My tea and coffee consumption has been going up lately so I wanted to try and cut out caffeine today.  I also wanted to attempt to eat raw food only today.  Well that was my intention when I got up but I think I fell at the first hurdle as the first thing I consumed today was a cup of green tea.   I wondered whether the tea was roasted or was it just dried?  But by the time I had added boiling water it wasn’t very raw so how it emerged from the packet was irrelevant!

Breakfast was definitely raw.  Strawberries, one and a half bananas and coconut water which I drained from the coconut myself.

This was lovely and I enjoyed every single drop.

Jenni came round for a coffee and brought some of her delicious cakes but I have managed to resist 🙂 The photo, which I took in the evening, just before harvey devoured them, does not do them justice and they really looked very tempting!  I didn’t manage to resist a coffee though so that was something definitely not raw.  It was good though.

Lunch was all raw.  Or was it?  Are olives raw?  This is harder than I thought it would be. First of all I made guacamole by mashing a small avocado with some salt and lime juice.

I added the salad to the plate and I munched on an apple as I prepared it.  I used baby salad leaves and pea tops, cucumber and celery,

carrots, sunflower seed sprouts and mixed bean sprouts.

I then made an olive tapenade from 1 tbsp green and red olives, 7 sundried tomatoes, 1 tbsp rapeseed oil and 1 heaped tsp capers.  I put it all in a blender and blitzed it, leaving it quite chunky.

I thoroughly enjoyed this lunch.  The salty strong flavoured tapenade was a wonderful contrast to the creamy gentle avocado.  The vegetables were crunchy and every mouthful was a pleasure.  I will definitely be having this lunch again.

At weigh in tonight I found out I had put on a pound.  I am not surprised but I am disappointed in myself.  I have eaten and drunk way too much in the past couple of weeks and it has finally caught up with me.  I was feeling a bit too blasé about quite how much I could eat and still lose weight.  So that first weight gain in 6 months will hopefully jolt me back to behaving myself.

I came home to make another raw food dinner.

Raw Carrot and Courgette “Pasta” with Pesto

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1 small courgette, washed and topped
• Salt
• 1 carrot, peeled and topped
• Fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1 tbsp mixed sprouted beans
• Red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
• Mixed salad leaves

Method

1. Finely julienne the courgette.  Lay the courgette sticks out on kitchen paper, sprinkle with salt and leave for about 20-30 minutes.
2. Julienne the carrot.

3. Put the courgette and carrot in to a bowl and mix gently.
4. Put the pesto ingredients (basil, olive oil, garlic, sprouted beans and chilli) in a small blender and blitz until smooth.
5. Mix the pesto in with the carrot and courgette.
6. Pile salad leaves in to a serving dish and place the pesto pasta on top.

I bought the mixed bean sprouts in the local Co-Op this morning.  A little bag packed full of goodness for just £1 which is superb value, especially when you compare that to the cost of an equivalent quality of animal protein.

This was edible and I would eat it again because it was so nutritious but it is a supper for someone very kean to eat healthily.  I definitely wouldn’t put this in the family meal category.

I am pleased with myself for eating nearly raw and mainly decaffeinated all day.  Off to have a mug of Rooibos to celebrate.  Wow, life in the fast lane eh?