Rainbow Live Raw Food

Easier Blending with Blendtec's 4-inch Blade, Big Motor and 3 Qt. Jug

2011-08-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

In helping a friend choose a blender for green smoothies and blended salads, I felt I should check out what Blendtec has. I knew VitaMix had come out with a 3-peak horse power model. I figured Matt and Angela Monarch would know the scoop.

Does it annoy you when so much smoothie goodness gets stuck down by the blade? I know I do. My daughter and I joked once that if we ever open a raw-food cafe, we might name it "Squeegee's" for my constant companion: the spatula we use to scrap out the goodness from the blender.

In this video review, Matt and Angela show comparison's between the Blendtec and the Vitamix and also between the Blendtec with the 3-inch blade and the Blendec with the 4-inch blade and the wider base on the carafe. What a difference! Stuff just pours out of the wider one!

Along with the longer blade and higher speeds, Blendtec has released a 3 quart (96 ounces!) carafe! Great for family blending!

To see the details page for this blender, click here: Blendtec Blenders. The blender also comes in white and red, which you will find on the site when you get there.

Is a 100% Fruit Diet Healthy? Dr. Gabriel Cousens, M.D.

2011-08-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Gabriel reviews his experiences and what he's seen and heart during his 30+ years in the live food world.

The Best Foods to Bring to a Raw Food Potluck

2010-10-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

John Kohler from OK Raw shares his top tip for Raw Food Potluck dishes. His message: Fresh is Best. Bring fresh food. Grow it or get it from the farmer or farmer's market.

Raw Food Potluck Survival Tips

2010-10-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

John Kohler from OK Raw has these great tips to help you survive a raw potluck. With all the great choices, besides eating too much, you need to be careful about food combining, ingredients and where the food came from.

John, a 15 year veteran of raw foods, offers some great tips for those considering organizing a vegan raw food potluck.

Raw Food Potluck Primer Free Recipes eBook

2010-10-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Discover the world of Raw Food Potlucks with this great free ebook from Rene Oswald. She has a great website with no-nonsense advice and a great program for getting started called "Transtioning to Living Cuisine". What I like best about Rene's approach is her practical suggestions for organizing your raw food for the week.

To get the free ebook, click here and sign up for her monthly newsletter. You will receive the link for the ebook within 48 hours.

Low-glycemic Raw Chocolate Recipe-Phase 1 Rainbow Diet

2010-05-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Malcolm Saunders presents this recipe is in line with Gabriel Cousens' Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine Phase 1, which is low-glycemic.

Hurom Juicer Wins the (Slow) Race!

2010-03-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

For the price, you can't beat a Hurom Juicer. This video is a show down between the Hurom auger slow juicer and the, much more expensive, Green Star Juicer. If time and money are a concern for you, sit back and watch this.

Matt Monarch of The Raw Food World keeps his prices down and you can support my family's "Raw Food Appliance Fund" by purchasing through THIS LINK. Thank you!

If you are concerned about the capabilities of the Hurom Slow Juicer, check out Matt making wheat grass juice and banana ice cream. Yum!

International Juice Feasting Day Kick Off

2009-11-30T22:19:00.000-08:00

My family and I were pleased to attend the live party/webcast for the first International Juice Feasting Day.

Dave the Raw Food Trucker launched this in honor of the Tree of Life center in Patagonia, Arizona. Dave followed Gabriel Cousens book, There is a Cure for Diabetes. Dave lost over 200 pounds, as well as diabetes and colon cancer and kidney disease by turning to raw foods.

The replay link for the live feed is here.

Dan, the Liferegenerator, has made great videos of Dave's progress, be sure to watch them all!

Dan and Dave are incredibly inspiring. I like Dan's focus on 'regeneration'.. it is what most of us need, even if we aren't facing a major disease, like Dave was.

Drink a toast of juice or smoothie to Dave, the Tree of Life and Gabriel Cousens in thanks for Dave's incredible healing!

UPDATE: Dave now has his own website at: TheRawFoodTrucker.com

Mom's Potato Salad

2009-10-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

Well, this is almost Mom's potato salad. I would need to come up with some sort of substitute for the texture and taste of the hard boiled eggs. I made this for the first Olympia Raw Food Meetup potluck I attended. My version was missing the capers and I used apple cider vinegar , but it was yummy.

I made the whole Mayo recipe, but less than 1/2 on the vegetables, so I had dressing for the next day's salad. This was the first time I used jicama. At the Meetup potluck, I learned it is pronounced 'ee-cama'.

This recipe is from Sarma's new book, Living Raw Food. The mayonnaise is really yummy. I found the 3 teaspoons of sea salt to be a bit salty though (I used Himalayan), but then I didn't have the capers, so maybe those two balance each other out? The salad was fine without the capers, I didn't try to figure out something else to use instead of capers. Do you have any ideas? Leave a comment below if you do.

Avocado Mayonnaise

1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 1 hour or more
zest of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbs white wine vinegar
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp yellow mustard powder
1 1/2 cups filtered water
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tsp sea salt

Blend all the ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.

Phase 1 Omissions: white wine vinegar and nutritional yeast

Vegetables for "Potato Salad"

8 cups of 1/2-inch cubes of peeled jicama (from 3-4 medium jicamas)
2 cups carrots, peeled and diced small
4 cups celery, diced small
2 cups capers, roughly chopped
1 cup thinly slicked scallions
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large bow, toss all the ingredients with the Avocado Mayonnaise until thoroughly coated.

Phase 1 substitutions: omit the carrots, add seeded cucumber or other phase 1 vegetable.

Live to 186 years with Raw Food?

2009-10-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

What does enlightenment have to do with raw food?

This is one of the deepest interviews I've heard online (and I think I've heard/watched most of them! lol) If you are ready to hear about spirituality and how your food affects this, listen to this great interview Matt Monarch had with the Daddy of raw, live food Gabriel Cousens, M.D.

Subjects covered include: Kundalini, candida, vision, Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine diet, water fasting, raw chocolate, asleep while you're awake, spontaneous celibacy, becoming a superconductor, becoming a light body.. Gabriel is really living!

Click Here to Listen.

Little Fudge Cakes

2009-10-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

Yummy goodness from David Wolfe and Shazzie's book Naked Chocolate. It is not heavy in cacao but still chocolaty. The kids even like it.

It is possible to make it without a food processor if you are gentle and kind to your blender and use a coffee/spice grinder to grind the almonds.

To prepare for this recipe, it is best to soak the almonds overnight and sprout them about 1/2 day and then put them to dry in the dehydrator until dry but you can use unsoaked dry almonds.

Little Fudge Cakes
Makes about 24 pieces

4 tsp raw tahini
2.5 C dry almonds
2 Tbs agave or yacon root syrup
5 dates stoned
2 tsp chocolate powder (raw cocao)
2 Tbs dried, finely shredded coconut
2 tsp coconut oil
pinch nutmeg and cinnamon
2 tsp flax and 2 tsp olive oils
1/4 tsp sea salt

Mill 2 C almonds into a flour using a vita-mix jug or coffee mill. Chop dates. Add all to food processor and blend until it sticks together and still has bits in it. Place in a shallow tray lined in plastic wrap with enough to cover the top. Cover the top and flatten it out. Cut into squares.

If you are using a blender, dice the dates, but in the blender with the tahini, agave, coconut oil, flax oil and olive oils. Blend stopping often to scrap it down. Remove this to the bowl of dry stuff and mix.

Live Food Humus

2009-10-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a yummy Humus from the Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine DVD. This DVD explains the self-composting button we all have and what to do to stop it. This DVD is a great introduction to Gabriel Cousen's life-work and has video instructions on some good recipes.

I soak and sprout about 6 cups of almonds at a time so I nearly always have some on hand. I ran out of lemons and substituted 2 tablespoons of lime for lemon juice and it tasted fine to me. I also used ground white pepper instead of black because I was out of black. I understand white peppercorns are the ripe version of peppercorns.

Amazingly, I managed to make this in my old regular blender by blending about 1/3rd at a time and stopping and scraping down often.

The kids liked it and had some with regular crackers, sliced cucumbers and sliced zucchini. This would be a great pate' for lettuce rollups or nori rolls.

Humus

2 C almonds, soaked overnight
1 C sesame seeds
5 T lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
1 C water
2 T olive oil
1 T cumin
1 t celtic sea salt
1 t ground black pepper

Blend in a high speed blender or in a food processor.

Spanish Breakfast Scramble from Ani Phyo

2009-10-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

This recipe from Ani Phyo for her Spanish Breakfast Scramble looks yummy! It counts for Phase 1 of the Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine.

What can make this a fast and easy breakfast is if you soak and dry almonds and sunflower seeds every week to have on hand as staples. I try to keep a stock of cilantro, spinach, scallions and tomatoes on hand at most times also.

If you are following the Rainbow Green or the Diabetes diet, then having on hand most all of the allowed foods for Phase 1 makes meal decision and prep time more enjoyable. Stock up regularly!

Ani Phyo's Raw Food Kitchen: Spanish Breakfast Scramble

Love the Chick's Pate:
1 cup Almonds soaked and dried
1/2 cup sunflower seeds soaked and dried
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 cup water

Spanish Scramble:
1/4 cup cilantro chopped and destemmed
1/2 cup tomato diced
2 tbs scallions, chopped
1 batch Love the Chicks pate
1/2 cup spinach leaves
pinch black pepper
edible flowers (optional)

Mix the pate. Add the cilantro, tomato, scallions and black pepper. Serve on spinach leaves and garnish with edible flowers.

Olympia Raw Food Meetup Group

2009-09-29T19:04:00.001-07:00

My area now has a raw food meetup group. If you are near Olympia, Washington, join us! The next meeting is October 9th, 2009.

Olympia Raw Food Meetup Group

Dave the Raw Food Trucker: Diabetes Live Food Success

2009-09-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

Dave the Raw Food Trucker is quite an inspiration. His story is amazing and he certainly never thought he would be a raw vegan! Dan (liferegenerator on YouTube) is documenting Dave's progress towards a body to live for! Dave has moved through diabetes, kidney disease and cancer so far. He is following Dr. Gabriel Cousens book, There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program. Watch the whole YouTube series, if you can!

See all of Dave and Dan's videos HERE.

Sesame Fudge Quick Fix

2009-09-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

My husband needed cacao.. NOW! So I found and made this pronto. A nice quick chocolate fix. It is from the recipe collection at GoneRaw.com

Sesame Fudge

1/2cup white sesame seeds, hulled and ground
1/4cup cacao powder
3 Tbsp agave nectar
2 tsp coconut oil

Mix well. Spread into a square container or on a plate, smooth top. Eat right away, or chill in fridge until firm (1-2 hours)

Serving suggestions

* For spicy mexican fudge, add 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2tsp cardamon and 1/4tsp cayenne
* Top a square of this chocolatey, calcium-rich treat with raspberry coulis and a dollop of whip cream
* Spread on a piece of banana bread for a delicious, nutrient-packed treat for the afternoon slumps

Almond Blueberry Porridge (aka Purple Passion)

2009-09-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is a great breakfast recipe from Living in the Raw by Rose Lee Calabro. It calls for 2 cups of coconut pulp. Well, I just wanted to use one coconut, a smallish one. It had nearly 3/4 cup of pulp, so I added 1 cup of soaked and sprouted oat groats to make up the room. I also didn't have fresh blueberries, so used frozen ones. I didn't garnish it and some sort of fruit garnish would have been a nice touch.

My husband also likes cacao, so I made the recipe, then poured out a small bowl of it then added a tablespoon of Wilderness Family Naturals Cacao Powder to the blender. I found I liked it best without the cacao. The cacao gave it a slight bitterness. I think it would be a great recipe to make and let sit an hour before eating, I think the flavors and texture will come together a bit more.

Is the cacao I used raw? It is labeled raw, but I think most of the "raw cacao" out there isn't truly raw by David Wolfe's definition. Truly raw cacao is NOT fermented. Almost all organic and raw cacaos are fermented. If you want to be sure you are getting raw cacao, I would get it from David Wolfe's Sunfood site or from the importer directly, Essential Living Foods.

I have dubbed this Purple Passion because of the fabulous color and also it satisfies some of the requirements for nutrients to replenish the sexual fluids, as per Sunfood Diet Success System by David Wolfe. I think the addition of soaked pumpkin seeds and olive oil would boost the passion-restoration part of this for men.

Men can replace sexual fluids by specifically eating nuts, seeds, wild coconuts, coconut oil, cacao (raw chocolate), maca root, seaweeds, avocados, olives and bee pollen

Almond Blueberry Porridge

1 cup almonds, soaked 12-48 hours
1 cup coconut water
2 cups young coconut pulp
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the almonds and coconut water in a blender or a food processor fitted with the S blade and process until smooth and creamy. Add the coconut pulp, 3/4 cup of the blueberries, and the vanilla and process until smooth. Serve with the remaining blueberries as a garnish.

Raw Chocolate-Coconut Macaroons

2009-08-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

My husband was desiring raw cacao 'something' and I dug up this recipe. We made 'em and it was hard not to let them go in the dehydrator, but it was worth it. They are a bit crumbly until they have been in the dehydrator for some time. It took about a day. We actually went a bit too long and they are a bit hard. That's O.K., it just means you have to suck on them a bit!

Our kids are too hip on coconut (yet!) but they like these. We had to pare the recipe down to the amount of coconut we had on hand.

Raw Coconut-Chocolate Macaroons

2 Cups coconut, dried
1 Cup Raw Cocoa
1/2 Cup Agave (we use dark most of the time)
1/6 C coconut Oil (warmed so it is liquid)
Pinch Himalayan Sea Salt
Dash Cinnamon

Mix in a bowl. Form into balls. Put on dehydrator screen. Flatten them if you want. Put in the dehydrator. [We needed about a day with the Ronco. But others are saying only 3 hours. Ours were not together in 3 hours.]

The Quest for Raw Chocolate Mousse

2009-08-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

My first taste of Raw Chocolate Mousse was at a friend's wedding 2 weeks ago. The mousse was catered by Julie of Thrive Restaurant in Seattle. It was WAY yummy with a fudgy texture! Julie teaches raw dessert classes and I will have to attend one.

In the meantime, I search for the perfect Chocolate Mousse. This is my first attempt. .I found it on the Purely Delicious magazine website. It does not have the fudgy texture, but it is very rich and pudding-like. One of my son's SAD friends even liked it. (We later told his mom he had mousse with avocado and no cream, eggs, milk etc and she asked for the recipe!)

I used an alcohol-based vanilla, and don't recommend that as we could taste it. I would use less vanilla next time. I was also able to make it with a regular blender.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

This is the most amazing stuff. It taste SO much better than the "real" thing. I use it for icing too. Usually, my children just lick it off and leave the cake. Oh, it makes a wonderful chocolate pie as well - just double the recipe.
Makes about 2 cups

2 small ripe avocados
1/2 -3/4 C blue agave nectar
1/4 C raw cocao powder (or carob if you prefer)
2 T coconut butter or oil
1 T alcohol-free vanilla
dash of sea salt
dash of cinnamon (optional)

Preparation:
Place everything in a VitaMix or high-powered blender or food processor and blend (on high) until very smooth. You may need your temper to move the contents a little so the motor doesn't bog down on you. Most VitaMix blenders come with one.

Keep stored in an air-tight container in the fridge - that is, if it lasts long enough to make it to the fridge.

Recipe provided by Purely Delicious Magazine - www.PurelyDelicious.net

Medicine Juice to Cure What Ails You

2009-08-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

My son had too many late nights and came home with a cold and flu symptoms. After a day or so, I made this juice from David Wolfe's book, Sunfood Diet Success System. I used small bok choy ribs and a ripe jalapeno I found at a Mexican grocery. There wasn't much juice but it seemed strong enough, so I split it into 3 shots (about 1.5 ounce each) and my husband and I each had one and I left one for Emrys to have when he got up.

Devon reported that Emrys was 100% better after just one shot! The second time I made it with bigger kale leaves and bigger bok choy and a ripe habanero. WOW! very strong stuff.

The most difficult thing is to find RIPE jalapenos. They are red when ripe. I haven't had any luck with trying to ripen them. I have tried put it in the sun and put it in a bag with a ripe banana. Any other ideas? Will have to grow my own next year.

David Wolfe says this stuff helps the lymphatic and immune system. It relieves swollen glands in the throat.

Medicine

1 ripe red jalapeno or ripe orange habanero pepper
5 ribs of bok choy
10 kale leaves

Juice.

Supergreen Delight Juice Recipe

2009-08-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here's an almost Phase 1 juice recipe from the Daddy of Juicing, Jay Kordich. I found it on his juice of the day on his website JuiceDaddy.com.

Supergreen Delight Juice Recipe

1 large cucumber, peeled.
1 handful of parsley
1 handful of spinach
2 celery ribs
1/2 small beet without beet greens [Phase 1 omit beet, perhaps use greens instead]
1 medium vine ripe tomato
1 small garlic clove

Juice all the small pieces first such as the garlic.
Add the cucumber slices by switching between the spinach and parley with the cucumber.
Finish up with the tomato and flush through with the rest of the celery and beet.

5-Ingredient Kale Chips

2009-08-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here is another great Phase 1 snack recipes. You can't have enough snacks! This if from Rawbabies on YouTube.

5-Ingredient Kale Chips

3 red bell peppers
3 cloves of garlic
3 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil
blended and poured over
4 bunches of kale cut into chip size pieces and massaged in. Dehydrate until crunchy. (However long that is. Everyone eats them before they are done at my house)

Raw Popcorn

2009-08-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

This is a great Phase 1 find from:
Alex Malinsky of RawGuru.com

Gourmet & Simple Raw Food Recipes

Raw Popcorn by Alex Malinsky
"One of my new raw food recipes, texture and taste just like real popcorn"

2 cups cauliflower (broken up like popcorn)
1 tsp. or more Sea salt
3 shakes Dulse flakes

Combine everything together in a large bowl and let marinate for 2 hrs.

"Butter topping"

1/2 cup cashew or almond butter
2 tbs. lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 tbs. agave nectar
Sea salt to taste

Mix this "butter topping" with the "popcorn" and lay out these pieces on teflex sheets ready to be dehydrated. Dehydrate this mixture at 115 degrees F. for at least 8 hrs. or until soft.

Note: The cauliflower will be nice and soft but still have a crunchy texture. Enjoy!

Pita Bread

2009-08-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

Phase 1 Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine

This is from Living in the Raw.

Pita Bread

Yield: 7 (6-inch) pita breads

The thinner you spread the batter, the less time it will take for the pita breads to dehydrate and the better they will taste. To make a perfect circle, cut out the center of a lid to an old plastic storage container to use a a template.

1 cup golden flaxseeds, soaked 4-6 hours in 1 cup water
1/2 ripe avocado
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon Celtic Salt [I use Himalayan Sea Salt]

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Evenly spread 1/3 cup of the batter on a Teflex sheet, forming a 6-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Prepare the remaining batter in the same fashion. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 3 hours. Flip the bread over, remove the Teflex sheet, and continue dehydrating for 2 hours longer or until the bread is soft and flexible. Remove the bread from the dehydrator when it is slightly crispy. Place it in a zippered plastic bag for several hours and it will become more flexible. For the best results, dehydrate the bread the night before you plan to use it.

Buckwheat Cereal

2009-08-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

Phase 1.5 Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine

This recipe from Rose Lee Calabro's Living in the Rawis really simple.

Buckwheat Cereal

2-4 cups Buckwheat
pinch ground cinnamon (optional)

Soak the buckwheat for 8-12 hours. Sprout for approximately two days, rinsing at least three times a day. (Rinsing is extremely important; otherwise the buckwheat will ferment.) Sprinkle with the cinnamon, if using. Place on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate for 6-8 hours at 105 degrees or until dry and crispy.

Simple Flax Seed Crackers

2009-08-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

Phase 1 Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine

This recipe is from Carol Alt's Book The Raw 50. Nice and simple. Make some every week or so to have on hand.

I actually ground the flax seeds before making this (didn't double-check the recipe first) and it turned out fine that way also. I'm presently using a Ronco round dehydrator with no temperature control, and the dehydration time was less than 24 hours.

TIP: When you flip the crackers, if you want more even shapes, that would be the time to cut them.

TIP: Got leftover raw soup? Mix with this mixture and make tastier crackers from it. (I got that tip from Living in the Raw, by Rose Lee Calabro.

Simple Flax Seed Crackers
1 cup flax seeds, any type
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt

Put the flax seeds in a glass bowl, and pour just enough purified water over the seeds to cover them. Soak them for at least 1 hour. After the seeds have soaked, without draining, add the salt.

Spread the mixture on Teflex-lined dehydrator trays so it is 1/4 inch thick. Dehydrate at 95 to 105 degrees F for 24 hours or until crispy. using a spatula, flip the partially dehydrated cracker sheets over halfway through the dehydration time, or at the point that they are dry on top. This helps to dehydrate the crackers evenly in less time. The crackers will shrink as they dehydrate. Break the sheet of crackers into pieces to serve.

Budget Green: Wild Purple Thistle

2009-07-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

Well this is about as budget as you can get! At least it is if you live a little ways out of town.

I have purple thistle growing all over our two acres. Free!

Watch this video for all the tasty details.

Welcome to My Collection of Rainbow Recipes

2009-07-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

This blog will start with recipes I have found on other sites or created for Phase 1 of the Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine diet.

I highly encourage purchasing a wide range of raw food cookbooks to keep you inspired and help you find the recipes that work best for you.

For my purposes, I am initially seeking recipes that fit the phases of Gabriel Cousen's diet because I really know that most of us need to stop the internal composting of our bodies! I am also seeking simple and relatively inexpensive recipes to use for the RG diet.

Please share any Phase 1 favorites in the comments! Thanks for visiting.