Homemade Vegan "Chicken" Tenders

Sorry for the late post but I didn't have any access to the internet today. I normally type most of the blog entry up the night before and then just have to add a few sentences and post it from work during the day. I couldn't do that today though, and then I needed to mow the yard as soon as I got home, so here I am posting it this evening. But even though it's a late post, it'll probably be the start of something interesting, and not because of what I cooked for today. What in the world do I mean by that?!?!

For my lunch today, I made up a recipe for Vegan Chicken Tenders which was just the veggie burger recipe that I used previously modified to include the spices from the cooking broth from the Chicken & Dumplings. Then I breaded them with bread crumbs and baked them in the oven. They really didn't turn out that well. They're alright I guess, but too dry, and the breading ended up being WAY too thick & hard. DEFINITELY a recipe that needs lots more work.

To go along with the tenders, I made some Vegan Honey Mustard by mixing together some mustard and some Maple Syrup.

I also brought along the remainder of the Dill Green Beans & the Cooked Carrots that I opened up for last Friday's lunch. And I threw in a small container of Raw Sunflower Seeds to round out the lunchbox.

Now, why is this so interesting? Because I ended up not even eating this for lunch. I've been reading more and more in Alissa Cohen's book, "Living on Live Food". And today I may have reached critical mass as far as this eating raw thing goes. I've been thinking about it more and more, and there's even a 30 day Raw Challenge getting worked up over at the ppk, I think.

So I ended up not even eating this today. Instead, I had a Grapefruit for breakfast. Then at lunch I ran out to the store and bought a pound of fresh Strawberries and a Banana Cookie Larabar. On my way home this evening, I stopped by the health food store and picked up some Buckwheat Groats that I intend to sprout so I can make some Raw Buns & Bread using my big Excalibur dehydrator that I purchased over a year ago when I first started thinking about this raw thing. I can then use the "bread" in a variety of Raw dishes like burgers, "chicken" sandwiches, "tuna" salad, and more.

I've always been interested in trying this, and the more I read about it the more I want to try it, especially now while I am trying to lose weight before Summer is officially here. Speaking of losing weight, when I weighed this morning I weighed 205 lbs. So I lost 2 more lbs. last week. And so far I have lost a total of 20 lbs. since I started trying to eat healthier. That means I am HALF-WAY to my goal weight of 185 lbs. or less. Woo-hoo! I can't help but wonder how much switching to a raw diet could improve my weight loss. I am just too dang curious, and I would really like to try it.

I don't know if I can do it for an extended period of time, or forever, but I only know one way to find out, and that is to just jump right in and try it and see what happens. I assume my lunches might not be as interesting while I test these waters, although I don't know, they might be MORE interesting. Of course, I won't be eating gourmet raw food every day, most of the time it'll probably just be plain old raw food, but I want to try as many of those gourmet raw dishes as I can. I've got all of the equipment that I need to do it, and I'm tired of putting it off.

Of course, it will be a few days before anything "fancy" shows up in the lunchbox because I've got to sprout things and dehydrate things, but I'm going for raw "burgers" and sandwiches and stuff like that first. If I do manage to do this for an extended period of time, then I don't know if I'll keep doing this lunch blog like this because it might not be that interesting once I get into the groove. I don't know. I am definitely continuing this blog until I get down to my goal weight of 185 lbs. But I am thinking that after that, if I decide to continue eating raw, then I may need to start a different Raw Blog and just do posts that show the interesting dishes that I prepare and not just the every day run-of-the-mill lunch. I don't know, I guess we'll see.

Who knows, I may be over this idea tomorrow, but I doubt it considering all of the raw food that I just bought. We'll see. Don't worry I won't disappear again like I did last year. I promise to keep blogging right here until I get to my goal weight, but then if I've decided to pursue the raw lifestyle for good, then I might need to start a new blog that concentrates on that.

Like I mentioned before, I decided this early today and all I consumed today was the grapefruit for breakfast, a pound of strawberries & a Larabar for lunch. Then this evening I have had several Raw Almonds and a few Raw Cashews. That's really not much, but I'm not hungry at all. I am planning on enjoying a little Raw Banana Ice-Cream in a little bit. In fact, that was one of the recipes that got me so stirred up this morning. I was just like, "Okay this sounds really good. But can it really be this easy?" I plan on finding out in just a few minutes.

So who knows what to expect for tomorrow's lunch. I plan on eating raw again all day tomorrow so we'll see. My Buckwheat is soaking right now and I'm gonna' start is sprouting tomorrow. As soon as I get some Raw "bread" I should be able to really start experimenting with this food. Maybe this fascination will only last a few days, but who knows? It might last forever. I'm curious to find out though.

Thanks for coming by today and I'll see everybody tomorrow with another RAW lunch.