I am disturbed by the number of raw vegan recipe books which call for young Thai coconut, which cannot, currently, be validated as organic, and which is financially inaccessible to most people (I don’t know too many people who can afford to spend up to $12 for one ingredient in one home-prepared meal – I surely can’t – the reason I prepare meals at home is to save money, and my weekly food budget is under $30)

Raw food gurus who give us recipes which require ingredients which are beyond the accessibility of the masses make the concept of raw veganism seem inaccessible to most people.

As a raw vegan nutritionist, too many times, I hear people complain that the raw vegan diet is too expensive.  I resent the recipe authors who propagate this idea with their recipes which require expensive ingredients and do not offer less costly alternatives.  I probably should not complain, because, actually, the authors of such elitist recipe books give me more work, send me more clients: people who would like to go raw but cannot see the way when looking at the elitist, expensive raw vegan recipes in the current recipe books on the market.

Where I come from, we eat collards (or kale or spinach), black-eyed peas, and ham (or some other form of pork) for luck, prosperity, and progress, on New Year’s Day.  It’s common to call one another to wish Happy New Year, and ask, “Have you eaten your black-eyed peas yet?”

I got the collards, and I had black-eyed pea sprouts.  I prepared the collards my usual marinated greens way (I added a liberal amount of finely chopped red bell pepper and some onion, and didn’t add in the chili powder), and I added finely chopped red bell pepper and onion to the black-eyed  peas, and popped them in the dehydrator for about an hour to warm them.  Then I sprinkled some apple cider vinegar and black pepper in with the peas, and plated it all.  Yumm!  The collards seemed sweeter than usual, and the  black-eyed peas were great.  I ended up mixing it all together, because I was feeling lazy, and, mixed together, it did not see like I was eating so much.

Wherever you are from, whatever you do, I do hope you got in your good luck food, but, if you didn’t, you can eat some collards or kale real quick while there is still time.

I’m happy to say that VeganChic is definitely worth the visit.  Warning: These are not necessarily shoes for the “earth mother” in you… these are attractive, or, possibly, even sexy, nice-looking shoes at seriously reasonable prices.  You could indulge the vegan fashionista in you without putting too serious a dent in your pocketbook (oh, yeah. They have nice-looking handbags as well)

I’ve already put VeganChic on my list of purveyors of vegan shoes, to make it easier to visit.

At the same time, I’ve been ill (yes, despite what raw foodists tell you, you can get sick. When I broke down and mentioned what was going on to my mom, she expressed concern that I might end up with pneumonia, and wanted me to see a doctor)  I’m happy to say that I seem to be doing better (I have health insurance, but I don’t have money to pay the co-pay, so I’ve been living this on my own, with oregano oil, lavender oil, and grapefruit seed extract).   

I am taking the desire to eat something/anything as a sign that I’m getting better.   At the same time, I am noticing that my coughing has lessened to some extent.

I made some cashew cheeze and kohlrabi “ravioli” and topped it with a tomato sauce made from water, a drop of oil, a drop of vinegar, and tomato powder. Probably not the best fast break, but, ya know? I just didn’t care right then. I’m broke, I’m limited to what is lying around, and I felt like eating — wrong reason to break a fast, actually! I wasn’t hungry. Just felt like eating was a good idea.

I am planning to not eat again until I am hungry (that means I have to drag some food along to work tomorrow, in case that is when I am hungry)

If I am not going to eat again until I am hungry, I am going to have to have some protein ready for when I decide to be hungry.  I have some cashews and some pecans, so I will probably just carry a bag of nuts along with me. They will give me a “snack-y” feeling, if I want to eat, and, if I don’t want to eat, they’ll last easily until I come home.

Bonobo’s was interesting in that it was “the fast food” restaurant for the raw vegan crowd.  You could get in and out of there with take-out  in less than 10 minutes.   The informal set-up lent itself to meet-up groups, etc., and they also had a large room in the back which was good for lectures, workshops, and presentations.

Alas, it’s gone now.  That leaves us with Pure Food and Wine and Quintessence in Manhattan, and Rawkin Raw in Brooklyn.  There is also Caravan of Dreams, in Manhattan, which has a few raw items on its menu.

(The spiralizer that Dr. Oz showed was a version of the Joyce Chen spiralizer that I reviewed a while ago.  Go here to read more about my spiralizer experiments, experiences, and final choice.)

I’ ve been watching Dr. Oz off and on for a year or so.  Love him. I’ve noticed that he promotes a more raw, more vegetable diet.  His ideas about weight management are close to mine.  Plus, he is just plain “cute” in his presentation, in his “apparent” interest in his (female) audience.  

Based on what I understand of their very wordy “good-bye”, they have gone back to eating an omnivore diet.  

That is okay. Lots of people are doing that (I heard the movement starting up about 3 years ago — I went to a raw food conference, in which several of the “gurus” there suggested that many of them were currently leaning toward incorporating cooked food into their diet. )  I do understand it.  People hear of raw food and usually find one raw food “guru” who promises lots of benefits and sells lots of books.  Then, they start getting cravings, and the guru cannot explain how to get past the cravings.   Then they start doubting.  Or else, they just go back to eating the way they  used to — happy experiment over!

I’m lucky, I guess.  I got into raw food all by myself. There were no gurus.   There was, at the time, one book which gave some recipe ideas (that I still use, by the way).  I’ve been charting my own way all along. There has never been any pressure. I’ve just been doing what seemed right to me, without any real-time people telling me anything.  It’s been fun, or it’s been difficult, depending on the way you want to look at it — I do tend to go head to head with the “gurus” who dictate how things must be done (I’ve studied nutrition, which I doubt most of them have, and I know what works for me and for people I work with).  I tend to annoy people who have found the one and only guru who works for them (Most of these have already gone back to eating cooked food and even meat.

If you are starting out with a raw vegan diet, know that you can go a couple of ways:  You can go “whole hog”, i.e. delete the cooked food and animal products from your diet in one fell swoop.

At the same time, there is no law that says you have to go all the way at one time (that would depend on you).  The AMA now recommends a 60% raw diet — that just means eat a whole bunch of raw fruit and vegetables every day — work at making that be about 2/3 to 3/4 of your daily diet.

There are those who claim that “high-raw” will work — this is a diet where you eat 80-95% raw food.

I normally tell people that I am 95% raw, simply because I don’t know if I might change my mind tomorrow (at which time, you would, of course, be watching me).  I’m happy with 95%.  I could say 100%, but I want to stay safe, and I don’t want the pressure which might drive me to quit what I am doing. I’ve been raw since the 1970s.  I’ve done it because it seems right to me.  Sometimes I don’t like it and I wish I had some instant foods (I sure did like Lara Bars, until they changed).  I’ve seen a number of people (including Ani Phyo) using protein shakes, and I’ve been thinking about those, because I am just plain lazy about eating most days (I could just blend up some fruit with the protein and  be done with it).

Meanwhile, I am still here.  Still raw.

Good luck to the RFRN folks in whatever they choose to do next

So, basically, what I got in my box was this:
Med-size red beets – one bun.
Cabbage – one sm. hd.
Carrots – a large bag
Watermelon radishes – 1 lg bag
Broccoli – 2 pcs
Broccoli Rabe – 1 bun.