Raw vegan meal plan (Day 2) and raw vegan tacos (or, my new obsession)

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I'm building my meal plan to allow for leftovers, because in any meal plan, really, leftovers are kind of needed to get by timewise.

A note on raw eating...I am trying to achieve a high raw lifestyle, meaning that 90-95% of what I'm eating is raw. However, when it comes to spices and oils and tamari, I am often not opting for the raw versions. For spices and oils, this is a matter of accessibility (other than coconut oil, which is easy and inexpensive to acquire); although I am going to try to find and use more whole versions of the spices (like the tumeric root and cardamon pods, for instance), it will still be very hard to determine whether these are raw. For tamari, this is because nama shoyu (the raw version) contains gluten, which I am allergic to. Now, you could go with bragg's soy sauce-like product, but I don't use enough of it to really be bothered.

Now, you could probably do without most of the olive oil I use, which is the oil I use most frequently, as I don't use that much of it. So, if you want to live a fully raw lifestyle without spending tons of cash, that is an option.

Also, one final note, you may notice that I use lots of cashews and almonds as my nuts of choice. Well, I just recently found out that although labeled raw, the commonly sold versions are in fact not raw. Since 2007 all California almonds have been pasturized due to cross contamination in factories with salmonela (you'd think they should just have to have stricter controls in their factories, because really now, so gross! But, I guess this was ...cheaper?). Anyway, you can order raw versions of these nuts online (upaya naturals is a good source if you're from ontario); but, they are considerably more expensive than the non-raw versions. For now I am still using the non-raw versions, but am cutting down how much I use them.

Anyway, here's day 2 of the raw lifestyle meal plan...apparently I was in the mood for a tex-mex themed day...Click here to see day one of the meal plan.

• breakfast: green smoothie - strawberry, banana, hemp seed, spinach, nut milk (or just blend hemp seeds first with water to make hemp milk and then blend in other ingredients)
• snack: fruit 
• lunch: tacos (see recipe below)
• snack: walnuts and some dates 
• dinner: chili with sweet n spicy corn chips
• dessert: fruit dipped in raw chocolate sauce

Right, so I am totally obsessed with raw wraps and raw tacos. They're super easy to make and mega delicious. For the wraps, I use either savoy cabbage or collard greens. For smooth rolling, I cut the thickest part of the stem out, and shave the stem on the rest of the leaf (see photo below).

To make:
Curried lentil sprouts

• Lentil sprouts tossed with tumeric, cumin, cayenne and a bit of olive oil (or lemon juice or water if you don't want to use the oil)

Easy peasy salsa

• chop tomato, red onion, coriander, garlic, jalapeno. Toss together in a bowl. Let sit for a while if you're not in a hurry to eat; your taste buds will thank you.

Lazy guacamole

• Mash an avocado with a fork with some lime juice

Shredded lettuce and/or cabbage
Olives (my jarred olives are clearly not raw. Actual raw olives are hard to find and a bit pricey. I love olives, so I eat them anyway. These can easily be omitted from the recipe.)

CUTE MOMENT BREAK!! Sabrina, my gray and white kitty is curled up on the automan in the exact same position as Ryder, the foster cat with the exact same colouring and markings (though he's solid gray, not tabby) who is on the chair behind her. And he's like half her size! The mini bean!! (We call Sabrina Bean. It's quite fitting once you get to know her.)

Hope you enjoyed your healthy tex mex-ilicios day! Stay tuned for day 3!

xoxo
Selene