Get a little raw… with your food!
Great food - Great tastes - Great results
No gagging recipes, guaranteed.
March 2, 2012
Ode to fat
Eating across the color spectrum
Dessert recipes
“I need chocolate in a hurry” raw pudding
recipe
Most of what I know about raw food and nutrition, I have learned by lots of reading, and then experimenting on myself.
I suppose I am fortunate to have survived all of my self-inflicted experiments! The drivers for my quest have been to manage osteoarthritis pain and weight. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that if you maintain healthy weight, there is less wear and tear on your joints, which in turn means less pain, which means you exercise more, which full circle, means you manage your weight. I have done the low-fat, fake sweetener approach for years. The pitiable result was worse arthritis pain and more weight. I strongly believe that in order to lose or maintain weight, we MUST regularly consume fat – healthy fat.
At the end of this article, I have posted two links with articles and information about the importance of fat for stabilizing mood, easing joint pain, aiding brain function and managing weight. Americans are neurotic about eating fat but an important goal to consider is increasing your intake of GOOD fats. The vegan options for this
include olive oil, Udo’s Choice oil, nut oil, coconut oil (my absolute favorite), avocados, nuts, and seeds.
I regularly eat salmon and locally raised eggs in order to get the Omega3 fats which are HIGH in anti-inflammatory properties.
Here are some easy ways to up your good fat intake, from a raw vegan standpoint:
Add 1 T coconut oil to your smoothies
Soak a few raw cashews overnight in water, drain and add these to your smoothie
Dip fruit slices or raw veggies in NUT butters.
Peanut butter does NOT count because peanuts are a legume (bean.) Instead, use almond, cashew or
sunflower seed butters.
Put half an avocado in your green smoothie.
Don’t panic at what this would taste like.
Avocados don’t have a strong taste. Pairing them with greens and a strongly flavored fruit renders the avocado invisible. Avocados do add a luxurious thick,
silken smooth creaminess to the raw food preparation. Half an avocado, half a frozen banana, some fresh pineapple or mango, protein powder
and greens in a smoothie are unbelievably delicious, and will stave off hunger for hours.
Put 1 T of any good oil in a bowl of raw soup (we’ll get to this topic next week)
Put a handful of nuts and/or seeds on your salad
Increasing my fat intake as been key in easing joint pain (think lubrication here) AND curbing my appetite. Fat fuels the satiety (fullness)
response of your brain and helps keep blood sugar stable for hours.
Finally, the dessert recipes at the end of this article have a
high good fat content. Just don’t do what I did when I first went raw… “WOW! These desserts are so healthy,
full of great ingredients, it’s OK for me to eat them… a lot.”
It was NOT OK to eat a lot… I gained weight!
One small serving a day is plenty – it satisfies your sweet tooth and boosts your fat intake.
Articles:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/17/the-7-laws-of-leanness.aspx?e_cid=20120217_DNL_art_1 from Dr. Mercola
http://udoerasmus.com/firstscreen.htm (Udo’s Choice
Oil)
Eating across the color spectrum
When I studied the role of food in Traditional Chinese Medical Theory classes, it was taught that each food color has an inherent energetic imprint. Each color strengthened
and toned the body in varying ways, depending on season, order in which eaten, and cooking techniques. Skeptical as ALWAYS, I took in all this information, and then began experimenting… you guessed it, on me! I ate all red fruits and vegetables for days, then green, etc. Nothing remarkable happened, other than veggie fatigue and a sugar binge! Later, I took a course from a
very successful NYC acupuncturist, Dr. Liu, who specialized in treating high-stress women with issues of weight gain, water retention, depression, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, digestive distress, etc.
His technique focused on a simple diet of lightly cooked fruits and vegetables ONLY, for a period of time. Most importantly, he stressed eating across the color spectrum of reds, blues, whites, greens and yellows because he
knew about the energetic effects of varied colored fruits and vegetables. I tried his ideas and BINGO!!! Everything felt better and worked better. Since then, other main
stream health professionals have presented this same concept.
In fact, I think there’s even a cookbook out there with this theme! Here’s what this looks like for me on most
days:
Red: berries in my
protein shake for breakfast
Orange: Carrot, apple, ginger and lemon juice mid morning
Green: Green
protein smoothie for lunch
Blue: Blueberries
every day, either in breakfast or lunch
smoothie
Yellow: lemon in the carrot juice, yellow squash, yellow pepper
and or corn in a salad, or homemade veggie
burger
Whites: These were always a little sketchy to me, and experts often don’t include this as a color category. If you’re really a perfectionist, pears, radishes and turnips fit this group. I don’t pay any attention to the
“white.”
I believe that it is the varying energetic properties and
pigments of these colors that impart the beautiful glow and healthy coloring to the skin of raw foodies. Cosmetic
companies… you can KEEP your blush (and I’ll keep my
money)!
Desserts
Actually, I’m just going to give you the link to my FAVORITE raw food site. Scroll down through her
recipes to the Dessert section. IF you want to satisfy a sweet tooth AND increase your fat intake, look for recipes
that contain avocado, nuts, coconut, coconut oil, cacao to name a few.
When I first started eating raw, I freaked when I saw avocado in the pudding recipes. Frankly, I
couldn’t think of anything more disgusting!! I have learned that ALL the avocado does is add incredible smoothness to the pudding, and it picks up the taste of everything else. So, go ahead and use it, you won’t gag. I promise!
Here’s my go-to, “need chocolate in a hurry” recipe:
Use a blender to process one ripe avocado, unsweetened cocoa powder, sweetener of choice and to taste.
The pudding comes out brown (not green from the avocado), the chocolate taste is dominant and it’s EASY…and good… I promise! Once blended, you could
spice this up a la Mexican style with a little cayenne, cinnamon and some orange extract, or use mint or almond extract, throw in a little coconut, dried cherries – it’s ALL good!
Again,
learn from my mistake about these desserts… a LITTLE bit is very good for you, but you’re NOT going to be happy with your shape if you eat a lot! J
http://www.rawmazing.com/rawmazing-recipes
Next week, we’re going to face down the raw soup concept, demystify kale chips and I am going to share my favorite, frequently used raw food sites.
Great food - Great tastes - Great results
No gagging recipes, guaranteed.
March 2, 2012
Ode to fat
Eating across the color spectrum
Dessert recipes
“I need chocolate in a hurry” raw pudding
recipe
Most of what I know about raw food and nutrition, I have learned by lots of reading, and then experimenting on myself.
I suppose I am fortunate to have survived all of my self-inflicted experiments! The drivers for my quest have been to manage osteoarthritis pain and weight. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that if you maintain healthy weight, there is less wear and tear on your joints, which in turn means less pain, which means you exercise more, which full circle, means you manage your weight. I have done the low-fat, fake sweetener approach for years. The pitiable result was worse arthritis pain and more weight. I strongly believe that in order to lose or maintain weight, we MUST regularly consume fat – healthy fat.
At the end of this article, I have posted two links with articles and information about the importance of fat for stabilizing mood, easing joint pain, aiding brain function and managing weight. Americans are neurotic about eating fat but an important goal to consider is increasing your intake of GOOD fats. The vegan options for this
include olive oil, Udo’s Choice oil, nut oil, coconut oil (my absolute favorite), avocados, nuts, and seeds.
I regularly eat salmon and locally raised eggs in order to get the Omega3 fats which are HIGH in anti-inflammatory properties.
Here are some easy ways to up your good fat intake, from a raw vegan standpoint:
Add 1 T coconut oil to your smoothies
Soak a few raw cashews overnight in water, drain and add these to your smoothie
Dip fruit slices or raw veggies in NUT butters.
Peanut butter does NOT count because peanuts are a legume (bean.) Instead, use almond, cashew or
sunflower seed butters.
Put half an avocado in your green smoothie.
Don’t panic at what this would taste like.
Avocados don’t have a strong taste. Pairing them with greens and a strongly flavored fruit renders the avocado invisible. Avocados do add a luxurious thick,
silken smooth creaminess to the raw food preparation. Half an avocado, half a frozen banana, some fresh pineapple or mango, protein powder
and greens in a smoothie are unbelievably delicious, and will stave off hunger for hours.
Put 1 T of any good oil in a bowl of raw soup (we’ll get to this topic next week)
Put a handful of nuts and/or seeds on your salad
Increasing my fat intake as been key in easing joint pain (think lubrication here) AND curbing my appetite. Fat fuels the satiety (fullness)
response of your brain and helps keep blood sugar stable for hours.
Finally, the dessert recipes at the end of this article have a
high good fat content. Just don’t do what I did when I first went raw… “WOW! These desserts are so healthy,
full of great ingredients, it’s OK for me to eat them… a lot.”
It was NOT OK to eat a lot… I gained weight!
One small serving a day is plenty – it satisfies your sweet tooth and boosts your fat intake.
Articles:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/17/the-7-laws-of-leanness.aspx?e_cid=20120217_DNL_art_1 from Dr. Mercola
http://udoerasmus.com/firstscreen.htm (Udo’s Choice
Oil)
Eating across the color spectrum
When I studied the role of food in Traditional Chinese Medical Theory classes, it was taught that each food color has an inherent energetic imprint. Each color strengthened
and toned the body in varying ways, depending on season, order in which eaten, and cooking techniques. Skeptical as ALWAYS, I took in all this information, and then began experimenting… you guessed it, on me! I ate all red fruits and vegetables for days, then green, etc. Nothing remarkable happened, other than veggie fatigue and a sugar binge! Later, I took a course from a
very successful NYC acupuncturist, Dr. Liu, who specialized in treating high-stress women with issues of weight gain, water retention, depression, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, digestive distress, etc.
His technique focused on a simple diet of lightly cooked fruits and vegetables ONLY, for a period of time. Most importantly, he stressed eating across the color spectrum of reds, blues, whites, greens and yellows because he
knew about the energetic effects of varied colored fruits and vegetables. I tried his ideas and BINGO!!! Everything felt better and worked better. Since then, other main
stream health professionals have presented this same concept.
In fact, I think there’s even a cookbook out there with this theme! Here’s what this looks like for me on most
days:
Red: berries in my
protein shake for breakfast
Orange: Carrot, apple, ginger and lemon juice mid morning
Green: Green
protein smoothie for lunch
Blue: Blueberries
every day, either in breakfast or lunch
smoothie
Yellow: lemon in the carrot juice, yellow squash, yellow pepper
and or corn in a salad, or homemade veggie
burger
Whites: These were always a little sketchy to me, and experts often don’t include this as a color category. If you’re really a perfectionist, pears, radishes and turnips fit this group. I don’t pay any attention to the
“white.”
I believe that it is the varying energetic properties and
pigments of these colors that impart the beautiful glow and healthy coloring to the skin of raw foodies. Cosmetic
companies… you can KEEP your blush (and I’ll keep my
money)!
Desserts
Actually, I’m just going to give you the link to my FAVORITE raw food site. Scroll down through her
recipes to the Dessert section. IF you want to satisfy a sweet tooth AND increase your fat intake, look for recipes
that contain avocado, nuts, coconut, coconut oil, cacao to name a few.
When I first started eating raw, I freaked when I saw avocado in the pudding recipes. Frankly, I
couldn’t think of anything more disgusting!! I have learned that ALL the avocado does is add incredible smoothness to the pudding, and it picks up the taste of everything else. So, go ahead and use it, you won’t gag. I promise!
Here’s my go-to, “need chocolate in a hurry” recipe:
Use a blender to process one ripe avocado, unsweetened cocoa powder, sweetener of choice and to taste.
The pudding comes out brown (not green from the avocado), the chocolate taste is dominant and it’s EASY…and good… I promise! Once blended, you could
spice this up a la Mexican style with a little cayenne, cinnamon and some orange extract, or use mint or almond extract, throw in a little coconut, dried cherries – it’s ALL good!
Again,
learn from my mistake about these desserts… a LITTLE bit is very good for you, but you’re NOT going to be happy with your shape if you eat a lot! J
http://www.rawmazing.com/rawmazing-recipes
Next week, we’re going to face down the raw soup concept, demystify kale chips and I am going to share my favorite, frequently used raw food sites.
