Rawkin' Raw Vegan Interview

Check out my lastest interview! Great blog with great info.
Rawkin' Raw Vegan

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!

Good Eats At Disneyland

When I learned that my family was going to be spending three full days at Disneyland this year I actually started to panic thinking about my food options. I anxiously went online in search of sustenance that if not entirely raw, at least vegan and healthy. I was pleasantly surprised by the listing on allears.net. You can check out the menus for all of the eateries at Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney. If you're at Disneyworld in Florida, they have a nice vegan/vegetarian listing of what's available at each park. Click here for some tips on helping you find the food you need on your visit.

Luckily the day before we left I shot my instructional video and was left with loads of food. Kale, not tuna salad, brownies and chia pudding were my saviors on Day One and part of Day Two which I stored in the refrigerator at my hotel room. As we walked around Tomorrowland I made a fantastic discovery...

KALE! LOTS of it! Along side rosemary, lavender (we rubbed this under our noses to keep the crowds from stressing us out), oranges and grapefruits. How exciting. I was so tempted to steal a few leaves but afraid of being ejected from the park for eating the landscaping.





I was really pleased to find a few fruit stands in the park. Though not organic, better than some of the processed options being offered.



After perusing the menus on allears.com, temptation brought me to Cafe Orleans in the New Orleans Square next to Pirates of the Caribbean. They had a ratatouille that was simply divine. You have to mention that you want it vegan or else it will come with cheese on top and corn cakes that also contain cheese. Totally delish.



In the same area across the street is Royal Street Veranda that serves a vegan gumbo served in a bread bowl. There is a great review on To Live and Eat in LA. I didn't go for the gumbo because bread is my kryptonite. The more I eat it, the more I want it, the more it weakens and rules me.

For Day Two and Three I ate apples for breakfast that I brought from home. For lunch we went to the Storyteller's Cafe in the Grand California Hotel. They have a couple of lovely salads that you can make vegan and a tasty vegetable broth soup served with a cheese crouton that you can have sans cheese.

For dinner my family went to the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. Their menu is VERY meaty but the chef was able to prepare for me a large serving of vegetable jambalaya over spinach fettuccine. It was spicy and flavorful, but I mostly picked off all the vegetables and left the pasta. Next time I'll order it without pasta (rice is an option as well).

For anyone who is strictly raw I suggest bringing a cooler stocked with your own food or forage in the gardens when no one is looking. I didn't spend time at California Adventure this trip but will add on to this post if I discover anything exciting. For the average vegetarian there are plenty of options that will make your time at the happiest place on earth truly enjoyable.

Longevity Now Experience

This past weekend I attended David Wolfe's Longevity Now weekender in Costa Mesa, CA. I wasn't familiar with the Longevity Now program but I love listening to his talks on superfoods that I couldn't resist not going. Seven hundred people were in attendance to hear a dozen different speakers discuss how to love our liver, utilize our lungs, yin yang herbs, cellology, essential oils, candida, libido, and most importantly how it all applies to longevity. I only purchased the program yesterday so I have not read all the materials but from what I gleaned the basic premise is that many illnesses of aging are due to calcification. Just as there are good fats and bad fats so we consume good and bad forms of calcium. Bad calcium accumulates in our body and grows much like coral does. It contains nanobacteria that set up shop in our joints and organs manifesting itself as arthritis, kidney stones, cataracts, brain sand (Alzheimer's), etc. David Wolfe's protocol is to dissolve the bad calcium, remineralize and rejuvenate our cells through the use of ionic substances, superherbs, various supplements and bodywork. This was so new to me my mind was blown. This flies in the face of all we have ever learned about calcium supplementation. Wolfe said there is no study that actually proved that calcium supplementation strengthened bones and reversed osteoporosis and challenged anyone to show him that it did. I was riveted as each speaker discussed the different steps but honestly it did start to seem like I was watching an infomercial marathon as each speaker touted their various products. I figured these are tried and true David Wolfe approved products that he uses regularly so I, under the influence of cacao, bought almost everything. I kid you not. I won't even tell you the monetary amount and, unfortunately, nothing there was cheap. I had to keep telling myself, "It's a write off," "It's an investment in my health." Which it is, but of course, one part of me is apprehensive about taking such a risk. The other side is fired up and can't wait to jump feet first into it. I will blog more about the actual program as I go along but here are a few photos from the event.


Dark field live blood cell analysis was offered for $99. The reason I look a bit pale is because I passed out when they took my blood. So embarassing.


I learned I have very strong red blood cells but some fermentation and bad stuff that could be eliminated through liver cleansing. That amoeba you see is a white blood cell cleaning the place up. You go! If you're interested in live blood cell analysis or liver cleansing kits check out Love Your Liver.


Some well preserved fast food hamburgers...and to think I used to eat those all the time. Sheesh.


Bulk herbs were available through Shaman Shack from Los Angeles. Rehmannia Dean is incredibly knowledgeable with herbs and can make you a mixture for any ailment.


The vendor hall had everything you need to follow the Longevity Now program and then some. I bought plenty of zeolite, fulvic acid, reishi and phyto marineplankton to get me started. I also purchased a liver cleansing kit and a cellerciser which I'm very excited to tell you more about down the road.


There was not much talk about the raw food lifestyle. It was so beyond eating tomatoes and cucumbers and green smoothies. This was about taking things to a whole new vibrational level that can only be achieved through superherbs and supplementation. We did get a couple demos on how to make a Maca Mamma Malt Shake and Pineapple Jalapeno Gazpacho. Yum.


Whenever I read a tweet or status update from a raw foodist about how blissed out and ecstatic they are I always roll my eyes. I feel great on raw food but I've never felt ecstatic. Well say hello to my new friend, the $18,000 Jing Master. This little bliss fest was offered at the on site tonic bar and can also be found at Erewhon market in Beverly Hills. For $22 you can feel like you're in love. No kidding. 13 different ingredients work together to make you feel high, yet focused, not jittery, just, well, blissed out, without the crashed out feeling you get from coffee. A very fun splurge if you're ever in the area.

David couldn't go anywhere without a mob surrounding him. He's a total rockstar and I'm totally his groupie.

Vibrant Living Expo

Last weekend I had the opportunity of attending the Vibrant Living Expo in Ft. Bragg, CA. Put on by Cherie Soria, gourmet raw food chef and founder of Living Light Culinary Institute, the expo featured dozens of raw food and medical experts, motivational speakers and gourmet chefs. Four hundred people were in attendance to hear lectures from those on the forefront of the raw health and wellness community. A few of the highlights:

"Diet For a New America" author, John Robbins, was the keynote speaker.

The mad cowboy, Howard Lyman, was there to tell his story about his battle, along with Oprah Winfrey, against the cattle growers of Texas. His book "Digging the Grave with our Fork" is a real eye opener.

There was a heated Q&A among some of the raw food experts. The panel included Viktoras Kulvinskas, Douglas Graham, Dr. Karin Dina, Brian Clement and Dr. Tom Lodi.

Made a few stops at the Artisana booth. Mmmm...

Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes-Monarch made a few appearances during the weekend talking about raw transformations and raw travel tips.

The main hall was lined with exhibitors and plenty of good eats.

Kevin and Annmarie Gianni spoke about plant-based diet pitfalls and meal planning for optimal health. Get their new smoothie book. Now!

Lots of fun stuff to buy at Matt Monarch's booth.

Good eats everywhere you turned.

The rising stars of the raw culinary world were there to tantalize your palette. You could forgo buying food by just attending all the culinary demos.

Fellow Lithuanian and the father of living foods, Viktoras Kulvinskas, spoke about superfoods, enzymes and surviving and thriving into 2012.

That was just the tip of the iceberg. There were yoga sessions, meditations, bodywork, film, music, pie contests, raffles, auctions and more. I loved every minute of it. There were four different events happening every hour on the hour totaling about 100 hours of lectures and demos. It was truly raw foodist heaven. For those of you who couldn't make it, they are offering an online encore presentation that allows you 60 days of unlimited access to all the events. I signed up for the encore because there was so much I missed! Yes, I'm really into this. If you would like to sign up for the encore presentation click here. I highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in health and who wants to know what is happening in the raw food world.

After the expo I stuck around to attend the Science of Raw Food Nutrition classes being offered at Living Light. I'm on day 4 of 8 and absolutely loving it. I'll write a post soon as I complete the course. It's extremely interesting and the most comprehensive information I've ever had on raw food science. Definitely recommend it for all of the aspiring raw food coaches out there.

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.

G Living Interview

Last week I did an interview for one of my favorite websites G Living. Check out my Q&A here. Rock!

Raw in Costa Rica

A couple weeks ago my husband and I headed to Mal Pais, Costa Rica for some fun in the sun. Our good friend and owner of Mary's restaurant, a very popular seafood restaurant in town, asked me if I wanted to come up with a raw food menu for a few nights. I jumped at the opportunity of creating a menu that utilized local ingredients but was still something special that no one else was doing. Though there aren't any exclusively raw food restaurants in the area, there are a lot of vegans, as well as raw options being offering at other eateries. I needed to come up with specials that would reel people in. My menu consisted of an appetizer of vegetable sushimaki made with coconut meat, avocado, carrots and cucumbers that came with bon bon sauce and sweet and spicy mango sauce. I also made hemp tabouli with zante currants and no-bean hummus. For my entrees, I made pistachio pesto pasta and beet ravioli with rosemary cashew cheese. For dessert, I made chocolate ganache with vanilla cream and a mango cheesecake. We put fliers up in the middle of town to lure the raw vegans and were surprised how many showed up to just to try out my offerings. It was so exciting! There's talk now about coming back in January and February and making a nightly menu of raw specials. I'll keep you posted!





When I had requested lemons for my recipes I ended up with these wonderful sour mandarins instead. They're like a lemon and lime in one. It gave my recipes a new dimension of flavor and is the secret ingredient in Mary's fantastic mojitos.

Raw cacao beans




There is a wonderful restaurant in the nearby town of Santa Teresa called Tres Cabezas that offers a small, creative raw menu along with their lovingly cooked selections of vegetarian and pescetarian dishes. My husband and I tried out their fennel watermelon juice as well as their papaya orange cucumber. Refreshing.


For eats we had their raw salad.

We also had their entree of sunflower seed pate with julienned greens, zucchini hummus and seaweed. The atmosphere was wonderful and the service friendly. I was really impressed that someone was making a raw menu in this secluded part of the world. I've been coming to Costa Rica for the past five years and this was the first time I had seen the word raw even mentioned. One of the great things about Costa Rica, though, is that you can stay raw easily. Fruit is plentiful and almost every restaurant offers all fruit smoothies made with water. Salads are plentiful too but not as exciting as what we get in the states. On Saturdays, there's an organic farmer's market hawking every kind of glorious green as well as tropical fruits, raw cacao, honey and vegan muffins. I forgot to bring my camera that day. Aargh! If you would like to see some more photos from my Costa Rica adventure check out my Flickr album. If you're considering going to Costa Rica for vacation and interested in knowing more about Mal Pais email me or check out Costa Rica beach rentals website. Pura vida.

What's Cooking Lately

I've been super into garden burgers lately. I've been taking the pulp from my juicer and mixing it with ground flax seeds, ground sunflower seeds, salt and water and dehydrating them into little patties of veggie goodness. I've been using the pulp of carrots, celery and red bell peppers mostly. Season it with salt, finely chopped onions or onion powder and place in your dehydrator at 105 degrees for about 4-5 hours. I wrap it in romaine lettuce and smother it with chipotle mayo and top it with avocado, tomato and homegrown sprouts. Easy and so satisfying.


I'm excited about strawberries coming into season. Today I taught my raw food class how to make Strawberry Fields green smoothie from Victoria Boutenko's book "Green For Life." I like to use Brazil nut milk instead of water to make it more rich and creamy. Make sure you only buy organic strawberries since they are one of the most heavily sprayed foods in your produce department.


I asked my class what their favorite recipe from today's class was and almost everyone said the spaghetti with pesto. I absolutely love this dish because of how easy and elegant it is. Who doesn't love pesto? My favorite pesto recipe is:
1 cup basil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix well (actually I like it a little chunky) in a food processor and toss with zucchini noodles or use the pesto on crackers or sandwiches. Maybe I'll try it on my garden burger this week! Pesto burgers! mmmm!!

Chef Dita

Officially a certified raw food instructor!! The three weeks at Living Light were AMAZING!. I went there not knowing what to expect and left there feeling really, really satisfied with myself. I felt like it pushed me in so many ways as a raw foodist, a food lover, a leader and teacher. I took in so much information that I need a few weeks just to process all of it. I didn't leave there feeling like a chef but with the knowledge that would equip me to be one. Just as anyone who graduates from culinary school (or any art school), it takes time to hone your skills. Since I've been home I've made incredible entrees, desserts and snacks. I attempt something new almost every day. Last Friday I had a dinner for a few friends and spent 8 hours preparing the meal. It was a lot of work but incredibly rewarding. Everyone loved it and there was almost nothing left save for a couple Vietnamese salad rolls and sauce that I finished up the next day. Here are a few more pics from my time at Living Light.

Teaching my first demo to the class. I taught them how to make Mexican Seasoned Rice.

Mexican food platter to die for. So good.

Learned to roll dolmas like a pro.

Dolmas in their glory right before I took them down.

Travel Channel star Kirsten Gum Treasure Hunter was in the class. One of the raddest girls I've ever met. Keep an eye out for her, she's amazing.

Minestrone soup

Zoom burger with sweet crispy onions and kale salad

My favorite dessert: brownie crumble with cashew cream topped with chocolate velvet and raspberry coulis. I die.

Sometimes our food got photoshoots

Here was my team's creation: Hot Mexican brownies. They were insanely good.

Pesto torte

Walnut date scones

Raw candy. I made a big batch of these for Valentine's day and ate 1/3 of them in a one night. I promptly got rid of them the next day. Not a good thing for me to keep around.

Mind blowing lasagna

Lemon tart

My chef photo. Think I'm gonna have to do a photo shoot with Matt, not my best face.