Exploring Raw foods and Superfoods - it can be easier than you think!

   After a few months of thrown together meals with all the renovations we did on the house, the summer found us back to slower meals, prepared while camping or lunches to be eaten while on walks. It was a nice return to a less hectic way of living. We are looking forward to the day when the house is sold and we begin our family trip!

    Here in the real world of Limbo-Land though, It has been an exciting couple of weeks. The girls started school, Autumn began kindergarten! Raevynn started grade two, and the family is ready and waiting for the house to sell so we can begin our world travels!

    I started a "21 Day Raw Food Reset" cleanse on Sept. 1st. It has been absolutely fabulous. The recipes are easy to follow, the shopping list is detailed and the FOOD is both plentiful and delicious! well worth the money I spent on the set of e-books and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to improve their health through their food. Even if you can't imagine committing to a cleanse (Do it! what have you got to lose?) incorporating even one aspect of the plan into your daily routine is a great way to start. (such as the morning juice)

the fridge after a trip to the farmer's market! LOVE  harvest time! 

The recipes are So good, in fact , that the rest of the family has decided to follow suit. Mykel started this week and Tijana started today, Amanda plans to start just before her next day off.  We are looking at this as a good way to 'reboot' our taste buds and eating habits and gain some good understanding of raw foods and recipes. Once we are all done the cleanse we want to explore a Raw Food diet for a month or two, testing out and trying all the incredible recipes we have found. I found excellent recipes all over but a couple of my favourits are Markus Rothkranz (who also has some great inspirational videos on Youtube) and Young and Raw - I can't wait to test out some of these gems!

    We have also been studying and exploring 'superfoods' and herb/minerals and how incorporating them into your daily diet can prevent and correct illnesses and disease. VERY interesting stuff! and extremely exciting! I found some great videos to use as start off point for research and exploration by David Wolfe here on his website, Longevitywarehouse.com .

    We have committed to a year of food experimentation and study focusing on raw food, herbs, medicinal mushrooms and minerals, to developing a menu plan and way of living that is sustainable and healthy for the whole family, little ones included. How completely exciting is that!?!

It is easy to join us on this food adventure, start small but with a commitment to the change. Some of the things in this list were year long commitments for our family and took a great deal of concerted effort to accomplish but we can't ever imagine going back to our 'old ways' now.

Here are some things you can do, even if you pick just one and stick too it, I swear you will notice a change!
1. Eliminate things like food additives (MSG, carageenan, preservatives, artificial flavouring), processed foods or fast food.
2. Switch to buying local, responsibly grown foods, buy organic when you can.
3. Add a green, hearty salad to you supper meal that fills half your plate (you would not believe the vast amount of fabulous salad recipes there are out there).
4. Start eating at least 2 fruits per day.
5. Try one thing each week ( find a recipe that intrigues you) that you have never tried, or that you would never have imagined eating if you weren't embarking on a food adventure.
6. Drink a green smoothie for breakfast
7. Drink some superfood based teas as a part of your regular routine.
8. Educate yourself, read books, watch videos, talk to other people who have made dietary changes about recipes and the commitment to change.
9. ENJOY your food and the new taste sensations you are introducing yourself to!
10. Don't try to do too much all at once, slow and steady will get you there! Be committed to the small changes and before you know it, you will have made a BIG lifestyle change.