David Wolfe's Ultimate Raw Nutrition Certification

The BodyMind Institute, an online holistic education website, is offering a very informative and entertaining David Wolfe raw nutrition course. It features:

* 70 – 5-15 minute video lessons that bring you years of David Wolfe education condensed into 12 hours of ‘class’ time.
* Each ‘class’ is designed with a PDF handout.

Each PDF handout for each of the 70 video lessons will give you:

* A summary of each video.
* Notes and direct quotes from David Wolfe.
* References for the material being covered.
* Immediate resources to apply the information.
* Web links where needed.
* Stores and places to shop online.
* Assignments to take immediate action.

I just found out that new course segments will be added in throughout the year. I just completed watching all of the available videos and I have to say I absolutely loved it. If you are a holistic educator and a fan of David Wolfe I highly recommend going through the course. It's chock full of great information that you can access over and over. You will have 12 months to complete the course and will only be able to watch the videos within that time frame. I plan on watching the series over again, perhaps several times. There was so much great info, my brain couldn't absorb it all the first time around. I'll be honest and say the videos aren't the most professional looking but the content is excellent and I like being able to download the notes. This a great opportunity to see how David Wolfe lives, what he eats, drinks, reads as well as learn about current and cutting edge raw food nutrition. Topics include superfoods, superherbs, medicinal mushrooms, foraging for mushrooms and salads, making super smoothies, strengthening the immune system, and more. It's fascinating stuff.

Click here to purchase or learn more about the course. This is my affiliate link but please don't feel obligated. If you wish to not use it click here. My feelings won't be hurt. (BTW, They are offering the course for $797 for a limited time only)

...aaand I'm Back!

So nice to be back in southern California. I was at Living Light Culinary Arts Institute for two weeks and in NYC for four weeks teaching my raw food basics as well as learning some cooked culinary arts as well. I took a class from the Natural Gourmet Insitute in Manhattan. They offer a range of different healthy cooking classes from vegan, to raw to meaty things. I took the Southeast Asian Vegan Banquet class and just loved it. We made: hot and sweet sesame nori fins, watercress and green mango salad with peanut dressing, red bhutan rice with roasted baby vegetables with lemongrass and cilantro, yellow pepper-coconut milk sauce, spinach-thai basil sauce, baked tofu triangles, Indonesian sambal, crispy rice sticks, and mango-lemongrass ice cream. It was really fun to try something new, heating food!, but I kept thinking about how I'm going to convert these into raw. Can't do that with the rice but the sauces, definitely. I often find my inspiration for raw foods from the cooked food world as opposed to leafing through raw recipes books. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, I would rather do my own spin on things. At least that's how I'm approaching the recipes for my, one day, raw book bestseller. :) Here are a few photos from the class.



Though I don't advocate eating tofu I did appreciate that everything was cooked in coconut oil (minimizing the formation of cooked toxins). We got to chow down at the end of the class and enjoy our hard work. Everything was absolutely delicious and they even served white wine (you can bring your own, too) with our dinner. I would certainly take more classes like this in the future.

Since I've been home I've been going to commercial auditions, detoxing (I'm on day 6 of 10), and working on various raw food endeavors. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet, but I have lots of great things on the horizon. Raw foods has put me on such an amazing journey. I never know what unique opportunity is around the corner. The other night I made an appearance at the Center for New Medicine to promote my upcoming class and a woman asked if I could develop a raw cookie/treat for horses. Sure thing! The head of the center wants me to come to her home and teach her housekeeper how to make raw foods. OK, will do! and a couple of weeks ago I got an offer to go to Tulum, Mexico and Brazil to make vegan and raw food for two different retreats. Alrighty! I'm super excited and grateful for all that life is offering me right now. I think when your heart is in the right place things just start to come together. In the near future, I'm going to be doing some filming, as well as a lot of writing, so I will keep you all posted. Thank you to all who have been keeping up with my blog and sending great comments my way. xoxo.

Science of Raw Food Nutrition

Last month I attended an amazing nutrition course offered at Living Light Culinary Arts Institute. Taught by the raw food doctors, Rick and Karin Dina, they thoroughly explored every aspect of raw food nutrition over nine days. For a health enthusiast like myself this was exciting but also extremely intensive. So much so, that my eyes started twitching on the 7th day from reading the textbook and watching the lectures all day long. Nevertheless, I loved every bit of it!

Some of the topics they covered:

vitamins, minerals, enzymes
optimal blood sugar regulation
acid/alkaline balance
the B12 controversy
how we get protein
essential fats
calcium
human digestion
cooked food toxins
fasting
history of human food choices
youth extension and longevity
history of living foods
food combining
grains
soy
superfoods
women's health topics
animal products
menu planning for various health challenges
raw food exaggerations

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. I really appreciated that all of it was scientifically supported and cited. I've been raw for over two years and still get confused by conflicting claims in the raw food community. This helped me make sense of what is nutritional truth and what is just plain silly. I also learned little fun things I've never heard before. For instance, if you lay out for 5-10 minutes a day like I do to get your Vitamin D, don't shower till at least the next day or you will lose the Vitamin D that was created when the sun reacted with the cholesterol on your skin. I also didn't know that green leafy vegetables have essential fatty acids in them or that goji berries are part of the nightshade family.

The classes are offered in three sections that you can take separately or all at once. It equips you to become a Science of Raw Food educator and you receive a powerpoint presentation that you can use for your own lectures. I highly recommend it to anyone in the holistic health field or if you just want to do it for your own health and benefit. You won't be disappointed. If you can't make it to Living Light they do travel the country (and Canada) to teach the introductory class. Check their website for dates. www.rawfooddoctors.com

Red Hot And Raw

If you haven't had a chance to check out the 200-and-something raw food blogs out there on the internet then you may not know all the exciting new things happening in the raw food world. Here are a few things that I've been particularly excited about which I'll call my Red Hot and Raw List.

1. RawFu magazine made its debut last month. Both gorgeous and informative, it's a great read for raw food beginners and veterans alike. Lord knows niche magazines could use all the support they can get so if you have a spare $20 bucks then why not subscribe to something you can also share with your friends and family. While you're at it, check out Purely Delicious, another wonderful raw food magazine with lots of recipes, health info and great interviews.




2. The Raw Union of Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes on June 20-21. How cute are they? Two movers and shakers in the raw food world with two amazing testimonials are getting married next month by David Wolfe and everyone is invited! I'd go if I wasn't already traveling around all summer.


3. Sarma Melngailis has a new recipe book coming out on June 30th called "Living Raw Foods." Her last book, "Raw Food Real World," is my raw culinary bible so I'm especially excited to get my hands on this. Pre-order through One Lucky Duck and get a signed copy and a little something yummy with your order.


4. Gnosis Chocolate is starting to come out with a line of beauty products. If you haven't tried Gnosis chocolate bars you don't know what you're missing. They're slowly making their way to Whole Foods and natural food stores across the county and now they're introducing the first product in their beauty line, a delish chocolate bath bar. You can purchase the bath bars on their website as well as their full line of superfoods and other products at great prices.


5. Though I'm a proud graduate of Living Light Culinary School I'm also completely enamored with the new living foods culinary education center being built in Oklahoma City under the guidance of Living Light alum, Mandilyn Canistelle, and raw food chef extraordinaire, Matthew Kenney. Opening in September, the center would be home to 105 Degrees restaurant in addition to the cutting edge learning facility. Can't wait to see some photos. If Matthew Kenney is teaching any of the gourmet classes, you bet I'll be there in a heartbeat.

Ethnic Foods Class at Living Light

Last week I returned to Living Light to begin their gourmet certification series. We explored the flavors of the Middle East, North America, Europe, India, Asia and everywhere in between. Along with tasting and savoring all the different elements that make world cuisine so exciting, each student worked on creating a new recipe every day. One of my favorite recipes was a Rosemary RAWssian Borscht Soup with Bechamel Sauce and Caraway Onion Bread. Being from eastern Europe, I grew up eating red beet borscht soup and was amazed how close I got to my mother's cooked version. The rosemary gave it an elegant twist as did the cheesy bechamel sauce which took the place of the usual dollop of sour cream.


Another winner was my Mediterranean Fresh Herb Tart using aromatic basil and thyme in a savory walnut crust topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, feta cheese, seasoned pistachios and herb pesto sauce.


I also created a Sweet and Spicy Macadamia Nut Crusted Relleno with Chocolate Mole with Chef Kirsten Gum. Stuffed with cabbage and spicy ground "meat" and served with a refreshing Nopales Salsa Verde. The chocolate mole I whipped up was my favorite part of it. I wanted to squeezed the entire bottle into my mouth it was that good.


My borscht soup and Mediterranean tart was selected to be in the upcoming Living Light All Stars recipe book. The chocolate mole is under wraps for now but definitely will be in my personal recipe book which I am working daily on. Soon I will be posting recipes of the week/month so check back or send me your email if you would like to be added to my mailing list.