Coconut Cracking

Young Thai Coconut

For those of you out there curious about opening young Thai coconuts, here’s a little how to video demonstrating the “finesse” technique. Other techniques include the “whacking”, “hacking”, “cracking” and “smacking”… none of which are featured during this video. The Live Food Experience does not take any responsibility for those who sustain injuries while attempting to open a coconut. If attempting to open a coconut for the first time be sure to use a quality sharp knife. Coconuts eat cheap knives for breakfast. Also be sure to have some one standing by un case of a coco-mishap.

If you have a Young Thai Coconut Experience you wish to share, be sure to post it in the comments below.

Be safe, and Keep It Live!

Chef Franky G’s Food Challenge 2010

On Saturday I was having a little meditation session, you know quiet time, OK, I was napping while sitting up. While in this peaceful nap state I was thinking about an “Iron Chef” type challenge show that featured rawfood chefs, but not so much a competition as a collaboration. It was a pleasant little concept. When I finished my daydream I checked my email to see that my little dream had come true… to a certain extent, in the form of Food Challenge 2010 from Chef Frank Giglio. First off, let me tell you about Frank Giglio. Frank is an amazing chef, athlete and an all around swell guy. He was the first apprentice to greet me when I stumbled into the dorms at The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in the dark of night… actually there was another apprentice there as well, but Frank was my roomie for the last few weeks of his apprenticeship, so he gets top billing. That was back in September of 2007. Franky was offered a managing chef position at the TOL cafe and it was during that time that he taught me a thing or two about cheffing Franky G style… beet pesto, who would have thought it would taste so good?

So what’s the Food Challenge 2010? Here’s an excerpt from his site:

Take a look into your cupboard or fridge and pick a few ingredients that you don’t know how to use, or that need to be used up.  With the list, I will then create a recipe for you.  You then try it out, maybe take a picture, then send it back to me.  If the dish was a hit, then I get a thumbs up!

So I’m sending out my challenge in video form to Chef Frank. If he wants to send one back I welcome it. And for those of you at home… send in your challenge to me or Frank if you’d like.

Keep It Live!  Adam

Marinade My Mushroom

BBQ Eggplant and Shrooms

They say the secrets in the sauce, which is true. But the magic is in the marinade. The trick to making raw foods that really knock the socks off of skeptics and lovers alike is dialing in a boot shootin marinade. Good news kids, most marinades are raw and vegan already. The basic ingredients are an acid, an oil, a sweetener, salt and spices. Unpasteurized apple cider vinegar or citrus juice is your acid. You can choose from any number of organic cold pressed oils. Use agave, palm sugar or yacon syrup if your hardcore raw vegan. And if you’re not so strict use raw honey or maple syrup for sweeteners. Use a healthy sun dried sea salt or Himalayan salt.  Spices… take your pick of chemical free options.

The recipe below is a BBQ style sauce/marinade which I used to marinade eggplant and crimini mushrooms. I marinaded these guys over night and then warmed up the mixture in the dehydrator for a couple hours. The results were delicious fabulous goodness.

This recipe is featured in my soon to be released recipe book entitled “The Live Food Experience”. Subscribe to my blog and be the first kid on your block to have your very own “Live Food Experience”.

BBQ Marinade

Amount	Measure	Ingredient	Preparation / Option
3/4	C	sundried tomatoes	soaked 2 hours
1	C	water	use STS water
1/4	C	palm sugar
3	T	ACV
2	T	tamari
1	T	miso
2	cloves	garlic
2	t	ginger	minced
1	t	chili powder
1	t	paprika
1	pinch	salt
Blend all the ingredients. Pour marinade over chopped mushrooms or veggies. Marinade overnight. Add marinade veggies to salads, soups and wraps.

Canadian Adventures 2 – Mousse Crossing

Welcome to Ontario

Previously on “Canadian Adventures” from The Live Food Experience; Adam was scarfing down a pomelo at 34,000 feet on his way to visit Heathy in Canada. Although the oversized citrus managed to put up a fight, it was subdued by Adam prior to his arrival in Winnipeg. Fun stuff traveling. Actually it can be stressful and tiring,

Warm Fire

but when there are loving folks on the other end to greet you it makes it all worth it. I safely arrived in Canada around midnight and was collected from the airport by Heathy and her mother Elaine. There warm welcome offset the freezing conditions outside. I tucked in all my loose ends and gathered up all my Homeland Insecurity searched luggage and embarked upon my first adventure in Canada. That first evening in Winnipeg we stayed at the home of family friends Anya and Francis who own and operate a European shoe store and bed and breakfast. The shoe store and the bed and breakfast are separate businesses although they may honor a request for Birkenstock in bed.

Cedar

I awoke the next morning to a snowy wonderland. I was anxious to get out in the cold so Heathy and I took a walk up the snowy neighborhood road. It was a short walk. We were cold and we needed to get on the road and back to her home 5 hours away in Sioux Lookout, Ontario.

Mousse Crossing

What was waiting for me in Sioux Lookout? A warm fire, lovely dinner, happy doggies and the most amazing dessert; Strawberry Lime Mousse Cake. We now join our program that is currently in progress… Travels with Heathy:

Fermenting Fun: Kimchi Part 2

Enjoy the spicy and dramatic conclusion of the Kimchi Saga. Health never tasted so good… although kimchi and kraut can be a bit stinky.

Apple Buckwheat Breakfast

unsprouted buckwheat

Sprouted buckwheat is a really magical food. Most people know buckwheat in terms of buckwheat pancakes but sprouted buckwheat ain’t the same thing. Buckwheat isn’t even a grain like the name “wheat” might imply. It’s a “achene” which is a technical term you can investigate. For simplicity sake let’s just call it a seed that is unrelated to wheat therefore having no gluten. Buckwheat flour used for baking and raw buckwheat groats are unsprouted and contain enzyme inhibitors which need to cooked or sprouted to deactivate. Newbie rawfooders may initially have a bad experience working with buckwheat if they don’t sprout it. Buckwheat needs to be thoroughly rinsed, soaked and sprouted. Check out this post regarding sprouting buckwheat.

Once you have sprouted the buckwheat you have a very versatile ingredient for food prep. Don’t be shy when sprouting buckwheat. The sprouted groats can be dehydrated and stored for later use in recipes.

sprouted buckwheat

Buckwheat can have a dominant flavor and texture if not used in the right proportions. When I use it in granola  I typically add 3 times the amount of nuts or seeds to buckwheat in the recipe. You’ll know if you have too much buckwheat in a recipe because it will taste bland and have a chalky feel in the mouth.

Buckwheat is a warming food which makes it a great breakfast option during cold months. It is high in calcium and also a great source of rutin which helps to strengthen capillaries. If you bruise easily or are wanting to rid yourself of varicose veins, add buckwheat to your diet.

Here’s a quick and easy buckwheat recipe. I used apple for this version but banana or pear can easily be substituted. I added hemp oil to give the porridge the satisfying effect when fats are added to a recipe. You can add a thick nut or seed mylk instead or a nut butter. Have fun with the recipe and adapt it to your liking.

Sprouted Buckwheat Apple Porridge

¼ C sprouted buckwheat

3 T shredded coconut

1 apple – cut up

2 T gojis or raisins – mix in at end

1 T maple syrup, honey or agave

1 T sweet cinnamon or 1 t cinnamon

1 T mesquite

1 T hemp oil

1 t maca

pinch of Himalayan salt

Combine in all ingredients except for raisins/gojis in food processor.

Coming off the Fast – Do it Right or Don’t Fast

Finish Right - Smoothie

Now that you’ve finished your fast, what do you do? What “not to do” is to return to business as usual. You’ve just honored your body and done some deep healing. Don’t blow the benefits with a thoughtless food binge.

Properly coming off the fast/feast is more important than doing the fast/feast itself. Great care must be taken not to undo all the benefits of the fast. Take an amount of days equal to the length of the fast/feast to reintroduce solid foods into your diet. A 1 day fast requires 1 day of reintroduction. Your stomach will have shrunk during the fast so start with small portions and listen to your body. A fast is meant to reset your body to its optimal functioning. If you force yourself to eat the way you ate prior to the fast you might as well not fast at all. Simple foods in small portions is your key to success whether coming off a fast or just living life. If you can apply this rule to your life you will experience health and longevity.

Heathy and I went 4 days and broke the fast on day 5 with citrus. We’ve continued having juice each day while eating fruit and doing green smoothies. The smoothie above was made with Swiss chard, spinach, strawberries, apple, lecithin and a superfood blend of maca, lucuma, mesquite, cinnamon and bee pollen. It was really creamy and smooth.

My Typical break-fast meals for 7 day fast – no fats until day 5:

• Start each morning with hot water and lemon or  water and apple cider vinegar

Day 1 – water, tea and green juice through out day

Salud!

• morning: 1/2 of a ripe papaya
• mid-day: 1/2 of a ripe papaya or melon
• evening: green juice or miso soup

Day 2 – water, tea and green juice through out day

• morning: oranges, grapefruit or pomelo
• mid-day: oranges, grapefruit or pomelo
• evening: apples, green juice or miso soup

Day 3 – water, tea and green juice through out day

• morning: melon
• mid-day: green smoothie- apple, berries, spinach, maca, lucuma
• evening: apples, green juice or miso soup

Day 4 – water, tea and green juice through out day

• morning: diced apples, soaked gojis and cinnamon
• mid-day: mixed green salad with light vinegar herb dressing
• evening: miso soup and sea veggie salad with kimchi

Day 5 – water, tea and green juice through out day

• morning: diced apples, soaked gojis and cinnamon
• mid-day: mixed green salad with avocado and a light vinegar herb dressing
• evening: blended soup, gazpacho,with avocado

After day 5 you may slowly introduce oils into soups, sauces and dressings. It’s best to slowly reintroduce dehydrated foods, nuts, seeds and nut butters. Any heavy desserts like pies, chocolates and ice creams should be introduced after day 7. If you can’t hold out that long be sure the portion you eat is 1/3 of a serving and listen to how your body responds. Be conscious while eating and establish new health supporting eating habits.

Check out my next post when I share with you the details of our Liver/Gallbladder Flush… never a dull moment in Canada!

Day 1 Canada Juice Fast

Juice Set Up

After a long night of feasting on the last of our raw desserts… ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate mousse and a variety of sauces; we began our juice fast at the stroke of midnight. I don’t recommend binging on desserts or anything else prior to a fast. I’ve actually heard stories of people having a last meal of McDonald’s before starting a fast and it turns my stomach, but

Juice Queen

everyone makes their own choices and reaps the results.

The morning began with licorice tea followed by green juice an hour or so later. We got a late start to the day only getting up after 10am and making the juice by noon. The morning juice combo that filled both of our cups consisted of:

• 2 large cucumbers
• 4 celery ribs
• 2 kale leaves
• 2 romain leaves
• a nub of fresh ginger
• 1 quarter of a lemon, peel and all

All of this went through the juicer. I lined the pulp container with the seed mylk bag and as you can see I was able to collect a decent amount of juice by squeezing the pulp.

Squeeze that pulp

The rest of the days liquids will include hot tea and more green juice. Heathy is talking about a blend of celery, ginger, lemon and apple for later today. I can’t wait.