Off the HizzOOK vegan strawberry ice cream (50% raw)

Oh, I had some major cravings tonight for dessert. I saw a photo somewhere of some cheesecake and couldn't stop thinking about it. I wanted something creamy and rich and sweet with berries and chocolate. Fortunately, just today I was in the International District and picked up several cans of Coconut Cream. I also bought fresh young coconuts, but I don't think this dessert would have come out quite the same had I used fresh. So as far as raw desserts go, this one is kind of a cheat--canned Coconut Cream has most likely been heated and definitely processed with the addition of preservatives. But, I reckon it's not nearly as bad as the cheesecake I would have gotten. Here is what went into this delicious ice cream, made in the Vitamix (but you could probably make it in a food processor as well...not sure about a standard blender). This recipe makes one serving if you're a pig like me.

1 frozen banana
2 large frozen strawberries
about 3 heaping tablespoons full of chilled Coconut Cream
1/4" snip of vanilla bean
about 9 cashews
few dashes of salt
maple syrup to taste (can use agave or whatever sweetener you choose, or some dates)
approx. 2 tablespoons nut milk or apple juice

Start the Vitamix on low to try and break up the large chunks of frozen fruit. I had to keep poking it down with the plastic tamper that comes with the Vitamix. Do this as quickly as possible-- you don't want to let the mixture get too warm if you want it to taste like ice cream. The VitaMix has such a high speed motor that it can blend things together before they get warm, which often happens in a food processor. The coldness of the frozen fruit keeps the coconut cream firm as it blends together. So whatever appliance you have handy, blend this up any way you can. It would probably be yummy if it weren't super cold but I wanted it cold to resemble ice cream and also because I had plans to drizzle melted chocolate on top which hardened like Magic Shell. Yum. Again, not completely raw, but vegan, and so much better for you than cheesecake or dairy ice cream.

Of course, you could replace the strawberries with any other type of frozen fruit. Mango, blueberry, raspberry, peach, etc.. Especially in the summer, I remember to buy extra fruit and freeze some. When strawberries are in season they cost less, so I cut their tops off, halve them and freeze in a ziploc freezer bag. I also did this with peaches last summer. Freeze mangos when you can find them on sale and make Mango Lassis on a hot summer day. I will post that recipe soon!

By the way, although you can usually find coconut milk, coconut cream is rarely available in mainstream grocery stores. I haven't even seen it at natural food stores--it is just not a popular enough item yet. Find it at Asian grocers, particularly Southeast Asian markets, and make sure you get Coconut Cream not Cream of Coconut which is heavily sweetened for use in mixed drinks.

Coconut is a super healthy food to include in your diet. Here are some of the many health benefits of coconut. Coconut oil specifically is a beneficial addition, and despite its being mostly a saturated fat, it actually assists weight loss. Read more about coconut oil HERE . Enjoy your dessert...good night!

Oh, and did you say you don't have a Vita-Mix? Hmm...would you like to do something about that?

B-12 and nutritional balance

Many of us who have been vegan or vegetarian have been at some point confronted with the question of whether or not we are getting the nutrients we need in sufficient quantity. I was a vegetarian for 15 years, 8 of those years a vegan. For an example of the way I lived as a vegan, here is the blog of a vegan who eats the way I used to eat. She seems to have the same degree of knowledge on the subject as I had at the time: Fake meat, fake cheese, margarine, lots of bread and pasta, happy little treats like finding veggie burgers at Burger King, vegan marshmallows and baked goods, etc.. Looking back, I am amazed how ignorant I was by not researching what these artificial, dead food substances were or questioning whether they were truly good for me. Although I thought I was eating a pretty healthy diet because I wasn't eating meat or dairy, there was a lot I didn't know about nutrition. After a while of not feeling so healthy but never suspecting that perhaps the food itself was the culprit, I began to question whether or not I was getting enough b12, which is commonly thought to exist only in animal foods. Because of the information available at the time, which informed me that as a vegan I needed to take B Vitamins in order to be healthy, I did so without even questioning my diet. Like many people, I felt it was the easy solution to the problem--take a pill and don't think about it any more. I cannot honestly say that the vitamins improved my health in the long run. In fact, my overall condition deteriorated until I decided many years later to make a dramatic lifestyle change and adopt a living foods diet.

When I went raw in 2007 and read Spiritual Nutrition by Dr. Gabriel Cousens, I dove into the heart of nutritional science and began to use my own body as a laboratory. After the first few months of detoxification, I felt for the first time in my adult life what it was like to wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. The fatigue, anxiety, mood swings, depression, aches and pains that I'd lived with for years just melted away. No longer did I wonder or worry that I was not getting enough of the essential nutrients--I trusted in what I learned and saw the proof in my vibrant health.

Over the past four months, I have experimented with adding back some of the foods I used to eat before going raw, and some animal foods that I hadn't eaten in many years. Admittedly, part of my doing so was out of indulgence and the resulting laziness that ensues from the stupor. But once I decided to let myself temporarily indulge and not feel guilty about it, I thought it would be useful to study the effects these foods had on my body and mind. Part of what pulled me toward cooked foods was feeling very cold in the winter. So I ate some brown rice, some oatmeal now and then, even treating myself to pastries once a week with a mocha. Introducing grain-based food back into my diet had the desired effect of raising my body temperature, but also produced cravings for more grains and sugar and slowed my digestion down considerably.

More and more, I began to sense that I was lacking in protein so I started eating cooked chicken or fish about once a week. This led to my craving for eggs so I ate them a couple of times per week. I was still starting my day with green smoothies and eating salads, fruit and nuts, but in much smaller amounts because the cooked foods filled me up so much.  I started being less picky about dairy and ate cheese, yogurt, even ice cream a few times. I convinced myself that I must have needed more B Vitamins and protein if I was craving animal foods, so I allowed myself to eat them fairly regularly.

Meanwhile, I observed changes in my appearance and energy level. After a couple of months, it seemed that I required more sleep than I had before on 100% raw. My skin began to show my age (I'm 40, but was told regularly that I looked 15 years younger). The light in my eyes seemed dim, and the dark circles returned.  I felt tired, depressed, moody and sluggish, absolutely requiring caffeine to get going in the morning. I could tell that the overall effects of eating this way were contributing to aging. But still, I had this intense craving for these foods--the more I ate them, the more I seemed to need them.

Toward the end of May I resolved to go back to 100% raw. My experiment had proven what I suspected all along--that the typical American diet, even a so-called healthy one, is largely responsible for lowering energy levels and accelerating aging. I thought that increasing my B Vitamin intake with these foods would increase my energy level, but it had the reverse effect. Over the past few days, I've returned to consuming very green smoothies and eating salads for meals, gradually tapering off of the crap I've allowed to deteriorate my health. This morning I awoke feeling extremely fatigued with no good reason for it. I'm feeling that it is time for me to do a cleansing fast to restore my natural balance and rid my body of any toxins accumulated by consuming mucus-forming grains and putrefying animal products. Again questioning my nutritional balance, I wondered whether a lack of B-12 could be responsible for my fatigue. So I did some more research on the topic and came up with a fantastic article by Gina Shaw on the B-12 issue. She explains thoroughly the science behind B-12 production and absorption in the body, and goes on to illustrate that a raw vegan diet restores the intestinal flora, brings about proper nutritional balance and facilitates adequate absorption of nutrients. This is a good article to bookmark and send to your friends and family when they worry that you're not going to get enough of what you need on a raw diet. If you are vegetarian or vegan, this article may be enough to convince you that including more fresh, living food in your diet could be the best possible thing you could do to improve your health. At the bottom of the page is a link to another B-12 article written by Gabriel Cousens. That is also worth reading to get his perspective on the issue. I will eventually have articles like these compiled here by subject, but the Living Foods website is an amazing resource to bookmark.

The moral of this story is that while adopting a raw lifestyle is optimal in many ways for lots of people, it can be valuable to allow yourself to fall off the wagon now and then. For me, sitting there in the mud for a while gave me a deep appreciation for what it feels like to be light, free, ALIVE, on the road and journeying through life ACTIVATED. Electric Gypsy style. I'm still fighting some of those cravings, but they will subside as I nourish myself back to balance. I wish you great courage and success on your own journey.

a bad photo of a really good salad

My new favorite way to make salads is to mix together all the "stuff" with the dressing and then lay it on top of the greens instead of the traditional way of making a green salad and adding "stuff". This way, it's like that cereal they sell at Trader Joes, "Just the clusters". Or like that episode of Seinfeld in which Elaine suggests to a baker the idea of baking muffins but selling only the muffin tops, and tossing the stumps since nobody likes them as much as the tops anyway. (Segue into "Muffin Tops" script, full episode HERE. The scene where Elaine is confronted by the lady at the homeless shelter, where she has been leaving the muffin "stumps", is incredibly hilarious)



Woman: I can't believe somebody pulled the top off of this muffin.
Elaine: That was me. I'm sorry. I don't like the stumps.
Mr Lippman: So you just eat the tops.
Elaine: Oh yeah. It's the best part. It's crunchy, it's explosive, it's where the muffin breaks free of the pan and sort of (makes hand motions) does it's own thing. I'll tell you. That's a million dollar idea right there. Just sell the tops.


ANYWAY, here is what i put into this salad, and of course you are free to substitute anything you don't like, won't eat or don't have. 

the stuff

1 apple
1 stalk celery
1 Persian cucumber
2-3 radishes
3-bean munchie sprouts (or any sprouts you have--sprouted sunflower seeds would also be good)
raw cheddar cheese (omit if desired)
avocado slices on top (don't mix in or they will get mushed up)
and i forgot the raisins this time, but it's very good with raisins.

the dressing
(oops i forgot to measure what i put into the blender! amounts are approximate and just so you know, "T" is Tablespoon, "t" is teaspoon)

1/4 cup cider vinegar
2-3T apple or orange juice
1T raw tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
dash of umeboshi vinegar
salt to taste
dash of cayenne
squeeze of lemon
if you like it a bit sweeter you can add a touch of honey

mix this stuff all up in a bowl and spoon it out on top of the greens of your choice. I used spinach this time. This recipe makes enough for two people if you are having something else or aren't that hungry. If this is your main meal and you're hungry, eat the whole thing yourself. These ingredients go well together both taste-wise and digestion-wise.


Rebecca: Excuse me, I'm Rebecca Demore from the homeless shelter.
Elaine: Oh, hi.
Rebecca: Are you the ones leaving the muffin pieces behind our shelter?
Elaine: You been enjoying them?
Rebecca: They're just stumps.
Elaine: Well they're perfectly edible.
Rebecca: Oh, so you just assume that the homeless will eat them, they'll eat anything? 
Mr. Lippman: No no, we just thought...
Rebecca: I know what you thought. They don't have homes, they don't have jobs, what do they need the top of a muffin for? They're lucky to get the stumps.
Elaine: If the homeless don't like them the homeless don't have to eat them.
Rebecca: The homeless don't like them.
Elaine: Fine.
Rebecca: We've never gotten so many complaints. Every two minutes, "Where is the top of this muffin? Who ate the rest of this?" 
Elaine: We were just trying to help.
Rebecca: Why don't you just drop off some chicken skins and lobster shells.
Elaine: I think I might.

all about Cucumbers

 a relative passed this info along to me in an email this afternoon, ironically right after i just bought some cucumbers for my daughter who asked to have some for lunch. I had no idea they had so much nutrition and so many other uses.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6.. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.


9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown to reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

FDA Argues Feds Can Deny Consumers the Right to Buy Raw Milk and Dairy Products

Attorneys for the federal government have argued in a lawsuit pending in federal court in Iowa that individuals have no "fundamental right" to obtain what food they choose. The brief was filed April 26 in support of a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ban on the interstate sale of raw milk.  read full story here

and lots more info about the fight to keep raw milk legal  HERE

And FYI, here is the FDA's public stance on raw milk The Dangers of Raw Milk 
 blahbity blah...

My personal opinion on raw milk is that fundamentally, cow milk was intended for baby cows, not humans. I was vegan for 8 years and still believe that cow milk should not be a staple food for us--it should be consumed as a treat, if at all. But if people do choose to include dairy products in their diet, raw dairy is the absolute most healthy choice. Raw milk contains the live enzymes necessary to properly digest the proteins and fat in the milk, which enables us to assimilate the nutrients. I invite discussion about milk consumption here, so please feel free to comment with your opinion or any links you may have to share. Here are a few raw milk links to articles I found:


raw-milk-facts.com
mercola.com
a campaign for real milk
NY Times

I believe that the best thing you can do for your health is learn to trust your own inner guidance to find what is best for your unique body, mind and spirit. I personally consume, in small quantities, raw dairy products. I eat raw cheese, (cheddar is so good with apples!) and when i can find it, i buy raw milk for my daughter who loves it. It will not be so easy for me to obtain it anymore. PCC, our local natural food chain market, recently stopped carrying raw milk. Apparently, Whole Foods has also pulled raw milk from the shelves. read full story here. They cite concern over food safety, however, given the stories i read about the FDA's raid on an Amish Farmer, it's clear that the FDA campaign is becoming more and more aggressive. I would not doubt that the government has threatened retailers even more than independent farmers, and of course Whole Foods isn't going to issue a public statement about that when they can simply attribute the decision to concern over our safety.

I do have friends who own a cow, and they have offered me a small amount of milk if I want it. They don't have very much, but we don't use very much--so I may take her up on the offer. It looks like this will be the only way for us to get access to raw milk unless consumer campaigns prove successful. I am interested to see how this affects the raw cheese market, as I have seen more and more raw cheeses being offered at Trader Joe's. It's looking to me like we are going to have to raise and produce all of our own food soon enough, if we want to maintain control over our own dietary choices. If the day ever comes when the government starts destroying or confiscating citizens' personal livestock, gardens or seeds, I will be moving my family to Europe.

In the meantime, I intend to resurrect an organization I started a few years ago, Temple of Hygieia and update it with these current issues. I was doing way too much at the time I started that website so I dropped the ball on it, but my intention was to form a legal church to protect our constitutional right to our own health freedom. If anyone is interested in helping me develop that organization, please contact me at madame7@gmail.com

raw vegan hot cacao! (well, as warm as you like)

It began as a quest for comfort on a cold winter's day, with a motherlode of cacao beans I got from a friend "in the biz". I had already been making fresh hemp seed milk for my kids so we could stop buying all those boxes of hemp milk and also so I could ensure that they were getting all the nutritional benefits hemp seed has to offer. So I had been playing around with different milk recipes and decided to try adding some cacao beans. Because the Vitamix has such a powerful motor that it can actually heat up the food, I thought I'd let it run for a while to see if I could make hot cocoa. What I didn't expect was that the Vitamix would whip the cocoa into a frothy, creamy, delicious warm beverage that I enjoy better than any hot cocoa I've ever had.

This drink could probably be made in a regular blender. If your blender doesn't get it warm enough, you could always heat it up. If you want to retain the most nutrients, don't heat it up past 110 degrees. If you want to learn more about Vitamix blenders and how they can change your life for the better, click HERE, or feel free to email me and I will tell you all about it. Since going raw I hardly use any appliances, but the Vitamix gets used 1-2 times a day, every day. When people ask me what they need to get started on a raw diet, that's it: get a Vitamix. Do I sound like a salesperson? Ha ha...I don't care, just get one. Your hot cacao drink will be much better.

So here is the basic recipe which you can adjust to your taste.

2 cups water
2 Tablespoons shelled hemp seed, more or less
about 16 raw cashews
1-2 dates (medjool is large and soft, good for this recipe)
8-10 whole cacao beans, or 1 Tablespoon of cacao nibs (raw is best)
few dashes of salt (I like "real salt")
1-2 Tablespoons of agave nectar, to taste
1/4" piece of vanilla bean, or 1/4 teaspoon extract

optional: cinnamon, and cayenne, to taste (for Mexican cocoa)
I highly recommend it with the cayenne!
You could also throw in a few coffee beans...mmmm...!

Start the blender on low and gradually raise the speed. The Vitamix has a variable speed dial so I just crank it up. You want it running on high for 5-7 minutes so make sure the lid is on tightly. I got mine to a good drinking temperature in about 7 minutes. Drink it right away so you can enjoy the creamy foam that forms on top. Makes two servings.

Now, this recipe could also be made into a cacao milkshake, if you add 1/2 a frozen banana, some ice cubes, and don't let it run longer than it takes to blend thoroughly. I do that for an afternoon snack sometimes. Have fun with it! Great for kids, you can even give this to them for breakfast. It's often an after-dinner treat in our home.

Delicious raw breakfast for winter

Normally i get by on a big green smoothie for breakfast each morning. I'll have one at 9:30 or 10am and then another one in a couple of hours. After 2+ years raw, my body gets everything it needs from those smoothies. But during the winter, i really notice the need for a higher caloric intake. So on crispy, frosty winter mornings, sometimes i have a small bowl of sprouted buckwheat granola with nuts, fruit, and freshly-made hemp milk. It's a perfect "comfort food" and goes well with a smoothie when i need to eat more for breakfast. This also makes a great late-night snack, although if i am eating after 8pm, i use more fruit and less granola because i find that i sleep better when i don't eat anything beyond fruit at night.

You need a dehydrator to make this granola properly, but it can be made in the oven with the door open if your oven has a very low setting. Most conventional ovens don't go below 170 degrees so it's not recommended. I am encouraging people to go in on the purchase of a dehydrator with their housemates or family members. The Excalibur dehydrator is by far the best on the market for the purposes of raw food preparation. It also can make yogurt and other cultured foods, and it has craft applications as well (i've dried my kids' paintings in there so they could be given as gifts right away). Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing an Excalibur dehydrator and i can advise you on the best one and the best place to buy it.

In order to make sprouted buckwheat granola, you need to buy raw buckwheat groats. I find them in the bulk section of my local natural foods store--be sure they are not the toasted kind as those will not sprout. The reason you want the buckwheat to sprout is to activate the enzyme inhibitors and release the full nutritional potential of the seed. I start with 2 cups of buckwheat (which, by the way, is NOT wheat--it's another grain entirely) and soak it in a large bowl of filtered, or even better, spring water. I add a splash of seawater which i keep on hand but you can use a pinch of celtic or some other natural sea salt. This is for the mineral content more than anything. You don't want to add too much salt as that could interfere with sprouting. You will need a rather large bowl as the buckwheat expands a lot. Just keep it covered with water for 12 hours or overnight. It will soak up the water and get kind of gluey. Dump it into a large colander and rinse well, stirring with your hands. I like to use the sprayer on my sink faucet. Then place the colander to drain over a bowl and set it somewhere with a light cloth over it for at least one day. You will need to rinse it at least once to wash off the goo and to keep it hydrated enough to sprout. After a day or so you should see little tails growing on the kernels. You can rinse again if desired, but leaving the buckwheat a little gluey will help the granola to clump together. If your buckwheat doesn't sprout after 2 days, it may be too dry, or it may have been irradiated. This is an increasingly worrisome issue affecting our food supply. If you discover this to be the case, please inform your natural food store manager and request another source. We need to pull together to stand up for our right to real, live, unadulterated food.

Transfer back into the large bowl and add whatever you like for flavor and texture. Here are some of the things i mix in:

1/2 cup sunflower seed which has been soaked in apple cider and water with 1/4 cup raisins and 1/4 cup dried cranberries. (i soak the fruit so when it dehydrates, it doesn't end up too crispy)

3T ground flax seed, which helps it to stick together (not necessary, but also adds Omega 3 oils)

1t salt, to taste

1/4-1/2 cup agave nectar, to taste (could also use honey or maple syrup if you're not strictly raw)

cinnamon, vanilla extract

shredded coconut

mix this all together and spread onto teflex sheets of an Excalibur dehydrator. This amount will fill 2-3 sheets. Spread to about 1/2 inch thickness and compress. Dry on the "living foods" setting overnight. Check in the morning. If the top is dry and underneath it's still moist, lay another teflex-lined tray on top and flip the two trays over. Then peel off the original teflex sheet and dehydrate another couple of hours. You will have to play around with the time and temperature. It should be totally dry and crispy and you should be able to break off chunks.

I know this may sound like a lot of work for some cereal but it is so filling that you won't need to eat very much, so it will last a while. It's a special treat for me and my kids love it. It actually tastes kind of like Grape Nuts cereal. You can mix in your favorite nuts and more dried fruit, if you wish, and store in a sealed jar. If it ever becomes moist, just dehydrate again. This granola is a good transitional food on a raw diet because it gives you the satisfying full feeling that you might be missing from cooked food or breakfast items like oatmeal. Pour on some homemade hemp milk and enjoy.