I fell in love with raw cuisine when I was first introduced to kale chips. However, as I state in my book, I cannot be 100% committed to any dining style. As much as I would love to eat raw 90% of the time at least, I have difficulty finding the necessary prep time. But I will share some of my favorite recipes here, along with non-raw treats.

I have a tremendous amount of trouble with oversized hunger. Does that sound familiar? My grehlin levels must be way out of whack. Ghrelin is the 28-amino acid chain peptide found in the lining of the stomach and the pancreas. It is crucial to understand we have a hormone that stimulates our hunger, and when mine is stimulated, I get so hungry I am liable to grab the first thing that I see on the shelf. Only recently have I found healthy food items that create a satiety level and keep my ghrelin gremlins at bay. Here are a few items that have helped me on famished occasions:

1. Sun dried tomatoes in a package without oil.  They’re dry, you might be able to add water to increase your h2o intake and rehydrate them.  I found it most beneficial to just chew on them.  For me, one of the great hardships of dieting, or should I say, modifying one’s food intake permanently, is that I miss the chewing.  Sun-dried tomatoes help satisfy that urge to munch and munch, and they are tangy and a bit sweet, so they satisfy several flavor cravings  the taste buds miss if the diets we choose are rather bland.

2. Scandinavian Bran Crispbread, great for fiber, 5 grams great in fact, with some hummus.

My hummus recipe:

1 can garb beans

appx 1/8 cup raw sesame seeds, or try 1 ½ T. tahini

½ T extra virgin olive oil

1 small garlic clove(very small, the garlic can be quite pungent, which I love, you may not)

1 T cumin (optional)

seasalt (optional)

Juice of ½ lemon, or more to taste

Use a high speed blender such as Vitamix to blend. Serve with raw seed crackers or Le Pain des Fleurs 100% natural Buckwheat Crispbread.

3. Fat-free refried beans with hot sauce or buffalo wing sauce.  The heat of the sauce, capsaicin, is a great metabolism-booster, and the beans provide protein; filling, plus a great source of fiber.  When paired with a seed cracker (stay away from the usual string of crackers that are mostly white bread or “enriched” which often means natural ingredients are removed and synthetics are sprayed back in).  Seed crackers are filling and full of nutrients (check box).  You’ll find you won’t need to gorge yourself to feel full. If you’re like me you miss dips and chips.  This is a very satisfying alternative.

4. Smoothies: I love green smoothies, and this one can also be used as an appetizer- shooter, or a cold soup as well at a mid-afternoon snack. It comes from Vimergy.com.  Very tasty and satisfying. If I need a flavorful pick-me-up in the afternoon (3:00 – 4:00 is my hungry time), I might whip this up. It doesn’t take long, and the creaminess, which mostly comes from the pine nuts, is wonderful. You’d think you would have to miss cream soups for the rest of your life if you stay on a healthy course, which will take you far away from the heavy creams of the dairy world. Not true. This is just as satisfying as any cream soup, without the  heavy  feeling afterward and the calories you would pack on places you don’t want them. Give this one a try:

Raw Cream of Celery Soup or Smoothie

5 large stalks celery, thickly chopped

1/3  cup pine nuts

1 small garlic clove

¾ cup water

½ tsp. sea salt

-Blend all ingredients until smooth, garnish with celery, serve as soup, in a smoothie glass, or even in a shot glass as a shooter

Don’t be afraid to experiment. Your new diet path is yours to explore. It’s exciting and fun.