Healthy Raw Holiday Continued.....Desserts

One of the strong selling points of the raw food lifestyle is its amazing desserts. From time to time, I still have trouble trying to fathom that recipes so decadently delicious can actually be nutritious and health promoting. but with most raw desserts, it is true. Recently there has been lots of controversy on whether raw agave nectar is a healthy sweetener or just as disruptive to the body as processed corn syrup. There was a great article that was published by Natural News Health Ranger, Mike Adams, today that might help to debunk some of the negative news you may have seen in the media. You can read the article in it's entirety here. Today's selection of desserts are two of my favorites from our Real Food Tulsa Holiday Meetup:

Peach Cheesecake

Crust
3 cups pecans
1 cup dates. pitted and packed

Process the nuts & dates into a fine crumb crust. Press dough into the bottom of a large (10" - 11") spring form pan or mini individual pans.

Vanilla Cheesecake Filling

4 cups cashews, finely ground
1/2 cup raw honey (local is best if you can find it)
1/2 cup agave nectar
Juice of 2 medium lemons
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a high speed blender, combine all ingredients until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over the nut crust.

Peach Layer

8 cups peaches, diced (fresh or frozen, thawed)
4 dried pineapple rings. soaked 2-3 hours
1 large, ripe banana (or 2 small)
1 Tbsp. melted coconut oil (optional)

Puree all ingredients until smooth in a food processor or blender. Pour over cheesecake layer. (In the photo, orange slices were placed on the cheesecake layer first, then the peach puree poured on top.) Chill in the freezer to set. Run a knife in between the cake and the pan before removing the ring. Enjoy!

Maple Pecan Chocolate Squares

2 cups coconut oil, melted
6 cups raw cocoa powder
1 3/4 cup maple syrup
2-3 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 cup whole pecans

Place the first 4 ingredients into a bowl and combine ingredients with a a mixer. (Can be done by hand.) Spread chocolate mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet or half sheet pan and put into the freezer for one hour. Take out of freezer to score and press pecan half onto each separate square. Return to freezer for another hour or 2 and then cut into squares. Store in freezer.

Healthy Holiday Recipes Continued...

Before I get to today's recipes, I wanted to share some of the reasons I continue to pursue making raw foods the primary part of my diet. I have found that it's an ideal way to manage and lose weight, that is when I am not indulging in too many nut based or gourmet dishes, which I am doing during this fun and festive season....oops! When I AM eating lots of leafy greens and fruits, especially in the form of green shakes and juices, my energy increase is off the charts. Along with my raw diet, I've given up coffee and RARELY drink alcohol anymore, so I believe these are the main factors in helping me wake up more alert and more well rested in the mornings. Also the clarity of the mind that I experience is more than noticeable, as is the appearance of the proverbial healthy raw glow.

From an overall health and well being stand point, I also believe the raw diet is the healthiest diet on the planet for anyone who is struggling with food allergies or sensitivities. For example, if you are gluten sensitive or have a problem with lactose, the raw food diet is a no brainer. All of the recipes I'm sharing with you this week are free of common food offenders.....they are made up of nothing more than simple, nutritious and delicious real food!

Christmas Kale Salad

2 bunches of lacinato kale (also known as dinosaur kale)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 Tbsp cold pressed olive oil
the zest of one small organic lemon
the juice of that same lemon (about 2 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper

De-stem the kale and chop crosswise into small pieces. Place into a mixing bowl and massage along with the olive oil, lemon juice and salt, working well with your hands until the leaves are well coated in the mixture. Add in the zest, agave, pine nuts, and cranberries, salt & pepper, blending well to combine. Christmas Kale can be stored in your refrigerator for several days in an airtight container, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Almond Sage Stuffing

2 cups of almonds, soaked 8 hrs. and drained
1 apple, cored and chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 sweet yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, finely diced
3 Tbsp ground golden flaxseeds
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 tsp Nama Shoyu
2 Tbsp dried sage (poultry season would work as well)

Put the soaked and drained almonds into a food processor and run until chopped. Add the apple, garlic, onion, pulsing briefly to incorporate and chop. Place the almond mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the diced celery, flax, olive oil, nama shoyu, sea salt and sage. Blend ingredients together well. Put the crumbled mixture onto teflex sheets and slide into your dehydrator at 105 degrees for about 4 hours. I pull the trays out a few times during the 4 hours to stir the mixture insuring uniform drying of the stuffing. This can be stored in your refrigerator for about 5 days in a sealed container. Bring to room temperature before serving or place back into a heated dehydrator to make warm.

Mushroom Alfredo

2 cups macadamia nuts, soaked 2 hours & drained
1/2 cup raw pine nuts
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp fresh thyme
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp Celtic sea salt, or to taste
1/2 cup of fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 pkg. of Kelp Noodles
2 Tbsp. chives, chopped

Place ingredients, except the mushroom and noodles into a blender and process until you achieve a smooth, creamy sauce. Place the rinsed kelp noodles into a bowl and pour the Alfredo sauce over the noodles. Add in the choppe mushrooms and blend well. Place in a warm dehydrator (115 degrees) until warmed, about an hour. Finish with a sprinkling of chives and serve.

More Real Food Recipes.....

As I mentioned yesterday, I'll be publishing recipes from our amazing Holiday Meetup throughout this week. Hopefully, you'll gain some fresh inspiration for new and healthy dishes you might enjoy introducing into your family's holiday meals and celebrations. Today and tomorrow I'll share starters and side dishes, then on Thursday and Friday I'll finish with the raw dessert recipe round up!!

Orange Fennel Salad

2 lbs. of fennel bulbs
3 -4 oranges peeled & sectioned
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 lemons, freshly juiced
handful of pomegranate seeds
Celtic sea salt, to taste
1/4 tsp. freshly cracked pepper
2 oz. arugula or spinach

Cut the fronds from the fennel bulbs and place in a food processor, pulsing until roughly chopped. Transfer into a medium bowl and add the orange segments. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper and toss into the fennel and orange mixture. Serve over your bed of greens.Cranberry Relish

1 bag fresh or frozen cranberries
zest of one orange
the inside of one orange, peeled and divided into segments
1/2 cup zylitol or agave nectar
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Place the cranberries, orange pieces, zest & sweetener of choice into a food processor. Process until you reach a chutney/relish type consistency. Put mixture into a pretty serving bowl and stir in blueberries.

Real Food Holiday Party Review

Last night was Real Food Tulsa's Holiday Meetup. There were around 30 people in attendance and the raw food tasting was wonderful. The dishes were (in the order they appear in the slideshow); Five Spice Punch, Christmas Kale Salad, Maksim's Marinated Cabbage Salad, Orange Fennel Salad, Tabbouleh with Soaked Bulgur Wheat, Cranberry Relish, Almond Sage Stuffing, Marinated Swiss Chard w/ Fresh Cranberries, Mushroom Alfredo w/ Kelp Noodles, Key Lime Tarletts & Strawberry Crepes w/ Macadamia Nut Cheese, Maple Pecan Chocolate Squares, Carrot Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, and Coconut Cacao Truffles. We also had a number of other scrumptious dishes like a Vibrant Garden Broccoli Salad and a Peach Cheesecake that was consciously created to feature a number of local ingredients.

After we finished our meal, a panel of raw food professionals took the stage and answered health and raw food related questions from the crowd. Our panel of experts included; Betsy Catrett, an Alissa Cohen Certified Instructor, Scott Bolin & Alisa Miller, both are Hallelujah Acres Health Ministers, yours truly, and we also received additional help from Jona Eastman, who is a certified holistic health counselor in Tulsa. There were some really great, thought provoking questions & answers and it seemed that everyone left with new motivation and inspiration.

Also, if you're in the Tulsa area and you're interested in being part of our local Living Foods Co-op, Renew, please call Joyce Tanner who can get you hooked up with fresh, organic, affordable produce. You can reach Joyce at (918) 230-4842 for more details.

Through this week I'll be sharing some of my personal favorite recipes from the meetup. I'd like to start with the fun and festive punch we served. This was a big hit and I re-created this recipe through inspiration from my friend, Karen Knowler.

Five Spice Holiday Punch

Ingredients:
- 6 apples
- 8 oranges
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup agave nectar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp five spice
- a bottle of sparkling mineral water
- slices of citrus and a handful of frozen cranberries for garnish

Juice the apples, oranges, lemon and cranberries and then pour into a blender. Add in the spices and blend until thoroughly mixed. Serve in festive glasses with a ratio of 2/3 punch to 1/3 sparkling mineral water and finish with sliced fruit & a few cranberries floating on top.

Helping Heidi Smile

Many of you may already be familiar with the website Raw Food Right Now. In just one visit to this website you'll suddenly have your finger on the pulse of what's happening in the world of raw food on any given day. Heidi and JS Ohlander have been dedicated to making raw food quick, simple, and fun for anyone and everyone for a number of years now. I have personally been following Heidi and JS around the internet, first on Eat.RawFood.com, on their site, RFRN, and a variety of other social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook and Give It To Me Raw, for at least three years. During this time, Heidi, JS & I have become good friends, although we haven't met in person yet, they feel like family.

During this past week, I'd noticed some updates on Twitter from both JS and Heidi that were of concern to me. One thing I know about Heidi is that she is pretty private and she IS NOT A whiner. These updates indicted that something was really wrong and the one that really got my attention was when Heidi posted this on December the 1st, "Sometimes when you hit rock bottom it takes a while to climb back to where you were, and then leaps of positivity come after that..." It was clear that something really bad had happened so I sent both Heidi and JS a couple of messages offering my thoughts, prayers and to see if there was any thing I could do to offer help. After some back and forth emails, Heidi and I connected by phone last night for a couple of hours and there she was able to reveal the story of what had really been going on.

Since it is a detailed story, I rather you hear it from Heidi, in her own words. She decided to go public with her situation in recording her first YouTube videos explaining the traumatic events that have been going on and why she has lost her smile. Please go here to watch the story in it's entirety. During our conversation, Heidi and I discussed ways that the raw food community might be able to help her. I have witnessed in the past, that when we join together as a community, blessed, magical things can and do happen. In her video, Heidi explains the new idea which is being called Heidi's Smile Fund.

If Raw Food Right Now has been a help to you on your raw food journey, or even if you're just learning about Heidi & JS for the first time while reading this post, I hope you'll take a bit of time to watch Heidi's videos and peruse the wealth of information that is contained in the 500+ posts. I also hope that you'll consider joining with me in making a donation of any size to this very special woman and leader in the raw food community. Let's help Heidi get her smile back!!

Real Food for the Holidays

If you are in the Tulsa area, please plan to join Real Food Tulsa as we host our very first Holiday Raw Food Celebration! The date is this coming Sunday, December 7th at 5 pm. Keeping raw foods as the mainstay of ones diet can be a challenge for many of us at this time of the year, so joining with community, inspiring and sharing healthy, delicious encouragement with holiday food preparation tips and ideas can be a real source of support, even a life saver.I'm starting to get really excited because I've been playing in the raw kitchen, working up some yummy dishes/recipes to share with you. (No, these amazing raw cakes aren't mine....just pictures I've found that give me creative inspiration!) Our recent meetups have been really helpful because I always come away with inspiring, fresh ideas for what I can recreate at home. At this month's meetup, I've put together a "panel of experts" who will be answering your raw food related questions. If you're in my area and haven't taken the time to RSVP for this event...please do so now as I want to make sure I'll have plenty of chairs and holiday punch for everyone! Please plan to join Real Food Tulsa as we honor the season with our very first Holiday Raw Food Celebration!

A donation of $5 per person is requested to help cover rental expenses.

The Hi-Def Salad

The Associated Pressed recently released an interview with Jason Mraz. In the article, Jason talks about recording his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. There is also talk of his newly released book, A Thousand Things: Photographs by Jason Mraz. Jason goes on to discuss his most memorable moment on tour, but the part of the article I wanted to highlight was at the end, when he was asked the question, "Between studio sessions, live shows and the book, what are you doing in your free time?" Jason says....."I spend a lot of my time, most of the time, preparing food, believe it or not. I wake up every day and I start my day with a supersmoothie, which has about 24 ingredients in it, everything from a whole avocado to various powders and formulas. And everything is raw. I also prepare raw salads. Most people think you get bored eating salads all the time, but these are some of the most hi-def salads you'll ever lay your eyes on."

I've noticed that one of the common denominators between really successful raw foodist is this very pattern.....a powerful super smoothie/shake in the morning and a mega-nutritious salad for lunch/dinner. On my most successful raw days, this is what I do and I always feel my very best when this is the mainstay of my intake. I want to share what my personal favorite rawliscious, "hi-def" salad has in it below, but I'd really love to hear from you. What is your very favorite salad, and how do you dress it? Tell me about it in the comments....what does it have in it and when do you typically eat it in your day? Also feel free to share your very favorite super smoothie recipe too!

Ruby's Rawliscious Hi-Def Salad

4 cups mixed greens
handful of cherry or grape tomtoes
1/2 avocado, sliced
1/4 of a cucumber, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, shredded
a handful of sprouts
sliced sweet, hot peppers
2 tbsp. hemp nut seeds
1 tsp + spirulina

Vibrant Lemon Vinaigrette

3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. raw honey or agave nectar
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg