Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Raw Food Anniversary

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Raw Food Tuesdays! That's my once-a-month all-raw, one-day food cleanse. It actually began as Raw Food Mondays, but as a newspaper reporter with Monday deadlines, the lack of coffee on raw Mondays was a killer. So I switched to the first Tuesday of each month, which coincides nicely with shot nurse day at my office — when I get my monthly B-12 shot.

To start off my special raw day, I had a Tropical Hemp-Flax Smoothie:

I used 1/4 cup raw hemp seeds, 1 cup water, 2 dates, 1 frozen banana, the juice of one orange, one cubed mango, 1/4 cup raw oats, 1 tablespoon flax seed, and a squirt of agave. It filled this jar up twice. Tasty and surprisingly satisfying.

But of course, I was hungry by 10:30 a.m. So I snacked on these yummy Raw Oat Coconut Date Balls (a.k.a. Steph's Raw Balls):

Stephanie of Poopie Bitch (yes, I know I've linked to her a lot lately ... she's just that awesome) came up with this recipe for a raw potluck we went to in January. I don't think she'll mind if I share it at the end of this post. These are so amazing (best raw dessert I've ever had ... well, except for raw cheezecake, maybe).

For lunch, I had this HUGE Avocado and Grapefruit Salad with Lemon-Herb Dressing from Raw Food Made Easy:

Just field greens, avocado, grapefruit, sunflower seeds, and a tasty vinaigrette. It was fairly filling, but I snacked on a pink lady apple, some grapes, and more date balls in the afternoon.

By dinner, I was starving. Luckily, this AWESOME Raw BBQ and Coleslaw plate did the trick:

My raw friend Judith shared her recipe for raw barbecue sauce (it's from a book and I'm not sure which one, so I can't reprint it), which I mixed with shredded carrots. I can definitely say this is my new favorite raw dish. Here in Memphis, barbecue is king (we even have great barbecue tofu and mushroom dishes offered at local BBQ joints). So my cravin' for 'cue was satisfied with this dish. On the side, I made raw coleslaw from Raw Food Made Easy.

Looking back on my year of raw food days, I'm not sure if one day a month of eating only raw food really makes a difference body-cleansing-wise. But I do know that it's an amazing lesson in self-discipline. By dinner time, I find myself craving cooked foods — mainly junk food like cupcakes, chips, whatever. But I refrain from indulging all day long. By the next day, I always gain a new — albeit fleeting — appreciation for the cooked foods I enjoy for the rest of the month.

Will I ever go all-the-way raw? Who knows. I'd like to think I will when I get old and my metabolism slows and daily caloric needs decrease. For now, I'll just continue with my monthly raw days.

Now for that recipe I promised, courtesy of Ms. Stephanie:

Steph's Raw Balls
----------------------
1/2 cup oats
1 cup walnuts
10-ounce container of pitted dates
A few generous squeezes of raw agave
Shredded coconut, for rolling

Process oats in a food processor until they form a fine powder. Add walnuts and process until small crumbs form. Add dates and process again.

Add squirts of agave and process until the mixture begins to ball up. Keep adding agave until it looks like you can roll them into balls in your palms.

Form the mixture into small balls, roll in coconut, and refridgerate until ready to eat. Yum!


21 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Hooray!! Happy anniversary :-)

Anonymous said...

You can get a monthly B12 shot?? Can you just get them because you're vegan and it is harder to get B12, or do you need a medical reason?

Anonymous said...

Yay for balls! :)

I just got my first B12 injection on Saturday (my dad gave it to me), and I think it was a very bad idea. For some reason it gave me a terrible headache and nausea, and instead of increased energy like I expected, I've been exhausted, weak and very achy since. I should probably talk to my doctor about it, huh? lol

Congrats on one year of once-a-month rawness!

Live From Memphis said...

Thanks for veggie info!

Anonymous said...

Congrats girl!!!

Love the raw balls haha they sound delicious!!!

Vegan_Noodle said...

I love your raw days Bianca! I need to work up the guts to try a raw day once a month! That's awesome that you've been at it for a year. Do you like the book Raw Foods Made Easy? I've always been overwhelmed by all of the raw food cookbooks... looks too complicated and I have no dehydrator!

T said...

Congrats! I still can't bring myself to eat raw for a whole day, but this posts inspire me to give it a shot. Meanwhile: raw BBQ? *head explodes*

jessy said...

happy raw foodz anniversary, Bianca! that's so awesome! and yes, indeed - you've got some serious self-discipline! not sure if i could do it! nice job on not giving in to cooked foods on your raw days! :)

thanks for the recipe, too! the raw balls look soooo gooooood! i'm gonna have to try them out! your big salad looks so yummy - and the raw bbq + coleslaw = mmmmmmm! hells yeah! pink lady apples are my favorite! i could eat one every day!

Anonymous said...

That salad looks amazing! I love avocado so much . . . I've never heard of getting a B12 shot before, but I've been super craving nutritional yeast lately, so I think maybe I need more B12.

Anonymous said...

I love the sound of that smoothie (and yay! something to do with my hemp seeds!). The balls, too, look amazing. :)

Veganissexy said...

Those raw balls look delish! I think I can manage a few raw goodies when they look that yummy :) Thanks for posting that recipe :)

Gina said...

Mmm, I think I need a raw day soon! I tried doing it weekly, and it was so hard, too much to think about. And I was totally giving my Puffins googly eyes the whole day, haha. Once a month sounds excellent though. Happy raw-iversary!

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

Happy Raw Food Anniversary, Bianca!! All your raw goodness looks amazing, as always!

Lisa said...

that salad looks so gorgeous with the red and green colors. I've been avoiding salads due to the frigid temps, but I'll be back to them someday soon.

Hungry Hungry Dancer said...

happy anniversary!!!

when i first started reading your blog (prob about a year ago) i decided to copy your raw food day.. and i do it every month!!! i pick the first thursday. idunno why.. maybe because its in the middle of the week and i can build up to it!!

The Voracious Vegan said...

Yum! That salad looks so bright and refreshing. Avocados are one of my favorite things. And I would be so interested to try those raw bbq carrots....delicious!

Jenn said...

Awesome raw day as always. Happy rawversary!

Jen said...

i admire all my blogging buddies that can be disciplined enough to incorporate a whole day dedicated to the consumption of raw foods. i'm nowhere near a whole day, but i am much more aware of the need to eat raw foods.

the balls (giggling like butthead) sound amazing. and i've always liked how well citrus goes with avocadoes.

MeloMeals said...

Love the raw ball recipe.. I have all of the ingredients to make it too!

I really love to eat a lot of raw food.. in the summer much more than the winter though especially since my house is freezing cold (usually around 55 degrees when my kids aren't here).. I used to love to eat shredded carrots and raw cauliflower with wing sauce (I know, not raw).. in fact, I often use wing sauce as a salad dressing.

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Happy Rawiversary! The ballz are THAT easy?! dang.

Adriana said...

You do raw only once a month? That seems like a manageable goal to undertake... I think I may try it too.