RAW VEGAN? or not? WHAT IS RIGHT? (what is right for me? what is right for you? what others say is right. how to know what is right for you.)

These days, we see former proponents of vegetarian, vegan, and raw food diets – even those we may have revered as raw food “gurus”, giving up the ghost and going back to cooked food, and even meat.

The  most recent “raw food” recipe book I have read was written by a woman who admitted openly that she consumes dairy foods and meat.

Now, today, I have found that Dr. Mercola (who has published many articles which seem to promote a raw food diet, or, at the very least, a vegan diet, and whose views I have always found respectable, although I have never seen him publicly claim to be a raw vegan, vegan, or even vegetarian) seems to be siding with meat-eaters and dairy consumers.

This article could be scary, disheartening, or disillusioning to you, depending on where you are at:  The China Study has been widely touted as the “only truth”.  We raw vegans are at a place right now where many of our revered “gurus” are bailing, suddenly telling us that cooked food is the way to go, or even that meat and dairy are good.

I was raw before all of these “gurus” showed up (when I started out, Ann Wigmore was all there was.  Viktoras Kulvinskas went to work with her, but now he has apparently gone omnivore)  I’ve only just started to read the China Study, so none of my beliefs are dependent on whatever is in that book.  (I resisted reading the book for several years, and only just recently decided to read it because of all the controversy at the heart of the raw food movement.)

If you became a vegan because of your animal politics, it may be easy for you to slide back into an omnivore diet. (you may well have had difficulty following your politically-chosen diet because of dietary cravings which you did not know how to counter, other than intellectually)

On the other hand, if you have embarked on a vegan or raw vegan diet because you believe it is healthier for you (as Ann Wigmore suggested), you need not lose the faith.  Since Ann Wigmore died, some have carried on her lineage untarnished, while others have tinkered with the system, removing certain elements and adding others.  Regardless, if you believe that a raw vegan diet is more healthful, that has not changed.

It does seem that, as I have always maintained, a low-fat raw food diet is destined to fail.  We need fats in our diet in order to develop healthy body systems.  If you are eating raw vegan foods, any fat in your diet  will be good, healthy fat.

If you on a raw vegan diet, and you feel cravings, consider augmenting the fats into your diet, either by eating avocados, or adding extra virgin olive oil, flax oil, or raw nuts and seeds.

I  am actually excited at this point in time because I am going to outlive all of the gurus who tried to tell me what to eat, who have now announced that they no longer eat 100% raw.

Does this leave me as the last raw guru? (hee hee – who ever said I was a guru anyway? Anyway, what makes a guru?)  With all of the gurus bailing for burgers (or whatever), who is left who champions a raw vegan diet?…. (oh, guru! Please reveal yourself – or else, I will have to take up the banner!)

What all this means is, if you have started eating a raw vegan diet, and you feel that it is good for you, then ignore these false prophets who came for your money and then decided they’d had enough.

I learned raw from dead people (the writers of my first raw books), and from a woman I never met, whose videos were unavailable to me before the Internet (Ann Wigmore).  I have lived just fine on the information I got from those people, who did not renounce their lifestyles at any point (at least, if they did so, they did not do so publicly)

Look at it this way:  I am not going to quit my raw vegan lifestyle.  It has worked for me for a long time. It worked for me before the Internet ever came into being.  It worked for me before I ever discovered the self-styled “raw gurus” on the Internet (I have never read any more than their hyped up promotions – I have never bought anything from such people, and now I find that many have gone non-raw, so I do feel vindicated)

If you want to eat cooked food, go for it.  If you want to eat meat, go for it. I am not here to convert you to any way that you do not want to go.

On the other hand, if you want to eat raw vegan, go for it. It is a healthy lifestyle which you can easily, healthily maintain from here unto eternity.  Come back and visit me, and see what I am up to.

 

 

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MY BEST SAUERKRAUT RECIPE

This is the same recipe I posted last winter, but I have reworked it to make it a little easier to follow.

MY BEST SAUERKRAUT RECIPE

2 heads cabbage
2 serrano peppers (or jalapeno)
1 T sea salt
2 capsules acidophilus
1/4  C spring water
spring water as needed

• Grate cabbage in the food processor.
  Thinly slice serrano peppers
  Place cabbage and peppers in a large bowl, add sea salt and toss well.
• Massage the cabbage/serrano pepper mix until it becomes very juicy (As you massage, the cabbage will begin to release juice, and reduce in volume.  Keep massaging until the volume has reduced by at least 1/3).
• Place all of the cabbage/serrano pepper mix in a 2 qt. jar with a wide mouth. (I use the funnel from my Champion juicer — it has a wide mouth).
  Once all of the mix is in the jar, push it down with your fist  a few times to make the juice come out more.
• Empty the acidophilus caps into 1/4 C spring water and mix well, then pour the mix into the jar.
  Add enough spring water to bring the level up to 1 inch from the top of the jar.
• Cover the jar with the two-part “dome” lid and set aside, in a bowl, to catch the juices which will escape.
  After a day or so, pour off the juices which collect in the bowl.
• Leave the jar in a cool place in the kitchen for 3 – 4 days, then open and taste test.
• Once the taste is to you liking, store the jar, tightly closed, in the refrigerator for up to six months (the taste will change over time, as the sauerkraut continues to ferment slowly in the refrigerator)

NOTES:

• I suggest you wear a bib apron when you open the jar, as the sauerkraut usually pops out of it when you remove the lid.

• I enjoy the taste after three or four days (and I also enjoy the quick processing time), but I have left jars for up to 3 months before opening.  The taste is different the longer you leave the sauerkraut to sit.  Experiment to find your own favorite flavor.

• If you use smaller jars, mix 1 cap of acidophilus in 2 -3 T spring water for each jar. Do this separately for each jar to be sure that you get enough acidophilus in the jar.  Use the tamper from your VitaMix, or something strong and at least 1 inch across (I know someone who used a baseball bat) to mash down the cabbage in the smaller jar (your hand probably will not fit).
  

NEW YEAR’s RECIPES (with raw food you need to plan ahead…)

Where I am from in the South, traditionally, we eat black-eyed peas, collards (or other greens, like kale), and pork, on New Year’s Day.
The collards are green, like money, and symbolize prosperity in the New Year. The black-eyed peas symbolize good luck, and the pork also symbolizes prosperity (because the pig is the only animal which eats while it is moving forward)

I don’t eat pork, duh, but I do keep up the tradition of greens and black-eyed peas.

BLACK-EYED PEAS
1 C dried organic black-eyed peas
1 – 2 T minced onion (to taste, optional)
1 – 2 T minced garlic (to taste, optional)
1 – 2 T extra virgin olive oil (to taste)
1 – 2 T apple cider vinegar (to taste)
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste (optional)

Sprout black-eyed peas for 3 – 4 days (soak for 12 hours,
drain, and sprout, rinsing twice daily for 2 – 3 – 1/2 more days)
Mix sprouted black-eyed peas with minced onion and a minced garlic to taste (optional).
Add olive oil and vinegar, and mix well.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can also find these COLLARDS RECIPES elsewhere within blog. They are re-listed here for your convenience.

MARINATED GREENS
MARINADE
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
1/4 C sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 C scallions, white parts only, finely only
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t red pepper flakes
2 t sea salt, divided
1/2 t black pepper
1 bunch collard greens (or other greens)
1/8 C olive oil

1 – Mix apple cider vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, scallions, garlic, red pepper flakes, 1 t sea salt and pepper. Set aside.
1 – Roll up 2 – 3 leaves into a cylindrical “cigar” shape.
2 – With a sharp knife, thinly slice the rolled greens crosswise into ribbons.
3 – Cross-chop the “rounds”
4 – Place in a large bowl.
5 – Repeat steps 1 – 4 until all greens have been chopped.
6 – Add in olive oil, remaining 1 t salt, and marinade mixture.
7 -Massage all ingredients until mass is reduced by half.
8 -Refrigerate and marinate for 1 – 24 hours

MASSAGED MARINATED GREENS
this comes out enough like old-fashioned Southern greens to satisfy your longing for Grandmamma’s cooking.

1 bunch greens (collards, kale, beet, turnip)
5 – 10 kalamata olives, finely chopped
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, slivered
fresh garlic, finely chopped, to taste, or garlic powder (optional)
chili seasoning, to taste (optional)

1 – Roll up 2 – 3 leaves into a cylindrical “cigar” shape.
2 – With a sharp knife, thinly slice the rolled greens crosswise into ribbons.
3 – Cross-chop the “rounds”
4 – Place in a large bowl.
5 – Repeat steps 1 – 4 until all greens have been chopped.
6 – Add remaining ingredients to bowl and mix.
7 – With hands, ‘massage” greens until bulk is reduced by half.
8 – Set aside to marinate for one hour (or up to 24 hours).
Alternatively, eat right away.

Just in case you missed it – find my CHAMPAGNE Rejuvelac recipe here.

Get moving!!! There are only 5-1/2 days until New Year’s Eve. Yes, you CAN celebrate in style!!!

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: Start the New Year with Master Cleanse

Right now, at this moment, today, I am planning to start a Master Cleanse in the New Year.  I qualify it so because I may start before. My start day could be this Saturday, i.e., two days from now.  My start time depends on my my room-mate’s departure. She is leaving tomorrow for Japan. I could start on Saturday, but I like Mondays or Sundays for starts.  At the latest, I will start on January 1, which, although it is not a Monday, is a very special start date.

I am doing a Master Cleanse now for a number of reasons.

I started one a while back but I had to stop because my roommate had stopped eating.

I need to do a Master Cleanse.

I need to lose 15 lbs.

I want to clean up my act.

RAW SOUL’S CHEF TRAINING

Aw, man! Another thing to add to my wish list! Raw Soul is doing a Raw Chef training,in New York City, and I just know it is going to be fabulous! The raw food training I attended at Raw Soul was so fabulous that I KNOW I want to do their Raw Chef training.

Since I won’t be able to attend the March training, which I believe is the first (because I will be attending another training at that time, as well as paying for my CSA membership for 2009), I am going to have to hope and pray that all goes well and that the training is a big success, so that there will be more, and I will, hopefully soon, be able to plunk down the $1800 investment. I hope that the word will get around — they don’t seem to be publicizing much — about this program, which I am sure will be fabulous.

Sadly, on my visit to check on this training, I see that, apparently, Lillian Butler has discontinued her fabulous Raw Food training. This was the only raw food lifestyle training available in New York City, and it will be missed. I imagine that their failure to publicize this program may have contributed to demise of the program. Hopefully, Raw Soul will find a way to publicize their programs more actively and widely, and soon.

I would also recommend Raw Soul’s new book, Raw Soul Health Journey, by Lillian Butler and Eddie Robinson, the powers behind Raw Soul.  I  have only had one opportunity to look through the book, but it looks like just about everything that Lillian presented in her raw food trainings is detailed in this book, in addition to a healthy selection of the recipes Raw Soul serves daily.  This book would be a good addition to anyone’s library of nutrition, lifestyle, and food prep books. (This is not available on amazon.com — you will have to go directly to the publisher, Raw Soul — although I do think I may have seen it at the Integral Yoga bookstore in Greenwich Village, in New York….)

MY CROP FAILED!!!

I was very disappointed to realize today that my entire crop of wheat sprouts (two separate jars each with 1/2 C wheat berries) had failed.  I had  dutifully soaked the wheat for 12 hours and then faithfully rinsed it twice daily.  I wondered, on the second day of sprouting why I did not see any little sprouts.  On the third day, by which time I usually see fairly long tails on my wheat berries, I had to accept that my wheat had died.  I sniffed it, and it did not smell the way sprouting wheat usually does. It may even have smelled a little on the sour side. I don’t know why this happened.  Maybe it is just something that has to happen once in a while. I have never lost a crop of wheat sprouts before, though, and I am very disappointed.  Oh well. Back to start.  I am going to miss my rejuvelac for a few days.  I was looking forward to making some of my rejuvelac chablis… Oh well.

CASHEW CHEESE

I made cashew cheese this week, based on a recipe from Charlie Trotter’s Raw

CASHEW CHEESE
3 C cashews, soaked 10 – 12 hrs and drained
1/4 C rejuvelac
½ t sea salt

Process the cashews through the Champion, using the blank plate.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.
Place mixture in a sieve lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth and placed over a bowl. Drape remaining cheesecloth over the mixture.
Place in a warm place to ferment for 12 hours.
Remove cheese from cloth.
Form into a round, and refrigerate for 24 hours in a covered container, until it becomes firmer.
Use immediately, or store in covered container for up to 3 days.

MY NOTES:
This makes a lot of cheese.  With the additions I made, it is very reminiscent of  Boursin or Rondele “pub cheese.”

I decided to divide my cheese into 4 parts.  Then I mixed in different seasonings in each one – in one, I added sun-dried tomatoes, in the next, I added red bell pepper powder (ground dehydrated peppers) and soaked red pepper flakes with a little garlic, in the third, I added garlic powder, onion powder, and herbs d’provence.  I left one plain to see what it would taste like – (I am trying to get close to a tofu sort of thing, but my room-mate says it tastes more like cream cheese)

I have seen other recipes that say that you can keep the cheese anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks.  I am, of necessity, going to have to check that out – there is simply no way that I can down all this cheese in 3 days.

REJUVELAC NOTES

I have never said anything about the taste of rejuvelac.

Most authorities say it has a lemonade taste.  Okay.  Maybe it does.

I have just made up a big batch of rejuvelac (my first time to make a whole gallon at a time– I bought a gallon jar this week).  It tastes right, i.e., I am not surprised by the taste.

Does this taste like lemonade?  Okay,  if I want it to, it does.  I would say it has that sour flavor that lemon does…. and stop.

Is it easily drinkable?  For me it always has been.  When you pour it,  it is cloudy.  If you don’t drink it right up, some of the cloudiness will settle, and you might want to not drink that part.

I am, for the first time, making a second batch of rejuvelac with the first batch’s wheat.  I am also making some rejuvelac wine with my own recipe of raisins and mulling spices.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE DREDGES AFTER YOU MAKE REJUVELAC

On My Raw Year blog, I found a request for suggestions about what to do with the chaff left over after making a batch or two of rejuvelac.

Steve Meyerowitz, in his book Sproutman’s Kitchen Garden Cookbook suggests dehydrating the chaff, but he doesn’t make very clear what you should do with it after you dehydrate it. I am planning to use my next batch as filler in some crackers I will be making later this week (after these two batches of rejuvelac I’m “cooking up” are done.

I don’t see why the dehydrated wheat chaff could not be crumbled and sprinkled on salads and other food creations, so I will try that, as well.

Funny, I had never thought about what to do with the dredges until I started to make up this batch and went back to Sproutman to remind myself of what he had said about making rejuvelac (he has some good suggestions)

WHAT DOES REJUVELAC TASTE LIKE?

Sometimes people make rejuvelac according to a recipe (or my recipe) and then wonder what it is supposed to taste like.

That is a very interesting question.  When I first made rejuvelac, I just did it  according to the recipe in an Ann Wigmore book, and I drank it because it seemed like the thing to do.  I did not really think about what it tasted like.

Some people say that rejuvelac tastes like a tangy lemonade. Okay. I can go there.  I think it tastes like what it tastes like and I just drink it, because the taste is non-offensive to me.

I would recommend following the recipe to the letter (whatever one you follow — I have one in my recipes: just key in rejuvelac in the search box). I have had the experience of doing it from a book recipe, and, also, of doing it in a training — it has always turned out the same for me (I use a very clean recipient, and I  follow the instructions to the letter)

Some people add fresh or dried fruit to the mix, after the wheat berries have been sprouted, ground, and added to water, and they ferment the rejuvelac thusly — this gives a different flavor — I have tasted “mango rejuvelac”.  I often make “rejuvelac wine”, adding raisins or dates (depending on the recipe), or “mulled wine” (adding mulling spices) to the the basic mix as I begin to ferment the rejuvelac.  On occasion, I have made “champagne rejuvelac”.  (The recipes for these variations can be found right here by keying in “rejuvelac” in the Search box)

I will tell you this:  My recipe is for 1 gallon, and, for the longest time (as in always)  I have made it in a 1/2 gallon jar.  I have suddenly become aware of my boo-boo (duh! after 30 years?????  !!! and in-person training????)  The good thing is, my rejuvelac recipe has always worked (and I passed my test in my training when I took my rejuvelac  in for inspection by the teacher). I have just scored a gallon glass jar, and I am going to make some rejuvelac this week in it — I expect it will be pretty much like what I have made before)