Eating raw

Neither my husband or I grew up eating what I would consider healthy food – lots of sugar, convenience foods, canned goods, margarine, Spam and Tang with not a lot of fresh fruits or vegetables on the side.  Skip ahead to 9 years ago.  At this point, we were just beginning our journey toward better health.   I was researching like crazy, both online and at the library. I found a lot of information on becoming a vegetarian, so we ate this way for a while.  Then, we took it a step further and decided to eat only raw foods.  We ate a lot of nuts, fruits, veggies, and raw cheeses, often mixed up in the food processor to make some very interesting concoctions.  We were the healthiest that we had ever been… and the skinniest!!    Over the years, our diet has changed to once again include meat (grass-fed from local farmers), but we still incorporate plenty of raw food into our diet.

There are so many benefits to eating raw!!  You naturally eat more fruits and veggies.  You have so much more energy.  Plus, when you cook your food, you destroy most, if not all, of the valuable enzymes.  And it just tastes good!

One of the best raw treats that I’ve found recently is from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, which I swiped from off of my friend’s blog.  (I swiped her photo, too.  It was prettier than mine.)  It is super simple to make and it is delicious.  You can swap out the dried pineapple with dried apricots and it tastes just as yummy.   Give it a try and let me know what you think!

"Donut" holes

“Donut” Holes

1 3/4 cup almonds (soaked in fresh water overnight)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups dried pineapple, chopped
2 cups pitted dates
1/3 cups plus 1/4 cup shredded coconut

Strain the almonds and discard the water.  Put first 3 ingredients in food processor and process into a fine powder. Slowly add pineapple and dates, mix well. Place mixture into a large bowl and mix in 1/3 cup coconut. Roll this into little 1 inch balls and roll them in coconut.