Natural Parenting

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Raw Bliss Cafe was absolutely superb, and I mean that. I cannot even describe how spectacular the flavors were. The most surprising aspect of the whole experience was how similar the raw dishes tasted compared to their cooked counterparts. It was unreal. We got to enjoy the tastes that we love, without feeling lousy afterwords. The whole meal was actually nutritious, and we were beyond satisfied after eating.

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The portion sizes were actually quite large, which I didn’t expect. It was the perfect amount of food. We left feeling full, but not “stuffed.” That, of course, is partly to do with the fact that the meal was 100% raw, but the size also played a significant role.

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The price was very reasonable, in my opinion. We bought two entrees, and a slice of cheesecake, and ended up with a (roughly) $50 tab, including a 20% tip. Considering that we would pay about that much to eat at any other decent cooked food restaurant, we considered it quite a bargain. (They say the food is all organic too!)

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Patrick ordered the raw version of one of his favorite cooked meals, spaghetti and meatballs. (Not sure whether or not he was a big meatball fan, but the noodles and sauce he LOVES!) I recorded him taking his first bite, so I’ll just share that with you instead of explaining the experience.

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It’s evident that he enjoyed it. I agree that it tasted very similar to “regular” spaghetti, but it was SO much better. The noodles were made of zucchini, but by the texture of them, they really could have passed for wheat. They broke down much easier, though, and didn’t feel nearly as heavy in my stomach. The sauce had tomatoes, herbs, and some type of nut mixture to substitute for meat. The meatballs almost tasted like beef, which was extremely bizarre, but exciting none the less.  They were delicious. (Not a big beef fan, but those meatballs were great!)

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A salad made of mixed lettuces, tomatoes, carrots, and a delicious sweet sauce, was served beside the spaghetti, and the flavor paired extremely well with the richness of the spaghetti sauce.  Patrick said that the meal was the perfect size, because had it been even a little bigger, the flavors might have been too overpowering.  (And had it been smaller, he would have been screaming for more.)

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I ordered the Rawko Tacos, although they really didn’t look like tacos.  The name should more realistically be Rawstados, because the corn tortillas were served flat.  (We ate at the second Dallas location, though, so they might be different at the first restaurant.)  Despite the tortilla shape conflict, I enjoyed the heck out of those things.  I was too involved in the eating process to pay much attention to what was on them, but I do know that they had a lot of lettuce, and some delicious cheese and sour cream sauces squeezed on top.  I must admit that neither of those things have ever appealed to me.  The thought of eating sour cream has always brought forth a strong gag reflex, but in this case, I made an exception, simply because it was raw and delicious!  I found comfort in knowing that my food was not the curdled contents of a cow’s utter.

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Two small ramekins were served alongside my tacos that contained a red and a green hot sauce.  They were both delicious, although I only ate a small portion of the green one.  (It was spicy, and I ran out of taco!)

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We decided to take a slice of cheesecake to go.  It was white and dark chocolate flavor, and boy was it grand.  We actually got into the car, and I just had to take one bite before we drove away.  Patrick took a bite right after that, and with a quick glance at one another, we forked that thing into our mouths like it was the last dessert we would ever eat.  It was reminiscent of cheesecake, but actually tasted more like mud pie. (The cookie and whip cream dessert, not actual mud.)

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After we ate it, Patrick went inside to “use the bathroom.”  (That’s code for “buy more cheesecake.”)  He came out with almost two full pieces.  At $9 each, I was a little nervous, but he quickly explained the situation.

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Upon entering the restaurant, Patrick had walked over to the waitress and chef, and asked for another piece of cheesecake.  (They were thrilled that we had enjoyed it.) My sweet husband explained himself by saying that he was only splurging because it was our anniversary (yeah right, excuses excuses).  The chef gave an approving glance to the waitress, and she told my husband that he could have the slice for free!  She then asked if he would want another piece that had slightly melted, and he without a thought accepted.  What sweet people.

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We were actually able to save “a” slice until dinner that same night.  It was very sad when it was gone.  I almost cried. 

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All in all, the food was amazing, the staff was friendly, and the environment was relaxing.  It is a quaint little place with only about 15 tables, which was nice in my opinion. It’s so much more peaceful that way.  The only server that was there did seem a bit frazzled, but that’s to be expected with a new restaurant.  She did have a friendly demeanor about her, though, which was refreshing.

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We were extremely encouraged by our experience at Raw Bliss Cafe.  It will be a wonderful treat for us on special occasions, and one that we will look forward to time and time again.  We cannot wait to try more of their fabulous dishes.

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Wish me luck!

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P.S. – I planted a mess load of organic seeds in little peat moss pots, and almost all of them have sprouted. We have about 125 heads of romaine lettuce, beets galore, cantaloupe, big and small watermelon varieties, thyme, and a few other things. I am so excited about them. Who knew growing your own food could be so fun?

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If you haven’t heard of it, Simply Raw is a documentary about a group of diabetic people are put on a raw food diet for 30 days. The results are miraculous, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. Just check it out. Today is a great opportunity to get Simply Raw on the cheap. It’s so worth $15.

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We are home buying virgins, so this is all quite the exciting experience for Patrick and I.  Axel will be happy too, he just has to go through a bit of “play by himself” time in order for us to get into our dream living space.

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Now you know why I haven’t been blogging very frequently these past few weeks.  We were not at all prepared for buying a home, nor were we even considering it as an option.  That is, until Patrick’s younger brother, at the ripe age of 19, decided he was going to purchase a house for himself.  This gave me the idea to check my FICO scores (which I thought would still be terrible because of how irresponsible we were 5 years ago), which in turn led us to realize that gaining a mortgage was a realistic possibility.

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To tell you the truth, Patrick and I are really against buying property in this fashion.  It is our belief (and possibly Dave Ramsey’s ) that one should purchase everything with cash, including things like homes and cars.  However, we are wishful thinkers.  Although we are not in a position to play out our ideal home buying scenario, we are still absolutely STOKED that a bank is willing to loan US money.

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We haven’t officially closed on the house, so I can’t really say it’s ours just yet.  (Actually, I can’t say that until the darn things isn’t being held hostage by the lender!)  We are supposed to know by tomorrow whether or not we have a clear to close from the underwriters, or whether they’ll need more information.  Hopefully, it will be the first of the two.

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Needless to say, we are beyond ecstatic.  We are already conjuring up all sorts of wonderful remodeling ideas, which I cannot wait to see play out.  Of course, adding $400 to our monthly rent is going to leave us broke, so I don’t know how much actual remodeling we’ll get to accomplish.

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Thank you all for being patient with me and this blog, and continuing to come back time after time to read this past month… only to find that there isn’t any new material!  I appreciate your commitment.   I will be back in action soon, and better than ever!  (Remember, I’m a wishful thinker!)

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Please pray that Axel doesn’t get too bored while mommy and daddy scramble to get everything under the sun accomplished during this home buying experiment.  Sometimes natural parenting means sacrificing a little bit now in order to make things a lot better later.  (And, in this case, I’ll accept that since the “later” is very soon.)  I’ll keep in touch.

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A few days ago, I was painting with oil paints in an area “next” to Axel’s play room.  (I bet you know what’s coming.)  When I was done painting, I put the canvases away, but I left my paint pallet on the floor.  I didn’t think much of it, because I keep the gate to Axel’s area closed.  Most of the time, at least.

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I walked into the kitchen to do something, and within a minute or so, I heard Patrick yelp.  I rushed into the room, only to find Patrick firmly gripping Axel’s wrist, holding it away from his body.   Apparently, I had left the gate open.

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Spiderman 3 - Don't let the black goo get you!

Axel decided to try his hand at oil painting- finger oil painting.  Luckily, my dear husband had caught him just in the nick of time.  He didn’t get paint on anything (except his own hand, of course).  We were very grateful for that.

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Patrick’s exact words were, “so, I guess this is one of those situations where we have to use soap.”  What a bummer.

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It wasn’t as traumatizing as I originally thought it would be.  His hand didn’t even fall off.

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I guess from now on I’ll have to say, “we’ve never used soap on our baby… oh, except for that one time after the paint incident.”  Haha.   The joys of motherhood when things don’t go according to planned.  And, do they really ever anyway?