The 2nd Day Raw

While the first day raw was pretty easy and tasty, the second left me with a few more cravings, particularly for meat.

Breakfast was a salad of 1/2 avocado, 1 grapefruit and 2 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds.  It was super easy to prepare and quite satisfying.  Sam was into it too.

Lunch was the leftover walnut mixture topped with the salsa and cashew sour cream from day one all wrapped up with avocado in a sheet of nori.  PS, this was my first time making "sushi" so please excuse the messy presentation.

I had a snack in the afternoon with Sam of raw almond butter and an apple.

Dinner was a simple greens salad with shaved summer squash, onions, avocado, walnuts and cucumbers.  I used the cashew sour cream from day 1 mixed with oil and vinegar as the dressing.  Before I started making dinner my appetite was not out of control.  Once I got started though I was too hungry to mess with a photo of my dinner...sorry!  And here is where I was really missing some more substantial protein source! 

Dessert was a banana with more raw almond butter.

2 days down, one to go!

meet the flackers

I love to grocery shop...or at least I used to.  Shopping with a 15 month old is a challenge and there's little time for frolicking in the aisles and label reading these days.  On a recent trip to Whole Foods I stumbled upon Flackers and without investigating the details I threw them in the cart...glad I did!

They're super tasty, crunchy and are made with a few real, quality ingredients and no sugar.  They're also high in protein and fiber as well as healthy fats making them a great substitute to your regular old crackers.  The "doctors in the kitchen" who make these crackers (literally medical doctors) also have a blog where I found this recipe for a raw (read nutrient dense) sunflower seed pate perfect for dipping.

cheesecake in the raw

My mom is coming to visit this weekend and she likes to have a little something sweet around....and I'm beginning to take after her ;)  I'm making this raw cheesecake for her (okay us) as it's a healthy, although not necessarily lower calorie alternative that contains healthy fats, antioxidants and living enzymes to aid digestions that your traditional cheesecake is lacking.

I've actually never made real cheesecake before, but I made this one recently and it's SO easy and seriously AMAZING (I was eating it for breakfast and dessert...oops)!  It requires very few yet all very nutritious ingredients (including cashews, honey, berries, almonds and coconut oil) and very little in the way of culinary skills.  I've mentioned My New Roots before and I'll do it again because it's an awesome blog.  I've made many of her recipes and just keep going back for more!   Check out her blog for this recipe and many others that will inspire the healthy chef in you!

PS, if you're into raw food, Karen's Raw on Halsted in Chicago offers lots of options, including a raw cheesecake that goes for $8/slice!!  I estimated that I can make an entire cake for that in about 45 minutes or less!