GORILLA FOOD: great new recipe book – my new favorite!

POST #904
Was POST #901
I was very interested to receive this copy of Gorilla Food, by Aaron Ash, of the Vancouver restaurant by the same name.  Oh, this book is nice! Enticing new flavor ideas, fresh innovative recipes, pretty pictures – oh my! Get this book here

This is a recipe book – you asked for raw recipes and here they are. After a two page introduction, which tells the curious how the Gorilla Foods restaurant in Vancouver, BC, Canada came into being, and shows a picture pictures of a 1960s-throwback-looking space, it launches into a clarification of terms and descriptions of the appliances and tools needed to work the magic, as well as a shopping list, i.e., all of the ingredients which will be eventually called for in the recipes.

After that come the recipes. Now, if you like more or less “instant food” (not much more than a food processor involved), and don’t like to plan a day or two in advance, many of these recipes will not work for you as they are written (many require dehydration, or include dehydrated recipes detailed on other pages), but, often, the “raw” parts, i.e., the parts before you dehydrate, are good enough on their own – for example, although the Morning Curry Crepes call for the dehydrated Ginger Tomato Crepe,  recipe would be just as good sitting in a bowl for you to spoon up.  So it goes… I see this book as requiring a bit of creativity if you are to get the most from it – just about every page has something exciting, mouthwatering, or really curious.

That said, there are some truly innovative (as in: I haven’t seen this before) recipes for vegetable mixes, sauces, cheezes, condiments, crackers/breads/wraps/chips, and desserts. If you take the often unique vegetable mix ideas, and start adding different sauces, you get altogether different and exciting experiences. If you are willing to do the dehydrated breads/crackers/chips/wraps (which you can do in advance and freeze – you knew that, right?), you expand your options exponentially

When you get to the desserts in Gorilla Food, you will start to drool. Many of the desserts just involve combining the ingredients, and voila! Of course, the really fancy-looking ones in the pictures  the use of a dehydrator, but, often, the ingredients will taste good without the dehydrator, and just will be more like goo, or something you have to eat with a spoon.

There! I’ve just taken apart Gorilla Food and digested it into a recipe book for people who only have a knife, or, at best, a food processor. You can make almost all of these things (save the breads, the chips, the crackers) in a beginner raw food kitchen.

If you are a beginner, if you are an old hand, Gorilla Food will be worth your while.  So, do check out Gorilla Food. It is so very fanciful, and just this side of very basic raw food (which you don’t see much in recipe books anymore), with a kick!

You can get this book here

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ROCKIN RAW – NEW RAW RESTAURANT IN MANHATTAN!

POST #890
Well, hey!  There’s a new raw restaurant in Manhattan!  How could I have missed it?  I finally came on-line when I saw raw prepared foods at Integral Yoga Foods the other day (although I cannot really afford such things, I do look for them in natural food stores, and, since Raw Soul closed down, there hadn’t been any fresh choices, but I have kept looking, and… there they were this time around!)

I went to Rockin Raw in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with a Meetup group a couple of years ago, and I really liked It (I don’t remember everything I ate, but I love-love-loved the crab cakes!).  So, I was excited to see that they are doing well enough that they are marketing prepared foods to stores.  When I googled them, I came up with a Manhattan address!  Hooray!  Another raw restaurant in Manhattan.

If you haven’t already discovered this restaurant, which does a curious Peruvian/Southern fusion menu, beat feet now!

ROCKIN RAW CAFE
171 Sullivan St. New York, New York 10012 212 477 3777
Open Thursdays and Fridays from 4pm to 10pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 2pm to 10pm

14 THINGS TO BE AWARE OF IN THE RAW FOOD ARENA: from Nomi Shannon

POST #882
Now, this is too funny!  Right after I wrote the last post, I found this post from Nomi Shannon in my email.  Nomi really gets down to the down and dirty (I was so politically correct).   She’s more about the politics, and the reality, whereas I just pussy-footed around all that, and spoke of my experience, and what I think is wise.

14 things to Be Aware of in the Raw Food Arena
by Nomi Shannon
1. Be Aware of what I call “three week wonders”
Definition of a three week wonder: someone who has taken a
three week class in raw food (or anything) and is now dispensing
information, classes, written a book etc. based on those three
weeks, and not much more.

So much misinformation is being passed around by well meaning
but inexperienced people who pass themselves off as experts with
limited knowledge and little if any real life experience.

For example, one time I heard an explanation of why we soak nuts
and seeds. It seems according to this “teacher” that the part you
soak off is what keeps animals from eating them.

The Real reason: with soaking you are washing off the growth
inhibitors -which in quantity are toxic to us. These growth inhibitors
keep the nut or seed from sprouting out of season if a few drops of
rain fall on it. Soaking and sprouting also change the nut or seed
to a more digestible food as the fats are being broken down into
fatty acids, the proteins into amino acids.

Another less amusing example is a three week wonder becoming
so enthusiastic about the wonderful results achieved from going raw
(this may have been a bit more than three weeks, but not much
experience, just a lot of enthusiasm); that they created educational
materials and programs that many people purchased only to -after
a few years- totally reverse their stand on raw food, now claiming
that raw food is harmful.

What is wrong with this picture? First of all, they went into “business”
with just a tiny amount of experience. They did not expand the variety
of foods they ate, but ate the same things day after day, and when they
began to feel ill from lack of variety, perhaps developing deficiencies,
rather than take a good look at what they were eating, they
blamed “raw food”.

No one type of food can make you healthy. Not carrot juice. Not green juice.
Not wheat grass. Not algae. What contributes to your good health is giving
your body the chance to cleanse and heal itself.

Raw Food can no sooner “make you sick” than fresh air can. One needs
to exercise some common sense. You always need a large variety of foods
to be healthy. Think of the rainbow and eat foods of each color. Don’t forget
protein, don’t forget fat. Don’t forget carbohydrates. Don’t listen to any one
person about anything, including me.

Whenever you hear a story (being widely passed around on the internet)
about sick vegan babies, sick infants of vegan moms, deficiencies on a
raw diet, etc. Ask yourself: What exactly were they eating? That part of the
story never gets told.

There are many people who have been all raw or high raw for well over
twenty years, including myself, Dr. Brian Clement, Dr. Anna Maria Gahns
Clement, Dr. Doug Graham, Viktoras Kulvinskas, Reverend George
Malkmus and Cherie Soria.

There are other “three week wonders” who have propelled themselves
into thriving raw food related businesses and, while they do a lot of good,
in their limited knowledge and experience also perpetuate misinformation
that could turn out to be harmful.

For example one raw food proponent indicates that daily enemas are part
of their ongoing daily routine. Enemas are useful, perhaps even lifesaving,
while on the cleanse phase of a raw food program and for serious l
ong-term programs such as the Gerson Therapy, which is closely
monitored. But it is never a good idea to use enemas as part of a
daily routine once the cleanse phase is over.

Lack of education and experience manifests itself all over the raw
food movement. The very leaders you may be looking up to perhaps
belong in this category. Know where you information is coming from
and don’t put all your faith in just one source.

My last example of a “three week wonder” (I am being selective, there
are many more examples of misinformation coming from supposed
‘experts’ in the field) is a self-published food preparation book that tells
the reader to dehydrate at 98 degrees. This is erroneous and potentially
harmful advice.

Dehydrating at too low a temperature leaves the food open to developing
mold. If you use common sense, you will realize that food does not become t
he temperature an oven is set at. Roasting a turkey (this is an example to
illustrate my meaning only) at 350 degrees never results in the turkey
being 350 degrees. Likewise, with the dehydrator. You want to dehydrate
at the highest temperature possible while keeping the food itself below
115 or 110 degrees. When I dehydrate flax seed crackers, which are cold
and very wet at first, I start the machine at 120 or 125, or if I will be home
to monitor it, at 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

As the crackers become dryer and I can feel that they are getting warm
to the touch (don’t forget how hot a 103 degree Jacuzzi feels), then I turn
it down. Dehydrators work differently in different climates. You can expect
your food to be done sooner in dry hot Arizona than you can in cool damp
England. Please do not make the mistake of creating moldy food just because
some “expert” who wrote a book tells you to set your dehydratorat 98
degrees. Three week wonder.

2. Be Aware of useless “certification”
On a related theme, I am noticing every Tom, Dick and Harry of raw
food information (and misinformation) is now getting into the concept
of offering “certification”. Well, who is certifying you? What are their
credentials? One such “certification” is adding up to man, many
thousands of dollars.

For that kind of money you can take the 9-week program at Hippocrates
Health Institute which has been around for a long time and has a good
history and track record. And there are several well-established raw
food culinary schools. Certification from someone who has a recognizable
name and has been around for some time; with something that gives them
credibility about their area of expertise such as a published book, or
someone who has been teaching for a long time might be worth your
while, but don’t waste your time and money on a “three week wonder”.

3. Be Aware of people who tell you what to do
There is no one pill, no one herb, or collections of pills, supplements,
herbs,foods that are right for all people. When you are being told take
this for that problem, eat this, drink that and the person doesn’t know
your personal history, how would they know what you need?

If there were one right way for us all life would be so simple,
wouldn’t it?

If there were one right way to eat then I would be a very rich lady indeed.
Do not ask your neighbor or me what they eat hoping to emulate and
be just like them. What works for your neighbor or me may not work for you.

4. Be Aware that you need to do your own research
Sorry, I know it’s easier to seek out an expert and take their advice;
but you are a unique person. You have strengths and weaknesses,
and they are different than your neighbor, your sister, your cousin or
your raw food guru. I am talking about physically here, but it is true
about all aspects of YOU.

There is really no expert that can tell you about you. Wouldn’t it be so
easy to just follow one way that you hear about from one person?
If that worked, there would be far fewer “gurus” out there. You need
to understand what it takes to keep you the healthy vibrant person
you want to be.

Of course generalities like exercise, clean air, clean food, right
livelihood, relationship all factor into what makes you, you. But the fact
is, you need to experiment, research, read, learn and try until you find
the right specific combination that works for you.

For example, this week a friend made a smoothie out of nut milk, nuts,
bananas, plus three other kinds of fruit. That would be digestive and
caloric disaster for me. My smoothies are made out of water, lots of
greens and 1-2 low glycemic fruits.

We are very different from one another and what works for one does
not work for the next person.

Stop looking for “the answer” from outside of yourself, it is a futile quest.
Stop thinking that this one person, or book (or pill) is the one right answer
for you. Do not be lazy about looking after your own health. No one can
care as much about you, or know as much about you as you do!!

5. Be Aware of something called Bio-individuality
This fits in with #4. It means we are each different and unique. There is
no one right way to eat raw food or anything else for that matter. Not only
are you so unique that you have to figure out for yourself what works best
for you, but once you do have it figured out and have the mechanics and
emotional aspects of eating working well for you….you are still going to
notice that each year that can change, and most certainly over the decades
you will find you will probably need to be eating very differently than you
used to. At age 70, and 25 years all or high raw, I can guarantee that this
is my truth and most probably yours as well.
6. Be Aware that some people treat Raw Foodism as a religion
Avoid them. I hope that you understand this without a big long
explanation.
7. Be Aware that there is more to life than the food you eat
I hope you understand this without another big long
explanation.
8. Be Aware of Extremism
All or nothing at all isn’t necessarily a healthy or logical approach.
If someone tells you that eating 95% of your food raw isn’t good enough,
or that you are literally poisoning yourself if you eat some cooked food
those are rather extreme attitudes.
My opinion is that those who take these philosophies to heart often feel
like failures if they can’t be “perfect” and so slide back completely to
a SAD diet.
I personally would rather see a person consume 50% raw food for the
rest of their life than be 100% raw for three weeks. Don’t allow extreme
attitudes-the all-or-nothing-approach to make you feel like you can’t
cut it, that you are a failure or less-than in your raw food attempts.
Any amount of raw food that you eat daily is better than none at all.
Perhaps you could shoot for never any less than 50% daily. Don’t allow
yourself to feel a sense of failure if you do not follow some ideology
perfectly. The greatest cause of depression is striving for perfection
and feeling bad when it is not attained.
Please do not think that what I am saying is that it is OK (healthy) to eat
a lot of cooked food and or junk. What I am saying is striving for perfection
can create a lot of unhappiness and feelings of failure which almost always
results in giving up on the goal so that you don’t have to feel those bad feelings.
When someone is telling you that 95% isn’t good enough, they are telling
you that unless you are absolutely perfect you are not doing it right. This
message boomerangs and results in many people giving up on raw
food entirely.
Do your best!!
Choose Happiness!!
Do not judge yourself (or others).
If you maintain your happy outlook, treat your food as just that-your food,
not your religion, you will find that sticking to your goals is much easier.
If you can’t be all raw, all the time, you can still be high raw most of the time,
all raw some of the time and happy with it all of the time.
9. Be Aware of some Strangers
Be aware of people you don’t know who want you to pay them large
sums of money to teach you how to set up a raw food restaurant, home
or health retreat. Contact three or four well-known people, such as myself, t
o be sure that this unknown person has a good reputation.
The raw food community is growing quickly but it’s still a small one.
Unfortunately, I have become aware of some people with talent who
have turned out to be very angry menacing people. Check the credentials
and most of all the reputation and history of anyone you are thinking of
working with, or of allowing to live in your home that you don’t know well.
Ask for references. Demand them.
10. Be Aware that variety is the spice of life, literally
You can not be healthy if you eat the same foods every day, the same
greens (very important to switch them out), the same proteins, the same
morning smoothie…you are inviting deficiencies eating a limited amount
of foods over and over. Develop at least a three week sequence of change
if that’s what you need to do.
11. Be Aware of People who are expert in one arena,
trying to be expert in an unrelated arena
Just because a person or group has expertise in one area, does not
necessarily mean they are expert in other areas. If you become involved
with a person/group/website/author/teacher/guru who has taught you a lot
about raw food and or has helpful information about raw food- that does
not necessarily mean that they are capable in other areas.
Be Aware of entering into any type of business/adventure/course/lifestyle
/real estate deal with someone you know from another category.
If a person/entity/business/website/author/teacher/guru has proven
expertise in one aspect of life; it does not necessarily follow that they
also have proven expertise in any other aspect of life.
Unfortunately there have been instances of over-enthusiastic, but
under-educated people transferring the trust people have in them about
one category into another with catastrophic results.
Just because I can teach you all you ever need to know about raw food
does not mean that I can teach you how to manage your finances (I can’t),
or how to build a sail boat (I can’t).
Be Aware that you do not transfer the love, affection, faith in their knowledge
that you have for any entity over to another topic/area of life/situation without
vetting them all over again.
12. Be Aware that there are people with eating disorders
Be aware that there are people with eating disorders (Anorexia and Bulemia)
using raw foodism to mask their problems. Being a raw fooder is not going
to cure an eating disorder. Anorexics and Bulemics have serious psychological
and physical health issues that need to be addressed by trained personnel.
13. Be Aware That in everyday life, preaching to others is
unwelcome and an ineffective way to introduce the concept of
raw foodism to anyone
Wait to be asked. Create ways that invite people to ask.
The best way to ‘convert’ those you care about to a healthier diet is to be
such a beacon of vitality, health and good cheer that they will notice it and
want to have some of that health, happiness and energy so that they can
follow their dreams too.
14. Be Aware that it’s probably simpler than you think it is
Really it isn’t difficult at all to be a raw fooder. You do need to have the food
in your house. You do not need to make recipes. Eat fruit and veggies
just the way they are. You can shred, cut, grate, puree, liquefy, julienne,
mash, juice, pulverize, combine and blend for different tastes and textures,
but you don’t have to.
Fat is good for you. It must be Raw. Cooked fat is bad for you. You get
plenty of protein from nuts, seeds, nut butters and lots of greens. If you are
afraid, and want to eat more protein, then make sunflower pate, nut loaves,
nut milks, eat nut butters, and tons of greens in smoothies and soups.
If you are afraid, for whatever reason, whether because you think Dr. Atkins
was a nutritional genius, or are afraid from all the ‘raw food is bad for you
hype’-that doesn’t mean that you should stop eating a high proportion
of raw food! No one thinks that!
FROM NOMI SHANNON (rawgourmet.com)
14 THINGS YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF IN THE RAW FOOD ARENA
Everyone agrees that lots of fresh fruits and veggies are good for you!
If you feel that you must have a bit of wild caught salmon or an egg or
high in raw food. It’s not all or nothing.
If you are afraid because there are people out there saying you will get
e-coli unless you cook everything (the most ridiculous notion I have
ever encountered)-always wash your food well. A strong immune system
does not get sick from the various germs that are out there. A diet without
enzymes can not contribute to a strong immune system.
As individual as you are, that is how unique your diet will be too. If you are
not thriving, then something needs to change. Use your noggin. It’s all about
common sense. Don’t be a “three-week wonder”. Educate yourself.

YOUNG THAI COCONUT – I dream of a frozen or dried option

POST #876
Many of us do not have easy access to young Thai coconuts, even though so .many raw recipes call for them.   I dream that, some day soon, someone will come up with a way to market frozen or dried young Thai coconut flesh, so that we can all have a chance to try out all of those delicious-sounding recipes.

I mean, how hard could it be to set up a factory similar to those which produce dried coconut and coconut water and coconut milk, to extract young Thai coconut from its shell and freeze it, or else dehydrate it, for use in food preparation?  It would seem, to me, at least, that such a venture would be cheaper, ultimately, than importing whole young Thai coconuts, which can go bad in a short time.  Such a production plant/factory could be established in a place where the coconuts grow, providing employment for local people (oh, green! oh, free market! oh, fair trade!), and still provide a competitive product for sale in Europe and North America (I say North America because I have seen, and partaken of young coconuts in South America, although they were not called “Thai” coconuts there.)

VACATION TIME! I’m going down South to the Outer Banks of North Carolina!

POST #837
I’m going on vacation at the end of next week — yea!!!!!

I will be taking a 10-hr train trip down South, to meet up with my parents in Virginia Beach and then continue on to the Outer Banks in North Carolina (where I’ll be is just down the road from the road from where the Wright brothers made their historic first airplane flight — there’s a cool museum there.  It is also down the road from the largest sand dune in America.  Then, too, it is a few miles away from that wonderful house that starred in the Richard Gere movie, Nights in Rodanthe
which was based on the lovely book, Nights in Rodanthe,
by Nicholas Sparks.

I am planning to to pack a food bag with some fresh sauerkraut, and some of the other fermented vegetables I have in the fridge from last week’s bout (I hope I have some left when I get there, so I can show them off to my mom).  I want to make some kale chips because they are so good — again, I hope some will last so I can show them to my mom.  I’m ready – I have the red bell pepper, the cashews, the garlic, the chili powder, and, I think I have the onion powder (hope hope) — I do need to fetch some lemons.

Traveling raw requires a bit more pre-thinking than just packing.  I’m also thinking of making some crackers (haven’t done that in a really long time). Almond/corn/flax crackers are always my favorite, but I might make some sunflower seed crackers as well, from my first cracker recipe (gosh! I haven’t made up that recipe in years, but now it calls to me)    

Sounds like I’m going to be a bit busy this weekend.

Will I have space to pack clothes?

It’s all good! I’ll be on an island 25 miles out to sea. (It looks like there are no hurricanes to interrupt my idyllic vacation).  If it’s warm enough, Mom and I will spend some time on the beach.  If it isn’t, I’ll just spend some time on the beach by myself, looking for shells and stones and sea glass to make jewelry.  I’ll get up early in the morning to watch the sun rise over the ocean  from the veranda (yes, we have a veranda!) That is my favorite part of this vacation that I take every year with my parents.  At some point, Mom and I will probably go shopping at the outlet mall.  We might also work on a project for Mom’s church’s pre-Christmas bazaar (past projects have included making and decorating creche scenes and making sea glass jewelry with sea glass that my mother collected in Cuba).  

BENEFITS OF A RAW VEGAN DIET: with an eye to how to make it actually work for you

POST #822
BENEFITS OF RAW FOOD DIET
my post here is derived from a post I received from fitonraw.com
That post was interesting and useful, but, as I am given to giving specifications, rather than allowing my clients to run wild with a few ideas, I have some things to add here.

I received a post from Swayzie Foster, of fitonraw.com, and, while I agree that the ideas she presents are good, I must warn against the drawbacks (everything is good, but not all is best)

HERE WE HAVE THE TEN BEST BENEFITS OF A RAW VEGAN DIET
(along with the caveats)

#1 – IMPROVED DIGESTION

Many people who adopt a raw diet notice that their digestion becomes better.  Indigestion often disappears within days.  Those who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome often notice improvement quickly after going raw.

On the other hand, if one does not follow the rules of food combining/natural hygiene, there will still be gastro-intestinal upsets .

Food combining, also known as natural hygiene, addresses the idea of eating foods which digest at the same rate together, and avoiding eating foods which do not digest with certain or other foods well.  What this means, basically, is that you can eat some foods together, and you can eat other foods together, but some foods you can only eat alone (this is why, sometimes, when you go to a raw vegan restaurant, you can come away with gas or other fun g-i upsets.

Many raw vegan recipe books touch on this subject and give charts. If you haven’t seen this idea in any of your recipe books, then go to:

http://www.acidalkalinediet.com/food-combining-chart

#2: PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS

By me, this is a top benefit.

Still, if you start eating raw vegan food, and try to reproduce all of the recipes which you can find out there which reproduce popular cooked foods, you may experience a problem.  Similarly, if you figure that you can eat all of the raw vegan desserts that you see in recipe books or find in raw vegan restaurants, you may not experience the kind of weight loss you wish to experience.

Yes, raw vegan desserts are guilt-free — they are made up of raw fruits/vegetables and nuts, but they do contain calories.

You just can’t eat desserts all day, unless you are counting an apple, a peach, a pear, a plum, etc. as you dessert.  Raw cheeze cake is delicious, but you just can’t have it every day.

A raw vegan diet actually makes it much easier to follow a high protein diet/low carb diet:  You can eat more vegetables on a raw diet than you can on a cooked diet (2 cups of spinach have only 4g of carbs).

For a good beginning weight loss program, check out Ani’s Fat Blast, which is actually a high protein, low carb diet.

#3 MORE ENERGY

Since a good raw vegan diet requires less energy to digest, your body has more energy available to it.

Even if you are only 75% raw, you are likely to notice increase energy.

#4: BETTER SLEEP

Many people who undertake a raw vegan diet feel that they sleep better and awaken more refreshed than before.

#5: MENTAL CLARITY

This is a common claim from the raw vegan crowd.  Check it out for yourself. The concept is that, since you do not need to use a lot of energy to digest food, you have more energy to think.

My personal take on this is that, if you are eating sufficient protein, this will be true. If you do not eat sufficient protein, you will likely come across to others as an airhead – protein is a necessary nutrient for brain cells.

#6: SOFT, SMOOTH, CLEAR SKIN

It is true: if you are eating only raw fruit and vegetables and raw nuts and seeds, you are adding into your system only the things that you need to have healthy skin.  Your diet must be balanced, however.

#7: THICK, HEALTHY, AND SHINING HAIR

If you are eating a balanced raw vegan diet (I’m saying 40%carbohydrates/30% protein/30%good fats), then you should experience beautiful hair (by that, I do not mean that your curly hair will go straight, or that your straight hair will go curly, but that your hair will be shiny, healthy, and as thick as it can be (if your hair is baby-fine and straight, it isn’t going to go fluffy – sorry).

#8: HEALTHY TEETH & GUMS

If you eat a strict raw vegan diet, the sugars and chemicals in non-raw convenience foods, sodas and other beverages, and prepared foods will not be present in your diet to negatively affect your teeth and gums .

#9: NO MORE ACHES, PAINS, OR MINOR ILLNESSES

Many people experience alleviation from such symptoms as anemia, restless leg syndrome, seasonal colds, heavy menstrual flow, and muscle cramps.

• anemia
• restless leg syndrome
• muscle and joint pains in my legs and feet
• seasonal colds about 3-4 times a year (pretty much whenever the weather changed)
• the flu every couple of years
• headaches
• heavy menstrual flows and horrible cramps in my abdomen and lower back that left me in tears

Sorry guys, but that really is a big one for the ladies. 😉  If you are, in fact, doing at least high raw, you should expect that cramps and heavy periods would be alleviated.  As far as colds,  you might expect to have fewer, but, if you are in a highly-populated environment, such as a subway, or a classroom, you are still vulnerable.  If you have sinus issues, they may well clear up, but, then, again, they may not, particularly if you have late-onset hay fever, or if you have had nasal surgery. (I am speaking from personal experience)

#10: SAVE MONEY
Following a 40%carb/30% protein/30%fat raw vegan diet, you should expect to lose some weight, feel more healthy, experience fewer illnesses, and, thus, need to visit your doctor less, thus saving money.

You might ask why you are seeing this, when most raw foodists give you glowing reports of amazing health benefits.  Truthfully, I would like to know that you experience all of the positive benefits, but, in some cases, you might only experience some of them — still enough to make you want to continue.  I have experienced great health benefits, but not necessarily all of the ones touted by many raw foodists. Still, the benefits I have received have always made it worthwhile for me to continue on this path.

RAW VEGAN FERMENTED VEGETABLE RECIPES: Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fermenting Foods

POST #796
I’ve just added another book on fermenting raw vegetables, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fermenting Foods, by Wardeh Harmon, to my collection.

As is most often the case with books on fermentation or culturing of foods, this book is not only for raw vegans.  The sections on Vegetables and Fruit, however, are about raw food culturing,  and the majority of the recipes in Non-Alcoholic Beverages, as well as many in the  Condiments  chapter, are also raw.

The first chapters, on the whys and hows,  of fermentation, and the tools to use are very educational.   Although the book recommends using whey (a dairy product) for its lactobacillus content, it also offers a raw vegan option (water kefir), and gives detailed instruction as to how to use the water kefir.  (I will probably just stick with throwing my New Chapter probiotics powder into the mix — it has always worked for me — the only ferment batch I’ve ever lost was the sauerkraut I forgot to put the probiotics in).

The recipes are clear and detailed enough that a neophyte could manage a successful ferment right off the bat.  

I will put this one on my go-to shelf, for sure, especially when I am thinking of trying something new.

GREENSPIRITLIVING.COM- another great recipe resource

POST #790
After a while, when you are hunting down recipes, the recipes keep cropping up from different authors.  That’s the way it goes.  When I find a site with a few new and different recipes, I like to share, so that is exactly what I am doing here.

GreenSpiritLiving.com has a nice collection of free recipes, with some fresh, new ideas.  Check it out.

6/7/12 CSA SHARE: WHAT I ACTUALLY GOT & WHAT I AM GOING TO DO WITH IT

I love it when the CSA is in season. It is so nice to go there and see so many happy people picking up their shares. Sometimes they are even friendly.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to pick up my share (early shares are always slim pickings, and overloaded with lettuce-t kinds of things, but… hey! That’s the way it is — they really really want me to start liking salads.

Yesterday, we got:
Baby Arugula – 1 bag
Romaine Lettuce – 1 head
Boston Lettuce – 1 head
Swiss Chard – 1 bunch
Garlic Scapes – 1 bunch
Japanese Salad Turnips – 1 bunch
STRAWBERRIES!  We got strawberries in the box, and I also got strawberries as my fruit share! Yum! Smoothies!

ARUGULA – I decided to keep it. I’m not overly fond of arugula, but I decided to make a raw version of the Greek beet, arugula, and goat cheese salad (I’ll post it later
ROMAINE – I kept it. I think I’ll make some wraps.
BOSTON LETTUCE – I like this stuff well enough.   I can deal with a salad or two a week.  This is a fairly big head, so I might be having three salads. I like to mix in seaweed (I stalk the Japanese supermarkets for sales on the mixed, or else I just get wakame when it is in the bulk bins at Integral Yoga Foods, my favorite natural foods store) and sauerkraut, along with onion, and, if I have it, some red bell pepper.
SWISS CHARD – I am still not ready to even try to like this stuff.  It is high on my yuck scale. I traded it for more turnips.
GARLIC SCAPES– these look weird, but they are GREEN, and they taste like garlic, so I like them.  I chop them up or grind them in the food processor,  and put them in everything as a garlic (they are a part of one kind of garlic).  These will get chopped or ground and put in salad, or go into pates.  Since I was lucky and got two bunches, I will probably experiment with my next sauerkraut, and put some sliced garlic scapes in there with lots of sliced jalapeno.
JAPANESE SALAD TURNIPS – I have no clue why they call them Japanese Salad Turnips (my Japanese room-mate did not recognize them.  When I was testing a recipe with them, she said she had never seen them before).  So, okay, they are all white, where other turnips have some purple on them. Never mind. They are turnips and they taste like turnips. I grind them in the food processor to almost an applesauce consistency, then add apple cider vinegar, olive olive oil, and any seasonings which strike my fancy (usually garlic, sometimes coriander, sometimes Spike)
STRAWBERRIES – These are going in smoothies. I am not really into eating right now, but I know I need some protein, so I will put these into a hemp or soy protein shake in the morning. I am also thinking of making some strawberry leather in the dehydrator.

So! I have things to do with all these vegetables!  I got into a use- everything -in-the-box a few years ago, when the CSA issued a challenge.  I continued it when my job went south – the CSA box was my food for the week (I’d have maybe $5 more to get other food.  Good I have that experience because I am back there now. Smart people who have full-time work tell me about all the things I should do, like save money, or invest in a 401K, but, when you can barely pay the rent, and you have to think twice about what food to get, and you can’t afford your health insurance and medicine copays on top of all that, well, the CSA is very very important — at least I will not die from malnutrition. I feel so blessed that my CSA has jumped in this year and allowed me to make payments as I can.)

PURE JEEVAN: a very useful research library

POST #708
PureJeevan might possibly be your one-stop intro to raw living foods.  If you are new to raw living food, you can find a wealth of information.  If you are already into raw living food, you will find a wealth of information that you would like to add to your own personal wealth of info (think of this place as an amazing library).

Here you will find a wealth of articles, an extensive list of links to other sites (not edited – be aware that many site links will be dead: keep a stiff upper lip and continue on to explore others listed. I promise you will find enough to keep you busy).

Regardless of where you are at, this is definitely a go-to site… I still check it out, and often find new ideas.