RawFoodBlog

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

1 T cashews
1 tsp. pumpkin spice
1 frozen banana
Blend all in a heavy duty blender. Serves 1 or 2.

Banana Eggnog—from The Live Food Factor (recipe by Vicotria BidWell)
3 large bananas at room temperature
3 rounded T almond butter
1/8 t nutmeg (optional)
½ t fresh vanilla bean paste scrapings
1/8 t cinnamon (optional)
2 cups boiling water
Blend until smooth and warm. Experiment with amount of liquid and number of bananas used to get the thickness you most enjoy. Stir in a handful of chopped almonds. Serve with a spoon, sit by an open fire, and enjoy. Instead of a counterfeit eggnog with booze, have a health seeker’s Banana Nutnog without compunction!

Holiday Salad—From The Live Food Factor

5-6 cups spinach (about ½ lb)
1 cup candied pecan (see recipe below)
½ cup raw olives
½ red onion, sliced into halved ringlets
Toss pecans, olives and onion ringlets into spinach. Top with oil and vinegar or dressing of your choice.
Serves 5-6.

Candied Pecans—From The Live Food Factor
1-3 cups pecans
Cinnamon
Unheated honey or raw agave or raw yacon root syrup
Soak the pecans overnight, rinse and drain. Roll them in a mixture of honey (or other) and cinnamon. Dehydrate them for four hours or so until they are dry. Toss them in a salad.

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup soaked raw pumpkin seeds
2 T unpasteurized olive oil (Nappa Valley or other)
1 tsp. Himalayan salt
2 T Nama Shoyu
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
Blend everything except seeds. Pour over seeds. Dehydrate overnight or until very dry. Store in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Raw Pumpkin Pie
–adapted from recipes in The Art of Raw Living Food by Doreen Virtue and Jenny Ross

Crust:
2 cups soaked nuts (walnuts, pecans, cashews), 1 cup agave, 1 tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. Himalayan salt, 1 tsp. vanilla extract.
Blend in a food processor till a ball forms. Freeze for one hour before serving so it hardens (or dehydrate till hard).
Filling:
8 cups pumpkin (carefully cut into chunks, removing the peel very carefully with a sharp knife)
Note: If the pumpkin is too hard to cut, steam it until it is softer and easier to cut (about 10 minutes)
1.5 to 2 T pumpkin pie spice blend
1.5 to 2 tsp. cinnamon
1.5 tsp. Himalayan or Celtic sea salt
1.5 T vanilla extract
3 T olive oil or coconut oil
6 T agave or yacon root syrup
1-2 packets stevia (if you want it sweeter)
5 T psyllium husk—to be folded in at the end
Blend everything but psyllium husk in a food processor using the “S” blade. Then fold in psyllium for a more gelatinous texture. Let it set a few hours in the refrigerator. 624. The filling makes 8 servings at 78 calories each. Top make it sweeter, top with 1 tsp. sundried raisins for an additional 20 calories per serving. Pumpkin is a super food.

Cauliflower Pâté (“Mashed Potatoes”)—from The Live Food Factor
3 cups cauliflower, cut up in small pieces
1 cup macadamia or pine nuts, or cashews, soaked 4-8 hours, rinsed and drained
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup water
¾ T powdered sea vegetables or Himalayan salt
½ T garlic
Put into food processor, using the “S” blade, adding cauliflower a little at a time. Blend until the mixture looks light and fluffy like mashed potatoes. The mixture will not only look like mashed potatoes, but the taste will also be reminiscent of mashed potatoes!
Serves 8.

GRAVY—inspired by a recipe from Raw, The Uncook Book by Juliano
1 cup miso (unpasteurized can be found at People’s Co-op in Ocean Beach!)
1 cup chopped onion
2 T minced garlic
1 cup fresh squeezed orange or carrot juice
1 cup raw nut butter (ex: almond)
4 T Nama Shoyu
1 T raw apple cider vinegar

Alternative Gravy:
2 cups fresh carrot juice, 10 T raw almond butter, 1 avocado, 4 T Nama Shoyu, 2-3 garlic cloves, 2 T agave. Blend till creamy, add a bit of pure water if needed.

Cranberry Relish—from The Live Food Factor, recipe by Victoria BidWell
1½ lbs fresh cranberries
1½ cups raisins
3 oranges, cut in sections
3 diced pears
Run all the above foods through the food grinder or through the food processor set for purée. Mix the foods thoroughly, cover with a tight seal, and let chill. This recipe is best when chilled overnight to let the flavors mingle one with the other. It’s delicious!
www.livefoodfactor.com

The Live Food Factor

PO Box 558
Concrete, WA
98237
US

Skin Tips: Get the Raw Glow & More!

A friend asked me the other day what I did to take care of my skin. “Your skin is glowing!” she said, “Can you tell me what you do? And don’t just tell me to eat a 95% raw diet because you know I won’t do that.”

So I thought of other tips that help. Eating a diet rich in Omega 3s is critical for getting radiant skin. Walnuts, chia seeds and flax seeds are rich in Omega 3s. Omega 3 fatty acids preserve collagen and elastin, keeping skin younger.

Avoid processed foods which are loaded with Omega 6s (and therefore imbalance the ratio of O3s to O6s which should be 1:1 but in the Standard American Diet (SAD) are actually 1:25 or even 1:40! You can also take Omega 3 supplements (algae or if not strict vegan, pharmaceutical grade fish oil). This helps with weight loss as well.

I was even quoted on this topic in an article at http://tinyurl.com/napoeu

Avoid any trans fat/hydrogenated oils–this is probably one of the main reason for pimples! It is very toxic stuff. Also avoid sugar, which ages your skin fast! I even minimize sweet fruits, especially dehydrated ones that are easy to overeat. Avoid grains or any food that causes inflammation as it will be sure to show up on your skin. If I were to cheat and have a baked potato, my eyes would get very puffy the next morning, a sure sign of inflammation.

Another great skin booster is MSM. I take supplements since our soil is depleted of minerals.  MSM helps build collagen and is good in addition for hair, joints, and nails.

I also take silica to avoid bone loss and improve the skin. Cucumbers are rich in silica. The silica in cucumber is an essential component of healthy connective tissue, which includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. Cucumber juice is often recommended as a source of silica to improve the complexion and health of the skin.

Topically I use creams with peptides that help build collagen, such as Peptides Plus Wrinkle Reverse Crème. I wish I were selling all this stuff, but I am not! I get it all at a huge discount at www.iherb.com (Use my code for $5 off your first order: LEN690).

You should also avoid skin creams with toxins. Don’t put anything on your skin that you wouldn’t put in your mouth! The Green Beauty Guide by Julie Gabriel goes into detail about that, and lists 100 toxins to avoid in all skin and hair products. She lists some of the major ones on p. 97: petrochemicals, including mineral oil and various silicones; sodium laureth/lauryl sulfates and other sulfate-based detergents (which are found in most shampoos!); propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, and various ingredients formulated with PEGs and PGs; formaldehyde and paraben preservatives; synthetic (FD&C and other) dyes and colorants; artificial fragrances of any sort.

I also do facial exercises to boost sagging muscles. I don’t wear sunblock unless I am out in the sun during the day, such as before 3 PM, when I also wear a sun visor. I seldom wear makeup, but when I do it is nontoxic and mineral based.