Sort of Raw

I've had lots of questions lately about the raw food plan I set for myself last summer - Am I still eating raw?  How much of what I eat is raw?  Why in the world would you not cook your food?  Do you dehydrate your food? Etc.  So, yes, I'm still incorporating LOTS of raw food into my daily diet.  Am I all raw?  Well... no.  It's a lofty goal, and maybe someday I'll get there, but frankly, its not really sustainable for me and my family.  But I still eat a higher percentage of raw food than cooked food.  I like eating raw food because its easy on my digestive system, I can feel the immediate benefits of consuming live enzymes (which are lost when you cook food over a certain temperature) and raw foods provide lots of energy to my body and vibrancy to my life.  Also, I do not have a dehydrator and I don't eat dehydrated stuff very often.  I stick to the fresh stuff - greens, veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds.

So what does it mean to be "sort of raw"?  I juice in the morning (raw) and I drink coffee with cream (not raw).  For breakfast I enjoy fresh fruit (raw) and sometimes whole grain toast (not raw).  For lunch I tend to eat big salads with raw homemade dressing (raw raw raw).  In the evenings I cook a meal for my family and add lots of raw elements.  For instance, two nights ago I made veggie tacos.  I filled small whole wheat tortillas (not raw) with sauteed onions, garlic and zuchinni not raw).  Then I added dark leafy greens, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, salsa fresca (all of which is raw).  They were delicious!

Some days I get on a kick and make it a game to see if I can eat all raw all day long.  Its fun and good for me!  And some days, like yesterday, I take my son to Krispy Kreme to share a doughnut and a milk.  He had a great day at school and deserved a treat.  So did I.  For me, all my food choices must be balanced and sustainable.  All raw all the time would be a train wreck at this point in my life.  But, I really enjoy striving towards a diet that includes more and more raw food. 

Breakfast this morning was a pint of Green Lemonade and a 1/2 cup of coffee with half and half.   Then when I returned home from boot camp (by the way, class today was awesome!) and a jog I had a huge bowl of fresh fruit.  It was so pretty, I had to share it with you...

So that's the news.

I'm sort of raw and sort of not.