Yes, I want cake.

I am astounded at how generous the families of my students are. Without fail, I have gotten a “treat” (or 3) each day for…I don’t even remember. A month?! Sometimes it’s an apple (my favorite treat) – but today was baked goods. I guess I was okay with that too…

From left to right (back to front): mini pumpkin muffins, gluten free ginger biscotti, and a pumpkin walnut cookie.

Throughout the day, I ate ½ the cookie, 1 piece of biscotti and 1 muffin. All wonderful.

The giving continued with lunch. I had a family bring me dinner last night when I was at school late for conferences, but I saved it all for lunch today.

For those of you who don’t have a Chipotle in your state – I am so sorry. This was a chicken bowl of goodness.

Cilantro rice, black beans, corn salsa, chicken and cheese. Oh.my.goodness. I haven’t had Chipotle in forever – and this was as good as I remembered.

Now, you are probably asking yourself…Why does the title of this post include “raw” in it…there hasn’t been 1 raw item in this post.
Settle down, I’m getting there.

Since my blogging start this summer, I have been intrigued with a certain girl and her raw lifestyle. While I can’t imagine eating ONLY raw food myself, I find her blog interesting and inspiring and refreshingly unapologetic. So, when Gena presented her readers with The Raw Wednesday challenge – I was in. My goal is to eat one raw meal every Wednesday during October. I forgot last week (fail), so here is my very FIRST raw meal.

Kind of like baby food – but so much more flavorful (from what I remember about baby food). This was a slightly modified version of Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl.

My version was created due to the lack of carrot juice and stevia, plus I doubled it for the husband.

• 7 carrots, blended with 1-2 cups of water until smooth
• ½ butternut squash, cubed
• ½ avocado
• Drizzle of maple syrup
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, salt

I am sure the carrot juice would have made it more “soup like” – but I didn’t have carrot juice. So I used carrots. No harm done.

Plus an easy salad – cucumbers and apples, sesame seeds and vinegar.

I was actually kind of apprehensive about eating a raw meal. Would I be full? Satisfied? Could I get past the room temperature?

Not only did it taste just like a delicious pumpkin pie, but I am extremely pleased to say that after eating I was full, surprisingly satisfied and the temperature wasn’t unpleasant.

Day 1 of the raw food challenge: check! I can’t wait to see what else I can un-cook in the Wednesdays to come.

Have you ever tried/enjoyed a raw meal?