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!

I have always been very conscious about my food. I was macrobiotic several years and mostly vegetarian since I was 19. I never smoked or drank alcohol. It was a complete surprise to me that my body totally crashed. A surprise? Working 2 full time jobs, sleeping 3 hours a night, raising two teens alone, dealing with extremely difficult life situations. I ignored about every signal in my body. I worked even harder! Until my body stopped me. It said; “And now it is enough!” And that was that. I couldn’t do anything anymore for years and was dying slowly.

It took me several years and 16 doctors to conquer Lyme disease, Candida, Tietze, Neuro Politis, Myelitis,  the total burnout which resulted in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. I was completely exhausted from fighting when I cured the last ones myself by eating raw. But I was “cured”!

I wasn’t prepared for the new process that showed up after a while. The process of processing the years you lost, the friends, the social contacts, work, certain abilities. The process of accepting new limits you are experiencing, of learning about new boundaries within yourself. “Oh, I can’t run anymore” or  ”I can’t remember anything about what you just said!”. The things I used to do in a wink now took a lot of time. I couldn’t follow the rhythm of the outside world and hated being slow. Me, who loved working at speed tempo and getting 10 things done at the same time. I had to accept a strange body but well, I wasn’t the type who wants to accept what can be changed. I was convinced I still had a choice and would find what I needed to become the person I loved.

Raw food had changed my life completely by healing my body and creating new opportunities. I became a certified raw food coach and started up my business. Even though I was doing well and I was thrilled by the possibilities of a new life and business I felt as if I still wasn’t the person I once was. Where was that cheerful person who was always laughing and motivating others? Where was that positive attitude others would pull themselves up to? Where was my sparkling spirit? I didn’t recognize my myself anymore. I missed me.

I was wondering what was missing in my food. Proteins? Iron? Antioxidants? Fatty acids? But my diet was so well balanced and my blood test so great! Which foods could I eat to become stronger and re-create the energy I used to have? I felt stuck within myself because I couldn’t pass the level I wanted to reach so badly. I started feeling fatigued and was sad.

Although I already had released a lot of emotional toxins by eating raw, fasting and detoxing intensively, illness had left its shadow over my thoughts. I didn’t like the way I was thinking and I missed my boldness, my self- trust and independent way of thinking. It was not obvious at all to break free of the isolation I had been in for 5 years. Noticing that it was “safe” in that cocoon made me realize that I would never be able to build up my business as I was planning on paper and vision boards. Playing safe wasn’t in my dictionary and yet that’s where I was exactly!

My business made me step out of my comfort zone. My first steps where very scary. I had to gather all my courage to publish my first eZine, my first blog, my first comments on facebook. I had to face my insecurity: “What will they think, what will they say, am I good enough?” Even knowing my capacities, my persistence, my qualities it was hard to believe that I still had those. My life had stood still for years and I now had to find out how to let go of the fear of living again and showing that I was still alive. I guess because I had been prepared for death.

Meeting Lydia Proschinger was the choice I could make. The choice I had no idea of. Oh of course I knew EFT and honestly? I had lost all my trust in therapists who gave up on me because I was hopeless. I wouldn’t accept my illness, no matter what they tried. Such as EFT. I looked at it as a useless trial to make money of harmless people. I was very skeptical towards each therapy that had the smell of “alternative”. Or no, towards all therapists!

Something in Lydia told me it would be different. We met, talked, I sensed her intelligence, her professionalism, her caring attitude and I stepped into her 7 week long VIP coaching program. It was a huge financial challenge for me but I knew that I didn’t want to live with that uncomfortable feeling of not being me ever again. I made the conscious choice to invest in myself and it was the best decision in a long time!

“A lot can happen in 7 weeks” she said at the start and I really had no idea what the hell could make such a big difference in such a short time. I didn’t know what to expect, where it would bring me, what she would do. What I did know was that I was doing the right thing, that I would open myself to what she would suggest and that I would work like crazy to get out of my impasse and make this program my investment worth wild!

As soon as I started implementing Emotional Freedom Techniques in my daily routine in combination with the power of raw food, I felt amazing shifts! The energy that I suspected in my body because of eating raw released itself. I had been building up energy but my thoughts had blocked it all that time. I felt as at the beginning of my raw journey, being able to move mountains. I overcame fears, mistrust, isolation. I stepped out of my cocoon in my first week already, I was able to reach out for help, for people I didn’t know. I was able to climb out of my negative spiral, think positive and really feel the difference in everything I did. I worked hard, did everything Lydia suggested me to do to step out of my comfort zone and be fearless. I started recognizing myself, I let go of old patterns, blocking thoughts and hurt emotions. I let go of the pain, immense sadness. I became myself.

EFT is real. It connected me within and made the missing links. The thought that really struck me was:” I didn’t miss the right food for my body but the right food for my thoughts!”  This was a huge step in my healing process; realizing that I could not longer leave out one part of my body- mind- spirit circle.

Combining two most powerful tools for a healthy life means more power! EFT completes my lifestyle and adds new value to what I am doing. It will help others. I wanted to share this strong duo with everybody who needs and cares about connecting their body, mind and spirit.

Working with Lydia Proschinger was a very attractive idea and voilà, we now are doing this amazing event together in Brussels on October 8 and 9. Lydia introduced me to a health coach in America, Michael Morningstar who already made that same connection raw food-EFT. This is what changed in 7 weeks. I was able to re-create my life, be happy with myself, re-discover and release my strength I thought I had lost, release the stuck energy I built up with raw food  and to step out of my comforting but oh so limiting cocoon.

I am ready to fly!

And you? http://ravishingrawevents.com/

Eat to Live & Learn to L.O.V.E

Brussels, Belgium

October 8 & 9

Don’t delay health. Decide now and grab your early bird price to save your front seat!

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/08/26/raw-food-eft-a-perfect-duo/feed/ 2 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/05/15/how-to-make-your-own-plot/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/05/15/how-to-make-your-own-plot/#comments Sun, 15 May 2011 17:02:11 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=1284 If you would like to grow your own vegetables but you don’t have a large garden or the soil isn’t suited, then square foot gardening is the solution. But also when you have a large garden and you want larger yields a plot is ideal for you. Another benefit is that you can totally control the quality of your soil if you are into organic vegetables. And I know you are or you wouldn’t even be here.

So I thought you might like to know how exactly to build your plot from scratch. When I was looking for one, I was disappointed by the prices. So I started looking around and could purchase what I needed for only half the price. The ready-to-use plots need to be assembled anyway so what’s the difference in time? Right. Reason enough to do it all by yourself, have the satisfaction of building it and saving money with which you can buy the soil.

After one hour you can admire your seedlings proudly standing happily in their new plot.

MATERIALS

• 3 beams of about 5,11 inches (or 13 cm.) to 5,90 inches (or 15 cm) high, and 70,86 inches (or 180 cm) long
• Any pine beam you have laying around 4 times the length of the height of the first beams. (1,57 inches to 1,57/4cm to 4 cm)
• Long nails
• A hammer
• A saw
• A measure tool
• A pencil
• 4 packs of organic soil of about 42 quart or 40 liter

Organic Soil

INSTRUCTIONS

• Saw the square pine beams into 4 pieces (the height of your plot beams)
• Saw one long beam (of 70,86 or 180 cm) in half . These are the short sides of your plot

Saw the long beam in half

• Take the 4 short square pine beams and put them under each end of your long beams

Nail the corners together

• Nail them together with two nails
• Then nail the short side beams into the square pine beams. Done!

One more hit...

• Now find a nice place in the sun in your garden and place it there. You can first put a special canvas in there to avoid the weed coming up but actually it works fine without it as they will die without having light.

Pour the organic soil into the plot

• Open the bags of soil, pour and spread equally

Spread equally

• Spray it with water gently until the soil is drenched well

Spray well with water

• Now you can plant your seedlings or sew your darlings
• Smile! You did it!

Smile and be proud!

I have always valued the old saying “Save the best for last”. This is how I learned eating the back end of asparagus first and enjoy that smooth, soft, delicious, melting top as the last and ever lasting memory of this delicacy. Another delicacy I saved for last is…

PURE FOOD & WINE and ONE LUCKY DUCK

When you travel to New York and are raw – or even not raw-, Pure Food & Wine is a “must have experienced” culinary adventure! I am looking for the right superlatives now but the only satisfying one is the experience itself. So just get over there and order the best raw meal you had in times or maybe even since… ever!

Pure Food & Wine has a warm glow. Red as wine seats, a slightly mysterious, sexy atmosphere and a waiter who didn’t mind asking in the (closing) kitchen if they wanted to make an extra effort for a visitor from Belgium who didn’t make it in time… That was last year. I was so happy when he walked in with a stunning raw meal of which I have been dreaming of ever since.

So when I returned this year, my first thought in the city was returning to this amazing restaurant. I was not the only one… The weather was nice and the place was loaded. But no worries. There is always a saving angel around the corner!

You may call yourself  One Lucky Duck when you have the privilege of taking a bite in the best hemp seed burger on this planet! Wow! I couldn’t help myself from moaning each bite and oh how I would love, love LOVE to have that recipe!

I overate in the deserts but I HAD to try their lemon bar, their famous moonie I read about and another chocolate treat I couldn’t resist. This One Lucky Duck is the take out of Pure Food and Wine around the corner.  It is only a small place but you can sit down at one of the few tables with heavenly food if you are… lucky.

Chelsea Market at 75 9th Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets) is the hippest place I saw in a while. Although it is huge it has a nice vibe, there is a lot to see and discover, no matter what you are looking for AND they have a lucky duck over there too!

You need a quick bite, an organic juice? Simply walk in, grab your choice, sit down and eat while watching people walking by. I couldn’t resist their T-shirt and am looking forward to reading and try out some recipes in my new Sarma book. (I was hoping the hemp seed burger would be in there but no!) This MUST be their best kept secret to lure foreigners back to their place and you know what? I don’t mind…

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/04/01/raw-food-tour-through-new-york-6-2/feed/ 20 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/03/31/raw-food-tour-through-new-york-6/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/03/31/raw-food-tour-through-new-york-6/#comments Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:34:13 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=1216

I made acquaintance with this lovely store through my friend who wrote down the name and asked me how I would pronounce it. He was surprised that I had it right from the first time because you can give it a twist. Just try yourself…

LIVE LIVE

Another alive food store where you can purchase all your raw goodies and superfoods is Live Live. I love the name! Simple, easy to remember, to the point, sharing a beautiful message and vision. I wish I had come up with it myself as this was around the time I was looking for a name for my business myself.

The open space is very inviting and calming and oh, how nicely every product is put down with great care! It is just lovely to look at them. Nice packages, other choices than I saw before what makes it even more interesting to investigate them.

The  owner is a very helpful, friendly man to whom it is nice talking to. His own Live Live brand is offering superfoods and green powders, something to keep in mind for when I want to extend my own offers on my online store in the near future.

It never gets boring to spend time to your health in these kind of places! They offer natural beauty and if you never taste Brad’s Raw Chips before and have been looking for them, then this is your chance.

LIQUITERIA

Liquiteria is a very attractive juice bar where you can take out the loveliest juices. The place isn’t big but very busy. I liked the fresh spirit inside, with growing wheatgrass and a bright sunlight color on the walls, a high fridge loaded with bottled juices. It is always nice to read how others combine their juices and the funny names they come up with.

The eye wants something too and Liquiteria understands how to play with that principle. The bottles look nice, the labels clean, their branding rocks in every corner.

I had seen the Norwalk juicer on pictures and in movies but never for real. And oh, they had two of them in the back. I always thought they were much bigger but no, they seem to be elegant, up to date and hip. Dr. Norman Walker was a true “avant-garde” designer in his time to invent a juicer which seems to be the best looking one I ever saw. It has a touch of “Bauhaus”, a bit of “Art Nouveau” and fits right into the 21st. century. He must have known his machine would be timeless because of its exceeding quality. I wish I had a picture of these beauties in the back!

But Liquiteria has more than liquid meals. The oatmeal breakfast suggestion looked tempting, even if it wasn’t raw. If you are a vegetarian or not 100% raw, you will surely enjoy their lovely organic wraps and vegetarian meals such as homemade soups, granola and sandwiches. For me though, Liquiteria will always be connected to Dr. Norman Walker and his world class juicer!

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/03/30/raw-food-tour-through-new-york-5/feed/ 0 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/03/29/raw-food-tour-through-new-york-4/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/03/29/raw-food-tour-through-new-york-4/#comments Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:29:35 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=1187

Even while driving or walking through the city you will bump into natural markets where you don’t expect them. This one was a nice extra with a lot of organic choices!

LIFETHYME NATURAL MARKET

LifeThyme Natural Market reminded me of my favorite Westerly place; they offer everything to keep you healthy and raw. Each time I visit the green department of no matter what organic supermarket in New York I am pleasantly surprised by the enormous offer in organic vegetables and fruits. When I compare this to any supermarket in Belgium, I can only welcome the enthusiasm of these city natives. Why? Organic supermarkets can only exist and survive through their loyal consumers.

So I am wondering even more what is happening in Belgium where people seem to be pretty conscious about health and where the trend is to eat more fresh food. This is such a great evolution! But… where do we have to purchase these healthy foods? Two cities further away?

I am also experiencing it as a problem of integration. Our bio products are still labeled as a “side” product for a small minority, so not really interesting for expended departments in supermarkets or even natural supermarkets on their own. Therefor it also becomes a viscous circle of demand and offer and as long as there isn’t enough choice, people won’t be motivated to sell more organic produce.

I wish I could say that every city in Belgium has one substantial supermarket which is providing all these rich segments of organic foods. Our supermarkets offer ‘bio’ products, but mostly those have the look of overtime vegetables and fruit. Certainly in smaller health food stores. Or the offer is so restricted that you have to spend time looking for them between the usual produce.

You can only tell that they are “bio” when they are wrapped in plastic and labeled “bio”. Where is the logic I often wonder. Where is the logic of people having to beg for more organic foods in their regular supermarket? Who is responsible for this lack of consciousness? If even regular requests of a client aren’t been taken seriously?

Craving for a salty snack, chips, cookies? You can easily make the right choices here and grab those tasty kale chips. Remember that whatever bad food is teasing you, you can choose for the healthy version of it and enjoy its delicious taste without any guilt!

Hungry while shopping? You know what that means; you will load your basket with everything you weren’t planning to buy. I love these smoothie bars where you expect them the least! The smoothie of your choice is made fresh while you are waiting, you get new inspiration watching someone else making it, bye bye hunger and you can keep going if you have to run off to work. This town offers healthy fast food everywhere!

Oh and they have all these organic seeds, beans and grains… not always easy to find! LifeThyme surprised me pleasantly with their complete offer from foods to live made smoothies to organic body care at 410 6th Avenue (between 8th and 9th).

And …

HIGH VIBE

When you notice the bright green in the 138 East 3^rd st NYC, NY. 10009, you know that you are at the right place. This facade with its nicely displayed windows is so inviting that you simply HAVE to open the door and check out what it is behind it. To me, it is raw paradise. The store is using every square inch at the fullest to please your hunger for superfoods, organic body care, whole foods supplements, raw food goodies and knowledge.

You will be welcomed warmly and whatever your question about a product, you will get a satisfying answer. I was pleased to meet Bob Dagger, the owner, who is always looking for the best for his store. I especially like the variety of products here and you can tell how much love and effort is put in expanding the huge offer. There is always something new to discover and this time I noticed mushroom powders such as Reishi and Chilajit, Tocotrienols, Sunflower and Soy Lecithin, vanilla powder and yum, raw Manna bread!  I tasted their two Zana Juices, a very powerful probiotic drink made of fermented cabbage. I could buy the whole store but only had one suitcase…

It is good to visit places like these where you can immerse yourself and broaden your raw horizon. It is by buying completely new products and trying out their possibilities that you can discover new tastes and textures in your recipes. This is what keeps your uncooking exciting, fresh and new. New, high quality products motivate you to go deeper into the culinary world of raw food and feel the excitement of eating healthy. Oh my, I can talk hours about this!

Another section which gives me the high vibes is the lovely book department. It is so good to see a library this expanded. I bought Matt Amsden’s book but felt like buying the whole series of Dr. Norman Walker and more. It is just so nice to have all that choice and to be able to browse through books instead of ordering them online without seeing or smelling. I like to hold books in my hands before they become mine.

So if you are in New York, be sure to hop over and get the good vibes at High Vibe!

Even if you haven’t planned your day and you are out of vegetables and fruit, you can find organic produce very nearby your place in New York. If you are staying in a hotel room you can have a daily visit to get some greens and make a salad or a smoothie with a personal blender. I saw very handy, small packages with green powders, enough for one smoothie. So if you are traveling to New York, you don’t even have to bother taking your superfoods.

WHOLE FOODS MARKET

I knew of the many outstanding Whole Foods Markets in New York but when we discovered this huge, clean building which seemed very new, I was stunned by their green mission on all levels.

It was exciting to wander through the wide paces and see all the green departments. Everything is available here, from organic and locally grown produce to superfoods, wheatgrass powder, ecological cleansing products, kitchen tools, bamboo cutting boards and organic body care. And oh, I even found my favorite probiotics there!

It was amazing to see how all healthy choices one can make are displayed here. Even if shopping in small stores can be more personal, I liked spending time here because it is so synoptic and clear where you have to be for what you are looking for. These Whole Foods Markets are all over town, no matter where you are living or staying. What a lovely motivation for whomever is choosing to eat raw or healthy while traveling or living in a city.

It isn’t difficult to make healthy choices in New York, despite what many people might say. Yes, the prices are higher than when you walk into a McDonalds and order your hamburger. But there is no price on health, the most valuable good we own.

My trip to New York was in one word… ravishing! Even though my favorite store Westerly was closed due to renovations and Raw Soul is no longer active as a restaurant I was delighted by the new places I discovered and the known ones I re-visited.

I was sitting in a Starbuck cafe drinking a mint tea, looking at people passing by and thought; “Let me count how many people on ten are overweighed.” I was shocked that the number was “ten” during that next minute. How ironic and sad to see this in a city were magnificent whole food stores are within reach behind every corner, where organic and raw foods are for sale in many supermarkets and lovely specialized stores, where communities are organizing themselves to sell organically, locally grown produce at affordable prices.

New York is full of opportunities to make healthy choices. My dear friend guided me through town from South to North so I could write about these lovely places. This healthy raw food tour will show you where to go if you are living in this wonderful city. Or if you are raw and visiting New York but don’t know where to go to, then be my guest and put your teeth in the juiciest, biggest apple you ever had…

THE ORGANIC AVENUE

“Welcome to the Space of Love” it says on the blackboard at the door of 116, Suffolk Street. And oh my, you do feel welcome between all the lovely bottled juices, alkaline water, superfoods, friendly smiles, the beautiful bar, the inviting wooden table. The space is grand, clean, simple, tasteful, peaceful and perfect for the many events the Organic Avenue organizes. In April for instance, you can join them for a three day long workshop with James Russell. I wish I was there!

I talked to the lady of the house and when she heard that I am a raw food coach she invited me to organize one of my events at her place. I was, AM thrilled and so looking forward to giving my first raw food workshop in New York.

But a lot more is going on at the Organic Avenue. They make gorgeous juices and smoothies. You want to do a cleanse but have no juicer? Order your cleanse and it will be delivered right at your door in a cool box. You can’t get confused; the bottles are numbered and you don’t have to worry about anything. It can’t get much easier than that!

The Organic Avenue has charming cafés and shops all over town, you can check out the locations here, they are within everybody’s reach. My dear friend who guided me and I enjoyed a wonderful mint smoothie in a cute bottle and went off to the next stop.

Ice, snow, hard soil, a frozen compost heap. Winter is hitting harder than in a long time. As long as it is not freezing you can rely on composting the usual way. But what if  the compost container is more than full, totally frozen and covered up with loads of snow? Where can you leave your compost in winter? Throw it in the garbage bag where it will get too heavy to carry out on the street? Scrape off the snow and heap it up on your compost until it falls over? Or wait, maybe you can get creative with it?

Composted... rich soil

Pulp from juicing, peels, cores… when you are on a raw food diet you have a lot of vegetable leftovers. So let’s think of some solutions to recycle them in a useful way. Because this is what it also is about in a raw food lifestyle; living consciously and think of environment friendly solutions for detritus.

Some great ways to compost in winter…

Pulp from juice

• Use your juice pulp to make lovely crackers, burgers, meatloaf, even cookies…
• No garden? The plants in your house will thrive on these precious nutrients!You have a garden but no compost container? Just dig a whole and use it as container for all your peels and cores.
• If you have a high speed blender, you can liquify them and pour the “smoothie” on the soil of your garden.
• If you like growing wheatgrass on your window sill, nurture it with this vegetable liquid to add more minerals to the soil
• Too much juice pulp to process into your food? Your pets will be happy with such varied meals!
• Chicken love all leftovers of vegetables and fruits
• No pets or chicken around? Maybe your neighbor or a friend does
• If you don’t have a garden, your neighbor or the farmer in your neighborhood might be very happy to return your organic leftovers to their soil
• No garden? The plants in your house will thrive on these precious nutrients!You have a garden but no compost container? Just dig a whole and use it as container for all your peels and cores.
• If you have a high speed blender, you can liquify them and pour the “smoothie” on the soil of your garden.
• If you like growing wheatgrass on your window sill, nurture it with this vegetable liquid to add more minerals to the soil
• Too much juice pulp to process into your food? Your pets will be happy with such varied meals!
• Chicken love all leftovers of vegetables and fruits
• No pets or chicken around? Maybe your neighbor or a friend does
• If you don’t have a garden, your neighbor or the farmer in your neighborhood might be very happy to return your organic leftovers to their soil

Any other ideas? I will be happy to hear them from you!

Juicy Hamburger

Juicy Crackers!

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/02/05/composting-in-winter/feed/ 53 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/01/24/super-chia-smoothie/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/01/24/super-chia-smoothie/#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:26:06 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=1083

You will love, love LOVE this smooth smoothie! I do! I am enjoying it right now while I am writing. I simply have to share this wonderful recipe which started in some kind of a minor because I was out of bananas and leafy green vegetables and didn’t feel like going out in the rain. My throat was feeling soar since last night and I felt tired when I woke up this morning so I had to make a super smoothie fast!

I was wondering how to replace the smoothness of a banana in my smoothie. I opened my fridge, hm, soaked chia seeds could do the trick. And ripe pears for some sweetness. My favorite loyal coconut oil would help too for sure. This is how I brew this overnice super boosting smoothie. After drinking one glass I feel the energy coming back and the sourness has gone.

This smoothie is packed with essential fatty oils (3 to 10 times the oil concentrations of most grains), proteins (one and a half to two times the protein concentrations of other grains), linoleic (the unsaturated fatty acid which the body can’t produce) and calcium ( it contains the important mineral boron, a catalyst for the absorption of calcium).

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A blender
• A sharp knife
• A cutting board

INGREDIENTS FOR ALMOST 1 QUART

• About 3-4 cups rejuvelac (you can also use water, tea or coconut water… but the rejuvelac is so great!)
• 1 C soaked chia seeds
• 2 C blueberries (when you take frozen berries in winter, you don’t have to add ice)
• 2 ripe pears
• 2 TBS coconut oil
• 2 tsp maca
• 1 tsp bee pollen
• 2 TBS supergreen powder (Amazing Grass is very good and tasting lovely!)
• 2 TBS hemp seeds
• 2 TBS honey

THE MAKING OF…

Blend until very smooth ( a bit longer to break down all the chia seeds) and soak all the goodies in this goddess drink…

TIPS

• Chia seeds have no taste so you can easily add other flavors while enjoying all the great nutrients of chia (EFA’s!)
• You can add chocolate, goji berries… their rich flavors will always take over from the chia seeds
• Soak a few cups of chia seeds overnight and store what you don’t need in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator; they stay good for two weeks
• Chia seeds can help you to lose weight because of their good fats. Moreover they are very filling and help you control hunger in a natural way

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/01/24/super-chia-smoothie/feed/ 4 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/01/05/juicy-crackers/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2011/01/05/juicy-crackers/#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:53:58 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=1051

Juicy Crackers

When you juice a lot you will often wonder what to do with all the pulp. Throw it away in a garbage bag? Throw it out on your compost? Feed it to the pets? Crackers are a wonderful, tasteful, economic solution and will save you a lot of money.  Just think of what one small pack is costing and you will know how much.

Juice all day long and make a tray in the early evening for a nice and warm breakfast the next morning. This makes a lovely recipe for early, dark winter mornings when you are aching for some warm comfort while the house is warming up.

The principle is very easy and you can add whatever you like. As each juice and the variety of  juices you make throughout the day is different, each tray of these crackers will have its surprising tastes. A good timing to make a new batter is around 5 or 6 pm or when you stop juicing. You will still have the time to flip your tray after the first drying period of 4 to 5 hours. Then you can go to bed with a smile. The dehydrator will do the rest overnight while you are having juicy dreams.

Deep Purple

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A juicer
• A dehydrator or oven
• A large bowl
• A wooden spoon or a spatula

INGREDIENTS

• The pulp of your daily juices
• 1-2 C grind flax seeds
• 1 C grind nuts to your choice
• Herbs and seasonings which fit to the taste of the pulp
• Sea salt to taste
• Some pure water or original juice, depending on how much pulp you have

THE MAKING OF…

• If you like your crackers  with a “clean” color, don’t mix the pulp of the different juices you made but separate them
• If you don’t mind mixing, stir the pulps until well mixed
• Grind the nuts you like in your crackers and throw the flour in the bowl with the pulp
• Add the herbs and seasonings you think will fit with the taste of the crackers, spicy, Mediterranean or sweet…
• Taste, taste, taste and adjust until you say “Mmmm!
• Grind your flax seeds and mix everything very well
• Now add the water or juice you need to have an easy consistency to spread out on your tray
• Spread the batter on a teflex sheet or parchment paper and make squares so you can break them easily when ready
• Place the tray in your dehydrator
• If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use an oven on the lowest temperature, not higher than 118°F or 42°C . Leave the door a little bit open so the water can evaporate and your crackers will be crunchy
• If you put your tray in around 5 or 6 pm, you can still flip it over after 4 to 5 hours
• Let it dehydrate until the next morning and they will be perfect for breakfast

Try out what you like. This basic principle works for every pulp and you will have fun creating your own recipes. Enjoy your creations!

Green Juicy Crackers

Slamming Smoothie

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A blender
• A sharp knife
• A cutting board

INGREDIENTS

• 4 small leaves of kale (or two large ones)
• A frozen banana (you can take unfrozen too)
• A sweet pear
• Fill up your blender with spinach
• A grab of parsley
• A handful of Goji Berries (it adds sweetness and so many great nutrients!)
• 1 tsp beepollen
• 1 tsp Maca
• 1 TBS coconut butter
• Rejuvelac (see the recipe here; I added slices of lemon and mint to this batch)

THE MAKING OF…

• Throw everything in your blender
• Blend and chew that smooth smoothie! Cheers!
  

  Super Smoothie

Raw?

Winter, snow, freezing wind… I am aching for warmth inside of my body. Sure, my green smoothies help but when dinner time is there, I want more. I bet you do too! I learned that when you cheat your ‘eye’ with the food you make, you feel warmer just by looking at your plate. Making or finishing off dishes with raw food that is looking as if it is cooked is a trick that works every time. How you can change that raw view into a softened, wilted look?

It is very simple. Marinate your vegetables. Slice them very small, cover them up with olive oil, add a spoon of hemp oil for great omega’s and… you know what? Let me put it down here in a simple, fast and delicious recipe for two persons. This is a lovely side dish which combines so well with nori rolls or on top of a pizza or pasta to get that cooked look or simply mixed with salad.

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A sharp knife
• A large bowl
• A (wooden) spoon
• A dehydrator or oven (optional)

Organic Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS

• About a half pound of mushrooms to your choice
• Enough olive oil to moist the mushrooms (be generous)
• A TBS of hemp oil or sesame oil (optional)
• A big bunch of finely chopped parsley
• Whatever herbs that can enhance that wild taste of mushrooms; chive, rosemary, thyme, oregano… (optional)
• Sea salt to taste
• A tsp of kelp granules (optional but great if you have thyroid issues)
• Juice of a half lemon
• Some apple cider vinegar (optional if you added lemon juice but a nice touch)

Wild herbs to add

THE MAKING OF…

Sliced

• Chop up the mushrooms into fine slices and throw them in a large bowl

Pour enough olive oil to cover up

• Pour your oil generously over them so they can soak in it

Add your herbs and other ingredients

• Add the herbs of your choice, the salt, the lemon and apple cider vinegar and enjoy the odors!

Mix well and let sit

• Mix well with a spoon or your hands
• Taste if it is to your taste and add what you want more in there
• Set it away for about twenty minutes; the mushrooms will wilt and start looking cooked!
• For maximum effect; put it on a tray with teflex sheet and warm it up for an hour in your dehydrator
• Add some extra olive oil so they still stay moist while dehydrating

TIPS

• You can easily make one pound  of these marinated mushrooms. They will be even better the next day!
• You can add them with another recipe then and they will give another extra dimension
• You can marinate whatever you like to look cooked; peppers, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes …

Enjoy your uncooked, cooked looking dish!

Mixed with cherry tomatoes

Juicy Stuff

If you are still wondering where to get your proteins from when you go raw you can stop now and be reassured that you will get all you need with raw food. And with raw juices. This is one of the reasons why you have to eat a varied scale of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and sprouts. Also eat all the colors in the rainbow to receive all the antioxidants you want to look younger and feel better.

Carrots are sweeties. Not just because of their soothing taste but because of the treasure of nutrients they are offering us in one glass of juice. They provide vitamins A, B1, B6, C, D, E, G and K, minerals such as calcium, potassium, iron and phosphorus, traces of carbohydrates and proteins.

Color your life

If you dream of  a smooth skin; carrots make it look healthy! They have extreme properties for skin health.

• Carrot juice contains carotenoids which reduce risk of a heart attack and regulate blood circulation
• The phytonutrient ‘falcarinol’ helps in the protection against colon cancer
• And yes, it is true that they are good for vision, especially for night sight because of the beta-carotene
• Drink more carrot juice and notice how much better your hair, skin and nails will look
• Carrot juice also contains essential oils. They help digestion and therefor are fighting acne.
• Drinking carrot juice in summer will help you to protect against sunburn. It heals damages caused by the sun
• The antioxidants slow down the aging process and protect you against free radicals
• It lowers high blood pressure and cholesterol
• A load of iron helps to reduce anemia

And again, this is a list that goes on and on. It is good to know what vegetables and fruits can mean for your body. Just juice what you need to jazz up your health and you will feel the difference soon!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer, a sharp knife and a cutting board

INGREDIENTS

• 8 to 10 fresh organic carrots
• A big chunk of ginger

THE MAKING OFF…

• Juice your stuff and feel juicy…

Carrot Ginger Juice

Juicy Stuff!

A very simple juice, but only one glass is covering five fruit servings. We are so used to squeezing oranges but what do we know about them? That they are rich in vitamin C, yes. But did you know that they also…

• … have high levels of magnesium and potassium? So one glass a day will balance high blood pressure!
• … have inflammatory  properties and help relieve joint pains?
• … contain folate and increase growth of skin cells and blood cells?
• … contain enough nutrients and minerals to boost your immune system?
• … are very good for your bones and teeth because of their calcium?
• … are very rich in antioxidants and the carotenoids fight free radicals to reduce damage to your cells?
• … enable a good DNA in your body with their niacin content?
• … are a rich source of phytonutrients who make the nutrients work optimal?

A lot of good reasons to make that fast juice in the morning when you are out of time!

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A juicer
• A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

• Three oranges
• One stalk of lemongrass

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and twist!

Orange Twist

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/10/orange-with-a-twist/feed/ 3 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/09/upbeet/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/09/upbeet/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:26:01 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=944

Juice Up Your Health!

I never was really fond of beets until I started juicing them. They are now on my list of favorites. Not only because they make the loveliest juices, but also the best ones for your health. Drink one glass of beet juice every day and it will beat high blood pressure. Beets also increase the body’s production of glutathione, the most important antioxidant we have. Without glutathione, our most powerful detoxifier of cancer-causing poisons, you can’t absorb other antioxidants or can’t pull the environmental chemicals into the colon where they can be removed. So they will stay in our precious body, causing serious health problems.

High cholesterol? Too low cancer-destroying CD8 cells in the colon? Skin problems? Stress? Digestive disorders? Beet juice takes care of you and ‘upbeets’ your health with its rich content of antioxidants, vitamin A, C, B6, B1, B2, calcium, sulfur, sodium, iodine, bioflanonoids, potassium and natural sugars. Oh and don’t forget the source of dietary fiber, carbohydrates, folic acid, magnesium, biotin and niacin.

When you start drinking beet juice, you might experience some diarrhea in the beginning, red stool and urine. Don’t worry and remind that you have been drinking red beets before running off to the doctor. It will go away by itself and when you drink it more often and is purifying you, you will notice less or no coloring as time goes by.

Beet Before...

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A juicer
• A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

• One beet, unpeeled if it is organic
• Two apples, cored

THE MAKING OF…

Cut, juice and get your upbeet!

Beet After...

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/09/upbeet/feed/ 2 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/08/good-mood-juices/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/08/good-mood-juices/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:17:36 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=935 Dark weather all day long, rain, cold wind, the birds stopped singing: winter can’t be far away. I feel like looking at colors… and drinking them to juice up my mood. I took what I could find in the refrigerator; beets, carrots en fennel. I grabbed apples and oranges and decided to make very simple, pure drinks. Oh, this beauty!

Color your mood!

I have to share these good mood juices. Even if you can almost predict by looking at them what they are. Some got a little twist.

Sweet Fennel Juice

Have you ever thought of drinking fennel just as it is? I mostly add it to salads or to mixed juices to sweeten and freshen it up. But eaten on its own it can be a quiet overwhelming after a while. As a juice though, you can’t get it enough. With its extraordinary anise flavor, it is like no other juice. A great choice if you are longing for a drink in the evening. You can leave that bottle of Ricard; juice a fennel and you have the same taste. With much more benefits! Fennel is very rich in phytoestrogens and therefor helping with a lot of issues such as…

• colic, wind, irritable bowel
• spleen
• liver
• lungs
• kidneys
• digestive system
• menstruation
• increased urine flow

Fennel Green

But fennel is also used to treat…

• asthma
• anxiety
• depression
• high blood pressure
• decreased libido
• coughs
• heartburn

And the list goes on. But let’s juice now and “feel” instead of read about benefits.

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A juicer
• A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

• One big fennel

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and enjoy heaven!

Sweet Fennel Juice

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/08/good-mood-juices/feed/ 5 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/07/electrolyte-shock/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/07/electrolyte-shock/#comments Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:54:24 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=923 When I woke up I had no idea what time it was. It was too dark, too silent, too weary to get up. I notice that I am even more sensitive than ever to the changing hours in autumn. Only one hour, but my whole system still seems disturbed after a week. Even the metabolic clock of my pets is messed up; they start waiting for food one hour earlier than usual.

Electrolytes!

I was wondering what to do about it when it struck me. I would start my day with an electrolyte shock to awaken and coop with the dark weather. So I jumped out of the bed, showered, dressed and took one of my fresh Thai coconuts out of the refrigerator. I grabbed my impressive meat cleaver -with which I will never cleave meat!- and chopped off the coconuts head.  Hmm, have to make a picture of this, I thought. I have to write about all these electrolytes in only one glass! Have you never wondered how this energizing water gets into this heavenly nut? I did!

Electrolytes in a glass

I found the answer when I was reading David Wolfe’s book “Superfoods”. What is so beautiful about coconuts is that they carry and nurture their water as a human pregnancy. Almost nine months is how long it takes to filter each quart in that hard shell. Which must make you wonder how it got there in the first place. Let me quote the master himself here because I can’t think of other words: “The water rises through innumerable fibers which purify the water before it ends up in the sterile nut.”  This water is the most powerful water in nature because of the highest levels of electrolytes.

Moreover young coconut water is very similar to the structure of our blood plasma and therefor was even used in  the Pacific battles of World War II as blood transfusion for wounded soldiers. Coconut water in our veins?? Our blood exists of about 55% of plasma (about the same structure as coconut water) and 45% of hemoglobin (for the transportation of oxygen). This hemoglobin is “essentially transformed plant blood”, chlorophyll. So this means that when you make yourself a drink of fresh coconut water (55% plasma) mixed with fresh green leaf juice or the by Dr. Ann Wigmore recommended wheatgrass juice (45% hemoglobin), you will treat your body on a blood transfusion. Isn’t this amazingly easy?!

Blood Transfusion

If you can’t imagine that you will be able to drink a combination like this, let me give you these very simple yet lovely tips.

• Use coconut water as the base of your smoothies. It is delicious and will sweeten it up.
• Take a glass of coconut water and add one table spoon of “green superfood” which is packed with the chlorophyll of barley, wheatgrass, broccoli, spirulena, chlorella and many others. This is what I did here and it tastes… heavenly!
• Drink this is the morning on an empty stomach if you want the full benefits of it and a quick absorption in the blood.
• Oh, and give this magic drink to your children before they take off to school! They will be fit and concentrated and love the taste because it is very sweet.

My body is tingling now and my mind is clear. (I drank the green version while I was writing). The effect of this booster is almost immediately. It only takes five minutes to feel your blood pump. So get those young Thai coconuts, grow your grass, juice your greens and get in tune with your body!

Sources: David Wolfe “Superfoods” and my own experiences.

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