Raw Food Find!

As I was googling this afternoon I came across an intriguing raw snack... Flackers! The name alone cracks me up but the benefits seem to be plentiful. On top of that... they are RAW! Check out the link below. If you've had them before post and let me know how they taste. These are definitely going to be my next raw snack sample.

www.drinthekitchen.com

My best cupcake to date!

Yes, I have been a bad raw transitioner and a bad raw blogger but I PROMISE it was for a good reason! I have been working my butt off coming up with recipes for cupcakes and testing things out. I have had several mishaps ( lumpy frosting! ) but tonight I have to say that I have ( to date ) outdone myself on the cupcake frontier. I made chocolate cupcakes with fudge ganache icing and raspberries! Here's the even better part.. I had my roommate try it ( she isn't raw ) and she LOVED them! Take a look at my creation:

On another note... I have an investment firm that loves the idea of a raw bakery. If I decide to go with them after the holidays are over I should have funding (fingers crossed!) within 6 months! So realistically I could have my bakery opened at the latest around July/August of next year! Cross your fingers and let me know if you know any investors.

On Saturday I met a friend at the Farmer's Market in Durham. I heard that there was a raw bakery-ish type place up there. I found them. While I cannot honestly say that I was impressed with their set up, their selection, etc. I can say that the Pumpkin Muffin that I got was good. I think it was Vegan, though, and not raw but delicious all the same!

Next up on the trial cupcake list: Pina Colada Cupcakes


Happy Raw-ing everyone!

Why go raw? How about a non-decomposing Happy Meal..

Considering a raw food lifestyle? Here is yet another reason why processed food is soooo bad for us!

Happy Meal Article

I particularly like the part about the person who has kept a McDonald's burger for 12 years and it is still intact.

GROSS!

My First Raw Burger!

I have some very exciting news. I am now officially a Raw Food Chef. Here is my certificate:

Now, with that out of the way I must say that I made my first Raw Burger. It was labor intensive! It took 36 hours to dehydrate the onion bread ( well worth it ). After that it took just 10 minutes to make the "burger meat", the "mayonnaise" and slice the tomatoes and avocado.  Here is my beautiful creation:

If you would like the recipes for any of these wonderful creations just post and I will reply!!


Happy Raw-ing! :)

Taking the Plunge- A Raw Conquest

I have decided to take a major plunge and put my Business Degrees and my new found love of Raw "baking" and put together a business plan for a Raw Bakery. After the rave reviews of my first attempt at cupcake making I am also putting together a Raw Cupcake Recipe Book to be available by E-Book after the holidays. Ohhhhhh this is so exciting!

To make this happen, investors will be a necessity. If you or anyone you know is interested in being an investor of some sort please let me know!

In food news today, I am in the middle of making some delicious onion bread from the book RAWvolution. I will upload a picture when its done ( if it makes it that far! I've been nibbling on it as it dehydrates! )

Happy Raw-Ing Everyone :)

Raw Cupcakes

SO MUCH has happened since I last blogged! So much GOOD has happened. Well, let me just say that I haven't exactly been eating raw lately ( oops! ) but I am heading back towards that path as of tonight. I made... drumroll please... Raw Banana Chocolate Cream Cupcakes tonight!! Can we say CUPCAKE DELICIOUSNESS????!!!! Here is a picture:

Over the weekend I took the Level 1 chef certification from Alissa Cohen. It was GREAT! We didn't make cupcakes but someone mentioned cupcakes and of course it peaked my curiosity because I am the cupcake queen. Next up for me is the Level 2 course and then on to Level 3! Anyone have an extra $2400.00 lying around that they would like to donate to the "get Mandy Raw Chef certified fund"?

Next adventure in cupcake land- Vanilla with Chocolate frosting. YUM!

Tomato, Pesto, Basil and Cashew Cheese Terrines

I made one of the most delicious meals on my Raw journey TO DATE! Look at this beautiful picture!

Below are the recipes and the You Tube video demonstration.

Recipes-Click Here!

Let's talk SOCIAL LIFE and RAW!

On Thursday night I went to a special cooking demonstration at Cafe Harmony. It was great. It was interesting. I REALLY felt out of place.

Most people who have done raw for awhile, for starters, are pretty thin. Additionally, there were a lot of "free spirited" individuals. One in particular. While I don't mind or dislike hanging out with free spirited people, I am, by nature, more of a Type A personality.

So in true Mandy-Style my imagination went nuts after this event. I thought maybe my life had come to a standstill. How on earth am I going to go out with my regular friends? Am I going to have to start hanging out with only Raw people? Holy gone raw, Batman!

Exaggerations aside, I realized that I can proverbially still have my cake and eat it to. At Starbucks I noticed that they had some RAW snacks. THANK YOU STARBUCKS GOD! This is particularly great because most establishments frown upon you walking in with your own snacks :)

Here is my guide for social time with friends:

Go to Starbucks! Have a yummy Refresh Tazo Tea ( I like mine over a cup of ice ) and a Two Moms in the Raw bar.

If you can't make it to a Starbucks you can't go wrong with a tea or ask for a salad sans dressing.

The alternative is converting ALL of your friends to a raw lifestyle... but I dont foresee that happening ;)

An Ode to the Raw Lemon Cheesecake Tartlet

Such a yummy little tartlet
you totally made my heart flip

I could you eat you all day
but in calories I would pay

you were made with cashew flour
and you took less than an hour

your creaminess is a dream
you will make everyone scream

and this is my ode to the lemon cheesecake tartlet.

Recipe:

Crust-
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1/2 cup cashew flour ( this was super easy.. i just stuck some cashews into the magic bullet and made flour)
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon coconut oil

Directions-
Mix all ingredients together by hand. Press into a 9-inch tart pan, chill in the freezer for 15 minutes or until you are ready to fill the pie.

Filling-
1 1/2 cups cashews, soaked for at least an hour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp lemon juice ( I squeezed the lemons )
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp agave
1/4 cup +2 tbsp coconut oil, melted ( put it in a bowl that you put inside of a bowl with hot water )
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp lemon zest ( I just ran my lemon over the cheese grater )

Directions-
Blend all the ingredients together in the blender until very smooth. Put it in the crust and put it in the freezer overnight. Store the pie in the freezer. Remove from freezer 15-20 minutes before serving.

Pancakes and Bacon, OH MY!

I cooked up a storm yesterday! I made pancakes, bacon, mac and cheese, and a delicious Lemon Cheesecake Tartlet. As soon as I get my video's to download right I will post up the demonstration on the Lemon Cheesecake Tartlet for you.

Here is the recipe and a picture of the Blueberry Pancakes and Bacon. Enjoy :)

Blueberry Pancakes

3/4 cup fresh blueberries
2 ripe banana's
3 cups of pecans soaked for 8 hours
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of agave
splash of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of sea salt
2 cups of maple syrup ( note that maple syrup is not actually raw but if we ate it as it came out of the tree we wouldnt like it, so use it sparingly. )

Place the blueberries in a medium sized bowl.  Blend the remaining ingredients together in a blender until its completely smooth. Add the batter to the bowl with the blueberries and stir it together. Spread the batter into 4 or 5 inch rounds on the dehydrator. The pancakes shouldn't be anymore than 1/2 inch tall. Dehydrate for 24-48 hours.

Eggplant Bacon

1 large eggplant thinly sliced lengthwise
1 Tablespoon of sea salt
2 Tablespoons of Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons of Nama shoyu
2 Tablespoons of Apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
pinch of black pepper
pinch of cayenne

Toss the eggplant and the sea salt in a bowl and let it set for an hour. Blend in the remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Squeeze out the liquid from the eggplant and add it into the marinade. Let the eggplant marinade for about 30 to 45 minutes. Spread the slices out on the dehydrator and let it set for 24-36 hours.

Going Raw.. on a budget

I am in love with the idea that I am going raw. What I am not in love with is the price of going raw.

On a very basic level, going raw is not so bad. If you can nosh on a bag of spinach every day for the rest of your life then you have my complete admiration. If you are like me, and need variety, then here are some lessons that I have learned in the last few weeks:

Lesson 1: Try new things.. the RIGHT way

I went raw snack crazy a few weeks. I was at Whole Foods and I saw this whole segment of an aisle dedicated to raw. There was chocolate bars, love bites, granola's, flax crackers, cookies, brownies, etc. Seeing that there was only a segment of an aisle dedicated to raw, and feeling as if this was as good as it was going to get,  I grabbed a few things.. I got the go raw chocolate bar, some love bites, some grawnola, and a few other things. If you have been to Whole Foods and checked out the Love Bites they are $7.39 for a 4oz bag. This expensive, albeit delicious, snack was a little too high priced for my budget. A few days later I popped into Food Lion and guess what I found... PURE bars for $1 something. The crazy thing? The PURE bars are better tasting to me then about 80% of the other bars I tried! Had I done my research I could have saved  A LOT of money that I really couldn't afford to spend on groceries!

Lesson 2: Get the basics locally

I am fortunate enough to live in a city that has a year round farmer's market. That being said, I went this morning and spent $12.00. For $12.00 I got the following items: 5 large yellow squash, 4 large and firm tomatoes, 3 hot chili peppers ( no... not the band members! ), a PURPLE Pepper ( YES!! It's REALLY purple! It's sooo awesome! ), an eggplant, and a small basket of Asian Pears. Not only did I get some fabulous deals and an awesome new food find, but I helped support our local farms so that we can keep having fresh produce. I suggest a google search in your area if you aren't sure where a farmer's market is near you.

Lesson 3: Splurge a little so you don't splurge a lot

I have a Starbucks addiction. I dont know what it is about that place but I walk into one and instantly feel more calm. It smells great and I know that I am about to have a nice cup of some Starbucks deliciousness. Every time that I have denied myself Starbucks in the last 2 weeks I have ended up spending way more on something else i.e. Love Bites. I figured out the trick. I went to Starbucks yesterday. I walked in and I ordered a Venti Hot Tazo Refresh Tea with a large cup of ice on the side. I made some delicious tea and spent literally half of what I would have spent on my regular order of a grande iced non-fat caramel macchiato with extra drizzle. SCORE! I was satisfied and it prevented me from spending even more money on something that wasn't what I was really looking for.

Lesson 4: ( this is the most important ) Make due with what you have... for now!

Last night my friend talked down off of the proverbial edge when I got all worked up about Vitamix Blenders and how there is NO WAY that it's in my budget right now. I tried to justify it ( everyone says just suck it up and get one! ) I tried to think of ways to save the money fast ( I even stopped and tried to get a part time job at Barnes and Noble! ) but it was not meant to be. My friend basically told me to calm down and make due with what I have. And she's right. I bought a $40.00 dehydrator at Walmart today because, realistically, that wasn't even in my budget but i'm going to use it and i'm going to make due with it until I can save up for a really nice dehydrator.. and a vitamix... and a juicer... and... i'm accepting donations to the get Mandy's Kitchen Set Up fund.. :)

Bottom line is that if you get easily wrapped up in new things (like me) then slow down and ease into this. It will be worth it in the long run and if you focus on what you have and not what you don't have then odds are you will be more successful at transitioning and staying into a raw lifestyle.

Raw... the "wRAWng" way

I did a LOT of research on eating raw before I decided to jump into this. I spent 4 weeks digging up any article that I could find, any success story that I could find, and TONS of recipes that I want to eventually try.

The last couple of days I have been floating around in a happy little raw bubble. I've felt way better, I've noticed that I am starting to get more energy and most importantly, when I nibble on something "processed" I feel an immediate difference in how I feel ( exhausted, headache, stomach hurts ). That being said, I jumped on the scale this morning and do you know what it had the AUDACITY to tell me?? The scale told me that I have GAINED 5 pounds in the last 4 days!

Holy, Raw gone wRAWng, Batman!

After my hour long depression on why I can't be a success story like all of these other people who were cured of disease and excess fat my brain finally kicked in and turned off my emotional response. I really sat down and thought about what it was that I was eating. I have been enjoying too much of the "good stuff" is my conclusion.

Let's break this down...for breakfast I have been having smoothies made with a banana, half a peach, some spinach, half an apple, almond milk and some grawnola. While all of this is raw and all of this is yummy, it all adds up on the calorie department. Now for a snack I have been having a "bar" of some sorts ( by the way, I tried the PURE Apple Cinnamon Bar today.. YUMMY!!! ), for lunch a spinach and tomato salad with sea salt, pepper, and a bit of olive oil, as well as some almonds, walnuts and honey. When I get home at night I am so hungry that I have been slamming 2 avocado's with pico de gallo and then eating regular food!

I firmly believe that even though I am going raw that I can eat regular food once in awhile. Once in awhile has been happening every night for me! We are talking Pasta, Bread, all that processed stuff that i'm trying to
 get away from!

The lesson here... Eat enough during the day so you dont have the urge to binge eat on processed food in the evening. Also, spend some time getting recipes and experimenting. When I go grocery shopping on Saturday I am getting the stuff to make blueberry pancakes and "bacon". Why? I get bored easily! Tomorrow I will have a list of resources for everyone that can help you no matter what stage of the process you are in.

Happy Raw-ing! :)

The importance of Snacking

I learned a very valuable lesson today. In order to make it through the day I MUST snack.

The day started out normal enough. I made a smoothie for breakfast, had a Pure Trail Mix Bar for a mid-morning snack, a spinach and tomato salad for lunch and that was it. I was STARVING when I reached the house this afternoon!

The whole way home I thought about I would grab when I walked in the door... some leftover spaghetti, a meatball, some cheese, some turkey breast?? They were allllll running through my head in a delicious little circle saying "EAT ME! EAT ME! EAT ME!"

I didn't do it.

I did, however, eat two avocado's with fresh made pico de gallo and a peach with some raw almond butter. I am very proud of myself.

I have a meeting this evening at Starbucks so I will be gladly partaking in a Grande Iced Non-Fat Caramel Macchiato with extra drizzle, however I still made it through my first day of all three meals being raw.

The lesson learned: It is better to be over prepared with snacks then so hungry you want to eat the entire contents of the pantry, fridge, and freezer when you walk in the door from work.

A weekend of "unraw"

This weekend I went to the beach.

While at the beach I ate a ton of fast food. Here is the craziest part... On Friday we stopped at Bojangles for breakfast. I was hungry 4 hours later! I ate allllll day. It was amazing at how empty the calories were in what I was eating! It definitely made me appreciate my smoothies and salads and got me even more excited about going completely raw. Imagine how beneficial this will be to my body once I cut out ALL the junk! ( Except Starbucks now and then )

Since I didn't try any new snacks or raw foods for the last couple days I wanted to take the time to talk about something that I think would be a FABULOUS trip to take. Go to www.rawtrips.com and check it out. Anyone up for a trip in 2011??

A little piece of chocolate yum

I may have possibly died and gone to raw food heaven.

Today I tried a Pure organic Chocolate Brownie bar. This bar satisfied my hunger, my taste buds, and my wallet. It is fair to say that if this bar was a man I would be asking for an engagement ring.

For the last 2 days I have been eating a delicious salad of spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, cracked black pepper, sea salt, and a drizzle of olive oil. I can't get enough of it. Or guacamole. It's almost like my body is craving it.

On another note..

I purchased these bars called LARABAR at Trader Joe's the other day. The package doesn't say "raw" on it but their sign said that it was raw. Well, I googled it. Let's just say that the LARABAR is a very controversial item in the raw food world. Some say yes, some say no, some said "we will NEVER have this in our home because they roast their peanuts" and others said "calm down! It's 90% raw!" 

HOLY RAW PANDEMONIUM BATMAN!

I ate one.

I feel... so.... so....  scandalous!

Needless to say, I am glad that I tried it during my half raw half carnivore stage. I think I will stick with the Pure bar from now on! 

The Accidental Smoothie

I made the most delicious smoothie this morning.. ON ACCIDENT!

I had every intent on following the recipe found on the gRAWnola website. All weekend I got my taste buds ready for my Monday morning smoothie. Unfortunately, I didn't get my shopping list ready! The recipe calls for 1.5 cups of blueberries. Needless to say, the blueberries were M.I.A. this morning! In an attempt to think on my feet I found a bag of frozen raspberries in the freezer. It would seem that I have had this particular bag of raspberries through the last 3 moves. It was a giant block of raspberry ice.

Growing slightly panicked at not having a plan and now not having breakfast I starting throwing stuff into the Magic Bullet. Here is what it made:

Yes, that's a Starbucks cup that I put my smoothie. The point of this story is that in a panic I happened to make a delicious smoothie. If you want to recreate it at your potentially panic stricken home here is what I used:

Accidental Smoothie:

1/2 Frozen banana ( by the way.. if you are going to freeze a banana its best not to stick it in the freezer with the peel on... oops! )
1/2 a peach
1/2  a green apple
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup spinach
some Grawnola bites
Almond Milk ( recipe posted yesterday )


For a mid morning snack I had some Banana Love Bites which were pretty good although personally I prefer the Pecan ones!

Lunch today consisted of a spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, cracked pepper, sea salt, and a small drizzle of olive oil. YUM! and some almonds, walnuts, and cinnamon mixed with honey.

Dinner, for now, is not raw. I am enjoying my last few days of half raw/half processed before my cut off date of September 7th!

If you do nothing else, try the smoothie!!

Adios!

"groatmeal"?

Today was a 'yummy' raw day. I started this morning with some raspberry groatmeal. I made the almond milk last night so that I could have it in my groatmeal this morning. ( recipes below ). I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. After I got over the texture of the soaked groats it was all good from there!

Here are the recipes that I used to make my groatmeal:

Almond Milk:

2 cups of water
3 Tablespoons of raw almond butter ( by the way, I found it for $4.99 at Trader Joe's! )
1 Tablespoon raw honey
A little bit of Vanilla Extract

All ingredients went into the Magic Bullet Blender until mixed up and then place in the fridge to get nice and cold. Make sure that you shake it before you drink it or use it in anything.

Raspberry Groatmeal:

1 cup of groats, soaked for 10 hours ( I found these in the bulk bins at Whole Foods )
1 cup of frozen organic raspberries
2 teaspoons of raw honey
Almond Milk

After the groats are drained and rinsed I put half of each ingredient into one of the magic bullet mixers ( they are pretty small ) except for the Almond Milk. Blend it up, put it in a bowl and pour some almond milk over top. VERY good!

For a snack today I had a Raw Crunch Bar ( chocolate flavor ). It was VERY sesame seed loaded and for the first few bites I felt like I should be standing at a bird feeder hanging out and eating some seeds. After I got over the seediness of it all it was pretty good. Even though it was chocolate flavored it wasn't an overpowering chocolate flavor. Check it out! I found it at Whole Foods. They are a bit on the expensive side but if you go to their website you can get 12 bars for $38.00 ( this includes the shipping charges ). That makes them about  $3.16 each bar.

So far this isn't so bad. Tomorrow the raw experience continues!

Guac and Flax and Bugs, OH MY!!

I'm meandering in raw snacks.

This morning for breakfast I made some guacamole and ate it with Go Raw Spicy Flax Crackers . It was really good but I have to say that I was slightly put off by the label on the back. Something about a warning of mold and bugs possibly being in the bag just didn't do it for me. As luck would have it, my bag is mold and tag-a-long free ( so far ).

I also tried a new raw snack bar today. It's called gRAWnola and it came in bars and bites. I got both! The bar was not bad but it has orange oil in it and the orange made it taste a little off to me. The bites are the same just in bites, but if you go to the gRAWnola website they have a recipe for a smoothie that has the bites in it. I may be trying that next!

My "raw-ness" is done for the day. Tomorrow will be time for another tasty raw trial.

Going Raw-Let the adventure begin!

I have decided to transition to a Raw Lifestyle.

After watching one of my employees lose 20 pounds in 3 weeks by living off what nature intended for us to live on ( fruit, vegetables, nuts ) I have committed to 21 days pure raw. This goes into effect on September 7th, 2010.

Why then and not today? I AM SCARED! Not scared of eating fruits and vegetables, but scared of missing out on all of the yummy goodness of processed foods! No more delicious pepperoni pizza with extra cheese! No more Cheesecake Factory! No more chinese food! I'm going through withdrawals just thinking about what I wont be eating.

(SIGH) Ok, my pity party is over. I'm doing this for a reason... to be healthy and not a walking cancer time bomb.

This blog is going to be an adventure. In each post I will share some of my research and some of my findings and my honest and true experience of transitioning into a raw lifestyle.

Enjoy :)