Silk Naturals

This might sound really dumb but what are these sprouted and fermented veggies and whatnot? I really need to sort my eating habits out, the last few months have been non stop with uni work, but only a month to go!!

To avoid doing all this work I've been baking like a crazy thing and gone a bit mad on the cheese so my poor tummy's bloated right out! Last assignment's in on Tues so after then I have no excuse!!!

Thanks again, egerandi!

I don't really know if I could do raw... I'd have to give up croissants and macarons (The French kind! Pierre Herme!) and boeuf bourguignon on most occasions! I took your advice and am starting to read Kevin Gianni's book. Maybe I'm too doubtful or love cooking too much to become a 80% raw foodist at this moment, but I do realize the health benefits and will simply try to incorporate as much raw food as possible. For example, fruit for breakfast, a salad with every meal. Well - that's the ideal day but we all fall off the wagon once in a while don't we!

sewwies wrote:This might sound really dumb but what are these sprouted and fermented veggies and whatnot? I really need to sort my eating habits out, the last few months have been non stop with uni work, but only a month to go!!

To avoid doing all this work I've been baking like a crazy thing and gone a bit mad on the cheese so my poor tummy's bloated right out! Last assignment's in on Tues so after then I have no excuse!!!

sewwies wrote:This might sound really dumb but what are these sprouted and fermented veggies and whatnot? I really need to sort my eating habits out, the last few months have been non stop with uni work, but only a month to go!!

To avoid doing all this work I've been baking like a crazy thing and gone a bit mad on the cheese so my poor tummy's bloated right out! Last assignment's in on Tues so after then I have no excuse!!!

Don't be silly about sounding stupid, we're family here, right? I'm sure other people know more about this than I do, but it seems as though sprouted veggies "re-grow" (roots maybe?) after being soaked in water??? That's kinda my understanding.. it makes the plant easier to eat. I think I came across a "raw hummous" recipe that called for sprouting chickpeas or maybe just soaking them in water. I don't *QUIIITE* remember. Fermentation is another proccess apparently... I'm just familiar with miso and kimchi and soy sauce because I'm Asian. I think whereas sprouting is allowing the vegetable itself to grow, fermentation is allowing other microbes to?? I'm really not sure, just my hazy understanding!

And I agree with the shopping part!!! It just so happens that Paris has its crazy summer sales starting June, so I hope to lose some weight by then and pamper myself

sewwies wrote:This might sound really dumb but what are these sprouted and fermented veggies and whatnot? I really need to sort my eating habits out, the last few months have been non stop with uni work, but only a month to go!!

To avoid doing all this work I've been baking like a crazy thing and gone a bit mad on the cheese so my poor tummy's bloated right out! Last assignment's in on Tues so after then I have no excuse!!!

What she said: no stupid questions here, don't be afraid to ask

Sprouting is making the seeds, grains, nuts to come alive, 'tricking' them into 'thinking' that they will start growing, so they start creating the enzymes and nutrients to support themselves. We benefit from this through the increased amount of nutrients and the better digestion. Very helpful site: http://www.sproutpeople.com/
As for the fermented veggies, it's pretty much what you would call sauerkraut: you allow for lacto-fermentation with salt alone, no vinegar included in these 'pickles'. You can use other veggies, not just cabbage: my next experiment will be beets. I would recommend this: http://www.wildfermentation.com/

Sorry to hear about your tummy! Next time munch on some pickles with your cheesy goods, that should help

nomi_happy wrote:Thanks again, egerandi!

I don't really know if I could do raw... I'd have to give up croissants and macarons (The French kind! Pierre Herme!) and boeuf bourguignon on most occasions! I took your advice and am starting to read Kevin Gianni's book. Maybe I'm too doubtful or love cooking too much to become a 80% raw foodist at this moment, but I do realize the health benefits and will simply try to incorporate as much raw food as possible. For example, fruit for breakfast, a salad with every meal. Well - that's the ideal day but we all fall off the wagon once in a while don't we!

You do have the right idea: making it happen with a good transition. Trust me, I miss all that good stuff too sometimes, but the curious new items I get to 'cook' kind of make up for it. I do allow myself to pig out -so to speak- once a month, on my past favorites, but you know what, they don't even taste as good as they used to. I'm certainly not missing the bloating and other side effects of some of the stuff I don't eat any more.

I love cooking too, and I still do, several nights a week, as my boyfriend is not joining me with the raw diet, but you also have all these new things you can create while eating raw: soups, crackers, 'stews', pickles, sauces... Next up: homemade tempeh!

Thanks you guys I've learned something!

Egerandi, you're right about stuff not tasting as good as it used to, when I've been through one of my 'good' phases I don't know whether its guilt or just because you've gotten used to all the goodness but junk doesn't have the same loveliness. But right now I'm in a bad phase and unfortunately its all delicious. Hmph

Nomi_Happy--If I were living in France for a semester I think I'd have a hard time giving up all those pastries too! Unfortunately, I can't do gluten, so I had to bid all those things an abrupt farewell. It was incredibly hard, and I can't go back and have a binge night on occasion, but I think of that as a good thing! Nothing like a food allergy/intolerance to keep you aware of every bite of food you eat! *snort* So, um, please eat a croissant for me!

My brother is for the most part vegan and transitioning into an 80% raw diet...he refuses to give up beans and peanut M&Ms. I can't eat that much raw food, but I am starting a green smoothie a day policy in our house! From past experience I know the hotter the summer gets the more I prefer drinking many of my meals in cold smoothie form! I'm hoping it'll impact my weight favorably too...though I don't own a scale so my celebratory post in this thread will be more like "I can finally zip my jeans again!"

Thank you everyone for all the information and support... I really needed that after a down day like today. First off, I realized I couldn't fit into my skinny jeans after the wash. I went to a dinner social get-together and ended up feeling left out, bored witless, and generally irritated. A part of me warned that it wasn't going to be fun... Should've heeded to that little voice. I couldn't stand it anymore and left before dessert because I needed to go back and finish my presentation (which is tomorrow). I don't live in Paris center, so the idea of spending another 2 hours with these people killed me a little (1.5 hours transportation + 0.5 hours to finish dessert).

I took the RER back myself but I got off at the wrong stop!!!!! I got off at one stop before. It was supposed to take another half hour for the next RER to come but it just happened to be delayed by 20 minutes. Which would be fine except it was actually COLD and WINDY and the tracks were outdoors. Perfect end to a perfect day.

Enough of my ranting.

PIZZA.
We had pizza tonight and I can't help but think that eating better would really actually improve my mood. When I got back I still felt quite bloated and irritable but I'm sure I didn't even over-eat. It sure feels good WHEN I'm eating pizza, but it seems like it sure doesn't feel so good AFTER I eat pizza... Any similar feelings?

egerandi wrote: You do have the right idea: making it happen with a good transition. Trust me, I miss all that good stuff too sometimes, but the curious new items I get to 'cook' kind of make up for it. I do allow myself to pig out -so to speak- once a month, on my past favorites, but you know what, they don't even taste as good as they used to. I'm certainly not missing the bloating and other side effects of some of the stuff I don't eat any more.

I love cooking too, and I still do, several nights a week, as my boyfriend is not joining me with the raw diet, but you also have all these new things you can create while eating raw: soups, crackers, 'stews', pickles, sauces... Next up: homemade tempeh!

I'm having a hard time transitioning though - too much temptation here!! But I feel like for the sake of my health and my emotions, I should at least give it a chance. I feel like I'm at the point where I'm saying, "There's GOT to be something better than this." Kind of like the story that Kevin Gianni told about himself...

That's so cool you're making tempeh!! I've never actually tried it, but I think I came across a recipe asking for it once... and I was intrigued. Keep me posted on how it goes!

superwahz wrote:Nomi_Happy--If I were living in France for a semester I think I'd have a hard time giving up all those pastries too! Unfortunately, I can't do gluten, so I had to bid all those things an abrupt farewell. It was incredibly hard, and I can't go back and have a binge night on occasion, but I think of that as a good thing! Nothing like a food allergy/intolerance to keep you aware of every bite of food you eat! *snort* So, um, please eat a croissant for me!

My brother is for the most part vegan and transitioning into an 80% raw diet...he refuses to give up beans and peanut M&Ms. I can't eat that much raw food, but I am starting a green smoothie a day policy in our house! From past experience I know the hotter the summer gets the more I prefer drinking many of my meals in cold smoothie form! I'm hoping it'll impact my weight favorably too...though I don't own a scale so my celebratory post in this thread will be more like "I can finally zip my jeans again!"

Almost all croissants here are good, but I've definitely found one that's REALLY, REALLY good!! I'll be sure to eat it once in a while for you, but not too many for the sake of my waistline, lol. I wonder if I'm allergic to anything, actually... How do you know, besides going for a test?

LOL! Beans and peanut M&Ms! I think I'd have some trouble giving up grilled eggplant and lamb and... well, too many other things! But I'm definitely going to start doing 50% raw or something close
Maybe I should get a blender, I'm a little curious about the scary-looking monster of a green smoothie!

nomi_happy wrote: That's so cool you're making tempeh!! I've never actually tried it, but I think I came across a recipe asking for it once... and I was intrigued. Keep me posted on how it goes!

Haha, won't be for a while, I'm at the planning stage. This happens after I spend a fortune on store-bought stuff, and realize that homemade will taste so much better, and will be way cheaper. Right now I'm stocked, but yeah, one day! I'll let you know how it went

50% is a good way to start, heck, any start is better than none
What you can do is try to 'manipulate' your foods that are getting cooked, like soak and sprout your beans, go for organic and seasonal produce to be steamed instead of fried, etc. Also, including fermented pickles and sauerkraut will help you digest the cooked foods, and you could find a good quality enzyme to add back what you cooked out, like those on Kevin's site. No need to go overboard, baby steps are fine