Kelp noodles are spectacular!!! It is virtually calorie free and doesn’t taste like the sea at all. There is no sugar, gluten, wheat, rice or flour. Kelp is known to aid the metabolism, boost energy, aid in digestion and they contain an abundance of minerals.

PREP TIME = 10 – 15 minutes

WAIT TIME = 0 – 1 hour

EQUIPMENT = High powered blender,  dehydrator

LASTS = 1-2 days

SERVINGS = 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 packages Sea Tangle Kelp Noodles
• 1⁄2 c nut cheeze
• 1⁄8 c olive oil
• 1 t fresh oregano, minced
• 1 t fresh rosemary, minced
• 2 t garlic, de-centered, minced
• 1⁄2 t Celtic sea salt
• 1 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 2 t Bragg Aminos or Nama Shoyu
• 3 T Nutritional Yeast

STEP 1

Soak the kelp noodles in hot water for 10-20 minutes. Drain and wring out the excess water.

STEP 2

Mix all ingredients in blender. Add sauce to kelp noodles.

STEP 3

It’s ready to serve now but if you want the pasta warm and soft, place all the pasta on a big serving plate and spread it out evenly. Then put the plate (or just put the pasta on the tray if you don’t have an Excalibur) with the pasta in the dehydrator for 1 hour at 120°F. Serve right out of the dehydrator so it is warm. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can put your oven on the lowest setting and put the plate on the stove shelf, or serve cold for a “cheezy pasta salad”!

if you don’t want to make the sauce “cheezy” you can substitute the cheese for fresh basil and spinach and make it a Pesto pasta. (my favorite!) Garnish with raw pine nuts, tomatoes and spinach leaves. (check out the recipe –>here!)

Now that I’m pregnant, I have to get blood taken all the time. I get kinda queasy after wards, and usually need a sugar hit like fruit or juice. My husband came prepared the last time, buying me a Naked smoothie and an Almond Joy. The Almond Joy was good, and made luckily with dark chocolate, but way too sugary with a ton of horrible additives.

This recipe is a healthier version of Almond Joy made with coconut oil, carob, almonds, and agave. You’ll never know it’s dairy-free, sugar-free and gluten-free!!

• 

  ingredients

  1  cup melted extra virgin coconut oil

• 1/4 cup organic raw almond butter
• 3 drops Liquid Stevia Vanilla Creme
• 3 drops Liquid Stevia Chocolate
• 4 tablespoons agave
• 1 tablespoon organic vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 cup roasted carob powder (or chips and melt)
• 1/4 cup organic hemp seeds
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut

To melt coconut oil, place jar under warm/hot water.

In a medium bowl, place melted coconut oil and almond butter. Stir until both are blended. Next, stir/whisk in Liquid Stevia Vanilla Creme and Chocolate, agave, and vanilla. Add in cinnamon and stir until it blends evenly. Slowly stir in carob a tablespoon at a time. The mixture should still be slightly runny. Add in almond meal, hemp seeds, and coconut. The mixture will run off the spoon, but very slowly.

Spoon into mini cupcake trays lined with paper liners. Pour in mixture half way. Chill in freezer for 15 minutes. When the candies are set, pop out and store in a freezer safe container. Keep frozen!

Looking for an easy dessert to make without getting an stomach ache or preparing something extravagant for hours?

Make a little extra of this pudding and store it in the fridge for a few days! *warning: can be addictive

Vanilla Pudding

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/4 cup pitted dates, soaked 10-20 minutes
• 1/2 cup fresh berries
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract/vanilla pod

Coconut Banana Pudding (chocolate or vanilla!)

• 1 ripe banana
• 6 dates, soaked up to 30 minutes
• meat and water from one young coconut
• 2 tsp vanilla extract or 1/4 cup raw cacao or carob powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Coconut Banana PIE!!!!!!!

• 3 Avocados
• 3 Bananas
• 1/4 cup of honey or agave (add more or less depending on how sweet you like it)
• 1/4 cup of raw chocolate

*Mix these ingredients together in the vitamix or blender. In a blender you may need to add some water or nut mylk to get it to mix together. When creamy and smooth, spread the pudding into a dish.

Dairy-free Whipped Cream Topping:

• Meat from 2 young Thai coconuts
• 1/4 cup of honey/agave

Mix together in your food processor or high-speed blender. Mix until creamy and spread it on top of the chocolate mixture.

*Garnish however you like. I cut up one banana and sprinkled with coconut flakes

all of these recipes are dairy-free, gluten-free and raw! bona!

I just finished preparing 4 cleanses for my clients. Thinking of their reaction to one of my fave soups sparked my blogging fire.

Here’s a recipe for my most popular Carrot Ginger gazpacho. (this can be warmed on the stove top as well, in the winter)

-3 cups carrot juice
-1 small ripe avocado
-1/4 cup lime juice
-2 tablespoons agave
-1 tablespoon minced ginger
-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-1/4 teaspoon sea salt
-black ground pepper to taste
*add a few sprigs of cilantro for garnish

1. In a high-speed blender, puree all the ingredients until smooth. Taste for seasoning.

2. Divide among bowls. Garnish with a drizzle  of avocado-lime oil (or any type) and a few cilantro leaves in the middle and serve immediately.

3. If you want it heated: gently warm the soup in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring it continuously for a few minutes.

To read about the benefits to carrots-check out this past post.

Generally this is the way my conversations pan out:

Person:”So what do you eat? are you a vegan?”

ME: “well, I am mostly vegan but I eat fish.”

Person: “Wait, whaaattt??”

ME: “I avoid dairy and don’t eat any food that walks around on land. I eat anything that comes from the sea, including fish.”

Person: “But, aren’t you raw?”

ME: “I mostly eat raw. I gravitate mostly towards raw, fresh, organic foods. But if I’m at restaurant with family or friends or on vacation, I’ll eat cooked foods like a piece of baked fish or steamed veggies.”

Person: “I’ve figured it out. You’re a vegetarian, then.”

ME: “No. I don’t eat dairy, and vegetarians do. Plus I eat fish, and vegetarians tend not to eat fish.”

Person: “OHHHH I Get it. You’re a flexitarian!”

ME: “Sure. I’m whatever makes it easiest for you.”

Are you 100% raw?

No, I am not completely raw. I consume a high percentage of raw food, probably somewhere between 75-85%. I will eat steamed veggies, quinoa, brown rice or a piece of sprouted toast with almond butter. If I go out to eat with friends I will have a piece of broiled or steamed fish with veggies and I have quite the sweet tooth. I’ve been known to polish off a fair amount of dessert, but I’ve learned to limit this over time because it just doesn’t make me feel good. Within an hour of eating the sugary dessert I remember why I don’t eat that way every day. I usually share a dessert and then I feel fine, I’m all for moderation of things we enjoy, not restricting.

Are you a vegan?

I probably eat fish once a week, so I’m not a vegan. I’m careful to research the latest eco-friendly and safe options for fish so that I don’t support any sort of negative treatment. It isn’t necessarily an ethical decision, overall I don’t like the taste of meat or the health negatives associated, like high cholesterol and high saturated fats.

When I moved to Los Angeles 7 years ago, I became much more aware of my likes and dislikes, and much more educated about the environmental impact created by eating meat. There is ample evidence in peer-reviewed scientific journals that mammals experience “not just pain, but also mental suffering including fear, anticipation, foreboding, anxiety, stress, terror and trauma,” says Prof Andrew Linzey, director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and author of Why Animal Suffering Matters. I would go to the farmers Market in Hollywood every Sunday and talk to people in the community and learn. I decided that within myself, I prefer not to potentially bring that emotional poison into my own being, but I absolutely don’t judge others that do. I’ve known since I was a child that I have an extreme sensitivity towards others and energies, and I may just be hyper sensitive to these feelings about animals as well.

I wear leather boots and have a beautiful leather bag, both from a trip to Argentina. My husband’s cousins own a leather company there. I consume raw honey and bee pollen. I make sure all the honey and bee pollen is from a good source where the bees are treated carefully, from local bee farmers. They never transport the bees to pollinate commercial corps, and they embrace traditional, local in-season-only, low stress beekeeping methods that help keep the bees healthy.

Vegan/Vegetarian/Pescatarian/Raw-Pick one!!!!

People enjoy categorizing.  In fact, many a psychological study indicate our brain naturally desires to put things into categories, to organize things and find relationships between new objects and those already stored in our brain.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an easy answer for you. This hasn’t been a quick and easy process for me. It takes intuition and learning about your own body and how it reacts to different things. My journey has 100% been about how things make me feel. Dairy makes my stomach hurt, no more of that. Meat doesn’t taste good, and has repercussions if we eat too much; no bueno.  Raw food makes me feel AH-MAZING… so I tend to eat as much of it as I can. Too much processed or cooked food makes me want to take a nap and not feel alive: NAH, I’ll drop that from my eating regime. We must learn to listen to our internal mechanisms. Just as women “know” when they are pregnant before seeing a physician, no doctor, health coach or expert can lead you 100%. You are your own expert!

The only advice I will give is to listen to your own body, figure out what works for you and to attempt to reduce the amount of red meat you consume (for health and environmental reasons). The red meat you eat today, will absolutely affect your children’s generation, either directly or indirectly. My dad’s health (his cholesterol) affected me by making me scared and more aware of the health implications.  This statistic makes me happy:

“More than a quarter of people say they eat less meat than they did five years ago. There is a shifting change in the diet,” says Ms Gellatley.

For more info on the benefits to eating organic, local food and more details on eating red meat, read the follow two posts:

Natural organic food explained

Eating meat, global warming and the environment

Generally this is the way my conversations pan out:

Person:”So what do you eat? are you a vegan?”

ME: “well, I am mostly vegan but I eat fish.”

Person: “Wait, whaaattt??”

ME: “I avoid dairy and don’t eat any food that walks around on land. I eat anything that comes from the sea, including fish.”

Person: “But, aren’t you raw?”

ME: “I mostly eat raw. I gravitate mostly towards raw, fresh, organic foods. But if I’m at restaurant with family or friends or on vacation, I’ll eat cooked foods like a piece of baked fish or steamed veggies.”

Person: “I’ve figured it out. You’re a vegetarian, then.”

ME: “No. I don’t eat dairy, and vegetarians do. Plus I eat fish, and vegetarians tend not to eat fish.”

Person: “OHHHH I Get it. You’re a flexitarian!”

ME: “Sure. I’m whatever makes it easiest for you.”

Are you 100% raw?

No, I am not completely raw. I consume a high percentage of raw food, probably somewhere between 75-85%. I will eat steamed veggies, quinoa, brown rice or a piece of sprouted toast with almond butter. If I go out to eat with friends I will have a piece of broiled or steamed fish with veggies and I have quite the sweet tooth. I’ve been known to polish off a fair amount of dessert, but I’ve learned to limit this over time because it just doesn’t make me feel good. Within an hour of eating the sugary dessert I remember why I don’t eat that way every day. I usually share a dessert and then I feel fine, I’m all for moderation of things we enjoy, not restricting.

Are you a vegan?

I probably eat fish once a week, so I’m not a vegan. I’m careful to research the latest eco-friendly and safe options for fish so that I don’t support any sort of negative treatment. It isn’t necessarily an ethical decision, overall I don’t like the taste of meat or the health negatives associated, like high cholesterol and high saturated fats.

When I moved to Los Angeles 7 years ago, I became much more aware of my likes and dislikes, and much more educated about the environmental impact created by eating meat. There is ample evidence in peer-reviewed scientific journals that mammals experience “not just pain, but also mental suffering including fear, anticipation, foreboding, anxiety, stress, terror and trauma,” says Prof Andrew Linzey, director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and author of Why Animal Suffering Matters. I would go to the farmers Market in Hollywood every Sunday and talk to people in the community and learn. I decided that within myself, I prefer not to potentially bring that emotional poison into my own being, but I absolutely don’t judge others that do. I’ve known since I was a child that I have an extreme sensitivity towards others and energies, and I may just be hyper sensitive to these feelings about animals as well.

I wear leather boots and have a beautiful leather bag, both from a trip to Argentina. My husband’s cousins own a leather company there. I consume raw honey and bee pollen. I make sure all the honey and bee pollen is from a good source where the bees are treated carefully, from local bee farmers. They never transport the bees to pollinate commercial corps, and they embrace traditional, local in-season-only, low stress beekeeping methods that help keep the bees healthy.

Vegan/Vegetarian/Pescatarian/Raw-Pick one!!!!

People enjoy categorizing.  In fact, many a psychological study indicate our brain naturally desires to put things into categories, to organize things and find relationships between new objects and those already stored in our brain.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an easy answer for you. This hasn’t been a quick and easy process for me. It takes intuition and learning about your own body and how it reacts to different things. My journey has 100% been about how things make me feel. Dairy makes my stomach hurt, no more of that. Meat doesn’t taste good, and has repercussions if we eat too much; no bueno.  Raw food makes me feel AH-MAZING… so I tend to eat as much of it as I can. Too much processed or cooked food makes me want to take a nap and not feel alive: NAH, I’ll drop that from my eating regime. We must learn to listen to our internal mechanisms. Just as women “know” when they are pregnant before seeing a physician, no doctor, health coach or expert can lead you 100%. You are your own expert!

The only advice I will give is to listen to your own body, figure out what works for you and to attempt to reduce the amount of red meat you consume (for health and environmental reasons). The red meat you eat today, will absolutely affect your children’s generation, either directly or indirectly. My dad’s health (his cholesterol) affected me by making me scared and more aware of the health implications.  This statistic makes me happy:

“More than a quarter of people say they eat less meat than they did five years ago. There is a shifting change in the diet,” says Ms Gellatley.

For more info on the benefits to eating organic, local food and more details on eating red meat, read the follow two posts:

Natural organic food explained

Eating meat, global warming and the environment

From January 1st to January 7th I challenge you to go Dairy-free.

That’s right folks: no milk in your cereal, cream cheese on your bagel or cheese with your wine! But you better believe it will be an incredible week and I will offer PLENTY of alternatives!!!!!

Reasons to avoid dairy:

• Dairy products may have a significant amount of dairy fat, which is animal fat. Any pesticides, hormones, or other unhealthy things that may be given to animals tend to be concentrated in their fat.
• Digestive issues. This is the number one reason I went Dairy-free.
• obesity and weight issues in children and adults.
• weak bones. no, you aren’t reading wrong! a study determined that women who drank 3 cups of milk per day lost bone mass.
• Diabetes. in fact, more than 90 studies have been devoted to the link between the protein in dairy products and the development of insulin-dependent diabetes.

Get the support you need at Philosophie… and we’ll do it as a team!

$29 includes:

• non-dairy recipes delivered to your inbox

• daily blog post with information, studies, research and personal support

• emails sent to your inbox with reminders, motivation and tips on eating out
  

• learn about yourself and your habits

• education and skills you get to keep for a lifetime

COMMIT TO YOUR HEALTH, MAKE ONE SMALL CHANGE, WITH SUPPORT!

here is a great recipe for A Blueberry Breakfast Bread!

• 1 C egg whites
• 4 tablespoons light agave
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 c Organic unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 droppers liquid stevia *clear
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 C buckwheat groats, ground
• 1/2 C quinoa flakes
• 1/2 C quinoa flour
• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 C fresh or frozen organic blueberries
• 2 tsp quinoa flour

preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg whites,agave, lemon juice, applesauce, liquid stevia, and cinnamon. Stir in the quinoa flakes. Allow to sit for a minute. They will puff up and soak in the liquid.

In coffee grinder or blender, grind buckwheat groats until powdered.  In small bowl, sift together ground buckwheat groats, quinoa flour, baking powder, baking soda, and xanthan gum.  Add pre-mixed dry ingre- dients to wet mixture.

Carefully dredge blueberries in 2 teaspoons quinoa flour and add to wet mixture.  Pour mixture in an 8×8 prepared glass baking dish that has been spray oiled and floured with quinoa flour.  Spread evenly with spray oiled spatula.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.

*leave the blueberries out for a plainer, anytime bread. Explore and experiment!

For Thanksgiving this year, I will be making a raw, vegan pumpkin pie… here’s the recipe I’ll use!

Raw Pumpkin Pie Recipe

If you canʼt get your hands on a fresh pumpkin you can use  butternut squash or sweet potato.

Raw Pumpkin Pie Crust

• 1 Cup raw almonds, 1 Cup raw pecans (both soaked)
• 1/2 cup soaked 1 hour medjool dates, pitted
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• Dash of sea salt
• date soaking water if necessary

Blend the crust ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor. Process the nuts first, allowing them to get mealy. Slowly add in the dates, water, vanilla and cinnamon until the ingredients form a dough like consistency. The dough will form into a “ball” in the food processor.  Take the ball and whatever else is left over and evenly distribute in the bottom of a pie plate.

Raw Pumpkin Pie Filling

• 2 cups shredded pumpkin, butternut squash, or sweet potato flesh (or Organic Pumpkin Pie in a can if you’re lazy)
• 1/4 C raisins, soaked 1 hour
• 1 cup dates, soaked 1 hour
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. freshly diced ginger
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. coconut oil or 1 tbsp butter
• Dash of vanilla
• 1 persimmon (optional: you can leave this out if you don’t find them)
• 1/4 cup almond milk or date water when needed to blend

If you donʼt feel like shredding the pumpkin by hand, simply cube and place in a high speed blender or food processor until itʼs nicely chopped. (or get it in a can, make sure it’s organic)

Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until nice and smooth. You might need to add more liquid to get it to blend well.

Pour into crust, then chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.

Almond Or Cashew “Whipped Cream”

• 1 cup almonds or cashews
• ¾ cup water
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup (optional)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla (optional)

For the smoothest consistency, use cashews or peeled almonds. Because of their alkaline nature, almonds help keep your blood at a neutral pH. And if you buy them raw, they’ll germinate when you soak them. Note for raw friends: Cashews are heated after being picked, even those labeled “raw”.

Soak 1 cup of almonds or cashews in 2 cups of water. If you’re in a very warm climate, soak them in your refrigerator. After 8-12 hours, discard the soaking water and rinse the nuts. In a blender, place the nuts and enough fresh water to allow the blender to operate. Blend, gradually adding enough water to achieve a smooth consistency. Makes 1 ½ – 1 ¾ cups.

Have an incredible day… but remember, EVERYDAY we can find reasons to be thankful, we don’t need a day to be told it’s okay!

After visiting San Francisco about 5 times in the past 2 years knowing fully well about Cafe Gratitude, I finally made it. And it was more than worth the wait.

cut to today: walking about 20 blocks, taking the Bart and 2 buses, I arrived. I am here.

it’s no wonder it’s such a challenge for people to stay healthy, and especially raw, while traveling. Most people won’t endure the above trek in order to achieve a healthy meal.

After arriving… again after ordering, and while eating…and once again after I am finished: I feel such gratitude.

I feel thankful for this beautiful food, for the love and intention that goes into every bite and sip, for the gracious and kind staff, for small details such as the Question of the Day (today’s: What are you devoted to?) for The Present Moment, and for my deep awareness of my body and my health to bring me to such a conscious place for lunch.

Here’s what I ordered: ‘I Am Healthy” Green Veggie Juice, followed by “I Am Giving” Asian Kale Salad with Teriyaki Almonds, sea vegetables and sesame seeds. For dessert (you can’t skip dessert when doing a review for a restaurant-it wouldn’t be fair) I had the raw Pecan Pie called “I Am Perfect” with Pecans and Dates and a Macadamia nut crust. mmmm. Afterward, while walking around the beautiful store, letting my food digest and my heart absorb my surroundings, I sipped on a cup of mint green tea with ginger and spices. (“I Am Charmed”)

I consider it a treat to be in such an amazing environment. I definitely don’t take it for granted. Every time I walk in such a place, i feel humble and gracious.

I feel at home here. I can sit Indian style like I would at home. I can ask questions that matter to me and know that they will be acknowledged and respected. There is a lot of love being felt here… the staff just had a group hug, for example. This is exactly how life is in my bubble, in my head, in my heart.

For now, all i can say is that until I can create my own sanctuary, my own yoga studio-juice bar-restaurant-safe place…

I’ll be venturing to Cafe Gratitude to fulfill these desires.