Papaya Noodles In Mustard Sauce
Papaya meat is my favorite color in the whole world, so it’s certainly no surprise that I’m a big fan of this fabulous fruit! In this recipe, currants soaked in apple cider vinegar give bite to this elegant, orange dish. Add dehydrated green beans and the meal is so lush and freshly colored, it’s almost too pretty to eat. No doubt, this would be a great meal to serve when you have guests – although I’ve noticed that there are a number of people out there who don’t particularly warm to the bright papaya. It’s crazy; I think they’re incredible! I have to admit that there’s many a morning that…
Zucchini Hummus: Full Power
Zucchini is often thought of as a vegetable but, in actuality, it qualifies as a fruit: the ripened ovary of a flowering plant, complete with seeds (there’s a bit of trivia for you)! Zucchini is antioxidant rich and is 95% water – so it’s one of those raw foods that ranks high when it comes to keeping your body hydrated and ‘flushed’! This, in combination with Vitamin C and riboflavin, makes this fruit an excellent aid in the production of collagen, promoting healthier, younger looking skin – something we all want no matter how old we are! You can put zucchini slices on your eyes to prevent puffiness too! It’s…
In The Raw Kitchen: Gadgets and Knives
Embracing any kind of a raw food diet poses some new questions in the kitchen: is there anything special required to truly reap all the benefits that the raw food diet has to bestow? What does a raw kitchen need? This subject is near and dear to my heart because the ‘Raw Food Equipment’ class was the first I ever taught with my first Partner in Raw, Alisa. It was baptism by fire. My whole kitchen had been transformed into what I then dubbed ‘Alisa’s Chamber of Torture’. Everything looked impressive and imposing but mostly it just looked like ALOT! In this version of the Raw Kitchen there was not…
Digestion is A Bitch: Light to Heavy Eating
My father, who recently passed away at the ripe old age of 92, grew up in Germany. Over there they ate a hot meal in the afternoon and at night everyone had sandwiches – which, not for nothing, could be a pretty big deal as well, what with the endless array of cold cuts and fresh breads and potato salads. Dinner is called Abendbrot which, literally translated, means ‘evening bread’ and that pretty much says it all. I don’t think anyone ever thought about ease of digestion and I know for a fact that Alka Seltzer and Pepto Bismal were constants in my fathers medicine chest. As a kid, it…
Think and Grow Raw: Manifesting Health
I thought myself into raw. For me, it was my first big experiment in ‘manifesting’. I started identifying myself as raw long before I really was. You might think, “Wow, that was bold! What a fake!”. But let me tell you… it wasn’t really. I wanted it so badly. And I was ready for it. I figured that if I told people, it would encourage me to further solidify what I claimed to be – if only out of sheer pride and mortification of embarrassment. And it did, too. They say that you dress for the job you want, not the job you have. And if you can imagine something…
Enzymes? The Raw Vegan Booster
I don’t know about your mom but mine was always harping on me to eat my fruits and vegetables. Naturally, she didn’t have a clue about enzymes, but she was, definitely, on the right track. Adopting a diet that’s high in raw vegan foods supports digestive enzyme activity better than any other. Basically, it’s one of the great raw vegan claims to fame. And, undeniably, enzymes are necessary. We need them in the same way that Frankenstein’s monster needed that electrical charge. They give us life. Enzymes are micro-proteins, largely composed of amino acids. They trigger all chemical reactions that go on in our bodies. From digestion , metabolism, detoxification, brain…
Dairy Dangers: 6 Reasons to Say No to Milk
Dairy is a controversial subject these days. Of course, there are a lot of supposed experts who claim that dairy is important for everything – from strong bones, healthy teeth and athleticism to everything in between. And we’ve been bombarded for years with advertisements flaunting stars with milk mustaches. Lately, however, there’s disagreement brewing. Maybe dairy isn’t so great after all? I remember when this information started leaking out; my mom and dad couldn’t believe it. They had spent their entire lives being duped into believing that milk was, somehow, integral to development. Oddly both my sister and I stopped drinking milk immediately and naturally upon being weaned and could…
Finding Yoga and Other Adventures
When it comes to health, food and fitness form two sides of the same coin. We really do need both to keep our bodies and mind functional and vibrant. A vegan diet high in raw foods sets the stage for optimum health but combining it with exercise really kicks everything into high gear. It can be anything from yoga to kickboxing but the fact is that we all really need to get off our asses and do something! Being a country girl and living on a farm has forced me into the inevitability of physical activity. I’m always doing something: stacking hay or shoveling manure or planting a garden. But…
Vegan Kids: Is A Vegan Diet Healthy for Children?
It’s strange that so many single out vegan kids when it comes to worrying about children’s health. Let’s face it: a significant percentage of children in today’s world are in a pathetic shape. And no, I’m not talking about starving kids in Africa; I’m referring to the kids here in ‘our own backyards’. Recent stats show that one in five school-going kids in the United States is obese [1]. Let that just sink in. It’s even worse for the adults. With nearly 70% of adult Americans obese or struggling with some form of weight issues [2], it’s easy to see that we’re looking at an epidemic. So, we need to…
Jicama and Hemp Seed Tabouleh
I had a craving for tabbouleh but all the recipes I kept coming across use cauliflower as the main ingredient. It’s like once they figured out that cauliflower made a great raw rice they started using it for everything! Cauliflower is great and all but I believe in mixing things up a little bit. Besides I’ve got some die-hard anti-cauliflower vigilantes around here who are just not having it! If I’m ‘un-cooking’ for the masses I need to get crafty. So I used jicama instead. You do have to chop it with a little more effort than the average cauliflower head, but it rices up real nice and everyone loves…
