storm, can i just move in with you and you uncook me tons of delish meals? that would be lovely! lol

Absolutely!  I'd love to have someone to uncook for!

VBR, your mention of vegan chili makes me want some raw chili so I'm just going to have to go and start some French lentils sprouting!  

Re. giving up coffee: You know what makes a good substitute for morning coffee?  Juliano's firewater!  I don't think it's technically a stimulant, but one shot in the morning will give you quite a kick in the pants.  

hmm....juliano's fire? i must investigate...i havent heard of this...

veganhippie-- me too! i think raw food is disgusting shite!
buuuut fruit is delicious, and so are salads.. so i eat tons of those.

i will tell you a few "easy" things i have made raw and they are good...
zucchini noodles with marinara or pesto
flax crackers
"cheeze" sauce (pine nuts for the base)

there are also some decent easy recipes in ani phyo's book, but of course, i don't really recommend that (cause it's so high fat)... but if you just want to try to incorporate some raw foods...

i have tried her cobbler, and i love it....yea, high-fat; but i stick to her desserts because, well, desserts aren't supposed to be the healthiest thing! ;)

my favorite thing about raw is waking up to a smoothie or fresh juice every morning.

i think raw food is disgusting shite!

http://bestsmileys.com/banned/1.gif

;)

lol! i can't help it! most of the prepared stuff just doesn't compare. but give me whole foods any day!

i'll be honest...yesterday i was high raw; the only thing nonraw i ate were two pickles, the soy sauce used to 'roast' my avo slices...oh and a little salt and pepper.  i only got hungry once.  i've found that preparing really simple stuff, without all of the fat, helps me stick with.

like yesterday, for dinner, i made a quick raw slaw out of shredded cabbage, diced onion,  cauliflower, avocado for a base instead of mayo, and a little salt and pepper.  it tasted really good; and i only used half of an avocado.  you could probably get away with using 1/4th; i piled it on top of a sliced tomato, and served with a bunch of grapes and two pickles.  I was full...didn't even want anything for dessert. 

thats the one thing ive noticed about eating high-raw; i get really full....a lasting full...from eating a lot less food.  i can have a smoothie or a fresh juice  for breakfast with some raw veggies or more raw fruit, and i'm full until time to snack around 10a.  (i wake up at 5a every morning to exercise and do other stuff before getting ready).
so hepsedal, try keeping it simple.  it really goes a long way, and keeps you motivated.

oh, don't worry. i've been 100% raw for over a month now and don't have problems doing it.

i do crave cooked for the taste sometimes, but only once have a craved something intensely because of the "comfort" it brings. first damn day of my period a few days ago. i think a few tears came out. lol... 

that's awesome...i'm working on it.  there are a few indulgences that i am not yet ready to let go of...actually, only one...  Nawab Indian Cuisine...darn you co-workers...

but i feel that if that is my only cooked indulgence right now, and i am still trying to transition, soon i will be ready to relenquish.

and the interesting thing is, i am well aware of how i feel after i eat it, and yet, the insanity, i continue to eat it haha.  although the aftermath is not fun and has deterred me from eating out a LOT.

i know how it is, vabeachraw, i actually think the reason i am doing great this time and have previously failed so badly (well actually a few reasons):
1. I'm not acting like I am never going to eat something cooked again in my life. I do have a strong commitment to what I am doing right now and want to give it AMPLE time before I maybe give in and eat a cooked food/meal, but I am not telling myself that I will never again eat something cooked. For some reason this helps.
2. I'm eating high fruit/low fat. It really fuels you! It's great.
3. I did reading before I started that gave me more answers and also more of a desire to commit (I read "the 80/10/10 diet" and "nutrition and athletic performance" both by dr. doug graham. I also read a few blogs and am on a fruit promoting raw-food website ( www.30bananasaday.com ).
4. My boyfriend is doing it, too.

yea, i really want to read victoria boutenko's 'twelve steps to...' discussing the addiction of and psychological/ emotional attachment to food.  i only eat at nawab maybe once every two weeks; if that often, so i dont feel guilty per se; its more a loathing, of how i'm going to feel after. but it's ok; i will only use that feeling to fuel my desire to eat raw even more.

i LOVE the raw lifestyle, i love it. but there are things (nawab) that i like about cooking and cooked food.  i unfortunately have a nonvegan SAD roommate, but it actually helps me to stay living in the raw. why? because i see the food that i cook for him and that he cooks and eats, and i think, wow this is all so..dead. its dead, there's no vitality in it, and that, to me, paints a grim psychological picture, and makes me crave fruit, in particular, even more.  i guess i've been really more into fruit because its winter and eating the bright, colorful, sweet, cool fruit helps offset the dreary winter days! :)

lol. I don't know much about victoria butenko, but there is this huge discussion going on on the raw forum i am on about how that family eats cooked food and they call themselves "the raw family".

For real?!  I have been reading 12 Steps to Raw Foods (off & on) for about a month now, and she is very staunch in her opinion that even a little cooked food is a bad thing because it provides a "slippery slope."  She said that for her & her family, it's all raw food, all the time...  When did that change?!

would you like me to point you to the thread? it's a bit harsh at times, but the forum i am on is harsh against most non-low fat raw vegan stuff...
http://www.30bananasaday.com/forum/topics/do-the-boutenko-family-eat

*quick to indulge.