RAW Living and Learning

Sunflower greens--I eat them, juice them and put them in smoothies; I adore these green goodies. I have said it before, sunflower greens are one of those foods that you want in your diet on a daily basis. If you haven't started sprouting them yet, what are you waiting for?? When growing the greens you want to purchase the organic black seeds, called black oil sunflower in shell. I purchase mine locally from our 100% organic market but you can also order them from these wonderful people . You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about sprouting on their site. We all know how important it is becoming to learn how to grow our own food. If you don't believe me go to one of my favorite blogs and listen to these videos Mr. H posted. Hi Mr. H !  If you desire sunflower sprouts, purchase organic hulled seeds and grow them in a glass jar like any other sprout not requiring soil. When growing the sunflower greens you must first soak your black seeds overnight i...

Time has been changed to 6 PM!!!!!! The coordinator of our Living Foods Group wanted me to post this awesome MeetUp. Here you go Lisa!! Here are some pics of my Kim Chi I made awhile ago. I look forward to learning new recipes! THE NAPLES LIVING FOODS GROUP PRESENTS: A WORKSHOP ON MAKING YOUR OWN YOGURTS, KEFIRS, FERMENTS, & CULTURES PRESENTED BY JACKIE and GIDEON GRAFF OF WWW.SPROUTRAWFOOD.COM With the advent of food preservation through canning and pasteurization, the beneficial lacto bacteria are destroyed. Now pickles and sauerkraut are made with vinegar instead of the traditional method of lacto-fermentation with salt. There are many benefits to going back to the traditional ways of our ancestors, and eating more fermented foods. OUR DIGESTIVE HEALTH DEPENDS ON HEALTHY BACTERIA, AND WE CAN KEEP A HEALTHY GUT BY MAKING OUR OWN PROBIOTICS! In this two hour class, you will learn to make and enjoy: Coconut Kefir Cultured Coconut Yogurt Vegi Kraut Fermented...

 Friday Morning Chia I had to laugh the other day when my husband walked into the kitchen and with surprise in his voice said, "Why did you buy pink salt??" My daughter and I had gone for the first time to World Market. I went crazy in the spice isle and found a great price on their Himalayan salt--aka "pink salt". So what does pink salt have to do with my Friday morning chia? It tastes amazing in this recipe. I only used the slightest pinch and boy did it make all of these flavors pop. I can't believe after living the raw foods lifestyle for 16 months now this is the first time I have bought Himalayan Salt. I have been fine using sea salt all these months but have always wanted to try this beautiful "pink" salt. If you want to educate yourself on salt and their differences, check out this video . Very informative!! If you haven't thrown out your "table salt" yet, save it and use it to scour your sink or bath tub with. It doesn...

Our town has a wonderful 100% organic market, yes even the shelved items, meaning not produce, are organic. EVERYTHING in the store is organic. Makes it really easy to shop! They do a great job keeping their customers informed and this article was on their website. Sobering news, but we must be aware of what is to come and what is already here! I'm very afraid of Frankencrops, are you??? Peace & Raw Organic Health. +JMJ+ Today I am grateful for open and honest people who work hard to keep us informed. The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto “The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well. True coexistence is a must.” - Whole Foods Market, Jan. 21, 2011 In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto’s Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation’s 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America’s organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whol...

I posted a few days ago about a great site I found called Blend It and Mend It. Well, now she has show cased two of my smoothie recipes!! She videos her recipes and also viewer submitted recipes, demonstrating how to make wonderfully healthy and delicious smoothies and green drinks. A recent video is of my cherry smoothie that I wrote in to tell her about. Elizabeth's Cherry Green Smoothie 2 C spring water 1 10 oz bag of organic cherries 2 ripe bananas 3 handfuls of organic spinach 1 T chia seeds 1 T hemp seeds 1T sprouted and dehydrated raw buckwheat (buckwheat crispies posted here ) 1 tsp pure vanilla or almond extract (we use almond primarily) Blend until creamy smooth. Enjoy! I love how Jane improvises, using what she has on hand when recreating other's recipes. She has made some good substitutions. Go to her site and watch the video . My recipe calls for hemp seeds and she substituted sesame. Did you know that a 2 tablespoon serving of he...

Yesterday for lunch I had dessert; carob pudding to be exact. But I pumped up the already healthy dish with some organic raspberries and my sprouted buckwheat crunchies. Later in this post you'll see just how I sprout and dehydrate raw, hulled buckwheat. Buckwheat is a variety of plant in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the North American genus Eriogonum. Buckwheat is not a cereal but a pseudocereal. It is not a grass either, despite the common name and grain-like use of this crop. The name "buckwheat" or "beech wheat" comes from its triangular seeds resembling the beech trees much larger seeds, contained in the beech nut, and the fact that it's used like wheat. This name makes it very confusing especially for those looking for gluten free alternatives. This seed is in fact gluten free and in recent years has been used as a substitute for other grain in gluten free beer! How about its chemical composition? The seeds contain: STARCH- 71-78% in groats 70-...

Crystal blue skies this morning in SW Florida, the air is crisp and the smell is sweet. I had to fill up on some sunshine this morning and this was the perfect dish to do just that! I was blessed once again to receive fresh, tree ripe, Florida pummelos from our dear friends Dr. & Mrs. "F". Thanks guys!! You are so wonderful. Well this time I hit THE PUMMELO LOAD-- the mother load of pummelo. Seven of them are missing from the picture, I already ate those :) Mother Load of Pummelo Sunny Salad Bowl 2 pummelos, peeled and sliced/diced handful of sunflower sprouts (my own :) handful of organic raisins drizzle of RAW honey sprinkling of pumpkin seed powder (ground in nut chopper) These citrus fruits are sooo juicy, you will be left with a delicious juice in the bottom of the bowl. Be sure and drink that straight from the bowl, I always do!! It is so sweet and yummy with the raw honey mixed with the pummelo juice--yummo! Drink in the sunshine. If you spot a pumm...

Sweet Feast Day Treat for my Valentines   St. Valentine's History He is the Patron Saint of:  affianced couples  bee keepers  engaged couples  epilepsy  fainting  greetings  happy marriages  love  lovers  plague  travellers  young people He is represented in pictures with birds and roses. The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom. The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrat...

This was an impromptu lunch and I am very pleased with the result. I used what I had on hand and threw together this easy raw taco recipe. Romaine hearts served as the taco shells and the fillings were; *Bubbies Kraut *1 avocado *fresh cilantro *radish sprouts for some heat *fenugreek sprouts *sea salt and fresh ground black pepper It is simple foods like this that really make raw living foods so enjoyable. I could taste the flavor of each individual ingredient and there was no competition. If you have not tried real sauerkraut with avocado you are missing out on something truly spectacular. Of course it would be even better if it were my own fermented cabbage, but hey I can only do so much. Some day I will get back to fermentation. For now I am thankful for Bubbies. +JMJ+ Today I am grateful for cool, crisp weather--the kind where we can open the windows and feel almost zero humidity!! Very nice.

This morning for breakfast I made a juice for myself and the three youngest children. The older two were still upstairs getting ready to come down and start school. The morning juice consisted of: 2 lbs organic carrots, washed but unpeeled 1 handful fresh parsley 1 sprig fresh dill 1 large organic red apple 1 clementine, whole/unpeeled I didn't bother to take a pic--we all know what carrot juice looks like :) This was just delicious--you never saw three little boys drink fresh juice so fast. My six year old said, "Mom you make THE BEST fresh juices". Isn't that sweet! He is my complimentor, always praising Mommy and writing me tiny love notes throughout the day even on his school papers I'll see, "Mom, I love you." Sigh! I wish they could stay frozen in time--all this sweetness, can it last? For lunch I treated myself to a dreamy, elegant, thick and creamy smoothie. It was so rich and so filling I will be set until dinner!! I made my own version...

"Seek out foods that sustain, nourish, and warm you".  quote by Terri Trespicio While raw foods don't warm me in the sense that cooked foods warm others, they do warm me with the feeling of wellness. I feel so alive and warm with energy, when I eat raw living foods. Here is yet another way to bring raw goodness into your life with a natural sweetener from God's creation, one of which was right outside my front door :). Coconut Water Date Fluff (Paste) The other week I stumbled upon a great site called Blend It and Mend It . I followed her recipe for making a great all purpose sweetener in the form of a "date fluff/paste", she calls hers something different. She makes it with fresh coconut water infusing the dates with electrolytes. It turned out fantastic, so creamy, thick and delicious. I used it in a raw cookie recipe for the kids. You can also use it in smoothies, raw pies, and any raw dessert that calls for extra sweetness. I found a fresh coconut in ...

Today's lunch inspiration came from a vegan magazine titled "Healing Foods". It had a lot of cooked foods in it and only a few salads so I opted not to buy it. I was happy to see an article on sea vegetables, but the recipes were for using it cooked. I eat my sea vegetable raw so all of their vital nutrients are intact. I was a bit baffled with the title, "Healing Foods" since the majority of the foods were cooked??  But I did take the time to make note of a fantastic looking salad. I changed it a bit and love how it tasted. I really like that the dressing is oil free. The original recipe called for arugula but I used mixed baby greens. It also called for shallots but I only had one scallion left so I substituted that instead. I also added a pummelo and a clementine in addition to the grapefruit and orange that it called for. And of course I had to add some fresh home grown sprouts!! The dressing is definitely Asian style so I will call it "Asian Citrus Sal...