def-in-ish-un

I like fluid terms. Words like clean, fun, delicious, and love all mean different things to different people. Add healthy, vegetarian, vegan and raw to that same category.

When my husband and I first told people we were vegan, suddenly the animal protein police came out in full-force. Random folks and friends alike all wanted to "help" us stay on the diet. Raw has been a similar experience.

But I am reminded to share with you the importance of defining your own diet. And let me encourage you to fight against the legalistic urge--eat for health, eat for life. Pray about it. Study and research it. Watch your body's responses. And above all, DO NOT stress yourself out about it. Do not create unrealistic goals or add extra pressure. Give yourself grace and eat for life--the kind of food and preparation of food that most gives you life and adds to your life.

For instance, when my husband and I first started raw, we went cold-turkey and hard-core. I would head to the farmer's market, buy all the fresh veggies and fruit I could find and then come home and eat it all week long. I didn't know about raw food recipes! I didn't realize that people lived this way and educated others. (This is a short-sight on my part. My very own mother-in-law had been talking about this for months, but I just didn't make the connection.)

At any rate, this unconventional method worked for us. And now, after 8 months of hard-core raw, we have incorporated about 10% cooked food into our diet. But we are still raw-foodists. We get to define it. Because we get to live it.

When it comes to your diet and lifestyle, don't be afraid to experiment. There are no hard and fast "rules." Don't be afraid to go extreme or keep it mainstream. But do your own research. And do follow your heart.

Even after the classes, the books, the websites and all the research, my favorite way to prep food remains going to the market, picking up the freshest of produce and just eating it! My heart knew what to do all along. And I love the confidence and comfort that comes from following it. It helps keep me in love with raw food and my life.

Consider Gardening, Lately?

I just found the greatest website: http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/. This site is local to the Phoenix area, but is an amazing resource on sustainable agriculture. From their homepage:

"The Phoenix Permaculture Guild is a local 501c3 education organization with a mission to create in the ground green living solutions. Our community based learning model utilizes the skills of our community to deliver unique opportunities for us all to learn new skills."

Way cool. I am hooked to this website (I set up an identity and everything the first day I found this!).

What excites and inspire me the most is how they make gardening seem doable.

As I heard on the radio this morning that the FDA has approved irradiation on certain raw produce to eliminate salmonella, my heart sank. What do we have left if even our raw food is no longer raw?

Last winter I felt the pull to garden. My husband and I felt certain we could get our green act together in time for fall, but as of yet, it's only been a lot of talk.

With the latest from the FDA and the encouragement of the Phoenix Permaculture Guild, I feel called to garden. I am beginning to think anyone who takes their life and well-being seriously may want to do the same. Let's not allow the FDA to determine the course our life will take.

P.S.
I never thought I would become the extremist that I think I now am. I am beginning to wonder, though, if it isn't me as much as them (the FDA, the lobbyists, the brand-powered companies, etc.). Something to ponder at least...

The Tyranny of the Urgent

This title came from an essay I read in college. It described how our constant need to go, go, go accomplishes less and less and distracts us from what is really important. I can't remember all of the essay right now (and hope I am remembering this part accurately), but it beautifully and effectively described how we are losing our lives to "busy-ness."

I see that no where better than with the SAD. Our need to hurry here and there slowly and steadily edged out family meals--breakfast and dinner. We can now get breakfast in a single bar and eat it in our car or at our desk. We drive thru dinner and eat out of paper wrap in the car on our way to this thing or the next. Lunch, well, I don't know one person in my office who actually takes a lunch break on a regular basis. They often opt for some variation of the breakfast bar or drive thru.

These options do deliver: We do get there faster. We do stay at our desks that much longer.

But at what cost?

Rising above the tyrannical urgencies of life has been a struggle. But I'd rather fight a known evil than blindly allow everything else in my life to rule me.

Kudos

I did so much better on this trip than all the others. I packed my veggies. Picked up the extra sprouted lentils my girlfriend said I could have. Stayed hydrated. Ate meals of just greens. At Johnny Rockets, they had Boca burgers in stock. And although cooked and between two enriched white buns, it was the best vegan option I could think of. (Their salads of iceberg lettuce and KRAFT packaged italian high fructose corn syrup dressing sprinkled with cheddar cheese represented so much the antithesis of living food that I couldn't have ordered it with a straight face.)

I saw summer vacation evident in kids on the street with ice cream and my own sisters sharing a chocolate shake. But when I walked into the Whole Foods off of Ocean Ave, my summer vacation in Orange County finally became fun.

I think back to all my other vacations. Mint chocolate chip ice cream. Hot dogs. Mexican food. Cocktails on the pier. A salad from Johnny Rockets would have instilled a strong sense of healthy balance back then. I might have been a little wider around my mid-section, but nothing to worry about.

Then today when we went kayaking and I rowed my heart out (which was admittedly pathetic next to my husband), I enjoyed myself so much. Even under the sun and physically strained, I had fun. When we got back to the harbor and drove to lunch, I had no headache. Felt the strain, obviously, but not at all the exhaustion and pain I expected. Everyone was so exhasuted that lunch was the quietest meal we had ever had--except for all my chattering. I just wasn't tired.

Then, with some pleading and begging, I managed to finagle a stop into the Whole Foods just walking distance from the car. It was like walking home--but in a good way. I found my raw cacao and then my sister showed me a local company's raw food line. I bought their raw vegan cherry cheesecake and finished it before I made it back the car. I even savored the few licks I got from my messy fingers. Earth Cafe, Where Food Lives packed a great slice of home for me.

For all it's commercialism and "regular" SAD food, Whole Foods really deserves kudos. Not so many would be so daring. But then again, not so many would have my appreciation.

Vacations are a great escape. But there's nothing better than keeping what you know and love while enjoying the sun and surf of California. With cherry cheesecakes and farmers markets, my vacations are becoming a perfect balance of home and away.

The Hydratic Equation

No matter where you live, hydration is everything. And it's not just about drinking enough water.

Water is critical for survival. My grandma once told me about a man imprisoned either as a POW or some other type of political persecution who used water to heal the other prisoners of all sorts of diseases and ailments. When I personally was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease (at the age of 16 no less), they cited dehydration as a severe concern. In fact, I used to suffer from headaches about once a day. And sinus headaches every so often that were so insufferable I would simply go to bed and lose a day or two because the pain hurt too much to function.

By taking time to de-stress my own heart (through exercise, hiking, prayer, etc.) and drinking crazy amounts of water, I was amazed to find my headaches vanished. I literally spent the early part of adolescence certain that they would discover I had a terrible brain tumor. My headaches were severe and frequent. But now they are rare and never the severity they used to be.

Water has done amazing things for me, but I also know that my body needs hydration in other forms, too. Water is an excellent cleansing tool and cell hydrator, but our bodies also need hydration in other forms, like for joints, blood sugar and heart health. Enter: Omega 3 essential fatty acids. Get yours today!!

I was so discouraged when I started experiencing headaches after my yoga classes. I was drinking the water, breathing...I didn't know what was wrong. Then one day I ate an avocado after class and the headache disappeared. I was amazed! Thinking it was just a fluke, I tried it again. And again. It still works.

Here's how you can incorporate more omegas in your raw diet (or SAD):

• Grind whole flax seeds and add them to everything! Your body can't digest the whole seeds but the flax meal can go rancid quickly. So buy the whole ones, keep 'em in the fridge and grind 'em when you need them. I will post my morning flax recipe at the bottom.


• Take an avo with you. In your lunch, in your bag/purse just keep 'em handy. They don't need to be refrigerated and their hard exterior can handle a day of errands like pros.


• Substitute flax/hemp seed oil for olive oil in dressings. The flavors vary but the nutritional values are without compare. They are also slightly more expensive, so go easy at first.


• Make some crackers! Flax seeds and chia seeds make great, crispy crackers that are chock full of omegas and taste wonderful! I'll also post a recipe for those at the end.

Please use today to take control of your health. Someone once said, "If I don't care of my body, where else will I live?" God has entrusted us with so much. But He doesn't want us to do it alone. I encourage you to take it all before Him.

2 Thessalonians 5:24, "Faithful is he who called you and he also will bring it to pass." Let Him start this good work in you and then watch as He finishes it. He is such a loving Father.

Recipes:

Flax seed Pancakes/Cereal:

• 1 cup flax seeds, ground in coffer grinder until flour-like consistency


• 2 tablespoons coconut oil


• Berries/fruit of choice cut up


• Agave nectar or honey (optional)

Cut the coconut oil into the flax meal in a bowl (or if your oil is like mine, pour it in the meal). Mix it by hand with a spoon until the meal is moist. Top with fruit (I love diced apple/peaches/banana) and drizzle agave (like you would pancake syrup, but be careful--it can be overpowering. Start small and add as needed). Voila!

Flax seed/Chia seed crackers:

• 4 cups, whole flax seeds (soaked 4-6 hours--they will become gelatinous! This is really fun for kids to see/play with. It feels much like slime....)


• 1 tablespoon lemon juice


• Pinch of Celtic/Himalayan salt


• Spices/herbs to taste. This is where you let your creativity take over. Add chili flakes/cayenne pepper for some kick (just go slow--they get really spicy), or some cacao and agave for some sweet. You can even just chop your fav herbs (parsley, thyme, basil) for veggie crackers. Incorporate tomato for sundried tomato cracker. Just taste as you go.

Stir all ingredients together and spread thinly and evenly on a teflex dehydrator tray. The thinner the spread, the crunchier the cracker. Dehydrate for 6 hours and then flip and dehydrate that side for another 6 hours or until it reaches the desired crispiness. Voila!

H20, Love and other works of God

I eat raw food because God pursued me in it. The idea of eating salad day in and day out, repulsed me. But how often do we take the word of God and immediately put ourselves in self-assumed bondage?

Do not, thou shalt not...this is how so many of us see God.

Raw food seems like the ultimate expression of that kind of kooky bondage.

But it's not. It's just really not. When it came to eating raw food, all I thought was, "Thou shalt not eat, do not eat, etc." And to be frank, I just wanted one part of my life that was mine! For crying out loud, I do good things. I work on my marriage. I try to be the best sister, daughter, friend, co-worker, employee that I can be. LEAVE MY FOOD ALONE!

But after three very real attempts by the Lord to get my attention regarding eating raw food, I couldn't resist. He pursued and I could not resist.

I started the very day I received the third "message" to eat raw. I didn't read a book on it. I didn't receive an education in it. I went to no one to discuss it. I just did it.

And I found freedom.

Isaiah 55:7-9. "For my ways are not your ways, neither are my thoughts your thoughts, declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

My natural inclination is to see the word of God as bondage, a sacrifice on my part. But it is not. It is a sacrifice on God's part to bring life and freedom to my very being--mind, body, spirit. His ways are not my ways and my thoughts are not his thoughts. I am so blessed that He is willing to use something as simple, yet powerful as food to demonstrate this to me. And set me free in the process.

A new-age raw recipe book talks about the most important ingredient of all: love. No matter what you're making, what you're eating, if it isn't made with love it will not nourish as it should. When I cook/prep out of my own strength, it is rarely made with love. But as the Lord works through me to prepare meals, I am freed to let His love fill our very food. There's nothing new age about that: man cannot live on bread alone, but on the very word of God--who is Christ Jesus!

As a new friend reminded me last night:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength,

but you would have none of it." -Isaiah 30:15

Through drinking plenty of water, letting the love of God through Christ dwell in me and being alive and well, I am free.

So hard...can't go on...

The next raw food book I read better have a whole chapter devoted to sticky social situations as a raw food-er.

We have a friend, whom we love dearly but haven't seen in months, who invited us over for dinner. She and I had gone out to lunch a while back and I didn't make my eating habits main conversation but just ate a huge fruit salad and mentioned briefly that we try to eat raw, vegan food.

I never expected that she would make us chicken for dinner--organic chicken she bought especially for us from Whole Foods. That she was making from a special recipe. That she was trying out for the first time. Just for us.

You know, no pressure.

As we hung out in the kitchen, watching her prepare the poultry, I determined in my heart that I would make no mention of our veganism. But my husband couldn't watch her make it, just to watch us avoid it on our plates. So, he told her. She laughed out loud, certain we were being silly. "You are joking, right?" She laughed, slicing the raw chicken parts into thin strips for the grill.

So hard to say no. We smiled and apologized, I died in my heart, but told her about the vegan thing. So we ate salad and risotto (like I was going to tell her we don't eat cooked rice!) and she felt horrible.

But she brightened up when it came time to serve dessert--special dessert she had bought just for us from Whole Foods. A real treat that she never buys just for herself but wanted to share with us.

When she brought out the caramel custard cups, we oohed, aahed and ate. No questions asked. I couldn't believe I was actually allowing the white satan (refined sugar) to enter my mouth, but it did. And I even swallowed.

I don't ever want my ideals to wound another person. Granted, there is a right and a wrong. Truth is not "up to interpretation." But when someone I know and love has gone out of their way to bless me, I am going to receive it--whether it's what I want or not.

As we left, I still felt guilty for not eating the chicken. But as my husband and I got in the car, he said he almost vomited from the custard. Not that it didn't taste good, but he sad his body just didn't want anything to do with it. Now that's the real victory for me.