Raw Portobello Burger - And The Runaway Kid

As some of you know, we had our five year old grandson and seven year old granddaughter with us for two weeks. The idea was to feed them living, raw food for the entire time.

We drove to the store and bought some organic Portobello mushrooms, lettuce, avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and sprouts.

Here they are in their new, clean aprons.

(We miss those screamin' brats!)

The first thing was peeling the cucumbers.

Talk about concentration!

They were only allowed to start peeling half-way up on the cucumber.

I figured they'd want to use those fingers again.

I let them choose their own dishes, which they liked.

I collect fun dishes - which I like.

They started piling things on and I kept telling them how great it was going to taste.

(The power of suggestion! :)

A little bit of onion.

A few slices of cucumber.

Some sprouts. Pat, pat, pat.

A slice of tomato.

She's so proud!

(Or is that disguised fear?)

Putting the lid on.

And... here it is... the first bite!

This might be a good time to tell you that this little girl "is not a fan of mushrooms".

If it was me, I'd say she 'hates' them, but her Dad (my youngest son) taught her to say that instead. He actually 'hates' them too! Big-time.

She took that first bite, jumped off the chair, ran to the trash and spit it out!!

She apologized and said that she had to do that, or she was going to "bomit".

Bless her little heart for trying!

He actually liked his and ate it all. Yay!

The next day we made a really simple, but delicious, quick dessert:

We broke six bananas in four pieces each, and froze them for a couple of hours.

We put them in a food-processor along with one tablespoons of organic, raw

Cacao Powder. And raw Chocolate Ice-Cream was born!

(And she forgave me for the mushroom.)

Here they are - showing their true colors.

They're adorable and they're dorks.

They are "THE ADORKABLES"!!

(And they'll be back!)

Signing off for now,

gabriele

The Demise And Resurrection Of Mel-Mel

This is my little friend, Mel-Mel.

Or, so I thought.

In a recent conversation with a sales clerk, she happened to mention

that my "Mel-Mel" was actually a very popular cartoon character.

WHAAAAT?!! Say it isn't SO!!

But it is.

Knowing this, I can't let her play in my blog anymore. :(

And that makes me really, really - really sad.

We've had many fun adventures together!

Some, more fun than others.

We've met some very interesting characters along the way.

She's had her share of junk-food.

And she's been very helpful...

on several occasions.

But, now it's time to let her go.

"I wish you a fond farewell. Go forth and be a STAR!"

(But you'll always be little "Mel-Mel" to me.)

As she drove away and I wiped a tear from my eye, a thought occurred -

YES!!

Signing off for now,

gabriele & Mel-Mel

Raw Food vs The Standard American Diet-S.A.D.

As some of you know, I've been visiting my family in Oregon.

A lot of family. A lot of friends. A lot of food!

It was my awesome granddaughter's thirteenth birthday!!

There was cake. Great cake!

Even though I've been a raw-foodist for about two years now (with the occasional slip)

I made the decision to eat what everyone else was eating - "just to make it easier".

(Yeah, right!)

There were usually people in the kitchen and I needed room for my raw food preparation.

That was my reasoning. I think deep-down, I just wanted to see what it would feel like to eat whatever I wanted in the Standard American Diet again.

So I ate what everyone else did, but I took it - not "a step" further - I took it "a mile" further!

I ate junk food, more junk food - and even MORE junk food!!

(Much to the dismay of my family.)

My sugar-addiction raised its ugly head!!

During those two weeks, THIS is what it felt like:

Headaches or migraines daily

Dizziness

Facial swelling

Stuffy nose

Sinus pain

Blemishes

Ringing in the ears

Liquid in the ears

Bloodshot eyes

Blurry vision with and without glasses

Gum irritation

Sensitive teeth

Trouble concentrating

Trouble stringing a sentence together

Heart burn

Acid reflux

Bloating

Burping

Water retention

Weight gain (Duh!! No surprise there!)

Hand and finger cramps

Achy joints and stiffness

Tingling in hands and feet

Trouble getting up from a lying or sitting position

Extremely tired

Needing naps daily

And THIS is what it looked like.

Even my grandson!

This is what he looked like, the next day, after just ONE visit to a restaurant!

While he and my granddaughter were staying with us, and eating only raw-food for two weeks, they did SO well! That restaurant visit and eating S.A.D. only once, had its effect!

Here's what we usually look like.

(Both of these screamin' brats are home in Georgia now and we miss them SO much!)

Back to my Oregon trip -

Here's more stuff that got me!

And more.

My gorgeous seventeen year old granddaughter took me here -

a fabulous place with chocolate-concoctions I've only dreamed of! Yum!!

And more.

A nice greasy batch of scrambled eggs with all the trimmings.

But wait - there's more!

A Reuben that could choke a horse. (Yet SO dang tasty!!)

But here's the GOOD news!

I'm back to my raw-food ways!!

Beginning with...

A green-smoothie for breakfast.

Maybe some raw Celery Dill Soup with raw dehydrated Flax/Carrot Bread for lunch.

Or a bowl of raw Tomato Basil Soup with raw dehydrated Onion Bread.

Maybe a raw Jicama Potato Salad.

For dinner, maybe I'll have some raw dehydrated Flax Bread Pizza.

Maybe even with some raw Cheese topping.

But FOR SURE...

I'll have some of this raw Strawberry Cheesecake for dessert!!

Or a slice of this raw Chocolate Strawberry Torte.

(I didn't say a 'small' slice.)

Then there's always the raw Strawberry Banana Cream Pie.

Or the raw Chocolate Raspberry Torte.

And the not-to-be-sneezed-at (please don't) raw Apple Pie!!

But if I get that sudden sweet-craving and don't have a raw pie made,

here's my old stand-by...

A deeelicious, raw Chocolate and Vanilla Mousse, topped with ground nuts!

Ohhh yeahhh.

I'm not preaching to others to "go raw" (OK, sometimes I do:) but that's what works for me - what my body craves. Obviously.

And by the way, that list of symptoms - those were the exact symptoms I had, before I decided to go raw! After just a few weeks of eating raw foods - they went away!!

I spent years going from doctor to doctor trying to find out what was wrong with me, so that I could feel better!! None knew and just sort of dismissed me - or prescribed antibiotics!

Oh goody.

So, even though I'm home now and miss my wonderful family all across the country, like crazy (already!)

I'll be eating raw and healthy - and starting that awesome, killer P90X exercise routine again!

TODAY!!

Signing off for now,

gabriele

Happy Father's Day!

To all the Dads, the single Moms,

and everyone that also has the role of "father" in a child's life -

Thank you and God bless you for all that you do!!

Enjoy your special day!

Signing off for now,

gabriele