Get Real About Raw!

Schall joins with RAWJUVENATION to serve up a delicious RAW FOOD Menu!

Starting Monday November 10, 11-7pm

Dine in or just “Grab and Go”

Our TRIAL menu includes:

ENTREES:

Lasagna

Chili with Onion Dip

Teriyaki Noodles

DESSERTS:

Rocky Road Fudge Pie

Apple Crisp

SMOOTHIES

Creamsicles: Orange or Blueberry

Green Smoothie

Chocolate shake

BREAKFAST

Granola with Almond Milk

Orange Banana Porridge

APPETIZER

Herbed Almond Ricotta Dip with veggies

And a variety of FRESH JUICES!

Rawjuvenation

350 w. Liberty St.

Reno, NV 89502

Rawjuvenation will be open from 11:00am to 7:00pm.

This recipe is so perfectly similar to ricotta cheese! The recipe below is a basic recipe, however you could use any combination of flavors - even omit onion and add sweetness.  Use the Almond Milk recipe on this site for best results.

Yield:     4 cups (approx)             

Servings:   8-10                 

Expiration: Keeps about 5-7 days in refrigerator

Tools and Equipment:

Food Processor, knife, cutting board, rubber spatula, measuring spoons and cups, storage container

Ingredients:

3 cups Almond pulp from making Almond Milk

3/4 cup Onion chopped slightly

1/3 cup Olive Oil                 

3 TB Almond Butter        

1 cup Water

1/4 tsp Garam Masala

1 tsp Sea Salt                  

Preparation Instructions:

Combine all ingredients except water in a food processor and blend until completely smooth. Add water as you continue to blend to help mixture move and become softer.  It should be the texture of a very soft ricotta.

Serving Instructions:

As directed in other recipes or as a dip for crackers or crudite (vegetables)

Storage Instructions:

Keep in airtight container in refrigerator for 5-7 days.

The ‘Raw Food Lifestyle’ is still a mystery for many people. I can certainly understand why, given all of the conflicting information about nutrition and food, our personal tastes and culinary abilities, testimonial advice, etc. My intent in this article is to empower you to develop nutritional habits that will work for you. The focus will be on adding more raw fruits and vegetables to your diet.

First I would encourage you to know what your particular concerns are, but also to know and understand what is actually happening to your health as a result of the lifestyle you are currently living. Lifestyle includes everything you are doing, eating, and exposed to. Our bodies are suffering a huge barrage of free radical activity at the rate of 10,000 oxidative hits per cell per day¹. Free radicals are simply atoms or molecules that have an unpaired electron. That may not sound too terrible but here is the reality: The pathology of Alzheimers is constant free radical activity in the brain over years and years and the same process goes on in your eyes as well². Free radicals speed up the aging process and this means more than losing your youthful appearance. It means your body is literally breaking down at a rate faster than necessary. Inflammation and disease are the consequences of poor diet and stressful lifestyles that create more free radicals than the normal metabolic processes of the body.

Antioxidants to the rescue. Antioxidants, lo and behold, are molecules that carry an extra electron. Doesn’t sound like a superhero? Well, I find it fascinating that this synergy exists, don’t you? Antioxidants stabilize free radicals by donating an electron³ and you will find them in raw fruits and vegetables in the form of phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are what give fruits and vegetables their colors. Scientists have now discovered about 25,000⁴ phytonutrients and the important thing to remember is that they work in synergy with each other. Vitamins C and E are both examples of antioxidants, but they are only two of the 25,000 phytonutrients avaliable to us in whole raw fruits and vegetables! I hope you are starting to see the significance of whole raw fruits and vegetables in your diet.

Okay, so what concerns do you have personally? Heart disease and diabetes in the family? Weight issues? Emotional problems? Chronic pain? The awesome thing about your genes is that lifestyle more often than not will trump genetics. This is important because we often hear things like “My grandmother ate bacon and smoked ciggarettes until she died at 105”. She obviously had great genetics that could really take the heat (wink). And the other side, “My sister is the health nut and she’s always sick!” I would imagine her version of health nut does not include a high amount of fresh raw fruits and vegetables. These statements make us believe that the dice have been rolled and we’re just waiting to see what comes up. But did you know that human DNA is good enough for 120-140 years of active life⁵? Grandma could have easily gone the whole distance being very active and sis could have lived a healthier life with some lifestyle tweaks. Life is worth living to the fullest potential in all ways! My whole point is that the right lifestyle will help keep you from expressing certain genes and that is where you have the control. I have adapted a formula from Jack Canfield for this: E+R=O. Event (genetics) + Response (lifestyle) = Outcome⁶.

So let’s eat! I am hopeful that I can help you feel empowered to do the very best you can in terms of nutrition. For this article, I will focus on whole food nutrition rather than individual nutrients. Let us first make a distinction about whole foods. A whole food has not been altered in any way, such as cooking! When you cook a whole food you have altered and reduced it to a certain degree. Now, I personally am not concerned with eating a 100% raw vegan diet. It works for me to have the bulk of my food be raw vegan and it works for many of the teachers that I respect the most. I don’t stress about visiting family or friends, travelling, or dining out, and I hope you won’t either. But please understand that the more cooking you do, the less whole foods you are eating. So, how do we get those whole raw fruits and vegetables en masse into your mouth?

The easiest way to begin is to add fruit smoothies, grazing trays, and interesting salads - to the tune of about 9-13 servings (one serving = about 1 cup) of fruits and vegetables per day. That may sound like a lot, but do you remember the 5 a day program that the government was promoting? It is now called ‘More Matters’⁷. The truth is… you can’t eat enough fruits and vegetables and so a ‘whole food’ supplementation program is advised along with your daily regimen of raw foods. You may contact me regarding what my family and I do to supercharge our fruits and veggies at juice@thehealingmeal.com or 866-375-0517. For safety, always check for clinical research of a product before using it which means that they put the actual product in an actual person and measured the results.

Starting with smoothies, I think these are wonderful because they appeal to a wide group of people and you can easily get 3-4 servings of fruits and greens in one large smoothie. Using a high speed blender will make a terrific smoothie and is a much healthier breakfast. Simply throw everything into the blender (some things will need to be peeled of course) and blend until smooth. Starting your day with a smoothie enables you to get some real nutrition in before you eat some of the lower nutrition high calorie foods. Fruits are also very cleansing and eating fruit first thing in the morning will help your body be less congested. Smoothies around our house consist of fruits, greens, water, 2 TB flax seeds or flax flour, sometimes a little agave nectar, and ice at the tail end of blending to cool it down. One of my favorites is 2 oranges, 2 stalks of celery, water to the level of the fruit in the blender, and a little agave. A simple recipe would be a banana, ½ cup water, 1 T agave, and 2 T cashews. After blending real well, I add ice and blend it in to cool down my smoothie. I add greens to pump up the nutrition.

Fruit pastes are great and you can eat them in a bowl with a spoon. I use the food processor for this to get the texture right. A recipe I make frequently is simply two oranges and a banana processed together until it is like a slightly chunky soup, but I blend it creamy smooth for my husband. Everyone has a texture that works best for them. You could add mango, papaya, grapefruit, etc. and serve in a bowl with a few walnuts on top. This is an easy 2-3 servings of fruit.

Salads are fabulous because you can really get the greens in. Greens are extremely important and very under-utilized in most people’s diets. Greens are loaded with chlorophyll and chlorophyll is a great blood builder. The chlorophyll and hemoglobin molecules are nearly identical except that cholorophyll has magnesium in the center and hemoglobin has iron. When you consume chlorophyll your body exchanges the molecules, making it a great blood builder⁸. Creating interesting textures with added fruits, veggies, seeds, or nuts will keep your salads from becoming boring and there are many wonderful raw dressings that will offer a variety of flavors.

Create an interesting grazing tray with fruits, nuts and seeds, raw granola, vegetables, raw dips, and greens. Cut up fruits and veggies into bite size pieces, soak and rinse nuts and seeds and serve as is; or dehydrate them with some seasonings until they are crispy, wash and dry individual romaine leaves, and make a raw sauce or dip and some granola. Many sauces and dips will keep at least a week. Granola will last a month in the fridge (if it doesn’t get eaten!)

Remember that being on the journey is the most important thing. Start today and keep moving towards including at least 9-13 servings of raw fruits and vegetables per day.

Four easy steps will get you started eating a much healthier diet!

Step 1

Add smoothies and/or fruit pastes for breakfast and snacks - this could easily represent 4 to 6 servings being added to your daily diet

Step 2

Add a variety of interesting salads with some raw dressings for lunch or dinner - this could easily represent 4 to 6 servings being added to your daily diet

Step 3

Create grazing trays for snacking - this could easily represent 1 to 2 servings being added to your daily diet

Step 4

Add whole food supplementation to supercharge your nutrition

**There are recipes and resources to help you get started available on this website, and many more will be added regularly at www.rawfoodforrealpeople.com

*Although there are many sources for the information in this article, I only cite one article for each statement.

1. http://e-articles.info/e/a/title/What-are-Free-Radicals-and-how-do-they-contribute-to-Cancer

2. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/12/981209080830.htm

3. http://www.healthchecksystems.com/antioxid.htm

4. Journal of Nutrition, November 2001

5. Quoting Mitra Ray, PhD, also see her book ‘From Here to Longevity’

6. Jack Canfield, ‘The Success Principles’

7. http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/

8. http://www.wheatgrass.com/book/chapter3.php

Serves 1-2

I love this recipe because it gives you a huge sense of satisfaction and holds you for several hours. It is really delicious – I always drink them too fast! Try to make it last to savor the flavor.

1 Thai baby Coconut

2 Tb cashews

1-2 Tb Agave

Pinch Sea Salt

1 ½ C Ice cubes

The coconut has a flat bottom and a pointy top, to open it turn it on it’s side and with a sharp knife shave part of the rind off of the pointy end, rolling the coconut to a new spot after each cut to get the whole top shaved (the knife should travel down toward the point as you are removing the white rind). You will then see a pale brown shell. Stand it back up so that the flat is on the bottom and with a cleaver type knife make small attacks with the bottom edge of knife near the handle. Go around until you have broken through in a complete circle. Peel back the top.

Pour the coconut water through a wire mesh screen into blender pitcher. To get the coconut meat out of the shell use a metal spoon held opposite of the way it is held for eating and force it between the coconut meat and the shell to separate it from the shell. Place it into the mesh strainer for cleaning. Once you have all of the coconut meat out you will want to clean off any shell pieces that are clinging on to the meat.

Add the coconut meat and the other ingredients except the ice to the blender and blend on high until creamy. Add the ice and blend until the ice is melted into the mixture. Serve immediately.

Serves 1

This smoothie is very delicious. The celery actually compliments the orange in a way you wouldn’t expect. TRY IT!!

2 oranges, peeled

2 stalks of celery

2 c water

1 c ice cubes

Agave to taste

Blend all ingredients except ice in a high speed blender until very smooth. Add in the ice cubes and blend until they are dissolved. This will keep the mixture nice and cold for serving.

Yield approx 3 cups

This has the color and texture of the French onion dip I remember eating as a child with potato chips. Eat it now with veggies crudite – it is really delicious!

2 C cashews – soaked several hours

¼ to ½ c water

1 ½ T Nama Shoyu

3/4 cup onions, shredded finely in food processor

In a vita mix or high speed blender, blend the cashews, water, ¼ c onions, and Nama Shoyu until very smooth and creamy. Start with ¼ c water and slowly add more if needed. You may have to stop and check the consistency. Keep it as thick as possible. Remove from blender and add the remaining onion in by hand. Will keep in fridge for approx 5-7 days is a sealed container.

Serves 2

I love this recipe because you can walk into the kitchen and have a delicious shake in minutes! Absolutely NO prep time.

1/2 c cashews
3 c ice
3 T cacao (or to taste) (optional)
2 dates (optional)
1/2 c water
1/4 c agave or to taste
1/4 t sea salt

Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until it is the texture of a thick shake. Use the plunger attachment to keep the mixture moving and add more water as you go if needed to keep mixture moving. for other flavors add fruit of your choice, dried fruit that has been re-hydrated works well or add vanilla.

Makes 8 tortillas

These tortillas are awesome for making wraps of all kinds. They have the texture and flexibility of a flour tortilla.

3 small zucchini cut into long julienne strips with a mandoline on thinnest setting

½ small red onion (optional) sliced very thin with mandoline to make small curved strips

1 c water

½ c flax seed

1 T Agave

½ t sea salt

Grind the flax seed into flour using a high speed blender. Combine all the ingredients in large bowl and mix well. Pour onto a teflex covered dehydrator screen making four circles per tray. Tortillas will just touch each other. Dehydrate at 110 until they are dry enough to flip over onto a dehydrator screen. Continue to dehydrate until they are the texture and dryness of a normal tortilla. Cool and store in an airtight container. Will keep for several weeks in the refridgerator. Re-warm in dehydrator if preferred. To serve fill with your favorite veggies and dressing or eat like a tortilla along with a salad or entrée.

Directions:
2 avocados
1 Thai baby coconut, meat and 1 cup of the coconut water
½ c Agave
¼ c raw chocolate
¼ t sea salt

Place coconut meat and water in the vitamix and blend thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and blend until all ingredients are incorporated and mixture is smooth. You will have to use the plunder to help the pudding move and turn over.

Directions:

Pasta
Spiralize fresh zuchinni (about 5 small or 3 medium).

Put the spiralized zuchinni in a covered container in the refrigerator for a day or two. The “pasta” will dry a little and be fluffier. OR you may place the freshly spiralized zuchinni in a large bowl and sprinkle with celtic sea salt. Squeeze out some extra liquid before serving. Both methods are delicious.

Marinated mushrooms:
lightly chop mushrooms (about 2 cups or to preference) then marinate them in

Nama Shoyu or Tamari sauce for 1-2 hours (longer is ok)

Sauce:
5 medium tomatoes
1 lg stalk celery
1/4 c onion
1/2 c fresh basil (packed)
2 T fresh oregano (packed)
3 cloves fresh garlic or to taste (minced)
3 T lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1/4 c Nama shoyu or tamari
2-3 medjool dates

Blend all ingredients in a FOOD PROCESSOR so that it is blended well
but retains a slightly chunky texture (like gazpacho - you can also eat this as a soup!)

To assemble:
In a large flat bowl or baking dish place the pasta first. Then evenly distribute mushrooms over the pasta and pour the sauce over the entire dish. Serve chilled or warmed to room temperature. Garnish with a few basil leaves. ENJOY!