Grocery Escapades and Musings

Last night we went to the grocery store. My basket was filled with lots of greens -- kale, rainbow chard, Romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, dandelion greens, etc. I also had a couple bottles of G. T.'s Kombucha Tea because my mom is coming and I want her to taste it. Of course I also had lots of fresh fruit and some things like red peppers, cucumbers, jicima, cilantro, and dill. When we went to check out Phillip wanted to see the fish in the tank at the front of the grocery store (Yes, they have a huge saltwater fish tank inside the grocery store, this is Texas after all). I took Phillip over to see the fish and Wayne went through the checkout line.

I can see Wayne from where the fish tank is and the women who are running his lane are laughing and giving him a hard time about his grocery basket. One holds up the jicama and asks him what it is. He tells her and the other girl asks him how to "fix" that. Wayne is standing in the grocery aisle telling them how I cut it up like french fries and make my own ketchup (Thank you Boutenko's -- wonderful recipe), or how I make a corn salad with jicama, tomatoes, and cilantro and use it on raw tacos. The ladies are looking at him like, "Are you serious?" One of them finally asks, "How does your wife know how to use all of this stuff?" Then he explained that I was on a raw diet. They thought that was really cool, and they thought it was cool that Wayne really liked the food, too (all but the Kombucha, but I am still working on him).

The whole thing got me thinking, though, that before I decided to eat raw foods I had no idea what to do with this food either. I knew how to scramble eggs, make a pie or cake, grill a steak on the grill, and make a basic salad, but I had no clue how to really pick or prepare the things that are really good for me. I would pass by the greens section of the grocery store like most all of the other people I see at the grocery every time I go. Now, it is my favorite section to load up.

If you want to succeed on a raw diet it takes time to figure out what to eat, where to find it in the grocery store, and how to prepare it. It takes a little bit effort, because most of us are not taught the proper ways to eat (and there is a lot of temptation and pressure to eat things that are not so good for us). Once I started taking responsibility for what I was putting into my mouth, though, I found that I viewed food differently. I discovered tastes that had previously been foreign and learned to really enjoy my food because it tastes good and I know it is doing something good for my body. Now, it is not hard to shop at all. I know where everything I want is located and I don't even have to go into the interior aisles of the store. I do all of my shopping in the fruit and veggies and then skip over to the nuts and dried fruits, and finally to the almond milk and I am out the door -- much faster than the SAD shopping (Standard American Diet) I did before I changed my diet.

Let me assure you, there are LOTS of resources out there to help you along the way. When I started I googled raw food diet, raw food recipes, easy raw recipes and came up with tons of stuff! One of the websites that was extremely helpful to me as a complete beginner raw person was www.purejeevan.com. Check it out. It is very user friendly! This week, I will try and put one website up per night that I have personally found helpful. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Feeling Better

Today I am feeling much better. The raw foods are helping to wipe this allergy out of my system, and I am so glad! I actually did not have to take Benadryl all day. Needless to say I was very productive. I swept the kitchen, vacuumed the den and did almost all of the laundry. Then we went to the dance store and got Emma some tap shoes and ballet shoes. She started a new dance school that she loves. Everyone had some lunch and then Jake and Emma and I went to work on the schoolroom upstairs.

We are starting out home school after Labor Day, but we got all of their notebooks and folder labeled, put new paper in them, and divided their books up. We cleaned out our supply closet (we still have a little work to do here), and set up our bookshelves. Jake and Emma made their timeline and put it on the wall so they can start entering their history dates when we start. I attempted (for the 3rd time) to make Emma's and Jake's study schedule so I can begin putting the assignments in their books. I need more uninterrupted time to work on this, though. I also have a lot of work to do setting up their assignments.

I made dinner early because Phillip had soccer practice and Emma had tap class tonight. Wayne went with the boys to soccer and I took Emma to dance. On our way home we hit a new grocery store - Newflower's Farmer's Market. I was excited because they had my Kombucha tea on sale. I will have to go back when I have a little more time to browse because it looked like they had some good bulk items. They had some organic produce, but Whole Foods may still be my best bet. I am tired -- it has been a long day, but it was nice to be busy.

home again

Well, sometimes if you mess with fire you do get burned. I gave into a beach side weakness had ate crab legs and weakness, reasoning that a little cooked food wouldn't hurt me too bad and that shellfish was better than any kind of meat. However, yesterday on our way home I developed a light red rash and began itching all over my body. My ears, jawline, around me mouth, and hands were the worst. I also developed a wheezing cough and felt like I had a big rock sitting on my chest. We pulled in the driveway a little after midnight and I took two Benadryl and was able to sleep, but I woke up this morning and it started all over again, only this time my hands were beet red and swelling. Needless to say, I had to go to the doctor and get a steroid shot to help the allergic reaction. They told me to take 2 Benadryl every 4 hours around the clock until I was better. I slept for several hours and I am feeling better, but I learned a hard lesson.

A large part of going on a raw food diet was to listen to my body. When I ate 100% raw I felt so much better! I had lots of energy, no constipation or stomach upset, clear skin, and a general sense of well-being. My body spoke loud and clear to me that I was doing something good for it. It has now spoken loud and clear again, this time it said, "What the heck, we were doing so good. What did you have to go and eat that for?"

I am listening. This time it has been a little hard to ignore, actually. I've been to Whole Foods this evening and got all my favorite raw foods. I am sitting here right now drinking a G. T.'s Kombucha Mystic Mango raw tea. Tomorrow I am having my favorite spinach and banana smoothie for breakfast, a super sprouts salad for lunch, and heirloom lettuces and tomatoes for dinner. For snacks I have fruit and raw nuts and dried fruits trail mix. I am ready to feel better again and eager to listen to what my body is saying.