Eating is a social matter and when we gather for a feast it can become even more stressful. But let’s go through some possibilities and solutions that really work. First ask yourself what matters the most: the food or the company. I do want to make one remark here…

Raw foodism is not about being fanatic but about finding the best solution that lies the closest to your principles and serves your guests as well. Feasting is about compassion, respect for each others choices and love.

A while ago I heard someone say that she refused to serve wine to her guests because nothing that was in combat with her raw principles would ever enter her house. Every guest who dared asking for a glass of wine or a beer got a sermon. I was very disturbed by this attitude and honestly, I wonder if those guests will ever return.

Raw food can’t be forced upon others. It is your choice, and others have to make their own. But what you can do, is make it look like something they know, serve it at your best, seduce them with your wonderful food, the love you prepared it with and leave them the choice. So…

• Let’s forget about what they might think or say, give it our very best and blow them away.

• Or… go for a good compromise that works for everybody and make “having a good time together” priority number one.

• If you want to keep it all raw but want your family to have their own choices at the same time, organize your Xmas feast as a raw food potluck to which they can bring their own made salads.

• My mother will take care of her own food as this issue has become too complicated for us and she knows best what she can eat without becoming ill.

• I will make a raw cocktail with some snacks as an aperitif, raw dessert and cake for a coffee or tea afterward.

• My sister is making vegetarian soup and steamed root vegetables with a nice sauce and puree.

• I am adding a raw food dish to this assortment for those who prefer staying raw or want to try something new.

THINK OF A NEW CONCEPT

Let me give you an example. My family is extremely difficult when it comes to food. My mother is allergic to practically all foods, my sister and her boyfriend are vegetarian but struggle with stomach issues, my daughter is transferring to raw food, her boyfriend loves meat and fish, my father is a very conservative eater, my son is luckily opening up, his girlfriend eats in the best restaurants but doesn’t like trying what she doesn’t know and I am raw. Ok… What can we do about this? This is the question you have to ask yourself.

My sister and I met with our mother, we went through each course and decided on who would prepare which course.

How difficult can it be to look for a solution that fits everybody? Just as difficult as you wanna make it…

Last time when I made dessert for Xmas -a delicious raw chocolate mousse with coulis- my father asked a second portion, not knowing what he was eating. My mother said that he talked about it for days!

THINK OF A NEW WAY OF PRESENTING YOUR DAILY RAW FOOD

If you don’t feel comfortable about serving totally new recipes or if you are too busy around Xmas to spend more time than usual, be gentle to yourself. Just take the recipes that you really have in your fingers and plate them differently. By changing the way you serve them you can make them unrecognizable and glamorous! How?

• Use a “ring” to serve your ice cream, pasta, guacamole or mushrooms in and they will look fancy!
• With a small bottle you can “draw” your sauce on your plate. Try a square or a circle…
• Look at the plate you will use. Does it have a detail you can use in the ornament you apply?
• Let a color detail in your plate return in your food by adding it in a spice or herb on top
• Try to look at the right proportions, find a nice composition, “paint” with your food on a white plate
• Sometimes a nice fork or stick can bring a lovely idea. Have a look at the fruit sticks I made here below…
• Look in your cupboards at what you have. A cocktail glass can serve to present your fruit sticks…
• A piece of wood or a nice stone can make a wonderful plate for food!
• Think “out of your boxes”, color out of the lines and you will be stunned with what you come up with

I hope this is shedding a light on your Xmas dinner. Enjoy creating! Please share your thoughts and habits with me in the comment box below. Merry Raw Xmas!

Notice the oxygen bubbling up in this smoothie! Ready to shake you up and make you come alive!

Sometimes you think you are brewing the greatest smoothie ever and when you take your first highly expecting sip, it turns out you can hardly swallow it down. It happens to everybody. So what can you do then with that rich smoothie, full of nutrients and expensive superfoods and greens and fruit? Drink it up with two fingers shutting your nose? Because the last thing you want to do is throw it out!

I discovered how to save those “failures” and have a wonderful drink after all. Just pour that smoothie in your nut milk bag and sssquuueeeze out the juice. The pulp is a great fertilizer for your wheatgrass (mingle it under your soil, all those minerals will be soaked by the grass and provide you strong shots!) and the juice… the juice is just great! The taste changes and you can pour all the glorious nutrients down to your body.

But now more about my Alive Smoothie. I always use what I have laying around and was lucky with the combination and the great tastes of the greens and fruits. My mustard greens were soft, the banana sweet, the spinach soothing, and then… my secret weapon: rejuvelac! You know how much I am into this elixir of life. I always use it to make my smoothies the best, both taste and content.

When you use rejuvelac instead of water, you add an extra dimension; life. And that is what you will feel in your body; life. You can make a whole lot of rejuvelac and store it easily for two weeks in your refrigerator or in your basement so you don’t have anything else to do but grab and smooth away.

Alive Smoothie

TOOLS YOU NEED

A blender

INGREDIENTS

• One sweet banana
• A handful of mustard greens
• Two leaves of kale
• A grab of parsley
• Fill up the rest with spinach
• A handful of Goiji Berries
• A TBS Maca
• A TBS bee pollen
• Fill up the blender until halfway with rejuvelac

THE MAKING OF…

• Blend and taste. Not sweet enough to your taste? Add a juicy pear…

Drink, chew and be alive!

Mustard Green

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/26/alive-smoothie/feed/ 6 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/10/11/pink-pineapple-smoothie/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/10/11/pink-pineapple-smoothie/#comments Tue, 12 Oct 2010 06:47:41 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=780 As promised here is the pink smoothie you saw a picture of in my post of the pineapple tool. It is a very easy and fast recipe and you don’t need much. This can serve four people if you use smaller glasses than I did. One drink  delivers you lots and lots of antioxidants and a boost of Bromelian. Pure Food for Radiant Health!

Pink Pineapple Smoothie

TOOLS

• A sharp knife or a cool pineapple peel tool
• A blender

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients

• One pineapple, peeled
• A bunch of strawberries
• Some mint in fine slices

THE MAKING OF…

Glorious colors!

• Cut the pineapple in large pieces
• Throw about two hands full of strawberries (with green tops if they are organic) into the blender
• Blend

Pink Pineapple Juice

• Pour in a nice large wine glass and top with a cubed strawberry and mint
• Yum!

This must be the shortest post I ever wrote. But I wanted to get something up before leaving for my organic farmers to buy my weekly supply. I will show you later what I purchase for a week. If you are new at raw you might want to know how much you need. You will love this abundance!

You would like to try out raw food but don’t know how to start, what to get, what to make. I wrote a FREE eBook for you to help you on your way. Leave your email address in the sign up box and my eBook is all yours to go green.

It started as a book with ten easy raw recipes when I wondered if you would know how to implement them when you are new to raw food.  This is why I am guiding you with “Your Step-By-Step FooDprint, From Mindset to Ravishing Recipes” through an introduction to raw food. I looked for a way to make it easy and nice for you with lots of explaining  step by step pictures,. as I am doing here on my blog.  Because I want you to feel the first differences of eating raw, I decided to make it three raw days from morning to snack to dinner and why not, a lovely dessert.

Knowing how important defining your motivation is when you start eating raw food, I created a list of questions to help you investigate your mindset. By writing down where you are now you will be more aware of how much you want to commit to where you want to be. Finding your big “WHY?” will make you reach your goals. Feeling ready to dive into raw food is the step which will support you towards health.

When you are already raw but at a cross point in your journey, this eBook will help to invigorate your motivation. I hope you will all enjoy what I have for you.

What can you expect in “Raw For 3 Days?”

To start with some answers to find your motivation, fast and easy recipes for each part of the day with step by step pictures and an introduction, tips, tools and a shopping list for each day.

How can you receive my free eBook?

By joining  my emailing list in the right side bar. All you have to do is send me your email address through the sign up box so I can forward you the link to download “Raw For  3 Days!”

“Raw For 3 Days! Your Step By Step Mindset”

But this isn’t all. I made a follow up questionnaire for you. Raw food isn’t just about food but about your whole life and the way you want to live it. It isn’t about counting calories to lose weight but about living healthy and regulate your body balances. It is a journey, a lifestyle. Once you can commit to changing your diet, you will lose the weight you are struggling with, become energized, feel better and look younger. If you know someone who made the leap and who’s success is making you consider to try it yourself, you will know what I am talking about.

This is why I want to invite you to answer the questions for yourself in all honesty. Find out what these three days meant to you, what they can mean for your health and well being in the future and how you can go on from here. This free eBook is an inner survey, “Your Step By Step Mindset”  after you finished your 3 raw days and will  help you discover the shifts you felt, what this experience means to you and how it can add new value to your life. The questions you answered can make the difference for you to add more healthy food to your diet or to go and stay raw and reach your ultimate dream goal!

I would love hearing from you what you liked about my eBook, if you liked the recipes, how you defined your motivation, if it made a difference for you, what your goals are, your questions… Email me with your thoughts and comments on my eBook so I  know what is on your mind, what you like me to write about a next time.

Take this Chance For Change, sign up and enjoy!

I am looking forward to hearing from you. Marie-Claire

Chestnuts

I am picking dandelion and stinging nettles where I can lay my hands on them when I am sure they aren’t sprayed. I remember last winter. I missed those two herbs so much that I was looking forward to spring only to pick my power friends for my smoothies. The prices of free herbs are ridiculous so I didn’t buy them out of personal protest. I am not going to let this happen again, this is why I started drying them. I have a dehydrator but you can use a common oven too. Just wash your harvest well,  dry it by dipping with a clean paper towel, tear the leaves into large parts (they shrink a lot) and let them dry overnight on about 107° with the door a little bit open to release humidity.

Dandelion

I dropped by my friends and they had visit from a woman who ones promised me to give her small grapes in autumn. So there she was, with a big bag full of lovely baby grapes. She didn’t know what to do with them and they where just falling off on her terrace. “They make such a mess and they are much too acid to eat!” I was delighted and so was she because she didn’t have to throw them away and her terrace would stay clean. So I came home with many pounds of grapes to juice. The kitchen was one big mess and abundance; free grapes, free herbs, free chestnuts. I saw them priced in the store for almost 6 euro. I was all smiles.

Baby Grapes

Because these grapes aren’t fully grown in the Belgian climate, they didn’t develop their full sweet flavor but they have such a nice tart taste! So I made a wonderful “Grateful Grape Juice” with apples, kiwi and a pear.

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A juicer
• A sharp knife

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Grateful Grape Juice

• A bunch of wild grapes out of your garden (or just organic grapes)
• 2 apples
• 1 pear
• 1 kiwi (if organic you can use it with the peel!)

THE MAKING OF…

Cut large fruits, juice everything, shake it up, pour it into your favorite glass and enjoy!

Grateful Grape Juice

Grooving Ginger Granny

This juice is rocking! It all starts with Granny apples. They have that particular mix of acidity and sweetness when they are in the middle of their season. A good reason to make a fresh juice of them, moreover because apple juice is such a healthy drink when you are longing for something to replace that soft drink in the back of your mind. Your granny will groove on apple juice: it prevents and helps fight Alzheimer disease when consumed on a daily basis.

Scientific research shows that apple juice can boost the brain function because of its increased production of the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine. “We anticipate that the day may come when foods like apples, apple juice and other apple products are recommended along with the most popular Alzheimer’s medications,” according to Thomas Shea, Ph.D., director of the UML Center for Cellular Neurobiology and Neurodegeneration Research. What are you waiting for?

Apples For Overall Health

But there is more to say about apple juice. It is very rich in antioxidants and we all know what that means; they help prevent the development of cancer, heart disease, they reduce high cholesterol levels, slow down the aging process and promote weight loss. Other benefits are a high content of riboflavin, thiamine, carotene, vitamin B6, biotin, folic acid and vitamin C. So let’s make that juice!

To spice it up and give it the character of a fancy cocktail I like to add ginger and lemon. You won’t long for a canned version after tasting the pureness of your own juiced- in- a- minute long drink.

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A juicer
• A sharp knife

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Grooving Ginger Granny

• 4 Granny apples
• Juice of 1 lemon
• A chunk of fresh ginger (about 1 inch)

THE MAKING OF…

Just juice all ingredients, shake it up, pour in your favorite glass, finish with a slice of apple or a sprig of mint and enjoy!

Grooving Ginger Granny

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/09/29/grooving-ginger-granny/feed/ 9 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/09/18/kale-salad-chips/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/09/18/kale-salad-chips/#comments Sat, 18 Sep 2010 19:33:08 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=622 Kale is back! In America you can find kale at any moment of the year and they come in all kinds of wonderful varieties. But here in Belgium, we have to wait for the right season and be glad with that one common species. I have to ask my bio farmer to bring some change! And find new organic seeds for my own garden.

Awakening Kale In My Garden

I have been craving kale chips since the moment my last bag went up.  Even in summer I was fantasizing of which flavor to make with the first kale on the farmers market. I missed it in a lot of recipes, knowing how valuable its content  is and how tasteful its flavor.

But first of all I have to tell you how great kale is for your smoothies! Packed with vitamin C, A , E and K, chlorophyll, proteins, Omega 3, vitamin B1, B2, B3, manganese, magnesium, calcium, iron and so much more, kale is a source of smooth health. If you have some trouble with the bitterness of kale in winter, add lemon. It neutralizes bitter tastes and combines so nicely with this giant. In spring, the taste becomes softer.

Ravishing Kale

Last winter when I was making kale chips I couldn’t stop tasting before they went into the dehydrator. I ended up with a huge bowl of kale salad coated in a savory tahini sauce and only one small tray of chips. So this is a great recipe for when you are in a lazy mood and have lots of kale around. You can make a huge salad in no time and put half of it into your dehydrator. Next day they will be crisp and ready for your next craving. Don’t worry, you won’t gain weight with these healthy chips. Kale hardly contains any calories, nor will you eat a whole bag. You will feel satisfied after only a handful because of their nutritious contents.

Delicious in combination with tomatoes

If you make more than one head of kale chips, double or triple the ingredients for the dressing. The better you coat the kale, the better your chips!

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A bowl
• A dehydrator or your oven

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Kale Chips

FOR THE CHIPS

• A bunch of kale

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1 TBS Tahini. You can also use Almond butter.
• 2 TBS Olive oil
• 1 TBS Nutritional Yeast for a cheesy flavor.
• 1 ts Celtic Sea Salt or Hymalyan salt
• 1 ts cumin
• A dash of cayenne

THE MAKING OF THE DRESSING

Throw all ingredients in a bowl

• Place all ingredients together in a bowl and stir till they are well mixed

Stir well

THE MAKING OF KALE CHIPS

• Wash the kale

Take the stem out

• Take the stem out

Tear into large pieces

• Tear up the leaves into large pieces (they shrink during dehydration)

Pour over the kale

• Pour the dressing over the kale

Mmmmassage...

• Massage the kale with both hands until it wilts and is coated with the dressing
• Taste… is the taste right for you? You can still adjust with some salt if you want to

Spread over a Teflex lined sheet or on a tray of your oven

• Place the kale chips on a teflex lined tray

Cheesy Kale Chips

• Dehydrate on 105 °F for about six hours until they are crisp

Before you start dehydrating you can eat some of this kale as a delicious salad. It tastes great with some tomatoes mixed in it.

As a delicious salad

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/09/18/kale-salad-chips/feed/ 45 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/07/29/raw-muesli-with-not-milk/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/07/29/raw-muesli-with-not-milk/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:39:36 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=500

White as Milk. The spider too...

I was a milk addict before I became raw. Every day I made a quart of  delicious creamy yogurt, I had milk with Ezekiel as breakfast, was a huge fan of French cheeses. Leaving out milk of my diet seemed an impossible task. But not after feeling the difference in about one week. I was less tired and my muscles stopped hurting in no time.

Milk of raw seeds or nuts is so easy to make! Delicious. Fast. Nutritious. You won’t miss the ‘real’ thing and will feel better. You can use any nut or seed and the proportion is always the same. If you use brown nuts, soak overnight to release the enzyme inhibitors. You also will have to strain them to get rid of the brown peels and have a white color. Almonds are the best choice because they are alkaline. But if you are looking for a fast solution in the chaos of getting ready in time in the morning, cashew nuts or hemp seeds are the way to go. Blend and go!

HEMP SEED MILK

Hemp seeds are one of the most nutritious food sources on earth. They contain the highest quality of Omega 3 and 6. Hemp is packed with 33 percent pure digestible protein. Those little seeds have all eight essential amino acids and essential fatty acids needed to sustain health. One glass of hemp seed milk provides you most of the proteins you need in one day and charges you with lots of vitamin E and iron. Also children love this milk and have many benefits from drinking this fresh made non diary product.

TOOLS YOU NEED

A blender or a hand mixer

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Hemp Seed Milk

• 1 C hemp seeds or cashew nuts
• 3 or 4 C water, depending on how thin or thick you like the milk
• 1 date or 1 TBS honey  to sweeten a little bit

All in blender

Place all the hemp seeds, water and the date into the blender. Blend until smooth, usually a matter of seconds with a high speed blender. With another blender it might take fifteen to thirty seconds…That’s it! It takes longer to write this down. No straining because the seeds are so soft that the texture is smooth as… milk.

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/07/29/raw-muesli-with-not-milk/feed/ 2 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/07/18/one-day-on-raw/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/07/18/one-day-on-raw/#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:25:16 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingrawblog.wordpress.com/?p=230 Last night I was wondering how I can convince more people of the power of rawfood. There is only one way. DO IT! Let me make it easy for you, if you are still hesitating because of practical questions. What can I eat in the morning? How do I start this? What am I gonna have next? Well, today you won’t have to think, just take action. How does a raw day looks like? Let me give you an example of how easy and delicious your FIRST RAW DAY can be.

YOUR ONE DAY RAW TRIAL!

• Start your day with a GREEN SMOOTHIE. Try out the recipe I gave in the post SMOOTH HEALTH and enjoy being green! In my next post I will teach you how to make nut milk and a very simple muesli in a few minutes that will convince you this is so much better than ‘the real thing’ you buy in the supermarkets. Drink lots of water, herbal teas or fresh juices in between and you will be fine, fine, fine!
  

  Your daily health in a bottle.

• It is summer so what is easier and faster than making a nice, colorful salad? Check out my COOL SUMMER SALAD and you will feel fresh and satisfied. You have to work? Prepare the salad after breakfast in the morning and take it with you in a sealed container. And yes, you can take what is left over of your morning smoothie too…
  

  Cool summer salad

• You are longing for a snack? Make a TRAIL MIX. Grab a handful of cashew nuts, mix them with some cacao nibs and Goji berries, throw all in a small container or zip bag and you are ready to go on again.
• To make it a perfectly raw day, make the ZUCCHETTI and you will be delighted and think: “Now, that wasn’t that hard was it?”
  

  Cool Zucchini Tower

• Dessert? That CHOCOLATE LOVE BAR will bring you in the mood for love…
  

  Pure Temptation Within Reach

• You feel like having a glass of wine or alcohol in the evening? Make a FRESH JUICE of  4 green apples, 1 lime and a piece of ginger of about 1/2 or one inch and you will think you are drinking some fancy cocktail.

Yes, it can be this easy… enjoy and let me know if you liked it!

Cool Summer Salad

What can be nicer than a cool, refreshing summer salad on a hot I-can’t-move-summer day? I made this lovely salad the first time in spring, when I was in the middle of a juice detox combined with mono meals and pure salads. The Forsythia’s were blooming and some of the Japanese flowers ended up in my salad.

Forsythia Spring Salad

While puffing myself through this extremely hot day, I thought back of the freshness of the fruits, the acidity of the orange and pineapple. Luckily I had a fresh pineapple so I could start right after the thought struck me. You can use any fruit you like, but this combination is so surprisingly fresh that I can recommend it warmly. When you start experimenting yourself, there are a few rules to keep in mind though.

First of all, yes! you can combine fruits with vegetables. But only when they are leafy greens. Why? They don’t contain starches. Fruit and leafy greens are doing just fine together and won’t give you a bloated feeling after consumption. This is also the way to go when you are making your smoothies: only use leafy greens with fruits, don’t add starchy vegetables such as squash or zucchini.

Fruits don’t combine well with other types of foods because they digest much faster. They only take a half hour. Other foods are taking several hours. This is another cause of bloating. If you apply these simple rules, your tummy will be thinner in one or two days without going on a frustrating diet. As long as you are combining your foods badly, you will bloat and have a pot belly at the end of the day.

The second rule may seem more complicated at first. But you will learn quickly, you will see. There are three groups of fruits; acid, sub-acid and sweet. Combining the wrong groups will slow down digestion and make you feel bloated. With this list and know-how you can avoid a lot of trouble in your stomach and colon.

Don’t combine Acid with Sweet Fruits. What you can combine are Acid with Sub-Acid fruits and Sub-Acid with Sweet Fruits.

SWEET FRUITS

Bananas, raisins, prunes, durian, dates, dried fruits, persimmons, figs

SUB-ACID FRUITS

Apples, blueberries, cherries, kiwis, mangos, nectarines, plums, pears, fresh figs, papayas, peaches, apricots, cactus fruit, guava

ACID FRUITS

Blackberries, cranberries, strawberries, lemon, lime, tangerine, pineapple, orange, grapefruit, tomato, sour plums, pomegranates, kumquat

MELONS

Cantaloupe, watermelon, honey dew, muskmelon…

“Eat them alone or leave them alone!” is what Dr. Ann Wigmore said firmly. Melons contain much more water than any other fruit and are digested very rapidly, so it is better to enjoy them on their own.

FRUIT RULES

Listen to your body; it is your best guide.

Eat fruits by itself on an empty stomach, in the morning or three/ four hours after another meal. Always wait half an hour before you eat something else.

Eat melons on their own.

Eat fruits independently from vegetables. You can combine only with leafy greens.

Lettuce, Celery and Fruit make a GOOD food combination.

Acid and Sweet Fruits are POOR food combinations.

Acid and Sub-Acid fruits are GOOD food combinations.

Sub-Acid and Sweet Fruits are GOOD food combinations.

You will find the recipe of this delicious salad in my FREE eBook “Raw For 3 Days!”

If you sign in with your email address I will send you the link where you can download and enjoy it!

Forsythia Spring Salad

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/07/02/cool-summer-salad/feed/ 3 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/06/29/ravishing-raw-chocolate-ice-cream/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/06/29/ravishing-raw-chocolate-ice-cream/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:53:49 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingrawblog.wordpress.com/?p=118

Chocolate Ice Cream

If there is something that can help you stop craving on a hot summer day, it is ice cream. With this lovely creation in your freezer, you can easily resist the ringing sounds of ice cream cars passing by your house. You will be all smiles because you know you have something much better waiting for you.

When I say ice cream, I mean the real thing. If you have no ice cream maker, you can blend frozen fruits and make the most lovely one-minute- sorbets in the world. This is how I did it… until just now. Since I got this wonderful equipment for my birthday, I am hooked on trying out all possible combinations with flavors and what my garden is offering me. The first spoon I took was a real revelation. I had never tasted such a full ice cream flavor and texture. Nothing can exceed the creaminess of a raw ice cream, made of sweet cashew nuts and fresh picked fruit in your garden or… pure chocolate!

This recipe is based on one of Sarma Melngailis. I was totally new at making ice cream two weeks ago. So I started with an existing recipe and am trying out things now. For this recipe I left out the coconut. It is not always as simple to find them and I rather taste the chocolate. Add some more coconut butter instead to have a hint of memory to coconut. I prefer discrete tastes above an insistent flavor. This is the way you can start looking for your own preferences. Just try and taste.

An ice cream maker doesn’t have to be expensive to do an excellent job. You can purchase a regular one for about $30 or $40. Even Cuisinart is very affordable here. So if you have a celebration coming up, put it on top of your list or just buy one yourself to treat yourself on a healthy and easy to make snack or dessert. Here comes your good mood food!

Preparation to think of first! To receive a smooth ice cream texture, it is always necessary to soak the nuts you are using, even cashews. Soak one cup of cashews for about four hours or longer in filtered water or spring water. Do this in the morning, when you get up. If you have to work, your cashews will be ready for use when you get home and feel like making something special.

Tools You Need

Ice Cream Maker

* An ice cream maker. Even a cheap one will do just fine and delight you with the real thing you have been longing for.

* A blender

* A small and a large bowl

* Measuring cups

* Measuring spoons

* A whisk

* A timer

* Some spatula’s, small and big

* A small bottle to apply chocolate sauce. If you don’t have one, take a square piece of paper, make a funnel of it, and cut a small tip off at the smallest end. Now you can draw with the sauce on your plate. Or simply use a spoon.

Ingredients for chocolate sauce

* 3/4 C raw cacao powder

* 3/4 C Maple Syrup or Agave Nectar (Maple Syrup combines great with chocolate and gives it an extra dimension)

* 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract without alcohol

* Pinch of sea salt

* 2 TBS melted coconut butter for a full flavor

The making of chocolate sauce

Always start with the part where you have to prepare food. So first melt the cacao butter while you are working on the next step. This will save time.

Now blend all ingredients at lowest speed, except for the cacao butter. By the time this is done, the butter is ready.

Add the liquified cacao butter slowly at the slowest speed. Your chocolate sauce is ready! Take a lick! Ever tasted this?

Take the sauce out of the blender but don’t clean the blender. It’s all meant to come together and you don’t want to spill anything of this goddess sauce.

Ingredients for ice cream

* 1 C of soaked cashews (they have soaked in water and became bigger)

* 1/8 C of coconut oil

* 1/2 C of spring water

* 1 C Agave Nectar

* 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

* 1/4 tsp of sea salt to bring out all flavors even more

* 3/4 C of the chocolate sauce you just made

The making of ice cream

First melt your coconut oil “Au Bain Marie”

Blend all ingredients except for coconut oil until very smooth!

Add the coconut oil slowly on lowest speed.

This is your cashew creme and chocolate sauce. Keep a bit of the chocolate sauce aside to add lusciously on your ice cream later.

Mix both emulsions together in your blender until they are one. Done!

Set aside a few hours in the refrigerator till the mixture has cooled off.

All set to go. Follow the instructions of your ice cream maker. Usually you have to turn on the machine before you start pooring. Than let the machine do the work.

Set the timer; twenty minutes for soft ice, forty for scoop ice cream.

Peeking after about ten minutes…

Ready to taste! Heavenly! You can take a scoop and treat yourself already. Put the rest in the deep freezer.

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/06/29/ravishing-raw-chocolate-ice-cream/feed/ 1 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/06/26/zucchetti/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/06/26/zucchetti/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:49:54 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingrawblog.wordpress.com/?p=58

Zucchetti!

One of the things I thought I would never be able to miss is pasta. I was a real pasta lover before I went raw and although I had only been eating the whole food versions for years, it was a scary thought it wouldn’t be part of my diet anymore. So the first thing I wanted to replace by a raw creation was spaghetti. And guess what! It is de-li-cious!

In fact, you don’t have to miss anything when eating raw. You can make a raw version of every cooked recipe. I know, at the beginning there is so much to read and learn and it can be very overwhelming. But after a while, when you don’t have to look at all these recipes anymore and getting the hang on creating your own varieties, you will come up with new things.

A good way to go when you are just starting is: follow the recipe the first time and then start changing, adding, creating to your own taste. You will be surprised how easy and fun it is to re- invent your new diet and lifestyle. The best part of all this is, that you don’t have to know anything about cooking!

So let me tell you about spaghetti, made of vegetables. You can choose any long vegetable you want. If you are craving for the feeling, looks and taste of real spaghetti, zucchini is the best choice. It is al dente without cooking, has a pretty neutral taste with a touch of fresh sweetness, and just as cheap.

I like my sauce with little bits of chunks, but if you prefer a real smooth sauce looking like a Bolognese, let the blender run a bit longer until you have the consistency you like.

You will find the recipe in my FREE eBook “Raw For 3 Days!”

If you would like to receive this step by step book, enter your email address in the sign up box and I will send you the link where you can download “Your Step-By-Step FooDprint”

You can present your Zucchetti in different ways, depending on the occasion. Are you running late or aching for an ordinary looking spaghetti? Then just throw and stir up very well until all slices or angel hair is coated. It will look like this then…

Or if you get a special friend over for dinner, take a ‘ring’ and make a little tower of the pasta and sauce. Put it on a bed of chervil and basil leaves or fine lettuce and you have a lovely, fancy starter that will impress for sure… Or you can treat yourself after a week hard work with a nice looking dinner in the garden.

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/06/26/zucchetti/feed/ 7 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/06/26/smooth-health/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/06/26/smooth-health/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:35:05 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingrawblog.wordpress.com/?p=46

Your Green Breakfast

The best way to start your day is make some fresh vegetable juice or a smooth smoothie. Your body has to wake up in the morning and is taking its time until about noon to process your meals of the day before. During morning you are releasing eventual toxins and waste. So if you are not feeling great, look back for a second and think of what you ate yesterday. Try to avoid these energy blocks next time.

All these lovely greens are the best way to do this. Moreover you will have ‘eaten’ more vegetables and fruit than you would on a normal day. You can make this most nutritious breakfast in no time. With a large blender -about 1,5 to 2 quarts of volume- you still have a few glasses to take with you to work, or to feed whoever is around and give them the best start for their day as well.

Dishes are done as quickly; just rinse under running water and you can close the door behind you without leaving any mess.

Green smoothies make miracles happen for your general health, both physically and mentally. I will write more about the benefits soon. But first I want to seduce you with this very simple and easy recipe. It’s the ideal smoothie that makes beginners ask for more and well, you can have more because this is enough for a whole bottle extra. If you have a small blender, just fill it up completely. Making another one is done in a minute.

Your first smoothies are usual very sweet. You need a bit time to adjust to new tastes and your body to the large amount of greens it is receiving all of a sudden. If you have some trouble with the green taste, then add more sweet fruit until you really like it. The only rule in this game is: make your smoothies real yummy, totally to your very own taste. Gradually add more vegetables than fruit until you are used to the pureness of greens. Your body will very quickly start asking for more, a feeling that will surprise you. This means you are on the right track to health and ready for new, stronger combinations with wild edibles.

A good tip is: always have frozen fruit in your freezer. Don’t throw out overripe bananas, but break them into pieces and freeze them in a zip bag, same with mango, pineapple, berries… Using frozen fruit in summer is just lovely and you don’t have to add ice anymore. Also you can make the most delicious ice sorbet in a minute when you are craving sweet. But this is for a next post.

You will find this recipe in my FREE eBook “Raw For 3 Days!”

To receive this eBook, join my email list and I will send you the link where you can download it.

Your daily health in a bottle. Bon appetite!

As promised here is a tasty preview of how tempting raw food can be. If you thought you would have to forsake all your beloved food you had it all wrong! Insatiable hunger? Eat some chocolate and you will feel immediately satisfied. One of these chocolates is enough to ease your restlessness while looking in your cupboard for that little ‘something’. Provided you have the pure natural ingredients- raw, without milk, gluten or sugar- this chocolate feast is one you can enjoy without guilt.

You won’t gain weight because raw chocolate contains many valuable nutrients. It satisfies your eternal hunger for more and therefor will help you losing weight. It will provide you energy for the rest of your day, magnesium, a wealth of antioxidants and make you happy with its high serotonin levels. Too much of a good thing is never good, even with this chocolate. You can end up being constantly over- active when taking large doses every day, not being able to fall sleep when eating it in the evening. But in moderation you will only benefit from this divine food.

Make your own chocolates in ten minutes, or some crunchy chocolate bars with a hint of creamy caramel. For this first recipe I will guide you step by step. What are we waiting for?

Measurements;

C = A cup or 25 cl.

1 / 4 C = 1 / 4 cup or 6 cl.

TBS = tablespoon

tsp = teaspoon

Quantity; this amount is sufficient for a tea with some guests or just for you during the week.

Storing; This chocolate will keep well for a few weeks. If you add the caramel layer use it within one week. Always store in the fridge. These products are purely natural and melt faster than the usual chocolate you buy in the supermarket.

Tips;

* Always add sweeteners, spices or seasonings by bits, and taste, taste, taste. These flavors can be so intense and sometimes surprise you with their strength. You can always add more if you need to.

* Rinse your kitchen tools immediately with warm water, especially bowls or batches of electrical equipment such as your blender or food processor. It is done in a few seconds and will save you a lot of cleanup work afterward, when the food sticks under the blades.

Tools you need

Tools you need; a food processor, blender or hand mixer, a large and a small bowl, a scale or measure cups, measure spoons, a grater or a paring knife, a spatula, a large spoon and a whisk.

Ingredients for raw chocolate

Ingredients for your raw chocolate:

* 100 g. raw cacao butter, grated or cut with a knife

* 6 TBS raw cacao powder

* 2 TBS Agave Nectar

* A pinch of sea sea salt

* A pinch of cayenne will make your chocolate sensual and ‘hot’

* For love ahead and exaltation; add 1/4 – 1/2 tsp maca powder, depending on your taste.

Ingredients for the 'caramel' layer

Ingredients for the caramel layer;

* 1/4 C raw pecan nuts

* 3 medjool dates (I didn’t need the fourth one on the picture…)

* About 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, to your own taste. I usually use more in winter, to make my body glow.

Scrape or Grate 100 g. of Cacao Butter

Start with scraping or grating the cacao butter. (watch your fingers!)

Melt Cacao Butter "Au Bain Marie"

Fill your large bowl half way with warm water, put the small bowl with the grated cacao butter in it. Now you can start making your caramel layer while the butter is melting.

All ingredients for your caramel layer in the food processor

Throw all the ingredients for the caramel layer in the food processor and mix until you have a crumbly but sticky texture.

Fine and sticky texture

This is how your texture looks like. To test if it will stick, take some between your fingers and knead it. If it stays together it is ready, if not, add another date and mix again.

Put some household foil into your mold so you can easily remove the bar later. Certainly when you are not using a spring form, you will appreciate this little trick.

Push the crumble firmly into your mold.

This is how your first layer looks like. You can also build up the sides if you like to. Now put it in the refrigerator while you make luscious chocolate in no time.

Look at this fluid gold! Keep the small bowl in the warm water while you are proceeding to keep it smooth and fluid.

Whisk all dry ingredients in your melted cacao butter until you have a fine, smooth structure. Ready!

Now poor this luscious brown desire on top op your first layer. Take another lick out of your bowl…

Ready to let it sit. No patience anymore? Ten minutes in the freezer and you can put your teeth in your creation. (but don’t forget to take it out! Set the timer) Or let it cool off slowly in your refrigerator for an hour.

You will find the recipe of the following delicious chocolates in my FREE eBook “Raw For 3 Days!” To receive my eBook, sign up and I will send you the link where you can download it.

Buy a lovely note book and always write down your trials

Pick some lovely fresh mint and make yourself a nice cup of tea. Spoil yourself with your first chocolates…

… and with your Pure Temptation.

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