URGENT REQUEST for Elaina Love and her son Dominic

I reserve the right to interrupt this regularly schedule blog for an urgent request. You may have seen it on a few other blogs. Raw chef extraordinaire and teacher Elaina Love's son is struggling with cancer and has been given only weeks to live. She needs us to rally around her and help support her son's wellness recovery. This is all she's got left for options. And the clock is ticking.

This is rather personal for me because I have lost too many loved ones to cancer. It is a cruel disease and the traditional approaches to fight the disease are extremely painful.

Secondly, I have been touched by Elaina's amazing talents. I have had the honor of taking two classes with her and love her gentle spirit and was so inspired by her creativity. I continued to be inspired by her training for a marathon this summer.

So please read the following letter and donate if you can. I personally couldn't give as much as I'd like to, but I am hoping that every little bit adds up and keeps Dominic alive a little longer. Spread the word!

Dominic and Elaina

Dear Friends,

We are writing on behalf of our dear friend and Living Light Chef Instructor, Elaina Love. Many of you who are graduates know that besides being a Master Raw Food chef, Elaina is a beautiful loving person and caring mother who always gives generously to others.

We were saddened yesterday to hear that her son, Dominic, who has been in a treatment program for leukemia, has taken a turn for the worse. Dominic was diagnosed with leukemia on January 15, 2009. He underwent the traditional cancer treatment of chemotherapy, radiation, and bone marrow transplant, and he seemed to be responding well, until recently, when the leukemia suddenly and aggressively returned. There is nothing more to do in the medical arena.

Elaina has faith in the body's ability to heal itself, so she took Dominic to Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida for 3 weeks where he will eat a completely green, raw, vegan diet of juices, daily wheatgrass implants, and oxygen therapy. She is there with him now and will remain there with him through it all.

This program is very costly, starting at $20,000 for the first three weeks of expenses, so we at Living Light would like to invite you to participate in a fundraising effort for Elaina. If you choose to participate, you can donate as little as $5 to this campaign. If you donate $20 or more through the Living Light fundraising campaign for Elaina and Dominic, we will enter your name in a raffle to win your choice of a FREE FUNdamentals of Raw and Living Foods class (a $365 value), or 2 tickets for the Vibrant Living Expo and Culinary Showcase, August 27-29, 2010 (a $450 value).

100% of all proceeds will go directly to Elaina Love to help with Dominic's expenses. We have set up an easy way to donate funds - you can put it on your credit card by clicking on the link below to contribute in increments of as little as $5 (every little bit helps!) We know that this is a challenging time for us to ask you for money, but if you or someone you know has been touched by Elaina and her gentle and joyful presence, or you simply would like to be an Angel this holiday season and help someone whose young life hangs in the balance, please consider helping Elaina and her only child in their time of need. We greatly appreciate anything you can do and most of all we appreciate your warm wishes and all your prayers. Thank you for your kind and generous support of our beautiful sister, Elaina, and her wonderful son, Dominic.

Cherie, Dan, and the entire Living Light staff


PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO ELAINA & DOMINIC

raw vegan friendly gift ideas: under $10

photo courtesy vegan divine

This time of year people are headed out shopping for loved ones or home rustling up something homemade. For a raw vegan, it can be hard to find something special that you both feel comfortable receiving and feel comfortable giving. For me, I choose not to exploit the earth and am really not comfortable with extreme consumerism. I chose to give either really practical gifts, really creative gifts, and/or eco-friendly gifts.

For someone on a tight budget, the holidays can also be difficult. So I tried to find lots of ideas that are affordable. Once I started browsing I found a fair amount. I love to window-shop online (a lot less exhausting than the mall). Today's post has ideas under $10 and part 2 will have under $20. I hope to support some small businesses and good companies. At times I have linked to amazon but you could really find the item elsewhere if you looked.

Gnosis raw vegan chocolate
Who wouldn't want a lovely bar of this tucked into their shocking, shoes, mailbox, or under your pillow? I personally have only tried a few flavors but I really enjoy the vanilla hazelnut. Other flavors include Almond fig spice, sugarplum gingerbread, and mayan heat.


Chia seeds
These are one of my favorite raw foods ever! I love the tapioca-like consistency. I mix them with a nutmilk, dash of cinnamon and maybe some yacon syrup. I have searched and ordered from many places and the cheapest per pound is surely on amazon. I think these would be a fun gift for anyone because they are so novel in terms of eating and everyone knows the song (sing it with me now) ch-ch-ch-chia!

Dry Skin brush
Adding the simple routine of brushing your skin is a great way to keep it looking healthy and stimulate the lymph system. It takes just minutes a day.

Microplane
The world changed the day I used my first microplane. Ok, I am being dramatic, but I used to spend a lot longer grating my peels instead of microplaning in an instant. It's one of my favorite tools, especially when you need the peel of half a lemon.
Fruit Scoops
I don't currently own one of these but I'd really like to have one on hand for scooping out young coconuts or melon seeds or something. I really love useful kitchen gagets. (Ok, mom, that was a hint!)

Kristen Suzanne's Easy Dehydrating Raw Recipes
I have really enjoyed all of Kristen's recipes that I have made. I own two of her other recipe books. Of course, if you don't own a dehydrator, you might want to put one on the wish list first. But this would be a great accompaniment. Kristen has lots of other amazing books as well; this one just happened to be a great deal.


pH testing strips
These will bring out the inner science geek in you. I got these while I was on the ACT cleanse guided by Kris Carr from Crazy Sexy Life. One of the ways you can monitor your health is seeing how alkaline your body is. Testing your saliva or urine with these strips is telling. I know I can eat one thing that is not raw and tell. And the more green juice I drink the higher the pH. I have had people come to my house specifically to play with my strips. Now, get your own! (You know who you are.)
Mulberry clove handmade soap
This soap is my favorite soap! I often have reactions to certain soaps and I get no reaction with this. All of my friend Dianne's soaps are wonderful, but this one is particularly seasonal. She uses all natural ingredients. I believe the soap is colored with beet juice (but it won't dye your skin). I end up getting a lot of soap as gifts (am I stinky or something?) but most of it sits around because I am always using Dianne's. Support local artisans!


Be the Love shopping bag
If you aren't already bringing your own bags to the grocery store, what are you waiting for? Maybe you were looking for something a bit more stylish? This bag has a message of compassion and comes in bright colors that you can spot a mile away.


Eco-friendly Binder (I like this Naked Binder or you could recycle an old one)
For a little DIY project, every (raw) vegan--or anyone really--needs a nice binder to put his or her recipes in. You know, the ones you print off blogs or other forums? Or ones you make up and scribble down minutes after you taste it? I love having mine all in one place. This would make a great gift for someone who has been eying your new healthy diet and doesn't know how to get started. Give them some of your tried-and-true favorites to get started. At the very least they can make something for you when you come over.


Another homemade/DIY idea is to get a tin or cute box (there are dozens of holiday ones at the thrift store) and put a raw treat in it. These treats or these hemp brownies would be nice. There are also many recipes in the Raw for the Holidays e-book that would work, like my chocolate bars. These snowball-like macaroons look quite tasty.

raw chocolate

I hope I've given you a few ideas to save some bucks. There's no reason to break the bank over the holidays. Nor your belt if you continue to eat healthy. And feel free to post your favorite DIY or thrifty gift ideas in the comments.

juice feast journal and juice party with dave

with dave the raw food truck driver

dave answers questions from viewers on the live video

I wanted to write this post right away after the juice feast. It's hard to recall how I was feeling, but it was a heck of a lot better than I feel now! I ended my feast Sunday with the juice at the juice party. Luckily I kept a little journal to tell you how it went. Since then it's been down hill. I started getting back pain and instead of resting I had to go to jury duty. That really did me in. I didn't get a case, and if I did I would have gotten a doctor's note because sitting is just too much for me.

Juicing made me feel great in so many ways as far as mental clarity and energy level. But it did kick my pain in my back on. I wasn't having my normal level of pain killers because I don't think it's safe on a juice-only stomach. But I also wasn't in a flare. Now I am! I do think the best idea for me is to have a high juice diet with some fats that seem to keep the pain at bay.

green juice

Notes from my juicy journal:

Day 1

My juices:
2 quarts celery/apple/spinach juice
grape kombucha
1/2 quart beet/apple/lemon/ginger/aloe vera
2 ounces E3Live
1 quart celery/green leaf lettuce juice with chlorella tablets

I don't think I drank enough juices because I was a bit hungry at night. Today I made 3 quarts of juice and I will make another quart later. I am using my Breville juicer although I much prefer the Blendtec and strain method. I did use my mini-blender to make the last juice and it worked alright but it doesn't make much.

Overall I felt pretty good all day. No lulls in energy. I typically feel a lot of energy after I take E3live. I also did an enema at home which I don't usually do. I'm feeling great and I think the enemas help because I don't think I would have been able to go to the bathroom otherwise. Comparing my experience this time with my other juice feast where I got weaker and weaker until I had a colonic, I feel that enemas are the way to go.

Day 2

juices:
celery/bit of apple/parsley (2 quarts)
carrot and celery (1 quart)
romaine/spinach (1 quart)
other drinks: herbal tea, kombucha

I felt pretty good for the most part although I did have some stomach discomfort in the evening. And some pretty serious food cravings at night too. I decided to fill my mind with all things juice so looked up juicing videos online, etc. It helped.

I had a few energy lulls although for the most part I was pretty energetic. I did some rebounding for about 20 minutes. I walked a little bit although I could have done more. I did a wheatgrass enema which is new to me. For those of you who don't like drinking wheatgrass, this is another option.

I feel very cleaned out and my head is more clear that it has been. I love that feeling on juicing. I also feel lighter and I indeed did lose a few pounds. Although that's never my goal when I do just short feasts as it's easy to get those pounds back. Overall, I'm feeling good!

Day 3

Today was another good juice day although now it is night and I am getting a bit peckish for food. I am downing some kombucha as it really cuts my cravings.

today's juices:
2 cups carrot/romaine juice with ginger
2 quarts romaine/celery/spinach/kale/parsley
1 quart apple/cranberry/celery/kale
about 2 ounces wheatgrass/parsley juice
drinking kombucha now
and i still have about 2 cups of carrot/celery juice for right before bed (I HATE going to bed with a growling tummy)

I kept pretty busy today. Making juices took me awhile and then the enema takes a while too. I think if I had a better juicer (like the hurom which is on my x-mas wish list) it would be quicker. Doing all my greens in the hand-crank is pretty time consuming.

Took a walk to get more produce and found organic celery for $0.89 a pound. Hence all the celery juice. Pretty energetic today although I did sleep a lot. I woke up at 6am kind of wired but knew I needed to sleep more. I give my body lots of sleep because I am still recovering from epstein barr.

The juice party was fun. It was on live. It was great to see Dave the raw food truck driver. He's such a sweetheart. For those of you who don't know about Dave, he's done over 110 days of green juice feasting. I met him back in August on my first juice feast. He's so passionate about raw food and juicing.

Dave answered lots of questions like whether or not he will have surgery on his saggy skin, how he makes his juice, etc. He is so open and honest. Found out he'll be having another talk in Seattle in early January where he will go into more depth on juice feasting. Anyhow, the party was a lot of people speaking about their experiences but also everyone drinking juice. Really I think it was a party in a way to celebrate all Dave has done and his long juice feast (he's a record setter!)

I have learned a lot from this feast and I think it was a lot more successful than the one I did in August. Although if I hadn't had that experience, then I would be in a different place. You take each time and learn from it.

What I learned and want to keep doing:

• one green juice a day preferably in the morning
• one enema a week (and maybe wheatgrass with it)
• wheatgrass and/or e3live each day (I LOVE e3 live and it tastes less potent than wheatgrass to me)

drinking wheatgrass/parsley juice

wild about wheatgrass

homegrown goodness

My inner gardener is very happy. As I have alluded to over the last few months, I have been growing my own sprouts and wheatgrass. I got this lovely healthy juicer (pictured below) for a low price of about $50. My breville juicer doesn't do wheatgrass. Some people use the blender method (blend and strain), which I do often for leafy greens, but this machine does an even better job. It squeezes out every last drop of liquid from the grass blades.

I don't have a regular schedule for how much wheatgrass I've been having. It varies based on, well, where the little sprouts are in their cycle. I try to have either a green juice or wheatgrass shot a day. A good day would and should include both, and I'm getting there.

Effects of my wheatgrass use? Since adding wheatgrass into my routine, I've had bloodwork to show that my iron levels and ferritin (stored iron) are normal instead of low like they used to be. Also my epstein barr is not getting worse, the antibodies are less flared up than they were. I also have done other things for my health as well including resting, not overworking, and craniosacral therapy as part of a holistic approach to better health.

Any kind of green you can injest is great, of course. But wheatgrass is special because it's actually pretty cheap if you grow your own. The seeds can be found in bulk at most health food stores. I use cedar grove compost, which seems to work well. I like the flavor of my homegrown wheatgrass juice the best. I add a bit of ginger or lemon to cut some of the sweetness. Some other family members have gotten into wheatgrass too. Chris takes some juice when I drink it. The dogs like handfuls of it. The kitties eat it by the blade.

In case you are unclear, wheatgrass DOES NOT contain any gluten, which is in every other wheat product. The gluten that is am intolerant of is in the grain portion only. Wheatgrass is a healthy product, wheat flour and gluten is not (for a lot of people, not just me). For a great list of 35 benefits of wheatgrass, click HERE.

I've embarked on another little juice feast like I did last summer. Remember, juice feasting is about abundance, not about fasting. I plan to drink a gallon of vegetable juice each day. I am doing this in honor of the International Day of Juice Feasting, for my own health, and to support my friend Dave who has been drinking green juice for 100 days! I welcome you to join me and juice feast for a meal, a day, a few days, or more!

i'm not the only one gaga over grass

thanksgiving menu, a little early

As a vegan, I have mixed feelings about thanksgiving. For many people, it symbolizes a time to be with family and friends. But for me, this is hard when there is a dead bird on the table. So thanksgiving is a time best spent with my own animal-loving kind. Or with people who are kind enough for forfeit their own carnivorous instincts to eat a vegan meal with me.

Last year I was actually riddled with pain on Thanksgiving day and spent much of the day in bed, not eating much of a feast. This year, I have had some ups and downs lately (with some flu-symptoms lingering and some sore muscles), but I decided to take advantage of a day I was for sure feeling well, even if it is early and put together a fabulous raw vegan meal with hints to traditional Thanksgiving flavors.

I also love an excuse to get my husband to sit down with me for awhile and enjoy not just one but three courses together. I enticed him by printing a little menu off the computer and adding some seasonal touches to the table. We often eat by listening to our body, not by the clock, but today we ate light all morning so we could enjoy a larger meal later on. And boy is my tummy full afterwards!

Here follows some pictures of the meal. You must excuse the photography. It is getting increasingly hard to get decent shots in this dark and damp climate (it was dark today at 4:30). But I think you get the idea.

Thanksgiving Menu


First Course Butter lettuce salad with shaved carrots and herb vinaigrette

Salad recipe improvised on the spot. Dressing includes: red wine vinegar, olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and dried herbs. We use a pinch of lethicin to bind it together.

Second course
Portobello mushroom steak with mashed cauliflower potatoes, green beans, brussel sprouts, and herbed stuffing

Potatoes and stuffing recipes from "Raw for the Holidays" e-book. The stuffing smells just like thanksgiving and it's one of the best I've had since being gluten-free for 13 years. The mushroom steak recipe is inspired by Everyday Raw, but I altered it. It was basically just lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Dehydrate for about 2 hours. I soaked the brussel sprouts in warm water for about and hour then marinated them with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and dried oregano. I dehydrated them for about an hour and a half.

Dessert Apple cobbler with cardamom-vanilla ice cream

The apple cobbler recipe comes from Sweet Gratitude and it also appears in I am Grateful recipe book under fruit cobbler. It's very simple to make and very delicious. My husband doesn't usually eat apples (I know, some state pride, huh?) but loves this apple cobbler.

The cardamom ice cream is our usual ice cream recipe but with added cardamom spice to it. We use the meat of one coconut and about half the water. Put in to a blender (even my mini tribest worked!) with agave or yacon syrup to taste, a few teaspoons vanilla, pinch salt, teaspoon cardamom. Blend well. Then pour into ice cream maker and make ice cream.

All the recipes I made were quite simple. But I did have to time carefully because the stuffing took the longest and other dishes just took a few hours to warm. But if you think about all the work that goes into traditional thanksgivings, it was really easy. No caked-on dishes to clean and no animals harmed.

spices of the season

nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon

One of the ways I defeat the whole "I'm too cold to eat raw food" feeling is by spicing my food up. I like to use really warming spices this time of year, like nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne. And my focus goes to the seasonal fruits like apples and cranberries. Apples are one of Washington State's biggest crops so I have to have state pride and eat up. My dogs can't keep their paws off the apples either.

I even got this brilliant idea to dehydrate my own cranberries. Maybe not so brilliant. I had them in for about a week and they got pretty rock solid eventually with no more liquid. But not nice and juicy like store-bought ones. Although they didn't have any sugar on them either like most store-bought dried crans do.


I put some home-dried cranberries in these little cranberry-apple mini-muffins. To be honest I tweaked with the recipe so much I have no idea what the proportions are. They were really good dehydrated for about an hour (fresh out of the oven flavor!). They had hazelnut pulp, dates, cranberries, apples, raisins, coconut butter, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice. Probably something else I am forgetting. I hope to work on the recipe more and get the right ratios. At first they were too dry then I moistened them up with more dates. I think they look like mushrooms but they were very tasty.

apple-cranberry mini-muffins

Another yummy fall-spiced treat that I've been making once a week or so as a treat is Penni Shelton's Chia Coconut Custard Smoothie. It is very refreshing and has those nice warming spices in it. I didn't have fresh grated nutmeg, but I do have a microplane, so what am I waiting for! I need to take it to the next level.

Penni's Chia Coconut Custard Shake

1 thai coconut, meat & water
1 TBSP chia seeds
1/2 cup crushed ice
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBSP raw honey or agave nectar (Note from Bitt--I skipped this because I find coconut water plenty sweet)
a generous pinch each of cinnamon & freshly grated nutmeg

Put all ingredients into a high speed blender and combine until smooth and creamy.

***

The End of the Blender

Oh I just saw those words "High speed blender" in the recipe above and cringed. My blender had been acting kind of weird since I put a whole bunch of soaked flax seeds in it. I had to practically sit on it to get it to blend with them in there. Ever since the blending noises have not been the same. Then, the fated day came. I knew it was reaching a point of no return. I desperately wanted to make a pie. But waiting until Thanksgiving might not be an option. So I got everything together to make this absolutely fabulous chai-chocolate cheesecake from Sweet Gratitude recipe book.

If you have ever made any of sweet gratitudes's cheesecakes, you know that they take multiple steps to blend. There's the initial blend of the cashews and other flavorings, then the blend with the lethicin and coconut oil, then another blend with anything you are going to swirl it with. Well my blender decided to die right before the swirling phase. It flashed "watchdog time out" and then wouldn't turn on. Oh whoa was me!

My husband of course decides to google the phrase and we found we could unplug the blender for 20 minutes and it might turn back on again. Lo and behold it did and I was able to make the chocolate swirl affect. Ta-da! the next day the blender had to be shipped back to get its insides examined. I wrote a note about how much I can't live without it and hopefully they will rush it back to me. Cross your fingers for me, ok? I'll probably go without raw pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, but apple cobbler can be achieved blender-less. I'll keep you posted.

Now please feel free to oooh and ahhh over the swirl affects of this chai-chocolate cheesecake. If only you knew how wonderful it tasted. I am a big chai fan. But even if you aren't, give it a try. I could only have one dessert for the rest of my life, it just might be this one.

chai-chocolate swirling

help yourself to a virtual slice

We had some extra crust and batter so we made a mini-cheesecake to have before the other one set. I love my mini tart-pans!

fun with frosting

pomegranate frosting-filled twinkie (top) and two strawberry-lemon donuts

If you read my last post describing my weekend, you will recall that I visited Sidecar, home of the chocolate-covered vegan twinkie. It has been ages since I've even thought of twinkies, let alone eaten one. But I did when my husband and a friend scarfed one down in front of me. Even if I didn't care about eating well, I would have been violently ill if I enjoyed even a bite (dang celiac disease!). Even so, as I looked at the wrapper, no health-conscious person would dare eat it. It was laden with fillers and yucky fats and stuff. It was even made on equipment shared with dairy. Ugh. Why not make my own healthy raw one?

Rawdorable inspired me with her lemon rawstess cupcake post. I just so happen to have that recipe printed out and in the que (the stack on my kitchen table). And then there was the leftover frosting just sitting there looking lonely in the fridge. I could only smear it on so many cinnamon crackers before I got a bit bored.

I noticed after the fact rawdorable did make a twinkie...er...trawkie awhile back. I may play around with the recipe to get a non-lemon twinkie. But for me this time it was a mental thing. I don't really care if it tastes like a twinkie, it was about the look and emotional aspect of it. I fit in. And it tasted good in its own way.

frosting on the cinnamon crackers

Twinkie/Rawinkie/Trawkie(?)

you will need:
lemon cake (or any cake that holds together well for that matter)
sunny raw kitchen's frosting/whipped cream (flavored anyway you like it or vanilla)

make two flat logs and frost one. smoosh together. eat!

twinkie made from lemon cupcake and white frosting

you could share this, if only to show off how great raw food is to an unsuspecting bystander

The next day, pleased with my midnight snack from the night before (so much for Paul Nison's daylight diet!), I whipped up a donut with similar ingredients. I had come back from a brunch out having watched the boys lap up vegan cinnamon rolls and blueberry bread while I had a fruit plate and salad (still good, but not the same!).

Jelly Donut

This time I used the same lemon cake and added a strawberry filling. I put the strawberry filling inside the donut and used the juice leftover to color the white frosting I had left. There's just something so adorable about pink frosting! It brings out the little 8-year-old in me. Here are the steps and filling directions.

Lemon Cake recipe
Frosting/whipped cream Recipe

Filling:
frozen strawberries

1. Thaw out strawberries by leaving them at room temperature for a few hours or warming the bowl over a bowl of hot water. When thawed they should be mushy and not have a frozen center.
2. Process in the food processor until well blended.
3. Strain out the juice with a sieve so you have bits of not-too wet strawberry.
4. You could add some sweetener but I found it plenty sweet. It's up to you.
5. Reserve the "juice" to add to white frosting if desired.

make a round shape and spoon a bit out

add filling (just about a teaspoon or so)

flatten out the dough you took out and seal it back up

frost with pink frosting

eat!

Do not share with friends if they have eaten goodies in front of you that you can't eat. Just wave it in front of their face saying it is the best thing you've ever had and make food orgasm noises.

Thank you to Rawdorable for your inspiration!