• Today I went to my son's class to do a little lesson on protein (I called it "The Many Faces of Protein" and we did a protein-rich raw oatmeal recipe as well as a raw almond milk recipe which was a HUGE hit with all 15-16 kids plus 1 teacher and 2 staffers.) I brought a bunch of fruit, veggies, grains and a hard boiled egg - I lined them all up and asked the kids to point to what they felt had protein in them. Then I asked them to point to what they felt had the most/least protein after they found out that everything in the line up contained protein. It was great to hear the responses to the questions. Of course the kids felt that the egg had the most protein. Of course they felt that the fruit and spinach didn't have any. They were surprised to see that the tempeh had the most, then the corn, then the black beans, then the oats, then the spaghetti and THEN the egg and THEN THE SPINACH! (Then ties for avocado, rice and a slice of whole wheat bread) and finally oranges, bananas and mangos have between 1-2 grams of protein per 1 cup serving.) I didn't mention this, but my favorite weed Lambsquarters has as much protein in one cup as the hard boiled egg.We talked quit a bit about protein (complete protein meaning all 22 amino acids are present in the food, our own ability to make all but the 9 essential amino acids that comes from the food we eat) and then we made the almond milk. Every kid got to help and they said it felt "weird but cool" to squeeze out the milk through the nut milk bag. They had 3rds and some even had 5ths of the milk (gave out little samples) and then we made the oatmeal. Again, everyone had a turn to do some aspect of the oatmeal recipe and they all ate it and asked for 2nds and 3rds. Very cool kids. Some didn't even know what a mango or avocado was. I showed them what course gray Celtic sea salt was and told them about all the various colors that salt comes in. We talked about agave and raw honey - I recommended that they replace white sugar with raw honey as well as replace white flours with whole grain flours. And of course I talked about the importance of greens as well as eating a wide variety of foods so that even if they do have meat, they will still get more than enough protein in their diets each day. It was quite fun - I'm always impressed with the kids observations and their willingness to try new things. Thanks goes to my son for asking me to come to his class and do this.

• I met with a woman recently who goes into schools as well as low-income housing developments to help people learn how to garden and then learn how to cook with what they harvest. There's also an herb component and other fun things including mentoring that they do. I met with her to see about bringing some raw food recipes to more schools and was excited about the possibility to bring this to more adults as well. I welcome the challenge of myth busting for the raw food world as well as talking about this so it's not all about raw. I'm always amazed by what people think this is all about and I admit that I had my own opinions about it before I got into it so I guess that's why I come across a lot of folks that think that it's all about munching on raw broccoli or eating exotic fruits or is mega expensive or hard to do or time consuming, etc. 

• I'm just finishing up a little ebook that you can purchase. It's called: "Raw Food Made Economical: 15 Ways to Make Eating More Fresh, Local, Organic Food Easier on your Pocketbook." This is a direct response to a lot of the questions I get about how to reduce waste/spoilage, how to do raw food so it's cheaper, how to do raw food so it utilizes more local ingredients, etc..  There are lots of good tips in here, recipes, resources and my own personal experience with what has worked for me to make this as economical as I can. I'll be sending out a link soon with more information as well as how to purchase so that you can have this information. 

• Tomorrow (Tuesday) night is a raw food workshop at Hunger Mountain Coop. We'll be doing 3 breakfast recipes and I'm asking that you come even 5 minutes early because we've got a LOT to cover. We always have fun with these workshops. Please sign up with Krystal or Robin at member services. Call them at 223-8000 or email them at info@hungermountain.com. 

• OH yea! We're going to be delivering food to Healthy Living this week so now you  have 4 stores to choose from to get delicious, fresh and healthy whole food made from nuts, veggies and grains. 

• Did I tell you that the God and Goddess butter is at Hunger Mountain Coop now? It's in a different place than the grab and go section: it's over by where the nut butters are. If you know the store, go to where the butter and eggs are located then turn around and look down, you'll find my god and goddess butters. At City Market, they are where the cookies are (the spice cookies are with them) and at Sweet Clover Market, they are with the salads and fudge. If you haven't tried them, you should! Here's the lastest review for the God and Goddess Butter:"just LOVED your stuff & had to get more before I ran out! I have to tell you, that nut butter is going to make you rich and famous! I've never tasted anything like it and omg it's incredible. There aren't even words to describe it. Thank you for bringing some down to share with me! ... You definitely have a knack for food. If raw food can taste this good I need to eat more of it!"

What's in Store for you: