Raw Food IS Real Food

Two of my husband's favorite raw recipes are chili and lasagna. They taste just as good as the originals. The lasagna takes a long time to make as lasagna does, but the chili, from "Rainbow Green LIve-Food Cuisine," is really easy:

Blend tomatoes, avocados and sun-dried tomatoes with cumin, ginger, chili powder and cayenne. Marinate chopped celery, red pepper and leeks in olive oil and salt and dehydrate for one hour. Mix all ingredients together and serve.

We're taking some with us on our Thanksgiving trip so he can get right back on track the day after Thanksgiving (and for lunch on the road Thanksgiving day).

Thanksgiving Won't Be Raw...Well, Mostly

My husband's going to eat real food on Thanksgiving. And that's OK. He's already broken his diet a couple of times - at a wedding, his birthday, a dinner out with my parents.

I'm a firm believer in moderation. Get too rigid, deny yourself too much, and it backfires. I also believe he'll go right back to the raw way as soon as the holiday ends. Especially since he knows he'll get another break next month.

Besides, I'm bringing two raw dishes to Thanksgiving dinner - a green bean vinaigrette and Arugula Cumin Salad. So, everyone will get a few enzymes to help the turkey go down.

Who Doesn't Love a Sprouted Lentil Burger?

I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner and he suggested the Sprouted Lentil Burgers I cooked in the oven last week. The burgers followed his diet - they're a combination of sprouted lentils, sunflower seeds, some veggies, parsley, spices and lemon juice - even though they were cooked. The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center actually recommends 20 percent cooked food for its clients with diabetes so we were good.

Tonight, though, I made the burgers in the dehydrator, just to try it out. They certainly weren't as crispy as the ones from the oven, but they were pretty good. Even the kids ate them. Apparently, if you put them on toast with ketchup they kind of taste like real burgers. I ate mine with guacamole as the recipe suggested. My husband ate his straight up, and he doesn't even like lentils, or so he used to say.

The Dehydrator or How to Cook Raw Food

Raw food means food with all of its nutrients and enzymes (critical for healthy digestion) intact. When you cook food, you kill off the nutrients and enzymes. The higher the heat, the more you lose. However, that does not mean all raw food is cold or in salad form. You can heat food at low temperatures and still consider it raw because the low temperatures do not destroy the nutrients. The appliance of choice for this process is a dehydrator, which cooks food at a very low temperature as low as 85 degrees. (Most ovens don't go below 150 or 175 degrees.)

Excalibur is the only brand of dehydrator I've heard recommended. I've been to the company website several times, but couldn't decide between the large model or the small one, the one with the timer or the reduced-price refurbished model. My husband suggested perhaps an Easy-Bake oven would do. Today, a friend loaned me her small Excalibur dehydrator. She ate raw food for many years, but hasn't used it since her daughter was born five years ago. It was sitting on her fridge.

Here's an example of how to make raw Sun-Dried Tomato Flax Crackers using a dehydrator: You dehydrate a mixture of flax seeds, sun-dried tomatoes, celery juice, parsley and spices at 145 degrees for 2 to 3 hours, and then continue at 115 degrees for 6 to 8 hours. As you can see, this is a lengthy process. I intend to try it one day. And then my husband will eat his first cracker in over a month.

Division of Labor

As a polarity therapist, my job is to help people heal. So, I'm happy to make this food for my husband. It's a good investment in our future. But all the work - countless trips to grocery stores, hours reading recipes and planning meals, and many more hours washing, soaking, chopping, blending and mixing, has been wearing a little thin. By the time the food is done, I'm done. But the kitchen is still a mess.

Today, a good friend of ours asked me what I needed to feel supported in this raw venture. The answer was simple: I need my husband to clean up the kitchen. Sure, I'll do it when I can. Yes, the kids will help when they're home. But if it's a mess, it's his responsibility. And, no, it can't wait 'til morning. Problem solved.

Raw For 30 Days - It's Working!!!

My husband is the patient one. I want results NOW. We're getting them, just not quite at the pace we saw in the movie. So, I keep reminding myself of Herrings Law of Cure: We heal from the top down, from the inside out and in the reverse order in which symptoms occurred. That means his pancreas will get better before his belly gets smaller. I also tell myself it's one thing to follow the Green Food diet on a ranch in the desert while taking long walks and practicing yoga, and quite another to do it in Central New York while going to work and raising kids.

Still, here's what's changed for him so far:

* Blood sugar at or near normal levels

* Insulin use cut in half

* Increased energy

* Fewer naps

* No swelling in lower legs or feet

* No bloating

* No stomach aches

* Clothes fit looser

Also, he says he feels good. And he likes the food.