New-ness

New Books
I have been reading a lot lately. In no particular order, here are some of the books I have been enjoying:

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda



2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck



Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman



Wisdomkeepers: Meetings with Native American Spiritual Elders by Harvey Arden and Steve Wall



Travels in a Stone Canoe: The Return to the Wisdomkeepers by Harvey Arden and Steve Wall



Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach



Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach



One by Richard Bach



The Mystery of 2012: Predictions, Prophecies & Possibilities by Gregg Braden and co.



The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology by Jose Arguelles



Healthy at 100: How You Can At Any Age Dramatically Increase Your Life Span and Your Health Span by John Robbins





New Favorite Dish
I have a new favorite dish. Its an adaptation from an Ani Phyo recipe - Kale/Hemp/Power Slaw.

I've nicknamed my version of the recipe 'Dorito Salad' because it tastes sooooo good and cheesy!! Here it is:

1 bunch of kale, julienned
1/2 head of iceberg lettuce, julienned

Dressing:

3/4 c brazil nuts
1 T ginger
1/4 c water
1/4 c oil of your choice
2 T liquid aminos
1 lime, juiced

Instructions: FP brazil nuts and ginger, then add in the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth and creamy. Mix dressing with kale and iceberg and eat immediately or let sit in fridge for enhanced flavor alchemy.

note: Its good with carrots, too.

New Adventure
I went on a recent short adventure. I did a little camping, or tried to. I didn't last very long. I went to a State Park where the designated backpack camping sights are near a lake. OK, great! I thought at first. I can walk outside and meditate near water first thing in the morning if I want. Plus, bodies of water are just so magical and special in general. So I arrived at the spot and set up camp delighted by the beauty and quaintness of it.





Well, I got spooked by the lake eventually (SUPER spooked). I got the feeling there were alligators in there and I wasn't sure if alligators like exploring tents at night. I kept hearing so many noises from the water at night. I got pretty terrified, actually.

Well, DUH. Turns out there were totally alligators in the lake and I also found out alligators are NOCTURNAL!!! In the future I plan to read more about preparing myself for the whimsical outdoor adventure ideas I get in my head.


Spooky Alligator Lake

New Years Resolution
My resolution this year is to make more of an attempt to show people how beautiful and special I find them. I also am going to try to physically touch people more often.

New Orleans
(inspired by the Limerick posts on Give it To Me Raw)

There once was a woman named Mestival.
She went to the Raw Spirit Festival.
There she said, "Hey dawlins!"
"I hail from N'wallins!"
"And I eat raw food like the resta y'all!"

Thats it.

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Good Morning, December! I LOVE YOU!

Hello! It's DECEMBER!!!! YAY!

The Thanksgiving Dinners were fun. I had 8 orders total and here is a very cool part: every single person who ordered from me gave me MORE than I was charging! I even got an entire avocado pie as a gift from Raw Chef Marion! WOW! Thank you, Everyone! I was really touched.

I made, as promised:

cornbread dressing (corn, cashews, celery, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, etc.)


brazil nut patties with a creamy gravy on top (brazil nuts, celery, parsley, etc, dehydrated overnight)


a spinach/satsuma/candied pecan salad


and carrot cake!


All in all, I actually made about 5 carrot cakes because I brought them to various Thanksgiving Day gatherings. Raw carrot cake is GOOD! I'm perfecting my own recipe...will it post soon...

I've been riding a bike a lot lately.

Thank you for getting me around and getting me out in the weather, closer to the trees and wind and sky, Bike. I love you.

I had my first solo urban foraging adventure the other morning when I got the guts to climb the fence of this vacant property and gather a backpack full of lemons from a lemon tree.


These lemons have a lot of seeds, but they are humongous!






Thank you, Lemon Tree! I love you.

I made Carmella's Banana Chocolate Cream Cake with frozen blueberries in place of bananas:




It is de-LISH-ious! Thank you, Carmella! I love you!!!

December!! Welcome. Time for HOT CHOCOLATE!!! I had my first raw hot chocolate today: Raw cacao powder with warm water and honey. I'm a convert. Who knew???

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Thanksgiving!!!

This beautiful woman:



has awarded me with the:



What a compliment! She is living quite the inspirational life herself. She has a terrific blog, takes magical photos, and seems to have this superhuman quality of living life through a perspective that brings delight to all whom encounter her. Thank you, Suki!!!

In return for this honor, I must award 5 recipients of my own choice and here they are:

~Carmella~ Carmella's blog, TheSunnyRawKitchen.blogspot.com, is helping the world go raw! Her raw creations constantly drop my jaw and cause me to salivate. Her kindness and generosity shine through everything she does and her photos and recipes are helping to create the PLANETARY SHIFT we are now experiencing!

~Raw Rob~ I am regulary fascinated and inspired by Raw Rob's passion for, respect for and knowledge of all things natural, wild and consciousness-related. Plus, I think he's a dynamo. He seems to be doing about a million things. He blogs at RawRob.com, has an online Funky Raw Shop, publishes a Funky Raw Magazine, throws a Funky Raw Festival, and has a Funky Raw Website.

~Marta~ Marta is The Enchantingly Witty Polish Rawk and Roll Beauty: RAWVOLTA! Her blog rawvolta.wordpress.com is full of great photos and videos. She inspires me to get better at handstands!! Plus, she is one of my Soul Sisters.

~Phillip~ Phillip is Inspiration Incarnate. I only recently found his website LovingRaw.com and his blog, but I love it and everything he is doing. He inspires me supremely.

~Raw Model~ I also very recently found Raw Model Anthony's blog. I really love it! He's a very handsome guy who has a matter-of-fact and let's-do-it-NOW approach to how he is changing his lifestyle and becoming a more conscious inhabitant of this planet.

We are so lucky to have all these awesome bloggers, yes? There are more great blogs listed in the right margin here ---->

Moving onto food...

HEY, LET'S CELEBRATE!!!

Thanksgiving is almost here!!! I've decided what I am making for the Raw Thanksgiving Dinners To-Go:

-spinach salad with local citrus and candied pecans
-cornbread dressing
-brazil nut croquettes with gravy
-carrot cake

I'm psyched.

Here are a few photos of some of the things I have been playing around with:




This is Matt Amsden's recipe for Onion Bread - made with onion rings instead of processed onions. It comes out like fried onion rings or onion fritters and tastes dynamite!*


This is Ani Phyo's wilted spinach salad recipe from the book Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.*


This is mashed sweet potatoes from Brigitte Mars' book Rawsome!*

*Recipes coming soon.



I wanted to do some non-holiday food too so I ventured into the world of...

Raw Tacos:











They don't last long.

Corn Tortillas
adapted from Sergei and Valya Boutenko's Recipe for corn chips in their book 'Eating Without Heating'

4 c corn (I use frozen organic yellow, I like the yellow more than the white. Not sure why)
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 c H2O
1/4 - 1/2 t salt
1/2 c ground flax
1/4-1/2 t chili pepper flakes ground up

I blend everything except the flax, place it in a bowl, then add the flax. Mix and dehydrate.

Taco Meat
This recipe is something in between Ani Phyo's and Matt Amsden's. I at least double it when I make it.

1 1/2 c walnuts
1 T cumin
1 T ground coriander
1 T (or less) Bragg's

Process walnuts in the FP. Remove and mix with other ingredients.

Sour Cream
(generic recipe)

1 c cashews (soaked for 4 hours or so)
juice of 1/2 - whole lemon
1/2 c (more or less) H2O
optional: salt

General Notes
-I've tried out my fair share and then some of dehydrated raw foods. I think the corn tortilla recipe might be my favorite. I like it as a bread because it is not sprouted grains and the flavor of it is INCREDIBLE! It has this wonderful sweetness to it. It makes a great all around "wrap" for any sort of filling and it also soaks up salad dressings well. When you use white corn, its really like bread. These tacos look to me so much like cooked food and they have been a big hit with everyone I have shared them with.

Fun with Fruit Roll-Ups
I've been making fruit roll-ups like a madwoman. My mom placed an "order" for a bunch of them because she loves fruit, has no spare time and wants to eat well. You can do SOOO much with these little things.









Basic Recipe
3 bananas
3 pieces of fruit

Blend and dehydrate. You can use frozen organic strawberries, raspberries or blueberries to make berry banana flavors. You can also add in some young coconut meat to the roll-ups. I made pina colada roll-ups with some pineapple, bananas and coconut meat. Wow. Those were good. You can also make green smoothie roll-ups by throwing in some spinach or kale with the bananas. I made some with just bananas and spirulina and then some with bananas and Vitamineral Green powder. Can't wait to take it hiking.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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