A few favorite things: Live Jolly and Russell James!

I think it’s safe to say at this point that I have been obsessed with raw foods lately. While I have learned a lot from starting our raw cleanse and have been maintaining a mostly raw diet, I am still very far from being a raw chef. Mainly because raw food prep generally requires some equipment in lieu of a stove, including a high-speed blender, a good food processor and a dehydrator, of which I only have one. But, my goal is to own the other two and make good use of them, which means I need and want to continue to learn as much as I can about making raw foods.

That being said, this past week has been full of opportunities to do that. Starting with last week when I had the opportunity to meet up with Chris Jolly, raw chef and owner of Live Jolly foods and I have to give him a shout out. Chris is a New Jersey native who works out of Avon and Red Bank to prepare raw entrees and desserts that can be found at health food stores throughout the area. If you have ever been to Dean’s in Ocean and Shrewsbury or Nature’s Corner in Spring Lake, you may have seen or even tried his raw pizza, pad thai or ‘cheese’cakes, to name a few. Chris’s foods are so good and so popular that he will soon be selling in Whole Foods and is working on a bunch of new products, including kale chips, flax crackers and granola which will be available in stores soon. Which will make it much more convenient for those of us who don’t have a dehydrator at home, all while supporting a local and health-inspired business!

I hope to learn more from Chris in the next few months and can’t wait to try his new items! That being said, Live Jolly needs our help to ensure that his new products hit the shelves. They started a crowd funding project to help fund the new products and make sure that we all get to sample them. You can learn more about the project here: http://www.indiegogo.com/Granola-its-not-just-for-hippies-anymore. Unlike many crowd funding projects, this is not a donation or handout. Instead by contributing what you like, you get some of the new products in return. So it’s basically like ordering the product on line and getting a chance to taste them before anyone else, without ever having to leave your home! Live Jolly has a month left to reach their goal, so lets help them out and eat some yummy raw foods!

Next up was a trip into Manhattan with my friend Nancy to a place called Organic Avenue, a small boutique specializing in raw foods where I had the most amazing ‘Mint Chip’ smoothie. This place was a great resource for raw food products from nut cheese bags, raw chocolates, a variety of snacks and some of the harder to find products like alkalizing water drops and liquid chlorophyll. Yeah, I have no idea what I’d do with the latter, either. Anyway, the reason we ventured all the way to Organic Avenue was not to spend too much money on a some raw chocolate, snacks and a smoothie (which I did), but rather to see The Raw Chef, Russell James demo some of his recipes. If you are at all interested in raw foods, I suggest you google him. He is a wealth of knowledge and has tons of amazing recipes and how-to videos, and he has a way of making things a lot less intimidating. In a mere two hours he whipped up some falafel, flax crackers, nut ‘cheese’ and hummus... all of which were delicious!

Lastly, on the raw journey: In order to put some of this new knowledge to the test, Terra and I decided to tackle one of Russell’s recipes - an insanely rich chocolate torte with strawberry sauce and cashew/ginger cream, for Nancy for her birthday. We may not have done it as easily, or as pretty, as Russell, but I think we did a pretty darn good job, and Nancy loved it! However, as you will see from the recipe below, I will admit that it did take some time to prepare and while we had a blast doing it, it did make me thankful that we have some amazing local raw chefs, like Chris Jolly, to do the work for us!

If you are so bold to try a hand at it yourself, the following is Russell's recipe for the Chocolate Torte (most of the ingredients will be found in any good health food/natural food store. This is a very intense and rich dark chocolate torte... but free of dairy, flour and refined sugar!).

Russell James' Chocolate Torte:


The Crust:
1 1/2 cups raw pecans
3/4 raisins roughly chopped
2 Tbsn softened raw coconut oil*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of sea salt

Process pecans, raisins, cinnamon and salt in a food processor. Add coconut oil and vanilla and process again until pastey. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9" springform pan or pie plate. (You can sprinkle the bottom of the pie plate with a little bit of dried coconut to prevent the crust from sticking). Place in the fridge.

The Filling:
2 cups raw cashews
1 cup water
2 cups raw cacao powder
1 1/2 cups cacao butter*
2 Tbsn vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 Tbsn lemon juice

Blend cashews, water, vanilla, agave and lemon juice in a high speed blender until smooth. Add cacao butter and powder and blend again. You may need to add more water to get the desired consistency (similar to a thick pudding). Pour mixture into pie crust and smooth evenly. Return to fridge to set for 2-3 hours.

The Ginger Cream:
1 cup raw cashews
2 Tbsn coconut oil
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
1 Tbsn fresh grated ginger
pinch of ground clove
2 tspn vanilla extract

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth and creamy. You want a creamy sauce-like consistency. If it is too thick to "drizzle", you may need to add some water and blend again until you reach the desired consistency.

Strawberry Sauce:
1 cup fresh chopped strawberries
3 Tbsn agave nectar
2 Tbsn lemon juice
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/4 tspn nutmeg

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender.

Drizzle both the ginger cream and strawberry sauce over the torte when ready to serve!
*Note: Both the cacao butter and coconut oil should be softened by placing in a bowl over hot water. It is easiest to do this with the cacao if it is finely grated first. You do not want to heat these too high though so be careful about heating them on the stove.

If you decide to attempt this or any of Russell's recipes, or get to taste some of Live Jolly's new products, you will have to let us know what you think!

Keep it fresh and local!
-Jill

My Raw Journey

They say everything happens for a reason. That each experience in our lives, whether good or bad, easy or difficult, happy or sad is meant to be... like it’s part of some master plan to guide you down your chosen path. Every now and then we have these moments of synchronicity that help us to realize the reason behind those experiences and help us see a little further down the path. Today was one of those moments for me.

As you know, Terra and I began a raw journey together 25 days ago, and many of you may be wondering how we are doing. That journey for me began as a cleanse. A desire to rid my body of some toxins that I knew had been plaguing it. However, after the initial juice fast my path took somewhat of a detour. Well not so much of a detour as a change in destination. My desire to continue the ‘cleanse’ became less about cleansing and more about a movement towards a raw lifestyle. While I didn’t exactly follow the cleanse protocols of juicing and blending everyday, I have maintained a 100% raw diet over the last 25 days, with the exception of two nights out with friends. We have 3 days left of the initial 28 day goal, but I don’t intend to end my journey there. I have been enjoying eating raw and learning how to “cook” raw and pulling myself out of my comfort zone. While, I don’t know exactly how far I will take this journey, for now my goal is to maintain a mostly raw diet and see how it goes.

I have been a vegan for about 6 or 7 years now and not once had I attempted to ‘go raw’. In fact, I probably have been heard to say on more than one occasion “I could never be a raw vegan”. So why now? Why was I all of a sudden enlightened to the fact that a raw diet isn’t as scary and intimidating as previously thought? Why do I now feel compelled and empowered to at least attempt a mostly raw lifestyle? I personally think it was the above mentioned synchronicity. It needed to happen simultaneously with other events in my life to help lead me down my path. I won’t get into it now, cause I tend to be a little superstitious, but I am hoping that those events are going to unfold in the coming weeks and if they do, this could be huge for me. Life-altering huge. So everyone send out all kinds of positive energy for me and I will keep you posted on my progress.

So all that being said, I will continue to post my raw preparation experiments and hopefully successes. Since my success with raw brazil nut milk I have somewhat successfully attempted raw ‘pasta’ marinara, raw pesto (which was amazing and because it was the most successful I am including the super duper, easy recipe in this post), raw cheesecake and raw hemp milk. And of course a myriad of yummy salads.
I will work on perfecting these and others and will continue to share them with you.

The following pesto recipe can be used with the pasta marinara, on top of salads, as spreads on both raw and non-raw sandwiches, on slices of raw tomatoes or any other ideas you come up with. And I hope if you come up with any you will share them with us!

Raw Pesto:

4 cups of fresh basil
1/4 cup cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup of pine nuts or walnuts (I used both)
2-4 cloves of garlic (I used 4, but you can use less if you aren’t big on garlic)
3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 Teaspoon of unrefined sea salt
Black pepper to taste.




Combine all ingredients in a food processor until desired consistency. (A few pulses should do the trick). This should keep in the fridge in a sealed glass container for a few days, or you can freeze individual portions in ice trays, and then pop out and thaw when needed.

That’s it! So easy, and trust me, so delicious!

Keep it Fresh and Raw!
-Jill

Day 7: Raw Enlightenment

Day seven and the end of phase one has FINALLY come and passed (well almost). Its been a long week of juice and broth but I feel really good. I feel like I still have a good amount of detoxing to do, but its been off to a good start. The most amazing difference I had the pleasure of noticing this morning. Not to get too personal on you but I usually have excruciating cramps, ahem, oh about once a month if you know what I mean. So bad that it is the one time that I do not even hesitate to take an OTC pain killer. But today... absolutely nothing! No pain at all for the first time since I can remember! Sorry, I was so amazed that I had to share that with you.

Due to the “unforeseen circumstances” related to the above I was very lightheaded today and I couldn’t wait a few more hours to start phase two. (Phase 2 is supposed to be 3 days of raw smoothies, blended raw soups and blended salads only). So late this afternoon I started off with a yummy smoothie made from chia seeds, banana, berries, raw cacao, spirulina and some coconut water. I felt so full afterwards. But now I have a confession to make. This evening I cheated. I broke down and needed to chew! I had sliced cucumber and tomato, followed by a bunch of raw nuts and a few dates. It sounds so silly to think of that as bingeing or cheating.. but that’s totally what it feels like. First thing tomorrow I will be back on track.. smoothies only for me for the next three days.

That was a very long winded intro into the point of this blog. I have been enlightened by rawness (rawdom?). I have always been very intimidated by the work that it takes to really be raw. All the soaking, sprouting, dehydrating is more work than actually cooking food. So aside from raw veggies and fruits, I have only ever dined out or store bought raw foods, which is expensive! But tonight I decided to prep for the upcoming days by making raw brazil nut milk to add creaminess to my smoothies. I CAN NOT believe how easy it was. Why have I not done this before??

I gave up on buying soy milk a year or so ago because so much soy these days is genetically modified. I switched to almond milk, but the cartons you buy are often non-organic, definitely not raw, and usually have added sugar and other ‘shelf-life’ ingredients. So, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to discover how easy it is to make my own “milk”! I will never buy packaged milk again, I will be doing this from now on!

Here’s how you can make your own too:

1) Start with 1 cup of raw brazil nuts. I scored a pound for $5 at Trader Joe’s. Soak them in water in a covered glass bowl for two (or more) hours. (Okay, so there IS soaking involved, but two hours I can handle!) Then drain and rinse them.

2) Put nuts in a blender with 3 cups of purified water and a tablespoon of raw honey, agave or sweetener of your choice and blend thoroughly.

3) Pour the contents of the blender through a cheese cloth or fine strainer. It looks purely liquified before you strain it, but there will be a great deal of ‘pulp’ left after straining. I haven’t figured out how I can use the pulp yet, but I’m working on it. You can be inventive or just discard it.

That’s it!! Store it in a glass container in your refrigerator. This made about a quart of milk, bu because it’s raw and free from added ingredients it won’t keep as long as the packaged alternatives. So if you don’t intend to use that much within a few days simply cut the recipe in half.

Next up: Cashew cream. So stay tuned!

Keep it Fresh and RAW!
-Jill

Day 1

Since my yearly vegan challenge slipped my mind, I'm upping my ante. I am going raw to detox and kickstart my bridal health goals.

Today is DAY 1.

For the next 10 days I will be drinking deliciously fresh juices and for the 18 days following that I will be only consuming raw foods. I will be getting moral support from Jill and my friend Nancy, and we'll all get help from Raw Food Rehab.

So what the heck is going raw all about???

Sure, you might feel like you're being healthy when you order a nutritious salad (meaning: not a pile of iceberg lettuce saturated in creamy, fatty dressing, but actually vegetables), but would you want to commit to eating all raw food, all the time? The raw food movement, sometimes called the Live Food movement, is focused on eating only raw and unprocessed foods, often organically grown. Although many are only familiar with the vegan version of this movement, there are vegetarians (lacto-ovo and others), as well as omnivores who participate. A smaller component of the movement actually promotes a carnivorous (only animal product) diet. Similarly, fruitarians- those who try to only eat fruit- are a part of the raw food movement.

One of the main tenets of the belief that raw food is better lies in the loss of nutrients through cooking or processing food. While this is certainly true to a very large degree, it does not hold across the board. A more holistic approach might be to look at each food individually to determine whether it should be eaten raw, slightly cooked, or thoroughly cooked. As with most things in life, knowledge is power.

For some foods, scientists have discovered that light steaming actually makes nutrients available in food that the body would not otherwise be able to digest- broccoli is one such food. If the focus is truly bio-availability, then knowing that the nutrients in spinach are most readily absorbed by the body when it is lightly steamed and eaten with vinegar makes it hard to argue for eating spinach raw. With both of these foods, overcooking leads to a loss of nutrients, so attention paid to each individual food will allow you to gain the most nutrients from them. Likewise, freezing blueberries unlocks many of their antioxidant properties - increasing their health benefits, which is what exploring healthy diets is all about.

So, is raw right for everyone? Probably not. Is raw right for you? Maybe....you never really know until you try it. What it all boils down to is bioindividuality. What works wonders for one person may not for the next. You simply have to experiment to find out. Is raw right for me? I guess we're going to find out! Stay tuned for updates on my juice detox and raw foods journey.

~Keep it Fresh!

Terra

What is "Going Raw?"

Sure, you might feel like you're being healthy when you order a nutritious salad (meaning: not a pile of iceberg lettuce saturated in creamy, fatty dressing, but actually vegetables), but would you want to commit to eating all raw food, all the time? The raw food movement, sometimes called the Live Food movement, is focused on eating only raw and unprocessed foods, often organically grown. Although many are only familiar with the vegan version of this movement, there are vegetarians (lacto-ovo and others), as well as omnivores who participate. A smaller component of the movement actually promotes a carnivorous (only animal product) diet. Similarly, fruitarians- those who try to only eat fruit- are a part of the raw food movement.

One of the main tenets of the belief that raw food is better lies in the loss of nutrients through cooking or processing food. While this is certainly true to a very large degree, it does not hold across the board. A more holistic approach might be to look at each food individually to determine whether it should be eaten raw, slightly cooked, or thoroughly cooked. As with most things in life, knowledge is power.

For some foods, scientists have discovered that light steaming actually makes nutrients available in food that the body would not otherwise be able to digest- broccoli is one such food. If the focus is truly bio-availability, then knowing that the nutrients in spinach are most readily absorbed by the body when it is lightly steamed and eaten with vinegar makes it hard to argue for eating spinach raw. With both of these foods, overcooking leads to a loss of nutrients, so attention paid to each individual food will allow you to gain the most nutrients from them. Likewise, freezing blueberries unlocks many of their antioxidant properties - increasing their health benefits, which is what exploring healthy diets is all about.

So, is raw right for everyone? Probably not. Is raw right for you? Maybe....you never really know until you try it. What it all boils down to is bioindividuality. What works wonders for one person may not for the next. You simply have to experiment to find out. Stay tuned for some updates from Jill on going raw. While I go vegan for 21 days for our Vegan Challenge group starting April 26, 2010, as an experienced vegan, Jill is going to take it one step further and go raw.

We'll be sure to keep you updated on our highs (and lows)!

Keep it Fresh!

~ Terra