Unfortunately, many of the pictures of the great meal I shared with Sue did not come out great; they were all taken with a camera phone.

I got my usual, the green salad as an appetizer and spinach salad (Yucatan salad) as my entree.  Not all raw but mostly raw.

Sue got the vegetable sampler tasting menu, which was really cool.  It came with a beet salad to start, then a tomato soup with spinach and asparagus, then a heart of palm cake with horseradish sauce and guacamole, an exotic mushroom dish with a parsnip ravioli, and then a dessert sampler with brulee, cheesecake, and biscotti.  Sue said everything was great except for the biscotti. 

Pictures are of the heart of palm cake, the spinach salad, and the beet salad.

Now, these fruits, I cannot complain about!  I eat them almost every day. 

Mango and papaya have been on sale at a few local grocery stores lately.  I thought this papaya was just ripened enough but it smelled like gasoline.  Strangely enough, the next day, it tasted and smelled better.  Does papaya improve a day after cutting?  Anyone else experience this?

The mango disappeared the same night….er…hour it was cut up. 

I know I’ve been terrible about posting photographs of food; I just haven’t taken any because I’ve been eating mono meals and lots of juices still!

I do have two things I want to mention here on the blog briefly, however.  First is that I’m still raw, and I want to describe a newish feeling that I have had while on raw.  It’s hard to put feelings into words that others will understand, due to the subjectivity and if the other person has not felt similarly to what I describe, it may be hard for them to form a picture of what I am intimating.  But I will try!

My skin feels fresh.  I used to get home from work after a long day and wash my face, feeling as if I was rinsing away dirt and grime (and I’m sure I was).  Now, on raw, I feel like my skin, DEEP DOWN, not just on the surface, is always clean, whether I’ve just ran for an hour or haven’t washed in 12 hours.  It’s like my body is purer and I feel more comfortable outwardly and in….

Another thing…..I have had occasions to converse with people in the last few months briefly regarding veganism, whether it’s just mentioning that I am one or them asking questions generally.  I enjoyed the discussions and interacting with these various people, but I can’t help but note that veganism seems extreme, radical, possibly even insane to some.

Now, I’m not the brightest person in the world, but I certainly feel that not intentionally causing harm to others could be a little more accepted and perhaps mainstream idea.  I wonder what “crazy” way of caring for others I will think of next.

www.spiraldiner.com, an all-vegan restaurant in Fort Worth, TX and Oak Cliff, TX

For me, an all-raw salad with greens, apples, raisins, zucchini, cucumber, avocado, walnuts, pine nuts, red bell peppers, carrots, and walnut-basil dressing

For my sister Tracy, the McNut burger, which she likes so much, she got it on our return trip to Spiral (and I loved my salad so much, I did the same!).

*Salad is gluten- and wheat-free, not burger.

I knew I would have to use up all of the items in my refrigerator and also wouldn’t be juicing for a few days, so I made some awesome combos today:

Orange-kale-carrot

Pear-kale

Apple-collard-carrot-ginger

How’s that for getting your calcium!?  Just drink it from nature’s best sources. 

I was in the mood for a few high-fat items today, but I do plan on enjoying many fruits on vacation.

Shown here:  Nachos with flax crackers (two varieties, both sprouted, live, and raw), taco-seasoned walnut crumbles, avocado-tomato dip, and a spicy cashew-sunflower seed cheese (with the walnut crumbles, avocado dip, and cheese showcased in center).  That will hold me over.  And it’s beautiful! ***

Although I like food like this here and there now that I’m high-raw, I much prefer, during the week and most weekends as well, simple foods, mono meals, which would be eating one type of food (sometimes in high quantity) at one time.  This seems to be easier on the stomach for digestion and more amenable to that superior energy flow I enjoy. 

Once again, I have a week off starting tomorrow, so my fitday account will probably not be updated.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll have a picture of a pineapple drink, with a coconut “glass”, macadamia-agave whip, and an umbrella and straw when I return.  One can dream! 

Raw nori wraps with leaf lettuce, grated celery root, alfalfa sprouts, mint, carrots, and red bell pepper. 

From The Raw Transformation

Corn is one of my favorite grains to eat raw.  I enjoyed this scramble in leaf lettuce with hot sauce.  It has corn, grated cauliflower, turmeric, cumin, red bell pepper, scallions, parsley (I subbed basil), garlic, and lemon juice.  I left out the oil called for in the recipe and added some black salt.  This does not taste like an omnivorous scramble, but I wouldn’t want it to, anyway.  I think it was tasty with the hot sauce and the lettuce but plain on its own, despite having many flavoring and garnishes added.

A lower-fat version than the usual raw nut taco base, this has grated cauliflower with Bragg’s, coriander, and cumin, along with an appropriately-spiced mango and tomato salsa.  Delicious!