Sep
16
Raw Vegan Potlucks popular with…4 year olds?
It seems that way. According to a Visalia Times-Delta article, 4-year old Elijah Cruz will choose a vegan potluck over a birthday party any day. Cruz’s father, Ritchie, has teamed up with a fellow raw vegan, Guy Graham, with hopes to host raw vegan potlucks the second Saturday of every month. So what’s on the menu? Well, 15 people attended the potluck last Saturday and they enjoyed dishes such as raw burritos, zucchini squash spaghetti, and raw sushi made with raw seaweed, carrots and cucumbers. There was even a chocolate banana pie. Sounds delish!
Graham is a pretty big advocate for raw veganism saying, “My friend Richie told me about the benefits of eating raw. I didn’t really think it was for me, but I tried it and my sclerosis went away. My memory got better, my mind got clearer and I stopped having seizures.”
The article also offers up some raw recipes to please your palate. There’s a rawfredo sauce (alfredo sauce) recipe, raw macaroons recipe, and a refried almonds recipe. All sound pretty good. I think I’m going to try that refried almonds one, you can’t loose with almonds I’m convinced.
For more information about the vegan potlucks in Visalia, California, or to attend one of the events, call (530) 339-5001 or (559) 393-0399, or e-mail Richie Cruz at arevivalfamily@yahoo.com.
I’m hearing more and more about raw vegans. In case you don’t know, raw vegans do not eat food that has been cooked above 118 degrees Fahrenheit and, of course, no animal derived products. I find the raw lifestyle to be really interesting. And the food can be really good as well. We’ve offered up some raw recipes here such as Asian-Style Daikon noodles, Coconut Breakfast Cakes, and Maple Creme that are all really tasty. In fact, I own and use Ani Phyo’s book, Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, all the time. It is an awesome book for a beginner raw foodist. And I’ve told you about my experience with Juliano’s Raw – the uncook book, which I didn’t love so much.
As for myself, I try to eat one or two raw meals a day. I attempted the raw lifestyle several years ago, however, decided that it wasn’t for me. That said, there are tons of great resources on the internet for raw recipes, helpful how-to’s, FAQ’s, and raw food blogs about others experiences with raw eating.
So what’s your experiences with raw vegan food? Are you down with the uncooking?
Going raw completely changed my life. I went high raw upon seeing the film Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days. I had been suffering from pre-diabetes after my pregnancy. Since going high raw, my blood sugar completely normalized, I no longer have hypoglycemic episodes, I lost 25 lbs. and have more energy — all while eating fabulous raw entrees, even desserts, and giving up my multiple cup a day coffee habit. Maybe not for everyone, but for me it has been a revelation.
Raw food can be delicious, especially the desserts. I’ve had great luck with most things from Kristen Suzanne’s raw dessert cookbook (and her other cookbooks as well). The brownies are great and my extremely picky boyfriend admitted he couldn’t tell the cheesecake away from a normal non-raw non-vegan cheesecake! It is much higher in fat than a “standard” vegan cheesecake, though.
As for savoury dishes, it makes you think outside of the box, as to how you can use veggies or what kind of textures you can create. Never thought about “ricing” veggies before, or pureeing raw cauliflower into crumbs (which is delicious with good seasonings). The raw food ketchup we’ve often brought to friends – though we tend to call it “sundried tomato relish” to make it sound less weird.