Raw World here we come ... again!

I am absolutely CrAVINg raw foods -- it's so weird! Normally this time of year I want to make casseroles and soups and other comfort foods to combat the cold weather and inevitable approach into winter.

But I just want it raw. This morning, before a rather fast five-plus mile walk around the lake, I didn't have time to make a smoothie, but fortunately I had made a raw pudding last night. I had several spoonfuls of that and was READY TO GO! The pudding is a new recipe for me; I have a tried and true raw chocolate mousse that I love, with an avocado base, but this one is sprouted almonds, honey, chia seeds, one banana and cacoa and cocoa powders. I thought how does that make a pudding? I had to try it. Well, it is crazy filling and very satisfying. And also seems to be acting as a catalyst to get me back into the kitchen and preparing raw foods.

I pulled up a recipe of "Almost Nutless Alfredo Sauce" and the picture literally had me drooling. You?

I have made a version of this before, and it is truly delicious. Especially if you pop it into the dehydrator before eating. But this one calls for irish moss, which I bought when I was in Arizona last spring and haven't found a use for it. So that clinches it -- I also need to soak buckwheats so that I can make some raw bagels. I have a stack of recipes here I want to try out and I just retrieved my stack of raw cookbooks.

I am not sure why the raw urge has been dormant for so long, but it's time to return in that crazy, over the top passionate way I tend to do things! The other day in the woods while a friend and I were leaning against trees enjoying our lunches, she asked me if the tuna I had wrapped up in a cabbage leaf was the raw version I make. And I said no, it wasn't -- but I then began to dream about it -- it is LEAP years better than real tuna -- the flavor is to die for and the consistency is better because it is made from Jicama, not, well, fish! I think that planted the seed, and then my mother said that she had finished the cacao macaroons I had brought her a while back; and that she used them when she needed extra energy. I too, do the same thing, and had popped a few before the hike with the real tuna lunch. It just stays with you for so long -- and gives you so much energy and such a feeling of vitality.

Why not embrace it?

Exactly.

I've made this once and it didn't come out perfectly. I am thinking I need to try, try again. Does that not look to DIE FOR?

Off to uncook.