eat your heart out nori rolls

inspiration from the i am grateful recipe book. last night i prepared nori rolls, my very first, using raw nori sheets - thank you julie from conscious choice in sydney - and making raw "rice". i was pleasantly surprised to find that, though it seems like they might require elaborate preparation, nori rolls are quite easy to make, and fun.

they look really sexy and were so filling we couldn't get through them all. i'll make these again. yummy.

the heat from meat

ho ho ho. seen in Tuesday's Age, this little snippet from crikey.com:

"There is an interesting statistic that is relevant to both the Garnaut report and climate change. It comes from a large European cancer and nutrition study group of about 50,000 meat eaters, vegans and vegetarians in the UK - 41% of vegan are single, compared with 13% of meat eaters and 25% vegetarians. Why is this relevant to Garnaut? We vegans aren't very good at compromise, so living with a non-vegan is unlikely and finding mate is statistically harder for us. Our diplomatic skills are dismal. That little bit of bacon added to a salad tends to make us froth at the mout and protest to an otherwise genial host: "how could you f___ up a perfectly good salad with dead pig?"
This tends to earn us a limited social life so we spend a lot of time reading and thinking and getting really pissed off with hypocrisy and compromise. We are pissed off with people who pretend to care about the planet but won't forego the primary driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss - meat. We are pissed off with people who tell everybody to turn off lights whe they leave the room but conveniently forget to mention that australia's biggest contribution to global warming is livestock." From Geoff Russell, Animal Liberation South Australia.

Hear, hear! Omigod, can i ever relate to this. Vegan and single, but not as uncompromising about others' food preferences. And not content with simply vegan, why not up the ante and live a (sustainable) raw food lifestyle. Save energy in food preparation as well.
As i often remind friends, i refuse to switch to energy-saving light bulbs as long as people around me are still preferring to do that over eating one less meat meal a week. When people wonder why i drive my car in a city with the best public transport system in the country, i ask them to consider why they are still eating meat when food production consumes 14% of our total greenhouse gases compared with 11% for transportation. now that's food for thought.

i am grateful

i have just bought myself the most wonderful rawfood recipe book called "i am grateful". it is based on a rawfood restaurant by the same name in california (where else!). the recipes are so inspiring. "i am divine fiery avocado carrot soup" "i am rapture strawberry shortcake" "i am sensational pesto pizza". apparently, in the restaurant the staff serve the dishes to you by presenting them and saying "you are sensational . . ."
From what i can glean, this restaurant is based on the new paradigm of business, which is not based on worrying about the bottom line. Instead the founders (and workers) are about keeping attention focused on positive affirmations, and creating the business model they want, with love. They also keep the work place clear by working with the employees to be present to their day.
Terce Engelhart's own story brought tears to my eyes. I realise that this is the heart of where my dreams for a cafe are.

green smoothies

in honour of the anniversary of my mother's passing, i dedicate this post to her. three years ago today, the first blooms of the lilac bush in her front garden were showing themselves. and at the same time that buds where opening to spring, my mother was closing a chapter on this life.
i know mum would never have gone within 50 feet of a green smoothie. or maybe she would. whatever, i'm linking to John Palmer's fabulous green smoothie recipe from last month's potluck meal at Donna's place. this one is legend. we all loved it.
then the month before that, Kristen wowed us with one of her concoctions using fresh young coconut. she has devised an entire repertoire of green smoothies on squidoo. and not content with just providing the recipes, this is the green smoothie encyclopaedia. Green smoothie facts and figures, why green smoothies, and the principles of green smoothie making. in summary though, i'm not entirely convinced that mixing fruits with vegetables is necessarily the best thing for the body. having said that i do enjoy the occasional green smoothie, but remain a juice girl. i wish to keep my fruits and my vegetables firmly segregated. they even go in different bowls in the kitchen.

great scrumping here

i'm staying with Dad in Palmerston North, a medium-sized regional town (they call it a city) in the heart of a dairy-farming district in the North Island of aotearoa. in this suburb everyone has a lawn and a garden. most properties have trees and that just about always includes a lemon and/or a grapefruit tree. citrus is king. the trees are laden, and they hang freely over garden fences and into laneways. so not only do i have the pick of Dad's lemon tree, but also the neighbour's grapefruit. nothing like a freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice first thing in the morning.

Dr Tam Mateo and Miracle Green Tea

In my last post i mentioned (in the comments) that Polly had been to a seminar in Manila earlier this year where she first came across the idea of eating food in it's natural whole state. The seminar was one held by Dr Tom Mateo, who is considered a "miracle doctor" in the Philippines. He is apparently the first Filipino naturopathic doctor. Dr Mateo's promotes the use of a miracle tea which is aimed at cleansing the digestive system. From what I can make out this tea is the equivalent of doing colon hydrotherapy, though less invasive. Polly tells me there were a lot of people with cancer attending his seminar. From what i've learnt on my healing journey there are definitely two areas - on the physical level - that need attention. One, cleaning out the accumulated toxic gunk in the digestive system. And secondly, to make sure that what goes into the body is as clean and natural as possible. this means organic and raw and mostly plant-based. From what Polly tells me, this is the basis of Dr Tom Mateo's protocol. Similar in fact to the Gerson Therapy, and to what Ian Gawler suggests as an optimal diet for those with cancer. In his book The China Study, Colin Campbell goes further and believes that any chronic illness (such as diabetes, heart disease, etc.) can be reversed through a change of diet towards eating more plant-based foods. Gawler, Gerson and Dr Norm Walker all believe that colon cleansing is an important and integral part to any change in diet. Thanks to my earlier experiences this year, i can vouch for this. Eating nutritionally rich and clean raw foods leads the body into detoxing and when the detox moves faster than the body can reasonably eliminate toxins, that's when a colonic can be helpful. Matt Monarch talks some more about this subject in one of his articles.

simply raw :: reversing diabetes

Yes, it can be done. Last night i sat down with dad and Polly and we watched Simply Raw. And this isn't the first time i have come across the concept. Caroline duPont has also worked with people to help reverse diabetes through diet.

I borrowed the DVD from my friend Donna. This documentary tells the story of six diabetics who switch to a diet consisting entirely of organic, vegan, uncooked food to reverse diabetes without the use of prescription drugs. Most of the participants had been told by their doctors "you will be on insulin for the rest of your life". They came from a range of cultural backgrounds aged from 26 to 68, and were challenged to give up meat, dairy, sugar, processed and packaged food, and even cooked food for 30 days.
The film follows their journey through this process and captures the medical, physical, and emotional transformations.

It includes additional wisdom from Morgan Spurlock, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Robbins, Rev. Michael Beckwith, and Doctors Fred Bisci, Joel Fuhrman, David Wolfe, and Gabriel Cousens.

Even though i have been eating 100% raw for six months now, i was impressed by the moments captured in this film. The statistical results alone are astounding. These people were able to go off all medication within 3 days of eating in this way. But even more incredible were the emotional transformations. With one of the guys you could see the sparkle in his eyes, the spring in his step. He said he hadn't felt so good in years and he looked good too.

In my own journey I have come to take this for granted now. But it is no small thing to be feeling constantly cheerful and in a positive mood, feeling good every day and having energy in reserve. Until recently, i had grappled with depression for many years. But no longer!

i don't have diabetes but i have no doubt that eating in this way has helped me on all levels to live a much higher quality of life than the way i was before. my mind is clearer and my body is healthier. but as one of the people in the film says, why wait - as so many people do - until you have a life-threatening disease before doing something about it.

And yes, there is a Facebook page Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes
If you want to watch the YouTube film trailer or share it with friends, go to this link.
Dr Gabriel Cousens has written the book, There Is A Cure for Diabetes.
He is also filmed at Hippocrates Health Institute, talking about reversing diabetes.
See a later post on Cousens and (not )microwaving for health.

bursting the chocolate bubble

thanks donna for bringing me down to earth on the matter of cacao. here's an excerpt from the email penned by raw foodist Paul Nison:
One of the biggest deceptions in the raw food movement is that cacao is a healthy food. It is very addicting and toxic to the body. I have written two articles on the subject that you can view by clicking here. Don’t feel bad, I myself was once deceived by it as well, but after conducting my own research, I found the truth. It is not needed in the diet and I suggest avoiding it. Brian Clement of Hippocrates Health Institute has also confirmed it is a very toxic food. Also another thing I have learned is that there is no such thing as truly Raw Cacao. Once it is processed, it is cooked. Only the beans by themselves are raw. Eating these beans raw is just as crazy as eating raw coffee beans. Many of the people who sell cacao are good hearted people who are just not aware of the harm it does. However, there are a few people who are very aware of the issue with cacao but make so much money selling it, that they continue to promote it as a super food. Some of these people even make a religion out of it, calling themselves cacao gods. I would definitely avoid anything these people promote, especially cacao. I understand many people have cravings for chocolate and I would suggest carob as a healthy alternative.
Okay, i have tried carob and although i know it is supposed to be much healthier, i just don't like the taste. i also have to disagree with Paul's claim that there is no truly raw cacao. Scott Fry of Loving Earth is working with communities in South America to produce cacao that is processed using no heating method whatever.

anand and runi :: their raw blog

some entralling reading here from anand (and runi). their blog contains some really interesting posts about the 80/10/10 diet, the green smoothie challenge and photos too of what a raw body looks like (thanks anand).

Anand runs classes on raw food preparation. Though i have not personally attended any of his classes yet i hear that they are good.

today i am still trying to recover from eating too much raw cacao (theobroma cacao - food of the gods). it's powerful stuff and my head feels as though it is still in outer space. i do hope i'll be able to sleep tonight. i have a real weakness for chocolate coconut butter.

into the abyss . . .

. . . this - from the recent permablitz newsletter - reflects a little of how i am feeling today.

Five simple steps to dealing with the modern world: 1. Find the abyss. 2. Approach the abyss. 3. Stare into the abyss. (Firmly, but compassionately.) 4. Hold the abyss. And gently caress the abyss. (Don't take advantage of the abyss's vulnerability at this point.) 5. Feed the abyss soup. Lots of soup, obviously, it being an abyss. The abyss will be tame now, but take it out of the house regularly to experience the wondrousness and fantasticality that is Life. Like, for the sake of example, a most exciting permablitz event...

My personal abyss feeds on a diet of chocolate coconut butter, and definitely doesn't get out enough.

chickpea miso sauce

This goes nicely over the top of a green salad, or make it thick and use as a dip.
For every 1/2 cup of sprouted chickpeas, add:

1/2 large clove garlic
1cm cube of fresh ginger
1/4 red onion
1 tsp of miso (unpasteurised)
2 small tomatoes
juice of 1 small lemon

Put it all in the blender and pulse chop until you have a chunky sauce (or smooth, if you like it that way).

Pour over salad and enjoy.