My Daily Rind Journey of a Mom: Reflections on Health, Unschooling, and Love.

I have been eating 100% raw now for about a week and a half, I think. I can’t recall the exact day I decided to return to this lifestyle. I’m feeling great. I have no desire for any cooked food. I’ve been eating a lot of heavy raw foods, though. The hummus and mock mash have a lot of nuts. I’m not used to eating that much, but it’s helping me feel full and not have cravings. I’ve been really thirsty and not drinking enough water. I can really tell when I wake up in the morning, as I feel a little bit hungover. I don’t have anymore mucus in my sinuses. On a SAD diet, I always wake up with copious amounts of phlegm in my throat and nose. This is from dairy and sugar, and probably other ingredients too. My skin is looking really smooth and tone. All blemishes on my face have disappeared.

Today I’ve eaten:

2 bananas
2 peaches
chopped fruit (banana/pineapple/mango) in cashew/orange cream sauce and spirulina (amazing!)
1/2 cup cauliflower/cashew mash
4″ cucumber
1 1/2 roma tomato
1/2 carrot
LOTS of raw jalapeno crackers
1/2 cup cherries
1/4 cup hummus
1 cup pineapple
kale chips (the most incredible snack I’ve made. I’ll post a recipe for this soon.)

Love,
Shawna

Originally, I did all of my raw food prep in a $3 garage-sale blender and a food processor. With experience, I learned of what my preferences are and how to streamline what I’m doing to make it more efficient and easy. One thing I’ve learned about myself is that if the process is too complex or inconvenient, then it will quickly fall to the wayside. This is true for me about anything, and especially with food prep. So, over the years, I’ve refined my approach to raw food prep to suit me and my family. Now my kitchen is outfitted with the following:

5 tray Excalibur dehydrator: dried fruit, raw crackers, raw cookies, kale chips, nut burgers
3 high speed blenders (1 vitamix, 1 blendtec, and 1 waring): green smoothies, fruit smoothies, nut butters
food processor: pates, sauces, dressings
spiralizer: thin and wide noodles made out of zucchini, daikon radish, carrot, beet, turnip
citrus juicer: for fresh and quick lemon, lime, or orange juice
Juiceman juicer: I’ve had this for 15 years and it still is great. Best for hard produce like apples, carrots, ginger, beet. Does not work for soft produce or greens because it has a centrifugal mechanism.
Champion juicer: This is what I use for soft produce and greens and sometimes nut butter. But I use it mostly for frozen banana ice cream.

You don’t have to have all of these things in your kitchen to enjoy raw foods. I have collected them over the years. A lot of raw foodists are minimalists and just have one or two appliances. I like the convenience and the variety of gourmet dishes I can make. All of these appliances are sometimes not used for weeks, though. Usually, we eat pretty simply. I think for dinner tonight we’re going to have a big watermelon and some fresh mustard greens from the garden. Yum yum.