I’m not trying to scare anyone from changing their poor eating habits, but I’m just say’n….healthy eating takes a lot of effort! We must remember that it is important to love ourselves, love our body, love & appreciate our health, and enjoy being in the kitchen as well.
In a recent episode of ‘The Biggest Loser’ the losing team was locked in a room for 4.5 hours a day, surrounded by tempting junk food, tv and video games; which all lead to lethargy, lack of motivation and obesity. Picking up on that approach, Lee and I basically locked ourselves in our kitchen today, but we were surround by Mother Nature’s fresh, organic veggies, and some good, fun ITALIAN cooking music, and a nice glass of our favorite ITALIAN vino! Win-win!
Some of you may remember that we made an attempt at raw foodism for 30 days, but that quickly changed to 2 weeks, then into a week, and finally we pooped out at 3 days (something like that). Eating raw, is very appealing to me, and I would LOVE to achieve this master way of eating, but it is very time consuming and I just don’t think I am able to do it successfully at this time in my life. With all that said, I have shared a raw dish with my fellow bloggers and blog followers in the past; Lee and I have spent hours in the kitchen making an extremely delicious raw lasagna. We’ve made this several times, and have prepared it for others who simply LOVE it. Today, we made a raw eggplant manicotti. Be careful of the recipes you pick up on the internet, you can spend a lot of money AND time, only to discover it’s not such a good recipe at all. If you read through it first, you can pretty much tell if it’s going to be good or not. This one I followed was ok, but I should have pulled back on the Italian seasoning – the recipe called for way too much.
Keep in mind, even though I say it is not easy to do, there are a plethora of health benefits to raw eating; that is what appeals to me. Overall, a ME-gan diet weaved with raw meals every now and then, is definitely a winning combination. I’ll take all the health benefits I can get.
Here are some pics of the ‘ingredients’ that went into the raw eggplant manicotti:
Some of the main ingredients of this dish.
Fresh Roma tomatoes, washed, de-seeded and diced!
Macadamia nut and cashew nut ‘ricotta’ – Mmmm!
Sundried tomatoes. I can eat these like there’s no tomorrow!
Soaking the nuts.
These are the macadamia and cashew nuts after being soaked.
Pretty little things!
A few other ingredients that went into the makings.
Sometimes the whole “healthy eating thing” can become a little confusing. Whether it is becoming vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, ME-gan (which is a combination of the previous two), raw foodist, or just going on an old fashioned diet, the answer is quite simple…”Fast food & junk food equals an unhealthy body!”
A Raw food diet is based upon the evidence that healthy food & vegetables that are cooked above 115 degrees lose the benefits from the nutrients and enzymes that mother nature placed into them in the first place. These enzymes are the “life force” that help maintain optimal health. Just because man discovered fire, doesn’t mean that everything we consume should be baked, fried, roasted, cooked or barbecued. Animal flesh passed over an open flame was fine for cavemen, but not in today’s modern society where vital nutritional information can be found with the click of a mouse button.
The primary benefits of a Raw food diet include:
- Increased ability to fight disease
- Weight Loss
- More natural energy
- Clearer skin due to reduced animal fat
When you look at it from all angles, there is no perfect answer! Just choose an approach and jump into the world of healthy eating for yourself and your loved ones. What I can tell you is that the secret is to attain “balance” between all of these various styles of organic, healthy eating based upon your lifestyle. The first step must be to eliminate “fast food & junk food” as the dominate portion of your diet. You will be stunned by the difference it makes in your body, thinking process, self-esteem and weight loss.
Here are some pics of the final product, enjoy!
Rolled before the topping
Pretty and healthy. They are very rich and filling, I could only eat one. They will last a few days – well worth the hours in the kitchen!
Mangia! All natural goodness. No chemicals, no preservatives, no artificial flavorings, no animal fat! Italian meets RAW…meets ME-gan – excellent choice!
Hope you begin YOUR week with a healthy start. Incorporate exercise and smart, healthy food into your life – and you’ll notice some positive change waiting for you right around the corner! If you’re Italian, like me, there are alternatives to the traditional ‘fattening’ Italian dishes! Trust me!
Check out the ME-gan Lifestyle today…
MAGIA! Mother Nature is calling…pick up the phone! HELLLLOOOOO!
Love, Mary