We've launched a new mini-site called Masala. Masala is a feed aggregator that makes it easy for you to keep up-to-date with the best raw food blogs online.
We'd like to give a shout-out to Kaia Foods for sponsoring Masala. It takes time and money to build a successful and extremely supportive health community, and we totally appreciate the fact that there are raw/vegan companies out there supporting our community building efforts.
In addition to sponsoring Masala, Kaia Foods is offering 35% off their
entire line of Raw Granola as a "thank you" to the raw food community.
So if you need to stock-up on some healthy snack food for yourself or a
loved one, now is the perfect time. Granola Flavors include: Dates
& Spices, Cocoa Bliss and Raisin Cinnamon.
Personally, I'm a Dates and Spices kinda-of-guy. Must be my Indian blood. ; )
Note: We'd like to give another shout-out to All Top and Guy Kawasaki for inspiring us to create Masala. If you enjoy Masala you'll also enjoy All Top Organic and All Top Vegan.
"Amid the frenzy of New York Fashion Week, design icon Donna Karan shares how she maintains her calm and well-being in her native city with a combination of juicing, yoga and empowering philanthropy."
This week's My Way feature comes to us all the way from Mexico! Linda Salas is a graphic designer, painter and bilingual blogger. She loves green juice, exotic fruits and "walking the earth with a smile on her face and love in her heart." Linda lives in Monterrey, Mexico with her soul-mate Eduardo.
My Way: Linda Salas
This is a great opportunity for me to write about how I live the raw food lifestyle because my own life is going through interesting changes, and the way I eat is one big part of that change. My name is Linda, I live in Mexico and have been eating raw for almost two years now. I keep a Spanish blog because there is very little of all this amazing information in our language. I also keep an English blog because most of my raw friends speak it and I like to share with them too.
I figure there are as many ways to practice raw foods as they are raw foodists out there. For instance, looking back on these days, I've noticed I've been eating a lot of sweet foods, while one month before that I didn't want sweets at all. Instead I craved mostly savory things and fresh greens. I share this to give you an idea of how my own eating habits varry from time to time.
There are some specific differences eating raw where I live vs eating raw in the US. I am very lucky to be able to get all my greens and most vegetables organic and local. I've visited the farm they are grown on and it is just amazing how much care goes into every step of their process. But very little of the fruit is of the same quality. I'm not complaining... there is a huge abundance of fruit and variety and the prices are not bad at all, but it's not organic.
Another difference is eating out... it is rarely an option. When we really want to go out we compromise and go to some sushi place and ask for nori rolls with rice and all raw insides like cucumber and carrots and avocado. We bring our own tamari of course.
This feature is a good opportunity for me to check in on how I am eating these days, and I did figure out a thing or two. Anyway, this is how the past weekend went... my way!
Thursday So my stomach has been a stranger lately and it was denying me sweet foods, but I wake up today, drink a glass of water, do some house stuff and test my digestion out. I eat a peach. Wow, those peaches are good! I rarely buy them but this one is good. Eduardo (my husband) is up and rushing around so he makes a smoothie, cacao and banana, since I haven't made those in a long time, he misses them and went ahead and made enough for us both. I drink it up. It has tons of goji berries and it's very tasty, but it wouldn´t have been my choice ; ) . Mid morning I grab a handful of pecans, yum. For lunch we put together an Eggless Egg Salad, so tons of celery smothered in the yummiest cashew-turmeric cream. One of our favorites and one that guests love to have. If that weren't decadent enough we treat ourselves to a slice of cheesecake that I made the day before.
I invest the afternoon looking for an apartment to move to, on the internet first, then I go scouting the neighborhood, but oddly, they all seem to be taken. We might have to move downtown which is a new and interesting possibility, lots of artists live in that area so it just feels exciting. I have a peach and plum as afternoon snacks. For dinner we keep it simple, some slices of ezekiel bread topped with avocados and tomato, pink salt and pepper. So simple, so good!
Friday Green smoothie morning! We wake up to the yumminess of a pineapple / parsley / orange juice smoothie. It felt great because the pineapple was not that sweet - perfectly tangy. I snack on a peach, again. Who knew I liked them so much? Anyway it is a tidy-up-the-house morning and I do that. Lunch is a bowl of black beans, which is one of the compromises I made since releasing my 100% fixation last year, I include some legumes here and there. I do wait a couple of hours before I have some more of that cheesecake. It is a recipe my sister found somewhere and is so good that any other use for cashews is almost a shame. All cashews should be as lucky as to have such a high purpose as this dessert!
I spend the afternoon painting, I am working on one that´s kinda realistic so the detail is taking longer than I expected but I love it and I lose track of time. I eat a mango and wonder why people like durian so much. I don´t have a problem with it, but I would always choose a mango over durian. Anyone else with me? I´m thinking we could host a mango party sometime around June. People could bring white t-shirts that they were willing to get dirty. We'd have a blast!
Dinner is wild rice (soaked a lot) with a heap of chopped celery, carrots, parsley, some olive oil and some tamari. Very satisfying.
Saturday I woke up to some journaling, it is one those things I'd love to do more of. Hey Valentine's day! In México it is known as "The Day of Love and Friendship" it is also our proposal anniversary (awwww), a date we celebrate.
Breakfast is straight fruit, plums and peaches. Then we go to our Nuts and Seeds store to get some goods, dates, macadamias, almonds, pecans, and I always sneak a small bag of pinenuts. I eat some pinenuts on the way home. Eduardo plays in a guitar quartet and oddly they had a concert in a nearby town on this date, at 3pm, so we went there. The strangely dated concert went well, the organizers bought food for the guys, but two out of four are vegans so the others went home with double share. I had a banana-vanilla-almond smoothie before we left and a couple of apples on the way back. Now time to get the celebratory dinner rolling.
Dessert first, I put together brownies with a cacao sauce on top... so valentiney! We also make a raw pizza. This pizza is a Frankenstein from three different recipe books. The crust and olive tapenade from the Cafe Gratitude book, the macadamia cheese from Mathew Kenney's Everyday Raw, and the marinara sauce from Rawvolution. I am quite proud of this mash up, it makes one great pizza! Lovely flowers decorate the table... (sigh).
Sunday Breakfast is green juice, finally. I've missed it! Lots of cucumbers, chard, apples and a small piece-o-ginger. That keeps me going for a while, but then I cave and take out the brownie from last night. Mmmmm, it is so good.
Today we go visit Eduardo´s parents. They are lovely and my mother-in-law is a great cook! She has been very gracious to our changing habits and she cooks amazing traditional North-Mexican vegan food for us. Lunch is very good, she made Mexican rice (no boullions since it's for us), a zuchinni tomato dish, a nopalitos dish, plain beans and lots of guacamole. It's tough to explain these dishes in English. They are so traditional and local. I deeply appreciate how simple but the tastey they are. A little heavy for our lighter ways, but comfort food for sure,
There is no snacking this afternoon, we go home early and do the movie and couch thing. Time to unwind. Later we have some plums for dinner and a mango shortly after that.
A great weekend that I'm honored to be sharing with you! This lifestyle has given me so much. All the weight loss, the new-found energy, the youth and the amazing community of people brave enough to take the plunge and go against the grain, following their common sense. I honor you those willing to heal themselves and others.
I do not claim this is the only way, but it is a great option for me and many. My dream is to see this community grow here too, in this city, in this country blessed with so much produce and fertile land. So I try to do my part by sharing my experience. I hope the sharing of my wellness journey might open someone else to the possibility of begining their own. Thank you Dhrumil and the WLIR team for this invitation.
Peace and health! Linda
Linda Salas is a graphic designer, painter and bilingual blogger. She lives in Mexico with her husband Eduardo.
At around 10 pm, turn off your computer, charge your cell in the other room and turn off the TV. Scan your bedroom for blinking or glowing lights – the alarm clock, the charging indicator on your cell phone, the DVD clock and timer, etc. Turn these off or cover the lights. Each little bit of light can stop your melatonin levels from rising, which you need to induce sleep and to reach the deep restorative sleep your body requires. If you can’t darken your room, wear a sleep mask. This period of darkness will help reset your natural rhythm.
ElixirCraft Mastery is the latest collaboration between We Like It Raw and Alchemist Daniel Vitalis.
In short ElixirCraft Mastery is a 6 Part 6 Hour MP3 Course on the power of liquid herbal alchemy. You really have to hear it to believe it, so instead of me really trying to explain I suggest you head over to elixir-mastery.com to listen to a free 11 minute preview of the course.
I'm all about the raw food movement becoming more sophisticated and this course is my contribution to that mission.
Here are what some of my friends have to say about the course:
"Who would have known that technology would get to such a point that we can now have the Elixir Master himself, Daniel Vitalis, teach us everything about liquids right in our living room, no matter where we are in the world? I am chomping at the bit to let my customers know about this course! Having studied it myself, I just know that the hours upon hours of detailed yet simply presented information will make my customers even more ecstatic than they already are! Thank you for creating a king of courses."
It is our prediction that ElixirCraft
will be part (or leader) of a whole new paradigm for home-based
nutrition. Now that we all "got" the raw aspect of eating, it's time to
ask, "What's next?". In our opinion, ElixirCraft is what is next, or at
least part of it.
"Daniel and Dhrumil are true players! I wish I could be exactly like them."
Actually Philip didn't say that, but I'm sure he's thought it before. ; )
I'll be making my own video testimonial about the course tomorrow. I want to be authentic and transparent about 1) why I teamed up with Daniel to put this course out there and 2) how this information has evolved my own journey.
I see raw chocolate as a treat, something to enjoy on special occasions with friends. I'm not crazy about it (I'm not crazy about anything) and I'm also not anti-chocolate either. I respect all the conversations that are happening out there on the subject of chocolate AND my feeling is that most We Like It Raw readers feel the way I do. We don't worship at the chocolate altar, but we do enjoy it once in a while.
That all being said, with Valentines Day coming up I thought I'd feature some of the latest happenings in the world of Raw Chocolate. New companies, special deals, classes and more. Enjoy!
Quickies: Raw Chocolate and Valentines Day Love
Manna: New Raw Food Spot in Brighton in the UK
Manna is a pioneering consciousness organic vegetarian cafe /
restaurant / deli only serves the finest & tastiest raw and living
cuisine. Yup, they have raw chocolate too1 Check out the menu and Manna's full list of
events here.
Chocolate Love From The Raw Spirit Festival Get free chocolate in the mail if you register this week for one of the three Raw Spirit Festival (Santa Barbara, CA or Washington DC or Prescott, AZ). Oh ya, did I mention you get to sing too?
Fine & Raw Chocolates by Daniel Sklaar Raw Chocolatier Daniel Sklaar is getting a lot of attention for this new brand of chocolates. I haven't tried them yet so I can't vouch, but if they are as good as the reviews say then I'm sure you'll enjoy. Review 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Cafe Gratitude is offering 2 "How-To Work with Raw Chocolates" classes "For the LOVE of Raw Chocolate" is being hosted by Chef Chaya-Ryvka at Cafe Gratitude on Feb 11th and Feb 13. Tuition is $60. Learn how to make White Chocolate-Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake and Almond Butter Cups.
10% off Handmade Jewelry Shop Jill Schwartz is an independent artist and raw foodies who is offering all other raw foodies 10% off all of her handmade jewelry and organic lip balms. Use discount code "rawlovins". This has nothing to do with chocolate but Jill's Jewelry does look good enough to eat : )
Chia Moon Drops by Ulimana Have you tried these yet? My local co-op just started carrying them. Wow! What a treat. The balance of flavors is incredible. Tastes like a raw snack should.
Matthew and Terce are the co-founders of the Cafe Gratitude collective of restaurants. Cafe Gratitude is famously known for its dedication to community, its commitment to the teachings of abundance and amazingly tasty live food dishes.
Matthew and Terce first learned about the power of live foods while on their organic farm in Maui. Shortly after immersing themselves in literature they began a one month raw food trail that would create the foundation for their soon to open cafe.
Topics Covered
Questions of the Day
Question of the Day: "What's blessed about your life?"
What's the Shadow question of the day and what role does it play at Cafe Gratitude
Training in Abundance
How did Matthew's training in abundance start?
What does it mean to love money?
Are human beings abundant by nature?
Creating Cafe Gratitude
What did Matthew and Terce's one month raw food trial look like?
How did that trail lead to the idea of "Cafe Gratitude"
Did Matthew have any experience in the restaurant business before starting Cafe Gratitude?
A School of Transformation
What are the values that Cafe Gratitude stands for?
What does it mean to have a "Sacred Community"
The Commerce side of Sacred Commerce
How has the economy affected Cafe Gratitude's community support?In what ways is Cafe Gratitude support those who might be experiencing struggle during these financial times?
What words of advice do Matthew and Terce have for those looking to start a restaurant of their own?
Some fantastic offers, discounts, workshops and links from members of our amazing raw food community.
15% off all orders over $50 at One Lucky Duck Use promo code "WLIR" and get 15% off your total order at One Lucky Duck. Big ups to Sarma Melngailis for hooking our readers up with this special discount. The discount ends on Feb 14th, 2009 so this is the perfect time to put in your special-someone orders.
10 Prizes for 10 Lucky GI2MR Members We won some prizes, we're giving them away, tell us how community has
impacted your life and in one week we'll announce the
winners.
Two Free Raw eBooks from Pure Jeevan Wendi Dee is giving away two free ebooks at her blog Pure Jeevan. The first one is an informative 24-page eBook called Raw Foods 101 and the second is a 40-page full-color eBook on the topic of Raw Food Recipes. No strings attached, just sign up for the Pure Jeevan email list.
Professionally Raw, Business Coaching for Raw Entrepreneurs Karen Knowler is always up to something fresh! This time it's an online class for those looking to become full-time raw food entrepreneurs. In Karen's works, "Professionally Raw exists to make it easier, more fulfilling and more rewarding for those who choose to put their life energy into making the world a better place fueled by raw food and raw passion!" Full details on her blog.
Crazy Sexy Life Kris Carr and the Crazy Sexy Life team have launch a new blog. Just check out the list of who's who that's part of their blog posse! (Kathy Freston, Rory Freedman, Ani Phyo, Mallika Chopra, Chloé Jo Berman, Sera Beak, Natalia Rose, Terri Cole, Sandhi Ferreira, Kate Hanley, Latham Thomas, Denise Mari, Gabrielle Bernstein, Suki Zoe and Lilli Link).
Man, maybe I should make We Like It Raw the male-blog-posse-crew - hah - you know, just to balance things out!
Our guest today is Revvell Revati. Revvell is a wellness coach, author, and internet radio host who has over 22 years of experience in the space of holistic health.
Revvell joins on the We Like It Raw podcast to talk about how her journey began, the power of having quality mentors and the importance of revealing your true self.
Interview Themes
Revealing your true self and seeing beyond conditioning
The power of mentors in one's journey
Approaching your health holistically and not just with food
Topics Covered
The Journey Begins
What roll Asthma played in Revvell's journey
How Revvell met her martial arts mentor and how he taught her to start going within
Revvell's Food Journey
Did Revvell experience any food or emotional detox when she moved to a vegetarian diet?
At what point did raw and live foods come into the picture?
What was Revvell's 3 month raw food trial like and what program did she follow?
What does Revvell's raw food diet look like today?
Revvell's Holistic Living Tips
How does Revvell suggest that one start integrating more raw food?
Revvell's tip for balancing a high raw diet
What does Revvell have to say about emotions of guilt that come from having "a bad day"
Revvell's comments on "being here now"
What does Revvell suggest one does when they've "forgotten themselves"
