The cabbage and kiwi sounds okay (sounds like a dash of pineapple would be fun), but spinach and PEARS? THAT is an odd one! Do you ever throw a bit of ginger in it, for some zing?

quote:

Originally posted by tweasel oak:
The cabbage and kiwi sounds okay (sounds like a dash of pineapple would be fun), but spinach and PEARS? THAT is an odd one! Do you ever throw a bit of ginger in it, for some zing?

The cabbage and kiwi sounds weird to me. But it tasted good. Spinach and pears tastes like pears. I got some ginger today. I'm going to start that herb garden that I've been wanting. It'll be good to add some other flavors as well. Fresh costs way too much and spoils way too quickly.

Interesting reading.... Though I'm not anywhere close financially or mentally to trying this kind of a diet, I'm finding it very interesting.

Just wanted to pass along a trick, if you've never tried it. If you wrap your veggies in paper towels and then put them in the plastic bag you can get a week or even as much as two weeks out of them. If the towels become wet just change them..... the moisture is what rots them in the frig.

quote:

Originally posted by herbalpurity:
Interesting reading.... Though I'm not anywhere close financially or mentally to trying this kind of a diet, I'm finding it very interesting.

Just wanted to pass along a trick, if you've never tried it. If you wrap your veggies in paper towels and then put them in the plastic bag you can get a week or even as much as two weeks out of them. If the towels become wet just change them..... the moisture is what rots them in the frig.

Thanks for the paper towel tip. That makes sense. I'll definitely try it.

Produce is cheaper and better quality at a produce market than the supermarket. For example, I found avocados for 3/$1.49 instead of $1.49 each, a 2 pound bag of baby spinach for $1 instead of $2.49 - $3.59 for 1 pound. Those are exceptional bargains but everything's definitely cheaper and fresher.

yes, Nancy, thanks for the tip. My old, wonderful fridge died (rest in peace) after 25 years. My produce kept forever! Now with the new one I can't keep anything fresh for a week. This is a fabulous tip ...MWAH! I will try it today!

Love, hugzzz and nice fresh veggies!

I'm glad you found my tip useful! I know you'll be pleased with the results. You're very welcome.

I know Jana, sadly things just aren't made like they used to be. It's amazing at just my 56 years how much manufacturing has changed. It's all how fast they can get a product on the market. I've done customer service for over 17 years and mostly in a manufacturing atmosphere. I've been told by some very intelligent sources that the companies these days, don't really care if they attract long term customers. Their focus is on initial sales of a product .... a certain percentage. And, thus they put their products on the market LONG before they are really ready for reliablility. We the consumers are also the beta testers and we are paying them to do it. I have to think that then since they don't care, not too much in the way of improvements are made either.... but some of course or they wouldn't continue to sell. This also seems to be a trend partly because of the contineous changes, increasingly fast in the technology across the board.

Thanks, Nancy and Cris! I'm going to try both your ideas!

Nancy, that idea carries right over into the soap operas (one of my passions) too! It used to be about good writing with core families. Now it's about sensationalism (just like the news), doing something for right now, and they don't want long-term viewers. They totally don't care if they go away!

Also, remember all the hoopla a while back about quality managment? I thought that was really great! Nobody's even HEARD of that anymore. Everything is numbers, numbers, numbers, and they don't care how you get them!

The processed foods are awful now. When I was growing up they weren't great, but they were edible! Now I walk in the grocery store and can't find ANYTHING I want! It all tastes just awful! (The only thing they haven't killed the taste of yet is the good sugary breakfast cereals (Frosted Flakes, Sugar Pops, etc.) and Breyer's Ice Cream! Which of course is why I wind up looking like the side of the house and needing to eat raw food diets!!!!

I remember when I was on mine for so long, that the food just made you FEEL so much better. (Well, maybe not better than Breyer's Ice Cream!)

For a raw diet I suggest looking into The Primal Diet by Aajonus Vonderplanitz:

WeWant2Live.com

Aajonus had 8 incurable diseases and he researched nutrition and raw foods and healed himself by eating raw foods. His two books: We Want to Live: The Primal Diet and The Recipe for Living Without Disease are packed with nutritional wisdom you'll find no where else.

I'll write more about The Primal Diet in a another post.

Ed

Update after 3 weeks of drinking green smoothies every day. My boss' wife is thinking of drinking them -- because she saw it on Oprah. A morbidly obese (and generally unhealthy) co-worker has started drinking them. He feels more energetic. Everyone teases me about my "swamp water."

Me? I feel more energetic and mentally more agile. I get more work done. I got sick over the holidays. I stayed home from work one day and felt like I wanted to stay home another. The days surrounding those two days I was extremely tired. But my boyfriend who doesn't drink green smoothies got really sick, was feverish for several days, coughing, swollen glands, loss of appetite, he slept almost continually for two days. He wants me to make him green smoothies now too.

Oh, and the day that I was home sick, I did laundry, answered a bunch of emails, went to the grocery store, and cooked dinner. I think work would have been physically easier except that I got to take a nap in the afternoon.

OK - I'm listening - you use a blender? Will that work? If I buy one more appliance I don't use regulalry, I might end up single. LOL

I'm using my 25 year old Oster blender. It was top of the line in it's day and probably built stronger than the home-use models these days. It's doing a good job but I'm definitely going to get the VitaMix in January or February.

Hello All you Foodies

I just finished reading my very FIRST raw food recipe book. Before I give you my review of it, I would like to state my position so you will know where I am coming from.

I have been following this thread trying to understand why anyone would first of all WANT to give up meat, and secondly eat everything raw. To say that I thought of vegetarians as weird, and raw foodies so far extreme as to make vegetarians look mainstream would be an understatement. However, I kept coming back and reading the posts over and over. Something kept catching my interest – and I guarantee you it wasn’t my idea of a raw food menu.

Let’s see… we could drink a baby puke green shake for breakfast, munch on some celery stalks and an apple for lunch, and for the exotic dinner… hmm… maybe lemon juice and olive oil over iceberg lettuce and a slice of tomato. Mentally, I could tolerate that for all of one day and be sniffing pictures of REAL food in books and magazines the next.

For those of you that don’t know, I spent 25 years in food service. I have owned my own catering business; worked in resorts, 4 star restaurants and hotel restaurants; a nursing home cafeteria; a preschool kitchen; a college cafeteria; a little mom & pop diner; and even various versions of fast food. I wouldn’t say I knew everything about food service, but I would say that I know enough to mingle intelligently in ANY commercial kitchen.

So now that I have made plain my bias, let’s get on with the review.

“Raw Food – Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow”
Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis
http://purefoodandwine.com/

The first thing you notice after picking up the very heavy book and skimming through it is that it’s different. Yes, it has recipes and pictures, but it also tells a story. It tells how and why two successful trained chefs would want to give up meat and heat – something they had heavily invested their time and efforts into. More importantly though, it tells why and how to do things – beyond the usual list of ingredients and what to do to them. This, to me made the book. Knowing why and how something is done allows me to apply that same technique to other situations.

Salads and smoothies, drinks and dips – these I expected. Lasagna, fettuccini, sushi, tacos, tamales, samosas, and even pizza I did not expect at all. How about deserts such as ice-cream, cookies and tarts. After reading this book today, I have a much better understanding of why to eat raw food, how it can be prepared, and ideas modifying recipes to a raw food lifestyle. I haven’t tried any of these yet, but my mouth was definitely watering over some of the descriptions and pictures.

Am I so convinced as to give up meat and cooking? Not yet, but I am ready to give raw food a try now. These recipes are from their New York restaurant and so are spectacular examples of what can be done. I am looking for some examples of real at-home recipes that don’t require 12 hours of prep time and exotic ingredients, but are still appealing. I am not ready to give up steak for a glass of green goo that must be swallowed quickly enough so as to not be able to taste it, or an endless bowl of lettuce.

As I explore other raw food books, I will continue to share.

Norman - you and I are on the same page, bro! I truly appreciate your input and review as I am a total foodie and I LOVE to cook. I can't imagine cooking without heat. I love salds and veggies - both cooked and raw but no meat??? I will let Chef Norman get creative and then we have the true review! Keep it comimg!

Sir
B, Jana,Cris
We are all three on the same scratch and sniff page in regards to food. Norman, your resume sorta matches mine, year for year, experience for experience.

Jana: Lets write a book, the four of us? We can do the prep, the actual swallowing (uh, Cris, are you available for swallowing test?)

Norm: Once we get all the recipes together, we will need a licensed test kitchen, any ideas? I found that one can rent a licensed kitchen between the hours of two am and 7am.(Yes, I have written a cookbook. Then fried it.)

Once, while doing the radio show, I met M.F.K.Fisher, who told me off-air to write as if a human being, including all of our various actions and emotions as we go. It really works, and with four of us doing this together, it may go top seller. We all are a bit...odd.

More and more, I am drawn to the same conclusions that the two of you express.

Lets' give it a try, we sure could use the money.

zen

Sounds VERY intrigueing, Zen! MIght be nice to see what we can come up with for recipes that don't require special equipment, or at least a section, to help encourage people that can't make a huge investment...

I'm in!! Here's to the fab foodie four!