BREAKAWAY PROGRAM!

Hiya Folks,

Good Saturday morning to you on this rainy, rainy day.

I just added two blog entries below from Tues and Wed that i had not published, accidentally. My catering partner and I are offering living foods holiday trays to the Philadelphia area and a new recipe for "creamy vodka sauce" on spaghetti. It was so good! I hope you'll check those entries out.

Today Cliff and I have plans with some musician friends of ours who are having a house party/open mike night. I plan on singing 4 or 5 songs and Cliff will play the piano, perhaps a Chopin prelude or something lovely. My friends will sing and tell stories and recite poetry. It promises to be an old fashioned night of fun and entertainment.

I'm bringing some of my raw walnut toona with raw curry crackers and a raw chocolate "brownie" with creamy fudge frosting. I'm excited about sharing my raw creations with some new and old friends.

I joined an online program for stopping binge eating called "The Breakaway Program"
(www.breakawayprogram.com) especially dedicated for people with binge eating disorder. I'd say it's safe to say this program is PERFECT for me!!!! I will continue to update you on my progress!

I had a great raw day yesterday eating raw and am enjoying a delicious green smoothie now I'm calling CELERY SURPRISE: 1 smal head celery, 1 cup spinach, 2 cups green grapes, 6 bananas, agave, vanilla, water. Delish!

I can't lie...i had thoughts about that fabulous cooked vegetarian meal at "Govindas" downtown in Philadelphia. How nice to be able to have a "normal" meal with my aunt. The only problem is, my thoughts consist of going down to Govinda's and ordering 6 to-go meals and eating them all in the car.

Sue me, but I don't even intellectually think there is ANYTHING wrong with cooked veggies and wheatmeat.

I never DID eat raw food for any other reason than to lose weightp and control my eating. It's not for any other reason. Cooked vegan meals are low in calories and can be a healthy part of a person's life. Look at the Hallelujah Acres diet. 85% raw, 15% cooked. They all heal themselves from cancer, but get to have some cooked veggies every once in a while. However, yes, i know, the truth of the matter is, i don't really have the skill to indulge in that right now without flying out of control and eating other dangerous cooked things, like bread and butter, 10 peices in a row.

I know it's hard to believe with my constant reports of out of control eating, but my eating is like 10 billion times better than it used to be, and raw living foods have radically helped me to control my food intake and control my out of control weight issue. So, thinking about cooked veggies seems...criminal.

However, yes, i'm saying this, if i could learn to eat some cooked veggies without binge eating, i'd be open to it. That's a little bit of a frightening thought, but i can't lie. I have it. I can't help it. That meal at Govinda's was so good. What was really wrong with it? It was really only MY reaction to it that was the issue.

Nevertheless, Cliff, my partner, and I decided i would commit again to all raw, which i have done, and i feel "safe" and back home for it. And i've been doing very well.

The Breakaway Program, however, promises to help you heal your binge eating problem no matter what food you eat.

Well, that is a tantalizing proposition.

Too frightening to consider changing my course of action for right now, but, i can't help that it's a thought. I'm not saying i'll go back to meat. But a little cooked veggies here and there? Heaven.

Don't be scared for me. I'm fine for today. Just considering the possibilities in the future.

xoxox, michelle joy

Today is a new day!

Hi Ladies,

I had an unsual experience yesterday and it frightened me. I ate cooked food at a vegetarian restaurant, and ate the leftovers that were meant for cliff, in the car driving home (bread and vegan lasagna, my aunt's leftover entree), and continued to eat when i got home, 4 slices of bread, toasted, with butter. I realized there were things that led up to this. In a letter to a friend, below, i've sort of analyzed it for myself. If you'd like to read it, i've included it below.

I am back on track today, thankfully, and feel at peace, although that may sound like denial, i really don't think it is. After purging my soul of remorse, guilt, fear to several raw friends, Cliff and one of my girlfriends for over 20 years, i feel able to move forward.

I am choosing to continue on in my raw diet. My 3 year raw anniversary is just a month away, and i am choosing to forget this cooked food experience.

Yes, i'll say, after 3 years, real bread and wheatmeat and cooked vegetables and real butter tasted delicious and surprisingly easy to make the choice to indulge, since i opened the door about a month ago by eating beans at the house of my mostly raw catering partner. Once i ingested those, it was easier to decide to eat other things i thought i never would.

Nevertheless, i'm back on track, because i say i'm back on track. I refuse to let fear get the best of me.

So far today, i drank a green smoothie for breakfast (baby spinach and banana), a chocolate shake for lunch (cacao, vanilla, banana, agave, walnut) and an amazing raw toona dinner on homemade flax/buckwheat crackers.

The toona was exceptional, so i'll add the recipe here, and below, is attached a letter which i sent to my girlfriend explaining what's happened.

I feel grateful for the refuge of the raw food diet and i'm glad to be back. My binge issue is still the biggest looming issue of my life and until i get that under control, further weight loss will continue to escape me.

Enjoy this recipe, stay raw, and experience the 'pure raw joy' of a very special diet.
xoxoxox michelle joy

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WALNUT/CASHEW TOONA
Walnuts seem a strange choice for mock toona, but let me tell you something - this may have been one of the BEST toonas i have made YET. Oddly enough, when i made it, i didn't set out to make toona and included quite a bit of garlic in the recipe. Once again, the garlic tasted undetectable, it just provided spicyness and flavor. A delicious toona recipe that very much had the mouth feel and flavor of toona with mayo.
- 1.5 cup walnuts (i did not soak, but feel free)

- 1/4 of a small red onion
- 1 cup celery
- 2 small carrots
- 3 cloves garlic
- juice of 1/2 lemon
-celtic salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp of agave
- 2 slices of jalapeno pepper
Reserve: add 1 cup cashew at end along with another cup celery and 1 more carrot

Add all ingredients to cuisinart with s blade, use a few tbsp of water if needed to blend into a toona-salad like consistency. Add the cashews, celery and carrot last and leave them a little chunky.

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LETTER TO A FRIEND EXPLAINING WHAT HAPPENED THAT I ATE COOKED FOOD

Hi Hon,

Thanks so much for listening.

Okay, so here's the story with the food.

I'll start from the beginning. Did i tell you i did a big catering job? My partner and coworker, Susan, eats some cooked food, so we included 2 cooked bean dishes on our menu for our catering event, and we spent so much time together the week prior to the event, prepping, i had most of my meals at her house. She made a salad with cooked beans and i decided to have the cooked beans at her house, i thought, 'big woop, here i am in the house of a raw foodist, if it's okay with her, why should it be wrong with me?'

The beans didn't bother me or make me feel like devouring everything in sight, which i thought was interesting. Afterall, i think they're more digestable than nuts, with no fat. Intellectually, beans seem like a good option for a heavy person, and a person who has difficulty controlling nut intake.

Yet, since then, since just last month, I guess i kind of 'opened a door' that was best left shut for me by eating those beans.

Ah, and previously, i started experimenting with raw cheese.

All of these experiences were inside of me, and played in my mind. Rationalizing is so incredibly easy. "I ate bread once at OHI and got back on track the next day." Yes, true. I did. I also had TREMENDOUS support being at a raw retreat. "Susan eats beans and cooked vegetables and she's fine." Yes, true, she is. But, she's not a binge eater like me. "You've been eating raw cheese. Do you really think your stomach will know the icecream is not 'raw' dairy?" Well, i don't know if it knew or not. But, psychologically, i knew. Indulging makes the next indulgence that much easier. "Cashews aren't really raw anyway, so what's the difference if you eat beans which are cooked." Well, that IS a good point. Supposedly cashews are NOT raw, so if i eat them, i am technically ingesting cooked food, so what IS the difference? "Susan is 85% raw and enjoys food in vegetarian restaurants often." True. True. Maybe i CAN do this someday. But, now, since i am a binge eater, still, i just can't ALLOW myself such freedoms without running into further out of control eating and weight gain.

In a week moment, when i normally would have just binged on raw food, i made the decision to have cooked, several times over the last week.

In my car the other day, i chose to buy cooked corn chips and eat them in the car. After eating those, cooked potato chips didn't seem like such a terrible crime. I ate 7 .99$ bags in total. After that, icecream felt like an easy choice. Haagen Dasz icecream bars, and 2 pints of icecream went down easily.

2 days later, i found myself easily at the icecream drive-through ordering and downing a quart.

Last night was the culmination of all of this. I had a normal vegetarian meal out with my aunt, wheatmeat and cooked veggies.

I have always been insane for that wheatmeat stuff. Once i allowed myself to eat wheatmeat, what was then stopping me from eating wheat? nothing. When i drove home, the leftovers from my aunt's meal that were for cliff, including bread that i didn't eat and haven't eaten in almost exactly 3 years, i ate. After eating wheat in bread, what was stopping me for finishing her pasta dish? Nothing.

Incidentally, yes, it was all good. But i fear this is the beginning of the end.

So i had this big talk with cliff, admitted everything. This is the 2nd talk i had with cliff. I admitted the chips and icecream incident. He's highly concerned but supportive, there for me, counseling me, helping me to gain back my confidence to go on. I also wrote a few friends and feel writing to you is helping.

You had asked if cooking for Cliff was the problem. Actually, cooking for him has been zero problem. I love to cook and never taste when i cook for him, i just intuitively know how to season and never taste and the cooked food never "called" me.

But now since i've started with the beans a month ago, a door opened. And once THAT door opened...it wasn't a far stretch from cooked beans to cooked corn chips to icecream from raw cheese...and from bread came pasta. It's a rolling snowball that will turn into a snowmonster should i allow it to.

Last night, i had 4 peices of toast with mounds of butter on it after eating the bread and pasta in the car. It is such a "ME" thing to do that. I'm totally a compulsive person.

So Cliff and I talked and between us we decided i should stay raw since it's helped me at least to control myself more than any other plan, and though i occassionally gain, well, actually, rather frequently i gain, i've been able to manage it, whereas before it always got totally out of hand and i'd gain 100 lbs before i realized it. Now, it's like 15 lbs up and down up and down.

Unfortunately, i am like a druggie with food and unfortunately the stuff i really like, bread and pasta and butter and mayo and pizza and burgers etc...all pack on the pounds and make me obsessed with food to the point of completely out of control.

Yes, binge eating is also very much a mental disorder that i have not conquered yet. I'm still out of control totally with nuts and raw bread often, but not always. But it doesn't seem to pack on the pounds like the regular stuff, although i do gain weight when i go overboard, but i'm more able to get back on track a lot quicker, which is a blessing. This last venture was intensely frightening. When would it end???? I am so happy i talked about it. i can choose to stop.

Intellectualy i know there is nothing wrong with cooked veggies and beans, but psychologically, i crossed a line and then theres no more line left and so one day i eat bread, then i'll be on to the next starch and before you know it, i'll completely lose this thing that's at least been helping me stay, not thin unfortunately, but mobile.

I had gotten, whew, totally outta control heavy, 425 before i went to OHI for 8 months. It was BAD.

Anyway, i know it's stress related and emotional and a mental disorder, but cooked food is more addictive for me, it's so freakin good, i've always KNOWN that, so that is why i refused to indulge earlier. So to open this door and to have indulged has left me fearing for my future. Do i want to lose everything i fought so hard to achieve????

Yes, i enjoyed it very much!!!! :-))) My aunt took me to govindas downtown, a highclass vegi restaurant. It was beyond. But i think i have to say goodbye, otherwise i fear the worst.

I am a binge eater and binge eating on raw at least doesn't do tremendous damage. But since i binged on the cooked, if i allow myself, i'll continue, and that will be the end of that. I may be 500 lbs. next time. How hard is it to say no to a cheeseburger once you're already eating bread and cheese?

The binge eating is really the BIG problem. I have to find a therapist or something. I've been a binge eater since high school. After my mother made me vacume after school, all alone, i'd eat all of my brother's special fattening foods that were hidden from me all over the house. "RICKY"S FOOD" tasted better than anything. Ever since then, i binge.

I admit it would be nice to be able to eat cooked vegi food in moderation. Wouldn't life be easier? But, i can't seem to control myself. It's a huge issue.

I have 3 singing concerts within the next 2 weeks, so i'm more stressed than usual.

Anyway, so far so good today.

I've been walking alot and that's been the only thing saving me. i was 249, really good for me, the lowest i had been recently in the 3 years raw. Now i'm 266. not a tremendous big deal, but i gain weight so easily. i can gain 10 pounds in 2 days.

all in all, i'm still better than i was, i have to always remember, and snap out of the intense depression and hopelessness that sometimes overcomes me when i fail with my food. I have to remember to see the truth of it. I'm still ALOT better than i ever was. And i've still lost 160 lbs.

okay, talk to you soon. xoxo mich

CREAMY VODKA SAUCE ON SPAGHETTI....RAW!!!

Hi Folks,

I had a good day at work yesterday.

I have really good news. I joined an online program to stop binge eating called "The Breakaway Program" expressly dedicated to people suffering from Binge Eating Disorder. I'm really excited about it and think this program will be the answer to all of my prayers. I will be updating you on my progress. Yay! http://www.breakawayprogram.com/

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Here is a post i meant to send the other night.

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I continue to be amazed at the fantastical flavorful outcome of using ginger and onion as secondary 'spicy' elements in raw food prep.

I just made a 'creamy' tomato sauce that was so flavorful and, damn, if it was not completely reminiscent of "creamy vodka" sauce, you can call me a monkey's uncle! Creamy vodka sauce is a cooked tomato sauce, spicy with red pepper, peppery from vodka and creamy from cream. My raw version was completely just as satisfying as it's cooked counterpart, due to the ginger in the dish, which was absolutely undetectable, and the onion and jalapeno, undetectable, yet, these elements simply imparted complex layers of 'spice'. All of that complexity and the bright zing of lemon lent the sauce it's 'vodka' touch...amazing!!!!

I didn't set out to make creamy vodka sauce, because if i HAD, i would NOT have put ginger and jalapeno in it. I mean, that's NUTS! BUT, it WORKED!!!! I inadvertently created a sauce with all of the creaminess, spicyness and sharpness and brightness of a delicious creamy vodka sauce.

Call me crazy, but raw food prep continues to amaze me. The ingredients in a dish don't necessary make 'sense'....but they just WORK as long as you include at least one element each of the 5 flavors. Make raw food this way and you will NEVER be sorry.

CREAMY VODKA SAUCE ON SPAGHETTI
This makes one BIG PURE JOY serving, or two smaller ones.

1 large zucchini - Spiralize and set aside to come to room temperature.

TIP: Take your squash and sauce veggies out of the fridge several hours before preparing, so the dish is not COLD, but room temp. October is too cold for cold spaghetti now!

In the cuisinart with s blade, create sauce to be poured over spaghetti:
3 red vine ripened tomatoes, cut in half
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 small garlic cloves
small slice ginger
2 tbsp red onion
dried basil 1 tbsp
2 small handfuls cashews, raw
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp or more of celtic salt
1/2 tsp agave
1 small slice fresh jalapeno
3 small sun dried tomatoes (use the dark brown ones, without citric acid)

Process sauce until very smooth. You may leave it whirring a few minutes until it is slightly warm. Pour over spaghetti in a bowl. OPTIONAL: Drizzle olive oil over dish, if desired and sprinkle with raw parmesan cheeze: 1 tsp of hemp seed and 1 tsp of nutritional yeast.

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WALK: I went for another giant walk today, so much uphill, even 5 flights of stairs, so i earned this decadent lunch!!!!!

xoxox michelle joy

LIVING FOODS HOLIDAY PARTY TRAYS AND PIES!

LIVING-FOODS HOLIDAY PARTY TRAYS & PIES!

By Chefs Susan Aman and Michelle Schulman
of “Mostly Raw Catering”!

Available just in time to order for HALLOWEEN, THANKSGIVING, CHRISTMAS, HANNUKAH and all of your get-togethers! Our party trays make a wonderful addition to your party. Enjoy your favorite living foods with your friends, family and co-workers. They’ll love the wonderful tastes of gourmet LIVING-FOODS!

* Please order one week in advance of your party. *

CONTACT INFO: “Mostly Raw Catering”
Susan Aman - 215-822-2626 SusanAman@comcast.net or
Michelle Schulman - 215-487-7927 LaSoprana@aol.com


SAVORY PARTY TRAYS

*THE BIG NOSHER*: Your choice of 2 Pates, served with savory Buckwheat Flax Crackers, fresh Vegetable Crudités with creamy Thai dip, and assorted fruit!
Choose from:
- Toona
- Chick-un Salad
- Toorkey Salad
- Middle Eastern Hummus
- Spicy Red Pepper Cheeze
- Southwestern Chili Cilantro Dip
- Creamy 3 Herb Pine Nut Pesto Dip
- Walnut Herb Dip
- Tandoori Pistachio Dip

*THE BIG DIPPER*: Fresh Crisp Vegetable Crudités, Rainbow Cabbage Rolls, creamy Thai dip, succulent Fruit Skewers, and a decadent raw Chocolate dip!

*THE MINI PIZZA PARTY*: Entice your guests with assorted raw mini Pizzas - Pesto, Marinara, Thai, Southwestern and savory Olive Tapenade varieties! Served on raw Flax Buckwheat crusts, topped with assorted chopped vegetables!

*ITS A WRAP!*: Southwestern Nutmeat Collard Rolls, Hummus Collard Wraps, ‘Rainbow’ Veggie Cabbage Rolls with Thai Dip or Ginger Fig Sauce!

*THE STOCKING STUFFER*: Herb Pate Stuffed Crimini Mushrooms, Macadamia Pesto Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes, Toona Celery "Boats" and Stuffed Lemon Vanilla Kreme Dates!

*SUPREME SALADS*: A trio of savory scrumptious salads! Thai Broccoli Salad, Garlic Black Bean Salad (vegan, not raw) and Carrot Beet Cabbage Slaw!

SWEET PARTY TRAYS & PIES

*THE SWEET BITES*: Choose from two of our decadent little sweet treats: Chocolate Bliss Balls, Coconut Goji Balls, Baklava Stuffed Dates, Vanilla Lemon Kreme Stuffed Dates or Cranberry Pistachio Rolls!

*SWEET DECADENCE*: Choose two from our assortment of single serve decadent little Tartlettes! Bliss Berry Parfait, Key Lime, Pumpkin, Pecan, Chocolate Mousse, or NY Style Cheezecake.

*SUBLIME SWEETNESS LIVING PIES*: SO delicious, so rich and decadent, no one will even know they are raw! Our flavors will delight you and tantalize your guests!
- Chocolate Mousse with Coconut Cashew Crust
- Bliss Berry with Chocolate Drizzle
- Key Lime with Macadamia Crust
- Pumpkin Pie
- Pecan Pie
- NY Style Cheezecake

For INFO, Pricing, Pick up or Delivery Options, Contact:
Susan Aman 215-822-2626 SusanAman@comcast.net or
Michelle Schulman 215-487-7927 LaSoprana@aol.com

A good day!

Hiya Folks,

I had such a lovely day today.

I did dishes and vocalized this morning and then had a singing lesson with my new teacher, Dolores. Dolores is the widow of the late esteemed Philadelphia composer, Romeo Cascarino. Dolores is a professional opera singer and recitalist who i have known for years. Why i never went to her sooner, i just don't know. I am making such progress in my lessons with her. It feels absolutely marvelous to sing with more freedom, more ease, better tone quality, less tension. It feels like flying! It is pure raw joy!

I took a walk in the afternoon, at least 4 miles total, up up up hill to the supermarket to deposit some money in the bank there, then i stopped for an herbal tea, headed to blockbuster and then downhill to Salvation Army and then even more down down downhill to home. God, that felt GOOD! WHY take the car to do errands when you can WALK??? I felt so fresh, like i could have even walked longer. But now that i am home, i admit, i'm getting a little sleepy from my walk!

Walking is SO GOOD. Do you do it? The more you move your body, the more your body wants to move and your legs start speaking to you, "I need a walk!" The more you walk, also, the stronger and stronger you get, and walking becomes a joy instead of a struggle. MOBILITY is a pure raw joy!!!

I had several green smoothies today, actually three times! For breakfast i had romaine/banana/mango. For a snack i had the leftover of that shake. But, for a pre-dinner i had the best one of all: romaine/green grapes/banana. THAT was outstanding! Romaine doesn't produce the best tasting shakes in my opinion, however, the combo with the green grapes really made the romaine taste refreshing. I always add a little agave, so it was tart and sweet all at once. YUM!

For dinner, i had a yum salad of romaine/red onion/thin zucchini rounds/crunchy sprouts with a simple dressing of dijon mustard, olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar, onion powder and garlic powder, celtic salt, nutritional yeast, agave and black pepper. YUMMO!

Tonight Cliff and I will watch the documentary of Mike Tyson entitled, " TYSON." Did you see Mike Tyson interviewed on Oprah yesterday? It was actually very inspiring to me. As a fellow addict (for me, it's FOOD), i really related to Tyson's pain, to his newfound honesty, to his new freedom in recovery, which paradoxically comes from restricting himself from certain behaviors (womanizing, drugs, alcohol). Yes, there is joy and freedom in sacrifice. As a raw foodist, i can say this is most definitely true.

If you can get to watch the interview with Oprah online, i would, especially if you gel with that addict mentality like i do.

hugs,
xoxo michelle joy

SUSHI and "Pulp Addiction"!

Howdy, Folks,

For lunch, i made the most delish sushi in the world! I couldn't get over how yum it was, so i ran to write it down, it was so good. The sushi roll came out so reminiscent of a california roll with it's creamy texture, so mayonaisey, just like a real california roll. The only thing that was missing was the avocado and the cucumber, but it was so delish on it's own, i didn't miss it at all!

What's wierd was i wasn't TRYING to create a california roll, but the pate i made just so happened to make the roll taste like a california roll, it was so bizarre. California rolls don't have garlic in them, but the garlic and even the ginger and certainly the jalapeno and the lime were all UNDETECTABLE within the pate. It didn't taste of ANY of this, it just tasted delish!!! Well, it had the 5 flavors, as does EVERYTHING i make, so i KNEW it would be good, i just had no way of knowing it would taste to me just like a california roll! I hope you try it!

RAW CALIFORNIA ROLL
In a cuisinart with S blade, add:
1 cup cashews, with another 1/2 to 3/4 cup on reserve
2 slices jalapeno
1 lime's juice
2 garlic cloves
1.5 small slices ginger
celtic salt to taste (about 1 tsp)
agave, small squirt
celery, 1/4 of a small head
2-3 Tbsp white onion
1 small carrot
1/2 vine ripened tomato

Reserve:
raw black nori sheets
1/2 - 3/4 cup cashews
1 cup savoy cabbage hand shredded
pickled ginger (not raw, but so delish, who cares!)
wasabit paste

Blend pate ingredients until smooth. Add the reserve cashews to the pate, pulse chopping briefly to leave them crunchy with some still whole. Lay a sheet of raw black nori down on cutting board with the narrow part facing up. Spread at least 1/2 cup of pate on bottom 1/3 of a sheet of nori. Sprinkle slivered savoy cabbage over pate. Wet top 1/3 of nori slightly and quickly roll into sushi roll, tucking innerds in. With serated knife, slice into 6-8 peices. Top with wasabi and pickled ginger.

WOW, was this ever GOOD!!!

PULP ADDICTION!!! RAW BREAD: I defrosted some of the pulp that was leftover from all of my juicing. I had soaked a mixture of flax and buckwheat, about 3 cups each, overnight in water.

Fill your bowl with the flax buckwheat mix, then add water until it is about 1 inch above the seeds. Let this soak overnight. Defrost about 6-8 cups of pulp and add this mixed pulp to the seeds the next morning, adding about 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1 Tbsp of celtic salt and whatever other herbs/spices you would like to add to your bread mix.

I decided to make curry bread as my pulp had ginger and apple in it (along with carrots, celery, red pepper, cucumber, collards, etc...) and i thought that would make a nice curry bread base with that sweetness and spiciness. To the base, i added garlic powder, onion powder, frontier chili powder, cumin, garam masala and hot madras curry powder.

Hand mix entire bread base (pulp, oil, salt, spices, soaked flax and buckwheat).

Add 3 cups bread base to cuisinart with S blade and blend for 2-3 minutes to break up flax and buckwheat and thoroughly incorporate rest of ingredients.

Transfer to another bowl and continue until you have all bread base blended.

Divide mix evenly onto 9 Excalibur trays with teflex and spread out evenly, leaving a 1 inch border around bread. Score with a knife into triangles or squares. Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds if desired!

Dehydrate on 105 overnight. Flip over the next morning, remove teflex, and continue drying until completely dry, another 6-12 hours. Or dry on 115 for faster drying and it may be done by the morning without even having to flip it. Dry until completely dry or it will not last well. Store in airtight containers in the cubbard and it will last 12 months. Store in the refrigerator if you want soft bread as the condensation and cool air will soften bread.

THIS IS PURE RAW JOY!!! Make YOUR own raw bread!!!

xoxox michelle joy

The PURE RAW JOY of GINGER!

Today was a ginger kind of day! So here are some recipes from today. ALL GREAT ONES!!! And one recipe from yesterday! Enjoy!

Morning Juice: collard, lime, ginger, cucumber, apple, celery. Don't add the entire lime like i did to the juicer. Wowy. Too bitter. Just squeeze the juice into your finished juice mix.

Br: 1 small glass of "cookie dough" shake

Cookie dough shake

in Vitamix
Frozen bananas

few squirts excellent vanilla extract or pure vanilla bean seeds

squirt agave

very very small peice of fresh ginger

few shakes cinnamon

handful cashews
Blenderize until smooth. Add water as needed or icecubes. Mmm...tastes just like a cookie, but not gingery at all!

The super speedy quick PATE I made yestereday was so awesome i wanted to give you the components since it had ginger in it, too!

PISTACHIO VEGGIE PATE
In Cuisinart with S blade, pulse chop until slightly chunky
3/4 cup pistachio
1.5 clove garlic
1 slice ginger
1/2 red pepper
small slice onion
2 small stalks celery
1 carrot
a little agave
juicce of 1 lime
celtic salt to taste
black pepper to taste
YUM!!!

This pate was exceptional mixed with, suprisingly enough, finely shredded cabbage to form a sort of coating for a satisfyingly dense cabbage slaw. it was incredible!

EXERCISE: 45 mins walk home from dentist

SNACK: 1 cob corn, raw

LUNCH: I decided on a mixed green salad with fresh sprouts. It was SO freakin' delish i can't hardly believe it. Here is the dressing i created on the salad:

FRESH GREEN SALAD WITH SPROUTS AND ALMOND MUSTARD DRESSING
1 tbsp of almond butter drizzled on top of big bowl of mescalun and fresh spouts
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp or more of raw apple cider vinegar
a couple shakes of celtic salt and black pepper
a small squirt of agave
very generous spraying of nutritional yeast
small squirt dijon mustard
onion powder, garlic powder, ginger powder

Work the dressing into the salad. It may appear dry at first, but keep tossing in the dressing until it is thoroughly coated. THE BOMB!!!! This is pure raw joy living!!!

Snack: 2 apples

Lunch dessert: needed a kick of lemon actually, but would've been good. 1 apple with vanilla cream and chocolate cream and some cinnamon.

Dinner: hungry - 1.5 zucchini spiralized with fresh spicy marinara, wow. Light. Good!

Fresh spicy marinara
With the s blade of the cuisinart, pulse chop:
3.5 fresh red vine ripened tomatoes
1/4 tsp of fresh ginger
1 clove garlic
1 large handful fresh basil, including stems
1/2 tsp fresh jalapeno
few shakes celtic salt
few shakes black pepper
1 small squirt agave
juice 1 lime
1/2 red pepper
1 tsp - 2 tsp olive oil

Pour over zucchini spaghetti made with 1.5 medium zucchini. Sprinkle generously with nutritional yeast. Makes one very generous serving for good appetite!

Dessert: apple compote, awesome!!

GINGERED APPLE COMPOTE WITH VANILLA CREAM AND GOLDEN RAISINS
This was good enough to serve in any high class raw restaurant. A generous portion of a surprising twist on raw apple sauce that was so interesting due to the ginger and lime, and totally satisfying! Not really high in fat at all, but tasted and felt decadent!

APPLE SAUCE
With S blade in cuisinart:
1 giant honeycrisp apple cut up
1/2 granny smith
juice of 1/4 lime
squirt of agave
teensy pinch celtic salt
cinnamon
fresh ginger, small slice, chopped finely

Make beforehand: Vanilla Cashew Cream
In vitamix:
cashews
vanilla to taste
agave to taste
enough water to produce a medium thick cream
Blend until smooth. Holds indefiintely in fridge.

Put apple 'sauce' in pretty dessert bowl, drizzle with vanilla cashew cream, dust with cinnamon and top with a few golden raisins. THIS APPLE COMPOTE WAS HIGHLY SATISFYING, one of the BEST desserts i have had recently. 2 thumbs way up! The ginger was the surprise element and turned something down home simple, into something sophisticated and surprising.

Have fun with ginger, folks. It tastes great, is a spicy component that can be used in savory OR sweet dishes. It adds complexity without necessarily adding an asian quality if used sparingly. When added in a bolder fashion, it will bring that asian element in. In the marinara sauce, it is hardly detected, just adds another element of spicyness and complexity.

What a wonderful day! I had the impulse to binge once. It passed. I ate what i enjoyed. I had a beautiful walk. THIS IS LIVING.

Have fun!
xoxo michelle joy