ONE WEEK RAW AND GLUTEN FREE - DAY 1, Start The Day With A Raw Vegan Macadamia Mango Blast Smoothie

Raw smoothie with raw macadamia nuts, mango, banana and frozen peaches

Follow Foods For Long Life on FACEBOOK!

 DAY 1 OF "ONE WEEK RAW AND GLUTEN FREE"

2011 Raw Food Cleanse
Each year I like to transition into summer with a raw food cleanse. It can last as long as a month or as little as a week or two. What I want to do on the blog this year is to document and share my first week of raw menus with you so that you can join me at home. If you want to continue your cleanse for more than a week, just repeat the week's menu or substitute some of the dishes with the numerous, previously posted Raw Food Recipes. Even a week will give you a great insight into a raw food diet and you'll definitely see some immediate benefits. I will also make all recipes this week gluten free. 


Why do this?
Eating nothing but raw veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and sprouts for a week or more gives your body a rest from processed foods, animal products, and foods you may be allergic to. Many people are allergic to wheat or wheat gluten, soy, dairy, raw sugar, preservatives, food coloring and eggs. When you eat a raw diet free of these allergens and rich with vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and enzymes, you allow your body to gently detoxify. (There are many nuts used in a raw food diet which some people are allergic to. These recipes should be avoided if you have a nut allergy).


One Week Raw and Gluten Free
Some of the recipes this week are old favorites from the blog and some will be new or modified. The raw menu for each day will contain breakfast, a snack, lunch, dinner and a dessert. There is no fasting involved. In fact, you may feel like you are eating a ton of food! Raw food fills you up and all that chewing makes the meal last longer!


What you may Experience
What you experience will depend on the state of your current health and your current diet. If you are healthy, at a normal weight and eat a mostly plant-based diet you may experience a gentle detox reaction and feel lighter and more energetic. If you are suffering from an illness, overweight or you eat lots of animal protein, dairy and processed foods, you will have a more dramatic reaction. You'll probably lose a lot of weight, become much more "regular", and depending on how long you do this, you may greatly improve your health indicators such as cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. See a Real life testimonial.
If any of you experience too strong a detox reaction (headache, nausea), just add a little cooked food to your evening meal, when needed, such as 1/2 cup cooked brown rice or quinoa, 1/2 baked sweet potato or 1/2 cup cooked beans.


What you'll Need
To be able to make all the recipes this week, you'll need:
* A sprouting jar
* A high speed blender, like a VitaMix
* A dehydrator
* A food processor with an S blade


DAY 1 - A Very Busy Day!
Today we are going to prep a little for later in the week as well as prepare today's menu. (You may want to watch what I do all week and start your raw cleanse on the weekend when you have more time).
* We will make raw granola that will be used all week, mostly for snacking. 
* We will sprout some green lentils to be used to make a raw soup as well as crackers and pizza crusts.


In addition, we will be preparing today's menu:
Breakfast: Macadamia mango blast smoothie
Snack: Bowl of fresh cherries 
Lunch: Asian coleslaw with avocado slices
Dinner: Waldorf salad and Raw Kale with cucumber and sunflower seeds
Dessert: Water melon


Let's get started!


Raw Granola (Modified and Improved from 2010 post!)
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 16 half cup servings]

1 cup raw English walnuts
½ cup raw pistachios
½ cup raw cashews
¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds
¼ raw sesame seeds, hulled
½ cup raw, shelled hemp seeds
¼ cup ground flaxseed
½ cup dried, unsweetened coconut
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins
2 medium apples, cored and chopped
5 pitted medjool dates, soaked 2 hours and drained
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup raw agave nectar 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon sea salt


In a large bowl, soak the walnuts, pistachios and cashews. After 2 hours, add the sunflower and pumpkin seeds to the same bowl and soak another 2 hours. Rinse and drain nuts and seeds in a strainer and place half of them in a food processor with an S blade. Pulse 3 or 4 times, or more, until broken up to your liking. Do not over process. Place back in the large bowl and repeat with the other half of the nuts and seeds and add them to the large bowl. 
Add the unsoaked sesame and hemp seeds and ground flaxseeds to the bowl and combine. Stir in the coconut and cranberries.
Without cleaning the food processor, add apples, soaked dates, lemon juice, agave nectar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt and process until smooth. Pour into the bowl and stir into the nut mixture until thoroughly combined.
Spread out onto 2 or 3 nonstick sheets and dehydrate for 8 to 12 hours at 115 degrees F. Flip over onto mesh tray, peel off nonstick sheets and dehydrate for another 8 to 12 hours or until dry. Remove from dehydrator and let cool. Break up into small pieces and store refrigerated an airtight container. 


Per ½ cup serving: 263.9 calories, 16.8 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat, 1.6 g ALA omega 3 and 6.5 g omega 6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 6.3 g protein, 26.4 g carbohydrates and 4.3 g dietary fiber.

Raw granola on mesh dehydrator tray after being flipped over

Start Sprouting
I like the small green lentils for sprouting. They quadruple in size so start out with 1/4 of what you want to end up with. You'll be needing two cups of sprouted lentils this week so start with 1/2 cup.

• Place lentils in a sprouting jar with a mesh top, cover with water and soak for 8 hours. Rinse and drain.
• Rinse 2 to 3 times a day and leave the jar inverted on a drain board. Place them in an area around 70 degrees F.
• In 3 - 4 days the lentils will be ready.  In the final day put them in indirect sunlight.
• When the sprouts are ready, soak them in a big bowl of cool water and let the empty seeds, or hulls, rise to the top. Discard the hulls and rinse and dry the sprouts. They are now ready to eat or you can store them in the refrigerator. Sometimes green lentil hulls remain on the sprout. That's ok.

Raw lentil sprouts are a good source of protein, thiamin, iron, phosphorus and copper and a very good source of vitamin C, folate and manganese. They contain no saturated fat or cholesterol.

Now For Today's Menu!!

Breakfast - Macadamia Mango Blast (New Recipe!)
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 2 servings]
1 ounce raw macadamia nuts (about 10 to 12 kernels)
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 mango (peeled, seed removed and chopped)
1 banana
1 cup frozen peach slices
1 packet stevia (optional for added sweetness)


First make nut milk by adding the macadamia nuts and water to a VitaMix blender and blending until smooth.
Add mango, banana, frozen peach slices and stevia and blend until smooth.
Serve immediately.


Per serving: 251.5 calories, 11.0 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 2.5 g protein, 40.5 g carbohydrates and 5.5 g dietary fiber.

Today's snack - a bowl of fresh cherries!
One cup of cherries contain 87 calories and zero fat.
They are high in fiber and vitamin C and anthocyanins.
Anthocyanins can protect the heart and reduce inflammation which can ease the pain of arthritis. They can also protect against gout.

Lunch - Asian Coleslaw  with ginger tahini dressing served with avocado slices 
(Modified and Improved from 2010 post!)
[makes 4 servings]
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
For the salad
8 cups organic Napa or other green cabbage
2 tablespoons green onions, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1/4 cup seedless raisins
1/4 cup sliced raw almonds
For the dressing
1 clove garlic, grated
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons raw tahini
2 tablespoons raw agave nectar
2 tablespoons Bragg liquid aminos 
3 tablespoons rice vinegar or raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon cold pressed flaxseed oil
pinch cayenne
2 avocados, sliced


Combine the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl.
In a smaller bowl, blend the garlic, ginger, tahini and agave nectar to form a thick paste. Slowly add the soy sauce, vinegar, oil and cayenne and mix thoroughly.
Add to salad, toss well and serve with avocado slices .


Per serving : 224.6 calories, 9.9 g fat, 1.0 g saturated fat, 1.8 g omega 3 and 2.7g of omega 6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 6.2 g protein, 31.6 g carbohydrates, and 6.1 g dietary fiber. 
Avocado slices add 113.4 calories, 10.6 g fat, 1.6 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1.6 g protein, 6.0 g carbohydrates and 4.6 g dietary fiber per serving.

Today's lunch is Asian Coleslaw

Dinner - Waldorf Salad with Apple Chia Dressing

and Raw Kale with Cucumbers and Sunflower Seeds in a lemon-turmeric dressing

Waldorf Salad (Old favorite from October, 2009)

[makes 4 servings - this will be tonight's dinner and leftovers will be tomorrow's snack]

Raw Vegan, Gluten Free

For the dressing
2 teaspoons dried chia seeds

1/4 cup filtered water, room temperature

1 tablespoon raw agave syrup 

1 tablespoon fresh apple juice

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the salad
2 cups diced apple, with skin

1 cup celery, diced

1/3 cup dried, sweetened cranberries

1/4 cup raw English walnuts, chopped

To make the dressing, mix chia seeds with filtered water. Let sit for several hours until it forms a gel. 

Add agave syrup, apple juice and lemon juice to the chia gel and mix thoroughly. Set aside. 

For the salad, combine apple, celery, cranberries and English walnuts. Add the apple chia dressing and mix together. Serve.

Per serving: 139.2 calories, 5.7 g fat, 0.6 g saturated fat, 1.1 g omega 3 and 3.0 g omega 6 fatty acid, 0 mg cholesterol, 1.7 g protein, 21.4 g carbohydrates and 3.9 g dietary fiber.

Raw Kale with cucumbers and sunflower seeds (New Recipe!)

[makes 2 servings]
Vegan, Gluten Free

For the dressing

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

pinch cayenne pepper

For the salad

2 cups packed kale, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons red onion, finely diced

1 cup English cucumbers, with skin, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds

Place the lemon juice, olive oil, turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper in a medium sized bowl and mix well. 

Add sliced kale to the salad dressing and toss together well with a fork until kale is thoroughly coated.

Add red onion, cucumber slices and sunflower seeds. Toss and serve.

Per serving: 157.5 calories, 11.5 g fat, 1.4 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3.8 g protein, 12.4 g carbohydrates and 1.8 g dietary fiber.

Day 1 Dinner - Kale and cucumbers with Waldorf Salad

And for Dessert!
We've done enough food prep today. Dessert will be a nice and simple piece of watermelon. An 86 calorie wedge of watermelon provides a third or more of your daily requirement of vitamin A and vitamin C.

Watermelon is very high in the carotenoid, lycopene.
Lycopene has antioxidant and anticancer properties.

A Reminder!
Since you will be eating raw, unprocessed and unfortified vegan foods, don't forget to supplement with vitamin B12, vitamin D and DHA omega 3 fatty acid.