RAW Living and Learning

Wondering about the nutritional benefits of raw chocolate or raw cacao? Read on to find out if raw chocolate is actually good for you. I can't say it any better than this author so I thought I'd share with you the words of Jennifer Murray. This is an article written by her found on about.com: Nutritional Benefits of Raw Cacao (Raw chocolate) Is chocolate really good for us, or do we just wish that it was? By Jennifer Murray I'll never forget the day my first acupuncturist told me it was good for me to eat chocolate. What a genius she was! So astute, so well educated, and clearly not to be doubted. She believes there is a reason why some people's bodies crave chocolate; that somehow, something in the chocolate helps your body toward it's goal of being balanced. In the years since, there has been a lot of controversy over whether or not she is right. In the raw foods community many people believe in raw cacao, or raw chocolate (not the roasted, processed ...

Banana Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies Wait until you read the super charged ingredients in these little cookies. I was playing around in the kitchen today with new recipes and wanted to make an extremely nutritious cookie for the children, and hubby too. You can easily make these totally raw by purchasing raw oats. I just used really good organic oats today. Grind the raw oats to make the oat flour that I refer to in the recipe. I got out a big bowl, opened up the pantry and literally made this recipe up as I added each ingredient. I just threw in what ever I thought would taste good together and here is the result. You can make these two ways like I did. Keep some of them cold in the fridge and dehydrate the rest till desired texture; store those in an airtight container on the counter. Eat within two days....ours will be gone in one! My husband and children like both versions. My husband liked the dehydrated a bit more than the cold cookie. My older two children thoug...

Chocolate Breakfast Oatmeal   I was introduced to a blog yesterday and I found a recipe for chocolate oatmeal. I decided to adapt her recipe to my tastes and I came up with an amazing Chocolate Breakfast Oatmeal. As I sit here eating it I have to think, "Can I really eat this for breakfast?" It tastes like a wonderful dessert. Like a chocolate oatmeal cookie, but in a bowl. Raw foods are great aren't they? I love that no rules apply when deciding what to eat for each meal. As I have posted before, my favorite thing to eat in the morning is actually salad!! So this is a bit different. If I could figure out how to incorporate some greens into it I would. Actually I just got a great idea. I just "harvested" my brown lentils today; those are going in! Lentils would go great with chocolate. If you don't love brown lentils, leave them out, you'll think it is strange. I love them and they taste great in my bowl. I added 1 heaping tablespoon. I'm think...

Today I am inspired by Raw on $10 a day or Less . Here is her amazing recipe. I have my chia soaking right now and will be enjoying this wonderful and healthful breakfast in just about twenty minutes. Here is my Chia http://astore.amazon.com/rawlivandlea-20/detail/B001CJOMZC  Can't wait to try her recipe!! Click on this link to see her recipe and photos: http://rawon10.blogspot.com/ "Breakfast Ch-ch-chocolate Chia (From Raw on $10 a Day or Less) serves 2 ~ $1.46 per serving 2 oz chia seeds ($1.56) 2 tablespoons cocoa or cacao powder ($.40) 2 tablespoons agave or sweetener ($.20) dash salt 10 oz water 2 tablespoons crushed walnuts ($.25) 2 tablespoons raisins ($.10) chocolate sauce ($.40) Put the chia seeds, cacao powder, sweetener and salt in a bowl and cover with the water. Let sit for 15-30 minutes until the chia seeds have gelled . Stir really well, breaking up any lumps, and top with walnuts, raisins and chocolate sauce. The chocola...

Raw Cacao Birthday Cake Our son, Eric Jr., turned four yesterday. We took our five children to a movie in 3-D, came home for dinner, gifts and raw cake!!!! Here is a photo of the youngest three in their 3-D glasses. Eric Jr. is on the left, Mason in the middle and Aidan on the right. The older two refused to pose.    All five children  really enjoyed the flick. But I think they liked the raw cake even better. Here is a photo of Eric Jr. before he blew out his candles. He did not want his picture taken, he just wanted to dig into that cake. He was asking me all day when he could have some. Too funny! I will NOT smile while you all sing! Watch the expression change. Blowing out the candles...gonna get a bite soon. Now look at this expression, pure happiness....raw cacao happiness!! "My fork is stuck." "Oh, I got it out, back to the cake." I used two recipes for inspiration. One was from Rawfully Tempting  and the other from the book, ...