I add one pound of brown flax seeds, one pound of golden flax seeds, and one pound of ground golden flax seeds together in a bowl.
I then pour one cup of filtered water into the bowl for each pound of seeds, and stir the mixture until it turns into one big clump.
I divide the clump/ball into equal sized clumps/balls, one for each of my dehydrator trays, and then add seasonings.
I’ve recently been experimenting with various seasoning combinations. I add no more than 2T of Celtic sea salt to any tray. Sometimes I’ll add 1/4c agave and 1T of cinnamon, or 2T of basil and 1T of red pepper flakes. The key here is to experiment with the seasonings you like and see how it turns out. Have fun!
Once the seasonings are rolled throughout the ball, I spread it across the sheet. You can use wax paper to start, if you don’t yet have Teflex sheets.
Place the trays in the dehydrator. You’ll want to turn the temp up HIGH for an hour, and then turn the crackers over onto mesh sheets, otherwise you can run in to problems with bacteria. Once they’re turned over, I turn the temp down to 105F.
The time it takes to dehydrate them completely will vary, depending on how thinly you rolled the dough, how much water you used, your local relative humidity, and how crisp you like your crackers to be. You’ll discover what’s right for you.
I killed the SCOBY, but I did not kill the yeast, it seems.
I have no idea what I did wrong with my kombucha SCOBY, but somehow I killed the bacteria, leaving just the yeast. I ended up making beer, instead of kombucha, on my last several batches.
Since I don’t drink alcohol, the beer was not very useful. As I don’t have any spare SCOBYs, I decided to try something I’ve heard about, using commercial kombucha to raise new SCOBYs.
I bought a Synergy kombucha and poured it into two quart jars with a little raw agave, covered them with cheese cloth secured with rubber bands, and placed them in a cool, dark place. I will report back to you when I see how well it works.
Because I didn’t know whether the bacteria was still alive, I tossed out the two cultures that were in the jars I had started using the last bits of previous batches.
Please share your kombucha dreams or kombucha nightmares!
I harvested the rejuvelac over the past couple of days, and it tastes great!
I sprouted 1/2 cup of locally grown organic hard winter wheat in a glass
jar sprouter. Once they were sprouted, with tails that were one inch long,
I filled the jar with filtered water and left it to sit on the kitchen counter.
After two days I poured off the liquid and saved it in a large jug, which I
put into the refrigerator. I re-filled the sprouting jar and poured off the
liquid after one day, and then re-filled and poured off after one more
day.
The rejuvelac tastes like it should be healthy (not very tasty the first time
I tried it), but the flavor grows on you. Knowing what’s in it helped me to
learn to love the taste after a while.
I freeze the sprouts to add them to my next batch of flax crackers.
You can use other grains as well, but I have found the wheat to be the
most reliable sprouter and to have the most consistently good flavor.
I have also used rye with good results.
I have been in love with Matt and Angela since I began my living food journey and have watched them bloom and flourish as they live the living foodist dream. They have worked very hard to realize what they’ve accomplished, and they’re just getting started.
Here is a video of them in their new home in Ecuador:
Since the beginning of this year you have seen the staple foods that I’ve been eating, lots of veggies and seeds, and no desserts, the recipes I’ve been sharing with you.
I’ve managed to remain at about 90% vegan with about 75% of that being raw. I haven’t paid very much attention to calorie or fat intake, as I’m adding one discipline at a time. Exercise will be next!
I’d like my blood sugar to be below 100 for two weeks before I start my juice feast in the spring. We’ll see if I’m able to do that.
Week 8 Weigh-In
Weight: 331.0 (-3.8)
%Body Fat: 39.0 (-.4% total)
%H2O: 44.5
Bone Density: 8.8
Fasting Blood Sugar: 113mg/dL (+11mg/dL)
(-3.2 so far this year, -57# since 12/1/07, -94# since 12/1/97)
I was first exposed to cultured vegetables when I was a Tibetan Buddhist monk, living in a monastic community in Maryland about fourteen years ago. One of the monks in our house had digestive issues, and was fermenting vegetables to help with his symptoms. I didn’t hear anything more about cultured veggies until I began investigating the raw vegan lifestyle only three years ago.
When I was at the co-op the other day with a friend, I spotted an interesting variety of cabbage, it was light green with red veins. I thought it would make a very nice sauerkraut, so I also grabbed some purple kale, bok choy, a head of anise, and a head of celery to include.
I had seen a video with Sandor Katz all about Fermenting Vegetables at home, and wanted to try his “no water added” method. The juice from the vegetables provides the liquid for the brine, and there’s no need to add pro-biotic to the mix.
Here’s what I did with the batch pictured in this post. I chopped up the vegetables I got at the co-op and massaged them, just like Sandor does in the video. I added two tablespoons of Celtic sea salt for each 1/2 gallon Mason jar. There were enough veggies in this batch to fill two 1/2 gallon jars.
When I was visiting my good friend, Julia Child Award-winning cookbook author, Rebecca Wood (Twitter) (Facebook Fan Page), I noticed many Mason jars on her kitchen counter, each with a tapered water glass inserted to keep the fermenting vegetables in the jar from contacting the air.
I thought this was genius, not having to crack the lids on the jars to let the CO2 escape. With her system, the vegetables stay down and the gas seeps out around the edges of the glass. I’m trying this system on this batch to see how well it works.
If you don’t want to risk having sauerkraut juice slopping onto your counter, you can always pick up a Perfect Pickler or two. I haven’t used one yet, but Angela and Matt Monarch rave about them.
My most recent batch of raw onion bread was a complete success! I measured the square inches that were yielded by this recipe, and found that for every pound of onions used, I got 100 square inches of bread.
This batch was a little less chunky than the last, which had to do with the [...]
I’m big on smoothies, and have been falling in love with the Truly Raw Cacao I recently began using for my cacao smoothies.
Here’s the smoothie I just made myself for lunch:
1 banana
2 cups Raw Walnut Milk
1/4 cup Shredded Coconut
2 T Truly Raw Cacao
Ice Cubes
I blend the ingredients on the Beverages : XL Smoothie setting on [...]
I was just noticing this morning how many gallons of living food are vying for space in our TINY kitchen.
There are five half-gallon jars of kim chee on one counter, three half-gallon jars of mung bean sprouts on another, and one half-gallon jar of kombucha brewing. There are several bottles of kombucha “aging” on top [...]
I’ve been enjoying store-bought kombucha for years, ever since I started down the living food path. The number of brands and the variety of available flavors has increased a great deal since then, as has home brewing.
I received my first SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) as a gift just a few weeks ago [...]
Before embarking on my raw/living food lifestyle journey, kim chee was merely an enjoyable part of a meal at a Korean restaurant. I did not buy prepared kim chee to eat at home, and had never considered making my own.
As I was learning how to ferment vegetables, I came across a simple recipe, that I [...]
If you’d like something delicious to spread on your raw onion bread, my raw pumpkin seed pesto will do very nicely. I have a pint of pesto on hand at all times, a very tasty raw gourmet staple.
For thousands of years people have enjoyed combining basil leaves with all manner of oils, cheeses, seeds and [...]
I have embarked on a journey that will know no end, or so I am told. Once one tastes raw onion bread, life is never the same.
Beware, this is a gi-normous recipe. I doubled a doubled recipe, as I have a five tray dehydrator, and wanted to utilize all five trays.
You should halve, [...]
I ran out of walnuts the other day, but had some raw pumpkin seeds handy, so I thought I’d try to make some raw pumpkin seed milk.
I measured one cup of hulled raw pumpkin seeds and sprouted them for a day after soaking them overnight. I then proceeded to use the walnut milk recipe. It’s [...]
I’m excited to be back in the groove, which is more of an attitude thing, than anything else. I feel better when I’m eating vegan, especially raw vegan, and I’ve been drinking green smoothies for breakfast most mornings, and having ginormous salads for dinner with pumpkin seed pesto and zucchini hummus on celery during [...]
I’m getting back onto the raw vegan lifestyle horse. I posted to my personal blog about it on September 11th: An Aspiring Raw Vegan in Portland.
I will be resuming my weigh-ins and measurements this year, and posting those results so that you may follow my progress along this path.
Below are two sets of [...]
I drink walnut milk by the glass. It’s a tasty treat, especially when ice cold. I also use it on cereal, and as a creamer in iced coffee or iced tea. Here’s the recipe:
Walnut Milk Recipe (makes almost one-half gallon)
Ingredients:
1 cup of raw walnuts
3 cups filtered water
2 T of raw agave (or 4 [...]
I found this recipe so early in my raw foodist days that I cannot believe I hadn’t posted it here before, but I hadn’t.
This raw zucchini hummus has been a staple for me from my earliest days in the raw food world. Once you try it, you will see why.
3-6 zucchini (depending on size)
1/4c olive [...]
It has been forever since I made a green smoothie for myself. This one I am drinking right now is yummy, but I think I’ll use parsley next time, rather than cilantro. I used two types of kale, the water and meat of one fresh young coconut, half a bunch of cilantro, one, bartlett [...]
It has been WAY too long since my last post. I will do what I can to post here more often as I get back into my raw living groove.
I am a very BIG fan of Angela and Matt Monarch, and I love their daily video blog. Several days ago they posted about [...]
It can be really difficult to get yourself going again after going back to regular eating. I am slowly working back through vegetarian to vegan to raw. At the moment I’ve got some sprouts going and will be brewing up some rejuvelac.
There’s a fresh produce market just a few blocks from where we’ve settled in [...]
We’ve switched hosting companies and the transition has gone without a hitch so far.
Thank you for joining the site, and for your ongoing support.
Thubten
2 bags of frozen organic cut corn (or fresh equivalent)
8 medium tomatoes
4 jalapenos
2 large ripe avocados
1 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tablespoon Celtic sea salt
Blend lemon juice, four of the tomatoes (diced/chopped), salt and two of the jalapenos (seeded).
Slowly add one of the bags of corn to the blender until the corn is pureed.
Pour [...]
(Day 302 – 64 To Go) October 29, 2008
Juice Feast Day 17
Daniel’s GeneWize capsules came today. I am excited for him. He’s never supplemented before, except for some Centrum a few years ago, or some fish oil now and then.
We’ll see how his health is impacted by the GeneWize.
(Day 301 – 65 To Go) October 28, 2008
Juice Feast Day 16
I am learning so many new things about blogging, and
how to earn an income from being in business online.
One video I came across recently blew my mind, and I
can’t wait to implement on my blog everything I’ve
been learning.
Check out the video: 12 Minute Membership [...]
(Day 300 – 66 To Go) October 27, 2008
Juice Feast Day 15
I’m excited to have shed another four pounds in the past week! I feel great and know that I’m on my way to 299# by December 31st. I haven’t weighed under 300# since I was in college in my 20s.
My ultimate goal is 225# [...]
(Day 299 – 67 To Go) October 26, 2008
Juice Feast Day 14
This time around my regimen is even closer to the 80/10/10 ideal espoused by Dr. Douglas Graham. Again, it was not my intention to get to 80/10/10, but I’m glad that I have, if only just to see for myself what the result of [...]
(Day 298 – 68 To Go) October 25, 2008
Juice Feast Day 13
I went to the Denver Raw Potluck Meetup today. What fun that was. There were lots of great people, and some amazing food. I successfully avoided eating anything, probably because I brought a gallon of juice with me to share.
(Day 297 – 69 To Go) October 24, 2008
Juice Feast Day 12
Today was my first day doing all of my juicing with my new Blendtec blender. I took Katrina Rainoshek’s advice and cut the produce into small chunks, not quite diced, so that the blender could grab hold.
In the first batch I loaded the two [...]
(Day 296 – 70 To Go) October 23, 2008
Juice Feast Day 11
I picked up the produce from Growers Organic again, today. I got a case (30 heads) of celery, 1/2 case (10#) of roma tomatoes, 1/2 case (14 bunches) of lacinato kale, 1/2 case (16ea) of red bell peppers, 1# bag of basil, 25# of [...]
(Day 295 – 71 To Go) October 22, 2008
Juice Feast Day 10
I’m finishing up my produce from the last batch and am excited to get a little more variety in my juice. I do tend to get into a rut with what works best in the juicer and that is tasty. I expect to add [...]
(Day 294 – 72 To Go) October 21, 2008
Juice Feast Day 9
Just got in from The Egg & I, a breakfast place here in Denver. Since I’m on my juice feast, I ordered juice. Thank goodness they had fresh-squeezed grapefruit.
(Day 293 – 73 To Go) October 20, 2008
Juice Feast Day 8
How cool is that? I love the results I get when I’m juice feasting! I have had such great support from my raw food buddies and the experts who have blazed the trail before me. How lost I would be without their knowledge [...]
(Day 292 – 74 To Go) October 19, 2008
Juice Feast Day 7
This morning I used my new Blendtec Blender to whip
up my juice with the oils, powders, etc. I also broke my GeneWize DNA-Guided herbal supplement veggi-caps into the juice and let it whirl! The result was amazing and delicious!
I have two day’s worth of [...]
(Day 291 – 75 To Go) October 18, 2008
Juice Feast Day 6
Went to the Boulder Rawluck tonight, and got to meet some really great people. I brought a gallon of unpasteurized apple juice, yummy.
Seeing and smelling all of the great food there, including some amazingly beautiful raw lasagna, was a challenge.
(Day 290 – 76 To Go) October 17, 2008
Juice Feast Day 5
My blender arrived today via UPS. I cannot believe
how amazing this blender is.
I’ve been lusting over Eric and Scott’s Blendtec
blender for years now, and I have finally gotten
my hands one one for myself.
This is simply the BEST blender I have ever used.
Take a look [...]
(Day 289 – 77 To Go) October 16, 2008
Juice Feast Day 4
I didn’t set out to do an 80/10/10 juice feast, but that’s how the numbers came out, well, actually closer to 80/5/15, but who’s counting?
Every day I’m receiving the most amazing nutrition available. These numbers don’t include my GeneWize supplements or the Vitamineral Green, [...]
(Day 288 – 78 To Go) October 15, 2008
Juice Feast Day 3
The other day someone posted a comment/question about the Eat Right for Your Blood Type foods and how someone living the “living foods” lifestyle would interact with that body of knowledge. My comments are below:
I found the D’Adamo book in a friend’s library about [...]
(Day 287 – 79 To Go) October 14, 2008
Juice Feast Day 2
Today I went down to Growers Organic to pick up my produce for Week 1 of my juice feast. I picked up 20# of roma tomatoes, 25# of carrots, 14 bags of three romaine hearts, 30 heads of celery and 40 red bell [...]
(Day 286 – 80 To Go) October 13, 2008
Juice Feast Day 1
Today was my first day of a six week juice feast. It was amazingly easy today. I had six quarts of juice: two quarts of apple and greens (celery & romaine), two quarts of carrot and greens, and two quarts of tomato, red bell [...]
(Raw Day 178 – 188 To Go) June 25, 2008
[FBS = 98]
I don’t know what it was last night (or early this morning to be more exact, but I just about lost my mind around midnight.
I couldn’t stop thinking about burgers. I am nearly twenty years clean and sober and I haven’t had cravings and [...]
(Raw Day 177 – 189 To Go) June 24, 2008
[FBS = 102]
I added some fruit to my juices, some oranges and some grapes.
The cravings didn’t subside. We’re very low on cash now, and I
don’t know how long I can stay raw and/or on juice.
We’re having a new meetup group tonight, one that’s all around
support [...]
(Raw Day 176 – 190 To Go) June 23, 2008
(Juice Feast Day 22) [FBS = 102]
Today is the first day of the rest of my feast. I had a great conversation yesterday with my friends Loriel and Soleil at Raw Utopia (www.rawutopia.com). I shared with them about my cravings and my raw dinner with Gina. [...]
(Raw Day 174 – 192 To Go) June 22, 2008(Juice Feast Day 20) [FBS = 92]Today Gina and I went produce shopping. I stocked up and had my juice. I tried adding yams.By evening, I was going nuts. I had walked through Whole Foods and smelled all of the great food, and waswanting to buy [...]
(Raw Day 173 – 193 To Go) June 21, 2008(Juice Feast Day 19) [FBS = 98]Gina came through again! She lent me her centrifugal juicer, so that I can continue juicing. It still takes me two hours to prep, juice, strainand clean up. Who needs to walk when I am getting such a workoutjuicing?I have [...]
(Raw Day 172 – 194 To Go) June 20, 2008
(Juice Feast Day 18) [FBS = 106]
Today is the day that it happened. I busted my juicer. It was a centrifugal
juicer and today it gave up the ghost. I will be shopping for a Vitamix, as
that’s what I have discerned will be the [...]
(Raw Day 171 – 195 To Go) June 19, 2008(Juice Feast Day 17) [FBS = 109]I got my glucometer today! Although I don’t relish poking myselfevery morning, I know that I could have had to poke myself manytimes every day, and am grateful for this amazing tool that keepsme on track.
(Raw Day 170 – 196 To Go) June 18, 2008(Juice Feast Day 16)I was able to go shopping today and stocked up for another threedays of juicing! I had the opportunity to speak with a woman whonoticed my cart load of romaine lettuce and made a funny remark.When I shared about my shedding of 57 [...]
(Raw Day 169 – 197 To Go) June 17, 2008(Juice Feast Day 15)Today I used mostly conventional produce to make my juice today, with the exception of the celery.4.5# of cucumbers (conventional)2# of bok choy (conventional).5# of Italian Parsley (conventional)1.5# of Romaine Lettuce (conventional)2 limes (organic)1 lemon (organic)1.5# green cabbage (organic)2# Napa cabbage (conventional)3# carrots [...]
(Raw Day 168 – 198 To Go) June 16, 2008(Juice Feast Day)I’ve been spending a lot of on www.JuiceFeasting.com and have been loving it.There are SO many resources there. It is amazing how much resources theRainosheks have amassed in one place. Maybe I will have read all of what’sthere before I turn 100.
(Raw Day 167 – 199 To Go) June 15, 2008(Juice Feast Day 13)I’ve been dosing up on MSM, which is supposed to be an amazing anti-inflammatory,in addition to being a super duper nutrient. It is as safe as water, so there’s noway for me to over-do it. It does, however, taste a bit icky. One [...]
(Raw Day 166 – 200 To Go) June 14, 2008(Juice Feast Day 12)Today I made some juice with cucumber, green cabbage, celery, lemon and lacinato kale.It was okay, but nothing to write home about (unless my mom’s reading my blog).
(Raw Day 165 – 201 To Go) June 13, 2008(Juice Feast Day 11)Today we received our GeneWize DNA assessment kit as well as our first commission check!With that check I went grocery shopping and was able to buy enough produce to make a gallon of juice. Delish!My raw buddy, Gina, brought me a and a [...]
(Raw Day 163 – 203 To Go) June 11, 2008(Juice Feast Day 9)Today we have no produce, so I’ve been eating a paste made from Vitamineral Green, bee pollen, maca, kelp powder and hemp oil. I have also been drinking quarts of MSM solution, without lemon. This is hard core, but I think that it [...]
(Raw Day 162 – 204 To Go) June 10, 2008(Juice Feast Day One really needs to be independently wealthy to do a juice feast right,
at least that’s how it seems. At least I’m shedding pounds!Week 24 Weigh-InWeight: 337.8 %BF: 39.7 (-2.8% Total) %H2O: 44.0 BD: 8.9 (-38.8# Total, -14.2# this week, Avg. -1.6#/week)
(Raw Day 158 – 208 To Go) June 6, 2008(Juice Feast Day 4)Today I added some cumin powder and some tumeric root juice.That helped some, but it’s still pretty gross. I’m amazed that anyonecan stay on this stuff for three months!
(Raw Day 157 – 209 To Go) June 5, 2008(Juice Feast Day 3)
I’ve started adding some Tibetan salt, some bee pollen, somegreen superfood and some carrots to the mix, but it hasn’t helpedmuch.
(Raw Day 156 – 210 To Go) June 4, 2008(Juice Feast Day 2)
I survived my first day on juice. I’m juicing two heads of romainelettuce, one head of cabbage, two cucumbers, two heads of celery, one box of spinach, one bunch of parsley, two tomatoes, and two lemons.
All in one jug it tastes pretty gross. [...]
(Raw Day 155 – 211 To Go) June 3, 2008(Juice Feast Day 1)
Today is the first day of my juice feast. I have a centrifugal juicer given tome by Scott and Eric. It looks pretty worn and beaten. We’ll see how longit lasts.I’ve gone to the store to stock up. I don’t want to get [...]
(Day 93 – 274 To Go) April 1, 2008 Prompted by a recent study released by the National Institutes of Health yesterday (The Crawford Study), the USDA has announced a plan to recall all fruits and vegetables from the market and to begin paving over farms around the country, beginning in May. Many [...]
(Day 91 – 276 To Go) March 30, 2008
Last night I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and experimented with my coco-motion recipe. This time I didn’t use cocoa powder. I made a chocolate liquor out of some raw cacao nibs. I did this by putting 1/2 cup of nibs in [...]
(Day 90 – 277 To Go) March 29, 2008 The rawluck today was amazing, once again. The people had very interesting things to share about their raw food experience, and the dishes each person brought were fun and tasty. Here’s a breakdown of what was there: Carol brought some [...]
The yummiest looking dessert I’ve seen recently is this Cranberry Cheesecake with Clementine Gelato. Did I mention that this dessert is raw? You probably assumed correctly that I would only be mentioning a raw dessert here, but oh my, this dessert looks amazing. [...]
(Day 87 – 279 To Go) March 27, 2008 Today is the day I must decide what I’m taking to the Raw Denver rawluck on Saturday. I had pulled my two gallons of kim chee out of the vat it had been fermenting in and stuck it in the fridge, so I could [...]
(Day 86 – 280 To Go) March 26, 2008 I have joined a number of Yahoo groups related to raw food and have been making some great connections. I was surprised at the number of results that came back from a search on “raw food.” Most of them turned out to be [...]
Wow! It looks like we’re staying on track at almost two pounds per week. I’m starting to feel a bit lighter. As my back is feeling much better, I think I’ll start walking on April 1st. On April 1st we’ll start offering [...]
(Day 84 – 282 To Go) March 24, 2008I was sent into immediate rapturous bliss upon tasting the raw pumpkin pesto sauce I made using the recipe I found on The Daily Raw Cafe. What an amazingly simple and fabulous dish! I’ve made many types of seed and nut pates, but this [...]
(Day 83 – 283 To Go) March 23, 2008
Today I made a first attempt at vegetable juicing. I used a plastic hand-cranked juicer, lent to me by my raw buddy, Scott, of RawDenver.com fame. I had purchased six ounces of wheat grass, which produced four fluid ounces of juice. I took [...]
(Day 82 – 284 To Go) March 22, 2008
I just got home from a very very cool event, the rawluck at Raw Utopia. There were eighteen people there and we had a blast. The food was great and the conversation was great. I learned a lot about living raw long term. [...]
(Day 81 – 285 To Go) March 21, 2008
I finished “harvesting” my second batch of rejuvelac today, yielding three gallons. I had looked for some rye, but couldn’t find any. I tried a different variety of wheat, and the result seems to be about the same. I have the leftover wheat [...]
(Day 80 – 286 To Go) March 20, 2008
Now that spring has sprung I am looking at my back yard and thinking about planting a vegetable garden. It is remarkably more expensive for me to produce my own food, than it is to shop at the local grocery store, and yet it is appealing [...]
I added MSM to my daily regimen. Gina, from the Aurora rawlucks, recommended it. Perhaps that will help prevent any pain once I start my walking regimen. I will start walking again once my back is 100%. I’ve started walking programs in [...]
Today I started taking Arnica Montana (a homeopathic remedy) for my back pain, and it has almost completely vanished. I place four tiny tablets under my tongue four times per day, and that’s it. I’m not taking any more pharmaceuticals. I learned that [...]
Given that today is St. Patrick’s Day, I thought that I would wax poetic about greens, our good friends that grow in soil and nourish us so completely. I was turned on to green smoothies by my raw buddy, Scott. You can take a [...]
(Day 76 – 290 To Go) March 16, 2008
The coolest thing happened last night, I was recognized at the local organic grocery store, Vitamin Cottage, by a reader of this blog. How cool is that?
She was just embarking on testing the waters with a raw diet and wanted to know where the raw [...]
Today we had our Aurora Rawluck, and what a great time we had there! Thank you Gina for hosting another great event. I brought peppermint coco-nubbins, and they brought down the house! I just added one tablespoon of peppermint extract to my coco-nubbin [...]
Today is Pi Day (3.14). It’s also the birthday of Albert Einstein. Isn’t that a bit freaky?
Did you eat raw pie today to celebrate? I have yet to taste a raw fruit pie. My friend Scott makes a mean raw chocolate silk pie. [...]
Who knew that growing your own sprouts could be so fun? As I watched my sprouts grow from tiny seeds, I was taken back to my kindergarten class with Miss Price (1970) where we incubated fertilized chicken eggs and watched the chicks hatch and grow. [...]
Now this is simply amazing. I have been doing very little in the way of exercise, as I am barely able to walk, let alone be a pretzel or walk three miles. I’ve been sitting in front of my computer most days, and yet [...]
I did everything I could to find a blog on Alissa Cohen’s web site: www.AlissaCohen.com, but couldn’t find one. There hasn’t been much posted by her or about her since fall of 2007. I even sent her an email asking that she start blogging. [...]
This is my week to love Alissa Cohen. I hope you don’t mind. Starting on page 185 of her book, Alissa shares with her readers the stories of people she’s worked with, who have had amazing results living the raw lifestyle. I am [...]
My raw buddy, Scott, gave me a copy of Alissa Cohen’s book, Living on Live Food. I’ve never had to hold a twenty pound book while reading. It is a tome. I’m enjoying it a great deal. It looks like a [...]
Today I just got the final edition Angela Stokes’s new e-book, Raw Emotions. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Angela’s insight into what makes humans tick, with regard to food, is profound. Get your copy today.
Way back in the late 80s, I checked [...]
I just finished off that batch of rejuvelac. Toward the end it kind of started tasting like a very weak beer. It was tasty until the very end. I am excited to start trying the same recipe with other grains. The challenge [...]
I’ve been regularly asked by my friends whether I’m a chef, since I’ve been whipping up some amazingly tasty raw treats lately. I am not a raw chef. I am a mean cook, but I don’t cook for myself any longer. I love [...]
With my back still out I am not getting much exercise. Any movement is painful, and it looks like I gained two pounds in the last week. I know that this is just temporary, and it is still a bit frustrating. Any words [...]
I’ve been thinking about walking, and when I think about walking, I think about my favorite shoe store, Foot Solutions. The Foot Solutions by my house is the perfect place to go to find the right shoe. I’ve been thinking about getting a pair [...]
My back is still aching a week since my last yoga class. I am not certain whether or not to continue with my yoga program. I enjoy the yoga classes and get so much good solid exercise during them; I’m just not sure that [...]
Not to drone on about my aching back, but owww! The drugs aren’t taking much of the edge off. My back’s gone out in the past, usually when I’m increasing my exercise or moving houses, as I have to lift lots of heavy things [...]
I’m sitting here, still in great pain from my yoga experience on Monday. The Zyflamend, Ibuprofen and Flexaril are having no effect, at least none that I can perceive. I am at least making good use of the time between grimmaces, editing the new [...]
Here we are on the one extra day we get each year to do whatever we please. This quadrennial tradition adds an extra day to My Raw Year, which I think is a good thing. That’s one more day this year to enjoy being [...]
I had intended to go up to Boulder last night to meet Sergei Boutenko, but my back was still out. Thankfully my yoga buddy, Patrick, recommended a natural inflamation management product that’s been working wonders, Zyflamend. I still picked up the hard core pharmaceuticals, [...]
(Day 58 – 308 To Go) February 27, 2008
Last night I poured off the last of the rejuvelac from my first batch and it is as tasty as everyone has said. It has a unique flavor, kind of lemony, kind of fizzy, kind of grainy. When a drink it with a little [...]
I went to yoga last night, and did okay. My back’s been bothering me, off and on for about a week. My yoga practice is supposed to help strengthen my core to support my back. Today I can barely stand. I didn’t [...]
(Day 56 – 310 To Go) February 25, 2008
I practice bikram yoga and love it. I do my best to get into the studio three times a week. I’m a big guy, and am usually the only one with extra weight in the studio. I know that yoga works for me. [...]
Yesterday I took my video camera to the rawluck and filmed several people having very positive reactions to my amazing kim chee. Unfortunately, I had one switch set incorrectly and none of that amazing footage made it onto the tape. I know that there [...]
Today is the last Saturday of the month, which means it is the day of Raw Denver’s monthly rawluck! Today I am trying my tweaked kim chee recipe. We’ll see how that flies. This time I shredded the cabbage and [...]
Britanie Faith hits the nail on the head with her post about the Law of Attraction. It’s great to see that even raw foodists understand how this works.
Take a look at what Heidi and JS have prepared for us on how to get the most out [...]
The routine that I’ve fallen into has been profound. I soak things to make other things and use what’s left over to make even more things. Something’s always soaking or dehydrating, but there’s not much variety. While I have books with fabulous recipes, [...]
(Day 51 – 315 To Go) February 20, 2008
When I was at the rawluck last week, I met someone who sang the praises of rejuvelac, the liquid result of fermenting sprouting wheat berries. I have never tasted rejuvelac, but have been [...]
Today I went into raw food prep overdrive. I made a batch of flax crackers and started a batch of kim chee. Boy does my kitchen smell good! I will keep track of my tweaks of the recipes and make sure they get posted in the [...]
Today I made a tour of some of my favorite raw food and raw lifestyle sites and wanted to share what I found out there with you:
Some of the most amazing looking food I’ve ever seen can be found on Chris Watts’s site. I [...]
I started today with making a gallon of almond milk. I drink almond milk by the glass. It is a tasty treat, especially when ice cold. After soaking three cups of almonds for a day, they transformed into four cups of soaked almonds. [...]
(Day 47 – 319 To Go) February 16, 2008
Today is the day of the “rawluck”! We’re going to watch a raw food movie after dinner. I’m taking my extra delicious kim chee. We’ll see how much they like it.
Well, they loved the kim chee and we had a great time watching Raw for Life.
(Day 46 – 320 To Go) February 15, 2008
Today was a day filled with meetings. I brought my chilled lunch box and enjoyed a pear, and some hempini (raw hemp seed butter) on some of my home made flax crackers. For dinner I had some home made kim chee and some lemon water. Dessert was [...]
(Day 45 – 321 To Go) February 14, 2008
Valentine’s Day! in years past I would have gone out to dinner with my valentine. This year going out to eat would not be fun for me. So far as I know, there are maybe a dozen raw restaurants in the whole country, and none of them [...]
(Day 43 – 323 To Go) February 12, 2008
Today I tried to eat out for a business meeting. We went to a local Indian restaurant. EVERYTHING in the place was cooked, with the exception of the lettuce on the salad bar. I was able to get a plate of raw cauliflower, [...]
(Day 44 – 322 To Go) February 13, 2008
WOW! I shed 9.4 pounds in the last week! I don’t know if it was the five hours of yoga or that the effects of raw diet are finally kicking into high gear, but I’m excited! I was wondering if had been imagining [...]
Nothing completes a meal better than a decadent chocolate dessert. Below is the recipe for one of my favorite raw desserts: CocoaMotion.
Cocoa Motion Recipe
Ingredients:
2c raw cashew pieces
1c filtered water
1t vanilla extract
1/4c cocoa powder
4 dates (or 1/4 c agave or sucanat)
1/4 c coconut butter/oil (optional)
1/2 c [...]
(Day 40 – 326 To Go) February 9, 2008
Today I found myself driving around Denver with several raw food bars in the console of my truck. As I stopped for red lights I would roll down my window (it was below freezing that day) and hand the person (assumed to be homeless and/or hungry) one [...]
(Day 39 – 327 To Go) February 8, 2008
The freshly prepared guacamole I find in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods is amazing. There are days (like today) when one of those with some home made flax crackers is a perfect meal. I don’t know how many avocados go into one pint of [...]
(Day 38 – 328 To Go) February 7, 2008
Today I prepared a batch of kim chee. I hope it’s yummy. Here’s the recipe I used:
3 lb. Napa cabbage – chopped coarsley
3 lb. daikon – peeled, sliced ½ thick & either halve or quarter the slices depending upon the circumference of the radish
6 carrots, peeled @ [...]
(Day 37 – 329 To Go) February 6, 2008
Today I’m spending out of the house and am camping at a local cafe, Scooter Joe’s. While they don’t have raw food, they do have free wi-fi. I’ve brought with me my insulated lunch box with apples, maple nut paste and my signature flax crackers. Delicious.
(Day 36 – 330 To Go) February 5, 2008
I can’t pretend that I’m not a bit disappointed about gaining three and a half pounds. I had really hoped to be losing three to five pounds a week. I just need to keep reminding myself that this is a year-long project, and that year [...]
(Day 35 – 331 To Go) February 4, 2008
Oh wow, am I sore all over! I’m glad that I’m taking today and tomorrow off from yoga. Today’s the day for my photo shoot. We’re doing some fun pictures, some business pictures and some before pictures. When they’re done I will post them.
(Day 34 – 332 To Go) February 3, 2008
I went to my first bikram yoga class today. I spent much of the class doing my best to avoid vomiting or passing out. There were about thirty in the class, and wow was the studio hot. I was the only “gravitationally challenged” person there, which is [...]
(Day 33 – 333 To Go) February 2, 2008
Today I tried a new flax cracker recipe. I added two cups of ground flax, mixing it with the almond flour, left over from preparation of the almond milk. I let that sit overnight while the flax seeds were soaking. It worked brilliantly! The crackers hold together [...]
(Day 32 – 334 To Go) February 1, 2008
This month I’ll be starting my new practice area, yoga. I intend to participate in three bikram yoga classes each week. I practice at Yoga Energi in Denver. The bikram (hot yoga) sessions are 90 minutes long. The instructors are amazing! I have been encouraged to modify [...]
(Day 31 – 335 To Go) January 31, 2008
I went to see the doctor (an allopathic MD) today to share with him my plans to shed 150 pounds and get my blood sugar and cholesterol under control. He was very excited for me. Although he presented me with all of my pharmacological and surgical options, [...]
(Day 29 – 337 To Go) January 29, 2008
I added psillium to my evening regimen last night and I have a big lump in my gut this morning and a dehydration headache, or maybe the headhache is from too much Sleepytime Extra tea.
I had a meeting with Whole Foods today to see how they want [...]
Today I had my usual green smoothie, which tasted much better without the mustard greens. I had a Lara Bar and some Brazil nuts. Later I snacked on some raw goat cheese and dinner consisted of romaine lettuce leaves slathered with guacamole and some tomato, [...]
I had about half of my smoothie left over from yesterday. I added a banana and some vanilla, but nothing could mitigate the mustard greens. Never ever again!
I’ve heard that mustard greens are tasty in juices, and I imagine that they are yummy in salads. I’ll have [...]
I learned something important today, never ever ever put mustard greens in a green smoothie. They make the smoothie taste WAY too much like mustard, way too spicy for a smoothie.
I went to the The Denver Living and Raw Food Cafe today. It was the [...]
Today I chose to dehydrate two of the pineapples I picked up last week because they were starting to get too ripe. This is a great way to preserve produce when it’s not going to get into a dish in time. This is the first [...]
Today I made my famous coco-nubbins. Anyone who has had a nubbin is welcome to comment.
Here’s the recipe:
3 cups raw organic shredded coconut
1 cup virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup Sucanat
1/2 cup raw organic cocoa powder
1 1/2 T vanilla extract
1 1/2 T chocolate extract (optional)
1 1/2 T extract [...]
(Day 11 – 355 To Go) January 11, 2008
Making room for all of the raw food was an interesting project. I threw out all of the different flours I used to use to bake with. I used the containers the flours were in to keep my nuts and seeds, now in the refrigerator. I had [...]
(Day 10 – 356 To Go) January 10, 2008
Coconut oil is very misunderstood, or so I have read. There’s a lot of research out there about coconut oil. Here is the most comprehensive unbiased resource I could find.
I use coconut oil in my coco nubbins, as well as young coconuts (or coconut oil [...]
Perhaps this would be a good time to explain the way I am approaching my raw year. Given that each of us approaches our raw choices as individuals, and there is no “right” way to eat raw, I’ve made some choices that work for me for [...]
Only so you understand the consistent result of the detox, I am STILL feeling moody. My body assessment today brought a bit of a surprise: I’ve lost no weight. At the beginning of my 90 days raw (about two years ago) I lost about [...]
I feel moody, but don’t have the lacking feeling. I “murdered” six avocados yesterday. I split and pit them, then pour some Namo Shoyu (raw soy sauce) into the indentation, and then scoop it all out, one bite at a time. Delicious!
I’ll make sure [...]
I am still moody. Get used to this, I tell myself. It will disappear soon. I murdered four avocados yesterday, but still feel lacking. I’ll try again today.
Having some concern around all of the fat in avocados, I decided to look up some [...]
I am still moody, a likely recurring theme for another week or so. In addition to my moodiness, I am feeling a severe lack of something. I’m eating plenty of food, and I’m getting a nice variety of nutrients; this much I know for certain. [...]
I am feeling moody, something that I expected. When I did my 90 days raw last year I was VERY moody during the first two weeks. I hope that I won’t upset too many people in my life as my body goes through this transformation.
I’ve been told [...]
My friends Eric and Scott gave me two gifts for Christmas, a dehydrator and the book, The China Study. I started reading the book today, and expect to use the dehydrator soon. I don’t have a lot of high end kitchen equipment yet. I have an ordinary [...]
I start most mornings off with a green smoothie. My morning green smoothies have a relatively consistent set of raw organic ingredients, here they are:
Young coconut meat and water
Banana, or apple, or pear, or mango
Red chard
Collards
Flat leafed/Italian parsley
Purple kale
Red kale
Green kale
Spinach
Celery
Raisins, dates or agave (if it [...]
Today I begin my raw year. I was inspired to try a raw food diet by my friend, Scott, of www.RawDenver.com. I went 90 days at 95+% raw about a year ago. I felt younger and my body felt great. After the first two weeks of eating [...]
One really needs to be independently wealthy to do a juice feast right,