Raw food.  That’s what they call what my husband and I are eating these days.  It sounds primitive and wild, doesn’t it?  In just over a week of eating raw, however, we have both been surprised and stunned at how incredibly good food tastes when it’s fresh, organic, and not cooked.  AND surprised by how satisfied we are with just the right amount of food.   Strange.  Very strange.

And a bonus is that we’re both loosing extra pounds that were creeping up.  Yah, those disgusting extra blobs of fat that hang out around your belly and other places that we don’t want.  Now, as each day that passes propels me closer to the big 6-0  (that’s years old), I’ve decided I want to be rid of this extra padding- weight- flab-jelly roll stuff that’s lurking about.   I’m done with it.  Although I don’t think it’s done with me.  It clings like it’s going to stay forever.  Well, guess what, buddy.   Time to leave the nest.

Okay, so back to the raw food thing.  It’s really good, people.  I’m not hungry, I feel satisfied with really a lot less calories.  And I feel really, really healthy.  I can just tell, all these green things going into my body are good for me.  I just know it.  And you have to open your mouth and chew a lot.  My husband says that he’s ready to start swinging from a tree in the back yard as his chimpanze tendencies feel alive.  He makes the chimpanzee sound a lot these days…. hee hee.

It’s simple.  We start with green smoothies in the morning.  That mixture of greens of your choice, i.e., Swiss chard, spinach, or romaine lettuce….whatever green leafy thing you want.    Today we tried mustard greens which had a surprise spicy kick.  Then you add a piece of two of fruit, like a banana, a mango, or some frozen blueberries.   Add water, some ice, and flip the switch on the blender and voila!   A delicious green smoothie is all ready to give you energy and aliveness.   And the cool part is that it tastes so good.  Victoria Butenko has researched this extensively and seems to be the mother of this little cocktail. Check it out…. raw family.

Then we have a salad for lunch.  Now this isn’t just any salad, it’s a variety of fresh, vibrant red peppers, beets, golden and red, luscious zucchini, fennel, olives, blood oranges…whatever is in my line of sight goes in.  The fig balsamic dressing is to die for with this.  

Then for dinner once I made “pasta” with zucchini, not anything like what we think of as spaghetti noodles, but the raw, zucchini.  See I got this way cool petit hand operated  machine that cuts your beets, zucchini, daikon, sweet potato into spaghetti like strips.  And the sauce is to absolutely to die for….macadamia/almond milk creamy sauce on top.  It’s superb.   And, oh, there’s the walnut pate, the sunflower pate, and sun dried tomato hummus….no beans.  Will blow your socks off.  I love this stuff.

The amazing thing is that I don’t’ feel hungry.  The reason, I believe,  about eating raw is that when we cook stuff, we kill the valuable enzymes off in the food.  Then our bodies have to use our own enzymes to break the cooked food down and that’s a drag for someone like me at 60 because your body stops getting so clever at producing enough enzymes or the right ones or something.  Anyway, it all sounds good, eh?

Today I ate at Sacramento’s only raw food restaurant:  The Art of Food Living Community Cage and Tonic Bar. Check it out   www.theartoffood.org.  Richard, the owner,  is very eager to teach you or me  anything we want to know about raw food cooking.  In fact, he offers classes and makes a to die for chocolate cheesecake.  Really, it is outrageous.   Try it.