Raw Veganism

portobello coleslaw wraps

During the month of September, we embarked on a very interesting food journey - we attempted ONE MONTH of being "raw vegan"! My sister-in-law, Jen, participated with us in this experiment, and Mark was an enthusiastic participant too! If this sounds crazy to you, keep in mind that we are already a mostly vegan family, so this adventure isn't as absurd as it would be to someone who eats a traditional American diet. Here is a quick definition of raw vegan according to Wikipedia... 

"Raw veganism is a diet that combines the concepts of veganism and raw foodism. It excludes all food of animal origin, as well as food cooked at a temperature above 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit).[citation needed] A raw vegan diet includes raw vegetables and fruits, nuts and nut pastes, grain and legume sprouts, seeds, plant oils, sea vegetables, herbs, and fresh juices. There are many different versions of the diet, including fruitarianism, juicearianism, and sproutarianism. The definition of a raw vegan diet can be loosened to include vegan diets with at least 75 - 80% raw foods."

"chili" with cashew cream and crackers

Overall, the purpose of this challenge was to cleanse my body post-breastfeeding, learn more about a genre of veganism, get back to a true live source of food, and to shed a few post-partum pounds.  The month was mostly a success, though I did have a horrible bout with food poisoning (due to rancid sunflower seeds?) that caused me to cheat on the diet with crackers and warm soup, but other than a few days - I was raw vegan for a month!  WOW!  And Kudos to Jen, who successfully remained 100% raw vegan for the entire 30 days!  In my opinion, the best part of the month was inadvertently giving up junk (like sugar, caffeine, alcohol, preservatives, etc.),  learning about new foods (such as sprouted grains, coconut oils and butters, cacao powder, and more), and learning how to use foods for new purposes (soaking nuts for sauces, collard greens make amazing wraps, how to make and use ground nut powders, pureed squash with ground flax seeds make yummy dehydrated crackers, etc.), and of course I'm grateful that I did lose a few baby pounds (hooray!) without counting calories or spending countless hours at the gym!  It was also wonderful to do this with the accountability of a friend for support and collaboration.  There were plenty of times when Jen and I traded cookies, snacks and recipe ideas.  Now that the month is over, I hope that I can incorporate some of what we learned through the remainder of our lives, and use raw veganism as a method for a natural cleanse and weight-management program as needed.  I have definitely rebounded a bit, I forgot how much I loved hummus and potato products!  But I am still making smoothies for breakfast, and have plans to remake some of my favorite recipes soon (many of which came from the amazing chef, Matthew Kenney).

Is this diet for everyone?  No!  Is this diet intended to be something people survive solely on?  No way!  But I do think it'd be amazing to one day call myself a 50% raw vegan, or even 30% raw vegan.  There are true benefits to this diet and I am SO happy we embarked on this challenge!

"mac and cheese" made from shredded squash with cashew sauce + jicama salad