A Night of Firsts

Over the weekend my lovely friend Ceci (pronounced cess-see) came over for dinner and a movie - her first raw meal and my first raw meal for anyone. She’s been expressing interest in the raw food lifestyle (she picked up a couple of books even) and so was interested in a raw vegan meal experience – Heidi-style. Ha ha!

I'd post a picture of us but it's not a flattering one of me (call me vain!). Ceci looks cute but I look like I was trying to eat my chin.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous for this evening. Not too nervous because Ceci, I knew, was game for this new adventure. No hesitation whatsoever from her – she’s just like that, open to anything, which I love about her. So even though I knew I had nothing to fear I still did because I hadn’t made anyone a raw anything before. Sure you could count the occasional salad or dip someone’s sampled before but I had committed to making a complete meal for a non-raw friend. Could I pull it off?

After learning she loves Mexican food almost as much as I do hubby suggested Mexican Pizzas, a personal fave of ours. We wanted kept it casual and simple (and have something tried and true)…but when it comes to raw food and wanting to impress ‘simple’ can be a little tricky at times however it was still casual and fun from start to finish.

Our pizzas had all the fixin’s to top the crusts: beanz, nacho cheeze, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, green onions and/or sweet yellow onions, salsa and GUACAMOLE (yum). I forgot to make sour kream but it wasn’t missed.

About those pizza crusts. I love 'em! They are a great base for any type of pizza you want. Not something I'd eat by itself but as a base to a great pizza? Oh yeah!

Raw organic corn chips were served on the side (side note: I added various spices to this recipe to make it more interesting. It's a good base to experiment with). Personally I love snacking on those dipped in guac. Well anything with avocado/guac is automatically a fave of mine. :)

Sorry there aren’t more pictures but I forget in moments like these. Conversation must’ve been good. ha ha! And sorry this seems like a repeat of an earlier post because I'm talking about the same food. Oh well.

For dessert I looked for something quick, simple and one I already had the ingredients for so we had chocolate pudding from the Daily Raw Café, which we enjoyed during our movie (we all recommend seeing “Dan In Real Life” with Steve Carell). This was some seriously good pudding. We didn’t tell Ceci at first what it was made of when she began eating but she could taste a “fruit aftertaste.” I hope that’s a good thing. She was floored to hear she was eating chocolate pudding that was made with avocado. My only tip when making pudding this way is making sure your avocado is good and ripe. We made this once in the past with an avo that was picked out of season so the flavor was twangy and off but a perfectly ripe avo no one will ever know that’s the secret ingredient.

I believe all in all she liked it. I know hubby and I did!! I guess the sign for me that she liked it was she ate every last bite on her plate or bowl. It was a good experience for me and hope to do it again. Maybe building up my repertoire a bit more. Yeah!

So there you have it. My recap of my first raw meal for a guest. As I gain more experience and confidence in the kitchen I hope to be like some of you who just whip things up with ease and your guests are amazed. One day folks….one day.