Hosting raw vegan intro potluck

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone! I attended a party last night where I saw a number of friends who

hadn't seen me in 6 months. I have been doing juicefeasting and raw vegan to a

certain extent, though not 100% and have lost ca. 30 lbs. They were amazed!

 

Now I am hosting a potluck at my house on April 10th sharing that I want to

introduce them to this healing way of life - and now I need ideas for dishes to

have or ingredients to request.

 

Has anyone here done something crazy like this and, if so, what went over well?

What didn't?

 

I have all the basic appliances and would like to do hands-on right then and

there to show how easy it can be.

 

Thanks!

Therese

[Guest guest]

Hi Therese,

 

The first thing I noticed about your email is the date (April 10).

That happens to be the date of our annual Fundraising Gala for the Raw

Network of Washington, which is the biggest raw event of the year! So,

if you were interested in the event or any of your friends were,

consider other dates. For those who don't mind spending a little more

for a black-tie event with gourmet raw foods, it would certainly serve

as a great introduction (and with plenty of people in the raw food

community to talk to!)

 

While the simplest foods to bring may be salads or fruit bowls, dome

of the most memorable raw foods are gourmet casserole-type dishes like

lasagna. Zucchini pasta is fun. You can find recipes online for a

variety of raw foods. Just do some searching.

 

Here are a few things we typically request for attendees of raw

potlucks:

 

# A prepared dish of raw, organic vegan ingredients. (no animal

products!)

# Please provide a detailed list of the ingredients.

# These events are about abundance! If eaten alone, your food should

fill at least 2-3 people. Please bring plenty!

# If it's your first time and you don't know what to bring, but are

interested in coming, just bring an organic salad with dressing on the

side.

# Please bring your own plates and silverware.

 

 

Jeff

[Guest guest]

Hi Jeff,

 

The attendees chose that date as it's our collective first free evening and they

are not into raw or the concept yet. We are actually doing an intervention on a

friend who has a dx of rheumatoid arthritis and whose doctor has her on

chemotherapy. Chemotherapy!!! It's making her very ill, hence the first

available possibility. As I'm studying nutritional therapy right now, they

picked me and my house because I have all the reference books, nutritional

assessment tools and HyperHealth Pro software to show her what she's doing to

her body and how she can heal herself. This is how I will introduce my interest

in raw vegan to help her.

 

But... I'm using this opportunity to intro everyone to juicing, smoothies and

raw in general and so want them to watch as things are made. I like the lasagna

idea! Will do! Was also thinking mock-tuna pate on a bed of greens with

alfalfa sprouts and banana-blueberry ice cream to finish things off. Might even

try the mock cheesecake. Thought maybe if everyone just brought ingredients and

wondered what I was going to do with them...? If anyone has a fairly easy

favorite recipe they would like to share that I could demo please email me!

 

Thanks for the reminder - wish we could but I will hit the gala next time. For

now, Barb is our main concern and getting everyone up there from around Mason

and Thurston Counties would be near impossible, plus it would deflect from our

focus of intervention.

 

Therese

[Guest guest]

Hi Therese,

In mainstream menus, vegetable salads and fruit salads are pretty common and

fairly popular, and most people like at least one or the other.

 

Many of the conventional recipes are fairly raw, except for the salad dressing.

So all you have to do is make up the salad, sticking to raw ingredients, and

then have a raw dressing to pour over it.

 

Soaked nuts, well blended, make a pretty good substitute for cream and egg in

the rich thick dressings, which are generally more popular than the vinegar and

oil dressings.

 

Because of my allergies to milk and eggs, I was making raw almond dressing for

fruit salads before I went raw, and generally people liked my fruit salads. So

many people have milk/egg/gluten allergies, that many people would be glad to

find a comparable dressing they can eat regardless if its raw or cooked.

 

Currently, my diet is mostly salads with almond or hazelnut dressing over them,

so in my life, this isn't a side dish, its my whole meal, and I'm 99% raw and

organic.

 

I always liked big hearty salads so the transition to this was pretty easy fro

me. For most people, they would likely be more comfortable with a simulated main

dish like the lasagna along with the salads. Even if they mostly eat the salads,

they usually have an emotional need for a main dish as a centerpiece for the

meal.

 

If you put extra dates into the dressing for the fruit salad, its very

definitely sweet and rich enough to provide that desert experience.

 

An advantage of salads is that their preparation isn't as elaborate as the raw

dishes that simulate mainstream food. The dressing can be made up ahead of time

and kept for a day or so in the refrigerator. If the nuts were truly raw, within

a week the nut crème turns into something like sour crème, which is okay if that

is what you were wanting. Then you just dice up the salad ingredients, stir up

the dressing and pour it over the chopped fruit or vegetables, and shazam, a

dish ready to eat.

 

May your day be filled with clarity, grace, strength, progress, and warm

laughter,

Roger

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Therese!

 

What a good friend you are! Hope Barb and others enjoy the get together. I was

wondering about your study of " nutritional therapy " . Is that a degree program or

a certificate program? Where are you taking your classes? I don't really have a

recipe to contribute. I am pretty turned off by all the gourmet raw stuff and

much prefer simple foods like an apple or smoothie or a salad. The more

complicated stuff seems like a lot of " processing " to me, even if it's all raw!

But my favorite raw drink is watermelon, lemon, raspberries, and water blended.

YUM-YUM!!! Again, hope good fun is had by all and the best of luck to Barb.

 

Peace on earth.

 

Cheryl

 

 

-

Therese Holliday<Skybabe

< >

Sunday, March 29, 2009 9:26 AM

Re: Hosting raw vegan intro potluck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

On 3/29/09, Therese Holliday <Skybabe wrote:

>

> Thought maybe if everyone just brought ingredients and wondered

> what I was going to do with them...? If anyone has a fairly easy

> favorite recipe they would like to share that I could demo please

> email me!

 

I have a recipe that blows everyone's minds when they taste it. People

say they can't believe it's raw and I never have to bring home left

over food when I bring this -- no matter how much I bring, the plate

is empty in record time.

 

Have the dates soaking before people show up. Just put them to soak in

the morning so they'll be nice and soft. Have guests bring wanuts,

raisins, and a lemon. You'll need a food processor and a plate. Don't

bother cleaning the food processor between making the torte and making

the frosting. This recipe comes from Alyssa Cohen's " Living on Live

Foods " and is a guaranteed hit and takes about five minutes to put

together after the dates have been soaked:

 

Date Nut Torte

 

BASE OF TORT:

2 cups raisins

2 cups walnuts

 

FROSTING:

1 cup dates, pitted and soaked

½ lemon, juiced

 

FOR BASE:

1. In a food processor, combine raisins and walnuts and blend until

well blended and moist. (This will take a few minutes and you may see

it forming a ball. Just make sure the raisins come out looking like a

fudgey mixture and are not still grainy).

2. Remove from processor and mold onto a plate in a round circle about

1 ½ inches thick.

 

FOR FROSTING:

1. In a food processor, combine dates and lemon juice until smooth and creamy.

2. Spread the frosting on top of the torte.

 

Note: I like this served at room temperature as the frosting and torte

are still sticky, but if you want a firmer texture that will be easier

to slice, refrigerate it for a few hours.

 

 

Hope this helps!

Sparrow

[Guest guest]

Hi Sparrow :-) I'm used to seeing you on the

other site. Lorri

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

On 3/29/09, LA <LA wrote:

>

> Hi Sparrow :-) I'm used to seeing you on the

> other site. Lorri

 

Which one?

 

Sparrow

[Guest guest]

Hi Therese,

 

It sounds like you have a much more important evening planned! Best of

luck. It sound like you have some good plans. The fruits and salads

idea would likely work best. Creating the dressings yourself would

guarantee them being raw. In addition to the other nuts suggested,

also consider cashews and pine nuts for the base.

 

If anyone does seem interested in learning more, keep in mind that on

the 11th, we will be hosting Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes at a

speaking event at Bastyr University.

 

Cheryl Mentioned preferring simpler foods. Many people prefer the more

gourmet raw foods, at least when transitioning to raw. However, the

simpler low fat unprocessed foods are likely much better for the body.

The ideal may be eating " mono " meals, which means eating just one food

(such as celery, apples, or bananas) per meal. Eat till full. When

hungry again, eat again. This allows the body to be much more

efficient with digestions and seems to improve overall health (at

least in my opinion). Offering a variety of foods and explaining the

different options will help people decide what is right for them.

 

Jeff

[Guest guest]

Sprout people

 

_____

 

 

On Behalf

Of Sparrow R Jones

Sunday, March 29, 2009 3:08 PM

 

Re: Re: Hosting raw vegan

intro potluck

 

On 3/29/09, LA <LA

<LA%40aileach.net> > wrote:

>

> Hi Sparrow :-) I'm used to seeing you on the

> other site. Lorri

 

Which one?

 

Sparrow

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

On 3/29/09, LA <LA wrote:

>

> Sprout people

 

Ah, yes. Great e-mail list. I highly recommend it to anyone here who

loves sprouting. Not everyone there is raw, but many are and we have a

very helpful member who is a Master Gardener and has an amazing amount

of knowledge about all types of plant growing in addition to

sprouting.

 

Sparrow

[Guest guest]

is this a

Sharon

-

Sparrow R Jones

Sunday, March 29, 2009 3:29 PM

Re: Re: Hosting raw vegan intro potluck

 

 

On 3/29/09, LA <LA wrote:

>

> Sprout people

 

Ah, yes. Great e-mail list. I highly recommend it to anyone here who

loves sprouting. Not everyone there is raw, but many are and we have a

very helpful member who is a Master Gardener and has an amazing amount

of knowledge about all types of plant growing in addition to

sprouting.

 

Sparrow

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

thanks

Sharon

-

Sparrow R Jones

Sunday, March 29, 2009 3:48 PM

Re: Re: Hosting raw vegan intro potluck

 

 

On 3/29/09, sharon <smassena wrote:

>

> is this a

 

Yes it is. Go over there and enter " sproutpeople " to find it.

 

Sparrow

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Cheryl,

 

I'm studying for a certificate with the Nutritional Therapy Association, with a

lot of home study reading, once a month in-class and weekly teleconference

calls. I started it to just have a better understanding to heal myself from a

scientific standpoint but am considering getting into the field with a focus on

children. I have ca. 10 years of being involved with the Autism/special needs

community regarding suggestions on dietary intervention [cilantro chelates heavy

metals naturally, for example, and these kids are metal toxic] and see a huge

number of children with digestive issues which doctors, parents and school staff

are just not registering. Really sad... I see at least mainly raw vegan helping

a huge number of the issues these kids have. There's a new movie out called

" Killer at Large " and it shows a 12 year old girl getting lipo because of her

emotional eating, plus it addresses the money schools make off vending machines.

Mental issues can also be addressed with orthomolecular nutrition and food

addiction is huge - I know personally!

 

The next step is probably to get a degree either online or through Evergreen,

but with the certificate I am able to practice as a professional starting in

June. Am also looking into the Certification for Raw Nutrition Educator with

the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute in Ft. Bragg, CA. Their info will, no

doubt, contradict what I'm currently learning, and I honestly agree with raw

nutrition more. Am a member of Raw Washington as well as the Weston A. Price

Foundation, which promotes mostly raw, local organic but does include meat and

dairy. Also just returned from the Hippocrates Health Institute and it was

amazing.

 

I see this profession at least as one solution to the health care crisis and

plan to offer online consultations via webcam and desktop sharing at the very

least. Might also do local in-person consults in the Olympia area, not sure

yet. The world is my oyster...er... grapefruit! :-)

[Guest guest]

Hi Therese,

 

Would you email me directly? I'd like more

information about some of the training you

mentioned.

 

Lorri

 

_____

 

 

On Behalf

Of Therese Holliday

Monday, March 30, 2009 11:54 AM

 

Re: Hosting raw vegan

intro potluck

 

Hi Cheryl,

 

I'm studying for a certificate with the

Nutritional Therapy Association, with a lot of

home study reading, once a month in-class and

weekly teleconference calls. I started it to just

have a better understanding to heal myself from a

scientific standpoint but am considering getting

into the field with a focus on children. I have

ca. 10 years of being involved with the

Autism/special needs community regarding

suggestions on dietary intervention [cilantro

chelates heavy metals naturally, for example, and

these kids are metal toxic] and see a huge number

of children with digestive issues which doctors,

parents and school staff are just not registering.

Really sad... I see at least mainly raw vegan

helping a huge number of the issues these kids

have. There's a new movie out called " Killer at

Large " and it shows a 12 year old girl getting

lipo because of her emotional eating, plus it

addresses the money schools make off vending

machines. Mental issues can also be addressed with

orthomolecular nutrition and food addiction is

huge - I know personally!

 

The next step is probably to get a degree either

online or through Evergreen, but with the

certificate I am able to practice as a

professional starting in June. Am also looking

into the Certification for Raw Nutrition Educator

with the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute in

Ft. Bragg, CA. Their info will, no doubt,

contradict what I'm currently learning, and I

honestly agree with raw nutrition more. Am a

member of Raw Washington as well as the Weston A.

Price Foundation, which promotes mostly raw, local

organic but does include meat and dairy. Also just

returned from the Hippocrates Health Institute and

it was amazing.

 

I see this profession at least as one solution to

the health care crisis and plan to offer online

consultations via webcam and desktop sharing at

the very least. Might also do local in-person

consults in the Olympia area, not sure yet. The

world is my oyster...er... grapefruit! :-)