Do Not Vote for RFRN for Best of Raw 2009

It's that time of year...

People want to vote for other people in "awards" all over the world in all sorts of ways. There's lots of "best of " lists that happen all over the place, and in the raw food community, everyone is all excited about "The Best of Raw 2009".

Winning awards has never been our goal - sharing our personal experience, educating others, and interacting with you is our goal. So when someone told us we were nominated this year for Best of Raw 2009, I decided I should go to the site and see what all the buzz is about.

I looked through the introduction and the guidelines, and I saw the following disclaimer (bold text is my emphasis):

SPECIAL NOTE! This event is in honor of those whose primary focus and diet is raw vegan, and who are teaching and modeling raw veganism and raw beeganism. The producers of this event do not advocate the eating of animals, dairy products or eggs. The producers and sponsors of this event recognize there are MANY PATHS on the way to health and are not in judgment of any path. Some vegans prefer if people who consume bee products do not call themselves vegan, thus the word 'beegan' has been formed. Some included publicly nominated individuals may occasionally ingest raw milk products, bugs, cooked vegan food or bee products. If someone is known to partake of flesh foods, we are honorably declining to include them in these nominations. If someone is an advocate of eating animal products, we are also honorably declining inclusion. We do not stand in judgment of anyone's choices nor can we POSSIBLY know the inside scoop on everyone's diet. We have consulted various highly respected raw vegan teachers to come to the conclusion about inclusion stated here. So thanks in advance -- let's all love one another unconditionally while continuing to take steps forward into ways we feel are most aligned with health, freedom, peace, prosperity, joy, longevity and flexibility in our minds, bodies and spirits.

This disclaimer made me feel very uncomfortable because it feels very judgmental.

There are people on the list... some big names in the biz...that are currently talking about or currently eating animal products or even cooked food. Paul Nison just admitted to drinking occasional raw goat milk. Anthony Anderson started talking this year about eating raw dairy kefir and other "animal products" and stands strongly behind them. The lovely Shannon Leone has talked about animal products as well. I could name many other names that are on this list of nominations. Are you going to take them off the list...or is these people ok in your book? Is Anthony sexy only when he is raw and vegan, or is he not sexy for you anymore because he eats a dairy kefir and other animal products like eggs and butter?

Is there a double standard here?

When we interviewed Carol Alt in 2006, we did not judge her for eating animal products. Although we were raw vegan at that time, we were curious and interested in her style of eating. Best of Raw has nominated her book, The Raw 50, but Carol is not included on the list most likely because she consumes raw meat and raw dairy products. And yet she is one of the most beautiful and vibrant women in the raw food world.

JS and I have been experimenting and thriving with raw animal products and healthy cooked foods. We have been experimenting with small amounts of raw dairy kefir and raw cheese, seared meats, fish, and a lot more. And we have been eating not a 100% raw diet for years (which we've mentioned over and over again on this blog), and we've really upped it this year and....

I HAVE NEVER FELT BETTER.

Here's My Deep Secret: After my dental issues last year, I had a major health scare afterwards. It was so profound and life-changing that I changed my diet and lifestyle forever. Now, one year later, I feel so good! I feel amazing. My teeth are stronger than ever, and I've lost over 15 pounds since June. I know that "animal foods" are a part of this healing. I know. I know. I've got a lot of explaining to do...and that's what 2010 is all about.

I feel so amazing that I have been working on writing a lot of new blog posts so I can start explaining what we've been doing and what has been working for us. But according to this best of list... I can tell that by next year we're not going to be part of the "raw food clique" anymore.

There is something I need from you: I want you to NOT vote for Raw Food Right Now. Do NOT vote for us. According to these "guidelines", we do not qualify to be on this list. We aren't "vegan" enough for these awards.

This Best of Raw 2009 has inspired me to create a list of my own "Best of 2009" list... Heidi style. We'll announce the winners of our list by December 31st, 2009. Stay tuned for that.

To whomever nominated us for Best of Raw 2009, I personally want to say a very big thank you. The fact that you nominated us totally fills me with gratitude that I can't fully express right now. I know that after I post this that I probably won't be allowed to be on any of these kinds of lists anymore, so I am going to treasure this moment. Again, thank you. You win a big star from me.

And if you want to make someone else happy, vote for people like Lenette Nakuchi and Bethanne Wannamaker. Although there may be other friends of mine that would like to win, I know both of them have talked about how much they would love to win.

Have a wonderful Friday!

XOXO

~ Heidi

Raw Food Right Now

p.s. Best of Raw 2009 nominated me under "Best Favorite Raw Vegan Educator". Justin didn't even get a nomination...and he's 50% of Raw Food Right Now!! Leave a comment and give Justin some credit!

p.p.s. If you have any questions about raw "animal products" like Colostrum, Deer Antler, raw kefir, etc... email me and I'll do my best to help answer your questions.

Ultra Vanilla Tiger Nut Milk Recipe [Raw Food Recipes]

8 oz bag of raw, organic Tiger Nuts!

Introducing Raw Tiger Nuts!

Not too long ago, our friend Alex Malinsky of RawGuru.com sent us a sample of a new type of nut called Tiger Nuts. Tiger nuts are really the tuber of the plant cyperus esculentus. They have a pretty good nutrient profile and are an excellent addition to any healthy conscious person's diet.

"Nutritious product with a high energy content (starch, fats, sugars and proteins), rich in minerals such as phosphorous, potassium and vitamins E and C. Also high in oleic acid." - RawGuru.com

They are a delicious nut that are very similar to an almond in flavor. However, they are best used as a nut milk. If you eat them straight they are extremely fibrous and don't taste too good.

So, with that said, we're going to give you an awesome nut milk recipe using Tiger Nuts. When you get this raw food newcomer into your kitchen, you will now know the best way to use it!


Ultra Vanilla Tiger Nut Milk Recipe

Before starting, make sure you soak your Tiger Nuts overnight in the purest water you can find.

Raw Tiger nuts being soaked in local spring water

Ingredients:

• 4 oz of tiger nuts, soaked overnight in clean water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• One whole vanilla bean
  
• 10 drops vanilla creme stevia
  
• 1 1/2 tbsp liquid coconut oil
• 1 1/2 tsp non-GMO soy lecithin or sunflower lecithin
• pinch of celtic or Himalayan sea salt
• 1 tbsp clear agave or sweetener of your choice to taste

Directions:

Melt coconut oil using two small bowls that fit on top of each other. Put very hot or boiling water in the bottom bowl and your coconut oil on the top bowl. Allow the coconut oil to melt until it's fully liquid.

Put the pre-soaked Tiger Nuts in the blender and fill the blender with pure water halfway. Blend on high for 1 minute. Strain through a nut milk bag.

Put in vanilla extract, vanilla bean, vanilla stevia, salt, lecithin, and agave. Blend on high for 30-45 seconds until vanilla bean is completely broken down. Turn on low and slowly drizzle in coconut oil.

Strain one more time through nut milk bag to make it extra silky.

Taste to make sure it's just right and adjust to your liking.

Fully enjoy probably the best nut milk you've ever tasted!

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This nut milk is also a favorite addition to an Elixir, which as you know we are huge proponents of. Elixirs and nut milk go together in beautiful harmony.

Tiger Nuts are a nice option to have when you get tired of using the same old nuts and seeds in your nut milks and recipes. They are perfect when you want to re-create a flavor similar to almond milk, yet Tiger Nuts have a truly unique creamy texture.

Get yourself a hold of some Tiger Nuts and let us know what you think!

~ Heidi & JS Ohlander
Raw Food, Right Now!
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Pure Market Express Review [Raw Delivery Service]

We hear the cry all the time..."I like raw food... but I don't have time to make this stuff!" And for the most part, we're going to actually agree with you. Making raw dishes takes time. A lot of time, especially when you are just starting out and have never made raw food recipes before. Despite what you see when you first learn about raw food, most raw food dishes are time consuming to make.

We've seen so many people give up on eating a high or all raw diet once they encounter the "making the food" obstacle.

You have three choices in this case:

1. Grin and bear it.
   
   Make the dishes, and spend many hours in the kitchen. Hey, this is how some people do it. They make it their lives. Many raw foodists are stay at home moms or people who work at home. They practically sleep in their kitchen!
   
   
2. Go simple.
   
   This is how we do it. We eat a high raw diet and we spend some quality time in the kitchen, but not much. The easier, the better. We don't really enjoy making recipes that often and we probably never will. So we have "hacked" our raw food diet to take as little time as possible.
   
   
3. Get your stuff made for you.
   
   If you live near a raw food restaurant, you can go there whenever you want to eat raw food. But before you say anything....... we know what you're thinking. You don't live in L.A. or New York. Raw food is not on every street corner or at your local Whole Foods or co-op that you can just "pick-up". No prob, now you've got yourself an excellent and fairly priced raw delivery service at your hands: Pure Market Express.
   

Local For Us, Delivered Right to You

When we first saw that a new raw food delivery service was being created practically in our backyard, we were ecstatic. In case you don't know, Raw Food Right Now is based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area in Minnesota. There aren't a lot of raw food options around here when you want someone to make something for you. Once Pure Market Express was announced and we found out that it was about 20 minutes from where we live, we knew that the raw food scene in the "Twin Cities" had changed for the better.

Pure Market Express is not a raw food restaurant. The owners, Quentin and Rebecca Irey, knew that making a local raw food restaurant probably wasn't a very marketable idea here in the Twin Cities. So instead of the typical raw food restaurant business model, they decided to have a bigger vision, and create a raw food delivery service to the continental 48 states.

Now, there are a few other raw food delivery services out there, but they haven't always been affordable for everyone. However, a quick look at the large variety and low prices for what you get at Pure Market Express will quickly expel the myth that deliverable raw food is expensive: http://shop.puremarketexpress.com/category_s/2.htm

The Process

How does this all work?

To put it simply: Pure Market Express is a new online raw food delivery service that features over 100 menu items that can be shipped directly to your door within 48 hours of ordering.

They offer gourmet dishes, pies, chips, snacks, and even smoothies! They also have an assortment of excellent raw ice creams.

The shipping is quick and arrives in reusable containers, with all the food properly chilled and extremely fresh. They guarantee delivery within two days of your order.

Every week they rotate a selection of dishes from their full menu of over 100 items. You can then either choose to order a full "week's worth" of items, or you can pick and choose and make your own selections. You can also order only raw ice cream, or you can stock up on pantry items like raw crackers and trail mix too. The choice is yours.

Check out their always changing weekly menu: http://www.puremarketexpress.com/thefood/nowserving.html


They've Thought of Everything

Every aspect of Pure Market Express has been carefully considered to be of the highest quality. To ensure this, Rebecca and Quentin hired a classically trained chef (Chef Jacob) and helped teach him the language of raw. Together they have created classic raw recipe favorites and new gourmet raw food masterpieces.

Since we live in the Twin Cities area, we were recently invited for a tour and private tasting at Pure Market Express. We were able to sit down with the owners, Rebecca and Quentin, and get to know them better. We had a lot of questions about their history of getting into raw food, their process of creating the business, and their current food philosophy and vision for Pure Market Express and beyond. While we were talking, Chef Jacob was bringing out dish after dish of incredible quality raw plates for all of us to enjoy.

Here is a peek at some of the food we tasted. Some of these items are available through the delivery service and some was special just for our dinner together. Let's take a look at the food, shall we?

Coconut Water, infused with mint: This is a simple recipe you can make at home! Simply take coconut water into a glass jar, and place fresh mint leaves into the container. Let it infuse for a while. In a way, it is a cold infusion of mint tea! Very refreshing.

Heirloom Tomato Salad: The simplicity of this dish brought out the bursting flavors of the heirloom tomatoes. The vinaigrette on the tomatoes was absolutely divine.

Jalapeno Poppers: These are one of the most popular items on the Pure Market Express menu, and after one bite, we understood why. For all your Jalapeno popper fans out there, these are perfect! I don't know how they perfected this recipe, but it makes my mouth water just thinking about these. The heat in the jalapenos is just hot enough to make your mouth tingle. Highly recommended. (FYI: You can order these at Pure Market Express!)

Caesar Salad: Have you been missing that particular Caesar salad in your favorite restaurant? When you order from Pure Market Express, you can enjoy that salad in a whole new way. After all, a delicious salad is all about the dressing! PME specialty fake bacon crumbles on top make this salad a winner with everyone...maybe even carnivores.

Tostadas: These were the best tostadas we've ever had. Even better than "non-raw" tostadas. Topped with a rich macadamia ricotta and walnut "meat" seasoned with their own Sassy Salsa!


Scallops with Red Pepper. This is even too good to comment on. Like a ravioli, but crunchy and sits in your stomach perfectly. Highly recommended!



Mushroom "Steak" with sweet corn salsa. We were both surprised when this dish ended up being our favorite of the night. Perfectly flavored and textured, we literally savored every single bite. Also highly recommended. (FYI: I think you can order this dish, or a similar dish through Pure Market! Yum!!!)

3 layer Mudslide Pie "Parfait". No raw food meal is complete without desserts. Everyone's favorite raw dish to eat and make usually involves some sort of sweet tasting dessert. This mudslide was very filling and tasted equally full in flavor. We spooned up every last drop, including the white chocolate mousse on top. (FYI: The mudslide is available as a pie through the delivery service, but we were served the pie in parfait glasses for an extra special treat. You could order the Mudslide Pie and do something similar at home!)

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Of course, we loved all the food, and were totally stuffed when we left. We recommend everything we had inside of Pure Market. It was all delicious. Besides everything on the menu, if you want to get a fun experience and are feeling wild and free, you can even select the "Chef's Choice" option, in which Pure Market Express will ship 25 items chosen by Chef Jacob, and shipped to your door, for 175.00. Wow. That is an excellent value with a lot of food!

In particular, the Chef Choice would be a great option if you are traveling somewhere and don't have access to a kitchen, or can't bring your kitchen equipment with you. Perhaps it would be a good option for you if you are going somewhere for the holidays? Can you say Christmas with the family?! Um, hello!!


Getting to Know Quentin and Rebecca

A very happy group of pleasantly full people
Us with Quentin, Rebecca and our friends
Vince and Jinelle

Pure Market Express - A Company Run By People Who Care

We had a lot of fun getting to know all of the Pure Market Team, especially Quentin and Rebecca.

While we happily enjoyed incredible dish after dish, we got to hear the entire story about how Rebecca found raw food. In fact, Rebecca has been a long time reader of Raw Food Right Now, and grabbed a copy of our Thanksgiving ebook when it was first released!

We also got to hear the hilarious story of how they decided to start up a raw food business while they were already running a business together as a married couple! Instead of trying to re-tell the story, we will let them tell you their story in their own words. Read their story here: http://www.puremarketexpress.com/ourstory/ourstory.html

When we asked Rebecca Irey to explain how she found the inspiration to create her new business called Pure Market Express, she simply told us "It all started on a road trip with a husband, 6 kids, and a mother-in-law."

Hey, all good adventures start with a crazy road trip, don't they?

In her own right, Rebecca is a trained raw food chef. After a couple years mastering the basics of raw food creation, she found herself raw during the pregnancy of her 6th child. After taking a road trip with her husband and her children, she found it hard to stay raw while traveling on the road.

So Rebecca's husband, Quentin, wanted to do something special for her birthday while they were on this long vacation, and paid for a large order from an undisclosed raw food delivery company. When it finally arrived, she unpacked bags of various sauces that looked like green gooey astronaut food. While the food tasted all right, it wasn't the same as the raw food she makes at home.

After her first experience, she then tried another online raw food delivery company. While the food looked more presentable, "it tasted like cardboard", she told us.

At that moment she was determined that there had to be a better way.

When Rebecca and Quentin arrived home, they both realized that making fresh, healthy food available to anyone, anywhere, was important to both of them. Even though they already owned and managed a successful company, it was time to start a new business. One completely from the heart.

And thus Pure Market Express was born!


Getting the Behind The Scenes Tour

When we visited their facility for the tasting (which is an old bread bakery in Chaska converted to an incredible raw kitchen) and had an opportunity to have an amazing tasting and complete tour of their operation, were able to see their business from the inside out.

Everything is extremely clean, well-thought out, and organized. Every detail has been anticipated and fulfilled. These two are dedicated to integrity and quality. They even have an entirely separate room completely dedicated to sprouting wheat berries so as not to mix it in with their regular menu to ensure those who are gluten intolerant are safe.

There's just one thing we want to let you know.. not everything is organic. Although they are striving to make everything organic someday, you may want to check with them first if you are concerned about all of your food being 100% organic. Even many raw food restaurants are unable to be 100% organic. At least Pure Market is being up front and honest about it.


Wrapping it All Up

Having raw delivery service options to everyone is a fascinating and much needed service. Pure Market Express is different because they are focusing on this particular need so they can provide for those who find it hard to stay raw in their area, don't have time, or are on the road and want to guarantee quality raw food wherever they go. In fact, if you are going on an extended trip, Pure Market can guarantee to have food delivered to you, on time and in each area you arrive. You can even plan ahead and get it delivered to your hotel or other location before you arrive. Now that is service!

Visit Their Website and Learn More:

http://www.puremarketexpress.com

~ Heidi and JS
Raw Food Right Now

P.S. Attention Minnesotans! If you are in the Minnesota area near the Twin Cities and want to do a pickup, make sure to order online first and let them know you will be in to pick it up. If you have any questions about how the process works, simply call the Pure Market Express team at 952-452-4865 and they will answer any questions you have. And if you are near Lakewinds Co-Op...they now have a Pure Market Express refrigerated case with fresh raw food deli items available for take out! Raw food deli items in a grocery store - one giant leap for Minnesota!

P.P.S. Special hello to Joe and Jeanne who are long time Raw Food Right Now readers. Joe scored an awesome job at Pure Market Express and was just promoted to a full-on Sous-chef! Congrats Joe!!

Victoria Boutenko: New Books, New Interview, New Controversy

Raw Food books were the foundation of the raw food movement.

One of the first books I read about the raw food diet was Raw Family, which is now considered a classic in the raw food book genre. Both JS and I found this book to be an inspirational read about the real life story of an entire family that went on a raw food diet together to help heal all of their varied health problems.


It has been many years since Raw Family was first released. The kids are all grown up now and now the name Boutenko has become synonymous with green smoothies since raw food mom and matriarch Victoria Boutenko released Green For Life in 2005. The family dynamic must have changed a lot since those early days, but Victoria keeps going in her passionate quest to share the message of green smoothies with the world.

In fact, Victoria has recently released two books in the past few months and North Atlantic Books sent us review copies. Most people would be eager to know that Victoria has finally published the much awaited sequel to Green For Life, a book entitled Green Smoothie Revolution. In addition, Victoria has released an innovative recipe book that is perfect for raw food beginners, called Raw Family Signature Dishes.

Both books offer the same level of quality as you would expect from all the other books from Victoria Boutenko. In Green Smoothie Revolution, Victoria has truly created a companion guide to Green For Life. Once Green for Life was released and became very popular, people wanted more green smoothie recipes. The idea of Green Smoothie Revolution was born. Together, both of these books create all you need to know about Green Smoothies. There are a vast amount of recipes included in this book, with bonus recipes for pets!

And if you are just starting out on a raw food diet, Raw Family Signature Dishes is truly the best recipe book for absolute raw food beginners. In this unique book, Victoria shows, step by step and in full color photographs, how to make standard 100% raw food recipes. It includes a step by step guide on how to make a salad, a soup, a cookie, a pie, a raw burger, nut milk, cakes, and more. If you are a visual learner and you have no idea how to make raw food, this book is just for you.

There's Just One Other Thing...

That being said, there has been something very obvious that has been so difficult to talk about. We didn't know what to say, because there is a lot of gossip going around about Victoria....it's about her weight.

Many people have tried to tell us stories of Victoria caught binging on cooked food right in front of their eyes. And there are other stories too. We didn't know what to believe, and we don't report on gossip, so we didn't say anything at all.

Many years ago, Victoria lost a lot of weight after starting a raw food diet. There are amazing "before and after" photos of Victoria inside Raw Family. But Raw Family was originally published in 2000. It has been nearly 10 years since that book was been released...a lot of time to re-gain all of that lost weight.

Photo Credit: Raw Food Videos

Everyone in the raw food community knows that Victoria has gained weight. But since she was the one that brought green smoothies to nearly mainstream status, no one has wanted to say anything.

Last year, health blogger Kevin Gianni tried to ask her about her weight in an exclusive interview with Victoria during the amazing Rawkathon event. At the time, Victoria admitted that she didn't know why she had gained weight and had consulted with all the top raw food experts to ask for their advice. She claimed to still have no answer for her puzzling weight gain.

There is something I have wanted to say for a very long time on Raw Food Right Now, and I am going to say it, right here and now:

A raw food diet does not guarantee weight loss.
You do not always lose weight on a 100% raw food diet.

It is difficult when Victoria, one of the leaders of the raw food movement, has been telling people that they can lose weight on green smoothies and yet she herself struggles with weight.

Last week our friend Matt Monarch announced that he is going to personally interview Victoria Boutenko this Friday, October 30th on Friday, November 27th on his radio show. Matt is going to ask Victoria these very important questions...Are you 100% raw, and if so, why do you have extra weight?


These are the tough questions no one has wanted to ask....until now. We could have interviewed Victoria for RFRN radio, but I do not have the guts like Matt to ask tough questions like these.

I urge you to take time out this Friday night and tune in to Matt's radio show and hear Victoria answer these questions live.


Let's Get This Weight Thing Out of the Way

I have personally consulted with people who have been 100% raw using perfect organic, properly combined food and still they have not lost weight. I have seen people with my own eyes who have gone on 90+ juice feasts yet gained the weight back.

Other weight loss inspiration stories in the raw food movement are not true for everyone. Angela Stokes and Philip McClusky are inspiring stories, but they do not represent everyone out there. There are people out there who are perfectly raw, and still they are suffering, not only with excess weight, but other health problems as well.

In fact, we've heard many people tell us directly that they gained weight right after starting a 100% raw food diet and stopped eating raw because they didn't want to gain weight.

My heart goes out to Victoria, because I know what it is like to struggle with weight and body image. Victoria and her family have offered so much to the raw food movement. We don't want to ever hurt her feelings. I think none of us in the raw community want to do that. We as a community just want to know the truth.

If you are struggling with your weight, and you've tried 100% raw food diet but you still have not lost all your weight, I want you to know that you are not alone. There are other people out there, mostly silent people out there, too ashamed to admit to the raw food world that 100% raw is not helping them lose weight.

Keep trying. Keep searching. Keep looking for what works just for you.

I hope you can tune in Friday and listen to Matt's radio show. If not, please take a moment and send some loving energy and appreciation to Victoria Boutenko. After all, she is our generation's Ann Wigmore.

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

Free Recipes from Raw Magic by Kate Magic [Raw Recipes]

Free Recipes from Raw Magic

In one of our last posts, we reviewed Raw Magic by UK based raw food author, advocate, superfoodist, entrepreneur, and mother Kate Magic. As we mentioned in our review, Kate has given us permission to give away three free recipes from her book to our readers!

We had you vote for your top recipes from a list of five we gave you to choose from. These recipes are an excellent way to get superfoods into your diet and to experiment with superfoods if you have yet to experience their fun and power.


And here are your winners!

1. Supersexy Curry
2. Broccoli Bonkers
3. Hi-cake
   

Enjoy your free raw superfood recipes!

Supersexy Curry

1 large avocado
3 small tomatoes
3 sticks celery
1/4 red onion
1 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp hulled hemp seeds
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp maca powder
1/4 tsp suma powder
1 cup cauliflower
1/2 red pepper
1 cup spinach
1 tbsp goji berries

Peel and pit the avocado, and put the flesh into the blender. Halve the tomatoes and chop the celery sticks into eighths, and put them in the blender too. Add the onion, lemon juice, hemp seeds and curry powder and blend into a thick puree. Add in the maca and suma and blend briefly (if you blend maca for too long it goes bitter). Remove the sauce from the blender and put in a bowl. Chop your cauliflower into small bite-sized pieces, and dice your pepper into pieces the same size. Stir the cauliflower, pepper, spinach and gojis into the sauce. Eat straight away.


Broccoli Bonkers

1 small head broccoli
1/4 red onion
2 tbsp spirulina
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lemons, juiced
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp Seagreens

Chop the broccoli into small pieces to fit into your blender. Put all the ingredients apart from the Seagreens into the blender together, and give it a good going until it's creamy. If it's too much like hard work for your blender, you can add a little water or some extra oil. Once it's turning over and there are no lumps of broccoli left, stir in the Seagreens by hand. Keeps for a few days, or you can dehydrate leftovers and crumble them into croutons for salad.

Hi-cake

Cake:

2 cups cacao nibs
2 cups brazil nuts
2 1/2 cups lucuma
6 tbsp agave nectar
2/3 cup water


Icing:

2 avocados
1/3 cup raw chocolate powder
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/4 cup water


Decoration:

2 tbsp goji berries
2 tbsp dried cranberries

Grind up the nibs and nuts separately in a high power blender or coffee grinder. Transfer to a mixing bowl with the lucuma and agave. With your hands, mix the all the ingredients so you have an even powder. Add the water gradually, kneading the mixture into a ball with your hands. It should end up as a fairly thick dough-like consistency. Press into a springform cake tin, and leave in the fridge to set for a few hours.

To make the icing, put the avocado flesh in the blender along with the chocolate powder, agave and water. If you havenít got chocolate powder, you can substitute carob or mesquite. Blend until you have a thick cream. Once your cake is set, you can remove it from the cake tin, and spoon the icing evenly over the top and the sides. Decorate with dried goji berries and cranberries sprinkled over the top. Uneaten cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Once your cake is set, you can remove it from the cake tin and spoon the icing evenly over the top and the sides. Decorate with dried goji berries and cranberries sprinkled over the top. Uneaten cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks (but only if no-one knows it's there).


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If you like any of these recipes, you will love the rest of Kate's recipes in her book Raw Magic. If you want more free recipes published here on RFRN, support Kate and other amazing raw chefs and authors by purchasing their invaluable books. Kate has made special arrangements for her books to be sold in the US with the help of Matt Monarch and his store, The Raw Food World. You can buy Kate's books without having to pay for UK shipping if you shop here.

We love Kate's energy and passion for superfoods and for this movement. Make sure to check out her sites here and here.

Kate has also recently published the much talked about and racy book Ecstatic Beings with Shazzie. Although it is not technically a "raw food book", we are considering giving it a full review here on RFRN. What do you think?

~ Raw Food Right Now!
Visit our site at http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Raw Food Right Now - Book and Product Review Policy

Review policy for Raw Food Right Now

Over the past few years, we have been doing book reviews and product reviews. In fact, we did our first book review within the first month of starting Raw Food Right Now.

Here is what we have always believed to be our review policy.

We only write reviews for things that we are passionate about.

We write reviews for books, products, services and people because we truly and honestly believe that the things we review will help others. We have read almost every single raw food book out there - even the really bad ones. Yes, there are some books out there that have horrible disgusting recipes that make us spit. We have read books with such poor grammar we wanted to burn the books. And some people are just trying to make a quick buck off of a raw food book with "raw" or "detox" in the title. That's why we don't want you to have to waste your money like we did buying books that are useless and food that isn't worth the money.

We are not directly compensated or paid for our reviews.

We sometimes spend literally hours on reviews, especially considering tens of hours of reading time on each book chosen for a review. Unlike other reviewers out there, both of us actually read the books that we review. We don't just quickly flip through it and make something up.

In the case of food and other products, we set aside special time to "test" and "sample" everything. We take the time to taste the food that is sent to us. Most food is sent to us in small sample quantities. So for those of us who have sent hate mail - no. There is no money "slipped under the table" to get reviewed by RFRN. We either want to review your stuff, or we don't.

We put up an affiliate link for most of the products and books we review. We feel that if you found our review helpful, it's only appropriate that we, as a business, get compensated for our hours of work. We filter the books and information and review them to save you time and money. Plus, we enjoy it!

We do not review everything that is sent to us.

Yes, currently more than half of the items sent to us usually are reviewed because they are of the highest quality. But we do not review 100% of everything that is sent to us, mostly because a) we do not have the time to review everything sent to us, and b) not everything sent to us is of the highest quality.

If something is not reviewed by us, it does not necessarily mean that we do not approve of it. We are at times overwhelmed with too many things sent for review at once. But if something is reviewed, it does mean that we feel positive and passionate about it.

Our reviews are 100% honest.

People send us things, and expect that we will always give glowing praise. While we have been fortunate to have read books that inspire us and food that makes our mouth water, that has not always been the case. David Wolfe's book Superfoods was an amazing book, but the cover still makes us want to cringe. We vow to give you, the reader, complete and total honesty. We only share what we honestly believe about anything we review. Sometimes the truth hurts, but we have to be honest.

Our reviews take time.

We put so much heart and soul into everything we do with Raw Food Right Now, that honestly it can leave us exhausted. This is not our full time business. We take time to carefully write reviews that express our heart and soul, honest feelings about everything we review. Each review comes from both Heidi and JS. There is no deadline for reviews. They are incubated over time, and when we feel the review is ready, it is released to our website.

We only review things that we stand behind and believe in.

Consider a review on Raw Food Right Now to be a badge of quality.


Why read a review written by Heidi and JS Ohlander of Raw Food Right Now?

We have experience. We have knowledge.

We want you to be informed of that which we have found to be informative, inspiring, and helpful on our raw journey and in the journey of others.

With this site we are dedicated to sharing with you the knowledge we have learned so we can pass that knowledge and wisdom to you. And with our product reviews we have literally helped hundreds if not thousands of people in the history of our site, informing people about books, products, and resources to help make the raw food lifestyle better for others.

You may not see us flaunting ourselves on YouTube, or see us on tour in your city every other week, but we are real people who live our own unique philosophy of the raw food lifestyle, and have been living a healthy way of life for over 10 years, and 5 of those have been with a raw food focus. We've always been here. You can always contact us.

This policy may be changed over time, but the overall message will stay the same - we vow to give you honest reviews from our heart.

Thank you for taking the time to read our policy. We hope with this policy you can understand us better, so we can serve you better.

With Love,
- Heidi

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

Raw Magic by Kate Magic Review [Raw Book Review]

Recipes for the Revolution!

"It is not possible to eat these foods on a daily basis and not feel altered." - Kate Magic - Raw Magic

For some raw foodists and health conscious individuals, superfoods have changed their life and brought their health to the next level. Other people scoff at superfoods as expensive supplements that are not worth the money.

Whatever your thoughts are on superfoods (and ours are very positive), it seems that people that eat superfoods have more fun. And Kate Magic, Shazzie and their friends are living examples of using superfoods to take "fun" to ridiculous levels.

What do we mean by that? For example, if you haven't seen Shazzie's steamy durian video, go to YouTube right now and take a look. Or have you heard of Kate & Shazzie's newest foray Ecstatic Beings? Yow!

Bottom line is, Kate Magic has created quite a different raw recipe book with Raw Magic.


Meet Kate Magic

Kate has been around 'the movement' for quite a while. Many of you may know her, but if you don't, allow us to introduce her to you.

Kate Magic is a UK based raw food author, advocate, superfoodist, entrepreneur, and mother who has also been teamed up with Shazzie for quite a while. Together these two have taken raw foods, superfoods and raw chocolate to the next level in the UK...and beyond.

Kate Magic is also the author of two other raw food books Eat Smart, Eat Raw and Raw Living.

You can find out more about Kate Magic at her website Raw Living. She is also currently very active on Twitter and Facebook.


Raw Magic is a different kind of raw food book.

First off, this book is beautifully laid out. Full color on each and every page. Each page is bright and vibrantly bold. The book is adorned with many artistic photos of Kate and her friends playing with their food. Just flipping through the book is fun and makes for an interesting read in the kitchen just by itself without even touching the recipes.

Many of us forget that food is meant to be enjoyed as well as a means to a healthy body. You've heard that food digests better when it's presented more eloquently, right? Kate and her crew are well aware of the effect that having the best time you can possibly have while eating the best foods you possibly can is a powerful combo.

The book may be a bit pricey than other raw food books, but the full-color printing on each page was not wasted. And for a book full of colorful superfoods and images, the information and recipes alone are definitely worth more than the price tag.

This book also brings out Kate Magic's personality more than Eat Smart, Eat Raw and Raw Living, which neither of us were very impressed with honestly. We feel like we can know Kate a lot better through this book than her previous titles.


Over 160 Quality Raw Superfood Recipes

"Every recipe in this book has been invented and tested and retested at least three times. So they definitely work!" - Kate Magic - Raw Magic

"I think it's important that we use [superfoods] as any other kitchen ingredient...rather than reserving them for special occasions or only putting them into sweets or smoothies." - Kate Magic - Raw Magic

There are over 160 quality superfood recipes in this book, and if you are bored of getting superfoods in you diet by throwing them in your smoothie every morning...get ready for something different! This book has covered just about every angle of getting superfoods in you as possible.

And these are quality recipes. We can't tell you how many times when we first went raw that we'd try out a recipe that turned out completely disastrous (even following the directions exactly), only to realize that this recipe was probably never even actually made, but designed straight from the author's mind. Kate and her team have striven for perfection in each of these recipes, and it shows when you actually make them.

These recipes are chock full of superfoods. Instead of throwing a couple goji berries on your raw dessert, these recipes are truly made out of superfoods! With over 160 superfood recipes you will no longer not know what to do with your them besides throwing them in your smoothie or elixir. Kate has created a slew of creative superfood recipes for you to choose from. The variety really is truly amazing and anyone who buys this book who is a fan of superfoods will be very happy with the value they will get out of it.

One thing we should let you know about. Do you see the amazing looking superfood cake on the cover? Sorry, that recipe is actually not in the book but is Kate's special secret recipe. Kate does offer the actual cake for sale on her site, but the recipe is too sacred for her to give away in the book. Bummer.


Raw Magic and Superfoods by David Wolfe

We can't get away from talking about superfoods without mentioning their biggest proponent: David Wolfe.

This book can be considered a counterpart to Superfoods by David Wolfe (read our review of Superfoods here). Even though Raw Magic was released first, the books are very similar in that they both talk about the benefits of superfoods. Kate's book includes more refined and tested recipes than what you will find in Superfoods. Superfoods is not designed as a recipe book like Raw Magic is, however. It is more informational, with deeper research into David Wolfe's top superfood picks. These two books do support each other and both are recommended if you are getting into superfoods or want to deepen your understanding and knowledge of them.

Raw Magic is the perfect companion book to David Wolfe's Superfoods. Get your recipes from Kate's book and get a full college level education on superfoods by reading David's.

(Bonus Superfood recipes: You can get some free recipes we posted from David Wolfe's Superfoods book here.)

However, if you're new to superfoods or want to widen your knowledge on them, the first part of Raw Magic has plenty of information to educate you. Each superfood used in her recipes has a corresponding detailed section about it. You will get a great overview of each superfood, what the value and range of nutrients are, and the history of each one is.

In addition to explaining how superfoods will take your nutrition to the next level, Kate brings a spiritual component to using superfoods in your diet as a vehicle for enabling higher consciousness. From how eating superfoods opens and further activates the right-brain, to synchronicities, and moving to trust and abundance over fear...once you read the book you'll see what we mean.


Our Thoughts and Experiences

As a reference, neither of us are keen on making a lot of recipes, but we have to say that these recipes are created to be quite easy and it's hard to say no when they look so damn good in this book. If nothing else, reading Raw Magic will give you a lot of inspiration for how to use superfoods in your diet.

As a testimony, we've both been really getting into superfoods in the last two to three years and it's taken our quality of health (and life!) to the next level. There truly is an evolution going on in the raw food world and superfoods are absolutely part of it. It's safe to say that superfoods are here to stay and most of us have gotten on board with them, even if for some people that means it's just a little maca in their smoothies.


Should you buy this book?

If you love superfoods and want to extend your alchemical kitchen knowledge on how to use them in a huge variety of ways, absolutely.

If you are new to superfoods and are very curious, this is an excellent book to start with.

If you don't like superfoods or don't care about them, then this book is obviously not your cup of tea. Then again, neither is our site since we love superfoods too. :)

And if you are bored of all the standard raw food recipe books out there, this one is certainly a raw food book that stands out from the rest with its bursting full color photos, and the energetic essence of Kate Magic's personality infused in this book. The book will double as a raw inspirational book along with a superfood education and recipe book.


Vote for Free Recipes!

What we usually like to do when we review raw recipe books is to ask the author for permission to post some free recipes. Kate has graciously allowed us to give you three free recipes. Like we usually do, we are going to have you vote on your top three recipes picks from the list below. Leave your vote in the comments on this post (on the blog, don't just respond to an email if you are on RSS). Pick your top three and we'll tally up the votes and post the free recipes in an upcoming post.

The following recipes are chosen as candidates, chosen by Kate Magic herself.

Pick your top three and leave your vote in the comments below:

• Cacaomole
• Supersexy Curry
• Camu Believe It
• Broccoli Bonkers
• Hi-cake

~ Review by Raw Food Right Now
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com


Bonus! Here is a handy list of all the superfoods included in Raw Magic:

• Cacao
• Goji
• Maca
• Bee pollen
• Blue-green algae
• Chlorella
• Spirulina
• Wheatgrass
• Purple corn
• Camu camu
• Suma
• Sea vegetables
• Monatomic trace elements
• Hemp
• Flax
• Coconut
  
  

Have fun with superfoods! They are fun and good for you!

Celebrating Three Years of Raw Food Right Now

RFRN turns 3!

Get out the birthday cake and candles...it is time to celebrate three years of raw food blogging here at Raw Food Right Now.

Here are some of our accomplishments so far:

• Three years of truly honest blog posts by people who have been living the raw food lifestyle for over five years.
  
  
• Over 500 blog posts.
  
  
• Keeping the Ultimate List of Raw Food Blogs updated and current with the newest and most active raw food blogs.
  
  
• Become one of the most respected and well-known sources for raw food news and information on the web.
  
  
• Started a raw food radio show called Raw Food Right Now Radio where we've interviewed quality raw educators and authors like Carol Alt, Philip McCluskey, and the Raw Divas.
  
  
• Released three quality raw food holiday recipe ebooks that have enormously benefited our readers have healthy holidays without binging (Raw Thanksgiving, Raw Christmas, and Raw Easter)
  
  
• Started a quality newsletter with a free raw ice cream ecourse that has thousands of happy subscribers where we post exclusive information and articles that is not posted here on the blog.
  
  
• Re-launched and redesigned (in conjunction with Daniel Vitalis) FindaSpring.com - the world's first free, user-generated online database of natural springs. Over 100 springs currently on the site - on more than 4 continents!
  

We know what we do best - letting you know what you really need to know about what is happening in the raw food world.

We know our strengths is in telling you how it is. We value your time, so we may not post quite as often as some other raw websites out there. We just don't have a spammy bone in our bodies. We're not wired that way.

So we're going to keep giving you the absolute best, coming straight from the heart, from us, to you.

We find it really amazing what we've done with the free Blogger blogging platform since we've started. Sure, we could switch to WordPress or other platforms, but Blogger has become an infinitely simple and effective tool to quickly get the word out to our readers. When we started this blog, we didn't really have any long-term plans for it, it just kept growing on us...you guys kept asking for more!

And even after all that we've accomplished...there is still so much more we want to do with Raw Food Right Now.


Plans for the next year of Raw Food Right Now

For the next year of Raw Food Right Now we are going to focus on the basics, and devote ourselves to answering your questions. In upcoming posts we are going to answer questions like these:

• How do you "go raw"?
• What equipment do I really need?
• What does a raw foodist really eat?
  
• What are the best places to shop for raw food?
• What are the best raw food books to buy?
• How can I save money on raw food?
• What are the best websites?
• Where can I get quality, free raw food recipes?
  

All this and more, coming up here, at Raw Food Right Now. In addition, we're going to keep bringing you raw and health related websites and information that are extensions of Raw Food Right Now, like FindaSpring.com. Both of us have plans for projects for the upcoming year. As always, we will strive to work on only the best and most useful information, services, products, and free content that we can provide.

Do you love Raw Food Right Now? What are your favorite moments and posts of the past?

Give us the birthday gift of love, say hello, and leave a comment.
It means so much to us to be able to be connected to people like you.

With love and gratitude,
- Heidi & JS

Raw Food Right Now

P.S. What do you want to see on RFRN next year? We're taking requests...

photo credit by soapylove

The Secret Life of Gabrielle Brick [Raw Food on Television]

When we initially saw the email in our inbox, we feared the worst.

Uh-oh...what is mainstream TV going to say about raw foods this time?

We TV, the televison network for women with shows like Bridezillas and reruns of Dharma and Greg and the Golden Girls, have created a new season of all-new episodes for their popular original series The Secret Lives of Women. And this season they're exposing the secret life of being of women who eat 'Extreme Diets'.

Guess which diet made it into this episode?

Don't think about it too hard, just take a look at the URL of the page you are on right now...

After all....we have seen raw food highlighted in the media in a negative light more than once before. And since the title of the show is about "the secret life" of women, we wondered how they would slant raw food. Is raw food a cult? Is raw food "extreme"?

WeTV's PR people were kind enough to send us over an early DVD copy of the full episode before it airs this coming Tuesday, August 25th, so we're going to give you our full opinion on the piece.


Our Review of WeTV's 'Extreme Diets' - The Secret Life of Women and Raw Food

OK....yes, they call the episode Extreme Diets, but overall the show was very well produced and did not take an editorial slant for or against any diet or lifestyle in this episode. The producers intent in showing an honest and balanced perspective on how each woman lives their "secret" life comes through brightly in this episode.

In the episode, four women are featured who are on 'extreme diets'. The four women profiled include a woman who lost weight through faith in God and runs a faith-based weight loss business, a woman who has maintained a diet based purely on calorie restriction for 15 years, a woman who is a freegan and eats only food that others throw away...and a woman who is a raw foodist.

We in this particular community know this raw food woman as our own beautiful Gabrielle Brick.

Gabrielle Brick is a well known as raw food enthusiast, caterer, and instructor. She is also the creator of The One Chocolate Bar: a low-glycemic, raw chocolate bar created in small 1 oz sizes.

The episode follows Gabrielle as she is shown making food in her own kitchen, shopping at the farmers market, teaching a raw food class, and catering an event for spiritual and psychedelic artist Alex Grey. Hey, it even features Gabrielle's Mom!

Of all the women they profiled, it is our opinion that Gabrielle is probably going to be the most interesting to non-raw viewers. Her food was vibrant, her interviews with the show were honest and warm, and compared to all the other women, she looked very healthy, vivacious and glowing.

Usually when raw food gets some mainstream press like this, there is a large upwelling of interest from people new to this type of lifestyle...this show is probably going to get new people interested in raw food like when Angela Stokes was featured on CNN detailing her amazing weight loss story.


Which 'Diet' is Not Like the Others?

What we found particularly interesting about this show, is that that raw food is the only diet featured in this episode about "Extreme Diets" that is really about...well, a diet!

For example, caloric restriction is an idea based off of scientific studies of rats and fruit flies living longer on less calories. Caloric restriction has some amazing research behind it and is practiced and praised by many in the raw community (including Gabriel Cousens), but isn't really about the food at all...it's about eating a lower amount of calories.

Freeganism is more of a movement about wastefulness and eco-friendly living than about the food itself.

And the woman who runs the faith-based dietary movement is about using faith in God as the basis to not eat too much, too many fried foods, etc. You can see them eating a Standard American Diet throughout their segments. Meat and potatoes, anyone?

We find all of that extremely fascinating. Speaking of 'Extreme', we found it even more fascinating that a diet rich in superfoods, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, seaweeds, and that has a massive variety of foods and nutrients is considered extreme by some people. Personally, both of us eat more variety of foods with a higher nutrient profile (probably in the thousands of times more than we ever have before) since eating a diet high in raw foods, superfoods, and herbs.

With that said...on to the show!

Watch a clip from the show featuring Gabrielle!

http://www.wetv.com/video/34919619001/extreme-diets-going-raw

Make sure you watch the show on August 25th. If you can't make it then or are unable to DVR or TiVo it, check out the times they will be broadcasting this episode by clicking here.

...
Are you reading this after the episode has aired and you saw it? Tell us what you think, whether you are raw or not!

- Heidi & JS
Raw Food Right Now
http:/www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Is Moldy Food Safe?

If you're not sure if your moldy cucumber is safe, just check out this handy guide from the USDA. They have listings for a variety of foods...most of them are cooked foods like deli meat and bread.

Now you can tell your Aunt Sally that the sour cream in her fridge with the green fuzzy smiley face on top is NOT safe to eat.

There is fascinating information all about molds included in this in-depth article.

Who knew the USDA could be so much fun!

Molds on Food: a USDA Guide via BoingBoing

- Heidi

Raw Food Right Now