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I'm SOOO bored of my diet!

What do you all do to keep it interesting once you are done with gourmet raw and are ready for whole food raw?

Salad is really good, but anything gets boring. I DON”T want to go back to major prep dishes like the 1st month raw, but here I am in Maine with only basic garden veggies and fruits available to me and I do shop for a family on a budget, so I’ve got to keep it simple here.

I’m at the point where I think I’m ready for simple whole foods as meals. I’m happy with a salted cucumber or a red pepper if that’s what I’m in the mood for. No need do do anything but slice it. So, all you mono-eaters out there – how much variety do you get in a week, for instance? How do I go simpler and still get my need for variety met?

Comments

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    It seems to me that if you’re ready to eat simple foods, you’ll do it & not be bored? I understand not wanting to spend loads of time or money – I’ve found or invented several recipes that are either simple, or inexpensive, or both, and I eat those most of the time.

  • ungratefulungrateful Raw Newbie

    I don’t have time to get bored. I don’t eat in the morning cuz the kitchen is locked until after I leave, I maybe have an apple or some other fruit for lunch and I get home from work and have to prepare food like a madwoman before the kitchen closes for the night and I’m so hungry no matter what i make it’s delicious. And usually a smoothie or a simple vege sauce over shredded zuke noodles or sliced carrots.

    I practically live on green smoothies at this point.

    I can’t wait until I move so I have time to be bored… :)

  • steviostevio Raw Newbie

    I don’t get bored with my fairly simple diet because I don’t eat emotionally or based on craving (except very rarely). I eat green smoothies, salads and the occasional whole fruit and veggie meals, and the occasional simple raw desert. Since I am eating for nutrition and health, I eat, get it out of the way, and don’t think about it again until I am hungry. I get such great pleasure out of the nutrients going into my food that I actually look forward to getting in that slightly collard flavored smoothy.

    I also love the low prep time.

    But you do have to be truely ready for it. When I tried too soon, I would get cravings, and these would sometimes lead to some bad choices. as I get further into this, I find it gets easier and easier to get simpler and simpler.

  • zinfandelzinfandel Raw Newbie

    Try cantaloupes for breakfast.

    And new spices (like ginger! and agave! and asafoetida! mix em together with banana and spinach!)

    You won’t be bored if you eat intuitively. Intuition is divine :)

  • ungratefulungrateful Raw Newbie

    zinfandel, I remember asafoetida. Can you get that raw and pure? Its a root, I think. Hmm… Off to google.

  • RawaholicRawaholic Raw Newbie

    on a weekend make some almond yogurt that will keep in the fridge, then during the week you can take whatever fruits you have on hand, cut them up, toss the fruits together, mix in some yogurt, and voila! If you have the yogurt pre-made this takes only takes about 5-10 minutes to make! Make some almond milk and and pour it some sort of buckwheat groats (just soak them overnight and pop them in the dehydrator on 115 degrees for a couple hours and they will keep for quite a while. soak some of walnuts and sunflower or pumpkin seeds overnight and the next day just rinse them, toss them in a food processor, and some various spices or seasonings (example combinations: red bell pepper, garlic nama shoyu; thyme, oregano, salt, onion, and garlic) to make a pate that you can stuff celery or portobello mushrooms with. Take some roma tomatoes, dice them up, and mix them up in a bowl with salt, olive oil, dried basil, and dried minced garlic (you can use fresh garlic if you prefer it). This makes some lovely bruschetta that you can wrap in a lettuce leaf or collard green (add some avocodo to make it more filling if you like). Take bell pepper, onion, avocado, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, ect. and cut them into strips and then wrap them in in sheets of nori to make veggie sushi (you can dip in you favorite sauce or sprinkle nama shoyu).

  • zinfandelzinfandel Raw Newbie

    ungrateful, I’m not sure… my day tends to be at such breakneck speeds I let myself use spices (like agave, salt and vinegar). That is something to work on I suppose (the issue of balance).

    It’s a great garlic substitute. I don’t use garlic because I believe it causes ADHD type symptoms… I would highly recommend anybody take a break from it and then eat a bunch and see if you like it so much then. It’s just a personal preference.

  • Sometimes one yellow bell pepper will totally satisfy me for dinner! I was surprised my body transitioned into that, but I have been RAW for 12+ years. Other times I need something heavy and gourmet…but if you really wanted to you can be mono diet I have done that for a few weeks. Like just heirloom tomatoes drizzled with fine olive oil and rough Celtic Sea Salt YUM! Or Avocado with some Agave but this can make you hungrier too. Or Olive Spread on top of sliced tomatoes, keeping it simple is great but depends on how hungry or how you feel too…sometimes I will just eat a papaya or some strawberries…

  • Thanks, everyone, for the comments and ideas.

    Angie – you may be right that the change to whole foods itself may keep my food boredom at bay.

    Ungrateful – Wow. I get super cranky when I’m that hungry, and I need massive amounts of patience to handle my 3-year-old’s emotional outbursts. I do hope you move soon, too. I’m going to play with green smoothies to find a simple blend I really like and see if that helps break up the monotony.

    Stevio – True, true. I’ve wondered if I need to give food less of a place in my heart. I actually never cared much about it until I went raw and discovered a whole world of flavors and energy I hadn’t known before. But, I will take stock of WHY I’m eating and see if there’s anything there to examine.

    Zinfandel – Yes! You’ve inspired me to play with sauces and spices so I can make a cucumber (for instance) into a few different experiences!

    Rawholic – Thank YOU! The yogurt idea is great! I miss yogurt, and didn’t know I could make it raw. I’ll look for a recipe on the site here, and if you want to send me one or post a link, I’d be thrilled. I love crispy dehydrated buckwheat with some agave and spices.

    Rawbryan – 12+ years! I guess you would know better than almost anyone else. You made me think. Maybe I don’t need to go strictly mono or all- gourmet, but have on-hand a bunch of ideas for both since my body will tell me what I need on a given day.

    Thanks, everyone! Good ideas. I’m sure it will help.

    .

  • Stevio…that’s great advice you offer there. You bring to my awareness that I am often an emotional eater and need to pay more attention to WHY I an eating. Oftentimes I’m not even hungry. Good food gives me such a thrill even if it is just a new raw food recipe. Maybe I should start a new post and ask for help with this. School stresses me out…or should I say, I ALLOW it to stress me out. I have to have raw chocolate on hand often lol!

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    go to a new food shop! everytime I go to a new fruit and veg shop I find a new thing to try, guess it is easy where I live coz there’s a fruit and veg shop for just about every culture on the planet within a 10 mile radius of my house. But still, this time last year I discovered cherimoyas for the first time, WOW, it brightened up my winter no end.

    Another thing to try is make a good creamy sauce. A big batch, then divide it into 3 or 4 jars, using a different flavour for each jar, and you will have 3 or 4 different creamy salad dressings for your veg. I like curry, mayonnaise, garlic, cheese. Sauces are a really quick and easy way to jazz up fods that has got boring. Also marinading is another good trick. Just dump your veggies into a container, and find a good marinade recipe, shake the contained every now and then, and in a few hours you’ll have something really interesting tasting that you can keep in your fridge and add to the boring salads ;)

    But you know, like other people said, if you;re bored eating simple then you’re probably not “ready”. I took 2 1/2- 3 years raw to transition off recipes and the feeling I have now about simple foods is the same way I used to feel about my favourite cooked foods, or recipes, like I’ll be thinking about cucumbers all day and just totally pig out on them as if they were the most amazing thing in the world. Or my mouth will start to water when I see a tomato and I’ll stand there smelling it like it is some kind of exclusive intoxicating perfume! It s weird, I was never a salad girl! I still love to make something complicated and fiddly every now and then, this usually co incides with feeling stressed and emotional. Recipes are like comfort food for me now.

    It takes perseverance and a lot of self awareness to pass through all the psychological stuff that is attached to your old ways of eating, the emotional side of it is immense. Angela Stokes of www.rawreform.com has done a pretty good ebook about the emotional side/detox of being raw, it’s got excercises and lots of practical help in it. You might find it helps you to get where you want to with this.

    Anyway, take it easy and make it fun.

  • steviostevio Raw Newbie

    I have been able to transition fairly quickly compared to some of the stories I have read here, and I attribute that to having done the emotional work ahead of time. I have spent a long time getting good of self examination and learning to accept my shortcomings and to avoid as much denial. Though I am still in transition (but getting pretty close to 100% raw vegan, I could not have gotten there without the support of this board and the help of an actual nutritionist capable of helping me identify and address my personal nutrition needs. I think taking care of yourself on as many facets as possible is part of the transition. And not beating yourself up over the slip ups regardless of their magnitude is also very key.

    If you keep making strides towards your goal, you will eventually find yourself where you were heading.

  • Durianrider, reading your words, ‘you need to get a life’, I feel hurt and angry because I have a need for warmth, and to be supported. Would you be willing to put your comment into a positive tone?

  • zinfandelzinfandel Raw Newbie

    Wailingwoman, durianrider has some abusive tendencies. He pretty much has yet to make a post that is not outrageously offensive to somebody. Sorry he’s not being supportive, but I wouldn’t wait around for him to be positive! Blessings to you :)

  • Zinfandel, HI. I’m not waiting around for it, just making a request. Thanks for your support, and have a great day!

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    I would do what Zoe says, just go and pick a whole lot of fruit and veg you don’t normally eat to keep it interesting. Some soaked nuts might be nice too. I always love to dip bananas in maca and cacao but it sounds like you want to be simpler.

     

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    I would do what Zoe says, just go and pick a whole lot of fruit and veg you don’t normally eat to keep it interesting. Some soaked nuts might be nice too. I always love to dip bananas in maca and cacao but it sounds like you want to be simpler.

     

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    I would do what Zoe says, just go and pick a whole lot of fruit and veg you don’t normally eat to keep it interesting. Some soaked nuts might be nice too. I always love to dip bananas in maca and cacao but it sounds like you want to be simpler.

  • MMMMM, Sweetpea, thanks. The link has some really delicious-looking stuff on it. That will be really helpful in a couple of weeks! -WW

  • carrie6292carrie6292 Raw Newbie

    Sweetpea - i was wondering if you could maybe post one or two of your thanksgiving recipes on your blog or here... i wouldn't mind purchasing a book, but i always like to try a recipe out before buying... if you'd be willing, i'd appreciate it.

    Thanks!

  • ajcajc Raw Newbie

    Thanks sweetpea,I'll be trying the Chocolate Fudge Balls for sure.

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