Nov. 2008
A Star is Born
November is my very
good friend, Nova's birthday. Our little community of raw food
friend's celebrated at a local raw food restaurant called
Seed Restaurant in Santa Rosa. There menu is always changing
so it is exciting to see what is available! I was really bummed
that I forget the memory card for my camera:( One highlights of
the night was that I invited a new raw food couple that moved into the area and we
all got a chance to know them a little better. They told me about
how they routinely input what they eat into a nutrition data
analyzer. They mentioned
nutritiondata.com,
fitday.com,
and
nutrition analysis tool 2.0.
I
think it is a great idea to track what you are eating each day
to make sure you're getting what you need. It takes the guess
work out of raw food. I also think that people think that just
because it's raw, it's healthy. That is not always the case.
Many people who are new to raw foods can easily get 60% of their
calories from fat without even knowing! Tracking what you eat
for a few weeks or more can really help. I also like the new
book by Cherie Soria called
The Raw Food Revolution Diet ,
this is is the only raw food recipe book available
that has a nutritional analysis for each recipe.
Back to the birthday bash, the other highlight was that my
friend Nova's boyfriend wore a tuxedo to the raw food
restaurant. He was a little over dressed to say the least, but I
guess she is always getting on his case to dress up more often
and he finally listened. I was also in on a little secret that
he was surprising her with tickets to Hawaii! Nova loves a show
on TLC called Jon and Kate plus 8 about a couple with 8
children. On their most recent episode they went to a beautiful
resort to renew their vows called the
Grand
Wailea in Maui, well her boyfriend surprised her with a stay
there. How romantic! I'm super happy because I get to play with
lil Chihuahua super star Penny Reh! Scroll down for pictures of
her at the beach with my boyfriend and I. She's sleeping nuzzled
next to me as I type. Having Penny Reh for three weeks has
really given my boyfriend and I dog fever. My brother says that
dog fever is contagious:) So far this week I've gone to three
shelters to find my little doggie soulmate but I'm going to wait
until my dog sitting duties are over. Nova told me that there
are many dogs at shelters that need a good home and that if you
buy a dog from a pet store you are supporting puppy mills that
are just as cruel (or worse) as factory farming. There are so
many cute dogs at the shelters it seems like you could find
exactly the dog you need and possibly save it's life at the same
time.
Green Festival
The next day we went to the
annual
San Francisco Green Festival. I ran into Justin from
Organic
Athlete, for those of you that have never heard about
organic athlete, it's a non for profit organization that
promotes vegan athleticism, awareness, and education. Justin is
a raw vegan cyclist and runner. He was a speaker at our last
potluck and I was amazed and inspired
by his 3-4 hour a day workouts. I love it when raw vegan
athletes dispel the myth that vegans have less energy! I also
ran into the organizer of the famous
raw spirit
festival, Happy Oasis. I
personally haven't been, but I
know so many people who have and had a great time. I love going
to raw food festivals! I used to go to the
International Raw Foods Festival in Oregon. I miss it so
much! I love Oregon, but luckily there is another Oregon raw
food festival called the
Raw
and Living Spirit Retreat
I'd like to visit.
It's really good to connect with other people who are
interested in the raw food's lifestyle. It makes you feel sane:)
I'm so lucky I've created a community of raw friends. They are
always a phone call, visit, or raw potluck away:)
Also, at the Green
Festival were many raw friendly vendors. I especially loved the
Kale Chips from Blessings Alive and Radiant Foods. I bought
the Thai High Curry Flavor. These were the ingredients:
Kale*, Zucchini*, Basil*, Coconut*, Miso*, Curry Powder*, Garam
Masala*, Lemongrass*, Jalapeno*, Ginger*, Lemon Juice*, Agave*,
Scallion*, Himalayan Crystal Salt. They are salty, crunchy,
spicy, with a strong curry flavor. I really liked them and think
they would be good on top of a salad. They also have three other
flavors: QUITE CHEESEY, PLEASING PESTO, and VERY TERIYAKI. I've
tried them all, and they are all very good. Thai Curry is my
favorite.
There were also a lot
of new raw chocolate companies at the festival. I'm really happy
there are more raw vegan chocolate options for the chocoholics
out there. Unfortunately I can't eat raw chocolate:( Just a
sprinkle of nibs and my bladder gets really irritated and I feel
shaky and have trouble sleeping. I definitely think it's better
than a standard candy bar though and if it encourages people to
eat healthier overall; that's a good thing. A new raw chocolate
bar that stood out was called
Fearless Chocolate. I didn't try it, but my friend did and
he likes it a lot. The consistency is really smooth and creamy
and they have different flavor options.
My favorite is still
carob! I love carob power in my smoothies and desserts. Carob is
a pod that grows on the carob tree that is a member of the
legume (pea) family and it grows in Mediterranean areas. Carob
is up to 8% protein and contains vitamins A, B, B2, and B3. It
is also high in calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium and
contains iron, manganese, barium, copper and nickel. For more
information about carob read this article. Most people have
not seen a raw carob pod, but luckily my friends brought some
back for me from Germany. Look at the picture to your left. You
just chew on the pods and spit out the seeds. So yummy!
New Yummy Products
Another raw food
product I tried last weekend was not at the Green Festival but I
found it at
Rainbow
Grocery in San Francisco. I also read about it in
Veg
News Magazine in the favorite products section. It is called
Tree Nut Cheese and it comes in 8 flavors. It is a raw
cheese made from nuts. I personally tried the aged macadamia nut
flavor. It definitely had the consistency of a soft cheese with
a nutty flavor. I am curious to try the other flavors. On it's
own it didn't blow me away, but I think it would be great on a
raw cracker. Plus, I am biased because I like to make my
own nut cheese. I let two other people taste it for a second
opinion and they both really liked it. It's getting rave reviews
and has many fans. Any new vegan raw food product in the cheese
aisle is an amazing thing!
Another raw food
product my friend John introduced me to recently is from a
company called
Zukay
and they make a raw pickle relish and an almost raw fermented
salsa! Even though, on the website they say that the tiny amount of culture they use is milk based,
since then the formulation has changed, so now the culture they
use is vegan. I tried the
raw fermented pickle relish and I really liked it. I think it
would be awesome in a raw food mock tuna pate. You can order a
case of 6 jars right off the website. Pickle relish fans
rejoice!
The last raw food
product I wanted to tell you about is something I stumbled upon
at my local health foods grocery store. It is an
organic apple date roll. Basically they took some organic
dates and rolled them with organic apple powder and cinnamon.
Soy lecithin is also on the ingredient list. I usually don't
like date nut concoctions because they are so heavy, so I was
thrilled to find a date roll with no nuts. They are absolutely
delicious! Reminds me of an apple cinnamon roll. My favorite
thing is to spread them on celery sticks.
If you want to see some
of the other products that I recommend go to my
recommendations page, most
people overlook this page but it really is just a list of some
of my favorite things. If I love something I love letting people
know about it.You might get some good ideas for Christmas!
Happy Gratitude Day
Here is a cool video someone sent me
about wisdom I thought you might enjoy:
http://www.wisdombook.org/
and don't forget to scroll down and
read my latest new poem about Gratitude in honor of Thanksgiving
and my raw rice pudding recipe. And of course Happy
Thanksgiving!!!
I Love U,
Ceci and Penny Reh
P.S. 5 things I'm
grateful for
1.Babysitting little
Penny Reh and snuggling with her in the morning.
2. My friend Nova who lets me share her dog:)3.Having the time
to be creative and write in this journal. It's one of my
favorite things to do.
4.Laura
and I have a planned walk in a few hours and the sun is
shinning.
5. I'm grateful that Darrel is back from a business trip and
also that he bought me a Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (Black)
and I'm anticipating all the
raw food videos we're going to make and all the people we are
going to reach!
What are are you grateful for?
|
Gratitude
Gratitude is
an eternal pause
to recognize the divine
amidst the mundane
Gratitude is a deep breath for the soul
a softening of the heart
a surrendering of the ego
to all the invisible workings
of a magical universe
Gratitude is our raft
on that great current
that is both us
and carries us
back and forth
between heaven and earth
Gratitude is our connection to spirit
A joyful prayer
A silent mantra
to the only truth the world has ever known
All is Always Well
Gratitude is an invitation to sit at God's table
and celebrate with the angels
to toast to a blessed life and a peaceful heart
Gratitude is a glimpse into the heart of life
itself
a preview of even more beauty and more wonder to come
to be uncovered in every
graceful
thankful
moment
-Cecilia Benjumea 11/08
click for more of Cecilia's poetry
|
Raw Food Rice Pudding
This
reminds me of the
Spanish rice pudding from my childhood
2 cups young coconut meat (about 4
young coconuts)
1 cup pitted dates (soaked in water for at least 1/2
hr. and drained)
1 cup young
coconut water
seeds from
1
vanilla bean *
1
teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons chia seeds
Blend all the ingredients except
for the chia seeds in a powerful blender until ultra
smooth and creamy. Add the blender mixture into a
bowl and mix in the Chia Seeds. Let the pudding set
in the refrigerator for at least a half hour before
serving so the Chia seeds can hydrate.
*
Click Here to Purchase Vanilla Beans
* Click Here to Purchase Chia
Seeds
|
