Considering the Raw Food Diet

I’ve been hearing about something called the Raw Food Diet lately. As I’ve gotten older, I absolutely LOVE fresh vegetables and fruits (especially vegetables). You know, I almost never ate fresh vegetables or fruits growing up. I wonder if this is why my family members have certain health problems. I remember eating a lot of pasta, a lot of cream dishes (tomato soups to casseroles, ick), and a lot of fried foods. No wonder my mom was always on weight loss products.. yuk, friend foods. The only vegetables I can recall eating are canned corn, iceberg lettuce, celery, and potatoes. Sometimes apples and peaches. And I was a fussy eater– I didn’t eat the onions, peppers, and tomatoes that were served.

I grew up in a large family and my step-dad was out of work from time to time (we live in Upstate New York). So we ate a lot of canned stuff, and ate seasonal stuff. When it was apple season, we ate apples, but never ate apples out of season. Same with broccoli and peaches. Oh, how I craved broccoli and peaches!

It’s funny, but I don’t cook hardly anything that I ate as I was growing up. I’m a fresh-food gal now, and I like fish (although I do like spaghetti and meatballs from time to time!). But I hate casseroles, dislike fried foods very much, and hate cream sauces and creamy soups. I rarely make casseroles and soups, and never fry anything except eggs.

Anyway, back to the raw foods. I would love to go on a raw food diet. I think. I would miss my fish, though. I love salmon, pollock, haddock, whiting– YUM! It’d be difficult to skip the fish. And I like spiedies, although I don’t eat them a whole lot. The Raw Food diet is very, very healthy– exceptionally healthy. I heard testimonies from my friends and they are very enthusiastic about it.

Cost is another thorn. In the summer, we eat a ton of raw stuff, anyway, but come winter, when fruits and veggies are twice the price…. yow. I think the biggest reason for eating cooked foods to begin with is found in just one word: winter. There’s just nothing fresh available during the winter.

So I’m reading more about the diet, weighing my options. Lord knows, I could sure lose weight and be healthier. I sit at a computer ALL day, sheesh. I could easily go 60% raw, or even 80% raw. Right now, my regular diet is probably 30%….

In considering the Raw Food diet, I’m noticing things a lot more, too– how EVERYTHING in the cooking world is geared toward, well, cooking! Think of all the stuff we have in our kitchens for cooking food, all those appliances, all that money spent: ingredients, bakeware, cookware, toaster, microwave, coffeepot, crock pot, oven, pots, pans… and loads and loads of recipe books, ugh!

I know I’m rambling here. I guess my thoughts haven’t completed formed concepts yet. I’m seeing for the first time how integrated cooking is for us. And when it comes down to it, we really don’t NEED to cook anything. Except during winter. That blasted thing called winter.

I’ll have more on this as I think more about it…