Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; New here, question

Hey Betsy,

Thanks for checking out my website! That is wonderful that you are into juices & smoothies! I can't think of a better and more enjoyable way to get my daily greens!

Chocolate covered cherries are awesome! A mix of coconut oil, cacao butter and cacao powder sounds good, then maybe you could even do a quick roll into coconut sugar before the chocolate dried? I might try that with strawberries, and let you know how it turns out! That actually sounds pretty divine, there would be 3 different levels of flavor there, tart/sweet, bitter/fat, and then earty/sweet = yummy!

For the coconut sugar chocolates I made, I just did the melt & pour thing. I melted the cacao butter in the dehydrator and then mixed it with the cacao powder and date sugar. There was a slight crunch to the chocolates, as the coconut sugar doesn't dissolve like regular sugar, but it wasn't that noticeable.

Lately though, I am loving dates pureed into the chocolate and then having it set up hard and fully combined. The dates allow the chocolate taste to really come through. Since I am getting ready to launch my own raw foods catering company and be at the weekly farmers market here, I have a huge supply of organic raw medjool date paste and that stuff blends in super easy to recipes. But in the past I have also just tossed pitted medjool dates into my food processor (and sometimes soaked them in water first) to make date paste.

Of all the foods on the entire planet, I LOVE dates the most.

-Andrea

Andrea, since you first mentioned dates I thought I'd give them a try. I have actually never had a date until just recently. They are not medjool dates (not sure what those are), but good old' Sun Maid brand. They are seriously delicious. It's just like eating candy! It's amazing what natures REAL candy tastes like once your tasebuds/mind have experienced being a "born again virgin"!

On the note about me being in a flare, I did a 24 hour fast and ate absolutely nothing except coffee and water and I feel NORMAL today! Even going to help the hubby plant some plants tonight.

I can't stress enough about fasting!!! It does absolute wonders for my body, especially when in a crazy flare.

Andrea, I am going to try cutting out the dairy and eggs since so many people here feel better without them. I had to come home from work the other day because I was feeling as though my heart was going to stop, and that happened before when I had been eating dairy, so I think it's time to look for an alternative. I go back to raw dairy when nothing else seems to be working and I can't think of any other way to go. But I actually prefer fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds to dairy and eggs. I don't want to go all the way vegan again, though, so maybe I'll try some fish a couple of times a week like you do. Today I had already had some eggs and kefir before I decided to try the change, so tomorrow will be my first day.

I bought some dates, too, and blended them into my smoothie. I'm hooked, too. It's hard to blend them in, so I could see how the paste would be better if you are making a lot of stuff. That's great that you are going to have a table at a farmer's market! Do you live on the west coast?

The zucchini humus recipe at your site looked good, too. I just gave away a couple of zucchini because I thought they bothered me, but it was more likely the tomato sauce that I covered them with.

So do you find the coconut sugar doesn't bother you? Maybe I'll give it a try.

Thanks,
Betsy

Yay for Dates! I believe they were also the most popular fruit eaten as far back as the ancient Egyptian times.

Lauren, "Medjool" dates are big and soft (even when dried) You can often find them in the produce department where you can buy them in bulk. I have even seen them in Safeway amongst the produce. They are also commonly rolled in dried coconut and like "fun size" nature's candy. Here is some more info/pix of them: http://www.medjooldates.com/faq-nutrition.asp

Yes, and lots of people soak the dates for like an hour, and then even blend them up into a paste to keep in the fridge and use as needed. I find that high quality medjool dates are often soft enough to blend up pretty easily even without soaking though.

*Now, here is my little disclaimer. You can even find medjool dates at Costco, but word on the street is the Costco dates are gassed with some pretty toxic stuff. So I now only buy organic dates. With my little raw food biz, I can buy raw organic medjool dates from a wholesaler for only $4.50/pound and I can buy raw organic medjool date "paste" for only $2.50/pound - so pretty cheap. Definately shop around to avoid paying too much per pound.

Too bad we all don't live closer together, I'd be happy to divide up some of my organic raw wholesale pantry, which also includes raw organic coconut sugar I got super cheap - and I'd be happy to give you some to try Betsy!

As far as tomatoes, I stay FAR away from them!!! And I dearly miss them - I would likely supspect it was the tomato to cause you problems, as they do for many people. I now make a pesto sauce instead of a tomato sauce, and a cherry bbq sauce instead of a tomato bbq sauce. I never eat tomatoes anymore

Yes, I live on the West Coast, in Oregon's Wine Country. We have a small far nestled up against the Oregon Coast Range and just on the edge of wine country. I plan to be at the McMinnville Farmers Market starting in July, and hope to use 50 to 75% locally grown fruits, veggies & nuts in my raw treats & meals that I sell.

We also live in hazelnut growing country, so I can get hazelnuts for a killer price in the fall, only $1.75/pound (before being "shelled") and then I just freeze tons of them, and then make hazelnut milk as needed. At this very moment we are drinking strawberry hazelnut milkshakes, (hazelnut milk + strawberries + dates) and they are so darn yummy, so much better than cows milk I personally think!

I am pretty sure coconut sugar doesn't bother me like honey. I really used to LOVE honey, but it seemed like it was causing candida to hang around my body, whereas dates don't cause me any grief. My husband & I have been wanting to get a couple bee hive boxes to get our own honey, but I have put that project on hold for now!

Lauren, I totally agree about fasting too! My recent juice fast was like the best thing I ever did for my body.

-Andrea

And while we are talking about dates, let me share with you the MOST AMAZING grain free, processed sugar free dessert recipe, EVER!

The Raw Brownie: http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/2011/04/raw-brownie.html

This recipe will convince just about anyone how magical dates are!!

Please let me know if any of you try it. This recipe is responsible for convincing me to become a raw foodie!

xoxo

Thanks for the tip about Costco I have used their dates in the past and was going to get some more on my next trip! I can get organic from the local supermarket I shall try those instead.

I am about to make the onion bread you linked to on your site using my oven again but the dehydrator is on its way (found one on sale and persuaded hubby to let me get one as he liked your cinnamon rolls ) so soon I will be able to make your recipes properly.

The only thing with all this healthy eating is the cost, while saving the health service a fortune because I am not taking any medicine!

I wonder if you can make the onion bread without flax seeds. I understand the flax seeds are what hold everything together, but they bother me. If there isn't any replacement, I'll wait a month or two of being on raw, and then see if I can handle it. I want a dehydrator, too! I also want a vita mix! Andrea, have you ever made ice cream with your vita mix? I was at a whole foods one day and someone made an amazing looking ice cream with a vita mix using almond milk and cacao powder. It was ice cream almost instantly! Incredible. The raw brownie looks incredible, and so easy, too.

For today, since I only had a little bit of dairy yesterday, I'm starting with the detox symptoms. I woke up with an incredible headache, but the good news was that I slept better than I had in ages.

Oh my! Easy coffee ice cream!

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/06/18/3-ingredient-coffee-ice-cream/

You don't HAVE to have a vita mix to make it!

I have used sesame and pumpkin seeds instead of the sunflower seeds as they can be starchy. Chia seeds might be ok instead of flax they go jelly like when mixed with water however I haven't tried them for anything yet. By the way the onion bread is smelling delicious in the oven I can't wait to try it.

I'd love a vitamix too unfortunately will have to wait a while now. The food processer atatchment that came with my food mixer is rapidly becoming woefully inadequate. I like the sound of the icecream too yum yum.

Grumpy, what brand dehydrator did you buy? My food processor is just a small one that came with my blender, too, and it's not that great, either.