Welcome to my blog about my LOVE for God's Raw Living food. Please join me on my journey towards health and wellness. I truly believe that pure natural raw living food is the doorway to a healthy body, mind, and spirit.
Destiny, D’Adjoa and I left on a Friday morning on our way to Raw Spirit. It was a chaotic morning! Jason had issues at the bank, and D’ was late (sorry D’, it did work out because Jason had to sign papers so if she would’ve arrived early he wouldn’t have been able to go to the bank). Everything was in Divine Order, we arrived to get on the airplane without a problem, the flight was perfect. The pilot was in a rush to leave Tampa because of a thunderstorm rolling in. It was the fastest takeoff I have ever had. The flight was bumpy, but perfect. We helped D’ make her marvelous Raw Spirit Bookmarks. 
We arrived in Maryland early. Received our luggage and hopped on a bus to the car rental garage, where we rented a Chrysler 300, boy was D’Adjoa excited!!
I had to get a photo of the forest! The trees are different from Florida.
We went to the hotel, we were all ready to get something to eat. This trip to the hotel was one of the best times there in Maryland. D’Adjoa was the driver and we had her Navigation System, well, the funniest thing kept happening to us. We kept missing what we thought was the exit. So we drove around the area several times, we got on the freeway then turned around, missed the exit, then got back on the freeway. I was laughing the whole time. Destiny was in the back seat ready to get out and walk. I really wasn’t paying attention to the directions, but after the 3rd time missing the hotel, I figured I should help! Oh my gosh, talk about belly laugh. Those ladies are so fun! We finally found the hotel, but the N.S. was wrong. The address was on the other side of the street.
We went out to eat that night at Ruby Tuesdays. We ran into 2 friends from Gainesville, Jackie and Ruth, they told us a few things about Raw Spirit and let us look at the schedule. We chatted with them for a while then headed back to the hotel for some R and R.
Yes we met the guy in this photo. He wanted to desperately be in this photo.
The next morning we woke up early and set off for our day at Raw Spirit Day #1
The grounds were beautiful! We met up with the Gainesville pot luck friends, it was so fantastic to be with them in new surroundings!
The first day we walked around to all the tents and vendors that were set up. We tried flax chips, fermented salad dressings, d’ and Destiny got some coconuts from the Florida keys. There were so many of them. They were brought in by the Mojo Juice Health Club with founder Khepra Anu. The coconuts were perfect for this hot muggy day. I thought Florida was muggy and hot, but the weather there in Maryland was actually pretty uncomfortable, but the stimulation of everything else really kept my mind from thinking about it. I had an appropriate amount of water, so I felt good.
These okra were humongous! We met a man that bought some okra, I had to get a photo! Destiny took advantage of this photo opportunity. We had so much fun just looking around. The fermented salad dressings were pretty tasty, but I didn’t buy any. I am still stuck on eating olive oil and lemon juice and tahini with garlic.
D’Adjoa told me about a restaurant in New York called Quintessance. We were so fortunate to eat their food and meet the owners and employees of this amazing raw restaurant. I had a bagel with cream cheese. This bread was seriously the most amazing raw bread I have ever had in my life. The consistency was absolutely just like bread. It tasted like sourdough bread. Oh I wish I could have some now. On this bagel there was a slice of tomato, cream cheese (made from cashews) and sweet crispy onions. The best raw breakfast I have ever had, besides a green smoothie! I wanted to eat 2 of them. Absolutely delish! I met the chef and co-owner Dan. He taught us alot and spent alot of time talking about the restaurant and cleansing. I love to hear the stories about how people got started on raw food. He used David Jubb’s cleansing and it was after that they he started feeling the best ever! Raw Chef Dan has a website too. 
We met an employee of Quintessance and she was so sweet. She even knew a chef that I have been wanting to meet, Peter Cervoni, she called him on the phone. It was so unexpected, but I chatted with him for a while. I would love to take a class from him sometime. 
Our first day of raw spirit was so much fun, we hoola hooped to music. We met Lynda Carter and had some apple cake, which was very delicious. She was full of love and positive energy, she was calm but had a great energy that made me want to listen to her story. D’ had heard of her before but I never had. I am grateful that I did meet her. She is another person who is no longer on insulin and has overall better health after introducing rawfood. We listened to Philip McClusky and Markus Rothcranz. Philip McClusky really had an impact on some of my friends. Theresa could really relate to his story, he overcame obesity through a raw food diet. Markus Rothcranz was the heartthrob. Most of the women couldn’t believe how gorgeous and knowledgeable and heartfelt he was. I enjoyed both seminars.
After these seminars we went back to the hotel to sleep for the dancing and music at night time. We slept too long to see the lit up hoola hoops and music. It started pooring out so we ran for cover and ended up meeting Jenna Norwood. We missed her seminar and showing of her movie, but we did meet her.
After meeting Jenna, it started raining really hard so we stayed under cover and listened to a man named Michael Collins. He really made the most impact on me. He was fascinating to listen to because of his genuine personality. He was not there to sell anything, just a testimony of triumph over diabetes. He didn’t even give a website to reach him at, unfortunately. He really impacted me so much that night. He told of his story about his eyesight going bad, surgeries, and coming into the light, through love and raw food. He spoke of a Hawaiian phrase called Ho Apana Apana (Ho Apana Apana). He expressed that giving love is fundamental in healing. He does meditate and outreaches. He really made me think about myself and that is what I wanted on this trip. I feel very blessed to have listened to this man speak. He was my favorite the whole weekend! What a heartfelt, touching story! I did take much from this weekend. I learned to forgive myself, I am not perfect, to say I love you to the mirror, so I can feel comfortable with me (this was an idea from Philip McCluskey, and I also learned that people come into our lives to help us understand how they feel and how we can help other people by our experiences. This is not a new concept to me, but I reached a different level of understanding on this trip.
Day #2
Our last day at Raw Spirit went too fast. We went to hear Daniel Vitalis speak, but he didn’t show up. We were disappointed but while D’ was at her Sacred Exercise, Destiny and I met up with our Gainesville friends and had lunch at Quintessance again. We met Phillip McCluskey, too, before Destiny and I decided to go for a walk. The walk was nothing short of enlightening and healing for both of us. I know I had been troubled with many things in my life and having her there by my side in this natural healing forest, I came out a different person. This trip brought me to a new level of awareness. I am now a stronger, centered and willing to stay on this path of raw food, emotional healing and spiritual discovery. The forest was shaded and we came upon a river and we stood beside it and talked for what seemed like 5 minutes, but it was probably an hour. We both discussed ideas of life and troubles. We became closer than we were before we went on this trip. I would’ve stayed there longer but we couldn’t because we had to catch a flight home.
We met D’ and we left, but not without getting a picture of all of us. It was so neat, nobody better could have come to take our photo than the Rawtographer, I couldn’t believe it. Him and his lady friend were the only ones in sight to take the photo of us. We didn’t even know it until his friend said, “Do you want the Rawtographer to take it?” I just started laughing. The picture turned out beautiful. This picture reminds me of how I felt. I was glowing and refreshed from this journey. Thank you Rawtographer and your beautiful friend Vanessa Barg, creator of Gnosis Chocolate. What a pleasure!
Thank you D’Adjoa and Destiny! I love you both! We will build many more memories!
Posted 16 years, 2 months ago at 3:55 pm. Add a comment
September 30, 2009
I have been staring at my computer for the last hour. Not really doing anything too exciting, just looking on Facebook and MySpace. I found an article by David Wolfe titled “Getting The Best Perspective Ever on Health and Nutrition” that was posted on the Huffington Post. I love the title, it is the way of David Wolfe. Everything he does is always the “Best”. He says that it is and I believe that it is. I love his charisma and passion for this lifestyle. The article is an easy read and it’s always exciting for me to hear new ideas from him.
I also have been flipping through my pages of entertaining in the raw, I decided to make “fried” jicama this evening. I had a jicama here, this is really unexpected. I didn’t plan for this at all. I have all the ingredients, by the blessing of God. I really wasn’t too concerned tonight about making my recipe. I knew it would get done. I figured if I didn’t have any ingredients I would have Jason pick something up from Sweetbay and if worse came to worse I could always go up to Rutabaga’s. This recipe sounds so great. By the ingredients listed I think they should resemble french fries when they are done. If they really taste like French Fries then I am going to make raw ketchup to go with them. Yummy!
This is one of the reasons I love his recipe book so much. You can make a meal out of just one of the recipes from his meals. Most recipes have at least 3 different recipes within the recipe.
Fried Jicama ingredients
julienned jicama
olive oil
salt
nutritional yeast
1/3 cup flax meal
I have to dehydrate them for 24-48 hours. I am going to let my kids try them. I am hoping they will like them. I hope I do too.
I am off to bed for tonight. I have been studying so much the last 2 days, the test is done and I feel alot less stressed. I don’t feel like I got an A, but I am hoping I did. I did the best I could. That is certain!
More is to be got from one teacher than from two books. This is so true for me, Jason has helped me so much. If he didn’t help me I would not have learned as much as I did. He is a true teacher! And the best partner ever!
Posted 16 years, 2 months ago at 10:50 pm. Add a comment
September 29, 2009
This was a fantastic dinner! I tried the dressing last night on my finger tip and I thought it was too salty. I had the salad tonight and it was a perfect blend of flavors. I used spinach only instead of mixed greens.
Thai Salad
2 handfuls mixed greens, super big
1/2 cup finely diced pineapple (I didn’t eat the pineapple because I am cutting out sugar)
1/2 cup soaked sundried tomatoes
1 avocado
sea salt (I left this out!)
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into long strips
1/2 cup thinly sliced young coconut meat
1/2 cup chopped curried cashews (I didn’t eat these)
1/2 cup creamy thai dressing
The mixture of ingredients was perfect for my taste buds. I studied all night and had this on my break. Jason tried some of my salad, but he was not hungry for a salad. So we ate together, but we didn’t sit down at the table because I had to finish reading Chapter 5 and practice test questions, so I can get an A on my test tomorrow night.
I still have dressing left over, so tomorrow I will bring some to work and eat it with a big salad of lentils, red peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, and onion on top of romaine lettuce. I have been living on spinach and kale lately so I will buy some romaine tomorrow or maybe I’ll finish up my kale. This dressing will be the perfect addition to the salad:)
Better head off to bed now I am tired and I have to get rest for my test tomorrow.
Goodnight!
“Sleep is the best meditation”-Dalai Lama
Posted 16 years, 2 months ago at 10:39 pm. Add a comment
September 28, 2009
I was blessed tonight with Jason’s presence in my Anatomy and Physiology class! My test is on Wednesday and I am studying for it now. I took a break to make my salad dressing. It is good but a bit on the salty side for me. I am sure it will be fantastic on the thai salad tomorrow evening. Jason gets home early from school so we will have our dinner together. The dressing has sesame oil in it, so it tastes sweet and salty. I really am enjoying the taste of sesame oil lately. Doing this project has made me realize I do love sesame oil, especially with lime juice.
Dressing ingredients
sesame oil
nama shoyu
olive oil
lime juice
maple syrup ( I used stevia in mine)
red chili flakes
sea salt
cashews
Tomorrow I will make the thai salad to go with the dressing with curry cashew topping. It will be another romantic dinner for us!
“Sometimes I think [my husband] is so amazing that I don’t know why he’s with me. I don’t know whether I’m good enough. But if I make him happy, then I’m everything I want to be.”-Angelina Jolie
Posted 16 years, 2 months ago at 10:59 pm. Add a comment
September 27, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!! And it’s been 2 months (and 1 day) on this project.
Jason and I had the best birthday party yesterday. I love celebrating my birthday with him. We had a wonderful potluck dinner with friends and family. I will write about it and post photos on MY RAW LIFE. I worked tonight at Rutabagas. I took the boys with me. I am so fortunate to have my boys able to go with me. They did their homework and practiced their instruments. Christian read his new book The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Sebastian played on the computer for a little while. I made a few things for the deli, but honestly I am exhausted from a long weekend, so I didn’t make as much as I planned. I studied Anatomy and Physiology all day with Jason for my test on Wednesday. I really just wanted to come home and relax in my favorite chair and write on here.
One of my email addresses is not working so I haven’t received any emails all day. We have been trying to figure out what it is wrong with it. I feel so lost without checking email. My father sent numerous pictures from yesterday’s party, so I don’t know if that has something to do with it. I’m sure it will be fixed soon.
I decided that I would make thai salad this week. I am starting with the curried cashews tonight.
Curried Cashews Ingredients
6 1/2 cups cashews, soaked 1-2 hours, drained and dehydrated for 48 hours
2 1/2 T agave
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 t curry powder
1/2 t cayenne powder
1 3/4 t sea salt
After draining cashews, add spices then spread on dehydrator teflex sheet or unbleached parchment paper, and dehydrate for 48 hours.
These are a topping for the thai salad. Looking forward to the thai salad. I was looking forward to getting into my kitchen and making these tonight. I love doing all these recipes. Some do taste better than others but they are all easy and quick to make. As long as you do it in steps. Most of these recipes are done in steps. It has been easy for me to plan the week of recipes and go from there.
I got a beautiful necklace from my grandparents that has a charm on it for my birthday. Each side of the charm says “Live the life you love” and the other says “Love the life you live” I think this describes my feelings on life. I will wear this from now on to remind me of how life should be lived!
Good night!
Posted 16 years, 2 months ago at 10:28 pm. Add a comment
September 26, 2009
Today was Jason and my birthday party/potluck. We had such a fun time. This morning I iced the birthday cake and then I made the icing from Matthew Kenney’s book for the oreos. I didn’t actually make oreos cookie patties, but I think I made something more fun.
When I made the cookies I only made a 1/4 of the recipe. I was going to make more but when I went to purchase oat groats, we didn’t have any at Rutabagas. So I only had 8 cookies. I think they turned out delicious. I didn’t try them with icing on them but everyone that ate them at the potluck said they were good. They were fun to make. I really enjoy being creative when I feel like it.
I have to make up my list for this week. I will be ready tomorrow to start a fresh menu for this week.
My mom really enjoyed the tomatoes from taco recipe. I love it when she enjoys the food!
Posted 16 years, 2 months ago at 9:32 pm. Add a comment
September 25, 2009
Today has been a fun day. We bought Rock Band Beatles Edition. I procrastinated tonight, I waited until 11:45 pm to make my daily recipe. But I did make a cake for tomorrow’s potluck. Oh my goodness, I have never made such an expensive cake. I bet the cake literally cost me at least 50 dollars. I bought Sweet Gratitude’s book a few months ago. The cakes look so amazing. I decided that I would make the cake for Jason and my birthday. It is very delicious (yes I ate agave and dates), I feel it in my belly, but the flavors are divine. I worked on the cake for at least 2 hours. This project was not as easy as the preparation for Matthew Kenney’s recipes. I really doubt that I will ever make a cake like this again, unless it was for a wedding for a dear friend (hint, hint to Destiny).
The Citrus Cream ingredients:
cashews, soaked
coconut meat
water
lemon juice
lemon zest
I am bringing this meal to the potluck tomorrow also. The cream was easy to make. I will make a platter out of the shells and the tomatoes and cream.
I also cut the oreo cookies today into circles. Sebastian is going to love them. I still have to make the cashew cream for the filling.
I am going to play rock band. I am ADDICTED!
It’s great to play with the kids. Oh my gosh, it is so awesome, they were singing all the Beatles songs. I could hear them while I made Jason and my birthday cake. We are bringing it tomorrow so everyone can try it.
Posted 16 years, 2 months ago at 12:10 am. Add a comment
September 23, 2009 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
Today was such a wonderful blessed and exhilarating day. I was so appreciative all day. I thought about all the blessing in my life. I am taken care of at all times. I have people in my life that love me and it shows. I had phone calls, visits, emails and comments about my birthday. I reflected on this last year and all the wonderful things that have happened. I thought the most about the people in my life that keep me soaring to new heights. I am grateful I have the people that I do in my life. They are all so unique and I love all of them for that. I am looking forward to this year and will love to see what unfolds!
Today I decided to make the Taco Shells. These were easy to make. I halved the recipe because some of the corn that I bought went bad. But it worked out as always, because I only had enough red pepper for half the batch. The funny thing is, the corn that I had left came out to be exactly 1 1/2 cups. I cut the corn off of the cob inside of a bowl. I like to do this to refrain from the mess of corn getting all over the counter. After I put the corn in the bowl I measured it and then put it into the Vitamix with the onion and pepper and water.
Then I added spices and lime juice. This is the lime I used, it is almost ripe. Limes are actually supposed to be yellow when they are ripe. They look very similar to a lemon. I have read many places that they sell limes green so they will not be confused with lemons. I love to use the limes when they are ripe. Jason make the best lemon-lime slushy with Stevia. It is so refreshing on a hot summer day.
After all ingredients were in the blender I blended it. The only ingredient that wasn’t added was the flax meal. I placed the flax meal in a bowl then added the blended ingredients. It had such a strange color. It was pink. It definitely looks different than the book’s photo.
When the ingredients were mixed well, I measured a 1/4 cup of the batter for each tortilla. I placed 4 to a sheet, then spread the taco shells out with a spoon. The taco shells are approximately 6 inches round. Half the recipe made 8 tortillas.
I put them in the dehydrator for 4 hours. I went to school and came back and checked on them. After 4 to 5 hours the recipe says to fold the taco shells in half to form them like taco shells. Some of them were not dry enough to fold. I folded 4 of them. I guess the rest of them will be tostada shells.
The tortillas darkened in color. They look more attractive now. I will have another great dinner tomorrow, or Jason and I will.
Taco Shells Ingredients:
3/4 cup flax meal
3 cups corn
1 1/2 cups red bell pepper
1 cup water
1/2 small onion
3/4 clove garlic
1 T fresh lime juice
1 1/2 t sea salt
2 t cumin
pinch cayenne
This quote is perfect for the way I feel about everyone in my life!
“The best part of life is when your family becomes your friends, and your friends become your family.” —Danica Whitfield
Posted 16 years, 2 months ago at 10:18 pm. Add a comment
September 22, 2009
Today is the mark of Fall and Tomorrow is my 33rd Birthday. What an amazing year I had. So many blessings to be counted. I am more alive and grateful than ever before. Each day I count as a blessing and I am looking forward to this new year.
My original plan for tonight’s dinner didn’t work out as a I planned last night, but I must admit it turned out so much better. I went to Papa John’s after Sabby’s first guitar lesson. He LOVED it. He learned chords, and some part of a Green Day song. Awesome that my son likes Green Day, I remember listening to it when I was 17. They really are a great band. Despite how they went mainstream with their CD Dookie. I think they deserve their fame. I don’t mind when bands become popular I think if they are good then the world deserves to hear them. Anyway, I worked on Chemistry homework and then came home to make the Jicama Broth.
Ingredients:
cashews
jicama
olive oil
sea salt
black pepper (I omitted)
nutritional yeast
garlic
shallot
Soups always amaze me. They are similar to my green smoothies, because they are made in the Vitamix, but yet I don’t think of them as a smoothie, I actually think of them as a soup. Even though all ingredients are thrown into the blender at once.
I soaked cashews for hour, this allows them to be creamier in the soup. Jason stopped at the store to buy me jicama. Jicama is a pain to peel. I have been cutting the skin off much like I do with pineapple. It was so much easier tonight. I sliced the bottom and the top off, then I cut the sides off pretty deep into the jicama. I was peeling it before with a pairing knife, but I got smart tonight, actually pressed for time. I wanted to surprise Jason with dinner when he got home. After cutting the jicama, I threw it into the blender with olive oil and water, then added shallots, sea salt, nutritional yeast and I didn’t have garlic. So I blended it up.
After blending I poured it into a bowl and added the eggplant bacon, and cut a slice of onion bread. It was such a beautiful dinner for the man I love:)
He loves Becks beer so of course I had to get him one. He is such a good sport for eating all of my food. He loves Jazz music so of course I youtubed it and I found an amazing artist named Melody Gardot. We listened to her while he ate, it was very romantic. Words can’t express how the feeling and mood were in the room, one thing I do know is his love is explained in Corinthians. His love IS… I am the luckiest girl alive to be loved by such an extraordinary man!
Tomorrow is coming quick. This is the last day of being 32. It is only going to get better. I am looking forward to my 33rd year. I accept it with open arms. In years past I have not been so easy to accept things. This year has been a year of acceptance, forgiveness, and understanding, also filled with knew challenges and journeys. New adventures are coming this year, I will keep my eyes looking forward and around but not back in regrets. I will MAINTAIN INTERNAL HEIGHTS. Trevor Hall’s music really helped me through many challenging times this year. He is a blessing and a true artist. He will be one to make it big.
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”-Abraham Lincoln
Posted 16 years, 2 months ago at 11:36 pm. Add a comment
Living Rawesome 
The first day we walked around to all the tents and vendors that were set up. We tried flax chips, fermented salad dressings, d’ and Destiny got some coconuts from the Florida keys. There were so many of them. They were brought in by the Mojo Juice Health Club with founder Khepra Anu. The coconuts were perfect for this hot muggy day. I thought Florida was muggy and hot, but the weather there in Maryland was actually pretty uncomfortable, but the stimulation of everything else really kept my mind from thinking about it. I had an appropriate amount of water, so I felt good.
D’Adjoa told me about a restaurant in New York called Quintessance. We were so fortunate to eat their food and meet the owners and employees of this amazing raw restaurant. I had a bagel with cream cheese. This bread was seriously the most amazing raw bread I have ever had in my life. The consistency was absolutely just like bread. It tasted like sourdough bread. Oh I wish I could have some now. On this bagel there was a slice of tomato, cream cheese (made from cashews) and sweet crispy onions. The best raw breakfast I have ever had, besides a green smoothie! I wanted to eat 2 of them. Absolutely delish! I met the chef and co-owner Dan. He taught us alot and spent alot of time talking about the restaurant and cleansing. I love to hear the stories about how people got started on raw food. He used David Jubb’s cleansing and it was after that they he started feeling the best ever! Raw Chef Dan has a website too. 
