I admit my photo was inappropriate! My new one suits me much more...
I can't find it now but I read a post by Piers saying 'No one at our house ever asks for a Mars Bar when there is raw chocolate mud cake in the fridge..."
I assumed it was a staple!

JLK.

Hi Miss G,
Haven't heard of chia before - just did a google on it so I now know what it is! What does it taste like? Do you just use it for it's glutigelatinous nature? Where do you get it?

Thanks for this recipe!
You learn something new every minute!

JLK.

Just a small question...
The Tree of Life Rainbow cookbook has a whole section on using essential oils to flavour drinks and cakes and so on.
I always thought these were "for external use only".
Obviously they don't kill you or the ToL people wouldn't have gotten their book to the publishers...

Has anyone more information on this? Has anyone tried them?

JLK

Thought I should write another post to let those people still interested...
now well into week to of phase one - heck - nearly into week three the way I am looking at it! No more headaches, am feeling pretty good - everyday I wake up and my body has changed! I've been carrying a bit of a spare tire since I was a kid and now it is more like a bicycle tire! Feel more in touch with my emotions - don't know if this is raw or due to other stuff I am doing. Today I got breakfast and lunch just right! Macadamia/coconut porridge with nut milk and for lunch what I'm calling eggplant parcels - but others have called rawvioli!

Here's what I did - thinly, with a swedish cheese slicer actually, cut an eggplant which I soaked overnight in salt water.
I then made a filling -
soaked almonds
pine nuts
garlic
sea salt
cayenne
lemon
olive oil
bit of water until a loose paste.

I laid out all of the eggplant and filled with the fresh mixture and some leftover pesto I had made the night before - which was pretty good let me tell you.

Then folded over the eggplant - shoved them in the dh for a couple of hours at 140 and hey presto!
I was meant to make a tomato sauce to have with them but I tried one to see if they were done and that was the end of it! I sat down and ate the lot! They were great! Maybe if I can slice the eggplant more thinly it would be like rawvioli but as they were they were like little eggplant cannappes or whatever they are called - or eggplant mini crepes!  Really great! My breakfast had a dash of mescapote meal or whatever it is called and it made all the difference - that and the fresh vanilla bean!

Not feeling as restricted by my menu choices but am going to Perth in a week or so for some work and am a bit worried about not having my DH - or FP! Gasp! How will I survive?
Stay tuned....

JLK.

Forgot to mention - we had a great night - staying to nearly midnight - and I was totally unfounded in all of my worries and  - yes, prejudices!
Let this be a lesson to me,

JLK.

Having started this topic - I feel like it is only fair to confess to some of my own prejudices.
This weekend my girlfriend and I were invited to dinner with one of my girlfriend's old school friends and her parents - out from England on holiday.

My girlfriend and I are both doing the Rainbow Tree of Life diet - phase one - which is pretty limited - basically nuts and green veg!

Anyway, before we left I was worried about what they would serve - my girlfriend and I had a rare discombobulation about it when I suggested we make something to take in case they had nothing I wanted to eat. I even made us a snace before hand!

Coming from an English background I am particularly prejudiced against the English - ahh - except my girlfriend is English but anyway, I thought the chances of them providing us with a meal that wasn't covered in blood, lard, offal and sugar was reasonably unlikely. The chances it conformed to the strict regime of Phase one - I thought next to impossible!

Oh, needless to say, I can't stand prejudiced people!

Here's the rub.
We arrived and they had bowls of nuts - only offered us bottled water didn't make a fuss and had platters and platters of fresh vegetables and nuts - salads - all presented in the most fantastic way. They didn't have a processor in their suitcase, so I know a lot of chopping went into that meal - a lot of preparation and a lot of love!

I kept waiting for them to bring out - "their dinner" a tray of bread and dripping or something - but they said they decided to eat the same as us that night.

There was not one - "This rabbit food's alright!" comment or "Pass the steak.." or anything!

I was so overwhelmed with gratitude I felt like crying.

That they had gone to so much trouble to make us welcome - it was really humbling.

Needless to say - it was one of the best meals I have had in months - so simple - wasn't even out of a raw cookbook! But it had the magic ingredient.

I can see now - that starting a post about prejudices is a form of prejudice in itself! Maybe I should have started one about "What has been your most humbling experience of generosity?"

JLK.

http://www.satori-5.co.uk/word_articles/alt_health/healing_with_urine_therapy.html

Hey Ok,
Don't worry about your oil - coconut oil turns solid under 25 degrees! It's totally normal for that to happen! You can warm it under hot water if you want it to go liquid again.
It is sometimes called coconut butter. One of the great things about it is, say you are making fudge, you use the liquid, put it in the fridge and it sets into solid!
Great for making raw desserts!

Hope that helps,
JLK

oh - dias - dais - whatever! The raised podium thing...

JLK.

I just wanted to share a small pleasantry and maybe start a little altar for the Duruz duo.

I made an order the other day for some Maca Extreme - that's the kind of guy I am - anyway, it had run out - so, Sheryl calls to say they will send TWO bags of regular Maca to make up! When I get home - Piers has emailed to say the same - that is what I call service!
For those not in the know - you may be interested to know Sheryl has an American - or Canadian I wouldn't be surprised - accent - you can't tell from her forum entries can you?
Having only recently come to this site - I was struck by the love coming off these pages - I put it down to S & P creating a good vibe to start with. They have been a real pleasure to deal with and as a business model - they are exemplary! It makes you want to buy stuff from them - don't you think? Or is that just me?

So - apart from sharing their treasured recipes - I wondered what are some other unsung kindnesses that have been bestowed on you by S & P? Or even P & S? Step up to the dias of Duruz and make an offering! (That's dias as in a raised area for honoured guests - not as in Cameron!)

I won't be able to do the amount of posts I did yesterday but wanted to share with those interested -
I am teaching music stuff at TAFE at the moment part time and the lunch time staff room is full of blokes - with a capital Bloke. They were laughing about the teacher that came in the other week and had almonds, yoghurt and vitamin pills for lunch! "That's not lunch!" they went on. There I sat with my raw "cheeze'n'crackers" and raw zucchini pesto and wondered if I should pipe up or not.
As it was my first day on the job I opted for silence!
I imagine if I told them what my lunch consisted of I would have been hence forth referred to as the Raw Guy or just plain weirdo!
Of course!
On the weekend we are going for dinner with the parents of my girlfriend's old friend. I must admit to dreading the whole - oh so what are you eating there...hhmmm raw you say - how peculiar!
Of course, they are English, which will make them likely to frown even more on our diet!

I wonder what prejudices people here have come up against from friends and family? Is going raw a surefire way to outcast yourself?

Capsicum is not a dirty word!

Kell,
I read a few recipes - like cinnamon scrolls and chai wafers - that called for a dehydrator. That was the straw that broke this camels back!
The spiralizer is good! At first I kept thinking - yeah but its not pasta - I'm never going to use this - but then I made a pesto - a really good batch and dehydrated the zucchini pasta for a little while until it was warm and more pasta like! It was - really good! That pretty much sold me on the thing. It is quick to use, although at first I found it difficult - believe it or not! Like the nut sack - the first time was messy and a bit of a rigmoral - but since has become a no fuss operation!
They are both pretty cheap so you don't have to invest to much to try - unlike dehydrators - which - are pretty pricey however you look at it! Mind you  - I've got this mornings nut milk pulp drying into nut flour and my dinner - Indian spice cauliflower cous cous which should be ready just about now!

JLK.


JLK.

I just wanted add – sitting here in my sparsely decorated office-cum-studio – about to play a new album I bought and finishing off my cucumber and cumin soup – that it is no real encumbrance  to be eating raw foods – at first I was worried about going into this thing half-*ed but now, as the cumulative effects of being raw for five or so weeks starts to kick in – I realise that the cooking is no longer something I have to avoid succumbing to – merely another phase that has passed in my life. Like scum settling in a pond – my life is gradually becoming clearer merely by being still. Anyway, I’ve twattled on enough for one day! Thanks for listening, and for your supportive assistance!
JLK.

Hi Kelly,
I am new in these parts too, but have already found the help and support to be astounding and comforting!
Geez, it's like we are war veterans or something, recovering drug addicts - all it is is eating raw food! But that one little change has big consequences. Have only been raw for a month or so - but have changed so much, waking up at five, like a light turning on. Have had some detox unpleasantness but better an empty house than a bad tenant.
I know that I am doing something great and vital for my body, mind and spirit - and I have a supportive girlfriend that is raw too - can't imagine the guts it takes to do so in your situation - well done!

It's not easy to go against the grain of society - but someone has to lead them!

I found once I got some good recipe books things opened up for me - then of course I had to get a dehydrator, a raw pasta maker, a nut sack, and still need a coffee grinder! But you can do without all the toys - although they do make it fun! The food is fresh and tasty but has taken some getting used to  - bucking the culturally accepted norm or what a dinner consists of. I guess it is getting my head more used to it than my stomach!

the path of a thousand miles begins with one footstep....
now let the fun begin!

JLK