RAW Living and Learning

I am in a phase of craving these fruity green salads lately. I try to listen to my body because it always tells me what I need. At the moment it is greens with fruit. Never under estimate the power of fresh herbs with fruit or any salad for that matter. Just by adding some fresh herbs to one freshly juiced orange you have a no fat, super tasty dressing. The burst of flavor that the herbs and citrus add makes you feel like there is a rich dressing on top when in fact you are getting the added bonus of another fruit and green serving in your salad vs a toxic and fatty bottled dressing. Those little crunchy morsels that you see are my beloved Buckwheat Crispies.  I have a post explaining how I make these. For your convience here is the recipe: Buckwheat Crispies 1 pound buckwheat groats Directions:Put buckwheat groats in a large bowl and fill to the top with water. The buckwheat will double in size, so use plenty of water to keep it submerged. Rinse the buckwhe...

 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...

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-...

Lucuma Pudding I can eat different varieties of this raw pudding any day of the week. I am in love with this stuff. There are days when I can actually tell that I NEED this pudding. :) Well today was one of those days. I decided to use some Lucuma powder to flavor this version. It turned out spectacular. Right before I ate it I decided to sprinkle on one tablespoon of Hemp Seeds. They aren't in the photo. This will keep you full for HOURS. I sometimes don't get hungry again until almost dinner time! In June I posted a recipe for a basic carob pudding, this is a super charged version, minus the carob (I was out :() loaded with even more nutrition!! I added my buckwheat crispies to add a nice crunch. I have been adding these crispies to a lot of breakfast recipes lately. They take the place of dried cereals. Here is my recipe: Lucuma Pudding 1  organic avocado 1 large organic banana or 2 small (plus a few slices for topping) 2 heapi...