Raw Chocolate Macaroons

I recently picked up a few raw food "cook" books from Amazon and I HIGHLY suggest you check out these books! It's very helpful in my opinion to master a few recipes so you can have some sort of base of foods you can work with and make rather easily. For example some standard foods I know I like to eat everyday are salads, almond milk , green smoothies (fruit and chocolate), raw chocolate fudge and green juices. Then as snacks I like to eat pieces of fruit, (be careful not to over do it), veggies like pieces of cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery nuts, seeds and superfoods like chocolate or cacao nibs, goji berries etc.




But on top of that I like to make things that I can learn in certain raw foods books. I like to have these snacks handy so when I get hungry they are there for me. These chocolate macaroons are one of them. I also like to make mint chocolate chip ice-cream with raw chocolate sauce. I also like to make breads, crackers and pates so I can make sandwiches or raw burgers with an avocado almond butter spread with sprouts. It's invaluable to have a few reference books around. My favorite three books are Raw: The Uncook Book: New Vegetarian Food for Life and Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes

By the way these chocolate macaroons are amazing and take about 10 minutes to make! All you have to do is follow exactly the Recipes in Raw Food/Real World which is my favorite out of the 3 raw food cook books that I have.

What's Your Raw Food Goal?

Many times we are really hard on ourselves. I believe this starts in our childhood. We are conditioned from a very early age to compete with other children in many or all activities. We are constantly being compared with our siblings on everything from our behavior to our grades. This is the society we live in. And it is not all bad. It's good to compete and to fight for things. But many times we don't necessarily check things. By checking something I mean, is the idea itself worthy of belief or is it just something we believe without really thinking?

The reason I say this is because when we set a goal for something, if we don't achieve it in the time frame we have in our heads we've "failed." Or if along the way we "blow it" by eating something that isn't the best ever, we've "failed." This idea of placing judgements on food is what needs to be checked.

I've seen many people over the years get so down on themselves because they get into that game. What I believe we need to do is create an entirely different mindset. Here are a couple of points to that mindset that concerns eating raw food:

1. Be kind and gentle soft and allowing.

You must realize that diet is the hardest thing for people to change. Don't be so hard on yourself. It's a journey.

2. Focus on only the good things you eat each day, not the less than excellent foods.

If you eat 6 great things in a day, perhaps a green smoothie, a fresh organic vegetable juice, a green salad, some raw chocolate, super foods and maybe some herbal tea, but you also have a slice of pizza or two. Don't worry about it. Focus on all the unbelievable nutrition you DID have!

3. Keep the long term goal in mind.

If you are for example 35 years old and are just starting out, you must realize that your body has been used to being poisoned for 35 years and to change your diet to a 100% raw vegan plant based approach in 1 year might not happen.

4. Give yourself time to reach the goal.

Don't worry about being perfect. The goal is not 100% or this or that. It's being consistent. Consistency over perfection. I always advocate to eat what you want. If I tell myself I cannot eat pizza that's what I'll have. If I want to have pizza I will eat it. To put yourself into the denial game will not work.

So in the long term when you're looking at your diet program only compare yourself TO yourself. Don't compare yourself to anybody else. If you have gotten rid of milk and dairy products and added salad in once a day, that is amazing. Just keep doing that stay consistent, don't get down on other less than excellent foods you may have consumed. Be happy that you have the intention of consistency. Let that be your foundation and work from there.

Some quick tips if you do eat food that is less then excellent:

1. Have some supplements with it like Enzymes, Probiotics and Hydrochloric Acid.

2. Have a salad with your meal.

3. If you have meat, have some Cayenne pepper with it to help it digest or lemon on it or in your water to stimulate digestion and eat it before 2pm if possible.

4. Try to food combine as much as possible.

5. Don't drink too much water with your meals.

Be more kind to yourself, soft and allowing. This will help you to be more successful in your raw food journey. Remember, consistency over perfection...