There’s a standing joke in my little household about how, if I were forced to fend for myself in the wild, I’d never survive.
Something about the cruelty of having to fight over scraps of raw meat and berries just doesn’t appeal to my slothful sensitive nature.
But now that I’ve seen The Walking Dead and freaked myself out with the likelihood of an impending apocalypse, I thought it time to put that to the test.
Across town is Yong Green Food, a vegetarian café where the vegetables are practically jumping onto the plate.
There’s an array of raw food options, and I’m not talking salad.
Rawsagna. What’s that, you say?
Rawsagna. Layers of RAW zucchini, mushroom, avocado, cashew cream and walnut bolognese.
For the less raw inclined, there are slightly more cooked options.
Oyster Mushroom Calamari.
Quinoa Fritters.
Buckwheat Crepes. Hang on a minute.
This menu is starting to sound suspiciously familiar.
Back in rural Tasmania, when vegetarianism was most definitely not on the ‘cool kids’ list, ‘Yuckwheat’, cashew cream and ‘Quin-oh-ugh’ were staple parts of the diet.
Along with many other weird and wonderful things. Like brown rice and corn bread and gluten steaks, goat’s milk and soy cheese and almond ice-cream –
Well, anyway. I should be feeling right at home by now. Except I think that I’ve regressed.
The Dragon Bowl with soy beef slices?
I don’t know. Fake meat doesn’t have the same appeal it used to have.
And although everything looks and tastes way better than I ever knew raw food could taste…
Tiramisu with cashews and coconut cream just can’t compare to the real thing.
Back at home, with my gardening skills being, well, what they are…
…I’m now more convinced than ever I have no chance of surviving in a raw food, post-apocalyptic world.
Of course, I’m dreaming. If zombies really took over, we’re more likely to be eating cans of cat food than cashew cream…
Zombie fodder, here I come!
What are your chances of surviving in the wild?
Alarna Rose Gray 
I probably don’t have a chance, either, but the presentation of food you just pictured would inspire me to try…especially if I were hungry. 🙂
Maybe if we ate a few of those Quinoa fritters, we’d make it. They were pretty tasty, and full of protein, too 🙂
Oh I’d be a goner the first cold night. And I’m psychotic when I’m hungry. I’d never be able to do a show like survivor. Ever!
Psychotic? Sounds like just the kind of qualification you need to be a survivor, Beth!
Love this post, Alarna. Though I’m not much of a meat eater, I bleed yogurt (more specifically Chobani). I’m plagued by the curse of suburbia. Air conditioners, fridges, working bathrooms, barriers between me and mosquitoes; the lack of such things would cause me to come unglued. So, you ask if I could survive a zombie apocalypse and I say… hell yes! I would become so crazed with the absence of modern conveniences, that I could damn near survive anything… zombies included. Zombies ain’t a patch on me without food, water, and a couch. LOL Mathair and I are unanimous, not even the zombie apocalypse could stop us from seeing True Blood, icy blended drinks, and Crème brûlée. BTW, do they call you Mrs. Green Thumb, because I too am gardening-challenged. LOL
Haha! So you’re saying don’t get between you and a Creme Brûlée, hey? I’ll put you out the front to fight, then, and get working on that green thumb pretty fast 🙂
First of all, the dinners look delicious! I wish I had one in our town!
I have to agree, judging by your tomato plant, you would not survive for long… 🙂
Hehe, sad, but true. Another reason to visit Oz, perhaps, Susie? 😉 (the restaurant, though, not my tomatoes!)
Definitely!
hahaha No chance I will survive eating raw foods either! I don’t mind not having meat but sometimes food need to be cooked. 🙂 But good on you for trying.
I’m just not sure how much raw food you’d need to eat to have enough energy! It wasn’t what I’d call filling, but still. Surprisingly tasty 🙂
Surviving alone through times of mental illness is probably good training — I’ve gone through times of no food, of limited food, of having only a few particular foods to live on, and was fine.
We’re all more adaptable than we realise, when push comes to shove, and when lunch comes down to a choice between devon on cheese or cheese on devon.
Or, as the great philosopher Edward Catflap so eloquently put it, “What’s for dinner? Ahh, a choice! Bugger all or sweet F.A. No mat… have both!”
Interesting, how being broke, or indeed, broken, can bring strange reserves out of us. Too many choices being not necessarily a good thing. Reminds me of a scene from Hurt Locker, where the soldier returning from disabling land mines in Iraq comes home to face the overloaded aisles of the supermarket. It being enough to send him running back to active duty! 🙂
Nope, I would definitely not be able to survive on raw food, if at all I manage to avoid being meat for some of the others in just a few hours! 😉
Us vegetarians are particularly tasty, from what I hear! Best we can do is hide in the cupboard til they pass us by 🙂
Probably very low Alarna! Wow! I must check out this place! Rawsagna you said! No way!!! I’m sure my Italian mother in law will go crazy hearing that!
Oh dear. Your Italian mother-in-law may never recover from that, given the only real similarity to lasagna is that it comes in layers! Something that should be tried at least once, though (and maybe on a summers day, since it is cold!) 🙂
Okay, the raw food descriptors did not do much for me but they look delicious!! Kim
Yes, despite the descriptors, the meals definitely exceeded my expectations in terms of tastiness.
I don’t even manage camping very well. I like it for a couple of days, and that’s it. If the weather is the least bit chilly or rainy, forget it. I also have a fondness for indoor plumbing. But, I believe that when the universe forces our hand, we find that we are capable of a lot more than we realized. 🙂
I’ve come to the conclusion camping is always more fun for kids – after all, it’s a lot of work for mums and dads! I still enjoy camping in theory, but I do find I’m a lot less comfortable with the lack of convenience (and plumbing) than I’d like! We need a bit of survivor to toughen us up 🙂
The food looks good. Surviving in the wild, well that depends on the type of wilds post zombie apocalypse. Here, know enough of the local plants survival is possible.
I’d love to have that kind of knowledge of our land 🙂
All you have to do is find and ask local holders of the knowledge 🙂
Your garden looks like mine! I’d say my chances of surviving in he wild are slim. I can’t even go fishing because I get upset when the fish get hooks in their mouths!
Glad to hear I’m not the only one with a sad little garden! I used to fish with my Dad a long time ago, but I could never eat what I caught. And I don’t think I’d have the stomach for hooks anymore, either.
That stuff looks very appetizing to me, but then again I live in Northern California, where people are looked down upon for adopting mere, half-hearted vegetarianism as opposed to full-blown ovo-lacto-something veganism.
There’s no denying that full-blown veganism is the more environmentally responsible option. But my taste buds refuse to agree, so I guess I’ll have to settle for being half-hearted and woe-be-gone 🙂
All those dishes look relish to me, except for the soy meat. Yuck! Soy isn’t the healthy food it was so commonly believed not too many years ago. I prefer raw veggies over cooked veggies any day. I munched on a whole package of snap peas today. Am trying to cut back on processed foods. It’s like eating fake food and has way too much salt!
I’m not so hot at gardening myself, and we live in an apartment so a few plants in a pot here and there won’t be enough to live on if the zombie apocalypse hits. I watched The Walking Dead once when my daughter and her husband came over. It’s daughter’s favorite show. Well, I screamed all through it. Totally freaked me out. But when I went to the movies with my mom to see World War Z and watched it in 3D, we laughed all through the movie and jumped when flying objects came flying at us! That was great!
Fun post, Alarna!
I’ve been thinking the same thing about pot plants! One little silverbeet, a few sad tomatoes and some herbs really don’t help the grocery bill much, to say nothing of survival! Just as well we can watch the apocalypse from the safety of our armchairs, else with all that laughing and screaming, the zombies wouldn’t take too long to find us! The Walking Dead is freaky because in many ways I feel it’s quite realistic. But zombies in 3D…I haven’t gone there, yet 🙂
check this out; i got 88 days survival in the zombie apocalypse.
http://az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0uib6wUtmlJkAbX
Haha! Not bad – I managed 57 days, but still, I have my doubts on that 🙂
haha I think it was that one room with no weapons that shafted us!
Actually, I don’t think I managed to locate a single useful weapon… Pots and pans surely don’t count 🙂
Awesome post! I too want have this imaginary world where I’m all raw and earthy and make all the right choices about everything. Unfortunately, it’s not how I am in real life. Rawzangna or however you spelled it made me smile, and maybe lose my appetite a little.
Lol! Best comment ever – especially that part about appetite loss, which was my very first reaction to the dish 🙂
Delicious post Alarna! both the pics and the words !!!!
I’ve tried the raw food thing, and felt if I saw another avocado, or piece of spinach I’d rush out and have a hamburger ! – just kidding – have never actually had a hamburger… but no, substitutes are no fun – I’m with you on that…
I had a feeling hamburgers and raw food wouldn’t really be your thing, Valerie! But I have to admit, knowing what a green thumb you are, I’m a little ashamed of showing you that pic of my tortured tomatoes… 🙂 xox
Ha! I’ve been purposely avoiding getting into the Walking Dead. I like to sleep at nights. I don’t know if I could survive. I need chocolate 24/7 and wine. I have to say, that Rawsagna looks incredible! If someone makes the food for me, I have no problem eating it!
I avoided Walking Dead, too – mainly because I tend to like my monsters pretty. But I’m so glad I caved… no nightmares, so far – only day mares! (The cool thing about the post-apocalypse is walking into abandoned towns and raiding all the well stocked bars!) 🙂
For some strange reason, I love apocalyptic novels and thoughts. Probably just because I like the idea of nature taking over again. Maybe we could get used to eating leaves and grass. 🙂
Yes, I think that’s a large part of the appeal of The Walking Dead – the whole thing of getting back to basics. I’m sure if we didn’t have rent and mortgages to think about, we could manage anything!
I have enough weight “in reserve” on my body that I would be OK for a short period. 🙂
I used to eat a lot of vegan food even though I wasn’t vegan, mainly because my son had a dairy allergy when he was younger and we tried branching out on foods.
Like the person above I also like apocalyptic novels and such. I think part of it is really what you say, going back to basics when things are so complicated right now.
Yes, I was that kid growing up with allergies, too. I’m not sure why my taste buds never adjusted, though I think there are a lot more, and probably better, vegan options around these days.
But now that you mention it, working on getting some of those ‘reserves’ might be the best survival plan yet! 😉
You make me huunnggry.
I, too, tend to think about apocalypse when I’m in the kitchen. My cupboards are crammed full of stuff just in case the big one hits and Berkeley detaches from California and floats out into the Pacific, we’ll have food to last us. You’d think I was brought up during a Depression or something. I have a friend who’s even worse/better: she carries a trunk full of emergency items (with food) wherever she goes. Need duct tape? A stapler? A can opener? She’s got it.
Right away there, you have much more chance of survival than I do! I don’t have enough cupboards to cram full, but truthfully, even if I did, I doubt I’d be that organised. Your friend, though, I like her style! It’s my ‘just in case’ handbag philosophy gone mad 🙂
You and me both! I’d die because I can’t navigate for anything. I’m a decent forager but I wouldn’t be able to find my way down my neighborhood street without getting lost.
That food just looks like waaaayyyy too much work!
Totally way too much work! Navigation I could handle, but foraging? I’d most certainly pick the toadstool instead of the mushroom…
Okay let’s team up!
Haha! Absolutely 🙂
Probably not good. While I don’t mind raw food (and I’ve made my own cashew cream before!) I imagine I’d begin to dream about hot soup or something equally warm and simple. Also, whenever i watch Walking Dead I’m always thinking of places to hide. So survival? Probably not for long!
I don’t know, some smart (and quiet) hiding skills could come in handy – it’s not all about bravado!
All of those raw recipes you mentioned look awesome! I was exploring some raw recipes in the happy summer months, then reverted to comfort food in the winter, as usual. I like to do a combo in my diet. Eat healthy as much as possible, but indulge in fine foods from time to time…and simply enjoy.
That sounds like a great philosophy to me 🙂
Some of these things look delicious (not the shiny fake meat but real meat often doesn’t look too much better) and I love raw food. The main thing I would miss on a raw diet would be heat. It’s a pleasant , comforting aspect of coked food.
Yes, especially in a cold climate. I could handle raw much better in the heat 🙂
hellow, Alarna…
me? practically nil, haha. i watched the movie, too. it seems to me a symbolism for ageing – midlife crisis and all… btw, could i have some tiramisu? 😉 cheerio, the tomato fruits are alive, ahaha. 🙂
can’t put the like, the PC won’t allow it for now. but consider the post much liked, just as the food, whehe.
Please tell me midlife / ageing isn’t as bad as all that??? 🙂
Ah, the tomatoes have now been transformed into chutney, so a little less alive, but not wasted! Sorry, no luck on the tiramisu, though… there to tease you, only!
You’d probably better off surviving in ‘the wild’ than I would!!!
I love the new blog layout 🙂
Thanks so much for that! I was wondering if anyone had noticed 🙂
Looks yummy.would love to try it if i ever get a chance.by the way i am little obese.doctors told me to eat something that makes me return to appropriate weight 🙂
Are you someone like we see in man vs wild?
I’ve never really watched that show, but I can’t imagine so. I’m not the kind to argue with nature 😉