Intro: It's a Raw Munchkin! 6The Raw Vegan- Lifestyle 8

Reasons to be Vegan 8

Pamela’s Reasons! 8

David’s reasons! 11

Conclusion! 15

How the Lifestyle can save the world 16

Why is it a Lifestyle? 18

Costs?! 20

Nutrition 22Green Smoothies A - I 22

All Green! 22

Blending! 23

Create your own!! 23

Do it right!! 23

Effects of daily Green Smoothies...! 23

Find the right blender! 24

Get them rotating! 24

Holistic Food! 25

Instant Smoothie! 25

Raw and Living Foods 26

Our natural state of being! 26

Why Raw- Vegan?! 26

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What is what?! 27

Hydration! 27

Transitioning towards more Raw Foods! 28

The detox- phase(s)! 29

Food Cupboard 31Nut Creams & Pastes 31

Sweeteners 31

Seaweed Products 32

Grains 34

Sprouts 34

Oils 35

Vinegars! 37

Salt 37

Spices 39

Dried Fruit 40

Nuts & Seeds 42

Soy Products 42

Frozen stuff 44

A word about water 44

Supplements 44

Equipment 46The Basics 46

The Blender 46

Food Processor 47

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The Dehydrator 48

2 in 1! 48

Before you start... 1Products and informed choices 1

Measurements and final touches 1

Guilt = Poison 2

What your Munchkin can do... 3

Hygiene 4

Recipes 6Snacks, Sides and Entrees 6

Cashew- Goji- Snack ! 6

Chili and Lime Almonds! 6

Hazelnut Granola! 6

Cosmic Cauli Patties! 7

Marinated Mushrooms! 8

Quick Carrot & Apple Salad! 9

Sensational Sushi! 9

Sun- Basil Pesto! 11

Dehydrated Foods 12

Pizza - base or cracker - lecker!! 12

Breakfast 13

Buckwheat Brekkie! 13

Chia- Flax Porridge! 14

...And put it in the Blender for Baby and me!! 14

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Soups, Sauces & Dips 16

Green Cream dip! 16

Tahini - Garden sauce! 16

Classic Zucchini dressing! 17

Tropical Tomato Soup! 18

Mains 19

Apple- Celery - Avo Salad! 19

Asparagus and Carrot Rolls! 20

Antje's Rocket Salad! 21

Cauliflower & Curry Capaow! 21

Tomavo Simplicity! 23

Broccoli Chop! 23

Curried Corn Salad! 24

Beautiful Basil -Burgers! 25

Rawsome Tabouleh! 27

Spinach- Strawberry Super Salad! 28

Stir, but not fry! 29

Sweet Potato & Honey Dew Salad! 30

Wakame and Pumpkin Salad! 31

Sauerkraut & Co.! 32

Yammo Asian style Cabbage! 33

Desserts 35

Un- fried Banana! 35

Halva! 35

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Andrea's chocolate dream-cream! 36

Carob & Chia Pudding! 37

Wonderful Winter Mousse! 37

Orange- Cashew nut Ice cream! 38

Simple Sorbet! 39

Smoothies 40

Basic Nut milk recipe! 40

Green Bliss Smoothie! 40

Cool Cucumber! 41

Coconango Smoothie! 42

Raspberry Orange Odyssey! 42

Black Tahini Smoothie! 43

Orange- Passion Smoothie! 43

Avocado-monster 45Winding it up... 47Recommended reading and further information 49

Nutrition 49

Sprouting 50

Lifestyle and Health 50

Spirituality 51

Parenting 51

Bibliography 52

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Intro: It's a Raw Munchkin!I am a German girl, living in the beautiful South West of Australia with my little son Kai. I practice meditation daily and like doing yoga. We spend much of our time outdoors, pot-tering in the backyard or on the beach and catching up with friends.

The sound of the word Munchkin still makes me giggle after having lived in Australia for many years now!

In my understanding Ozzi's often call little kids munchkins, that are hungry and eat lot's. Well, I am slim and tall by nature, though my apprearance has improved since living a more conscious lifestyle. My skin is very clear, I have lotʼs of energy and feel like my personal evolution has progressed lotʼs since this lifestylechange started.

When I used to eat cooked foods I was always hungry and even when my stomach was full I always felt like something was still missing and I would often keep on eating until I literally couldn't move anymore. I now suspect that I have been lacking many nutrients that my body couldn't absorb from the food I was eating and it tried to compensate by eating bigger quantities.

I am breast-feeding now, therefore need a lot of calories and try to sit down with my son for his many meal-times. That makes for many snacks and meals! However since hav-ing mainly Raw Foods I find that my serves are way smaller and often leave me satis-fied but still with room in my tummy. This frees up my body to work, play and heal itself! It's a great feeling and very addictive (Similar to fasting)!

My son and I are both vegan and eat and wholesome cooked foods only occasionally. Now that I am familiar with preparing Raw Food I am just not interested in cooking, knowing that it is so much work to make it and so much work for our bodies to get through it. It's way easier and quicker for me to make Raw Meals. We have cooked leg-umes every now and then. Legumes can be sprouted and I enjoy them this way more and more. I generally have the odd cooked meal in the evening, which gives my body time to digest and also the tiredness and sluggishness that goes with it are easier to endure in the evenings when it's time to rest anyway.

Weather you want to simply learn more about Raw Foods, want to do a Raw Food de-tox, or want to change your lifestyle, I hope this book can help you to get some ideas and inspiration!

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For me the Raw Food Lifestyle promotes mainly general well being and consciousness of the body/mind/spirit unit. I wish to share with you the feeling of lightness, of overall health and the joy of being able to eat whenever you want and what you want.

The joy of getting to know yourself so well, that you can take better care of yourself, than you ever thought possible. The joy of just... being you.

Enjoy munchin away my dear munchkins! :-)

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The Raw Vegan- LifestyleReasons to be Vegan

"Killing animals for sport, for pleasure, for ad-venture, and for hides and furs is a phenom-ena which is at once disgusting and distress-

ing. There is no justification in indulging is such acts of brutality."

8-The XLV Dalai Lama

Above: Author and chicks

"A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral."

Leo Tolstoy

Pamela’s Reasons

A lovely lady called Pamela, who studied nutrition, public health and restaurant man-agement, among other things in College and still keeps up with all the most recent find-ings in the field of nutrition has put together some convincing reasons to be a Vegan. These can also be read up on her website www.veganwolf.com:

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Every day more studies prove that the healthiest diets are plant based, not animal based.

Being vegan is healthier, than any other diet possible and that isn't even touch the hormones and antibiotics, used in raising animals, and the possibilities and realities of meat borne illness, Mad Cow Disease etc. .

★Better for your heart. Proven to reduce heart disease, and even reverse coronary heart disease.

★Automatically lower s your cholesterol levels. The only foods that contain cholesterol are animal products, like meat and dairy. And since a three-decade-long study found that not a single subject with a cholesterol level below 150 has ever developed heart disease, that's hard to ignore!

★Vegans have lower rates of obesity, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, large bowel disorders, cancers and gallstones.

★Reduces stroke risks and coronary artery disease.

★Reduces symptoms of fibromyalgia.

★Reduces food poisoning. 95% of food poisoning is linked to animal products.

★Your bowels will work much better, therefore, keeping your whole system healthier.

★Live longer healthier lives. One 21-year-long study that compared meat-eaters and vegetarians showed that the greater the meat consumption, the greater the death rate from all causes combined.

★Increased vegetable and fruit intake reduces your need for taking a multi vitamin plus increases your antioxidant intake.

What we eat is a learned process or habit. Different societies eat different things. Some people eat dog, yet most Americans would say that that is completely wrong and intolerable. Yet, what is the difference between killing a dog for food and killing a cow? A dog feels pain. A cow feels pain...

Being vegan is a lot more environmentally friendly, than a meat diet, even more so when one sticks with organic products. .. Eating a meat diet contributes more pollu-tion, uses more land, more water, more deforestation, and more energy than a vegan diet.

★Protect the planet for future generations.

★Saves trees, reduces forest destruction for cow pastures. Between 1960 and 1985 alone, nearly 40 percent of all Central American rain forests were destroyed to create cheap grazing land for cows later served on North American and European plates. Go-

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ing vegan saves one acre of forest every year. (Who knows what else we are losing while cre-ating desserts out of forests.)

★Uses less water. More than half of all water used in the U.S. is used to raise and kill ani-mals for the table.

★Uses less fossil fuels. Producing just one hamburger uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car 20 miles.

★Creates less pollution. Animal feces is a ma-jor contributor to global warming and acid rain, plus pollutes numerous rivers and water sheds annually.

★The worlds 17 major fisheries are at the point of collapse because of over fishing.

◦ "The world's environment can no longer handle beef."-Jeremy Rifkin of Beyond Beef

Consider the Welfare of humanity. We can feed more people in the world on the food that animals, raised as food, eat than we can on the "food" one gets from animals. The amount of vegetable protein fed to the US beef herd would feed almost the entire populations of India and China - two billion people.

Save Money. Plant nutrition costs a lot less than animal based.

Helps reduce National debt. Americans spend between $60 billion and $120 billion annually to treat heart disease, cancer, obesity, and food poisoning that are primarily caused by animal based diets.

Non violence is a goal everyone should be after. Have a clear conscience for avoid-ing forcing pain to anything sentient. The Bible says "Though Shalt not kill. " It doesn't say it's ok to kill animals or Iranians, it says "Thou shalt not kill.

Eating meat is totally unnecessary.There is no proof, what so ever, that a person must eat animal flesh or any by products of animals to be healthy, yet there is overwhelming proof that it truly is best not to!

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Living a vegan lifestyle is, of course, the most compassionate way to exist. Ani-mals feel pain. Period. Why would someone choose to torture something for their own pleasure.

Show that you are a caring person. Modern agriculture keeps cows, calves, pigs, chick-ens, turkeys, ducks, and other animals in small overcrowded sheds, stalls, cages, or crates, where they're often unable even to turn around. These intelligent, social animals are deprived of veterinary care, exercise, sunlight--even the feel of grass under their feet. What we eat means choosing between the horrors of factory farming and respect for another sentient being.There is a lot more that should be said and shown on the cruelty aspects of using ani-mals. No one can deny it is beyond horrendous what we humans do to animals, all of which is totally unnecessary.

David’s reasons

David, who run's the website www.britishmeat.com has researched numerous liable sources and put together the following 49 Reasons to be Vegan. Some might be re-peated from Pamelaʼs list, however I find the different wording that the two of them have used, both very appealing and revealing:

The Environment

1.Conservation of Fossil fuel. It takes 78 calories of fossil fuel to produce 1 calorie of beef protein; 35 calories for 1 calorie of pork; 22 calories for 1 of poultry; but just 1 calo-rie of fossil fuel for 1 calorie of soybeans. By eating plant foods instead of animal foods, I help conserve our non-renewable sources of energy.

2.Water Conservation. It takes 3 to 15 times as much water to produce animal protein as it does plant protein. As a vegetarian I contribute to water conservation.

3.Efficient use of grains. It takes up to 16 pounds of soybeans and grains to produce 1 lb. of beef and 3 to 6 lbs. to produce 1 lb of turkey & egg. By eating grain foods directly, I make the food supply more efficient & that contributes to the environment.

4.Soil conservation. When grains & legumes are used more efficiently, our precious top-soil is automatically made more efficient in its use. We use less agricultural resources to provide for the same number of people.

5.Saving our forests. Tropical forests in Brazil and other tropic regions are destroyed daily, in part, to create more acreage to raise livestock. By not supporting the meat in-dustry, I directly reduce the demand to pillage these irreplaceable treasures of nature. Since the forest land "filters" our air supply and contains botanical sources for new medicines, this destruction is irreversible.

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6.Aesthetics. Decaying animal parts, whether in a freezer case or served in restaurants, can never be as aesthetically pleasing to the senses as the same foods made from wholesome vegetable sources. Only habit can allow one not to perceive this: a change in diet makes this self evident.

Personal Health

7.No deficiencies. There is no nutri-ent necessary for optimal human functioning which cannot be obtained from plant food.

8.High fat plus cholesterol. Animal foods are higher in fat than most plant foods, particularly saturated fats. Plants do not contain choles-terol.

9."Carb" deficient. Meat is deficient in carbohydrates, particularly the starches which are so essential to proper health.

10.Vitamin deficient. Except for the b-complex, meat is largely deficient in vitamins.

11.Agricultural Chemicals. Being higher on the food chain, animal foods contain far higher concentra-tions of agricultural chemicals than plant foods, including pesticides, herbicides, etc.

12.Exposure to livestock drugs. There are over 20,000 different drugs, including sterols, antibiotics,

growth hormones and other veterinary drugs that are given to livestock animals. These drugs are consumed when animal foods are consumed. The dangers herein, in secon-dary consumption of antibiotics, are well documented.

13.Pathogenic Microorganisms. There are a host of bacteria and viruses, some quite dangerous, that are common to animals. When I eat meat, I eat the organisms in the meat. Micro-organisms are present in plant foods too, but their number and danger to human health is by no means comparable to that of those in meat.

14.Worms and other Parasites. Ditto on # 13!

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15.Shelf life differential. Plant foods last longer than animal foods. Try this experiment: Leave out a head of lettuce and a pound of hamburger for 1 day, which will make you sick?

16.Organoleptic Indications of Pathenogens. Plant foods give tell-tale signs of "going bad". Ever hear of someone getting sick from "bad broccoli"?

17.Heart Disease. Meat eating increases the risk of heart disease, this country's #1 kil-ler. The correlation is an epidemiological fact.

18.Cancer prevention. Of all the natural cancer prevention substances found: vitamin C, B-17, hydroquionenes, beta carotene, NDGA, - none has been found to be animal de-rived. Yet most meats, when cooked, produce an array of benzenes and other carcino-genic compounds. Cancer is infinitely easier to prevent than cure. Soybeans contain protease inhibitor, a powerful anticancer compound. You won't find it in useful quantities in animal based food.

19.Disease Inducing. The correlation between meat consumption and a wide range of degenerative diseases is well founded and includes.....

20.Osteoporosis

21.Kidney Stones and Gallstones

22.Diabetes

23.Multiple Sclerosis

24.Arthritis

25.Gum disease

26.Acne. Aggravated by animal food.

27.Obesity. Studies confirm that vegetarians tend to be thinner than meat eaters. Obe-sity is considered by doctors to be a disease within itself.

28.Intestinal Toxemia. The condition of the intestinal flora is critical to overall health. Animal products putrefy the colon.

29.Transit time. Wholesome food travels quickly through the "G.I" tract, leaving little time to spoil and incite disease within the body.

30.Fiber deficient. Fiber absorbs unwanted, excess fats; cleans the intestines; provides bulk and aids in peristalsis. Plant food is high in fiber content; meat, poultry and dairy products have none.

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31.Body wastes. Food from animals contain their waste, including adrenaline, uric and lactic acid, etc., Before adding ketchup, the biggest contributors to the "flavor profile" of a hamburger are the leftover blood and urine.

32.Excess protein. The average American eats 400% of the RDA for protein. This causes excess nitrogen in the blood that creates a host of long-term health problems.

33.Longevity. To increase ones risk of getting degenerative disease means decreasing ones chance to live a naturally long healthy life. Huzas and other peoples with large

centenarian populations maintain lifestyles that are relatively meat free.

34.Well Being. I just feel better since "giving up" meat and becoming vegetarian.

Personal Finances

35.Health care costs. Being healthier on a vegetarian diet means spending less on health care.

36.Food costs. Vegetarian foods tend to cost less than meat based items.

Ethics

37.Love of animals. I love animals as I love myself. I have no desire to kill them or cause

them harm.

38.Stance against Factory Farming.. I cannot make a statement against factory farming if I myself eat animals.

39.Respect for Sentient Life. I show gratitude to my Creator(s?) by eating as low on the food chain as possible.

40."Economic Vote". I show support of the meat industry and the way they operate when I purchase and use their products.

41.Small sacrifice The sacrifice I make is nothing compared to the animals, its life.

42.Natural diet. Our hands, teeth, feet, intestinal tract...even our body chemistry is that of an herbivore.

43.Reciprocity. If I partake in the slaughter of animals, I will have to repay my contribu-tion to that act.

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44."Protecting the Temple". "Whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and soul" (E.G. White)

45.I believe in nonviolence. Slaughter isn't.

46.World Peace. There can never be peace among men while men are declaring war on other highly developed life forms.

47.Clear conscience. I know what I'm doing is right. I feel good inside about my decision to remain "meatless"

48.Example. To live this way is to protect the underlying values of those around me.

49.Easy substitutes. There are vegetable based substitutes for every meat product imaginable.

Conclusion

I always check food labels when buying unfamiliar processed foods and make an in-formed choice as much as possible. The ingredients I avoid at any price are preserva-tives, sugar, white flours and animal products (including dairy). When choosing to com-promise, I lean towards taking cooked and processed foods, but there is not much tol-erance for supporting a industry that is cruel to other live forms, the planet and ulti-mately to ourselves.

It is up to each of us to change the way the industries operate. Our purchase power, the power of the individual is by far greater than you could ever imagine!!! I plead to you to make informed choices, that sit right with you and work for you in every way possible.

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So what advantages comes with the Raw Food Lifestyle? or

How the Lifestyle can save the world

- Having mainly Raw and living food means that you will buy less packaged foods and therefore reduce the imprint on the planet drastically!

- By not cooking you save some gas/ electricity and you spare yourself from scrubbing panʼs and potʼs. I wouldnʼt wanna go back there!!!

- You might want to get into gardening, growing some organic food yourself. With this comes thinking about water conservation (e. g. rainwater-tanks) and composting, which again reduces the imprint you'll leave on the planet and of course cutting down your long- term costs of living. Also by picking fresh food right out of your garden you save a huge amount of transport costs and fuel usage that is caused by food being transported around half of the country or half of the globe until it gets to you. The energy being used for storing these foods wouldn't be necessary either! Of course your food will be as fresh, nourishing and nutritious as it can possibly be!

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- As you will come to notice the advantages of organic produce, like way more nutrients, way less chemicals and better for the environment, you are going to buy more of that, increasing the demand and helping for the prices of organic produce to come down. Hopefully one day it will be the norm to have only organically grown fruit and vegetables in the shops!

- You are feeling better and being more productive. Why not use your spare time and energy to give something back to the world like volunteering or fundraising for a cause that matters to you?

- A vegan and and/or Raw Food diet changes the vibratory level of the cells and atoms in your body and will enable you to progress spiritually a lot faster.

- By you setting an example of how to live a simple and healthy life for yourself and the planet, you will inspire the people around you that are ready to make a change, too. You won't even have to try! Anyone who watches you and is ready will take from it what they need. Some might ask you for more info, others might just quietly notice some of the things you do and think about what they can incorporate themselves. This is the way we can truly change the world!!! Letʼs create a future for our children worth living!

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Why is it a Lifestyle?

As you become more conscious of your eating habits, that is, what you eat, how you eat and when you eat, you also become more aware of other areas in your life. Or maybe it is vice versa for you and some recent realizations about you and your life have led you to wanting to change your diet. Either way with increased consciousness you have to con-sider the impact that food has on your body/mind/spirit unit.

They way your body works directly influences the endurance and sharpness of your mind. How your body and mind work influence the amount of joy you are experienc-ing in your life- or the lack of it. I think we all can relate to the way we feel after a heavy, carbohydrate-loaded meal. We feel heavy, sluggish, don't want to move, don't want to think. We can't move forward in our life when we're feeling like that. We can't put energy into our personal evolution when we can't even get off the lounge!

Once you realize the true impact of the foods you eat, the thoughts you think and the things you choose to do, your world changes. I am a believer of "we are the creators of our world" on every level of existence. It doesn't matter where you start, but when you truly want to evolve to your full potential then it is crucial to start to make changes in at least one area of your life. I would like to inspire you to make some food and lifestyle changes by reading this book. I hope you will see that preparing Raw Food is really very easy and the only challenge is to learn how to prepare it and to give your body time to adjust. This is a different process for all of us, as every body is different. However there is a lot of literature to help you (see recommended reading section).

It helped me a lot to read up about all the topics that interested me and make informed choices. This gave me the confidence to deal with people that can not relate much to

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the Lifestyle choices I am making. But by being confident and persistent in the way I choose to life I have found that even my family of carnivores has, after many years, started to develop a high level of tolerance and slowly some interest in the what's and why's of my choices. Therefore I encourage you not to give up, but to put your will to-wards what you want to do in your life, keep your values in sight and keep a flexible ap-proach. A German saying goes: Where there's a will, there's a way! And one of my say-ing goes: If it feels right, then it is.

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Costs?!

One of the most commonly asked questions is: Does is cost a lot more to be a Raw Ve-gan? The answer depends on a few factors:

- How much expensive food do you want/ or consider necessary on a regular basis?

- Are you willing to track down local produce and whatʼs in season?

- Do you want to prepare a lot of your foods yourself?

- How much Raw Food do you want to eat?

- Can you grow your own?

Please let me explain how the above questions relate to the costs involved. I have been living with very little money on the Raw Food diet for a long time, but when my income increased I went nuts (literally, I ordered nuts in bulk!!!) and spend a lot of money on food. It really is a matter of what youʼre used to and what mindset you have relating to money and how much you want to buy. You can certainly be a healthy Raw Vegan on a low income. It just take some getting used to and working out what foods you need to feel your best and create a good balance.

To make it work it is a smart idea to find places in your area, like local shops, farmers or farmers markets, where you can buy fresh produce. When you buy whatʼs in season you get good prices for fruit and veg and buying local helps the local farmers as well as you getting your food as fresh as possible. Obviously this involves some organizing and planning on your side, but it will cut down your costs!

If you are only just making the change to Raw Food you will probably feel like having more familiar looking and tasting foods. You can prepare any of these yourself! It isnʼt much work, but it is a new task to learn and like any other new skill it will take some time to acquire it. I had a big advantage in the fact that I used to make a lot of foods myself already when I still had cooked foods. I would make my own breads, cakes, soy milk and meals. So I was already used to investing the time, because I wanted to make sure my foods donʼt have any preservatives or sugar in them. On the Raw food diet you can easily make your own breads, crackers and cakes with way less labour and way less mess than the cooked versions! There are also a lot of Raw Crackers, cookies and even power barʼs available in the shops these days. Browse your Health Food shops and on-line stores. Of course the more you make yourself the cheaper youʼll live!

A lot of people divert the amount of Raw Foods they have on a daily basis into percents. So they will tell you that they are 50%, 80% or 100% Raw. I donʼt really like this as I find that each day is different and I donʼt want to limit myself with trying to stick to a certain

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number or system. There is certainly the need for caution when you start off. It isnʼt beneficial to jojo back and forth too much. One interesting observation I have made is, that the more I stretch towards cooked or processed foods, they more I seem to need in quantity to feel satisfied. Once you think about that up to 80 % of the nutrients get de-stroyed in the heating process of most foods, alongside with the enzymes, this isnʼt a surprise. What our body canʼt get in quality, it tries to make up for in quantity.

Therefore think about Raw food as the Super petrol for you body. When you fill up on that, the apparent costs are a lot higher, but because your “car” will run on it for a lot longer and stay a lot cleaner, it balances out. You will have more energy, less medical bills and even less need for cosmetics.

One of the cheapest ways of getting your food is to have your own veggie garden and if youʼre a landowner: An orchard! And again, yes there is some labour involved. But when you start off very small and work your way up to bigger projects it wonʼt even feel like work. Itʼs so rewarding harvesting your own produce!

I recommend trying to grow some sprouts in soil first, then start with some sturdy greens and veggieʼs, that donʼt need too much attention, like Rocket, Mint, Parsley, Chili, etc. It doesnʼt matter where or how you life, you can always find a little room for some pots and give it a go. There is very little cost involved. You can also order Heritage seeds, which are exciting old vegetable varieties that arenʼt available in the supermarkets any-more. Did you know that there are hundreds of different kinds of tomatoes??? But the big supermarket chains only ever offer a few, the varieties that are most profitable. Also the Heritage Seeds are a lot more sturdy and will cope a lot better with extreme weather and pests. There are a few different online stores where these Seeds are available. My favorite supplier is www.eden-seeds.com.au. Please note that most of the seeds that I have ever put in the ground have actually become a seedling, so they are great value! And once you start with one variety you can let it go to seed and preserve the seeds for next season. This way you get self sufficient!!! And that would be the ultimate low cost way of living on Raw Food!

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NutritionGreen Smoothies A - I

All GreenHave you lately looked at a globe? Which are the predominant colors you notice? Blue and... ah, GREEN! This might give you some indication about the impor-tance of green foliage on our planet. In Victoria Boutenkoʼs books “Green for life” and the more recent one “Green Smoothie Revolution” she describes in detail why Greens are so important and I highly recommend reading at least one of them!

To give you a bit of “food for thought”: Chimpanzeeʼs are to 99% genetically identical with humans (the closest match there is in the animal kingdom) and their diet consists predominantly of fruit and Greens and blossoms. This clearly tells us how far we have strayed from our natural diet but also how important greens are to us as well.

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BlendingThere are 2 reasons why you want to blend your Greens:

1. Absorption.... Blending breaks down the cell walls of dark leavy greens which are very tough and hard to break through. Because most of us are chewing our food very poorly, we arenʼt able to get much of the nutrients out of the Greens we have. Also most of the time our stomach acid is out of balance after having lived on cooked and processed foods for a long time. By blending our Greens we bypass these problems a great deal and ensure optimum absorption.

2. Getting enough Greens... To have sufficient Greens in your diet you are supposed to have 6 packed cups a day!!!!!!!! If you were to chew them that is. Blending reduces this amount to about 3 packed cups a day (for the above reasons of better absorp-tion). If you make the intake of Green Smoothies a daily ritual it is very easy to sip away at it and get this amount of Greens in your diet!

Create your own!When first making your own Green Smoothies it is advisable to start with half Greens and half fruit. Then as your taste- buds adjust to the chlorophyll you can reduce the amount of fruit gradually.

Also there are savory Green Smoothies, which are more like a soup. The same rule ap-plies, start with about half Greens and then gradually more if you wish. The possibilities thereof are endless!!!

Just add some water. Keep it simple, that makes for better absorption into your system. For some ideas see the recipe section or go online to www.rawfamily.com.

Do it right!To optimize the absorption of all the nutrients into your body try to not take any food or drink for 30 - 40 minutes before and after enjoying your Green Smoothie. Itʼs great to start your day with a Green Smoothie for breakfast! Some people also find that replac-ing one of their regular meals with a Green Smoothie has amazing effects (read below).

Effects of daily Green Smoothies...Give this a try and you will be utterly amazed... Even if you donʼt change anything else in your diet, just adding Green Smoothies has had the following effects for a lot of peo-ple:

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- Elimination of Food cravings

- Improvement in the appearance of skin

- Spots and wrinkles improve and even disappear

- Improvement in eyesight

- Reduction of grey hair and even their elimination

- Improvement of gums and moth flora

- Ulcers improve and disappear

- Improvement of sleep

- Better sleep

- More energy

- Mental clarity

- Balance to a natural weight (for most this means weight loss for some weight gain)

- Overall health improvement (e.g. lower cholesterol and balanced blood pressure)1

Some people have healed chronic diseases with the help of Green Smoothies and Raw Foods!!!

Find the right blenderFor the preparation of Greens Smoothies and Raw Foods it is best to have a blender that has more than 1000W. (Read more in the Equipment section!)

Get them rotatingAs Victoria Boutenko outlines in her books it is utterly important to rotate the Greens you are us-ing in your smoothies! All greens contain tiny

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1 “Green For Life” by Victoria Boutenko

amounts of toxins to protect themselves from extinction. Imagine yourself as a grazing animal who keeps on eating away on a colony of one plant. Imagine all the other ani-mals doing the same... Soon this particular plant would be extinct! Therefore the plant made sure that after feeding from it for a while, we need to move on to another kind, otherwise we would accumulate the toxins in our bodies until they would have an un-pleasant effect. Please follow this natural law and rotate between as many Greens as possible! Amongst cultivated Greens, wild edibles and weeds, herbs and medicinal herbs and sprouts there are hundreds of options!!! If you canʼt buy a big variety of greens at the local shops, why not cultivate your own? Wheatgrass, Silver beet and Kale and co. are very easy to grow.

Holistic FoodGreen Smoothies are a complete, or I should say, a holistic food. They contain all the vitamins and minerals, all the nutrients we need on a daily basis. The only exception to this is Vitamin B12 which can be obtained through sea vegetables and legumes, but should be supplemented if in doubt. What about protein? One pound of Kale contains more than the recommended daily allowance of it!! Green Smoothies hydrate our bod-ies, nourish them and require a minimum effort to digest and absorb! To pin it down to one word: Awesomeness!!!

Instant SmoothieNo matter what you are up to and how busy you are... Take your Green Smoothie with you. Have it in a takeaway coffee mug to have while driving, take some to work, have some more at home. It lasts 3 - 4 days in the fridge, so make up a heap and have it ready!

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Raw and Living Foods

Our natural state of beingHave you ever seen a lion cooking a barbeque? Have you seen a gorilla mak-ing a stew? No, not lately? Thatʼs be-cause humans are the only species on the planet that alter their food in a totally unnatural way. I believe if we were meant to cook and process our food we would have been born with...well at least some pots?! What about everything around the cooking process? Have you ever thought about what a huge effort the human race is going through to come up with gas and electricity for cooking, creating packaging, transport-ing fresh and packaged foods, making pots, pans, stoves and all sorts of cook-ing equipment.... In fact, if we disre-garded this way of living once and for all, just the costs saved by NOT COOKING would make it possible to feed everyone in the world, not to mention what could be done with the money saved if every-one would be Vegan (read the chapter on Reasons to be Vegan). The sad truth is, we are so caught up in our modern way of living that we hardly ever con-sider what our natural state of being would be like. Another truth is, that when an individual lives in his or her most natural form, this is also most beneficial for the entire human race as a hole and the en-tire eco-system. (We are all connected.) Just dare to imagine....

Why Raw- Vegan?Again what is our natural diet supposed to be? I honestly think we werenʼt born to cook our food. Hence it is only logical that when something doesnʼt appeal as food to you in itʼs Raw form, you are probably not meant to eat it. Most people, even if they are so used to processed foods that they have developed a dislike to vegetables, would still

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choose some salad over a raw piece of meat. This is proof enough for me. Please also read the Reasons to be Vegan- chapter!

What is what?By definition any food that hasnʼt been heated above 45 degrees celsius and that is still “fresh” (about 3 days after harvest) is classified as a Living Food. The enzymes in these Foods are still active and hold a vitally important role in our bodies. They take on spe-cific tasks in the assimilation and digestion of the food. These enzymes get totally de-stroyed by cooking. Then our bodies have to take enzymes away from the “enzyme- re-serve” that we are born with. Just that these wonʼt be the right skilled workers for the task at hand and therefore wonʼt be able to perform it as efficiently as the enzymes that come with Living Foods. 2Also as we continue to deprive our bodies of enzymes from our inbuilt reserve, they canʼt act out the task they originally had. Most of these tasks have to do with renewing cells in our bodies or to be bluntly simple: They keep us young. Therefore living on Living Foods will do exactly that.... keep everything living! They keep us young, strong and healthy, so that we may naturally age, rather than age through wearing our bodies out by mistreating them. Would you be surprised if you had engine problems with your car after filling diesel in a car that runs on petrol? Why then are we still surprised by the rate so-called industrial countries have more and more chronic diseases by the minute (so it seems)?

Raw Foods are all foods that havenʼt been heated above the 45 degree mark. Even older Raw Foods, that wouldnʼt be classified as Living Foods anymore, still have a lot of the enzymes intact and are therefore preferable to cooked Foods. For ease of reading I will usually refer to Raw Foods throughout this book, meaning both: Living and Raw Foods.

HydrationWhy do we have to add water when we cook our food? Obviously cooking deprives our food of water, it literally dehydrates our foods and therefore our bodies. Also added “bad” salt (Please read the Salt facts in the Food cupboard chapter!) plays itʼs part in that. Hereʼs the irony in it: We deprive the food of water during the cooking process and then we have to add more water to compensate for it. So when living on mainly cooked/processed foods you will have to follow the recom-mendation of taking an extra 2 liters of water per day. Then arises the problem of which water to drink. Will you drink tab-water? Since most water-supplies are chlorinated and some even have fluoride added, you

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2 “Living in the Raw” by Rose Lee Calabro, page 6: “Enzymes”

will have to invest into a decent water filtration system. Or do you buy water in bottles? This causes a huge amount of packaging and transport costs. Either way it is problem-atic.

In contrast to that Raw Foods contain 90% of water on an average. This means that the water we take in through Raw Foods has already been purified by the plant and also is it combined with essential enzymes. This will provide you with more of the hydration you need. Of course in hot weather and special medical conditions we all will have to take in much more water, but chances are you will keep the hydration up easier compared to someone who lives predominantly on cooked foods. Not to mention that most of us donʼt follow the recommendations of how much to drink (which is roughly 8 cups or 2-3 litres a day, stated by different medical research results). By eating mainly Raw Foods your natural intake of Foods and water will balance out in the long term.

Transitioning towards more Raw FoodsNo matter what your lifestyle is now, you can always incorporate more Liv-ing and Raw Foods into your diet. I would like to share with you a few things that can make this transition period easier:

1.Know that we are addicted to cooked foods! Please read “12 Steps to Raw Food” by Victoria Boutenko. She explains in detail why cooked foods truly are addic-tive and how to overcome this ad-diction. As with all addictions awareness is the key for change! Observe yourself and your habits...

2.Have your daily Green Smoothies!!! (see the Green Smoothie A- H for details)

3.Find Raw Food alternatives for the most tempting “bad foods” you are having at the moment! (see recipe section)

4.Experiment with the “5 tastes” . Any dish you create should contain

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every one of the 5 different tastes. If you were to make a savory dish, these flavors would be the predominant oneʼs, for a sweet dish the sweet flavors would be most noticeable, etc. The secret is to have a palette of tastes within any one dish to make it interesting. Thatʼs why we we also add a pinch of salt when we bake a cake! The 5 tastes are as follows:

- Sour, e.g. lemons, cranberries, tomatoes

- Sweet, e.g. dried fruit, fresh fruit, Agave Nectar

- Spicy, e. g. garlic, mustard (greens or seeds), ginger

- Salty, e. g. celery, cilantro, sea vegetables

- Bitter, e.g. parsley, sage, cayenne pepper 3

5. Learn the art of “uncooking”! In your own time, learn how to prepare more Raw Foods and become confident in it. Congratulations!!! You have made a great start by picking up this book! ;-) Once you have this skill you are likely to use it more and more. Itʼs really easy and fun!

The detox- phase(s) It is entirely up to you how big a leap you are going to take. Some people jump right in and clear out their cupboards of cooked and processed foods, some people need to transition gradually and gently and it might take them years to incorporate more Raw Foods into their diet. It doesnʼt matter how long you take, only to keep your goal in sight. Only you can choose your goals and the way that is going to get you there.

If you consciously want to detox, a great way to do it, is to fast for a couple of days on fruit juices and/ or green smoothies. Building up to it and following this you would want to have only Raw Foods.

If you decide to make big changes in your lifestyle straight away or plan a detox, then you need to know about whatʼs going to happen next. Most probably your body will go into detox after 2 - 4 days of big changes in your diet. This is a critical time! You will probably feel really good the first few days but then the detox “symptoms” kick in. Your body will be ready to let go of all this old baggage. If you give up then, not much will be gained. If you keep doing what youʼre doing, work with it, rather than against it. You might encounter symptoms like nausea, pimples, headaches, cold- and flue like condi-tions, constipation or diarrhea.

How severe this is depends highly on how well you have prepared yourself for the de-tox. It is possible to ease these symptoms by sweating it out, either in a steam bath or

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3 “12 Steps to Raw Food” by Victoria Boutenko

through gentle exercise. Also Jumping on a trampoline or doing headstands will be help-ful as gravity and inversions can help you to get the toxins out of your system. Gentle exercise that get your blood circulation going are beneficial, too, so is massage. Lotʼs of walks in nature, sunlight and fresh air are a great way to keep your balance. You will know that itʼs over when you feel really good again! If you do a juice fast you probably wonʼt even feel hungry anymore. Start eating slowly and consciously, best with some fruit. After this you will want to keep your body as pure as it is and feel a big sense of achievement. If you need more directions please read up about the right way to fast and detox!

After transitioning to the Raw Food Lifestyle after a life- long of mistreating yourselves and our bodies it is not unusual to take up to a few years to fully get rid of all the toxins. Within this period you may get an occasional up flare of detox symptoms. For some people these can be testing times. The detox usually goes hand in hand with the surfac-ing of emotional baggage - itʼs all connected! If you can only keep in mind that every-thing that enters our system has to re- surface when it leaves our system, you will un-derstand that this process is necessary and a sign that a purification process is at work. Keep faith in what youʼre doing and seek like minded people and groups to support you.

Having some sort of spiritual practice is very helpful and has been vital for me person-ally.

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Food CupboardLetʼs have a look at what you might find in a Raw Foodieʼs cupboard...

Nut Creams & Pastes

I use a lot of Tahini. It is a paste made from Sesame Seeds. It is great in Salad dress-ings, Dips, Smoothies and Desserts. Tahini and Honey on some (Raw) bread make for a great sweet treat. I use unhulled Tahini most of the time. This simply means that the hull has been processed into the paste as well and it therefore contains more nutrients, it however tastes slightly more bitter. There is also a variety of Black Tahini, made from Black Sesame Seeds which is most nutritious and very delicate in taste. Macadamia Creme and other nut creams are quiet expensive (but divine!) and I only use them when preparing a special dessert, e. g. Raw Ice Cream. Please take care to find a brand that is truly Raw and hasn't heated the nuts and seeds in the process!

Sweeteners

There is a big debate amongst Vegans weather Honey can and should be part of a Ve-gan diet. I personally use a fair bit of honey, I am however aware that for each teaspoon of honey a bee has given it's life and feel a lot of gratitude for that. I substitute with Agave Nectar as much as I can. Agave Nectar is the sweet syrup that is deprived from a cactus plant and is also highly nutritious. Again it is a good idea to check that the prod-uct is truly Raw and the honey unprocessed. I often use fresh fruit or dried fruit to sweeten dishes or dressings. I stay away from processed Sweeteners as much as I can, because anything that is white and refined like Stevia Powder is better than plain white sugar, yes, however there are more natural alternatives (You could grow a stevia plant and use the fresh leaves). I believe a good balance between all different sweeten-ers and listening to your body in terms of how much sweet and what sweets are good for you will lead you to a balanced approach.

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Seaweed Products

Seaweed is one of the Super foods that is in fashion right now. Most popular amongst the Seaweed Products are Nori Sheets, that are typically used to make Sushi Wraps. Most Nori Sheets contain processed Sea Weed, which doesn't count as Raw. I do how-ever use it a fair bit, because it is still a healthy way to some "fast Food". You can wrap just about anything, from leftover Salads to cut up veggie's and give it a new and excit-ing twist. My little son eats the sheets often blank or with some Avocado wrapped in it or try to wrap some Banana.

Dulse Flakes are great to sprinkle over asian tasting Salads and to add saltiness to your dishes. You also get hole Dulse at Health Food stores, but because of it's intense flavor I usually cut it into thin strips prior to use.

Irish Moss is quiet expensive, however very popular among gourmet Raw chefs for des-serts, soups, etc. because of itʼs thickening quality.

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Wakame is certainly my favorite Seaweed. You can use it in Raw Soups or Salads and it has a exceptional flavor that I absolutely love! This truly is a Superfood and a dish in-cluding Wakame will leave you totally satisfied for hours!

When there are no fresh greens available the range of superfood- powders are a live- safer!!! Of course there is Spirulina, then thereʼs Chlorella and often you get mixed Sup-plements that contain one or both of them.

Seaweed facts:

Wakame (Undaria pinnatifida)

Pappardella-like leaves with a salty-sweet zest

Nutritionist Gillian McKeith, PhD, author of the You Are What You Eat Cookbook, calls wakame the woman's seaweed because it is loaded with osteoporosis-preventing calcium and magnesium and acts as a diuretic (which helps reduce bloating). Wakame's pigment, fucoxanthin, is known to improve insulin resis-tance, and a 2010 animal study found that fucoxanthin burns fatty tissue.

Nori (Porphyra species)

Papery sheets with a mild earthy taste

Among the marine flora, nori is one of the richest in protein (up to 50 percent of the plant's dry weight), and one sheet has as much fiber as a cup of raw spinach and more omega-3 fatty acids than a cup of avocado. Nori contains vitamins C (a potent antioxidant) and B12 (crucial for cognitive function) and the compound taurine, which helps control cholesterol.

Kombu (Laminaria japonica)

Leafy kelp with a full-bodied, savory flavor

Kombu is prized as a source of iodine, which is needed to produce the two key thyroid hormones that control metabolism. The kelp is also rich in fucoidan, a phytochemical that acts as an anticoagulant; a 2011 study found that kombu con-tains properties that stop clots from forming in blood vessels—which may make it a promising subject for cardiovascular research.

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Arame (Eisenia bicyclis)

Long, thin, sweet-tasting strands

Arame provides a good amount of potassium, a mineral known among athletes for preventing muscle cramps. Research has shown that arame has antiviral properties, too, and even an antiobesity effect: In a 2010 experiment, researchers discovered that mice on a high-fat diet experienced less weight gain when their food was sup-plemented with arame powder.

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Grains

The only creatures on this planet that have a digestive tract that is made to digest grains is the bird family. Because of it's easy use in agriculture grains have become deep rooted in our cultures and societies. I do try to avoid having too many grains in my diet as they make me feel sluggish. However I do believe the Raw versions of grains and sprouted grains provide us with some nutrients while fulfilling the desire to have some-thing heavy. I often use Steel cut Oats. These are Oats that aren't heat treated like Rolled Oats, but are simply hulled and cut. I soak them overnight and use them for filly breakfast meals or Tabouleh.

Another grain that I like is Buckwheat (easiest to use hulled). I typically soak it overnight and then sprout it anything from 1 - 3 days (depending on temperature and climate). I use it a lot to make dehydrated treats, like bread and cookies.

Sprouts

Another Superfood are sprouts, although they have been around forever! Sprouts are classified as "Living Foods". That means when you eat them they are still growing and busting with nutrients. Just imagine that this tiny plant contains everything it needs to grow to a mature plant. Picture the tiny sunflower seed and the huge plant that it be-comes!

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4 http://www.oprah.com/food/Different-Types-of-Seaweed-Nutritional-Benefits-of-Seaweed

I add sprouts to salads, soups and use them for decoration. These days you can buy sprouts in the supermarket shelves, which is good if you do not have the time or pa-tience of growing your own. Be aware that most of these sprouts aren't organic and are grown with chemical fertilizers. Only buy fresh looking one's. If the tips are still a bit pale you can leave them out in the sun for a bit. Make sure to wash them before usage. Don't buy or use if the tails turn brown, that means they are so old that they started decaying.

I find it very easy to grow my own sprouts. The biggest advantage of DYS is that you can buy organic seeds. As a general guide use clean glass jars. Get yourself some mash. Wash the seeds and remove any foreign material. Then fill into jar (start with only a few, as they expand enormously!), put the mesh sheet on and fix it with a rubber band and soak in water over night. If it is hot put the jar in the fridge. Drain in the sink the next day and rinse. Then place your jar upside down on an angle for example on a dish rack. Rinse at least twice daily, more often in hot weather. When the tails are long enough, place next to a window to expose to direct sunlight. Once the leaves have a rich green color your sprouts are ready to eat. There are sprouting charts5 that will give you a time for the different seeds, however it again depends on your climate how long your seeds take to sprout. In mild, warm weather most common seeds will take around 3-4 days. The sprouts are best kept in the fridge once ready and should be rinsed daily. I keep mine in the glass jar and rinse the hole jar before every use. The most common sprouts to grow at home are Mung Beans, Alfalfa, Snow Peas and Sunflower.

Oils

As a rule of thumb you should always purchase cold pressed oils when using it for Raw Food. This means that the produce hasn't been heated in the process and therefore all nutrients and enzymes are intact in this oil. Some essentials are Olive Oil (I always get big 5 liter canisters), which is used in just about anything from salad dressing to nut pate's.

The oil that makes you beautiful from the inside out and can also be used as a skin treatment is Coconut Oil. It is awesome in desserts and ice cream's, making them taste very rich and creamy. It is liquid when warm and becomes hard in the cold. This makes it the perfect addition for Raw creams!

Flaxseed Oil is a popular dietary supplement, known to provide essential omega 3- fatty acids that are important for skin and general health. It has an explicit taste that I have grown to really appreciate. It is great in some salads, adding a nutty and rich flavor to it. There are many more oils out there you can try and discover, but these few serve me well in my every day food preparation.

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5 http://www.betterraw.com/2011/08/sprouting-chart-and-guidelines.html

Olive Oil factsThe grades of oil extracted from the olive fruit can be classified as:

Virgin means the oil was produced by the use of physical means and no chemical treatment. The term virgin oil referring to production is different from Virgin Oil on a retail label (see next section).

Refined means that the oil has been chemically treated to neutralize strong tastes (characterized as defects) and neutralize the acid content (free fatty acids). Refined oil is commonly regarded as lower quality than virgin oil; oils with the retail labels extra-virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil cannot contain any refined oil.

Olive pomace oil means oil extracted from the pomace using solvents, mostly hex-ane, and by heat.

Extra-virgin olive oil comes from virgin oil production only, contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste.

Virgin olive oil comes from virgin oil production only, has an acidity less than 2%, and is judged to have a good taste.

Pure olive oil. Oils labeled as Pure olive oil or Olive oil are usually a blend of refined and virgin production oil.

Olive oil is a blend of virgin and refined production oil, of no more than 1.5% acidity. It commonly lacks a strong flavor.

Refined Olive pomace oil is refined pomace olive oil often blended with some virgin oil. It is fit for consumption, but may not be described simply as olive oil. It has a more neutral flavor than pure or virgin olive oil, making it unfashionable among con-noisseurs; however, it has the same fat composition as regular olive oil, rendering it the same health benefits. It also has a high smoke point, and thus is widely used in restaurants as well as home cooking in some countries.

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67

Flax Seed Oil factsIt contains the highest level of the omega-3 fatty acid ALA among vegetable oils.

Vinegars

Vinegar is an important addition to most salad dressings and to some soups. Often you don't need much, but a hint of something sour can give your dish that final touch (Fur-ther reading: 12 Steps to Raw Food by Victoria Boutenko, chapter “The five tastes”).

I mainly use Raw, unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar and sometimes Balsamico. Also fresh lemon juice acts as a sour taste and can be used instead or complementary to vine-gar's.

Salt

Many people aren't aware of the negative impact that ordinary salt in our diet can have on us.

Celtic Sea Salt is still in itʼs natural state. It is moist and unrefined and therefore still grey as it naturally occurs. This is my favorite salt, tastes great and you only need to use very small quantities.

Alternatively you can get Himalayan Salt which is also highly nutritional and still kept very natural. It is pink in color.

Please note that salt, no matter how good the quality, is still a food additive. Raw and Living Foods naturally contain the salt which they deprive from the soil and when being on a balanced Raw/Living Food diet additional salt is unnecessary. I personally have cut down my salt consumptions heaps by using Celtic sea salt, but I still feel a strong liking of it. I hope that one day I will be able to enjoy my meals with their natural tastes and without any additives. Have you experimented with it yet? How long can you go without adding salt to your meals? Do you find that the less you use the less you actually need to make it palatable?

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6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil

7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax_seed_oil

Salt facts

Death can occur by ingestion of large amounts of salt in a short time (about 1 g per kg of body weight). Deaths have also resulted from attempted use of salt solutions as emetics, forced salt intake, and accidental confusion of salt with sugar in child food.

The Cochrane Collaboration found that "a modest and long term reduction in popula-tion salt intake [...] would result in a lower population blood pressure, and a reduction in strokes, heart attacks and heart failure. Furthermore, our study is consistent with the fact that the lower the salt intake, the lower the blood pressure." Some isolated cultures, such as the Yanomami in South America, have been found to consume little salt and are still capable of regular activity. This may indicate an adaptation of hu-mans to low levels of sodium that originated in the predominantly vegetarian diet of human primate ancestors. 6

For humans to survive, salt is essential to regulate the water content in our body. Ta-ble salt, because it is refined, is unhealthy and toxic. But what our body really requires is natural pure salt.

Hence the confusion in the minds of many. There are two forms of salt – bad salt and good salt. Eating table salt will actually deprive your body of the real salt and minerals that you need for healthy living.

Without the good salt you will experience the following…

✤Respiratory and blood sugar problems

✤High blood pressure

✤Accelerated aging

✤Cellular degeneration

✤Liver failure

✤Kidney problems

✤Adrenal exhaustion

✤Tired heart muscles and laceration that can produce a fatal heart attack

So letʼs have a look at bad salt.

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There are many salts represented in this category , the two most common being  – Table Salt and Sea Salt.

Table Salt, commonly known as common salt  is used by most people in cooking and for food preservation. 82 of the 84 minerals in  natural salt are removed leaving only sodium and chloride both of which are toxic to our bodies in high doses.

Sea Salt is derived directly from the sea, but is refined just like table salt. Thought to be healthier, but it has actually been processed and both minerals and trace elements have all been removed.

Now what about the good salt?

Celtic Sea Salt is the moist salt that has been harvested from the Atlantic sea water off the coast of Brittany in France. It is harvested using the Celtic method of wooden rakes. No metal touches the salt. It is then naturally aired and sun-dried in clay ponds and gathered by wooden tools to preserve its living enzymes. Because of its unrefined nature it contains all of the 84 beneficial live elements found in the sea water. No chemicals and preservatives or additives are contained within Celtic Sea Salt.

Among the live minerals and trace elements found in Celtic sea salt are iodine, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium and zinc.  The 84 trace minerals pro-vide the necessary nutrients and protect the body from the harshness of sodium chloride that we consume from commercial salt. The appropriate magnesium con-tent ensures that unused sodium is quickly and completely eliminated from the body through the kidneys to prevent harm.

That is why it is the good salt…

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Spices

Spices make your dishes more interesting and particular combinations are associated with different areas of the world, e. g. Asian, Mexican and Italian flavored spices. Make sure you buy good quality. I find that often buying less variety but the better quality works well for me. I use some spice mixes, like a mild curry mix thatʼs handy to have. In general whole spices are more flavorsome because a lot of the flavor gets released when the spices are grinded. So it is worth it to have a mortar and pestle at home.

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8 http://www.healthysnips.com/good-salt-bad-salt

Savory Yeast Flakes are available in Health Food shops. They add a cheesy, savory taste to your dishes. I like using it, although it is a processed food.

It's always handy to have a variety of dried Herbs and Spices of your liking on hand. This way you can always tweak your dishes quickly. It is even better to grow you own herb garden all year around and pick the fresh goodness as you use it.

Dried Fruit

Dates, Raisins, Sultanas, Goji Berries, Apricots and Figs are just some examples of yummy snacks and additions to your dishes. Be aware that dried fruit raises blood sugar levels and should be used moderately. The do make for a good snack when on the road though and fruit leathers are a great way to have a bit of variation. I do not often buy them as I don't like the waste of packaging that goes into them (they are all wrapped separately). I some-times make some myself in the dehydrator, which is great when you get fruit that's in season and really cheap. Once you turned them into fruit leather it will last for months! If buying dried fruit in any form or shape please check the ingredients for Sulphur Dioxide. You might notice that dried fruit that has been treated with it has a more artificial color, like apricot's being bright orange. Dried apricots that haven't been treated with sulfur are brown in color.

Dried fruit factsThere is about 50% fructose in most traditional dried fruit.

Dried fruit may promote healthy teeth and gums. Contrary to longstanding popular perception that dried fruits such as raisins promote cavities, recent studies indi-cate that they may benefit oral health. Bioactive compounds found in dried fruit appear to have antimicrobial properties that inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause cavities and gum disease.

Dried fruits, particularly dried plums, may promote bone health.

Dried fruits promote digestive health.

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Dried fruits may contribute to healthy body weights. Emerging data suggests that dried fruit intake is not associated with higher body weight. On the contrary, recent analysis of NHANES (1999–2004) data indicates that diets high in dried fruits are associated with lower Body Mass Index (BMI), reduced overweight and obesity and improved diet quality. Moreover, after adjusting for potential cofounders (socioeco-nomic status, education, exercise), these data show that prevalence of overweight/obesity and prevalence of abdominal obesity are lower for those who consume dried fruits than for those who did not. Finally, emerging data suggest that dried fruit promotes satiety by affecting the levels of hormones such as leptin that regu-late appetite.

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Sulfur dioxide facts Sulfur dioxide is sometimes used as a preservative for dried apricots and other dried fruits owing to its antimicrobial properties, and it is sometimes called E220 when used in this way. As a preservative, it maintains the appearance of the fruit and pre-vents rotting. It is also added to sulfured molasses.

Inhaling sulfur dioxide is associated with increased respiratory symptoms and dis-ease, difficulty in breathing, and premature death.

A 2011 systematic review concluded that exposure to sulfur dioxide is associated with preterm birth.

In the United States, the Center for Science in the Public Interest lists the two food preservatives, sulfur dioxide and sodium bisulfite, as being safe for human consump-tion except for certain individuals who may be sensitive to it, especially in large amounts.

Humanity's longstanding experience with sulfite use has led us to regard them as harmless and convenient compounds. However, sulfur dioxide, while harmless to healthy individuals, can induce asthma when inhaled or ingested by sensitive peo-ple. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that one out of a hundred people is sulfite-sensitive (allergic), and about 5% of asthmatics are also at risk of suffering an adverse reaction. Given that about 10% of the population suffers from asthma, this figure translates to approximately 500,000 people with potential for sulfite-sensitivity. These individuals make up the subgroup of greatest concern and are largely aware of the need to avoid sulfite-containing foods. Consequently, the FDA requires food manufactures and processors to disclose the presence of sulfiting agents in concentrations of at least 10 parts per million.

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9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dried_fruits

10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulphur_dioxide

Nuts & Seeds

Although they shouldnʼt make up a huge part of our diet Nutʼs and Seedʼs are great when first starting off with Raw Food and a moderate amount is quiet healthy. There is no limit to your imagination as to re-creating familiar dishes with their help.

I use Nuts and Seeds for the following:

- Pates and Dips

- Dressing and Sauces

- Trail mixes or snacks

- Breakfast cereals

- Dehydrated bread, crackers, cake- or pizza bases

- Bliss balls

- Nut- and Seed milks

I try to soak most of the nuts and seeds I use. This activates the inherent enzymes and makes out of the Raw a Living Food, that is easier to digest and has a different vibration altogether. As a general rule of thumb you should soak the smaller oneʼs, like Sunflower Seeds for about 6 hours, and the larger oneʼs like Almonds 8 hours or over night. Please refer to a soaking chart for details. 11 Please discard the soaking water, or use it to water your plants, they love it! Donʼt drink it as it tastes horrible and the bitter sub-stances that have been released in the enzyme-activating process arenʼt good for us. Then rise your nuts or seeds again and eat or use to make Sweet treats or Nut milk. Simply put about 1 part of nuts to about 4 parts of water in your blender and blend until smooth (add fluid gradually). The less water the thicker the milk and vice versa. Then strain trough a Nut milk-bag (you can get those online or in some Health Food Shops). Save the pulp and use in breakfasts, salads, to make cakes or Sweets. If not using it straight away either dehydrate until dry or freeze.

Soy Products

Thereʼs a lot of contradicting information about how much or little Soy products are good for us or weather they are necessary altogether. As I have been a vegetarian for many

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11 www.veggiewave.com/soaking_chart

years I have had a time where I lived on Soy milk and Tofu. When I try the highly proc-essed products now I feel a bit yucky afterwards. I do however have the odd Soy milk or Tempeh every now and then and feel fine with that.

I often use Miso in my dressings as it gives them a nice and different flavor. There a white, red and some other Miso pastes that are worth trying if you like the taste. Also I use Soy sauce every now and then and find that Tamari is the best brand to get around here.

Please note that Soy-products of any type arenʼt raw, they are heated in the process!!! Some Raw Vegans get Soybeans and sprout them and use them to make raw Tofu and things alike. I am very careful, as the loose Soybeans that can be bought in many health food shops often arenʼt labelled and most soy these days is GM manufactured. I there-fore advise you to always buy Non- GM and organic products from a trustworthy brand or supplier!

Soy Product- FactsTempeh: In 2008, an epidemiological study of 719 Indonesian elderly found that tofu intake was associated with worse memory, but tempeh (a fermented soy product) intake was associated with better memory.

Soy sauce (also called soya sauce) is a condiment produced by fermenting soy-beans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt. After the fermentation, which yields fermented soybean paste, the paste is pressed, and two substances are obtained: a liquid, which is the soy sauce, and a cake of (wheat and) soy residue, the latter being usually reused as animal feed. Most commonly, a grain is used together with the soybeans in the fermentation process, but not always. Also, some varieties use roasted grain.

Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus kōjikin, the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup called misoshiru, a Japanese culinary staple. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan.

Miso typically comes as a paste in a sealed container requiring refrigeration after opening. Natural miso is a living food containing many beneficial microorganisms such as Tetragenococcus halophilus which can be killed by over-cooking. For this reason, it is recommended that the miso be added to soups or other foods being prepared just before they are removed from the heat. Using miso without any cooking may be even better.

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12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_products

Frozen stuff

It can be handy to use some frozen produce when preparing Raw Foods. I often freeze in the leftover pulp when making Nut milks and when I have enough I make a big load of dehydrated sweet Almond bread. Your can also freeze some of the milk to be used in smoothies. This saves you putting ice cubes in on a hot day!

Another great staple to have are frozen peas. They make for a great half-frozen snack in summer.

Bananaʼs change their texture when frozen (very creamy!) and can be used in smoothies, ice creams and other sweet treats. Other fruit like berries are just handy to have in there as well and are nice in any sweet dishes alike.

A word about water

In Raw Food preparation we often add a little water. Since everything else you put into your foods is so carefully chosen, please also pay attention to this aspect. A water puri-fier in your house can go a long way if you are using tab-water. If you are willing to make a bigger investment a rain water tank can serve you well. Please think about con-serving our planets water as much as possible, e. g. use the grey- water from your washing-machine and your dishwater for the gardens. Out of all the recourses on our planet water is the most essential. Please be aware of this and “charge” your water with gratitude. (Please refer to literature by Dr. Massaro Emoto, further reading section.)

Supplements

Unfortunately our environment these days is very unbeneficial for us. Unfortunately we created this- but this is a different story. The soils really lack the amount of nutrients that they used to have through the amount of chemicals, hormones, GM created plants and crops, and other forms of pollution, that our earth is exposed to.

Hence the plants, even when organic, may not be able to supply us with everything we need. Plus whenever we feel stressed we use up more vitamins and minerals. I person-ally have resisted the thought to take supplements for a long time, however I can tell from my own experience that a good combination of natural vitamin and mineral sup-plements as well as a combination of superfoods makes a differnce in my energy levels and overall wellbeing.

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I hearby would invite you to consult a trustworthy practitioner of your local health food shop and exlplain to them your life circumstances and lifestyle briefly and they will be able to point you in the right direction of which supplements can benefit you. Itʼs well worth the investment!

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EquipmentThe Basics

You can start off with only very basic equipment and get by. The most important things are what you find in every kitchen: Some decent knifes and cutting boards, peeler and grater, salad bowls and serving plates. There are some gadgets that you can get if you fancy them, like a salad- or herb- spinner (good for pre-pairing salads without the leaves going soggy) and a mandolin slicer for making interesting cuts or a Spiraliser for making (pretend-) pasta out of zucchinis.

The Blender

It's my main kitchen tool! Many people swear on expansive brands, but it really depends how much you use your blender and what kind of things you want do with it. I use it on a daily basis for:

- Green Smoothies,

- grinding nuts and seeds

- making salad dressings

and much more. I have a 1200W blender that serves me well. I wouldn't go for one with less than 1000W anymore as my experience is that the en-gine gets overheated very easily and I generally break them after a few weeks of usage. Also the blender I am using has a overheating-protection that turns off the device if I do go too hard on it. I find that very reassuring! ;-)

I recommend researching brands and prices online and in you local shops to see what works best for you!

Caring for your blender is just as important. Of course always follow the recommendations of your manufacturer. My golden rules are:

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- Don't use any metal cutlery to scrape it out, as this will blunt the blade, use wooden or plastic cook or bakeware instead

- When you stop the blender wait until the blades stop turning before taking it off the base. This is important to keep your engine healthy!

- When preparing something that's hard on you blender, like a nut pate, make sure to give it a break for 30 seconds every minute or so to prevent overheating (Not relevant if you do have one with overheating-protection).

Food Processor

I didn't have one for a long time and most things can be done in a Blender. However if you want to chop up big amounts or you desire a certain consistency a Food Processor will be a good friend to you! Also no more chopping onions and crying your eyes out! ;-)

I use it to:

- Make Pestos or Nut Pate's

- Make Raw cereals

- Make cookie-, cake-, and bread dough's

- Make Desserts

- Chop veggies

- Make Raw Ice cream's

I just have a cheap brand and it serves me well. I use it a few times a week. There are many attachments that came with it, but I don't really use them, as I find they often give me uneven pieces. The most important attachment to it is the so called "S-Blade". It's given it's name because it is shaped similar to an "S". As a general rule you can chop your produce in the Food Processor with your S-Blade. If you want it to have a more smooth consistency and less chunks you start adding liquid while it is running. The more liquid you add the smoother it gets. You often have to scrape down the sides of the Processor to get all the food that sticks to the walls. It's best to use a silicon scraper for that as you don't want for the blades to go blunt by using metal cutlery.

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The Dehydrator

I didnʼt have a Dehydrator for a long time and always wanted one. When transitioning to Raw foods it can help to make some heavy and familiar looking foods. Thatʼs where this machine comes in handy. I often make:

- Raw bread, crackers and pizza bases

- Cake bases, cookies

- Trail mixes and cereals

- Occasionally warm up food

- dry foods for storage (e. g. a big harvest from the veggie patch- you can make a great “instant” soup mix like that!)

The most common dehydrators these days are electric and operated with a fan that cir-culates the air through, passing the trays with the food, so that they can dry evenly. There are also “Sun- ovens” that can be constructed yourself but it is very difficult to get a consistent temperature in them and therefore not ideal if you want to prepare Raw Food.

On a good dehydrator you are able to adjust the temperature. If you keep below 118 °F (48 °C) degrees Celsius your food is still considered Raw. I usually turn my down to about 42 degrees, as the thermometer in it might not be exact and I rather be on the save side. It took me a little getting used to and learning what consistency the doughs for the Raw breads and cakes, etc. should have and how to best use my Dehydrator. I only have a fairly cheap one (about $150 Sunbeam round model) which is serving me well. I have some Flex sheets on which the bread dough or anything runny gets spread on, until it is dry enough to get transferred to a Mesh sheet, which speeds up the drying process.

Most things will take a day or two to dry to your desired consistency in the dehydrator. Out of my own experience I find that it doesnʼt use much electricity at all. The only chal-lenge I have had with it, was to find a good place for it in or around the house. It is a constant noise that you rather want to have somewhere away from the main living area and certainly away from baby and toddlers curious hands! They canʼt burn themselves, but they can certainly make a mess! Lol!

2 in 1I only just had a huge realization about how to ease up the sprouting process. I canʼt believe itʼs taken me so long to come up with it! Lol!

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The dehydrator itself is designed to keep air flowing through. When using the mesh trays, this airflow to all parts of the food contents is intensified. When previously growing sprouts in Jarʼs I always thought thereʼs gotta be a easier and cheap option to keep up the airflow and to achieve even rinsing with little work. You might have seen sprouting trays that are sold in various online- and health food shops. They are very pricy for usu-ally operating by this very simple concept.

Voila! The dehydrator is a perfect set of sprouting trays! The smartest thing about it is that you can place your soaked seeds or grains in it and you can sprout them right in there, rinse them (without the base, that one should never get wet!!!) twice a day, let them drip dry in there, and when sprouted enough you simply wipe the bottom tray dry and place it on the base and turn it on. No transferring everything around again! Dehy-drate your sprouts until crunchy and add to your salads or use to make e. g. buckwheat meal for dehydrated bread recipes.

When growing “green” sprouts, like Sunflower seeds you can expose the top tray to sunlight at the end of the sprouting process to get the green tops. Then you can rotate the trays until all of them have sprouted evenly. Please note that Sunflower Sprouts have a slightly bitter taste and while they are great in Salads, burgers and rolls, when making raw bread you will get better tasting results with only the soaked seeds.

If youʼre not using your dehydrator all the time to dehydrate, it might be the perfect solu-tion for you to use it for sprouting. Another option would be to keep your eye out for some spare dehydrator trays to use for this task. Some brands might be suited better for this purpose than others. Please think practical! And have fun!!!! :-)

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Before you start...Products and informed choices

I don't name any brands in the recipes as I hope you will make an informed choice about the products you use. Of course I recommend to get organic food products when-ever possible. It is really worth the extra expanse because you get a lot more nutritional value out of it. Try to go organic as much as you can and I promise you will feel the dif-ference within a day!

Personally I like to take it a step further and order my dried fruit and nuts from a distribu-tor that has organic produce, which is also Fair Trade 13 whenever possible and they donate a big chunk of their profit to good Causes. If every business would hold these values the face of the earth would change. And by choosing to put my money into these kind of companies I take an active part in making it happen!

Please remember to look into the list of ingredients of sauces and packed foods. If you don't know what something is or are otherwise unsure about it, ask yourself: Do I really need this? Is it really going to benefit my body/mind/spirit? As a Minimalist I try to only get what I find necessary at that moment and make do with what I have rather then get-ting something that's not really good for me. I find when I have food at home, it gets used. So sometimes cutting back on, e. g. nuts for a while makes me appreciate them much more and teaches me to use less. It's also a good strategy not to get tempted to buy any junk.

Measurements and final touches

The way I work in the kitchen is by feeling. I hardly ever measure quantities, unless I am learning something that's totally new to me. I have measured all quantities for the reci-pes written down here, assuming many of you are going to prepare Raw Food for the first time. I do urge you, however, to trust your taste buds, eyes, and hands more than the measurements.

I recommend using your taste buds to taste, taste, taste at every step of food prepara-tion and to adjust the taste to your liking. Is there something missing? Do I feel like hav-

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13 www.biodistributors.com.au

ing it more spicy today? More sweet? More sour? Is one of the tastes overpowering? What can I use to compensate and balance it out?

I would like to see you using your eyes as well! If it looks beautiful it will taste beautiful, too! Research has shown that bright colorful combinations of fruit and veg, that appeal to the eye, are more nutritious and higher in antioxidants. Do I like the colors of this? Is there too much? Is there something missing?

It's hands on! Feel the texture of you food. How is it going to feel in your mouth? Does it have the right combination of something soft, firm, crunchy? What can you add/leave out to like it even more?

The outlines in this book are ought to give you guidance, not dictate what you are doing. All fresh produce is always slightly different in size and taste. You might have different brand oils, sauces and spices that will lead to a different results. Also every Body is dif-ferent. Listen to the signals your body gives you! What do you feel like having today? I find that living on mainly Raw Food and not taking any chemical supplements makes me feel like having a great variety of food. That means I hardly have the same dish more than twice. On the contrary I sometimes have cravings for something in particular, e. g. living on mainly watermelon for a week. Then I will be over it and I believe what-ever nutritional need I had, has been satisfied.

This is your personal journey, your personal process to your optimal well being. I rec-ommend having a look in the further reading section and educate yourself to make edu-cated Food choices and find guidance. However ultimately you are your own guru. No other person in the world has the capacity to get to know you as well as you do. No other person in the world has the capacity to make you as happy as you can make yourself. This is just a recipe book. It's just food. BUT: We truly are what we eat. How you treat yourself and your body/mind/soul unit reflects directly how much (or how little) you value yourself. I wish you that you treat yourself like a god/goddess (in my believe we are all part of the Great Spirit, therefore we ARE all god's and goddesses). And I wish that you may eat like a god/goddess. This is the purpose of this book. Please use it as that: An inspiration to well-being!

Guilt = Poison

Now that you are in the process of gaining a different perspective, donʼt let guilt get in the way. Never think about anything a second time with a guilty con-science!!! It is scientifically proven that it has an more ill effect on your body to feel guilty about having a particular food than actually ingesting it! *

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The point of power is always in the present moment, as Louise Hay states in her teach-ings. Love and appreciation of self come first and that includes forgiving yourself for any choices you may have made in the past, that havenʼt been in your highest interest. Please be kind and gentle to your self! You are on your journey... right now! :-)

What your Munchkin can do...

Once we discover whatʼs the best and most natural way of living for ourselves we also want to share this with our families. When your child watches and helps with the food preparation his or her interest in this kind of food will increase in itʼs own time. I am a big believer of the Continuum Concept (refer to further reading section) and have put together some general ways, how your children can help you when prepar-ing Raw Vegan food:

- For little children you can get wooden fruit and a knife with which they can “cut” it. The fruit is already in slices and makes up a whole held together by velcro, so the little oneʼs can cut slices off. These are Steiner-style toys and of great value! Let your child(ren) cut up their fruit whenever you cut something in the kitchen.

- For older children or braver parents: Get a real knife (a children's- knife, that is small and not too sharp or a little butter- knife will do) and a cutting board for your child and let them cut up some soft fruit for recipes or morning tea. If you run them through it a few times and explain what to do and what not to do you will be surprised at how well and carful most children will handle a knife. Please note I do not recommend leaving your child unsupervised with a knife, power machine or anything else potentially harm-ful!

- Children of any age love helping with the electric- or any other kitchen-tools. Let them put the ingredients for whatever your making in the blender or food processor, let them turn it on, to different speeds and turn it off.

- Get your child to hold the measuring cup/spoon while making measurements.

Before you start...

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- Take your little one with you when checking up on the Food in the Dehydrator and let them taste/touch it at different stages of the drying process.

- Older children can hand you things that you need, like the food, oils, sauces etc. or cutlery.

- Get your children to help you set up the dining table. Possibly the little ones can have unbreakable kids- dishes and cutlery.

- Whatever you do, always explain it to your child(ren), even when they are still little. Get them involved, ask them what they think you are doing and what they think needs to be done next.

- Let them taste and feel at different steps of the food preparation- process. Ask them what they can taste, what the food feels like, what color it has, weather they like it or not and what taste they would like in it. (Tell them about the 5 tastes- refer to 12 Steps to Raw Food in the Recommended Reading section)

- When doing something that your child canʼt help with, have something else ready to keep them busy in the kitchen. For example my little one has a few cupboards that he is allowed to clear out while Iʼm doing the dishes. There are Tupperware containers to match the lids with and kids dishes and cutlery he can play with.

- Children as young as about 3 can help doing the dishes and drying them, standing on an Easel to reach up to the kitchen counter and sink. Also tucking the dishes away, so that lonely plate can go and sleep with his family in the cupboard, is a useful task for the little oneʼs to get involved in.

- Be patient with your child. It takes time and practice to get some children interested and doing those tasks more independently. But you will be teaching your child impor-tant live skills, as well as bonding through a common activity and also increasing the interest for the end result.

- Have fun together!!!

Hygiene

Since raw food preparation is conducted without heat it is important to follow common hygenic principles, which are:

- washing hands well

- thoroughly washing fresh food with a pinch of vinegar and scrub with a brush

Before you start...

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- Clean all dishes and kitchenequippment used with hot soapy water and let drip dry or use clean tea towles

Before you start...

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RecipesSnacks, Sides and Entrees

Cashew- Goji- Snack

For a yummy snack simply mix half Cashew Nuts with half Goji-Berries. Store in airtight container in the fridge and enjoy while still cold! Yummy and energizing!!!

Chili and Lime Almonds

2 cups of almonds, soaked over night and drained

1/2 red chili, seeds taken out

juice of 2 limes

1 teaspoon of coconut oil (optional)

4 tablespoons of tamari

1/2 cup of dates, soaked

Rinse almonds. Blend all other ingredients well (including water from soaking the dates) and combine with almonds in big bowl. Let it marinade for about 1 hour. Put almonds with some of the marinade onto dehydrator mesh sheets and dehydrate about 24 hours until dry. Stir occasionally. (Save the leftover marinade and use as a really yummy Salad dressing. Add garlic to give it even more depth!)

Hazelnut Granola

1/4 cup Steel cut oats (or oat groats), soaked over night

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1/4 cup Hazelnuts, soaked over night and rinsed

1/4 cup of Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds), soaked over night and rinsed

1/2 cup of dates, soaked over night

1 teaspoon of Salt

2 teaspoons of Cinnamon

Place the oats and dates with some of their soaking water in the blender (Itʼs best to use up the date - water first as it adds sweetness, the oat-water is useful as it adds starchi-ness). Add the Salt and Cinnamon and blend until fairly smooth. The mixture should be liquid enough to blend well, however not entirely runny!!!

Then chop Pepitas and Hazelnuts roughly and combine with the “dough” in a big bowl. If you got the texture right you will be able to place random blobʼs on the mesh trays of your dehydrator. If it is too runny you can start off with the solid trays and dehydrate until dry enough to transfer onto the mesh-trays. Dehydrate until dry and crunchy, about 24 hours.

This granola is great to snack on or to have as a cereal with some fruit and nutmilk. If you donʼt have a dehydrator you could half the amounts of the recipe and keep it in the fridge for a few days. Also freezing in small portions might work well if you can plan your brekkie ahead...

Cosmic Cauli Patties

1/2 head cauliflower

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon of Nutmeg

1-2 teaspoons Thyme

1/8 cup Olive Oil

125 g Pine-Nuts

1/4 cup of Flax Seed

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Chop up the cauliflower roughly and place in Food Processor with the lemon juice, salt, nutmeg, thyme and olive oil. Process until creamy and fluffy. You might need to scrape down the sides of the Food Processor a few times to get the desired result.

Grind Pine nuts in a Blender or Coffee Grinder (- make sure the Blender is dry, so it doesn't stick to the sides). Mix with the Cauliflower-mash. (You can stop here if you just like some Cauliflower-mash as a side dish!)

Now blend the Flaxseed just as you did the Pine-Nuts. It is however a good idea to clean the device first (Lazy me sometimes skips this step! ;-)), so you can keep any possible leftover Flax meal in a container in the fridge and use it in other dishes.

Put some of the Flax meal in one hand and scoop some of the Mash in. Now shape it into a patty and crumble some more Flax meal on top. Now flip the patty from one hand in the other always adding some more Flax meal until it is fully covered. Repeat until you've used up all your mash. Store in the fridge for about 1 hour prior to serving. Keeps 2-3 days. This is the perfect side for a "cooked" looking meal! I like it with just some mixed Baby Greens, Sprouts, Tomato's and Avocado's.

Serves 4

Marinated Mushrooms

500g of Mushrooms

1/4 cup of Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1 teaspoon of Salt

2 teaspoon of dried oregano

1 small white onion

Cut Mushrooms into slices (not too thick as they won't absorb the marinade as well but not too thin as they shrink in the process), cut onion into very thin slices and mix with the other ingredients. Let sit at least for an hour. Keeps a few days in the fridge and is great as a Side Dish or to mix into Salads.

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Quick Carrot & Apple Salad

Blend or chop until very fine in food processor (with S- Blade):

1 large Carrot

1 large Apple

1 pinch of salt

2 tbsp of poppy seeds

1 1/2 tbsp of flax oil

1 tbsp honey (optional)

1/2 a thumb size bit of ginger or to taste

juice of one lemon (optional)

2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Add raisins, dried figs, or sprouts to your liking! I often have this as a quick and easy lunch or late breakfast.

Serves 1 - 2

Sensational Sushi

"Rice":

1/2 a head of cauliflower or parsnip

150 g of nuts (pine-nuts or sunflower seeds work well)

juice of 1 lemon

pinch of Celtic sea salt

1 teaspoons of dried herbs or

1 little handful of fresh herbs, e.g.. parsley

1 pinch of nutmeg

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Grind the nuts in a blender or coffee grinder. Process the cauliflower with the other in-gredients, then combine with the nuts. Is this the easiest rice you ever made, or what? ;-)

Filling:

1 Avocado

1 small carrot

1 baby cucumber

1 stalk of celery (optional)

1 handful of your favorite sprouts

Cut up the veggie's into thin stripes.

You also need:

1 package of Nori Sheets

1 little warm water

Sushi matt

Soy sauce

First you need a big cutting board. Place your Sushi matt on it, then the Nori sheet, shiny side down. Have all other items ready and near by. Spread the "Rice" on the sheet with a spoon, leaving about 10 cm of the upper side of the sheet free.

Arrange the veggie strips on the edge of the sheet that is facing you, leaving about 3-5 cm to the edge. Take care not to overload it with filling, usually one strip of each on one spot is enough. Place your sprouts on top.

Now wet your fingertip in the little warm water and wet the upper edge of the sheet. Then start rolling up the matt on the side that you placed the filling on. Slightly tuck in the edge under the veggie's and continue to roll up in a smooth movement until your roll slides off the mate. It should be sealed on the outer edge through the water and the

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slight pressure you have applied while rolling it up. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't look perfect straight away, it takes a few goes to get the hang of it!

Set the finished rolls aside. Clean up the mess or feed the baby/cat/dog/yourself. By the time your done your rolls should be firm enough to be cut into bite size pieces with a sharp bread knife. Keeps in the fridge for 1-2 days. To serve arrange rolls on a cutting board or plate and serve some soy sauce with it for dipping. If desired decorate with some more sprouts. Enjoy!

Serves about 4

Tip: For a quicker version skip making the “rice” and spread a thin layer of avocado on the Nori Sheet before filling with your choice of vegetables. We call this one a Wrap at home! ;-)

Sun- Basil Pesto

1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 6 hours, rinsed and drained

1 bunch fresh Basil

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt

2 - 4 cloves of garlic (depending on how strong you like it)

1 Tablespoon Agave Nectar

1/2 teaspoon of Cumin Powder

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Water for blending

Place all ingredients in your blender and slowly add some water to the running blender until desired consistency is reached. Alternatively you can use the Food Processor and leave the Pesto in a more coarse consistency.

This is delicious with a Italian salad, e. g. Tomatoes, Zucchini, Capsicum, Onions, or as a dip for crackers, as a sauce for Zucchini Pasta with some Cherry Tomatoes on the side, etc, etc. Use your imagination!

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Dehydrated Foods

Pizza - base or cracker - lecker!

1 cup of buckwheat, soaked and sprouted 2- 3 days, rinsed

1 cup of sunflower seeds, soaked over night, rinsed

1/2 cup of flaxseed, ground

6 medium sized tomatoes

1 medium sized onion

4 cloves of garlic (or to taste)

1 bunch of basil, stems removed

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Savory Yeast flakes

1 tablespoon of salt

Place buckwheat and half of the tomatoes in Food processor. Start processing, gradu-ally adding more water until a runny dough forms. Place mass in mixing bowl. Add the flaxseed. Mix well.

Add all other ingredients into Food processor. Process in the same manner until a runny dough forms. Add to mixing bowl and mix well. Spread on Teflex dehydrator trays and dry until able to transfer to mesh sheets. Dry to desired crunchiness. I prefer to dry them until very crunchy and eat like that. If you want them to resemble a soggy pizza you can spread your sauce on ahead of time to get this effect.

Recipe should be plenty for 4 dehydrator trays.

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Breakfast

Buckwheat Brekkie

1/2 cup of Buckwheat, soaked over night, drained and rinsed

2 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and grated

1/4 cup of Raisins

1-2 teaspoons of Agave Nectar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

Of course there are endless possible variations....

- Add your choice of berries

- Add your favorite Nut milk

- Blend part of the mixture to make porridge, e.g.. blend buckwheat and apple and then add raisins and some more fruit for texture, also add ground flaxseed to make porridge thicker and water or fruit juice or nut milk to make porridge thinner

- Sprout Buckwheat for 2 - 3 days (rinse at least twice daily!)

- Dehydrate Buckwheat or other seeds and grains until crunchy for ready done up bulk breakfast cereal!

- ....

Servers 2 - 4

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Chia- Flax Porridge

1/4 cup Chia Seeds

1/4 cup Flaxseed

Pinch of Salt

1 teaspoon of Cinnamon

2 - 4 Tablespoons Agave Nec-tar

Fruit of your choice, e. g. Ba-nana and Blueberries

Nut milk (optional)

Pour Chia seeds in a bowl and cover with water, stir with a fork. Let sit for about 10 Minutes, then stir again. Add more water if desired.

While the Chia seeds soak you can put the Flaxseed in the Blender and grind to desired consistency (finer for a fine porridge or coarser for a more chunky one).

Stir Flaxseed into the soaked Chia seeds until desired thickness is obtained. The more Flaxseed the thicker it is going to be. Add additional water and/ or Nut milk to your liking and add all other ingredients. This is very filling, a good start for the day! Enjoy!!!

Serves about 2

...And put it in the Blender for Baby and me!

2 Apples (I like Gala)

2 Pears (soft & ripe)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 - 2 Tablespoons Flaxseed Oil

Up to 1/4 cup ground Flaxseed

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Raisins (optional)

Cut seeds out of the apples and pears and chop roughly. Place in Blender with lemon juice and Flax Oil. Blend until desired consistency is reached. Mix ground Flaxseed through porridge and top off with Raisins.

Note: This is a great easy breakfast or sweet treat for little oneʼs as well as big oneʼs. This is particularly handy when being sick or having a toothache and not being able to bite into a apple without discomfort.

Serves about 2

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Soups, Sauces & Dips

Green Cream dip

Place the following ingredients in your blender:

1 cup of soaked sunflower seeds, drained and rinsed

Core of 1 Zucchini (leftover from making Zucchini - pasta) or 1/4 of a medium Zuchhini

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3 teaspoons of salt

2 heaped teaspoons of honey

1 bunch of parsley

1 bunch of mint

3 - 4 tablespoons of coconut oill

Gradually add up to about 400ml coconut water (fresh or packaged) during blending un-til it has a creamy consistency. Neither too thick nor too runny!

Optional: Press through nutmilk bag to get rid of any chunks.

Tastes great with dehydrated crackers or with Cauliflower & Curry Capaow on page 62.

Serves 2- only if willing to share!!!

Tahini - Garden sauce

1/2 cup hulled Tahini

1 bunch of coriander

1 handful of mint

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4 cloves of garlic

juice of 2 lemon

250 g of natural raisins

1/4 cup Olive Oil

2 teaspoons of cracked pepper

2 - 4 teaspoons of salt

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. This is great as a dip with veg-gie- sticks or as a rich sauce for a gourmet salad.

Serves about 2 - 3 greedy people. ;-)

Classic Zucchini dressing

Core of 1 Zucchini (leftover from making zucchini pasta), Or 1/4 of a medium size zuc-chini

Juice of 2 lemons

3 teaspoons of honey or agave nectar

1 teaspoon of celtic sea salt

1 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 of a cup flax seed oil

1/4 of a cup olive oil

2 small cloves of garlic

1/2 dried chili

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

Mix all in blender until smooth. Yields about 2 servings of salad.

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Tropical Tomato Soup

Soup base:

3 cups Coconut milk (blend up water and flesh of 2 young coconuts- there might be leftover)

3 medium size tomatoes

1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes (optional; or substitute with soy sauce)

2 cloves of garlic

1 stalk of lemongrass

1 - 2 inch piece of ginger

2 tablespoons of Agave Nectar

3 teaspoons of red miso

3 tablespoons of lime juice

2 tablespoons of black pepper

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

Blend all the above ingredients well.

Topping:

Add finely chopped coriander, diced red capsicum and mushrooms or another topping of your choice. Enjoy chilled or slightly warmed.

Serves 3 - 4

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Mains

Apple- Celery - Avo Salad

Salad:

2 Apples

2 stalks of celery

2 Avocados

1 handful of nibble mix (Mixed natural Nutʼs and berries)

Cut everything in bite-size chunks, combine and sprinkle with nibble mix.

Dressing:

Classic Zucchini dressing, page 59.

Combine with salad before serving, although it also keeps well in the dressing as it keeps the apple from oxidizing. Sprinkle some Flax seeds of Flax meal on top, enjoy!

Serves 2

Absolute Asparagus

Salad:

1 bunch Asparagus

2 cobs of corn, corn cut off

1 Avocado

Juice of 1/4 lemon

1/2 cup of Mungbean sprouts (or canned mixed beans if you're desperate)

250 g cherry Tomatoes

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1 good handful onion flakes (easy to make in your dehydrator)

Dressing:

1/4 cup of Olive Oil

3 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

2 teaspoons Mixed herbs

2 teaspoons Chili Flakes

1 pinch of Celtic Sea Salt

Cut the Asparagus and Avocado into bite size pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice im-mediately. Add all other ingredients. Toss with dressing and serve. Keeps well in fridge for 2 days.

Asparagus and Carrot Rolls

1 bunch of green Asparagus

2 medium size carrots

Some Cos- lettuce leaves (or other soft lettuce)

Break off the end of the Asparagus stems. You will find that it snaps at a certain point, this gets rid of the tart part and leaves you with the fresher part of the asparagus. If the stems are thick half and quater lenghtwise or skip and cut inch long pieces. Cut the car-rots in sticks of the same thickness and length.

Place a few carrot and asparagus sticks on top of a salad leave at the base of the stem. Top with Tahini - Garden Sauce from page 58. Then roll up. You may secure the rolls with tooth pegs and serve immediately. Alternatively demonstrate your guests how to roll it and DIY. This can be just a snack or a meal, as the sauce is very rich and filly.

Serves about 2 - 3

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Antje's Rocket Salad

Inspired by my good friend Antje...

250 g of Rocket

1 Williams Pear

juice of 1/4 of a lemon

1/4 cup of Walnuts

1/4 cup of (blue) currants

Cut Pear in bite size pieces and squeeze lemon over it immediately to prevent oxida-tion. Massage in with hands to make sure all is covered. Combine with other salad in-gredients.

Dressing:

2 - 3 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup of Flax Oil

1/2 teaspoon of Salt

1 Tablespoon of Agave Nectar

Combine dressing with Salad, top with freshly cracked Pepper and serve.

Serves 2 hungry mouths.

Cauliflower & Curry Capaow

(I just totally made that name up! Lol!)

Place all of these ingredients in the food processor and process at low speed to get a crumbly consistency:

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1/2 head of cauliflower, washed and roughly chopped

4 Baby carrots (save the greens for sauce!), roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons of Salt

4 tablespoons of mild curry spice mix

4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons of Flax Seed Oil

2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 teaspoon of tumeric

2 teaspoons of cumin

1 teaspoon of paprika

Then combine in a bowl with the following:

1 cup of frozen, thawed peas

3/4 cup soaked, finely chopped dates (can use some of the soak water, too)

1 cup of sprouted green lentils (optional)

Serve with Green Cream dip (page 58) and a side salad like purple sauerkraut or mes-culin mix. Keeps well in fridge for a few days.

Serves about 4

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Tomavo Simplicity

Salad:

2 big Tomatoes

1 big Avo

A few basil leaves

Optional : Salad Greens

Dressing:

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 - 2 Tablespoons Balsamico

1 pinch of Salt

Cracked black pepper to taste

Cut everything in either slices or bite size chunks, combine with the dressing and enjoy!

Note: The riper and fresher your ingredients, the less you need, because you want to taste the single components of your dish as well as combination of flavors.

Serves 1

Broccoli Chop

1 Broccoli

1 big Gala Apple

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon Salt

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1 teaspoon Cumin

A little handful of Sultanas

1- 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

1/4 cup of Sunflower Seeds, soaked and rinsed (or soaked, rinsed and dehydrated for a more crunchy texture, OR just ordinary oneʼs if youʼre in a rush! )

Place all ingredients in Food processor and process until fairly fine. Warm slightly on a cold day and enjoy with a side salad of greens and/ or possibly a burger pattie (see rec-ipe for Basil burgers).

2 - 3 Serves

Curried Corn Salad

Salad:

2 ears of sweet corn

2 spring onions

2 tomatoes

2 small handful's of raisins

Dressing:

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 tablespoon Celtic Sea Salt

1 tablespoon mixed dried Herbs

1 tablespoon of mild curry mix

1 tablespoon of paprika

1 tablespoon of Olive Oil

1 tablespoon of Flax Oil

2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

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1- 2 lemon juice

Cut the corn off the cob, cut spring onion into slices and tomatoes into small cubes. Mix everything with the raisins in a salad bowl.

Cut garlic very finely with the Salt and mix the resulting paste with all other ingredients. Salad can be kept combined with the dressing for a couple of days.

Serve with Sprouts of your choice, e.g.. Snow Pea and sprinkle some Sunflower or Pepitas on top if desired.

Serves approx. 2

Beautiful Basil -Burgers

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Patties:

2 bunches of basil

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes

3 ripe tomatoes

1 teaspoon of salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 teaspoon of cracked pepper

1 cob of corn, shaved

1/2 cup of ground Flaxseed

Save 1 tomato, the corn and Flaxseed for later. Place all other ingredients in blender and blend until a paste forms (some chunks are ok, donʼt over-blend!). Chop up the to-mato into very small cubes and combine with corn, Flaxseed and Basil-paste, best done with your hands. Form chunky patties. These can be kept in the fridge for about 3 days.

Burger:

Fresh big salad leaves (for bunʼs)

Mesculin Mix

Slices of Tomato, Avocado, Cucumber

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Herbamare (optional)

To assemble the burger use the big salad leaves as buns, place a bed of Mesculin Mix on it, followed by the slices veggies. Drizzle with Oil and Vinegar and some Herbamare (Salt and Herb Mix) if desired. Place burger pattie on top and close it with another salad leave. Voila! Hereʼs your burger! Depending on how strong your lettuce leaves are these can be eaten with your hands (best held at the stalk with the famous C- grip!). When

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having guests you can place a buffet of all the ingredients on a table and demonstrate the assembly, so everyone can make their own.

Tip: Anytime you desire “cheese” on top of your meals like you used to have, get your-self some Pine Nuts, chop them up roughly and sprinkle over the top of your Raw Ve-gan Pasta, Pizza or burger! :-)

Serves 4 - 6

Rawsome Tabouleh

Salad:

1 cup steel-cut oats, soaked over night and drained

1 humongous bunch of parsley

3 small ripe red capsicums

4 spring onions

1/2 cup of raisins (optional)

1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes

Dressing:

juice of 2 (big) lemons

4 cloves of garlic

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 heaped teaspoons celtic sea salt

1-2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon dried mixed herbs

Chop the parsley, spring onion, sun-dried tomatoes and capsicums finely and mix in a bowl with the other salad ingredients. Place dressing ingredients in a blender and blend

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until smooth or chop garlic very fine by hand and mix with other ingredients. Mix Salad with dressing just before serving. Enjoy!

Serves about 5

Spinach- Strawberry Super Salad

Salad:

About 250 g Baby Spinach (half a bag)

250 g Strawberries (small container)

2 handful of Sultanas

1 pear

1 1/2 stalks of celery

1 bunch of basil

Cut the strawberries and pear in fairly big chunks,

cut the basil leaves in wide stripes,

cut the celery in fine slices and toss with the other ingredients.

Dressing:

juice of 2 oranges

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of honey

pinch of nutmeg

1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

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1/2 cup of olive oil

1 teaspoon of white miso paste

Combine all ingredients either by mixing with a fork or in the blender. Mix with salad be-fore serving. Top with pumpkin seeds and some sprouts for decoration.

Serves 2 - 4

Stir, but not fry

Salad:

1 small broccoli

1 red capsicum

optional: 1 carrot

optional: Bean sprouts

Cut off the broccoli florets and cut in quarters lengthwise (start from the stem) and make sure to use the stem! Cut the tuff bit's off and cut into thin sticks, resembling the size of the other veggies. Cut the capsicum into thin sticks and then half lengthwise, repeat for the carrot. Marinade everything in the following:

Dressing:

1/2 cup of olive oil

2 teaspoons of Celtic Sea Salt

2 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped

Freshly cracked black pepper

juice from 1/4 of a lemon

1-2 teaspoons of honey

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Massage marinade into vegetables with your hands and let it sit for at least 1 hour. It keeps well in the fridge and can be enjoyed up to 3 days later!

Before serving drizzle some more olive or sesame oil (the veggie's absorb a lot of the marinade) and top with any of these:

- Chili flakes and soy sauce

- Sesame seeds and sprouts

- Dulse flakes

My experience:

I started off by making this dish as complex as I used to have my stir-fries with as many as 5 or 6 different veggies! I find because Raw food is so flavorsome all by itself I now enjoy simple dishes with less ingredients. Feel free to experiment, using your favorite veggies and toppings and adding things or leaving things out of the dressing. That way you can come up with your very favorite! My all time favorite combo is just fresh broccoli and capsicum.

Sweet Potato & Honey Dew Salad

Salad:

1 cup Honey Dew melon, cubed

1 cup Sweet Potato, shredded

2 Tablespoons Dulse Seaweed, cut into strips

1 1/2 cups mixed Salad greens

Some shredded coconut

Dressing:

Rind of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lemon

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2 Tablespoons Flaxseed oil

2 Tablespoons Agave Nectar

1 Teaspoon Salt

About 4 Tablespoons Coconut Milk (you can make your own by placing shredded coco-nut in the blender with a little water or blend some fresh coconut water with the flesh),

Put Sweet Potato in a Mixing Bowl and marinate (massage with hands) with lemon juice and salt and let it sit at least 30 Minutes or over night. Squeeze out and discard the juice after marinating and combine with Melon, Seaweed and Greens. Top with Dressing, Dulse and some shredded coconut and enjoy!

Tip: You can get a variety of Seaweed foods at your local health food store. As ex-plained in the “Food Cupboard” section, seaweeds provide us with all essential nutrients including vitamin B12 which can otherwise only be obtained through legumes while en-joying a Vegan diet.

Wakame and Pumpkin Salad

Salad:

1 Parsnip, peeled and chopped roughly

1 cup Pumpkin, peeled and chopped roughly

1 cup Wakame Seaweed, soaked for 1/2 hour, drained and rinsed

1 Avocado, peeled and cubed

1 handful of Snow Pea or other Sprouts

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Dressing:

Juice of 1 Lemon

1- 2 Tablespoon of honey

2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

1/4 cup Olive Oil

Process the Parsnip and Pumpkin in Food processor with the S- blade until finely chopped and looks like Cous Cous. Mix with other ingredients and toss with Dressing in a Salad bowl. Top off with Sprouts. Enjoy!

Sauerkraut & Co.

Sauerkraut is a traditional German Food. Usually white Cabbage is used and gets slightly fermented in the process, thus causing the sour flavor. It is very beneficial for our gut flora and tastes delicious indeed! It took me a little bit to get the hang of it, but hopefully you will be able to succeed straight away with these simple steps:

1. Pick your Cabbage! Sauerkraut can be made with just about any cabbage you can think of! You can also add other “hard” veggies, like carrots, beets, radishes, onion, etc.

2. Chop chop! Remove the outer leaves of your cabbage (save them!) and the core and either grate per hand, mandolin or place in your food processor with a grating at-tachment to get even, small pieces.

3. Stamp it down! Traditionally Sauerkraut has been placed in big wooden barrels and people stamped on it with their feet! The idea is to break through the cell structure of the cabbage and release the inherent liquid. You can do the same placing the Cab-bage, a couple of handfuls at a time, in a wide mouthed glass jar or bowl (try to avoid plastic containers!). Keep on adding salt with each handful (add about 2 - 3 Table-spoons of Salt per cabbage head). Use your fists to “stamp it down” until the cabbage is moist and covered. If you find it hard to get enough liquid try adding more salt. You can also add some water. Then stamp again, make sure to push out any air bubbles! Repeat this process until you used up all your cabbage/veggies.

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4. Cover him up! Place the saved cabbage leaves on the top and find something to weigh it down, e. g. if you use a bowl put a smaller plate on top and put some (clean!) rocks, on top or for a glass jar use some smaller glass jars, filled with water to add weight.

5. Enjoy life, but remember your Kraut! In a warm climate I usually leave the Sauer-kraut about 4 - 5 days. Place it somewhere out of the way, but visible, so you remem-ber to check on it. It will give off some odor, but I donʼt mind it. Make sure the liquid keeps on covering the Kraut and it doesnʼt hurt to uncover him every couple of days and give it some more stamping and stuffing down to make sure all the air escapes (too much air will cause rotting instead of fermentation).

6. Taste- test- Done?! How sour do you like it? I like mine not too sour and Iʼm usually impatient. But as long as you keep on checking on your Sauerkraut and keep on tast-ing it, not much can go wrong. (I have heard of mould growing on the top and that it can be taken off and the Kraut is still save to eat. I personally havenʼt had any mould appear yet when I followed the procedure as explained here.) When itʼs to your liking, cover it and place it in the fridge. It will last for a few weeks and therefore makes a great staple food!

Enjoy your Sauerkraut on its own with some salt, oil and pepper, or add seeds, spices, garlic, chili, vinegar or lemon juice. Mix it with other veggies or have as a side dish. One of my favorites is purple cabbage - Sauerkraut with olive oil and pepper, served with cubed Cucumber, pumpkin seeds and snow pea sprouts. Yum!

Yammo Asian style Cabbage

Salad:

1/2 head curly cabbage

4 small Carrots

1 handful of fresh Snow Peas

Dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon

4- 6 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons of Chili Flakes

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1 teaspoon of Celtic Sea Salt

4 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce

1/4 cup of Olive Oil

1 1/2 Tablespoons of white Miso

2 Tablespoon of freshly pounded yellow Mustard seeds

2 Tablespoons of Dulse Flakes

4 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

Cut the stalk out of the cabbage and grate finely. Also grate the carrots. Remove the string from the Peas and cut them in bite size pieces. Combine in a bowl.

Juice the lemon and pour over the salad to prevent oxidation. If you use Celtic Sea Salt which is normally coarse, then instead of pounding it, place it on your cutting board with the peeled Garlic and chop up the garlic very finely. You will be left with a home made Garlic- paste! Combine the Garlic Paste with all other ingredients and mix the salad and dressing thoroughly with your hands. This salad is best left in the fridge over night and enjoyed the next day when the cabbage has fully marinated.

You will be amazed how yummy cabbage can be!!!

Of course you could also follow the steps to make Sauerkraut and add the dressing just before serving... Enjoy experimenting!

Makes about 4 serves.

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Desserts

Un- fried Banana

Mix...

2 tablespoons Flax Seed oil with

2 tablespoons honey and

2 tablespoons tahini.

Make sure your bananas are very ripe! Either roll a whole peeled Banana in the mixture or pieces of cut banana. Then sprinkle with Golden Flax Seed until coated evenly. Enjoy the greasiness and sweetness!!! An all time easy favorite! ^_^

1 - 2 Bananaʼs per serve

Halva

1 cup of sesame seeds, ground 2 - 4 tablespoons of honey

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pinch of saltoptional: 1 - 2 tablespoons of water

Grind the sesame seeds in your blender or coffee grinder until fine. In a bowl com-bine with honey and salt. You may add some water to make the mass more sticky.

Line a pie dish with cling wrap. Then press down the Halva mass and place in freezer until set. Remove from tin (possibly by tipping over if youʼre quick, other-wise lift out carefully) and cut into squares.

It has a crumbly consistency so either serve straight away or keep in freezer to avoid them falling apart!

Serves about 2

Andrea's chocolate dream-cream

4 Avocados

4 heaped tablespoons of coconut oil

2 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of agave nectar

1 pinch of celtic sea salt

6 tablespoons of carob powder OR Raw Cacao OR go halves

1 vanilla bean, scraped out

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optional: A little coconut water to help with blending

Put all ingredients in Food Processor and process until creamy. Place in fridge for about an hour, then put scoops in serving bowls and decorate with your nuts and fruit of choice. E. g. chopped pecans and raspberries. Top off with mint leave. Enjoy!

Makes 4 -6 serves

Carob & Chia Pudding

1 cup Chia Seeds

2 Tablespoons Carob Powder

1 teaspoon Allspice

2 Tablespoon Agave Nectar

Pinch of salt

A little nut milk (optional)

1/3 cup dried dates, chopped small

Soak the chia seeds in water (just cover them) for 10 Minutes. Stir with a fork to loosen up any lumps. Mix in some extra liquid (nut milk or water) and the other ingredients. You may add your favorite fruit (Tamarillos are a special treat!), soaked/sprouted nuts and grains to make this a wholesome sweat meal. Decorate with mint leaves and enjoy!

Serves 2

Wonderful Winter Mousse

1 cup ripe Paw Paw, chopped1 cup Avocado, chopped6 tablespoons melted raw cacao butter (or substitute coconut oil for a more tropical flavor)

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4 teaspoons orange zest1/2 cup orange juice1/2 cup raw agave nectar1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 1/2 teaspoons of chai blend spicesPinch of Celtic sea salt

Place liquid ingredients in Blender or Processor first, then add all other. If cacao butter (or coconut oil) is hard liquify by gently warming on stove and add last. Blend until smooth. Place in dessert glasses and refrigerate about 1 hour prior to serving. Decorate with edible flowers, e. g. Nastratum and orange slices. Enjoy!

Serves about 2

Orange- Cashew nut Ice cream

1 cup of Raw Cashews, soaked 6 hours and drained

Juice of 2 medium sized oranges

Peel of 1 Orange

1/4 cup Coconut Oil

1/4 honey (or half of it honey/half Agave Nectar)

1/2 Vanilla Pod, scraped out

2 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon

Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt

1 teaspoon freshly crushed cardamon pods

A little coconut water or normal water to help blending

Place some of the Orange Juice in the bottom of the blender, then all other ingredients, but hold off with the extra liquid. As you blend it all up, slowly add more liquid through the top of your blender. Once you have added enough liquid for the mix to move and rotate through the blender, you won't need any more. Vice versa if your blender has trouble moving through it, you will need to add some more liquid!

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Freeze in ice cream cube container. To serve place the desired amount in Food proces-sor and process until creamy and fluffy (you can also skip this, still yummy!). Decorate with grated orange zest, coconut flakes and any red berries. Make sure to hide any leftovers in the back of the freezer or they will be gone before you know it! ;-)

Tip: Blend some of the Ice Cream with some Nut milk for an instant smoothie!

Simple Sorbet

1 1/2 cups of mixed frozen berries

1/2 - 1 cup of Agave Nectar

1 frozen banana

Pinch of Cinnamon

Pinch of Salt (optional)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Use a little water or leftover Green Smoothie or Coconut Water to help blending. Super simple, super quick and su-per yummy! Leftovers can go back in the freezer. It can be eaten straight out of the tub, but wonʼt be as creamy. It can also go in the Food Processor to get it more creamy again. The more banana you add the creamier it will be, the more berries, the more wa-tery. If you do add more berries you will need more sweetener, too.

Serves about 3

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Smoothies

Basic Nut milk recipe

1 cup of soaked nuts (for specimens of the soaking times please refer to table)

4 cups of water

Drain the nuts. (You can catch the water and use it for watering your plants, they love it!) Rinse again to get rid of all the bitterness that the nuts have expelled while getting acti-vated. Place in blender with a little water. If desired add some salt or sweetener like dates, Agave or Honey. Start blending and gradually add more liquid. Use a Nut milk-bag to get the best results and drain the mixture through it. Squeeze until the last bit of liquid has come out. Thatʼs how you get the creaminess! Save the pulp for other reci-pes. It can be dehydrated or frozen to be kept for longer.

-> Why should I soak my nuts?

Soaking your nuts activates the inherent enzymes and transforms a Raw into a Living Food. The nuts are a lot more nutritious this way, vibrate with the live force and can be digested and assimilated easier.

Makes about 1 liter

Green Bliss Smoothie

1/2 a bunch of Kale

2 ripe Mango's

1 big ripe banana

1 Granny Smith apple

1/2 cup - a cup of water

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Cut the Mango into half's (cut around both sides of the seed) and cut a check pattern into it. Then scoop out into blender. Peel apple, remove seeds, break the banana into pieces and add everything in the blender. Add just a little bit of the water to help in the blending process.

Strip the leaves off the Kale stalks and tear into pieces, then add to the Blender. As you blend add gradually more and more water until everything is smooth and the desired consistency is reached. Best enjoyed about 1/2 hour before your meals. Also see "Green for Life" in the recommended reading section!

For some Fun: It's my favorite thing to do to bite the leftover bit off the mango seed while preparing the smoothie! :-)

Makes about 1 liter

Cool Cucumber

1 cucumber

1 bunch of mint

1 bunch of wheatgrass (or 2 flat teaspoons wheatgrass powder)

1 big handful seedless red grapes

3 - 4 ripe pears

1 orange, peeled and seeds removed

Additional water if desired

Place roughly chopped ingredients in the blender, best mixed up or start with pulsing. Blend until smooth and add additional water while running blender on a low setting if desired. Enjoy!!!

Makes about 1 liter

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Coconango Smoothie

1 big Mango

1 young Coconut (water and flesh)

Juice of 1 - 2 Limes

2 hands full of Kale (donʼt put the hands in though!)

1 hand full of Lemon Palm or Mint

Additional water if desired

Blend until smooth! Close your eyes and enjoy the tropical feeling...

Makes about 1 liter

Raspberry Orange Odyssey

Juice of 4 large ripe oranges

1/4 cup of (frozen) raspberries

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt

1 tablespoon of honey

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. For a fancy party drink decorate with a orange slice and mint-leave if desired. Enjoy!

Makes about 1/2 liter

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Black Tahini Smoothie

250 ml of Sunflower- Milk (or other Nut milk)

2 medium frozen Bananaʼs

2 Tablespoons of Black Tahini

2 Tablespoons of Agave Nectar

1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon

Place a little Nut milk in the Blender and add the other ingredients. Blend until smooth and add gradually more Nut milk in the process until you have used it all up. It will look grey to black in color and surprise you with a rich and delicate taste which is mouthwa-tring!!!

Variation:

Use frozen Nut milk and leave out the bananas and cinnamon. Then add a couple of Tablespoons of pre-mixed raw chocolate or maca powder. Tastes like Ice Coffee!!!

Serves 2

Orange- Passion Smoothie

Juice of 4 oranges

pulp of 4 passionfruit

2 ripe bananas

1 teaspoon agave nectar (or to taste)

1 1/2 teaspoons of spirulina powder

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Iʼve been given a bag of passionfruit for my birthday once, to remember passion in my life. :-) Thatʼs how I came up with this quick and delish smoothie. Enjoy! ;-)

Serves 2

Tipp:

If you like a particular smoothie or juice and are planning to have lotʼs throughout the day, why not make big bunch of it and fill it into glass bottles or take away cups? The pleasure is yours all day... :-)

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Avocado-monsterWhen my son was born I soon had many questions about his diet on my mind: What will I feed him? Is it save to only give him Raw Foods? How do other people on the Raw Food diet raise their children? I found only very little information on this matter. This is why I would like to share our journey with you here.

As it turned out my little one has had colic and reflux and lot's of tummy trouble all his first year and hardly wanted any solids in general. By the time he started eating some more he already had heaps of teeth and this made it easy as he could then chew Raw finger-foods (he didn't like being fed with a spoon, he wanted to touch everything himself).

My son is a very healthy little fellow. He has never been chubby nor skinny, always on the average of the growth- and weight scale. I have heard that "Strawberry children" (that's what some Germans call Raw-Food-kids) generally grow a little slower but healthier.

I have made many parenting choices that are everything but mainstream. I had a natu-ral home-water-birth with an amazing midwife and Kai's father and grandmother pre-sent. This was in my opinion the best start I could give my baby. I didn't take any medi-cations or pain relief and prepared myself with natural methods, such as acupuncture and drinking raspberry leave tea (2x daily in the last trimester, and also a VERY strong brew at the onset of labour- it speeds things up immensely!).

Kai's toys and clothes are, as most of our things, second hand and therefore reducing the impact that chemicals have on us. Furniture, toys, everything is loaded with chemi-cals that can be transferred into our system simply by touching things or breathing in the

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fumes. The more used things are, the more they have "fumed out" and less damaging chemicals remain. In a perfect world I would like to live with only nature- materials sur-rounding me and wearing only organic clothing. However this is the best I could do in my life and situation.

I didn't want Kai to get vaccinated when I heard and researched how many damaging byproducts they contain and that often the effect has to be questioned as well, as in the discussion about influenza vaccinations where the virus changes so rapidly that the vaccinations that the general public receives doesn't give you real protection. This is how I found my way to homeopathics. Kai is "vaccinated" with them and has never been seriously sick so far, with the one exception of croup. Also I discovered how helpful ho-meopathics are to treat common complaints from teething to headaches.

Ever since I was pregnant and Kai was still in my belly, he has been familiar with the sound of the blender. When he was 2 days old I started carrying him in the sling (in which he spent most of his first 8 months) and he was always present for the daily ritual of making a green smoothie in the morning. Green smoothies were the first "food" he has been having and he continues to sip away on them, sometimes more, sometimes less.

He likes to eat all sorts of fruit, vegetables and even sprouts and similar to myself I often see him develop cravings for one particular food for a period of time. After getting enough of it, it will pass and soon the next craving will come up. One of the foods that always re-occur in this cycle are avocados. To my boy this is the yummiest, to me the messiest food on the planet! But it's always fun!

We are still happily breast feeding and will continue as long as it feels right for both of us.

Itʼs been quiet a journey to trust my instincts. Instincts about the best, most natural diet for my body, instincts about the best, most natural way of parenting and caring for my son. However, once again persistence in sincerely wanting to improve things for us, has paid off. I encourage you to listen to your gut feelings (and sometimes sounds, LoL!) and you DO know whatʼs best for your particular child. Keep at it! Youʼre doing great!!!

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Winding it up...A lot has happened in my personal life since I started writing this book and it also has added to my outlook on food and nutrition.

One important event was a visit to India for a week of meditation in an ashram and per-sonally meeting a Guru. The food there was Dahl and Rice for brekkie, lunch and din-ner, in amazingly many different variations. It was delicious and nourishing!!! Although I had cowʼs milk (from the ashram cowʼs) and mainly cooked food, I felt great! The special ingredient in this food was... transmission. Pure divine love. The food is charged by whatever state the cook is in while preparing it and the spiritual aspirants were always remembering the divine. Plus the Guru himself blessed the food and it hence became prasad, divine! And the difference was as real as it anything else perceivable in this world.

My other experience with prasad is being at home with my Mum again and having her food. She certainly isnʼt a saint or guru, but she loves cooking and she cooks with love. And the love she has for her children is her life. And the food she makes for her children is her life. And that also puts itʼs own special charge on the food. So Iʼve been having some vegetarian cooked meals and overall still felt great. Although for all moral reasons we still have mainly vegan food, being around my Mum I choose to compromise a lot, so that we both can be happy and share food and meals together.

As much as Im an idealist and fighter for awareness and a different lifestyle, there is also the need to make these changes while still living in the current world. Being a sin-gle Mum I can appreciate a meal that my Mum has made for me and my son and al-though it might not have been what I would have made, I have so much appreciation for it! One little gesture to free up some of my time makes for less stress. And more happi-ness has certainly countless health benefits.

So my bottom line is, Iʼm still learning how to accommodate all the different aspects of living consciously, healthily and happily as discussed in this book. And I think we all will never cease to learn and grow. The journey as I perceive it, is about balance and mak-ing oneʼs own health and the health of the planet a priority without being rigid. Not just would rigidity make you own life much harder but also make it more difficult to find your place in society. With a pinch of flexibility we can balance everything thatʼs important to us. If you ever feel stuck, choose to look at that aspect in a new way. There are always solutions, whenever we choose love as the underlying emotion. If you feel helpless and feel like you canʼt make the changes in your life that you want, I highly recommend con-sulting a qualified Theta healer in your area. They really can work miracles14. I certainly had many amazing people that supported me to create my own miraces! Iʼm eternally

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14 http://andreagabrielablog.wordpress.com/

grateful to them. Apart from that: Meditation, Yoga, fresh food, uplifting company, fresh air.... My recipe for feeling good! :-)

I bless you, dear reader. May you continue to discover how wonderful you are!!

Love,

Andrea

& Kai <3

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Recommended reading and fur-ther information

Nutrition

* Books:

- Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko

- Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko

- Rainbow Food Life Cousine by Dr Gabriel Cousens

- Spiritual Nutrition by Dr Gabriel Cousens

* Topics to read up on:

- Raw and Living Foods

- Ayuvedic System (depending on your body type a different dietary approach is

recommended)

- Fasting

- Water and Water Filters

Recommended reading and further information

49

Sprouting

*Books:

The Sprouting Book by Ann Wigmore

* Websites:

* www.veggiewave.com/soaking_chart,

Lifestyle and Health

* Books:

- Depression Free for Life by Dr Gabriel Cousens

- The Raw Family by the Boutenko Family

- Heal your Life by Louise Hay

- Chemical Free Kids: Raising Healthy Children in Toxic World by Dr Sarah Lentz

- Peacefood by Ruediger Dahlke

* Topics to read up on:

- Yoga

- Homeopathics

- Chemical Pollution

- Organic Gardening

Recommended reading and further information

50

Spirituality

- Authors: Eckart Tolle, Louise Hay, Byron Katie, Neile Donald Walsch

- websites:

+ www.sahajmarg.org - informs about a spiritual practice of Raja Yoga Meditation

+ www.massaru-emoto.net - Water Crystals - informs amazing research

about the effects of our words and thoughts

+ www.thetahealing.com

- Movies: What the Bleep do we (k)now, One Man one Cow one Planet, One Giant Leap

Parenting

* Books:

- The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff

- Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Geskin

Recommended reading and further information

51

Bibliography1. www.veganwolf.com, pages 9 - 11

2. www.britishmeat.com, pages 11 - 15

3. “Green for Life” by Victoria Boutenko, page 24

4. “Living in the Raw” by Rose Lee Calabro, page 6: “Enzymes”, page 27

5. “12 Steps to Raw Food” by Victoria Boutenko, page 29

6.http://www.oprah.com/food/Different-Types-of-Seaweed-Nutritional-Benefits-of-Seaweed, page 34

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil, page 37

8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax_seed_oil, page 37

9. http://www.healthysnips.com/good-salt-bad-salt, page 39

10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dried_fruits, page 41

11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulphur_dioxide, page 41

12. www.veggiewave.com/soaking_chart, page 42

13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_products, 43

14. www.biodistributors.com.au, page 49

15. http://andreagabrielablog.wordpress.com, page 94

All photos taken by the author privately and at Raw Food classes by the author in in Western Australia;

Copyright by Andrea Gabriela Gaisa, 2013

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