25 June 2010

“Hi, I am a vegan….”  You know how the rest of the  conversation.  ”What do you eat?  Salad?  Can you eat cheese?  No, what about goat’s cheese?”  ”You much be SO healthy” (more…)

14th May 2010

I am definitely finding the raw Wednesday easier and even looking forward to them…especially now Sash is getting more gourmet. This week I was served up raw crackers with raw humous.

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13th May 2010

This delivery of raw chocolate from Conscious Chocolate couldn’t have come at a better time. We were shortly about to embark on our raw Wednesdays (and these helped me out a lot the first couple of weeks!) and I had just seen the Panaroma show on ‘fairtrade’ chocolate. (more…)

16th of April 2010

Ok sorry, no sushi here but plenty of raw! This week Sasha resurrected her hidden rawist. Previously she has been aiming to be 75% raw, but understandably didn’t find it quite so easy when the cold whether kicked in, and let’s face it, it has been cold! Thankfully now that sunshine has reappeared in our lives, it seems to make going raw that bit easier and so Sash declared Wednesday a raw day. (more…)

23rd March 2010

All last week my team of tasters and I have been steadily working our way through all seven bars of The Raw Chocolate Co’s range. Before you wonder about our expanding waste lines, this is healthy chocolate, yep you heard me! (more…)

13th March 2010

Tonight was birthday dinner night and on the request of the birthday girl we went to Saf. If you’ve not heard of Saf it is a raw, organic  completely vegan restaurant in Shoreditch. Saf is the only place I can have a starter, main and dessert, feel virtuous and not like I’m going to pop after. (more…)

02 January 2010

My first blog of 2010, its only right that it is about new years resolutions.  Have you got any this year?  How many have you made?  Are they same ones as last year or have you already achieved those? (more…)

20 November 2009

Time for another book sharing session, its like a book club here I tell thee…. (more…)

25 October 2009

25% raw living on a daily basis is easier for me to achieve than 75%.  However, I don’t think I will be getting all the health benefits I want!  I can eat fruit for breakfast and salad for lunch.  I can even make my dinner a lightly cooked stir fry with relative ease if I come home and cook.  So whats going wrong I hear you ask? (more…)

9 October 2009

My raw food challenge is to make tasty, textured, good food.  So everything I eat cooked I want to try and make raw.  Something I eat all the time is hummus so here is the recipe of a raw one. (more…)

7 October 2009 

Embracing raw living for me, week and a bit to date, has included; a two day not so happy fruit detox, 5 days of more fruit, healthy & nutritious salads, sprouts and then 2 days of cooked grain to leave me with a stable 75% raw diet.  But then I went to the health shop and OMG there is raw ice cream out there.  Well for the good of the website I thought I should buy some & review it (yes for you, not me!). (more…)

5 October 2009

I purchased my hemp sprouting bag at the festival of life 2008 after see a sprouting demo and being motivated by the sprout with ease bug.  I took my new purchase home and stored it safely in a cupboard for a little over a year.  Occasionally I would stumble accros it when digging around in the back of said cupboard and say to myself “sprouting, yes I must do that soon…..”  And then life would carry on. (more…)

01 October 2009

After a couple of days of eating only fruit it was time to add some veggies into my diet.  This might not sound that exciting to you but after 2 days of eating fruit I could hardly wait…. (more…)

29 September 2009

After running half marathon yesterday I thought I would reward myself with a two day fruit detox……  Go figure?!

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26 September 2009

I wanted to take it easy today before the run to the beat half marathon tomorrow.  Rest and good food where on the menu for the day, hmmm now where can I go for some good food…. (more…)

7th September 2009

Another monday, another heat free day in a happy vegan house hold. I ummed and ahhed a bit about which day I would be heat free this week, but with a potential visit to Inspiral Lounge this wednesday I decided today would be the day!! (more…)

31st August 2009

No, I am not talking about the weather (and it is actually quite hot in the flat now!), all over the world countries are introducing a meat free day of the week as part of an initiative to combat climate change. But what does a vegan do on Meat Free Monday? (more…)

Berry Mousse (Raw Option) (more…)

What is raw living?  Very simply it is not cooking or dehydrating.  Non vegans can be raw too but this section only considers raw vegan living.

The raw food movement is more than the odd smoothie or occasional salad it is a lifestyle choice which has an ever growing number of followers.  The raw community are always finding new and interesting ingredients to ensure their diets remain enriched, healthy, nutritious and interesting.  The desire for textured, tasteful and interesting food is very important.

The Basics

A 100% raw food diet contains nothing cooked, rawists consider cooking food to be detrimental to the nutritional content of food  as cooking affects the genetic make up of food.  Raw food is better for our digestives system because all the nutrients remain in the food which can then be more easily broken down and digested by our bodies.  Or in other words it is more natural for us to consume uncooked and unprocessed food, our bodies can run more efficiently on this diet.

The health benefits of a raw diet are clear skin, bright eyes, more energy, better complexion, weight loss & balance and reduced stomach bloating or digestive problems.  Eating raw food boosts the immune system and this diet can have quite amazing healing affects.  Some rawists are 100% raw all the time, this might be difficult depending on your lifestyle and work.  It is important to do as much as you can within your lifestyle and heat free Mondays are a good place start.

Some unexpected veggies that can be eaten raw are parsnips (grated and used as a rice alternative), & sweet potato.  The usual suspects you already include in salads and then there is the good green stuff to consider, spinach and curly kale which are both rich in iron.  Nut milks are raw when the nuts are liquidised with water to make the milk.  And then there is sprouting which adds a great deal of nutrition into the diet.

As mentioned a raw diet can be more interesting and varied than having a salad everyday.  It is a totally new way of not cooking with new ingredients you might not have heard of before!  Being raw is a way of life but then so is being vegan and don’t forget there is a whole raw community of people out there keen to assist you with your exploration.

Interested in trying raw food?  Then a visit to SAF restaurant in London might be just what you need to get your tastebuds tingling.  Here there is truely exquisite raw and vegan food!  If you are going to enjoy raw living then taste and texture are important to keep your food interesting.  Go to Recipes to find some raw options.

The good news is that you don’t even have to give up chocolate!  Raw chocolate has an intensity and depth to its flavour which leaves all other chocolate behind.  You have to try it to believe it.  There are numerous raw chocolate recipes from truffles to cakes which are all delicious.  Nuts are used extensively to make cake bases and thicken chocolate.  Avocado is also used when making raw chocolate mousse!  To read more about raw chocolate and find some suppliers go here.

If you want to learn how to make raw chocolate and desserts Sweet Sensations runs regular courses. And don’t forget to mention where you heard about them!  THV also sell raw choc truffles on our stall.

There are also raw bodycare products available take a look at the Beauty section for brands. For more information check out The Vitamin Code.  Get fresh is a very informative raw food magazine issued quarterly, full of articles and recipes.  And to find raw restaurants check out eating out.

Key rawist tools include; a liquidiser for healthy juices  and a dehydrator which removes the water changing the texture of food giving a raw “cooked” feel and look.  This equipment can be expensive and no equipment is essential and it might be better to borrow or buy cheaply at first.

More info

• Raw living – Kate Magic’s blog
• Shazzie
• Have raw cake and eat it – info & recipes
• Total Raw Food

Books

Disclaimer

This diet might not suit everyone.  It is important you do your own reading and research and speak to a doctor or nutritionist if you have any concerns.

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