A COLD RAW WEEK

Hello!

Hoping that this email finds you WARM and happy! What a cold day today! My whole house is shivering. I have little throw rugs everywhere to help keep that draft that shoots out of the floor boards at bay. Nothing like living in an old house. I'm making periodic trips to the wood stove to warm up and I have my layers on...

Today is the day for Alissa's PART 2 of the "diet wars" on the Tyra Banks show. I'm taping it and if anyone is interested in seeing it, let me know. I believe they are going to be showing how the 3 sets of dieters did on their 3 different diets, one of them being a raw food diet - they were given 60 days with these diet "gurus" and I think it is a bit of a competition. You know - it's fox TV and it's silliness but it's great that Alissa is on there and raw food is on something "mainstream"...

Oh! I also was told about this really interesting article on BBC. Here is the info: It's called, "Going Ape" Last Updated: Thursday, 11 January 2007, 12:52 GMT By Claire Heald BBC News Magazine - What if humans cast aside processed foods and saturated fats in favour of the sort of diet our ape-like ancestors once ate? Nine volunteers gave it a go... and were glad they did so."

Now for more local news:

The potluck on the 11th was really, really wonderful. There were 10 adults and 4 kids and 2 infants (two CUTE little beem-beems!) :-) The food was wonderful. I made pesto stuffed mushroom caps, date nut torte and salad with thousand island dressing. I also had this so I brought it with me (had made it a little earlier in the week): broccoli slaw, mexican rice, 4 types of crackers. Others brought fruit, salads, spreads and a one woman brought this delicious wrap that was close in texture and taste to a kind of a gyro. It was a really interesting group of people with different ambitions and I just really enjoyed myself. Thank you for coming to the potluck and I hope to see you next month. I need to get more chairs & tables...

Alissa's Level 1 class is gearing up for this Friday, Jan 19th. I'm totally looking forward to it and there should be a good number of us together making/eating/talking about raw food. It's going to be so much fun. The class goes from 3-8 pm and the cost is $125 which includes certification from Alissa... Please call me if you'd like to attend this month or some other month: 229-4496.

The next workshop is going to be Jan 25th from 6:30 - 7:30 at Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier. We're going to be learning/eating the Date Nut Torte. There's also other things to sample at these workshops and we spend the whole time talking about raw food. The cost is $12 for non-members and $10 for members. Please sign up at the coop and come with questions!

The Non-Dehydrated Winter Recipes class is on the last Sunday of the month (Jan 28th) from 3-7 pm. We're doing 5 recipes (and I usually sneak a couple others in there.)
• Wake Up Gruel
• Sweet Potato/Leek Soup
• Thousand Island Dressing
• Cottage Pie
• Date Nut Torte 
These are quick, easy and delicious recipes that show a breakfast, lunch, dressing, dinner and dessert that you can eat when you want something hearty. Cost of the class is $75. Please call me to register: 229-4496.

OH! If you are interested in the buying club that has deliveries coming to Worcester, please let me know! email me dude: linda@vt-fiddle.com

WHAT DID I EAT YESTERDAY:

Since it is not even lunch time yet, I'll include what I ate yesterday. I get some nice responses that tell me that you like to see/read what the heck people like me eat. :-) (Now you just have to TASTE it!) :-D

breakfast: smoothie that I shared with Matt which had 3 oranges, 5 dates, 3 bananas, a little bit of cacao and a smidgen of water
mid-morning: a liter of water. I put Emergen-C in it because I wanted to (love the taste of it some times and I think I wanted a bit more Vitamin C). I also had some orange tea in the afternoon.
lunch: Some raw enchilada that I made to have ready for yesterday. I put some hot sauce on it which was made up of horseradish root, jalapenos, lime and tomatillos - this was premade but I will say that I do use salsas that I've made from my garden which I have frozen... The enchildada itself is made from raw corn, flax seeds and oranges. It is filled with whatever you want to fill it with - I filled it with broccoli and mushrooms. This is QUITE filling.
snack in the afternoon: I had a chocolate turtle candy or two. I made a few for the workshop this past sunday - I made a "white chocolate" kind, one made with carob and one made with raw cacao. Very delicious.
dinner: salad that I made on Monday (made a HUGE salad with a bunch of veggies and keep it in the fridge to eat for the next few days.) The dressing was thousand island dressing which is really good. The kids have been eating more raw foods. Matt & I are finding what is working for them and they are wanting more and more. YIPPEEEEE! 

I've also been reading and enjoying Doug Graham's 80/10/10 book. VERY INTERESTING STUFF. Of course it's about raw food (but I don't only read about raw food, don't worry!) :-)

Enjoy yourselves, stay warm and dry and take GOOD care,

Linda

NOW FOR THE RECIPES:

Hmm... what do I want to send. Would love to get some requests. How about the Broccoli Slaw that I had at the potluck: 

Broccoli Slaw

http://www.livingandhealingraw.com/

Broccoli, chopped in food processor
Celery, sliced thinly (Linda's note: I pulse-chopped it in the food processor)
Red pepper, chopped (I  used carrots since I had them)
Shallots, green onion, red onion, or white onion, finely chopped (I used an onion and I added it to the mayo dressing instead - don't ask me why)
Seed or nut mayonnaise

Mayonnaise:

1 cup Almonds, sunflower seeds, cashews (not recommended), or pine nuts, soaked overnight and drained (I used almonds and would try it again with the others on the list)
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice or raw apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1 tablespoon Bragg’s (optional)
filtered water
Blend ingredients with water, starting with 1/3 cup, add more as needed to make creamy.

Stir all ingredients, use what you have on hand or what you like together.

Almond Humus

http://www.livingandhealingraw.com/

2 cups soaked almonds
1 cup sesame seeds, ground (in coffee or seed grinder OR THE VITAMIX!)
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 T. dried, powdered cumin
2 t. celtic sea salt
2 lemons, juiced

Blend in food processor until creamy. Serve with raw vegies or wrapped in lettuce leaf.