Living Intentions just never lets me down. For a while now i have been fanatically obsessed with their spiced and flavored Gone Nuts mixes, they are just the best of their kind on the market. One thing is for sure, the team behind these products knows about flavor balancing and creating amazing textures in their treats. Being a huge granola person already i was really excited to try their Superfood Cereals. I tried out the chia Ginger, Hemp and Greens, and my favorite, Cacao Crunch.

Many raw cereals miss the boat in the flavor department and are rather bland. These are the exact opposite. They are packed with flavor!

Hemp and Greens - This flavor is particularly hearty and nourishing. It has a more traditional granola flavor. The coconut, banana and vanilla really stand out. I love it because each bite is crunchy, but then gives way to a chewy golden raisin center. This flavor is particularly packed with protein from green superfoods chlorella, spirulina, alfalfa, spinach and Hemp Protein.

Cacao Crunch - This cereal actually tastes like real chocolate! With raw cacao, maca root, mesquite, astragalus, and reishi you will feel a powerful boost of energy.  If you want an especially chocolatey breakfast or snack experience add raw Cocoa Powder to your nut milk before pouring over this cereal. How could your day possibly go wrong when you’ve started out with a breakfast like that? I’m being transported back to days of wishing my mom would buy Cocoa Puffs instead of Shredded Wheat. = ) When you’re raw you can enjoy chocolate for breakfast and feel great about it.

chia Ginger - This flavor packs the same spicy kick of real, fresh ginger. Actually the chia Ginger flavor reminds me of a childhood recipe of mine where i’d take gingersnap cookies, break them into small pieces and eat like cereal with milk. Not quiet the breakfast of champions. These superfood cereals, however, are actually the breakfast of superhero champions because not only are they yummy but they are packed with superherbs, and nutrients. Along with whole fresh ginger, this flavor also has wild chia seeds, raw brown rice bran, sprouted amaranth, Quinoa and pumpkin seeds, as well as wild Hawthorne berry. Yum!

Acai Blueberry - This superfood cereal is loaded with antioxidants. It is a combination of blueberry, acai, bilberry and elderberry in synergy with Vitamin-C potent amla berries and camu camu, this cereal is literally bursting with a powerhouse of benefits to keep you energetic, healthy and young.

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Extracting oils and essences from plants is nothing new. In fact it dates back thousands of years to the earliest forms of medicine and healing. We have always known somehow intrinsically that the essence of certain plants have much to offer us. And not just for healing purposes, but also for pure enjoyment to our senses. Essential oils and extracts are like the life blood of a plant, it’s essence. We’ve all heard of the amazing multi-faceted benefits of essential oils and their many uses for the body. Oils such as lavender, peppermint, jasmine and tea tree are easily found in the health food market, but have you ever seen or heard of cold pressed essential oils derived from organic fruits? How about an essence made from pure cacao? Or real vanilla essence from organic, cold pressed vanilla bean? Can you imagine how deliciously aromatic these would be? Well you are in for a treat! May i introduce to you Medicine Flower - food grade, raw friendly, no additives added, plant essences that absolutely delight the senses!

Imagine being able to harness the aromatic essence of a fresh, ripe, organic peach, or succulent dark raw chocolate. This is exactly what Medicine Flower has achieved with their flavor essences. The smell is simply intoxicating and joy-inducing. These special oils can be used to add amazing flavor to recipes, or as a scent to wear on the skin. You can even add these essences to a unscented body moisturizers such as MSM lotion or Coconut Oil to customize your skin care and create a yummy signature scent.

These oils are all extremely concentrated, so be modest when using for the first time. Start with just a tiny drop for both food and cosmetic purposes. When using these oils in food you will notice that there are no off tastes, or subtle chemical-like undertones. There is also no alcohol used so what you get is the 100% pure flavor of the plant. This is very unique in the world of flavor and oil extracts extracts. Many use colorants, fillers, diluting agents, and preservatives but not Medicine Flower.

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I think it’s safe to say that people's lives right now are full of challenges. No ones life is completely free of stress, and it seems lately especially we are being bombarded by more and more of it. People are often times tense, fearful, anxiety ridden and inwardly not at peace. If you are living in a city around lots of people and are subject to the media and news machine on a daily basis than you probably know and feel this intimately. Now throw into this picture the fact that we are surrounded by electromagnetic frequencies (EMF's) which throw our own electro magnetics out of balance more than ever before.

So the question becomes, how do we deal with this? How do we not let ourselves and our state of being slip into this stressful pool of negativity and chaotic energy. These outside stimuli don’t make for a very balanced human being, and the more we deal with this sort of burden the more important it becomes to do things that counter it. This is where grounding comes into the picture and becomes a vital necessity.

A long time ago in a different world than today we were connected on a daily basis to the Earth. The floors of our houses were made of earthen materials, we walked barefoot on the ground more often, and we were growing food with our hands in the soil. Now we live in a very different age. Most of us live in homes completely disconnected from the Earth. We live in tall apartment buildings and high rises in the city, we walk on carpet and plastics, we wear shoes constantly with rubber soles that prevent a connection with the Earth’s electrons. We often have no idea where our food is really grown or who grows it. It is pretty unavoidable these days to escape being around various EMF emitting appliances and technology. From cell phones, to lap tops, to TV’s, to refrigerators, they are all emitting EMFs.

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Founded by Lillian Butler and Eddie Robinson about 6 years ago, Raw Soul offers dine-in, take out, deliveries, catering, raw products (available in health stores around Manhattan) and sometimes even cooking classes. It’s on 145th Steet, very close to the ACBD stop. The space is fairly small and casual, with table service provided by the person who’s also at the counter.

First was the Sorrel Punch, a Jamaican Christmas specialty made out of hibiscus flowers, which are named “sorrel” in Jamaica (very different from the green leaves I expected). It’s vibrant pink, chilled, fizzy, slightly bitter, and deliciously spicy (I could really taste the ginger); the perfect pick-me-up for a dark, hot, and humid afternoon.

Then a friend and I split a sweet tooth dinner: he had the Chocolate Heaven, a wonderful smoothie which, when ordered with no agave was just sweet enough, and with added spirulina turned into edible velvet. The spicy sweet potato soup was a bit too salty, but had a nice hint of garam masala, a spice I hadn’t had in ages and realized I’d been missing. The chocolate-fig brownie’s great if you’re a fig fan, but might be too sweet for dark chocolate fiends (if you don’t like the taste of chocolate syrup, you probably won’t get into it.).

My favorite was the Strawberry Cheesecake: a rawsomely smooth and firm velvety texture, ever so slight coconut flavor and traditional cheesecake sweetness, sandwiched between a crunchy nutty crust and a fresh strawberry coulis. It was pure all American dessert bliss at an all American portion size worth sharing with someone else.

Another day, stuck with hours of computer work and no time to cook, I went down for their dinner special (1 small soup + 1 iced tea + 1/2 burger, 1/2 wrap or a small pizza = $12). The cream of corn soup was fantastic. It had a smooth texture with crunchy bits of sweetcorn at the bottom, and a lovely creamy savory fragrant taste.

The personal pizza was phenomenal: an ultra think buckwheat crust covered with creamy walnut cheese, sweet tomato puree and colorful olive, tomato, onion, mushroom and basil bits. Only issue was that it was too small! And the iced tea hit the spot: fruity, sweet and fragrant.

On my last day in the neighborhood, after ogling the daily specials for some time (they included a peach cheese cake, mint patty cheese cake, pecan pie, and a layer cake) I ordered the curry pate collard green wrap. It’s served as two rolls of crunch spicy collard green leaves filled with a sweet, buttery curry paste, crispy watery sprouts in the center, and tons of deliciousness. Portions are fairly small, but unlike the pizza, a little bit goes a long way so I’d recommend getting a 1/2 wrap with soup, or sharing an order. Overall a good experience: if you like soul food and American staples, it’s worth a visit!



Raw Soul

348 W. 145th Street
New York, NY 10031
http://www.rawsoul.com

Hours: Tuesday - Friday, 4:00 - 9:00 p.m.; Saturday, 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.; Sunday and Monday, Closed

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Some people just have a gift with food. They are like artists in the kitchen and have a god given knack for knowing exactly what to combine together to make flavors pop and meld together in the most delicious way. Not only this but they know how to create an artistic presentation with food that is mesmerizing and beautiful to the eye. Heather Pace of Sweetly Raw is one of these talented people. Lucky for us her forte just happens to be raw desserts! She is the embodiment of a raw dessert Queen, and makes it all seem so effortless. How exciting it is that she has created this amazing e book that is now available at rawguru.com !

Just Desserts is 88 full e pages of recipes and information for people looking for both simple quick treats and more elaborate desserts. You will even find recipes for cakes and pies that are fit for both everyday or a very special occasion. These desserts all have a beautiful presentation! You’ll find so many different options for things to make, and surely be inspired by the mouth-watering photos that go along with some of the recipes. Here are just a few options for desserts you will find within this e book: Marble Cheesecake, Caramel Macadamia Pie, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, Raspberry Lemon Pie, Peppermint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream, Basic Dark Chocolate, Coconut Whipped Cream, Maple Ginger Ice Cream, and Fruit N Chocolate Parfait. You’ll also find dehydrated goodies like Chocolate Chip Cookies and Super Granola Bars. These are clearly not your average raw food desserts.

The Just Desserts e book is a great place to start if you are really looking to get into raw dessert creation. If you have family or friends that are a bit weary about this lifestyle, desserts are the perfect way to win them over. Sharing amazing, yummy raw desserts will help them understand that this way of life can be both fun and decadent! Heather gives a great outline for the basics of raw dessert preparation, from the tools you will need (along with substitutes if you do not own some of them) to the ingredients that are most commonly used, and those that will need to be well stocked in any raw dessert master’s kitchen. You will also find within these E pages recommendations from Heather for other resources raw food related.

You will be amazed at how simple it actually is to prepare these things. In the end they will look like a masterpiece and people will not believe that only incredibly healthy ingredients were used and simply prepared. While most dessert chefs use ingredients like white flour, butter, eggs and sugar, in these recipes you will find nothing but raw nuts and seeds, ripe fresh fruits, organic sweeteners like agave and honey, and superfoods like cacao and maca. Not only do you get detailed and easy to follow instructions on how to combine your ingredients, you also get tips for how to present these dishes in a way that will surely impress all those around you (and even yourself!). Be sure to check out Heather's other more specified e books as well such as The Ultimate Raw Ice Cream Cake and Moonie Pie E Book.

Heather is a truly inspired lady with an absolute gift. We are so very lucky that she has taken the time to put together this e book recipe collection, sharing with us her own vision and creations. As she so clearly states in the introduction to her e book, when it's raw dessert time you CAN have your cake and eat it to!

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It looks like the secret is out! People are discovering just how incredible these Coconut Secret products truly are, and it’s time you should as well! The Coconut Secrets line up is fairly new to RawGuru and we have been absolutely loving them around here.

I had the chance to try out the Coconut Vinegar, Coconut Nectar, Coconut Crystals, Coconut Flour, and Coconut Aminos and it seems as though others in my household have been enjoying as well ( I know i didn’t go through that entire bottle of Coconut Aminos myself...)

I had never in my life heard about the ability to make vinegar, amino sauce, and a sweet syrupy nectar from the coconut palm, but when I did it made me appreciate this incredible and versatile plant even more. I love all things coconut from the actual meat, to the oil which I eat and use on my skin, and now these Coconut Secret products which i’m so impressed with. One of the best things about these products is that they come from small family owned coconut farms in the Philippines which are located on volcanic, mineral rich soil. The company is totally committed to keeping everything in it’s pure, unadulterated, raw forms for our enjoyment. The trees are completely non-GMO, and no pesticides or herbicides are used. Currently the company is working on acquiring organic certification for all of their products, and will also be displaying on each label gluten-free, kosher, non-gmo, and fair trade symbols. Awesome!

All Coconut Secret products come from the coconut sap which is hand tapped from the coconut tree blossoms. It is a beautiful opalescent ivory color and is delicately sweet without having to undergo any further processing with heat. It is amazing that once the blossoms are tapped, the coconut sap will keep flowing continuously for the next 20 years! It takes very little energy to collect the sap and is a very sustainable food source. All of this and the sap is highly nutritious with 17 amino acids (building blocks of protein, a broad spectrum of b vitamins, vitamin c, electrolyte minerals and even FOS which is a prebiotic, helping to feed our health promoting bacteria which are essentially our immune system.

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U- pick season is upon us and is grooving along in full force here in Oregon. As the organic markets stock up on local goodies I like to hit the farms and enjoy the fruit gathering experience first hand. There is something totally rewarding about harvesting your own produce, even if you aren’t growing it all yourself. Growing your own garden of course takes it to another level, but it feels good to support local farmers as well. I’ve been scoping the scene around town for some good u-pick farms, and yesterday decided to go and try one out. We went with blueberries in mind in particular but ended up with a variety of heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, and purple onions, all organic. While the tomatoes did have me pretty excited, I’ll admit the blueberries stole the show.

blueberries are just about perfect in my eyes. They are easy to pick since the bushes are upright and not too tall, they travel well and don’t get moldy quickly, their flavor is just the right amount of sweet with a hint of tartness, and their antioxidant levels of course are off the charts.

Now for the good stuff. The recipe that i’ve included is one that I whip up whenever I want to share a healthy dessert that everyone, and I mean everyone, will thoroughly enjoy. It is very quick to make and doesn’t require many ingredients at all. You can modify it very easily too depending on what yummy fruit you’ve picked up at the farm. It would work with any sort of berries, and fresh peaches or nectarines would be amazing as well.

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It all began last winter in Paris with a jar of raw hemp butter, a bag of Cacao Nibs and a packed of organic dried figs. Despite being a chocolate veteran—my mother gave me 85% cocoa chocolate squares as pacifiers when I was hardly standing on my two feet yet—I had never considered dipping a fig in dark chocolate, let alone dipping the fig in hemp butter and topping it with Cacao Nibs. But I did: I took a dried fig, cut it in half, spread a dollop hemp butter on top and dipped it in Cacao Nibs.

The sweet, chewy dried fig, smooth, nutty, hemp butter, and crunchy intense nibs immediately created a delectable gustative explosion in my mouth…which immediately began to water for more. Ever since last winter, I’m a hemp-fig-cacao addict, and I feel no shame. If you’re eerily relating to my story, I have excellent news: this specific addiction is healthy, and very brain friendly. For a cultural and nutritional introduction to figs you can go to Anna Hays’ Gettin Figgy with It The Raw Vegan Way. Because of their awesome nutritional values, figs are rumored to help lower high blood pressure, lose weight, prevent postmenopausal breast cancer, as well as promoting bone density, a healthy digestion, and efficient eyes.

Cacao, an anti-oxidant filled legendary super food, needs no introduction. When raw, cacao contains more antioxidants than acai, goji or blueberries, any teas, or red wine. Catechin, one of the antioxidants found in cacao, may prevent cancer, reduce the risk of heart failure, cancer, stroke and diabetes. It is also being studied for potential use in the treatment of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. And did you know the theobromine in cacao reduces coughs better than codeine and helps with asthma? Then there’s dietary fiber, iron, copper, Calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and about 300 more compounds! And though it is said to be addictive because cacao causes our brains to release certain “feel good” neurotransmitters, no real proof of any proper addictive qualities has been found to date. A bit like the rumors of THC in hemp: yes, there might be, but less than 0,1%, otherwise hemp would be as illegal as cannabis. In fact, whereas there have been studies correlating cannabis use to loss of short term memory, hemp is a very brain and memory friendly food due to it’s almost perfect omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio. It’s also a fantastic source of protein (even the butter), fiber, vitamin E, and a good source of vitamins A, B1, B1, B3, B6, C, D. Minerals include magnesium, Calcium, potassium and brain friendly phosphorus (“I think, therefore I use phosphorus”). Fatty acids, phosphorus, flavonoids, euphoria inducing compounds, and a little fruit to keep us from a hypoglycemic crash: my new favorite trio is therefore a smashing snack when demanding mental work is at hand, no matter what part of the brain you’re using. Without further ado, here is a simple pick me up recipe!

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Consuming sea vegetables regularly can seem like a foreign concept to many Westerners. Start a conversation about dulse, arame, laver, or hijiki and most won’t now what in the world you are talking about. For myself personally I couldn’t really imagine my life without sea veggies. They are such an awesome way to become more mineralized, and they are actually extremely versatile and can be used in a variety of different recipes. People are probably most familiar with roasted greenish black nori as this is what sushi is wrapped in. nori does also come in a raw, sun dried form which works great for wraps of all kind! A simple snack I like to make is take a nori sheet, mash up some avocado, add some whole leaf dulse (another favorite of mine), some sprouts, tomato slices and red bell pepper, roll up and ingredients and crunch right in!

Recently i tried RawGuru’s new sea spaghetti and was so instantly impressed with this form of seaweed! I’ve been literally craving it everyday since and have been experimenting with different ways of using it in recipes. The sea spaghetti comes in longish, thin, very firm sticks. This seaweed only takes about 15 minutes to soak and soften up. You can use the soak water to water plants with as a fertilizer. After soaking, the strips become very soft and very easy to chew. They are not gummy and indigestible like other forms of seaweed, in fact they are completely soft and tender. They definitely have a seaweed flavor but it is not overly intense and fishy, and would work really well with a variety of different sauces and dressings.

They can be added to your usual green salads, or you can try making an Asian inspired cabbage sesame salad with the following ingredients: green and purple cabbage shredded, sesame oil, sesame seeds, a pinch of salt, a dash of Coconut Aminos, and soaked sea spaghetti “noodles”. Massage oil and salt with the cabbage and then add remaining ingredients. Add other julienned veggies of your choice or herbs like cilantro. I’ve noticed how satisfying my meals are when i use the sea spaghetti. Many forms of seaweed are extremely salty and it can be more salt than the body actually needs. Sea spaghetti on the other hand isn’t very salty at all and doesn’t require any extra rinsing, just a quick soak. My one and only disappointment with my sea spaghetti is that the bag ran out much too quickly! = )

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I’m sure by now everyone has noticed, the heat has officially set in this summer. It’s time to cool off with some delicious fruits and vegetables that actually help lower your bodies temperature and keep you nice and hydrated. The raw food diet is probably the most ideal diet for summer time as everything yummy is in season, lower in price, and there is no need to turn on that hot stove or oven to whip up a delicious meal. Nature provides an abundance of foods this time of year to help keep us cool and nourished. Many fruits and veggies that have a shorter season like summer squashes, cucumbers, and melons come into their full glory during the hottest months, and have the most cooling effect. Some cooling vegetables include crunchy lettuces, mixed baby greens, celery, crisp sunflower greens and sprouts, and brocolli which make great salad fixings. Chop up some fresh corn into your summer salads as well, I have certainly been enjoying that lately. For a light dressing try a high quality extra virgin olive oil like bariani, and our brand new coconut vinegar and coconut aminos. Combine with minced fresh herbs and a pinch of salt and our salad will be rawkin and ready to go.

Aim for high levels of juicy fruits during the summer. Melons of all kinds are amazing, watermelon being especially cooling to the system. Try also different varieties like galia, crenshaw, canary, tucson cantaloupe, and casaba. Some of these melons are so sweet and delicately flavored and textured that they nearly melt in your mouth. Keep your melons in the fridge once ripe to avoid spoilage and to highten their cooling effect on the body. Make sure to load up on lots of tomatoes, fresh bell peppers, cucumbers, zuchinni, and yellow summer squashes too, as these are cooling fruits that will make great bases for savory meals when fruit isn't hitting the spot. You can make veggie chips out of the summer squashes by simply marinating in a little olive oil, salt and herbs and dehydrating until crisp. Also, one of my ultimate summer meals is zuchinni pasta, which is so light and flavorful, even your cooked food friends will be amazed that it is raw and so easy to make. Great for summer potlucks and family meals.

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