Planning and preparation

[Amahla Johnson]

I thought I was going to a workshop today so I made some raw food dishes last night.  My daughter got sick so I ended up not going, but am enjoying the food nonetheless.   It's kind of relaxing to pre-prepare and not have to do too much today.  

S0 far I've had a green smoothie and a dish which is kind of pad thai-ish.  It was kelp noodles with purple cabbage, sliced yellow and orange pepper, and sliced onion, in a sauce made of miso paste, almond butter, raw honey and apple cider vinegar.  Was very yummy.  I even convinced my father to have some and he loved it.   He was very skeptical when he first saw it, which I don't get at all because it looked so colourful and beautiful to me.   My family and I are obviously from different planets!

Later I'll have some sesame nut milk with maple syrup and cinnamon, and a plate of greens with cucumbers.  Want to make a new type of dressing.

I had the flu for over a week, and was so tired I couldn't manage to eat all raw food.   I ended up eating quite a bit of cooked food that I made for my daughter.  I had to keep making food for her, obviously, but just could not make it to doing what I normally do, which is making two totally different sets of food.  What a difference I felt when I finally was able to go back to doing raw food prep.  I finally just started feeling normal last night.  

In a way it was good, because it reminded me how cooked food makes me feel starved.  I just didn't eat much the first few days of being sick, but then started being super low energy and hungry and decided eating some food even if it was cooked was a good idea.   That was the right thing to do but I'm having to basically wean myself off cooked now and it's hard!  Grains are my nemesis.

I need to come up with some plan for how to deal with being sick, especially if my daughter is sick too.  The last time I had the flu was 4 years ago, and I rarely get sick so that's why I didn't have a plan!  All my friends were like - you can't be sick!  You never get sick!  I've never heard you like this! (I was hoarse for several days.)  One big issue is that as a single parent I generally don't have the option of not doing stuff.  I would rest for a day, get slightly better, then go and do something, overextend and get sicker again.  I did a workshop while hoarse, went trick or treating with my child in the rainy damp weather etc., and glad I did them, although I missed some key events as well.  

I did end up buying a few salads and smoothies, but buying more food from the raw food restaurant nearest me was too expensive and inconvenient and I don't really like their food anyway.  Another issue was just that I was too tired to go shopping and our fridge broke down so I lost some produce items.  

I need to re-structure my life to be more supportive but not sure how I can do that easily.  It's the thing I am pondering this weekend...

[Amahla Johnson]

Hi Maria, the kelp noodles are a packaged thing - I buy them at the health food store for about $5 a pkg.  I usually rinse them, then soak for an hour in lemon juice and water.  I also usually cut them before it put them in a dish.  I see them as a borderline food - they are raw but are kind of processed so I only have them once in a while.  They are a nice thing when you want noodles.  

Thanks for the validation ;) - I do think I managed to keep up with things but the issue is kind of that it drags the illness out, iykwim?  Really I wish I could have just stayed in bed for 3 or 4 days and not been sick but partially functional for a week and a half.

[Maria]

I've had the flu for almost 3 weeks now but starting to feel better. I've had cooked foods too. Simply because I didn't have the strenght to do any "cooking". Just heating soups and making rice. I think it's pretty impressive what you manage to maintain while ill, being a single parent and all. The kelp noodle dish sounds delicious. I don't know how to make kelp noodles, if it requires a dehydrator, I'm not equiped. Would you care to share the recipy?