Taking a Break....

I've been an 'absent blogger' for a while...again....just seems that i haven't yet settled into what i really want to be doing with my life....yet. Because i am not yet committed, things turn up to keep
me spinning cartwheels....technical glitches that leave me computerless, and the ongoing issue of finding a conducive space to work from......
So i've surrendered. Time for a big letting go, making space to reoganise myself, reinvent my work, and recreate my identity. The Rawkitchen.co.uk has gone into hibernation for the winter, and i shall be flying to india early january for 3 months of sun rays and quality time with jem on a beach somewhere.....maybe a trip to the mountains if we fancy some adventure!
Merry Christmas everyone! :)
p.s. still very happily sprouting!

Back on the Biogenics....

I am so easily inspired by just about every good book i lay my hands/eyes on. At the moment i've been reading the Hippocrates Health Program before snuggling down between woolly blankets and heading to the land of sweet dreams.
So it is that i am inspired to get back into LIVE LIVING foods....i.e. sprouts and greens. I just seem to have slipped with all that recently, i guess i've been focussing more on developing transition recipes (oh yeah, and cakes!).
Sprouting & Indoor Greens growing offers Affordable Supernutrition that is accessible to everyone, no air miles...all you need is seeds/grains, water, a couple of big bowls, a couple of plastic colanders, growing trays, compost, love......
Last night i soaked buckwheat, peas, barley grain and sunflower seeds.
It's all about the Energy of live food...i'm missing the buzz that comes from abundant living greens in my daily juices & salads.....

Finding support when it's a struggle....

There are so many wonderful benefits to eating our food in it's raw, natural, alive and vibrant state. Yet it can be a struggle sometimes. It takes work...dedication...commitment....and SUPPORT!
Cravings, overeating, swinging between extremes of diet, not getting the results you desire....all so common.
I've been on this high-raw path for over 4 years now and the most important factor for me in sticking with it and integrating the way i eat into my life....has been SUPPORT :)
It's like learning a new language.....how dull to learn a new language without having anyone to speak to, or anywhere to put it into practice in real life!
Seek out fellow raw-fooders, join online forums, go to potlucks, know that you are not alone :)

Then there is the process of learning and understanding that upgrading diet has a knock on effect on all areas of life.....it can be a catalyst for huge life changes.....and sometimes this can be overwhelming. In fact, life may well turn into an emotional rollercoaster ride!....when i stopped using food to suppress my feelings...whoah! all these feelings come to the surface and i'm still having a crazy ride with them.....healing and releasing all the traumas that have been stored within my being since pre-conception....find a sympathetic alternative practitioner to support the healing process....get involved in your healing....never stop learning.....

To get a better understanding of the social and emotional aspects of eating and dietary transition, i HIGHLY RECOMMEND this humorous and enlightening talk by Dr. Rosalind Gruben-Graham. It is available as a series of videos on youtube:

Social and Emotional aspects of eating pt. 1
Social and Emotional aspects of eating pt. 2
Social and Emotional aspects of eating pt. 3
Social and Emotional aspects of eating pt. 4
Social and Emotional aspects of eating pt. 5

Enjoy.....it's a great talk!

.....and sometimes when we are struggling in a big way, unable to release the weight...the heaviness of body.mind.soul that makes moving forward so difficult.....what we really need is a CATALYST! I have just come across the new Body Enlightenment Sytem which is a 30 day program designed to give you the boost that you need to release weight, and start moving forwards in your life with more joy.

The ever sparkling Raw Divas teamed up with Angela Stokes to bring this program to as wide an audience as possible with the heartfelt intention of bringing vibrant good health and wellbeing to the masses. It's a masterpiece. Check it out here, it could be just what you are looking for! :)

in love, joy, and support for all of us on this journey x

manna-festing cakes! plus outrageous recipe & pics

I have a lot of recipes which are works in progress. I rarely follow recipes exactly, even when i have written them down and try to replicate them i find myself 'playing around' with quantities and ingredients.......raw ingredients can be so variable in texture, flavour etc. that following a recipe exactly will never produce exactly the same result twice. And i LOVE that!
I DID write this recipe down and it worked a treat. I'm going to try it out again tomorrow, it was fun playing around with the different layers. So here it is:

Manna's Chocolate Orange

Crust (I think this may have come originally from a Vanessa Sherwood recipe):
1/2 Cup Brazil Nuts
1/2 Cup dried coconut
1T cacao powder
2T agave
1T cacao nibs
a pinch of salt
a squeeze of orange juice

Process all ingredients in a food processor until finely broken down and sticking together. press into the bottom of a 7" springform cake pan.

Cream:
1 1/2 Cups soaked white nuts/ seeds (I used half raw cashews and half white sesame seeds)
1 Cup Orange Juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 Cup cacao butter
1/4 Cup Coconut butter
1/4-1/2 Cup agave
1T lecithin (I am playing around with Lecithin at the moment to see if i can make creams with less fat....if you don't want to use lecithin it will probably work just as well without)

Blend all the above ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth.
Divide the mixture evenly between three bowls.
In the first bowl, add more orange zest and blend again. This is layer 1. Save a little of layer one to make swirls on top of layer 3.
Layer 2: Add 1/4 Cup goji berries and 1/4 Cup goji berries and blend.
Layer 3: Add 1/4 Cup cacao powder, a pinch of cayenne and 2 drops of organic orange essential oil.

Spread layer 1 onto the base. Return to the fridge to set before spreding the next layer on. Same procedure for layers 2 & 3. Play with marbling, swirling, & other creative rearrangements of the layers.....



Cake Delivery :) This one consisted of layers of almond lucuma biscuit, orange vanilla cream, blackberry jelly, mango vanilla custard with a mango glaze......and white raspberries for decoration. It's the closest i've come to making raw trifle. I've been wondering how to make a raw trifle for ages now.....and with the discovery of agar-agar i'm nearly there!


Cakes @ Manna

Manna-festing reality

All Manna of delicious raw goodies in the counter.....nori wraps, pizza, burgers, salads, dips.....

A Gingerbread Man experiment. I used the ginger-pecan crust from the pear&pecan pie recipe. I forgot to take a pic of the finished items. They look so cute with currant eyes and buttons!

simple beet root soup :)

i do love the simplicity of cleansing. Tomorrow is just juice up until 2pm and water only after that. I have been plotting & planning the Halloween @ Manna menu....rainbows of colours, exciting textures, and a symphony of fresh herbal notes....mmm If i'm not making exciting things, i'm dreaming them up ;)

well, my lunch today was Beetroot soup. I'm really getting the hang of raw soups.....it's taken me years to 'get it'......the simpler the better!!

Beetroot Soup Recipe:

the juice of 3 big carrots and a yellow pepper

1 medium beetroot, peeled

squeeze of lemon

about 1/2 a small avocado

a big handful of baby spinach

2 or 3 medium tomatoes

a small piece of chilli pepper

Blend til smooth

Again, no need for salt or oil, this is perfect as it is!

In Joy :)

Simple Breakfast~ Apple-chia porridge

Simple is in!
This quick and easy breakfast consisted of about 6 tiny apples picked at the weekend, 2 tablespoons chia seeds soaked in water, a squeeze of lemon and a small piece of fresh ginger ~ blended til smooth.

'Yoga Soup'

Simplest Yummiest Soup recipe

The juice of 3 carrots
1 medium sweet potato
1 large avocado
a squeeze of lemon

I overheard my yoga teacher Liz telling someone what she put in her lunchtime soup today....and just had to try it when i got home. It's yum! What i love most is that there is no oil or salt, yet it's creamy and satisfying. I added a pinch of cayenne and chinese 5 spice too......a sprinkle of chopped fresh herbs would have been nice too....
I love trying out other peoples recipes. I find it so inspiring to see what other people are making. Lots of my recipes are adaptations on recipes i have found on the internet or recipe books, or pot lucks. We have so much to learn from each other! I have an idea to hold recipe-swap workshop where everyone shares their favourite recipes.......

Food of love

This is what i made for last nights raw pot luck dinner at Manna:

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Earth & Sea Salad (very very delicious.....adapted from a recipe by Woody Harrelson)

2 cups sea spaghetti

1C shredded red cabbage

1/2 cup finely chopped leek

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms (marinated in a little tamari & oil)

1/3 cup chopped coriander

2 tablespoons good olive oil, sesame oil or flax oil (or a combined blend)

2 tablespoons tamari

1 lemon, juiced

1-1/2 tablespoons agave syrup or raw honey or alternatively: 1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 cup grated carrot

1/2 cup grated beetroot

1/2 cup grated kohlrabi

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

pinch sundried sea salt

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Soak the seaweed in 3 cups of fresh water until soft (at least 20 mins). Drain off the soak water. Add a little salt to the shredded cabbage and 'massage' to wilt and soften the cabbage. Mix chopped leek, minced garlic and ginger, sliced mushrooms, parsley, coriander, oil, tamari, lemon and sweetener into the sea spaghetti. Toss together with shredded carrot, cabbage, kohlrabi, shredded beet, pumpkin seeds, and a pinch of sundried sea salt. Allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes for flavors to marry.

***
We are having the most glorious Indian Summer weather! The last three days i've spent so much time outdoors, walking, foraging, exploring my surrounding area. On thursday we spent the day out at Chailey with Kaya & kids, we found loads of late blackberries and made the most incredible raw blackberry pie. The base was pecan/pistoachio, then a layer of blackberries/honey/lemon juice/banana set with agar, and a macadamia/coconut/honey/lemon cream on top....decorated with whole blackberries and chamomile flowers.

Agar is an ingredient i've just discovered....although not raw because you have to dissolve it in boiling water, it's a great way to set cakes without using lots of coconut butter. The heart shaped cake pictured above was also set using agar (the top fruity layer).

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Base:

Macadamias

Buckwheat

Orange Zest

Agave

Cream:

Cacao Butter

Sesame seeds

Cashews

Agave

Vanilla

lemon juice

Fruity Layer:

Frozen raspberries

Banana

Mango

Agave

Agar-agar

***

I have a bounty of freshly picked wild food in the kitchen...perfect timing for my liver cleanse pt. 2......apple & chickweed juice for the rest of the weekend for me :)

love, warmth & yumminess

Thankyou so much to everyone who made it to the workshop this weekend. It was a really great day! A lot of thought went into the creation of this day.....and then it was all over so quickly!! Lara & I spent the day before shopping for the freshest, local, seasonal produce we could find, and getting the booklets printed up (talk about last minute!). Infinity foods stock fresh local produce, & Barcombe nurseries has an outdoor stall nearby in the Laines on Saturdays so we found pears, apples, pumpkins, leeks, carrots, kale, parsnips and beetroots fresh from the earth :)

The recipes we demonstrated were:

Carrot & Coriander soup

Marinated Mushrooms

Gingered Pumpkin Quiche with walnut crumble topping

Kale & Avocado Salad

Curried Coleslaw
Parsnip-Cumin seed Rice

Sensational Spinach & Almond curry

Pear and Pecan pie (on a ginger pecan crust)

Squash-fruit'n'nut spiced bread

Cinnamon Siced Apple pie

Vanilla cashew/sesame cream

Chai Elixir tea

Chai Hemp Milk

By the end of the day we were all full of yummy food and love :) Kaya's beautiful children (2,5 & 8) were present for most of the day, and it felt like a big happy family just hanging out and having fun around the kitchen table.

Lara is leaving for Lanzarote on thursday to spend the winter building a home and planting veggies. I will miss her loads. I LOVE you Lara!!!!! :) And as for me.....I will continue to make cakes for Manna as long as i am in the creative flow....and on Halloween I will be creating a 3 course special dinner (also @ Manna). I have tentative plans to spend the winter (3 months or so) in India....leaving early January. Lots of decisions to make. I love the community here in Brighton, but the free spirit in me is yearning for sunshine, freedom and nature (& mangos!!). So we will see......

be well, warm & nourished

lovelvoelovexxx

just cakes....

Some of the cakes I've been making for Manna Cafe (Sorry about the layout of this post...every time i try to publish, blogger squashes all the photos together and puts them in the wrong places!!!!):

Pear & Pecan Pie
This is one of my favourite inventions for ages. It's one of the recipes we'll be demo-ing at the workshop this weekend, and will be available exclusively to member of The Raw Kitchen mailing list (email shell(at)therawkitchen.co.uk if you want in :)

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Incan Sunset

So pretty! This is a cheesecake with Incan Berries, Orange & Lemon in a cashew/white sesame cream. The sunset colours were made with beetroot and carrot juice!

Sarah matches the cake!

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Andreas adds a scoop of Booja Booja ginger cashew ice-cream to perfectly complement the cakes....

Pumpkin Cheezecake & Mango Cardamon Cheezecake

on the counter @ Manna

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Chocolate Abundance

This cake contained the equivalent of 20 bars of chocolate!!!

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Mango Cardamon Cheezecake

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Polka Dots, Chocolate & Gojis