Quarrygirl Goes Raw

The hilarious, potty mouthed and brutally honest vegan blogger, Quarrygirl, recently took a plunge into the world of raw foods. Quite surprising after her terrible experience at Pure Food & Wine on a recent NYC trip. Read here about some of the culinary delights she enjoyed on her one week raw trial. Would love to read a follow up post to see if she felt any of the health benefits.

Quar, we have a date with a raw pizza very soon!

Raw on $10 a Day (or less)

I often hear people complain that a raw food diet is too expensive to follow and I admit if you only eat at raw food restaurants or eat prepackaged raw treats it will probably break your budget. Check out Lisa and her clever blog on how to eat raw on the cheap. Each post features a menu, recipe instructions, amazing photos (see above *drool*), nutrition facts and how much each item costs. Her recipes are as unique as they are delicious and all under $10. Now, no more excuses. Well done, Lisa!

Fact or Fiction?

While up in Yosemite this week, my husband discovered he can dowse (aka well witch) for water. I tried and tried and could not get the stick do my bidding, but for my husband it worked 100% of the time. Neither of us can understand this phenomenon. I was irritated because I was the raw foodist and should have been able to channel the energy better, right? Wrong! Where's mythbusters when you need them?

Navitas Naturals Organic Chocolate Kit

I'm so enamored with these cute little kits that came out by Navitas Naturals. They come in three flavors: Cacao, Goldenberry, and Goji Berry, and contain all the ingredients to make your own gourmet chocolate at home. Since Goji berries are one of my favorite snack foods I decided to give the Goji kit a try.


You will need a knife, a couple of bowls and an ice cube tray. I used a heart shaped one but a standard ice cube tray will work just fine.


The kit contains a little brick of cacao butter, some Goji berries and a very delicious blend of cacao powder, mesquite, lucuma and maca powder.


Step one, shave the cacao butter into thin pieces with your knife.


Place in either a metal or glass bowl (or mason jar) and let sit in a bowl of very hot water.


Use a spatula to help it melt and change the water if it cools down too quickly.


Add the cacao mix and combine well. Pour into 12 molds and place in freezer for about 10 minutes.


Voila!



I thought they tasted fantastic though my husband didn't really care for them. I think mesquite, lucuma and maca is a little unusual for some chocolate connoisseurs but I really enjoyed the malty flavor. The cost of the kit is $9.99 and yields 12 sizable pieces. That's actually a good deal compared to other raw chocolate bars I've bought. I love that everything included was organic and thought it was fun and easy to prepare. This would be a great activity to do with children as well as make a great gift (or Valentines Day candy - thanks Adriana!). Find them at Whole Foods, your neighborhood health food store or online.

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.

Costa Rica April 15-23rd

I'll be in Mal Pais, Costa Rica for the next week soaking in the tropical sun, riding waves (little ones), cruising around on my quad, and guest chefing at Mary's restaurant. I won't be bringing my laptop so please check back the weekend of the 26th when I should, hopefully, have lots of photos and stories to tell.

Grease Lightning!

Matt and I are the new proud owners of our very own veggie mobile. This 1981 Mercedes runs on diesel, biodiesel and vegetable oil and with its extra large tank can go 700 miles on one tank. The guy we bought it from hasn't paid for gas in 10 years! He also told us which restaurants around Long Beach we can procure some grease lightning (the smell is pretty potent though...expect major french fry cravings when we come around). We are planning on replacing both of our cars with veg burners and expecting to save around $6000 in gas per year. It makes me so happy to be driving a clean, green machine but it makes me even happier to stick it to the Man! Take that Big Oil!!

Dita Summer Tour 2008...

...begins now!!

June 24-30 London/Brighton
July 1-4 Stockholm
July 5-10 Lithuania
July 10-14 Paris
July 15-22 LBC
July 23-Sept. 15 NYC

Lots of photos to come! Promise!

How I Spent My Birthday

Man, did I feel it the next day. Think I got a mild case of whiplash too. It was well worth it.

Ancient Chinese Secret

Wow, my legs look really unattractive from this angle. I've been seeing an acupuncturist for the past week and a half because I've got what my health practitioners believe is tendonitis which I developed during my last trip to NYC. I wasn't kung fu fighting in the streets or anything really great like that. I was just walking along and acquired a terrible ache in my left knee. After a week of suffering I met a retired athlete who told me to go to a chiropractor for an x-ray, back adjustment and ultrasound therapy. It helped a bit but I was worried since I only had a couple weeks before my European vacation (where I intend to walk a lot) I decided to step it up with some acupuncture. My first appointment was a bust though. He had me sitting up so he could have better access to my knee. I didn't think the needles would bother me but just looking at them hanging out my knee made me go down like a sack of potatoes. It was so embarrassing. My next three sessions I did laying down and went really well. After my second session the pain was entirely gone for two days. It was a miracle. I'm a true believer now in Chinese medicine. I'm hoping he can get rid of my allergies next and maybe even my addiction to cupcakes. That's gonna be a tough one.

Working Hard Or Hardly Working?

Some days my life is totally fabulous. I wish all job bookings were as awesome as the Cool Whip commercial I just shot on Thursday. Ok, I know, it's not raw or vegan but it's delicious and I got paid to sit around and eat ice cream and non dairy whipped cream all day. Surprisingly I didn't get a belly ache but I did go home with a terrible sugar headache. The stuff I'm holding is actually the fake ice cream which I found to be incredibly fascinating for some reason.
The food stylists make it out of crisco, confectioner sugar, karo syrup and something else. I didn't have to eat it thankfully. But it looked so real I wanted to. For every shot they just handed me a spoon loaded with real ice cream (chocolate chip Haagen-Dazs!) and a dollop of Cool Whip. This spot starts airing May 26th nationally so keep an eye out!

Martini & Rossi & George

So here's a tiny bit of irony. I had just started attending bartending school when I got an audition for a Martini & Rossi commercial. First thing they asked was do I bartend? Well, anytime you go out for an audition and they ask you "Do you wrestle sharks?" or "Would you shave off one eyebrow (I was actually asked to do this)" the answer is always "Absolutely!" whether it's true or not. Well, I barely drink let alone make drinks but I pretended to make a drink like nobody's business for the audition. Well, unfortunately I didn't book it (I think I poured it like a novice...you should see my two handed pours now!). BUT I did end up getting booked on it as an extra and, boy, was I thrilled because I knew at the audition two weeks prior that I was going to be opposite George Clooney in this spot. Now, I don't usually get too star struck but George Clooney isn't a huge Hollywood star for no reason. He was totally charming and funny and easygoing for the whole shoot. The spot is for a Martini and Rossi campaign where he plays a really cheesy over the top Italian actor. It's only going to be running in Europe and apparently he's been doing this same character for seven years unbeknowest to the American public (we couldn't bring cameras or cellphones to set so I guess it's a secret). They put a little fake mustachio on him and what I think was a really dark fake tan but I wasn't exactly sure. Another reason this job was pretty cool was that the stylist dressed all the extras in head to toe Dolce & Gabanna couture.

The location was at a gorgeous six acre estate in Beverly Hills that looks like Tuscany.

There wasn't a whole lot to complain about except my D&G shoes where starting to kill after two days of standing around. In one of the shots, George is trying to make his way to the bar except party guests are constantly in his way. The director told me to make it difficult for George to get past me so when he came by I grabbed his arm to flirt with him and then gave him a little *innocent* bum grab. I got to do that eight more times. Not bad for a hard days work. *swoon*

Good Times In Wignall World

I attended my very first raw food potluck today. Check out that platter of raw goodness. I wish I could say I made that but I can't. Actually what I made tasted great but failed miserably in the presentation department, that's why I didn't take a photo of it. I made cashew cheese periogies and coconut walnut fudge. I was super impressed with what the other attendees made so I need to step it up for next time. It was better than what I eat at most raw food restaurants.

Here's a little still shot from the new TJ Maxx commercials I shot on Friday. I loved this green dress so much I bought it off the wardrobe department. It was tailored to fit me so why not. $40 bucks!!

Here's Matt looking grumpy at the Water Wells for Africa show last Thursday. He had a lot to be grumpy about it. He couldn't hang his photos on the wall because Boost Mobile had to have their obnoxious booth take up the lobby space. He had to put his artwork on easels and someone from the cleaning crew knocked one over and broke a photo. Despite the fact that he put the fundraiser together and sold out the show he was only allowed 20 guests total. Many of our friends showed up but couldn't come in to just see the art. On a good note, the show WAS sold out and the money raised will go to installing at least 3 wells in Malawai. Now that's good news!!

Recognize This Guy?

No? That's because he's not wearing his roller skates and turban. It's Harry Perry! I'm fully convinced if you stay crazy long enough you'll become a celebrity and get cast in Heineken commercials. Good for him. I'm stoked. This ad shot yesterday in downtown LA. Todd Haynes (I'm Not There) directed and plenty of fellow Dragons were cast. I was just an extra but it was a fun day nonetheless. I befriended a little person and got a grip of sudoku puzzles done. Next week I'm doing more TJ Maxx ads so that means I'm breaking out the juicer this weekend and losing the baby fat. No chocolate bunnies for me this weekend. :(

My Bum Made It Into The LA Times

Last month my very good friends (and former fellow Derby Dolls) and I went to Wumpskate for their Valentine's Skate Massacre. Tatiana was covering it for the LA Times and lo and behold my rear ended up in a photo! Click here to read the accompanying article.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope Springs Eternal

Three years ago Matt shot a wedding at the Hope Springs Hotel in Desert Hot Springs. A renovated, mid century boutique hotel, we were in love with it. We promised ourselves when we had a little extra money we would book a room there for our anniversary. The dream finally materialized this past weekend as we relaxed in the mineral hot springs and enjoyed the sunny weather. We did a little road tripping as well.

Guess Who Got A Fancy Pants 21-Speed Schwinn Hybrid Bicycle For Christmas?

This girl. I love you Matt!

This Inspires Me

This is why I'm so passionate about holistic nutrition. I hope I can have my own wellness center some day, too. For more info about this documentary click here.

What's Different Here?

Hmmm, every time a new version of Guitar Hero comes out it seems Judy Nails gets 'a little work done.' The only similarity between me and my character now are the two sparrows on our lower back. I was kinda bummed I didn't have any input on how she looks this time around but I did get to rerecord all the moves and it looks SO GOOD. I'm proud. Guitar Hero 3 is definitely the best of the bunch and the soundtrack is going to rule (and not because I'm on it, well maybe).