Many Positive Changes

So many good happening going on around here.

Abe has probably has the most positive results so far. He has become a much more content and happier child since going raw. Abe had a soccer game last night. Most nights, the children become very restless and start goofing around while they are wiating to sub for their teammates. Eventually it gets out of hand and a parent needs to go over and tell them to quiet down, pay attention to the game, stop stuffing grass down everyone's shirts, no pony rides, no pig piling, no hitting, etc. Abe always tries to refrain, but eventually he's in the middle of it and I have to go and speak to him-But not last night. For the first time this season, he stayed *completely* focused on the game, choose not to sit with the children that were particularly rowdy last night, and he asked questions about how to work on his positioning and performance. Justing looked at me and said "Do you think it's the food?" and I do. He has been such a loving and pleasant boy these past 12 days.

Gus has been really getting into preparing his own foods. Last night he whipped up some Almond Butter Balls for everyone's dessert. He has always had an interest in creating dishes since he went gf/cf almost 3 years ago. He is getting creative in his ideas and has a real talent as a raw foods chef! We have found that we all love sprouted buckwheat for bread-type foods, so I placed a large order with the Co-op, including a 25 lb bag of buckwheat groats!

Emmet has recovered from his bad weekend. I think his bad weekend was due to a sudden drop in his medication and possibly some detox. We have put him back on his full dose and will continue with the raw foods for now. He has shown some improvement though. He and Gus got into an argument last night and Emmet was quick to apologize. That's pretty major for a child with Autism since they can't relate to other people's feelings and there world/view is always correct.

Justin's hanging in there the best he can and he even suggested that we get rid of the stove top on the island counter, so we have more space.

Addie Mae has shown a lot of improvement. She has been much less shy and has even been talking more at school. She truly does not love raw food (yet!), but she has been willing to try new things. She is quite pleased with herself when she finds raw foods that she likes.

As for myself, I am on a juice fast. Today is day 3. I would like to go 30 or 40 days, but I am going to let my body decide. I do a longer juice fast each fall, last year's was 34 days. I am curious to see what this year will bring.

The Health Food Store Game

The children have been pretty great about this whole new way of eating. They have been very willing to try new foods, tho over the weekend I heard a few "There's noooothing to eeeeeat...". So I got an idea. I took them to the health food store and gave each child $10. I told them that they could buy *ANYTHING* they wanted as long as it was raw. They had such a blast running around looking at all their options. There were so many options that Abe soon became overwhelmed and settled on a spinach and tomato salad. Gus got papaya and salad and Addie Mae chose papaya, pineapple, and raspberries. They didn't come close to spending all the money. They learned several lessons: 1. that there are 100s of options for this way of eating 2. making healthy choices 3. mathematics 4. contentment. They were allowed to buy anything, yet each one bought only enough of what they wanted. No waste. It was a great experience and one I hope to repeat in the near future.

One week!

We made it through the first week! I knew we would. The children seem to be *much* happier, despite a few rough moments that I am attributing to detox. They have struggled a bit to find their new favorite foods, but before the first week was over, they seem to have settled in quite well. Here are their current favorites:



Gus-Rawlmond Joys

Abe-apples with almond butter, cinnamon and agave

Emmet-cashews with tamari and onion powder

Addie Mae-pineapple with cinnamon and agave

Justin-EBTKS Smoothie (Everything But the Kitchen Sink Smoothie)

Shannon-my forever favorite is a GREEN SALAD in any form.



They also love having carrot cake with cream cheeze frosting for breakfast, strawberry mylk, and Make Your Own Salad (MYOS) with lots of Honey Mustard Dressing. Here is a pic of Abe and Addie Mae hamming it up for the camera. Here is a list of everything you see pictured: romaine, cashews, almonds, pecans, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, avocado, celery, carrot, red onion, cucumber, red pepper, horse radish pickles, apple bread, honey mustard dressing, and strawberry mylk . They LOVE this meal because they can put any combo on their plates that they wish. We actually had this meal 2 nights in a row and Emmet decided to have it for lunch and a snack too!

Who ARE These People?

Where are my children? These happy, energetic, mature, kind, helpful little people have taken over my cranky kids. Can't say as I miss 'em much! LOL!

Day 2 went off without a hitch and today is Day 3 of the Evolution Revolution. Only problem is-we are out of FOOD. Ha! They ate 5 bunches of bananas in 3 days. I mean we do have a biggish family, but holy crow! We are also out of nuts, most seeds, and nearly all the dried fruits. Right now I am doing my best to feed them dense raw foods, such as dehydrated treats, and nuts and seeds. I don't want them to get too hungry right now. I don't mind how much they are eating and they have pretty much devoured everything I've made.

Monday night we had a tweaked version of Alissa Cohen's Rawvioli and a side salad. Last night we had Snowdrop's Cheezy Corn Chowder (found at rawfoodtalk.com) and Mattye's Liveburgers! (from Frugal Raw, Raw on the Cheap) . They liked both.

We also made Gus's Rawlmond Joy-which is a recipe my son created a year or 2 ago after he had a hankering for his old favorite-Almond Joy.

They children do seem to be naturally shying away from fats, so I have been adding them to their morning smoothies.

This morning they had Chocomylk and hashbrowns. (you can find the recipe for hashbrowns @ goneraw.com-just search under garshbowns). The chocomylk is just sesame mylk (our favorite), cacao, sweetener, and a dash of salt. Abe chose to add frozen strawberries to his and have a chocoberrymylkshake.

The biggest change is that they seem to LOVE this new level of taking care of their own bodies. Once you go raw it really takes the guess work out of what and how much of something you can eat. When you are raw you can eat anything and everything you desire.

Also-there has been a shift in old fears. My daughter has never been fond of the outdoors. She is actaully a little afraid, after her big brother filled her head with stories of Forest Ghosts, rabid black bears and hungry mountain lions. But the other day she went outside, cheerfully and found a toad hopping under the apple trees. Half jokingly I said "Go get 'em Addie!" to which she replied "OOOOkay!" and she chased that little toadie down and scooped him up. She waited until I ran back with the camera and took these shots. It may seem small but this is the only child that you have to BEG to stop doing school work and go outside! LOL! Here she is with her new found friend....or captive, perhaps.

Today is the 1st of many!

Today is the 1st day of our new journey. The entire family has decided to join me in going 100% raw. They have committed to 6 months. Each person has their own personal goals and reasons for doing this.

Justin wants more energy and patience.

Emmet wants to lessen his autistic tendencies and get off his meds.

Gus wants to get off his meds and build muscle.

Abe wants to feel happier and eliminate his allergies.

Addie wants to be strong.

I want the best for the family and to lose the last 10-20 lbs.

Today's breakfast:

Me: grapes and a bite of suncheeze, and smoothie

Justin: smoothie made from strawberries, bananas, cacao, gojiberries, OJ and hemp powder

Gus: suncheeze rollups and some of J's smoothie, 1 meatless ball

Emmet: salad of romaine and mexican gerkins, smoothie, 1 meatless ball

Abe: 2 bananas with agave and cinnamon and smoothie

Addie: 1 banana with agave and cinnamon, cashews, and OJ

Lunch for the children at school consists of: their nuts of choice, fruit of choice(2), raw bar, and water bottle. This will remain the same just about everyday-unless they venture to take leftovers.

Lunch for Addie is always celery plus something else of choice. Nut butter, raisins, and frozen bluberries are usually what she chooses from.

Lunch for me is always last nights leftovers or a big salad.

Dinner's always an adventure. Tonight it will be Rawvioli and sauce with a side salad of romaine, red peppers and mexican gerkins.

Yesterday the children spent time with their granparents so Justin and I took off for the day and went hiking in Becket. We took lots of photos with our new cameras. It was a wonderful time. We discovered a new natural foods market in Great Barrington called Guido's. Well, I don't know how long it's been there, but it was new to US!

Our fridge is stocked and I am full of purpose.

I'm baaaack!

I've been without internet for a year. It's been a bummer-but I back and plan to blog much more. So stay tuned for an update!