So, ask and it is given…

I will be filming my DVD homestudy course next week, and I’ve got a special pre-order offer for you.

Click here to check it out.

I’m offering up 100 on pre-order at a huge discount and there are currently 28 left as the other 72 have been reserved for current customers.

Why am I offering such a big discount?

As I mention here these things cost quite a bit to film professionally so by pre-ordering you’re helping me produce the program itself, and in return I’m offering you the program at HALF PRICE.

Click here to check it out.

So in my quest to make this information available to as many people as possible (and therefore help you get to the next level of your raw food journey) I’m interested to find out if you’d like me to do that? Would you like a home-study version of my class?

Would you benefit from being able to ’sit in’ on one of my courses from the comfort of your own home?

If so, what sort of things would you like to learn about?

My courses have specific content at the moment but if there’s enough interest I’ll do this and be open for including extra information based on what it is you actually want to learn.

So do me a favour and in the comments box below leave me a comment about whether you think this is a good idea. And also tell me what you’d like to learn, it’ll be really interesting for me to see :-)

[Update: Seems like there's quite a conversation going on about this on my Facebook pages here and here.]

Ever bought a recipe book and never used the recipes?

Before I got into raw food I was definitely suffering from this problem…

Full of enthusiasm for cooking (they were traditional cookbooks) but when it came down to it I just felt a little overwhelmed. That little voice inside my head would say, “don’t even try THIS recipe, it’ll never come out like the picture.”

So to celebrate the launch of my next 2 eBooks I’ve put together 3 tutorial videos that can be viewed online that will get you started and actually help you to USE the recipes.

Check them out here:

www.RawRecipeSeries.com

At the time of writing there’s a little over 3 days left for the launch event so get yourself over here and check ‘em out…

www.RawRecipeSeries.com

Oh, by the way, you’ll be able to view the videos again and again as many times as you like so you can come back to them and make sure you’re making these recipes as I intended :-) Take a look
www.RawRecipeSeries.com

Click ‘more’ for full recipe.

For the marinated vegetables

3c portabello mushrooms
1 1/2c aubergine (eggplant), peeled & diced small
1c peas
1/2c broccoli, cut from the stem into 1cm mini-florets
6 medium tomatoes, diced small
1T lemon juice
2T tamari
2T olive oil
2T curry powder
2t salt

• In a large bowl mix the mushrooms, aubergine, peas, broccoli and tomatoes in lemon juice, olive oil, curry powder, and salt.

• Spread onto a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for 2 – 3 hours at 105 degrees F.

For the curry sauce

1 red pepper
1 clove garlic
1t lemon
1/2T tamarind pulp*
1cm cube of fresh ginger
1/2c fresh coriander
1T curry powder (try to get curry powder without salt in it)
1/2c fresh coconut from a brown coconut
1/4c water
Salt to taste, depending on whether your curry powder had salt in it. Start with 1/4t.

* Tamarind paste can be made by soaking tamarind in water until it goes soft (the seedless type you can buy in a packet in fine for this) and straining through a sieve. If you don’t have any tamarind available, simply leave out.

• Blend all ingredients in a high power blender until smooth and creamy. You may need to add more water depending on what type of coconut you used.

• Mix the softened dehydrated vegetables with the sauce and return to the dehydrator in a large covered bowl to warm before serving.

For the parsnip rice

2c peeled fresh parsnips
3T mac nuts
3T pine nuts
1T olive oil
2t agave nectar
1t lemon juice
2 pinches salt
1T white miso

• Pulse in the food processor until rice-like.

For the spiced mango chutney

2 medium mangoes
2 pinches salt
2t lemon Juice
1t apple cider vinegar
1t minced ginger
1/2t cumin

• Finely dice one mango and set aside.

• Blend all remaining ingredients in a high power blender.

• Add the diced mango to the blender and blend on low for a few seconds.

Despite all the food I can make, despite all the skills I have in the kitchen and despite all the amazing raw foods that are out there that don’t even require that much time in the kitchen, I still get to a point where I just don’t fancy anything. My brain gives me reasons not to eat raw, not to put together that kale and tahini salad (my current fave) and not to make my favourite juice.

And that’s when the ‘naughty’ foods start calling out to me…

It’s also when I realise that it’s not all about the food.

It’s when I realise that I’ve lost my raw food mojo.

I call it mojo, but what that translates to is feeling uninspired – it’s the mental ‘juice’ that keeps my raw food journey inspiring, exciting and THRILLING. It’s connecting back with the reason I got into this lifestyle in the first place.

It’s the seeing magical synchronicities happen every single day, it’s the connecting with something that no other way of eating has given me.

When my raw food mojo goes, rather than hit the foods I don’t really want, I use it as a flag to get some inspiration. That may come in many forms and it’s different for everyone. Sometimes it’s a conversation with a friend, sometimes it’s creating a new recipe and sometimes it’s reading an inspiring blog post.

If this sounds familiar, and if you’re needing some raw inspiration to get your mojo back I can’t even recommend this enough…

My friend and someone who has been a massive help and motivator to me along my raw journey both professionally and personally, Karen Knowler, is doing a free teleclass this coming Wednesday entitled:

The 7 Must-Know Steps To Take Your raw Food Journey To The Stars – and Beyond!

If you don’t come off this call feeling like you can reach the stars and with your head bursting with ideas and possibilities of your own potential then, quite frankly, there’s something wrong with you :-)

All joking aside though, I know this call will be fantastic – so at least have a listen in and see what nuggets you can pick up on.

The call is Wednesday 5th August 9pm UK, 1pm Pacific, 2pm Mountain, 3pm Central, 4pm Eastern.

Get all the details here.

Not only will you get some amazing inspiration, 10 recipes and an MP3 recording (all free btw) but you’ll also hear about an event I’m going to be at with Karen that will be a game-changer for you.

So go get your raw food mojo back here.

It’s the last opportunity to come on a course that’s going to be held at my house before we move all classes to the new London venue.

I’d love to have you along – please check out the information by clicking here

[Update: This place has now gone but please take a look at the video below and check out the other dates I'm offering.]

I’ve also just posted a video of an interview of me, talking about the class, which you can watch below.

If you can’t view the video properly click here.

One of my most popular classes is my Dinner Party Training Experience. Below is a little video where you’ll hear me telling you a little bit about the class and also hear from participants of the course itself to see what they thought.

Once you’ve seen the video and you want more info, simply head over here.

Remember to head over here to book and for more info.

This recipe was heavily inspired by these. This time the cacao part is much more ‘crackly’ and the whole thing is very reminiscent of the choc-ices I used to have when I was younger.

Click ‘more’ for full recipe.

For the ice-cream

1 1/2c cashews
1/3c agave
1 vanilla pod, insides scraped out
3c almond milk
3T maca root powder
2t lemon juice
Pinch salt

• Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.
• Pour into an ice-cream maker. Alternatively you can pour into a container and place in the freezer to set hard. Once it’s frozen, cut into chunks and run through a juicer with the blank homogenising plate on. This gets rid of any ice crystals that may have formed.
• When ice-cream is soft enough to work with shape it into a cylinder (a metal ring is great for this) and re-freeze.

For the cacao crackles

1/2c cacao butter
1/4c cacao powder
1/4c agave
3T cacao nibs

• Blend all ingredients except the cacao nibs in a high-speed blender.
• Use a spoon to drop small amounts of the mixture onto a non-stick surface, such as a Paraflexx sheet, to form circles only slightly bigger than the ice-cream cylinders.
• Leave to set hard.

Assembly

• Take the ice-cream cylinders from the freezer and let them soften slightly for a few minutes. That way the next stage will work better.
• Sandwich each of the cylinders between 2 pieces of the cacao crackles. You may want to return them to the freezer at this point so the whole thing freezes together as one.

1. I’m going to be running my 1 day class, The Raw Chef’s Dinner Party Training Experience, in Wicklow, Ireland this coming Saturday 23rd May. It’s my first trip to Ireland so I’m really looking forward to it. You can see details of the class here.

Bookings are being taken for the last few places remaining (maximum 30 people). The event is bookable through Health Habits Cafe on 0404 68645/086 3961556.

2. I’m also going to be catering for Philip McClusky’s return to the UK next month. He’s doing what is shaping up to be quite an evening with talks by him and Shazzie, food (by me), chocolate and much fun and laughter!

I’ve yet to meet Philip but everyone who I speak to says he’s an amazing speaker with an amazing story.

Check out the details below, we’d love to see you there…

Click ‘more’ for full recipe and ‘how to’ diagram.

For the samosa wrappers

T = tablespoon
t = teaspoon
c = cup measurement

5c peeled courgette (zucchini)
3T olive oil
3t Lime juice
1/2t chili powder
2t garam masala
1t salt
1/4c flax meal*

• Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.

• Add flax meal and blend again until smooth.

• Pour mixture onto a non-stick dehydrator sheet and spread evenly into a square. you can choose the size, but for the ones in the photo the mixture was spread 26cm x 26cm square.

• Dehydrate for 8 hours at 105 degrees F, or until able to peel of the sheet.

• Once the dehydrator sheets are removed, return to the dehydrator for 30 mins, until both sides are dry to the touch but still pliable.

* Flax meal is flax seed that have been ground in a coffee grinder or similar, to produce a fine flour.

For the samosa filling

1c courgette (zucchini), peeled
3T water
1c sunflower seeds
1t dark miso
1T lemon juice
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2t fresh ginger, minced
2T garam masala
1/4t turmeric
1t agave
8 sun-dried tomato halves
1/2t salt

• Grind all ingredients in a food processor, leaving some texture to the mixture.

• Add the following ingredients and pulse* in:

1/2c tightly-packed spinach, chopped small
2 sliced spring onions (green onions)
1/4c diced tomatoes
1/4c coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
1/2c peas

*Pulsing in done by switching the on/off switch several times in short bursts, so to chop the ingredients, leaving plenty of texture. Some food processors actually have a pulse button.

To assemble

Step 1 – Cut the wrappers into strips approximately 7cm by 25cm, and fold over the corner of one end.

Steps 2, 3 & 4 – Fold the pointed end created by the first fold over as in step 4.

Step 5 – You will now be able to open the wrapper up into a cone.

Step 6 – Fill with the mixture.

Step 7 – Tuck the corner in so it doesn’t stick out.

Steps 8, 9 & 10 – Start folding the remaining part of the wrapper around so it forms that familiar triangle shape.

Steps 11 & 12 – Wet the remaining corner of the wrapper and fold into place to seal the samosa.

Step 13 – The completed samosa.

• The samosas can be eaten as they are or can be returned to the dehydrator for as long as you like. I like to do this as they will be warm and ready to eat in a few hours.

For the cucumber mint raita

1/4c cashew nuts
1c cucumber
2t agave nectar
1t apple cider vinegar
1/2t salt
¼c mint
1/2 clove garlic
1/2t cumin
1t lime Juice
Pinch cayenne

• Blend all ingredients in a high-power blender.

Tip: for a really nice dip for crudités, add extra cashews or avocado and blend to get desired thickness.