Raw Day Is Baaa-aaack!

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you might remember Raw Food Tuesdays, my once-a-month all-raw, all-day cleanse. I ate raw on the first Tuesday of each month for over a year, but my 26-day mostly-raw detox in January led to major whole foods burnout. After depriving myself of coffee, sugar, and processed food (oh, how I missed you vegan cheese and faux meat!) for so long, I wanted nothing to do with raw food for awhile.

But after four months of skipping out on raw foods (except for daily salads and the occasional raw foods potluck), I'm ready to dive back into my monthly cleanse ... with one major exception. From now on, I will continue to enjoy coffee (black with raw agave) on raw days. I don't care if caffeine is a toxin. I will not go a day without coffee again. Never again.

So for breakfast, I enjoyed my precious black coffee with this tasty bowl of Buckwheat Crispies with Raw Almond Milk and Fresh Strawberries:

The raw buckwheat groats were soaked and dehydrated for about eight hours according to the recipe in Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. The milk recipe came from Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer Cornbleet. I drizzled the bowl with a little raw agave for sweetness.

Mid-morning, I stopped my tummy from rumbling with this assortment of fresh veggies. I snacked on these (and a juicy navel orange) at my desk throughout the day. I got the cute Easy Lunch Boxes brand divided storage container from a giveaway on Cooking for a Vegan Lover:

Strawberries made a repeat performance in my lunch with this Elegant Greens and Strawberry Salad with Orange-Poppy Seed Dressing from Becoming Raw:

Just a simple salad of sweet spring berries, sliced almonds, and romaine mix. But the dressing — olive oil, orange juice, poppy seeds, and dill — really impressed. I'll certainly be making this dressing again for any salad.

Dinner was this lovely plate of Raw Pasta Puttanesca from 30 Minute Vegan:

Isn't that just the prettiest plate of raw pasta you've ever seen? I've tried loads of raw pasta recipes, but this simple tomato/basil/kalamata olive/caper topping is among the tastiest. Technically, this dish isn't totally raw because I used regular (not sun-dried olives) but whatever. It's close enough for me. The raw pasta is made from julienned yellow zucchini.

I had to rush out to my friend Shara's house for O.C. Night (just it like sounds, a bunch of girls watch old episodes of The O.C.) after dinner. I brought along this tub of Live Chocolate Mousse from 30 Minute Vegan for mid-show snacking:

How is that creamy concoction raw, you ask? It's made from avocado (don't worry, you can't taste it), raw cacao powder, raw agave, and raw almond butter — all whipped up in the food processor. Decadent, delicious, and loaded with healthy fat.

Right now, I'm enjoying a late-night cup of plain miso, and then I'm off to bed. Though I enjoyed my raw eats today, I can't say that I'm not excited about my hot peanut butter oatmeal in the morning.