We Like It Raw - Raw Food Goodness

Kreamy Curry Dressing

The beautiful Ani Phyo, founder of Smart Monkey Foods, stars in Ani Phyo's Raw Food Kitchen. More great videos at her active blog.

Related

• Ani Phyo's Bio
• WLIR Recipes

Global Warming and Food

Thus far, most talk about reducing climate change has revolved around fuel efficient cars, lowering household kilowatt usage,and moving to sustainable energy choices.

Very little attention, though, has been placed on food choices. Even though switching to a veg diet actually does more to cut personal CO2 emissions than switching to a hybrid does.

So why the lack of fanfare for changing diets?

Here's why...

First off, the people don't change their diet to impact global warming, they do it first and foremost for health reasons. And with so much mis-information about the true benefits of eating better and the true cost of eating shitty foods, people are left confused. Someone on the dietary fence maybe swayed to the veg side by learning about global warming and food, however, for the average person (the person that still thinks that real protein only comes from animals sources) a much wider education campaign is needed. An education campaign that takes a second look at what health actually means.

Secondly, so much of our "fight against global warming" is about pushing against "the Man". Man in this case meaning oil executives, energy companies, the government, and hired lawyers/marketers. It is much easier to convince people to join your fight if you have an enemy or a man you're fighting.

Changing your diet is often viewed as a less sexy fight. For starters, the man is you. Sure there is big pharma, food lobbyist, genetic engineering, and factory farming, but the real gate keeper is you. Unlike greening your car/house, greening your diet is still easier to do, in the sense that there are fewer barriers for an individual to make personal change. So, when all is said and done, you still have to deal with you. And dealing with your food choices means dealing with the culture you were brought up in, your child memories, your personal spending habits, what your friends eat and everything else that makes you who you are.

So what do we do and what does this mean?

While the facts about diet and CO2 make clear sense, I wouldn't rely on the recent excitement over global warming to cause a new food-movement the way it has caused an eco-movement. Although it probably will have the hybrid fan club think twice about dinner tonight.

The bigger shift in the food movement is going to come from raw & conscious foods. Why? Because raw food really works. That may sound weird, but it is actually pretty straight forward. Eating a vegetarian diet does have health benefits, but most vegetarian diets are still so processed, that the benefits you get from not eating meat are masked by the fact that the food is still highly processed.

But eating raw is different! You eat a primarily raw food diet for 2 weeks and the shift in energy, mood and clarity hits you like nothing you'd felt before. Try it for 6 months and you'd swear you discovered the fountain of youth. And that's if you are already in good health. If you have disease or  some major health issue, there is an amazing chance you get completely get rid of them by going raw. I know this, you know this - or you are at least learning about this. Now we're just waiting on the consciousness to spread. And spreading it is - from one person to another until a huge chuck on this country has created a tipping point that just requires a tiny push to flood an entire nation with a new type  of freedom - freedom be healthy.

Gone Raw - Great Raw Recipes

I stumbled upon GoneRaw.com and was really amazed by how well they setup their recipes section. Not only do they have great recipes, but they also made it easy for users to rate, comment and post recipes.

Big kudos go to the founders, Ray and Kandace, for creating such a great website. Well executed projects like this make conscious information more accessible to all. I can't imagine the raw food movement being what it is today with out the internet and projects like this.

Visit gone raw and create your own free account to start sharing your own recipes.

Related

• WLIR Recipes Section

Valentine’s Day – Love and Food

I’ve not posted in months.  For anyone who gives a crap, SORRY!  If I could do what I want to do, I’d have more time to do exactly this, because it’s fun, among other reasons.  I have pages and pages of blog postage that I spit out over the last few months and then just never seemed to find time to pull together and now it feels very outdated.  Not to mention, I just get embarrassed and feel like… really?  does anyone really give a shit about what I ate for breakfast?  Really? But maybe I’ll tidy it up, pull it together and throw it out there, why not. Someone encourage me please and I’ll do it.

Here's something I wrote on Valentine's day:

Valentine’s Day!!  It can be kind of like New Year’s Eve… too much expectation which leads only to disappointment.  Here’s what I’ve learned: don’t expect anything.  Then you’ll never be disappointed.  Rely on yourself.  Love yourself.  And everyone else, but really, if you don’t treat yourself well, why should anyone else?  Anyone who knows me and is reading this will be shouting things about pots and kettles calling each other black, whatever that saying is… because I’m told constantly I need to take better care of myself - but who takes their own advice anyway? 

This whole sappy ‘loving yourself’ bit ought to tie in nicely with the whole raw food/lifestyle theme - of eating well and all of that, but that feels obvious to me.  Or am I just used to it?  But it really should be obvious, no?  Eat really good organic fresh food – anything else in excess is just slow self destruction.  That’s bolder than what I usually say, but really, it’s true.  Green juice and salads are my comfort food.

My last post was all about how shitty and fat I was feeling… in a very time and energy wasting, silly female kind of way.  I’m just being honest.  Some days I’ve felt great, other days, I’ve been a bit less than secure, almost feeling like I don’t deserve anything because, really, if you don’t look good why should anyone love you?  OH dear.  Did I just let that out??  Anyway, seems that some of us learn, through all sorts of subtle means, personal experiences and other feedback, that it’s all about how you look.   Well, not really.  No really.  Really?  What it really is, is confusing as hell.  Rationally you know it’s not the case, but then those feelings seep in, lured into our consciousness by the things we read, see, perceive around us.  But what I’ve been figuring out is that there is quite a bit of power in what you feel inside and project outward.  I think.  Or at least that’s what I tell myself.  That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop obsessing about wanting to drop additional poundage.  But what so happens is that the less I obsess about it, the more that weight seem to just naturally dissolve.  Easier said than done.  More on this some time later.  OH yes, and being in love helps too (trying to stick with the theme here).  Being loved back by the person you love can fill you up so you’re not hungry.  That and it’s distracting in the best possible way - and of course, some people eat excessively either out of boredom, procrastination or specifically to distract themselves from something that is more difficult to face.  I’ve done the latter two a lot, but I think I’ve learned from it, finally.  And these days, I’ll just say I’m distracted in the best possible way, and so happy for it. 

This holiday of sorts can suck hard if you’re without a clearly designated Valentine - but only if you let it.  It’s pretty great if you can be happy with your self enough to also be happily single.  Still, hard to do if you sometimes feel all sorts of insecurity.  Or if you’ve been burned.  Or if you’ve been burned in a way that’s made you so cynical about love that you put your heart away in a lockbox.  Can anyone say that word anymore without thinking of Al Gore, or is it just me?  OK back to what I was saying.  Hard to be a cheerful soul on this lovey-dovey holiday if you’re so angry and hardened and don’t trust anyone.  It’s hard to look back at having been in love when you realized it wasn’t really forever like you thought it was, and you ended up in pain over it.  Life isn’t easy, nor should it be, because really, then it would be totally boring and what could be worse than a boring life?  Which is why people should embrace pain… sounds a bit twisted but pain is living, and living is good.  I’ve noticed that if you accept pain and allow it to fill you up, the easier it dissipates.  Who am I to say this, and where is this coming from??  I should be writing about peace, love and raw food, not pain!

So back to love:  When you’re in love, make sure you love that person for who they are, not what they do for you, or what you want them to be, or do, or how you want them to make you feel.  Love without expectations.  Love without worrying so much about the future.  It feels really good that way.  And love all the people around you out of compassion.  Love people who don’t know better.  Love even people who are not nice to others, because those people are probably in pain.  Find a way to fill yourself up and feel secure enough to open your heart.  That’s when the good stuff happens.  Love makes the world revolve.  Put it out there and it comes back to you.  And it feels nice.  Happy Valentine’s Day.  Eat well. 

Sarma

Raw Food Media Videos

RawFoodMedia.com has done a great job of gathering and producing raw-related talks, how to's, un-cooking shows, and restaurants reviews. The video above, featuring Dr. Gabriel Cousins MD, is an example of original content that RFM has produced.

Here are some other great clips I've found on their site:

• Why lactic acid makes your muscles burn
• Enzymes Part I
• How to find a good deal on young coconuts

Antioxidant Salad on Martha

Today on the Martha Stewart Show author Sue Ciminelli prepared a totally raw "Antioxidant Salad".

So you maybe thinking, "What's the big deal?"

Well, if you really think about it, 99% of all salads prepared on TV still have either cheese, croutons, meat bits or some dairy based dressing. Yet here is a salad, on one of the most popular morning shows, that uses none of the above.

On top of that, Ciminelli even bashed soda and artificial sweeteners - telling the women in the audience how bad they were for their skin. Martha, who is surprising very green educated herself, also added relevant anecdotes. Big-up to Martha!

See... they didn't have to call the salad raw. In fact its better that they didn't. But the fact that it was raw/organic shows the far reaching influence that the raw food conscious movement is having.

Oh how I dream of the day when the name of this blog changes from "We Like It Raw" to "We Like Food".

Related

• Martha Stewart's Greening Tips (Video)

Sarma's Cilantro Shake

I've had only liquids for a whopping three days so far. I saw this piece about Angela Stokes who did this for 92 days. That's a loooong time! Doing what I do, it's not easy to not actually eat anything, be we'll see. Last time I tried this my energy spiked and it felt pretty good, so I'll report back soon. For now, below is a recipie for a shake I drink almost every day (even when not doing this whole liquid-only thing). I LOVE cilantro, and below you'll also find some reasons why that's a good thing (now I sound like Martha).

I add some thawed E3-Live to mine (you can dump a few tablespoons in and barely taste it, and trust me, you don't want to taste E3-Live unless you're one of those rare folk that like the taste of wheatgrass, because that's what it tastes like, funkiness multiplied!), as well as some tocotrienols (tasty), and top it off with a sprinkle of bee pollen. Yum.  If I was a guy I might throw in some hemp protein for good measure.

Now onto the fun..

Sarma's Cilantro Shake Ingredients

• Pink Grapefruit
• Cucumber
• Cilantro
• Lime
• Pineapple
• Agave Nectar or stevia
• Vanilla Extract
• BIG pinch of Cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

Directions
In a blender, (Vitamix if you have one) throw a pink peeled grapefruit, peeled cucumber, lots and lots and lots of cilantro - like half a bunch, a lime, some pineapple, agave nectar or stevia, vanilla extract,  BIG pinch of cinnamon, and pinch of salt.

More Love for Cilantro
Free radicals are everywhere - in the water we drink, food we eat, and in the air we breathe. The main defense to free radicals (coming from pollution, x-rays, radiation, chemicals, heavy metals) are antioxidants.  Cilantro leaves are rich in calcium, iron, carotenes, and vitamin C, which it happens are great antioxidants.  A Japanese investigator, Yoshiaki Omura, has made the revolutionary discovery that cilantro can mobilize mercury and other toxic metals from the central nervous system if large enough amounts are consumed daily. Reuters reports that cilantro contains a chemical which has been found to kill the Salmonella bacteria that cause foodborne illness.

The heavy metal detox capabilities of cilantro should also make it of great use in the treatment of depression, Alzheimer's disease, lack of concentration and other related disorders.  In other words, this herb can apparently help to keep you happy, focused, and sane!  Just eat it, don't smoke it.

Related

• MOOD - there's a reason why it rhymes with FOOD