KISS

Do you know the acronym KISS?

Keep
It
Simple,
Silly

(I think the original was Stupid instead of Silly, but that's just mean, isn't it? :D)

I got all caught up in technicalities instead of just focusing on what I was trying to accomplish this week: take  a step in the raw/vegan direction. Last night, when I realized I was making it huge--which is really just setting myself up for failure--KISS came to mind. Keep It Simple, Silly.

Here are some simple things I (or anybody reading) can do this week to improve the vegan/raw intake:

• Eat lots of fruit, a variety and whatever you feel like eating. Sure, there are all these recommendations about buying in season and all that, but forget that for now: just eat as much fruit as you can each and every day! This does complicate things slightly for me since the fruits I would most like to eat, I can't :( (apples, plums, peaches, nectarines... I'm longing to be food sensitivity-free!). However, there is plenty of other stuff I can eat: melons, grapes (red grapes have the same chemical in them that is beneficial in red wine!), blueberries, bananas, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries. Smoothies are ideal for getting in lots of fruits and greens, but I'm not always in a smoothie mood.
• Lettuce and more lettuce. These greens are fantastic for us. I think it was Victoria Boutenko who wrote that greens ought to be in a category of their own. It doesn't even always have to be a salad: My kids and I will eat green leaf lettuce as is. No preparation (other than rinsing) required. This is easy to do. (By the way, a little tip if you find good-looking lettuce color-wise at the store that is wilted: bring it home, separate and rinse the leaves, put them in a sealable container with a small amount of water, seal and put in the fridge. They crisp up beautifully!) I know we have greens, but they were bought over a week ago, before I was so sick I barely bothered with meal preparation. I'll have to check and see if anything's still good.
• Veggies. Whatever you like. Carrots, broccoli and cucumber are favourites around here. Cucumber's a huge favourite lately: I cut up a long English cucumber this evening and my little family of 4 polished it off in no time. We'll also eat cauliflower rather readily. There's not much else I like. lol. I know, I'm picky! I will buy some things to make some pitas or wraps filled with veggies and greens. Like tomatoes and sprouts.

This is ridiculously simple, isn't it? (And it naturally eliminates a lot of wheat-eating!) What is going to get me to actually eat this? I need a new routine where I prep food in the morning, or prep some things that will still be good for a couple of days or more, depending on the food. Or may an enormous poster on my fridge reminding me of my intentions. My husband does the following and I hope you won't; I'm trying to get the message across to him that it's a bad idea. We'll see if I manage to over time. What he does: He will cut up an entire bag of carrots into sticks and put them in a Tupperware container. Do you know how long it takes for us to eat an entire bag of carrots? 4 days later, still some carrots in the container. They are getting dry and have been losing valuable nutrients being exposed to the air like that. Things like broccoli and cauliflower work okay; so little of the inside is affected when you cut off the florets and wash them up and store them. Lettuce is absolutely fine when processed as I mentioned above. Carrots? No. Bad idea. It's like cutting up an apple and thinking it'll still be full of nutrients 4 days later. Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but the same idea.

Only thing left to do now is to perhaps make a better laid-out plan of what I will be serving for supper this week, lunch plans and then go get the groceries. I'm feeling worse than yesterday :(, but groceries are needed. I might take a nap first. ;)