Karen Knowler * The Raw Food Coach

FRESH FRUIT SALAD WITH MACADAMIA CREAM

SERVES: 1-2

A fresh fruit salad (done correctly) is one of the best meals on earth, but when it’s topped with this cream it’s heaven on earth. Yes, really! The best Sunday breakfast EVER – and a perfect recipe to serve to guests you want to wow at any time of day.

EQUIPMENT

Blender OR Hand Blender

INGREDIENTS
One handful of raw macadamia nuts
Juice of half an orange (or a whole one depending on juiciness)
2–4 large Medjool dates (or 4–8 smaller soaked ones)
OPTIONAL: Small piece of vanilla bean

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare your fruit salad using a wide range of fresh juicy fruits of your choice. A good mixture might be: Banana, orange, apple, strawberries, nectarines and blueberries.
2. Next, make your topping by blending all ingredients together until a thick creamy mixture is created.
3. Taste-test before using. Add more of whatever you need according to your tastes. You might want to add a pinch of healthy salt just to bring out the flavours a little more.
4. Serve your fruit salad and top with a good dose of the macadamia cream.

Raw Coach Top Tips:

• This recipe will keep for about 2–3 days in the fridge. Great for topping some breakfasts for something a bit more sustaining, or why not throw a tablespoon or two in your fruit smoothie

© 2011 Karen Knowler WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS RECIPE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

How to Spread the *RAW* Word in a Way That's Right For YOU!

If you’ve been into raw food for a while – or even a little while, actually – it’s not unusual to become so excited about what you’re learning and discovering for yourself that you want to tell the world!

Yes, we all know that feeling, right?

Well, those longer-termers among you will know that running around telling everyone how they "must go raw" is generally a recipe for disaster; it can alienate friends, family, colleagues and even partners if you don’t know how to share this right!

In my many years of being a raw foodie if there’s one thing I’ve learned, both personally and professionally, it’s this: people have to want to go raw.

Think about it…

Did anyone twist *your* arm into going raw? Did anyone try to twist your arm into going raw?

Have a think about that for a moment and see what pops. If this did happen to you, remember how it felt... How did you respond or react to it? Was it positively or negatively? I know many people who actually didn’t pursue a raw food journey because of the way the information was presented to them.

My experience suggests that for every 100 people who go raw, 98 go raw because they decide to, and it is their decision alone. (The other two tend to it because their partner coerced them or their health dictated it). This is a very important fact to bear in mind when you’re serious or keen to spread the word.

RAW MAYONNAISE

Makes a good-sized bowl full

This raw mayo is extremely versatile and works well as a simple addition to salads or to coat various savoury recipes such as slaws, vegetable salads, sweet potatoes and more.

EQUIPMENT

Blender OR Food Processor

INGREDIENTS
1 cup of water
1 cup of macadamia nuts
1 cup of pine nuts
1½ cups of cashew nuts
½ teaspoon of Himalayan crystal salt
1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Simply blend all ingredients together until everything has broken down and is fully homogenised. You may wish to add additional water to thin it out if it is too thick for your liking.

Raw Coach Top Tips:

• Experiment with additional ingredients to create different flavoured mayos, such as sundried tomatoes, fresh or dried herbs, curry powder or whatever takes your fancy.

© 2011 Karen Knowler WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS RECIPE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

Your Big Why and Your Two Supporting Visions

As you know, many people tend to go on and off the wagon with raw foods for many different reasons. This article shines another light (or two) on why this can happen, and offers guaranteed ways out of the mire that can affect us all at various points along the way. No matter what diet you eat right now - raw or not - I'm sure you'll find this article of interest when it comes to assessing why you may slip on and off your own ideal way of eating from time to time and how you can get back in the saddle and enjoy the next leg of your ride with genuine enthusiasm and gusto! Read on...

Back in mid-November 2005, I went back to eating 100% raw vegan, after two years of “dabbling” – with both raw foods and cooked, having previously been on exclusively raw vegan foods for 5½ years. After months of asking myself “why can’t I go raw again even though deep down I know I want to?” I finally realised that somewhere along the way my “why” had changed – and not just a little, but a heck of a lot.

Allow me to explain...

CALIFORNIA SALAD

Serves 1

This recipe was effectively taught to me when I was living off room service for five days in LA a few years ago. It was so delicious that I bagged the formula, knowing that this novel way of using watermelon in a dish was going to inspire me for many future meals back home in England.

EQUIPMENT

None

INGREDIENTS

1 large "slab" of watermelon cut into a rectangle approx. 15cm long x 10cm wide x 3cm tall
2 large handfuls of baby spinach
1 large heirloom tomato, cut into triangles
OPTIONAL: Balsamic vinegar for dressing
Side dish of guacamole (I used this to replace the customary goats cheese)

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut the watermelon to size (it needs to fit on your plate!) and place in the centre of plate. This acts as the "base" for the rest of the dish.
2. Take your spinach and cover the watermelon evenly so it sits nicely on top, with extra leaves surrounding if desired.
3. Place the cut tomato (or tomatoes if you are using smaller varieties) artfully on top of the spinach in a line lengthways. Less is more in terms of aesthetics!
4. Dress as desired, you may choose to add the guacamole or another denser ingredient to the dish directly or serve on the side.
5. Enjoy! This is a really refreshing and satisfying salad that actually seemed to digest very well in spite of the melon component.

Raw Coach Top Tips:

• Choose a good ripe watermelon for this dish. Ripe melons are green all over and you’ll hear a dull “thud” when tapping. Inside they’ll be a lovely deep red colour.

© 2011 Karen Knowler WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS RECIPE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

Get REAL - Before You Go Raw

One of the most common mistakes that newbie raw food enthusiasts make is trying to run before they can walk. Perhaps we have all been there, I know I certainly have! It's only natural to want to do something as much and as fast as we can when it feels so good and seems naturally self-propelling; why would we slow down? And while I'm not here to say "slow down" necessarily, I am here to share a few friendly words of advice from both my own experience and those of others I have coached over the past decade or so, that might just make all the difference.

1) Before you start jetting off, capture where you are starting from. Having a very clear, defined and ideally highly detailed record of where your "point A" is, is not absolutely essential but definitely a great idea especially if you have significant health or weight issues when you begin. By taking photos, writing a journal, weighing, measuring and taking notes about where you’re at on all levels, you’ll have a great record of where you are/were at before your raw transformation (which you WILL forget unless you write it down). This will be priceless to you once you have progressed further along the track as you will be in awe at what has changed along the way.

Reader Question: Seaweed, Menu Plans & Beans

Hi Karen, I just got my first eZine and I think I'm going to love getting more! You offer so much information! I've been trying 'raw' for a little more than a month, and I really like it. But I have a few questions;

1. I don't like the taste of kelp. So far I have not tried any of the other sea vegetables like arame or others. I guess I don't like the fishy taste. Is it really necessary for me to eat these?

2. I have been following a menu plan for 30 days, but I have completed the month. Do I just start over? I don't think I am ready to just try to figure out how much of everything I'm supposed to eat daily, so I like a plan to follow.

3. Do beans have a place in raw eating? I have not seen any recipes with beans in them. I thought that they would be good for protein.

Thank you, Sue.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Hi Sue, thanks for writing.

Like many newbies your questions are diverse. There’s so many things to learn aren’t there? You’ve come to the right place : )

In answer to your questions...

1) There are indeed many different sea vegetables available, and although they all do have a “sea” flavour (it’s not fishy as fish tastes of the sea too!) they still have very different flavours. Personally I only like dulse, nori and kelp powder myself. I cannot stand kombu and hiziki, in spite of good intentions! So I would recommend that you try dulse and nori next as these are the ones that most people seem to like. As for whether it’s necessary. I would say it’s valuable. A good alternative to cover similar (and more) nutritional bases would be a good all-round green superfood and/or a spirulina, chlorella or blue-green algae supplement.

2) With any menu plan you want to make sure that it’s diverse and interesting and that you’re genuinely enjoying it and getting good results with it. If the one you’re using ticks all of these boxes, then by all means go ahead and repeat it, but there’s nothing that can beat a personalised menu plan that you’ve created yourself. If you’d like to learn how to do that, then your answer is here >>

3) Yes beans do have a place in a raw food diet. They must be sprouted though. I have videos on how to sprout on YouTube – it’s much quicker and easier than most people think. Beans are a fantastic food cooked or raw, and sadly underused and underrated. What I love about them is that they’re very high in protein and fibre, they add bulk and interest and they contain very little fat. For those who are looking to eat clean and lean, then beans and greens are two fantastic foods to revolve main meals around.

I hope this helps Sue.

Radiantly yours,

Karen

 

GREEN GODDESS JUICE

Serves 1-2

This drink is delicious, refreshing and super-healthy. You can’t help but feel so much better for drinking it, even if you’re not used to drinking a lot of greens. This recipe makes about one litre, and is the perfect drink to wake you up first thing in the morning or to drink after a session at the gym.

EQUIPMENT

Juicer

INGREDIENTS

200g of organic spinach

5 sticks of celery

1 whole cucumber, including peel

2 apples

1 medium RIPE pineapple

½ a lemon, including its peel

½ a lime, including its peel

DIRECTIONS

1. Simply juice all of the ingredients in any order, pour into a jug and stir well.
2. Pour, drink, pour, drink!

Raw Coach Top Tips:

• Keep in the fridge any you can’t drink, and enjoy it cool later. This recipe keeps well owing to the lemon and lime which help preserve it.

Feel free to swap spinach for another dark green leafy vegetable and/or use different fruit as you desire. Greens and fruit work very well together, especially when juiced or blended.

© 2011 Karen Knowler WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS RECIPE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

The Importance of Environment - Part 2: Kitchen

Following on from Part 1: Your Inner Environment, this time we're here to address your external environment - and remember - we're aiming for a 10!

In line with the one reason we're all here - a passion for raw and living foods - let's start by looking at the environment that will most support your lifestyle choice - your kitchen, which is where it all begins.

First things first, simply cast your eye around your kitchen for a moment ask yourself: "How well does my kitchen currently support my desire to choose raw?"

My guess is that quite quickly it will become clear that there's more than a couple of ways that your kitchen could be better set up to serve you and your health goals - and you may very well also discover a number of ways that it might be currently undermining your efforts? (e.g. Disorganised, food laid out in plain sight that you really don't want to eat, a fridge full of “treats”, saucepans on show vs. juicer in cupboard ...need I go on?!).

So, as well as looking for the ways that your kitchen could be better arranged or functioning, look also for the ways that are clearly detrimental, because these can be even more dangerous!

So... If you are up for the Make Your Kitchen A Ten challenge, then here's your assignment for this coming weekend:

Luke's Passion Smoothie

The following recipe is a joint effort between me and my little man, Luke, who was 5 years old when we created this. Luke and I are both smoothie fans but his creativity probably just pips mine at the post : )

We both hope you enjoy our Friday early evening snack-time drink. Cheers on us!

Equipment: Blender (a hand blender with a tall jug would also work)

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 cup of pure water
• 2 passion fruits
• 1 Tbsp agave nectar OR honey
• 1" piece of vanilla pod

Directions:

1. Simply process all ingredients in your normal blender or Vita-Mix until fully blended, and the vanilla and banana are completely broken down.
2. Serve in a tall glass with a straw and feel five again!

RAW COACH'S TOP TIPS:

Feel free to replace the passion fruit with any other fruit if that's not your thing. Banana blends well with just about any fruit, as does vanilla and any sweetener.

© 2011 Karen Knowler WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS RECIPE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.