The Raw Food Solution

Raw Cashew Cheese

As discussed in an earlier article, soaking and re-hydrating nuts makes them easier on your digestive process. When you are making a raw food product like cashew cheese, pre-soaking the nuts also makes them softer, allowing for easier blending in the food processor or Cuisinart. There is a bit of planning involved with this recipe, as the cheese must set up for a period of around 24 hours before it is ready for eating. Prior to that, the nuts themselves must be allowed to soak for a period of time in purified or distilled water. Make this cheese as a perfect snack or hors d’œuvre for a party, just make sure to plan a couple of days in advance. This shouldn’t be considered the “make it an hour before the guests arrive” kind of dish.

For a recipe yield of about 1 ¼ cups of Raw Cashew Cheese, follow these instructions. Consider doubling the recipe for a small party of ten or less guests; for a snack item for the week, make this amount and keep the cheese stored in the refrigerator.

Ingredients for Making Raw Cashew Cheese

1 ½ cups raw cashews

1/3 cup water

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon sea salt

Put the cashews in a bowl and add enough cold, distilled water to cover the nuts by about two inches. Soak the cashews for around 2 hours, and then drain them.

Combine the cashews, 1/3 cup water, lemon juice, garlic cloves and sea salt in a food processor and blend them together. Be careful to scrape down the sides of the blender. Continue to blend the mixture for about 5 minutes, or until all of it is very smooth.

Place the cheese in a small bowl or Tupperware, and cover it, allowing it to stand at room temperature for between 24 and 48 hours, but not longer. After the 24 hours, refrigerate the cashew cheese until you are ready to eat it. The cheese will keep for not more than 5 days, if kept covered and refrigerated.

Photo courtesy of ?ukasz Strachanowski

We all eat a certain amount of raw food - the occasional piece of lettuce on our turkey sandwich, perhaps an apple or some grapes with our lunch or a banana on our breakfast cereal. But did you know that there is an entire subculture dedicated to gourmet raw foods “cooking” and there is a growing movement towards eating a diet that is made up exclusively of raw foods?

David Wolfe, the charismatic leader of the Raw Foods movement, says in his book Nature’s First Law: The Raw Food Diet that “cooked food is addictive, cooked food is self-destructive, and cooked food is poison.”

Wow! That is some serious accusation!! And as a thinking person who is constantly researching diets and the effect they have on the human body, I wondered why David Wolfe could take such a stand. So I did some research.

I found that it is all about the enzymes. “When you cook food above 102 degrees Fahrenheit, the enzyme metabolism begins to disrupt and break down. Nothing works without enzymes. Enzymes are are the alchemical symbol of transformation. Enzymes are the life catalyst behind every function the human body performs. That is why a fever is so dangerous. At 102 degrees Fahrenheit you literally start to cook. On a cooked, enzymeless diet, the body is forced to overwork its indigenous (or internal) enzymes to break down those unnatural materials. The body requires exogenous (or external) enzymes in the form of raw plant food.” (Taken from Nature’s First Law, by David Wolfe.)

Raw and living foods are whole and unprocessed, fresh and unrefined. They contain the complete spectrum of their naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, complete with the enzymes needed to turn the food into pure, clean energy the body can use.

When I am eating a high percentage of raw foods, I look and feel more alive. That is because raw fruits, nuts and vegetables are a source of pure energy full of life force. If we are what we eat, and raw foods contain abundant enzymes which are pure energy (the sparks of life) then our personal energy will certainly be affected.

Enzymes make things happen. They catalyze essential activity in the body. So when the food we take in contains abundant enzymes, our body needs to work less. It doesn’t need to produce the enzymes needed to break down the food. The enzymes are already there. So the body has more time to play and more energy to replenish, repair, and maintain tissues, blood and organs. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

The health benefits of eating raw foods are numerous. And if you eat with the seasons, it is common sense to take advantage of what the earth has to offer and eat from that fresh, raw bounty. Try some fruit salad for breakfast, wrap some greens, veggies, herbs, nuts and olive oil in a collard or lettuce leaf, or better yet, search out a raw food “cooking” class to get some new ideas.

You will experience a definite buzz from raw food - and perhaps that is why David Wolfe can exclaim with all certainty that “cooked food is poison”. Cooked food just does not give you the same energy. Try it - you might really like it. I know your body will thank you!

Rebecca Johns, founder of Rebecca Whole Health Inc., is a Nutrition and Wellness Professional who is also the mom of 4 growing kids. “My passion is cutting through the confusion around what it takes to be healthy and giving other moms the tools they need to improve the health of the whole family.”Subscribe to Rebecca’s free weekly ezine Whole Health News by visiting: http://www.rebeccawholehealth.com

In this excerpt, Dr. Doug Graham discusses his 80-10-10 Diet and how many raw fooders eat too much fat. This is an excerpt from Dr. Doug Graham’s interview for the Raw Summit Archives, a complete interview encyclopedia of cutting edge living and raw food knowledge.

Kevin Gianni: You talk about the 80-10-10 diet, it’s the name of your book. What are some of the main principles? What are the 80 and 10-10?

Doug Graham: We had contests to name this book. We had trial and error. We asked hundreds and hundreds of people. We ended up with a list of about sixty titles and fought bitterly between a staff of about twelve people over this title and that of what should be the title of this book. And 80-10-10 tells you something, but it does not tell you enough to make you know what it is. I agree. It is not like the Sedona diet or something which brings a picture to mind. And I honestly do not know if it is good or bad but the 80-10-10 diet is really what it is about. 80-10-10 refers to the three-caloral nutrients. There are only three nutrients in human physiology, or human nutrition that supply us with calories. Those are carbohydrates, protein and fat. Well, in the 80-10-10 diet, I recommend that a maximum of 10 percent of calories come from protein and a maximum of 10 percent of calories come from fat. Therefore, a minimum of 80 percent of calories coming from carbohydrates. And that is in the ultimate simplicity the 80-10-10 diet. Now, of course, you must eat sufficient total calories because no diet is going to work if you do not eat enough food and certainly not in the long term. And sometimes people get confused about that. They say “well, geez, if I eat a banana, and a lettuce leaf and an almond then I am doing the 80-10-10″. I go, “yes you are, but you can not live on that diet”. That would not get you past breakfast.

Kevin: It’s just breakfast.

Doug: It’s breakfast, exactly. And raw food is to come to know that we get to eat more volume than most other people. But human beings are funny. People are funny. We tend to pat ourselves on the back for things that we are going to do or for changes that we are going to make and then don’t often make them. Or we pat ourselves on the back for changes that we think we have made that we really haven’t. And it is a funny world this way and so, although everybody knows that pizza is not health food, nonetheless, when we go vegetarian we create vegetarian pizza. And when we go vegan we create vegan pizza. When we go raw, for our health, we still create raw pizza. And in truth, if it looks like pizza and it tastes like pizza, it’s going to digest like pizza. And it’s likely going to have the caloral nutrient ratio of pizza. And it is going to be hard on our bodies. I am not against it. I am neither for or against it, because it is not about right or wrong, it’s just the consequences. It is what you want to have happen as a result of eating the food you eat.

In other words, it came to me apparent at a certain point that essentially you are on a road in life. And that road, through my medical training, I am actually trained as a chiropractor, but through my medical training what I learned is to be able to predict what road people are on. And so, if they are on a standard diet and they never exercise, or they take birth control pills, and drink a lot of coffee, I think they know there is a very good chance that osteoporosis is going to be in your future. If they are eating a high fat diet there is a very good chance that some form of what is referred to, erroneously, as a sugar metabolic disorder is going to be in your future. Currently, the Center for Disease Control estimates that almost half of all Americans are either diabetic or pre-diabetic and they say it will be over 80 percent of all Americans by the year 2020. All we have to do they say, is keep doing what we are doing. Well, what we are doing is, the average American, eating roughly 40 percent of his calories from fat when the world authorities are recommending 10 percent as a maximum. And if we keep doing that we will all become diabetics. The raw fooders, I thought, we’re doing far better until I started keeping track, and after interviewing about 5000 raw fooders, I feel pretty comfortable in giving averages, and the average raw fooder consumes 65 to 70 percent of their calories from fat.

Kevin: Wow

Doug: This is almost double the American average. We are literally thumbing our nose at the nutritional advice of all the world’s health professionals. while at the same time trying to use some of the information that they say. So, for instance, it is very common to hear a raw food leader say, you know, you don’t need this much of this nutrient and that nutrient or the next nutrient because as raw fooders, the nutrients you consume are of a much higher quality. Or, you digest it far better, and you absorb it far better, and so you get so much more of it. Well, if that is in fact the case, why are we eating double the fat of everybody else? Shouldn’t we be eating half the fat and still getting all the nutritional benefits? We should not have to double our fat consumption. So that was sort of the road, that’s what the 80-10-10 diet became about was to help raise an awareness, strictly between the difference between a high fat diet and a diet that is designed to meet what the scientific standards say humans are designed for. It really was going out on a limb. I’ve got to tell you because it is so much against the flow.

Kevin: Sure.

Doug: But that is my job in many ways, not to go against the flow but to take the science and make it user friendly. That’s what I’ve always done, that is what I pride myself from being able to do. Rather than taking the results of this study or that study, because you can prove anything in our study. Instead, what I’ve done is look at what the textbooks unanimously agree upon, from medical physiology to sports physiology and other types of sports and performance sciences and simply convert that information and apply that information to the raw food diet.

Kevin: Yeah, you may or may not know the answer to this, but I am just curious. Is there any specific study about longevity and raw foods?

Doug: To my knowledge, there are no studies about longevity and raw food.

Kevin: Okay.

Doug: There are various studies about raw food. There have been quite a few studies on raw food. Most of them have been to demonstrate the inefficacy or the impossibility to survive on a diet, or certainly to thrive on a diet that is predominated calorically by vegetables. And I agree. I agree because in order to consume sufficient calories from vegetables to meet your daily caloric needs, for instance for me, that would mean eating somewhere as close to 80 heads of lettuce a day. Well, it just cannot be done. I am a big vegetable man. I love my vegetables. In fact, you know, a lot of people are animal rights advocates and I’ve always said that I’m a vegetable rights advocate. I am perfectly happy to sit down and eat tomatoes until the cows’ come home, or perfectly happy to eat celery as is. I do not have to disguise it. I am in favor of vegetable rights, and I eat a big salad almost every single day and I was raised that way as a child. Eating salad was a normal thing for me. And I have over the last 25 years involvement in raw food movement and my total commitment to raw food now is reaching 30 years. I have always recommended that we eat lots of greens. In fact to my knowledge, I recommend we consume more greens, not only on the 80-10-10 diet, but on any of the programs that I have ever recommended. I am actually recommending more green consumption from whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic plants than anybody else in the raw food movement. The funny thing is that most people notice me eating fruits and so, they think that that’s what it is all about when in fact, that is not the case. I recommend a huge, in fact as I say it, a greater portion of calories from greens than anybody else in the raw movement. It is just what they see, you know, what they notice is the fruit.

Kevin: There are a lot of people who would say that eating a lot of fruits comes with candida issues? What is the challenge with that and how can what can you overcome some thoughts of that?

Doug: Well, I dedicated a chapter in my book to this very issue. But I can put it in a nutshell for you even more to think of now that I could years ago. I agree with everybody who says that eating a lot of fruits will lead to candida issues if they consuming more fat than they should be, more than they can healthfully tolerate. If they are consuming 30-40-50-60-70, I have on tape several different raw food leaders proudly proclaiming that they eat 80 percent of their calories from fat. And that is just fine. If you are eating 60 or 70 percent of your calories from fat well then, you are going to run into issues with sugar metabolism. And the simplest breakdown of it, and I am sorry, if I leave out a few of the details here. If you need more let me know.

But essentially, your blood sugar is monitored by your brain. Everyone has blood sugar, regardless of what they eat. I mean, Eskimos living on blood sugar levels that are roughly the same as muscle head living on protein powders or people following the 80-10-10 diet. It doesn’t matter whether your predominant calorie or nutrient is protein, fat or carbs. Everyone has roughly the same blood sugar levels in health but when those blood sugar levels start to vary, it’s a sign that the body can no longer maintain the homeostasis that it strives to maintain for us at all times. So, our primary method of controlling our blood sugar level is through function of the pancreas. The pancreas picks out some extra insulin if blood sugar levels rise, because insulin functions as a doormat to escort sugar out of the bloodstream to the cell. It’s rather simple but as everyone knows, oil is a lubricant, oil coat thing and if there’s more fat in our bloodstream than we’re designed to handle, it not only coats the blood sugar molecule, it also coats the insulin. Well, when the insulin is coated and the sugar is coated, it’s very hard for the insulin to link up with the sugar. They don’t recognize each other. Not only that, but the portal where sugar exits the bloodstream becomes clogged with fat. Then, so it’s hard for sugar to get out again. Well, the blood sugar level continues to rise so as the brain and eventually, more insulin is produced and the insulin’s job is to find sugar. So, eventually it’s going to, but now there’s twice as much or three times as much insulin in the bloodstream as they are supposed to be and eventually your blood sugar crashes.

Kevin: And that’s because the blood sugar’s still high and the insulin isn’t able to find the sugar and escort it.

Doug: But eventually, the insulin does find the sugar but it’s slower at it and it should have been until the body puts out a second and a third rush of insulin.

Kevin: Right.

Doug: Okay. Well, as we know, with any muscle in the body, the key to training is not just training but also recovering. What they call overload, overload recover cycle. This is the same for any part of our body. You can develop a tan by giving a little bit of sun overload and then recover. You can develop calluses on your hand by giving a little bit of a work overload using with a rake or a shovel and then allow for recovery. But if you take too much in any given time, there’s a crash, there’s a blister, there’s sunburn, or you will end up with what is called the visceral failure. In the case of the pancreas, visceral failure takes the form of diabetes, hypo and hyperglycemia and other sugar metabolic disorders. The pancreas can no longer put out sufficient insulin because it has been putting out too much insulin again and again and again without ever getting a break. Because the average person is eating triple, quadruple, five times, you know, the fat is recommended at every single meal and so the body never gets a break and eventually the pancreas fail as well.

To read the rest of this interview please visit http://www.RawSummitArchives.com This is just an excerpt of over 14 hours of cutting edge living food, raw food or health information revealed during the Raw Food World Summit.

Photo courtesy of Thai Food Blog

As promised in my previous post about raw food in South Africa, I asked my friend Beryn Daniel, author of Rawlicious: Delicious Raw Recipes for Radiant Health, if she would be willing to share the recipe for the delicious soup I enjoyed at her home in Cape Town.

So here it is! This soup is so tasty, creamy, rich and nourishing. I am sure you will love it.

We also added cayenne pepper on top to add a little extra kick so if you like it spicy feel free to try this. Just be careful because cayenne is very hot and easy to overdo.

Creamy Thai Soup

Ingredients:

1 litre warm water
1 and 1/2 Cups dessicated coconut (soaked in warm water for 5 minutes)
2 stalks lemon grass
10 dried kaffir lime leaves
1/4 C cashews
1 – 2 avocados
1/4 C coriander (cilantro)
1T brown rice miso
1T olive oil
2 tsp salt

Directions:

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until warmed through.

Served in warmed bowls with Essene bread and olive oil.

Photo courtesy of C.Charmon

Are you feeling tired, jaded, run down? Are you fed up with spotty looking skin, and brittle nails and hair?

Have you tried all sorts of pills and potions and crazy diets, but apart from a huge disappointment and a smaller bank balance, have received little change in health?

Not to worry. There is an answer, and it is likely in your very own kitchen. What is it? The humble carrot! No, I’m not kidding you. I don’t have shares in a carrot wholesalers or a vegetable cannery either!

No, my reason for penning this short article is to motivate you to begin a raw juice diet. This will detox your system, and pep you up fast with little cost in time or money, and more importantly, no danger to your health.

So, how can drinking carrot juice help and why carrots anyway? The answer is simple; carrots are one of nature’s greatest cleanses and fortifiers. The main reason you’re suffering with your health is because your system is likely to be toxic, caused by too much cooked dead, processed food.

It should be noted also, that our modern-day environment, with its traffic fumes and chemical sprays, not to mention excessive stress, compounds the problem enormously.

All-in-all, modern life is intrinsically injurious to health! The humble carrot, when scrubbed topped- and- tailed, and put through your juice extractor, contains a concentrated cocktail of powerful ingredients that will flush-out your arteries gently, and thoroughly in no time flat.

Here are 7 reasons why you should drink at least a pint of carrot juice every day:

1) You will get all your major vitamins, such as A, B, C, D, E, and K. Also, these ingredients being organic, are far better than just supplements.

2) It promotes appetite and helps your digestive system.

3) Maintains bone structure of your teeth. Just 1 pint of its juice, is said to be the equivalent of 25 pounds of calcium tablets.

4) Excellent for your respiratory tract, eyes and throat, because it works with your adrenal glands. Your sinuses also will resist infections, and that means fewer winter colds and flu.

5) Vitalizes and protects the central nervous system.

6) Because of its ability to resolve toxins in the blood, it cleanses the liver.

7) Since it is rich in the organic elements of Potassium, Sodium, Iron and Magnesium, plus traces of Silicone, your skin will be softened and your hair and nails will be benefited to.

My wife, who has been grey -haired for years, has actually found her hair is reverting back to its original dark brown! I should add that she’s in her 60’s too.

The benefit’s that the good, organic nutrition that raw carrot juice (and other fruits and vegetables) can deliver to your nutritionally “starving” body, is nothing short of miraculous, as long as you make it part of your everyday diet.The odd glass or two occasionally wont cut it!

If you value your health and adopt this regime, I promise you’ll reap tremendous rewards. Let me close this article, by answering a question you may have; Why is it necessary to juice the carrots — why not just eat them grated?

The answer is simple; when we juice raw fruit and vegetables, we separate the juice from the fibres — (which is useless cellulose anyway ) and imbibe the mostly organic water, rich with nutrients, which is what our bodies need.

Also,the fact that we are not eating the large quantities of vegetables we would need for quick assimilation, means our digestion is not being overtaxed. On average, a pound of carrots would equal approximately 1 pint of juice.

Your good health!

Ken Eden is a semi-retired Minister,who was formerly an advertising executive /journalist, professional musician and a publisher of offline/online marketing reports. He lives in Somerset in S.W England. His hobbies are nutritional studies, reading, writing, swimming and distance running - (most of his ideas are received “on the run”) Check out his blog: http://rawfoodsforever.blogspot.com

Photo courtesy of Sydney Marie

Complex combinations of food and raw food recipes are time consuming to prepare and extremely difficult to digest, so I choose to keep my diet very simple. I enjoy a low-fat, raw vegan diet consisting mostly of monomeals, so the following meal plan may seem a bit bland for you. As you progress on your raw journey, however, you will appreciate and even desire more simple meals. Remember, be kind to your body—transition at your own pace.

Keeping your diet simple also allows you to spend more time and energy on other aspects of your life, such as fitness, work, and play. Many raw foodists spend enormous amounts of time in the kitchen dehydrating or sprouting this and that. Aren’t you relieved that you don’t have to spend so much time preparing meals or loads of energy cleaning your kitchen after you’ve used just about every food processor or kitchen gadget you have?

My diet consists of fresh, sweet, non-sweet, and fatty fruits, and tender leafy greens. Nuts and seeds are acceptable too, but I rarely eat them, so you will not see them in the meal plan below. I do not use salad dressings or condiments either. If you feel that you still need salad dressing, try this fruit-based tomato and mango salad dressing recipe: blend 1 cup tomato, 1 cup mango, the juice of 1 lemon, and 1 quarter cup of water (only if needed).

It’s best to eat according to what produce is in season. There are many produce charts available online or in books to help you make the best selections. The winter season is challenging as in-season produce is limited. Summer, however, offers an abundance of yummy options. Following is a one-week meal plan for the summer season. My calorie consumption is between 1,200 – 1,400 calories per day, depending on my activities and exercise for the day. Weekly, my caloric breakdown is approximately 80% carbohydrates, 10% protein, and 10% fat, following Dr. Douglas N. Graham’s 80/10/10 calorie ratio for a low-fat, raw vegan diet.

DAY 1

–Breakfast – fruit smoothie: 5 medium bananas, 2 *Ataulfo mangos, 2.5 - 3 cups water. (Blend)

–Lunch – 4 large peaches

–Pre Dinner – 2 cups pineapple

–Dinner – salad: One half head Romaine lettuce, 1 cucumber, 3 tomatoes, 4 stalks celery

* Ataulfo mangos are also called champagne mangos. They are small and apricot in color. When ripe and ready to eat, they will be a little soft, and the skin will just start to wrinkle.

DAY 2

–Breakfast – fruit smoothie: 3 medium bananas, 1 cup strawberries, 2.5 - 3 cups water. (Blend)

–Lunch – 1 honeydew melon

–Pre Dinner – 2 cups grapes

–Dinner – salad: One half head Iceberg lettuce, 1 cucumber, 2 tomatoes, 4 stalks celery, 1 avocado

DAY 3

–Breakfast – fruit smoothie: 4 medium bananas, 2 Ataulfo mangos, 2.5 - 3 cups water. (Blend)

–Lunch – 1 personal watermelon
–Pre Dinner – 2 grapefruits
–Dinner – salad: 1 red bell pepper, 1 orange bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber (chop all ingredients) Eat as is, or add lettuce of your choice: Romaine, Boston, Bib, etc.

DAY 4

–Breakfast – fruit smoothie: 5 medium bananas, One half cup blueberries, 2.5 - 3 cups water. (Blend)
–Lunch – 4 large peaches

–Pre Dinner – 2 cups pineapple

–Dinner – salad: 4 oz. baby spinach, 4 tomatoes, 4 stalks celery

DAY 5

–Breakfast – fruit smoothie: 4 medium bananas, 4 fresh figs, 2.5 - 3 cups water. (Blend)

–Lunch – 1 honeydew melon

–Pre Dinner – 2 grapefruits

–Dinner – lettuce wraps: 3 chopped tomatoes, 1 chopped cucumber, and 3 stalks chopped celery wrapped in Romaine lettuce leaves

DAY 6

–Breakfast – fruit smoothie: 4 medium bananas, 1 papaya, 2.5 - 3 cups water. (Blend)

–Lunch – 4 large peaches

–Pre Dinner – 2 cups grapes

–Dinner – *Dine out for a salad and a Beefsteak tomato at J. Alexander’s. Salad: mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, celery, one half avocado. Beefsteak tomato: plain tomato with a touch of fresh cilantro.

*For tips on ordering out at a restaurant, go to http://www.theskinnyonraw.com, click on “articles,” and read “Eating Out and Staying Raw: Keep It Simple.”

DAY 7

–Breakfast – fruit smoothie: 5 medium bananas, 2 Ataulfo mangos, 2.5 - 3 cups water. (Blend)

–Lunch – 1 lb. Rainier cherries

–Pre Dinner – 2 cups berries (strawberries, blueberries, etc.)

–Dinner - 1/2 head green leaf lettuce, 4 Roma tomatoes, 4 stalks celery

Are you making raw food mistakes that are holding you back? Since there is so much misinformation on the topic of raw foods, I have decided to break the silence and personally share with you what I’ve learned over the years, all of the tips and information that will finally help you succeed on the raw food diet. To learn more about eating raw the right way and gain all of the benefits of achieving raw health, go to http://www.TheSkinnyOnRaw.com Sign up for my “Savvy Health & Nutrition Tips” and receive your FREE special report, Raw the Right Way. Also, click on the “coaching services” tab, and schedule your first appointment with me today.

Monica D. Siembor
Monica@theskinnyonraw.com
http://www.theskinnyonraw.com

Click here for low fat raw vegan recipes

Photo courtesy of Food Thinker

This is truly a tip-top cocktail that will make you feel suitably refreshed from the inside out and raring to go.

I highly recommend this one, especially if you’ve steered clear of juicing beets in the past (because they’re rather pungent to say the least!). The addition of the sweet fruit and the sweet(ish) carrots make this one not just palatable but supremely delicious, and we’ve even managed to get a bit of green in there too!

But don’t just take my word for it…

Makes exactly 1 litre (1.75 pints - enough for 4 average sized drinking glasses)

Juice the following:

* 1 beetroot (bulb only)
* 4 medium carrots
* 3 oranges
* 6 apples
* Small bunch of parsley
* 4 strawberries (these make all the difference)

RAW COACH’S TOP TIPS:

* After drinking, put on your favourite dance track and BOOGIE!

© Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach 2009, www.TheRawFoodCoach.com

Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes “Successfully Raw” - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you’re ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

Click here for more raw food recipes

Photo courtesy of Evan McDowell

In this article, Joel Odhner shares tips for raw food travelers and making it ahead and spicing it up at home. Joel Odhner is a restaurant owner, chef, and raw food chef with clients from Delaware to New York.

Kevin: I want to go stay along the lines of busy people, busy people on the go. What are some of the tips for someone who is traveling a lot, what are some of the things that they can prepare to bring with them? What are some of the things they can prepare, say they are in a hotel room and they have nothing, what can you whip up right there that’ll be healthy?

Joel: Again, if we are talking about someone who’s really like completely raw a great traveling food is a cucumber, actually, believe it or not. It fits nicely in a carry on bag or even in your suitcase, if you know you’re going to be somewhere that doesn’t do well you can do that and actually roll these things up in collard greens. Like if you pre-made a couple of those burgers, like I said, the collard green is sort of hearty enough that it will last, within a day or so. It gets a little soggy after that. Then the other thing I would suggest just go down to the local restaurant and just ask them for — if you look on the menu you can see they probably have salad, they probably have peppers, they probably have different fruits and stuff. Just ask for it and just ask for the dressing on the side.

Kevin: Yeah.

Joel: And the other option is to like if you’re really on the go a lot and you want to pack lightly is get some green powder that you can mix with your water and just do like a water fast for the day. But filling it with some good greens, green powder and that will give you the nourishment you need and in some ways if you have a really busy schedule, you will actually get more energy because your body doesn’t have to worry about trying to digest.

Kevin: Now you’re traveling a lot. You’re in the car a lot. What do you bring with you? What’s the raw food prep chef bring with him?

Joel: Well, it’s funny you say that, you know. My kids tease me because in my car it has a revolving kitchen. I have everything. I have a juicer, a food processor, a blender and everything else. But I usually will load up with some juices. I tend to not eat while I’m driving. I’d rather not eat because sitting for a couple hours doesn’t sit real well. So I tend to just either drink water or generally, green juices, fresh green juices, if possible. One of my perks or luxuries of working for some of these people is I get to make — they also are getting, I’m making them juices. So I will often be able to make my own while I’m at work as I go onto the next client. To give you an idea, today I was at three clients, so I did three people in one day. And you know what? At the first I made a couple juices and carried it with me for the next couple. Now luckily, they were close by, but to give people an idea I made enough food for three families to eat for three to five days.

Kevin: Wow, that’s a lot of food.

Joel: So, you know, it’s a fair amount of food and yet it’s not. Once you start, another key is a lot of people tend to maybe not think about it. If you haven’t ever sort of used a commercial one, get a knife, like a chef’s knife, a good chef’s knife, not one of those straight little paring knives that you have to chop forever. That’s one of the things, why people have to take such a long time is they don’t have the correct knives. So get yourself a good eight inch chef’s knife. The other thing, in fact, on the DVD is, which it’s you the owner’s manual and there I show you how to use a knife. So if you’re people who are new to this or not quite sure, there’s a little section on that. Then the other thing is to get bowls that are actually big enough to mix things in. A lot of times people try to use a bowl that barely fits a head of kale in it and they wonder why they are struggling and it’s spilling everywhere. Get yourself tools that will make it easy on yourself to make the larger batches because now that you, I would suggest that if you are going to make, rather than make one kale salad for tonight, you’re going to make five for the next few days.

Kevin: Right.

Joel: So give yourself the right tools.

Kevin: Well, I’ll tell you, sometimes I use the wrong tools.

Joel: Okay.

Kevin: I’ve got a small bowl and I have this just like steak knife that we’ve had for years and I cut and it does take more time because every time everything spills over and I can’t cut enough. But I can imagine it would probably cut a good five minutes off of what I’m doing because I’m a mess.

Joel: Yeah, and if you really think about it, five minute times, three or four different things you’re making, that’s almost close to half an hour by the time you’re all said and done. And that can also make or break somebody’s time in the morning to make things. But I would suggest if people are going to make larger batches pick like Sunday and Wednesday or something like that, whatever is a good day or night for you to do that and just prep it that way. But it really is key. Having the right tools does make a big difference. It’s kind of like trying to fix a car with a pair of pliers. Well, no, it doesn’t really work. You need a couple different things.

Kevin: Do you suggest two nights a week to do some of the big prep stuff and then kind of filling it in?

Joel: Yeah, absolutely. If you took two days a week about three days apart you should only make good fifty percent of kind of what you are going to eat, if not more. What I call, sort of like the bases, you could make a couple soups, most soups are kind of quick and easy, but you could make some burger bases, you could make some hummus, you could make some pate, you could sort of like the longer standing kale salad and then have those as your sort of mainstays and then, so you chop up a quick fresh salad or whip up some romaine, whatever or you could dice up some fruit or whatever you want on the fly. But don’t have to make everything each and every day. I think that’s one of the reasons people get so frustrated with it. It really is. If you’re coming from the cooked world, it’s the same idea. Like I said, going back to my burger example you think about it in the world, if you say ground beef, you either make a burger, you can make a meatloaf, chili, whatever it is. It’s all the same base. You’re just adding different flavors to it because, well, I noticed in some of the other questions, as well, I get really bored. Add flavors. Eating raw isn’t about necessarily plain and simple. You can add some garlic, you can add some good sea salt, you can add some, fun herbs. And that definitely changes it up.

Kevin: What are some of your favorites?

Joel: I, personally, happen to be a garlic fan. I like chipotle peppers are really great. They’re a great accent to a lot of the dishes. Certainly, coming up soon, you’ve got the spring and summer coming along, so fresh basil, fresh cilantro and the fresh herbs are just, I mean it really does make or break it. In the wintertime, there’s little comfort, you are using the dried herbs. That’s fine but, using fresh basil, even often something simple like tomato, basil, onion, olives or something. Just toss that up and just throw it in and it’s great. Just use foods that you like. You don’t have to go crazy. If you don’t like something then don’t eat it. Don’t eat the same thing over and over again. That’s the thing I oftentimes hear. Well, what am I going to eat? Well, how many different kinds of fruits and vegetables are there? Many.

Kevin: Yeah. What’s a trick to finding really good, fresh produce? In your profession, I imagine it’s important to have fresh produce. What are some of the tips that you found that can help?

Joel: There’s a couple different options. Certainly, if you can tap into a Farmer’s Market, that’s great. A lot of times they’re coming up with the CSA of the community. Gardens that people are involved in that a good thing to do. And if there’s not that available, oftentimes a health food store may carry produce already. If you go to them, especially if you can get another family or two that is eating the same as you are, then go and order like a half a case of something at a time. You’ll get a better price and you’ll certainly get it fresh. And sometimes you ought to go to places where they may knock 10-percent on for a hassle fee or something like that, but by the time you are buying it by the case, it’s better than buying it by the individual bunch or each.

Kevin: Right.

Joel: Obviously, as a raw foodie, you are going to eat a larger number of fruits and vegetables. So it sort of pays off to get a case or a half-case of things. If you can split it with another family or two, then it really does make it a lot more economical. And for some of the real frugal people, there are some people who will go to the health food store and they’ll ask them for the fruits and vegetables that they can’t quite keep on their shelves, but they are really still great. They might have a little bruise or something on it, but they don’t want to sell them in their store, so you can also get a really great price on those. There are a lot of people who will do that and you can get some great stuff.

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Kevin Gianni the host of “Renegade Health Show” - a fun and informative daily health show that is changing the perception of health across the world. His is an internationally known health advocate, author, and film consultant. He has helped thousands and thousands of people in over 21 countries though online health teleseminars about abundance, optimum health and longevity. He is also the creator and co-author of “The Busy Person’s Fitness Solution”

Photo courtesy of João M. Fernandes

This smoothie recipe is a twist on my favourite classic green smoothie of mango and spinach. This one, which makes about 3 pints, has a much “deeper” flavour with many layers and really is something quite special. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 bag spinach
1 cup pure water
1 ripe mango (medium sized)
1/4 ripe pineapple (medium sized)
3 Medjool dates
Small bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro)
3/4″ piece vanilla pod

Directions:

1) Simply process all ingredients in your normal blender or Vita-Mix until fully blended, and the vanilla is completely broken down.

2) Serve in a tall glass and enjoy!

RAW COACH’S TOP TIPS:

* Feel free to replace the passion fruit with any other if that’s not your thing. Banana blends well with just about any fruit, as does vanilla and sweetener.

© Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach 2009, www.TheRawFoodCoach.com

Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes “Successfully Raw” - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you’re ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

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