Raw Luck

It's dandelion season once again! Only this year instead of spraying the life out of them, I'm eating them! While I don't have this as a first-hand experience, I am told that over in Europe, people eat dandelion greens all the time. They don't regard them as predacious aliens in a perfectly green, manicured lawn like we Americans do. They're food. Good food!

This evening, before the Raw Meetup, Shawna Stursa took a couple of us out to forage for wild greens. As luck would have it, I got a tour of a local neighborhood's weeds by two foraging experts. How nice to have such wonderful teachers right here in my home town! In addition to dandelions, we found plantains, clover, chickweed, cleavers, violets, mustard, lambsquarters and elm seeds. We discussed how to use these wild greens and the benefits of several other wild edibles. I really liked what Shawna said, we live in such abundance! Let's face it, with the economy the way it is, it doesn't get any better than walking out the back door and having fresh food at your feet.

While I am sure the homeowners association won't be happy that I will be foraging weeds from my yard this year, I am very happy to have a little bit of this knowledge to get me started on wild greens. The benefits are just too numerous to mention. If cleavers can heal laminitus in thoroughbreds' feet, what can it do for mine?!!!

Also, I live on the edge of a state park and there should be tons of wild greens that I can find for my salads this summer. This is a new avenue of learning that I will be pursuing eagerly. It not only provides a great source of nutrition and healing properties, it gets me out in nature. It's just a win/win situation all the way around.

The Raw Luck was fabulous just as it was last month. The energy, knowledge, love, support and enthusiasm in this group is just way beyond any other group of people I have ever been around. To see such a group of individuals glowing radiantly and being so happy is the best medicine anyone could have. It is such a healing space and I intend to become a fixture in this wonderful group of raw foodists.

The foods tonight were quite varied. There was a green energy soup made with malva (another wild green), zucchini hummus, butternut squash pie, kale chips, a guacamole/vegetable dish for stuffing in romaine leaves, a quinoa/sprout salad and other yummy dishes and desserts I can't even remember.

Allison did a demonstration on growing sprouts which introduced us to a variety of seeds that can be used. I had forgotten about some types and learned about a couple of new ones. She shared one of her favorite ways to grow sprouts by mixing three different kinds of seeds for a wonderful combination of flavors. I will be getting down to the community co-op to find some radish, adzuki, alfalfa, and broccoli seeds this week!

For today I had:
Breakfast: Muesli with a variety of nuts and seeds, goji berries, raisins, dates, coconut, an apple and a banana with almond milk.
Lunch: A couple of "deviled eggs"... cashews, olive oil, lemon juice, agave nectar, and spices in white mushrooms.
Supper: A smorgasbord of raw dishes at the raw luck.

Did my Body Flex first thing this morning.

Pictures from top: Dandelions, chickweed, a cluster of grass, murdock and cleavers, quinoa/sprout salad, and zucchini hummus with crudites and almonds.