The Raw Kitchen Blog

Taking a Break....

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:55:00 +0000

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....

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:26:00 +0000

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....

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:20:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:05:00 +0000

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 :)

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:26:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:01:00 +0000

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'

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:39:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:00:00 +0000

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

***
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

***

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).

***

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

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:56:00 +0000

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....

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:33:00 +0000

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 :)

***

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!

***

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

***

Chocolate Abundance

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

***

Mango Cardamon Cheezecake

***

Polka Dots, Chocolate & Gojis

musings on being Seasonally Raw

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:03:00 +0000

Why eat seasonally? Eating seasonally means enjoying the ripest, freshest food at the height of it’s natural harvest time. Seasonal foods taste much better, and are more nutritious. As the natural world fluctuates with seasonal changes, so our nutrient and energy requirements also fluctuate through the seasons. Eating local, seasonal foods attunes us to the energy of the particular climate and season of the place we are living in.

If we choose a high-raw lifestyle we need to pay particular attention to the kinds of foods we are eating and the way we choose to prepare them in order to maintain climatic and digestive balance throughout the year, especially during the cooler months. Why?
Well, it's easy to follow a high-raw lifestyle in Spring and Summer when Raw Vegan Foods (seasonal fruit/vegetables/wild foods) are abundant.

But what about Autumn & Winter?

I ask myself 'Why do people eat more cooked foods in winter?' What do we get from cooking our food? And can we achieve that same quality using methods of food preparation that preserve the enzymatic and nutritional integrity of our food? Where does nourishment come from? If we are not preparing our foods with fire in the traditional way, how can we use and generate the element of fire to keep our inner warmth glowing throughout the cooler months?
If we are choosing to maintain a high raw lifestyle during the autumn and winter months, then we need to pay particular attention to the raw foods we choose if we want the experience to be enjoyable! I don’t believe in struggling through and feeling deprived just so that we can fulfil the ideal of ‘being raw.’

Why is it an ‘ideal?’
Choosing to maintain a raw lifestyle is a personal choice. If it feels good, then go for it, and if it doesn’t, then don’t! Most of us choosing to transition towards a high (or all) raw lifestyle have experienced how eating this way liberates so much energy and latent potential with our beings that there really is no turning back.

So being ‘raw’ in autumn and winter requires an intelligent, considered & creative approach! The more i delve into this subject, the more i realise how deep one can go. There are no 'right or wrong' answers here. I am not against cooking food. I would not turn down a plate of baked winter vegetables or a steaming bowl of slow-cooked vegetable soup. In fact, it is likely that during the winter i will include cooked veggies with one meal daily. But i am curious, i want to understand how to align myself with the energy of autumn and winter whilst maintaining a mostly seasonal, local, living foods approach to nutrition.

I have been brainstorming ideas for recipes using pumpkins, apples, pears, warming spices such as cinnamon, ginger & nutmeg, kale, carrots, garlic, etc. So i expect we'll be demo-ing creative versions of old favourites such as apple pie/ pumpkin soup etc. for the winter warmers workshop next Sunday. If you can't make it to the workshop, I'll be blogging some of the recipes afterwards.

& in the kitchen the dehydrator has been humming non-stop and the sweet scent of cinnamon fills the air in preparation for the Festival of Life in London this Saturday. I'll be there with a few yummy things.....probably granola and brownies. Come and say hello :) and have a nibble!

raw food good mood!! :)

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:34:00 +0000

I'm loving the challenge of this new workshop. To be honest, winter is the hardest time of the year for me in general, and particularly when it comes to sticking to the raw lifestyle i know and love the rest of the year. I have been doing some soul searching.....asking myself questions such as
'is it necessary to stay raw in winter?'
'what is the best diet for me in winter?'
'do i want to stay raw/ high raw this winter?'
'if i am going to include more cooked food, what cooked food will i include? What cooked foods will i avoid?
Whilst asking myself these questions, and reflecting on my experience of previous winters on raw/ high-raw/ semi-raw, I had a revelation.
In the one winter when i stayed pretty much 100% raw, i really felt the best out of all my winters since starting out on my raw food journey. Raw Food= Good Mood!
Yet there has only been one winter out of four when i really stuck to high raw consistently. So then i got to thinking about why it is so difficult to stay raw in winter. I remember how difficult it was, particularly the first couple of winters, trying to stay healthy while all around me people were indulging in all kinds of festive treats laden with sugar, wheat and dairy........I'm grateful for the experience tho', because it led me to experiment endlessly in the kitchen, and i've come up with many a delicious dish that i feel good about eating, and doesn't bring me down from my raw food good mood! :)
You see, i started eating Raw Foods exclusively in the autumn of 2004 for spiritual reasons, which really means i felt attracted to the raw food path so that i could feel closer to nature and the divinity in all things....which is another way of saying that i wanted to feel alive, that my life had meaning and purpose, that i was connected to the web of life that courses through all things.......
Yes I am passionate in the pursuit of health, well-being, healing & spiritual connection, &&& I also believe that food can be fun, delicious, and comforting, if that's what makes you feel good!!
So for the next couple of weeks it is my challenge to create recipes that fulfil that need for comfort, taste & fun. Recipes that 'hit the spot'.....the 'spot' that becomes harder to reach with the usual raw fare as winter draws nearer!!
I'd love to open this up for discussion. Tell me of your experiences with raw/high-raw/semi-raw in winter. We have so much to learn from each other!
With love & warmth, Shell xxx

p.s. to everyone waiting for the amazing cracker recipe: it will be in your inbox in the next couple of days :)

New Workshop!! Warming up to Raw Foods :)

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:04:00 +0000

As the days become shorter and temperatures begin to drop, some of us find it less easy to maintain a raw foods lifestyle, even though we would prefer to. Our 'usual' raw favourites feel less appealing and nothing seems to 'hit the spot'. This one-day workshop explores creative ways to incorporate living foods into a healthy and balanced diet that will sustain and nourish you through this time of seasonal transition. Inspired by the vibrancy of locally available produce and their knowledge of the energetics of foods we will show you how to prepare deeply nourishing foods that are not only hearty in flavor but warming and comforting too.

You'll:

discover options for hearty & healthy live breakfasts perfect for chilly mornings

learn how to whizz up warming and satisfying live soups

learn methods for transforming seasonal roots and greens into easily digestible, filling and comforting winter salads.

gain the confidence to make your own versions of comforting autumnal desserts such as Cinnamon Spiced Apple Pie and Pear and Pecan tart.

learn to balance the elements & flavours that make a perfect curry sauce, and gain the confidence to use warming spices with flair and creativity

explore ways to 'warm up' foods without destroying their nutritional and enzymatic integrity.

learn the subtle alchemical art of making Elixir Teas and Chai Milks.

Early birds pay £50....come & play!

www.therawkitchen.co.uk

Random Delicious Post!

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:54:00 +0000

Hello Everybody! :) A bit of a random post. Lots of delicious happenings over here & i wanted to share a bit of it with YOU!
I recently made a wedding cake for 90 people. It was a chocolate cake, with a gooey chocolate layer in the middle, covered in a white chocolate & macadamia marzipan and squidgey sweet blueberries. A BIG project....3 tiers and over 7kg of cake.....!!!

The most recent Bright'n'Raw Potluck was held at Manna last Thursday. This was the busiest & best pot luck ever..looks like we need a bigger venue already!! I took a bowl of cucumber noodles in black olive sesame cream laced with homegrown purslane shoots and homegrown tomatoes.

Amazing crackers!! I have hit on a winner recipe, it doesn't matter how many i make, they seem to disappear at lightning speed round here.....If you email me (shell(at)therawkitchen.co.uk) to sign up for The Raw Kitchen mailouts, I will send you the recipe :)

Look out for goodies from The Raw Kitchen @ Manna. Last week it was Carrot cake and Spicy Ginger cookies.....

Linus, from The Raw Chocolate Company, not only makes the worlds BEST 'snappable' raw chocolate bars, but he's a whizz at raw ice-cream too. Pictured here: Choccy Doo, Spirulina Mint Choc Chip, and Mint Choc Crunch......

New Pizza Recipe!! I made this up for an extra special Girly Potluck a couple of weeks ago. Recipe coming in a following post, cuz i'm tired and sleepy now. It's basically spinach, mushroom, walnut pizza with sage cheese, draped in delicate red onion rings and sprinkled with zappy fresh chilli hits. Utterly delicious, and tomato free too! :)

Taste the love! Shine your light! Byeeeeee :)

Oh, and don't forget to spread the word about our next workshop, Raw Creativity, on Saturday 20th September @ Manna. Anyone who signs up and mentions this blog will get a free goodie pack on the day!

& & I have just started blogging about the Liver Cleansing journey i am on....find updates @ http://www.shellsrawblog.blogspot.com/

Join us for our next Workshop: September 20th: With Shell & Lara

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:14:00 +0000

Raw Foods : The Basic Skills Part 1 : Raw Creativity

Prepare to be inspired! We are looking forward to demonstrating how quick and easy is it to make all our favourite dishes, using basic raw ingredients (fruit/ veggies/ nuts/ seeds/ some superfoods) and basic kitchen equipment (blender/food processor/peeler): no cooking involved! All recipes will be raw, vegan, dairy, wheat, gluten and sugar free :)

Best Ever Hummus/ Creamy Vegetable Curry/ Courgetti Pesto/ Very Berry Cheesecake/ Apple Pie/ Macaroons/ Gorgeous Goji Fudge....and more!

Once you have learned the basics, you can let your raw creativity loose and enjoy a nutrient dense, tasty, sustaining and varied raw/ high raw lifestyle every day!

As well as demonstrating our favourite recipes, we will talk about our own journeys and combined experience with the raw foods lifestyle over 8 years.

Arrive hungry, we will eat everything we make :)

At only £67, this workshop is excellent value and hopefully easily affordable and accessible to everyone. If you would love to come, but cannot manage this price please get in touch, and we will see what we can arrange. Places are limited; to secure yours now by credit/debit card, click on the 'Buy Now' button in the right-hand margin of this blog.

Brighton is the place to be!

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:33:00 +0000

Our friends Warren & Andreas have just opened Manna, a new Live/ Powerfood cafe on Coombe road. They are open from 8.30 -18.30 mon-sat. This is so exciting! Warren & Andreas are passionate about providing the best quality everything....juices (freshly pressed by top of the range Angel juicers), Gematria activated water, organic smoothies, kombucha & herbal teas, live food deli, sumptuous healthy cakes, raw chocolate, superfoods.....see their website for more details.

Lara & I will be holding our Raw Creativity: Level 1 Workshop at Manna on the 20th September. This will be a day full of learning, insights, and delicious live food cuisine to sample. We're back from Space of Love festival inspired and ready to share top tips and tricks to making all our favourite foods. See http://www.therawkitchen.co.uk/ for more info. Hope to see you there :)

Space of Love 2008

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:41:00 +0000

The Raw Kitchen @ Space of Love festival 2008

Fridge full of freshly picked organic greens from Hankham Organics

The joy of multiple machinery! 10 cheezecakes in 1 afternoon :)

Delicious breakfasts: Buckwheaties/ Sprouted sunflower & pumpkin seeds/ Coconut chips/ Mixed Vine Fruit with Hemp Milk & Strawberries &/or banana mmmmmm

Andreas receives a new day with open arms and open heart

Funky Raw*Space of Love*Menu Specials

Friday Supper

Sunburgers+the works- tasty burgers, sun-dried tomato relish, mustard sauce, caramelised onion, on live-seed bread with salad

Cheeze-to-please cake

Saturday Lunch

Saucy Sandwiches with avocado/ ketchup & frills, Pesto Stuffed mushrooms, Spaghetti Emeralda

Mango Tart with coconut macadamia crunch

Saturday Supper

Pizza Pizzaz, salad & trimmings

Chocafrolic- Banana caramel biskit & choklot soz

Sunday Lunch

Gingered Parsnip Nori Rolls

Carrot Cake

Sunday Supper

Courgetti & sauces with neatballs

Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice-cream

everything served with love...all nuts and seeds used are true raw and soaked or soaked and dehydrated- Some hummus contains tamari- otherwise all savouries and most cakes are totally raw.

Lara & Shell Demo Hummus & Chocolate Cake

What a team!

We totally rawked! Thankyou so much to all the fantastic kitchen helpers ~Janet, Sue, Chris, Zoe, Debz, Shiva, Amy, Matty, Alex, Joe....we were a great team and the food was delish!

Extra specially HUGE thanks to Linus~ for all your hard work and for keeping everything running smoothly~ lovelovelove & Sue ~ you were the glue that kept us all together~ you 2 were the true bodhisattvas of the festival :)

a few sweet things.....

cheezecake, chocafrolic, carrot cake, choc truffles, kulfi kubes

and last but not least....thankyou cozmic green boyz (Chris, Guy & Ade) for bringing me green juice when i most needed it, and for just being..well...supa cozmic & sparkly!!

Space of Love

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:45:00 +0000

Hello!
This is my favourite time of the year. The days are warm and lazy, my greenfingers are kept happy & busy planting seeds and tending the garden, and my favourite event of the year, the Funky Raw festival, this year called the Space of Love Gathering (same festy, different location, crew and a few new surprises!) is only a few weeks away.
This year I am organising the festival kitchen and cafe, so i've been planning menus and concocting recipes specially for the occasion. I really want to go for the green and living vibe, so there'll be plenty of living greens (sunflower, pea, alfalfa) as well as our famous sumptuous pizza, & divine raw sweets and desserts. Is this blog post going to be an exercise in seeing how many words i can think of to describe the deliciousness of life!? I can't help it, i really am so excited to have this opportunity to do what i love best (create beautiful, heartfelt food to feed beautiful friends (old&new)....
So, are you going to come and join us in creating a Space of Love for celebration, connection & healing? Have you bought your tickets yet? i can't wait to see you all! With love and smiles, Shell xxxxxxx

Creamy 'n' Yummy :)

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:01:00 +0000

I haven't posted here since FEBRUARY! How did that happen...????
Soooo, to cut a long and wordy story short, here are some pictures of some of the more memorable moments in the kitchen these past months....

Cake Crafting with Jolita
We had a great time experimenting with making different creams and layers....it's all about cream and layers for me at the moment! (and Jolita has a particular fondness for smooth, creamy cakes, so that is what she wanted to learn about)
The main ingredients we used for the creams were almonds (soaked/peeled & dehydrated), sesame seeds (white & brown), pine nuts, cacao butter, coconut butter, orange juice, lemon juice, agave, vanilla. What, no cashews, i hear you say......hmm, whilst it is true that cashews make a particularly smooth and creamy cream, they just don't feel quite right.....it's a tricky one. Some people have no adverse effects from them, others find them hard on the digestion. Gabriel Cousens lists them as a food to avoid, and most cashews you can buy are not really raw at all (and i'm not even sure about the ones that say they are raw). So whilst i do occasionally use raw cashews, on this occasion we decided to stretch our creative muscles and look for alternatives. We did use a few soaked cashews in the chocolate cream topping but that was it!

The base layer was made using macadamia nuts, buckwheaties, almonds (soaked/dehydrated), orange zest, mulberries, coconut butter. It's really biscuity!

After pressing in the biscuit base layers, we poured the different cream layers into plastic tubs lined with clingfilm and left them to firm up for a while in the freezer (or fridge, depending how long you want to wait!). This was a really good method of making mini cakes, or (HUGE) individual portions.

The creams we made:

Strawberry/Almond

Vanilla

Blueberry/coconut

Rich Chocolate

In between the layers chunks of fresh strawberries cut the richness of the creams and add delicious, juicy lightness. They look so pretty too!

Whilst we played, we wrote down all the recipes in The Book, which happens to have disappeared mysteriously during the big move...hopefully it will turn up soon. However, even without recipes it's fun to play. We didn't work from recipes, and ended up making totally sensational cakes. The more fun you have creating, the more love goes into the food, the more fun you get to have eating your creations....mmmmmmmmm it's a win-win situation methinks :)

more yummy layers of cream/ berries/ cakey-biscuit-ness

Cream, Butter, Flour, Sugar......

When i tell people that i make Raw Cakes, i am often met with curiosity and surprise. 'How do you make a Raw Cake?' What makes a Raw Cake different from a Cooked one? So the biggest difference is that a cooked cake is cooked (and usually laden with refined sugar, gluten, and dairy products), and a raw one is not (cooked or laden with the aformentioned nasties)! Anyone can figure that out! So then people wonder how do you make a cake without cooking it.......since traditionally, cakes are made with butter, flour, eggs and sugar. Well......there are substitutes for these ingredients, and when i analyse the way i make cakes, i realise that my use and choice of ingredients closely mirrors the 'cooked' approach. There are many Raw Recipes out there based on dried fruit and nuts, and whilst they are undeniably delicious, this is a difficult combination to digest, and the consistency of the cake is nowhere near the lightness of a cooked cake.

So i've been playing around with raw ingredients for a few years now, and i've finally come up with a recipe and method for making cake that very closely resembles cooked cake in both taste and texture!

It's been a labour of love, and i'm not quite ready to share the recipe with the world, but if you love creating and playing with different ingredients, then i encourage you to play.....

what would you substitute for the traditional cake ingredients?

Making Chocolate Truffles

Recipe: Creamy Parsley & Parsnip Mash

Blend the following in a high powered blender until creamy and smooth:

2C Chopped Parsnip

1/2C Carrot

2 sticks celery

1/8C Olive Oil

1 clove Garlic

squeeze of orange and lemon juice

Finely chop a handful of parsley and stir in at the end.

Enjoy! This mash is light, yet creamy and comforting. Great food for kids too.

Bye for now, hopefully i won't leave it 4 months to post again!!

Coco Co-operation, Crunchy Cookies, Chapatis, Curry, Cabbage, Creativity!

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 10:04:00 +0000

Opening coconuts is not generally the easiest task in the world! I learnt a good way to open the mature brown ones.....you hold the coconut loosely in the palm of one hand, and with the back of a strong knife, deliver sharp blows to it's central axis. Keep turning the coconut, and keep tapping (whacking!) until the shell cracks.
This coconut was extremely cooperative! The shell came off in two large pieces leaving the inner part of the coconut intact! Getting the flesh out of the shell can be tricky....prising the flesh from the shell using the point of a knife is a job that takes a lil bit of patience ;)....but not this time!

So i've been experimenting some more with cookies. The last batch were soft and chewy, this time i wanted a crunchy cookie. I made two recipes, both using coconut and almond as the base.
*
crunchy cookie no. 1: 1C Coconut, 1C soaked almonds, 1 apple, juice of 1 orange, 1 vanilla pod.
crunchy cookie no. 2: 1C Coconut, 1C soaked almonds, 1/2C Squash, 1/2c Coconut water, 1T Xylitol, 1/2T Cinnamon.
*
The method is the same for both. Process ingredients to give a chunky mixture, put onto dehyrator sheet in spoonfuls, flatten & make into any shape at all :)
*
Dehydrate until crunchy! (12-20hrs?)

*
On to the next experiment.....
Indian Flavours....
I had in mind that i wanted to create something based on the concept of the samosa; traditionally a deep fried triangle of pastry filled with curried vegetables. The recipe for the 'pastry' evolved from a dahl recipe by John Fielder that i found in The Complete Book of Raw Food. I didn't like the recipe as dahl, so added ground flax seeds and made into pastry dough.....the result was really delicious and the flavours very authentically Indian.
*
Samosa Pastry:
Process 2C Squash, 1C chopped Coconut, 1.5C chopped Tomatoes, 1 stick Celery, 1 handful shredded Curry Leaves, Spices (1t curry powder, 3t cumin, 1/4t cumin) & 1t salt until free of lumps. Add 1.5C ground flax and stir into veggie mix to make a dough.

Spread the dough onto a dehydrator sheet, about 3mm thick. Make a large square, score lines into the dough to make 4 smaller squares. Dehydrate for a few hours, then flip the squares removing the teflex sheet. Do not overdehydrate the dough! It needs to be slightly soft so that it can be wrapped around the curried vegetables.

Curried Vegetables

Blend until smooth:

1C Almond

1C Coconut

Lemon juice

Garlic

Ginger

Spices (curry powder, cumin, turmeric)

approx 1C Water

salt

Stir into curry sauce:

1C Chopped Cauliflower

1C Peas
1C Diced Red Pepper

Although i wrapped the curried veggies in the dough and then dehydrated them more, i wouldn't do this again, i would just wrap and serve. I would also like to try some smaller samosas....the ones i made were a meal in themselves, but they are traditionally 'biting' snacks.

I also used the pastry dough from the samosas to make chapatis....

All in all a successful (and fun!) experiment!

After the last cabbage post, i was inspired to make coleslaw (with a twist):

Creamy Thai Sea-Slaw

Shredded hispi cabbage (i just love hispis, they are so sweet, crispy & juicy)

Shredded red cabbage

Grated carrot

Soaked sea spaghetti & hijiki seaweed

in a Creamy sauce:

1/2 mango

1 avocado

water

lime juice

chilli ginger

coriander

served in a cabbage leaf cup with strips of mango and coriander leaves on the top. Yum.

And last but not least, a thousand Thank-yous! to Neeta for honoring me with the Creative Blogger Award. I am filled with gratitude and shall be passing the love on soon.

With much love,

Shell

HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION - Radical Change Taking Root

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:08:00 +0000

so inspiring!

Raw recipes kids love :) (big kids too!)

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:17:00 +0000

Milk + Cookies (& a clementine or 2)

'Milk'

(this was actually more of a smoothie)
almond+hemp milk

banana

lucuma

vanilla bean

> Blend 'til smooth

Sweet Vanilla 'Cookies'

Keiko ti has been making cookies recently and i was inspired to do some experimenting of my own. I used coconut pulp which was left over from making coconut cream. These cookies are very more-ish and have a lovely texture. I did not write down the exact recipe but this is roughly what i threw into the mix (plus a whole lot of love!). As Keiko ti says: 'with raw recipes its easy to add and omit things, change it around according to what you have in stock, and still have it turn out and taste great. You will know by tasting the dough before you dehydrate..if its hard to stop eating it .. it'll turn out great. Dehydrating can intensify flavours, but doesn't change them a lot.' (hope you don't mind me posting that here x)

1C Coconut pulp

Soaked almonds (handful)

dates (handful)

3 apples

juice of 1 orange

1 vanilla bean

coupla tablespoons honey or agave

2T flax meal

>blend 'til smooth like pnacake batter (maybe slightly thicker). Place in spoonfuls onto dehydrator sheet, flattening each cookie with the back of the spoon. I dehydrated these overnight.

Ice Cream! Always a winner :)

Banana slushy:

frozen bananas

soaked almonds

vanilla pod

>Blend in the Vitamix and you're good to go! yummmm

Blueberry soft-serve:

frozen banana

frozen mango

frozen blueberries

> Blend in Vitamix until all chunks have disappeared :)

p.s. If you don't have a Vitamix, you can make ice-cream by passing through chunks of frozen fruit through a masticating juicer with the blank plate on.

Recipe: Spicy Carrot & Parsley Mousse

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:04:00 +0000

I was making a dip to have with flax crackers...nothing fancy at all....just carrots, almonds, herbs, spices in the blender....

Raw Gourmet is all about presentation. You can turn a simple dip into a fancy starter just by presenting it in a different way:

Spicy Carrot Mousse with a Creamy Parsley Sauce (serves 4)

~Carrot mousse~

2C chopped carrot

1/4C olive oil

large handful soaked almonds

3-4 Sun-dried tomato halves

1/3C chopped parsley

0.5-1t kelp powder

0.5-1t cumin powder

small clove garlic

juice of half a small lemon and half a lime

small piece of red chilli

water (add a little at a time-not so much that mousse will not hold it's shape)

Blend all ingredients except parsley in high speed blender. The quantities for spices are approxiamate. Start with a small amount, and add more if you need to, until seasoned to your taste. Stir in chopped parsley at the end. I used a cup measure as a mould to shape the mousse before putting it on a plate. If you add more water, this makes a lovely dip.

~Parsley sauce~

1/2C chopped parsley

1/2C olive oil

water (add a little at a time until you get the right consistency- thick and creamy but pourable)

squeeze of lemon

small piece of apple (to counteract acidity of lemon: optional)

pinch of salt

blend together until creamy. Drizzle around plate to decorate.

Garnishes: Red chilli/Fresh parsley/Tomato & Onion Flax Crackers by The Raw Kitchen

Raw Gourmet at it's simplest!

Enjoy :)

LoVe Veggies!

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:42:00 +0000

My inspiration this week: Farmers Market Bounty

Featuring the biggest Kohlrabi i've ever seen, darling onion squash, parsley, winter purslane a.k.a claytonia or miners lettuce, lamb's lettuce, red cabbage, hispi cabbage

I'll come back to this post with recipes....now what am i going to do with that Kohlrabi....hmmm

p.s. i have started posting on my other blog now x

Hands up if you like cabbage....

noreply@blogger.com (shell) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:48:00 +0000

Yes, my hand is up, but it wouldn't have been before last weekend.....let me explain...

Cabbage.....not my favourite vegetable by any means. I go through phases with it, but somehow it never manages to keep my attention for too long. It's too pungent in juices, too tough and fibrous in salad. Iused to love it as a child, boiled 'til it was soft and topped with a knob of melty butter.

*I think i've just rediscovered my love of cabbage*

Here's what happened:
i shredded 1/2 head of sweet, cripsy, Hispi Cabbage.
Then made a sauce with a few tablespoons seed butter/tahini, juice of a lime and/or lemon, water, lemongrass, garlic, ginger and chilli, salt and a little agave or honey (optional).
.....poured sauce on cabbage + squidged the cabbage and sauce together well.
Then i spread the mixture onto a dehydrator tray (with teflex sheet) and left it until cabbage was softened and flavours have intensified (4-6hrs) ......this created a beautiful smell that wafted through the house....

Served on a leaf,
with parsnip rice (grated parsnip-nothing added)
a wedge of lime
and dollop of creamy sauce bursting with Thai flavours (blended soaked sesame seeds, sundried tomato, sesame/ coconut oil, garlic, lemon, ginger, lemongrass, coriander)

it was cabbagey perfection!

[We also had a big bowl of greens and a cucumber salad made with peeled + diced cuke mixed with shredded thai basil leaves (not pictured) ]

Garnishes: Fresh coriander herb, slivers of almond, black sesame, red chilli, wedge of lime
p.s. the pic didn't turn out great....doesn't really do justice to how good this meal was!

Here's the cabbage before it went in the dehydrator:

Just in case you're interested ;)

x