Still Trying....

I'm still trying to find good savory raw dishes besides salads, sandwiches/wraps, and marinated veggies...which are all great.  People ask me all the time what I miss from the S.A.D. diet, or what am I craving that I "can't" have.  Honestly, I haven't missed animal protein at all.  What I HAVE missed is yeast risen baked bread.  Granted, I have eaten some leavened bread since this experience; sometimes I have some with dinner, as dinner is my "let loose" meal.

I'm not 100% raw right now, nor know if I ever will be.  My parameters right now are to be 100% Vegan (with the exception of being asked over for a dinner at a friend's, or eating out, which is a rarity), and about 75% Raw.  As of right now, I'm what Raw Foodists call "Raw 'till Dinner."  I'm cool with this stage; it's easy and workable around having a social life, and having compatible dinners with Steven in the evenings.  This way, I can cook a "normal" dinner consisting of an animal protein (for Steven) and two cooked veggie sides for both of us.  I usually incorporate something raw in the mix for me, like a raw cracker or salad.  Anyway, it's been way easy to maintain this structure.

For lunches/dinners, I'm trying to expand my savory raw food repertoire.  Salads, and sandwiches have been great, but I'm exploring more avenues, and especially trying to find a Claire-friendly substitute for baked leavened bread.  I've tried a couple raw bread recipes, but none of them have sufficed.  I'm trying another, more basic flavored, raw bread recipe this afternoon.  I have hope in this one...I think.

Yesterday for lunch I gave raw soup a second attempt, as my first raw soup attempt was NOT good.  I found a recipe for a raw Creamy Tomato Basil Soup that looked promising.  "Creamy," you ask?  Yes, creamy.  Vegans use nuts, especially cashews, as a dairy substitute.  It's a surprisingly very pleasing alternative!  So, the soup turned out not that bad.  Since I've made the non-raw, non-vegan version of this soup many times before, it will be hard for me to find a total winning replacement to its original, but it was definitely edible and good.  Maybe if I warmed it up some, it would be better.  I also had a raw dehydrated onion 'bread" to accompany my soup, which was good, but the onion was too over-powering.  I breathed onion fire breath all afternoon.  Hmph, not a failure, but not a total success, either.  Still trying...

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

And yes, I actually DO drink my green smoothies "green" by not adding blueberries.  Sometimes, I think you guys might think I'm lying to you will all my non-green green smoothies.  Here was this morning's...YUM!  I heart green smoothie time!