. So they are mentally more attuned, and can use this knowledge to keep going when starting to eat 100% raw.
Rampant omnivores may well struggle and are the ones who would most likely want to immerse themselves in raw gourmet. See useful links opposite for details of classes and recipes.
While those who eat raw due to health reasons, may feel cheated, like they had no choice in the matter. The ability to 'choose', is a powerful gift with consequences of which when used well can bring unsurpassed joy, or a whole other range of things. But funnily enough I prefer unsurpassed joy.
Food: 14 small bananas, pineapple and spinach juice, mango, apple and spinach smoothie (3 mangos, handful of spinach and 2 pink ladies), a small handful of raw pistachios, salad - baby leaves, baby spinach, tomatoes and avocado with coriander and lime dressing. Had juice at noon followed seven kids bananas, then had the smoothie around 2pm, pistachios around 4pm followed by the salad. In evening had rest of juice and seven more small bananas.
On the whole I like to eat simply, it fits with my lifestyle and I spend minimal time in the kitchen. However I do want to experiment more with gourmet raw vegan fare. Mainly so I can offer up guests food that they can deal with while introducing them to raw. I don't think many will be able to cope with a meal of seven bananas straight up...intellectually or physically.
As with most things in life the surer you are about a vision of something the more you will continue to prune what needs pruning in order to get you there as fast as you can. It's the same with eating raw as we go along the road to optimum health we find we are eating simpler meals, and certain things begin to drop off the menu, food and otherwise. I think those that come to raw through eating vegetarian, particularly vegan, (ie high fruit and veg versus grains/beans, not high grain and processed products versus fruit and veg) have an easier ride. Their bodies are already detoxing but at a slower rate. They are also used to abandoning an attachments to different foods. So they are mentally more attuned, and can use this knowledge to keep going when starting to eat 100% raw.
Rampant omnivores may well struggle and are the ones who would most likely want to immerse themselves in raw gourmet. See useful links opposite for details of classes and recipes.
While those who eat raw due to health reasons, may feel cheated, like they had no choice in the matter. The ability to 'choose', is a powerful gift with consequences of which when used well can bring unsurpassed joy, or a whole other range of things. But funnily enough I prefer unsurpassed joy.
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