I was lucky enough to find fresh turmeric at my local Whole Foods Market and decided to try a few fresh turmeric recipes. If you have never seen fresh turmeric, it looks like ginger except for it is a bright golden orange inside. I love the sweet and slightly spicy taste of the fresh turmeric compared to the powder, but the powder is more widely available.

You might have heard of all the amazing health benefits of turmeric lately some people even call it Indian gold! It is most widely known as a natural anti-inflammatory.

It contains a natural compound called curcumin and an overview published in Advanced Experimental Medical Biology in 2007 states, “Curcumin has been shown to exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer activities and thus has a potential against various malignant diseases, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic illnesses.”

If you are lucky enough to get a hold of some fresh turmeric here are a few fresh turmeric recipes and ideas, but if you can’t find it, just substitute with the same amount of powder as the fresh root.

Fresh Turmeric Recipes

Fresh Turmeric Almond Milk

1 ½ cups almond milk

1-2 teaspoons honey

1/4 -1/2 inch knob turmeric

pinch of cinnamon powder

Make a batch of almond milk with a nut milk bag. (Click here if you don’t know how to make raw almond milk.) Then put the milk back in the blender with the turmeric, honey, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth. If you have a powerful blender such as a Vitamix Blender you might not need to strain the milk again, but if it’s grainy strain it first and then enjoy!

Fresh Turmeric Tea

Bring four cups of water to a boil.

Add one teaspoon of grated fresh turmeric and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Strain the tea through a strainer into a cup and then add honey to taste.

You can also add ginger if you want to make a spicier turmeric/ginger tea.

Fresh Turmeric Juice

You can also juice fresh turmeric in a juicer such as the Omega Vert, Omega 4000, or Omega 8004.

Fresh turmeric tastes especially good with the juices of pineapple, orange, apple, pear, beet and carrot.

At a local restaurant called True Food Kitchen they make a delicious juice called “Bright Eyes” which contains pear, pineapple, beet, ginger, and turmeric and there is no reason you can’t make this juice at home.

Hope you learned a few things about using fresh turmeric and if you have a fresh turmeric recipe to share please post it below in the comments section.

♥,
C

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that bring us great joy. My new favorite recipe for a coconut water drink is a perfect example of how something so simple can be so good!

I call it Sunshine Juice and it really brightens my mornings. It is perfect for a Sunday brunch gathering or anytime of day you need a refreshing elixir to wake up your taste buds!

Coconut Water Drink Recipe – Sunshine Juice

2 cups of young coconut water from the juice of 2 young Thai coconuts
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (at least 4 oranges)
1 cup freshly juiced pineapple juice (at least 1 half a pineapple)

Makes 32 ounces of Sunshine Juice.

Safely open your Thai young coconuts and pour the young coconut water into a carafe. Peel the oranges and remove the skin of the pineapple and juice them in a juicer until you get one cup of juice each. I like to use my Omega Vrt350 or a centrifugal ejection style juicer such as the Omega 4000 to juice the pineapple and oranges. Pour the orange and pineapple juice into the carafe with the coconut water. Enjoy!

* If you do not have pineapple juice just add two cups of orange juice instead of one. Still tastes great but the pineapple juice takes it over the top!

Do you have any other coconut water drinks recipes? Please share in the comments section below:

♥,
C

It’s a simple and fresh raw dessert recipe that can be modified to use any type of fruit you like!

Peach Cobbler

2 ½  cups peaches, sliced (or other fruit)

5-6 medjool dates, pitted

1 cup raw coconut flakes

½ cup almonds

1 tsp vanilla

3 Tbsp raw honey

3 Tbsp coconut oil

Slice and pit peaches and set aside.  Place dates, coconut, almonds and a pinch Himalayan salt into a food processor and mix until combined and sticky.  Set aside.  Blend only ½ cup of peaches with vanilla, honey, and coconut oil in the blender until smooth.  Layer all components in a glass dish or in individual serving cups.

Please let me know if you try this recipe and what fruit you use. I’ve also tried it with mixed berried (strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries) and it worked great!

For more of Julia’s recipes you can go here: www.divianaalchemy.com

♥,
C

P.S.  There are still a few more days to get the ground breaking e-book, What do Raw Fooders Eat? Click here for more info!

I commonly get asked how to make green smoothie recipes that don’t taste, well, green. I can sometimes sense the fear in their voices, as if they are afraid to make a mistake and create a green mushy concoction that tastes like tar!

Okay so maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but there is definitely a little trepidation when it comes to taking the green smoothie plunge! I take a no holds barred anything goes approach to making green smoothie recipes, but there are a few basic guidelines I abide by to make sure that my husband will drink his every morning (i.e. it has to taste good!). To learn my green smoothie basics, so that you can take a tasty walk on the wild (greens) side, watch the video below and let me know what you think:

Click here if you can’t see the green smoothie recipes video above.

If you want to delve a little deeper into the art of green smoothie making consider checking out Cecilia’s Green Smoothie Challenge Recipe Ebook.

Have a Great Day!

♥,
C

I made this amazing wheatgrass juice recipe with the Omega Vert Juicer after my friend Novalee brought me over a huge flat of wheatgrass. We were having some fun in the kitchen and made this short video of how to make a wheatgrass cooler. Both of us were surprised how good the juice tasted, because (truth be told) I’m not a fan of straight wheatgrass juice.  If you’re like me, and don’t like to chug wheatgrass straight up, you’ve got to try this winning  recipe!

Click here if you can’t see the video above

Wheatgrass Cooler

1 large cucumber or 2 medium cucumbers (Any variety will do but we used Armenian Cucumbers in the video)
1 peeled orange
1 apple
small handful fresh basil leaves
1 inch knob ginger
3 fistfuls of wheatgrass or desired amount

Juice all ingredients through the Omega Vert Juicer or another single auger style juicer. Enjoy!

*Best to drink juice on an empty stomach

Click here for more info on one of the most versatile juicers on the market, the Omega Vert!

♥,
C

Chances are you already know how to make almond milk (if you’ve been around raw foods for awhile), but if you don’t, then enjoy this video where I show you how to make almond milk with my new favorite large 1 gallon nut milk bag! If you’re already an almond milk pro,  then fast forward to the end of the video where I show you how to make a blueberry carob almond milk elixir.

Click here if you can’t see the video

If videos don’t tickle your fancy, click here for step by step instructions with pictures on how to make almond milk.

And of course, click here for the best  nut milk bag on earth:) IMO

Blueberry Carob Elixir

1 cup almond milk
handful of blueberries
1 date pitted and chopped
1 teaspoon carob
1 teaspoon Maca powder
1 teaspoon blue green algae
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
pinch stevia powder

Blend in the blender until smooth for an antioxidant immune boosting pick me up!

♥,
C

Any good almond milk recipes you’d like to share? Please share them in the comments section. Thx!

Here is a video of me (Cecilia) using the spiralizer to make a simple raw food pasta dish with my tried and true raw food pasta sauce + how to make your own raw food dehydrated tomatoes.

Click Here if You Can’t See the Video

Zucchini Angel Hair Pasta with Marinara Sauce

8 medium small tomatoes (or 4 large tomatoes)
1 red bell pepper
1-2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs basil (about 10 leaves)
2 sprigs oregano (about one teaspoon fresh leaves)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne or chili flakes
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1-2 dates or a pinch of stevia
6 medium zucchinis spiralized on thin setting
Optional:
1 cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup chopped tomato
4 tablespoons chopped raw olives (black, green, or a combination of both)

Garnish:
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Blend all ingredients except the 2 cups chopped bell pepper, tomato, olives and the spiralized zucchini into a blender until smooth. You can add more sun dried tomatoes for a thicker sauce. Mix chopped bell pepper, tomato, and olives into the sauce for a chunky style sauce. Pour the sauce over spiralized zucchini.

How to Make Your Own Raw Food “Sun” Dried Tomatoes:

Slice some tomatoes and lay them on your dehydrator trays and dehydrate them for about 14-16 hours at 115 degrees until they are completely dry. The thicker the cut, the longer they will take to dry. Eat them as is or use them in recipes. In my opinion, they are so much better than any sun dried tomatoes you can find in a store! They’re sweet, tangy,  and crunchy like a chip!

Manga!

♥,
C

Don’t have a spiralizer? Click here for more info on the spiral slicer.

For more spiral slicer recipes check out the spiral slicer recipe ebook.

I made a gorgeous basil avocado summer seaweed salad recipe using almost all local, in season, and organic ingredients with my two favorite types of seaweed: Silky Sea Palm and Bull Whip Kelp from Ocean Harvet Sea Vegetables. This is one of my favorite seaweed salad recipes of all time and one of the easiest to prepare as well.

If can’t see the video above click here to watch the seaweed salad video

Basil Avocado Sea Vegetable Salad

1 English Cucumber (thinly sliced into disks)
2 medium tomatoes sliced
½ large avocado diced
handful of basil leaves chopped (about ten leaves)
Torn pieces of whole leaf seaweed such as Silky Sea Palm, Bull Whip Kelp, or Dulse
sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
juice from 1 lemon (optional)

Layer the cucumber and tomato slices attractively on a platter. Top with the chopped avocado and basil. Drizzle on the olive oil and squeeze on the lemon juice. Sprinkle on the salt, pepper, and sea vegetables. Makes 1-2 servings.

Hope you enjoyed this video and for more seaweed recipes be sure to check out my sea vegetable recipe ebooklet.

♥,
C

Most people use avocados in savory dishes but did you know that avocado has some sweet applications as well? In this blog post I will share with you two sweet raw food avocado recipes including a recipe for raw food avocado pudding.

In California summer is avocado season and we are so blessed to have the most delicious creamy avocados available in season!

 According to the California Avocado Comission:

Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. They also act as a “nutrient booster” by enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble nutrients, such as alpha and beta-carotene and lutein, in foods that are eaten with the fruit.

But you really don’t need a reason to eat avocados do you?

In the Canary Islands where my family is from, they have an amazing juice bar called Maria’s where they put avocado in their smoothies to give them a creamy consistency and a lovely flavor. I tried this at home recently and was not disappointed!

Summer Avocado Smoothie

2 peaches
½ cup strawberries
1 banana
¼ slice of an avocado
1 cup orange juice
Pinch stevia powder or a few drops of the stevia liquid

Blend and serve over ice! Very tasty.

Lemon Avocado Pudding

This isn’t my recipe,  it’s from my very favorite raw recipe book Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer Cornbleet. She calls it Lemon Mouse and I modified it just slightly.

3 avocados (1 and ½ cups mashed avocado)
1/2 cup raw honey
1/4-1/2  cup fresh lemon juice (2-4 lemons approx)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3-5 drops lemon flavored stevia to taste (optional)
blueberries and sliced strawberries for garnish

Put all the ingredients in the food processor with the S blade, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Garnish with berries if desired.  4 servings.

I took this to a raw food party and it was a hit. I also served it to my family and they loved it! I have made it a few times and depending on the tartness of the lemons I needed to add more or less lemon juice. I like it really lemony!

Hope you are having a wonderful summer and enjoying those avocados!

♥,
C

Click here to Purchase the book Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People  
by Jennifer Cornbleet-this is an amazon affliate link.

Click here to see what other raw food books I recommend

Now that summer is near, most of us need to be drinking more water to stay hydrated. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired.  According to Dr. F. Batmanghelidj who wrote the book, “Your Bodies Many Cries for Water” he believes that Unintentional Chronic Dehydration (UCD) contributes to and even produces pain and many degenerative diseases that can be prevented and treated by increasing water intake on a regular basis such as preventing heartburn, backpain, migranes, asthma, and other ailments. Click here to learn more about his groundbreaking work .

There is so much information out there about how much water we should be drinking a day and everyone’s needs is going are going to vary a bit , some say 64 ounces a day (8 ounces 8 times a day), some say more than that. According to the Mayo Clinic website  a good rule of thumb is to drink enough fluid so that you rarely feel thirsty and produce 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) or more of colorless or slightly yellow urine a day.

Regardless of what the experts say I bet most of us could feel better if we drank more water, but if you are like me you are not always motivated to drink enough water. I’m not a fan of plain water, but luckily I’ve found a way to make it taste really good so that I actually enjoy drinking it! Here’s my simple recipe:

Citrus Mint Water

You can use a big glass water pitcher or make it one glass at a time.

Add a few slices of one or a combination of the following fruits: apple, lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit, and/or cucumber and add them into your glass or water pitcher.

Then add a sprig of fresh mint.

To make it over the top, you can add a few drops of liquid stevia, my favorite is Sweetleaf’s brand Lemon Drop, naturally flavored Stevia.

 I can’t wait until our stevia plants start growing and then I’ll add a few stevia leaves to the water to replace the liquid stevia.

Make it a glass at a time if you want it at room temperature, or put the pitcher in the refrigerator and make sure you drink it in one or two days at most before the fruits go bad.

For a fizzy soda type drink you can use natural sparkling mineral water, which should help you kick the soda habit forever!

It tastes so good, especially with the stevia, I’ve never enjoyed drinking water more and I’ve never felt so hydrated.

Enjoy!

♥,
C