Maca, Lucuma, Goji Berries and more! Mmm!


Announcing Elixir Synergy: An Elixir Recipe and Guidebook!

We love elixirs - We both make at least one Elixir a day...and sometimes two. Tonic herbal drinks have become the basis of our diet in the last two years and we absolutely love making these magical drinks!

Elixirs save so much time in the kitchen. After years of making these amazing drinks, our health has improved dramatically.

We enjoy elixirs so much that we had to write an ebook about it!

That is why we are happy to announce our latest creation:

Elixir Synergy: A Tonic Herbal Drink Recipe and Guidebook

Our best elixir recipes are in Elixir Synergy!

We have been tweaking elixir recipes for years. But we wanted an elixir book with a wide range of recipes. That's why we've teamed up with tonic herbal master Brandon Gilbert to bring you a project we are very excited about!

We first introduced you to Brandon when he launched his online herb shop, Hyperion Herbs.

Brandon has been learning about herbalism and elixirs for years and even ran a series of successful herbal tonic bars.

Many of the recipes you'll find in Elixir Synergy are the ones you would find in his tonic bars!

Quantum Leap in RFRN ebooks



Nothing has given us the deep satisfaction and joy that we felt when creating Elixir Synergy.

Heidi designed this entire book, making it a labor of love, carefully crafted over the past six months. Over 200 hours went into creating this book.

So What Exactly is in this ebook?

These tonic drinks are a re-awakening of ancient herbal traditions coupled with our modern technology (blenders) and access to powerful new foods (superfoods and herbs).

We've specifically designed this ebook to be:

• One part basic introductory course on how to create Elixirs, and;
  
  
• One part recipe book, so you can take this new knowledge and immediately apply it to making your own unique Elixir creations.

The ebook is designed to guide you through, step-by-step, how to make a basic Elixir; from tea creation, to nut milks, and more. You will get a solid foundation on how to make elixirs.

The recipes are well rounded enough that you get some very simple ones in addition to some of our favorite intermediate and advanced recipes.

We've taken our elixir knowledge and whittled it down into the easiest to follow instructions we possibly could. On top of that, we filled the book full of a variety of Elixir recipes to not only get you started, but to take you on a long journey to advanced tonic herbal drinks.

No more secrets of mysterious herb sources!

If you've followed any of us on Facebook or YouTube, you may have been wondering where we get all of these crazy herbs and powders from. Included in Elixir Synergy is a Shopping Guide so you will learn where to get these herbs and powders for your own Elixirs.

So if you have been making your own Elixirs and are bored with your favorite recipes, or have never done Elixirs before or are just looking for something new or to deepen your experience and knowledge, this guide has you covered!

You can see the entire list of recipes here: http://www.elixirsynergy.com

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Super Sale Price:

The retail price of Elixir Synergy is 27.00 But as a way to say thank you, we are offering Elixir Synergy for only $19 - that's 8 dollars off the regular price!

This sale is for one week only - and goes through Friday, May 28th at 11:59 PM CST.

We won't be offering this price again, so if you're ready to make elixirs, come join the fun today!

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Brandon, Heidi, and I want to thank you deeply for all of you've done for us over the years and we sincerely desire that you will get a lifetime of skills out of this book as well as helping to support our work.

Cheers to your Elixir journey!

~ JS & Heidi Ohlander
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com
http://www.elixirsynergy.com

What is the Best Natural, Sugar-Free Sweetener?

For those following a sugar-free raw food diet, low-glycemic diet or other sugar/ carb-free dietary modality, the question of 'What is the best sweetener?' is an important one.

Our friends over at We Like it Raw are asking the same question. Since both of us (JS and Heidi) have been doing a low-sugar diet for a couple years now, we've been through the sweetener merry-go-round and have quite a lot of experience with many different natural sweeteners.

Many people out there, for various reasons, are following a Dr. Gabriel Cousens Phase I diet or a Body Ecology Diet type of protocol. These are both low-glycemic and/or sugar-free dietary plans for those looking to overcome certain challenges that sugar can provoke, and both of them have various amounts of raw/living food incorporated into the programs. These programs have been very popular with people suffering with candida symptoms, as well as overall issues with health that have not been helped with simply a "raw food diet" by itself.

And now that agave nectar has been getting quite the bad rap lately, many people are vigorously seeking information on alternative sweeteners.

The two that are at the forefront of the low-sugar quest right now are stevia and xylitol.


Stevia: The Natural King of the Sweeteners

We talked about stevia in our SweetLeaf review last year as probably one of the most popular dietary sweeteners in the world. And now that the FDA finally gave stevia GRAS in 2008, this 'sweet leaf' has become the sweetener of choice for many in the raw and superfood movements.

It is rare to find an expert bad-mouthing stevia. Most people and health experts cite stevia as an ideal sweetener. After all, stevia is:

• completely natural
• sweeter than sugar
• calorie-free, and
• no-glycemic
  

Some people like it. Other people can't get used to the flavor and try to avoid it completely.

We love stevia. And the thing we both really like about it is that it's just an herb, a plant! In fact, you can even just take the powdered version of the raw stevia plant and use it as a sweetener. This is often referred to as 'Green Leaf Stevia', whereas most stevias you will find in packets or bottles are white and refined (known as stevia 'crystals'). We don't usually recommend the white powdered stevias, as sometimes there are questionable additives. The white stevia powders are also many times sweeter than the dried, ground leaf. If you're going to use white stevia, finding a quality source is crucial.

Interested in stevia? We recommend either the powdered green leaf stevia or the liquid stevia flavored sweeteners from SweetLeaf. Both are excellent and come highly recommended. We use the flavored, liquid sweeteners nearly every day!

Unless you are a stevia die-hard, it's best to use stevia in conjunction with another sweetener, such as honey, maple syrup, clear agave, Yacon syrup, or another sugar-free sweetener to mitigate some of the intensely sweet flavor that many find unpleasant. If you are on a sugar-free diet, however, using any type of glycemic sweetner will not work for you. Also, you have to be sure to be cautious with amounts of stevia in recipes as a little bit of stevia goes a very long way and can easily ruin any recipe or drink.

One more thing - the honest truth about stevia: Stevia is an acquired taste. Some people say it is bitter. Other people complain it is "too sweet". And some people freak out when they think it tastes almost like an artificial sweetener. When we first tried stevia years ago, we hated it. We crinkled up our noses too. But we knew other people who had grown to love the flavor, so we continued to give it a second chance. And a third. And so on, until we got used to the taste, and then the flavor of stevia grew on us to where we are today - using it in nearly every sweet recipe...along with other sweeteners. If you don't like the taste, don't give up entirely. Give it some time. And for goodness sakes...don't use it 100% stevia the first time you try it! Start slow! A pinch at a time mixed in with your favorite other sweetener and you will soon love it too!

Xylitol - the Healthy Natural Sweetener That Starts With an X
Xylitol has been going around the raw movement for quite some time, but most people do not understand what xylitol really is. Xylitol is a powdered sugar-alcohol that is naturally occurring in many fruits and vegetables, but is usually derived commercially from corn or birch trees. Xylitol is often found in health food stores as a sweetener for gum and toothpastes. It's been reported to be excellent for teeth, but this fact is highly disputed.

We've found xylitol works best when combined with stevia or honey and is great for drinks and elixirs.

Note: Xylitol is poisonous to dogs, but totally non-toxic to humans. Be very careful with this sweetener around your pets.

Xylitol is also part of the whole sugar-alcohol sweetener family. Other popular sugar-alcohol sweeteners are erythritol, malitol, sorbitol, etc. It should be noted that all sugar-alcohols do have a small amount of carbohydrates and calories, while stevia is calorie-free.

What is nice about xylitol is that it has a pleasant taste that is similar to sugar. It can be found in packages in granulated form or powdered form, just like sugar. The flavor of xylitol works nicely in all sorts of recipes that call for sweetener. Compared to agave, it is slightly less sweet, so you would want to add a bit more, or make a combination of xylitol and stevia, or a variety of sweetners until you reach your desired taste.
Important: If you are going to get xylitol, make sure you get organic birch xylitol and not corn xylitol, which is often derived from GMO-corn. We know you are health conscious, and you don't want to be eating GMO corn! Besides, according to research it is the birch xylitol that has been found to aid the teeth.
Sugar-alcohol sweeteners have been naturally occurring in plants, but have been extracted only recently. While stevia has been used by many cultures for centuries, sugar-alcohols have been produced commercially within the last 30 years. Although we personally have been using the sugar-alcohol sweeteners with great success for years, along with many other people who are following various low-sugar diets, the long-term effects of these new sweeteners are still undecided. That is why it is important to look for new research and information on this subject. Keep up to date on any developments in this area and enjoy sparingly. We will do our best to keep you updated as well.


Superfood sweeteners

While not generally considered "sweeteners", there are many superfood flours out there that are low-glycemic but sweet to the taste. These come from the carbohydrates in the superfood, but for those who can handle a small amount of carbohydrates, these are excellent and may even be sweet enough to use without resorting to other sweeteners. These include: lucuma, maca, mesquite, and tocotrienols.

There are many others that we won't go into in this article, but you can research on your own, including: jerusalem artichoke syrup, yacon root syrup, coconut palm sugar, lo han guo, and many others. These are harder to find and are not as commercially available at this time.


Our Personal Experience With Sugar-Free Sweeteners
We've been using natural sugar-free sweeteners fairly regularly for a couple years. Too much of these sweeteers does seem to create a strange reaction (only high amounts!) in some people. Also, we have experimented with many different brands, and have found that there is a huge difference in quality of brands and types.

If you want to use stevia leaf, the best brand to go with is Sweet Leaf.
If you want to use xylitol, always go for birch-derived and organic xylitol.

Just like stevia, with any of these sweeteners you want to be careful with dosage. Not because it's too sweet, but because large amounts can 'set you off' if you're not used to it. It's best to combine multiple no-sugar sweeteners to get the desired effect. Or combine with small amounts of honey. Honey and a pinch of stevia go a long way if you're not on a completely sugar-free diet.

That being said, it will be interesting to see where all the research and direct experience from users of these sweeteneres will lead us in the next few years, especially with all the sugar-alcohols.

Start slow and gauge your reaction carefully. If they jibe well with you, you will have found some new best friends!

~ JS and Heidihttp://RawFoodRightNow.com

After about six years of mindfulness meditation classes and now over 3 months of intense yoga classes, it is amazing to me to notice myself, as almost for the first time, in the kitchen. Hovering over a cutting board with my shoulders wound up to my ears with tightness and my breath really missing, I am surprised at how someone with my background and love of food, could have for so long entirely left my mindfulness training at the kitchen door. Especially when you pick up a knife to do some prep work it would seem like a very wise time to practice mindfulness, right? Try inviting yourself in the kitchen. The real you, right there in the kitchen, hello you, welcome, come on in, lets see how you are doing in here. Ed Brown offers some great cutting tips in his latest version (2009) of the Tassajara Cookbook. And of course, don’t miss listening to him, per the previous post. Also he is the star of a movie about cooking called How to Cook Your Life, which of course I can’t wait to rent. When you cut the vegetables, cut the vegetables. When you washing the cutting board, wash the cutting board.

I invite you to listen to the incredibly amazing, insightful, enjoyable, (etc. where can I stop?) Ed Brown on: Dogen’s Instructions To The Cook

Ed’s are exquisite podcasts here’s is another “Facets of Self”. Ed is just who he is and invites you into that experience of yourself…his is engaging and humorous…many times I am tempted to surf or do something else while I listen, I just couldn’t with Ed, I felt so me afterwards…hard to explain…he gets at the fakeness and the absurdity of it…

A little about Edward Brown which I found in 2007 via Tricycle.com while pouring through their podcast archive:
“Edward Espe Brown has been practicing Zen since 1965 (and yoga since 1980), and has been head resident teacher at each of the San Francisco Zen Centers: Tassajara, Green Gulch, and City Center. He has led meditation retreats and cooking classes throughout the United States, as well as Austria, Germany, Spain, and England. He is the author of several cookbooks including The Tassajara Bread Book and Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings, and is the editor of Not Always So, a newly published book of lectures by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. He has also done extensive Vipassana practice.”

In the book The World We Have, Thich Nhat Hanh tells a story of couple traveling with their small boy across a vast desert to seek asylum in another land. They ran out of food. “Realizing all three of them would them would die in the desert, the parents made a horrifying decision: they decided to kill and eat their child. Every day they ate a morsel of his flesh, just enough for the energy to walk a little further, all the while, crying ‘Where is our son?’”(p.17, The World We Have) and they are in terrible mourning. Was it easy for the couple to eat their son? Of course not. Thich Nhat Hanh wants us to think about the impact our choices have on the resources available on the planet. Each time we take something away and use it up, we can think about that.

Many people eat twice the calories they need a day; eating enough for two adults or one adult and a child. I remember seeing a great talk by a doctor giving a talk on google video about the value of being vegan and apparently the average american eats a very large number cows (15), chickens (900), hogs (24), sheep (12), etc. throughout the course of their lifetime.

Animal fat is solid at room temperature. It sticks to our blood vessels and clogs them. Whatever organ was at the other end of the clog is what is damaged when the blood can no longer get through the opening. In multiple ways, we actually increase human suffering and starvation by supporting the meat industry. The amount of land and soil and water being used to grow the mono-crops to feed these animals could feed exponentially more people if the land was devoted to growing crops edible for humans.

We were just watching an excellent movie called “Dirt” on Independent Lens. It is about the health of the life in dirt. Healthy dirt produces healthy vegetables. The movie says we are destroying our dirt. For example, when pests find a way to unlock the mechanism for by-passing a pesticide and eating a mono-crop like wheat or corn it then has an unlimited food supply. This problem is currently solved by creating new pesticides. The diversity of plant life is vital to the health of the soil. Also, when one type of plant can not handle one type of weather disaster another can survive and visa versa.

I just ate a couple dates and I thought of how many strong hands may have touched each one. You are eating the sun that shown on it and the water that fed it and the soil that became its body as well. If you go to the date company’s website you can see photos of some of the workers. The site says their dates are picked by hand.

Speaking of Thich Nhat Hanh, he has just written a book all about mindful eating and food choices, called Savor. I just ordered it, hopefully he will inspire another post here! Thank you Thich Nhat Hanh!

How many times a week do you want to eat chocolate? Once? Twice? Everyday?

Try this funny "math" problem! Just follow the steps in the image below and try it out.



Did it work?! Crazy, huh?!

And if you want to eat some chocolate, here are a few of our favorite chocolate companies we recommend:

• Gnosis Chocolate
• Sacred Chocolate
• Righteously Raw Bars
• Blackbird Naturals (technically they are raw truffles..but it's still chocolate!)

So? How many chocolate bars do you want to eat?

- Raw Food Right Now
http://www.rawfoodrightnow.com

Green Juicing: The Best of the Best
Spring is the perfect time to start juicing again. Once the warm weather sets in here where we live, we start to feel the 'call of juice'. Spring time is generally a great time to eat lighter and allow your body to cleanse and release some of the stored-up junk in your body from the more dense winter foods.






What's the best type of juice to drink?

Well, that is a matter of personal choice, but if we had to go with one type of juice, we'd definitely pick a standard green juice. You probably hear a lot about the benefits of not only greens, but specifically green juice. Is there an easy way to get these liquid greens into your diet?


Green Juice: The Simple Method
As we've been simplifying our kitchen and diet over the last year or so, we've thought a great deal about what's really essential and beneficial to our diets. There is a lot of talk about the benefits of juicing and more specifically, green juice. But nothing sucks the fun and desire out of juicing than dealing with a juicer...the cleaning, the assembling, etc.
Do you need to buy a juicing book to get the benefits of juicing? No. Do you need to buy a juicer? Not necessarily.
We're going to give you our favorite, streamlined method of the only juice we really make these days.
So, grab the following and let's get started.
Equipment for Making Green Juice

• VitaMix blender.
• Nut milk bag.
• Glass-bowl (or other bowl with nice pour spout).
• Your fresh produce! (recommended: organic celery, cucumber, green apples, ginger, lemon, and dark leafy greens)
  

Instructions for Making 'Simple Green Juice':

1. Wash, scrub, clean your produce.
   
2. Start off with anywhere from 1-6 stalks of celery (cut in thirds) and pour in enough spring water (or other filtered water) to nearly cover the celery. Blend in a Vita-Mix or whatever blender you have until it's all liquid. It may be a little "goopy" from the celery, and that's ok as long as it is an evenly blended mixture.
3. Add in 1/2 to a full chopped cucumber (de-skinned if non-organic).
4. Add in 1/2 or one whole peeled lemon.
5. Add in one thumb-sized piece of ginger (more or less to taste). Optional but strongly recommended.
   
6. Cut up a couple green, granny-smith apples and throw them in too.
7. Blend this us into a liquid.
8. Add in as many greens as you can handle. Great ones to add are: chard, kale, spinach, arugula, any lettuce, any sprouts you like, fresh watercress, wheatgrass, etc.
9. Blend it all up into a thick liquid.
10. Get out a nut-milk bag and pour the liquid mash into the bowl through the bag. Squeeze out all the juice you can.
11. Rinse out the blender, pour your green juice back in.
12. Add in any superfood green powders you like (chlorella, spirulina, Vitamineral Green, etc.). Blend on low to medium speed. Taste. Make sure to end your blend cycle on low to remove the foam.

Best to drink right away to maintain all the vital nutrients.

Storing tips: to retain the most amount of nutrients, fill a mason jar with your green juice all the way to the top and seal tightly. Store in your fridge and enjoy within 12 hours.

There is a lot of variations you can do to this juice recipe. The most beneficial variable is to rotate your greens each time you do this. Experiment with every green vegetable you can out there. People will tell you there is all sorts of things you can do to this juice, and they are right, but you don't really need to worry about it unless you are interested. So if you are busy like us, stick with the base and rotate your greens.

Get on with living your life and don't spend all your time juicing.

Note: if you don't have a high-speed blender, buy one. We're not going to skirt around the issue here and tell you to use a cheap blender. Without a powerful blender, you will be extremely limited in what you can do in your kitchen. We have used our Vita-Mix every single day for the past 5 years. How often can you say that about your kitchen appliances?! Get free shipping on the VitaMix 5200 by ordering through us here.
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This green juice recipe/method is all that you really need to know to get the most from the benefits of juicing. It tastes great, fills you up with valuable nutrients, and is easy to do in a standard raw foods kitchen or just a kitchen with a good blender.

You'll never need to buy a juicing book now unless you are really interested in trying the multitude of juice varieties out there. There is a lot you can do with juicing and it can be very involved. Fruit juices are fun to drink, but are too much sugar for most people and some fruits will require a separate juicer and won't work in a nut milk bag.

Related Resources:

• JuiceFeasting.com - This is a site dedicated to a 92 day (or less) juice cleanse in which you drink enough juice in a day to meet your caloric needs. Our green juice recipe is the base for this entire program.
• Heidi's 35-day juice feast.
  

~ Raw Food Right Now
http://RawFoodRightNow.com

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrestlingentropy/3695142138

Here is what I am saying when people ask for ideas:
Go for a pound of greens a day (salad, smoothies, steamed, blended into soup bases, etc.)
Greens are primary. Everyone can eat more fruit, that is easy to grow to love. Greens take more thought and care.
One of my favorite ways to get them in is still (after all these years) the VERY simple: green smoothie (think: one can of pineapple, for the simplest possible way to have pineapple always on hand and as many greens (try collards, kale, swiss chard) as you can fit into your blender or less if you want it to only taste like pineapple juice; add water to blend. I add a tablespoon and a half of flax seeds.) The best blender (in my opinion) is the Ktech (Blendtec) see, http://www.blendtec.com/ (I paid ~350$ and have used it countless times over the years, it is still in perfect condition and VERY simple to clean).

Get about an ounce of nuts and seeds a day. Raw walnuts are super and easy to find in the cooking aisle. What I say about tahini (which is blended sesame seeds): I use it in dressings, hummus and one of my favorite things to do is mix it with lemon and a little water for an asparagus dressing (think: a tablespoon of tahini, half a lemon, water to thin). Hummus = tahini, garbanzo beans, water (optional lemon, olive oil, etc.). There are a number of salad dressing recipes that require tahini. I have used/and own a perfect ton of rawfood recipe books. If you want simple I say use the cookbook, Rawsome. If you have just a hair more time and want exquisite taste I go for Renee Loux’s books: Living Cuisine is the cookbook I have used the most, however it doesn’t have a good index and The Balanced Plate has a better index. Watch Ani Phyo’s youtube recipe videos.

The book, Eat to Live has such great tools and concepts. Many years ago (and I still reference Joel Fuhrman’s books, video online) he revolutionized my way of thinking about what a “good” way of eating is. I use huge salad bowls (I like Corelle’s biggest bowls because it is lightweight, stack-able and still feels like you are holding glass) and last and firstly – GO FOR A POUND OF GREENS A DAY! It is such a very beautiful and good fortune to be able to enjoy fresh plants on your plate. They have true beauty and you can enjoy them mindfully. Best wishes!

This is a guest post from Rita G. About Rita: Rita G. is a soon-to-be author and head editor of Snubbr.com, a site that recommends gift ideas.

If you've made the commitment to eating healthy but are still looking to take things to the next level, experimenting with raw food recipes is a perfect idea! Most people who begin introducing these into their diet find they have more energy, recovery better from their workouts, have more focus and concentration, and don't experience nearly the same level of gas and bloating that you may get from a standard diet.

The following are some great raw food recipes to get you started.

Stuffed Mushroom Cups

Stuffed mushrooms are often a pricey appetizer at most restaurants, but with this easy recipe you can create your own healthier version to serve at your next meal.

Ingredients

- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
- 1 cup chopped tomato
- ¼ cup diced cucumber
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 10-12 large mushrooms

Place all the ingredients except for the tomatoes into a food processor and chop until well mixed. Remove any built-up mixture from the sides of the blender and repeat the process until a very fine mixture has formed.

Next add in the tomato and pulse a couple of times lightly to chop it up and distribute into the mixture. Scoop this into the top of the mushrooms with stems removed and then place on a dehydrated sheet and dehydrate at 105 degrees for two to four hours checking at halftime.


Carrot Ginger Soup

If you're in the mood for a soup, this one will fit the bill perfectly. It's high in beta-carotene so will promote healthy eyesight.

Ingredients

- 10 carrots
- 1 green apple
- 1 avocado
- ½ lime
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp chopped ginger
- Pepper to taste (optional)

First juice the carrots and green apple and place into a blender. Next, add avocado, the juice from the lime, sea salt, chopped ginger, and a small amount of pepper to taste if desired. Blend up until a relatively thick consistency is formed and then place in a pot and heat until slightly warm. Serve.


Cauliflower Rice

If you're trying to reduce the overall carbohydrate content in your diet, this is a very nice option that will satisfy those cravings. Note that you can add additional herbs or spices if desired to suit your natural taste preferences and what you're serving it with.

Ingredients

- 1 large sized cauliflower
- 3 tablespoons of yeast flakes
- 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste

Begin by grating the cauliflower with a cheese grater that contains large holes until you get small grain-like pieces. Mix this with the yeast flakes and then stir in the apple cider vinegar and olive oil along with salt. Serve.


Simple Kale Chips

If you're looking for something crunchy to munch on, these simple kale chips will fit the bill nicely. They can be eaten with your own homemade salsa or just by themselves for a quick snack on the run.

- 2 heads of kale, washed and torn up
- ¼ cup Tamari
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp yeast
- Salt to taste

First be sure you wash the entire kale and remove off the thickest part of the stem. Next you are to tear the kale into bite sized pieces and place that in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle over top the olive oil, tamari, yeast, as well as salt and then rub into the kale with hands.

Place this on a food dehydrator or baking sheet and then dehydrate them for about 8 hours at 115 degrees.


Mango Avocado Salad

This refreshing salad combines a very nice sweet taste that will be the perfect snack or light lunch option for warmer days.

Ingredients

- 2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, and chopped
- 1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp cilantro leaves
- 1 tbsp black sesame seeds

After you have the mangoes and avocado's chopped and pitted, simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve. Note that you will want to eat this dish fairly soon after it's made as it won't stay fresh for extended periods of time.

So be sure you add these recipes to your raw food meal plan in the coming weeks. They are easy to prepare and you'll definitely enjoy the change of pace.

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This is a guest post from Rita G. About Rita: Rita G. is a soon-to-be author and head editor of Snubbr.com, a site that recommends gift ideas.

Brought to you by:
http://RawFoodRightNow.com

Roasted Maca as an Excellent Coffee Substitute
A lot of raw foodists and health conscious individuals are always looking for an alternative to coffee. There are many options out there and if you've battled long with coffee/caffeine addiction (such as I have), quality replacements can be a lifesaver.

Before we get to the roasted maca, I want to talk a little bit about coffee itself.
Now that I've long overcome my coffee addiction, I can enjoy it in small amounts (or infrequently in larger amounts) and won't feel any negative side effects such as cravings, headaches, irritability, etc.
At least I never overdosed on espresso so much that I ended up in the hospital like this poor girl in the UK.
These days I brew my own light espressos at home using fresh spring water, organic coffee, and a stovetop espresso maker. I'll often use shots of espresso inside of my elixirs making delicious "coffee elixirs".

But when I don't want something too stimulating, but mimics some of the effects of coffee with that 'robust' flavor, I'll turn to roasted maca.

Many of us reading this are familiar with raw maca and it's long list of benefits. But roasted maca is an entirely different food. Roasting the maca root will bring out more of its flavors and stimulating effects. For those who aren't used to stimulants, roasted maca may be too much to handle. Caution, as always, is advised.

Roasted maca can also be brewed just like coffee in a coffee-maker or french press, making it even easier as a near-instant replacement.

I often use roasted maca "coffee" as part of or as a liquid base to my elixirs. I love the flavor and turning it into a 'mocha' or 'latte' is extremely easy. I feel like a Taoist Barista when I'm brewing up a big batch of a roasted maca latte with daoist tonic herbs. Yum!

Here is a quick recipe for a roasted maca beverage that will be a good introduction to those wanting to embark down the Dark Roasted Maca Road.


Iced 'Roasted' Maca Latte Coffee Elixir Recipe

Makes approx. 28 oz.

16 oz cold, already brewed roasted maca "coffee". Make this by getting yourself some roasted maca and brewing it in hot water either through a coffee maker or in a hot-water infusion with a gold tea strainer.

1/3 C raw organic cream or a really creamy nut milk like almond milk
2 tbsp cacao powder
1 tsp maca
1/2 tsp shilajit
1/2 tsp fo-ti powder
1 tsp lucuma
1/2 tsp dark mesquite
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp clear agave
1 cup ice

Throw it all in a high-powered blender like a VitaMix and blend it on low, slowly turning up the speed till you reach high. Blend on high for about 30 seconds until all the ice is crushed.

Serve with a loved one and enjoy the incredible abundance we have access to in this era.
If you do try roasted maca, please let us know what you think!

Enjoy!
~ Justinhttp://RawFoodRightNow.com
p.s. What is your favorite coffee replacement? Let us know in the comments below!

Spring is a time for Renewal and Reflection!

Spring is nearly here! And spring is always a perfect opportunity to take some time for yourself and gear up for the rest of the year.Kick off the warm part of the year with the free Women's International Summit For Health....aka "The Wish Summit"!The Wish Summit is a collaborative effort of fellow raw enthusiasts Tera Warner from the Raw Divas and Shannon Shakaya Breeze of the very popular RawMom.com. These two fabulous ladies got together to create an online summit full of over 40 featured, well-rounded guests who have a wide variety of expertise in many different areas of life.
What we love about the Wish Summit is that it's not just about the food. This is a Summit for women!
The topics covered in the Summit in the next two weeks include Health, Beauty, Wellness, Money, Wealth, Relationships and more!The Wish Summit is an ideal excuse to spend some personal time curling up on your couch and get inspired while sipping you favorite herbal tea...or perhaps secretly listening at work! *Wink wink!*

And the cost to listen to 40 speakers in the comfort of your home.....is completely FREE.And all you have to do is sign up and register for this exclusive event. Yeah, that word gets thrown a lot around the 'net these days. Yes, this is truly free and you don't have to pay a cent to listen to these interviews. I believe that after the summit you have the option to purchase the interviews, but are not required to in any way. Bonus!

This is an amazing service that the team at Wish Summit is providing to all of us.
Heidi here...I just want to say that normally we don't just randomly blog about any interview or summit out there. There is a lot of noise online these days, and we're going to give you only what we believe is worth your time. WISH Summit is worth your time!
We know both Tera and Shannon personally, and I have been chatting with Shannon for the past few weeks regarding this event. She is so happy about how amazing the Wish Summit turned out!
The Wish Summit starts TODAY, so you must sign up now to get ready to listen, learn and be inspired.

Over 40 Free Interviews with Well-Known Experts in their Fields

We are really excited to listen to so many of the guests, but here is our list of the interviews we are excited to hear:

• Tuesday March 9th: Janet Attwood from the Passion Test
• Wednesday March 10th: Donna Gates (If you think you have candida or if you have a child with Autism you HAVE to listen to this!)
• Thursday March 11: Marianne Williamson on love and spirituality
• Friday March 12: Rainbeau Mars
• Monday March 15th: Janice Cox - make your own beauty products at home!
• Tuesday March 16h: David Wolfe and Susan Weed

Of course you can listen to all of them, but those are the ones we are REALLY excited about!
Sign up for FREE right now!
Enjoy the Summit - We'll see you there!

Happy International Women's Day,~ Heidi

(via Lifehacker)

Now that the planting season is coming here for most of us in the U.S., fresh vegetables are going to be plentiful in the coming months.

It's an excellent time to bone up on your knife skills to get the most from your local produce.

Very popular culinary blog The Kitchn posted a nice little tutorial for those needing to learn knife handling skills when cutting fresh vegetables or a little reminder to those of us who need to brush up on them.

Particularly useful to note are the tips for keeping your cutting board from sliding and how to properly hold your knife while cutting.

Always remember to be extremely careful when using a kitchen knife and make sure it's always very sharp so it doesn't slip. I'm sure a lot of us have learned this the hard way.

We've been upgrading our knives over the years and have found that an excellent quality knife is worth it's weight in durian. Our favorite right now is our Shun chef's knife. Early last year we got an unbelievable deal at getting a "used" one at 50% off. It had the smallest, most infinitesimal 'scratch' on the handle. The blade ended up being perfect. So don't be afraid to go out there and look for a good knife. If you've got a high-end blender in your kitchen but have a $10 knife, it's like having an incomplete kitchen.

But as far as knife skills go, I've never been very good at "the claw"...but I keep trying.

~ JS
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

I am struggling with something. Whenever I leave town (which sometimes feels like leaving the country) I so often find that restaurateurs still believe the vegetarian option means the cheese option.

If a vendor is going to (as they sometimes feel – “go out of their way”) to provide a dish that is friendly (inclusive) to the majority of the world population’s digestive capabilities, this food will not include dairy.

Here’s wiki on lactose intolerance (which by the way is not the only reason people can’t do dairy; casein, which is a basis for wood glue, is also a problem and it is often found in soy “cheese” products):

“Lactose intolerance is the inability to metabolize lactose, because of a lack of the required enzyme lactase in the digestive system.[original research?] It is estimated that 75% of adults worldwide show some decrease in lactase activity during adulthood.[1] The frequency of decreased lactase activity ranges from as little as 5% in northern Europe, up to 71% for Sicily, to more than 90% in some African and Asian countries.[2]“

I am struggling because even locally for years I have repeatedly asked our large university campus to embrace this idea. With its population of students from around the world and vegans from everywhere, the resistance to the idea is astonishingly strong!

I have often heard/read that dairy is the very first and most important thing to drop because it is so toxic for your system (non-organic has especially intensified pesticide/hormone product in it). That is not even what I am talking about here, I am just talking about accommodating a simple physiological experience of the majority of the world population. It is still surprising to me that I don’t see this changing as fast as I would have guessed. Even it can be hard to find chocolate without milkfat in it (milkfat is a cheap filler and it is used as a way to keep the cost down for many chocolate companies).

I don’t want to say dairy is killing this country because I hate getting people angry who seem to thrive off of it (still, you can see the huge rise in consumption of dairy rise with the increased rate of cancer and heart attacks in this country). Hey if it works for you, don’t come after me! Do what you notice is working for you. 15 years ago I digested dairy fine, I don’t now, it is just the way it is, sometimes people lose the digestive enzymes as an adult.

Since I am complaining I might as well get it out, what I really dis-enjoy, is when you explain the idea to a restaurateur and they look at you with a blank stare like they have never heard of a non-dairy main course food option; like they have never seen food before and how can they not know food – it is their business! I get that they may not know digestion or anything about nutrition, although at least food it seems like they would know. : //

Valentine's and Chocolate...a timeless combo
Foodies love their holidays, don't they? Well, it is an excuse to make food after all! And what better excuse to make heart-centered, indulgent and delicious raw chocolate treats than V-day?
Most people think of roses, chocolates, and strawberries for this special "Love Day". Hey, why fight the tradition? We say buy some roses (organic if possible), make some raw chocolate, and dip it in some organic strawberries!
If you need a quick recipe to dip strawberries in (or anything!), check out our free recipe for Chocolate-Covered Dried Wild Durian recipe. The chocolate sauce can be used on anything, not just durian!

You can also pick up any cacao treat you love for later this week from our two favorite online raw superstores: RawGuru.com and TheRawFoodWorld.com. Plenty to choose from! And who says that you can't just order chocolate on Valentine's Day, right? Order something today and enjoy chocolates later this week!


Learn To Make Chocolate Recipes In Your Own Home

Our friend Alex Malinsky just created a small recipe ebook for raw chocolate enthusiasts called 12 Must Have Raw Chocolate Recipes that's perfect for V-day! He shot us over a copy so we could give you a review!
Alex (a trained chef to boot!) designed these recipes by hand just for this book. And since we are both big advocates of raw chocolate in all its forms, we're recommending this book for all cacao enthusiasts to broaden their chocolate repertoire. Alex hits you up with a wide-variety of timeless chocolate treats done raw.
Here is a list of recipes in this book:

• 1. Almond Butter Figs
• 2. Black & White Cookies
• 3. Chocolate Banana Cream Pie
• 4. Chocolate Chip Cookies
• 5. Chocolate Ice Cream
• 6. Hot Chocolate
• 7. Oh-reos
• 8. Chocolate Chip Pancakes
• 9. Warm Chocolate Lava Cake
• 10. Chocolate Muffins
• 11. Chocolate Pudding
• 12. Cocoa Crispies Cereal
  
  
  
• --Bonus Recipes--
• Kreamy Krispy Kale Chips (Alex's secret recipe!)
  
• Caesar Salad Chips

Quite a variety of different flavors and textures for all chocolate enthusiasts for only 12 recipes!

Also check out this video of Alex and his friend John as show you how to make the Black & White Raw Cookie recipe from his ebook:






Raw Cacao Pecan Whoopie Pie Recipe

Our friend Susan Powers over at the popular raw recipe blog Rawmazing has been creating some incredible cacao treats as well. Check out this easy gourmet recipe for what she calls Raw Cacao Pecan Whoopie Pies!

Susan has a lot of other high-quality (and free!) cacao recipes on her site.

Superfood Raw Chocolate Bars

No Valentine's Day raw chocolate post would be complete without a tempting chocolate bar for you and your loved one to share. Right now we're really digging the Righteously Raw chocolate bars. These bars are made to perfection and have a really solid snap and deeply rich cacao flavor. Each bar has a gooey center that comes in four basic superfood flavors: Maca, Goji, Acai, and Caramel.



We love them all and highly recommend them to anyone who loves chocolate: raw or cooked!

Um, Yes, Raw Chocolate is Good For You!

Whether or not you have someone to love this V-day, one thing is for sure: those who love our bodies love ourselves. "Indulge" yourself in some form of a healthy raw chocolate treat this year and smile knowing that you are eating a major Superfood that is good for your body.
As a special bonus, watch Daniel Vitalis interview master raw chocolatier Jeff Boticelli at the Chocolatree in Sedona, Arizona. Find out how a former blacksmith uses his metal-smithing skills to make truly Alchemical Chocolate!




~ Happy Valentine's Day! ~

~ JS and Heidi
Raw Food Right Nowhttp://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

photo via GoFugYourself.com
We Love Carol Alt...after all both of her books are amazing (we consider Eating in the Raw one of the Top 5 All time Raw Food Books)
But apparently the ladies over at the popular blog Go Fug Yourself do not agree with Carol's sense of style.
Behold the photo above.
Carol...I just gotta say... You look Marvelous. Love the hat. And va-va-va voom look at those legs that go on for eternity! You make raw food look good. It must be all that raw kefir!
What do you think, RFRN readers? Fashionable, or Fug?
~ Heidihttp://www.rawfoodrightnow.com

From issue 13 of News From The kitchen.

Click ‘more’ for full recipe & picture plus ‘how to’ step-by-step photos.

For the tortilla

3c peeled courgette (zucchini)
3T olive oil
2t lemon juice
Pinch cayenne
1t ground coriander
1/2t salt
1/2c flax meal*

• Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.

• Add flax meal and blend again until smooth.

• Pour mixture onto 2 dehydrator sheets and spread evenly into a circle on each.

• Dehydrate for 8 hours at 105 degrees F, or until able to peel of the sheet.

• Once the dehydrator sheets are removed, return to the dehydrator for 30 - 60 mins, until both sides are dry to the touch but still pliable.

* Flax meal is flax seed that have been ground in a coffee grinder or similar, to produce a fine flour.

For the falafel

1c pumpkin seeds
2T fresh dill, finely chopped
1t ground coriander
2t cumin
8 sun-dried tomato halves, soaked for 1 to 2 hours and then chopped
3T fresh coriander (cilantro)
1 clove garlic
2 shallots
1/4c olives, stones removed
2t oregano
Pinch cayenne
Pinch pepper
1/2t salt
1T lemon juice

• Process all ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly mixed.

• Form into Falafel and dehydrate on a Paraflexx sheet at 105 degrees F for 6 - 8 hours.

For the hummus

1/2c mac nuts
3T lemon juice
3T tahini
1/4t salt
1/4c water

• Blend all ingredients in a high-power blender until smooth.

Optional “roasted” Mediterranean vegetables

1/2c courgette (zucchini), sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1/2 a medium red onion, sliced
1/2c fresh tomatoes, sliced
3T olive oil
1T lemon juice
1/4t salt

• Marinate all ingredients for a couple of hours, then place on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 105 degrees F for 1-2 hours, until soft.

• You could just miss out the marinating & dehydrating part of this recipe to save time, and eat the veg crispy.

To assemble

• Start by arranging a selection of your favourite salad leaves at the bottom of the tortilla, so it covers half the tortilla, leaving a small gap at the bottom.

• Arrange the vegetables in a line along the salad leaves.

• Place 3 - 4 falafel along the top of the vegetables.

• On top of the falafel, spoon over a generous helping of the hummus.

• Fold up the left and right hand sides of the tortilla.

• The bring the bottom of the tortilla up over the 2 sides that have already been folded up.

• Using your thumbs, and keeping the sides and bottom rolled up, roll over the main part of the wrap towards the top so it starts to form the wrap and keep everything tightly packed together.

• Once completely rolled, cut at a diagonal with a sharp knife.

***Did you like this recipe? You can sign-up for my eZine here to be put on the list for more great recipes like this, plus tips and all sorts of advice to help you become a raw food culinary artist!

You can also sign-up for updates from this site here, so when I post you’ll automatically recieve an email…it’s so easy to stay ‘in the loop’!***

If you’re in the UK I could really do with your opinion on something…

To make myself more accessible as a personal chef to you I’m considering offering to be your chef by courier.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to be shipped to your house, it means the meals will be! :-)

So many people ask me if I can do this for them so I’d like to get a bit more of an idea of exactly what would best suit you, so I can really help you in the way that you need it.

I’ve created a very short survey consisting of just 5 questions that’ll only take a minute to fill out - 3 of the questions require just a tick in the box.

Click here to take the survey.

From Issue 12 of News From The kitchen

Click ‘more’ for full recipe.

For the base

3/4c cashews
1T agave
1t vanilla extract
Pinch salt
2t lemon juice
1T desiccated coconut

• Grind all ingredients in a food processor.

• Press into 2 small individual cup or cake moulds of your choice that has been lined with plastic wrap.

• Dehydrate for approximately 3 hours until the shells are strong enough to hold together without the case, and then remove from the case to dry for a further 6 hours or overnight.

For the filling

1/2c cashews
3T coconut oil
2T lemon juice
2t vanilla extract
Pinch salt
2T water
1T agave
1/2c cherries*, stones removed
1/2c mango, flesh only

*You can substitute cherries for any other fruit, such as pineapple or bananas, depending on what you like and what’s available in season.

• Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender under smooth, it’s nice to have some chunks of mango or cherry stirred in at the end so you get little bursts of flavour.

• Pour into an ice-cream maker or freeze in a tub, if doing the latter then once frozen pass through a juicer with the homogenizing attachment on.

• Fill the shells with the ice-cream and garnish with slices of mango. Easy!

***Did you like this recipe? You can sign-up for my eZine here to be put on the list for more great recipes like this, plus tips and all sorts of advice to help you become a raw food culinary artist!

You can also sign-up for updates from this site here, so when I post you’ll automatically recieve an email…it’s so easy to stay ‘in the loop’!***

I used to worry about what I was going to eat on Christmas day. I really wanted to be raw but I was worried about what people around the table might think, and also about wanting to have more than just a salad, no matter how much I enjoyed them normally.

I even toyed with the idea that, “well, it is Christmas, maybe I’ll just have a cooked Christmas dinner this year, after all it’s only once a year.” But somehow I knew that nut roast wasn’t really what I wanted. I wanted to do Christmas ‘raw style’.

So I came up with….

My own FULL Christmas menu, complete with mince pies and all the trimmings!

I’ve been teaching it to, and preparing it for, other people around this time of year ever since. It’s proved so popular that I’ve even had relatives comment that they’d prefer to be eating what I’m eating! That actually did happen one year, I found myself making a full raw Christmas dinner for myself and my family.

As well as teaching this menu in a class this year, for the first time I’m making it available as an eBook until midnight on the 23rd December, when it’ll be gone for another year.

Click here to buy

Recipes in this eBook are:

- 3 different ‘mocktails’. These are alcohol-free juice cocktails to impress your guests, or just for yourself!

- Ginger & Orange Spiced Pecans.

- Rolled Courgette Ribbons with Sweet Beet Pate

- Red Onion Chuntney Mini Party Pizzas

- Chocolate Macaroons with Spiced Cashew Cream Centre

- Mince Pies with Cashew Icing

- Cucumber Canapes with Macadamia Puree

- Crumbed Portabello Meatloaf

- Herb-Infused Maple & Pecan Sweet Potatoes

- Creamy Mushroom Gravy with Caramelised Onion

- Pear & Dried Winter Fruit Stuffing

- Cranberry & Pomegranate Relish

- Kilted Sausages

- Christmas Pudding with Custard

This book is currently available for pre-order until 23:59 GMT on the 3rd December 2008, for the special price of £7.99.

The eBook will be delivered to the email you used when paying on that date (00:00GMT 4th December).

At 00:00 GMT Dec 4th it will go on sale for the normal price of £9.99.

And seeing as it just wouldn’t feel right selling this eBook all year round, it’ll only be available until midnight on the 23rd December.

As usual, this eBook comes with a full money-back guarantee, so if you’re not entirely happy with it I’ll refund your money and you can keep the eBook too.

Click here to buy.

I used to worry about what I was going to eat on Christmas day. I really wanted to be raw but I was worried about what people around the table might think, and also about wanting to have more than just a salad, no matter how much I enjoyed them normally.

I even toyed with the idea that, “well, it is Christmas, maybe I’ll just have a cooked Christmas dinner this year, after all it’s only once a year.” But somehow I knew that nut roast wasn’t really what I wanted. I wanted to do Christmas ‘raw style’.

So I came up with….

My own FULL Christmas menu, complete with mince pies and all the trimmings!

I’ve been teaching it to, and preparing it for, other people around this time of year ever since. It’s proved so popular that I’ve even had relatives comment that they’d prefer to be eating what I’m eating! That actually did happen one year, I found myself making a full raw Christmas dinner for myself and my family.

This year there’s going to be 2 ways you can learn how to give yourself this gift on Christmas day.

Firstly, I’d love to see you at my class on December 13th in picturesque Chichester to join myself and your new group of festive friends for a whole day of learning how to make these dishes, how to present them, and how to wow others with your raw food skills at Christmas. We’ll finish off the day with a Christmas dinner party of our own so you can see how it ’should’ be done.

Chichester is a beautiful cathedral city at Christmas time, and there is every reason to come a day early for some last minute Christmas shopping.

If you can’t make the training itself…

You’ll be able to buy the recipes in eBook format from next week. Look out for it in the next edition of this eZine.

This is the last chance to come to a dinner party training course for the current price as it will be going up next year, and to end my class calendar this year with a bang, I’m going to be giving all participants a Christmas present: a free copy of the eBook!

There’s 4 people booked already and I’ve hardly even advertised this class (and even when I did I didn’t mention the free eBook), so now’s the time to hop over here and book you place.

See you there!

Merry Christmas!