Genesisone29A blog of new beginnings.

We could make the transition slowly, and avoid detox, but we knew that we would fall off the wagon if we did.  We’re getting rid of anything that can hold us back: old cookbooks, food, cake pans, and whatever else could be a temptation to quit going RAW.  Now our cupboards are embarassingly empty:

Okay, so these aren’t exactly considered RAW foods, but until we get the dehydrator we are going to have to make do.  The RAGU, peanut butter, and coffee are soon to be gone too and we are taking the jelly back to the grocery store.  This is harder than we thought!

Our new “meat”, lots of nuts and seeds.  Not sure how we are going to use them yet, but I’m excited about learning! (The noodles are going to a new home along with the RAGU.)  Rice is not considered a RAW food, so instead we are using quinoa.  I know we’ve tried it before & didn’t like it, so I’m a little nervous about using it again.

No more processed sugars or saturated fats (Crisco & Margarine), instead we are using honey & olive oil.  RAW foodies rely heavily on herbs & spices to flavor their food and less on salt.  Luckily the only spices I had that didn’t fit the bill were Garlic Salt & Onion Powder.  One thing about RAW food is it smells delicious!

We used to have white flour, sugar, and sweets in these jars.  Now we have whole oats, kashi, and trail mix.  It’s amazing how many sugary products we used to have around the house!  And we thought we were eating healthy.

Veggies, hummus, eggs, and whole milk.  It doesn’t look like much, but this is supposed to feed us for the next week.  Looking at these pictures, I’m getting a little nervous.  I hope we have enough food and don’t feel hungry all the time.  Well, there’s no going back now.  Let the journey begin!

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Columbia State Farmers Market (pdf brochure)

Retail Hours:  6AM – 9PM, Monday – Saturday & 1PM – 6PM, Sunday (Admission & parking free)

Earth Fare -  ”As close to the ground as it gets.” (Organic food supermarket)

Rosewood Market - Natural Foods & Deli

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Location: Columbia Earth Fare

Contact: Earth Fare

Join Sharon and Max in Earth Fare’s Community Room for a wonderful raw foods class featuring tasty Indian Cuisine! Learn how to make raw Indian dishes and taste each item that is made! Max will talk about Holistic living and will answer any questions that you may have. There is a fee of $25 per person and please sign up in the “Events” binder located at the front of the store.

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gen·e·sis (jn-ss) n. pl. gen·e·ses (-sz) a beginning or origin of anything

So we finally did it. We made the commitment to eat RAW and this time we did it “cold turkey”. We gave away all our “bad” food (Goodbye sugar. Sniff, sniff.), old cookbooks (all except grandma’s recipe box), and anything that could be considered a safety net. Yup, only forward from here.

It hasn’t been an easy decision to make and lots of people are asking us “Why?” We started looking into a vegetarian diet when I first became sick, almost four years ago.  We quickly decided that it was “too hard” and gave up the idea. We did change our diet to include as many healthy options as possible. We were doing GREAT…until about a year ago.

We started adding more “convenience” foods because they were cheaper. We also convinced ourselves that we didn’t have the time to cook healthy. We felt like hypocrites, we would talk to other people about the importance of eating healthy and then go home and mix up some brownies (Mmmmmm, brownies….).

A funny thing happened. We started getting sick! We didn’t even really notice until the doctor’s bills started to pile up. We realized that we were sacrificing our health for “convenience” and vowed to make the commitment to “eat to live.”

We started to research the scriptures to see what the Bible had to say about food, and found that the bible frequently linked a vegetarian diet to better health, strength, vitality, and improved mental clarity (Daniel 1, Deut. 32:12-14,) . I didn’t find any scriptures that talked about a meat diet associated with these attributes, in fact, it talks about people getting fat, sick, and dying (Prov. 23:20,21).

I’m not saying that eating meat is a sin (God created all things and called them “good” , Gen. 1) and Paul specifically said that eating meat is not a sin (Romans 14:14). The conclusion that I drew was that God’s perfect will for us was to be vegetarians (Genesis 1:29-30). It wasn’t until after the flood that God permitted us to eat meat, and even then he put limitations on what was acceptable (Genesis 9:3-4, Deut. 14:4-5).

After deciding on a vegetarian diet, we had a family conference. We talked with our 7 year-old son [Little Man] about our decision and told him that it would mean having to give up lots of food he was used to.  We explained that it would be hard at first and he might not like everything (because our brains were addicted to processed foods) but that after some time he would actually crave the good foods.

We all agreed to start right away and put it to prayer. We plan to continue to pray and fast through this process. We hope that God will give us wisdom and that we will draw closer to Him to provide. It will require sacrifice and will be a difficult adjustment, but we know that God will give us the strength to persevere.

I will continue to write about our experiences as we adjust to our new lifestyle and hope that in some small way they can be a blessing to you (or at least provide a little humor).

God Bless,
Tiffany

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