Who Ya Gonna Call?

I made a "raw" cake and we had to have candles and sing:)

.Lincoln Logs

Paul had to borrow and bring home Judy's Lincoln Logs.  They are much cooler than ours because they come with Indians:)  Paul had to take a picture of his creation to show Judy.

The little Indian inside.

Potty Training

In light of Joy's second UTI this year, I decided it was time to kick the potty training into high gear.  It's only been 2 days, but she is doing a lot better than I expected!  She has been going on the potty a lot.  Many times she'll tell me she has to go right after she goes, but it is encouraging nonetheless.  Last night she really wanted to wear underwear, so this picture was her solution!

Visit to Dr. Dan

Paul and I had our traditional date at the Disney Store and food court after a visit to Dr. Dan.  Paul was super excited they had Star Wars toys at the Disney Store.
I celebrated the end of my raw diet with a gyro and french fries.  Bad idea!  I really did feel awful afterward.  It was tasty, though.

The Speer Family Goes Raw Day 7: The Exit Interview

Today is the last day of our raw food experiment.  Honestly, I am very glad.  I learned that I like a lot of raw food, but I do not like to eat exclusively raw food, even with tons of homemade bread!  Shawn, however, loved the diet.  See lots more about that in our exit interview.

Today, I had naan with raw raspberry jam for breakfast.  By the time we got home from church, I was starving!!  I had two walnut pate and raw marinara sandwiches and my smoothie, and I still felt like I was starving.  I ate some bread with raw apple salad dressing.  Although the food was delicious, I felt like I just couldn't get full.  We had to leave to go to the birthday party, so I took a banana to eat in the car. 

I wanted to be full at the party so I wouldn't be tempted by pizza and cake.  I successfully just ate carrots there.  When I got home I was really hungry again.  I had prepared these marinated vegetables the night before.  I thought I might make a pizza out of naan, the Asian almond "peanut" sauce, and the chopped veggies. 

 

 It was so, so good!  Shawn and I finished that tiny pizza in no time.  I was really sad that I'd used up all the Asian sauce so I couldn't make another one.  I can't wait to try a pizza made with my usual peanut sauce and raw veggies.

Half a pizza did not fill us up, so I made us sandwiches with the veggies and the raw marinara.  I learned that I can eat raw broccoli in a sandwich, and they were actually pretty good, but I don't think that's an experiment I need to repeat.  Broccoli pizza - yes, broccoli sandwich - no.

Exit Interview:

What did you like the best?  

Cheryl:  The chocolate avocado icing!  And my small green smoothie.  I really liked trying recipes that were very different from things I usually prepare and being pleasantly surprised by many of the results.

Shawn:  The Not Tuna Salad.  I’ll continue to eat this and the Walnut Pate for lunch and snack.  I’m not sure how long, if ever, it will take to get old.

What was the worst part? 

Cheryl:  Washing and rewashing and rewashing the blender and food processor multiple times per day.  I was also surprised by how stressful I found this experiment to be. 

I learned that I'm not a big fan of homemade nut milks; I'll gladly stick with dairy.

Shawn: Prep time.  I didn't do much to help with making the foods, so I want to clarify what I mean by prep time.  If, for example, we ran out of not tuna salad, you just don’t open a package and a jar of something, mix it together and have what you want.  You have to soak the nuts pretty much overnight and when they are ready, it takes longer to make the raw food in general.   I think we’ll have various nuts and seeds soaking constantly so that they are on hand to make something from them. 

What surprised you?

Cheryl:  There were many recipes that I looked at and did not think I'd like, but that I tried just for the sake of the experiment.  I was surprised to really like green smoothies, raw applesauce, raw tomato soup and raw marinara sauce to name a few.  

I was really surprised how much work this week was.  It was even more work than I expected.

Shawn: How most of the foods that were nut based did not taste like it.

What food did you miss the most?

Cheryl: Cheese! And milk in my coffee.  After one trial of cashew milk in my coffee, I stuck with tea for the week.

Shawn: Meat…Any variety thereof.

What is one thing you learned?

Cheryl: When Shawn said he wanted to do a week of raw food, I didn't really know anything at all about what I might be eating, besides the obvious.  I learned that there are way more things you can do with nuts, avocados and dates than I ever expected!  

Shawn: I really like the raw food diet.  Most people, me included, think of raw diets as salads and veggie trays.  It is far from it.   I don’t think that I would have lasted long if all we ate were salads and veggie trays. 

What change do you think you might keep up with after this week?

Cheryl: I really do like having a small green smoothie each day. I'd like to make chocolate avocado icing quite frequently.  I'd like to have more raw dinners, especially in the summer.  Serving lettuce wraps with dips is a fun alternative to salads.  I'm actually really looking forward to revisiting my raw food cookbook at the peak of garden season.  It will be wonderful to have so many things to make that do not require cooking.    

Additionally, I really liked my little rolls with walnut pate and raw marinara sauce.  I think they are as good as pepperoni rolls.  I wonder if I can convince anyone else of that.

Shawn:  I want to still have raw foods for breakfast, lunch and snacking.  I may allow for fish in my lunches, but dinner will be wide open.   

Trends we observed:

Money:  

Cheryl: All these nuts are really expensive!  I spent at least $75 in nuts!!  I did, however, buy several pounds more nuts than I ended up needing for the week.  It's a good thing Shawn liked the nut spreads, I can continue to make them to use up these nuts!  If it weren't for the nuts, I would say raw food would be equal in price to our regular eating habits.  In the summer, when I have plenty of homegrown produce, it would be even cheaper of course.

Shawn: Nuts cost a lot

Weight:

Cheryl: I lost 1 pound.  This is exactly what I lost when we did our week of Unpackaged.  I'm pretty sure this week that the 1 lb I lost was mainly due to the fact I wasn't feeding myself half of what snacks the kids were eating or finishing up what they didn't eat.

Shawn: Lost a few pounds

Effect on kids:  

Cheryl: We did not make the kids eat only raw food, but they did eat a lot of raw food.  Paul was surprised by how many things he did like, like the raw apple crisp and of course the icing.  Joy loves smoothies!  I did not always make separate meals for Shawn and me and the kids, but sometimes I did.  Sometimes our meals overlapped, for example they might have raw veggies and chicken nuggets while we had raw veggies and dip.  I do not like eating separate meals from the kids.  Overlapping meals are ok, but I really like for us to eat the same things together for the most part.    

Shawn: None

Stress level:

Cheryl:  I expected this week to be a lot of work, but I did not expect to be as stressed out and cranky I was.  Making fresh bread for our family each night is enough night time food prep work for me.  I felt like I was constantly making stuff to the detriment of spending time with the kids and I certainly ignored the housework; this place is a wreck!  I am thrilled about all the new things I learned, but I'm really, really glad this week is over.

Shawn: Same

In Conclusion

I am extraordinarily grateful to Jennifer Cornbleet for her awesome book, Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People.  All but a couple of the recipes I used throughout the week came from this book.  I'm also very pleased she responded to my email and allowed me to post her recipes on the blog.  

Thanks so much to all those who followed our progress this week and to those (especially Jamie Stanko and Lin Mossgrove) who shared recipes and raw food ideas.  I have really enjoyed the conversations I've had with our friends about our experiment.

Elle and Eve's 5th Birthday Party

Today we went to Elle and Eve's birthday party at their dance studio. 

Paul was showing off some of the break dancing moves Tugs showed him last weekend:)

Joy and Max, eagerly awaiting their turn to whack the pinata.  

The Speer Family Goes Raw Day 6

I can't believe today is our second to last day.  

For breakfast, I had naan with a combination of the strawberry cashew yogurt and chocolate avocado icing.  

For lunch, we had our green smoothies and more delicious sandwiches with walnut pate and raw marinara. 

For dinner we had veggies and dips and raw apple crisp.  We made some lettuce wraps and had some of of the veggies as crudites with the dip.  The dips were the ranch made with cashews and the Asian almond "peanut" sauce (from my Raw Food Made Easy book).  I really liked having the wraps and dips for dinner.  I think it will make a great summer garden season dinner and is a nice alternative to a salad.

 We made raw apple crisp for dessert.  I gave the kids the job of peeling the apples while I washed out the food processor.  When I turned around, I discovered they were eating them!  The apple crisp turned out surprisingly good.  I had seen a couple recipes for raw applesauce.  I thought it would be gross.  It was fabulous!  The filling of the crisp was a combination of sliced apples and applesauce (apples pureed with dates, raisins, maple syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.) The topping was a combination of ground walnuts and dates.  I added some raw sugar because I do like my treats sweet!  The apple crisp was good, but I liked the raw apple sauce so much I think I'd rather just have it topped with the crumble topping.

Today's Recipe of the Day:  Blueberry Green Smoothies

These are the smoothies that converted me from thinking that I could never drink a green smoothie to drinking one every day for a week!

1/2 cup water
1 orange peeled, sectioned and seeded
1 banana
6 oz frozen blueberries or mixed berries
1 1/2 cups chopped spinach

Put all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  Serve immediately.

This recipe is adapted from Raw Food Made Easy (http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Food-Made-Easy-People-ebook/dp/B00BUV1DZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394568233&sr=8-1&keywords=raw+food+made+easy)  by Jennifer Cornbleet.  Her website is http://learnrawfood.com/

First Day of Swimming Class

Today was Paul's first swimming lesson at the Wellness Center.  He was very brave and did a great job putting his head under water, floating and even beginning to swim with the help of his teacher.
They are really the picture taking nazis there!!!  I pulled out my phone to check a message from Shawn, and the lady ran over immediately and told me there was to be no use of phones whatsoever.  Then I pulled out my camera and got this shot.  She ran over again and told me there were to be no pictures.  I guess I won't be posting swimming lesson pictures unless I'm really sneaky!!!

The Speer Family Goes Raw Day 5

Yesterday I was not feeling well.  I'm pretty sure it was due to eating too many nuts.  Shawn is fine, fortunately.  

Today I've only eaten a very small amount of nuts and am feeling much better!

These were our nutty Neapolitans from yesterday.  Avacado icing on the bottom, strawberry cashew "yogurt" in the middle, vanilla cashew cream on top and a sprinkle of muesli.  It was tasty 

 I had vanilla cashew cream in my coffee then strained it out.  I like dairy much better!  I think I'll hold off on coffee until the week is over.
I was also very stressed out yesterday trying to get everything made.  This raw diet is a lot of work!  Plus, I always make way more than is needed.  I can't stop myself, even if it's making me crazy.

Today I planned to cut way back on the nuts.  I had plain naan for breakfast and my blueberry smoothie for a snack.  We had a picnic lunch with Dina and kids at Toys to Try, so I made myself these little gems.  They were sandwiches with walnut pate (my only nuts for the day) on the bottom and raw marinara sauce.  They were fantastic!!!  I'd definitely eat them any time, raw diet or not.  I also had some mixed fruit and Dina brought some carrots.

For dinner, we had taco salad with lettuce, corn, tomatoes and guacamole.  It was good, especially with more naan.  I had a couple scoops of avocado icing for dessert.

Recipe of the Day:  Chocolate Avocado Icing (My favorite raw recipe!)
1/4 cup pitted dates, soaked in water for 10 minutes and drained
1/3 cup maple syrup or agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 avocados, mashed
6 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

Put the dates, maple syrup and vanilla in food processor and process until smooth.  I processed for quite a while, almost 5 minutes.  I didn't want any chunks of dates.  Add the avocados and cocoa powder and process until creamy, scraping down the bowl as necessary.  The original recipe only called for 1/4 cup sweetener, but I like it really sweet!
This recipe is adapted from Raw Food Made Easy (http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Food-Made-Easy-People-ebook/dp/B00BUV1DZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394568233&sr=8-1&keywords=raw+food+made+easy)  by Jennifer Cornbleet.  Her website is http://learnrawfood.com/

E2 Toys to Try

We went with Dina, Olivia and J.J. to E2 Toys to Try today.  We discovered yesterday they moved to Bridgeville.  Their new location is even closer, so that's nice.  The kids had a whole lot of fun playing!

Yellow Flowers

We were so excited a last week when our little yellow flowers started blooming!!  They bloomed as soon as all the snow finally melted.

The Speer Family Goes Raw Day 4

I am sick of nuts.  That is all.

The Speer Family Goes Raw Day 3

For breakfast this morning, I had naan with a combination of the strawberry cashew yogurt and the avocado chocolate icing.  It was out of this world good!  I had a green smoothie for my morning snack.  

I took lunch to my grandmas today.  I made salads for her and me.  They had romaine, spinach, carrots, raisins, dried cranberries, walnuts and pecans.  I used the apple salad dressing from the Raw Food Made Easy book.  The salads were very good, my grandma enjoyed them too.  The salad dressing was awesome, it was also really great to dip bread in. 

I finished out the guacamole with pita for an afternoon snack.

For dinner, we had these veggies tossed with cashew ranch in pitas.  It was fine, but it was a little too veggie-y for me.  Not my favorite of all the things we've had.

After dinner we made cashew ice cream.  It had a great flavor, although the grainy texture is a little strange.  The kids enjoyed it with Nutella and Shawn and I liked it with our homemade pecan butter.

Tonight I worked on making some things for the days ahead.  Above is walnut pate.  I was extremely surprised how flavorful it was.  It was very meaty.  I think I'll have to make the marinara sauce from the book and make little meatball subs with it.

This is almond "peanut" sauce.  I like it and it will make a great dip for raw vegetables.  

This evening, while I was making the peanut sauce, walnut pate and some other things, Paul and Joy were winding down watching tv. I let Paul eat entire 2 packages of bright orange, artificial this and that sandwich crackers.  I am upset with myself about this.  I have a refrigerator full of fresh fruit I could have served him, but I let him eat junk while I made stuff for Shawn and I.  I intend to not let that happen again this week!

Today's recipe:
Cashew Ice Cream:
1 cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours in a mason jar full of water and drained
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
Dash salt

Blend in blender until smooth.  Pour into ice cream maker and process according to the machine's directions.

This was actually really simple since I already had soaked cashews in the fridge.  It was way easier than cooking a creme anglaise sauce and then waiting for it to chill to make regular ice cream.

This recipe is adapted from Raw Food Made Easy (http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Food-Made-Easy-People-ebook/dp/B00BUV1DZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394568233&sr=8-1&keywords=raw+food+made+easy)  by Jennifer Cornbleet.  Her website is http://learnrawfood.com/

The Speer Family Goes Raw Day 2

First of all, I have had a request to share some recipes, so here is the link to the recipe for the veggie burgers:  http://www.rawfoodrecipes.com/recipes/raw-veggie-burgers.html

The recipe made 18 burgers.  I thought that sounded like a lot, so I cut it by a third, and still made 7 burgers.  The next time I do a week of raw food, I'll make the whole recipe.  They really are good, and I bet that they'd easily keep for a whole week.  They are the strangest things, but they really are good with tomato, lettuce and tahini mayo.  

I've been doing research regarding whether it is a copyright infringement to publish someone else's recipes.  I have sent a message to the author of the raw foods book we are using (http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Food-Made-Easy-People-ebook/dp/B00BUV1DZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394568233&sr=8-1&keywords=raw+food+made+easy)  and if I get the go ahead I'll publish more recipes.  

Today I had naan with raspberry jam again for breakfast.  I made the naan with olive oil this morning and I thought it was great. I had a green smoothie for a snack.  I had some running around to do before I took Joy to gymnastics today and I knew I'd be starving before we got home.  For a snack in the car I took raisins and raw walnuts.  I was hungry and ate them all.

I had a veggie burger sandwich for lunch, along with bread with my raw dipping sauce.  

For dinner, I made creamy tomato soup with ranch dressing.  I did not think I would like a raw tomato soup, but I really did.  It is thickened with avocado.  In the summer when I have fresh tomatoes and it is too hot too cook, I think we will be eating a lot of this soup!

I had some of our chocolate cake (and several spoonfulls of extra avocado icing!) for dessert.
Since my bulk order of cashews arrived today, I made strawberry cashew yogurt for a bedtime snack.  I really liked it with the raw muesli.  Joy liked it with chocolate chips!

The Speer Family Goes Raw Day 1

I started our day with some frying and tons of baking.  Maybe not the way most people start a raw food diet, but we're doing raw plus homemade bread!  I had naan with "raw" raspberry jam for breakfast.  I decided next time I'll fry my naan in olive oil.  I wasn't thinking about ghee being an animal product, but it is.  I had a berry spinach smoothie after I went running.  

I had to get started on our veggie burgers early in the day, as they had to go in the dehydrator for 5 hours.  This is the first time I used our dehydrator since before Paul was born, I think.

We made almond milk last night.  It wasn't too difficult, although we decided that cheese cloth is the way to go.  It took forever trying to strain it though a strainer.  I made raw muesli.  It can keep for 3 months.  It was a surprisingly good snack with the almond milk.  I didn't think I'd like raw cereal, but it tastes fine.  Here is my favorite snack, wouldn't you know - garlic and herb dipping sauce for bread.  I could probably just eat sauce and bread all week, but that would really defeat the purpose of the raw diet!

For lunch, we had our not-tuna salad (made with soaked nuts, veggies and herbs) sandwiches with lettuce and tahini mayonnaise.   They were also good.  I made pitas to go with guacamole for another snack.

Dehydrated veggie burgers.  Strange, strange things.  

But, on a bun with lettuce, tomato and more tahini mayo, they were actually really great!  I made them the same size as the buns, but I didn't take into account that they'd shrink after dehydrating, so they were a good bit smaller than the buns.  

And for dessert, flourless chocolate cake with chocolate avocado cream.  I think I over mixed the cake, it had a good flavor but was gummy.  But the icing is so great.  I could just eat it like pudding.  

Day one is going just fine.  It's a lot of work, but I'm not hungry at all.  We've eaten a lot of delicious food.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow!