Raw Challenge Day 1 and 2 - January 5 and 6, 2014

After the first two days of eating raw, I am really excited!  My energy is way up and I feel amazing.  Solly has been an incredible inspiration.  This kid used to be very selective with the foods he would try.  When it comes to "raw vegan" the sky is the limit!  And we have yet to have something he hasn't loved.

So far I have been making smoothies for breakfast.  I leave for work, well before the boys get up, so I save some for them in the fridge and save some for Solly's lunch.  Yes, as much as Jonah has said he will not go raw vegan with us, he is happy to have the same breakfast as us, and snacks, and milk. :)  I think the thought of not being able to have meat bothers him, but we will see how his resolve changes.

On day 1, we were not well organized with our foods.  Solly and I spent a lot of time preparing foods.  We made raw green goddess dressing, raw ketchup, and raw marinara.  I will be posting actual recipes soon.  I wanted to make sure the recipes were good before I shared them!  Most of the day we just enjoyed all the fruits we wanted, and for dinner we had a large salad with our favorite dressings.  Solly liked the ketchup on his salad.  In his defense, it really tastes more like a what I would call a tomoato vinegrette.

Day 2 began with awesome breakfast smoothies for all of us again.  I am seriously loving making these smoothies.  It does take me most of the morning to finish mine.  For lunch I used my mandolin to make zucchini noodles and topped it with our raw marinara sauce.  I have never been a fan of zucchini before.  I really can't stand its texture when it is cooked.  So I will admit, I was extremely squimish when taking my first bite.  I am so glad I did!  This is such a refreshing pasta dish, very little fat, lots of texture, and I ate my fill without feeling heavy or bloated!  I had all of the flavors that I love about a good bowl of pasta with marinara without the needing a nap afterwards.

For dinner we made incredible lasagna.  The recipe calls for making rolls with the zucchini.  I had trouble when I was trying to get dinner together keeping the zucchini rolled, but for whatever reason had no trouble getting them in my lunch for day 3.  Either way you prepare this dish, it is incredible.  It 4 basic components: thinly sliced zucchini (think lasagna noodles), marinara sauce, pesto sauce, and raw cheese.  That is it!  Well, you do need to make three of the componenets, but seriously it is so good.  The best part is all of the left over sauces can be used with any veggies.  Solly went nuts for the raw pesto!  I'll be lucky if I get any more of it this week.

So far I have noticed that I am drinking significantly less water than I usually do.  On Day 2 I had two glasses of water at work and half a glass of unsweetened coconut milk at home.  Yet I went to the restroom as often as I normally do.  Solly drank more water than I did, but he had dried fruit in his lunch and I only ate fresh fruits.  Solly and I have also noticed the effects of the increase of fiber in our diets. 

That being said, we are both full of energy and satisfied.  I feel amazing every time I eat.  I hope the rest of the challenge continues like this, it will make it much less of a challenge and more of an exciting adventure.