CHRISTMAS LOOT

Leighanne and Tom (my parents) really outdid themselves this year. We had an amazing day that started far later than usual. We were up at 10:30 (gasp), and we didn't finish presents until 3pm! We took it slow, and made sure that there were ample amounts of breakfast and tea while we received gifts.

There was a definite theme in 2010: cooking! I got all sorts of great stuff for the kitchen... I'm so pumped to get back to California to use them all!!! Here are some of the new shiny toys:

My mom has been on an awesome health kick during a whole 4 months of "empty-nesthood." My brother Glenn and I were both at college and our littlest brother Tommy was away in Switzerland for the semester, so Mom got the chance to take charge of her health! I got her a yoga mat to catalyze the process. :-)

This was one of the first presents I opened, and I flipped! My own juicer! YAHOO!

Sur La Table gift certificate. A definite must.

AND THE GRAND SLAMMER! My very own vita mix! It's mini sized (perfect for my apartment) and I can't wait to get this thing up and running. My mom was saying that we should ship it, but frankly, I'm going to pack it in my suitcase. I can't live without this another day! My food processor shouldn't be making anymore smoothies!

Also, the night before, my Aunt Juli and Uncle Dennis gave me this book! Yes it's Betty Crocker, but I was looking through there, and I have a feeling that there is a ton of good inspiration potential for this thing. I just might lay off all the cheese and butter Betty's so fond of hahaha... But seriously, my Aunt and Uncle hit the nail on the head.

So basically my family's the shit and I'm so excited to get cooking again! YAHOOO!

Merry Christmas!

Cliff

The Stand

It's Christmas morning! Yahoo! I'm waiting in my room because I've been awake for about 15 minutes, but I can't go downstairs until 10:30. My parents have this tradition where we aren't allowed to go downstairs until they have finished "setting up." Frankly, it's just a method of torture, and when we were little, we would literally be screaming from the stairwell to "hurry up!" and to "have mercy!" Anyhow, I thought it was lame that I wasn't going to post all the way until the 8th of January, so here is a bit of an update on some of my vegan-ness in CT.

I've been going back to my all time favorite vegan / raw place in CT: The Stand. I have their blog link on this page, and I used to work for them. It was such a blessing to have worked there, and without their influence, I never would have been set on my raw food journey. Mike and Carissa are the owners and Amy is their all-star manager. Mike and Carissa are like the older siblings I never had, and every time I see them it's a blast. They're hilarious and if you're ever in Southern CT, definitely stop by for some of their world famous smoothies, juices, sandwiches, wraps, and VEGAN DESSERTS.

Anyhow, they've commissioned me to come by on the 27th and repaint their store! I'm so excited to help out and redo their chalkboard menu, and to paint a wall. They're paying me in FOOD (my favorite kind of currency) and Carissa are just going to have a dance party that night and get some work done. I'm so pumped!

Also, I met up with my two brothers at a new Chipotle chain that opened up in the town next to us. The northeast, (unlike southern California) is starved for good mexican food. While I don't eat there often, I LOVE the Chipotle business model. I am so excited to see things like organic beans and rice, humanely raised meat, and LEED certified restaurants go mainstream. While it's far from perfect, I believe that these baby steps are signs of massive progress! Chipotle is a sign of good things to come! Organic, fresh food can be lucrative, AND popular.

ALSO! For christmas dinner I had morning star farm "chicken strips" seared in a marinade by The Raw Foods Witch: ACV, honey, nama shoyu, and olive oil. Delicious. It was paired with mashed potatoes, and a big salad. Merry Christmas everyone! I'll post if I get any exciting kitchen gadgets!

Best,

Cliff

Home for the Holidays

I got into CT this past Friday after a whirlwind of exams, and now I'm sitting here on my family room couch composing this post. It's been absolutely FREEZING, but some warm soup, a fire place, and a few beers with my friends have helped me to acclimate.

Being in this weather makes me realize just how fortunate I am to eat the way I do in California. The year round produce and mild weather make it the perfect climate to eat raw food. While I'm sure I could eat raw if I wanted to in CT during the winters, I'm not quite sure that it would be the most ecologically friendly way to eat. Considering the fact that the vegetables and fruits I would consume would be shipped from far away places, I just can't see how I could keep my "food miles" low while still keeping raw out here. I would love some insight from somebody who does eat raw full time in CT during the winter. I would be interested to hear what they have to say!

Anyhow, expect a lull in recipes and such because I'm essentially back to ovo-lacto vegetarianism for the time being. I'm allowing myself to eat whatever I want, and then when I return to California, I'll be more than ready to go back to raw foods.

Happy Holidays and I'll be sure to post after the holidaze!

-Cliff

Food Inspiration

So I went out with a few friends last night to Wabi Sabi in Venice Beach for a bit of dinner. While it was definitely not raw by any means, the Japanese fusion cuisine gave me a few ideas. My first dish was ironically, a take on jalapeño poppers: mushroom stuffed tempura jalapeños. So good. Perhaps I should figure out a recipe for something similar.



The next dish was a miso teriyaki glazed eggplant that was amazing. The presentation of the food was cool too because they used a hollowed out ring of the eggplant to act as a bowl for the fried teriyaki mix. It was amazing and it could definitely be replicated in a raw vegan version.


Anyhow. I'm in the airport waiting for my JFK bound flight. I'll be sure to post stuff about Christmas recipes!

Best,

Cliff

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Raw Vegan Jalapeño Poppers!

Ok so I have a pretty exciting recipe that I just discovered. I was eating (very UNvegan and very UNraw) nachos at Sharky's Mexican Grill and I was thinking about just how much I love jalapeños. While normally I'm not a big spicy food kind of guy, jalapeños just work for me. I have no idea why, but I can't get enough! Then I remembered this time that I had jalapeño poppers I had that were filled with MOZZARELLA CHEESE! As much as I loved the conventional version, final exams is no time to put up with clogged sinuses and a compromised immune system.

Then, I started thinking, "what if i made jalapeño poppers with the same "nacho cheese" that I use for kale chips?"et voila. My new obsession was born.

I bought about 6 or 7 jalapeños and sliced them in half, took out most of the seeds (but kept 7 or 8 in each little shell for spice), and filled them with the "nacho cheese" recipe below.

They take FOREVER to dehydrate, but you can start eating them about a day into the whole process. They're so good and I'm proud of myself for this discovery.

Here's the recipe!

- Get 8 or 9 jalapeño peppers and wash them thoroughly

- Cut them in half lengthwise

- Scrape out excess innards and seeds (but make sure to leave a few in there!)

- Place on a plate and put aside

- In a food processor, mix the following ingredients:

          1 red bell pepper de-stemmed and de-seeded

          1 cup cashews (soaked for 4-8 hours)

          1T nutritional yeast

          1/2t herbamere (or pink himalayan salt)

          2t raw local honey

- Take a spoon, and fill the jalapeño halves with the "cheese" mixture

- When filling is finished, take 3 scallion greens, and dice them into small rings, and garnish the peppers

- Dehydrate at 105 degrees until completely dry (should take more than 24 hours to completely dry, but you can begin eating them after about 12 hours)

This recipe is madness!

Best,

Cliff

Malibu Mud Pie

So ever since June Louks has given me a taste of her AMAZING Malibu Mud Pie, I've been hooked. I've tried so hard to replicate the same delicate taste I experienced at her house that fateful day, but for some reason the recipe won't turn out quite right. It still maintains this really heavy and not very sweet nut flavor. While I'd still give the end product an 8/10 I'm thinking I need a vitamix to make this one. Anyhow, here are some photos of how I assembled the pie.

So first I blended up the base and stuck it in this container for a bit while I assembled the crust and chocolate layer.

I lightly pulsed a mixture of dates, almonds and salt in the food processor until I had a moldable, yet still chunky consistency for the pie crust. I pressed it into these glass containers after I had lined their insides with coconut oil to act as a greasing agent. 

Close up of the crust

I didn't manage to take a picture of the chocolate, but essentially I spread it along the walls of the containers, and on top of the crust. Once it had frozen, I infilled it with the coconut filling and let it set over night in the freezer. The end result looks a bit janky. I need to get a 9" pie plate. As for now I only have an 11" one which is far too big for something like this. It turned out ok though. I just want my pies to look AMAZING and not average. 

PEACE,

Cliff

Food Ideas

Here are some of the meals I've had lately. Nothing too fancy, but interesting enough to post.

So this was just a very basic salad with mesclun greens, my portobello curry mushroom burger bits, enoki mushrooms, sunflower seeds, olives and some cranberries. I tossed this with that honey mustard dressing which... unfortunately... has not turned out as well as I hoped. After I tweak it I'll be sure to post.

This is some sushi I made with radish sprouts, enoki mushrooms, avocado, and some pomegranate dressing slathered on there. It was good, but it needed a parsnip or almond rice to thicken it. Way too light.

Anyhow, I know that I posted about finals coming up, so fair warning that I'm not going to have a whole lot of time to post about food. :-(  I'll try my best though. 

Best,

Cliff

Finals

Buckle down!

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Some foods

Ok so this is a picture of that dressing I was talk about. Note, it is NOT made by good mood foods. I bought the lemon tahini dressing in the hopes that it would be as good as their honey mustard dressing. BIG FLOP. DO NOT BUY GOOD MOOD FOOD'S TAHINI LEMON DRESSING. IT SUCKS. However, Rod Rotundi's pomegranate dressing HAPPILY took that shitty dressing's place. So delicious.






This is a picture of some sushi I whipped up. I have a lot of leftovers at the moment, and the filling is made of (yet again) the curry mushroom burgers I had made, the rest of my kimchi, radish sprouts, spinach, and ENOKI MUSHROOMS! I can't wait to eat those for lunch tomorrow! Yahoo!






Finally, here's a picture of the pesto pizza I made today. It's a spelt cracker topped with my famous walnut pesto, marinated tomato and mushrooms, and some pitted kalamata olives. amazing.

that's all!

-cliff

Rod Rotundi's Pomegranate Salad Dressing

So... I will post pictures later but, this dressing is AMAZING. I just had it with a salad of mesclun greens, radish sprouts, pomegranate kernels and kelp noodles and I'm still reeling from the tasty goodness. This dressing is seriously life changing. Plus, expect a recipe for a mustard honey dressing that's pretty great too.

Personal Update / Raw Sandwich Porn

So thanksgiving was a real trip. I got fat as hell (surprise surprise) and ate like a king. It was worth every second. I reintroduced all of the toxic and decadent favorites like: bagels and cream cheese, omlettes, pizza, ice cream, and of course, some pumpkin and apple pie. My thanksgiving dinner was AWESOME though.

I never knew this before, but Wholefoods offers a pre-made vegan thanksgiving dinner! My mother, being the very wise and intelligent woman that she is, ordered it for me and it was AMAZING. It started off with a serving of almond crusted green beans that I heated up in a skillet, and was followed by an amazing "winter soup." After that, there was a breaded vegan "turkey loaf" with a wild rice and cranberry stuffing in the center. Mind blowing stuff. To top it off, there was an oyster mushroom gravy that brought the entire meal together. I was a big big fan.

Returning home was good, and while I got off to a great start with my rawness, I was thrown off track by two events: One was a hannukah celebration with my neighbors. They had yam latkes (which i could NOT resist) and of course, wine. I did however manage to fend off a hilarious offer to blaze with them, and stuck with wine instead. The next day I had the typical symptoms of a runny nose and puffy eyes, and had totally forgotten that I was going to a sorority formal with my friend Holly. I ended up eating cheese, (gasp!) crackers, and even drank a bit of vodka and club soda. I'm now recovering from my self sabotage, and am beginning to feel good again.

Here's a close up of a sandwich I made the other day. It had a curry mushroom burger, romaine lettuce, radish sprouts, tomato slices, guacamole and it was all on onion-flax flatbread. YUM.
Best,

Cliff

Azzurra and Yana's Detox

I had the awesome opportunity to help two of my new friends go through a 4 day detox. They wanted some help and guidance through it all, and we came up with a detox program for the both of them. Below is a picture of our AMAZING groceries, and a list of the items on their detox program. It was amazing to hear their stories about feeling nourished, and satiated with less foods, and how they were able to experience greater levels of energy, stamina, and mental clarity. They were inspiring!Here's what their plan looked like:
Breakfast: Water with cayenne pepper powder and lemon juice, a green smoothie (with bananas, two types of fruit, and spinach) Lunch: as much vegetable juice as they want, a fresh young coconut, a salad with olive oil and lemon juice dressing, Dinner: vegetable juice

They did this every day for 4 days and I was so proud of them for sticking to it! Great job ladies!

Best,

Cliff

Cheese Results

OK. So here's how the cheese turned out. I made 3 batches, two of which were a chive, onion, and shallot blend and the other was a macadamia, thyme, and lemon blend. They were both DELICIOUS and i miss them now that I've eaten them a long long time ago. Here are some picture and advice on how to better approach the whole process.


Here are some tips that I've learned from trial and error:

1. Use a blender. Although I don't have one at the moment, a highspeed, highpower blender will make all the difference in making this cheese. Having it light, fluffy and thoroughly blended will make a creamier, tastier cheese.

2. Also, when straining the cheese with cheese cloth, make sure to cover it with an added layer of protection. Fruit flies will flock to the fermenting mix and it could possibly contaminate it. Don't let this happen!

3. Finally, dehydrating this cheese is also a great alternative to letting it set in the fridge. The rind is a lot sturdier, and it tastes great warm as well.

I'll be sure to post in more detail later about these cheeses!

Best,

Cliff

Fermented Cashew and Macadamia Cheese Experiment

Ok, so Russell James' book about raw vegan cheese recipes is awesome. Let me begin by saying that I am undoubtedly a cheese freak. Cheese is one of the hardest foods for me to let go of when being raw. I love the taste, the consistency, and its multiplicity of uses, from everything as simple as good old baguettes, cheese and confit... all the way to a big batch of black bean nachos. Cheese is amazing, and the only part that is not so amazing is the cruelty involved to cows, and its health consequences. :-(

HOWEVER... there is a redeemer. These raw vegan "nut" cheeses (gross name... i seriously barfed when i heard that term for the first time) are "aged" just like real cheese, (although for not nearly as long) they have rinds like real cheese, and they are firm and even slice just like real cheese. Pretty awesome.

Russell James' e-book about these wonderful creations is DEFINITELY worth the money as it gives in depth instructions about how to actually make raw fermented cheeses, as well as several clever ideas for recipes.

I just made a large batch of cashew mix that will be fermenting for the next day or so, as well as a smaller batch of macadamia mix that is also fermenting. It's a lengthy process, but the end result is more than worth the wait.

Also, I intend on making the cracker recipe he puts in his book, as well as some of the jams to go along with my cheese. SO STOKED.

Wish me luck.

Best,

Cliff

Almond Milk Tea

So I went out and bought Tulsi Masala Chai Tea and mixed it with honey and almond milk... delicious. I feel a new winter favorite coming on.

Cinnamon Ginger Truffles

I just made another recipe by Susan over at Rawmazing. I can't stop trying her recipes! The pumpkin pie was such a hit, that by now I just trust everything that she says, and I make it. The only difference i did was i rolled the truffles in a mixture of cacao and maca powder to give a bit of extra zing. I am waiting for them to freeze so that the texture is more chewy. Can't wait!

Also, I think that now winter is on its way, I'm going to be making a lot more tea. I was thinking about how if i want to stay raw, how i would go about making "milk tea" because a lot of winter teas don't taste good without milk. THen it struck me that i could just add almond milk... i'm going to give it a shot soon and i'll post about how it tastes.

best,

Cliff

Raw banana, honey, and coconut creme crepes!!!

Living the dream! Hahaha

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getting back on the horse

so this i my first day being raw again, and I feel like i'm going a bit crazy. I ate 7 pieces (big ones) of chocolate, and have been eating way more than I usually do on a raw foods diet... I don't know what's making me so hungry but for some reason i can't stop eating. in fact i think i'm going to eat again really soon... that will be my 6th meal today bahaha

anyhow. i think this just emphasizes the kinds of changes your body goes through when you get off of cooked foods. you feel the need to eat constantly even though your body might be satiated. i'm pushing through it and i know that tomorrow i'll feel less insane. just thought i'd comment.

best,

Cliff

Ugh

Ate an entire bag of tate's cookies last night. Need recovering time.


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Detox update...

SO. i broke 11 days of rawness today and yesterday. My aunt and uncle are in town, and I just went off the deep end. I'm starting back tomorrow, but i'm bummed i messed up. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself, but i was on such a roll! i'm try again.

best,

Cliff

updates, musings... is anyone reading this blog?

So i'm still reeling from the pumpkin party extravaganza at the Louks' house last Saturday. It was such a good time, and I made another pumpkin pie to keep me fat and happy this week. :-)

I had this amazing burger at rawvolution with my friend Azzurra on Sunday, and I couldn't help but think... Shit... I COULD MAKE THIS!

SO... A little blog browsing resulted in a recipe for a mushroom burger that I'm dehydrating right now. I'm hoping it lives up to my expectation! I plan on putting it between two slices of June's onion crackers (that are actually quite soft) and slathering on some cashew creme cheeze, some tomato slices, romaine lettuce, and pickles! It might just get a little crazy...

Also, i'm in the market for a new salad dressing. I'm kind of getting bored (but not really) of my old one, and need to find a new addiction. Any suggestions?

I figure this would be an excellent way to see if anybody is actually reading this blog or if i'm just typing away to myself. SO.. if you know of any great raw vegan salad recipes, post them in the comment box!

best,

CLIFF

RAW VEGAN PUMPKIN PIE

Detox and Pumpkin Pie

OK, so I don't know if I had mentioned yet, but I started at "10 days raw" promise to myself in order to get back to health, and detox some of my "i just turned 21" partying. :-)

The first day I felt pretty normal, and same with the second day. For some reason though, the third day I felt MAGNIFICENT, and woke up energetic, excited, and ready to take on the world. However, the 4th, 5th and 6th days were another stories. I had headaches, my nose was runny, I had a hard time sleeping etc. Also, on the 5th and 6th days, my skin got super super dry, and my lips got really chapped! Like painfully so! It's the 7th day today, and so far my lips are feeling a lot better, but I'm just wondering what that was from? Is that a common detox sign? Who knows.

Anyhow, my runny nose and headaches have (thankfully) subsided. Today is a big day over at the Louk's house! There's a giant pumpkin carving party and a vegan potluck as well. I'm making raw pumpkin pie in honor of it, and I'm using a rawmazing recipe. Expect the video soon on how to make it!

Anyhow. I'm hoping that my symptoms go away, but so far so good! Now i just have to make it through halloween without drinking or eating any candy... Yikes! Wish me luck!

Best,

cliff

"Ani Phyo's Kitchen" Book Review

New Videos Soon

SO. It's been forever since I've posted. I can't wait to get back in the game and make some new posts for everyone. I hit the 1500 view mark the other day and was so stoked! I'm just so happy that raw food has such a large audience. The world is changing!

I've been having a lot of fun at school lately. However that means that I've been out drinking and eating at restaurants a lot too! Despite the good times I've been having, my energy levels have dropped, my skin has broken out, and my mood has sunk. On Sunday I began a 10 days raw covenant, and today is the 3rd day. I can already tell i'm detoxing! my sinuses are dripping like a faucet, my skin is beginning to clear up, and my energy is already improving. I forgot how clear I feel both mentally and physically when I eat raw. It's encouraging!

So I'm hoping to do a couple of things for my Vlog this week. I want to do a post on a raw pumpkin pie recipe by Susan over at Rawmazing. She's such an inspiration, and her recipe sounds like just the right combination of complicated, but not overwhelming. I also want to do a youtube post about why i love coconuts. I'm thinking that just listing some facts about their health benefits and how i incorporate them into my daily routine would suffice. Also, I get to go over to the Louks house soon for a documentary screening and pumpkin carving party! I wanted to interview June, Corinne, Jeff, Hailey, Lauren, Heather, Charlotte, etc. I think they'll make some great posts!

Anyhow, I'm excited for all that's to come, and I'm even happier that I'm beginning to detox. Clearly I needed it!

ALSO! I wanted to just talk for a brief second about something that i've come to realize and accept, but I'm devastated about: Cheese. I am 100% allergic to cheese. Raw or not, I cannot tolerate cheese and it's TERRIBLE. I love cheese! Nachos, artisan cheese, pizza, goat cheese, all of it! I love it so much! However i notice right away that when i do eat it i get violently fatigued, and my sinuses clog up immediately. I really shouldn't do it, but leaving cheese for good will be tough. I just love it so much!

Alright, that's all!

Best,

Cliff

Obsessed

Get the new arcade fire album and download the sprawl ii. Neo-blondie genius!


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Raw Food Green Juice BREAKFAST PART DEUX

The Simple Things

It's been about three days since we've been here in our house in Umbria. I feel so totally relaxed and I have to wonder what's keeping me from living like this all the time... Such a big part of me wants to just forget about school and work and just live off of my immediate surroundings. Having a tiny (hyper efficient and good looking) house in the country with a biodynamic farm sounds so good right now. I can't stop thinking about work, money, and whether or not I'm actually going to be able to support myself one day. It's a shitty mental rut to be in, but seeing how beautiful this house is reminds me of it's price tag. It's not so much that I want to be filthy rich or anything, it's more that I just want to be able to afford the lifestyle I've always envisioned for myself. Quite frankly I don't want to be 50 and still slaving away for some firm that I don't give a rats ass about. I'm nervous that that will be my fate. Then again I suppose that my future is largely what I make of it, but G-d willing that there's no extenuating circumstances that prevent me from fulfilling my dreams, I suppose I just have to trust that G-d will steer life's metaphorical ship in the right direction. I also just want a job where I'm excited everyday to go to work. Let's hope all of that happens haha

Sorry for the sappy stuff. Sometimes it's better just to channel fear into something tangible so that you can see just how small and insignificant those fears really are.

-cliff

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Location:Umbria, Italy

BREAKFAST CHEZ LES CHAMPIONS

I'm back! Well sort of...

Ok so it's been forever since I've posted and frankly I don't expect it to pick up again until school is back in session. I've been SO busy and work has taken over a huge portion of my life, but once I'm back in Malibu, I can start to take my blog and YouTube channel more seriously. Raw has unfortunately taken the back seat for a while and I'm more than anxious to get back on track. August is looking pretty good so far in terms of free time so I'm hoping to be able to take advantage of it and get cooking! I am leaving for a family vacation in Italy tomorrow and I can't wait to have a mental respite from the insanity. However I doubt too many dishes will be raw on this vacation haha

Best,

Cliff (ps I got an iPhone!)

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branching out

ok so i'm having a hard time sleeping so i'm going to write a quick post. here goes.

i am very happy with how my diet has been going. while it's been far from 100 percent, i'm happy to say that at least 2 out of 3 of my meals every day is raw, which is so much better than being totally raw and then binging on cooked for for 3 or 4 days. That predictability in my diet i think is allowing my body to assimilate better. (and my family for that matter.)

What's been really great though is how I've been able to shake up my meals. I have several different "staples" that I make on sundays, and then i can mix and match them to create different dishes so that i don't get bored / disenchanted.

i just bought any phyo's book, and although i think some of it may be quite dull, i think i found a winner of a "veggie burger" recipe today. it smelled so goooood.

AND, i got this bomb recipe for lemon cookies that a coworker of mine really wants to try. those are amazing and even look like real cookies which is pretty cool.

i have been eyeing russell james' dvd sets, (one of which is 500 fucking dollars), and i think i might just have to get that for a christmas present.

On a final note, I AM GETTING THE IPHONE 4! YAHOO! 21st bday present baby! so tight! I can't wait to have everything at my fingertips like that. I'm looking forward to how it will make my life a bit more efficient / productive... but damn that phone is sexy, and once it's topped off with a few EMF fending devices it's gonna be SWEET!

Ok so it's 11 pm now and i'm going to get 0 sleep now (fuck) so imma hit the hay.

best,

cliff

epic raw food DIN DIN

yesterday was awesome. i have been cooking up a storm for the week ahead, and here's a video showing the fruits (PUN INTENDED) of my labor. ANNNNDDDD a few photos to give you that awkward food porn type view into just how DELICIOUS these dishes really were.





best,

cliff

FINITO

done with stats. SUCK IT!

Raw Sandwich!

Quick peek at my lunch today... yummm



Russell James' DELICIOUS Mediterranean Almond Bread:
http://therawchef.blogs.com/russell_james/2006/03/the_bes...
Rod Rotundi's AMAZING Cashew Kreme Cheeze
Jennifer Cornbleet's FANTASTIC Marinara Sauce
Avocados, Cherry Tomatoes, and Lettuce.

Enjoy!

Raw Food Kitchen Tour!

Enjoy!

-cliff

hindsight is 20/20

so i just read over what i wrote last night and it isn't fair.

mom has been the one who has been the most supportive out of anyone with regards to my interest in raw food, and she has genuinely started to adopt quite a few bits and pieces of the philosophy into her daily life.

although she's not 100% yet, she's still tracking and i really under represented just how much she's done for me, and how far she's come. i just need to be patient.

it's just that i have felt such positive changes from eating this way, and it frustrates me when my mom (who isn't in the best health right now) doesn't just commit to healthier food choices. granted, compared to 99.99999% of america, my mother is a health angel, but my standards are disproportionate. in other words, i need to chill out.

anywho, the move to the basement fridge was a good one. i hear a lot less gripe about the fridge space now, and it seems as though this will be the best compromise. not to mention that i have a lot more space to organize things the way i want them to be, and not as many people rummage through there and move things around.

i am totally stoked on the marinated onions i made, they taste so good! thank you momma louks!

and... i can't wait to have a 3 day weekend to go apeshit with cooking. i will have ample time to restock, hit up the new canaan farmer's market, and make some good food for my first week of work.

i am so excited to go back to my job. one of my friends linda invited me to go to a dehydrating and canning class. i can't wait!

anyway. i have to finish my STATS classwork. kill me.

best,

cliff

restless

i've been quite frustrated with doing the raw food thing at home lately. frankly, my mom just isn't committed to this whole thing, and although she's really into things like green juice and salad, i think her eating habits are pretty terrible.

she eats rice crackers and almond butter non-stop, and it seems as though that's the only thing she eats. i don't feel like she varies her diet enough! when she does vary her diet, it's usually restaurant food, and then she feels sick, so she eats more rice crackers with almond butter.

everyone has been pretty fed-up with the changes i've made around the kitchen, so i've had to move everything to the basement to appease everyone. even that has made my dad mad i think. he says i've taken over his beer fridge.

despite the fact that i think my mom's intentions are quite good (and the fact that she has come a LONG way) i feel annoyed lately.

sure it's immature that i get so touchy about her lack of enthusiasm for it all, but i really want to help her, and frankly, i see her health problems as something quite easy to fix. (a foolish assumption i know...) but she keeps reiterating that diet isn't 100% of the answer, and i definitely agree. but if you can't seem to master the mental/emotional component of it all (i.e. taking the necessary steps to relax and allow yourself to mentally heal from hyper-thyroidism) then you might as well be eating as purely as possible... in otherwords, if you can't commit to resting and healing, then at least eat well. and it's not like she has to do any work! i do all of the (un)cooking anyway!

this is more of a venting post so forgive me, but everyone sees me as being crazy. it's also kind of hard because everyone in my family thinks that i've been reclusive and reluctant to go out as a result. so much centers around eating and i feel as though choosing to eat so well has alienated me from my family.

i wish my mom was at least on board. i will just have to settle for about 60% of her support for now.

best,

cliff

Vitamix Post!

Our vitamix has been AMAZING. what a blender. can't wait to use it tomorrow!

i will post more stuff this weekend... i'm taking a fucking statistics class and its driving me nuts. :-(

more to come!

best,

cliff

Lunch with the Louks

Lunch with the Louks

I had ANOTHER amazing meal at June’s house before I left Malibu, (Thank G-d) and it was fantastic. She has this really really good jicama salad recipe that you can check out on her website, http://rawumptiousrecipes.com/index.php?page_id=268 and there were these buckwheat crackers with avocado, trocamere, and onions marinated in beet juice… Let me tell you, not only were these things filling as hell, but they were SO GOOD. June has a real talent for making AMAZING raw food that adults and children a like love.

I went over her potential for youtube, and how she really should get more material out into the raw food internet world… her family is such an amazing example for others who are thinking about doing the same thing. Her husband, and kids all eat raw food, and her kitchen is so awesome. She has several hours of video that is just WAITING to be edited, and luckily I discovered that her daughter hailey is a fantastic editor. I am trying to see if she’ll help her mom out by making 5 minute clips of their family life and raw foods. It has so much potential! Let me reiterate, Hailey is really quite talented with imovie HD. She could make some bomb youtube posts.

Anyhow, the meal and the time I spent with them was amazing as usual. I am going to miss them over the summer, but there’s a chance that they may be in CT at some point this summer… So if they are I really hope we can do some sort of joint video venture about raw food and stuff. That would be so cool.

The day after, I checked out this vegan place that I had never heard of called “juicy ladies” and it was in woodland hills. They have a bunch of different raw options, including raw icecream! I had their no tuna wrap, and I was so stoked to see that they sold a bunch of natural body care products. I was digging their “oralive” toothpaste… I think that would be a pretty great new product to get into. The only thing I didn’t like was that the inside looked like a mcdonalds playground. Way too many colors. It felt like whoever designed it was desperate to be edgy or playful.

Despite the potential epileptic fit you may have from going in there, the food was great! Here’s a picture of my meal there… It was cheap too! 8 bucks! I love it! (ok fine… it was cheap by RAW FOOD standards… but you try getting ANYTHING at a raw food restaurant that will fill you for 8 bucks…)

I think I’m starting to feel some detox symptoms from finals week, but I can’t tell if those are just from exhaustion or detoxification… Whatever it is though, it’s clear that I need rest. CT here I come!

Best,

Cliff

packing for a raw food plane flight (before arriving home)

I got lucky last night when I was hanging out with Anna in Beverly Hills. She happened to know of a Whole Foods nearby, and while packing up some dinner, I also managed to pack a meal for the 5 hour flight back to NYC.

Here's what I got:

BIG organic apple
carton of organic strawberries
carton of organic blueberries
BIG organic pear
1 packet of goraw's ginger snap "cookies"
1 go raw pumpkin bar

i'm thinking all of this should hold me over! it did get radiated when going through security though... SO DID I THOUGH. :-/

i had kind of an insane morning really, i woke up at 7 so that i wouldn't get caught sleeping over in my friend's dorm (it's not allowed after school's out) and i went to the student commons to check in to my flight on jetblue. they cancelled the flight and were only able to refund my parents 200 hundred dollars... and then i booked a flight on virginamerica (which is really a swanky airline) for $500! AHHH too much money lost!

Then... my friend's mother called me panicked because she thought that her daughter had gotten lost last night. I gues she had been drinking and didn't come home and so I spent a good protion of the time calling people and worrying that my friend was dead in a ditch somewhere. Turns out she was sleeping over at the house next door.

i am so excited to get home, see my family, my puppies, and FINALLY get a good night's sleep in my OWN bed. YAHOO!

i also found out that the darien farmer's market opens on the wednesday i'm back home... so i will be hitting that up as well as whole foods and Mrs. Green's grocery store for some raw food STAPLES.

aight imma bounce.

Best,

Cliff

HOME!

in transit

tomorrow afternoon i fly home! i'm sitting in my neighbor's family room, and have kept up the rawness. so ready to go home.

i stopped by wholefoods tonight to pack a lunch for tomorrows plane ride.

if there's internet in the airport i'll post something. i have a lot to update you all on!

wish me luck for tomorrow.

best,

cliff

time to do WORK

so this is going to be the starting date of the detox process... granted i DO anticipate a few hiccups when i get home... (i.e. mom's home cooking, a few runs to our favorite cooked food restaurants, etc.) BUT... let me tell you all about my project for this summer.

i may have mentioned this before, but my mom is coming to this strange crossroads in her life. next year, my brother glenn, myself, AND our littlest brother tommy (who's only 15) will be out of the house next year! (away at colleges and tommy will be doing a semester in switzerland) my mom has been taking classes in nyc on integrative medicine, nutrition, diet etc. and she has LOVED it. she has also had a nasty scare with a hyper-active thyroid, and is ready to start making some pretty heavy duty changes in her diet. it's all of these factors that make this transition quite appropriate at the present time.

however, my mom is also commander in chief of the champion household... which means that she basically has 4 million different things going on at any given time. (hence the hyper-active thyroid perhaps?) so when i get home, not only is my mom swamped, but she's relying on me to help her start the transition into a diet with more raw foods.

with this abdication of her kitchen power, she still has one major challenge that remains: cooking for the rest of the family. so while she would love to prepare all of this stuff for herself, she frankly doesn't have the kind of time and energy that i will, so i'm excited to take the opportunity to be able to baby my mom. she works SO hard for all of us and truly is one of the most extraordinary women i will ever encounter in this lifetime. so it feels good to be able to help her take time to detox, and rebuild her nutrition and health!

with this kitchen "overhaul" of sorts came two things: a mission, and an AMAZON.COM SHOPPIN' SPREEE!!! my mom actually was able to go to a lecture with David Wolfe, and the biggest thing she took away from him was the notion of making your kitchen a "center of regeneration and healing." this is an interesting concept as the american cultural construct of a kitchen has always been one of the utmost importance to family life and well-being, but the idea of coupling that with the intention of healing and wellness is a fantastic way to view things. i hope i'll make the kitchen as close to this ideal as possible...

ok so about the fun stuff. my mom went TO TOWN on amazon.com and let me basically get her anything i wanted. (don't tell dad hahaha) here's a list of some of the AWESOME stuff we got that i will be reviewing in the near future via a couple of video posts.

Vitamix Platinum (w/ variable speed knob... yahoo!)
Kyocera Revolution 7" ceramic chef's knife (these things ARE SO GOOD!)
World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Slicer
Cuisinart 9 cup Food Processor (raw patés here i come!)
Omega 8003 Juicer

we will be borrowing our neighbor's excalibur dehydrator (i need to get my mom used to the idea of a dehydrator first...) until we find one. i really want one right away! but after having blown a rather ridiculous amount of $$$ on all of this stuff, it's best to just take it slow.

so again, the two things we don't have yet, that i REALLY do want in the kitchen by the end of the summer are an ice-cream maker, and a dehydrator. i think those will make raw food a LOT more livable.

in addition, we will be constructing our first backyard organic garden! my mom is really letting me dive into all of this, and i figured it would be a great thing to let other people learn and observe our successes and (inevitable) failures.

i will keep you all posted!!!

ps... i got 9 hours of sleep! yahoo!

best,

cliff

just say NO to... Agave?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/30/beware-of-the-agave-nectar-health-food.aspx

http://www.raw-living-food-success.com/natural-sweetener.html

serious concerns

this is the 2nd night in a row with no sleep. mind you, i'm the type of person who is barely satiated by 9 hours of sleep a night. i prefer to get well over 10.


i am genuinely concerned about the effects of the stimulants i've been taking to make it through finals week. i am going to need to take my diet REALLY seriously when i get back home.

the fact that i can't get to sleep at all at midnight is insane... and now of course i need MORE stimulants to stay awake for my exams today. CT can't come soon enough. get me on a plane to JFK already!

i have 2 more exams today... i just have to pull through and finish strong so that i can genuinely relax when i'm home. so far, i have a b in religion, a b+ in humanities, an a- in political science, an a- in convocation... and i am still waiting to hear back from global econ and global media.

i need that 3.6 baby! i will kill someone if i don't graduate with honors.

ugh... this week is from hell!

best,

cliff

himalayan salt lamp

starting to crack

i have so had it with eating bad food!

i am making my way over to the vitamin barn in malibu for some wheat grass, kombucha, green juice and trailmix. i'm at my wit's end!

AND... I am about 10 days late on finding this out, but the new Crystal Castles cd is out! I've been bopping out to that in the past 24 hours. Go get it!


I may or may not do a video post today. I'm feeling rather uninspired frankly, but I want to keep uploading stuff. My channel views have gone up, but I can't tell what that's from. Is it b/c I keep looking at my Youtube Channel? Or is it b/c other people do?

Nevertheless I hope people are watching the videos. I guess it's rather impatient of me considering that they've been up for like 48 hours. Oh well.

Best,

Cliff

growing fresh air

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Here are the links I mentioned:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/air-filtering-plants-indoors-air-quality-benzen-formaldehyde.php

http://www.ted.com/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air.html

http://www.andreaair.com/

A few things I forgot to mention:

I water the plants once a week, and that keeps them totally satiated

The andrea air purifier is designed around the air purifying properties of a plant! It sucks in air through this little encapuslation, around the leaves and roots of the plant and then the air freshened by the plant is circulated back into the room.



AWESOME.

Best,

Cliff

vlog about mercola's B12 spray

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check out the link!

http://products.mercola.com/vitamin-b12-spray/

raw food blues

it's official.

I sent all of my cooking stuff back home to CT, and now I am officially high and dry here at school. I can't eat raw!

Granted I could go to rawvolution, or juliano's or something, but frankly i'm broke and I can't afford it.

I have been hitting up my favorite cooked food restaurants as of late because I can't cook in my dorm, and although it's been great to binge, I feel like $h!t.

BTW... whenever I don't eat raw, my nose gets really red and dry (I have no clue why this happens) and I call it the "rudolph syndrome."

It's always a good indicator of whether or not i'm on track.

I will just have to wait until CT for some more amazing raw food, but until then, I will post a few things here and there about whatever is on my mind.


Best,

Cliff

before finals week

I thought it would be best to start the blog off with a bit of a shameless plug for my puppy at home: Daisy.

I miss her and her older brother Dek (pronounced DEEK) like crazy and can't wait to get my hands on them!

Get prepared for a few posts on their antics in the future.

Best,

Cliff

Intent!

SUP YO

This blog and I have a couple of goals:

1. To show that raw foods are great

2. To help out people who are interested in raw foods

3. To chronicle my journey as well as my mom's journey into raw foods

4. To get some awesome feedback from people in the raw foods community

5. To use the internet and its virus-like speed for positive ends

A bit about myself,

I am currently a junior at Pepperdine University in the lovely Malibu CA
I am originally from New Canaan CT, and will be returning there shortly for summer vacation
I have been vegetarian since 2005 (and have dabbled with veganism / raw foodism)
I first became interested in raw foods during my time as an employee at the Stand Juice Company in Norwalk CT. Check out their fbook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/the-stand-juice-company/53522968548 Mike and Carissa are the coolest.
I am not 100% raw, and I doubt I will ever be 100% anything
I like family, friends, dogs, art, music, FOOD, swimming, traveling, speaking mandarin and french, running, and all sorts of other stuff.

You can be assured that:

Video posts will be regularly added
Links and news will be regularly added
Interesting / Funny / irrelevant material will be added for good measure

I hope you enjoy my blog!

Best,

Cliff