A Day In The Life: What do Melissa & Dan Eat? (Part 1)

One of our newer raw superfood clients asked me to give her a "day in the life" story of what Dan and I eat so she could get some ideas of how to be more and more raw in her food choices and perhaps even upscale some of the cooked things too.

So of course I'd like to share my efforts at cataloging "a day in the life" with you too. My intention is to give you lots of ideas, links to our favorite recipes, and the inspiration and permission to go explore what works best for you.


This is not your average Day In The Life story.
We've been consuming raw superfoods for over a year and a half now, so rather than tell you a specific day in our life, I thought I'd give you more of a sense of how we transitioned to raw superfoods, and what kinds of things we eat at what times of day.  Here are my caveats that give you even more perspective on what our model might mean for you:

1. We are not 100% raw foodists.  We do not have any judgment on what you or anyone else chooses to eat ... we're quite OK with whatever makes us feel good and whatever makes you feel good.  Less labeling can be a good thing.
2. We both work from home, so we always have easy access to our kitchen and flexible schedules for uncooking whenever we want.  I enjoy cooking and uncooking, but not to excess.  I prefer to have my kitchen time be quick, simple and fun so that I have even more time for the other fun things I do.  Since I used to work in the corporate world with a 2 hour commute one way (oy ve!) I'm empathetic to the standard work culture and I'll do my best to offer suggestions for that type of situation.
3. We both came from the Standard American Diet (SAD).  We both ate meat regularly, some fast food, and particularly loved pizza and ice cream.  I had at least one cup of coffee (or black tea) every morning in order to be awake and civil.  Dan drank Diet Dr. Pepper for his source of caffeine and sometimes energy drinks even though they caused his throat to hurt at times.  We wanted to be healthier, but we weren't looking for a dramatic life shift that was hard.
4. We won't eat something if it doesn't taste good.  We won't keep doing something just because it's supposed to be good for you unless we're really enjoying it.  We both believe that life is supposed to be, can be, and is easy and joyful as we go about creating and enjoying delicious experiences.

So, What Do You Eat?

I'll cut to the chase and give you some groupings of the raw foods that we currently love to eat.  Look for our parts 2, 3 and 4 of this day in the life story for more info on how you might transition to more raw foods and upgrade your cooked foods.

Breakfast

• Chocolate Bliss
• I make a gallon of Chocolate Bliss at a time using our favorite bliss recipe and I drink 8 ounces right after some pure water first thing in the morning.  I will usually drink another 8 ounces 2 or 3 more times throughout the day, depending on whether I have other stuff in the fridge to eat or how much I'm craving chocolate.  Bliss is really such a quick, good-tasting, and well-rounded nutritious food, I use it as a staple throughout the day whenever I crave it.
• This is also how I got off of coffee.  Watch this video on stopping coffee where I talk more about adding Guarana and Yerba Matte to my Chocolate Bliss in order to stop drinking caffeine and lose weight even more quickly.
• Nuts
• A handful of nuts here and there helps address any little hunger pangs and give you something chewy. We sometimes activate our nuts, especially when we're eating a lot of them, and sometimes we don't (again, it's all about using our time to do fun things).
• We almost always have almonds on hand.  We've also really enjoyed pistachio meats which we get from Sun Organic Farm and activate with Sun Fire Salt, and Dan especially enjoys Brazil Nuts.
• We keep about a quart of nuts easily accessible in jars on the kitchen counter.  The rest we store in the fridge so they keep better.
• Smoothies
• Smoothies are a great way of starting the day and highly recommended by lots of people.  Sometimes we make them.  Most often we just have Chocolate Bliss.  See below for more details on the kinds of smoothies we like (they are more often a mid-afternoon snack for us).

All-Day-Long Snacky Meals

• More Nuts as per above
• Nori Rolls (Gopal's Wraps)
• I found these raw snacks called Gopal's Power Wraps at our local natural grocery store (Natural Grocers and Roy's Natural Market).  I liked them so much, I made my own.
• Here's the recipes for the two flavors I really dig: BBQ Jerky Nori Rolls and Curry Nori Rolls.  You'll need a dehydrator to make them, or just go buy Gopal's Power Wraps.  I usually make about 3 times each recipe once a month to keep Dan and me well supplied.  Oh, and I store them in the fridge because I don't dry them as much as Gopal and they can get moldy if you leave them out for weeks on end.
• Yemiah's Creamy Almond Spinach Dip
• This is a favorite and it can last for a couple weeks in the fridge.  The recipe makes a nice big batch and I use it in all sorts of things all week long, as well as just dipping crackers and veggies into it as a dip.  You'll see it referenced below in other recipes (like wraps).
• You can also customize this dip quite a bit.  Once you've got the basics of the almonds and lemon juice for the creamy cheesy flavor, try adding in different veggies or spices for variety.
• Green Crackers
• Another fave to have on hand.  I make a big batch and keep them in the cupboard to munch on as is or dip in Creamy Almond Spinach Dip or whatever I have on hand.  I seem to alternate between making Nori Rolls one month and a bunch of crackers the next.
• Tomato Crackers with raw cheese
• This is a new recipe so stay tuned for links to the recipe.  I found this in the Sarma Raw Food recipe book (which I love!) and it's our new favorite.  Now I make green and red crackers in my dehydrator so we have a bit more variety.
• Dan loves cheese.  I love the taste, buy my body doesn't love cow's milk.  Goat cheese and I seem to get a long fine.  Lately we've been using a Raw Goat Milk Cheddar Cheese (again found at Natural Grocers).  I actually use it more when we make tacos than on crackers, but it's a nice alternative, especially if you love, Love, LOVE cheese. :)
• We've been playing with raw nut cheese recipes and some are quite easy.  Again, I'll post links when they are ready, or get the Sarma Raw Food recipe book (you'll be happy you did).
• Apples with almond butter or Fiesta Mole Dip
• I love apples.  I love the way they taste, the many different varieties, and how easy they are to travel.  They're also really good at regulating your digestion and giving you some balanced energy.  YAY for apples!
• I've always loved apple slices and peanut butter.  I've upgraded that to almond butter because it's a bit better for you than peanut butter.  If you have a food processor, you can also make your own almond butter (great money savings) by simply putting almonds in the food processor and grinding until creamy (about 30 minutes).
• The Fiesta Mole Dip is a favorite dip that I always enjoy and never get tired of.  I especially like it with granny smith apples because their tartness balances nicely with the tomato spice of the dip (go figure).  I also enjoy dipping celery and snap peas in the Fiesta Mole Dip.
• Carrots in Hummus
• You can get raw hummus and hummus made from things besides chickpeas, but I just get a nice big tub of organic hummus from Costco.  I can munch on baby carrots and hummus for hours, or dip a few raw crackers in there too.
• Celery sticks
• Celery is a really nice balance to Chocolate Bliss - the sodium and water of the celery really help your body to flush toxins out.  Dip celery in Fiesta Mole Dip, eat it between sips of Chocolate Bliss, or just eat it straight.
• Bananas
• We also love bananas.  They often go into our smoothies, but sometimes we eat them straight too.  In all our adventures of new raw food recipes, it's nice to remember the value of pure, unadulterated fruit.
• Here's a tip:  if your bananas are too ripe, just freeze them, skin and all.  When you're ready to make a smoothie (or a raw ice cream!) simply soak the banana in luke-warm water until you can easily slip off the peel.  Your frozen banana is a great sweetener for any smoothie.
• Avocado with  Fiesta Mole sprinkled on top
• I love avocados and I love the flavoring of  Fiesta Mole.  Once I learned to keep ripe avocados in the fridge, I've been enjoying them regularly because I can keep many in the house without feeling like I need to eat them quickly before they get too ripe.  My simple snack is to spoon the avocado into bowl and sprinkle the  Fiesta Mole powder on top.  Simple as that and oh so yummy.  Particularly good when I crave potato chips because I'm getting good fat and salt (in the mole).  Just not so crunchy.
• Easy Guacamole
• Here's what I do: spoon out an avocado into a bowl, sprinkle on a Tbsp or so of lemon juice (from the Santa Cruz organic lemon juice bottle I keep in the fridge), sprinkle on some Sun Fire Salt, maybe sprinkle on some  Fiesta Mole Powder, mash it up a little with my spoon, mix well and enjoy.  Really, I'll eat this straight up.  Or maybe put it with some raw crackers when they're handy.
• Chia Pudding
• This may seem like a dessert to you, but I will eat it all day long.  It's a very filling, tapioca-like pudding that you can customize in many ways.  The less sweetener you use, the more savory it will taste.  Visit this upgraded chia pudding blog posting where I show some other ways to play with the recipe.
• Chocolate Bliss Kisses
• These are great for a chewy version of Chocolate Bliss, to satisfy a candy craving, for traveling, or just because.  The original recipe calls for many individual ingredients or you can simply use your Chocolate Bliss Powder.  Here's the bliss kisses recipe posting with my comments on how to adjust the recipe for travel (i.e. use cacao butter instead of coconut oil).
• Trail Mix of Nuts, Goji Berries, Cacao Nibs
• I'm not a big trail mix fan, but if I were, this would be my favorite.  Simply make a bag of your favorite nuts, some goji berries (very tart and chewy) and some cacao nibs (like dark chocolate).
• The messy version of this is to pour some Vanilla Agave Nectar over the goji berries and cacao nibs.  It's a great tasting combination and fun if you like to lick your fingers. :)

Smoothies

• Hemp Milk straight up or in a smoothie
• Hemp milk is really filling (and high in protein).  Our hemp milk recipe tastes like a chai milk and way better than the hemp milk in a carton I bought at the store.  I drink it straight or mix it into a fruit smoothie for a really filling smoothie that lasts a long time.  When we put hemp milk into a smoothie we don't add any sweetener because the fruit of the smoothie is sweet enough.
• Green Is Good Smoothie
• This is one of my standards and favorites.  I really like the way Vitamineral Green tastes in this and I always have very regular, smooth bowel movements when I include this in my diet.  Simple and yummy!
• Green Smoothies (Boutenko style)
• Wow, I didn't have a post for this yet!  Stay tuned for a video soon.  In the meantime, here's the very simple recipe:  2 Cups water, 2 pieces of fruit (e.g. 1 apple and 1 pear), a handful of green leaves (e.g. lettuce, spinach, kale, chard, collard, cilantro, celery tops, etc).  Blend well in a Vitamix or other high-powered blender.  This will keep 3 days in the fridge.
• This version of a green smoothie amazingly tastes like the fruit in the smoothie and not like the bitter greens.  Stay tuned for more details on why this version is so great (and even better for you and easier than juicing).
• Juicing
• We have a juicer that we don't use very often.  It takes too much effort to clean (and needs to be cleaned pretty quickly after juicing).  I prefer Green Smoothies instead.  If I were out in the world more, I might buy the Odwalla or Naked Juices, but I get a bit tired of those pasteurized flavors too.
• When I do juice, I really like this combo: 1 apple, 2 celery sticks, 3 kale leaves and half a lemon freshly squeezed.
• Fruit and Flax seeds or the kitchen sink variety
• Grab a banana, some frozen fruit, some almond milk (store-bought), a couple tablespoons of flax seeds (for digestion regulation) and whatever other superfoods look like fun.  Blend away!
• Goji Lemonade
• This is more of a drink than a smoothie, but it's packed full of superfoods and extremely satisfying.  It's a very hydrating drink which speaks to the important point that hunger is often really just your body saying it needs more hydration. Next time you feel hungry, drink some pure water first (or some Goji Lemonade).
• Elixir Craft
• Since I learned elixir craft from Daniel Vitalis in the winter, this is more my cold-weather version of a superfood smoothie.  I'm fascinated by super herbs so I expect you'll learn more from me in this area soon. In the meantime, you can try this one elixir recipe I've posted.  It takes a bit of work, but it is really filling and I've easily kept mine in the fridge for a week.

Wraps
Wraps are a great replacement for sandwiches.  They're chewy, packed full of flavors, filling, and don't require any bread. :)  Oh, and you'll notice that I don't list salads in our "day in the life".  I like salads, but I don't like making them (unless somebody else has already sliced and diced and prepared all the ingredients).  These wraps and their fillings are lots easier!

• Nori sheets wrapped around avocado, almond spinach dip, or nut pates
• Nori sheets are an easy wrapper if you are going to eat your wrap immediately (otherwise they get soggy from the fillings).  I like making little sushi-like rolls by spreading a pate or dip on the nori sheet, adding some lettuce, sprouts, avocado, tomato or other fillings, rolling the nori and then slicing it.
• Here are links to some of my favorite fillings:  Yemiah's Creamy Almond Spinach Dip, Pumpkin Seed Pate, Mock Tuna Salad
• Leaves (lettuce, swiss chard, collard greens, kale) wrapped around nut pates, taco eat, thai veggie wraps
• Having a variety of leafy greens in your diet is good.  You're getting a good variety of vitamins and minerals and you're not getting too much of one kind of bitter alkaloid (so don't keep eating only one kind of green).
• Depending on the strength of the leaf, you could make these wraps in advance.  They're often easier to eat than Nori since the leaves are easy to bite through.  Here are my favorite spreads for this kind of wrap:  Taco Nut Meat, Thai Veggie Wraps, and Pumpkin Seed Pate.
• I should mention that the Taco Eat recipe makes a LOT of taco meat filling.  I keep some frozen and on hand.  The Thai Veggie Wrap cabbage filling also freezes well which is good because a head of cabbage can make a lot of filling!

Soups
There's a lot you can do with raw soups and I'm only just beginning to explore this area.  Stay tuned for more.  The nice thing about raw soups is you can heat them by blending them, put them on the stove on low until warm to the touch, or simply enjoy them cold (which I do often).

• Fiesta Mole soup
• The Fiesta Mole Powder makes a really yummy gazpacho style soup. I particularly like it with chunks of avocado in it.  We've also made it with chunks of tomato, bell peppers, corn niblets, and/or hemp seeds.  I tried it with edamame (shelled soybeans) in it, but they were too chewy for me.
• Celery Sunflower soup
• This soup is really warming and packed full of superfoods.  And it tastes really good too! Go figure.
• Thai Bliss soup
• You'll have to stay tuned for this recipe.  I got it from The Raw Food Detox Diet book by Natalia Rose and it's awesome!  Coming soon!

Desserts
I make a dessert to keep in the fridge or freezer about once a week or two.  Typically I don't crave sweets as much since I have Chocolate Bliss available, but sometimes I crave a sweet non-chocolate-bliss munchy at night and regular desserts just don't taste as good to me anymore.

• Raw Cheesecake
• So many variations based on the toppings you choose!  We keep this in the freezer so we can eat it like an ice cream or if we're patient enough, leave it cut on our plates until it defrosts to a more room-temperature cheesecake experience.  I'm not often that patient because it tastes great frozen.
• Raw Apple Pie
• This recipe is so quick and easy!  Keeps in the fridge for about a week.
• Chocolate Bliss Kisses
• As mentioned above, these are great chewy snacks.  I can eat about 5 of them non-stop at night and still get to sleep just fine.
• Chocolate Cake
• I craved chocolate cake one night and knew I wouldn't like any of the wheat-based options available at the store.  So my friend googled raw Chocolate Cake recipes for me, we altered it for what I had on hand, and came up with this.  It stays in my freezer for whenever I have another craving.  Tastes especially yummy in a bowl of coconut milk (instead of ice cream).
• We've made many different kinds of desserts and there are a lot of great raw options.  If you have a sweet tooth, check out the other raw recipes at Loving Superfoods or simply search the internet for the raw recipe of the dessert you crave.

Get Started!

Wow, if you're still reading this extremely long blog post, I think it's time you go find something yummy to eat!  I learned a lot about raw foods and superfoods and some great recipes simply by playing around in the kitchen and looking things up on the internet.  Go have fun!  And call or email me if you have questions or specific cravings you would like some help figuring out how to upgrade.

Stay tuned for the additional parts of this Day In The Life diatribe:

Part 2:  Cooked Foods and Cooked / Raw Combinations We Eat

Part 3:  How Do You Transition To More Raw Foods?

Part 4:  What Tools of the Trade Do You Start With?

Enjoy your journey!

With lots of Love,

Melissa

(with Dan's stamp of approval that, yep, it's a day in his life too) :)