There is a little restaurant called Leaf near my home. The first time I went there, I didn’t know very much about raw food life. I remember I ordered a falafel wrap to go, and being used to one from Zankou, I thought it tasted pretty bad.

More importantly, that’s where I became aware of the Gabriel Cousens book, Conscious Eating. While waiting for my takeout, I had time to skim it. Months later, I would buy that book, and it’s another that pushed me towards raw eating.

I finally went back to Leaf today and ordered the Rockin’ Rawsagna. I probably should’ve gotten the falafel again to see if it tastes different, but I wanted something new. According to the menu, this is made with marinated squash noodles, spinach, marinara, rawcotta, and rawmesan cheese. From what I’ve read, these cheeses are made from nuts and/or seeds. This tasted good. It did cost $12 though, which is a reminder why learning how to prepare this stuff at home is important.

Leaf's Rockin' Rawsagna

I noticed they had Kombucha in the cooler, but didn’t get one. Those are tasty, but expensive. It could’ve been a placebo effect, but I did feel more energized when drinking one of those.

I think they provide free wi-fi there. I saw a couple of people on their laptops.

I realize I’ve visited only twice, but the place has an unfriendly, unwelcoming vibe to it. It might’ve just been me though, being socially inept.

I liked this salad, partly because it took less than five minutes to prepare. Spinach, grape tomatoes, avocado, and onion. The bottled sesame dressing is probably heat processed, which would make this meal less than 100% raw. Next time, use less than half an onion, more avocado, and add another kind of leaf.

My salad for lunch

I’m still eating raw. I’ve had no cravings for cooked foods so far, but doubts about this have crept in. Natural, probably. I’m not certain this is the best thing because there’s more to learn about it. I’ve read enough to know there are many who go raw and feel better than they did before. There seem to be a lot more positive stories than negative. Still, there are plenty of healthy people who do eat cooked foods.

Generally, my energy’s been up, especially in the mornings. I’m waking up early again (between 5 and 6) and feeling fine in the gym. This morning, I considered getting up at 4:30 (I was awake), but forced myself to sleep in another hour. This past weekend, I found myself getting a tired (or maybe just bored) in the early afternoon. I’m not sure if this is from the food or getting up too early.

Today is the seventh day. I don’t see a reason to stop, besides food boredom. The boredom comes from anticipating my next meal, but by the time I actually eat (or drink a green smoothie), I’m fully satisfied. Plus, I’m starting to enjoy preparing my food again, which lately consists of just cutting up fruits and vegetables and/or blending them.

Yesterday, I had the bright idea of adding almonds to my hummus. The recipes I found said to add either almond butter or soaked almonds. I went with the soaked, except I only soaked them for an hour. That didn’t work. The hummus still tasted good, but I wanted to know what it’d be like if I left the nuts in water overnight.

Soaked Almonds

Soaked and Dry

So, they get larger. I’ve read it’s supposed to make digesting the almonds easier too. I was just hoping they would make my hummus taste like almonds.

I used the same hummus recipe, except I added almonds first. When done, it looked the same as before. And it tasted the same. I used too much garlic again.

The green smoothie is the big deal when going raw. I had my first one tonight. Easy. Again using the Magic Bullet, I blended the following: spinach, a peach, a banana, and water. Just eye it. I used about two handfuls of spinach. The fruit taste overpowers the vegetable taste, just as Victoria Boutenko said.

Green Smoothie

Everyone says hummus is easy to make, but anything that requires a blender seems like a lot of work. It’s not. I just finished my first homemade hummus and it tastes great.

I looked at a few recipes online and it’s simple. I usually skip using a measuring cup or spoon. The ingredients: sesame seeds, olive oil, garbanzo beans, garlic, a lemon, and salt. A lot of recipes call for tahini, but that’s simple enough to make too, so I did. I’m currently using a Magic Bullet because I’m undecided on whether to get a Vitamix or Blendtec, or neither. The Magic Bullet works fine. All I did was blend the oil and seeds until that was pasty. Then I added the beans, garlic, lemon, salt, and some more oil. Really, just eye it. It’s hard to screw up. The one thing I would do differently is use a little less garlic, but it’s pretty good for a first try. I’m eating them with carrots.

hummus

Tonight, I had my last piece of cooked food for a while. I’m going to eat raw from now on.

I don’t know how long this will last. The last time I tried something like this, I gave up meat and haven’t had any since. That was January last year. I slowly transitioned to a vegan diet without thinking about it much. Giving up animals, dairy, and eggs was really easy. That happened in the middle of my last chicken dinner. I was just a little slow with giving up honey in my tea.

I’m doing blender comparison shopping now. Vitamix or Blendtec? Video of a Blendtec blending a sneaker.