Raw Journal
I started this journal in hopes that my life could help or inspire
someone else. Enjoy!
Nov. 2007
I found raw acai at my local coop
I added it to a green smoothie and it was pretty good.
Sutana avocados at the
farmer's market.
Buddha at Tea Garden in
Golden Gate
Pretty Pictures at Tea
Garden.
Rose at Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park
Sunset at Ocean Beach in S.F.
Raw Acai
You have probably noticed that Acai is
everywhere. For those of you that don't know what it is here's a
little blurb about it:
The Acai Berry which is commonly pronounced
a-sigh-ee, is a rather small, round, and black-looking purple.
It resembles a grape or a blueberry, but is y smaller and
darker. This fruit has a large seed and minimum amount of pulp.Acai has been used for many generations by the natives of
Brazil. Acai boasts 10 times the antioxidant benefits of grapes
and twice that of blueberries.
Usually you find Acai that has been pasteurized
but I found some raw Acai so I thought I've give it a try.
Something to switch up my green smoothies a little bit. It
looks like blueberries but it's not sweet and has an earthy
flavor. I liked it. I blended it with bananas, celery, green
powder, and vanilla. It kinda tasted like chocolate to me.
Anyways I like to mix things up a little bit and make sure I'm
getting enough variety in my diet.
Speaking of variety I found these cool avocados
at the farmer's market. They are called Sutana avocados. They
aren't ripe yet so I'll have to let you know how they are:) I
tried them since I wrote this and they are amazing. They are so
super sweet and salty! Not as creamy as a Haus but still super
creamy! I mash them up in my juice pulp
salads or use them to top my blended soups.
Sightseeing in S.F.
I love dating someone who's not from California.
He always makes me see things through new eyes. We went on a
little adventure to golden gate park and I took some pretty
pictures. Then we walked to Ocean beach and caught the sunset.
We finished the day off at Cafe Gratitude in the Sunset District
of San Francisco. I went
crazy and ordered anything that I wanted on the menu. I tried
things that I've never tried before! It was so fun. I really
like the spring rolls. They had mango in them and they used an
almond butter lime dipping sauce. I think it's my favorite thing
on the menu so far. The next best thing was the dessert my guy
ordered, coconut cream pie and vanilla ice cream. Yummy! The
waitresses were so cool as always. We were tired, grumpy, and
hungry and the waitress, bless her heart, tried to cheer us up
with yummy ice cream and coconut cream pie! All the pictures of
the cafe gratitude food I took are below.
Ask Your Doctor If . . .
Right Underneath is a hilarious video of Bill
Maher giving his opinion of the pharmaceutical industry. It is
hilarious!
Bill Maher is so right about exercising! I must admit though I haven't been exercising
like I know I want to, but that should change soon when my guy
and I join a gym together. I'm already thinking about all my new
year's resolutions. I want to be more organized and work out on
a weekly basis. I've learned to keep my resolutions to one or
two or, if not, I don't follow through. Last year I had one and
that was to be out in nature more and I hope you can see from
all the pictures on my journal (and there were many more where I
didn't remember to take my camera) that I definitely accomplished
my goal:)
Anyways Iisten to me, I'm already talking about
New Year's and I haven't even got through the holiday's yet! I
know the holidays can be a little nerve wracking for raw foodists. But I must admit that I've always sailed through them.
I just always bring a really yummy salad and dessert to my
familiy's house and just eat a big plate of salad while everyone
is eating what they eat. If you don't want to go all raw there
is always some sort of cooked veggie dish available, just ask
them to save you a portion without butter! Anyways, I have found
that if you're comfortable with what you are eating the people
around you will eventually feel comfortable as well.
Spring Rolls at Cafe Gratitude
Sampler Plate at Cafe Gratitude
Lasagna at Cafe Gratitude
Coconut Cream Pie with Raw Ice Cream
Also, almost every year I have a raw food get
together celebration. Either it involves going to a raw food
restaurant the day before or after the holiday or it involves
throwing a raw potluck and inviting all your raw food friends. I
know I've heard so much about raw food being isolating, but I
want to offer you another picture. I think raw foods has had an
opposite effect on me. I've met so many wonderful people through
raw foods including some of my closest friends. I know what you
are thinking, "There aren't a lot of raw foodists in my area!"
Well maybe not, but the best way to find out for sure would be
to start holding monthly raw potlucks and see who shows up!
Sometimes curious vegans or vegetarians will show up and you can
teach them about raw food or learn about it together. It's an
awesome and easy way to make friends.
Been thinking about some Holiday recipes I 'd
like to share with you so stay tuned, but in the meantime is a
recipe for Basil Lime Ginger Creamy Avocado Soup that I promised
a few months ago keep scrolling down and you'll find it! My goal
is to give you lovelies one recipe a month. You know, just me
trying to make dinner and coming up with something yummy to
share with you!
Raw Food My Space
Did you know there is such a thing as a raw food
myspace? Here it is:
http://eat.rawfood.com/You can sign up to meet other
raw foodists. It's kinda cool. My page is:
http://eat.rawfood.com/rawfood/rawglow
It's nothing special but send me a hello if you want to! I made
this cool slide show on the website of some of the food I've
made. If you've read this journal you've probably seen most of
them:) Isn't raw food pretty!:
What I've been reading lately
As you know I love reading anything Abraham Hicks. Their Law
of Attraction books have really really inspired me and changed
my life. I'm reading their newest one and I love it!
I really needed this book, I started to forget
the law of attraction but I'm happy to say I've started to
remember it and I already notice the difference! My honey and I
are going to watch the Secret
again together, cause we want to attract a lot of good stuff!
The good news is that as easy as it is to forget the secret,
it's just as easy to remember! I think that this time of year
can be hard on a lot of people and I remember how hard it was
for me without my mom around. So now more than ever we need to
focus on all the things we are grateful for instead of focusing
on the things that we don't have! I am so ready ready for an
abundant holiday season. Not sure what we are going to do, but
we are thinking we might rent a house on the beach and celebrate
Christmas there. How cool would that be?
Last year at this time I had all these wonderful
gift ideas for you, but this year I think I'm going to save
money for all the wonderful food I'm going to make and get all
my Christmas presents in China Town! They have some cute stuff
and it's all really affordable!
Well loves bye for now, I'll definitely be back
again this month.
C
Basil Lime Ginger Creamy Avocado Soup
Soup
1 lime juiced
1 kaffir lime leave (optional)
3 cups young coconut water ( or 1.5 cups young coconut
water and 1.5 cups filtered water)
1 inch knob ginger
2 teaspoons chickpea miso
1/8 teaspoon cayenne or ground chili flakes
1 tiny little piece of a red chili pepper (optional)
1 small handful of basil leaves
1 large avocado or 2 small
Suggested Garnishes
chopped chives, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers,
and seaweed Blend all the soup ingredients
together in a blender until completely smooth. Taste and
adjust seasonings if necessary. Garnish with
chopped chives, cherry tomatoes,
cucumbers, bell peppers, and seaweed.
Hey sweethearts! I'm back already. I just discovered this
awesome video about raw foods on the Darryl Hannah's podcast
show. Annie Jubb makes her version of raw brazil nut milk. After you
watch it check out my version
of almond milk that I make with
organic vanilla beans and sprout
bags. Enjoy!
Amagaki Persimmon. Mmmmmmmm!
Burdock Root
Mini Haus, pineapple
guavas, and Kaffir lime
Fruit salad with pineapple
guava
Dehydrated
Yacon Slices
My
version of a Mexican pizza with sun dried capers and
dehydrated tomatillos
zucchini pasts with bell pepper
basil sauce
Creamy zucchini thyme soup
Farmer's Market Treasures
Hey loves it's only Nov. 10 and I'm already
back. I've freed up some time in my life to be able to work more
on my website because it brings me so much joy! Every time, I
get an e-mail from someone saying they appreciate my website it
just makes my day! I finally added some new articles to my
articles pagebe sure to check them out and
remember that you can donate an article at anytime. The more we
spread information the better!
Anyways I wanted to share with you some pictures
I took of some of the food that I've made and also of some
beautiful finds at the farmer's market! Everyday Saturday
morning I dedicate to going to the farmer's market to do my
shopping for the week. I enjoy it so much and it really saves me
a lot of money. During the week I might pick up a few things
here or there at the Whole Food's but the majority of my
shopping is done at the farmer's market. When you look to my
right you'll see why!
For one thing it's already Persimmon season in
Northern California. We are so lucky that we have both Fuyu and
another persimmon variety called Amagaki. Here is a description
of the Amagki:
The amagakis are also firm-fleshed when ripe,
similar to a fuyu. They are lighter in color, more toward yellow
than red-orange. The shape is ovoid and the lack of ridges makes
them easier to peel. Smoother in texture and juicier, similar to
a not-quite-ripe nectarine, these are sweeter too than the same
grower's fuyus. These are seedless with some brown filaments
marking the flesh that may be vestigial seeds.
For a visual description look to
right and you can see me holding an Amagaki that I took a big
bite out of, it was so delicious!!!!! I bought 20 pounds of a
combination of Fuyu's and Amagaki's. I'm not much of a Hachiya
fan, they are a little too sweet and goopy for my taste but I
know some people love them. Anyways there is an over
abundance of persimmons in winter and I plan on making some
beautiful holiday pies and perhaps
some cookies with them!
Another cool thing that I found
was Burdock root. Here is a little excerpt about it:
Burdock root has been
described a blood purifier. The burdock root was believed to
clear toxins from the bloodstream. It may be applied externally
as well as internally to relieve eczema and psoriasis.
Additionally, it may ease painful joints or act as a diuretic.
Ancient Chinese medicine combined burdock root with other herbs
to treat colds, measles, sore throats, and tonsillitis. And the
Japanese consume burdock root as a vegetable.
-http://www.nutrasanus.com/burdock.html
I'm not sure about all that but
it was a cool thing to juice, I liked the sweet and earthy taste
it gave my juice!
I also came across some kaffir
lime. I know I talked about the leaves in a
previous journal entry but this time I
actually came across the fruit. It's this little lime that looks
all wrinkly. I've only used the leaves before, but this time I'm
going to use the rind in a coconut curry soup. I'll let you know
how it turns out. Here's a little more about
kaffir lime.
The other green fruit next to the
kaffir lime is a pineapple guava. The season is just now over
but I bought a few last week. I don't think that they are
actually related to guavas but they taste like a cross between a
guava, pineapple, with the sweetness of a ripe pear. They are
absolutely amazing and as I mentioned in a
previous journal entry you can eat the petals of their
flowers and they taste like candy!
Yacon Chips?
I've heard of Yacon syrup as a
sweetner but I just discovered that the dehydrated slices of the
Yacon root are available at my
local coop. The Yacon root is a South American root grown in
the Andes that has been cultivated as far back as 1200BC! They
were slightly sweet and nutty and with a little sea or crystal
salt I think they might actually be a good substitute for potato
chips, although they are chewy, not crunchy. I could also
imagine that they would be a good addition to a salad with a
sweet dressing. Something different!
Dinner Lately
On the right are some of my dinner creations lately.
The first picture was my version of a Mexican pizza. I took a
simple flax cracker that was made with ground golden flax and I
topped it with homemade guacamole, sauerkraut, salsa, and
dehydrated tomatillos, and capers. Everything was either gift or
store bought! The only thing I made was the guac!!!! It was
probably the best thing I've made in awhile! The pasta with the
green sauce is actually made with
zuchinni pasta and a basil,
avocado, red bell pepper dressing. A similar recipe is in my
spiral slicer booklet. It looks kinda
weird but it tasted really good! The soup below it I made
because I felt cold so I blended some zuchinni, celery, avocado,
miso, garlic, Italian herbs, spicy pepper, and water in the
blender until it was warm. It hit the spot, now that it's
getting a little chilly in Northern Cali.
When I'm cold, I also drink some
organic ginger tea sweetened with honey and stevia. When it
cools down a bit you can also add
some raw almond milk for a treat. I know tea isn't raw, but
I'm okay with that:)
Well loves now that I'm hungry
talking about all that yummy raw food, I'm going to grab a
bite:)
