Guest Post: Day 24 RVC + Mint Limagrette Salad Dressing

Some people have commented to me this month that they are nervous of getting parasites if they eat an all raw food diet. That was a new thought for me. It was also kind of interesting to me – especially because parasites and bugs are on all food whether you are having vegetation or meat. In fact, if you eat raw fish or raw meat in dishes like Carpaccio or even cooked pork, you are more likely to get parasites than when eating raw vegetation. So it’s really all about how careful you are at preparing your food more than the type of food you consume. That’s why I take great precaution to make sure the least amount of other life forms in my food.

Here are a few tips that help me stay critter free:

The first useful tip for cleaning your vegetation is fill a large bowl with cool water and add a fruit and vegetable wash to the water. Soak your fruits and veggies for 30 minutes. Drain, rinse all of the surfactant off of the vegetation and allow it to dry properly before storing it. (Whether you are Raw Vegan or not, when preparing fruits and vegetables this should be your first step.)

During the washing process, you can also add 1 ounce of white distilled vinegar during the last 2 minutes of soaking your vegetation. Vinegar kills so many little critters. COMMENT: if you let your veg and fruit soak too long in distilled white vinegar they will start to breakdown and split so don’t leave them more than 2-3 minutes. Be sure to rinse thoroughly and let dry before storing. (It’s actually great to add distilled white vinegar to your laundry as a disinfectant,  it’s a good window/mirror cleaner, mix with water and a coconut based cleaner to make your own natural household cleaner and there is a Pinterest recipe floating around for a natural weed killer that includes white vinegar.) 

When juicing add a peeled Lemon to your juice, squeeze lemon on your salads, use lemon on your salad dressing or put in your smoothie . Though Lemon alkalizing to the body after digested, it is a great “cooking” agent as the juice’s acid is able to “cook” the food it touches. (You may be familiar with meat dishes like Poke and Ceviche which is Raw Meat that is actually “cooked” in lemon juice. Many years ago I worked with a woman who was from Jamaica, she said they would actually prep and clean their fish by rubbing Lemon on the fish to kill bacteria and bugs.) So use Lemon wherever possible, it’s a great antibacterial.

I take Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) in liquid, capsule or tablet form daily. It is an antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial.

I take Digestive Enzymes daily. It helps to break down food and anything else in my stomach. I have inherited a stomach that is low in acid so consuming lemon and digestive enzymes is really great for me.

Anti-parasitic supplement that contains wormwood, black walnut and cloves. Any blend with those 3 items kills all stages of parasites. I actually always travel outside of the country with this type of supplement in liquid or capsule form. I usually start taking a formula like that about 5 days before I go away and continue taking it for another 2 weeks after I return. (One time when I was back packing in Ecuador with 4 other girls, I was the only one of the five of us that didn’t get sick. I was also the only one of the five of us that was taking an anti-parasitic supplement… I contributed my quality of health to the supplement.)

I’m not a physician so you will have to consult yours about taking any supplements. But these are the things that are helpful to me.  My last comment is – don’t worry about parasites in your Raw Vegan Diet, especially if you are an Omnivore and you never worried about parasites before. Why start now? Just clean your food properly and you won’t have any problems.

DAY 24 of 30 Day Raw Vegan Detox Challenge

Today I had to get my tire fixed because a nail punctured it. So I decided to do some random errands during my outing. I stopped off at Santa Cruz’s infamous Market, Staff of Life, to pick up a Turmeric Supplement and grabbed a smoothie and energy bar while I was there. 

The Elvis Smoothie had Peanut Butter (though I don’t often have Peanut Butter I splurged), Cacao, Banana and I asked them to mix ½ Coconut Milk with ½ Almond Milk at the suggestion of the staff. The Energy Bar had all kinds of nuts and seeds, peanut butter, dried fruit and beet juice (I think for sweetener) in it. Both were delectable breakfast treats and they really hit the spot.

By the time I returned home it was around 3pm, so I was quite hungry and made a big English Pea Salad and the salad dressing was a  Mint Limagrette of:

English Peas (16oz frozen bag defrosted, or fresh if you can find them)
Pink Lady Apple (2 cored and sliced)
Celery (4 stems chopped)
Raw Pecans (1/3 cup)
Mint (1/2 bunch of leaves chopped)
Fennel (Frawns and stems about ½ chopped)
Lime (juice of 2)
Orange (juice of 1)
Raw Vegan Mayo (1/4 cup)
Pink Salt (1/2 tsp)

To make the Mint Limagrette Salad Dressing:

Take the Orange & Lime Juice, the Raw Vegan Mayo, ¼ of the mint, ½ of the fennel and the Pink Salt – blend them together in the Vitamix til smooth. If you want it creamier add more Raw Vegan Mayo, if you want it thinner add more Lime juice. 

To make the salad:

Toss the rest of the fennel and the mint with the apple and vegetables. Drizzle the dressing over and toss again. Enjoy!

For Dessert tonight you know what I’m going for. More lemon frosted CAKE!

Find Heather on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter @hpesthetics. For more information on TSA/RSS, check out www.itsan.org, the International Topical Steroid Addiction Network. You can also read about Heather Petersen’s experience at: www.eczemancipated.com