Living Rawesome

Veggie Magic in Sarasota, FL

I have been wanting to go to Veggie Magic in my home state of Florida ever since I heard of the movie Supercharge Me!  Jenna Norwood had changed her life through raw and living foods.  I still haven’t seen Supercharge Me:(  I did buy it on my special day down at the restaurant but my television is broken.  (Which I do have mixed feelings about.)   I want it to stay that way, but I miss watching all my raw videos.  I do spend more time on the computer and have been sleeping in my own bed at night instead of the couch, which makes me happy.  Anyway, that’s another story.

My family went down to Sarasota on a Saturday.  It was a great day to go.  Florida had been hit by weeks of rain and on this day it was clear all day.  What a blessing.

Here I am at Veggie Magic.  I was surprised that it was in a shopping plaza.  I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in.  I loved the openness of the restaurant.  It was brightly lit and the walls were filled with articles about the lovely, Jenna Norwood.  On my left there were 2 comfy couches, next to a piano.  Tables for 2 and 4 people filled the room.  The openness of the kitchen gives the store a welcoming environment.  I love a clean kitchen.  You can see them prepare all of the food.

You place your order from the menu which is placed on the wall and they also have paper menus.

This is the menu and the baskets are there for the recipients to get their food.  You are given a word instead of taking your name after you order.  What a cute idea!  We ordered Raw Pizza and Double stack burger.  Our word was Shining.  It explained my feeling on this day.

My lovely hubby was shining too:)  As always!

Veggie Magic has many Raw Food books on a book shelf and they also sell many raw items such as flax crackers, Rawmesan (raw vegan parmesan cheese made from walnuts), tamari and other goodies. 

Here I am checking out the books.  I am always looking for new material to read.

We only waited a short time for our food.  We admired that Jenna decided to use  straws made out of corn.  The boys thought it was so awesome that the straws were green.

Here is Sebastian being silly with his straws.  He still has them.  Funny what kids are interested in.  It’s great for them to see that companies use these items.  They are our future of our planet.  They need to know the more environmental friendly products.

We were waiting patiently with smiles:)  Both boys were anxious to taste their meals.

Here are my two look alikes.

Our meals were just as beautiful as expected.

Here is the lovely and delicious All American Double Stack Cheeseburger.  It is made from seeds, fresh veggies and herbs.  Cheese made from pine nuts and homemade ketchup.  The burgers were used as the bun.  Clever.  It was very good.  My favorite was definitely the Pizza.

Beautifully dressed and  yummier than Papa John’s.  As well as healthier than any common pizza.  There is absolute excellence in this pizza.  God, I am sure, is so proud of this fine dish.  A veggie and flax crust loaded with pine nut cheese, sundried tomatoes, a homemade marinara sauce and spinach.  My children loved it so much they were fighting over it.  We did order another one to make them happy.  I would love to make this at home.  I would say this pizza was my children’s fave raw meal yet.  I do make graham crackers out of Matthew Kenney’s book that they love,  but this was their favorite raw meal.

He really couldn’t get enough.

And of course no meal is complete without dessert.  Here is a carrot cake topped with a whipped cream.  Made from carrot pulp, walnuts, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and raisins.   Very tasty.

The visit to the restaurant was great then we were off to our first time on Sarasota Beach.

We had a safe and wonderful day!

Raw Gathering 5-28-09

I had a blast at the last gathering. It was great to see all of you again.  For those of you that were not at previous gatherings, we were blessed by you being a part of this special time together.  We had so many lovely recipes.

It was a different time and day of the week but I think it worked out great.  Thank you to all who attended. I’m so honored to share this journey with all of you:)

Me, Jackie, Kay, Sarah and Erica

Kay making the Beet Raviolis

Mommy making up the gift for Dr. Schramm, he loves pistachio treats from Rutabaga’s Etc.

Erica, and Sarah making Dill Cream Cheese Nori.  One of my faves of the night.

Here if D’Adjoa giving the ingredients for the wonderful Curry Plantain salad.

Kay, Marsha and Gayle giving the recipes for what they brought.  Destiny, Sarah, Emma, Theresa, Sue, Judy, Pam getting their raw meal.  All smiles:)

Emma, Destiny, Johanna, Angela, Sebastian

D and Theresa

Me and my Man:)

White Chocolate on Carob Brownie

Carob Brownie

3 cups soaked and dehydrated walnuts

2 cups raisins

1 t salt

1/4 cup carob

Place walnuts and carob in food processor.  Let it run until it becomes a fine powder.  Add raisins and salt.  When it sticks together place in a plastic lined pie crust.  Then pour in white chocolate filling.

White Chocolate Filling

1 cup cashews

1/2 c agave

1/2 c melted cacao butter

1/3 c water

1 T vanilla

Blend all ingredients together, except melted cacao butter.  When filling is smooth, add cacao butter.

Here there are cacao nibs on it.  You can add berries, dried mulberries, cranberries, goji berries, or golden raisins.

Enjoy:)