Here in Los Angeles, "raw food" has become a big trend. Several raw food restaurants have opened up in recent years, where nothing you eat is cooked. It can be ground up, sliced, diced, and put in a blender, but never cooked.

Even the soups are cold. (I'll never forget my friend ordering a soup at a local raw food restaurant, only to realize that it - duh! - wasn't hot!)

I enjoy eating raw food, but I find myself only being able to stomach so much of it at a time. I suppose some raw food purists will accuse me of being too tainted by my Western diet...but personally, I need more carbs to survive.

So I like raw food as an addition to my regular diet, but not a lifestyle. I think it's always a good idea to add more raw fruits and veggies to a diet. I'd actually love to take a class in raw food "cooking" (an oxymoron!). But doing it 100% isn't my thing.

I'm not a vegan or raw foodist, but I do enjoy well-prepared raw food on occasion. My friend has given me some of her homemade raw food munchies and crackers. They are amazing! These are the types of things you get at the raw food store for $7-8 and up for a small bag. They contain greens, veggies, nuts and spices.

How does she make them? She creates veggie pulp by juicing the vegetables. She then adds nuts and spices as desired. This concoction is flattened into cracker-sized slabs and put in the food dehydrator. Voila! Healthy snack!

So instead of munching on chips, I'm munching on homemade "Kale Krisps." And then you've eaten your serving of greens for the day.