All parts of the plant

Use leaf, stem and root,
Flower, seed, and fruit
Eat some of each at every meal
And

This morning's delightful juice:  mint and spinach leaves, celery (stem) & broccoli (stem and flowers), ginger root, apples including cores and seeds, and a wedge of lime.  It was very pulpy - I don't know whether the Champion juicer is failing, or I should use a different size screen, or whether it was something about the composition.  I had to twist the pulp in cheesecloth to get all the juice out of it.  Of course the pulp was delightful, so I've been eating it too later in the day; stuffed ripe avocado with it, and used it as a dip with raw pumpkin seed wafers.

Not all my juice inventions are so tasty.  I made one a few days ago with all good things in it -- the above, plus berries, carrot and leek -- but it looked like swamp water and didn't taste much better.  I think the leek was not such a good idea.  Also, berries are so good just to eat it's silly to throw them into the juicer.  A Natural Health Consultant told me that apples  are the only fruit that combines well with vegies in juicing....although carrot and pineapple is yummy.

This is a gradual transition to fresh 'n' raw eating, with one meal a day over the weekend that was cooked: kosher chicken and boiled potatoes one day, thick bean soup another, and salmon, capers and hollandaise with poached eggs on English muffins another day ("Eggs salmon benedict").  That was the only flour I've had all week, though.  Still, I'm experiencing some detox symptoms.

Give us this day our daily juice....

This morning's was a beautiful shade of celadon: broccoli, romaine, celery, apple, a little carrot, and of course a wedge of lime and knuckle of ginger.  Very refreshing! It occurred to me that the pulp left over from the juice could be used in the warm miso broth for a satisfying, filling soup that is still mostly raw, and this works great.  Our raw food inspiration, David, used to make a salad out of the pulp.  (Of course, as soon as it's practical we need a juicer that doesn't produce as much pulp as this Champion.) 

Spoke with someone this morning who reminded me of an essential principle concerning Comfort Food: changing eating habits isn't just about finding a "new" comfort food or finding comfort in a "different" food than before.  It can be about finding comfort in things other than food.  A hot bath, self-massage, a satisfying conversation with a friend, prayer, meditation in the Word -- after all, the Holy Spirit is THE COMFORTER.  Food isn't for comfort: it's for nourishment.

Juicing again!

I actually started fresh 'n' raw last April, but after my motivating symptoms - mainly a lump where nobody wants to find a lump -- subsided, I gradually started making more & more exceptions until I was back on the "SAD" and had gained back 10 of the 15 lbs that originally dropped off when I started.  In the interval, my kombucha has died -- and I suspect the cultured vegies have, too -- and stuff had piled up around the neglected juicer.  Had to tackle the kitchen chaos for a couple days just to have room to prepare food.

Now, with a path cleared to the juicer and sinks empty so I can wash up afterwards, I kicked off my new season of juicing with apple-carrot-celery-parsnip with mint leaves, lime wedge, and ginger knuckle. Lovely! Took it with me to work and sipped all morning yesterday, munched apple, grapes, almonds for lunch, big dinner salad of romaine & minny minny other vegies.  (There's a possibility here for a parody of the song "Cocaine" -- "When you wanna eat raw, with your carrots you'll gnaw....romaine")

Wakened this morning to the season's first snow.  Normally a source of elation, but when it's so cold out there - and chilly in here - I seriously want hot food in me.  How do other raw foodies deal with winter?  My old standby, miso soup -- spinach, grated carrot, diced bell pepper, little green onion, grated ginger added to miso dissolved in warm, not boiling, water. No hotter than body temperature, vegies still crunchy, a wee splash of nama shoyu... comfort food for sure!