I started my day with a quick run followed by a Vanilla Cherry Chai Protein Smoothie. This is another recipe I've developed for Vega using the new Vega One formula. And I'll be posting a bunch of smoothie recipes in a review of the new formula next week. But basically, it's cherries, banana, greens (I used spinach), plant milk, and Vega One Vanilla Chai.
The rest of my meals were from Gena Hamshaw's Choosing Raw cookbook, which I'm using to guide me through this high-raw reset diet. My morning snack was more Ginger Almond Carrot Pate (leftover from Sunday's nori rolls) with raw carrots and celery. And lunch was another Raw Mushroom & Spinach Burger, but this time, I had it sans bread with a big ole side salad, avocado, Trader Joe's Whole Grain Dijon Mustard (love this stuff!), and pickles.
For some reason, that meal really filled me up. Like, I wasn't even hungry for my afternoon snack, but I'm glad I packed one because there was a big time gap between lunch and dinner. And my snack was DELICIOUS. I made these No-Bake Sunflower Oat Bars from Choosing Raw. Definitely in my top ten best recipes I've made so far from the book. These are made with sunflower seed butter, oats, raisins, agave, and carob chips. Gena calls for nibs, but I didn't have any so I substituted carob. God, I love a good bar.
Dinner was late because I was missing ingredients. I had to go to the store twice while I was cooking (and un-cooking)! Thankfully, I'm just two blocks from a grocery store. Anyway, all those trips were worth it because this meal of Zucchini Spaghetti with Raw Marinara and Quinoa Meatless Balls was fantastic.
This recipe really embodies the spirit of Gena's food philosophy. The "pasta" is raw spiralized zucchini, and the sauce is raw. But she suggest using a jarred sauce if you don't have time or want to make a raw sauce. The balls — a mix of cooked quinoa, sauteed onions and mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and spices — are baked in the oven. It's a perfect fusion of raw meets cooked!
I skipped dessert in favor of a glass of red wine with dinner. One simply cannot eat spaghetti without a glass of red wine, right?
Just a question: is this 21 day raw challenge expensive ingredient-wise? I'm literally a starving college student (and starving artist-good god, my life!), but your write-ups are making me jealous and I'm convinced to try 'er out!
ReplyDeleteEva, it has been pretty pricey, compared to what I normally spend. But it doesn't have to be. Typically, when I'm not cleansing, I'll cook 2-3 meals all week and eat leftovers for days. And I save money that way. But I wanted to try as many of Gena's recipes as I could, so I've been halving them and only having leftovers once. So I'm having to cook (or uncook) more and, thus, am using more ingredients. It could definitely be done more economically though.
ReplyDeleteQuinoa meatless balls? Are they raw? My brain is having problems figuring out how raw quinoa would work.
ReplyDelete