Raw Rag™

A raw-food lifestyle does require common sense, for goodness' sake

It is a wonder raw foodists aren't more widely considered kooks when one sees articles such as this one about a woman named Naomie Harris, evidently a British actress. (I am not much of a movie-goer or TV-watcher so have not heard of Ms. Harris.)

The headline reads: "Harris Fell Ill On Raw Food Diet" (Contactmusic.com). Excerpt:

British actress NAOMIE HARRIS was diagnosed with anaemia after she embarked on an extreme raw food diet and tried to survive on uncooked carrots.

And the new diet to which she switched?

"I became so ill I was anaemic, so I just stopped that and became a total vitamin junkie. Just eat lots of vegetables, exercise and breathe."

Now there's a wise and balanced solution! Oh, dear. I hope no one imitates her nutritional choices.

Nut-milk & fruitola sundae for breakfast: A recipe from serendipity

Breakfast today was delicious. It came together a bit by accident, and, step by step, I will tell you how.

Last week, I made some granola approximating the Apple-Cinnamon Maple Pecan recipe from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw. I could not find any raw buckwheat groats at either Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage so substituted raw barley from the Whole Foods bulk-bins department. So the recipe was 

• I-1/2 cups raisins soaked for at least 1 hour (up to overnight)
• 2 cups raw barley, soaked for at least 12 hours in the refrigerator (I soaked mine for 24 hours)
• 1 cup water (the recipe says filtered but I am not that fussy; may be in the future but not now)
• I medium apple chopped in the food processor with the "S" blade
• 6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon alcohol-free vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of pecans soaked for at least an hour and chopped into small pieces (I just broke them up with my hands)

Put apple pieces, water, raisins, syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla in food processor with "S" blade or blender and blend on low until the stuff forms "a chunky paste." (Note: the recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg here, too, but I left that out.)

To combine these ingredients, I used the food processor, and made a horrible mess; some of the liquid ran out of the machine and on to to the counter and floor. For my Regal model,

My tongue is burning: An ingredient I won't again add to my smoothie

In keeping with my current practice of adding at least two leaves of greens to my morning smoothie, today I threw in two big mustard green leaves. Not a good idea! The drink was peppery, almost stinging, and my tongue was not pleased. So as not to waste all the other ingredients (nuts, seeds, protein powder, fruit), I diluted the smoothie with water to suit my taste and tongue. I was able to drink it all.

Yesterday I added one mustard green leaf and one big collard leaf; that was fine, tasty even. But two mustards? Not for me. Do you have any experience with mustard overload?