Where did August go?
Thanks for hanging in while I healed from a fall and buried myself in my raw food kitchen to create the perfect potato chip recipe. I cannot wait to share it with you!
I cried with joy the first time I tasted raw vegan versions of eggs, parmesan cheese, and meatballs — but for some reason, after all these years consulting recipe books, visiting live food restaurants across North America, and attending thousands of potlucks, I had yet to find a truly delicious chip.
Crunching through a package of potato chips was part of my daily routine when I weighed nearly 300 pounds – as it is for many of you – so giving up on finding a delicious, healthy alternative wasn’t an option. Good thing I didn’t, as you’ll see in a few days . . .
Photo: Unveiling the Perfect Potato Chip Recipe…
I couldn’t stop eating when I weighed that much. No amount of potato chips, bread, or pasta filled me up. It was terrifying, confusing, and I felt awful.
Why? Some call it carb addiction, but I dove deeper than catch phrases to ask my sharp, raw-nourished body. It’s the only source I listen to now. And I just love sharing the scoop:
Not only are carbs in crinkly packages sprayed with addicting preservatives, but when we aren’t getting enough nutrition from what we are eating, our hunger button doesn’t shut off. It was designed this way to ensure our survival, but it can go awry when our cupboards and refrigerators are filled with packaged food.
You know the ones. The attractive packages that leave you feeling a fool when the box is empty. Because despite the “healthy” “all natural” “nutritious” “pure goodness” claims that dance across them in bright colours, we still gain weight, feel sick, and eventually pay the price of ingesting what our bodies, in peak form, resist.
I was so confused when I ate these foods. And alarmed by the automatic refusal to connect to inner wisdom that overtook me, much like an addict’s inability to stop doing what hurts them. My eating behaviour was killing me, and I didn’t have the mental clarity or focus to give what had gotten out of control in my life, the attention and thought that is needed for lasting change.
Years of abusing my body later, I had a giant hole in my soul. Even worse, with that hunger button in overdrive, and my poor adrenal glands working overtime at warning me to stop, my body exhausted the last of its energy stores, and began to shut down for good.
Enter raw vegan cuisine. Just in time!
Photo: Raw Vegan Crackers I made for a potluck
Switching to raw vegan carbs made such a difference! You’ve heard about my 125 + pound weight loss, but did you know that the sick, bloated feeling I used to get after eating vanished almost immediately? And that I suddenly felt balanced, satisfied and “full in a good way” after meals? That the confusion, withdrawal-craving cycles and hunger button madness were gone once I started eating truly fresh, truly natural foods straight from the earth? And that it was all even more delicious than the stuff I used to eat before? The most rawmazing part is that, sick as I was, it took very little effort and personal will to get well. “Carb addicted” or not, after switching to raw, life became easy. Eckhart Tolle said it best: “When you can’t breathe, Mother Nature does it for you.” Here is our Perfect Potato Chip shopping list for Month 11. See you in a few days when I reveal the full recipe and listen for your “worth the wait” seal of approval!
1 lb potatoes (russet or red)
3 T cold pressed olive oil (stone pressed is best!)
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups apple cider vinegar (for soaking chipped potatoes)
touch of sea salt
Equipment needed:
mandoline slicer (or veggie peeler)
dehydrator (oven works too)
Gina Silvestri, The Raw Food Muse 