Ravishing Raw » rauwkost

Alive Smoothie

Marie-Claire — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:04:45 +0000

I make smoothies every day. But sometimes you have that one smoothie which exceeds all others. It is a combination of factors and you don’t have them always under control. Each smoothie tastes different, even with the exact same ingredients. Simply because all vegetables and fruit add their own personal flavor. One banana can be soothing sweet and another hardly have any taste. Same with juices; one pound of carrots can taste like heaven and another will be rather bitter and spoil your sweet soup. So a lot depends on that willing touch of your chosen fruit of that day.

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

Upbeet

Marie-Claire — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:26:01 +0000

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...

Good Mood Juices

Marie-Claire — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:17:36 +0000

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

Amazing Grape

Marie-Claire — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 17:10:26 +0000

Another day, another juice! I am improvising and jazzing. That’s what a true musician does. So what did I come up with today? A very simple pink grape juice. Later on I used this juice as a basis to add other fruits and that was a delicious surprise. Here they come.

AMAZING GRAPE

Amazing Grape

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer

INGREDIENTS

A bunch of pink grapes

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and Jazz!

JAZZY JUICE!

Jazzy Juice!

Leave some of the grapes so you can make fresh juice and improvise with that basis.

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer
A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

One or two cups of amazing grape juice
One or two apples
One kiwi
One orange
Half a lemon
One stalk of lemon grass (a most lovely add!)

THE MAKING OFF…

Juice, share and sing! Cheers!

Jazzy Juice!

Juicy Stuff!

Marie-Claire — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:03:19 +0000

After two days of wiggling from juices to smoothies to salads, I had a very juicy day! And guess what; I wasn’t hungry for one moment, or even craving. Once you flow with the clean feeling you get when you add more an more juices, it all goes by itself. I am now thriving and feeling so much better. It is amazing in how a short notice juices can calm down the body and uplift it to more energy and clarity!

Juicy Stuff!

I am starting my day very simple: with water. I even keep drinking water and herbal tea until noon before I make my first juice. It has a great effect on my body. It feels very clean and light when I give it a chance to get rid of all toxins of the day before. Because this is what happens in the body in the morning until noon; it is awakening and releasing all the toxins of previous meals. This is also the reason why it is best to start your day with a light meal.

But let me share this great juice with you, because it tasted so heavenly!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A Juicer
A sharp knife and a cutting board

INGREDIENTS

Two big apples, cored
One pear
One kiwi
About 6 to 8 carrots
A BIG chunk of ginger (I love ginger! so if you don’t, you can leave it out or add less)
One lime

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and slurp!

You will be amazed how filling this juice is. Leave one hour between several juices to give them a bit of time to digest. But that will no problem. It took me hours to feel the first hunger and make a very green juice of cucumber, celery stalks, kelp granules, dandelion and spinach. Enjoy!

Orange Without "Orange" Juice

Sprouting

Marie-Claire — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 23:50:20 +0000

Day One - Soaking

Sprouting is fun! Isn’t it wonderful how the seeds burst open and reveal new life? I love watching and following the process and I can’t get enough of it. The other thing about sprouting is that anyone can do it, you don’t need much space or special tools, it is easy and exciting. But most of all: sprouts are your alive food which make you come alive!

Added to smoothies, salads or pates, they upgrade each dish to soft crunchiness and increased health. Don’t overeat in sprouts though; one cup a day will provide you more than you can imagine. Because sprouts are beginning life they have to protect themselves from being eaten before growing by toxins. But don’t let this take you off of them; their benefits are so much higher.

Why are they so nutritious? Because they contain all elements a plant needs to come alive and grow. They are packed with carbohydrates, proteins and oil. After germinating those become amino acids and natural sugars for the plant to develop. When you eat them, they will reveal their life force of enzymes to your body. It is essential to a raw food diet so let’s start sprouting those beauties.

Sunflower Pits after One Night of Soaking

Even if sprouting is easy, you have to know a basic rule to be successful. Seeds need darkness to sprout. If you are having trouble with growing those small tails, think of how a seed is developing in nature. They are mostly covered up with a light blanket of soil where they can gather all their power to reach out for the light.

So if you want to see those tails come out, you have to cover them up with a dark cloth or towel or place them in a dark place at room temperature. But let’s start from the beginning.

WHAT CAN YOU SPROUT?

All seeds such as alfalfa, sunflower seeds, red cabbage, broccoli, fenugreek, celery, oats, radish, leek, you name it.

Grains as wheat grass, barley, rye, millet, rice and buckwheat.

Legumes require a longer soaking time (about 15 hours) because they are much harder. But lentils, chick peas and mung beans are very worth wild waiting for.

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

Any glass jar will do. Take a few jars for different seeds or grains. Or you can buy a system as you are seeing here.
A cheese cloth and a rubber band to hold the cloth tight around the mouth of the jar.
Or you can use a sprout bag instead.
Organic seeds, grains and legumes.

DAY ONE

Day One - Sunflower, Wheat grass & Alfalfa

All you need to do is place one or two tablespoons of seeds or grains to your choice in the jars and cover them up with pure water. If you soak legumes, double the amount; they aren’t swelling as much as seeds.
Put them in a dark place at room temperature overnight.

DAY TWO

Alfalfa, Sunflower and Wheat grass Day Two

In the morning, rinse the seeds very well and turn the jars upside down so all the water can leak out and the seeds won’t get a chance to get mold.
Rinse 2 to 3 times a day. If the weather is warm, rinse more often.
Always turn the jars upside down and cover up or place dark.
Depending on the kind of seed, you will already notice some tails ready to come out

DAY THREE

Wheat grass Day Three

Continue rinsing and draining.
Some sprouts will be ready, others will need another day such as wheat grass.

DAY FOUR

Alfalfa Sprouts on Day Four

Are your sprouts having nice tails? Then they are ready to come into the light!
Place the jars upside down in bright light, preferably in the sun light.
You will see photosynthesis take place and watch your sprouts turn green in only a few hours.
Keep them in the light for a whole day until they are nice and green
Store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator. They keep well for about a week. But don’t wait that long; just eat them to benefit fully their life forces!

Isn’t it amazing how much alive and nutritious food you can grow of almost nothing?

Sunflower Sprouts

Pink Pineapple Smoothie

Marie-Claire — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 06:47:41 +0000

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!

My Free Gifts For You To Go Raw

Marie-Claire — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 17:39:43 +0000

“Raw For 3 Days! Your Step By Step FooDprint

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

Fascinating Fall

Marie-Claire — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 11:07:36 +0000

I love fall, the deep earth colors, that special light, the changes in nature and in people, another rhythm, abundance for free, the comfort of a fireplace. When I was walking in the fields today, a man came who lives there came up to me with a bucket in his hands; “Would you like some fresh chestnuts?” I was delighted. So was he because all the chestnuts of the tree in the fields next to his house are falling down in his garden and he didn’t know what to do with them. So I came back with a large bag of fresh, crunchy chestnuts, my arms full of dandelion I picked on my way to dry for tea and the dogs belt wrapped around one finger.

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