Day 1 without a camera

This is what I may need come Christmas-time if mine doesn't get fixed: I think I left off my talking about my yummy raw, vegan soup from lunch! I had the entire batch of soup, which was about three small bowls-worth, over the course of a couple hours while I did stuff around the house - and read blogs, of course :)

Then I wanted something sweet, so I tried my first Larabar. I tried the "Pecan Pie" flavor. I knew these were "raw-friendly" so I grabbed a couple the last time I was at the store, but, contrary to what I always do, for some reason I didn't look at the ingredients while in the store. Suprisingly, the only ingredients were pecans, dates, and almonds! Wow, talk about a simple snack. It was really good :) even though I probably could have made a similar bar myself for cheaper......... but I guess it's the type of thing that is nice to have around since they travel well.

I had a couple pieces of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread later that afternoon with a few smears of Earth Balance. What a great combo!! For those of you who haven't tried Ezekiel bread, is is made mostly from sprouted wheat and barley, and contains NO flour. It is considered to be raw, and thus can be combined with other "starch" foods. I loved it with the buttery Earth Balance on top! Two squares of Lindt dark chocolates followed up this treat - what a perfect mid-afternoon snack :)

Dinner was comprised of a super light and refreshing salad - grape tomatoes, lots of cilantro, some fresh oregano from Yaya's garden, carrots, and a dressing made from lemon juice, PureVia, and a bit of salt. It was very good, but not filling enough, so I decided to make My First Nut Cheese!!!

Today I was in the neighborhood of Trader Joe's, so I bought multiple bags of raw nuts since that is the cheapest place to get them. I threw about 1/2 cup of cashews into my mini FP, some water, lemon juice, and salt, and lo and behond, "nut cheese" was the result!!

This stuff is GOOD. It is so good that I specifically remember thinking to myself that "if I could eat this good all the time, eating raw would be soooo enjoyable!" I used this as a dip for some carrot sticks.

I snacked on many, many dates, some of them dipped in some raw almond butter (just purchsed from TJ). I have to say, I am really proud of myself for eating "high-raw" today - and interestingly enough, despite having a full, satisfying amount of food all day, I have had no stomach pains, which is part of the reason I'm doing this. That's a great sign, right :) However, I hate to say it, but being slightly perfectionistic and neurotic, I'm worried that eating an abundance of rich, caloric foods like guac, nut butters, and dates will mean that I may pack on the pounds. Supposedly, if you follow a raw diet you never have to weigh food or count calories, which is very appealing to me.

I would love to hear from those of you who have tried this with success (or not)! Was/is this a concern of yours? Any advice for me and other readers about this?