Not going back!

The food journey continues.  Exactly what I was hoping would happen has happened.  Post detox, I have found that I really enjoy raw food and have continued to eat probably 70% raw.  The 100+ Texas temps have sure been helpful in this process.  Even my 5 year old said she didn’t want anything cooked last night for dinner because it was too hot outside! (The little girls had Muesli and a hard-boiled egg and Nolen and I had a Greek salad and a hard-boiled egg.)

Two recent incidents have shown me that there is no going back.  About a week after the detox was over there was a celebratory time for one of the pastors leaving for sabbatical and Chick-Fil-A breakfast burritos were served.  I literally inhaled mine.  I didn’t mean to but before I realized it, I was done and everyone else were just beginning.  Next thing I knew, I got a bad taste in my mouth, kind of metallic (the kind you get when you have a stomach virus and are about to throw up), headache, upset stomach, etc.  I could not even believe how badly I felt.  All I wanted at that point were apples on my stomach to erase the mess I had caused.  Three apples later, I felt much better.  Wow.  What a wake-up.  There is no going back to THAT.

Second incident involved coffee.  When we started the detox we threw away the coffee maker.  The $5 Craigslist purchase had seen better days, made obvious by the duct tape keeping the lid secure.  Post-detox Ben has returned to his joy of making cappuccinos in the kitchen with his little espresso maker, but with the new twist of steaming almond milk.   So Sunday morning I asked him to make me one too.  I drank it and it was fine – nothing earth shattering.  But standing in my bathroom drying  my hair, I felt this terrible feeling – a definable feeling of an acid wash over the inside of my stomach.  I immediately felt nauseated and out came the cappuccino in the sink.

What I have learned and experienced over and over is that I am not missing out.  When I think I want something, the anticipation never meets reality.  Nothing really tastes as good as I remember it.  And yet when I bite into an apple or a peach, it tastes better than I thought it would!  This is a great place to be.


Cookie Recipe

We have been enjoying this cookie recipe a couple of times per week.  It makes a small batch so depending on how big I make the cookies, each of us get 1 or 2 cookies (family of 5).  They are a great treat!!  I don’t get that feeling where I can’t stop eating them and I don’t get that horrible feeling of eating too much.  They are perfect in my opinion.

This recipe is from The Gracious Pantry

Clean Eating Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Tools

Food processor
Large mixing bowl
Spatula

Ingredients

2/3 cup almonds
1/3 cup cooked oatmeal, cooled
3 tbsp. agave or honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips (or dairy free chips)

Note: If you don’t want to use the chocolate chips, they could be very easily substituted with raisins, nuts or dried fruits of any kind.

Directions

Step 1 – Mix everything except the chocolate chips in the food processor. You should have a nice wet, sticky dough when you’re done.
Step 2 – Using your spatula, scrape dough into your mixing bowl and mix in chocolate chips.
Step 3 – Spoon onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Step 4 – Bake for 20 minutes.