In most of my social circles, I’m seen as the crazy healthy foodie. It cracks me up, because if not for my gluten intolerance I probably wouldn’t have that label, but I’ve embraced it and know that my life is richer as a result.
Lately I’ve fallen in with a crowd that makes me feel like a health food newbie. A friend invited me to a raw foods potluck back in the spring. It was such a great time that we’ve decided to have the potluck monthly. I’m being introduced to delicious raw recipes, I’m learning just how versatile raw foods are, and I’m getting to know some really cool people.
Raw foodies are fascinating. Who else would spend an hour over a meal talking about pesticides, cleanses, organic standards, alternative health professionals, and dehydrators? Where else would discussing intestinal issues over a meal be considered part of polite conversation?
My food world is expanding.
Did you know that you can make raw pizza with a raw crust and nut cheese? Whoever first came up with this idea was brilliant! Once I get a dehydrator, this is the first meal I’m making.
Or maybe I’ll make raw bread for veggie sandwiches. I love that raw bread is naturally gluten-free.
Here are some of my favorite raw dishes with links to the recipes.
Raw Curried Cashew Chard Wraps
And I love this Kale, Tomato, and Avocado Salad.
Potlucks are a great place to bring your experiments. Sometimes the experiments go well, and sometimes they flop, but we make the most of it! These were supposed to be burgers, but they didn’t dehydrate long enough. So they became a delicious gooey filling for lettuce wraps!
Here’s another great experiment.
Coconut Carrot Soup
With a spread like this, everyone walks away happy, satisfied, and with that “oh so clean” feeling.
I’m so excited that our next Raw Food Potluck is just around the corner. If you’re in the Nashville area and would like to come and bring a dish, let me know. We’d love to have you join in our foodie fun!
And if you have a favorite raw food recipe, please link up here. I’d love to bring your favorite to our next potluck!
I can so relate to all of this
I am submitting you one of my favorite chia puddings (I linked you at the end of the post).
Also, I have a raw foods lunchbox for you – I must write it up and send it your way
Thanks so much! I tried to make my own chia pudding without a recipe…edible, but not great. I’m making yours this week! And I’m so excited about a raw lunchbox!
Valerie, your Almond Mocha Chia Pudding was a huge hit at our potluck! Thanks so much for linking up your recipe!
This looks like a great event! Your bread looks divine. Thank you for sharing.
If I could only get the girl who made that bread to share her recipe! She’s one of those amazing cooks who says, “Well, I threw in a little of this and a little of that..”
Thanks so much for participating. I’m drooling over your cheesecake!!!
What a coincidence! I’m doing a giveaway of a raw food cookbook (The Raw Truth) this week. Sadly, I haven’t experimented much with raw foods myself. I keep it simple with bars, smoothies, and salads. I need to adventure more!
How fun! I’ll have to hop on over! You should check out Brittany’s April in the Raw archive. I was stunned with the amazing raw recipes that people came up with.
LOL I’m the crazy one, too. Although my coworkers do call me healthy and will often look at my lunches with longing.
Fellow crazy, don’t their lunches sometimes make you shudder?
Pretty much all the time. Most of them buy their lunch from work. Either a frozen dinner of some sort, soups, or from Food Avenue – mostly pizza and hot dogs, sometimes “nachos.” And all the free food that gets brought in for special things is pizza, chicken nuggets or sandwiches. So glad I always bring my lunch!
Teachers eat a LOT of Lean Cuisines thinking it’s a healthy choice. Oh, the preservatives. And I think I’d be hungry an hour later if that’s all I ate. I think I eat at least 3x the volume.
Love the avocado soup, these look great. I feel the same way you do. To some, I’m super healthy- to others I’m rather tame when it comes to food.
You definitely should try the soup recipe. It’s so easy, and cold soup is perfect for these hot summer days.
Yeah, I think there’s definitely a wide spectrum for health food craziness and where we fall tends to be relative depending on who we’re with!