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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Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.
~Art Buchwald

Living life to the fullest. What does that mean? Does it mean racing to get another hour of time on our computers? Making sure our cell phones are on and connected at all times? I was chatting with one of our LA mates today and she said something I totally related to and I had to laugh with her… “If our DSL goes down for even an hour, we start to panic around here!” Wow. Did I ever relate. Which led me to think, what is our addiction to instant access online? Having to have everything NOW. The ‘fast food’ culture is a death culture. What we need to bring back is the ’slow food’ culture! Even though I’m not eating the fast food diet, I still participate by being so addicted my computer and my cell phone and my need to be connected 24/7! Scary!

Bam and I ate lunch today (another green soup but this time Mexican!) and got in to a discussion on the subject of time and how we can affect it. The grim reaper is not a scary skeleton looking creature with a scythe but rather it is the image looking back at you in the mirror. We determine our ‘death clocks’ by how we live our lives. Our thoughts, our actions, the food we feed ourselves, we are our own worst enemies ie… we ARE the grim reapers.

Imagine this. If you are a typical westerner eating a ‘Standard American Diet’, living a competitive lifestyle of rushing around and keeping up with your neighbors, watching the news on TV etc…. then you are a twin outboard engine speedboat racing across the ocean of time towards your death.

Now, think of the ways you can change that.

• Raw vegan = rowboat with oars
• Meditation and yoga = rowboat with oars
• Combine raw vegan AND meditation and yoga = raft with one oar

So what is the speed of a yogi in the mountains? Probably like a surfer on his surfboard paddling with the current and riding the waves. Or perhaps he/she is treading water slowly in the vast sea of life. I’m certainly not at that level but it’s interesting to ponder.

Today, promise yourself, let each breath find its way in and out of you naturally. Feel each moment. Eat well. Think positive thoughts. Avoid the television and laugh whenever possible.

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.

We always talk about eating raw foods and eating healthy and how great it is for you and how much you’ll change from it. But there’s more to the story than that. It’s what you DON’T eat anymore that changes you the most.

By eliminating what I like to call “food products” from your lifestyle, you will have a big shift. I’m talkin’ about chips, candy, things in jars, cans, plastic wrappers, microwave dinners, energy drinks, etc. You get rid of that toxic waste dump and your body will feel life.

Then, you stop with the dairy and meat industry. Gimme a break. You really think that stuff is helping you? C’mon you know better! But the fact is, we have emotional eating habits and if you can become more aware of that, then you’ll be on a winning streak.

Some easy tips:

• If you fry something, use coconut oil and fry it at a low temperature if possible.
• Drink a lot of water to counter the negative effects of anything that you know is ‘bad’ for you but you are eating it anyway.
• If you cave in and eat some junk food, be sure to juice a lot of dark greens the next day.
• No matter what you are eating, simply thank the universe (or whatever your personal belief system supports) for the food you are giving your body and take a moment to feel gratitude.

Raw foods are not a diet. They are a lifestyle and some days will be easier than others and some days you might just slide backwards or feel a struggle. Forgive yourself and remember, tomorrow is another day. Breathe in, breathe out. Smile from your liver.

Truly the list would be more than three but I’m trying to be reasonable here!

1. The easy weight loss (if needed) and then weight maintenance.
2. Feeling absolutely amazing!
3. Getting to eat a lot of yummy food and lots of delish desserts!

The easy weight loss (if needed) and then weight maintenance.

When we first went raw vegan, we were in a dark place. Having gained quite a bit of weight (for us) and feeling pretty depressed. We jumped in with both feet and went 100% raw right off the bat. It was about one month later that we noticed the huge changes. The weight melted off both of us in spite of not changing our exercise regimen. Some of my friends expressed concern that I was getting too skinny! What they didn’t know was that I was going back to the weight I had been my whole life up until 2 years prior to being raw. Indeed, that is where I have stayed and so has Bam. No dieting! I eat like a MANIAC! In fact, I’m always eating. I’m one of those people who carries snacks with me. To the movies, to the mall, to go visit friends… anywhere. I always have something to snack on … ‘in case I get hungry’.

While not everyone experiences the weight loss that we did, most people do find their weight evens out over a period of time. If you do not lose weight like you want to, then you can watch how many nuts and fatty foods like avocados you consume on a daily basis. Most importantly, love yourself as you are! Accept your whole being! Love yourself, love the food you are preparing, love your life and share that love in a gentle way and you will find your path is a wonderful one.

Feeling absolutely amazing!

I always thought getting older was a terrifying prospect. Arthritis, failing memory, all sorts of aches and pains, weight gain (we covered that!), insomnia… and on and on and on. This what I have heard my whole life and it was what I accepted as ‘truth’. But that acceptance was so incorrect and ridiculous! Today I feel better and more vibrant than I did in my 20’s! That is saying something. The arthritis and insomnia are also gone. Years of  playing bass and piano had taken a toll on my wrists and again, I thought this was just ‘what happened to people’. But it didn’t have to be that way as once we went raw, POOF… achy wrists were gone! The insomnia I had suffered from disappeared as well! Energy? Yeah, you betcha. Oh and allergies all went away too. Yeah, it’s good to feel great everyday and it is something I didn’t know I was missing until I had it!

Getting to eat a lot of yummy food and lots of delish desserts!

I know I should be following an ‘eat to live’ train of thought and yet… I really do enjoy food. I mean I love great tasting gourmet dishes! Most definitely as raw foodies, we strive to eat foods that help us live better. Yet within that paradigm, I find myself looking very forward to certain things like …. chocolate candy! However it is not something I have everyday and when I do eat raw desserts, I find I can stop myself from gorging due to the high nutritional density.

We all have many reasons why it’s awesome to eat raw vegan. At the absolute most important center of the whole concept is that you find your own path to optimum health. Ours is always evolving as our bodies change from day to day and week to week.  Now, I gotta jump off of here and go make some more chocolate yumminess. Ha ha!

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.

It’s true. I love green. Ironically, I hated the color green as a teenager and no matter how much my mom tried to get me into green dresses and tops… I refused. But now, I see green as a color of health and wealth. After all, the most important aspect of eating healthy involves juicing and finding ways to get those dark leafy greens into our bodies! Here I am again juicing more greens! If you don’t know what to juice, just grab some kale, celery, carrots and apples. All organic so you are not juicing pesticides and drink to your health!

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What happens when a bunch of raw foodists get together? We eat amazing foods and laugh at being able to socialize and eat every single thing on the plate! Wow. What an experience. Since moving to Florida we’ve already met a bunch of fellow raw foodies and they invited us to this gather to prepare raw food together. Casually called the “Raw Heads”, we explored many topics of conversation from chaga mushroom extract (and did shots!) … to spring water to all raw/yoga cruises! It’s a big ole world out there and you gotta search until you find what you’re looking for.

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I admit it. I have an extreme phobia of the dentist. Not just the pain, but the bills as well! Bam and I have (not so proudly) avoided going to a dentist for too many years to admit and even though we have found a dentist, being raw foodists leads us to think differently and seek out ‘natural hygiene’ methods.

The three best natural methods to avoid the dentist:

1. Use Neem Products to clean your teeth.
2. When you brush your teeth, use the purest version of spring water you can find.
3. Avoid calcium supplements and additives like the plague.

NEEM

You’ve heard the word and you might have seen the products at your local health food store. People in India chew on Neem twigs to clean their teeth. You can buy the oil, the leaf powder, the bark powder and all sorts of combinations with ‘other’ ingredients. It is the ‘other’ ingredients that we think makes the difference. We have started an experiment by using Neem Oil from this company and mixing it with Peppermint and coconut oil and brushing with that. We tried the Neem oil on its own and the gag factor was INSANE! OMG! This is on a par with Durian which is just too disgusting for yours truly! Ha! We have both noticed that our tooth problems have quieted down. But like all things natural, the repair is never instant. So only time will truly tell. We are going to keep up this regimen for a while and see if we can help our teeth and gums.

I have read of some interesting uses of Neem oil including women spreading it on their genitals as a method of birth control! My theory is that this stuff smells so bad that it just keeps the men away from them! It’s also supposed to be an excellent mosquito repellant. But again, maybe even the skeeters are grossed out by the smell! In any case, we shall persevere in our quest for dental health!

WATER

In spite of what you might believe, we have researched and come to believe that tap water, filtered tap water and spring water in plastic bottles is causing you a lot of harm and damage.  If you brush your teeth with tap water, you are adding to the problem. The additives in city water in America are beyond insanity. You thought fluoride was a good thing? Think again. It can be okay IF applied topically. But not ingested in your water! Wake up! There are many things added to the water system these days including calcium which ‘calcifies’ your body … ie AGES you. Then there is the maximum allowable TDS: Total Dissolved Solids. Hmmm… what exactly are those solids? Oh goodie. Lots of that is TOILET PAPER! Do you want to brush your teeth with that?

So you get the point. Brush your teeth with spring water from glass bottles or get into distilling your own water. Admittedly this can get ridiculously costly. So if you’re strapped for moola, then boil your tap water and keep it in a glass jug in your fridge and use that to brush your shiny whites morning and night!

CALCIUM

We need to get rid of the ‘bad calcium’ build up in our systems and this is a very broad subject which I won’t attempt to cover. Basically, you can take some MSM supplements (research them carefully please!) and you need to avoid all dairy. (I hope if you’re reading this you have gone vegan!) Get good calcium from sea vegetables and dark leafy greens! It is easily assimilated by our bodies and put to good use. That is the type of calcium we are supposed to have. Not the kind derived from another species. Calcium isn’t bad. But synthetic calcium like the kind they put in our tap water is bad. The kind you take as supplements is ridiculous. The kind in your toothpaste ironically is pretty bad for your teeth! We want bio-available calcium which can be found easily in a raw food lifestyle.

We attended the David Wolfe and Dr Gabriel Cousens seminar the other week in Miami and wow was it eye opening. Especially when it came to calcium. Avoid ‘denatured’ calcium at all costs is my new saying. Do not ingest or use anything that has the word calcium in it. Read your supplements. If your toothpaste has calcium chloride in it, throw it away and find something else. What do you think arthritis is? It is the calcification of your bones and muscles. We have become a society of consumers that believe everything we’re sold on tv. STOP! Question it all instead. Question what I am telling you and find out for yourself. Do not prescribe to your doctor’s advice of what is good for you. Do not listen to your dentist’s advice either! Explore the options of which there are many.

Get your neem on the go, use spring water in GLASS bottles or make your own distilled water and eat leafy greens and toss out those silly calcium supplements your granny told ya you needed. Our teeth are an overall reflection of our health. Just like our skin. So pay attention to them. Love them. Please let us know what methods you use to keep your teeth clean. It’s all a grand experiment.

It’s no secret now that the key to healthy living comes from having a strong immune system. So what can we do? After years of eating junk food, taking antibiotics, thinking negative thoughts, being blasted with EMF’s from cell phones and everything else? Of course, there is no easy answer like take this one supplement and you’ll be cured! But there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of NEVER getting cancer or some other debilitating disease. We need to build our immune systems back up from the inside out!

1. Nutrition
2. Detox
3. Pull out parasites and metals

First, nutrition. You knew I was gonna start with that right? You have to feed your body the fuel it needs to build up healthy cells and detox all the crap you fed it for years or decades. It won’t change overnight but it will heal over time and the simple truth is often the most basic truth. Food is what we all need and food can cure you or kill you. Dark leafy greens are the key essential ingredient to living longer, stronger and better. Get ‘em in you. Juice ‘em, green smoothie with ‘em, eat a ton of salad every day and smile from your liver!

Secondly we need to explore the various ways to detox. This means pulling out metals, parasites, infections, viruses… etc. There are many new phrases and ideas being tossed around… zappers, grounding, wild mushrooms… I will keep you posted on our experience with these as we check them out. For now, we have ordered the Zapper – Teminator. The claims are pretty wild but even David Wolfe is wearing one and says it’s the real thing. He has nothing to gain from that testimonial as he does not sell it on his site so we thought we’d give one a try. I will post an honest review in the next month or two on that item!

As for grounding, that’s easy. Walk barefoot at least once a day! Make sure your feet actually touch the earth. No socks, no shoes to separate you from the planet. This ‘grounds’ you. If you have doubts… just trust me on it. Or google it and find out for yourself. There is more on that subject.. but this is a brief overview of ideas. If you have tried more grounding items, please let us know or leave a comment!

Ahhh…. the wild mushrooms. No, we ain’t talkin’ magic mushrooms! Although they seem pretty magical in terms of their properties. Wow! These mushrooms grow on trees and we are checking these out too. The two most known varieties are Chaga and Reishi. These fungi are a major part of your defense against parasites. If you think you don’t have parasites? Think again. It is one of the most common ailments in American society today. Your doctor might tell you otherwise… but they’re in you. You can find those mushrooms in a myriad of forms ranging from powder to make tea to capsules to extracts. We have not tried them yet but look forward to experimenting!

We are starting with the zapper and will check that out first. In order to keep track of what’s doing what, we will add one thing at a time.

There is so much to learn about our immune systems and maintaining a healthy body. This is a mere sprinkling of ideas that I hope will inspire, motivate and drive you to a healthier you! Please let us know what you are checking out and what is working for you. For that matter, let us know what isn’t working too!!!

Times… they are a-changin’! The Raw Pirate Gourmet site is undergoing some changes. We hope to have it fully up and running again soon. You need to get healthy and you need the info to get you there! We know that. Thank you for your continued support.

Remember, you ARE what you eat. So eat wisely and consciously.

Much more later… Peace! xo

It’s been a long time since the last post and I apologize for that! We’re still here! In fact, we’re hard at work on a Raw Pirate Gourmet book now, too. Bam and I took some time off and went to the Caribbean for some heavy duty relaxation. Wow. Talk about laid back! Yes indeed, the good people on Tortola in the BVI know how to mellow out.

We’ve been receiving lots of comments from readers/viewers on the site and wanted to let you know the many ways you can reach us. We are both on facebook and welcome your questions and comments:
Bam on Facebook
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We are both on the GiveItToMeRaw community too and would love to meet you there!
Bam on GiveItToMeRaw
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We are both on Twitter although I will admit, we are not professional twitterers!
Bam on Twitter
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Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.
~ John Lennon

As we’ve progressed into our super connected era with cell phones that are online and so many people are making a living from computer based technology, the need for quality living has never been greater! We receive a lot of emails asking how to incorporate raw foods into busy lifestyles. Our answer is simple. Just incorporate what you can. If you can achieve 50% living foods into your daily life, that’s great! What a change you will feel. Some days maybe you can eat more living foods. Some days might be less. Forget stressing about it! Just live! The important thing is to love the life we live. Love the foods we eat. That means realizing what impact they have on our bodies and minds. Do you really ‘love’ that chocolate cake or that donut? Does it actually make you feel great and full of energy? If you are in tune with your body, you will hear its response to what you eat. Make conscious choices!

We’ve all done the guilty thing and munched on comfort foods with a broken heart or a disappointed turn of events. We’ve also turned to ice cream and getting wasted to celebrate. Celebrate WHAT?????? I am here to testify that it is much better to celebrate life’s events with living foods and:
a. Remember the celebration!
b. Feel fantastic the next day!
c. Enjoy the moment and feel the full benefit of rewarding ourselves with something that tastes good and is nourishing at the same time.

Yet I know we’ve been told so many confusing things about food. I used to think that milk was good for me! Outrageous! I know better now. I used to think eating chicken was good for me, too. And whole wheat bread. And … on and on and on. Oh, that boxed cereal? Gimme a break! It’s like consuming ‘matter’.

What’s my point? The point is when you have the time to make something truly wonderful and alive and full of nutritional density like true raw vegan food, then do it! When you don’t, make as wise of a choice as you can. Eating 50% raw and then going to McDonald’s ain’t gonna cut it. In fact, it would probably totally stress your body out with a yo-yo effect. Remember that raw foods will detox your system so you want everything else you’re eating to be CLEAN.

Enjoy life. Choose to stop emotional eating habits! Eliminate candy, gum, ice cream, milk, cheese, animal flesh and if you can limit your intake of bread and pasta you will feel better. Change one habit per week and after one year, you’ll have a whole bunch of new habits. That’s all eating is. It’s daily habits. So break it down. Figure out what works for you and find substitutes.

In the meantime, call your friends, smile from your liver, feel worthy of healthful foods and remember … you are loved, loving and lovable.

PS. The pics here are from a lunch we had with our dear, non-raw friend Lisi Grinstein. Bam made raw spinach quiche and raw vegan blueberry cake. It was …. to say the least… amazing! She loved every single bite and we had a wonderful afternoon. Oh, and Bam also juiced apples and ginger for a delicious drink!

Want more info? Feel free to email us: info AT rawpirategourmet.com

It’s a new year and the feeling of fresh starts is upon us! I always find at this time of year, I have a tendency to look back on what has changed, what is different, and what needs improving in our lives.

What Has Changed
One of the biggest positive changes since going raw is that in the last six months we became very serious about juicing. If we don’t juice at least once a day we feel weird. Uneven. Not quite right. It’s like a juicing addiction. What a great addiction to have! The energy I get from juicing is instant. I don’t have to wait for my body to digest it and extract nutrition. It’s immediate. Oddly enough, it’s how I wanted coffee to be for all the years I chugged away at organic espresso. Needless to say, the caffeine had the opposite affect and I usually simply ended up with the shakes and a very acidic stomach. Yes, juicing is a way better lift than any of the standard American diet alternatives! LOL.

The key to juicing is to vary the ingredients from day to day. This way you won’t get bored and your body will get a nice balance of what it needs nutritionally. We’ve included all of the following ingredients in juices at one time or another:
Kale
Parsley
Spinach
Purple Cabbage
Romaine Lettuce
Beets
Beet Greens
Carrots
Celery
Garlic
Tumeric
Ginger
Shiso
Chard
Collard Greens
Cilantro
Pineapple
Lemon

The one thing we do include every single time is some sort of dark leafy green. Our favorite is kale, especially the lacinado variety. It is important to juice organic produce as you wouldn’t want to squeeze the juice out of pesticide now would ya? (ewwwwww!) I highly recommend a masticating juicer if you can afford one, otherwise just love the one you have!

What is Different
Bam and I have both noticed that our health has improved from where it was a year ago. It seems the raw vegan lifestyle keeps improving your health over time. I can only imagine what we’ll be like 10 years from now!

What Needs Improving
Well, quite frankly, Bam is far better at spontaneously creating a raw gourmet feast than I am. I would like to improve at that! I look forward to experimenting this year and surprising him (and hopefully me) with some quickly made raw meals that not only look good but taste amazing too!

Together We Can Make A Difference
It’s been wonderful receiving emails from you and reading your comments online. We listen to everything you have to say and your input is incredibly valuable to us. Thank you! The greenest choice you can make with your life is that of being a raw vegan. Help make the world a greener place and join us! One person at a time. Let’s eat green!

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.

The choice to go raw and take control of your health is a big one! We get asked a lot what we keep on hand to make it a little bit easier. Now bear in mind, many raw foods recipes are frightening at first but you will get used to them. Also, grasping the concept of ‘not’ cooking our foods as simple as it sounds, is kinda weird at first, too!

To answer the question we get asked more than anything else on Twitter, what do you keep in the kitchen as ’staples’ for a raw food diet? This is an ever-changing list and we’d love to hear other people’s lists as everyone is different:

Avocados – We jokingly call this the ‘raw foodists egg’ and use it alone, in salads, also used for chocolate pudding and chocolate shakes to make them extra creamy and nutritional! Yum! Usually but not always organic.

Apples – These are easy. Great for snacking and juicing. We always buy organic apples so we can eat and juice the skins.

Arugula (known as Rocket in the UK) – A salad favorite!

Greens – Kale, Chard, Collard Greens, Parsley, Cilantro – used mainly for juicing and sometimes salads. Always organic.

Carrots – We get a 5 pound bag of these every time we shop. We juice them and use the pulp to make cookies! Always organic.

Ginger – This is a wonderful flavor for dressings and a nice touch in juices. Usually organic if we can find it.

Berries – Used for shakes and desserts and just general munching. Always organic but sometimes the fresh ones are not available in which case we settle for organic frozen.

Cacao Nibs or Powder – I have to have raw chocolate on hand for shakes and making ‘raw chocolate candy’. It is extremely high in anti-oxidants and magnesium. Superfood!

Raw Organic Almond Butter – This is a must have in our kitchen for whipping up a fast almond milk.

Raw Organic Tahini – This is another necessity for creating a speedy asian flavored dressing.

Big Bags of Organic Salad – If you’re gonna be raw, you gotta love salad. Of course, it’s nice to get inventive and add all sorts of crazy additions to your salads! (think raisins, soaked and dehydrated nuts and/or seeds, cabbage, fresh herbs…. )

Hot Peppers – Hot foods rule in our kitchen! We love spicy foods so we always have jalapenos, serranos and thai chiles on hand to chop up for salads or throw in the blender for spicy dressings.

Young Thai Coconuts – Once we discovered these we knew we were hooked. We just cut them open and stick a straw in there and voila. Then chop it in half and scoop out the meat for noodles. Marinate them in Nama Shoyu.

Sun Dried Tomatoes – These are great for making a fast italian style sauce. (after they’re soaked.)

Various raw nuts for soaking and dehydrating – Almonds, Hazelnuts, Braziles, Walnuts etc.

Seeds – Sunflower seeds and Pumpkin seeds are the best for soaking and sprouting. These make terrific nut cheese, toppings for salads, nut burgers etc. You can dehydrate them for extra yumminess.

Sea Salt – Pink Himalayan is our fave.

Lemons and Limes – These are great for dressings, adding a quick snap to salads and juicing, too.

*Nutritional Yeast – This is used with the soaked nuts or seeds to make nut cheese.

*Nama Shoyu – A fermented soy sauce that has pro-biotics in it. Used sparingly, this is a nice addition and makes a transition to raw foods easier.

*Optional and not really on our ‘must have’ list. Nevertheless, these items make raw foods a bit more exciting and easy at times.

The other crucial item for us is a Blendtec blender. Alternatively a Vitamix is terrific, too. However, we did manage just fine with a regular Osterizer blender with ‘ice blades’ that’s like a Timex watch. It’s still ticking after 16 years. The key aspect of the high powered blenders is that they really crush the foods so you end up with truly homogenized shakes and smoothies.

This is a bigger list than I anticipated! But the truth is surprising like that. I hope it helps some of you find your way into raw foods and on your path to health.

I’ve started tweeting on Twitter as twitter.com/shareross and have been getting a lot of DM’s and replies asking how to get started with the whole raw foods lifestyle. This seems to be the most difficult step. The first step in any journey is the one that feels the biggest. Four simple things to remember:

1. Get a juicer and juice everyday if possible. Use lots of dark greens and find mixtures that you like. It will make a difference you will soon be adding in more raw foods.

2. Eat more salads with healthier dressings. By salad I’m talkin’ a big, enormous bowl of salad foods. Start with mixed baby greens, add carrots, celery, soaked almonds or sunflower seeds (or dehydrated if you got that far), chop up some jalapeno really fine, add some olives, parsley, red bell peppers, fennel, …. go crazy! Get inventive. Salads need to be exciting. Use your blender to make dressings out of avocados and limes and things like that.

3. Forgive yourself for not being perfect. Remember, it isn’t about being 100% raw that counts. Baby steps. Allow yourself to be human and chances are you won’t have much to forgive anyway. The harder we on ourselves, the more difficult we make the path. If we allow mistakes from the beginning then it isn’t such a big deal when we stray and eat some bread or eat a bit of something fried. The intention is what is most important. Stay focused on your intentions.

4. Community. Find a friend either in real life or online that you can share your experiences with. It helps to talk through our moments of temptations or simply laugh about them. There’s plenty of great communities out there and we all want to know there are other people like us doing the raw thing! Check out giveittomeraw.com and add me as a friend. Follow me on twitter.com/shareross . Add me on myspace.com/rawpirategourmet . Let me know on one of those social mediums of anyplace else you might be hanging out, too! Let’s change the world, together!

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!

Sometimes you open the fridge and it seems like there’s just nothing in there. Or so we thought. When you think of a salad, the typical style is some green lettuce, some other veggie chopped on top and some sort of dressing right?

Well, necessity is the mother of invention and invent is what Bam does best. We were out of the official variety of salad and Bam saw zucchini, sunflower seeds that had been slightly sprouted along with avocado and herbs from the garden. Oh.. and of course, fresh sprouts!

So… the salad du jour was created. The base was sprouts and sprouted sunflower seeds. The dressing was zucchini hummus and topped with some soaked hazelnuts. Add the chopped tomato and herbs, surround with avocado and you’ve got yourself a new generation salad.

The point I’m trying to make is think outside the box when you think about making a salad. In fact, think WAY outside the box! Think textures and what you can combine or blend up to make smooth and creamy mixed with crunchy foods from your fridge. Use produce in ways you’ve never tried before. Raw foods have introduced more interesting and amazing tastes in to my life than the old fashioned cooked foods ever did. It can be the most adventurous way to eat if you let it.

So go on. Feel free to leave comments about what you’ve invented, created or been forced to make due to the fact it was all you had left in the house!

Bam and I went to the beach today and had a wonderful afternoon just relaxing on the sand and listening to the waves. We both read our Eckhart Tolle books, A New Earth and The Power of Now. Good stuff if you haven’t already delved into it.

Then we decided to visit one of fave raw places, Euphoria Loves Rawvolution. Bam ordered a lovely Coconut Jerk Sandwich which was delicious! A sense of adventure overtook me and I went for the Durian Loveshake. Why adventure you might ask? Well, Durian fruit is a seasonal fruit only and it’s supposed to be soooo good for us yet somewhat on the .. hmmm… how shall I say it… STINKY side! Yes, indeed. There are even hotels in Southeast Asia which ban this fruit due to its inherent odiferous qualities.

Anyway, The Loveshake which is Durian fruit mixed with the cinnamon almond milk arrived. I could smell it before I could taste it. I have to say… this is so not for me. Maybe I tried the wrong thing first. Maybe in liquid form the smell is worse? Bam tried it and liked it a bit more than I did. Even so, it’s been a few hours now and wow, the taste keeps coming back and it is not one I’d like to relive!!! So, for now Durian, I shall bid you adieu. Until I develop another sense of adventure to try you on another day.

Captain Bam says, “Funky fruit. Not too sure about this one!”

On another note, Euphoria has changed and is more of a restaurant now where they come and take your order. The meal there was lovely and the raw foods are wonderfully prepared. Our Chocolate Buckwheat Turtles to go are all gone!!!! Yum!!!

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.

THE COFFEE HAS BEEN STOLEN! JUICE CARROTS INSTEAD!!

This powerful blend of vegetables is just the thing to get your day off to a roaring start.

Today Share and I used carrots, red beets, kale, Swiss chard, ginger root, whole peeled lemon, celery and parsley. The lemon and ginger root give this blend a nice kick. Beets are famous for their ability to cleanse the blood, they contain calcium, iron, and potassium as well as vitamin C and beta-carotene. Carrots are rich in organic calcium which is great for teeth and bones as well as being loaded with vitamin A . Celery is rich in organic sodium so it’s great if you’re working out.

COFFEE OR CARROTS?
A friend of ours recently bought a new juicer and stopped drinking coffee every morning. Her husband says he now has to drink three or four cups of coffee to keep up with her after she has just one 8 ounce glass of carrot juice.

Down the hatch!!!!

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.

To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
~ Buddha

It’s been AMAZING receiving emails and myspace messages from lots of you trying this out for the first time. We are thrilled, no… beyond thrilled that you are making changes to your lifestyles that will definitely improve your health. The smallest steps can make huge differences. Get a juicer. Eat a salad instead of a sandwich. One of the coolest things Bam ever said to me .. “It’s not just about what you eat, it’s also about what you DON’T eat.” If at all possible, avoid wheat, dairy, sugar, and of course, meat. Be conscious and aware of what you are ingesting. Avoid the processed food habits we’ve acquired as a society on the go. Appreciate living foods for what they are. An organic apple tastes amazing! It doesn’t need improvement from chemicals or preservatives!

Read as much as you can to guide you on the unusual path of self discovery that raw foods can bring. You will form your own opinions and we can’t wait to hear them!!! Bam and I were discussing a common topic for raw foodies: What is man supposed to eat? Many raw foodists state that ‘man’ is meant to eat a raw, living food vegan diet. While we don’t really think that is necessarily true, we do believe that humans are probably best off eating this diet now as an ANTIDOTE to the crap we’ve consumed since World War II when all the convenience foods entered our lives. It doesn’t really matter I guess. It’s pretty easy to see the relationship between the increase in viruses and obesity, diabetes, cancer etc etc etc since the onslaught of fast foods and microwaved dinners. (Don’t EVEN tell me that you use your microwave!!! You are changing the molecular structure of whatever food you put in there and that just is NOT good!!!) In our own personal case, and probably many of our friends, we have a lifetime of “rock n roll” living to help our bodies heal from. If we can do it, … so can you! Anyway, the point is, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist or even an archeologist to figure out that living foods will help you to feel better.

Oh, another cool thing… a raw foods legend, Shazzie, left us a rawsome comment on myspace saying we have the ‘best vids on the planet’!!! Woohoo! Thanks, Shazzie. Be sure to check out the testimonials on her site! Talk about inspiration!

Cherry tomatoes fresh out of our garden! They taste soooo good on a hot day. Having fresh produce right out of our yard is such an inspiration to be raw. We have big tomatoes too but they’re not quite as ripe. And in the words of my late father, “Plant enough to feed the critters AND yourselves.” So there’s loads of them going to the local wild beasties that pass through our garden in the night!

But you probably thought by the title of this post that I meant CHERRIES! Ha ha! And I did, too. I have a serious soft spot for the sweet, red antioxidant fruit. Cherries are truly seasonal and if you can still get them in your area, grab some and chow down! I know I go on and on about the importance of organic, but it is REALLY important with cherries as the skins will retain that icky pesticide junk and you just do NOT want that in your body. Plus, the organic ones taste soooo much better anyway. It’s how they’re supposed to taste. Duh!

Did you know that they found cherry pits in caves and pre-historic cliff dwellings? I can picture a caveman and his family sitting around eating cherries… getting their doses of iron naturally. Bet ya they didn’t have to worry about pesticides! Next time you eat a bowl of cherries in the comfort of your nice home… think of the caveman.

Enjoy what we have. Feel gratitude. Smile from your liver.

I was chatting with a friend who lives in another city the other day and was saying how we’d gone for a mountain hike. This friend had exclaimed… “In LA? Are you kidding me?” I guess if you don’t live here you just think the place is Hollywood and beaches. But trust me. There’s mountains galore. You could hike to your heart’s content!

Quite close to our house is a place with a crazy view of downtown LA (a place we refer to as Gotham City) and is pretty easy as hikes go. I know it’s smoggy but hey, it’s all we’ve got. To offset that, here’s some much nicer pics of lovely living things! We found tadpoles in the manmade pond at the top of the mountain!

We also found walnut trees and what we think is an olive tree. Of course, Bam with his natural curiousity had to open a walnut then and there. Only to discover it completely stains your hands with its natural iodine!

As we continued walking we found this area with what looked like little white flowers on these dead stalks. But lo and behold… they were SNAILS! It was so bizarre looking!!!

Finally we sat down on a little bench and ate our raw snacks.

Wishing you happiness and health in your raw food pursuits.

Doesn’t that look like steaming hot cheese? Well, it’s not! It’s yummy raw vegan lasagne! Lasagne Con I Pomodori!!!!

Made with heirloom tomatoes fresh from the garden and some organic yellow crooked neck squash. The “Cheese Sauce” is made with pine nuts and sprouted sunflower seeds, fresh basil, thyme and majoram from the garden, black pepper, lemon juice and nutritional yeast……..a pinch of celtic sea salt olive oil and julienned fresh basil to finish. It was dehydrated for about 5 hours at 105. It was devoured in about 5 minutes! It’s ITALIANO!

Alimento vivente per vita vivente!