Are you having a party soon? Do you have your menu planned yet? Might I suggest the book “Raw Food Celebrations Party Menus for Every Occasion" by Nomi Shannon and Sheryl Duruz? And once it has been decided the menu will be one featured from the book, is it too rude of me to invite myself to the party?
After using “Raw Food Celebrations Party Menus for Every Occasion” there should never be a reason why anyone couldn’t effortlessly prepare a raw food meal and dazzle friends. NEVER A REASON. With six different menus to choose from, Italian, Thai, Brunch, Cocktail, Traditional and Light Luncheon buffet, Ms. Shannon and Ms. Duruz lay out the ground work for you.
Easy-to-follow recipes with step-by-step instructions, equipment lists and a “Planning Ahead” section makes it feel like these two ladies are in the kitchen with you. From someone who loves to prepare ahead, that section is my favorite.
It breaks everything down for you, from when to grocery shop, set the table, which components of recipes can be prepared ahead of time and so much more. Make sure you pay attention to the “Serving Suggestions,” sections. They are chock-full of useful tidbits for creating a memorable meal.
Last weekend, I created the Thai Menu as an early anniversary celebration. I didn’t prepare everything on the menu but the items I did make were visually stunning and tasted incredible.
Daily Raw Café Annversary Celebration On the MenuThai TeaThai Coconut SoupThai Cucumber Salad Phad Thai Phad Thai, pg. 35
Thai Tea (adapted from Raw Food Celebrations) 8 cups water 4 cups loosely packed Thai basil leaves (approximately 32 leaves) Juice of 2 medium-sized limes ¼ teaspoon stevia* 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh peeled ginger
Combine water and basil in a blender. Process until basil is chewed finely. Stain the mixture through a nut milk bag. Return basil water to the blender; add lime juice, stevia and ginger. Blend until well-combined. Serve on ice.
*I used NuNaturals Pure White Stevia Extract
Thai Cucumber Salad (recipe from Raw Food Celebrations) 6 Kirby cucumbers or other small cucumbers, thinly sliced 1 red bell pepper, sliced 2 limes, juiced 4 green onions, chopped 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves 2 tablespoons light agave syrup
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until serving time. This can be made the night before.
Not only did Andrea, Alexandra and Anthony (Raw Model) of Blackbird Naturals generously offer to sponsor a giveaway for the Cyber Celebration, but they suggested I try their Raw Vegan Cacao Fudge Truffles for myself.
My truffles arrived beautifully wrapped with a handwritten note. The packaging was a simple, clear container, tied with a red ribbon, that showcased the truffles. Immediately, I get the impression that these truffles are not to bought on a whim to satisfy just another sweet tooth. However, if you seek a special gift for a chocolate lover or perhaps to indulge yourself, you have found the right truffle.
On sight (and smell), I noticed a quaint date-based truffle enrobed with cacao powder, and finished with cacao nibs. Fair warning, there is a bit of a tease to be had. Blackbird Naturals suggest you eat the truffles chilled. So into the back of the refrigerator they went for about 45 minutes.
Refrigerated and ready to taste, I realized upon the first bite, Blackbird Naturals’ fudge truffle isn’t about the delectable nibble, it’s about an unique experience. The truffle has a smooth and velvety texture that lends itself to a sensual quality. The date/coconut oil combination causes the chilled truffle to slightly melt on contact with warm lips. The flavors are so delicate and subtle, no ingredient outshining the next. Even the bitterness of the cacao nibs melds perfectly with the sweetness of the dates.
It was hard to believe the Cacao Fudge Truffles were made with just six organic ingredients and none of them involved nuts in the base.
You can order the truffles rolled in cacao nibs or pistachios or half of each. Also available Butter Fudge Truffles, an organic and non-vegan truffle made from the milk of grass-fed cows. I believe the Raw Vegan Cacao Fudge truffles will impress and delight any chocolate epicure.
“Pretty damn good” was the statement Man on the Raw used to describe Blue Mountain Organics’ Cacoa Walnut Brownie. I concur. I ate my thick piece of brownie with a cold glass of almond milk.
Blue Mountain Organics was gracious enough to send me a brownie to try. Created by the Raw Bakery, the 2.4 ounce brownie was individually packaged for freshness. As far as taste goes, the unique cacao flavor stands out, but doesn’t overpower the brownie. I love the fact that it has golden flax in it, yet I don’t taste it at all.
The smooth, glossy texture wholly compliments the rich and dense qualities of the brownie. Consistent use of chopped walnut pieces throughout bring added appeal to the texture.
The dates and agave combined puts the brownie on the sweet side, but it’s forgivable, it is a brownie after all.
Blue Mountain Organics has a nice variety of brownies, more than your usual Standard assortment. Examples include the Simply Cacoa, Carob Walnut, Carob Pistachio, Carob Hazelnut, Carob Crunch, Cacao Pistachio, Cacao Hazelnut, Cacao Crunch and the one Blue Mountain sent to me to sample, Cacoa Walnut.
The walnuts and flax seeds goes through a process the company calls “Better-than-Roasted™ .” The nuts and seeds have been soaked, sprouted and dehydrated thus removing the enzyme inhibitors that naturally occur in nuts, making the brownies easier to digest.
Among the other products Blue Mountain Organics sell are sprouted nuts and seeds, granola and raw ice cream.
Blue Mountain Organics is offering The Daily Raw Café readers a chance to try their products. From May 28-June 3 you will receive 10% off your entire order. Just type in the discount code “DAILYRAW” at checkout.
Blue Mountain Organics’ Cacao Walnut Brownie Size: 2.4 oz Price: $4.80 Ingredients: Dates, Agave, Cacao Powder, BTR Walnuts, BTR Golden Flax. Certified Organic: Yes
There is melancholy and embarrassment within me that I can’t guide my family in a 100% raw food lifestyle. In my perfect world, my husband, my children and myself would live off the land, home educating, exploring the world, yet distancing our way from the “bad” influences of a very “cooked” and nutritional-depleted world. It is my dream to learn, grow and eat our way to a raw bliss.
But, I live in the city of Denver, CO, my children go to public schools, I shop at grocery stores and my husband works very hard as a cook and makes NO money. Other than our beautiful children, we have nothing to show for our efforts. I know in my heart it is possible to live the way you choose anywhere you choose, it is the amount of effect you place forth. And I believe our existence is our own doing, no one else placed us in this life.
I feel we are in a perfect position to make a drastic move. We have literally nothing to lose. Our meager (yet digital-dependent) lifestyle screams for change but we both are too afraid to make a dramatic move toward something more substantial in life.
In comes Viktoras H. Kulvinskas' book “Survival in the 21st Century: Planetary Healers Manual." This book is the epitome of the search for a connection of something greater than oneself. In the digital age of the internet, netbooks and iPhones, Survival in the 21st Century’s idealistic premise of paradise found seems outdated, an almost impossible dream. Or is it? Could it be the wake-up call we all need to get our lives together before it’s too late.
I don’t know. That is my most honest answer. This book was hard for me to review, it reads like a New Age science fiction manifesto entangled with a practical self-help handbook. Some of the principles of the book would be easy to embrace if the delivery of the message wasn’t so…for lack of a better word, "out there."
I am going to ignore the fact that the world hasn’t ended as Kulvinskas predicted in his previous printings of this book over the past 40 years. He isn’t the only one who has made predictions of mankind’s demise and he won’t be the last. I didn’t get the “end of the world” vibe from the book so that issue for me is null and void.
Moving forward.
The manifesto aspects of the book features the conspiracy theory chemtrails, breatharianism, the section on “How to be a God”, “New Age Eating at a Glance” in the appendices and the underlying premise of the book that consuming a diet of “green whole organic food oriented diet” plays a key role in our survival of an impending apocalypse (specifically the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012). I love a good New Age/science fiction/spiritual awakening read but not in the same context of a self-help book.
If you can make it past the fear of imminent catastrophe, some of the practical information Kulvinskas shares is actually pretty useful. The passage on sprouting is extensive. Explaining how to grow sprouts in soil and jar, which seeds are conducive to sprouting and the sprouts that make up the “Viktory Gardens for Survival.” Kulvinskas touches upon the benefits of consuming juices and what weeds are good for health and survival. After reading it, I went through our garden (and the new neighbor’s yard) and pulled dandelions to juice. The sections are they are straightforward and easy to follow with beautiful illustrations.
The book isn’t without topics that are a bit on the controversial side, notwithstanding the chemtrails.
He touches upon a woman’s menstrual cycle. A brave place to go for a man. At first glance his theory that having an monthly cycle is unhealthy for a woman and that she should eat in a way to eliminate it could be seen as some as farfetched. But the statement his makes regarding the inferiority of a civilized woman to a man is caused “largely by the debilitating effect of the menstrual hemorrhage.” could be construed as an irresponsible and reckless statement.
I am not here to debate whether or not it is healthy to have a period or not (I, personally, have them less because of the way I eat and I suffer no ill effect) or if menstruating women are inferior to men (women will always be the foundation men need to exist and thrive).
My point is that his idea of eliminating periods isn‘t so implausible, just take a gander at FDA-approved Lybrel. The no-period birth control pill that contains 90 mcg levonorgestrel and 20mcg ethinl estradiol. Where is the logic of polluting a woman’s body with a synthetic progestogen and bio-active estrogen for 365 days to stop menstruations but being in superior health from living foods, creating the same result, is absurd? Something to think about.
The section on Physiognomy, the art of analyzing facial features to determine the state of health, is interesting. It had me checking the moons on your finger nails. Full moons indicate state of high vitality and finger beds without moons showed “very poor circulation. Lots of mucus” Needless to say, I found myself rummaging through the medicine closet hunting for a cuticle stick.
Truth be told I would love to live in a world the Viktoras Kulvinskas creates in this book. If it were as easy as changing your diet or subscribing to a existence of fruitarians, breatharianism, longevity and the many more optimistic situations he dreams of, count me in. In reality, I can’t. I currently live in a digital age where with a few clicks on a mouse I can find information that disputes his theories. Maybe, just maybe I am not ready to ascend to a higher level of consciousness.
The truth as I know it to be is this, our physical bodies will end, it’s not a new concept. Now, if you believe that our energy, spirit, soul, etc will continue to be or not to be or will be go on to live again isn’t the issue. Whether it be by chance or apocalypse, if you live 165 years or 165 minutes, makes no difference. It was never about how you will die, it will always, always be about how you will live.
