Raw Vegan Black Cumin Seed "Caviar"

Having a husband who is interested in herbalism and improving himself means sometimes I am given unknown mysterious ingredients to cook with. This week I was introduced to black cumin seed. I read up on the product, and it has am impressive resume. Black cumin seed oil was found in King Tut's tomb. Cleopatra reportedly used it as part of her beauty regiment. And the Prophet Mohammad is quoted as saying that black cumin seed could cure everything but death itself.

I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it, but after all I had read, it seemed deserving of the royal treatment. What is more royal than caviar? If this little seed can do everything people claim of it, it only deserves the best. Health benefits of black cumin seed include strengthening of the hair and nails, increasing breast milk flow, calming the nervous system, improving skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema, boosting bone marrow production, and some studies even link it to treating pancreatic cancer.

If you have trouble locating black cumin seeds you can use black sesame seeds instead. Either way, it is decadently delicious.

3/4 cup black cumin seeds (soaked roughly 8 hours, then drained)
3/4 cup botija olives
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon paprika
pink Himalayan salt to taste

Put all ingredients in small food processor. Blend, stopping periodically to scrape the sides, until desired texture is reach. Pair with your favorite raw crackers or sliced veggies. Enjoy!

Poverty Consciousness and Raw Food

One of the main responses I have gotten to my diet is, "I would like to eat more raw food, but it is so expensive." I know many of us, myself included, struggle with our finances. I am aware that certain deemed super-foods are overpriced, and that organic produce is always more expensive than conventional. But I also feel this sort of thinking falls into poverty consciousness.

If you take your thinking from, "I can't do this because I don't have money" and replace it with, "How can I do this, despite not having a lot of money?", you would be surprised with the results. If you do not try, you have a 100% chance of not succeeding. If you try, you have at least a chance at success. Here are a few tips to keep in mind next time you think your finances are holding you back from adding more raw foods to your diet.

- Fast food may be cheap, but healthcare isn't. Every medical professional will admit that obesity leads to more health problems. More health problems lead to more bills. Opting for drive-thru options or heavily processed meals may save you money in the short-term, but consuming greater amounts of fruits and vegetables is a lifetime investment.

- If you can't buy top of the line culinary equipment, don't. I have been using a $50 dehydrator and a $50 blender through a year of eating primarily raw foods. I would love to have a Vitamix, if it weren't $500. I would love to have an Excalibur, if it weren't $250. But spending $100 instead of $750 doesn't change my food being exactly what I want! If $100 still seems like too much, keep in mind you can get secondhand kitchen equipment at a very affordable price. Try eBay, Craiglist, yard sales, or the thrift store. Or just stick to recipes which don't require special equipment!

- If organic gets too expensive, pay attention to which organic foods you should buy. When it comes to produce, not all veggies are created equal. While I like to avoid chemicals as much as possible both for my personal use and in terms of environmental impact, there are some fruits and vegetables which are not as directly impacted by pesticides. Generally anything with a hard rind is safe to eat. For a more specific list, check out this link.

- Think before you buy. A quick internet search just showed that one pound of raw walnuts costs $8.99, but one pound of raw sunflower seeds only costs $3.49. The good news is that in most raw recipes any seed or nut will work! Don't spend tons on money on prepackaged raw foods if you can make them yourself. I love a kale chip treat, but I also know the mark up on those is insanely high. Buy things to sprout so you have a back-up plan for times you are low on produce money. Buy lots of bananas to fill up on as cheap snacks.

- Stop wasting money on getting wasted. Booze, cigarettes, and other recreational substances destroy your body, mind, and pocketbook. If it is that important to your socializing, re-evaluate your social circles. If you need it to relax, remind yourself that meditating in the woods is free. You will likely also save money on wrecked cars, headache medicine, and late-night greasy diner meals.


Keep in mind that these are my tips to avoid allowing a lack of funds to keep you from your personal raw health goal. If this isn't your goal, be honest with yourself and admit that this might not be the path you want to take for yourself. Even the food pantry around the corner from me gives out fresh produce to those in need, so have some faith that with some clear-headed planning you can take control of your health and your life.

Super Protein Raw Sloppy Joes

A friend of mine requested some high protein raw vegan recipes the other day. Anyone who has chosen a raw vegan or cooked vegan diet is familiar with the question, "But where do you get your protein?" There are a lot of different ways to answer this question, but as a challenge I thought I would make one meal that meets your daily recommended protein requirement, yes raw vegan style!

The daily recommended protein intake for women is 46 grams and for men is 56 grams. Now, I know many people take the words of doctors and scientists to be untouchable truths, but there have been a lot of people in the nutritional community that feel these numbers are too high.

On the other hand there are people with specific needs where high protein diets are recommended, my son being one of them. When his challenges with ADHD first started becoming apparent I originally wanted to switch him from a vegetarian diet to a meat diet. I had been vegetarian since the age of 7 myself, but watching my son struggle was painful. He fought the chicken tenders we gave him and we didn't see much improvement. Now we have switched the game up entirely, and he is vegan. I make sure he has a high protein plant-based diet including peas, hemp milk, almond milk, quinoa, spirulina, moringa, and edamame. And you know what? Next year he will be going to his local school instead of being bused away for his special needs. So I would say we are doing something right.

Enjoy this high protein punch. The recipe makes 4 sloppy joes, to be shared by 2 people. The wraps can be used with any sandwich fillings, and you can stay on the high protein kick by switching the filling with sprouted chickpea salad or sunflower seed "tuna" salad. If you don't have a dehydrator you can use the sloppy joe filling (without dehydrating the mushrooms) and use a collard wrap instead, though you will loose some protein points. The pumpkin seeds can also be replaced with nuts of your choice!

For the wrap:

1 1/2 cup peas - 12 g
1/2 cup flax seeds - 15 g
meat from 1 young coconut - 13 g
1 cup coconut water - 2 g
1/2 cup of apple pulp (leftover from juicing)
1 cup spinach - 1 g
1/2 teaspoon spirulina - 1 g
1/2 teaspoon moringa - .5 g
pink Himalayan salt to taste

For the filling:

1 1/2 cup mushrooms - 3g
1 teaspoon coconut aminos
3/4 cup raisins - 1.5 g
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds - 21 g
2 medium tomatoes - 2 g
1 cup carrots - 1 g
1/2 cup red onion  - .5 g
2 dates, pitted - 1 g
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast - 8 g
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper
1/2 cup sauerkraut - .5 g
2 avocados - 8 g
1 cup spinach - 1 g
pink Himalayan salt to taste

Total protein: 92 g
Total protein per person (feeds 2 people): 46 g
Total protein per sloppy joe (recipe makes 4 total): 23 g

Open coconut, drain and save water, and scrape meat from inside being sure to dispose of any wood chips. Put flax seeds into a spice grinder and grind into a fine powder. Put all wrap ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. This may require stopping to scrape the sides of the blender with a spatula and blending again. Pour mixture into wrap sheets, smooth down evenly with a spatula, and place in dehydrator. (There should be enough for two trays.) Dehydrate for 1 hour at 115 degrees, then bring temperature down to 95 degrees and dehydrate for 10 hours. Peel off sheets, flip over, and dehydrate for an addition hour at 115 degrees. Slice each wrap in half so you have a total of 4 equal pieces.

Marinate mushrooms in coconut aminos for at least 15 minutes. Place mushrooms on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115 for 1 hour. (It is best to plan this along with the flipping of the wrap if you have time restraints). In a food processor combine the raisins, tomatoes, onion, carrots, apple cider vinegar, chili pepper, cumin, chipotle pepper, nutritional yeast, and salt. Blend into a thick sauce. Add pumpkin seeds to blender and pulse a few times to reach desired texture. Take mushrooms out of dehydrator and add to blender. Give a few quick pulses until you have a meaty texture.

Slice avocados. Fold wraps into a cone shape and fill bottom of each with a few spinach leaves. Scoop in even amounts of sloppy joe mixture. Top each with equal amounts sliced avocado and sauerkraut. (Make sure to drain to avoid excess liquid.) If desired for a less sloppy experience, wrap in wax paper for more convenient eating and less clean up. Enjoy!

Raw Vegan Hot and Sour Soup

Yesterday I thought I had really bad allergies, but since both my husband and son have the same symptoms today that I had yesterday I am pretty sure it is a virus. It happens. Especially after having a birthday party with lots of kids running around. I also ate some cooked vegan food this weekend. The specialty vegan cupcakes we ordered were delicious, but not gluten-free, had processed sugar and cooked oils my body is not used to. This was a bad choice on my part, so I think next time I will skip the cupcakes and stick with the strawberries instead. I focus on raw foods not to live up to someone else's standards or show how extreme I am. I do it because I feel better when I do!

So back to feeling better... my favorite sick meal has been hot and sour soup. It used to be hard enough to find a vegetarian version of this recipe, but this raw vegan version is a real treat. The mushrooms are a bit versatile. Mushrooms are a good one to cook if you feel you need to cook something, as raw mushrooms can be hard to digest. I feel that marinating them and dehydrating breaks them down in the same way, but if you do not have a dehydrator I recommend cooking them at your lowest temperature and with coconut oil instead of olive oil. If you choose to cook your mushrooms, you have a wider variety that you can choose from, but if you want to stay raw portobello are the best to use. Here is my raw version:

For the mushrooms:

1 cup portobello mushrooms
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon coconut aminos
pink Himalayan salt to taste

Soup base:

2 tomatoes
1 cup sauerkraut juice
2 cups water
1/2 cup coconut aminos
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon coconut vinegar
1/2 cup red onion
3 dates, pitted
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon fennel powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
 pink Himalayan salt to taste

Soup texture:

1/4 cup of red onion (additional)
1 handful cilantro
1 small handful nettles
1 small handful dulse
dash of red pepper flakes

Slice mushrooms and place in a bowl with olive oil, coconut aminos, and salt. Allow to marinate for 15 to 30 minutes. Place on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at 115 degrees for 30 minutes. Place all soup base ingredients in a blender and blend until even. Finely chop the remaining onion, cilantro, and dulse (if not in flake form). Add onion, cilantro, dulse, nettles, red pepper flakes, and mushrooms to the soup mixture. Serve at room temperature and garnish as desired. 

5-Ingredient Raw Vegan Almond Butter Balls

It has been a rough week to be a Marylander. There has been a lot to take in and try to process. My thoughts have been pretty consumed and I haven't had much time to or focus to dedicate to posting.

One thing I wanted to mention, in relation to the raw foods movement, is that I have been encouraged by how diverse this community is. Health is an aspiration which crosses over all categorizations. Easily people can get sucked in to what things are and the way things are, but within the raw foods movement I have felt inspired by the dedication of its participants to rise above and take ownership of their own well-being. I have seen people from varying ethnic, racial, religious, and economical backgrounds embracing dietary changes, as well as mental perspectives and global awareness, to improve the quality of their lives.

That being said, there are communities which are not able to access this information as easily as we can. There are food deserts within cities where local food marts offer mainly soda, sticky buns, and cigarillos. Transportation may be costly and money may be scarce, but worse is that aspirations are low. It is harder in these communities to succeed. Many have tried and failed and become discouraged to continue to try.

I am not bringing this information to a food blog to be negative. My intentions are just the opposite. Be supportive of the individuals who are working to improve their communities, even if it is not your community. This may require stepping outside of your comfort zone. It will likely mean going somewhere you are unsure of or being the only person in a location who looks the way you do. Improvement is universal, but guidance, inspiration, and love help it spread.

Here is a quick treat made from only 5 ingredients. May it bring a little sweetness to those who could use some right now.

1 cup almond meal (leftover from making almond milk, or else you can use 1 cup soaked almonds)
6 dates, pitted
1 cup nut butter (I used sunflower seed butter)
1 tablespoon maca powder (optional for health benefits)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape the sides on the food processor and blend again as needed. Once desired consistency is reached, spoon out portions and roll into ball shapes. If desired, dust additional maca on plate and roll balls in it until coated. Enjoy. 

Raw Easy Green Latte

I used to use coffee as a reward. At work it would be a treat on a boring day. On the weekends it would be a pick-me-up while I got the shopping done. Between avoid caffeine, dairy, soy, and chemical additives, coffee is no longer in my diet. But this new reward fills my cravings in the exact same way!

I used homemade nut milk, but you can use store-bought if you are strapped for time. Keep in mind store bought nut milks add a lot of different things into their milks than just nuts. You can make your own at home in about 15 minutes. All you need is 1 cup of nuts (preferably soaked) to 4 cups of water (preferably filtered). Blend, strain through a nut milk bag and store in a glass bottle. It really is that easy, and then you can use the leftover pulp for more recipes!

I have written about the different sweetener choices in previous blogs, but I also want to mention that I stumbled across a new option. There is now a mock honey which is apple-based and does not involve bees. I personally use raw honey, and feel happy with that decision morally and health-wise, but as many people have different convictions it is good to know the products that are available on the market (or in the market!)

I love this drink because it is so delicious, but it has so many health benefits too. Matcha has a high antioxidant content. Spirulina is high in protein and anti-inflammatory. Diatomaceous earth is a natural source of silica. And moringa, well it just has way too many health benefits for me to even want to get into right now, but among those it is listed as high in calcium and magnesium. And I swear, it fills the Starbucks void.

1 tablespoon matcha powder (the higher grade the better)
1 tablespoon sweetener (honey, agave, coconut nectar, or maple syrup)
1 teaspoon spirulina
1 teaspoon moringa
1 teaspoon diatomaceous earth
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
16 ounces nut milk (I used cashew)

Use a glass container with a lid. Combine all ingredient, adding milk last. Put on lid and shake well. Enjoy!

The Surprising Enviormental Benefits of a Raw or Whole Foods Diet

As a reminder, I would like to state that I would like to see people adopt the diet that is most healthy for the environment and for themselves. While I do not believe this need to mean 100% raw for everyone all of the time, I do believe in focusing on a heavily raw, plant-based diet which primarily consists of living foods.

Adopting this lifestyle has opened me up to a lot of unexpected experiences. In ridding my diet of processed foods I have lost 40 lbs., rid myself or boils, and stopped incessant stomach cramping. Aside from the physical, I have felt much more aware about my freedoms of choice, and how the smallest everyday actions can impact a larger picture. I am in no way environmentally perfect, but I am aware and set on self-improvement. My small personal goal today is to start bringing silverware to work everyday instead of using plastic utensils. Little changes can add up.

In honor of Earth Day I have written a list of some of the positive environmental impacts of adopting a raw vegan, plant-based, or whole foods diet.

1. Avoiding meat and dairy saves water and natural habitat. The UN itself has released a report about the positive environmental impacts of a vegan diet, stating that meat- and dairy-heavy diets are "unsustainable". To raise 2.2 lbs. of beef takes 16,000 gallons of water, while it only takes 18 gallons to produce an apple. 70% of the world's fresh water consumption is from agriculture, "particularly the meat and dairy industry". Rainforests in South America are cut down to create pastures for cattle farming. By taking animals products off the menu you are no longer financially supporting the corporate monster which is reeking havoc on our planet.

2. Farming over factories. Raw food diets rely primarily on fresh fruits and vegetables. Imagine what the food industry would look like if everyone adopted this lifestyle. Without stuffing ourselves on processed food, we would forgo the smokestack and conveyor belt for soil and greenery. Fruit yields the most crops per acre compare to other farmed foods, so we wouldn't be making land sacrifices either. In fact with more greenery we would be improving our air quality.

3. Less cooking oil run-off residue. When cooking food in oil, a lot will be leftover in the pan. It is easy not to think much of this and just pour it down the drain, but that doesn't really get rid off it. In fact, look how it has collected in sewers underneath London! If an average household has a bit of oil waste, imagine how much fast food restaurants have day after day! With a raw food diet oil consumption is minimal and typical eaten. There is nothing left at the bottom of the pan to wonder what to do with!

4. Less individual material waste. I was pleasantly surprised that switching to a primarily raw food diet has decreased our trash pile. Sure, we still buy some pre-packaged raw food snacks and bagged health powders, but most of our weekly groceries are produce! Having a pile of apple cores and avocado pits instead of plastic wrappers and styrofoam makes me feel much better about my choices. We also tend to buy in bulk more often, which also cuts down on packaging. When you are driving down the road and get upset about the litter are you thinking, "I wonder what jerk dropped that banana peel" or "I wonder what jerk dropped that McDonald's bag?"

5. Energy savings in the home. Not cooking means not turning on the oven or the microwave. It may sound simple, but that is an energy saver right there! Dehydrators, blenders, and food processors can use up a lot of energy too, so don't stress about making every single meal a big production. Fruit and salads are often the best choices you can make!