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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Eating Raw


I have been quite ill for a number of weeks now but have finally turned a corner. I have had lovely friends concerned that I have not been able to feed myself properly being alone and all. Listening to my body though I didn't need to be loading it up on fuel that it had to divert extra energy towards digesting and eliminating. A lot of my body's energy was going into eliminating on a different front.
I felt like very simple food. One night a steamed zucchini, another night boiled egg on toast, another night just a piece of meat. Very simple single digestive enzyme action.
My physical energy output was very low having some couch days so my caloric intake desire was low too.
There are some advantages to being on your own; you can listen and be still with your body and go with it's needs. 
My forage in the garden last night for dinner told me I was feeling better as I got excited about my food, and who wouldn't when you have coloured chard? It excites any salad and gives me a mental feel good just seeing it all cut up. If you cook it you loose that wonderful colour.


Raw is something I found has become quite alien to a lot of people whom I ran into at the growers' market. I could see the slight hesitation from people whenever I said "try a piece". I'm talking about beans, peas, chard, mixed greens. Edible flowers were a real confrontation for many. That's not how I remember it when I was a kid, there was a lot of raw food eating as dinner was prepared. Do you think it is because people buy so much of their fresh produce frozen now? Is it because beans now go from the freezer to a pot? Once upon a time they were topped and tailed fresh and admittedly then cooked, but there was still some raw sampling going on at the sink.
Is this how our kids have lost touch with their food in pure form? Not enough preparing and exposing them to food from scratch? I notice that my friends who grow vegetables have children who embrace food really well and don't tend to have "fussy eaters". That's why I think it is so important to grow something. You don't have to have the whole self sustaining thing going on, just one or two things. At the very least every garden should try for tomatoes, beans and a lemon tree.

(Rat Tail Radish Flowers)


14 comments:

  1. I hate that you've been sick!
    I'm glad you're starting to mend!
    I'm also a bit jealous of you--how wonderful to be able to go through the sickness process on your own terms.

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  2. I agree!! eating fresh/in season and raw is a great way to deal with food.
    I love encouraging my daughter to eat straight from the garden - not that she usually eats past the first mouthful (and spitting it out and saying yucky) but at least she tries and is getting used to eating directly from natural ingredients.
    I think we should all open our eyes to the possibilities of food and accept not just the main stream (like seaweed and flower). Things just don't come in packets people!!
    Hope you feel better soon xoxoxo

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  3. Hey Tanya, sorry to hear you've been sick for so long, but glad you are on the mend.
    I'm sure it was alot easier preparing just what you wanted to eat and when and listening to your body ............

    Interesting thoughts about the raw versus cooked vegies............ you've hit the nail on the head and I think everyone should have something edible growing in their garden or styrofoam boxes. Doesn't take much effort or time and the benefits of home grown far outweigh any negatives.

    Hope you continue to improve, take care of yourself,

    Claire x

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    Replies
    1. I've just read some nasty facts about using styrofoam boxes and styrene leaching into your vegies so I'm actually getting rid of the two I have.

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  4. Sometimes I have lunch while I'm gardening, it does taste so good fresh and raw. I've never eaten rainbow chard like that though - I find the leaves a bit too harsh to eat too many raw - I think it's the oxalates in it. Unfortunately my little one is so used to eating flowers and vegies she thinks everything is fair game and takes a bit of watching.

    hope you feel better soon

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  5. Hope you feel better soon.

    I like raw. I like cooked too. I also like BBQ'd, which is probably the worse kind of cooked! Hopefully it all balances out.

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  6. I hope you are feeling bteer soon and eating like that will help. There is a lot of sickness around at the moment.

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  7. Good to hear you are feeling better! Raw is good! Our family ate 90% raw for 18 months and felt great. If you are looking for a couple more raw recipes have a look on my blog under 'recipes'. You might find something you like!
    Take it easy!

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  8. Glad to hear you are on the mend. I love raw veges - co crunchy.

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  9. sorry to hear you have not been well..see you thursday night...stay rested...and i am sure with all that fresh garden goodness you will continue to recover...

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  10. I'm sorry you haven't been well, but with all that good food in your garden I'm sure you'll be back to normal soon! :-)

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  11. I totally agree with your comment. We have recently started trying to eat more of a raw diet. Hubby goes out to the yard and picks violets, dandelions, etc. to add to his salads.
    Blessings
    Diane

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  12. Tanya I'm just doing some catch up reading of blogs I follow so I didn't realise that you haven't been well. Sorry to read that and hope that you 'have turned the corner' and are feeling a lot better. Those photos of the fresh produce look yummy! *hugz from Brisbane*

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