prep time: 10 min.

This is sort of a creation of my own based on a few different recipes. I looove pesto. Fresh basil is so wonderful.

• 3 C fresh basil
• 1/2 C sunflower seeds
• 2 cloves garlic
• a dash or two of sea salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• a little water for desired consistency

Process all ingredients in food processor with “s” blade, and pulse chop several times. Stop to scrape down sides, and repeat until mixture is smooth. Put on your choice of veggies, salad, pasta… whatever tickles your fancy.

Raw update: I successfully went all raw for 9 days and loved it. My body feels clean. Yesterday, for my birthday, I went off my raw streak and had Thai food (rice noodles and veggies in black bean sauce) and drank wine and had a sugar-filled cookie. So delicious. But this morning I woke up and felt terrible. I hadn’t slept well. Too much salt, too much Louis Jadot Beaujolais (fantastic vegan wine), too much sugar … I felt bloated and irritable. So that gave me motivation to stick with the raw diet. I don’t plan on being 100% raw, but I’ll definitely incorporate a lot more raw food into my diet. I can’t wait to see how I feel after a few months. I feel bad for people who grew up during times when everything was cooked for safety. My dad said his mom used to over cook everything. She was a dietitian and was very conscious of good health. But fresh foods just weren’t considered safe because of germs and diseases and pesticides. But now we have wonderful organic food in our stores and need to take advantage of that.

So, what are sources of raw protein?

• cashews
• almonds
• brazil nuts
• hazel nuts
• macadamia nuts
• pecans
• walnuts
• oatmeal
• chickpeas
• green peas
• spinach
• kale
• broccoli
• peanuts
• lentils
• sunflower seeds
• spirulina

Spirulina, an algae, is the ultimate best source of protein (yes, better than animal protein). But where can you find it?

It is a supplement generally taken in pill form or added to food. You can add spirulina powder to your smoothies!

What do I eat?

I like to start my morning off with my wheatgrass shot and a little bowl of raw oats and flaxseed in milk. I also love making smoothies. Blueberries, banana, strawberries, clementines, peaches, cherries… I like to mix it up. Even when they’re out of season you can use frozen fruits- they still count as raw and maintain their nutrition. Throw them in a blender. Delicious. Sometimes I’ll add a splash of oat, hazelnut, hemp, almond or some other milk. I eat fresh fruit, dried fruit, lots of fresh spinach and salads. I’ve made raw hummus, pesto, marinara… various sauces, which I pour over veggies, like shredded carrots, green beans and broccoli sprouts. Using olive oil is a great way to get some healthy fat. I get a raw trail mix that contains seeds, nuts, and dried fruit that I bring to work. I LOVE raw cashews. Figs and dates are divine. I’ve switched most of my coffee for tea. And I use hot water for the tea, but not boiling. I try out new recipes whenever I can from Raw Truth: The Art of Preparing Living Foods and Living in the Raw: Recipes for a Healthy Lifestyle.

Ani Phyo also has intruiging recipes that I want to try.
I finally got a food processor (for my birthday) so I can make a lot more stuff.

I love sprouts. Sometimes I’ll thaw frozen peas or other veggies during the day so I can use them for dinner at night. I also love adding avocado to things. The raw lasagna I made is soooo good. And My acid reflux has gotten so much better since I went raw. Odd since raw food is usually harder on the stomach. But these foods are also known to have great healing effects, and I guess that’s what’s happening. I get so much less salt (I rarely add it to anything) and sugar (I use mostly fructose) and just feel much more energized with raw food. I also find I need less sleep with raw food. And the sleep I do get is very deep.

Downside: It can get expensive with buying so much organic, and having to shop more often for fresh foods. So I need to figure out what I can get at the regular grocery store for cheaper, versus Wild Oats, so I can afford to stick with this lifestyle. Because so far it seems very worth it.

prep time: 30-45 min.
Oooh so good. Best raw dish I’ve had so far. No pasta involved, but man oh man is it full of flavor!

note: you will need a food processor for this.

Base:

• 2 C almonds, soaked 12-48 hours and blanched
• 1.5 C sunflower seeds, soaked and rinsed
• 3 stalks celery, or a few branches of broccoli
• 1 C fresh basil
• 1.5 tsp sea salt
• 2 cloves garlic

Process all ingredients though a food processor using the “s” blade. In a glass rectangular dish, spread the base and pat lightly.

Topping:

• 1.5 C sund-dried tomatoes, soaked 1 hour (save soak water)
  • note: I used Bella Sun Luci sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs and it added wonderful flavor
• 1 C fresh basil
• 1 clove garlic

Process sun-dried tomatoes in a blender (or food processor) with a little soak water and blend until the consistency of icing. Add basil and garlic; blend to make a spread. Spread topping onto base and garnish with fresh parsley.

For many more amazing recipes like this one, get this fabulous book:

Here’s a food pyramid not enough people know about. If you’re going to go raw, or even just plan on adding more raw food into your diet, which I highly recommend, you’ll want to use this pyramid as a guide. This is taken from Raw Truth: The Art of Preparing Living Foods. I took the liberty of recreating it for you.

My all-raw experience is going quite well thus far. I need to learn more recipes though. Thank goodness for this book. And also for Ani Phyo. A former pastry chef who went all raw and makes some amazing dishes. She’s pretty inspirational.

I used to get the wheatgrass shot at Jamba Juice whenever I happened to go there- which wasn’t all that often. I started to go more often- and then decided it would be a heck of a lot cheaper, and more convenient, if I grew my own. I bought a half-bed at Wild Oats for a mere $5.60. They say I should get 3 new sproutings before I’d have to buy a new bed. Or you can start from scratch, buy topsoil and peatmoss and the wheatberries and have unlimited wheatgrass. I’m still learning how it all works, but I can’t tell you how great it is to be able to wake up every morning and make myself a shot of wheatgrass. I get excited about it. You can even chew on the blades if you don’t want to take the time, or don’t have the means, to juice it. What a great way to start off the day. I’ve been feeling SO GOOD! And you only need 1 or 2 oz per day.

So what is it about this wheatgrass what makes it so good for you? Because it’s a living food, you get the benefits of chlorophyll. How do you know it has chlorophyll? If you recall from grade school science class, chlorophyll is the molecule that absorbs sunlight and makes plants bright green! You could actually have any type of grass you want. But wheatgrass is one of the faster, easier grasses to grow and tastes better than your lawn out back. My boyfriend asked if I was going to start eating grass from people’s lawns. I said I’d rather not risk the chance of that grass being a patch an animal had peed on.

Chlorophyll has been known for years and years to have amazing healing effects. Consuming wheatgrass cleanses your body of toxins, prevents illness, it’s regenerative, protective, prevents anemia, gets rid of body odor, and it’s even good for your pets! If you notice your dog chewing on grass in the yard- it’s usually an indication that they aren’t feeling well and need the cleansing effects of the grass to make them feel better. And it’s so efficient. 15 pounds of wheatgrass has the same nutritive value as 350 pounds of ordinary garden vegetables! It contains 13 essential vitamins. It’s like taking a multivitamin. But you’ll gain more benefits because it’s a whole food versus a supplement, which isn’t always absorbed properly. Other super healthy greens include buckwheat lettuce and sunflower greens.

I’m reading a book now called The Wheatgrass Book. Buy it or check it out at the library. You’ll be blown away by all the great things Ann Wigmore has to say about wheatgrass. And it has instructions on growing your own wheatgrass at home. Ms. Wigmore didn’t start taking wheatgrass until she was 50 and was having health problems, including a bad case of colitis. She started chewing wheatgrass and juicing it, and eating more live foods. Her health improved, her colitis eventually cleared up entirely, her energy level skyrocked, her weight improved… and she’s not trying to sell a product so she really has a reason to lie about it. Wheatgrass has amazing effects upon the elderly. I’m trying to get my grandma to consume wheatgrass because she has many health problems. Apparently she avoids fresh foods now (probably due to the spinach scare- she’s quite paranoid) so I may have to resort to whole food supplements with her. There’s a multivitamin called Alive! Whole Food Multi that I like quite a bit. Instead of your basic synthetic supplement, it’s straight from whole foods. So though it’s not quite as good as live foods, it’s still pretty good!

There are people who are cynical. And all I can say is I know it makes me feel better. I’ve got more energy and my acid reflux is much better. I had some candy last night on Halloween and it made me feel just awful. I don’t even like candy anymore. I feel so much better when I’m eating fresh foods and drinking wheatgrass. You just have to decide for yourself. But there’s a reason so many people have switched to raw foods. It’s just healthier.