My First Post from June 9, 2010

It is so hard to believe that it has been 4 years this month that I began my journey as a raw foodie!! And it was 3 years, five months ago that I began blogging. It took me 7 months to listen to my sister-in-law who kept telling me, "You should start a blog so you can post your recipes." I remember saying, "What the heck is a blog???"  I had actually never heard of one or read one at that point. Yes, I guess I am a bit sheltered, but that is fine by me. So I began my research on blogging. She of course helped me along the way with all of my silly questions. I thought to myself, what the heck, I'll give it a try and if I cannot master it, oh well. It was surprisingly easier than I had anticipated. I just had to get my rhythm down and figure out just "how" I personally liked to share my posts/thoughts. It has morphed over the years and I have had such a wonderful time doing it. There is so much more I would like to do and improve on but my primary focus is raising and home schooling our amazing 5 children. But who knows what the future may hold, right?!
I took the time to look back over my entire blog today and I cannot believe all of the recipes and "things" I have done and experienced in these last 4 years. Man, if I say so myself, I have made some pretty darn good recipes over the years; I say that humbly of course ;).
Whenever I discover a new blogger I immediately go to their very first post. I like to see where they started and how they have grown since then. It really gives me a good sense of what the person is like. It is very exciting to see how people mature and grow throughout each and every new post.
I am truly blessed and oh so grateful to have stumbled upon this amazing and beautiful lifestyle 4 years ago. I am still a work in progress as I have said before but I enjoy learning each day and I enjoy sharing a little bit of my personal life with those who choose to read. I have met some amazing ladies and men through the blogging world and I hope to have many more years sharing and exchanging recipes and personal thoughts, wishes, dreams, and experiences with them.
I guess you could say November is my Raw Birthday month. Shame on me for not celebrating it each year. I am truly grateful for this lifestyle and all that I have learned throughout the years about health, wellness, and healing. But what I am most grateful for is the impact it has had on my spiritual life and my family. My eyes and mind were opened in ways I never thought imaginable. Praise God! God is so good!! +JMJ+

My First Post (from June 9, 2010)

~JMJ~

I am happy to start posting on my new blog. I should introduce myself first. I am a wife and a mother of five children. I home school all of my children for religious and academic reasons. I choose to eat a raw living food diet. I love raw food and how this living food makes me feel. I have been eating raw living foods since November, 2009. My goal is to consume foods as close as possible to the way they appear in nature, the way God created them to be. Here I will share my experiences with the raw food lifestyle and great recipes I make/create each day. I will share raw food recipes, my sprouting adventures, square foot gardening and container gardening, favorite raw food book titles, raw food products, kitchen appliances, and tools that have helped me with food preparation. From time-to-time I just might share some homeschooling thoughts, experiences, ideas, and tips. I will also take time to reflect back on my days and find all the ways I can experience gratitude. I will share one of the many things, each day that I am grateful for.
Today has just begun and I am already grateful that God has allowed me to wake up to a new day surrounded by my 5 beautiful blessings...my wonderful children. Also I am grateful for my sister-in-law whose wonderful blog inspired me to begin one myself. You know who you are hot mama!! (more about her later) I will share her blog site with you as well as her husbands'. My brother is an extremely talented man who designs and makes his own Teardrop Campers. (more on that later too.)
I am also grateful for my simple raw breakfast today:


+Several slices (about 8) of fresh, ripe, organic watermelon.


It had seeds, I don't eat the seedless variety anymore. I waited an hour before I had the rest of my breakfast because when eating any melons you should not eat anything else with them. For proper digestion melon needs to be eaten alone. Learned that this year! NEVER knew that before. For a great food combining chart look here:

http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/pdf/foodcombining.pdf
You can learn a great deal from this food combining chart. It will help you when beginning or improving your present raw food diet. If you experience various GI problems or bloating/gas when eating certain foods, perhaps it is the combination of foods you are consuming. I know what I personally can and cannot combine, so my recipes may show foods that should not realistically be combined, but they don't cause me problems with digestion, therefore I eat them together. Boy, how's that for a run-on sentence??!! You will have to adapt recipes to your individual situation and health.


Here is what I made about an hour after eating the watermelon.

Blueberry Cobbler w/ Banana Hemp Kream

1 C soaked organic raw walnuts (soak overnight, rinse & drain, air dry)

1 T pine nuts, soaked 1 hour

1/4 C raw dried coconut

5 Organic Deglet dates, cut up
pinch sea salt
1 t organic vanilla extract
a pinch of cinnamon
1 C fresh organic blueberries
1 organic banana, cut up
2 T nutiva organic shelled hemp seeds
fresh sunflower sprouts, to garnish
sprinkle w/ cinnamon


In a small food processor, process the walnuts, pine nuts, sea salt, cinnamon, dates, coconut, and vanilla. It should resemble course crumbs and begin to stick together. Press this mixture into a bowl, top w/ the blueberries. Now process the banana and Hemp Seeds. It will look like a thick cream. Drizzle this over the blueberries and garnish w/ a few fresh sunflower sprouts. Enjoy!

I soak all of my nuts, seeds, and even raisins. Soaking nuts and seeds gets rid of the enzyme inhibitors and makes them "come alive" so our bodies can properly digest them and benefit from all of their nutritional properties. You can find soaking guidelines online and also in many raw food books. I also sprouted my own sunflower sprouts. If anyone wants me to share my experience with those, just ask. I sprout mung beans, yellow peas, lentils, broccoli, red clover, quinoa, buckwheat, chia, and hard wheat berries. I made my first raw bread in my brand new dehydrator last week from sprouted hard wheat berries. It was great. I will post that next time. I hope to give you inspiration to begin sprouting yourself. It is the easiest raw living food to grow yourself and it grows right in your kitchen! How easy is that? A very simple way to start improving your health right away.



In another post I will also be sharing my book reviews for several titles I have purchased. Hopefully it will help you in deciding on a raw food recipe book.

+JMJ+ Today I am grateful for my sister-in-law, Cynthia, who led me to the wonderful world of blogging!