Independence Day 2008

We had a great time at the farm in Mangum, Oklahoma. We enjoyed fabulous food, fireworks, and frolicking family fun! We spent an afternoon cleaning out Nana Shelton's pantry and I found so many interesting things! I brought home one of her Joyce Chen Chinese Knives. I've been wanting one for several years to use when cracking open young Thai coconuts! We also found a package of Silken Tofu dated May 1980 and several jars of things she'd lovingly canned that none of us had any clue what their contents were. My favorite items, which I saved, were pickled "something" from the 70's and a nice Mason jar of Dried Black Fungus. You know you just can't find good fungus like you used to, right? I did make some recipes that will be worth sharing in upcoming blogs, but for now, here's a little slide show of the Fourth of July with the Familia Shelton:

Raw Marinated Vegetable Salad

I've had a number of requests for the recipe of the dish that's currently featured as my main photo. I deliberately took a picture of the ingredient list of this dish when I was at Whole Foods' raw bar last weekend because it looked so delicious. Although I haven't made it yet, I've bought everything and I'm planning try it out on my non-raw family at this weekend's Fourth of July celebration.

For the Raw Marinated Vegetable Salad:
mushrooms
red bell pepper
tomatoes
sun dried tomatoes (soaked 1 hour)
red onion
parsley
rosemary
basil

For the marinade:
lemon juice
nama shoyu (or wheat free tamari)
olive oil
minced fresh garlic
thyme.

Chop and combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together the dressing/marinade and pour over the chopped vegetables, working in to coat and cover thoroughly. Allow vegetables to marinade for several hours before serving, or if you have a dehydrator, place veggies on a teflex sheet on a dehydrator tray and leave in for at least an hour to soften and warm.

I'll be away at Quail Ranch (my husband's family farm in Southwestern Oklahoma) from this afternoon until Sunday and I'm pretty sure that I won't have internet connection. I know it's good to unplug for awhile every now and then, but I'll certainly miss communicating with you. Along with quality multi-generational bonding time, amazing food (both raw and cooked) and random acts of Shelton family dysfunction, the boys are planning to get their pyromania on by torching an arsenal of fireworks all weekend. I promise to take plenty of photographs to share with you early next week. Wishing you a fun-filled and safe 4th of July weekend!!

xoxo.....Penni

Austin Slide Show

We jumped on the opportunity to get away last weekend and traveled to Austin, Texas. A long time friend of mine, Cheryl Ruhmann-Botelho, was celebrating her recent marriage by throwing an incredible dinner party at the Four Seasons. Although the wedding party was the reason for our trip, some of the other highlights of our stay were captured in the following side show. Hanging out in the hip SoCo (South Congress) district, dinning around town, a trip to the largest Whole Foods (a raw foodists dream store), time at the pool, watching the famous Austin bats fly and spending time with good friends made for a perfect long weekend.

I had an amazing entree/salad the first evening for dinner at La Traviata. You can see it in the beginning of the slide show for a visual. It was a beautiful combination of zucchini, green olives, pistachios, italian parsley, fresh mint. I ordered it without the pecorino but they substituted shaved jicama (brilliant). I'm guessing the dressing/marinade was a zesty lemon vinegarette. It was so delicious and fresh. I also had their special salad of the evening which was put together from local fresh produce. I wish I'd have gotten a photo of it's vibrancy as well.
Besides a brief run through the Saturday morning Austin Farmer's Market, our trip to Whole Foods at 6th & Lamar (their flagship store, attached to WF's corporate offices) was honestly my personal highlight of the trip. As a bonafide foodie and I nearly teared up when I arrived at the raw section of the store. Not only did they have a separate raw deli with impressive offerings (see the slide show), they also had a chef making raw dishes fresh to order. There was a class happening later in the day and I would have loved to attend that. The whole store was amazing and the salad bar made me want to rip my clothes off and dive in to the gigantic & numerous troughs of leafy greens. I've never seen such an impressive salad bar in my life. My husband was also nearly intoxicated from the sights and sounds all around us. Perhaps that's because he found the organic wine tasting area of the store rather quickly. If you get a chance to visit this mega store, please go check it out.

McRAW - It's Catching On!

I had to stop for a moment from my hectic week to post this for all my readers to see. This is the front of my husband's latest business card...although he is a Realtor with the leading, local company called McGraw Realtors, it seems that there is an underlying subliminal message that jumps out at you when you see his card. When I brought this to his attention, he started cracking up because he hadn't noticed it at all. I think this whole raw thing is catching on, don't you? I love being married to Tulsa's only Raw Realtor!!

I promise to update more later.....when I can come up for air :- )

Keeping It Real

Since Monday evening's raw food meetup, I've been having some discussions with a few attendees and through these conversations, I'm finding that I'm rediscovering some of the basics of my original passion for raw and living foods. Although most of you, my dear readers, already know the basics, I just wanted share some of my thoughts, so that you too, can embellish the number of reasons we continue on with our journey and aspiration of being a raw foodie. I think my favorite fact is one that is absurdly simple, and, well, obvious...The Earth produces food for us (and all the other animals) in the state in which it is meant to be eaten: raw. It makes good sense that we should eat it the way it comes.

There is certainly irrefutable logic about this premise. Humans didn't even discover cooking until relatively recently, something along the lines of 10,000 years ago. (Practically yesterday, right?) So from this perspective, adherence to a raw-foods regimen is simple....Don't eat things that have been heated above the temperature of 118 degrees. When food is cooked, vitamins are significantly reduced, and the natural enzymes present in food are damaged, sometimes destroyed, by the heat. As we have learned, these natural-food enzymes are crucial to our ability to truly digest our food. When these enzymes aren't present, our bodies are forced to use our own cellular enzymes to complete digestion. This is one of the most obvious reasons that we age prematurely, feel fatigued, and grow ill. And along these lines, when we eat a standard American diet, complete with overly cooked, overly processed, overly laden with chemicals and hormones, our bodies become warehouses of toxic, improperly digested food, so we also grow stubbornly fat.

In speaking with people recently, I realize that eating nothing but raw food is a huge adjustment for the average person and it seems to take a lot of motivation to even try. Many who have been successful have usually had one of two big motivators; life-threatening illness (that one will really get you motivated) and obesity. Albeit, weight loss, with all its alluring power, was only one of the reasons I originally turned to raw foods. Although irritable bowel syndrome was certainly not life threatening, it was my toughest nut to crack. Within 1 week of going 100% raw, ALL my intestinal symptoms were gone. No doctor or pill ever did that for me. The other numerous health benefits of eating a high raw diet have include increased energy, improved skin appearance, dramatic improvement in seasonal allergies, better overall digestion, and a reduction in hormonal mood changes and no more PMS. This diet contains little saturated fat and no trans fats. It is also low in sodium and high in potassium, magnesium, folate, fiber, and health-promoting plant chemicals called phytochemicals. All of these properties are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other degenerative diseases. Plus you lose weight. If followed with some intelligence, this is a diet that should effortlessly morph one's body into its most perfect version of itself. Yeah, I know, it really does sound too good to be true, but it really isn't.

Within the raw genre, one can generally eat all the raw food one wants, whenever one wants. And this has been true for the majority of my raw friends world wide. However, word to the wise....I managed to actually gain a bit of weight in the past as a new raw foodist. Believe me, if you are gobbling up handfuls of raw nuts and eating rich, dehydrated gourmet raw foods everyday, you're probably not going to reap the benefits that those who eat more whole, juicy raw foods experience. If your diet is filled with raw, organic fruits, vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, soaked and sprouted grains and beans, sea vegetables and other superfoods, you should easily get all of the vitamins, minerals, proteins and antioxidants a body could ever hope to take in and still be svelte and radiantly healthy. Do your homework people....you DON'T have to eat meat to get your protein and I am going to write about that in a later post.

Charismatic raw-food guru David Wolfe says this, "Even if you never achieve a 100% raw-food diet, even getting 50% of your daily intake via raw foods will have a dramatic effect on your health." I totally agree with that statement. Wolfe and many other leaders in popular health circles today place an emphasis on seeking out organic foods whenever possible, which is also a fairly obvious "better choice." The vitamin and, especially, mineral content of organic foods are phenomenally higher than in conventionally grown foods, since the soil they are grown in is living soil that actually contains minerals.

Now, doesn't that rekindle your commitment to raw and living foods? It certainly has for me. Now get out there and "eat your veggies" and make it the "BEST DAY EVER!!" *wink*

Raw Food in Tulsa

I wanted to share some pictures from this evening's raw food meet up. It was a really great turn out for a first time event. I am so encouraged by the amazing people that came and I'm already looking forward to more events in the future as this community grows and develops.

Pure Food & Mojitos

I apologize for not writing more this week. I've been busy taking care of all of the squeaky wheels in my life, if you know what I mean. It feels good to finally be in the middle of the weekend, doing things I love to do, and also finding a moment of time to just rest and reflect. I wanted to share with you what I'm working on for my first raw food event that will take place tomorrow evening. Slowly but surely, my home is transforming into the closet thing to Pure Food & Wine I can make it for an evening! Currently, I've heard from about 16 people who are planning on coming. That feels like a great number for a first time event within our community.

I realize that most cities have meet up groups that do potlucks or meet in a raw restaurant, if they are fortunate enough to have one within their community. I decided that for a first time event, I'd create a smorgasboard of raw foods for everyone to experience and enjoy. Potlucks are great fun and I will certainly facilitate them in the future, but they can also be intimidating for raw newbies. My idea is to create an atmosphere where everyone is comfortable and a place for anyone who's raw curious, offering exposure to what raw food can be without the pressure of trying to figure out what to bring. I've always enjoyed entertaining. Making delicious, beautiful, healthy raw food is a passion that I love to share, so planning and preparing for this first event has been great fun for me.

Tomorrow's tasting menu:

• Coconut Water & Pure Mojitos (with or without organic champagne)
• Jalapeño Lime Tortilla Chips and Golden Chile Corn Chips
• Pineapple Cilantro Salsa & Guacamole
• BBQ Crisps (this recipe is unbelievable and I hope there are some left by tomorrow)
• Stuffed Mushrooms (courtesy of my friend, Paula)
• Heirloom Tomato, Pistachio Pesto & Macadamia Ricotta Lasagna
• Blonde Macaroons & Hazelnut Mocha Chip Truffles (courtesy of my friend, Peter)

I'll be sharing the recipes for each dish as well as sending home a little care package of raw granola with everyone who attends. I'm really looking forward to interacting with others in my area and checking the pulse of the local community. I really want to get a feel for what people are looking for in the way of education and support. If you're in my area and haven't RSVP'd yet, please give me shout out so I know you're coming!