The Rocky Road of Eating Raw

(Raw Chocolate Almond Milk pictured left) Well I have found both success and failure with the raw diet. During my initial raw phase, I lost 14 lbs, felt amazing, and started to look like I really wanted to look. My skin was glowing and my arms, legs and face really started to slim down. But with all diets of deprivation, its very easy to fall off the wagon. I managed to gain back 4 lbs of the weight that I lost and started to feel pretty rotten. Now I'm doing my best to find a great balance between raw and cooked food.

After we (DragonFly Dance Experiment) performed Dock Side Dance, I realized that I needed to be more conscientious about getting enough protein in my diet. Usually I would eat sprouted beans and avocado for my protein, but it really wasn't cutting it. After the performance I was terribly shaky, and my endurance while dancing left a lot to be desired. My muscles were screaming and the recovery from that show took quite a bit longer than I would have liked. I also made the decision to start running to improve my cardio vascular health and my muscular endurance. This brought me to the realization that I needed to put eggs and dairy back into my diet.

Inspired by my friend Priscilla Smith, I joined a farm coop, and decided to start purchasing raw milk, goat yogurt, cheese and farm fresh eggs for us to eat. I am happy to say that my muscles are so much happier. I was nervous, and still am to a certain extent about drinking and eating unpasturized dairy products, but I have done my research and I know that we are getting food that has been cared for lovingly and safely and we are eating nothing that these farmers wouldn't give to their own babies. I am happy to report so far so good! Here are a few recipes that we have enjoyed lately:

Raw Almond Milk (a little labor intensive and not very cost effective, but a yummy treat nonetheless)
1 cup raw almonds, soaked in filtered water for 6-8 hrs
4 cups filtered water
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
2 tbsp coconut oil (or if you can find it raw coconut butter...so delish!)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1 pinch salt

Drain soaked almonds and combine ingredients in your blender. Blend for 1-2 minutes, then strain through a cheese cloth or nutmilk bag. If you want to get fancy, throw a couple of tablespoons of raw cacao in the blender and you'll end up with some very nutritious and delicious raw chocolate almond milk.

Raw Raspberry Popsicles
1 cup raw goat yogurt
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 banana
Raw Agave Nectar (to taste)

Combine yogurt and fruit in your blender. Add the agave slowly and to taste. One of the things I've learned about agave is that its so much sweeter than sugar and its easy to overdo it. Poor mixture into your popsicle forms and freeze (usually about 4 hrs). Super yummy and healthy!