Raw-licious

It has recently come to my attention that I’ve let my healthy eating plan go pretty much off the rails once again, and the last month has been particularly hedonistic.

First it was birthday week, bringing a plethora of wine, champagne and cake. Then it was Halloween week, bringing more wine and rich, dark chocolate treats. It’s also birthday season at work and there has been cake. Lots and lots of cake. Chocolate raspberry, pumpkin cheesecake and fluffy, white layer cake. I’m beginning to feel a little like Marie Antoinette.

So, what’s a girl to do? Go raw for a few days.

Delicious, fresh, green, raw foods will cure my sugar overload in no time. The rules are very flexible. Basically try to eat at least 80% raw each days for a week. A little wine can be included in the eating plan as well (wine is raw!).

A typical detox menu might look like this:

• Salad of dark greens, sprouts, cashews, dried berries, pumpkin seeds and homemade dressing
• Raw soup such as chilled cucumber or gazpacho
• Chocolate “pudding” add link
• Glass of organic wine

See! Healthy and yummy and cleansing.

There are so many delicious, raw foods that we probably already eat every day – fruit, salads, oysters, seeds, nuts, sprouts – adopting an 80% raw diet just means bumping these up by adding a bit more raw and leaving desserts and processed foods behind.

As usual, I’m inviting any blogging friends who are interested to join me. Imagine how great we’ll feel (and look) for the holiday season. Glowing skin, a few lumps and bumps gone and a ton of energy.

Ready? Well then let’s get started:

Liquid Sunshine Smoothie

• one cup pineapple juice
• handful wheatgrass
• one cubed apple
• one banana
• splash of water
• one T. chia seeds

The food you eat can either be the safest, most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison. – Ann Wigmore

Magic Mushrooms

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. – Cheshire Cat

But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.

The Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off the mushroom, and crawled away in the grass, merely remarking as it went, ‘One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.’

‘One side of what? The other side of what?’ thought Alice to herself.

‘Of the mushroom,’ said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud.

Hearty Autumn Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 medium onions, diced
• 1 pound assorted mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces.
• 1/2 cup of good quality white wine
• 1 -2 garlic cloves, minced    
• 1  cup veggie stock 
• 1 cup light cream 
• pinch of thyme 
• salt and pepper, to taste 

Quick Tip – Never use a wine for cooking that you wouldn’t want to drink.

Instructions

In a soup pot, melt olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté 5 minutes or until translucent. Add assorted mushrooms and sauté for 10-15 minutes until browned and juices are mostly evaporated. Add wine and simmer.

Reserve half of the mushrooms and onions and place into a blender. Add cream and blend until smooth. Add pureed mushrooms and 1 cup stock into pot. Add more stock if soup is too thick for your liking. Season soup with thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Simmer soup over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Serve.