my RAW adventures

mel vs ambarella

2012-02-12T12:52:00.002+01:00

really, this vietnamese saturday market turns out to be a treasure trove of fruity gemstones. look what i found there...

well, as i am almost positive these aren't olives... my best guess is that they are ambarellas (the dutch wikipedia has more pics than other languages. go holland!)

since they're not ripe yet i'm just gonna have to wait it out.

have a happy sunday everybody!

milk apple musings

2012-02-10T09:45:00.003+01:00

dear friends and readers, again... sorry for not blogging more often.

anyway, listen up, 'cause i got newwwwws for ya ;)

i discovered this "secret" vietnamese "farmer's market"-thing in the middle of duesseldorf!

apparently it's a big import/export company. once a week (on saturdays) they are open to the general public, so people like you and me can shop there.

so what did i find there?

* fresh young coconuts for a f***ing bargain price (1,79€ a piece! sold currently at asian markets throughout the city for 2,49€)

* a really rare treat: my beloved STARAPPLE... one of my favorite fruits that i discovered in honolulu

geeeez.... how could i not have known about this market sooner?!

the starapple (crysophyllum cainito) is also called milk apple bc the fruit leaks a sweet milky fluid.

the edible part of the fruit has two "components": a moist inside surrounded by a tougher outer part. while the inside is like a rambutan or lychee, the outer flesh (the part leaking the "milk") is like an unripe banana.

overall it tastes like a thai sweet rice pudding. truly unique.

i've been trying to get my hands on some starapple seeds for a while now, without luck though. well, now i have a handful of them at my disposal!

could that be a crack in the seed... possibly a beginning of a sprout?

on a different note...

i believe 2012 will bring along many changes. i can feel it in my bones. just like the first weak sprouts fighting their way against all odds, new chances will occur. possibilities galore. there is love and joy for all of us out there.

have a grrrreat weekend :)

heartfelt @ rohkostgalerie

2011-12-08T07:08:00.002+01:00

hey everybody!

a cool new raw food online store just launched. and they feature.... TADA...

my chocolate!

http://rohkostgalerie.de/Nach-Marke/heartfelt/

have a gorgeous day!

hello again

2011-12-04T14:38:00.002+01:00

hey everybody,

thanks for still reading my blog, esp since i've not been posting for month now. i was on the road a lot. can't say that i'm back now or that i'll blog more often... but i have lots of good intentions.

i really apprechiate all the feedback i'm still receiving from you guys. thank you!

meanwhile, do check out boris' b.alive blog. he is a raw food chef from berlin who continues to amaze us all with his creations.

check it out:

http://baliveblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/matthew-kenney-academy-level-1-finals_03.html?mid=5450213

have a grrreat sunday everybody.

love,

mel

filled cucumber 1928 vs 2011

2011-06-05T20:03:00.004+02:00

guess what? i found this raw recipe book from 1928, simply called "die rohkost küche", written by lisbeth ankenbrand in a secondhand bookshop!

raw food was popular in gemany around the early 1900s. dr bircher benner had his famous clinic in switzerland and the lebensreform movement brought reformhäuser (basically health stores, still selling supplements and organic foods) into bigger cities.

"gefüllte gurke", filled cucumber 1928

so almost 100 years later the recipe still rocks (although i tweaked it a little)

raw chocolate reloaded

2011-04-26T15:06:00.004+02:00

despite all my good intentions (mono-diet-wise) i felt like making chocolate yesterday. i've had some new plans for raw choc for a while now, so i dug in.

it a raw praline bar... so sweet it makes you thirsty.

inside is an almost liquid filling. you can spot the center-layer it in the pic, it's a little bit lighter. i won't tell you what's in it since i'm thinking about going "commercial" with those.

the "real bounty" version 2.0. contains 1/2 of a coconut, cacaobutter, coconut sugar and cacao powder.

enjoy your day!

raw easter lunch at my mom's

2011-04-24T19:59:00.009+02:00

happy easter holidays everyone!

my efforts to stick to a (raw vegan) mono diet are working out ok for now.

it's usually very easy for me until the early afternoon. another tricky part are the evenings, since i love to eat my big meal of the day in the evening. so i still prepare salads and also chocolate, but i'm not stressing myself out about this. i try to take it on a meal-by-meal basis, to ease into this kind of raw lifestyle.

i also made a big exception for our easter visit at my mom's.

my mom will roll her eyes from time to time at the raw lifestyle, but she is very accomodating. i think it's even fun for her to try out new recipes.

she surprised us (yet again!) with a lovely table set for three:

geez. i'm so fortunate! my mother spend a great deal of time preparing our lunch. (including a veggie tofu "schnitzel" for L, see bottom right)

she does really make an effort to get super fresh LOCAL ORGANIC veggies and fruit which i really appreciate. she prepared some purple potatoes for L and herself, otherwise she joined the raw meal :)

she prepared this amazing dish before (when we came to visit on her b-day in february), it's oranges, radicchio and red onions marinated with olive oil. i don't know why, but the taste vaguely reminds me of durian. (i thinks it's the combination of fruity sweet with onions)

she made a red beet carpaccio with spring onions. she marinated every layer individually! then she let it soak for maybe 2hours. the beets get so soft, it's amazing!

my mom got up early to get some fresh green asparagus (and super sweet strawberries) from a local farmer! (on easter sunday!)

i never ate raw asparagus. i can only recommend it. don't know if this works with white asparagus as well, since that's tougher. but the green asparagus was nice and not a bit bitter! she marinated it with a lemon-olive oil marinade that was lightly salted. delicious!

an assortment of fresh herbs, pine nuts and a dressing made with pumpkinseed oil and honey.

seriously, at a raw restaurant you would easily be charged 20€-plus for a plate like this...

i cannot stress how fortunate i am, having the support of my family.

danke mama!

have a grrreat day!

mel

to (juice)feast or not to (juice)feast

2011-04-18T13:42:00.003+02:00

hey guys! thanks for the nice feedback. i'm glad people are still clicking my blog after all these month.

i've been thinking about joining facebook's monday-online-juice-feasting-group again today. i went through with it last monday and i liked the experience. i hadn't done a fast since last fall and even though it was just one day it upped my energy. plus i dig the collective component.

i decided against juicing around noon, because i really do wanna try the instincto way of raw. according to my vegan lifestyle, that is.

after a workout plus yoga at my gym i had only water until noon. then i started with some carrots which were just not the right thing. i was really looking forward to some nice carrots, but after half a carrot (a big fat one) chewing got really tedious. so i stopped.

after picking up our poor dog sonny at the vet (he had an operation today and is currently crying in the livingroom. poor thing!) i shared a pineapple with liz. that seemed just the right thing.

i do want to listen to my instincts more and develop a healthier way of raw. less raw treats, more veggies.

uuuuuh, i still have some safus. grrrreat!

i'll keep you posted!

i'm back!

2011-04-17T11:58:00.003+02:00

oh my god, it's really been AGES since i posted something.

anyway, now i'm back and i will post more regularly in the future.

what have i been up to? lots of work and changes.

am i still raw? yeeeeessss of course!

lately i've been wondering if i should switch to a mono raw diet / instincto (without animal products though). i am currently reading DIE ROHKOST-THERAPIE by guy-claude BURGER. it all makes A LOT of sense to me.

that's it for now, have a grrrreat sunday!

i will be back!

algae noodles & choc pudding

2010-11-21T12:59:00.005+01:00

i have not posted any actual food photos and recipes in a long time. so... here's what i prepared today so far.

i made a tomato/herb sauce with 3 tomatoes, a handful of herbs, a spoonful of miso, some nutritional yeast, a few brazil nuts and salt & pepper. (just toss everything in the blender/food processor)

i ate it with my new favorite food: "sea spaghetti": an algae growing on the coast of ireland with the melodic name "himanthalia elongata".

these algae noodles have a really nice consistency. they have a bit of a bite (like noodles "al dente") and don't taste too fishy (a problem i have with most algae) .

they come dried and need to soak in water for maybe 30 minutes before you can use them. you can buy them here at PURE.

the easiest chocolate pudding in the world: one or two pears, a kaki or a banana, a handful of brazil nuts (or almonds or any other nut really) and cacao powder. blend it until smooth and there you go!

pears and kakis are sooo sweet right now that no additinal honey/agave/or any other sweetener is needed.

have a grrreat day!

mel vs. ashwagandha

2010-11-18T16:50:00.005+01:00

K from PURE introduced me to ashwagandha, the "ginseng of ayurveda". the root of the winter cherry (withania somnifera) is dried and ground up to produce ashwagandha.

ashwagandha is believed to have many medical healing properties, improving all kinds of maladies from chronic fatigue to cancer.

it is used for "anti ageing", for easing all kinds of drug withdrawal symptoms and reducing anxiety. it is also called "natural viagra" and is supposed to be an aphrodisiac! thumbs up!

the powder has a smokey flavor and can be mixed with water, any kind of milk (e.g nut or soy), juices, smoothies etc.

one of the traditional indian ways of preparation is mixing it with honey. that's what i did to produce my fingernail sized energy squares. the honey does not mask the smoke aroma, but one does actually get accustomed to the taste.

ashwagandha in a pure raw quality is hard to come by in germany. if you want to support an upcoming fresh young enterprise founded by somebody well informed and truely dedicated to spreading the message of raw: get your stuff at PURE!

PURE also features 3 other ayurvedic classics:

neem (antibacterial & antiviral properties),

brahmi (stress reducing & mind clearing) and

triphala (mild laxative, improves digestion)

rainbow spirit festival

2010-11-18T14:09:00.007+01:00

dear readers :)

i do have to apologize for the long silence yet again. last weekend i went to berlin to the rainbow spirit festival.

the festival itself was a little too esoteric for my taste, yet it was interesting to see what people are willing to spend their money on.

i helped out at PURE and spent a real nice weekend with K. we met some other raw foodies and gained amazing insight into the "behind the scenes" of raw catering...

the lovely K, founder of PURE. if you want to buy your raw supplies in great quality get it here!

me @ "work", doing one of the things i love: talking about food.

this is a the crystal skulls... the biggest one i found at the rainbow spirit festival, roughly the size of a human skull.

crystal skulls are believed to have paranormal properties and some new age people even claim that the skulls are "relics of atlanis", "store information about mankind's past" and "produce miracles"...

anyway. this is something i myself cannot relate to so well. however, i do admire the craftsmanship and i think any polished gemstone of that size is pretty impressive, especially quartz.

eating sunlight?

2010-11-01T08:11:00.008+01:00

sorry, i haven't been posting in ages. i've had some immensely interesting few weeks. rocky patches in life also brought challenges for my raw diet. now that my head is halfway straight again i've learned another lesson in commitment and devotion.
change is the only constant after all...

anyway, my friend L from essen and me went to see a very interesting movie last night. it's called "am anfang war das licht" ("in the beginning there was light") and it's a swiss documentary about people who claim to not eat or drink anything but to feed exclusively on light/energy.

in the raw community "the sunlight diet" or non eating is a topic time and time again. i had heard about it before, but the rationatlist in me always said "no f*ing way". so i had to see to movie right away. the movie is directed by the same guy who also worked on "we feed the world" and "let's make money" and is presented in a neutral and informative way.

the movie starts with a presentation of people who followed jasmusheen's (author of books like "pranic nutrition" and "the food of gods") "sunlight diet" and presents several individuals who claim to not have eaten in years (most of this belonging to the land of lore if you ask me).
nutitionists and doctors argue the case and then several attempts to scientifially prove the matter are shown (none of these did not convince me however).

the most interesting case being that of prahlad jani (also called "mataji" by his followers), an 83 year old yogi from india who claims to not have eaten in over 70 years (he says he feeds on prana only). he agreed to being studied and observed 24hours in a hospital for 10 days. it was proven that during that time he had no intake of solid or liquid food, no water, nothing whatsoever. he didn't defecate or urinate and there was no liquid in his bladder. yet he was fine and healthy...

to cut a long story short: while i do believe that there are certainly more things on this planet than meets the eye (different religions all come to the conclusion of a source of power and energy. whether this is called prana, qi or any other name) i think proclaiming "the light diet" as a option for the masses is super dangerous!

the "sunlight nutrition" program starts with a very very extreme fast: no food and no water for a week. 7 days without water! young, healthy people who have attempted this DIED during the process.

i think fasting (water or even juice) can already get one very very far. is it really necessary to not drink water? while i can strongly advise everybody to do a fast i cannot support anything denying people water. water is the most important thing ever. (the majority of people don't drink enough water. people, drink more water!)

in the end the movie raises a much more interesting question: the question of a higher consciousness and consequently an altered reality.
is it possible to alter one's reality through the power of the mind?
my personal answer is yes.
even my rational mindset has to admit that certain things do work. (or at least: there is no harm in trying, is there?!)
whether things happen through "the power of the mind", being granted a "wish by the universe", "divine intervention", a kind of internal shift through a shift in attitude or however you might call it: i think it is in essence possible.

this is the more interesting debate: is it possible to change our being together on this planet through a different consciousness? through a positive and loving attitude? to create a different place for us, treating each other more conscious and also treating this planet, our divine home better? well yes, i certainly hope so!

nourishing on light is something that miiiiiight even be possible for people with the right mindset. that is people who have been meditating for a loooooong time and who are in touch with spiritual realities (for lack of a better word). a very very few individuals like prahlad jani.
proclaiming that eating only light (esp existing without drinking water for longer than 2-3 days!) is something that is potentially dangerous (even deadly) for the general public.

let me know you thoughts on the matter, i'm very curious. i'm not going to attempt feeding on pure energy anytime soon, but i do want to conduct another juice fast for sure.

have a grrrreat day and GO DRINK SOME WATER RIGHT NOW!
mel

mel vs. coquito

2010-10-04T08:33:00.003+02:00

this curious nut, the coquito (or cockernut) is native to south america. it is macadamianut-sized and has a very hard shell. the palm nut itself is hollow and has a bite. (it's harder than an almond)

it looks and tastes just like a miniature coconut! i love it, but i can't eat many of those (they are a little on the oily side). these nuts are hard to find here and the only option to get them is through mailorder...

i came across this double nut! two in one: it's a twin!

mel vs. coconut kopyor

2010-09-27T16:38:00.008+02:00

my friend M from cologne treated me to yet another rare wild delicacy: a special kind of coconut. it's called kopyor and is kind of a "spook of nature"...

from the outside it looks just like a regular coconut...

...but once opened... it's nothing like a regular coconut at all!

the "meat" is all flaky and grainy and NOT sweet! it tastes a little bit like a curd cheese or a rubbery kind of cream cheese.
to tell you the truth: i was a bit disappointed.
i am a big coconut fan, but this was not my taste. i expected something more coconutty:

let me tell you about the origin of this kind of coconut anyway: "kelapa kopyor" is indiginous to indonesia. it grows on a regular coconut tree! it's a genetic mutation (abnormal fruit endosperm controlled by a recessive gene) that might occur if the tree has a growth spurt during the fruiting process.

according to legend told in central java, it is believed that the moon itself ate the meat of the nut during a lunar eclipse. therefore, eating that kind of nut used to be taboo!
in indonesia the kopyor is prepared as a dessert: scoop out the flesh and mix it with the coconut water, rose syrup, and ice cubes.
since kopyors are rare there is also a recipe to create a fake kopyor from a regular coconut(!). for this one mixes the water and meat of a young coconut with agar agar to recreate the "jelly".

so how do people know that the nut is a kopyor? they shake it, or rather move it gently from left to right... if it feels like there are solid components inside, chances are it might be a kopyor...

rohvolution in speyer!

2010-09-27T15:53:00.004+02:00

i had a good time at the raw fair ROHVOLUTION in speyer!

despite voices going on about the "good old times" and the "true spirit" of the raw food movement i am not against the commercialisation of a good thing.
i think in order to spread the message of raw one must be willing to compromise.

the majority of people can relate to cakes, chocolates and other raw gourmet creations. and if this ultimately leads them to healthier eating habits: BINGO!

look at all those fantastic carob cacao cakes! yummy!

raw pizza!

a pumpkin mango carrot "soup" (cool and raw)

my personal highlight: raw vegan mayonnaise! super rich + tasty = completely addictive.

"the raw gang" :)

sorry, i didn't really take so many pics this time. if you're interested in more visuals go back to this blogpost: ROHVOLUTION BERLIN 2010, it was very similar.

mel vs. cempedak

2010-09-24T14:49:00.005+02:00

last week i visited my friend M from cologne. he's been on the raw path for 8 years now and is keeping a strict mono diet (= he doesn't mix his food, he eats all his fruit, veggies and nuts seperately on their own)
he and me get veeeeery excited about wild exotic fruit. i brought him some wild grapes from my mother's garden and the last salak from paris and he treated me to.... CEMPEDAK!

the cempedak is related to the jackfruit (actually jackfruit is a domesticated version of cempedak)

it's cultivated in south east asia, but not as commercially as jackfruit and durian. it's a truly wild fruit.

i'm usually not short for words... but describing the taste is a true challenge.

to me it tasted nothing like jackfruit, although the consistency is similar.

the taste is fruity, sweet and sour plus something that tasted like a christmas cookie (like gingerbread) to me.

i found it super delicious and hope that i'll have the chance to indulge again sometime.

the seeds are, like durian seeds edible when roasted.

6 days of juice fasting...

2010-09-24T14:39:00.004+02:00

all in all i did 6 full days of juice fasting... and this took it's toll on me. anyway, i'm glad i did it, it was quite an experience.

so before i'm heading off to the ROHVOLUTION in speyer for the weekend i wanted to post some pics.

i broke my fast with a tonkwa salad (a chinese vegetable, tastes a bit like a cucumber). it was so great to finally CHEW again.

recently i'm totally addicted to cucumber. this is my version of a sandwich.

banana ice cream! it's so easy: just blend a banana (or two) with e.g. some vanilla, honey/agave, maybe some bee pollen or whatever you have a hand.

put it in the freezer for some hours and: there you go : )

day 4 of the juice fast

2010-09-17T10:23:00.002+02:00

good day everybody.
today is day 4 of my feast, which has actually turned into a real fast, meaning i drink less and less juice and more water.

i don't feel so good today. i have a cold and i feel pretty weak in general. i had to skip my workout today, i just didn't see it happening. *sigh*

i downed my intake of green juice to just two juices yesterday. i made a green veggie juice in the middle of the day and another veggie juice (with red beet, so it was actually a red juice...) the evening.
in between i had chaga tea and water.

i spiced up my evening meal with a light miso soup :) that was quite an experience tastewise, it was sooo good.

i took a tablespoon of white miso to about a liter of water. then i mixed this spoon by spoon with the juice. very nice.

well, i'm having a little low today, which was to be expected. yeah, i'm still waiting for that fasting high... yesterday i definetely felt intoxicated somehow, today i just feel like i have a cold.

i will carry on with the fast until the weekend for sure. somehow i feel i should to do at least 5 days to experience all the positive effects of detoxing.

my plan is to do strictly water on the last day. (yeah, let's see how this works out...)

day 3 of the juice feast

2010-09-12T22:17:00.005+02:00

good morning. yes, all my meals still look the same...
yesterday i felt weaker that when i started the feast, although engery comes in waves (short waves that is...)
i also think that i might get a cold soon :(

yesterday i drank significantly less green juice, i made some chaga tea and i "ate" some soup (although warm water with a pinch of pepper hardly a soup makes)

my workout didn't go so hot yesterday either. my legs felt like stone. i took a class and that went ok, then i did some cardio on my own and didn't last very long.

several people asked me if i was tired or in a bad mood. i have the feeling my eyes look... manic somehow.
anyway, it's the morning, so everything is easy again. it was hard last night.

i'm much more emotional and my other senses are heightened. the tram drives incredibly rumbly and makes the earth shake, rehearsal was sooo loud (i had to use my big earplugs, usually small ones are fine), people on the street and at the gym smell disgusting, cigarette smoke is impossible to stand, i smell a bakery a mile away.

i have the weirdest food cravings, maybe not even cravings... i have tasting sensations in my mouth (or in my mind rather)
the only craving i really have is to chew something. an apple maybe. oh, an apple wound be marvellous, don't get me started.
sometimes i am sooo impatient, just to be ultra relaxed the next minute.

i'm planning to go through with this today and then see where it takes me.

i got these to juice as a treat. i juiced 1 1/2 and it wasn't all that tasty :(

they are called ox heart and are really big.

just like yesterday i'll treat you to some pics from my archive, so you don't get bored:

ahhhh, frozen durian. if no fresh stuff is available i'll even settle for frozen durian (better than no durian at all, right)

but do be careful: some of the durian is pressed into little plastic tubes, those are tasty, but they don't have much structure left, it's pretty much a mass.

the one i got was just frozen, though seedless (keep in mind that the seeds are big and heavy, go for seedless, then you'll get more flesh) and once defrosted had some "structural integrity" (who doesn't like star trek?) left.

A got me hooked onto a special treat.... durian with vanilla. seriously, i thought durian couldn't be any more perfect and was complete on it's own... but seriously, durian with vanilla is a match made in HEAVEN.

day 2 of the juice feast

2010-09-12T22:12:00.005+02:00

i'm still on the juice feast :)
yesterday was day 1 and it went better than i thought. i wasn't even hungry, i had my belly FULL of green juice all day long, but at some point i just really wanted to chew something.

1 drank about 1 liter of green juice before my workout (which went really well by the way) and about a liter afterwards. i had another liter for lunch and the same again in the afternoon. i took a green juice to rehearsal and back at home i had another night drink. that makes some 5-6 liters of green juice. this sounds way too much, but i'm sure this will level down.

i'm not planning to do this x number of days. i'll just see how this goes today. at some point yesterday i almost cried at the main station, because somebody was eating a baguette (of all things) right next to me. i thought about snatching it from her hands for a nano second...
then again i felt like i had nerves of steel. i would say that regular moodswings are much more pronounced and quicker to change.

every day is an adventure!

meet my breakfast :)
it's a mix of:
looots of spinach leaves
a few biiiig dark kale leaves
1/2 turnip cabbage
1 cucumber
1 small apple
1/2 nashi pear

it does taste surprisingly refreshing. it's even a little bit sweet from the apple and the nashi. the mornings are easy for me. the trouble starts after dark ;)

a green juice in a bowl... makes a green soup! i swear it tastes different if you eat it with a spoon.

ok, i will not bore you endlessly with pictures of green juice... instead, here is some stuff that i bought (and ate) last week and didn't get a chance to post yet.

a different kind of fresh date. the yellow ones are called "barhi dates", i don't know how the red ones are called.

sapodillas and apple bananas (they really have a slight hint of apple) for 3,99 a kilo...

a sapodilla in the right state of ripeness tastes like nut caramell...

treats from my mother's garden

2010-09-12T22:06:00.004+02:00

last weekend i also went to visit my mother. i took a stroll and harvested some fruit from her garden... look what i got: hazelnuts, medlars, 2 different kind of quinces (called apple quince and pear quince) and two different kinds of apples.

that was quite a stroll, don't you think?

the highlight from my mum's garden are definetely the grapes. the white ones are nice... but the red one are THE BEST.

i harvested a whole BUCKET full of grapes in maybe 15 minutes!! they are the most delicious little grapes i ever had. they are sooo good. the seeds are tiny, so you can basically stuff them in your mouth straight from the vine... mhmmm

my friend A from paris is doing a green juice cleanse. that sounds really great, so i will attempt the same. since i've never done this before i will start small and take it day by day. or maybe even meal by meal.

this morning was easy, i had so much green stuff here... i also put in some fresh dandelions and clover from the garden.

i'm curious how this morning's workout will be... i'm facing 120 min of intense stuff...

5th raw potluck in cologne

2010-09-12T21:39:00.009+02:00

yesterday i went to cologne to attend another potluck organized by S. she even went through the trouble to rent a room for us. last time ~25 people attended and we were all expecting an even larger number of participants.

unfortunately, there were only 6 of us (plus child) this time and this came nowhere close to covering S's rent expenses... this is very sad, since people had confirmed and then didn't show up.
i feel for S, who has those costs on her back now. i hope that the next potluck (10.10.10, world raw food day) will be well attended again to cover the rent...

anyway, the potluck was small, but we had some very nice food!

the "ideal dish" from the potluck. the best part for me was a creamy curry sauce (usually i don't even like curry, but i LOVED this sauce), prepared with cashews, young coconuts (water & meat), curry and spices. totally yummy!

this is not just any carrot salad, it's prepared with fennel and lavender seeds! awesome! quite the taste experience.

upon further request it turned out that these veggie sushi rolls had been prepared with conventional red pesto bought from a store :(

the woman who brought them was surprised that we "prepare everything ourselves" and don't buy prepared food in stores.... anyway, i took some sushi rolls home for L.

the spiralizer tool is sooo cool. if you consider buying just one appliance, buy this one. it will never fail to amaze you. (and others :)

mixed veggies marinated in a sweet sesame dressing. very yummy!

S made these crackers in her dehydrator. the red ones (pizza flavor!) are better than the italian ones from lifefood! really nice! S is thinking about selling these online: go for it!

i brought "meat" balls. i had experimented with various nuts and eggplant. unfortunately the eggplant made the whole batch a bit bitter :(

i brought cacao balls and coconut balls

vitamin b 12 supplement

2010-09-05T19:06:00.010+02:00

yes, i've been shooting up... it's vitamin b 12.

vitamin b12 is a serious topic that many raw vegans are concearned about. i haven't been so concerned until i read some stuff online.

let me sum it up for you:

- b12 is a rare vitamin that can mostly be found in animal sources

- raw vegan sources of b12 MIGHT be:

* algea (although it cannot be said for sure if this kind of b12 can really even be affiliated by humans),

* moldy fruit (ewww. again: it's not sure if this does even contain the "real b12") and

* unwashed plant material (in other words: "animal poop" that sticks to leaves. yeah, ewww)

- the body accumulates b12 and can store it for a long time (~6 years), but once your depot is empty filling it up again is tough (to say the least)

so all in all, b12 is pretty hard to get in a 100% raw vegan diet...

"symptoms (of a b12 deficiency) are tiredness, a decreased mental work capacity, weakened concentration and memory, and irritability and depression"

it might be mass hysteria, but you know what? "better safe than sorry"! and oh man, i would be sooo sorry to find myself having a b12 deficiency some time.

so i checked out what's available on the market and came to the conclusion that shots are the best option for me.

why?

- because i don't have to swallow some funky pill that contains gelatin, sugar and/or starches.

- because it's vegan! (this b12 is synthesized in a lab)

- because injecting puts the stuff right into my bloodstream (whereas when swallowed a lot gets wasted along the way, b12 is also a highly instable vitamin)

- because it's cheaper: 5 ampoules plus syringes plus neeles = less than 5 euros.

so how does this work?
for a week you give yourself a shot every day. (the only negative thing is that the stuff burns when under your skin. so do it SLOWLY)
then you continue with one single shot a MONTH. that's very easy and it works well for me.

i can only recommend it. i don't notice any changes or discomfort. a vitamin b12 deficiency is a serious disease.
consider the pros and cons and then make an informed decision for yourself.

mel vs. sugarapple

2010-09-05T19:03:00.002+02:00

i've had some sugar apples lately, in paris and also back home. here are some pics of sugarapples in various states of ripeness.

if you don't know this sweet fruit yet: get yourself a cerimoya (e.g. from a turkish grocery market), that will do the trick.
both fruit are from the family of "annonas" and taste almost the same. they taste very very sweet with a hint of vanilla. be careful: each fruit has a ton of seeds.

choco crossies

2010-09-05T19:01:00.001+02:00

just wanted to share this pic, i made some raw chocolate again. this time i kept it really really simple. i just used three ingredients (one of them is palm sugar, that's why it's so grainy) and i didn't really feel like putting it into a mold or making balls.

let me tell you: it's dangerous to have that little bowl standing around in the kitchen ;) every time i walk by i'm tempted.

tooth soap

2010-09-05T18:56:00.008+02:00

there is a new hot product on the raw horizon. (ok, admittedly it's not so new, they've been doing this since 2003. anyway, it's new to me.)

it's called tooth soap and it's for (surprise) cleaning those shiny white teeth of yours. the only ingredients are: olive oil, coconut oil, filtered water and essential oils. (sounds great)

tooth soap offers a wide range of flavors (also exotic ones, like e.g. "salty mint", "chocolate orange", "sweet fennel & mint"). they just came up with two new products called whip and gel, apparently those aren't liquid but more like a conventional toothpaste.

i'm a big fan of tooth hygiene and i've been looking for the ideal toothpaste for a long time. since i want to be as organic as possible, i've tried various ones from bio supermarkets, health stores etc..
unfortunately, many of those are still way too harsh for me; they make the corners of my mouth rip in after a few uses... which is very unsexy.

back to tooth soap: brushing my teeth with these takes some getting used used to, since i like it foamy and fresh to feel really clean. sadly i find they have a bit of an aftertaste, but i'm also very sensitive. many raw foodies swear by it and it's a great organic, no toxic, fluoride free raw product.

on this side of the atlantic, you can find toothsoap exclusively at pure raw, a german onlineshop that specializes in offering all those fancy raw products usually hard to find here.
it's a young enterprise offering an ever expanding range of great raw organic products. if you're interested in something they don't have on stock they will jump through hoops to get it for you.

have a grrreat day and don't forget to brush your teeth!

mel vs. pili nut

2010-09-05T18:55:00.003+02:00

(while i'm at the whole "mel versus" i might as well continue the series.)

i've had these pili nuts for a while now (ordered them online) and i've been meaning to blog about them anyway.
it's the nut of the pili fruit, a rare fatty fruit from the phillipines. the pili fruit is only in season for a very short time and is very uncommon here in europe, since it's not really grown commercially. (i had the opportunity to taste some at the rohvolution and i loved them. the taste is somewhere between avocado, olive and safu. yummy!)

anyway, this is the pili nut, the seed of the fruit. the shell of the nut is extremely hard, so a macadamia nutcracker comes in handy here. (i almost broke my regular nutcracker trying to open one...)

the nut is veeery fatty (fattier than a brazilnut) with a taste similar to the kenari nut and a hint of almond. i like them very much.

mel vs. salak

2010-09-05T18:50:00.003+02:00

i found salak in paris (in chinatown of course)! i've been curious about the "snake fruit" for a while now.
it's the fruit of an indonesian palm tree and there are several different varieties. i know many raw foodies love the fruit, so i got really excited.

well, i have one single word for you to describe the taste: SPEEEEEW.

EEEEWWW. it's the same stinky-sticky ewww-ness that i don't like about jackfruit. (yes, i don't like jackfruit very much)

not for me. so not.

mel vs. jícama

2010-09-05T17:16:00.004+02:00

i've had marinated jícama before, but i never prepared one myself. jícama (also called "yam bean" and "mexican turnip" is the root of a mexican vine.

it's rich in water, fiber and carbs. it's a bit starchy with a touch of sweetness, but it's definetely a vegetable. the consistency is crunchier than an apple. it's a great addition to salads, but can also be prepared on it's own (e.g. with a spicy marinade)

i can only recommend it, it can be found at local asian stores! if you ask kindly, most shopkeepers are also willing to order it for you.

mel vs. santol

2010-09-05T17:13:00.002+02:00

one of the treats from chinatown: a santol (also called wild mangosteen) flown in from thailand. it looks like a combination of a pumpkin and a fig.

it tasted a bit like a starapple (~lychee + banana) and could have been a bit riper.

very very yummy!

i got it at "tang frères", the largest chinese supermarket in paris.

raw adventures in paris' chinatown

2010-09-05T16:55:00.008+02:00

i promised more on paris' chinatown, it's the largest chinatown in europe, so here are some pics

i wish we had chinese supermarkets that size here in the dorf...

needless to say these fruit have a terrible co2 balance with literally thousands of miles on their back... but oh, i love them so much.

mangosteen, longan and *sigh*, look at these prices

i found salak in chinatown (more on that later)

biiiiiig sapodillas

longan and sugarapple. sadly sadly all triple wrapped in plastic...

fresh dates and rambutan

i present: the durian shrine. i prayed at this altar of joy.

(look at the price, for crying out loud... 6,99 per kilo!)

raw adventures in paris!

2010-09-03T13:11:00.022+02:00

we ate so well in paris. and boy, we ate a LOT!

first thing, A took me to this awesome local farmer's market. i won't tell you where it is, since it's a "secret parisienne" ;)

then we headed out to "rock en seine" and after some seeeeerious partying we started an eating frenzy the next morning. we pretty much snacked all day long.

we went to chinatown (more on that later) and got a durian in perfect state of ripeness (falling apart that is)

so we made very decadent midnight snack: durian with vanilla. possibly one of the best meals ever. (really, you should try it! A swears it tastes like english custard. i've never had that, so i can't really say)

i've never seen rubyred redcurrant!

we had the most fruity tomatoes, got them at this great local farmer's market.

A made these raw corn tortillas! it's basically ground up corn put in the dehydrator, it's really crunchy and a great substitute for bread/crisps/chips/nachos.

i am not exaggerating when i say that this was the best cacao muesli i've ever had. A whipped it up in her high speed blender. it's just a handful of almonds, cacao, honey and some nuts & superfoods (bee pollen, goji berries). i tried to recreate it, but couldn't get anywhere near this divine goodness.

it might be the cacao powder (bright earth foods), it might be the french honey (rhdododendron) or it might just be A's magical touch.

reine claudes, prunes, figs, mirabelles... we indulged in local late summer fruit.

i think it is fairly easy to be raw in paris. seriously, you find fresh fruit & veggie vendors EVERYWHERE, even in the subway!

then there is chinatown for all your tropical whims, there's a quarter with mostly african stores, there are persian markets for dried fruits and nuts and also a growing scene of all natural / organic supermarkets.

i'm spoiled with serious grrrreat quality reine claude...

don't these look yummy? (they were!)

this is paris' raw restaurant pousse pousse. i got lucky since they had just reopened! (apparently a lot of parisiennes go on holiday in august)

the place is small and cosy.

i read about that place online and somehow i thought they would sell more superfoods. (or maybe i'm just spoiled from my recent visit to amsterdam's mastercare...)

they sell mostly sprouts and sprouting equipment, literature (french only), juicers and a few oils and cosmetics.

they also sell fresh sprouts

they didn't really have a menu out (which i found a bit unsettling), but serve a "menue of the day". for starters i got some dehydrated flax crackers...

... and then a big mixed salad with chick pea hummus, a stuffed tomato, pickled mango and lots of sprouts and greens.

i had to take the cake of the day (a chocolate cake) to go, since i was pressed for time. the cake was delicious (btw F's "sacher" cake from the last potluck was better), but it was tiny. the slice was only as thick as a blueberry (as you can see in the pic).

all in all pousse pousse is worth a visit, the owner and staff were all friendly and spoke english (i even met the chef!).

i was a little shocked about the prices though.

i paid 18 euros for a salad and a tiny slice of cake... which i personally find a lot.

the owner told me that they buy all their produce from an organic market at retail price plus rent is crazy in paris. anyway, i don't go to restaurants much, so this was one of my many holiday treats.

let me tell you something about paris' african quarter: it's pretty cool when the stores are open, but it's even cooler when they're closed!

i went there with the vaguest hope of finding safu there. after browsing a lot of stores i came to the conclusion, that orkos is pretty much the only place in europe who sells them, since they are not really cultivated in a major commercial style and are (once ripening) extremely fragile to ship.

the shops were just closing and i decided to take a detour... and where did that take me?

... straight to SAFU LAND! magically street vendors occured out of nowhere and guess what most of them were selling? right, safu! right there in central paris for a bargain.

needless to say i dove in. those were all extremely unripe and fit for travelling.

all these safu (24 small ones and 8 large ones, a little over 2kg in total) cost me 15 euros. 15 euros!! (i'm doing a little rain dance of joy with my hands right now)

raw paris

2010-09-03T09:55:00.003+02:00

sorry, i haven't had the chance to blog properly in a while. i hope i will find some time this weekend.
i had a great trip to paris, with tropical fruit, a visit to a raw restaurant, a stroll in europe's largest chinatown, a very inspiring night at a rock music festival and, most importantly: a fantastic time with my friend A.
more later!

me & A in paris. we had a great time together, felt like i spend a full week in paris...

more raw chocolate and a true gourmet meal

2010-08-28T22:41:00.007+02:00

before i'm heading off to paris for a couple of days i wanted to share some more pics. i made this raw chocolate a while ago and it turned out better than my previous attempts. this one was hard enough to stay in shape.

when i came home today L had prepared this amazing meal for me!

it's losely based on ani phyo's recipes; this is a 'wilted' spinach salad with marinated onions in mustard seed dressing (!!!)

zucchini noodes with garlic cashew aioli! (i swear it tasted like a cheese sauce, really really good!)

i tried to recreate the "protein shake" i enjoyed so much at mastercare. i blended some brazilnuts, 1/2 banana, hemp seeds, maca, mesquite, lucuma, vanilla, salt, agave and palmsugar and: tata. i came pretty close to the original shake.

smoothies, superfoods and "kofta balls"

2010-08-27T00:30:00.009+02:00

joined at the hip? or is it a heart?

fresh young coconut meat is so versatile, it works with sweet stuff just as well as with savory stuff. i blended it with some italian spices, water, nutritional yeast and miso.

... that worked well with romaine as well

i purchased these "trial size" superfoods in amsterdam. i started adding a little bit of each to my smoothies. (earth = mix of dried roots, greens = well, obviously a blend of greens and vanilla maca)

agave might be controversial, but it's also extremely tasty! this dark agave tastes so complex, a bit like maple syrup.

a berry smoothie so thick it holds the straw

green juice

a woman at the amsterdam potluck brought "kofta balls", i wrote down the recipe (in dutch) and could actually make sense of it at home.

it's a nutty mash (brazilnuts and walnuts) combined with dried tomatoes, 8 herbs, nutritional yeast, miso and celery (curiously celery is one of the few things i don't really like, along with anise and fennel).

in general i have a pretty good idea of how something is gonna taste when i put stuff together, but this is one of the things that really surprised me. it's so savory and hearty... almost meaty. this is a dish i would serve a non-raw foodie as a first taste of raw heaven.

i found this vegan ayurvedic toothpaste in a goa shop in amsterdam! i really like the taste.

raw menstrual musings

2010-08-24T21:27:00.003+02:00

sorry guys, why don't you just skip this post?

this post is also not for the faint of heart!

thank god, i got my period again! finally! (last time was in ...june!)

well, a pregnancy was out of the question, but a woman does wonder if something is not profoundly wrong when the period is delayed. or, as in my case, just skips a month.

this rarely ever happened to me and was always related to either significant weight loss (well, not this time) or usage of certain substances that mess with "brain & body chemistry" (i had none of that either).

your period is affected to what you put in your body. since i went raw (or even since i went off processed starches and dairy) my period got ligher and lighter. i had major cramps before. in retrospect i also had terrible eating habits back then.

this time around there were no mood swings. i had a fantastic weekend in amsterdam and got my period in the wee hours of monday morning when i returned back home.

no pain, no cramps, no pain-pill-popping required. just smooth sailing and a little of bloating. let me tell you: i have never had blood that red, clear and clean. and today it was all over!

and i finally got to test all my fabulous new toys!
(check this post: "a word about female hygiene products")
i am amazed how well the cotton pads work! i remembered pads (the plastic toss-away variant) as a sticky and rather smelly and uncomfortable business, but now i stand corrected.

during workouts i used the sponges and i can only highly recommend them! the sponge has an amazing absorption capacity, it feels really comfortable (= i completely forgot about it) and it doesn't dry out the vagina like a tampon.

ladies, visit KULMINE today and place your order, you will NOT REGRET IT!

here's something i could do with my remaining tampons...

raw weekend in amsterdam!

2010-08-23T15:02:00.013+02:00

S from amsterdam (whom i only met the previous weekend at the potluck in cologne) was hosting a "raw open house" event at her place and had generously invited a bunch of people to stay at her place!
so some friends from cologne and i drove out to amsterdam!

let me tell you: it was a blast!

i really enjoyed staying with S and her 5 (!) raw kids! these kids (ages 7 - 16) are amazing! they were so welcoming it was really heartwarming!

plus i was so amazed by S's selection of top notch raw superfoods and supplements! they have two very well organized fridges: one for "everything salad" and one for "everything else" (nuts, seeds etc.), really cool!

we went to visit the mastercare shop, a shop for everything raw, including supplements, chocolate, ev for chocolate making, savory snacks, cakes, drinks, you name it!

EVERYTHING RAW as far as the eye can see

curiously the shop is located inside a health club, so the customers are mostly so called "health conscious" non-raw foodies.

the shop is very clean, clear and stylish, completely non-hippie. i liked that and i think economically that's the way to go.

i had a "protein vanilla power" drink and it was just what i needed. i LOVED the taste. i think i want to purchase the raw protein powder that's the base for that drink. i'm not paranoid about getting all my proteins, but just simply for the taste of it ;)

it's made with sunwarrior's raw vegan vanilla protein. yummy!

jay's juices is a must-visit when in amsterdam. they have everything juice from strawberry to fresh young coconuts. unfortunately they were closed :(

i found another fresh juice shop just across the street and got this "dark pineapple" smoothie: pineapple, blackberries and blueberries!

i got some greengages (prunus domestica italica or the "reine claude"), they were so sweet and tasty. (yes, those were ripe. it's a green plum)

this was the funniest thing i saw in amsterdam. next time you want to buy a cooked bread or cookie think about who might have been sleeping in it... LOL

this is cafe latei, located on zeedijk. it's a lovely 2nd hand shop/cafe, i come here every time i'm in the city. they have amazing fresh juices (and i recall their cafe lattes with a little sentimentalty).

the best part of latei is that they have an amazing collection of kitsch and EVERYHING is for sale (lamps, kitchen equipment, accessories, books, lps, fotos, paintings, keyrings...)

tiny kitchen @ cafe latei

fresh apple juice w ginger

me @ cafe latei

S had an amazing assortment of superfoods and supplements for sale.

some impressions from S's raw open house. we had a great time chatting and feasting on superfoods and snacks.

very different people came to her house, from the raw food newbie to longtime raw foodies. it's always always inspiring to swap experiences and listen to other people's journeys.

later on we went on a barefoot walk through a foresty park area and collected a TON of blackberries. we walked to a beautiful lake where the kids swan and we watched the sunset together. eventually we had to head back to germany

i stocked up on raw chocolate BIIIIG TIME.

i'm especially curious about the wild chocolate tribe "raw chunks" (bottom left). J from mastercare told me friends of his made them themselves, only smaller quantities and only when they are in a good mood! that sounds perfect!

have a grrreat day!

xo,

mel

need a fresh date?!

2010-08-21T13:31:00.003+02:00

i was in for a surprise this morning at the turkish market: FRESH DATES are in season again! yeeeeaaaahhhh! one of my top 10 favorite foods ever. EVER!

fresh dates have very little in common with ripe dates; they are fruity & a little bit sour, yet the sweetness comes through (but it's a lot less "sticky" than a ripe date's). plus they are firm and crunchy. the starch kind of pools all your saliva when you take your first bite.

it's one of the few foods where i prefer unripe to ripe. i almost never eat ripe dates just like that (only when the nice guy at the persian market offers me one). of course i use them as a sweetener, but they really make me thirsty. reeeeally thirsty. i get thirsty even thinking about it ;)

fresh dates are only available like that for a very short period (maybe for the next week or two). then the starch turns into sugar and the dates get brown, soft and soggy. refridgerating or freezing them will not stop the ripening process (believe me, i've tried).
so i urge you to go to a turkish market and have a try! (if you don't like them you can always send them to me ;) or just store them in a dry(!) place to ripen, it won't take long)

now that i've mentioned my top 10 foods i will have to write them down:

1. PINEAPPLE

(has been and always will be. i'm very picky about the quality though, that's why i rarely buy them here. they have to be sweet and they have to be perfect. hawai'i was my paradise: every single one i ate was the best of my life!)

2. FRESH YOUNG COCONUT WATER

(is there any better drink?! no!)

3. AVOCADO

(i eat at least one every day and cannot imagine my life without them. sweet or savory, avocado has it all)

4. SAFU (a recent discovery of mine which i simply cannot get enough of. unfortunately they are very hard to get here)

5. CHERRY

(sweet and complex)

6. STARAPPLE (i discovered these in hawai'i and wish there would be a way to get them here, think of a combination of a lychee or rambutan and a banana)

7. FRESH DATE

8. MULBERRY

(black or white ones, i don't care. reminds me of childhood summers spent in france)

9. MANGOSTEEN

(fresh, sweet and a little bit sour. perfect)

10. APPLE or BANANA

(i just can't decide which one i like better. i eat one of each most days)

mhm, now that i've written this list i realize it's really hard to do!

to all the raw foodies out there: make your own top 10 list and send it to me!

i also have fruit phases (just like everybody else), e.g. i'm going through an intense cabbage and olives phase right now, plus i'm a sucker for blueberries and blackberries.

i wonder if my list is still gonna be the same in a year or so... although i doubt that the top 3 will change.

i'm heading off to amsterdam tonight with M and S from cologne. we will attend S's "raw open house" party and barefoot-walk! excellent! i can't wait! sooo looking forward to "raw input" again.

have the best day ever!

mel

ginseng and the quick gourmet

2010-08-18T13:02:00.006+02:00

i got some fresh ginseng at the korean market. nasty nasty nasty taste, but oh so many benefits.

sweet treats from the asian markets!

i'm trying to eat as many berries as possible while they're still in season.

i'm very much into "quick gourmet", a meal has to be prepared in 10 minutes or less... i made these zucchini noodles w tomato sauce and marinated mushrooms in no time.

i got my hands on some fresh young coconut! i mixed the meat with miso and nutritional yeast (for that cheezy flavour) and served it on a cucumber.

fresh sour passion fruit. yummy!

cauliflower is my staple food right now. since i got back from camp i just can't get enough of it. i eat it with pumpkinseed oil, i eat it with salt, i eat it without anything else. last night i ate it with a re-creation of the dip i discovered at the potluck in cologne (a handful of cashews, a red bell pepper, one date, and a pinch of salt).

i think i'm eating too much chocolate pudding :)

4th raw potluck in cologne!

2010-08-16T23:50:00.015+02:00

let me tell you: there is nothing like an inspiring raw potluck to lift you up when you're feeling down. well, ok, maybe there are a couple of other things as well... but talking strictly foodwise, there isn't ;)

usually i'm a total party pooper: i rarely go out, i HATE the whole drinking "culture" thing (mostly going hand in hand with cigarette smoking *cough*) and often i'm the first to leave a regular party (unless i decide to go technodancing which is a different matter entirely).

last weekend was filled with potlucks and lots of lovely raw company! it's so refreshing to not be the outcast who DOESN'T drink, smoke cigarettes, eat animal products or cooked food, but to be among likeminded people. i had a blast!

i enjoyed it so much, it's lovely to get to know the people better and better. i had some heartwarming conversations, going so much deeper than just the common denominator of "no cooked food".

so, let me show you sunday's potluck in pictures:

M (a long time raw foodie and mono dieter) was there and brought those amazing tomatoes again. they are called "berner rose" and are, in short, the best tomatoes i've ever eaten in my whole life. he also brought amazing peanuts with a purple inner skin.

the secret savory star of the evening was the little dressing in the middle: cashews / red bell pepper and 1 date made this ultimate dip. i will recreate this veeeery soon.

look at all those beautiful creations!

i appreciated that there was also lots of "simple" fresh stuff; sprouts, freshly picked berries (blueberries and redcurrant) and plums.

N brought dehydrated olive bread and my friend L brought yet another dip creation (i don't even know what it was made of. cashews and herbs is my best guess) and fresh sweet corn. the marinated broccoli was also amazing (sorry, i lost track of who brought it).

friend B had turned on his new dehydrater and created two kinds of fruit / veggie soft cracker, one sweet (w banana) and one savory (w avocado)

i brought the chocolate pudding (YET again. yes, seriously, i'll bring sth else to the next potluck!) and L had helped me to roll the little chocolate energy balls. plus i had some leftover durian that was unripe, but edible.

sb brought green beans which triggered a long discussion about fresh raw beans and weather they are toxic or harmful. i'm not a fan so i didn't eat any.

romaine with a savory avocado / tomatoes / sprouts dressing.

M brought a crunchy cauliflower salad with a spicy cheesy dressing (with miso and nutritional yeast)

zucchini noodles always rock!

ah, the sweet stuff!

look at this creation! amazing!!! these petit fours were made with a very sweet date/nut crust and some truly fruity (raspberry & strawberry is my best guess) topping.

G (who is a raw caterer and does a lot of raw seminars) brought an apple strudel which consisted mostly of ...well, you guessed it: apples! even the outer "crust" was a paperthin dehydrated "fruit leather". amazing!

i did really like the taste, but i couldn't finish my piece. unfortunately, i am mildly allergic to cinnamon (ironically cinnamon of high quality!)

that does not mean that i don't consume cinnamon, i just like it waaay too much. i have to be careful with the dosage though. chewing a "big red" cinnamon gum was impossible for me as a kid, esp the very intense american kind. it gives me a very strange sensation on my tongue.

anyway, of course the strudel was a total hit and gone in no time!

cakes cakes cakes! the white one was a creamy fruity cashew goodness.

F, who is a newbie to the world of raw food created this sumptious chocolate cake. i am speechless again. this cake topped off any "sacher cake" in the whole of austria ANYDAY. thumbs up for my special of the day. (i was fast and cheeky enough to take the last remaining piece home! i ate it in one frenzy and couldn't stop)

i can't get enough of raw potlucks. luckily i found a partner in crime, raw food newbie M from cologne is equally enthusiastic about raw travelling as i am. we both have the time and he has access to a fast car! so we're thinking about heading out to benelux this weekend for some raw gatherings.

S came to the potluck from amsterdam! she is a long time raw foodie who runs this website: www.sunfood-coaching.nl/ and is very active in amsterdam's raw community. she is also a mother of 5!

M (yet another 'M', let's call him "the doc" for clearance) who lives in the phillipines provided us with generous gifts of his coconut products in raw quality. i will test these as soon as i have the chance to, i am super curious.

2nd raw potluck in essen

2010-08-15T11:36:00.007+02:00

B had invited me to his belayed birthdayparty / raw potluck.

so a small enthusiastic group of raw foodies (all of us had been at the raw camp!) gathered around this royal buffet to fill stomachs, hearts and souls.

we had everything: fresh stuff, sweet stuff, mixed stuff, dehydrated stuff, even a birthday cake... EVERYTHING!

B and his wife M had arranged everything so lovingly, it was pure eye candy!

A brought another variation of her superyummy chocolate balls, this time with goji berries and coconut.

B made this amazing birthday cake with dates, coconut, carob and fresh berries from the garden!

well, what can i say... i brought chocolate pudding again :)

B whipped up a spicy avocado dip and an almond milk in the vitamix highspeed blender.

B and L did some juicing with the green star super juicer!

tata!

i don't know how i ever did 100% raw with no supporting community. i'm so glad about the active community here right now!

i also enjoy that for once food does not necessarily have to be a topic of discussion.

about donating blood

2010-08-10T16:49:00.005+02:00

i went to the uniklinik duesseldorf the other day to donate blood. i hadn't done this in a long time, because i fainted BIIIIG TIME when i donated last and that was... well, just let me tell you it was no fun. plus i was banned to come back again within a year. so i was hesitant and kept on procrastinating.

this was also the first time since i went raw that i donated and i was curious about my iron count and other stats. apparently my health has improved, i have a kick ass iron count ("really wonderful" was what the doc said), good bloodpressure etc.

it was my 10th time donating and it never has been that smooth. i usually lay there in coldcold sweat waiting eagerly till the whole thing was over. not this time! i was well prepared, i had a huge breakfast, didn't exercise before and i even brought some lovely honey that i bought at the raw forest camp in case my blood sugar would drop. i hardly needed it and was in and out in no time.

if you have never donated blood i urge you to at least think about it! it's a great way of giving something back and doing a "good thing".

and since all hospitals do a great blood count AND most do also provide you with a financial compensation i think it's an absolute win-win situation.

if you're still in doubt: if you are ever in need of a blood transfer and you're a regular donor it might even be possible to provide you with your own blood! (do you know your bloodtype?)

i'm adjusting to city life better and better, mostly through the help of yoga, cardioworkout, whining to other raw foodies and some lovely raw cacao.

now i'll make some heartfelt raw chocolate for me and my friends :)

have a grrreat day!

xo
mel

3rd raw potluck in duesseldorf

2010-08-08T23:23:00.011+02:00

i had really anticipated yesterday's potluck and was really delighted that 13 people showed up despite some rather poor weather conditions.

the worse the weather, the jollier the people. no, hold on, i just made that up.

anyway, we had good time together. being reunited with some of the camp people evoked some of the spirit again. i really liked that and left the meeting with a smile.

we had a great variety of stuff! potlucks are always such a pleasure, everyone really makes an effort!

we had the most amazing salads! this one was a "korean inspired" one with wakame and radish.

greens and lots of sprouts!

my highlights was this creation that i will call "quiche" for lack of a better description. E who is new to the world of raw food made this. this is her first raw dish EVER. seriously, it blew my mind.

a soft carrot/nut crust topped with mushrooms, cabbage and the most amazing pumpkinseed/garlic sauce.

this is also HER OWN CREATION! can you believe it? i seriously hope she will be at the next potluck :)

S from cologne brought broccoli and mushroom marinated in a soy/agave sauce. yummy! S really has a knack for bringing amazing gourmet creations to every potluck!

the cheezy kale chips were gone in an instant. L owns a fancy dehydrator and is not shy to use it ;)

M (the guy who eats 4kg of safu a week ;) brought raw peanuts (thank orkos!) and these very very tasty heirloom tomatoes which a friend of him grows himself (!) ...

...plus some really good quality nori algea

we had some unaltered fresh fruit too, which i always appreciate.

the most amazing melon (which N brought from the south of france) and some sapodillas (which i got at the african supermarket "trans food" on ackerstr.) which could have been more ripe.

we were not short on desserts and sweet dishes eiter: friend L from essen brought some very nice fruity creations: a refreshingly slightly sweet green banana smoothie

and this light black currant/banana "no-ghurt"!

M from cologne (who gave me a ride back from camp to civilisation and is equally as estranged from his old life now) and me had prepared the same dish! a chocolate pudding.

seriously, can you ever have enough chocolate pudding? no, you can't! (maybe we both unconsciously relied on the fact that the superfood cacao would make us feel better. well, it did work, at least for a while)

it was also interesting how different the two dishes were. i liked his better than mine, it was much richer since he used cashews, coconut oil and figs...

... while i just used avocados, maple syrup and agave.

i brought a coconut cream (cashews, coconut oil, dried coconut, vanilla and agave) which contrasted well with the two chocolate puddings.

it was great to get back together with raw foodies. the next potluck is in essen on saturday. not far away from the "veggie street day" in dortmund. the day after that there's another potluck in cologne.

the anticipation of these events will get me through the week (which started out with my laptop having a virus and my car left behind in the middle of nowhere because the engine won't start anymore. *sigh*)

wild berries and city life...

2010-08-08T14:52:00.004+02:00

truth be told: i am miserable in the city right now.
i am really looking forward to tonight's raw potluck. even thought the weather sucks here now... i am starved for some raw community support and exchange. some people who were at camp will be there too and i can't wait to see them again. i wonder if it's equally as difficult for them back home.

i found a secret spot... and collected these >600 gr of wild blackberries in less than 30 minutes! i will go back there in a few days.

the wild ones taste sooo much better than the 'good looking' commercial ones from the store (even though these were local ones!)

and this is where some of the berries went: into the ultimate berry smoothie with acai and aronia. i feel younger already ;)

rawfood camp near stuttgart

2010-08-08T00:57:00.017+02:00

i attended a rohfood camp near stuttgart last week. i'm really glad i went, although the weather really sucked. the first day was nice, then it was raining, raining, raining...

it was a very small 'grassroots' kind of gathering, nothing big and commercial.

the caterers really made an effort!

i had a lot of excellent tropical fruit, despite my good intentions to eat more local fruit.

they had 3 different kinds of durian! morn thong, tap tim and gahn yao. who could say no to that?

the heavy durian smell bothered the other campers so much they complained... so we had a restricted durian eating zone...

"MOM! THERE'S A SLUG ON MY LUNCHBOX!" (can you spot the slug?!)

i met some amazing people and learned a lot about wild herbs.

at camp i spend most of my time with A. she is a truely inspiring person, yoga teacher, long time raw foodie and a wonderful being. unfortunately she lives "far away" in paris. she tought me how to spot wild blueberries!

A, F and me really hit the blueberry jackpot. suddenly they were everywhere!

i ate a LOT of safu last week...

i love safu!

kenari nuts from indonesia

stinging nettle seeds are edible! they taste fruity!

i prepared the avocado cacao pudding several times.

all the greens in this salad came straight out of the forest...

A and me found lots of wild blackberries too!

the most "gourmet" dish we created was a nut mousse (young coconut meat, cashews, brazil and hazelnuts w honey) with wild forest berries.

back at home i haven't gotten used to the fast pace of the city at all. i miss the camp's welcoming and relaxed atmosphere and can't wait to head off to the next raw meetup.

wild chaga mushroom

2010-07-28T16:18:00.003+02:00

J from finland brought me some wild chaga mushroom!

strictly speaking it's a parasitic fungus that grows on the birch tree... the medicinal qualities of this mushroom have been used in folk medicine since the 16th century (at least).

chaga has antimutagenic qualities and helps rebuild dna. it is one of the most powerful sources of concentrated antioxidants known. (it has more than 100 times(!) more antioxidants than acai, pomegranate or blueberries)

therefore it is used against cancer, diabetes and other illnesses, but can also be enjoyed as a healthy tonic.

the traditional way of preparation in finland is boiling the mushroom for about 2 hours, then letting it drying it and repeating the process.

i wanted to try different ways of preparation. (see picture from left to right) so i made:

- a raw smoothie (in a blender)

- soaked some in warm water (40 degrees)

- brewed some like a tea (boling water)

- boiled some for about 30 minutes

the smoothie was hard to drink since it had many small pieces in it... and the soaked one and the "tea" didn't taste like anything. surprisingly i really liked the boiled one best. it has a slight vanilla-ish aroma and can be enjoyed as a healthy coffee alternative.

berrie choc' delight

2010-07-26T17:02:00.006+02:00

berries with raw 'chocolate liquor' (not to be confused with 'chocolate liqueur').
now what is that?
the raw cacao nibs are peeled, milled and then pressed in blocks. so technically chocolate liquor is "100% cacao" chocolate. it's not very bitter, since the nibs are raw, but of course it's not sweet either.

you can order it here: http://www.rohschoko.de/epages/es10459840.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es10459840_RohKoch/Products/1004

chocolate pudding with an italian mini pear and banana

coconut cream pie w chocolate crust

2010-07-26T16:52:00.007+02:00

ok, i did make something fancy last week and it turned out nice, although not optimal. anyway. my friend A and me got together and made pie with a chocolate crust, coconut cream filling and strawberry topping. i got the recipe from S who made the pie for the potluck in cologne.

first of all: it took a long long time to assemble.

a really long time.

the original cake recipe calls for bananas and is losely based on cafe gratitude's "i am devoted" cake.

the crust is a very very rich almond, cacao & carobpowder plus dried coconut mash. we made several layers...

... which does look pretty, but made the cake too heavy and thick in the end.

i really love the filling: cashews, coconut oil, vanilla and agave. mhmmmm...

somehow we still ended up with too much cake crust. so A rolled those ball.

i think i liked the idea of a cake better than i liked the cake in the end. to many layers aren't so good. i liked the crust and the filling better seperately. *shrug*

hey, look, it's a random salad picture!

mel vs. safu

2010-07-26T16:08:00.003+02:00

'dacryodes edulis', safu, safou or 'african pear' is an african fruit rich in amino acids and triglycerides. this picture shows fresh (unripe) safus and obviously i didn't take that picture. i stole it off the internet...

at the potluck in cologne i had the opportunity to taste a safu. (i actually tasted some before at the rohvolution in berlin, but had completely forgotten about it again)

the seed is pretty big, so you mostly eat the skin. some say it tastes like a sausage with herbs... to me it tasted like a fattier version of avocado with a slight smokey aroma. i liked it very much. add some salt, maybe a tomato and it makes a perfect meal.

unfortunately it is not so common and hard to get here... the only source i know is orkos, but i don't know if i'll order there again. (the guy who brought them to the potluck does mostly mono dieting and currently orders 4 kg of safu a week! i find that admirable.)

raw potluck in essen!

2010-07-25T03:23:00.010+02:00

i went to the essen's 1st raw potluck on sunday. i decided this rather spontaneously and i am so very glad i went.

it was a small potluck with a warm welcoming atmosphere. i met some really nice people and i wouldn't want to have missed it.

we met in I's garden, which is located in a small-garden-colony (i must say; i had prejudices... but i had to correct them. it was LOVELY!)

he had arranged a lovely little buffet and our "exclusive" group of about ~15 people plus babies gathered around the food.

i was happy to meet L again, whom i had first met last week in cologne. she brought a sprouted lentil salad that i really enjoyed. i have to start sprouting lentils and legumes i think.

cabbage cabbage cabbage

A had brought another cake creation, possibly even better than the one she brought to cologne last week. (that might be due to the fact that this one contained chocolate.... ;)

crispy bread crackers

M & B have a top notch juicer and brought two juice creations: red beet / carrot juice and banana / date juice (a thick, very rich juice)

looks like hors d'œuvre ... eggplant 'bread' with avocado, tomato mix, mushrooms and sprouts.

i had whipped up a chocolate pudding (avocados, plums, dates, cacao, carob & a little agave)

a kind neighbour brought these freshly picked berries!

i drove home with a smile on my face. several people there will attend the raw camp next week. i signed up for this too. sounds great. nature and raw food with some like-minded people. i see a week of bonfires and yoga!

raw chocolate ice cream

2010-07-24T13:02:00.005+02:00

i made this chocolate ice cream a while ago. it's just water, cashews, agave and cacao powder. all raw and easily made.

i don't have an ice cream machine, so i just put it in a plastic container and into the freezer. stir occasionally to avoid big ice crystals.

et voilà!

salad and berries

2010-07-24T12:42:00.004+02:00

sorry, i haven't been posting all that much lately. i ate a lot of simple food...

i looooove berries.

all kinds of berries...

"muesli" with nutmylk, grated apple and berries!

salad salad salad...

.... and more salad. this time with pear.

a word about 'female hygiene' products

2010-07-24T12:29:00.007+02:00

ladies, a word about sanitary protection: i used tampons for 17 years now, but after reading an article in the latest "get fresh" magazine [a raw food magazine from the uk] i will probably never use one again!

do consider these facts:

tampons & disposable sanitary pad can contain:

- pesticides, herbicides and defoliants (potentially carcinogenic)

- dioxines from chlorine bleaching

- fragrances & deodorants

- rayon (a semi synthetic material), polypropylene, polyacrylates and dry weave plastic covers (in sanitary pads)

- all these substances are loaded with potentially harmful chemicals that can (and do!) enter the bloodstream...

- tampons soak up healthy vaginal mucus and affect (and destroy) the natural ph balance. plus they dry out the vagina
- the average woman uses about 17000 (!!!) sanitary products in her life, think about all this waste (most of it does NOT decompose)

for me, it was time to think about alternatives. i admit: at first the alternatives to tampons sound... completely nasty and icky.

then i thought about it some more and finally ordered these products that you can see in the picture above:

- a whole load full of washable menstrual pads from KULMINE http://www.kulmine.de/
[check gladrags.com or lunapads.com if you're located in the us, try seapearls.co.uk in the uk or just google "washable mentrual pads" to find an online store in your country]

these pads are made out of 100% organic non bleached cotton, are really absorbant, breathable and DO NOT SLIP. (i haven't worn a pad since the early 90s and am REALLY CURIOUS)

- sponge tampons (also via KULMINE)
they basically look like a bathtub sponge and are inserted like a tampon. they are textured like the walls of a vagina and do not dry it out. they are washable and reusable. (sounds great)

- a "yuuki cup" (synonyms are: mooncup, keeper cup, diva cup, lunette etc.). these cups are bell shaped containers (made of medical grade silicone without chemicals, latex, dyes, toxins or bleaches) that are inserted like a tampon. they collect the blood and can be simply washed out and be re-used)

i wish i had known about all this sooner. i never thought i'd say this but; "i can't wait to get my period"

my first interview...

2010-07-20T18:43:00.004+02:00

on a very quick and purely narcissistic note: J from finland asked me for an interview for his blog "running wild"!

(http://runningwild.vuodatus.net/) he writes mostly in finnish, but sometimes in english.

needless to say, i agreed. and i am still immensely flattered...
the interview is online now:
http://runningwild.vuodatus.net/blog/2576560

raw potluck in cologne!

2010-07-20T09:07:00.010+02:00

i went to a raw potluck in cologne last sunday!
S (www.rohelust.blogspot.com) hosted this in her home (many thanks again!)
i had lots and lots of immensely tasty food (i totally overate) and met some very inspiring people!

yummy pizza 'hawaii' (w pineapple) made by the 'raw cook' (rohkoch.de)

salads, salads, salads! i love fresh salads!

N (vitalissimo.eu) brought 'chi', a raw lemonade. it's a fermented drink (kombuca/kefir style). i tried some at the rohvolution in berlin and for some reason i have to be really careful with these drinks, so i abstained.

there were lots of fresh and dried fruit and nuts too. really a great variety of things catering to all raw vegan lifestyles.

kelp noodle salad with mixed veggies, very delicious!

passionfruit, mangosteen and kiwis!

sour cherries: fresh from the tree!

this salad had a very tasty garlic/nut/herbs dressing, definetely joghurt-dressing inspired. i liked it very much and will try to recreate it.

more fresh greens!

raw cake!!! (and a really superb salad with pineapple and ginger)

a very sumptious nut cream (used as a salad dressing)

zucchini noodles and...

more cake!!!

what can i say, i'm a sucker for sweet things. i have successfully stayed away from sweet stuff for a while now, but i had to try the cakes!

the one above was made with a rich nut crust, a veeeery sweet creamy filling and decorated (ying yang style!) with raspberries, blueberries and dried pineapple. thumbs up!

cakes, cakes, cakes... i was in raw food heaven...

my personal highlight: strawberry chocolate cake (coconut) cream cake made by S. yummy yummy yummy! the coconut cream filling was just fabulous. i immediately asked for the recipe and will recreate that as soon as i have the chance to.

there was even more food which i sadly didn't take any pictures of... as soon as the buffet was opened i dug in... and i ate all evening long.

i would also like to point out a very thoughtful (german) blog; lizzie's "eat & think blog":

http://eatandthink.wordpress.com/

sorry, i have to keep this brief again...

bye for now.

Kemi Nekvapil's cauliflower-carrot biriyani w fruit chutney

2010-07-11T12:46:00.014+02:00

i had absolutely no intention of preparing anything new or fancy today. i just browsed some raw blogs and was directed to a raw chef video competition totally by accident.

most of the videos include lots of "special ingredients" e.g. maca, raw cacaopowder, mesquite, lucuma and lots and lots of nuts and agave. (ok, i happen to have most of these things on stock as well, but lots of people probably dont)

then one video really caught my interest: kemi nekavapil's!

she prepares a biriyani (the cooked variant is a spicy indian rice dish with nuts and herbs) with chutney.

the biriyani has carrots, cauliflower, a little bit of garlic, ginger and shredded (dried) coconut in it.

the chutney is made of soaked figs, mint and lime juice.

the key to the recipe are the spices: cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, chilli and coriander, cashews as a garnish.

well, it's a sunday, the shops are closed and i didn't have all the ingredients... so i substituted:

broccoli instead of cauliflower

plums, apricots and cherries instead of figs

fresh orange juice instead of fresh lime juice

almonds instead of cashews (for the garnish)

plus i altered the spices a bit (just didn't have everything here)

coriander instead of cumin

cardamom instead of turmeric

i added mace

and i left out the oil and fresh coriander

and a fantastic and delishious dish came out.

so my dear readers,

i URGE you to go to this site and have a look at some of these videos:

http://hotrawchef.com/
it's a raw chef competition.

i also URGE you to enter & vote for your favorite recipe/chef/video/overall presentation. of course it's totally free, no signup, no newsletter AND you get all the recipes via email if you like.

of course, it's your free choice but of course i voted for Kemi Nekvapil and her

Cauliflower and Carrot Biriyaniwith with Fig and Mint Chutney!

it's fabulous, it's actually healthy (no agave, no sweetening stuff apart from dried fruits, no fancy stuff AND nuts and oils are optional (apart from the dried coconut))

and it's so easy! the total preparing time (from searching the cupboard for spices until cleaning the blender) was less than 35 minutes!

[sorry, for some reason blogspot doesn't like paragraphs today... so i put the dots in to make it more easy on the eyes]

hurray for kemi!!!

mel vs. durian 4th round

2010-07-04T11:09:00.010+02:00

so. guess what... i gave durian another try. (so nobody can say i didn't try)

i got some already peeled durian from a chinese supermarket (ackerstr. 21 in düsseldorf)

the owners are always superfriendly and were amazed when i came prepared with a cooling bag and an extra bag to wrap the durian.

they'll have fresh durian (already cut up, 4 big pieces for 7 euro) for the next 2 months. they store frozen durian (cut up pieces and whole fruit) all year round and also have nasty things like durian ice cream.

this time, it was a really fresh fruit, well cooled and all.
and i came to like it.

the mushy pieces... were way too cheesy for me, but i liked the crunchy ends. L is not so much a fan. i brought some durian to my friends; either people instantly love it or are kind of disgusted. the dogs LOVE it. i think it's that stinky mushyness they like...

i read somewhere online that the durian is also called "tree cheese". EWWWW. that's kind of nasty, isn't it?!

i also read that it is said to taste like vanilla, bananas, pineapple and walnuts... i don't know if i would agree.

but now i can safely say that i tried it a couple of times and went from passionate disgust to actually enjoying the fresh bity parts.

freeze-dried fruit!

2010-07-04T11:06:00.002+02:00

check this out:
freeze-dried pineapple!

i'd have to research if freeze-dried stuff is regarded appropriate in the raw community ... anyway, i really enjoy it! tastes like popcorn to me!

young company, great products, fresh website:
www.frutero.com

fresh coconut & ginger mania

2010-07-04T10:54:00.004+02:00

finally fresh young coconut are available again! 2 euro at the african store! my favorite drink.

i really developed a taste for ginger. above fresh apple juice with a shot of fresh ginger juice. i like it spicy.

home made ginger "lemonade": fresh ginger juice, lots of cold water and a little bit of agave to sweeten it up.

i've never had figs this size!!!

2nd raw potluck in the dorf!

2010-07-04T10:30:00.005+02:00

last sunday a small crowd of people gathered again at the rhine and brought fancy raw food! this time we had plenty of desserts and fresh fruit.

the absolute highlight (for me) was this strawberry pie. sweet fruity goodness. delicious!

a salad with carrots, basil and an apple cider vinegar&nuts dressing

mushrooms stuffed with avocado, tomato, sprouts and other goodies

zucchini noodles with three (!) different sauces: a garlic pesto (green), a curry sauce with cashews and orange juice (yellow) and a tomato sauce (red). very delicious!

sweet cookies with almonds, dates and spices.

a fresh fruit salad with mint leaves!

L had prepared "her" apple pie, which is really a ani phyo's recipe. L masters this to perfection now.

i made sweet potato chips (with salt, herbs and vinegar) and sweet kale cookies (kale, carrots, date paste, almonds and hazelnuts)

we had plenty of fresh fruit, several people had brought watermelon as well.

the aforementioned date paste. bought for a killer price from the persian market.

the cookies. i'll make them again, it's so easy.

hot dogs anyone?

2010-07-02T14:14:00.002+02:00

these dogs are hot...

... they are looking for some cool on the stone floor.

i have hardly blogged since we got back since there are so many things to do and the weather is so lovely.
will try to do some blogging on the weekend.

mel vs. star apple

2010-06-22T10:19:00.005+02:00

i saved the best for last:

a very very rare treat, even in a chinatown on the other side of the planet (unless you live in vietnam or central america) : i found star apples in honolulu!

there are three different varieties of star apples (the offical latin name is chrysophyllum cainito) : green, purple and then there is also a red one.

the green ones have a thinner skin & overall texture while the purple ones are thicker and firmer.

the star apple is really super delicious, tastes like a banana with a lychee inside.

you can even see it in the pics: the part close to the outer skin is more banana-ish and starchy and the inside is more transparent and lychee-like.

the star apple ranks as a close third in my favorite fruit list of all times now. number one has always been... the pineapple. number 2 is the mangosteen.

if you ever see a starapple (or something even remotely like it) GO FOR IT! A MUST TRY!

mel vs. mountain apple

2010-06-22T10:12:00.005+02:00

ok, here's another great fruit i found in honolulu's chinatown...

this teeny tiny fruit is a mountain apple

the mountain apple doesn't have too much in common with a regular apple... well ok, there's the shape and a vague similarity in taste.

mountain apples are kind of fluffy inside. they taste like... a sourish vaguely applish cotton candy.

they were just a tad too sour, probably could have been more ripe.

mel vs. soursop

2010-06-22T09:47:00.011+02:00

i've tried soursop before and was not a fan. it does have the name SOURsop for a reason...

i got this one because the soursop looks sooo cool.

turned out this one wasn't even fully ripe yet :(

as you can see from the structure and the seeds it's a member of the annona family and related to the cerimoya, which much sweeter and often available in germany.

mel vs. june plum

2010-06-22T09:47:00.010+02:00

i got these from a fruit booth next to the highway on the north shore and never saw them again anywhere else. the woman who sold them to me told me they were called june plums or june prunes, that they were harvested only in june, and that hardly anybody but the locals knew about those.

when i tried to take a bite she told me "take them in your mouth whole, just like a candy". after biting through the tough skin it was a fresh blast of liquid fruit infusion.

they were delicious, with a fresh sweet and sour taste, a bit like a passionfruit. the only downside was that the seed was sooo big that there was very little fruit around it. (see pic)

mel vs. sea asparagus

2010-06-22T08:30:00.010+02:00

found some more exotic fruit (and one veggie) during our trip that i wanted to blog about in detail. so here they come!

when we got this (also at the farmer's market) L and me thought this was a kind of algae. we were wrong!
sea asparagus (or "salicornia" as it is officially called) is a succulent plant that grows in salt marshes, on beaches and in other saline environments!

it is naturally salty (sic!) and very tasty, it goes well with tomatoes and other veggies. to me it didn't taste like asparagus at all! i think it's just called sea asparagus because of it's shape and because "asparagus" sounds more marketable than e.g. "salty little weed".

home sweet home

2010-06-22T08:00:00.012+02:00

we're finally back home. the 25 hour journey plus 12 hour time difference still wears on me. i've never had much trouble with jetlag, i woke up really early again this morning, after a very short unrestful sleep. i hope to settle back into germany-time soon.

here are some more pictures from o'ahu i never got around to post.

eating healthy is possible (even in america, you just have to look for it and maybe go a little bit out of your way here and there)! even in a mall!

we ate there several times as it happened to be a major public transportation transfer point.

lightly steamed mixed veggies chinese style (half raw, very nice) plus marinated spinach korean style for under 4 dollar!

sadly the honolulu gay pride parade was rather short and kind of unspectacular. afterwards we went to the pride festival (which was also very small, but had a super nice and relaxed athmosphere) where i got this lovely raw kale salad from an organic farm food stall.

we tried some poi, a hawaiian specialty. it's NOT a sweet, it's a savoury dish (actually it's a rather tasteless dish) made from taro root (it's just the mashed cooked up taro) and served as a side dish (instead of potatoes or rice).

i could not eat more than a spoonful of it as it was really tasteless. so i took the stuff with me (much to L's dismay), pepped it up with some honey & cinnamon and had it as a dessert later.

the aforementioned cinnamon oranges (i really got to make this here, it's so damn simple and sooo tasty) plus a cucumber jícama salad.

jícama (the "white stuff in the pic) is a root, related to yam. the raw jícama is quite crisp, like an apple or a raw potato and has a sweet and starchy taste. i'll have to check if i can get them in one of the asian markets here.

avocados in all shapes and sizes

a peacock guarding the restrooms @ waimea valley nature park

raw on the road. i got this nice fresh salad at some fast food hamburger place.

we went to a farmer's market and guess what we got there?

"licious dishes" had a booth where they sold their fresh raw dishes!

this raw almond butter turned out the be really really REALLY REALLY rich. very RICH, almost too fatty. we couldn't eat all of it and left it to our landlady who gladly took it.

leftover korean pickels plus apples, tofu, tomatoes and sea asparagus (more about that later) make a good breakfast.

snorkeling at hanauma bay

2010-06-19T19:37:00.003+02:00

i really got used to salad or mixed fruit & veggies in the morning (as opposed to some kind of muesli mash up)

guess what? i found a raw drink at a regular supermarkte here! kombucha and fresh ginger juice.

yesterday we went snorkeling in this beautiful bay

it's called hanauma bay and it was full of fish and tourists.

just another random picture of me.

*sigh* today is our last day here... we'll watch the honolulu gay pride parade and then check out the entertainment program at the pride and then maybe go to the beach one last time.

i'm certainly not homesick, but i miss the dogs very much and i actually look forward to being in the dorf again, meeting my friends and getting back into my workout routine.

one last aloha from the island!

hiking again..

2010-06-18T20:42:00.005+02:00

it's another lovely morning in waikiki, honolulu. today we'll go snorkeling at hanauma bay which is a nature preservation spot and known for lots of fish and turtle sights.

let me tell you about yesterday...
we started out very early and went for another hike.
all in all we hiked some >8 km, which might not seem all that far, but we had a height elevation gain of about 400 meters.
we hiked along several connecting trails, starting out from...

... nuuanu pali drive, a very rich area with lots of multi million dollar homes. i knew that this driveway was located there...

which some of you might remember as anthony cooper's (john locke's father) driveway from LOST. a little anticlimactic, as lots of stuff was changed around for filming...

we started out at the judd trail

and went on and on and on through very different vegetation

streams, waterfalls

bamboo forests

these are roots on the floor...

i came across this curious seed pot

with resting and taking pictures this took us about 4 1/2 hours...

there were some very tricky, super muddy wet and slippery climbs and decends on that hike... when we came out at the manoa falls trails we had super muddy shoes and legs. we had a good time though!

afterwards L wanted to rest, but i went back to chinatown. several people (!) asked me if i was from sweden and if that was my natural hair color.... !?!

notice the durian on the right...

so called "apple bananas", yes, they do have a (very slight) apple flavor.

the oranges here are sooo tasty. i also got a korean melon, a soursop and a papaya.

east coast images

2010-06-18T20:34:00.002+02:00

some more pretty pics from the east coast: a noni fruit at that macadamia nut farm

fresh young coconut... yummy! (sadly not as sweet here as the ones from asia!)

beautiful beaches

*sigh*... it does really look like that here.

driving up the east coast & turtle bay

2010-06-17T19:05:00.008+02:00

sorry, i'm a little bit slow with blogging here. well, i'm on holiday after all. again, it's early in the morning, but i'm waking up later and later.

we drove up to the north shore along the east coast, stopped by at a couple of beaches and a (terribly touristy) macadamia nut farm. that's where they had the stupid guidepost. i really hate those, but just this once i thought it was funny. so guess what? i'm really far away from home...

we made a stop at a mom 'n' pop style restaurant along the way. they had parrots in their garden. i ate a pineapple coleslaw with raisins. delicious!

we went to a famous beach, the locals call it laniakaea, but to tourists it's known as... turtle beach!!

we knew that turtles sometimes come up that beach to rest and sleep in the sun, but i wasn't expecting them to be THAT many and THAT big! i just thought "what are all these people looking at? the rocks?" turned out that the rocks were turtles.

the turtles are guarded by volunteers from 5 o'clock in the morning until midnight, touching and handling the turtles is strictly forbidden and one should also keep a distance to give them space to rest.

there are 21 turtles visiting that beach regularly and they all have individual names! these ones are about 30 - 40 years old.

they are truly magnificent. reminded me that there are so many things more important than human existence.

we watched them for a long long time. another one robbed onto the shore while we were there. in the water they are sliding along elegantly, but on the land they are quite slow.

driving back to honolulu we were both a bit sad to leave the turtles.

we got some korean food with lots of raw veggies.

the aforementioned panchan: raw veggies marinated in a hot chili sauce (can be very spicy...)

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO OF THE TURTLES!!!

hiking hiking hiking

2010-06-17T18:29:00.009+02:00

sorry for not updating sooner, i've been getting more sleep lately.

so, what did we do the day before yesterday?

after a big fat salad breakfast we headed out to mount tantalus for some serious hiking.

straight into the jungle

through an endless bamboo forest

up the hill

for some spectacular mountain views

we came across several trails, that are all connected

so we hiked down a different trail with a very different vegetation

we rested here and ate papaya and apples. i really like the papayas here, they are so fresh and juicy.

some of these trails were also used for LOST...

one big old leaf...

after all that walking and climbing we just crashed in the evening. we went to a vietnamese place and i got a grilled veggie plate with tofu.

giant avocado

2010-06-15T18:19:00.004+02:00

look at this avocado!!!
it's bigger than my head. well, not quite ;)
but it's gigantic! definetely the biggest avocado i've ever seen.

unfortunately i could not buy this one... these fruit (guava and soursop too) belonged to a shake 'n' smoothie bar and were used for shakes...

yes, the funny cucumber shaped thing to the right is an avocado too!!!

remember that big grapefruit? it was tasty, but it had a lot A LOT of seeds. 35 seeds in ONE HALF!!!

sooo.... this morning i woke up at 4. i decided to get up and go for a run! it's been 6 days since my last workout and my legs felt like stone. i thought i could watch the sun rise above the ocean, but i was too early for that. at about 4:30 the trees are being watered here and i ran into several sprinklers along the way.

i did see some other people; lots of homeless people sleeping on the beach and in a park, a photographer waiting for sunrise, a snuggling couple on a parkbench, two other joggers (we exchanged a nod and a friendly "good morning") and most curiously: two older guys playing chess on one of the tables by the beach.

i'm ready for another beautiful day!

have a good one!

a beach day

2010-06-15T18:06:00.002+02:00

a super tasty sapodilla. nice and sweet and a little bit firmer than the ones imported to germany.

we drove out to the north shore yesterday. took only about 45 min from honolulu (south coast) to the north coast... it's a small island.

ah... it was such a beautiful beach....

we baked in the sun for hours. yeah, i'm seriously sunburned. esp on my bum which makes sitting painful.

we stopped by at a town called haleiwa (a little sleepy surfer's nest by the ocean) and went to an excellent suhi bar. i had a very fresh cucumber salad (with a lemon and lime marinade)

and some (also super fresh) veggie rolls (non raw). curiously they were wrapped in soybean papaer instead of nori. tasty!

LOST on location 2

2010-06-14T19:54:00.004+02:00

one of the locations used as "the bamboo forest"

used for multiple jungle shots

used for crossing the little stream

dharma ville. a 70s holiday camp for kids. strangely anticlimactic as the whole surrounding area and vegetation were so different...

LOST on location...

2010-06-14T19:48:00.002+02:00

one of "the" beaches

another beach. remember when juliet killed one of the others? the "burial" scene was shot here (ben and the others send the body out to sea and set the boat on fire)

THE waterfall

this is where ben showed sawyer THE island (they were on Hydra island). well, as you can see THE island was digitally rendered

manoa falls

2010-06-14T19:38:00.003+02:00

the beautiful manoa falls

a little hike through the jungle

in LOST land...

just up the road the jungle starts...

diamond head crater

2010-06-13T19:38:00.004+02:00

another clear and bright day. we went to see the diamond crater, which is basically a viewpoint on a very very small mountain.

nice view up there. very windy.

see the little lighthouse to the left? pretty, isn't it?

then we sat on the bus for 30 minutes... walked another 10 minutes and....

...poof, we were in the jungle

grrrreat!!!

what did i eat?

2010-06-13T18:42:00.007+02:00

good morning!
same drill as last night... we went to bed pretty early as we had been walking around all day long. i didn't sleep so well and i got up at 5 again.
and here i am, blogging after breakfast.

so... what did i eat in the last 2 days?

the fuzziest little white peach

the freshest salad

the sweetest aforementioned pineapple

the crunchiest steamed water spinach (special order at a chinatown dim sum place. not raw by the way. but good... yummy)

the juiciest oranges (with cinammon! i got it at the food court of a big fat mall)

the spiciest cucumber pineapple salads (even at a mall one can eat raw!)

wheatgrass shot at a juice bar. it made me very nauseous to the point where i almost had to throw up. we had to go into a store so i could stay close to a restroom. this is how we found our way into the mall.

more salad. just like at home. only that the sprouts are longer here ;)

giant citrus fruit...

i also had some tofu and bread here. it's a tofu product called tofurky and i swear it did taste like turkey. shockingly so.

aaaaand i had chocolate! dark chocolate covered raisins that are called raisinettes, which are apparently not so popular amongst american kids (L said that this was always the last thing to be eaten out of a halloween bag...) i really like those.

more fruit

2010-06-12T17:52:00.008+02:00

mango, guava etc

soursop. which sadly, sadly i am not a fan of...

papaya are so cheap here...

water chestnuts

more jackfruit, banana and watermelon

fruit fruit fruit

who needs cola when you can get a fresh sugarcane juice

lychees!

sugar cane, coconuts etc

avocados

drinking a young coconut. yummy

more lychees, longan and a very little very sour fruit...

guavas, sapodillas and soursop

tropical fruits @ chinatown honolulu

2010-06-12T17:38:00.001+02:00

gigantic grapefruits

avocados and jackfruit

jackfruit and fresh green coconuts

more coconuts

good morning everybody

2010-06-12T17:31:00.002+02:00

i'm having trouble sleeping... so i got up at 5 after a short night of tossing and turning. now i'm cuddled up on the balcony with a blanket and a decaf fake coffee with almond milk (non raw, from the store) waiting for sunrise.

strangely i'm not even that tired.

we checked out downtown honolulu yesterday, inculding chinatown. i got a my hands on some grrrrreat local and exotic (imports from indonesia and asia) fruit!!!

i'll post some new fruitpics soon.

the queen is dead, long live the queen

2010-06-12T17:24:00.002+02:00

remember that big avocado i posted about yesterday? yeah, turns out it was a small one. we have a new queen here!

this one is pretty heavy...

watch them in comparison...

aloha avocados!

2010-06-11T20:28:00.007+02:00

every time i'm above the clouds i am amazed.

i think it looks like an arctic landscape. just fluffier :)

aloha after 26 hours of travelling... i'm so happy to be here!

first thing after arriving? grocery shopping.

american supermarkets keep getting bigger and bigger. i saw several things that left me speechless. among it: a tetrapack of "just whites" = eggwhites. nasty nasty nasty.

hi...this is an aside from L. the american supermarket was always big. we just think it just gets bigger. now back to girljuggler.

i love it how the avocado packaging says "cholesterol and sodium free". it's america, so you better make sure, duh!

we bought some "hass avocados" and one bigger island style one. can't remember the name now. when i found them this morning they had assumed this natural position: the small ones hailing their queen.

ok, i must admit that those hass avocado are rather small ones of their kind. however, you can see how much bigger the other avocado is.

i will make it a personal quest to find the biggest avocado of this island.

me, 15 minutes ago, flirting with the queen (of avocados) on the balcony. she is not ripe yet. tomorrow then!

detoxing

2010-06-06T10:20:00.011+02:00

haaaaach... niiiiiice weather in the dorf, a fabulous holdiay coming up AND we just had the most gorgeous visitor from korea.

the lovely K from seoul was here with her "band"; the seoul philharmonic orchestra.
there's a big schumann festival at the tonhalle düsseldorf and they rocked it with debussy, ravel and (obviously) schumann!

guess who "ended up" with the flowers that were given to the soloist? that's right: ME!
(see pic above. a really nice bouquet with roses, some amazingly beautiful red flowers and: mint!)

L and me took K to our favorite korean restaurant. being on tour for a while now K had some serious cravings for home-stlye food plus L and me hadn't been there in ages.

vegan? yes.
raw? not so much.

i had a "hot pot", which was actually raw veggies plus rice plus a very hot chilli sauce. i really enjoyed it and ate all of it (see pic above)

the korean panchan dishes (the little "amuse bouche" starters that are offered for free with every meal) are actually raw. i had some lovely pickled 'n' marinated stuff, e.g. variations of kimchi (cabbage w chilli), spinach, sprouts, cucumber etc.

this is a raw soup that my friends A&E and me made a while ago. i just never got around to posting that picture. tomatoes, cucumber, chilli powder & chilli oil.
spicy and fresh is a combination i really enjoy. last night i had some melon with a hot chilli sauce. yummy. it was so hot (spicy, not "temperature hot") i teared up and coughed.

last night i went over to E's house and we had a game night with A. some people may find playing board 'n' cardgames incredibly dull and boring, for me it's one of my favorite things to do on a saturday night. i especially enjoy strategy games like risk, carcassonne and the german cardgame doppelkopf.
luckily A&E are huge game fans as well. good for me!

another dish from a while ago. it's another apple pie (apples, nuts, dates and the juice of an orange). i used the same ingredients L had used previously, yet it turned out very different. i used less dates and more apples, so it was less sweet and a little on the dry side.
tasty anyway.

while K was in town L and me also took her out for some immensely greasy german food. i must say: it did taste really nice since i hadn't had fried things or bread in AGES, but my stomach didn't feel so good afterwards.

that's why i'm in serious detoxing mode now. i will rely on some very light fruit and vegetable dishes for the next couple of days. breakfast was a mash made from two apples, cinnamon and a pinch of vanilla.

in pleasant anticipation of our upcoming holiday i changed my profile picture to a pic a took of myself (hence the angle) on a beach in turkey last summer.

have grrreat sunday everybody!

a lovely day at the rhine

2010-05-29T15:37:00.008+02:00

ahhh, what a beautiful day in the dorf. we went to the river with our four legged friends. (can you spot the running dog in the picture?)

the boys had fun in the sun. duke got hot and showed his long tongue.

the sheep were out, huddled together in the shades of the trees, munching the green grass.

sonny rolled around in something sheepy. then he swam in the river. nasty smells. (i gave him a bath when we got home)

my pretty girl in the sun.

no, i am not wearing some ultra cool bondage shirt (b.t.w. it's japan day today and all the geeks are out - in full gear!), it's just a dogleash over my shoulder.

L demonstrated superior core strength and balance skills while the boys were looking for edibles.

L did the crow on a stone. just because she can. as a former u.s. taekwondo champion she would never practice yoga herself. she was a really successful competitor. one day when we have a big fat house we will have a trophy room ;)

namaste LOST...

2010-05-28T12:48:00.010+02:00

i would like to write another farewell note to LOST...

i've been thinking about the finale for a couple of days now. i still don't think that it was the most brillliant ending possible, but then i have to remind myself what LOST has really always been; a great character show.

none of the characters are shallow or just "good" or "evil". everybody always has a history and a motivation. certain actions/modes of behaviour don't just "happen" as a singular event. they are part of a context/chain of events just like in real life. all characters are credible and depicted in pretty realistic ways.
i just loved it time and time again when the show was able to engage my sympathy for a character i had previously disliked.

the well written characters (& the great story writing in general) and of course the beautiful island setting was what drew me to the show in the beginning and kept me going for all those seasons.

the mystery element was something introduced very early on in the show. (in the pilot actually!) and i still don't feel that the writers/producers did all the mysteries justice. ok, sometimes it's just cooler to leave stuff to the imagination, but after all the anticipation season 5 created i still feel it's a bit thin what the producers gave us in the last season.

i personally understand the "sideways flashes" as something that happens after jack dies, but apart from time & space, just like christian shepherd put it, "there is no HERE NOW".

it doesn't mean that they are all dead NOW and that everything we saw on the island never happened. (again, christian said "some died before you and some died a long time after you").

so really the sideways world was a means to show us an alternate "how it all could have been" or "favorite moments reviewed". (some of the stories just didn't catch me, but seeing sawyer and juliet together again was a huge payoff.)

LOST was (and will be) the best on tv EVER.
it is an epic tale about "the human condition".
and with that knowledge, i can also accept the finale.

LOST is now something that will continue away from the screen in our hearts, minds and of course online.
we can all continue to theorize about how long before egyptian times "mother" was on the island and how she got there, how kate, sawyer, desmond, miles, richard alpert and lapidus continue their lives off island (and if they will ever come back...) and how ben helps hurley protect the island.

"see you in another life, brother"
"you got it, blondie"

NAMASTE LOST, we will miss you. a lot.

spicy cucumber tomato soup

2010-05-28T09:42:00.005+02:00

all of a sudden i had the urge for sth immensely spicy. so i blended up this soup:

1 cucumber
4 tomatoes
salt
pepper
dried chilies
chili powder
little bit of chili oil

yup, it turned out QUITE spicy, but i enjoyed it.

on a different note: i bought a new yoga mat! it's a jade mat and i am very very happy with it. (http://www.jadeyoga.com/store/home.php they plant a tree when a mat is bought!)

and it's really really really NON SLIPPERY. that was what i was looking for. now the crow can fly a little bit longer :)

have a grrreat day everybody!

ps: can you spot the dognose in this pic?

LOST... it's over...

2010-05-25T15:25:00.007+02:00

as anticipated i indeed did have a very emotional weekend...
first i turned 30. the big threeeeee-zeeeeero. well, i don't feel any different. in the end, it's just a number. is a number that suggest a certain degree of "grown-up-ness" which i really cannot identify with. *shrug*

my beloved L made me the best possible birthday gift of all possible worlds. i will reveal it at a later point. i am still processing the information. i think i will only believe it for real when it'll finally happen ;)

all of these pictures are taken with my fabulous new camera! a birthday gift from my dear friends A&E. talking about perfect timing: they got me the absolute right thing at the right time! i hope you notice the difference in picture quality. i haven't explored the fine tuning yet, but i am very happy about my new camera.

sprouts 'n' salad... never gets old...

saturday night brought drinks & songs, we headed to a korean style karaoke bar to celebrate. it was one of those very rare occasions i had a drink. actually i got quite drunk. really drunk. which was fun while it lasted, i truely had a great time.

all this drinking turned out to be not so much fun when we got home... both L and me got really really sick...

the "morning after" we dragged ourselves out to the woods, which are so lovely this time of the year. peace and quiet and lots of running with the dogs cleared our heads.

monday brought another day of marvelous sunshine to our dorf. we headed out to the rhine and met S with her two dogs N&A. it was fun! we watched the dogs sniff and run and swim and sniff again.

monday evening brought the much anticipated finale of LOST, my favorite tv show of all times. sadly i cannot say that i found it satisfying. i felt like the writers/producers took "the cheap route" out. i feel betrayed and i don't feel that justice was done to all the mysteries established. all this build up lead to this... i cannot accept it. yet. i will have to do some serious re-thinking and re-watching. all in all, the LOST finale left me in a grumpy mood. for today.

raw corn chowder & raw apple pie

2010-05-21T13:24:00.004+02:00

boy, am i lucky! when i came home from my workout yesterday L had prepared this marvelous food for us!
based on a recipe from ani phyo, the corn chowder is made of well, obviously corn and walnuts. add a little salt, garlic, mixed spices and little bit of pumpkinseed oil and avocado and voila!

L also made a raw dessert!
it's an apple pie!
made of almonds, raisins, dates, orange juice (crust & topping) and of course apples. no agave though. the dates take care of the sweetness.

yummy yummy yummy i got love in my tummy :)

soooo...

this weekend will certainly be a very emotional one. i have a round b'day coming up AND on sunday the LOST finale will air. i'm looking forward to both with bitter-sweet mixed feelings.

have a great day everybody!

what i ate

2010-05-19T18:44:00.004+02:00

a muesli with blended oats and some raw cacao powder in it. very nice. it needed a sweet counterpart, i find the pure cacao much too bitter. as i am trying to save on agave (i'm 2 kilos down again) i put in some grated pear and apple.

yes, i had a coffee!

it's a soy latte decaffeinated coffee. but still a coffee.

not raw, but caffeine free and vegan.

i enjoyed it very much (it ripped my still resonably fresh "coffee wound" a little bit open again.) it tasted ok, but not as remarkably good as in my still very lucid memory of coffee. one good effect was that i had neither shivers nor sweats.

i will not make this a habit again.

maybe just one more... JUST OOOONNNEEE MOOOOOOREEEEE....

tre stagione pomodoro...

looked nice, tasted exactly the same as just red ones though. *shrug*

more random dishes

2010-05-19T18:34:00.005+02:00

sprouts 'n' strawberries

salad with black olives & white fungus (i really like the consistency)

blended strawberries with pear and soaked grains. makes a very good pre-workout food.

mel vs. kiwano

2010-05-19T18:23:00.006+02:00

brace yourselves for the kiwano (or "horned melon", interestingly called "horngurke" [horned cucumber] in german)

i was curious about that fruit with the very special outer appearance. i was expecting something sweet and tropical inside. well, looks can be misleading...

it was advertised with "a heavenly aroma somewhere between lime and banana"... so i opened it

and was greeted by a slimy greenish mass.

a slimy mass that didn't taste anything like banana or lime.

EEWWWW

to me it was a bland and sourly disgusting taste somewhere between cucumber and something very unripe....

never again.

maybe it's some kind of acquired taste. if you grew up in israel, portugal, kenya or new zealand where the kiwano grows you maybe have some fond memories of how grandma picked some ripe kiwanos and you slurped them directly out of their horned shells.

i however have no such memories and will likely not dwell deeper into the kiwano ever again.

fabulous things to do with sprouts...

2010-05-19T17:01:00.004+02:00

did i mention i really love sprouts?

they are so easy to grow, extremely healty, very tasty and super low budget.

i've been trying more sweet stuff with sprouts, works just as well in a muesli. add some fruit and a nutmilk (or just blend e.g. oats and water) and there you go.

salad salad salad

for the last weeks i've been cultivating a salad L now calls my "smoker's salad", because of the heavy load of salt, dried spices and/or oil i put on my tomatoes and greens.

oh, this is made without sprouts. it's another rhubarb mash.

raw potluck!

2010-05-19T14:42:00.016+02:00

duesseldorf, a settlement by the river rhine, the year MMX a.d. ...

on the XV.V. a group of 14 people gathered at the river. women, men and children.
they were fearless, they withstood the grim weather...

they were hungry...
... and they had brought food...

... a lot of food!

sooo...
the first public raw potluck in duesseldorf was a success!

nice people had brought all kinds of great salads, a nice green mix, a fennel salad and a japanese style salad with daikon radish and lots of sprouts.

raw vegan sushi!! the "rice" is a mix of parsnips, cashews, pine nuts and white miso. delicious! i'll have to make that in the very near future!

we had a ton of fresh fruit, even baby bananas!

there was even a raw potato salad (you know how we germans love our potato salad ;)

sweetpotato (in very thin slices), apples, onion, bellpepper, cucumber with a sauce made with cashews, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, garlic and miso.

this bread is the best raw bread ever!

it's just dehydrated flaxseeds, almonds and some spices (e.g. garlic). i've been thinking about making a sweet version, maybe with dates and honey/agave. that would make a splendid cake.

this bread was made in an acutal dehydrator. i wonder wheater i'd get such good results in the oven. must try this soon!

here comes the sushi again, in all it's glory :)

this mousse is made of cabbage, avocado, ground elder ("giersch" in german, it's a wild herb that grows literally everywhere and is very very rich in protein) and alliaria petiolata ("garlic mustard", "knoblauchrauke" in german) to spice it up. very very nice!

my friends A & E made this "filled bell pepper", losely based on a recipe from the legendary german raw un-cookbook "rohe lust" (sadly it's out of print now)

i made my baklava again and people liked it :)

there were two different raw chocolate treats (which -lost in an absolute food frenzy- i failed to photograph) chocolate hearts made with maca and agave (amazing consistency, contrary to my humble try outs) and chocolate ice cream hearts ("melt in your mouth" goodness)

i am very glad we took the initiative and finally made a potluck happen here. it was about time!

we're already planning the next one, which will happen probably sometime in june.

raw cereal

2010-05-05T10:21:00.004+02:00

this morning i had a mash made out of rhubarb, a small mango, a sapodilla and some sugar cane juice.
i did a lot of stuff with rhubarb lately, i really like the texture.

persimmons are back in season!

a trip to the indian/african food store saved me an overpriced order from orkos.

4 small orange mangos, one bigger mango and 3 sapodillas for under 5 euros.

i can safely say that the "trans food" market really kicks orkos' ass...

i got this from a chinese supermarket (costs less than a euro). it's frozen fresh sugarcane juice (98%) with fresh kumquat juice (2%).

this is insanely sweet and i am using it to sweeten my rhubarb dishes.

this is a nutty "oatmeal". the recipe is based on lisa's "breakfast porridge" recipe ( http://rawon10.blogspot.com/)

soaked buckwheat & oats

sprouted sunflower seeds

a banana

some almonds & hazelnuts
some agave, salt & cinnamon

turned out very nice and creamy. i had a heavy hand on the salt so i used some apple to even that out.

have a great day everybody!