Friday, March 11, 2011

When you are the only raw vegan.


I have to admit it's not easy being the only one of my friends and family to be a raw vegan. Ever since I began my raw lifestyle, I feel as if I'm from another planet. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way feeling regret. I love the way I eat. I can go out to eat with my friends and family and have no problems. I have, on occasion, found myself in a situation were I was served plate of iceberg lettuce with some slices of waxy cucumbers and tomatoes. I've learned from those experiences to always be prepared. I now keep a cooler bag with me at all times with lots of raw goodies. I make my meals the night before so that I can be ready for just about whatever. You see, the good thing about being raw is you never have to heat up anything...just keep it cold. I had people say they would be bored with eating this way. I am here to tell you that there is just as many recipes for raw food as there is for cooked. I must own at least a dozen raw food prep books, however, many of my recipes are just made up out of my head. I've been asked the question, "do you miss eating cooked foods"? My answer to that is "yes, but I would like to create a raw version of it". The same herbs and spices used to flavor a cooked dish can equally flavor a raw one. All you need is your taste buds.

I find it kind of cute when someone say's "I have some macaroni salad in the fridge and some potato salad for you". I politely say no thank you. I know they mean well, however, cold cooked food is still cooked. I don't think everybody quite gets the raw thing. I would like to point out that I am not one of those preaching vegans that makes everyone feel bad that they are omnivores. I believe in coexistence. In my last post, I mentioned eating some cooked vegetarian food. It's not that I don't like it. It's that my body has adjusted to this new way of eating and I crave more of it.

I feel everyone of us should be who we are and enjoy it. On that note, I raise my glass of homemade kombucha and say...To Life!