Last time I was super excited about my dinner at Quay restaurant. Well that has been and gone and it was an amazing experience. Not so much for the food (sorry to say), but for the look of delight on my boy's face when he dug into that snow egg. It was worth it just for that. I've never seen anyone, let alone a not so dessert orientated person, love something so much. He actually went on to describe each layer. VERY cute.
Not to say the food was bad, it was not. The food was beautiful and fresh but I just found it a little bland. I know it's because it's obviously meant to be eaten with whatever animal protein they put in and taking that away disturbs the fine balance of flavours and textures so I'm not complaining. I knew what I was getting into........but there was still a little part of me that hoped that they would get a little creative. A fruit salad for dessert? Not for that price!
But this is not a restaurant review, and my experience (food only) is just my opinion and nothing else. I still think they make amazing food and everything that came to the table was impeccably presented. And the last thing I'll say is that we had THE best seat in the place, thanks to my lovely friend Dea for organising it.
Now to what's been happening since then. As you know, I did the liquid detox, that was good and I highly recommend it. And then I was meant to do gluten-free October. I must admit, I have failed that miserably!!
You see, I have this routine at work where I'll take my break, go for a long walk, and on the way back, stop at the organic bread shop, get a soy flat white and a vegan fruit bun (best going around). Now, I love this little routine of mine and breaking that was worse than going gluten free.
So, for that reason, I have not being able to do gluten-free October. The smell of their lovely sourdough rolls and those damn gooey, fruity buns are just way too much for this girl to bear!! Damn you organic bread bar, why are you so damn tasty and deliciously yum? Really, if you are in the neighbourhood, get yourself there and give their bread a go, they also make a great coffee.
So, how do I break this little routine of love? I do something radical that's what.
I go on a 21 DAY RAW VEGAN ADVENTURE!!
Yes friends, it's true, nothing simple for this crazy girl. Is it the green smoothies going to my head? Maybe.
I figure the only way to do something right is to just throw yourself in the deep end.
So today is day 1, and I chose today because it will mean that day 21 will culminate in doing the raw food workshop at Sadhana Kitchen. A little treat for all my hard work.
I don't think I've really thought this adventure through, otherwise I probably wouldn't have done it. It dawned on me today that for the next 21 days, well 20 now, I won't eat anything warm or enjoy a hot soup, e.t.c.
ARGH! How will I cope?
Oh well, decision has been made so here I am.
Breakfast and lunch are easy, but what about dinner? I normally love baking veges, I love eating quinoa with everything, and nothing beats a warm pudding with almond custard when you want some comfort food.
I don't have a dehydrator which is used a bit I imagine, but I do have this cool little tool called a spirooli. If you are thinking of trying a raw diet, even for just a little while like me, I highly recommend getting one. And it's not like you won't ever use it again. For under $40, it's not a bad little gadget to have. But to that later.
Here's how my day went today.
Breakfast
Green Overnight Oats
Serves 1
Ingredients
1/3 cup wholegrain rolled oats
1 banana
1 cup spinach/kale
200 ml almond milk
200 ml coconut water
1 TBS chia seeds
1 TBS hemp seeds
1 tsp raw mesquite powder
1 tsp spirulina
Handful of berries
Method
Blend all ingredients together except for oats. Place your oats in a bowl or whatever container you're going to be eating it from tomorrow, and pour in your green smoothie. Stir to combine and refrigerate overnight. Top with fresh berries the next day and enjoy.
Morning Tea
I normally have a coffee (and a fruit bun!) but I can't have that now, so instead I made myself a juice.
Purple Haze
Ingredients
1 green apple
1 pear
1/2 lemon
4 spinach stalks
2 cos lettuce leaves
1 cucumber
1 knob of ginger
1 beetroot
2 carrots
3 stalks of celery, tops included
Method
Place it in your juicer and drink that baby ASAP!!
Lunch
Sushi and Salad with Tahini & Tamari Dressing
serves 1
Raw vegetable sushi
1 nori sheet
alfalfa sprouts
red capsicum strips
yellow capsicum strips
cucumber strips
avocado slices
Salad
mushrooms
broccoli
red capsicum
Dressing
2 TBS unhulled tahini
1 TBS tamari
2 TBS water
1 TBS lemon juice
sesame seeds to sprinkle on top
Pickled ginger
Method
You will need a bamboo mat for rolling.
Place the nori sheet on top of bamboo mat, spread the top with sprouts, making sure you leave about 1 cm at the edge so that it can stick and make a perfect roll.
Arrange your vegetables close to one edge, and with the bamboo, roll towards the other edge, holding tight as you roll in order to make a neat roll.
Add a little bit of water to the exposed edge so that the roll seals and you don't get any explosions.
Chop up the vegetables for your salad and arrange on the plate.
For the dressing, mix all ingredients together until you get a runny but thick consistency. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. You will have enough dressing left over to use on another salad if you don't eat it all as you go :)
Obviously you can use any vegetables you desire and try different types of sauces for dipping. This is just what I had at hand.
It was yummy, fresh, and surprisingly filling. I just love the crunchiness of the vegetables, especially the raw broccoli.
Now to the Spirooli. For something that is advertised as a meat grinder, it definitely gets a lot of work moonlighting as a raw food kitchen MUST.
Dinner
Zucchini Pasta with Basil and Spinach Pesto
Serves 2
Ingredients
4 zucchini
2 cups basil leaves
2 cups spinach chopped
1/3 cup avocado
1/4 cup raw pine nuts + a few for garnish
1 clove of garlic
2 TBS nutritional yeast
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
2 TBS lemon juice
zest of above lemon
6 sun dried tomatoes, cut into strips
10 kalamata olives, sliced
Method
Use the spirooli to create your zucchini pasta, put aside.
Alternatively if you don't have one, just julienne your zucchini.
In a food processor or blender, place all your ingredients except tomatoes and olives.
Blend until you get a creamy consistency.
Mix with your pasta, tomatoes and olives.
Serve and sprinkle with some whole pine nuts.
I had to finish it all off with something sweet, so I whipped up a tropical fruit smoothie.
Tropical Smoothie
Serves 1
Ingredients
1 banana frozen
1 mango cheek
1 cup papaya chopped
1/2 cup pineapple chopped
1 cup coconut water
2/3 cup full fat coconut milk
Shredded coconut for garnish
Method
Just blend it already!
Throughout the day I also munched on fruit and had a few of dates and raw nuts (i know, i know, my sweet tooth)!!
Surprisingly, I didn't miss my coffee, though I will miss my barista and the whole routine of it :(
But it won't be forever, coffee and fruit buns, we have not broken up, we're just having a little break from each other, and think of the make-up munch? Ooh, I'm swooning as I type.
So, here I go again, into the unknown, attempting to gather as much information as possible about this way of eating. I have to say, so far so good, but then again, it's always easy to be enthusiastic at the beginning.
With a little bit of luck, a lot of positivity and hopefully some help from my friends, I'm sure this will be another adventure/challenge I can get through.
Gluten-free October, you have not completely defeated me, I've just found a new way to get through you. Wish me luck!
Love,peas and mung beans
xxb
No comments:
Post a Comment