Own Your Brilliance

Food Postings Have Moved!

2010-07-09T14:14:00.000-05:00

We've decided to move our raw food related postings to a new blog:

www.LovingSuperfoods.com/blog

Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds in order to keep receiving yummy recipes and other cool raw food info.

This Own Your Brilliance blog will still exist - we'll just be using it more for uplifting posts about Self-Esteem and ways of owning your brilliance (of course). :)

We really appreciate you following us, linking to us, and being a part of our online community. Join us on our new blog site to continue the enchanting raw food journey and stay tuned here for even more uplifting mental and emotional support.

You Are Loved!

Thai Coconut Bliss Soup

2010-06-29T12:53:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness this soup is delicious! When I make a raw dinner for friends I often start with this soup, then serve Thai Veggie Wraps and finish with the Coconut-Hazlenut Chia Pudding. Yummy!

I've found this soup will also freeze well - just freeze the marinated mushrooms separately. This recipe comes straight from one of my favorite raw info/uncook books: The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose.

Makes about 5 cups serving 2-5 people depending on how much of a meal you make it :)

Marinated Mushroom Topping
1 Cup Shiitake Mushrooms thinly sliced
3 Tbsp Fresh Basil chopped
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
1 tsp Sun Fire Salt (or less - add salt to taste)

Place all ingredients in small bowl and mix well. Set aside (or refrigerate if making far in advance of eating). The mushrooms will "melt" or shrink as they marinate. Note: I often double the recipe for the topping because I love the mushrooms so much.

Soup
Meat of 3 Young Coconuts
1.5 Cups Coconut Water (or add a bit more for a thinner soup)
1 Tbsp Ginger minced
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
4 Dates
1 Tbsp Nama Shoyu (raw soy sauce)
1 clove Garlic

Blend all ingredients in high powered blender (I use a Vitamix) until smooth. Pour into bowls and scoop marinated mushrooms on top.

I serve this soup at room temperature - it's a very creamy, warming soup. You can refrigerate it for a bit under a week or freeze it for months. Just blend the soup again when you're ready to serve.

Tip: I've found the meat of young coconuts frozen without additives (you have to read the labels closely) at my local Asian market in their frozen food section. You can also get 100% young coconut water in juice box form at Whole Foods and other natural grocery stores (and at Asian markets). This could save you some of the work of opening young coconuts if you can find these sources. Though it's also a lot of fun to whack the heck out of the coconut. :)

Enjoy!

Savory Fiesta Mole Smoothie

2010-06-27T15:45:00.003-05:00

Do you like V8? Or another version thereof? I think I've got something you'll really like. I've created this savory smoothie that uses our yummy Fiesta Mole raw superfood mix and it's super-delicious.

Here's the recipe:

In a Vitamix or other high-powered blender add these ingredients:

2 Tomatoes (about 2 cups)
2 Celery Stalks
1 Granny Smith Apple (or other tart apple) quartered
2 Tbsp Fiesta Mole Mix
2 Cups Water
1/2 Cup Cucumber (optional)
Ice as desired for a chilly drink (optional)

Blend on high until smooth. Just like the Boutenko-Style Green Smoothies, this smoothie can last for about 3 days in the fridge or otherwise kept cold. You can also play with the ingredients ... we're experimenting with adding cucumbers in since we have so gosh darn many of them from our garden right now.

We just tried the cucumber in the smoothie at our raw food dinner tonight and it was scrumptious! Made for a delightfully refreshing smoothie!

If you don't have a high-powered blender I suggest you cut the ingredients into smaller bits (and core the apple). You might have to blend it longer than you would in a vitamix, but it should still work out great.

Enjoy!

Green Smoothies Boutenko Style

2010-06-27T15:16:00.000-05:00

Dan and I went to see Victoria Boutenko and her kids talk when they were in Dallas/Fort Worth this last year. I really like them. They've got great information and their green smoothie concept/recipes are awesome!

I encourage you to check them out directly for all the details behind why this style of green smoothie is so great: http://www.rawfamily.com/

In a nutshell, or an apple seed, here's why this style of smoothie works so great:
1. They taste great. It might look green, but all you taste is the sweetness of the fruit. YAY!

2. The ratio of 60% ripe fruit with 40% leafy greens is optimal for humans

3. Blended foods are easy for your body to digest.

4. Green smoothies are a complete food (as compared to juices) because they have all the fiber which is important for your elimination system.

5. Green smoothies are really easy to make (especially with a Vitamix) and way easier to clean up after than juicing!

6. Green smoothies can keep in the fridge for up to 3 days (fresh pressed juices are only good for about 30 minutes).

OK, enough singing praises, here is the basic principle recipe:

2-4 fruits or about 3 Cups.
For the Vitamix I suggest you cut fruit into quarters (keep the seeds in apples and the like, remove pits from peaches and the like).
1 large handful of green leaves.
This is usually 5 large leaves. Don't use roots - the value here is in the minerals and chlorophyll in the green leaves.
2 cups water or liquid.
I love using young coconut water.

In a Vitamix you can add all these ingredients whole. For a less highly powered blender, you may want to cut out the seeds of the fruit (like core the apples and pears) and chop things into smaller bits in order to help your blender along. Blend until smooth. Optionally add ice if you'd like it cold. Sip and enjoy!

Here are some of the recipes I particularly like:

1 apple quartered (or 2 if small)
1 pear quartered
1 handful of Kale leaves (about 5 leaves)
2 Cups young Coconut Water

1 mango (no pit)
1 sweet apple quartered
1 handful of carrot tops
2 Cups Water or Coconut Water

2 peaches (large)
1 handful of spinach or lettuce leaves
2 Cups Water

2-3 apples (mix varieties)
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 handful of Kale leaves
2 Cups Water

2 Cups blueberries
1 handful parsley (or mix parsley and lettuce)
2 Cups Water

As you can see, the possible recipes are endless. The key is to keep mixing up which fruits and veggies you use so that you get a good variety. Variety is important in your diet, especially when it comes to greens which have alkaloids that can build up in your system if you eat the same raw greens all the time.

If you'd like more recipes and all the research details behind Victoria's green smoothie discovery, check out her Green For Life book.

And in the meantime, start playing with green smoothie combinations. Yummy!!

Goji Lemon Bars: Chewable Goji Lemonade

2010-06-27T14:47:00.000-05:00

If you like lemon bars, or you like Goji Lemonade, I think you'll really like these Goji Lemon Bars. This is an adaptation of Ani Phyo's Lemon Coconut Bars recipe.

I've clarified some of her recipe and added in goji berries. It's pretty darn yummy. Try it and taste for yourself!

This recipe makes about 12 bars in a 9x9 inch pan.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Almonds (soaked 8 hours and rinsed is best)
1 tsp Sun Fire Salt
1.5 Cups Dates
1 Tbsp Vanilla (or 1 vanilla bean - scrape the insides)
Zest of 1 Lemon (optional)
2-3 Tbsp Lemon Juice (juice one lemon or use juice from a jar which is way easier)
1 Cup Finely Shredded Coconut
2 Tbsp Goji Berries

In food processor, grind 1/2 Cup of the almonds until coarse. Spread evenly across bottom of 9x9 inch pan. (Tip: put the pan in the fridge or freezer to help this almond bottom set while you work on the rest).

In food processor, add remaining 1/2 cup of almonds and salt. Process until finely ground - like a flour. Add the dates, vanilla, lemon and goji berries. Process until a dough-like consistency. (Tip: you can add a little water or a little extra lemon juice to facilitate the processing, but you want it to be pretty thick dough).

Spread lemon filling on top of almonds. The lemon filling is pretty sticky, so you may want to dollop the filling across the pan and use wax paper to press the filling in evenly across the pan.

Optionally, sprinkle with some additional coconut flakes on top and press in with wax paper.

Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before cutting into squares and serving.

Ani says this will keep for 6 days in the fridge, but we've had some keep for more than a month in the fridge. You could also freeze bars for longer storage and defrost them before eating.

Enjoy!

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

2010-06-27T14:25:00.000-05:00

This is well worth watching to learn how sugar has infiltrated our processed foods and what it does to your body. You can fast forward through the biochem details and still get the powerful message: stay away from sodas and processed foods. Use natural sweeteners.

All About Chia Seeds - An Intro to Superfoods Part 7

2010-06-14T15:18:00.000-05:00

Here's the last installment of our introduction to superfoods evening where we talk all about ch-ch-ch-chia seeds. A great source of protein, Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's), fiber, and delicious as a pudding! Enjoy!

All About Hemp & Hemp Seeds - An Intro to Superfoods Part 6

2010-06-12T13:54:00.000-05:00

I love hemp! I don't mean marijuana, I mean hemp and hemp seeds - an awesome superfood full of protein and void of any THC hallucinogen. Awesome stuff. Watch this part 6 of our intro to superfoods to learn more ...

All About Coconut Products - An Intro to Superfoods Part 5

2010-06-11T19:26:00.000-05:00

Here's part 5 of our intro to superfoods all about Coconut Products like Coconut Oil, Coconut Butter, Coconut Flakes, young coconut water, etc. Watch and Enjoy!

All About Maca - An Intro to Superfoods Part 4

2010-06-10T11:03:00.000-05:00

Here's Part 4 of our introductory session on Raw Superfoods. This one is all about Maca, a Peruvian root that enhances strength, stamina, libido and helps your body build hormones. Great stuff!

All About Goji Berries - An Intro to Superfoods Part 3

2010-06-07T17:40:00.001-05:00

Here's Part 3 of our introductory session on Raw Superfoods. This one is all about Goji Berries, their superfood properties, how to identify good quality goji berries, and how to use goji berries in raw food recipes.

If you'd like a demo of our favorite goji berry recipe, Goji Lemonade, check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FosgSV...

Enjoy!

All About Cacao (Raw Chocolate) - An Intro to Superfoods Part 2

2010-06-04T16:14:00.000-05:00

Here's Part 2 of our introductory session on Raw Superfoods. This one is all about Cacao (Raw Chocolate). Enjoy!

An Introduction to Raw SuperFoods - Part 1

2010-06-03T23:56:00.001-05:00

As if you were there with us at Move Studio the other night when we introduced our audience to the yummy, healthy delights of Raw Superfoods, here's part 1 of our discussion. Stay tuned for more video parts about raw Cacao, Goji Berries, Maca, Coconut Products, Hemp Seeds and Chia Seeds.

Enjoy!

And here's the book I reference in the talk:

The Master Cleanse

2010-05-06T14:26:00.008-05:00

Dan and I did the Master Cleanse and we feel great! It's actually been over a month ago that we did it and I'm just now making the time to tell you about it (spring gardening took priority).

There's lots of info available about the Master Cleanse. We have the book "The Master Cleanse" and apparently there's a new version called "The Complete Master Cleanse" and a Peter Glickman book called "Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days". There are plenty of people blogging about their master cleanse experience, and there's even a Master Cleanse Facebook group for peer support.

If you're interested in doing a general cleanse for your body, losing weight somewhat quickly, stopping addictions (like foods, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs), or just trying it out, here are our notes on how it worked for us and our tips to make it go easily. I'm not going to list the full instructions on how to make the special "lemonade" for the master cleanse - please get one of the books to get the full details on how to do the cleanse.

I should mention that this is really a stage 3 of my body cleansing experiments. As Stage 1 I've been consuming Chocolate Bliss and other raw superfoods regularly for the last year and a half. Because of that stage 1 transition I've been able to stop caffeine entirely, stop eating meat, dramatically reduce my intake of processed foods (I still have good quality potato chips now and then), eat more vegetables, and let go of quite a bit of excess fat on my body. In Stage 2 I got interested in cleansing my body even further, so I did a series of Liver & Gallbladder Cleanses. I'm glad that I did the liver cleanse 2nd because I had started doing an MMS Cleanse that was too extreme for my liver.

The Master Cleanse was stage 3 for me simply because that's when it came into my awareness and my body intelligence said "yes, let's do this now". I think the Master Cleanse is easy enough to do as a stage 1 on a cleansing journey, though you may find you have more detox reactions than I did simply because I've been cleaning up my diet for the last year and a half. Nevertheless, since the cleanse is letting your body do its own cleaning (rather than forcing cleansing with supplements), it seems a safe way to start cleaning house.

Here are our tips on how to make it even more easy:

Ease into the cleanse with more raw foods and less animal products. If even the day before you eat mostly or all raw fruits and veggies, I think you'll have a better experience. We did this pretty naturally since we eat a lot of raw foods and I focused on eating up the produce that was in the refrigerator.

From Dan: I had a little bit of friend Indian food at a potluck the night before our cleanse that was a bit heavy and spicy. It didn't feel that great at the time and the next day, the first day of our cleanse, my tummy was a bit upset and I didn't have near the amount of energy that Melissa had. Sticking to raw foods or lighter fare the night before might have helped.

Drink a Laxative Tea every night. We didn't read the fine print that said to do this every night. Darn. I did a laxative tea on the 2nd night and that helped a lot, although I did end up pooing at 1am and 5am. ugh. That's not always going to happen like that, and I did feel lots better afterwards. The laxative tea I used is called Smooth Move from Traditional Medicinals brand of teas. I think you can find it at a Whole Foods or similar type of organic-minded health food store.

Although the Master Cleanse is designed to provide you enough energy to go about your daily tasks while you're cleansing, it was really nice to allow some time, especially for the first couple days, to just relax and lie around the house. I took some epsom salt baths, we watched movies, I slept a little more, and really paid attention to what thoughts and feelings were moving through me so I could detox that way too. Give your body the support it needs by getting plenty of sleep and doing whatever else you crave to nurture your self.

How you come off the cleanse is just as important as being on the cleanse in the first place. Your body has gone through 10 days of resting your digestion, so you want to ease back into that process slowly. The cleanse book advises to start with fresh squeezed orange juice which will be the best tasting juice you've ever had (simply because you're ready for a new flavor in your mouth). We then moved on to fresh pressed apple-carrot juice and then a medley of apple-celery-kale-lemon. Do your best to drink only fresh juices the first day.

When you're ready to move on to more whole foods and cooked foods, I highly recommend making "The Hippocrates Soup". This recipe comes from The Gerson Therapy and is really yummy and good for you. Essentially fill a soup pot full of tomatoes, potatoes, onions, celery, parsley and some garlic cloves. Fill the pot with water (or vegetable stock) until all the ingredients are covered. Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are cooked. For our first dish of this soup we blended the ingredients in our Vitamix so it was even easier on our digestion. The next dish we ate with the whole bits of potato, etc. (it's so nice to chew!). Then for the next dish we added in some spices to the soup (salt, pepper, cumin, etc). Once you've had several bowls of soup you should be ready for regular foods again, though still go gently on your tummy (in other words, not too much spicy food right off).

We did a couple more things out-of-the-ordinary from the traditional Master Cleanse that you might also be interested in.

Coffee Enemas every other day. This idea also came from The Gerson Therapy and is a relaxing, gentle way of helping the toxins move out of your lower intestine, your liver, and out of your blood. Basically the coffee helps to dilate the blood vessels, opens bile ducts for greater bile flow and flushing, enables peristalsis (bowel movement), and enhances GST (glutathione S-Transferase) production a catalytic enzyme that helps remove toxic radicals from the blood. All of the body's blood passes through the liver every three minutes, so when you hold the coffee in your lower intestine for 12-15 minutes you are getting 3-4 cleansing flushes of your blood.

There's plenty more to say about coffee enemas, but for now I'll just give you the recipe of how to do it. If you want more details. get the book The Gerson Therapy and read chapter 12.

Coffee Enema Procedure: 1. Add 3 rounded Tbsp of drip-grind organic, caffeinated coffee to a quart of boiling filtered/distilled water. 2. Let boil uncovered for 3 minutes. Simmer covered for an additional 15 minutes. 3. Strain the coffee solution through a coffee filter or a coarse strainer with a cotton cloth or cheese cloth to catch all the coffee grounds. 4. Add enough hot water to the filtered coffee to refill a glass container up to the 1 quart level (some of the original quart may be lost in boiling and straining). 5. When the coffee has cooled to body temperature, pour it into the enema bag. 6. Put plastic sheeting and a towel down on the floor where you'll be doing the enema. You may also desire a pillow. Hang the enema bag about 18 inches above the tube's end. 7. Lie on your right side with your legs pulled up in a relaxed position (it's also OK to lie on your back with your legs pulled up). Insert the tube end into your rectum and let the coffee solution flow with the gentle force of gravity. 8. Once the bag is empty hold the liquid in your colon for 12-15 minutes. This is a good time to visualize all the cleansing occurring in your colon and liver and blood. If for any reason you can't hold the liquid for the full 12 minutes, release the liquid early (you'll likely be able to hold it longer the next time). 9. Release the liquid into the toilet. You may find other elements such as gallstones, biofilm, and excrement in your release, however the smell of coffee will dominate.

Digestive Enzymes at night. Half-way through the cleanse we started talking digestive enzymes at night to help remove any biofilms that were on our digestive tract lining. The protease in our Digestive Enzymes in particular helps to break down any excess protein and specifically parasitic colonies attached to the colon walls. Wish we'd started that at the onset of the cleanse too as I had quite a few biofilm bits come out later in the cleanse.
Probiotics coming off the cleanse. We added more probiotics, like Salivarius and Acidophilus, to our diet once we started eating regular food again. Since the good bacteria weren't given much to eat either, we figured they could use a little extra support.

Drink more laxative tea after 2 days of chew food if things aren't moving. For both of us, adding regular cooked and raw chew foods stopped up our systems again. Probably because our digestive tract was out of practice and the peristalsis movement needed to be re-engaged. Maybe we wouldn't have needed this if we'd done the laxative tea throughout the cleanse, but it sure came in handy after a couple of days of regular food. Just don't rely on laxative teas in the long term - use it as a jump start only.

And finally, here are some of the things we noticed in our experience of the Master Cleanse:

We didn't drink much of the lemonade mixture. The book said to drink 6-12 glasses a day, whenever you are hungry. We ended up drinking between 4 and 6 a day. I guess we just weren't that hungry. Maybe if we'd been busier with activities we would have desired more?
I had LOTS of energy the first day ... I cleaned the fridge top to bottom and the kitchen and felt great. I also had plenty of mental energy throughout the cleanse - enough to continue my life coaching practice with ease. On day 8 I went to my favorite Korean Spa with a friend and did fine moving between hot rooms and hot pools and sipping on water and lemonade. That's also the only place I weigh myself and I'd lost 10 pounds. I'm now still quite comfortably at 120 pounds - the size I prefer to be.
There were a few times, especially early on, that I had headaches and/or achy joints. The book says this is a sign of detoxification as the toxins stored in your joints are pulled out and released. Epsom salt baths and coffee enemas solved these aches and pains. The laxative tea every night probably would have stopped them from starting. Oh well, next time.
Even though I wasn't eating anything solid, and I wasn't doing the laxative tea, I still had some bowel movements where I found biofilms and some small gallstones come out. This seemed like good proof that my body was taking advantage of the cleansing time to clean house.
The cleanse offers a nice opportunity to take an objective perspective on food. I never craved food while on the cleanse, but I did take a walk down memory lane of all the many foods I've eaten in my life. I think I may have been clearing some cellular memory of foods because I was remembering things like childhood tv dinners, twinkies, hot dogs and other stuff I've not eaten in over 25 years. Go figure.

I also had a couple of occasions of watching people eat at a restaurant while I sat and drank water or the lemonade. I enjoyed the smells of the food (my senses were heightened), but I never once wanted a bit of what they were eating. I did envy the chewing process though. :)

Being off of regular food really made me notice how much of our society, our social activities, and our daily moments tend to focus on food. There are so many restaurants when you drive down the street! And some people who are not familiar with the Master Cleanse can have quick negative judgments about fasting. I heard a lot of concern from people that "you're not eating?" or "you're losing too much weight!". Truthfully, I was still eating and I was losing the perfect amount of weight in toxins and fats my body no longer required.
I didn't have any addictions to get off of, but I was curious to find out if I'd miss my daily Chocolate Bliss. The good news is, I didn't. I never had a bad reaction of not being on it and I didn't crave it immediately when I came off the cleanse. I'm still drinking Chocolate Bliss every day now, and I know I don't have to have it in order to be healthy. It's a great healthy choice I like adding to my diet.

From Dan (who also lost weight on the Master Cleanse): I think stepping back from the whole "food creation" was the neatest part of the cleanse. Just being able to see how most of the world is caught up in so much around food. It was interesting to watch how well-meaning people are so concerned and worried about you not eating. They want to offer you some of their food like there's something wrong with you, like it's not OK to not be hungry or not want to eat food.

Once off the cleanse, what I wanted to eat, I still ate, but I think there's a subtle difference. I have more awareness now of how dependent we are on food, how much we get manipulated around food and all the social activities that are tied to food. I'm more aware now of what food I'm putting into my body - even more aware than I was with the superfoods. I read labels more. I cleaned stuff out so I want to be more careful about what I put back in.

All in all, I liked the Master Cleanse. I'd do it again, like when my body craves it. I would do it over a water fast which doesn't give your body quite enough energy to go about daily activities and I'd do it over a juice fast which requires just a bit more digestive activity than what the body can handle to also do some good over-haul cleansing.

If you decide to do the Master Cleanse, I highly suggest you get one of the Master Cleanse books for detailed additional information to guide you and join a support group (especially if you've got other people in your house eating food while you're on the cleanse).

Enjoy your cleansing journey!

Not Your Mama's Raw Mac N Cheese

2010-04-27T12:14:00.004-05:00

This is not your mama's mac n cheese. I tried. I scoured my raw recipe books and googled raw recipes for mac and cheese, and nothing I tried met my standards of tasting like a good quality version of the traditional cooked mac and cheese. Oh well.

The good news is, I combined several recipes and came up with something that tastes pretty darn yummy. I just prefer to call it Raw Cheesy Pasta so we don't expect a flavor that's just not there.

If you love mac n cheese, you might like this raw cheesy pasta as an upgrade option, just don't expect it to taste exactly like the traditional cooked version. This raw recipe is of course way better for you. :)

Here's how I did it:

Raw "Macaroni Noodles"
Summer squash spiralized with the thick noodle setting and cut into smaller pieces so they look a bit like macaroni size noodles. Coat the noodles in a little olive oil and salt and let marinate while you make the rest of the recipe.

Raw Cheese Sauce
1/2 Cup Cashews (soaked for 1/2 hour to 4 hours and rinsed)
1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper
1/2 tsp Sun Fire Salt
1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Turmeric
1/2 Tbsp Mellow White Miso (optional)

Blend all ingredients in high powered blender like the Vitamix or in a food processor. Blend until a creamy consistency. You shouldn't need to add any water because the bell pepper is very watery.

When you're ready to eat, put a spoonful of the cheese sauce on top of the noodles. This tastes best when the noodles and the cheese sauce are at room temperature.

My Additional Tips For Extra-Yummyness

This recipe tastes especially good with a little Fiesta Mole Powder sprinkled on top (as in the picture)
You can make the cheese sauce a bit creamier by using some macadamia nuts and/or pine nuts in addition to the cashews. The recipes I pulled from used all macadamia nuts or all pine nuts, however I found that this was more expensive and didn't taste any better than with the cashews.
Yellow Bell Pepper really works the best. Red or orange are too sweet.
You can also make the noodles out of zucchini or a mix of zucchini and summer squash. One recipe called for noodles out of yams, but they were very crunchy and the yam taste was overpowering.
You could experiment with dehydrating/warming the noodles mixed with cheese sauce for a little bit before eating. I haven't tried this yet, so let me know if you like it.

Enjoy!

Raw Mango Blueberry Cobbler

2010-04-27T11:57:00.002-05:00

Oh My Goodness this is a good dessert! OK, so I don't ever post icky desserts, but wow, this mango blueberry cobbler gets high praise! The recipe is a slight adaptation from Ani Phyo's Mango Cobbler in her recipe book Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.

Really, the only thing I did differently was to add blueberries into her recipe ... I love mango and blueberries together. Here's the recipe with my additional notes below on how I would improve or play with it even more:

Raw Mango Blueberry Cobbler
Crust/Topping:
3 Cups Pecans (dry)
3/4 tsp Sun Fire Salt (or other high quality sea salt)
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract (easier) or 1 Vanilla Bean (scraped insides only)
3/4 Cup Dates (pitted)
Process the pecans and salt in a food processor or dry container of your high-powered blender until a flour-like consistency is reached. Add in the dates and vanilla and process until mixed well and a dough-like consistency. Set crust aside while you make the syrup (no need to clean out the food processor).
Syrup:
3/4 Dates (pitted)
3 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1/2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract (easier) or 1/2 Vanilla Bean (whole bean)
1/3-2/3 Cup Water, as needed
Food process or Blend all ingredients until a smooth, thick syrup consistency. Add more water only as needed in order to facilitate the blending process.

Filling:
4 Mangoes (ripe Kent variety is best because they are the least stringy/fibrous)
3/4 Cup Blueberries (fresh or defrosted frozen variety)
Dice the mangoes into bite-size cubes. Put all filling ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add the syrup and toss until all the fruit is well covered.

Press half of the crust into the bottom of your serving bowl. I first used a 1 quart casserole for a thick cobbler. In this photo I'm putting all the crust on top in a lasagna-style pan.

Pour the mixed filling/syrup on top of the crust. Crumble the remaining crust/topping across the top of the filling. Your dessert is now ready to enjoy immediately or refrigerate for a couple of days of enjoyment.

Here are a couple of suggestions for ways you might play with this recipe:

Add a little cinnamon to the syrup for additional "baked" flavor
Make the filling with peaches instead of mangoes.
Make a filling of all berries or sweet apples
For a larger pan, like a lasagna-style pan, put the filling/syrup directly into the pan and put all of the crust/topping on top. This makes it even easier to get the dessert out of the pan. :)
Add finely ground pecans or other favorite nuts on top for a crunchy topping

Enjoy!

A Day In The Life Part 4: What Tools of the Trade Do You Start With?

2010-04-25T14:35:00.000-05:00

This is a continuation of our Day in the Life Story of what we eat ... this time talking about the kitchen tools we use to make especially yummy raw foods.

What Tools of the Trade Do You Start With?

Blend, Blend, BLEND! So much of the raw food diet is facilitated by blending. It breaks down the cell walls of foods so it's easier to digest, enhances flavors, enables you to eat more fruits and veggies in less time, and is all-around an awesome way of eating/drinking/slurping food.

When we found raw foods, we already had a Vitamix in the house and if we didn't we'd be getting one soon. You can make a lot of raw foods, including our beloved Chocolate Bliss with a regular blender, but you can do so much more with a Vitamix or other high-powered blender.

We also have a small Hamilton Beach blender we got for traveling with our Bliss.

The next thing we got was a dehydrator, but only because I knew I wanted to play extensively in the raw food game including making my own nori rolls, crackers, and making our activated nuts crunchy again. I wouldn't suggest this be item #2 for you ... maybe #3 or 4 or not at all.

I would however suggest your second tool be a food processor. Even a small one that doesn't cost much money can help you with some of the recipes, especially pates. This is the Cuisinart Food Processor I got, but that's also because I make food for lots of people at our superfood dinner parties.

We already had a juicer in the house, but it wasn't used much and still isn't. It sits in a cupboard and comes out on rare occasions when we crave fresh juice.

The Spiralizer is a very fun tool, especially if you like pasta, for very little money. I don't use it often because I don't make raw veggie pasta often, but when I do make raw pasta it saves a LOT of time. I wouldn't attempt raw veggie pasta recipes without it because I would get tired and bored of all the effort.

If you missed the first parts of this Day In the Life story, here are some links you might be interested in:

Part 1: What do Melissa & Dan Eat?

Part 2: Cooked Foods and Cooked / Raw Combinations We Eat

Part 3: How Do You Transition To More Raw Foods?

Part 4: What Tools of the Trade Do You Start With?

Enjoy your journey!

With lots of Love,

Melissa

A Day In The Life Part 3: How Do You Transition To More Raw Foods?

2010-04-21T15:33:00.000-05:00

This is a continuation of our Day in the Life Story of what we eat with suggestions on how you can easily transition to more and more raw foods in your diet...

How Do You Transition To More Raw Foods?

The first week we discovered Chocolate Bliss and the whole line of Sun Fire Super Foods, we jumped in feet first and ate almost 100% raw superfoods for the first week. It was awesome. You can watch our short video about transitioning to raw where we talk more about what we ate in that first week, why it was so great, and the differences we noticed from being raw.

Since then I've read that it's not always recommended to go raw that quickly because you can have more detox reactions. I didn't. I felt great. That might be because the Sun Fire Super Foods are designed to help you detox more gradually, or because I didn't have major health issues (I was just a bit overweight), or just because (the answer to any persistent 2 year old).

How fast should you go raw? However fast you feel like it. And here's some more support:

I really liked the information and advice in this book by Natalia Rose: The Raw Food Detox Diet. In the book she offers a little test to see what percentage raw might be best for you based on your past eating habits and your current health. She gives very practical information about why raw food is so great, menu suggestions and some awesome raw food recipes (the very yummy Thai Bliss soup is from her).

Raw Til Dinner is a popular approach for transitioning because most of us (Dan and me included) can be quite satisfied with raw foods until the evening sets in and we start to crave something warm and chewy. The more raw foods you eat, the more clean-burning nutrition you are getting, the easier it will be for you to concentrate and be alert throughout the day, and the healthier you will be. And if you can eat healthy cooked meals in the evening, all the better.

With any upgrade I make in life - mental, emotional or physical - I prefer to be OK with slippage. If I go back to eating cooked foods, or even some junky foods now and then, the best thing I can do is NOT judge myself for it, but simply enjoy the taste (if it is indeed enjoyable) and look for ways to upgrade that food/taste I'm craving next time into something healthier - whether that be a raw version or just healthier ingredients. I'll talk more later about how I identify the flavor and ingredient components I'm craving in a traditional food and how I then upgrade that taste into a raw, superfood or other good-for-you version.

Stay tuned for the final part of this Day In The Life diatribe:

Part 4: What Tools of the Trade Do You Start With?

Enjoy your journey!

With lots of Love,

Melissa

A Day In The Life Part 2: Cooked Stuff and Cooked/Raw Combinations We eat

2010-04-19T22:06:00.000-05:00

This is a continuation of our Day in the Life Story of what we eat ... talking now about the cooked stuff too. To the often-asked raw foodie question "what percentage raw are you?" I think I prefer the answer "I am not a label". I eat cooked food and I eat raw food in varying amounts, depending on the day, the weather, my cravings, or whatever. Here are some details on the cooked stuff we eat...

Cooked Stuff and Cooked/Raw Combinations

We still eat cooked food. Most often in the evening. Sometimes during the day (I still crave eggs now and then). We've found some great ways of upgrading standard cooked food into better ingredient options and even combinations of cooked and raw foods that work great for us. Here's what we most often gravitate to when we crave cooked stuff:

Baked Potatoes / Baked Sweet Potatoes

We now bake our potatoes in the oven rather than the microwave (takes a bit more planning). We're in the process of upgrading from regular white baking potatoes to sweet potatoes (more minerals and better for you). I especially like the Jersey Sweet Potatoes because they're more tangy than sweet.
On top of our baked potatoes I put flax oil (tastes like butter) or hemp oil, Dan still uses organic butter. We both use Sun Fire Salt and I add a few sprinkles of Fiesta Mole Powder.
I've been craving greens so much, and hydration, I now add a huge handful of mixed baby salad greens on top of my dressed baked potato. It's my upgraded version of "potato salad". :)

Chipotle Style Burrito Bowl

We have historically LOVED the burritos we get from the Chipotle chain of restaurants. I gravitated to vegetarian burritos once I started my raw superfood journey and Dan has recently done the same.
Now we make our own version at home: brown rice cooked with lime juice, cilantro and a little organic butter; organic black beans from the can cooked with a little chili seasonings; sautéed green bell pepper and red onion; avocado, organic salsa, and lots of lettuce on top. It's oh so yummy!

Upgraded Pizza

We've tried lots of different upgrades for our pizza cravings. We've made our own flax seed pizza crusts in the dehydrator (so-so); tried "natural brands" like Kashi, Whole Foods, and Amy's; bought cornmeal pizza crusts (ew) and have finally settled (so far) on an organic whole wheat pizza crust that we can customize. We use organic pasta sauce and now the raw goat milk cheese on top, plus any other yummy veggies we like. The interesting thing is that the old styles of pizza we used to like don't taste good to us anymore. Our tastes have upgraded and we don't eat pizza nearly as often.

Tacos

We love tacos and we especially love our upgraded raw/cooked tacos. We use the Taco Eat nut mixture for our meat and lightly warm it on the stove. We've found some organic sprouted corn tortillas we really like and we warm those on the stove too. Then we combine the taco eat with raw goat cheddar cheese, Frank's RedHot Hot Sauce (our fave), green onions from our garden and some lettuce on top. Super yummy and we never miss the meat.

Pasta

Sometimes we do raw pasta with a squash and the spiralizer and sometimes we cook noodles, though not nearly as often. For cooked noodles I prefer rice/quinoa noodles or something like that rather than wheat. I also really like spaghetti squash which I cook in the oven (haven't tried it raw yet, but I bet that's good too).
For sauce, I still heat up organic sauce from the jar because it's quick and easy. Sometimes I'll make a pesto sauce and I'm playing with some raw marinara sauces.

Potato Soup

This is a favorite and even goes camping with us often. The idea came from a lady who analyzes live blood cells and said this is the best combination for hydrating your cells. It's also similar to the "Hippocrates Soup" that the Gerson Diet recommends for addressing cancer and other diseases.
Here's my recipe: 1 onion loosely chopped, 1-3 cloves of garlic, loosely chopped, about 2 Cups of potatoes chopped (ideal when they are not white and sweet potatoes are awesome), 5 stalks of celery chopped, 1 carton of potato leek soup (works best) or vegetable stock. Optionally add sliced carrots or tomatoes (Hippocrates Soup style). Put all ingredients in large soup pot and add water as needed to cover all ingredients. Add spices like parsley, cilantro, salt, pepper, celery seed, bay leaves, and cumin. Simmer for about an hour or until potatoes are soft.

Veggie Soup

I prefer the potato soup, but veggie soup is a nice alternative with lots of tomatoes, various veggies and maybe some noodles or rice.

Tomato Soup

We've been getting the roasted bell pepper tomato soup in cartons from Costco because it tastes so good, but lately I've been noticing how milky it is. Stay tuned for some upgrades to raw versions of tomato soup.

Eggs

I still love eggs. Every now and then I'll make a poached egg on an english muffin for a late morning snack. I used to love them scrambled, as an omelet, in fritatas and so on, but now I just have one egg poached when I crave it.

Green Onion Sandwiches

The one wheat-based item we still get as a treat now and then is a french baguette. We especially like to use it for green onion sandwiches with organic butter a little salt and the green onions from our garden. I guess you could say that's a raw and cooked combo. :)

Popcorn

We used to eat microwave popcorn because it was easy. Now we've upgraded to a stove contraption that lets us use the organic white popcorn we get from the store and coconut oil to pop the corn. We top it with a spray mister of flax oil (tastes butter) and our beloved Sun Fire Salt.

Stay tuned for the additional parts of this Day In The Life diatribe:

Part 3: How Do You Transition To More Raw Foods?

Part 4: What Tools of the Trade Do You Start With?

Enjoy your journey!

With lots of Love,

Melissa

A Day In The Life: What do Melissa & Dan Eat? (Part 1)

2010-04-13T12:06:00.001-05:00

One of our newer raw superfood clients asked me to give her a "day in the life" story of what Dan and I eat so she could get some ideas of how to be more and more raw in her food choices and perhaps even upscale some of the cooked things too.

So of course I'd like to share my efforts at cataloging "a day in the life" with you too. My intention is to give you lots of ideas, links to our favorite recipes, and the inspiration and permission to go explore what works best for you.

This is not your average Day In The Life story.
We've been consuming raw superfoods for over a year and a half now, so rather than tell you a specific day in our life, I thought I'd give you more of a sense of how we transitioned to raw superfoods, and what kinds of things we eat at what times of day. Here are my caveats that give you even more perspective on what our model might mean for you:

We are not 100% raw foodists. We do not have any judgment on what you or anyone else chooses to eat ... we're quite OK with whatever makes us feel good and whatever makes you feel good. Less labeling can be a good thing.
We both work from home, so we always have easy access to our kitchen and flexible schedules for uncooking whenever we want. I enjoy cooking and uncooking, but not to excess. I prefer to have my kitchen time be quick, simple and fun so that I have even more time for the other fun things I do. Since I used to work in the corporate world with a 2 hour commute one way (oy ve!) I'm empathetic to the standard work culture and I'll do my best to offer suggestions for that type of situation.
We both came from the Standard American Diet (SAD). We both ate meat regularly, some fast food, and particularly loved pizza and ice cream. I had at least one cup of coffee (or black tea) every morning in order to be awake and civil. Dan drank Diet Dr. Pepper for his source of caffeine and sometimes energy drinks even though they caused his throat to hurt at times. We wanted to be healthier, but we weren't looking for a dramatic life shift that was hard.
We won't eat something if it doesn't taste good. We won't keep doing something just because it's supposed to be good for you unless we're really enjoying it. We both believe that life is supposed to be, can be, and is easy and joyful as we go about creating and enjoying delicious experiences.

So, What Do You Eat?

I'll cut to the chase and give you some groupings of the raw foods that we currently love to eat. Look for our parts 2, 3 and 4 of this day in the life story for more info on how you might transition to more raw foods and upgrade your cooked foods.

Breakfast

Chocolate Bliss

I make a gallon of Chocolate Bliss at a time using our favorite bliss recipe and I drink 8 ounces right after some pure water first thing in the morning. I will usually drink another 8 ounces 2 or 3 more times throughout the day, depending on whether I have other stuff in the fridge to eat or how much I'm craving chocolate. Bliss is really such a quick, good-tasting, and well-rounded nutritious food, I use it as a staple throughout the day whenever I crave it.
This is also how I got off of coffee. Watch this video on stopping coffee where I talk more about adding Guarana and Yerba Matte to my Chocolate Bliss in order to stop drinking caffeine and lose weight even more quickly.

Nuts

A handful of nuts here and there helps address any little hunger pangs and give you something chewy. We sometimes activate our nuts, especially when we're eating a lot of them, and sometimes we don't (again, it's all about using our time to do fun things).
We almost always have almonds on hand. We've also really enjoyed pistachio meats which we get from Sun Organic Farm and activate with Sun Fire Salt, and Dan especially enjoys Brazil Nuts.
We keep about a quart of nuts easily accessible in jars on the kitchen counter. The rest we store in the fridge so they keep better.

Smoothies

Smoothies are a great way of starting the day and highly recommended by lots of people. Sometimes we make them. Most often we just have Chocolate Bliss. See below for more details on the kinds of smoothies we like (they are more often a mid-afternoon snack for us).

All-Day-Long Snacky Meals

More Nuts as per above
Nori Rolls (Gopal's Wraps)

I found these raw snacks called Gopal's Power Wraps at our local natural grocery store (Natural Grocers and Roy's Natural Market). I liked them so much, I made my own.
Here's the recipes for the two flavors I really dig: BBQ Jerky Nori Rolls and Curry Nori Rolls. You'll need a dehydrator to make them, or just go buy Gopal's Power Wraps. I usually make about 3 times each recipe once a month to keep Dan and me well supplied. Oh, and I store them in the fridge because I don't dry them as much as Gopal and they can get moldy if you leave them out for weeks on end.

Yemiah's Creamy Almond Spinach Dip

This is a favorite and it can last for a couple weeks in the fridge. The recipe makes a nice big batch and I use it in all sorts of things all week long, as well as just dipping crackers and veggies into it as a dip. You'll see it referenced below in other recipes (like wraps).
You can also customize this dip quite a bit. Once you've got the basics of the almonds and lemon juice for the creamy cheesy flavor, try adding in different veggies or spices for variety.

Green Crackers

Another fave to have on hand. I make a big batch and keep them in the cupboard to munch on as is or dip in Creamy Almond Spinach Dip or whatever I have on hand. I seem to alternate between making Nori Rolls one month and a bunch of crackers the next.

Tomato Crackers with raw cheese

This is a new recipe so stay tuned for links to the recipe. I found this in the Sarma Raw Food recipe book (which I love!) and it's our new favorite. Now I make green and red crackers in my dehydrator so we have a bit more variety.
Dan loves cheese. I love the taste, buy my body doesn't love cow's milk. Goat cheese and I seem to get a long fine. Lately we've been using a Raw Goat Milk Cheddar Cheese (again found at Natural Grocers). I actually use it more when we make tacos than on crackers, but it's a nice alternative, especially if you love, Love, LOVE cheese. :)
We've been playing with raw nut cheese recipes and some are quite easy. Again, I'll post links when they are ready, or get the Sarma Raw Food recipe book (you'll be happy you did).

Apples with almond butter or Fiesta Mole Dip

I love apples. I love the way they taste, the many different varieties, and how easy they are to travel. They're also really good at regulating your digestion and giving you some balanced energy. YAY for apples!
I've always loved apple slices and peanut butter. I've upgraded that to almond butter because it's a bit better for you than peanut butter. If you have a food processor, you can also make your own almond butter (great money savings) by simply putting almonds in the food processor and grinding until creamy (about 30 minutes).
The Fiesta Mole Dip is a favorite dip that I always enjoy and never get tired of. I especially like it with granny smith apples because their tartness balances nicely with the tomato spice of the dip (go figure). I also enjoy dipping celery and snap peas in the Fiesta Mole Dip.

Carrots in Hummus

You can get raw hummus and hummus made from things besides chickpeas, but I just get a nice big tub of organic hummus from Costco. I can munch on baby carrots and hummus for hours, or dip a few raw crackers in there too.

Celery sticks

Celery is a really nice balance to Chocolate Bliss - the sodium and water of the celery really help your body to flush toxins out. Dip celery in Fiesta Mole Dip, eat it between sips of Chocolate Bliss, or just eat it straight.

Bananas

We also love bananas. They often go into our smoothies, but sometimes we eat them straight too. In all our adventures of new raw food recipes, it's nice to remember the value of pure, unadulterated fruit.
Here's a tip: if your bananas are too ripe, just freeze them, skin and all. When you're ready to make a smoothie (or a raw ice cream!) simply soak the banana in luke-warm water until you can easily slip off the peel. Your frozen banana is a great sweetener for any smoothie.

Avocado with Fiesta Mole sprinkled on top

I love avocados and I love the flavoring of Fiesta Mole. Once I learned to keep ripe avocados in the fridge, I've been enjoying them regularly because I can keep many in the house without feeling like I need to eat them quickly before they get too ripe. My simple snack is to spoon the avocado into bowl and sprinkle the Fiesta Mole powder on top. Simple as that and oh so yummy. Particularly good when I crave potato chips because I'm getting good fat and salt (in the mole). Just not so crunchy.

Easy Guacamole

Here's what I do: spoon out an avocado into a bowl, sprinkle on a Tbsp or so of lemon juice (from the Santa Cruz organic lemon juice bottle I keep in the fridge), sprinkle on some Sun Fire Salt, maybe sprinkle on some Fiesta Mole Powder, mash it up a little with my spoon, mix well and enjoy. Really, I'll eat this straight up. Or maybe put it with some raw crackers when they're handy.

Chia Pudding

This may seem like a dessert to you, but I will eat it all day long. It's a very filling, tapioca-like pudding that you can customize in many ways. The less sweetener you use, the more savory it will taste. Visit this upgraded chia pudding blog posting where I show some other ways to play with the recipe.

Chocolate Bliss Kisses

These are great for a chewy version of Chocolate Bliss, to satisfy a candy craving, for traveling, or just because. The original recipe calls for many individual ingredients or you can simply use your Chocolate Bliss Powder. Here's the bliss kisses recipe posting with my comments on how to adjust the recipe for travel (i.e. use cacao butter instead of coconut oil).

Trail Mix of Nuts, Goji Berries, Cacao Nibs

I'm not a big trail mix fan, but if I were, this would be my favorite. Simply make a bag of your favorite nuts, some goji berries (very tart and chewy) and some cacao nibs (like dark chocolate).
The messy version of this is to pour some Vanilla Agave Nectar over the goji berries and cacao nibs. It's a great tasting combination and fun if you like to lick your fingers. :)

Smoothies

Hemp Milk straight up or in a smoothie

Hemp milk is really filling (and high in protein). Our hemp milk recipe tastes like a chai milk and way better than the hemp milk in a carton I bought at the store. I drink it straight or mix it into a fruit smoothie for a really filling smoothie that lasts a long time. When we put hemp milk into a smoothie we don't add any sweetener because the fruit of the smoothie is sweet enough.

Green Is Good Smoothie

This is one of my standards and favorites. I really like the way Vitamineral Green tastes in this and I always have very regular, smooth bowel movements when I include this in my diet. Simple and yummy!

Green Smoothies (Boutenko style)

Wow, I didn't have a post for this yet! Stay tuned for a video soon. In the meantime, here's the very simple recipe: 2 Cups water, 2 pieces of fruit (e.g. 1 apple and 1 pear), a handful of green leaves (e.g. lettuce, spinach, kale, chard, collard, cilantro, celery tops, etc). Blend well in a Vitamix or other high-powered blender. This will keep 3 days in the fridge.
This version of a green smoothie amazingly tastes like the fruit in the smoothie and not like the bitter greens. Stay tuned for more details on why this version is so great (and even better for you and easier than juicing).

Juicing

We have a juicer that we don't use very often. It takes too much effort to clean (and needs to be cleaned pretty quickly after juicing). I prefer Green Smoothies instead. If I were out in the world more, I might buy the Odwalla or Naked Juices, but I get a bit tired of those pasteurized flavors too.
When I do juice, I really like this combo: 1 apple, 2 celery sticks, 3 kale leaves and half a lemon freshly squeezed.

Fruit and Flax seeds or the kitchen sink variety

Grab a banana, some frozen fruit, some almond milk (store-bought), a couple tablespoons of flax seeds (for digestion regulation) and whatever other superfoods look like fun. Blend away!

Goji Lemonade

This is more of a drink than a smoothie, but it's packed full of superfoods and extremely satisfying. It's a very hydrating drink which speaks to the important point that hunger is often really just your body saying it needs more hydration. Next time you feel hungry, drink some pure water first (or some Goji Lemonade).

Elixir Craft

Since I learned elixir craft from Daniel Vitalis in the winter, this is more my cold-weather version of a superfood smoothie. I'm fascinated by super herbs so I expect you'll learn more from me in this area soon. In the meantime, you can try this one elixir recipe I've posted. It takes a bit of work, but it is really filling and I've easily kept mine in the fridge for a week.

Wraps
Wraps are a great replacement for sandwiches. They're chewy, packed full of flavors, filling, and don't require any bread. :) Oh, and you'll notice that I don't list salads in our "day in the life". I like salads, but I don't like making them (unless somebody else has already sliced and diced and prepared all the ingredients). These wraps and their fillings are lots easier!

Nori sheets wrapped around avocado, almond spinach dip, or nut pates

Nori sheets are an easy wrapper if you are going to eat your wrap immediately (otherwise they get soggy from the fillings). I like making little sushi-like rolls by spreading a pate or dip on the nori sheet, adding some lettuce, sprouts, avocado, tomato or other fillings, rolling the nori and then slicing it.
Here are links to some of my favorite fillings: Yemiah's Creamy Almond Spinach Dip, Pumpkin Seed Pate, Mock Tuna Salad

Leaves (lettuce, swiss chard, collard greens, kale) wrapped around nut pates, taco eat, thai veggie wraps

Having a variety of leafy greens in your diet is good. You're getting a good variety of vitamins and minerals and you're not getting too much of one kind of bitter alkaloid (so don't keep eating only one kind of green).
Depending on the strength of the leaf, you could make these wraps in advance. They're often easier to eat than Nori since the leaves are easy to bite through. Here are my favorite spreads for this kind of wrap: Taco Nut Meat, Thai Veggie Wraps, and Pumpkin Seed Pate.
I should mention that the Taco Eat recipe makes a LOT of taco meat filling. I keep some frozen and on hand. The Thai Veggie Wrap cabbage filling also freezes well which is good because a head of cabbage can make a lot of filling!

Soups
There's a lot you can do with raw soups and I'm only just beginning to explore this area. Stay tuned for more. The nice thing about raw soups is you can heat them by blending them, put them on the stove on low until warm to the touch, or simply enjoy them cold (which I do often).

Fiesta Mole soup

The Fiesta Mole Powder makes a really yummy gazpacho style soup. I particularly like it with chunks of avocado in it. We've also made it with chunks of tomato, bell peppers, corn niblets, and/or hemp seeds. I tried it with edamame (shelled soybeans) in it, but they were too chewy for me.

Celery Sunflower soup

This soup is really warming and packed full of superfoods. And it tastes really good too! Go figure.

Thai Bliss soup

You'll have to stay tuned for this recipe. I got it from The Raw Food Detox Diet book by Natalia Rose and it's awesome! Coming soon!

Desserts
I make a dessert to keep in the fridge or freezer about once a week or two. Typically I don't crave sweets as much since I have Chocolate Bliss available, but sometimes I crave a sweet non-chocolate-bliss munchy at night and regular desserts just don't taste as good to me anymore.

Raw Cheesecake

So many variations based on the toppings you choose! We keep this in the freezer so we can eat it like an ice cream or if we're patient enough, leave it cut on our plates until it defrosts to a more room-temperature cheesecake experience. I'm not often that patient because it tastes great frozen.

Raw Apple Pie

This recipe is so quick and easy! Keeps in the fridge for about a week.

Chocolate Bliss Kisses

As mentioned above, these are great chewy snacks. I can eat about 5 of them non-stop at night and still get to sleep just fine.

Chocolate Cake

I craved chocolate cake one night and knew I wouldn't like any of the wheat-based options available at the store. So my friend googled raw Chocolate Cake recipes for me, we altered it for what I had on hand, and came up with this. It stays in my freezer for whenever I have another craving. Tastes especially yummy in a bowl of coconut milk (instead of ice cream).

We've made many different kinds of desserts and there are a lot of great raw options. If you have a sweet tooth, check out the other raw recipes at Loving Superfoods or simply search the internet for the raw recipe of the dessert you crave.

Get Started!

Wow, if you're still reading this extremely long blog post, I think it's time you go find something yummy to eat! I learned a lot about raw foods and superfoods and some great recipes simply by playing around in the kitchen and looking things up on the internet. Go have fun! And call or email me if you have questions or specific cravings you would like some help figuring out how to upgrade.

Stay tuned for the additional parts of this Day In The Life diatribe:

Part 2: Cooked Foods and Cooked / Raw Combinations We Eat

Part 3: How Do You Transition To More Raw Foods?

Part 4: What Tools of the Trade Do You Start With?

Enjoy your journey!

With lots of Love,

Melissa

(with Dan's stamp of approval that, yep, it's a day in his life too) :)

Diet Staples of Rick The Health Sleuth

2010-04-08T13:34:00.009-05:00

Thanks to Rick the Health Sleuth for this guest posting about his use of Chocolate Bliss as a High Raw, Vegan Diet Staple. It's nice to know there are many of us in cyber-land and the real world putting our minds, hearts, buying power and mouths into action to create healthy lives and a healthier planet. Read on for Rick's story of how he found Bliss in his transition to a raw food diet. And be sure to subscribe to his Health Sleuth Blog for frequent awesome posts about the truth behind our nutrition, food supplies and even more health-related topics. Rick Rawks! (so say Melissa & Dan)

For the most part, not a single day goes by without someone asking me “What does a high-raw foodist eat besides salads?” I always appreciate that question when it’s coming from someone who is truly curious and open-minded. However, when the question is posed in a condescending or ignorant tone, it’s hard to respond in a courteous way. It is truly a shame that the ignorance levels about nutrition/health/wellness in this country have reached these astronomical proportions. The disinformation campaigns launched by the megacorporations over the years have led to a completely uneducated populous regarding what they are truly ingesting on a daily basis.

Luckily for me, both my immediate family and my best friends are fully supportive of my lifestyle changes over the past year or so. They ask questions with open-minds and give feedback when they can. They allow me to teach them about certain subjects about which they’d never even heard of previously. Topics like dehydrating, blended salads, raw cacao and pure water are commonplace at my friends and family gatherings. Without a support group such as this, I may not have been able to fully transition into my current lifestyle. I am thankful for all of the love and support they send my way.

With that said, I’m going to spend some time each day this week talking about staples in my diet. Feedback and questions are always appreciated!

Staple for Daily Liquid Superfood Nourishment:
Chocolate Bliss by SunFire Super Foods

Transitioning to a raw diet is difficult to say the least, especially for those who are used to eating 80%-100% cooked foods (as I was just a year ago). Getting optimum nutrition seems like a daunting task at first, but luckily for us some products exist that eliminate that problem. Some people find it especially tricky to get enough calories into their diet to keep their energy at a peak level. They don’t understand that once the body adjusts to a more nutrient-dense diet, it needs less overall calories (energy) to accomplish the same things.

In my research that led to the transition away from bodybuilding diet/supplements and into high-quality diet/supplements, I stumbled upon Premier Research Labs – possibly the best supplement company in the world (more on them in a later post). While perusing their website, I first noticed Chocolate Bliss. It was not a product formulated by Premier, but they sold it nonetheless. It intrigued me, and once I read the write-up on the product I immediately purchased it from them. Since then it has become a daily staple for me as I am somewhat addicted to its chocolate-y goodness. Since I am a huge advocate of supporting small business entrepreneurs, Nowadays I've been ordering my Chocolate Bliss from Loving Superfoods, since they have tons of additional raw products that work synergistically with the Bliss to increase my energy, mood, health, beauty, radiance and longevity!

David Favor of Radical Health formulated Chocolate Bliss for those wanting an all-in-one superfood drink to jumpstart the raw lifestyle. This amazing concoction is full of raw sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids (EFA’s). It’s fair trade, sustainable, and certified pristine, which is a grade actually above organic. The ingredients list is a veritable who’s-who among superfoods: cacao, hemp, coconut, maca, MSM, red salt, vanilla, carob, tocotrienols, CoQ10, camu camu, and more!

Every afternoon I have a shake with Chocolate Bliss and a few other random ingredients – lately it’s been a vegan protein, agave nectar, spring water, and yerba matte. Since I exercise after work at about 5pm, this shake powers me through the afternoon at work and on through my workout. Since I started these shakes, I have not lost any strength in the gym although my daily calories, protein, fat and carbs are all significantly decreased. Its micronutrient profile provides my body with all the nourishment it needs to accomplish personal goals in and out of the gym.

From the Premier write-up about the product:

Chocolate Bliss contains 23 super foods and adaptogens. It is designed to promote multi-stage dilation and mood/energy/immune stabilization. Dilation (expansion) begins with Cacao Powder's high magnesium level which expands colon tissue, continues with components which increase cell permeability and nutrient uptake, and completes with Camu Camu increasing blood flow to brain and eye tissue. Rhodiola Rosea, Maca & Hemp promote optimal sugar metabolism balance and peak mood/energy/immune function. The smooth, rich chocolate flavor is enjoyable and provides continuous peak mood, energy and beauty. Because of it's purity many people find they also enjoy this as their primary food in smoothie form.

Another awesome benefit of this product is that it can be mixed up early in the morning and sipped on all day…I personally prefer it as an afternoon meal replacement, but it can and probably should be sipped on all day – the chocolate lovers will have no problem with that I’m sure :)

And of course a small disclaimer: in no way am I financially affiliated with this company. I find a product I believe in, and I talk about it. With the raw foods market being extremely small and competitive, I believe the best products deserve recognition. This product belongs in that list of the best.

Not All Agave is Created Equal

2010-03-30T14:35:00.006-05:00

Today Mercola posted an article basically ripping apart agave nectar, claiming that it is far worse than high fructose corn syrup. Some of us feel Mercola is a bit too simplistic in his thinking and that he may even have the hidden agenda of creating controversy so people forward his articles. It seems to be working! :-)

There does seem to be a lot of controversy around agave these days. David Favor, the creator of SunFire Super Foods (the brand of agave we distribute), has posted this link is to earlier questions and responses about agave: http://radicalhealth.com/super-foods/vanilla-agave-nectar-decoded.html

Additionally, David's response to Mercola's article is this:

Take a tomato... If it's grown in weak soil, sprayed with pesticides,
heated, tortured, chemicalized and canned... is it really a tomato?

Same with Agave.

A $15 blood glucose meter tells the tale.

I only eat and package Agave which is blood sugar neutral or lowering.

The other simple test is people using high quality Agave tend to rapidly balance weight - gaining/losing as required. While downscale Agave puts on pounds at a rapid pace.

So a $15 meter and bathroom scales tell the tale.

David further commented:

Worse yet another well known Raw Food entrepreneur is now saying all Agave has high fructose corn syrup added, which is false.

He's doing this as his company has lost their stranglehold on the Agave supply and their profits are down. Now he's promoting Yacon Syrup, as he thinks he has better control over Yacon supplies.

Ah I could tell you stories...

I use to think people in the health food industry were all about serving those who desire/require service. I'm now aware of my idealism. :-)

I can tell you from personal experience that all agave nectars are not the same. I have tried a couple different brands and experienced various unpleasantries with them. David Favor is very particular about what he puts his name on. I trust him completely in the quality of his SunFire Super Food line. We have a pretty large customer base who use our agave nectar regularly and who like the results.

Melissa and I have both been drinking Chocolate Bliss, sweetened with SunFire Vanilla Agave Nectar, 2 or 3 times a day, almost every day for about one and a half years. We have both lost weight. Melissa has gone from a size 12 to a size 6 without any additional exercising. We both feel and look much healthier. We also eat other superfoods and more raw foods as well. I do think if our agave nectar were bad for us, particularly as bad as Dr. Mercola says, we would be gaining weight and getting less healthy with as much of it as we consume.

I would advise you to trust what your body tells you. If you feel good using it, it is most likely good for you. If you have ill effects, don't use it. We have mixed up batches of Chocolate Bliss with other sweeteners such as honey and dates and they work well. If you aren't comfortable using agave, you can try these. We personally like our Chocolate Bliss the best with SunFire Vanilla Agave Nectar.

Processing is everything. If you look at guarana and yerba mate, when heated they become stimulants with lots of adverse side affects. When processed raw, they are adaptogens without the negative side affects. David Favor knows raw food and what works. He has a very sensitive body due to his having ingested gasoline accidentally as a child. I suspect Mercola is not basing his article on personal experience, nor has he tried, sampled or tested all the brands of agave nectar available. I don't doubt there are some 'unhealthy' sources out there. We all know you can find articles to support most any position you want to take. David bases his product decisions on personal, every day use. I am good with that.

An open mind is a wonderful thing,

Dan

Raw Corn Bread (Dehydrated) and Zucchini Bread Too!

2010-03-28T21:52:00.003-05:00

We just had a lovely group of about 20 people over for our monthly Raw Superfood Dinner and this Raw Cornbread went really well with the Celery Sunflower Soup. Many thanks to Yemiah's Raw Food DVD's for this recipe and inspiration for the variation I tried out below 1... Zucchini Walnut Rosemary Bread. Mmmmmm!

Note that this recipe calls for a dehydrator. I use and highly suggest the Good4u 10 tray dehydrator ... It's quiet and convenient. If you don't have a dehydrator, you could try drying the corn bread in your oven on it's lowest setting (warm) with the oven door ajar. You risk heating the bread above 115 degrees (the limit for maintaining it's "raw-ness" and the enzymes that go with that). Just keep an eye on the bread and make sure it doesn't get too hot and crispy. :)

Here's the recipe for the corn bread:
2 Cups Almond Pulp (grind 2 Cups of Almonds in your food processor or dry container of the Vitamix)
16 oz frozen organic corn niblets defrosted
1 tsp Sun Fire Salt
1/4 Cup Agave Nectar (great if you prefer a slightly sweet cornbread like I do)
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1-2 Jalapeno Peppers chopped fine (optional)

Food process everything except the jalapeno until a doughy consistency is formed. Add the jalapeno and process a little longer until well chopped and mixed.

Spread dough onto a teflex sheet about 1/4 inch thick and dehydrate for about 6 hours. When top of bread is dry to the touch, flip onto the mesh sheet and pull off the teflex. (see a video of how to do this with flax crackers here). Dehydrate another 8 hours, then slice into squares and dehydrate another 2 hours or so. Once you cut the bread into squares you should be able to get an evenly "cooked" bread.

Store in the freezer or refrigerator for best results.

And here's the Zucchini-Walnut-Rosemary Bread Version:

2 Cups Almond Pulp (grind 2 Cups of Almonds in your food processor or dry container of the Vitamix)

2 Cups Zucchini (cut into chunks)

1 tsp Sun Fire Salt

3 Tbsp Olive oil

1-2 Tbsp Rosemary (fresh is best)

1/2 Cup Walnuts

Food process everything except the walnuts until a doughy consistency is formed. Add the walnuts and process a little longer until well chopped and mixed.

Spread dough onto a teflex sheet about 1/4 inch thick and dehydrate for about 6 hours. When top of bread is dry to the touch, flip onto the mesh sheet and pull off the teflex. (see a video of how to do this with flax crackers here). Dehydrate another 8 hours, then slice into squares and dehydrate another 2 hours or so. Once you cut the bread into squares you should be able to get an evenly "cooked" bread.

Store in the freezer or refrigerator for best results.

Enjoy!

Raw Key Lime Pie

2010-03-28T21:17:00.001-05:00

I love key lime pie and now that I found this raw version I love it even more. Regular key lime pie tastes so sweet and processed to my tastebuds now that I'm used to eating more raw, pristine, live foods. I found a raw key lime pie recipe online and have adjusted it to taste even more like the key lime I remember and better.

This raw dessert takes a bit longer than our yummy raw apple pie, but it's worth it when you've got a key lime craving. I make suggestions for simplifying below, and I highly suggest you take the time to zest and juice those tiny key limes at least once so you taste how really yummy, key limey they are. :)

Here's the recipe ...

For the Crust:
1/2 Cup Almonds
1 Cup Walnuts
1/2 Cup Dates
1/4 Cup Raisins
2 Tbsp orange juice (or water if no orange juice available)

Process all the ingredients in a food processor until crumbly and dough-like. Press into a 9" pie pan or a spring-form pan and chill while you make the rest of the pie.

For The Key Lime Filling:
1 Cup Cashews (soaked)
Zest of the key limes or limes
Juice of 18 key limes or 8 limes. (should make about 3/4 cup juice)
4 average avocados or 2 large ones

Blend everything until creamy (you may need to process this in several batches if you're not using a high-powered blender like the Vitamix). Pour into chilled crust and spread evenly. Refrigerate while making the frosting.

For the Frosting:
1 Cup Macadamia Nuts (not soaked)
1/4 Cup Cashews (soaked)
1/2 Cup Almond Milk
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract (or 1 vanilla bean scraped)
3 Tbsp Vanilla Agave Nectar (or honey)

Blend everything in clean blender until smooth. Pour on top of filling and spread evenly. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Garnish with key lime wedges, lime zest or just enjoy as is!

I've never had a pie longer than a day because it gets eaten up so fast. I'm guessing it would last in the fridge for about 4-6 days. I'm testing freezing one and will report back on that soon.

Now, if you want to make this easier, you could use bottled lime juice (I like the Santa Cruz brand). I'd start with 3/4 Cup of lime juice and taste test from there. I'd also forgo the lime zest as that's what really takes a lot of time.

If you want a nut-free version of key lime pie, I would make a key lime mousse in a glass. So, no crust and substitute coconut butter for the cashews in the filling. Instead of the whipped topping, top it with slices of kiwi, mango and banana. Mmmmmmm yummy and even easier! :)

Enjoy!

Dad is great, he gives us Chocolate Cake!

2010-03-21T23:15:00.001-05:00

Whenever I think about chocolate cake I think of the Bill Cosby routine where it's his turn to feed his kids breakfast and he gives them chocolate cake. All the kids start chanting, "Dad is great! He gives us Chocolate Cake!"

I chant this a little when I eat this raw version of Chocolate Cake. And unlike the Bill Cosby skit, you don't get in trouble with mom when you have it for breakfast, because it's raw, and well, a heckuva lot better for you than cooked, processed chocolate cake.

So here's the recipe I use whenever I crave chocolate cake:

2 Cups Almonds (or half pecans) (best if the nuts are soaked, but OK if not)
1/2 Cup Cacao Powder (or add a little Carob powder if you like that flavor)
1/2 Cup Vanilla Agave Nectar (or sweetener of your choice)
2/3 Cup Tahini (or other nut butter)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Optional: half a pear or 1/2 Cup coconut milk for extra moist cake

Blend all ingredients in food processor or blender. Spread batter onto wax paper or into a cake pan. Eat immediately or freeze for later enjoyment.

I usually spread my cake into a thin layer because a little bit goes a long way. When I eat it, I sometimes put it in a bowl and add some coconut milk so I get a flavor sensation of chocolate cake and the creaminess of ice cream without the extra hassle. Or I put some extra fruit on top for even more moist tasty sensation.

You are great! You're eating Chocolate Cake!

:)

Raw Apple Pie ... The Quickest, Yummiest Pie!

2010-02-21T15:05:00.003-06:00

In addition to the Raw Cheesecake, we've got a new favorite raw dessert that takes even less time to prepare and is super yummy.

This apple pie works best with Granny Smith Apples since their tartness balances out the very sweet sauce. I also love that the pie looks baked with the extra-special crumbly topping. Oh, and if you want it even quicker, try it without the crust - it's just as good and yummy.

Crust Ingredients
1 Cup Walnuts (or pecans) - not soaked!
1/8 tsp Sun Fire Salt
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 Cup Dates (soaked and pitted)

Blend the nuts and salt in your food processor (ideal) or Vitamix blender until crumbly. Add the dates and vanilla and process until a dough is formed. (Note, if you're doing this in a Vitamix, you may want to process the dates and vanilla on their own and then hand mix the nuts and date mix together).

In a pie pan (at least 9 inches), press the crust into the bottom until evenly distributed. Put this in the fridge or freezer until ready to add the apples.

Filling Ingredients
3 Granny Smith Apples (med-large size)
1 Tbsp Lemon juice
2 tsp cinnamon
1 Cup Dates (soaked and pitted)
1/2 Cup Vanilla Agave Nectar
1/8 tsp Sun Fire Salt

Quarter and core the apples and thinly slice (the food processor slicer works great for this). Put sliced apples in a mixing bowl and sprinkle the lemon juice on top, mixing so that the apple slices are well covered. Add 1 tsp of cinnamon to the apples, mix and set aside.

Blend in your food processor or Vitamix blender the remaining 1 tsp of cinnamon, dates, agave and salt. You may choose to add a little water to this mixture to make it smooth - less than 1/4 cup. Pour date mixture over apples and toss until evenly distributed.

Pour the apple mixture into your pie pan on top of the crust and spread evenly.

Topping Ingredients
1/2 Cup Walnuts
1/4 Cup Coconut flakes / Shredded Coconut

Chop the walnut and mix with the shredded coconut. Sprinkle this mixture evenly on top of the apple pie. This gives the pie that "baked" look and adds extra texture and flavor.

Slice and enjoy the pie immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 week. Note that when you let the pie sit for a while the juicy filling will accumulate at the bottom of the pie pan. Personally, I think this makes it taste even better. If for some reason you don't like the juiciness, make the pie without the crust or eat it all as soon as it is made. :)

Enjoy!

Raw Pad Thai

2010-02-21T14:49:00.000-06:00

I love pad thai so I've been searching for a good raw version of this favorite comfort food. I found lots of versions, but none of them seemed to completely match my taste cravings, so I decided to combine my favorite parts into my own raw pad thai recipe.

Pad thai is all about having the right balance of sweet, salty, tangy and spicy. So I went back to the cooked version recipes to see what the basic ingredients are in order to start my raw version with good proportions. Here's what I've come up with:

1/2 Cup Coconut Milk (or water)
1.5 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar (or you can use rice vinegar or the original flavor of Tamarind though the latter takes more work since you have to soak the tamarind paste)
3 Tbsp Nama Shoyu (the raw version of soy sauce)
1/8 tsp cayenne (or 1 fresh red chili pepper minced ... though I'd add this to taste)
4 Tbsp raw sweetener ... I used Maple syrup, but dates or agave would work well
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp Fiesta Mole powder (for garlic and other spicy thai seasonings)
6 sun dried tomatoes (gives it even more tangy taste and a thicker consistency)
1/4 Cup cashews (for a creamier, thicker sauce)

Blend all of the above in your Vitamix until smooth. Then spiralize your favorite noodles - I really like jicama and/or zuccini for this. Put some sauce on your plate, put the noodles on top, then top with more veggies - like pea pods, julienned red bell pepper, julienned carrots, sliced mushrooms and bean sprouts. Top with more sauce.

For extra garnish I like ground up cashews (1/2 Cup) mixed with sesame oil (1 Tbsp) and sun fire salt (1/2 tsp) ... it tastes like the traditional peanuts on top of the pad thai. You could also garnish with cilantro, basil and lime wedges. Though I have to say, I often skip the garnish and go right for the pad thai it's so darn yummy!

Oh, and the sauce recipe above should make enough for 4 servings of Pad Thai unless you like it really saucy. I suggest you try it with this smaller amount of sauce though because part of the pleasure of eating raw is that you get to taste the freshness of all the ingredients ... don't drown your food. :)

Thai Vegetable Wraps - the Raw Version of Eggrolls

2010-02-17T16:32:00.002-06:00

I love Asian food and I often crave greasy fried eggrolls ... until I eat them and feel sluggish afterwards. Thanks to my friend Lisa Erwin, I have a new, yummy raw substitute for these cravings ... and a great way to get some seriously bitter greens into my diet without making ugly faces. :)

I like this Thai Veggie Wrap recipe also because you can store it in the fridge and live off of it for a week. You can change up what's going in the wrap for a different flavor, though I've had the same wrap for lunch twice now and I'm still quite happy with the flavorful mouth sensations.

OK, so here's the recipe ... there's several parts to it, but all easy to make and store in the fridge:

Cabbage Filling
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Ginger chopped
1 Tbsp Dried Red Chili Peppes
1.5 Tbsp Nama shoyu (raw soy sauce)
1 Cup Raw Almond Butter (make your own by blending 1 Cup almonds in your vitamix or food processor until creamy)
1/2 head Savoy or Napa Cabbage (it's got softer, wrinkly leaves)

1. Make the almond butter in your Vitamix or food processor. Then add the remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.
2. Shred the cabbage (a shredding disc on the food processor makes this quick work). You should have about 5 cups or more of cabbage
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix the shredded cabbage with the sauce - works best if you use your hands and put some love into it. Set this aside (can be stored for about a week in your fridge)

Dipping Sauce
1 Cup Tamarind Pulp soaked and strained (get seedless Tamarind paste at your Asian grocery store)
3 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 Tbsp Nama Shoyu
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Sun Fire Salt to taste

Blend all ingredients in your Vitamix until smooth. Place in a separate bowl and set aside. (can be stored in the fridge or freezer)

Nut Topping
1/2 Cup Cashews chopped
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp Sun Fire Salt

Mix chopped cashews with oil and salt. Set aside. (can be stored in the fridge or freezer)

Wraps
Large Collard Greens or Kale Leaves or Swiss Chard or Large Lettuce Leaves
1 Carrot cut into matchstick size pieces
1 mango cut into strips about 1/4 inch thick
1 Cup bean sprouts
1 handful cilantro leaves
1 handful basil leaves

1. Wash leaves. For Collard, Kale and Swiss Chard cut out the center rib of the leaf, dividing the leaf in half. This is your wrapper.

2. Place a spoonful of the Cabbage Filling in the center of your leaf.

3. Top with carrot, mango, cilantro, basil, bean sprouts, Dipping Sauce and Nut Topping. (Careful not to fill it too full or it won't be easy to wrap.

4. Roll the wrap from one end of the leaf to the other - like a burrito.

You can also dip your wrap in the dipping sauce, but once I got my wrap together, I preferred to concentrate on eating it before it falls apart. That's why I suggest you put the sauce on the inside.

Enjoy!

Oh, and Dan liked it too ... he's good at making smaller wraps which are much more manageable, even though he rolled his "vertically" instead of "horizontally". However you get it in your mouth and enjoy it is right for you!

Warming and Raw Celery Sunflower Soup

2010-02-08T15:18:00.002-06:00

My friend Laura concocted this soup and I find it's a very warming and filling raw soup. Plus it's a great way to get more greens (always good!) without feeling like you're eating a bunch of, well, greens.

Here's the very simple recipe...

Blend the following items until smooth:
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
(if you don't have a Vitamix that can handle pulverizing these, grind them in a food processor or coffee grinder first)
3 Cups Water
2 Tbsp Sun Dried Tomatoes or Tomato Concentrate Powder
2 Tbsp Fiesta Mole powder
1/4 tsp Curry powder
1/4 tsp Chipotle powder
4 stalks celery
1/2 tsp Sun Fire Salt
1/2 tsp Blue Green Algae
1/2 tsp Vitamineral Green
2 Tbsp Olive Oil, Flax Seed Oil or Hemp Oil

When you serve this straight from the blender it's already a little warm. You can refrigerate it for about 3-4 days. I found that even eating it cold there was a warming effect on my body, probably because of all the spices in there.

Enjoy!

The Yummiest Kale Salad Ever

2010-02-02T21:34:00.001-06:00

Kale is really good for you, but if you eat it straight it can taste really bitter. You can disguise it in a green smoothie and you can make this super yummy kale salad. WARNING: you must let this marinate in the fridge overnight for it to be yummy ... don't eat those kale leaves straight. ew.

Ingredients:
1 large bunch of Kale chopped
2 Cups Carrots shredded
1 pint grape tomatoes (or other sweet tomato like cherry tomatoes)
1/2 Cup Pine Nuts
1 Cup Red Onion cut into thin half rings
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice (or juice one lemon)
1/4 Cup Olive Oil (cold pressed)
Crushed Garlic to taste
Sun Fire Salt to taste
Cayenne to taste

If you've never chopped Kale before, the trick is to fold the leaves together and then cut along the thick spine to free them from all that roughage. Compost the spine and chop up the leaves.

The rest of the recipe should be pretty easy for you - just mix all the ingredients together well and let it sit in the fridge overnight before eating. The lemon juice and olive oil help break down the kale leaves so they are easier to digest and make the whole salad really yummy.

Enjoy!

Growing Sunflower Seed Greens Indoors

2010-02-02T12:27:00.000-06:00

In the wintertime I start to get the gardening blues ... I don't get nearly the amount of time playing in the dirt that I crave. That's one more reason I love growing my own Sunflower Seed Greens in my kitchen window. I get to play in the dirt and I have my own organically grown nutritious greens to add into salads and green smoothies at my whim. YAY!

If you want to grow your own, here's the low-down on how to do it ... (this also works great with Buckwheat greens which are a little thinner stem and equally as yummy ... and wheat berries for wheat grass though I haven't done that one just yet).

1. Get some seeds. I got my sunflower and buckwheat seeds from my favorite nut and seed place: Sun Organic Farm. If you get them anywhere else, here's what you need to look for:

seeds in shells (they won't grow if they are hulled)
raw seeds (they won't grow if they are roasted)
organic seeds (why add chemicals if you don't have to?)

Now you have your seeds. Store whatever you aren't using in an airtight container. I keep mine in the fridge to make sure they last well.

2. Get a pot of dirt. I have this lovely little yellow pot I love to use since it's so cheery. I fill it with garden-quality dirt I bought from the store, but if you have your own compost dirt, that would be even better.

3. Soak your seeds. Get a handful of seeds - enough that will cover the top of your pot but not so many that you can't have every seed touching the dirt. Soak that handful of seeds in pure water (filtered so there isn't any chlorine in it is best) for at least 8 hours. I soak mine at room temperature overnight.

4. Drain the seeds in a colander. Some say to drain the seeds for 8 hours (just let them sit in the colander) however I've had just as much success (or more) without this step ... just drain them and move on.

5. Water the soil in your pot, then put the drained seeds on top so they are a thick carpet with every seed touching the soil.

6. Cover the pot with saran, but don't tighten this over the pot. Just drape the saran over the edge of the pot without making it cling. This will keep the moisture in while giving the seeds air to grow. I put the pot in a warm darker corner of my counter top (frankly it's the back of my stove since I don't use it so much).

7. After 4 days, remove the saran and give your seeds their first dose of water. Move the pot to a sunny location and water the greens once a day.

8. About 3 days later you should have greens worth harvesting. Buckwheat and Sunflower greens will be about 5-7 inches tall and wheat grass about 7-8 inches tall. When you harvest your greens cut them as close to the base as possible since this is where the majority of the vitamins are stored.

I put my greens into green smoothies and on top of salads and sometimes I just eat them straight up. What a delightful treat!

9. When you're done with the greens you can compost the used soil and start a fresh batch with already composted or store-bought soil.

Enjoy!

Stop Drinking Coffee & Lose Weight with Raw Guarana & Yerba Matte In Your Chocolate Bliss

2010-01-10T17:07:00.001-06:00

This is a compilation of several Superfood Dinner nights where I talked about how to use RAW Guarana and RAW Yerba Matte in your Chocolate Bliss in order to stop needing coffee or caffeine and lose even more weight.

These raw superfoods are NOT the same as a guarana or yerba matte tea that you might find in a grocery store. When they are in this pristine, raw state they are awesome, powerful adaptogenics without any of the icky side-effects you might get with the cooked versions.

Learn all about these superfoods, how to use them, and how they compare with the Rain Forest Rush superfood mix in this video.

And then call or email if you have any questions or want a small sample in your next order of Chocolate Bliss so you can do your own experiment with your natural temperament.

Enjoy!

Dueling Funny Faces with SPLAT

2010-01-09T15:33:00.003-06:00

Brighten Your Day! Check out this fun little playtime adventure Melissa and I put together. I fear this may be the start of something... But hey, play is important (<:

Raw Food Recipe Goji Lemonade and Demo

2010-01-01T17:50:00.004-06:00

Here's a video demonstration of the super easy Goji Lemonade recipe from one of our summer Superfood Dinners.

Here Melissa talks about additional uses for Goji Berries, the greatness of Vanilla Agave Nectar, how to use your coconut oil liquid or solid, and the cool body responses you can have when you upgrade your diet into superfoods.

For a printable version of this recipe, visit this blog posting:
http://ownyourbrilliance.blogspot.com/2009/09/go-go-goji-lemonade.html

Enjoy!

Raw Food Recipe for Taco "Meat" Made With Nuts

2009-12-31T14:33:00.003-06:00

Here's a great recipe for a nut-based taco "meat" that's easy to upgrade by adding superfood greens to it. You'll get all the alkalizing and mineralizing benefits of the greens without the taste since the taco "meat" is full of spices.

This recipe comes from Yemiah's Raw Food Delights DVD's and the printable version is available on this previous blog post.

Note the additional ideas in the video for new ways you can use this taco "meat" in combination with cooked food. You can make an upgraded hamburger casserole or just use this recipe anywhere you would use regular meat. We've even put it in regular taco shells in place of meat and enjoy it that much more.

Have fun playing with it!

How to Make Raw Squash Pasta with a Spiralizer + Bell Pepper Pesto Sauce

2009-12-31T11:48:00.005-06:00

Learn all about the fun of Spiralizers for making raw pasta out of vegetables.

Here I show and explain the difference between three different kinds of spiralizers and demo making pasta with my favorite spiralizer (available on Amazon.com here:
http://astore.amazon.com/lovingsuperfoods-20/detail/B0007Y9WHQ)

Raw pasta is so much easier when you have this simple tool that is really inexpensive. And your veggies taste so uniquely good in this noodle form!

Also briefly demonstrated is Yemiah's Bell Pepper Pesto (see the recipe here) with some alterations and suggestions for future customizations.

During this portion of our Superfood dinner we also talk about being 100% raw vs. having cooked food and the importance of having heating foods in your raw food diet.

Enjoy!

Hemp Milk Recipe And Demonstration

2009-12-30T21:37:00.003-06:00

Here's Dan demonstrating the Hemp Milk recipe at one of our Superfood dinners.

Click here for the printable version of the recipe ...
http://ownyourbrilliance.blogspot.com/2009/09/hurray-for-hemp-and-hemp-milk.html

Wish you could have been there to taste the yummy goodness. I guess you'll just have to make your own and raise a glass in our direction. We'll be drinking to your health again soon!

Hemp Seeds Superfood and Awesome Hemp Facts

2009-12-30T17:46:00.002-06:00

Here's a short excerpt from our June 2009 superfood dinner where Melissa got the chance to rave about the great properties of hemp and the superfood hemp seeds.

Let's change the world and use more hemp!

To get the rest of the facts and details from my source, check out the awesome superfood resource book called "Superfoods" by David Wolfe. It's available now on Amazon:
http://astore.amazon.com/lovingsuperfoods-20/detail/1556437765

Enjoy the show!

Magic Superfood Elixirs

2009-12-20T16:01:00.001-06:00

I've been inspired by Daniel Vitalis's visit to Dallas and his ElixirCraft to create my own warming, superfood elixirs. Wow, are these yummy, warm, hearty meals in a cup! Here's a basic recipe to get you started and some links for you to play with ...

Melissa's Magic Superfood Elixir

Step 1: The Super Herb Tea Base

8 Cups	Pure Water
1/4 Cup	Pau D'Arco bark (antifungal)
1/4 Cup	Cats Claw bark (antiviral)
1/2 inch	Galanga (you could use Ginger, but Galanga is more anti-inflammatory and a little peppery. Find it at your local Asian grocery store)
1/4 Cup	Goji Berries, chopped so their seeds are exposed (high in anti-oxidants, lightly sweetens the tea)
1/4 Cup	Coconut Flakes (fat that can withstand heat and keeps giving you energy after the sugars have burned off)
1	Vanilla Bean shell (save the scooped-out vanilla bean seeds for later in the process)

Bring all ingredients to a low, simmering boil for at least 45 minutes and up to 12 hours. Strain off fibers and put liquid into your high-powered blender.

Step 2: The Nut Milk

5 Cups	Super Herb Tea from above
1/4 Cup	Cashews (soaked and rinsed)
1/4 Cup	Almonds (soaked and rinsed)
1/2 inch	Galanga (you could use Ginger, but Galanga is more anti-inflammatory and a little peppery. Find it at your local Asian grocery store)
1/4 Cup	Coconut Flakes

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour through a fine mesh strainer, nut milk bag or the cheaper version which is a paint strainer bag available at your local hardware store. Compost the fiber left in the strainer. Pour the remaining liquid back into your blender for the next step.

Step 3: The Magical Superfood Elixir

	Nut Milk from above
1 Tbsp	Maca
1 Tbsp	Tocotrienols
1/2 Cup	Chia gel (1 Tbsp Chia Seeds soaked in 1/2 Cup water).
2 Tbsp	Cacao Powder (optional if you want a chocolatey drink)
1/8 tsp	Sun Fire Salt
7	Whole Dried Clove Flowers
1	Whole Dried Anise Flower
1 inch	Cinnamon Bark
1/2 tsp	Nutmeg
1 Tbsp	Coconut Oil
1/4 Cup	Vanilla Agave Nectar (or honey or sweetener of your choice)
	Vanilla Bean seeds from step 1 above

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Drink warm immediately or chill for storage for a day or two. Enjoy!

:)

OK, so how do you play with this basic recipe? Simply, you can try out different herbs. I've already done one I liked with Dandelion Root and Nettle Leaf instead of the Pau D'Arco and Cats Claw. It's best not to mix too many superherbs at once, so I'd suggest you stick with one or two at a time. I like learning about and getting my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs.

And this RainTree Nutrition site has excellent info on herbs and their medicinal uses. You can also just go to your local natural food grocery store and buy a medicinal tea ... I like the Alvita brand. Healing mushrooms like Reishi can be a fun addition with your herbs too.

When you make your tea, you could add some spices in there in addition or instead of in step 3. I like adding my cinnamon bark to the tea base.

I suggest you always have some kind of berry in your tea ... blueberries can be fun to play with for their antioxidant qualities too. And I'd keep the coconut flakes as part of the base since they are the best "heatable" oil.

For Step 2, try playing with different nuts. Brazil nuts and macadamia nuts are nice alternatives for a creamy taste. For Step 3, play with adding all kinds of superfood powders, though I wouldn't personally add any greens as they often don't taste so good warmed. :)

Have fun creating your own magical elixirs!

Raw Vegan Egg Nog

2009-12-20T15:33:00.001-06:00

If you love the taste of eggnog at the holidays, here's a raw, vegan alternative that's actually good for you and way easier to digest.

Raw Vegan Eggnog

The Nut Milk Base

1 Cup	Brazil Nuts (don't need soaking)
3 Cups	Water
1 tsp	Vanilla
3	Dates (or another sweetener of your choice)

Blend all ingredients until liquid. Pour through a fine mesh strainer, nut milk bag or the cheaper version which is a paint strainer bag available at your local hardware store. Compost the fiber left in the strainer. Pour the remaining liquid back into your blender and add the following ingredients:

5	Dates
1	Frozen, ripe banana
1 tsp	Vanilla
1/8 tsp	Nutmeg
1/8 tsp	Cinnamon
1/4 Cup	Macadamia Nuts (do not need to be soaked)

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Adjust the sweetness to taste by adding more dates as needed. To make a thicker nog, blend with 1/2 Cup Chia gel (1 Tbsp Chia Seeds soaked in 1/2 Cup water). Enjoy!

Pear "Bread" Pudding

2009-12-20T15:21:00.004-06:00

I've Superfood Upgraded this raw food bread pudding-like recipe. This is a great Fall and Winter time breakfast/meal/dessert when pears are in season and you crave warming foods. It's sweet enough to be dessert and hearty enough to be a meal ... like most raw food recipes: eat when you crave it, no matter what time of day. :)

Many thanks to Chef Frank Giglio for the base recipe!

Pear "Bread" Pudding

6	Dates, soaked and drained
1	Pear, cored and quartered
1 Tbsp	Tahini (sesame butter)
½ tsp	Cinnamon
1 inch	Ginger, grated
½ Tbsp	Maca
1/4 Cup	Raisins, soaked and drained

Put all ingredients except the raisins in a food processor or high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Put a handful of the raisins in the bottom of your dish. Cover with some of the mixture. Top with garnish of your choice ... goji berries, cacao nibs and coconut flakes are really yummy. Enjoy!

Finding Raw Food On The Go

2009-12-12T15:33:00.002-06:00

Have you ever been to a raw food restaurant?

If not, it's well worth exploring. You can get all kinds of ideas of new recipes to try and it's so nice to be fed yummy, live foods without having to do all the prep work.

Here in Dallas, Texas we have a new raw food restaurant called Bliss Cafe. I got my blueberry cheesecake recipe from their dessert chef, Miranda (it pays to ask). And I've had some super yummy meals - some I've tried to repeat and some I'm perfectly happy just going there to eat. Especially their raw lasagna. It's probably easy to make, but I much prefer being served.

If you're traveling, raw food restaurants, juice bars and high quality grocery stores can be a life saver. I bring all kinds of raw food snacks with me when I travel and it's nice to be able to find a good local resource too.

If you want all my tips on what raw food snacks I travel with, sign up for our Loving Superfoods newsletter here:
http://www.lovingsuperfoods.com/contact.html

I did some internet searching to find a nice directory of raw food restaurants, however there doesn't appear to be one good source. Here are some of the best links I found that should help you find raw food resources - of course there are more options in some cities than others...

http://www.happycow.net/search.html
This search tool will list raw restaurants along with vegetarian and vegan (cooked food) restaurants. It's also a great way to find the good grocery stores near you.

http://rawfoodsdiet.wetpaint.com/page/Raw+Foods+Restaurant+Directory
This is a great list of raw food restaurants ... if you live in one of these 6 cities.

http://www.rawguru.com/directory/raw-food-restaurants.html
This list has a few more options of raw food restaurants, but not for every state

http://www.living-foods.com/resources/restaurants.html
And a few more options. You might need to scan the whole list as it doesn't appear to be ordered alphabetically.

http://www.yelp.com
This is a great website for reviews of restaurants. If you search for "raw food restaurant" you'll get some good hits, though you'll also get the sushi bars mixed in with your results. :)

And if you can't find a raw food restaurant in your town, you can arrange for delivery of gourmet raw food meals via this site:
http://www.purerawcafe.com/index.html

Of course, almost any restaurant can be turned into a raw food restaurant if you need it to. Simply ask the chef to make you their most creative salad made of only raw fruits and veggies. You might be surprised how good it can be, and how much you are appreciated, when you ask the chef to step out of the box of the standard menu.

Enjoy your raw dining adventures!

All About Digestive Enzymes

2009-11-23T14:41:00.011-06:00

Wow, there’s so much information out there about Digestive Enzymes, it’s not always easy to know where to start and what to believe.

With most things I ingest, my true test is how I feel afterwards. But when I was new to upgrading my diet, I wasn’t sensitive enough to notice a difference with enzymes. Now that I’ve been eating superfoods for over a year, I can definitely tell a difference in how I feel after I eat when I include enzymes, and when I don’t. That difference is all the more obvious when I eat something cooked since my energy drops when I don’t include enzymes.

So, now that I’m noticing a marked improvement with enzymes, I thought I’d check into the details of why digestive enzymes are so important. Here’s what I’ve learned so far, in the simplest way I can put it:

We’re all born with enzymes in our body (metabolic enzymes) that help us break down food in the digestive process. (These metabolic enzymes also help repair tissues and organs and other life-sustaining stuff when they aren’t busy breaking down foods).
Raw foods also have enzymes in them – the ideal enzymes to help break down that specific food when you eat it.
When you cook food, most or all of those food-based enzymes are destroyed. That means your body has to use its supply of metabolic enzymes to break down the food in the digestive process.
Your supply of metabolic enzymes does not replenish itself. (Darn!) So every time you eat cooked food you are using some of your limited enzyme supply.
Here’s a shocker: Even the enzymes in raw foods don’t digest all of the food. They can digest anywhere from 5 to 75% of the food and the rest is digested with your body’s metabolic enzymes.* So no matter what, you’re still using up your supply.
And if that weren’t enough to make you crave some digestive enzymes, imagine what happens when you eat cooked foods, don’t add digestive enzymes, and your body’s supply of enzymes is getting low. Essentially, the food you ate doesn’t get fully broken down in your digestive tract and it can begin to rot as it’s sitting in your intestines. This is especially true of high protein foods, like cooked meat. As the food putrefies it releases toxins which get absorbed into your blood and deposited and stored in other parts of your body as a “temporary” means of keeping you alive. Sounds like dis-ease to me …. ewwww.

* As noted on p.17 of “Food Enzymes” by Humbart Santillo – a great source of simple and detailed digestive enzyme information. Get the book if you want the whole story.

OK, so digestive enzymes sound like a pretty good idea, don’t they? Now let’s talk about what makes a digestive enzyme good, because there are a lot of brands and formulas of enzymes out there!

Again, here are the simple basics I’ve discovered:

There are 4 primary types of enzymes that break down 4 main types of food. Here they are:

Protease breaks down Protein (easy!)
Amylase breaks down Starch (go figure)
Lipase breaks down Fat (think of Liposuction)
Cellulase breaks down Fiber (think of cell walls). Oh and this one is especially helpful in handling gas or bloating.

There are lots of other kinds of enzymes with big long names. Most of the time you can figure out what they help you digest by the first part of their name. Like Lactase helps you digest milk products (lact). Personally, I’m more interested in the top 4 enzymes since most all of my food will contain protein, starch, fat and fiber.

So, now you’re digging out your old bottle of digestive enzymes to check that it has protease, amylase, lipase and cellulase right? Let me tell you the rest of the story about how to compare formulas that contain these enzymes, because the measurement of digestive enzymes is a bit tricky.

If your bottle of digestive enzymes lists the ingredients in mg (milligrams), it’s not telling you squat. If it were me, I would toss that bottle, and start over.

The weight (mg) of enzymes is not what makes them effective, but rather the activity of the enzymes. How do you know how active they are? Well, there’s different measurements for different enzymes. And then there’s also a standardized Food Chemical Codex (fcc) which measures activity.

Essentially, if you see fcc next to the enzyme amount, you’re good. And if you see these acronyms, you’re also good, because they are also measuring activity:
hut for protease
skb or du for amylase
lu or fip for lipase
cu for cellulase

OK, now you know when you’re comparing apples to apples. So, how much is enough activity? Frankly, I’ve only found the answer to that question with respect to protease. Here’s what “they” say:

"In the early to mid 1990s there was an enzyme research company that did many before and after dark field microscope blood testing. They tested and tested to get the right amount of protease in a formulation to guarantee the after blood test would look great and the blood would be cleaner. With 2 capsules of 75,000 HUT activity and potency (150,000 HUT of protease), they could guarantee the after blood testing would look beautiful... anything less than 150,000 HUT and they could not guarantee the great results."

OK, so 150,000 units of protease is best. For the rest of the enzymes, I decided to take a cost approach. How much does my bottle of enzymes really cost for the amount of enzyme activity I’m getting from each capsule.

Here’s how I worked it out when I compared the SunFire Super Foods Primal Digest Enzymes with some other brands I’ve tried. Yes, I sell these enzymes, but now I know why our superfood provider created his own formula … they really are awesome! And, I am by no means attached to you buying and using our brand … do your own calculation to see what works best for you. If you use Excel, you can right click to download my spreadsheet with all the formulas in the table below.

	SunFire Superfoods Primal Digest	Health Force Nutritionals	Transformation TPP Digest	Enzymes911
Cost per Bottle	$ 120.00	$ 18.95	$ 61.00	$ 74.00
Capsules/Bottle	270	120	120	270
Cost per Capsule	$ 0.44	$ 0.16	$ 0.51	$ 0.27
Ingredients
protease (hut/fcc)	150500	25000	54000	75000	protein
amylase (skb/du)	20000	5000	20000	15000	starch
lipase (lu/fcc)	5000	400	3007	5000	fat
cellulase (cu/fcc)	3500	1000	28	200	fiber (gas bloating)
Capsules Needed	1	6.02	2.79	2	by protein
	1	4.00	1.00	1.33	by starch
	1	12.50	1.66	1.00	by fat
	1	3.50	35.71	0.14	by fiber
Cost Per Unit of Activity	$ 0.44	$ 0.95	$ 1.42	$ 0.55	by protein

Whew, I know that’s a lot of information, but I think it’s nice to know more of the details behind digestive enzymes. They may seem to have a subtle impact on you now, but they really have a huge impact on your long-term health. And as you upgrade your diet to include more raw foods and more superfoods, you will likely notice how much better you feel when you add high-quality enzymes to your eating rituals.

Have fun shopping as an informed consumer and go get your enzymes on!

Stopping Migraines With Food

2009-11-12T15:49:00.001-06:00

I don't get migraines, but I've run across a few people who do, so I thought I'd share what has worked for them.

Here's what my friend Mae says:

When I have that heavy or painful feeling starting I take these for a few days. I use the Transformation brand: 2 ExcellZymes, 3 CalmZymes (sometimes I only do 2 (I am small), 1 Protease IFC. So far this has been an awesome remedy for me. I have been using more of the CalmZymes on a regular basis and it helps me be more relaxed and I believe my muscles stay less tense.

And here are the website links I found for the products she recommends:

http://www.enzymes.com/excellzyme.html

http://www.enzymes.com/calmzyme.html

http://www.enzymes.com/tpp_inflammatory_control.html

Another friend found that using all three enzymes on a regular basis worked best for her. Just like anything, it's best if you experiment and customize it for you.

I’ve also heard that migraines can often be caused from liver issues – that the liver is unable to process all the toxins in the body and so they float around in the bloodstream which can particularly hurt in the smaller capillaries around your head.

So, of course a liver cleanse would be a good idea. Here's my post where I talk about the liver cleanse I did:

http://ownyourbrilliance.blogspot.com/2009/09/results-of-my-first-liver-cleanse.html

And I highly suggest the book The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse by Andreas Moritz. It'll walk you through the whole process and it's very easy.

Also, for all the people with migraines I've talked to, adding Chocolate Bliss to their daily diet has helped. Perhaps that's because Bliss will gradually and gently detox you and all those toxins floating around in your sensitive head capillaries. Plus, it's nice to have some soothing, good-for-you chocolate to drink when you're not feeling your best.

Hope that helps all your headaches. And let me know if you find any other awesome solutions!

Results of My First Liver Cleanse

2009-09-22T10:38:00.001-05:00

I hope I don't gross you out. I'm fascinated by what my body produces even though these little babies were clogging up my system.

Here's a pic of the gallstones I just released in my first liver cleanse:

That's a penny for comparison.

I've actually done a liver cleanse once before, about a year ago, but I didn't follow all the instructions and didn't get anything out.

This time I followed the instructions to the letter in the new book The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse. I guess drinking the Epsom Salts made all the difference. And all that apple juice the week before.

Did it hurt?

Nope. I had a bit of a headache the day of the cleanse and I laid low, reading my book and watching movies, but nothing hurt while it was coming out. That's the beauty of drinking apple juice before the cleanse - it softens up the gallstones.

Would you do it again?
Yep. In fact, I'm going to do what the book recommends and do a liver cleanse once a month until I don't get any more stones out. (oh boy, more pics!)

Since the liver is the filter for the body, I need to get it cleaned out, and then keep it clean, in order to more easily process all the toxins I'm desiring to get rid of and all the new toxins that invariably get in through our environment.

I tried detoxing metals, chemicals, parasites, etc. a couple months ago with MMS, but I kept getting sick in the process. It was pretty clear to me that my liver just couldn't process all those toxins I was pulling out of hiding in order to release. Well, with the size of that monster gallstone (and there were 2 more like it later that I didn't bother to photograph), I can understand how my liver might be a little overloaded.

Get the book
The full details of how to do the cleanse, and how to adjust it if you can't handle apple juice or epsom salts, are in the book The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse. I was ready to do the cleanse on my friend's recommendation, but I was also glad I read the book so I understood the impact of gallstones in the liver, how they get there, the signs that you have gallstones, and what to expect from the cleanse.

For example, Dan only got a few little gallstones in his first cleanse. But the book and our friends have said that the 3rd cleanse is usually the one where the floodgates open, so he's going to keep with the program right now too ... even though, as he says, he didn't win the gallstone race with me. whatever.

The Day After
Today, the day after the cleanse, I have a LOT of energy, I feel good, lighter and my tummy feels good. It's nice to eat food again (there's a short fast in the cleanse). And mentally I feel even more prepared to own my brilliance and go light the world now that I don't have those stones clogging up my system. YAY!

Follow The Joy

2009-09-18T14:09:00.000-05:00

Dan is a very wise man. Thankfully, I get to have insightful conversations with him when I need a little reminding of what I already know, or of what I desire to believe.

We just had a teary talk about the power of following your joy. I thought about turning on the video camera or the audio recorder, but in this case it would have interrupted our flow ... so I'll just recap.

I have doubts now and then.

Sometimes even fear.

Even with all the examples in my own life of how following my joy has turned out great, it's easy for me to still hear the voices from my past conditioning (and from current society) that say I should ...

I should grow my business this way ... I should do marketing this way ... I should do this to make money ... I should be following up with these certain people ... I should do this task that's next on my list ...

... Should whatever. Basically, it's the message to use my analytical mind to figure out how and take responsibility and make it happen.

But my heart says to follow my joy. And when I follow my heart, my decisions are easy and clear.

So how do I trust that following my heart and doing what is joyful will really lead to all that I desire? By doing the tasks I feel like doing, by growing my business in my own way, will I really generate plenty of income and be able to sustain this joyful lifestyle?

I say: It's a trust game. I need to trust the process.

Dan says: You can't play the trust game by just putting a toe in and then pulling it back out. You have to dive into the lake.

Richard Bach (in Illusions) says: "it's like diving into a deep lake on a hot day. There's the shock of that sharp cold change, the pain of it for a second, and then accepting is a swim in reality."

OK, so I need to jump in. How do I do that when I still have doubts?

Wait a second here. Dan, do you believe you are rewarded when you follow your joy?

Dan says: it's more than that, I believe I am rewarded MOST when I follow my joy.

Oh. That's what I've been missing. I was thinking of all the ways I wasn't rewarded for following my joy, but that was also within the constraints of the conditioning I grew up in: the schooling, the corporations, etc.

When I think of the times I have followed my joy, I can see all the MANY ways I've been rewarded - more than just financially.

So now I continue on with my excavation of old email newsletters I've received from people, people I thought I should listen to, and unsubscribing from the ones that don't bring me joy.

I am deciding in each moment what to do next based on what feels joyful. And the note on my computer monitor says as a helpful reminder:

I am rewarded the MOST when I follow my Joy. Does this bring me joy?

Try it, dive in, and see. :)

Validation

2009-09-17T15:35:00.002-05:00

Get Validated!

Hello World Inspirational Poem

2009-09-17T15:34:00.002-05:00

Here's the "screensaver" like version of Hello World so you can declare the poem outloud yourself while receiving even more inspiration from my nature photography.

(visit the Dan Coppersmith nature photography website for even more professional and inspiring photos)

Only You Validation Poem

2009-09-17T15:33:00.002-05:00

Let me recite the Only You poem to you and remind you how valuable you are, simply by being you.

(from my book, The Elusive Here & Now)

Hello World Self Esteem Poem

2009-09-17T15:31:00.002-05:00

The Hello World Self-Esteem Poem came about from a workshop where I recited a very popular poem from my book called Only You. Watch this video as I recite Only You to you, tell you the story of how Only You inspired me to write Hello World, and declare Hello World to you.

Hello World is a hugely transformational poem. I've seen it uplift many people in just minutes - both from hearing it and from declaring it out loud themselves.

Once you've watched this story, I highly suggest you go read the poem - out loud - and see for yourself how much more alive and brilliant you feel.

Enjoy!

Laura's Bliss Kisses - The Bliss-full Way To Travel

2009-09-17T15:19:00.000-05:00

I like chocolate, especially when I can chew on it.

Thankfully my friend and raw kitchen elf came up with this "bliss kiss" recipe. I've found that when I make it with cacao butter (in place of coconut oil), it's a particularly easy way to travel and still have my chocolate bliss fix.

[Cacao butter will stay solid at room temperature after it's been refrigerated once. Kisses made with coconut oil need to stay frozen or refrigerated (I like frozen) so they don't get mushy]

When you play with your own variations, please comment what works best for you ... I love trying new versions of this and getting even more great ideas!

Laura's Bliss Kisses

4 Tbsp	Mayan Gold Cacao (Chocolate) Powder
4 Tbsp	Tocotrienols
¼ tsp	Sun Fire Salt
1½ Tbsp	Vanilla Agave Nectar
1½ Tbsp	Coconut Oil
Optional:
1 Tbsp	Chia Seeds
1 Tbsp	Goji Berries
1 Tbsp	Cacao Nibs
½ tsp	Vitamineral Green or Revitaphi or Blue-Green Algae
2 drops	Orange Essential Oil

Stir the dry ingredients together in a bowl. If you are including any of the optional ingredients, add them in now too. If you decide to add any of the powdered greens, I suggest you also add the orange essential oil to cover any potential "green flavor".

Add the Coconut Oil and Agave Nectar and stir. It works best and is more fun to get your hands into the mix now and really mush all the ingredients together so that the oil and agave bind the dry ingredients well.

Create small teaspoon-size drops of the mixture and place them on wax paper. You will get about 10 little bliss kisses per recipe. Freeze your bliss kisses for best taste and longevity, though you may find that after licking your fingers you desire to eat them all up quickly.

You can also use Carob in your bliss kisses to make a sweeter kiss. Try using half Cacao and half Carob or substituting Carob for the Tocotrienols in the recipe.

For an extra-creamy and more truffle-like bliss kiss, substitute Cacao Butter for the Coconut Oil. Mmmmmm. Enjoy!

Photos of the Process

Part of the fun of making bliss kisses is how chocolatey you get your hands from mixing the batter and forming the small bliss kisses. You can see the size of my bliss kisses (about a half to a whole teaspoon) on the wax paper below my chocolate-covered hand.

Mmmmmm! Chocolate!
The best part of making bliss kisses has to be licking my fingers when I'm done!

And this is the lovely Laura who created this fabulous recipe!

Always On The Move With Nori Rolls

2009-09-17T15:05:00.001-05:00

These little beauties keep us moving. They're easy to travel with, they are nicely filling, and they taste yummy!

I now make several batches at a time to fill up my dehydrator and have them always on hand in the fridge.

Yes, I keep them in the fridge because I had a batch go moldy on me in the cupboard. Must be our Texas humidity. Anyway, they're perfectly fine outside the fridge for a few days of travel.

You need a dehydrator for this, but you also need it for crunchy nuts, flax crackers and lots of other yummy stuff, so just go get one!

Many thanks to Gopal's Power Wraps that were sold at my local natural food grocery store. I tried one of each of their wraps, looked at the list of ingredients, and made my own. I like mine better now, but if you can find Gopal's Power Wraps, perhaps you'll find your own recipe inspiration. :)

Nori Rolls - Barbeque Jerky Flavor

These nori rolls make a great carry-around snack ... we often take them while hiking or traveling or just roaming around town. This recipe will make about 10-12 nori rolls (depending how thinly you spread the paté filling).

1 Cup	Sunflower Seeds (best if you've soaked them, but fine if you don't)
¼ Cup	Sun Dried Tomatoes or Tomato Concentrate Flakes
4 Tbsp	Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp	Pure Water
2 Tbsp	Molasses
1 tsp	Liquid Smoke
½ tsp	Chili Powder
½ tsp	Fajita Seasoning (typically includes garlic powder and pepper)
¼ tsp	Sun Fire Salt
4 sheets	Nori Sheets

Grind all ingredients (except the nori sheets!) in a food processor or vita-mix blender. Add more water as needed to make the paté filling spreadable.

Cut the nori sheets into 2 inch wide sheets. Spread the paté filling evenly across one 2" nori sheet at a time, leaving about an eight of an inch space unfilled on either side of the width (but not the length). Gently roll the nori sheet (like you would roll sushi) until the end flap is sealed and place the nori roll on your dehydrator tray.

Dehydrate your nori rolls at 145 degrees for 1 hour, then dehydrate at 105-110 degrees for another 22 hours or until the inside filling (seen at the ends of the rolls) is dry to the touch. Enjoy!

Photos of the Process

Here's my 2" sheet of nori with the paté filling spread to about an eighth of an inch of either side of the width. I've just started to roll it from the edge closest to me (bottom of the photo). I've got the nori roll on a sushi bamboo mat that can sometimes facilitate the rolling procedure, but I've also rolled nori without it and it works fine (sometimes better since there's less to clean).

Here's the nori roll after it's been rolled up. There's a little bit of the filling sticking out of the end of the wrapper, but it's OK because it's helping to hold the roll closed.

Here are the nori rolls on my dehydrator tray before they go in to get dried. They look about the same once they're done ... they're just not as flimsy.

Nori Rolls - Curry Flavor

The curry flavor nori rolls are my new favorite. This recipe works great with different kinds of nuts or seeds as the base and will make about 10-12 nori rolls (depending how thinly you spread the paté filling).

1 Cup	Almonds (best if you've soaked them, but fine if you don't) You can also make this with cashews or sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp	Golden Flax Seeds
2 Tbsp	Vanilla Agave Nectar or Honey
8 Tbsp	Pure Water
3 Tbsp	Nutritional Yeast Flakes
1 tsp	Curry Powder
1 tsp	Sun Fire Salt
4 sheets	Nori Sheets

Pumpkin Seed Pate Creativity

2009-09-17T14:53:00.000-05:00

I got a little creative in the kitchen playing around with pumpkin seeds and trying to make a pate I could fill into a lettuce leaf wrapper. Here's the very filling (nice pun!) result:

Pumpkin Seed Pate Lettuce Wrap

1 Cup	Pumpkin Seeds (soaked for 1 hour, rinsed and drained)
1/4 Cup	Sun Dried Tomatoes
1/4 tsp	Sun Fire Salt (add salt to your desired taste)
1 tsp	Fiesta Mole Powder
1 Tbsp	Vitamineral Green or Revitaphi
1/8 tsp	Cayenne
1 Tbsp	Coconut Oil

Grind all ingredients in your food processor or blender. Add water in small amounts if your the mixture is too chunky for your blender. Fill up a romaine lettuce leaf with the pate mixture, roll up and enjoy like a taco. Enjoy!

Wow, Raw Taco's Actually Satisfy!

2009-09-17T14:50:00.000-05:00

We live in Texas and we love tacos. We like them with lots of cheese and Frank's hot sauce. But we don't like to eat meat much anymore. Dan still eats buffalo meat now and then, but having a raw alternative is nice for both of us and our bodies ... it's so much easier to digest!

So, here's the raw recipe for taco "meat" that Yemiah cutely calls "taco-eat". For a really raw taco, just put some of the taco-eat in a romaine lettuce leaf, add home-made raw salsa, some Yemiah's Raw Sour Cream, and you're ready to go. Or do a transitional meal like we still do now and then, where we just substitute the taco-eat (at room temperature - not heated) with the regular tortillas, cheese, Frank's hot sauce, etc. Either way, you're gonna feel taco satisfied!

Taco Eat Lettuce Wrap

Grind the following ingredients in your food processor or blender. Pulse the grinding so that the mixture stays chunky rather than turning into a fine powder.
1 Cup	Almonds (soaked for 8 hours, rinsed and drained)
3 Cups	Walnuts (soaked for 4 hours, rinsed and drained)
3-4 tsp	Sun Fire Salt (add salt to your desired taste)
1/2 tsp	Black Pepper
1/2 tsp	Cilantro (dried)
1/2 tsp	Parsley (dried)
1 tsp	Basil (dried)
1 tsp	Cumin
1 tsp	Garlic Powder
1 tsp	Poultry Seasoning or Fajita Seasoning
1 tsp	Chili Powder
Empty the blended mixture into a large bowl and add the following ingredients:
1/2	Sweet Onion (chopped)
1	Red Bell Pepper (chopped)
1	Habanero Chili (chopped) - Optional
1 Cup	Pine Nuts (not soaked)
1/2 Cup	Hemp Seeds
1-2 Tbsp	Vitamineral Green (you won't even taste the added greens and they're super good for you!)

Mix all ingredients well per the above instructions. Fill up a romaine lettuce leaf with the mixture, roll up and enjoy like a taco. You can also top your taco with home-made salsa for added kick! Many thanks to Yemiah's Raw Food Delights DVD Set for this recipe, with our addition of some superfood greens. You don't even notice they're there except that you feel so good. Enjoy!

Raw Pesto Pasta

2009-09-17T14:44:00.000-05:00

Pasta has always been one of my default dinners. Now we've got a raw alternative, especially in the summer when zuccini and summer squash are in season.

You'll want to get yourself a spiralizer to make the pasta noodles - otherwise it's way too much work and you'll just want to boil noodles instead. With a spiralizer you get perfect veggie noodles and a lot of fun making them. (This Spiralizer is the one I have and I love it!)

Then, here's the oh-so-simple and oh-so-yummy raw bell pepper pesto sauce:

Yemiah's Bell Pepper Pesto

2 Cups	Walnuts (soaked and rinsed)
3	Large Red Bell Peppers
1/2 Cup	Lemon Juice
2 Cups	Cilantro (or substitute fresh basil if you want a more traditional pesto)
1 Tbsp	Sun Fire Salt

From Yemiah's Raw Food Delights DVD Set, DVD #3 Italian Delights.

Blend all ingredients until smooth in a food processor.

This is house staple everyone loves. Yemiah's Italian Delights covers a variety of Pestos made from a handful of ingredients. Most Raw Food dairy replacements are too heavy for Yemiah and David. Yemiah designed each of her Pesto and other dairy replacement recipes to emulate a different variety of cheese - texture and spicing - using upscale, lite ingredients. You'll love the rich creamy flavors and tastes during eating, then you'll love all the energy you feel after eating.

To make a stronger flavored version of this recipe, halve the amount of walnuts.

For a Mediterranean twist, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of pitted, sun dried olives and replace the cilantro with arugula.

For a South American twist, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Fiesta Mole. Enjoy!

Raw Mock Sour Cream

2009-09-17T14:39:00.001-05:00

Dairy and me don't get along so well. As in, I get really stinky farty. Digestive enzymes help a little, but generally I'm better off just finding the raw, non-dairy alternative. Here's a great one:

Yemiah's Sour Cream

2 Cups	Cashews (soaked and rinsed)
3/4 Cup	Lemon Juice
1 Cup	Water
4 Tbsp	Onion Powder
	Finely chopped fresh chives, dill, and parsley to taste
2 tsp	Sun Fire Salt

From Yemiah's Raw Food Delights DVD Set, DVD #2 Quick Meals.

Blend all ingredients in a high-powered blender or a food processor.

This is a key recipe for people choosing upgrade of eating cheeses. This recipe is fast since cashews are extremely hydroscopic/hygroscopic (water absorbing) and require only a few hours soaking to soften. Also, as the cashews are soaked they work well for people with nut/cashew allergies. You'll be amazed with it's perfect sour cream flavor and consistency.

You can use this as a topping or add in a few herbs and a bit more water to create a decadent creamy salad dressing. Add a sprinkle of Fiesta Mole and Truly Natural Vitamin C to add an exotic Chiapas-Polynesian-Berry flavor.

Nori rolls with avocado, tomato, arugula, greens and sour cream are fantastic! Enjoy!

Raw Mock Tuna Salad

2009-09-17T14:37:00.001-05:00

You could eat tuna salad, or you could upgrade to this tasty raw version ... with another shout out of gratitude to Yemiah's Raw Food Recipe DVD's!

Yemiah's Mock Tuna Salad

1 bunch	Celery
2	Large Red Bell Peppers
1	Large Sweet Onion
4 Tbsp	Raw Sauerkraut
4 Tbsp	Dulse Powder (blend Dulse into a powder in your food processor)
1 tsp	Sun Fire Salt
4 caps	Seaweed Energy (empty contents of capsules into the mixture)

From Yemiah's Raw Food Delights DVD Set, DVD #2 Quick Meals. The recipe listed here is the lite version. The DVD version adds 2 Cups Activated Walnuts, which make this a more substantial meal.

Toss all ingredients into a food processor and hit pulse till mixed. Using pulse keeps all the material chunky, with greater texture.

Great to eat as-is, in Nori rolls or kale wraps with Raw Sour Cream below, also as a base for nut loaves, pate's and dehydrated veggie patties. Enjoy!

Raw Creamy Spinach Dip

2009-09-17T14:34:00.001-05:00

This is another staple raw food that's almost always in my refrigerator for the week. If I have Green Flax Crackers around I'll dip those in, or celery sticks, or even potato chips (I still eat them now and then).

This recipe came from Yemiah's Raw Food Recipe DVD's - a great investment for more raw food ideas and lots of them are winners!

Yemiah's Creamy Spinach Dip

	Step 1: Almond Cheese
2 Cups	Unpasteurized, Activated Almonds or alternatively dry or soaked Almonds
1½ Cups	Water, less for soaked/wet Almonds
1/2 Cup	Fresh Lemon Juice
1/4-1/2	Hot Pepper - Habenaro or Jalapeno
4 Tbsp	Golden Flax Seeds or Olive Oil or half and half mixture
2 tsp	Sun Fire Salt
	Step 2: Chopped Spinach
16 oz	Fresh Baby Spinach (or frozen)
1/2 - 1	Sweet Onion
1/2 Cup	Artichoke heart (optional)

Blend until smooth all ingredients in Step 1 Almond Cheese. Pour into large mixing bowl. For Step 2, pulse Spinach & Onion together in a food processor or hand chop coarsely. Mix together the Almond Cheese and coarsely chopped Spinach & Onions for desired tasted and creaminess. Pack tightly in a glass jar and refrigerate to intensify flavors and enjoy all week! Spinach dip is ready to eat as soon as you're finished.

Use as an entree, dip, spread or addition to soups. Adding different amounts to soups can create an unusual flavor component and texture which is amazingly delicious, subtle and will have people trying to guess what you've added.

Great in Nori rolls with greens, avocado, sprouts, tomatoes and a sprinkle of Fiesta Mole. Great mixed with shelled Edamame Beans for a richly robust flavor appealing to most anyone. Great added to baked potatoe with a sprinkle of Fiesta Mole for an upscale transitional dish. Enjoy!

Tomato Flax Crackers

2009-09-17T12:57:00.001-05:00

I tried this recipe once. It was OK. I'd suggest adding some more spice to it. Really, I like my Green Flax Crackers so much, I haven't bothered trying any other kinds again. Still, maybe you will prefer this version:

Tomato Spice Crackers

This recipe makes 2 trays of crackers for your dehydrator. To create more trays of crackers simply repeat the recipe process since the seed gel and spice mix blends best in this small batch size.

1¼ Cups	pure water
½ Cup	Golden Flax Seeds
¼ tsp	Sun Fire Salt
1 Tbsp	Tomato Concentrate Flakes or Sun Dried Tomatoes
½ tsp	Cumin powder
¼ tsp	Cayenne pepper powder

Soak the Golden Flax Seeds in the pure water for at least 4 hours (or overnight in the fridge).

After soaking, stir the seeds with a spoon to mix the gel well. Add more water if it's really thick. Pour the seed gel mixture into your Vita-Mix or other high-powered blender. Add more pure water until the entire mixture is at the 3-cup line in your blender container.

Add the remaining ingredients and blend from low to high, for a short period of time, just until the seeds are partially shredded and the mixture has a uniform color. Spoon half the mixture onto a teflex sheet on your dehydrator tray, and smooth it out with a spoon until it's covering almost the whole sheet and is of an equal thickness all over. Put into your dehydrator, and add the rest of the mixture to another sheet/tray.

Dehydrate at 145 degrees for only two hours to evaporate the water off, then turn it down to 110 and dehydrate until your desired consistency (shorter = moister/breadier, longer = crunchy/crispy).

After it's been dehydrating for a while (about 10-12 hours), the top of the batter should look dry. To dry the bottom, take each teflex sheet with the batter attached, flip it over onto the mesh tray, then peel the teflex sheet off and leave the batter on the mesh tray so the wet side is facing up. If there's any residue on the teflex, scrape it off with a spoon and smooth it out onto the rest of the cracker. You can also watch the video of how this is done.

To make your crackers extra crunchy you can keep aside some of the flax seed gel from the blending process and simply stir in the seed gel to the spiced blend before spreading the entire mix on your teflex sheet. The whole flax seeds will give your crackers even more crunch. Enjoy!

Green Flax Crackers - A Favorite

2009-09-17T12:53:00.002-05:00

We don't make any other kind of flax crackers anymore - we love these so much.

You need a dehydrator to pull this off, but it's worth it! Yummy, good for you, and did I say yummy?

Here's the recipe:

Green Crackers

2 Cups	Golden Flax Seeds
2 Cups	Sunflower Seeds (soaked and rinsed)
2 Tbsp	Sun Dried Tomatoes or Tomato Concentrate
1/2 Tbsp	Vitamineral Green or Revitaphi mixed greens powder
1/2 Tbsp	Blue-Green Algae
1/2 Cup	Dulse
2 tsp	Sun Fire Salt
1/2 tsp	Fiesta Mole
1 tsp	Curry powder
1/2 tsp	Chipotle powder
5 Cups	Water

Grind flax seeds on their own in a food processor or dry container of a high-powered blender until they are a rough flour consistency. Pour into a mixing bowl.

Blend all other ingredients in a high-powered blender with 1/2 of the water, adding the water as needed to allow the blender to create a smooth texture.

Mix flax seeds and green mixture and any remaining water. Spread thinly (for maximum crispiness) on teflex dehydrator sheets. Recipe makes enough to fill a large dehydrator (my Good4u 10 tray dehydrator) with thin and crispy crackers.

Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 20 minutes to evaporate the water off, then turn it down to 110 and dehydrate until your desired consistency (shorter = moister/breadier, longer = crunchy/crispy).

This is my new favorite cracker! It gives me all the greens I need while still tasting nice and salty/spicy/crunchy ... just like I like it. Try it to dip into Yemiah's Creamy Spinach Dip. Yumm ... Enjoy!

Flax Cracker Basics

2009-09-17T12:48:00.002-05:00

This is a great quick tutorial on how to make basic flax crackers.

Especially important is spreading it thin and the technique for flipping the crackers over onto the mesh dehydrator screen.

No, this is not Dan Coppersmith ... it's another raw Dan. :)

Soaking Nuts Before Eating

2009-09-17T12:39:00.003-05:00

If you're new to raw food recipes, you're probably new to eating lots of nuts in your diet. Not all raw foodists eat lots of nuts, but a lot of the recipes that taste like cooked food use nuts (like cheesecake, yummmm!)

You don't HAVE to eat nuts in order to get enough protein. Watch Tonya Kay's protein video for more on dispelling this myth.

However, when you do eat a lot of nuts, it's important to soak your nuts before you eat them.

Why?

All nuts (and seeds) have an enzyme inhibitor that keeps them from sprouting into the the tree, bush or plant that they carry inside of them. Once they are planted in the ground and given some water, the enzyme inhibitor is destroyed and the nut/seed can begin to sprout.

So, when you eat a lot of nuts and/or seeds, you can end up with a lot of that enzyme inhibitor in your digestive tract and that just slows everything down, not just the nuts you're eating.

But I like my nuts crunchy!!!

OK, so here's the recipe we use to make nicely salted, crunchy nuts for snacking on. You'll need a dehydrator to do this in nice big batches and at a low, even heat. If you want to try it in your oven, just set it on warm and watch the nuts ... too hot for too long will destroy the good enzymes in there.

Activated Nuts

	Your Favorite Nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachio meats, filberts)
	Pure Water
2-5 Tbsp	Sun Fire Salt

Soak your favorite nuts in pure water for several hours. The harder the nut, the longer it should soak. For example, soak almonds and filberts overnight - about 8-10 hours. Soak walnuts and pistachio meats for 3-4 hours.

Rinse the soaked nuts in pure water several times until the rinse water is clean. If you stop here, be sure to refrigerate the nuts or they will get moldy.

If you prefer salty or crunchy nuts, take these next steps...

Salting Option A:
Soak the nuts in salted water (~5Tbsp of Sun Fire Salt for 1 Quart of Water) for another hour.

Salting Option B:
Sprinkle Sun Fire Salt over the rinsed nuts. (that's what I do)

Place the nuts on meshed dehydrator trays and dehydrate at no more than 105 degrees Faehrenheit (to maintain all the good enzymes) for about 24 hours or until they are crunchy.

For a great dehydrator I highly suggest the Good4u 10 tray dehydrator

p.s. dehydrating salted pistachio meats for 3-4 hours leaves them tasting like hot buttered bread (that's good for you). Yummy!

For a good source of raw, organic nuts, check out Sun Organic Farm. Enjoy!

Green Is Good Smoothie

2009-09-17T12:16:00.001-05:00

I've been a fruit smoothie drinker all my life, but now that I have plenty of sweetness everyday with my Chocolate Bliss, I actually crave more greens.

This Green Is Good Smoothie recipe is my favorite way of getting greens without tasting too, well, green.

The Vitamineral Green powder is actually pretty yummy and I even put it in my Chocolate Bliss to make sure I'm getting plenty of superfood, alkalizing greens in my diet. I eat lettuce and celery and sometimes some kale too, but my most powerful mineralization comes from Vitamineral Green.

OK, so enough chit-chat ... here's the recipe:

Green Is Good Smoothie

2 Tbsp	Golden Flax Seeds
2 Tbsp	Tocotrienols
2 Tbsp	Vitamineral Green or Revitaphi
1	Banana (frozen or fresh)
1 Cup	Ice
2 Cups	Vanilla Almond Milk (or 1 Cup Almond Milk and 1 Cup Water)

Add all ingredients to a Vita-Mix or other high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Drink immediately.
This is a great smoothie for getting essential oils and fiber that help you to regulate your digestive tract. The vitamineral green has no aftertaste and the banana and almond milk make the smoothie slightly sweet. Enjoy!

Hurray for Hemp and Hemp Milk!

2009-09-17T11:55:00.001-05:00

I bought hemp milk at our local Herbmart natural grocery store, but it didn't really taste all that good. Once we got this recipe (thanks Laura!), we've all become hooked, including Dan's teenage athlete daughter. It's very, very, VERY filling!

Here's the Hemp Milk recipe, and then a few words on hemp because we love it so ...

Hemp Milk

5 Tbsp	Hemp Seeds
1 Tbsp	Maca
4 Cups	Water
14	Dates (or substitute 6 Tbsp Vanilla Agave Nectar or Honey)
1/4 tsp	Cinnamon
1/8 tsp	Cardamom
1/8 tsp	Sun Fire Salt

Add all ingredients to a Vita-Mix or other high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Drink immediately or chill for later enjoyment.

We also add this hemp milk recipe to any smoothies we're making - just leave out the sweetener and use a banana or other fruit instead.

When you're really hungry, or feeding always-starving teenagers, hemp milk is a staple to have on hand!

A few words about Hemp
Once I read about the superfood Hemp in David Wolfe's Superfoods book, I instantly became a passionate supporter of all things hemp (which is NOT marijuana). Hemp seeds have little to no THC - the hallucinogenic chemical found in marijuana. Instead, they are high in protein, containing all the essential amino acids for your body to create protein. (check out the Tonya Kay video about amino acids and protein - she explains this really well). Hemp seeds are also high in Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's).

When eaten on their own, the seeds taste a little bit nutty and make a great salad topping. Though I must say that I got some hemp seeds in the refrigerated section of the local natural grocery store and they didn't taste nearly as moist and yummy as the pristine hemp seeds we get from David Favor. It's worth the upgrade!

I can go on and on about the value of hemp as a commercial crop, but I'll save that rave for another posting. Stay tuned and in the meantime, enjoy your hemp milk!

Go Go Goji Lemonade

2009-09-17T11:42:00.001-05:00

This Goji Lemonade recipe is on our Loving Superfoods website too, but thought I'd put it here in case your perusing raw superfood recipes ...

½ Cup	lemon juice Fresh squeezed from 3 lemons or try Santa Cruz Organic Lemon Juice. You might also try this with limes or grapefruit.
3 Tbsp	Goji Berries
½ tsp	Sun Fire Salt
1 Tbsp	Tocotrienols
6 Tbsp	Vanilla Agave Nectar
2 Tbsp	Coconut Oil

Add all ingredients to a Vita-Mix or other high-powered blender, then fill the blender to the 6 cup mark with pure water. Blend on high until smooth, pour into a container, and chill.
The combination of the Citrus juice, Salt and Agave creates great hydration properties, and adding Gojis, Coconut and Tocos rounds out the nutrient spectrum creating a very satisfying beverage. Enjoy!

Cold Weather Means More Mole!

2009-09-16T18:23:00.002-05:00

It's raining here today. It's almost like Fall arrived in a full-on run ... no sauntering in this year.

This cooler weather makes me especially appreciative of the Fiesta Mole Superfood mix. The garlic, spicy, tomato blend is a nice contrast to the sweetness of Chocolate Bliss and even when it's served as a cold soup it warms me up all over.

Frankly, I tend to sprinkle the dry Fiesta Mole mix on everything I can think of. Usually that's on top of lettuce, avocados, and baked potatoes (yes I eat cooked food!).

A friend of mine says she sprinkles it on top of granny smith apples. I haven't tried that just yet, but I bet it's yummy.

When you can't think of anything else to sprinkle it on top of, or you want a really warming raw food dish, here are two other ways to munch more mole:

Fiesta Molé Soup

½ Cup	Fiesta Mole mix
1-2 Tbsp	Olive Oil
3-5 Cups	pure water (less water for thicker soups)
Optionally also add:
½ Cup	Activated walnuts (soaked for 3 hours and rinsed)
2 Tbsp	Nutritional Yeast Flakes for a cheesy taste
½ tsp	Cayenne pepper

Blend until smooth (works best in a Vita-Mix or other high powered blender). Serve immediately if you want it warm (you do not cook this soup or you will lose the nutrient power of the superfoods). Or keep it chilled and sip a cup whenever you crave something savory.
Our favorite additions to the soup once blended are:

Corn niblets
Avacado
Bell peppers
Cucumber

Tomato
Radishes
Edamame (non-GMO young green soybeans)
Hemp seeds sprinkled on top

Fiesta Molé Dip

1/2 Cup	Fiesta Mole Mix (you can make this with the sample size Fiesta Molé)
1/3 Cup	Olive Oil
1/3 Cup	pure water

Blend all ingredients until smooth in a food processor. Add more water to desired taste and consistency. Makes a great spicy dip for vegetables ... peapods are a favorite. Enjoy!

Our Personal Chocolate Bliss Recipe

2009-09-16T18:08:00.003-05:00

Here's our latest Chocolate Bliss recipe that is tasting super good to us and has lots of extras that are super good for us. :)

(Visit Loving Superfoods for the original Chocolate Bliss recipes)

1 Gallon of Chocolate Bliss (Our Personal Recipe)

3 Cups	pure water
1.25 Cups	Chocolate Bliss mix
1 Cup	Vanilla Agave Nectar

1 Tbsp	Bee Pollen
1 Tbsp	Tocotrienols Creates a creamier, frothier bliss - more like milk chocolate and high in natural vitamin E, CoQ10 and Glutathione
1 Tbsp	Pristine Guarana An adaptogenic that gives your bliss a mocha-like flavor and gives you more energy and focus
1 tsp	Pristine Yerba Matte An adaptogenic that tastes a little like green tea and give you more blissful state of awareness and relaxation
1 Tbsp	Vitamineral Green For adding many superfood greens to your diet while still preserving the chocolatey goodness taste

Blend until smooth (works best in a Vita-Mix or other high powered blender), pour into a gallon-sized sealable plastic container, and then fill the rest up with pure water. Shake well, and then chill.

Here's a helpful hint: Add the Vanilla Agave Nectar right after the water - that way you can use the measuring marks on your blender (we have a VitaMix) rather than dirtying an extra measuring cup.

Enjoy!

Chia Pudding Upgraded

2009-09-16T17:27:00.001-05:00

I've been making Chia Pudding for about a year now and only just got this upgrade idea from my fellow superfoodies at our last Superfood Dinner.

Since Chia soaks up all the nutrients of whatever you soak it in, why just soak it in water? Why not soak it in hemp milk? Or Chocolate Bliss? Or both?!?

So I did both. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yummy!!!!!!!! :)

I made it not as sweet and I like it - tastes even more like the oatmeal I was craving - only better. Gotta love upgrades!

Here's the updated recipe:

3 Cups Hemp Milk (see recipe here)
1/2 Cup Chocolate Bliss (see recipe here)
½ Cup Chia Seeds
Soak Chia seeds in the combined hemp milk and chocolate bliss in a large bowl overnight to make Chia Gel

¼ tsp Sun Fire Salt
¼ tsp Cinnamon
½ Cup Activated Cashews (soaked for 4 hours and rinsed)
1 Banana

After creating chia gel overnight, stir the gel well and place 1 Cup of it in a Vita-Mix or other high powered blender. Add remaining ingredients and blend on high until smooth and creamy. Pour mixture back in bowl with remaining chia gel and stir well. Keep refrigerated. Enjoy!

What are Superfoods and Why do we LOVE them!

2009-09-16T17:16:00.002-05:00

This is our story only a couple months after we started our superfood journey.

Hear how I got off of coffee thanks to Chocolate Bliss and how much better we feel when we eat superfoods.

Is it time for you to uplift yourself with some additional, yummy, nutritious foods?

Chocolate Bliss Superfood Drink - What's in it?

2009-09-16T17:14:00.003-05:00

If you haven't checked out Chocolate Bliss yet, well, get with it!

I can't think of a better way to own your brilliance and really shine than to eat yummy, super-nutrient, chocolatey superfoods and Chocolate Bliss is my daily favorite!

Watch this video for all the why's of how great the ingredients are ... and then get some!

here:
http://www.lovingsuperfoods.com

When You Are Vegan, Where do you get your protein?

2009-09-16T12:26:00.003-05:00

An inspiring catalyst for my superfood journey, Courtney Taylor, has these great videos from a session she did in her home with Tonya Kay. Both of them offer great wisdom about raw food eating (all of which will be posted here shortly!) :)

I love the straight-to-the-point conversation in this video about protein. A few more things to note that aren't called out in this video (from David Wolfe's Superfood book):

Highest source of protein: Blue-Green Algae and Spirulina
Next Highest (and complete amino acids): Hemp Seeds

Go Superfoods! Yeah!

Ayurvedic Analysis

2009-08-05T10:04:00.004-05:00

A friend just sent me this fun link to find out what your Ayurvedic Dosha type is:

http://www.whatsyourdosha.com/quiz/

I come up as primarily Vata:
"The most important thing to know about Vata is that it leads the other doshas. Vata usually goes out of balance first, which causes the early stages of disease."

I guess that means I'm the canary in the coal mine letting you know when the oxygen is almost gone? All the more reason for me to be eating superfoods!

Like Eat Right For Your Type, Ayurveda is another fun way to experiment with different eating styles to see what works best for your individual body. Some of the guidelines may work well for you, and some of the "rules" might not be appropriate for your individual body and temperament.

I was mostly interested in having a summary of what foods are heating and which ones are cooling. It's nice to be able to cool down in the summer not just by eating more raw, but also by eating foods that are naturally cooling. And likewise, when the cool weather of Fall rolls around, I'll definitely be eating more tomatoes and spices ... lots of Fiesta Mole! :)

What's your type?

Raw Cheesecake Is Da Bomb!

2009-07-31T21:27:00.009-05:00

I think we can officially say we are done with ice cream now that we have found the ultimate in raw cheesecake.

It tastes even better than ice cream or regular cheesecake.
It's easy to digest.
It's good for you - I mean, it's made mostly from cashews, coconut and lemon juice ... go figure!

Today we tried it with a raspberry fruit glaze topping instead of blueberry. I love blueberry, but the raspberry is a nice change of pace. We also picked up some frozen organic mangoes to try on our next cheesecake. I love mangoes.

Oh, and I don't think I'll soak the pecans for the crust again ... it tastes good, but it tasted more like a graham cracker crust when the pecans were dry.

Here's the full cheesecake recipe for you to try your own toppings on (please report back your favorite creations). And you can get some of the ingredients from our Loving Superfoods retail site.

Enjoy!

Raw Blueberry Cheesecake

Crust:
3 Cups	Pecans
3/4 Cup	Medjool Dates
¼ tsp	Sun Fire Salt
1	Vanilla Bean (scoop out the inside of the bean)
Filling:
3 Cups	Cashews soaked for 4 hours and rinsed
1/4 Cup	Coconut Butter
1 Cup	Vanilla Agave Nectar
1	Vanilla Bean (whole bean finely chopped)
1 Tbsp	Lecithin
1/2 Cup	Lemon Juice (I recommend Santa Cruz bottled juice that is not from concentrate)
1/2 Cup	Water
Topping:
2 Cups	Blueberries (or other fresh or frozen fruit)
1/4 Cup	Vanilla Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp	Psyllium Husk Powder

Make the crust by grinding the pecans in a blender or food processor and pulsing until you have small crumbles. Pour the pecan crumbles into a mixing bowl and add the salt. Next grind the dates and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add this mixture to the mixing bowl and mix with the salted pecans until you have a dough-like consistency. Spread the crust over the bottom of a spring form pan and press it into the pan. The crust proportions should be enough to cover two 9" pans so I always save half of the crust in the refrigerator for a second cheesecake later.

Make the cheesecake by combining the first all but the cashews and water Filling ingredients into a blender and blending on high until smooth. Then add the cashews and water and blend on medium until smooth. Pour the filling into the spring form pan on top of the crust. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes start to make the fruit glaze topping.

Put all the topping ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. When the cheesecake has been in the freezer for at least 15 minutes, take it out and spread the fruit glaze topping over the top of the cheesecake. Return the cheesecake to the freezer for at least 6 hours before removing the spring form from around the pan.

We keep our cheesecake in the freezer all the time because we like it to take a little bit like icecream at the first few bites. If you want a room-temperature cheesecake experience, cut the frozen pieces you desire and let them defrost for a few minutes before eating.

Many thanks to Miranda from Bliss Cafe in Dallas for making this amazing cheesecake and for sharing her recipe. Cheesecake never tasted or felt this good ... until now. Enjoy!