I'm Raw and They're Not

You might be in your raw food journey and your partner wants nothing to do with it. Is it hard for you? I sure don't think it makes it any easier.

My personal raw food journey began with my lovely girlfriend, now fiance :). She's still raw as long as I'm making all the food. We're not vegan's but we consider ourselves raw foodists. I know it doesn't make sense being that raw is a derivative (for all your math nerds) of veganism. The occasional non-raw dishes just might happen to contain animal product. We don't try stress ourselves out by trying to be "100% raw". We've done that before and believe me, it wasn't fun. For us, it's more about how we feel. If you're not feeling good and not having fun, what's the point?

My New Year Resolution was to be vegan. So far so good minus the crackers we buy at Trader Joe's coated with who knows what and gargonzola cheese. It's definitely yummy. We probably buy a box of those once a month or so. We can easily go through it in a day...and it's happened before.

If you're in a relationship and you want to go raw and your partner doesn't then try to communicate in a way that's effective for you both. Let them know how you feel. Talk openly without feeling threatened. This may or may not work for you but it has in my personal life.

Super Bowl Sunday: if we had cable, this wouldn't have been a problem, but we didn't so we went to a bar. Kelli wanted nachos and of course they came out covered in lots of cheese and some bits of meat. I picked around it because I made a decision that I was not going to eat meat or dairy this year. After a few minutes I asked her if it's uncomfortable for her that I was not eating the nachos covered with stuff I didn't want. She honestly said no and was glad to find me chips with nothing on them. I told her I didn't want to make her uncomfortable or feel weird. I also told her if she ever feels that way when we're out to just let me know. If I never know then I cannot resolve the issue.

Next came the gargonzola crackers from Trader Joe's. I know how much she really wanted them without her saying much. We share everything so if we got a box of crackers that happened to contain a dairy product, it would be extremely weird that I wouldn't be eating them. Just the thought of us not sharing something is weird in itself. I love her more than words can ever describe, more than you'd ever see radiate from my food. I'd do anything to make her happy. Even though those crackers may be her vice, I'm not going to get in the way of her journey. We bought some of those crackers and ate some tonight. I'll likely eat some tomorrow and the day after. If a few crackers with some cheese is the worst thing I eat all day, then I think I'm doing pretty dang good. I'm not going to throw her under the bus or make her feel bad for getting the crackers. I embrace the journey, not scold it.

Enjoy your journey. You'll continue to grow more beautiful each day. Your partner will notice a difference in you. They will soon be curious. Do not try to force it upon them. You cannot make them do something they do not want to do. They will have to come to that conclusion on their own.

Tongiht's dinner was a Mexican cuisine:
Enchiladas stuffed with Mexican seasoned cabbage rice and guacamole. They were topped with a Mexican seasoned cashew cheese. I added scallions, onions, jalapeno, Mexican Blend powder and chili powder to the cheese.

This dish was served with seasoned cabbage rice, guac and a cherry tomato. I used a scallion leaf for garnish.

I rolled the enchilada, spread the cheese on top then put it in the dehydrator for 1/2 hour at 125F.

I thought it tasted great. I think I would have to alter the recipe if someone wasn't a big fan of spice. I feel the spice really made that dish. Having it on top of the enchilda helps so the flavor isn't lost in the filling.

Texture was right on. Enchiladas are essentially slop in the middle. These had a nice cream/slop texture.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake with Love

I was in the middle writing a post about Omega 3 fatty acids and realized I can write a book on this. Nutrition can seem so complicated but I treat it like a puzzle. It's facinating. Better save it for another day. Today we're talking about chocolate cake.

Yesterday I woke up inspired to make a raw cake. I had visions in my head simliar to what I've seen Chef Meagan create at Living Light. Every time I blinked I saw cake. I wasn't going to let anything get in my way. I packed up my tools and some ingredients and I spent the afternoon at Chef Dara's house, founder of Live, Love, Raw.

I planned on follwing a recipe then decorating it with a piping bag. Once I got to Dara's, I realized I forgot a few things so essentially had to come up with this on my own, but with a few guidelines found in recipe books. Oh, I also forgot my 9" springform pan...doh!

The cake started off with almond flour and data paste. WOW...who doesn't love date paste, seriously?! Date paste is easy to make, just throw in a bunch of unpitted dates into the food processer and add water until your desired consistancy. Kelli and I used to put it on Mana Bread with almond butter...yum!

Ok, back to the recipe (which I didn't write down). So, I mixed the date paste with the almond flour by massaging it with my hands. I added some cinnamon and cacao powder. I divided the dough in two.

I was envisioning a two layer cake. Like date paste, who doesn't love cashew cream?!!! Dara had attempted cashew cheese but I think the little bacteria guys fell asleep the night before because the cheese was not fermented. Nonetheless, I was able to utilize the "cheese" and convert it to a cream. I did this by adding vanilla bean powder, agave nectar, coconut oil and a pinch of salt.

My next layer was thinly sliced strawberries. WOWZA.

I covered the strawberries with a layer of cake and frosted it with a chocolate frosting which was made from cacao, agave and coconut oil and voila! Done!

All and all, I believe I used about 7C of almonds, which was eventually processed into flour, ummmmm...20 dates to create date paste?....1/2 pint of straberries? I should have written this down as I went. Bad Chef!

There was a moment, or two, in which I had no idea what I was doing. Food has a habit of talking to me. Ask a Chef. Dara had a lovely heart shaped fluted pan that I was able to utilize in place of my springform. I layered 1/2 of the cake dough into the bottom of the pan. At this point, Dara had left to pick up her daughter from school. The next hour was spent in serenity. I spread a layer of cashew cream on top. I put the whole thing in the freezer to have the cream set (coconut oil has a melting temperature of 76degrees F). Now, I should had let it sit longer but I had to finish up or I was never going to beat traffic on the way home. I took it out of the freezer only after 20 minutes or so. Actually, I don't even think it was that long. Ok, so try to picture a heart shaped pan half full of dough and cream. How was I layer another dough mixture on top without disturbing the cream and making a mess?...alas, I knew engineering school would pay off eventually lol. I laid the dough out and made a circle, sort of. I placed the heart shaped pan on top of my circle and just removed the edges. I peeled the dough off the bottom of the pan and came out with a beautiful, heart shaped layer of dough. Before placing it on top of the cream, I thinly sliced strawberries created 1 layer on top of the cream. I took the heart shaped layer, placed it on top and filled in the gaps. It was coming to fruition. I removed the sides of the heart shaped pan by pushing up from the bottom. Next came the frosting. Looooots of love frosting the heart cake. I gently frosted the cake on all sides and when I was done I put it back in the freezer. Again, should have let it sit for 2 hours but traffic was already building up on the 405.

Dara came home with a special guest, Richard, about 2 minutes after I put the cake in the freezer. There was a huge mess in her kitchen so I felt the need to display the cake. They both fell in love with the look. The question was...how did it taste?! Well, Richard had two pieces, Dara and I each had one. My mind was just processing so fast while I was eating this. It was like the Matrix where you just see 0's and 1's flashing on the screen. I was just not happy with it. Then again, I'm rarely happy with any dish I make. Why is that? Perhaps I should stop being too critical. I know my taste buds are drastically different than the average american.

I took the remaining cake home and FINALLY got to freeze it for over an hour. Kelli ate a piece, then ate another and another. I didn't get why she loved it so much and I hadn't so I decided to try a piece after it had set in the freezer. WOWZA it was goooooood!...so tonight I had another 3 pieces lol.

My sequencing is a little off here but let's revert back to Richard eating the cake. He asked me how much saturated fat and cholesterol was in that piece he was eating. Again, 0's and 1's flashing through my mind. The answer has yet to be determined but I can approximate it. Cholesterol = 0! Cholesterol is only formed in animals. It is not found in plant based foods. Saturated Fat = about 6g.

How did I come up with that? Well, 1C of raw almonds contains about 5g sat fat. I used about 7C worth. The cake can easily be divided into about 16-20 pieces. Therefore, 7*5=35g and 35/16 = 2.2g. I only used 1/4C of coconut oil. That contains about 47g sat fat. That sounds like a lot but I'll explain the whole Fat issue in a later post. Ok...so given that logic, add in another 3g sat fat per slice. Maybe 1g for the cashew cream, so all in all, we're talking about 6g sat fat per slice. I believe the recommended daily allowance is about 20g. Each slice also contained about 14g protein. There was a ton of sugar in each slice too!...the dates alone contribute about 20g per slice, then factor in the agave....so perhaps 25g sugar per slice.

Here are some pics! Enjoy!

So Exciting!

My first blog ever. I consider myself a "techie", yet I've resisted specific social network-ish movements throughout the past few years, blogging being one of them. Why now?...I feel I have information to share. I feel inspired by life. I hear the voices, I read the signs, the time is now.

So what's this blog site about? Raw food. Health. Those are statements. Yes, plain and simple statements but in depth, they're complicated. I'm inspired to spread the message in a way that people will "get it". I can't change people's minds, only they can do that on their own. I can only lead them to the water per se.

A little about me
I have the most beautiful soon to be wife anyone could ever have, Kelli :). She pushes me because she believes in me. She inspires me. Every day I wake up, I want to be a better man than I was the day before, all for her. If it weren't for her and God, I wouldn't be where I am today.

I grew up in a city called Waterbury located in the beautiful state of Connecticut. I graduated college in 2003 from the University of New Haven with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. In 2005 I followed a dream. The dream that began in 1998 eventually led me to Los Angeles, California. When something is in your head and you can't get it out of your mind....when you just know its right...you'd do anything for it.....well that's how I felt about moving to California. I searched and searched and searched for a job here. Years went by before I got my chance. The day of my interview was also the first day I had ever visited California. I felt at home. Three weeks later my car was packed and I was driving cross country with my college buddy Jeff.

I grew up as an athletic child and was fairly health conscious before moving to California. It was only fitting that I continued my exercising in sunny SoCal! That's where I began running with a colleague, now my best friend, Dave. We've ran over a dozen 1/2 Marathon races together. He's done a few marathons in which I've chickened out on.

I was always looking for ways to improve my health and that lead to my raw food journey. Being aware of my body's needs, a couple of months into dating Kelli, she wanted to do a cleanse. I was all for it! If it were a Draft, I'd be the first in line! During our 10-Day Master Cleanse, she mentioned that if we were cleansing our bodies, it only makes sense to replace it with raw organic foods. You know that look on your face when you bite into a lemon?...yea well...that was me. I thought this cleansing thing had taken a chunk out of her cerebral cortex, buuuuuut, since I'd do anything for her, I had to support her. We were/are a team. Plus it made sense. I'm wired like an engineer. It was sound and logical. A week later after attempting recipes, I knew this was it! This was what I wanted to do. I loved the creativity of converting a cooked recipe to a raw version while capturing all of the health benefits! The dream began. It's not easy leaving an engineering job to pursuit a career in raw food culinary arts but it was all I could think of. Sixteen months went by before I got my chance.

I graduated from the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute (www.rawfoodchef.com) as an Associate Chef and Instructor.

So the journey begins, one blog, one recipe, one life at a time.