Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Restaurants, Donuts and Random Pictures...

Yesterday I went out with a friend all day, and was confronted with the reality of being a raw foodist at a non-raw restaurant. We went to Golden City, a vegetarian Chinese place in the tenderloin. Since it's a vegetarian restaurant, I didn't think it would be too difficult to get a simple salad or some fruit. The menu had some lovely options, including a Thai cucumber salad and a selection of smoothies. I chose mango. I also saw they had fresh juices, so I didn't think it would be a problem to just have the smoothie with juice instead of milk or soy milk.

The problem with this is that it is entirely dependent on the server's attitude. I asked her what else went in the smoothie. She seemed baffled by this question. So i didn't much both asking about the Thai cucumber salad, and just asked for it without peanuts or soy jerky, and finally managed to get her to agree to a smoothie with juice instead of milk or soy milk.

So I'm fairly sure the meal was at least 90% raw. I believe and hope that the smoothie was only frozen mango and fresh squeezed OJ, and the salad dressing clearly had some sugar (it was very sweet) and the sesame seeds were toasted. Not a big deal, and I certainly don't consider it a setback. I managed to eat at a relatively normal restaurant and stay virtually raw. It was also a lovely meal. However an hour or so later, my face got all blotchy and red, the way it does when I drink too much or eat MSG. But this place doesn't have MSG. Weird.


I just finished making Rawdorable Shannon-Marie's infamous donuts, but I probably made way too many. I'll really only want one or two, and jess will maybe eat five or six, and there will still be like ten left. I made the chocolate ones, but I used much more oat groats, soaked them as well as the nuts, and added a banana (although it was a much bigger batch than she lists, so more like half a banana by those portions.) I'll frost them with the cacao-coconut oil-honey mixture I used on the cookies, and possibly a cashew/vanilla type thing as well. Yum.

I have a few extraneous pics of raw food that haven't made it into the blog that i'm sort of inclined to post now. Here's a green smoothie, before blending:

The tasty but not very satisfying zucchini pasta:

And yesterday's lunch of Raw Makery bread with almond butter, honey and raspberries:

Hope you enjoy them!

5 comments:

shannonmarie said...

Great job on the donuts. Thanks for stopping by. Good luck with your challenge. Looks like you handled the restaurant experience with flying colors.

Larissa said...

I think it is so true, whenever I've needed to special order in a restaruant, it all depends on the attitude of the server. But it sounds like you did great and got a yummy lunch!

Also, I seriously never would have guessed one could make raw doughnuts. You are very educational to me. (err, that sounds weird. I mean, I am being educated!)

mandy said...

well, you can make all kinds of things raw, but they aren't exactly the same as they are non raw. these donuts are heavy and dense, and much more textured than a typical donut. or at least mine were, since i soaked all my nuts and grains.

raw versions of cooked food can be very good, but they are for sure not the same. except crackers. crackers are pretty much the same.

Charis said...

That's so neat! You're doing so awesome, wahooo Mandy!!!
I love your pictures!

Colleen Miller said...

I'm loving your blog and pictures!!! The sandwich looks very yummy!!!