Me and my new best friend.
Lunch went unphotographed because we got home starving and waiting the hour and a half for my battery to charge would have been a huge joke.
My eyes tend to glaze over when I read about what people are eating without pics. What can I say, I’m a picture person. Without pics I would otherwise skip this but for food combining purposes I’m going write about it today. I’ll keep it brief.
I made a new kind of green smoothie today; spinach, cucumber, half an avocado and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Today I left out fruit (that I would usually put in) because I now know fruit is supposed to be eaten alone. This would be considered properly combined because nut milk is “neutral”. It was totally yummy even without the fruit. Not sweet but that was fine. It was like salad in liquid form.
I also had two slices of Ezekiel sesame bread (sprouted grains, not raw but a good transistion food) with the other half of the avocado that I mixed with some salsa to make fast guacamole. (Thanks Pat for that idea!) Totally yum and still properly combined as I understand it.
I was totally held over and didn’t even start thinking about food again until 5 or so. This is pretty remarkable for me. Usually I’m thinking about what I’m going to eat at my next meal or snack within an hour or two of a meal.
Since it had been well over 3 hours since my last meal it was “safe” to have some fruit.
I had as much as I wanted and didn’t worry about portions. I had a bunch too. This bowl plus two more like this I’d say. It was so juicy and sweet!
Then we had some fun with the camera.
Household randomness.
Ponies on parade.
Cat Bird Feeder
Some silly girls.
Look! Ava is back in the womb!
I had a salad planned for dinner. Easy peasy, nothing new under the sun, but wanted to spice it up. Literally.
Carrot Ginger Dressing from The Raw Food Detox Diet.
This would be raw carrots, curry, fresh ginger, garlic, sunflower oil and apple cider vinegar all thrown into the blender. VOILA! Salad dressing.
Organic red leaf, green leaf, spinach, green peppers, cucumbers, mushrooms and raw corn (thanks for raw corn on salad the idea Heather!)
I usually make Good Seasons Italian dressing for salads… I use store bought seasonings mixed with my own water, vinegar and oil. I feel like this is better than store bought bottled dressing, but when I think more about it, it’s still “processed”. I really like the idea of making my own from scratch. And this was great! Carrots? Ginger? Curry? Garlic? What’s not to like?! Zak got up after dinner and said he was looking for more things to put this dressing on, and then asked if it would be wrong to drink it straight from the container. It really was THAT good.
I was a little skeptical on the raw corn, but it was so sweet and juicy, I loved it. I shaved it straight off the cob and split it up between my salad and Zak’s salad.
I spent more time today thinking about eating raw foods and worrying about properly combining foods. WHY am I doing this? What is it that I hope to get out of this?
Of course my first goal is to be healthy. The benefits of a raw food diet and proper food combining really appeal to me. I want abundant energy to play with my children, run, take care of my family and my household, to do all the things I enjoy. I want to maintain my weight, maybe even lose a few more pounds, WITHOUT feeling deprived.
I want to stop craving certain foods to the point where it’s all I think about. It’s a little embarrassing to admit this but thanks to food and healthy living blogs I’ve come to know I’m not alone out here. I’ve come a long way with food cravings… from totally avoiding treats of any kind, to eating moderate amounts of processed foods that eventually that leads cravings impossible to ignore, to overeating when I finally do let myself have whatever it was that I was avoiding. I’ve gone through periods where cravings are not an issue and have times food and sweets are all I think about.
I think the answer for me really lies with processed foods. I was so comforted to read this over the weekend:
Vegans, vegetarians and organic consumers alike: if you are eating any refined foods, you have addictions running through your blood stream.
Yes, yes, YES!
I’ve come to find that if I can avoid eating refined foods, even things that I think are “good”, like Kashi crackers, Heart to Heart, organic cookies and snack foods, it just makes me want MORE of it. If I let myself eat these things without restraint, I would stop thinking about it, but I would also gain weight. No dice.
So what’s the answer? How do I NOT think about food AND maintain my weight?
Today and for the last few days I’ve had almost nothing that was processed. I did have Ezekiel bread at lunch, but since it’s a sprouted grain it’s pretty innocent. It didn’t leave me wanting more and I felt perfectly satisfied after every meal and snack today. And even right now, hours after dinner, I’m not thinking about what I’m not letting myself eat or what I wish I could have. THIS is how I want to live. Do I need to properly combine foods at every meal? Do I need to eat mainly raw foods? I’m not sure, but it’s certainly worth experimenting with if it means that I can live my life without feeling like I’m waiting for my next meal or snack AND maintaining a healthy weight.
And Gena’s post today couldn’t have been more perfectly timed. If you are interested in learning more about food combining, check out the clif notes on food combining for a great recap.
This got a little lengthy, so I guess I’ll wrap it up now with a happy ending.
Will wonders never cease… chocolate is “neutral”. Green and Blacks 70% Dark Chocolate was my post dinner treat.
Chocolate Ever After.
Filed under: Dinner, Kids, lunch, Meals, Motivation, Organic, Salad, Snacks | 13 Comments »
Mama's Weeds 