THE BET IS OVER!

It's February 1, and our anti-consumerism bet is officially over.

We got SO CREAMED.

I don't know what were thinking, getting into a competition with the likes of Amy and Nick, those two are hard core. But still, I learned a lot and it was a great experience. We didn't stay under the required limit, but we did spend much less than we would have, in a month when we had a lot of expenses like quarterly taxes and credit card bills. I have so much travel planned in 2008, and Nick and Amy have so many home-improvement plans, that we will continue to watch our pennies and save for more important things than junk made in China, bad food, etc. Not spending is really hard for me, but a personal discipline I desperately need to practice longer and harder.

In the meantime, I haven't posted food here because I've mostly been eating versions of the same things I've already posted. But tonight, I am making raw tacos. I am trying to eat raw all day today, in preparation for a yoga retreat tomorrow, and just to lighten up a little. I had yoga this morning and it felt really good, on just some tea and a banana (I know, tea isn't technically raw, but I decided it's o.k. for my purposes).

I had some walnuts and an apple for lunch. Now I'm ready for something savory.

Raw Tacos

1-1/2 cups raw pecans
1 tablespoon Bragg liquid aminos
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
dash of hot pepper flakes
lime wedges for garnish
Romaine lettuce leaves
fresh tomatoes, sliced, salt and pepper to taste
avocado, peeled, mashed, and salted

1. Combine pecans, Bragg, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes, in a blender or food processor. Process until chunky. Scoop into a bowl.

2. Mound pecan mixture onto large cleaned Romaine lettuce leaves. Squeeze lime wedges over the filling. Top with tomato slices and avocado. Roll it up and enjoy.

I can barely believe raw food can be this amazingly good. We had some grapes for dessert but they weren't nearly as good as the tacos.