Average Joe On The Raw Trailer

This is a trailer for a new documentary about a young man reversing 30 years of bad eating habits by going raw and changing his lifestyle. Looks inspirational!

You can pre-order the movie here.

Going Raw by Judita Wignall

I happened to spot Going Raw by Judita Wignall at the library in the new releases section. The cover art had a picture of stuffed mushrooms, some kind of raw burger with bean sprouts, and an absolutely delicious looking raw fruit salad with apples, nuts, and figs. I was sold just by the cover photo. I also liked the fact that it came with a DVD. This is really a perfect book for raw food beginners because not only does it have amazing recipes that actually look and sound appetizing, you also get video demonstrations of how to prepare the food and use raw food kitchen equipment. There are lots of great color photos and tutorials in the book but some learn better with a less disjointed format and the DVD provides that.

Some of the amazing recipes included are:

Berries and Cream Crepes
Orange-Cranberry Oatmeal Scones
Thai Coconut Soup
Miso Soup
Tacos (with a crunchy shell)
Asian Noodles Stir Fry
Classic Pizza
Coconut Curry Samosas
Trail Mix Energy Bars

Some of the DVD Tutorials:

Knife Skills
Dehydrating
Making Nut Milks
Using a Spiral Slicer
Opening a Coconut

I give the book a big thumbs up for offering something unique and sticking with high quality recipes. Some of the recipes from other raw food books look like baby vomit or they require ridiculous dehydrating times. This book balances practical with delicious and I think raw foodies and non raw folks alike would really like this particular book. A+

As I mentioned, I got this book from the library but I have added it to my Amazon wishlist.

Love Affair With Thai Coconut Sugar

When I first started eating more raw foods I was using Agave Nectar in many of my raw desserts. That was all the rage at the time. Now of course many raw foodies have reconsidered this sweetener and decided that it is not the healthy sweetener we once were lead to believe. I went back to my old standby… honey. I missed agave though!

But a few weeks back I decided to try a newish sweetener I had never heard of before… Thai Coconut Sugar or crystallized coconut sap sugar. I ordered a 3 pound tub from Raw Food World and quickly dug in. This stuff is heaven on earth! It is so yummy that you can eat it straight out of the tub with a spoon… just as good as chocolate. It can take the place of sugar and any recipe where you may have been using honey or agave. I imagine you can use it in recipes that call for white sugar too, I am just not sure of the ratio. I look forward to playing with it!

This morning I just slathered some on fresh pink grapefruit and it was yummy. In my house growing up we had grapefruit all the time but my mom would sprinkle Equal packets on each half. When I got older and realized what I bad idea Equal was, I went without grapefruit. I didn’t like them with honey and obviously table sugar was out. My husband uses coconut sugar is his coffee with great success. It melts beautifully and acts much coconut oil/butter in that regard. We keep it in the fridge to extend its life.

This sugar is made from the sap of unopened Coconut blossoms. It is not palm sugar! It is thickened under controlled heat to avoid over cooking which would affect the nutrients and acidity. It contains only 12 % sugars, and has a nutritional content far beyond all other available sweeteners; it is high in Potassium, Magnesium, Zinc and Iron, it is a natural source of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and C and amino acids (specially glutamic acid). Extremely low glycemic (35!). All I can say is YUM!

Doesn’t it look like ooey gooey caramel????

Improving Health With Lemon Water

Nutritionists, doctors, and beauty experts often advise people to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. Despite the benefits that this act would bring to our bodies, only a few people actually do it. In these times of coffee shops and fast food chains, water is becoming a drink merely for drinking medicines and if you do not have anything else to drink. This needs to be changed so we could get the much-needed water in our bodies. Raw foodies are already a little ahead of the game because the water content in fresh raw foods is much higher than in cooked, processed foods. But even then we still need to drink water. What you can do is perk your drink a little bit. How? Add lemon. It adds a refreshing twist to plain water while providing your body with more than what plain water can offer.

Lemon is pretty inexpensive so you would not have to worry about your budget. With just a little slice of lemon, you get necessary nutrients such as Vitamin C, B, and Riboflavin.

If you have issues with digestion, adding lemon to plain water is often recommended. Regular drinking of warm water with lemon can help relieve nausea and vomiting, heartburn, hiccups, bloating, and other digestive irritations. This is also an ideal drink for people who do not have regular bowel movements. Lemon is well known to be a natural cleansing agent so it can help cleanse the colon and get rid of waste effectively. It is also said that a spritz of lemon in water would be able to aid the liver into producing bile and to help dissolve gallstones.

If you read a lot of women’s magazines, you would know that lemon is a natural skin care agent. It has antiseptic properties and contains enough vitamin C to promote healthier skin by preventing the early signs of aging from taking place. If you have burns, applying lemon purely or with water will help relieve the burning feeling because lemon has a natural cooling effect.

Drinking water with lemon not only cleanses and improves bodily processes; it also helps with dental issues like toothache and gum problems. If you are prone to bleeding gums or your gums are causing bad breath, massage some lemon water on them to cleanse them and give them a fresher scent. Lemon water can also be applied on the gum and the tooth that aches. The antiseptic property of lemons helps cleanse and ease the pain brought about by toothaches.

Weight loss is one of the many things that are difficult to achieve for many people. If they knew that lemon can help with weight loss, they would probably be drinking nothing else but lemon water. By drinking this instead of other commercial thirst quenchers, you get lesser calories and you get the water that your body needs to digest better and to burn calories faster. You can even maximize the weight loss effect by adding honey to your warm glass of lemon water.

Lemon water is not just for adults, but for kids as well. When your child has a fever or flu, let them drink warm water with lemon. This does not only provide them with much-needed vitamin C to make their resistance stronger, it also helps the body perspire more, thus, breaking the fever.

One small change with big results.

Raw Food Kitchen Equipment and Supplies

If you want to be successful on your raw food diet it is important to have a well stocked kitchen in terms of raw food supplies and raw food kitchen equipment. Being prepared, having the right tools and ingredients can be essential to sticking to the raw food lifestyle. Some essential raw food supplies to have are:

Excellent Knives – As a raw foodist you’ll need to cut up a lot of fruits and veggies. With good knives you won’t accidentally cut yourself or give up opening that delicious coconut or pineapple for lunch. Ceramic knives are a particular favorite among raw foodies.

Powerful Juicer – You’ll need a powerful juicer. There are many different brands of juicers that you can buy in many price ranges. If all you can afford is one of the lower end electric juicers at first, that is okay but you’ll never regret investing in one of the powerful raw food juicers that are available. Many time raw newbies will start out with a good blender first and then work their way up to a juicer later. This is okay too.

Dehydrator – While there is some controversy over eating dried food, if you sprout your ingredients first, you can make some wonderful dried “breads” and “crackers” to enjoy with your healthy and delicious raw salsa. Small and super restaurant quality dehydrators are available.

High Speed Blender – Having a very powerful high speed blender is very important for allowing you to create nutritious and palate pleasing smoothies. Like the juicers these come in a variety of price ranges and abilities. Choose the most powerful one you can afford. In this case, do remember that you get what you pay for. The Vita Mix is one of the most sought after high speed blenders that raw foodist use. In addition, it has a long warranty and can make a smoothie out of almost anything. A Blendtec is another good option.

Food Processor – A good slicer/food processor is an excellent addition to your raw food kitchen because it will make the process of preparing food faster, more pleasant, and even tasty because you won’t tire out during chopping time. Many different brands, motor speeds, and functions exist among different types of food processors, so choose carefully to make sure it will do what you hope it will.

Fresh Raw Foods – The other important raw food supply that you should have is, of course, plenty of raw fresh foods on hand such as fresh fruit, fresh veggies, raw nuts, and more. Read all your labels to make sure something is really “raw” if it does not say raw it probably isn’t. When it comes to fresh produce, choose, as much as possible, organic grown over conventionally grown produce.