And I’m back!
Posted: March 29, 2010 Filed under: Raw Reasoning 2 Comments »Hey everyone!
I’ve been an absentee blogger for the last few weeks. Those of you who follow on me on twitter will already know it’s because I was in hospital, having my final bowel surgery. Without going into details you don’t need, it was a scheduled operation and I’m now better than new, albeit still in recovery mode. Thanks for all the well wishes I’ve received from readers and the blog-o-sphere, I really appreciate it!
My recovery from this surgery has been markedly different from past surgeries and hospital stays, which I credit to my amazing diet. (as well as lots of positivity and loads of support, obviously!)
Rather than make me eat hospital food, my darling mother brought food to the hospital for me. I had a series of vegan and semi raw treats, including my first meal, after a week, of mashed potatoes! It’s true what they say about comfort food…
Buttercup, Zucchini, Tomato and Carrot Soup from my mother. It smelt amazing and tasted better.
I had gluten-free, vegan pasta dishes, salads of raw grated carrots and zucchini, lots of delish fresh fruit, yummy vege soups, crudites and more. I’m so spoilt, I know. And on a side note, I’m so glad I didn’t have to eat North Shore Hospital’s food. One day for lunch I got a piece of gluten-free bread, a glass of soy milk and an orange. I’m not making this up. Another day, I got soy yoghurt on tinned peaches, with another slice of bread and the soy milk. It wobbled like lard. I was too scared to taste it. How any patient is expected to nourish and heal their bodies on what they gave me and the other patients in my room, who weren’t vegan, but had equally heinous meals…is something I cannot fathom.
The soy custard. Gross.
And because of all this good food, I feel…amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I can still tell I was operated on 2 weeks ago, and I still sleep 12 hours in a day and I’m definitely still recovering, but I’m bouncy and my skin looks great and I feel good. Even my visitors comment on how well I’m looking and the nurses are astounded by how quickly I’m healing. And this is purely because of the nutritious, easily digested food I’m putting into my body. Because this has never, ever happened before, and my diet is the difference. By eating so much high raw, vegan food, I’m giving my body all the vitamins, minerals and fuel it needs to heal and it’s doing a great job. I’m really happy that I get to be such a power of example for the raw food lifestyle.
So I’ll keep eating yummy things, like cos lettuces wraps with tahini dressing:
and look forward to recovering and having dinner parties with friends again soon!
(See? I do practice what I preach!)
Enjoy your day guys, and I’ll catch you back here soon!
Kate
Reader Question – What do I take to dinner parties?
Posted: March 9, 2010 Filed under: Recipes 4 Comments »In the environments I spend most of my time – home and work – it’s fairly easy to ensure I have a bunch of healthy high-raw options. I mean, I’m super prepared most of the time, plus Revive is nearby when I’m not.
A reader asked how I maintain a high-raw diet if I’m invited to a dinner party? And the answer is simple and the same: Be Prepared.
Salad, Marinated Mushrooms, Cashew Spread, Flax Crackers
The preparedness policy that serves me during the week also extends to other scial situations, like dinner at a friends or a picnic at a music festival. Preparedness shouldn’t be seen as some massive burden either. It’s just a little forethought into what you can take with you that suits your surroundings and your diet.
I jump at any chance to show my friends the sort of food I’m eating and why. Inevitably, it leads to them stealing both my food and my recipes.
My absolute staple dinner party fare is a big salad with Tahini dressing and marinated mushrooms.
Marinated Mushrooms are great for barbecues and so easy. All you need to do is marinated the mushrooms in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar before cooking them on the BBQ or a pan. They’re also tasty raw, but need at least 4 hours marinating to be “cooked” by the marinade.
You can actually add anything to the marinade. I sometimes add Apple Cider Vinegar, Garlic, Rosemary, whatever I feel like. (Or, in all honestly, whatever I have lying around)
Mushrooms have a great meaty texture that fits in well as my “steak” at dinner parties, but lacks cholesterol, bad fat and significant indigestibility of meat.
And like all Raw meals, this is easy, healthy and tasty. If my experiences are anything to go by, you’ll have the most coveted meal at the table.
Why Raw Redux, Beetroot Pasta and sharing the blog love.
Posted: March 2, 2010 Filed under: Raw Reasoning, Recipes 6 Comments »The Start: Why Raw?
The question I get asked most about my diet, (even more than “Where do you get your protein?”) is simply, “Why Raw?”
People become raw (and/or vegan) for a number of reasons. Most often it’s for their overall health, for some people it’s concern for their environment or animal welfare. For others, like my friend Anna, or, you know, Brendan Brazier, who are elite athletes, it’s about athletic performance. And for some people, myself included, it’s because they are trying to help their bodies heal in the face of chronic illness.
The primary reason raw is so good for your body is ENZYMES. Heating food above 116 degre destroys foods’ natural enzymes that aid in the digestion and absorption of food. And the better digested and absorbed your food is, the more nutrition you get.
Enzymes are substances that help our bodies break down and assimilate food, and although our bodies produce their own enzymes, adding the natural enzymes in food makes digestion much easier and more efficient. This in turn means more energy for other body functions, like repair (need some of that!) and immune function (I’ll have that too.)
Add to this that cooking can deplete the vitamin and phytonutrient content of food (in general!), and it’s 2 points for Raw while Cooked food has yet to score. Keep in mind I’m an advocate of high-raw, not all-raw…
The other primary benefit of a raw plant-based diet can be explained thusly:
Crohn’s disease is an Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Inflammation is encouraged in bodies that are highly acidic and discouraged by highly alkaline diets. Meat, dairy, refined sugar and processed foods are acid forming in your body. Plant based diets are highly alkaline.
It’s a fairly simple equation to work out why an alkalizing high-raw diet is good for an acidic, inflamed body.
For me, being high-raw vegan works in both theory and practice. My hair, which was falling out for about 5 years, is growing back thicker and faster than ever. My skin looks healthier. I have so much more energy. And, without trying to sound like an infomercial, anyone can get these benefits. Why not try adding some more raw into your life?
The Middle: The Recipe
And now I’ll step off my soapbox and into the kitchen, to share my newest obsession:
Beetroot Pasta with Tomato Cashew Sauce.
Cut the head and tail off 3 medium beetroot, slice off the skin as thinly as possible, then grate. (That’s the pasta done. Tough, right?)
Combine:
½ cup soaked cashews
8 sundried tomatoes
2 tps Sunflower seeds
A slug of olive oil to loosen
Blitz!
Combine the pasta and sauce, add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy the meal that took you 7 minutes to make while your flatmates are still checking to see whether their pasta is al dente…. I also tried this sauce with a handful of Basil added tonight. Very, very tasty.
Ending on a grateful note:
To wrap up, I’m going to share an award I was gifted today by my friend and mentor Gena; The Sunshine Award.
Awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world, getting this from Gena was such a compliment. I aim to inspire people everyday, and positivity is something I strive for, so thank you so much Gena, truly.
And in accepting this award, it’s my job to pass it on to some new people.
And finally, in the spirit of paying this award forward, I want to ask you guys to share your blogs with me. You may have noticed I finally got round to adding links to some sites I love to the Getting Raw homepage. Let me know about your blog if I’m not a regular visitor or you’re blogging about Raw Food, Veganism or Health. I love sharing the love, so please say hi! If you’re shy about commenting, send me an email kate@gettingraw.com.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
