Thrive

I went to my first raw food eatery yesterday. A place in Roosevelt called Thrive. It was good! I had Coconut Thai Soup which was very creamy and flavorful. It had shreds of carrots and cilantro. I also had some nut cheese spreads and flax crackers. The flax cracker are really good and I want to make these. Michele is the person who took me and introduced me to raw food. She also gave me some of her prepared raw food and there was this "bacon" made out dried young coconut. Wow! It was soo good! I think I can do more raw. More than anything, it makes me feel so light. However...I did eat some real chocolate chips too when I got home. :)

Anyway check out Thrive or any other raw foods.

Raw Food

I am not a healthy eater by choice. I LOVE LOVE my sweets. I am only a vegetarian because I can't eat meat after I did a book report on factory farming in high school.

Well, someone introduced me to raw food. It's suppose to be really healthy. I've been trying to eat just more veggies but haven't gotten into the whole raw food world just yet. The belief is that you don't kill the live enzymes by not cooking food or heating beyond 118 degrees.

There is one great chef, classicaly trained but switched to raw some time ago. I've got his 2 books and it's amazing. I just got "everyday raw". Eating raw does give you instant energy vs. the sluggishness. I still love my pastries and sweets and will never give them up but I think I will to eat more raw, may be 80% of the time.

I find that raw people age really well...who knew these celebs are raw...Woody Harrelson, Jason Marz, Demi Moore, Uma Thurman.

Check out Matthew Kenney site. He is hot too.

http://www.matthewkenneycuisine.com/

Here is his recipe for Raw Mochi

Mochi 
1 cup cashews 
¾ cup young Thai coconut meat 
¼ cup raw agave 
¼ cup extra virgin coconut oil 
Pinch sea salt
¼ tsp. vanilla extract Few drops non-alcohol almond extract 
½ cup oat flour * 
¾ cup coconut flour**
* Oat flour is made by grinding whole raw oat groats in a high speed blender or coffee or spice grinder, until very fine flour is achieved. 
**Coconut flour is made by grinding dried coconut flakes in a high speed blender or a coffee or spice grinder, until fine flour is achieved. Do not over process or the oils in the coconut will cause the coconut to cake together. 


Process Blend first 7 ingredients in a Vita-Mix until very smooth and creamy. Transfer mixture to a medium-size bowl and stir in flours until it is very well combined and lumps are smoothed out. Line a 9X13 inch pan and spread very thin, approximately ½ inch thick. Place in freezer until firm. Goji Berry Ice Cream ½ cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup macadamia nuts, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup young thai coconut meat ¾ cup agave nectar 1 ½ cups water 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1 cup soaked goji berries, blended and strained through a fine sieve Goji Berry Ice Cream Process Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix until very smooth. Pour into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions; or freeze base in a square pan, cut, and run through a masticating juicer (such as the Champion or Greenstar). Freeze overnight. Scoop 2 large rounded scoops of “ice cream” into a pan or plate: freeze until very firm. Vanilla Lemongrass Ice Cream ½ cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup macadamia nuts, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup young thai coconut meat ¾ cup agave nectar 1 ½ cups water 2 tsp. vanilla extract ¼ vanilla bean, flesh scraped ¼ cup lemongrass juice Pinch sea salt ½ cup coconut oil Vanilla Lemongrass Ice Cream Process Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix until very smooth. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions; or freeze base in square pan, cut and run through masticating juicers (such as the Champion or Greenstar). Freeze overnight. Scoop 2 large rounded scoops of “ice cream” into a pan or plate: freeze until very firm. Green Tea Ice Cream ½ cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup macadamia nuts, soaked 1-2 hours ½ cup young Thai coconut meat ½ cup agave nectar 1½ cups water 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 ½ tbs. green tea powder Pinch sea salt ½ cup coconut oil Green Tea Ice Cream Instructions Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix until very smooth. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions; or freeze base in square pan, cut and run through masticating juicers (such as the Champion or Greenstar). Freeze overnight. Scoop 2 large rounded scoops of “ice cream” into a pan or plate: freeze until very firm. Cacao Syrup 1½ cups agave nectar ½ cup raw cacao powder 2 tbs. raw carob powder ¼ tsp. vanilla extract Pinch sea salt ½ cup coconut oil Cacao Syrup Instructions Blend all ingredients until smooth. Keep in a warm area until ready to serve. Assembly Oat Flour Mint or Basil Sprigs Dust a dry cutting board with oat flour. Turn out frozen mochi onto a cutting board and peel off plastic. Cut six 4X4 pieces. With floured hands, flatten each piece until very thin. Place 1 scoop of ice cream in the center of each mochi sheet and mold mochi around ice cream until ice cream is completely covered; smooth ridges with fingers. Place mocha-covered ice cream in freezer immediately and freeze 8-10 hours until completely frozen. To serve, slice ends off each mocha ice cream ball and cut into 2 uniform pieces. Place a slice of each flavor on serving plates and garnish with mint or basil sprigs and cacao syrup. Serves 4

Flying Apron Bakery

What a gem! 

I discovered a vegan, gluten free, wheat free bakery cafe in Fremont today.  With new year starting, I like everyone else is trying to eat better and work out.  It's the latter half of Jan and I've not gotten off to a good start.   

The pastry case looks scrumptious and their deli case had great fresh greens. I had the greens, some kind of rasin, pecan, and chcoloate loaf, and soy latte.  Eating the greens really gave me lots of clean energy and felt great.  I also brought home a curry calzone which was okay.  The crust was too thick and I did miss flour in this one.

They also have wireless so I'll be working from this place more often.  Now, I just got to go work out.  

http://www.flyingapron.net/home.htm