It's been over 3 months since I decided to eat a raw vegan diet for a year, so that means I'm one fourth of the way thru. Here's a little update on how things are going.
Great, but it's killing our food budget! Typically we eat very pure and natural foods with a fair amount of organics. With me not eating the cheaper vegan staples like lentils, potatoes, rice and oatmeal, the cost of this little decision of mine is starting to add up. But I'm really loving the food pattern I've settled into, which is usually a big green smoothie in the morning, with either kale, spinach or Romaine as the green, and frozen bananas and either fresh or frozen fruit. The really lovely organic frozen fruit from Costco has been a budget saver. The cheapest part of the smoothie is the water. I add lots of water.
Lunch and dinner are big salads, big. I'm so hooked on
Kimberly Snyder's Dharma Salad, I'm wondering if I'll ever tire of it. It's so filling and addictive, and I'm changing it up with whatever bits and dabs of veggies that are hanging around. When I bought the container of dulse flakes, I wondered if it would end up in the What Was I Thinking section of the food pantry. But the first container is empty and it's time to get more. And now that Trader Joe's has nutritional yeast, that ingredient is easily accessible.
Have I eaten anything cooked? Yes I have. This isn't a religion, it's just a way of eating, and I have strayed from time to time. I had got myself completely off coffee with vegan "mylk" in the mornings. First I switched to black tea, then I was off caffeine completely. After a big party we had, I had a canister of leftover coffee and that got me back in the morning coffee habit. Way too much. Possibly a combo of the coffee overload, some grainy crackers and spring allergies has got my ears ringing with an annoying return of tinnitus.
An interesting and weird effect of eating raw vegan is that some people's eyes change colors. Dramatically. But these are usually people who went from eating really poorly and had super bad digestion issues before they changed their diets. That wasn't me, we eat pretty stinking heathy and have for a long time. But last week I saw a friend who I hadn't seen in maybe four months. She looked at me closely, too closely, and said my eyes looked like they changed color. She said they looked clearer. Seriously?
I don't have very big eyes, so it's not like they are a big part of my photos. But I looked back at a closeup of my eyes from just last summer and then did a way too up close examination in front of some way too bright light in a way too magnifying mirror. Way too many wrinkles! But I think my friend might be right, they looked different than the older picture. Way too weird. The power of kale? In three months? That's eye opening. Hopefully clearer eyes are a good sign, so I'll keep on keeping on with this budget busting eating plan as planned.
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| Cuties in a salad are so yummy. |
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| Dharma Salad, the new normal. |
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| This was a cheat meal... |
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| ...but when a Moldovan makes a vegan meal just for us, we say Amen and chow down. |
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| Another day, another Dharma Salad. |
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| A smoothie still life. |
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| I have no words...except that it was organic. |
