Ok …….. I know it sounds crazy but I swear pesto tastes better the slow way, using a pestle and mortar.

2 cloves of garlic chopped
A big handful of basil leaves, chopped (Greek Basil if you can find it)

Organic Greek Basil seeds (so you can grow your own!)

A handful of soaked and dehydrated walnuts
Juice of 1 organic lemon and a little of the zest
5 or 6 twists of black pepper
Sea Salt to taste
4T raw olive oil

Put basil, nuts and garlic into the mortar and grind with the pestle into a chunky consistency.
Add lemon juice, zest and olive oil and and grind some more. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Serve over a salad of cherry tomatoes and baby greens with finely chopped olives.

>>>>>>>Delicious!!!<<<<<<<

One of the most important aspects of eating healthy is to find ways to get more dark greens into your life. This is a flavorful and easy recipe that makes eating your greens a joy! We picked some fresh collard greens from our garden. Here in South Florida it has been an unusually cold winter as it has many other places, however the collards loved this cold spell and grew like wild things.

Dark greens are essential to building your body’s immune system and are an excellent antidote if you overdo it on sweets or raw chocolate. The Boutenko family has a whole book on creating green smoothies as they discovered firsthand how crucial it is to get them into our daily routines.

We used them as wraps to create some delicious asian sprout rolls. Finely chopped fresh organic root Ginger offsets the bitterness of the collards and the dates create a nice balance too. Nonetheless, I must mention that growing them ourselves produced a much less bitter leaf than the type we buy at say, Whole Foods.

They are stuffed with a mixture of:

• 1 Cup soaked and sprouted sunflower seeds
• 1 Cup finely diced zucchini
• 2 T finely chopped fresh ginger root
• 1 T sesame oil (raw not toasted)
• 1 T  umi plum vinegar
• 1/2 t Sea salt
• 3 T raw almond butter
• 4 finely chopped Dates

Pulse all in food processor with S blade and spread on collard leaf shiny side out roll up and secure with tooth pick or bamboo skewer. Garnish with Nasturtium flowers and sunflower seed sprouts.

Wine could be a chilled Pinot Grigio or Orvieto!
Bon Appetite!

Everyone has an opinion on raw cacao these days and the thing is, …. I still love it! Yes, it is a stimulant. Yes, it is gonna hurt your adrenals if you overdo it. Yes, I still love it. There, I said it. So what is a chocolate loving raw foodie to do? She makes raw vegan choco candy with her raw mate who also loves chocolate and just has a blast and inserts lots of joy in the process. My advice? Eat chocolate (raw or otherwise) in moderation. I call it common sense. But sometimes of course, I misplace mine and the old teenager in me unleashes the force and I find myself wolfing, literally WOLFING down piece after piece of yummy choco candy. Oh the joy of it! Ha!

Hey, it’s better than the m&m’s I used to wolf down right? Definitely.

So what is in this choco candy?

• Raw cacao butter
• Raw cacao powder
• Raw lucuma powder
• Raw maca powder
• Crystal manna flakes
• Chaga mushroom extract
• Sea salt
• Org vanilla extract
• Date syrup for sweetening (or raw agave nectar)
• Soaked and dehydrated almonds (from Spain so they are NOT pasteurized!!!)
• Org raisins

The trick is to keep the butter nice and melted (done in the dehydrator slowly) while you add the rest of the ingredients. I don’t really measure so sorry for the list without amounts. Stick it all in the freezer when you’re done, in 30 minutes you have candy!!! Oh, and please… do eat it in moderation and try not to pig out! They are so good, it’s challenging!

A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Follow your own path. Be your own guru. Listen to your heart and soul at all times. Even when they cry out for chocolate.

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It was kinda chilly today in South Florida so instead of having a green smoothie for lunch, Bam made us a delicious and chockful of herbs Green Curry Soup. Wow! So easy to make using the Blendtec to homogenize the ingredients and blend them long enough to get them warm. Bam warmed the bowls with hot water, too to keep things nice! Raw vegan yummy green soup!

Green Curry Soup
(all ingredients are organic except where noted but amounts were just done by feel!)

• Mango
• Ginger
• Zucchini
• Tomato
• Kale
• Dates
• Coconut Oil
• Garlic
• Almond Butter
• Sea Salt
• Curry Powder
• Japanese Sansho Spice ** (not organic)
• Avocado

Blend all ingredients on high in Blendtec or Vitamix until warm but not hot. Remember, this is RAW food! Garnish with a nasturtium flower and finely chopped fresh herbs:

• Thai Basil
• Cilantro
• Mint

**Sansho spice can be purchased at World Market and has the following ingredients: red chili, seaweed, sansho pepper, orange peel, poppy seeds, white and black sesame seeds.

So what does a raw foodist do for Valentine’s Day? We make raw chocolate candy for the ones we love!!! I will take a pic when it’s done and post it up here but for now, how about a link to an amazing Hot Chocolate recipe? Especially yummy if you live in a cold climate.

Remember, raw chocolate is a very very different food to the chocolate candy you buy in stores. Since you are working with the source chocolate, the stuff that came out of the pods, you are not getting all the junk ala crap that companies shove in there to make you sick like dairy, and well, a whole long list of ingredients that I can’t even pronounce. You are instead receiving the wonderfulness known as a ’superfood’ that gives you tons of magnesium. Stick to the real thing and you’ll be much happier, live longer and smile a whole lot. My basic rule of thumb, if I can’t pronounce it or it isn’t a ‘food’ I ain’t eating it! But seriously, the raw cacao bean is wonderful and to be loved and adored. (Spoken like a true chocolate addict right?!)

Love makes the world go round and when you prepare raw vegan foods you are putting your heart and soul into those recipes. Take time to enjoy the moment instead of rushing through to get to the eating part. Savor the energy you are pouring into each action to make someone (or yourself) feel alive with living foods! There is nothing like it in the world.

If you still want more choccie yum yum, have a look at our video for Raw Chocolate Pudding! It’s yummy! Plus it might even make someone fall in love with you!!!!

We drink a version of either a green smoothie or a juice every day. But sometimes, life makes it so you’re in a hurry. We get it. So one day Bam ordered these totally raw and vegan Ormus Supergreens from Matt and Angela’s site Sunwarrior and lemme tell ya… they are the BOMB! We found a great recipe as the peppermint and stevia was a bit different at first. Try this for yummy delicious nutritous greeniness:

• Water from 1 young Thai coconut
• 1 mango
• 1/2 small pineapple or 1/3 of large pineapple
• Extra spring water if needed
• 2 large spoonfuls of Ormus Supergreens

YUM! Please let us know if you have your own recipe for this green smoothie superstarter.

How on earth do you get kids to eat raw food? You give ‘em PB & J sandwiches and Chocolate shakes – Raw Food style! As you can see in the photo, these secrets work on ‘big kids’ too!

Before we get to that, there’s a couple of things to go over. The first and foremost trick of getting kids to eat raw foods is if at all possible to get them involved in helping you make it. This depends on their age, of course.

It’s all about substitutes for their ‘habitual’ cooked foods. You can make fast almond milk in place of regular milk. If you have a dehydrator you can slice up fruits to make your own fruit leathers and you’ll know there’s nothing funky on there! There are delicious recipes for terrific and fun foods like Nutmeat tacos, (a favorite of Bam’s 16 year old son), and Raw Pizza and learning how to make ‘wraps’ with speed and gourmet flavors and nutritional density intact! For beverages, you can use Sparkling mineral water mixed with fresh fruit juices to make a soda substitutes. You can even add agave nectar to sweeten it!

The hardest thing is to get kids of just about any age, (yes that means you as well!) to consume dark, leafy greens. Wanna know a simple method that’s fast and tastes good? Green lemonade! Yep. All you need is a blender and an optional strainer. This is a staple drink in our house and whenever we’re pressed for time we just look at each other and say it in stereo, “Let’s make a fast green lemonade!”

GREEN LEMONADE
2-5 Kale leaves, or spinach
1-2 cups of cold, filtered water
2 lemons peeled
1 orange peeled
1-3 tablespoons of agave nectar (to taste)
2-6 filtered water ice cubes (again to taste)

Blend the kale or spinach and water first. Get it as well homogenized as you can with your blender. Then add the rest. Pour it through a strainer to get the seeds and scary bits that kids won’t like out of the beverage. Then drink the Green Lemonade and enjoy!

Now on to the PB & J and of course a Chocolate Blueberry Shake. There’s no end to the raw desserts you can make in the raw world. Wow! This was something we knocked up today and I thought it was so funny we decided to include it here. (Check out this post for Hot Chocolate – your kids will love it!)

Bam had already made the Pumpkin/Apple bread in the dehydrator so we had this delicious sweet bread to use.

PB & J (without peanut butter and without jelly)
Raw organic almond butter (we use Living Tree’s brand)
Fresh organic raspberries or strawberries
Ripe banana

First spread the almond butter on your flatbread or cracker. Then in a separate bowl, mash together with a fork the berries and banana into a lovely sweet mixture. Spread the sweet stuff on top of the almond butter. Voila!

Chocolate Blueberry Shake
1-2 ripe bananas
Fresh or frozen blueberries (at least 1/2 cup)
3 heaping spoonfuls of raw cacao powder
3-6 ice cubes
1/2 organic vanilla bean (or 1/2 teaspoon of extract)
1 Tablespoon of raw organic almond butter
Agave nectar to taste

*OPTIONAL:
1/2 Tablespoon each – Maca Powder, Lucuma Powder, Mesquite Powder.

Blend on high and drink with joy.

Please leave comments on what works for you with your kids and what doesn’t. We believe the secret lies in making food a joyous event. Create harmony in your home with nutritious meals. But if your child comes home from a sleepover with candy bar wrappers shoved in their pockets, just let it go and let them know you love them. After all, that’s what really matters.

It was hot. It was a sunday. And fortunately, we were NOT hungover! But the feeling persisted of wanting something similar to a Bloody Mary! So Bam went about gathering up our produce and spun it into the Twin Gear Juicer.

I simply cannot stress enough the importance of juicing everyday. It has changed our lives in a myriad of ways. It gives you instant energy, helps your mood and lifts your spirit.

Now I will admit, there are definitely days where I’m so ‘not interested’ in doing the prep that is required for juicing and then the requisite clean up? Yeah. I know. Not fun. But I have been getting in to the ‘zen’ of it now and finding the whole process is actually pretty darn relaxing. Even standing at the sink to wash all that produce and the cutting it into sizes small enough to juice! Who knew one could find meditative benefits in the act of juicing?

So grab some produce and make yourself a juice. A toast to your good health!!!!

Here’s how to knock up this spicy little number:

Not Bloody Mary
Carrots
Celery
Tomatoes
Parsley
Beets
Cucumber
Kale
Swiss Chard
Red or Green Jalapeno for spice!

Juice all ingredients and add a dash of Nama Shoyu (instead of Worcestshire sauce) and a twist of sea salt. Serve in a tall glass with a celery stick!

Ahoy there, landlubbers and scurvy dogs!!! The temperature outside is officially 81 however it feels more like 103 in the shade. We have a cooler full of mangoes and some fresh tomatoes that we just picked from the garden. Sounds like a recipe for salsa to me. Yesterday I made some spicy, corn tortilla chips (Share’s favorite!) in the dehydrator and we will show you how to make those in an upcoming episode. But for now here are the ingredients for this delicious ass-kicking mango salsa con chile.

MANGO POWER SALSA (ass kicking variety)
One large ripe mango skinned and pitted
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1 teaspoons Celtic Sea Salt
Juice of one lime
One finely sliced jalapeno (or other type of Chile Pepper to taste)
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 cup finely cut fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)
1 avocado cubed

Blend all ingredients together except avocado and set in a covered bowl to marinate in the fridge for at least one hour.
Add avocado and serve with homemade tortilla chips or a chopped green salad.

Panama Jack hats – $16, paddling pool – priceless!!! I love living in California. Until next time peace and rock ‘n’ roll.

Everyone says, “You gotta listen to your body when you go raw”! Now we’ve been raw for about 2 and a half years and I’m finding I want way less fruit than I did at first. All those sweet raw concoctions that were so exciting to eat to infinity? Not as interested as I used to be. One of the main attractions when we first went raw was the fact that I could eat as much as I wanted and not have any guilt. Now I’ve never really had a weight problem but I’ve always had a sweet tooth. So this was a VERY big reason to like the raw lifestyle. Bam would be studying all the amazing entrees while I was memorizing the dessert sections! But now I’m more interested in having a fresh veggie juice in our twin gear juicer instead of loading up on watermelon and apples and peaches and tons of yummy raw desserts.

Why am I writing this? Because this is amazing to me! Plus when I think back, way WAY back to the good old ‘daze’ of Vixen, I remember craving vegetables to such an extent that I would ask my fellow band mates and road manager, “Are you gonna eat that” in regards to the left over veggies on their plates. Of course, it was mostly cooked vegetables but even then, my body knew it needed more vegetables than it was getting. I also remember that the caterers on the big tours would only make ‘x’ number of vegetarian meals and I would lie and say that I was vegetarian so I could have the yummy nutloaf which was a new and exciting food to me back then. LOL!

The point is… the cleaner you get, the more you will learn to listen to your body. You can just tell what you need. And when you need it.

Of course, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have any problems wolfing down the blueberry ‘cheezecake’ that Bam made yesterday! Or the “Raw Doubloon Chocolate” he made last night. Ha! But truly, our bodies will tell us what we need. We’re all different with our own set of experiences and at different stages of your life you may require varying balances in your diet. Be willing to shift. What works for you for a while may not work after a few months. That’s okay. Let things change. Let the detox happen. Evolve with your body into the healthiest being you can be.

For you newbies who might be craving sweets…..

RAW DOUBLOON CHOCOLATE

4 cups filtered water
3 heaping spoonfuls of raw cacao powder
1 teaspoon Lucuma powder
3 Tablespoons raw agave nectar
3 Tablespoons of raw organic almond butter
1 organic vanilla bean

Blend on high in Blendtec/Vitamix for about a minute and a half so it warms up slightly. The lucuma powder gives it a delicious marshmallow flavor! We gave our 15 year old, Max a cup and he exclaimed, “Wow! Does this have marshmallows in it? It’s really good!” Which proves that even the choosiest teenagers will like it!

Drink with a smile and a giggle.