soup and salad lunch; raw stylez.

-large handful of organic baby spinach

-large handful of spring mix

-handful of cilantro

-2 tsp red wine wine vinegar

-2 tablespoons evoo (hills of lebanon pressed in a bottle)

-1 medium tomato

Blend. POUR. Garnish. **sprouts works great, it's almost like raw pasta with sauce**

endives and raw ginger for breakfast.

I was going to ask if it's weird to eat endives raw, in salad form, but I've been doing it for two days and am still alive, so I'm assuming it's perfectly fine. They're tasty, with a hint of shpiciness, and I have been enjoying them with evoo from the hills of Lebanon (contact me, I'll hook you up), and a little balsamic vinegar with a HUGEEEEEE TON of grated ginger.

Don't ask why, but I have been sneaking chunks of ginger from the fridge. Literally, just biting them off. Okay..not that savagely, but chewing them raw, and they taste epic! They burn, sting, then turn sweet in my mouth..I LOVE IT.

Please scroll down to admit your weird habits, akin to eating raw ginger, in the comment section below.

KELP VIRGIN.

I made seaweed salad for the first time today. It was insane. I bought a pack from china town the other day, and thought I'd give it a try. I soaked it for about thirty minutes, and yes...I played around with it. It had such a WEIRD texture. It was slimy, and rubbery. I felt like I actually resurrected a giant sea monster in my kitchen. I kept pulling and lifting and these long kelp strands were just taking over my sink. It didn't smell as bad as I thought it would, and taste-wise I have to get used to it but with the list of benefits running through my mind, it wasn't so hard to eat!

Recipe

about 2 arm's length kelp strands (PEOPLE, this was one pre-packaged strand cut in half lol)

cucumber + carrot julienned or made into ribbons with a carrot peeler

1-2T maple syrup/honey/agave/molasses

1 tsp. ginger powder

2T sesame oil

2-3T soy sauce/Nama Shoyu

sesame seeds for garnish

Soak the seaweed, make sure it is rinsed from its salt, sand, and grit. Snip off tougher parts, found usually on the ends. Pat strands dry, take kitchen scissors and cut into strips, or try rolling a strand and cutting in chiffonade way with a big kitchen knife (DON'T. cut yourself)

Benefits (a smidge from the long list of benefits)

• trace minerals
• protein
• rich source of iron, iodine
• helps to detoxify and clear mind and body

SO. Bottom line, buy your seaweed, soak, snip it, (GROW A MONSTER), then show it whose boss and eat it!

IT'S PERSIMMON SEASONNNNN.

My FAVOURITE fruit ever. has now. officially launched its season. How do I know this? Simply, because chinatown near Spadina and College has amazing deals.

Try, 12 for $5, or 7 for $2.

I went crazy, and of course I only have a few to take pictures of now..they've been eaten devoured. Also, I should mention that I made a new name for this fruit a few years ago, because I felt that persimmon didn't fully encompass the true textures and tastes of this fruit.

Pelatunia-singular (Can't you just taste the fruit in your mouth after saying that word??)

Kale Salad part 2.

Here's another salad, I made it this morning with some things lying around.

-1 avocado (small)

-smoked sea salt

-cumin

-2T lemon juice

-optional knob of ginger

(blend these then pour over kale)

I took the kale, de-stemmed, washed leaves, then cut them in a haphazard "chiffonade" way, for ease of chewing! The smoky flavour was great in this, and if you like shpiceyness, you could add some cayenne pepper.

don't forget to massage these babies.

sprouts are crunchy.

eating these like chips in the library is not such a good idea due to a high level of noise production..i've learned my lesson.

ps. a benefit for all students and people, eating raw WILL keep you awake. When I study I make sure to have fruits/vegetables and a ton of water. I've noticed that anything else, specifically grain or wheat based will cause me to fall flat on my face and go into deep sleep mode. Firstly, it freaks out other scholarly individuals in the library and second, it is NOT conducive to productive studying.

eat me.

Kale-cium Salad.

Found kale in my fridge this morning, and after making an ultra healthy (aka gross) smoothie for breakfast I washed, cut and left the leaves to marinate for lunch time.

[massaged with sea salt and olive oil from Lebanon]

-raisins

-tomatoes

-tahini drizzled

-paprika

-garlic minced

November Goals [relate indirectly to this salad]: I stopped making goals for a few months, I'm not sure why BUT they're back. Goal making is a part of my life.

1) Get healthier. To elaborate, I got some blood test results and found that I am low in Iron, HOWEVER, before you start freaking out I have to explain that I haven't been on top in terms of nutrition. I realized in the past two months (since my other blood test which showed things were balanced) I stopped eating sprouts, focused only on spinach as my green source, and forgot about lentils and beans. SILLY, right? Don't mess with your health. This was a wake up call for me, (Kale is a good source of calcium).

a) These are sub-goals from number 1. Follow a prescribed meal plan. I am making a few for myself for the coming months and will post them up. It's best to do them in shorter weeks vs. longer ones. 3-5 days is good.

b) Focusing on grains/legumes that are soaked, sprouted and occasionally cooked. Quinoa, Red rice, millet, amaranth and black eyed beans, garbanzo beans, alfalfa, and flax.

c) Removal of all extra sugar sources. One of my IDOLS in the raw food world recently added animal products back into her diet. I was devastated when I found out, however I have to attribute these symptoms that her as well as others experience to excess sugar, and cacao. I love desserts, and fruit, and cookies, and cakes, and muffins, and tarts, and everything that includes sugar but I know it does have a negative affect on your system. My goal is to focus on fruit sources for any sugary desires my heart screams to have.