Being raw in Hokkaido
Some time back, I took a trip up to Hokkaido with the non-raw fiancé to scout for possible wedding locations. I knew that we were going to stay in a lodge with a fully kitted out kitchen so I brought my trusty travel blender to make sure I’m high-raw away from home.
Upon our arrival in Chitose, where the airport was located, we did a big shop at a supermarket for groceries to last us for five days.
Since the supermarket was a very Japanese one, I kept my meals very basic and the only things I regret not bringing were some spices from home and they would’ve been easy to pack and made a big difference in my raw dishes.
Veggie sticks with guacamole. The non-raw fiancé always gets very excited when he sees this dish so I always make more so we can share.
The produce in Hokkaido just tasted so much better than in Tokyo and all the salads I made, though simple, were just stunning in flavor. I made very simple dressings like parsley, olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper, lemon juice and dried Italian herbs, or my go-to fruit dressing – orange juice, olive oil, salt, garlic, water.
I brought chia seeds and a bag of walnuts so I could make nut milk and chia pudding. I also toted along a bag of raw granola to make things more interesting during breakfast.
When I say it was a very Japanese supermarket we went to, it means foreign produce like berries and other fruit besides banana, apples, oranges, were not available.
So I kept it very simple like this banana walnut milk smoothie. It’s amazing how good frozen bananas taste on their own. Pictured above is a basic spinach and frozen banana smoothie. Again, it was so delicious and I made a mental note not to over stuff my smoothies when I got back home.
I’m actually writing this post in Moscow while waiting for the non-raw fiancé to go to the ballet this evening. I actually feel nostalgic when I look at these pictures because I don’t have my blender with me this time (different voltage) and I’ve not been very raw at all.
“She used to be raw vegan,” pointed out the non-raw fiancé to his co-worker while we had dinner the other night and explaining my veggie tendencies. Hmm, labels…they are a funny thing. Just two weeks of eating “normal” vegetarian food has labeled me an ex-raw vegan – lol!
I never thought I would say this but i really miss being raw in Moscow…
wow, you had your blender with you in hokkaido!? how did you manage to pack everything else in and still travel light? you gotta share with me some tips!
yummmmm, veggie sticks with guacamole.. i’m drooling already at the thought of it! hehe
Haha… I use a small compact travel blender by Tribest. I didn’t need that much else because it was just a very casual trip. I had some clothes, toiletries, a book, shoes…that’s it
This is such a great post, cos it proves raw food isn’t just about fancy specialized ingredients
Thanks Mariannes! I used to lust after the exotic raw products that appear regularly on raw blogs but I think I was missing the point of raw foodism – which is fresh fruit, veggies, and nuts and I’m happy with keeping things simple. There is not enough time in the day to make food too complicated.