50 Quick Easy & Delicious Recipes: Fruity Fizz

Please refer to our Massive Raw Recipe Book Challenge post to get the scoop behind the Massive Raw Food Recipe Challenge.


Recipe Title: Fruity Fizz

Book: 50 Quick, Easy, Healthy & Delicious Raw Food Recipes by Karen Knowler.




Recipe Type: Beverage

Serving Size: One or two servings, or however many you want

Ingredients: carbonated water, fruit juice

Appliances needed: spoon or stir stick

Approximate Time to Make: Less than 10 minutes


Heidi's Thoughts: What a classic. When you feel like reaching for a soda...grab this. It actually reminds me of Italian Sodas, but better.

Justin's Thoughts: We've been making this recipe for quite a few years. It is definitely the raw foodists version of soda or pop. This is always a hit at Christmas and New Years, especially with non-raw relatives. They love it.

(Where's the full recipe? Find out why we do not post full recipes.)


Justin & Heidi

Angela Stokes Now 90 Days into Her Juice "Feast"

About two months ago, we posted about Angela Stokes' 92-Day Juice "Feast".

Angela is an amazing raw foodist who lost over 100 pounds since she started eating only raw foods back in 2001.

Raw foods have literally transformed every aspect of her life.

She has been keeping a blog detailing her daily journey through this juice-only feast. You can visit her blog here: http://rawreform.blogspot.com

Today Angela is now *90* days into her 92 day juice feast. Quite an amazing accomplishment!

She posted some pictures today. Head on over to her blog and see them. She looks fabulous.

Keep your eyes on her blog for the next few days to see her finish her feast. She will be detailing her journey back to eating solid foods after her feast ends. Should prove to be quite interesting!

Angela, you have our deepest respect and admiration for accomplishing your goal.

- Heidi & Justin

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you are having a fun and festive Valentine's Day. I know I am! Justin and I are taking the day to go out and do things we love, like visiting bookstores, and searching for raw food treats in unexpected places!

Valentine's Day can be a day full of poor food decisions, or it can be a time to take a moment to realize how decadent and luxurious raw food can be!

For example, Justin and I have been snacking on thinly cut apples over the last few days as a "late night snack". It is light, refreshing, and fun! We have been eating our apples with some other raw goodies, and sparkling water as a special treat.

Justin's favorite fruit is the strawberry, and I was tempted to get him some as a Valentine's treat. Then both of us remembered how we got strawberries last year, only to be disappointed with lame, tasteless strawberries. I picked up some mangoes instead, and they have been delicious! Not quite a strawberry, but I promise to make it up to Justin when strawberry season comes around in a few months.

Here are some quick ideas on how to make this Valentine's Day one that is raw and delicious!

Seven Valentine's Day Ideas for Raw Foodists:

• Create fruity finger food! Cut up fresh fruit into bite sized pieces, and serve on a pretty plate. If desired, you can serve the fruit with some sort of dip or pudding (Karen Knowler's or Raw Food Real World's Chocolate Pudding recipes would be perfect for this!)
• Tell someone you love them by serving them a large delicious green salad. Serve the salad with a fancy sounding dressing (like pomegranate poppy seed, or strawberry balsamic) and dress the salad with a sprinkle of your favorite raw nuts, or some fresh fruit.
• Treat your special someone (or even just yourself!) to a raw food restaurant. If you have enough time to travel, drive to a new raw food restaurant that you haven't been to before.
  
• Make a smoothie for someone special before they leave for work or school. Remember, you can do this any time of year, and they will be sure to appreciate it!
• Buy your loved one's favorite fruit, and put the fruit in a little basket or small box with tissue paper. They may be thinking your present will have chocolate inside, but once they see fresh, ripe, juicy fruit...their heart will melt from your thoughtfulness.
• How about ditch the food idea all together! Instead of focusing on food, focus on an experience. Take your sweetheart to a museum, a music concert, the theater, or shopping at their favorite store. Drive them to a gardening store and look at all the plants growing for spring! It doesn't have to be anything fancy, it just has to be a little out of the ordinary. Even a drive out to the country would be a refreshing change of pace!
• Want to really say "I Love You"? Find a bed and breakfast that has rooms with a kitchenette. Surprise your love by taking them to a suite filled with fresh fruit, bright leafy greens, pure water, two champagne glasses...and a blender. Whip up some smoothies and both of you will be on cloud nine!
  
• Last but not least, buy your loved one some raw chocolate. There are many brands out there to choose from! Granted, it is Valentine's Day right now and it may be tough to find raw chocolate at your nearest store... so plan ahead and surprise them sometime soon!

I believe Valentine's Day can be any day of the year, and it can also be on every day of the year!

Happy Valentine's Day!

With Love,
~ Heidi

Due to Popular Demand, Raw Thanksgiving Recipe eBook Now For Sale!

The response is still overwhelming!

Never mind the fact that during our promotion period last year, we gave away over *500* free copies of our Thanksgiving Recipe eBook...

Never mind the fact that we are still receiving requests for it almost three months later...

Never mind the fact that we, personally, are still using these recipes...

The fact is, we were going to wait until Thanksgiving again this year to offer the book for sale, but we just can't turn you away!

That's why we've decided to offer you our fabulous Thanksgiving Recipe eBook for sale.

Here is a brief recap of what's included in the eBook:

• Eight classic Thanksgiving Recipes, including Walnut Pecan Stuffing, Cranberry Relish, and the fan favorite, Heidi's Amazing Deviled Egg-less "Eggs" Spread
• A complete shopping list
• A list of equipment that you will need
  
• Tips and tricks to make each and every recipe just right!
• A "printable" version of the Raw Thanksgiving Menu
• A sample schedule for preparing the full meal on Thanksgiving...or any day of the year!
• Quick tips on dealing with confused family members!
• Beautiful and inspiring pictures of each and every recipe!

These recipes are great for anytime of year. As we said earlier, we are still using them!

Just click the link below and you will be taken to an order page to pay with PayPal (you can use a credit card if you wish):

Order the Raw Thanksgiving Book Here!

Note: Please be sure to include the e-mail address where we should e-mail you the eBook. We will e-mail it to you within 24 hours of receiving your payment.


Thank you for your continued interest in our blog!


We look forward to serving you more in this amazing year, 2007.

Justin & Heidi Ohlander

P.S. Want to see the raw Thanksgiving Recipes in action? Check out some of our posts from last Thanksgiving:

• A Look at Most of the Recipes!
  
• Making the Pumpkin Pie

Grab your copy by clicking here:


Note: Please be sure to include the e-mail address where we should e-mail you the eBook. We will e-mail it to you within 24 hours of receiving your payment.

50 Quick Easy & Delicious Recipe: Stuffed Bell Peppers

Please refer to our Massive Raw Recipe Book Challenge post to get the scoop behind the Massive Raw Food Recipe Challenge.


Recipe Title: Stuffed Bell Peppers

Book: 50 Quick, Easy, Healthy & Delicious Raw Food Recipes by Karen Knowler.




Recipe Type: Entree

Serving Size: Two Servings

Ingredients: avocado, red bell peppers, some curry powder n' other stuff

Appliances needed: knife, food processor

Approximate Time to Make: Approximately 15 minutes


Heidi's Thoughts: Delicious simplicity! In the Raw Food World, I would consider this dish to be the equivalent to steak; a hearty dish that fills you up. Great for a snack if you split this recipe up to serve more than two people. Just make sure you use your favorite curry powder. With curry, you get what you pay for, so make sure you go out and get a nice spice blend.

Justin's Thoughts: Personally, I have been quite excited to try stuffed peppers since hearing about them. I had an idea that it might become an almost daily staple of mine, being that I'm not overly fond of plain avocado. This dish is filling, tasty, and fairly easy to make.


Final Helpful Hints:

Although Karen's recipe does not call for sea salt, this is, in our opinion, a much needed addition. A small sprinkle can go a long way on this raw food dish. Also, we enjoyed our enjoyed our peppers with extra lemon juice and a lot less curry powder.

Justin & Heidi

(Where's the full recipe? Find out why we do not post full recipes.)

Why Don't You Post the Full Recipe?

***Update! As of 3/17/07 Karen Knowler has allowed us to post some of her recipes from her recipe book!***

A few of you have recently been asking us: "Why don't you post the full recipe?"

We thought it would be a good idea to do a post to explain why.

Here is the quick answer: the main reason we cannot (and will not) post the full recipe, is because these are copyrighted works. It would not be fair (or legal) to the creators of these fine recipes to have someone just post them on a blog for all to see. They deserve compensation for their work.

That being said, our initial intent for starting the Massive Raw Recipe Book Challenge, was to not only increase our own raw food repertoire, but to give raw foodists all over the world an opportunity to see real people actually making these recipes and posting their results.

In addition, we are advertising for the recipe authors in hopes that others will go out and try the recipes in their own kitchen.

By giving an honest review of their recipe and providing our readers a link to buy the book, we make everyone happy and provide an excellent service to the raw food world.

Where else are you going to get such an extensive listing and review of the most popular raw food recipe books on the market?

It is our hope that all of this helps you, the reader, come to a decision on whether or not you want to purchase one of these raw recipes books. On Raw Food, Right Now! you can see pictures of the results of each recipe, tested and reviewed.

We want you to get a feeling for the recipe: Is it complex? Simple? Quick? Easy? Does it look like something you would make? Does it actually work? Is it something you can make, right now?

Heidi and I hope that this clears some confusion up and answers your questions.


Now, on to the recipes...

Justin

What Goundhog Day and Raw Food Have in Common

Today is Groundhog Day.

It is a fascinating holiday, celebrated by many people around the world. I'm not exactly sure how people celebrate, as there seems to be no official way to celebrate a day where a little critter climbs out of a hole and looks up into the sky.

But I'll tell you how I celebrate Groundhog Day, and how it is a perfect raw foodist holiday.

You see, I've been celebrating Groundhog day since the movie starring Bill Murray came out in the mid 1990's. If you are not familiar with the movie, then you are just going to have to stop reading this right now, and run out the door and go to your local Target or Wal-Mart or Suncoast and just buy yourself the DVD. Come back after you've watched the movie, ok?

For everyone else, you know that in the movie Bill Murray spends a very very long time living the same day over and over again. He feels trapped in his existence, unable to leave the small town he feels trapped inside. Sometimes he wants to die. Sometimes he wants to kill Punxsutawney Phil. And sometimes, Bill Murray's character wants to eat a table covered with pastries.

Do you ever feel like eating a table covered in pastries?

Have you ever felt as if you are living the same day over and over again?

Do you feel like you are living the same life you did last month, or last year?

To me, I find Groundhog Day to be a day to remember to change up routines and put some variety into life.

The truth is, we all get stuck into our ruts and routines. Many raw foodists seem to stick with the same five recipes they know they love. You may be sticking to the same way to make smoothies or making the one salad dressing that is your favorite, or do the same type of exercise everyday.

I celebrate the holiday in my own way by making sure that I live life "a little different" today. I will go out of my way to find something to explore, or taste something new. I plan to find a new book to read today, and I think I will drive a new way to all my errands too.

Want to celebrate the holiday with me?

I challenge you to go out there and do something different today! You might meet someone new, or learn something, or have lots of fun!

Try Something New Today:

• Drink juice instead of a smoothie. Drink a smoothie instead of juice.
• Put a different fruit into your smoothie. Have a mango based smoothie instead of a banana based smoothie.
  
• Experiment with green smoothies. How much romaine can you put into your smoothie today? How about arugula? Want something decadent? - add some mint!
  
• Squeeze lime into your water instead of lemon.
• Wear flip flop sandals. Who cares about the weather - It's a party today!
• Get some different salad greens.
• Try a new raw food recipe!
• Read a book you've been meaning to read, perhaps a raw food book?
• Drive to a different grocery store or a raw food restaurant you've never been to before!
• When you get to the store or the restaurant, introduce yourself. It's time to meet someone new today!
  
• Try a new way to exercise - yoga, pilates, martial arts, dancing, free weights...and so many more ways to groove your body!
• Go for it - explore a fruit you've never had before. Can't find an exotic fruit? At least try a different variety of fruit - You could eat a different variety of fruits all around the world and never try every kind in your lifetime!
  

Life is meant to be explored. You don't have to be a polar explorer or a world traveler to be adventurous. Adventure is always within you.

You can go out into the world and be daring by wearing shorts on a cold winter day!

Go out there and have a fantastic weekend!

~ Heidi

P.S. Remember, no matter what Punxsutawney Phil says today, we all know that spring is around the corner!!