I have two things to mention before I lead on into this post’s yummy recipe. First, I just wanted to explain that I haven’t lot interest in my blog or anything. You may have noticed that I haven’t been blogging as much as usual. I am currently making some exciting adjustments to Miss Best ) and I have also been busy working on a lovely free product for you (more details on both of these things shortly). So I do hope you’ll forgive me!

I also wanted to announce the results of the prize draw to win a copy of my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts’. The winner has been chosen at random from those of you who entered into the draw after recently taking part in my survey. So a big congratulations to ‘P.L. Maples’! I hope you will love the recipes and the desserts that you make from them! And a big thank you to the rest of you who so kindly took the time to give me your feedback, and let me know how I can tailor my gifts to help you. I have also drawn the winner for the slightly different survey that I announced in my newsletter, and will be announcing the lucky recipient next week.

Now, I know that many of you have said that you enjoy my raw food recipes, so I hope you wont be disappointed when I share this cooked recipe today.

The reason why I am sharing a cooked recipe is that I, like many of you, am not 100% raw. It is often easy to overlook the cooked side of food when we spend so much energy and attention on figuring out what raw food to eat.

So I love to explore what cooked food can help support my high raw diet. This recipe has been doing just that.

As I am sure many of you will agree, bread and wraps are a really convenient food. You can make a sandwich or a wrap in a few minutes and have something tasty and satisfying to keep you going. Now, unless you are disciplined and productive with your dehydrator, (ahem – I can’t say that I am!) then you are left with choosing between perhaps regular bread/wraps or a lettuce/cabbage leaf if you want something sandwich-like.

(If you would like a recipe for yummy raw, dehydrated crackers, you can find one here)

On some days – especially in cooler weather – I really don’t fancy a 100% raw wrap. Well I would if I had a raw dehydrated wrap to hand! It’s just that I don’t always fancy a lettuce leaf around my lovely raw filling. Sometimes I want something more bread like, and I don’t want to eat a regular wrap or bread as I do my very best to avoid gluten.

So this is my solution to the problem. A yummy, gluten-free, quick and easy crepe, which can be made either as a savoury wrap or as a yummy dessert crepe that can then be filled with 100% raw goodies, giving you a high-raw meal.

RECIPE

Gluten free Crepes
Makes about 4 crepes
Feel free to double the recipe. Freeze any uneaten crepes!

Basic recipe:
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons potato flour or cornstarch
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
Pinch of sea salt
About 1 ¼ cups water

For extra yummy savoury wraps: add 1-2 teaspoons herbs such as oregano and basil. You can also add a little chili powder, and even ½ teaspoon each of ground coriander and cumin powder if you wish.

Sweet crepes:
Add ½ tablespoon maple or agave syrup and 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom or cinnamon.

To make the crepes:

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Heat your frying pan to a semi-high heat. If you are using a good quality non-stick pan then you don’t need any oil. If you are not using a non-stick pan then I suggest you use some coconut or rapeseed oil.

Whisk the water into the dry ingredients so that you get a smooth batter. You don’t want it to be too thick. Add the syrup, if making sweet crepes.

Pour in a little of the batter, and swirl the pan around. You are aiming for a nice thin crepe so that when you add your raw filling you will end up a meal that is mostly raw with just a little cooked!

When the crepe sets on top, gently flip over a fry for a few more minutes.

Repeat with the remaining batter. Eat immediately, if possible.

Here are my favorite fillings:

Fill with any of the following. I tend to go crazy and have a bit of everything!

Sweet crepes

These are wonderful for a weekend breakfast. Just promise that you will fill them with yummy healthy raw goodies!

- fruit salad or sliced fruit and berries e.g. banana and strawberries
- agave syrup or maple syrup
- fresh lemon juice
- raw chocolate spread (Mix raw coconut oil with agave syrup and raw cacao powder) or melted raw chocolate.
- raw Ice Cream such as my Chocolate Ice Dream
- raw vanilla sauce (see recipe in my e-book)
- yummy raw nuts such as pecans

Savoury crepes/wraps

- avocado slices or raw nut cheeze
- Parsley pesto (find the recipe here >>)
- salad leaves
- olive oil or nice raw salad dressing
- raw spicy salsa
- sliced veggies such as cucumber and bell pepper
- diced tomatoes
- yummy raw nut burgers with raw ketchup (I will give you a recipe for this very soon!)

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A few weeks ago I managed to do something, I hadn’t previously achieved. Did I get through the day without eating a single avocado? Nope. Did I get round to finally sorting out that box of memories that I have moved from house to house to house for the past 10 years? Afraid not. But what I did do, for the first time ever, was to use up the contents of the organic veg box we get delivered in almost one go. Usually, after we have gleefully devoured the crisp lettuce and fragrant tomatoes, turned the firm green courgettes into raw noodles, and made something creative with the tasty mushrooms, there will be one vegetable that sits in the fridge until either I have found out what it is, and how to prepare it, (I had never come across Black salsify root for example), or I have the inclination to use up ‘yet another celeriac’, when we have received one a week for the past 6 weeks!

But on this day in mention, I was utterly delighted to open the box and instantly know what we were going to have for dinner that evening. In fact, when I emptied the contents on to the kitchen counter, I felt just like a chef from the TV show Ready, Steady Cook! when they are presented with a bag of ingredients and have to make something using all of the food, plus a few store cupboard staples.

The organic goodies we received that day were:

broccoli

onions

mushrooms

ginger

carrots

lime

apples

courgette (zucchini)

bell pepper

avocado (OK so I didn’t use that in the meal, but I NEVER need to think about how to eat those green beauties!)

lettuce – ditto

And since I had been craving sea vegetables of some sort, I thought it would be a perfect occasion to make an Asian inspired dish. Imagine a stir fry, without frying it. So, more of a ’stir’ than a ’stir-fry’ then!

So here is the recipe. It’s a bit of a bonus recipe, because you can use the various components in other dishes. Marinated mushrooms, for example, make an exceedingly good addition to salads or sushi (or nori rolls). The marinated broccoli makes a great side-dish or snack, and the marinated arame makes for a yummy way to include more mineral rich, cleansing seaweed into your beautiful body. The courgette (zucchini) noodles are fantastic in salads, or eaten instead of spaghetti or egg noodles.

Miss Best’s ‘Stir don’t fry!’
Serves 4

Marinated arame (see recipe below)
Marinated broccoli (see recipe below)
Marinated mushrooms (see recipe below)
Asian style salad (find the recipe here)
Courgette (zucchini) noodles (see recipe below)

Place the noodles onto plates. Mix everything else together and serve on top of the noodles. Top with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and a little fresh parsley or coriander.

To allow time for your veggies to marinate, I recommend you make this meal in the following order:

1. Start by putting the arame to soak
2. Make the broccoli dish
3. Make the marinated mushrooms
4. Rinse, drain and marinate the arame
5. Make the asian style salad
6. Make the courgette (zuchini) noodles

Marinated Arame

2 cups arame (not usually strictly raw, but still super healthy!) or raw sea vegetable or your choice
2 cm piece ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon tamari
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon (preferably an organic or unwaxed lemon)
1 tablespoon cold pressed sesame oil

Soak the arame in warm water for about 10-15 minutes (or until soft). You can leave it soak while you prepare the rest of the dish. Drain and rinse the arame, put into a bowl and stir in the remaining ingredients and allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes. Keeps for about 2 days in the fridge in a lidded container.

Marinated Broccoli
This is a simplified version of my popular curried broccoli

One small head of broccoli
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Wash your broccoli. Cut off the stem and trim away any hard knobbly bits, then thinly slice the stem and the head. Place in a bowl and pour on the lemon juice, oil and salt and pepper and give it a little massage. Allow to marinade for about 30 minutes.

Marinated Mushrooms

1 box of mushrooms (about 250 g / half a pound)
Half a small onion, thinly sliced (optional)
½ cup tamari
1 clove garlic, crushed

Wash and dry the mushrooms and thinly slice. Place into a bowl together with the onion, and stir in the tamari and garlic. Leave to marinate for at least 10 minutes. Store in the fridge in a lidded container for up to 3 days.

Courgette (zucchini) noodles

Allow about half a courgette per person for this dish. Make into noodles using wither a special tool called a spiralizer, a mandolin with a teeth-like attachment, or by cutting into strips using a vegetable peeler. For the latter, stack the courgette ribbons on top of each other and then cut into noodle-sized strips.

Place in a bowl and drizzle on a little olive oil or sesame oil, a little salt and pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

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Oh, I am just crazy-bonkers about avocados. So rich and yummy, and incredibly versatile! I have heard some people state that they don’t eat avocados as they are high in calories and fat, and then they tuck in to a bag of crisps (chips)! Yes, for a fruit, they are rich in healthy fats and calories, but when you eat natural, raw, mono saturated fats, your body processes them in a very different way than the fats you will find in animal products or cooked, or processed food. Plus, they are full of goodness, and are a good source of vitamin E, potassium, B vitamins, vitamin K, beta-carotene, fiber and folic acid.

I usually eat about 2 avocados a day. We are all different, and some people may not feel energetic after so many, but (so far) I feel great from it, and love the different ways I get to use them:

In smoothies to make them rich and filling
In Life-Loving desserts (like the ones in my e-book)
On (raw) crackers or bread (with a little sprinkle of salt) instead of butter or cheese
In sushi or nori rolls
In a fruit salad
On it’s own with a little lemon juice
In salads to add richness and substance
In dips and dressings
On pizza, instead of cheese

Having avocados around really helps me keep to a high-raw lifestyle. If I don’t have something ’substantial’ in the fridge such as a raw pate, or nut cheese (and if I can’t be bothered to make one) then an avocado will really boost my meal in both the satisfying and the taste department!

Recently, I heard Kate Magic mention using cacao in guacamole, and in a shot I was in the kitchen fondling my lovely avocados to find a ripe candidate for surely such a perfect combination. I like her idea to not just use cacao in sweet foods, so that you can have the cacao goodness, taste and – let’s be honest – hit, without having a dessert, if you are not in the mood for one (yes, even I don’t always want a dessert!)

So, dear Reader, I share with you today a recipe for Cacaomole, and one for Guacamole.

I have split the recipe up here so if you don’t think you will fancy the cacao-spiked version, then you can enjoy the calmer version (also known as Guacamole) just as much.

Also, if you want to keep things simple, in both time, ingredients and effort you can eat this as it is. But I have also added a list of delicious extras that you can add to really boost this dish, in terms of taste, texture, and nutrition.

And finally, for those of you with access to superfood powders, there is a little suggestion of what you can add to this dish to add an extra whooosh!

Guaca/Cacaomole!
Serves one, maybe two, depending on if you are as greedy as we are!

Guacamole – Basic recipe:

1 large avocado
1 small clove garlic, crushed
¾ tablespoon lemon or lime juice, or to taste
salt and black pepper, to taste

Very yummy additions:

I add all of these, but feel to pick and choose and will!

1 small tomato, diced
Sprig of parsley or coriander, chopped
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds – mineral and protein rich with a yummy crunch!
2 sun-dried tomatoes (soaked in water, if not stored in oil), chopped
fresh or dried chili, to taste
4 olives, stones removed, and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed (or ½ teaspoon ground coriander)

Make mine a Cacaomole!

Add 1.5 teaspoons cacao powder

Superlove, me baby!

For a super-dooper nutritional boost, add any, or all of the following, which you will find in on-line raw food shops such as Råvarubutiken (Scandinavia).

½ teaspoon purple corn – high in antioxidants
½ teaspoon reishi mushroom powder – great for the immune system
1 tablespoon goji berries – high in vitamin c, contains B vitamins, and all of the essential amino acids
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes – high in B vitamins, also adds yummy savoury taste. (Not raw. Folks in Sweden can buy this online from Goodstore or at their store in Stockholm.)

How to make it

Mash the avocado with a fork, and stir in the remaining ingredients. If you are making a large batch of this, you can whizz up the avocados in a food processor, but stir in the extras by hand to maintain the contrast in texture.

Divine served in a nori roll with strips of cucumber, carrot, red bell pepper, apple and some green leaves and sprouts e.g. alfalfa or sunflower sprouts.

Or, you can serve as a dip with yummy raw veggies.

And, of course, you can serve with Mexican food!

** note, if your avocados are the not the best, and are a little pale and watery, you may want to add 1 teaspoon olive oil, to add a little richness. If using cacao, then ½ teaspoon agave syrup will help your naughty avocado regain a sense of roundness!

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I didn’t intend to write again about desserts this week. I don’t want you to think that I am force-feeding you yummy desserts and plugging my e-book at any occasion. However, this weekend, Christoffer and I managed to achieve something that has been bugging me for a long time, and I just wanted to share it with you, as I know I am not alone on this!

It bothers me that on special occasions – times when we celebrate ourselves, such as birthdays, or other events such as Christmas, or family get-togethers – we often ‘treat’ ourselves to unhealthy food and drink. Many people – me included – find it manageable to make wise and yummy eating choices all throughout the year, but on the days that should be extra special, we indulge in sugar, refined flour, alcohol, etc etc. The result is that we get (probably) a great tasting meal, or cake, but end up feeling pretty crappy from it. Not just physically, but mentally too, from the guilt and disappointment that we ’slipped up’ and ate the foods we made a commitment to avoid.

There can be many reasons for this. Maybe, on just that one day you don’t want to have to bother about what you should, and shouldn’t, be eating. Perhaps you go out for a meal, and just want a nice time and don’t want to have to worry about eating healthy food. Or perhaps someone has been kind enough to bake, or buy, you a birthday cake, and you don’t want to offend them by refusing their sweet gift.

On one hand, I believe that on the odd occasion, it’s better to just accept the situation, and promise yourself to get back to the good, healthy food straight away, rather than getting yourself into a state about it. But, on the other hand, I believe that on occasions, such as birthdays, we should be extra careful about celebrating life. Why on our one extra special day of the year, should we aggravate a physical condition we may have by eating ‘naughty’ food, or come away from the celebrations feeling ‘blurgh’ and devoid of energy?

One of the reasons I have, in the past, not stuck to Life-Loving Food on birthdays, is a lack of a good replacement for a yummy, easy, cake. I will always eat 100% vegan food, but I have eaten refined flour, refined sugar and rather sickly cakes on my birthday. And although they tasted good, they left me rather less Life-Loving than normal!

Until Now! Friday was Christoffer’s birthday, and I made him the Chocolate Torte from my e-book. I knew that he loves this dessert, and that it was even better than the cooked, refined versions that I have made for his special day in the past, so was confident he wouldn’t feel at all under celebrated on his special day.

We actually took some cake with us to eat at the Japanese Spa Hotel we stayed at for his birthday, and enjoyed it with some Sencha Tea, overlooking a snowy view of the archipelago. I served it with the Raspberry Sauce from the e-book, fresh fruit and some soya cream. Raw nut cream would have also worked, but I was really pushed for time, even though nut cream is super quick to make.

These collection of recipes that I have created, have meant so much to our lives. Desserts and cakes were a real weak spot in our healthy eating lifestyle, and I now really feel completely capable of coming up with the sweet goods on any occasion. And to have Christoffer on board and preferring these desserts to cooked, refined versions is fantastic! One small step for (a) man…one giant leap for mankind. Perhaps this e-book really is ‘life changing’, as one person described it!

To find out more about this collection of recipes visit:
www.miss-best.com/LLLD.html

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I don’t usually blog twice in one week, but I just had to share this with you. Yesterday, Christoffer and I received a little parcel in the post. Inside was a very pretty heart shaped box. Nestled inside this box were some beautiful, Life-Loving Chocolate Truffles.

Christoffer’s mum, Mirjam, had made these gorgeous, chocolatey balls of heaven from a recipe included in my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts‘, and sent them to us as a Valentine’s present.

Oh, I was so excited when I saw what it was, that I nearly wet myself! Even without the box, it is a true treat to receive Life-Loving Chocolate Truffles, that not only taste heavenly, but are also free from nasties like refined sugar, dairy products, eggs and additives! Presenting them in such gorgeous packaging is like adding, well, a little bit of heaven on top of heaven.

We tasted one each after lunch today, and they taste just perfect! I am very happy that the recipe works so well! Ahh, I feel so honoured to receive such a gift. It feels like I have blown a little kiss out into the world, and that Mirjam has caught it, added her own creative love, and then blown it right back at us.

The trick now, is for me not to nibble away at those little truffles before tomorrow. Although, if I did, I could make some more and sneak them into the box before Christoffer notices. I do have the recipe, after all!

Happy Valentine’s to you!

Oh, and don’t forget that the 20% discount off my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts: 43 delicious, but secretly healthy, recipes to make you smile’ runs out at 9am (GMT) on Monday 15th February. I am very happy to see that people have been using the discount code to treat themselves to these Life-Loving recipes. I hope lots and lots of people are enjoying tasty desserts from my e-book this weekend.

Remember to quote ‘Love20‘ at the checkout to pick up a copy for just $10.20 (excl. VAT for EU residents) or £7.99 (incl VAT). You can read more about the e-book and order it here >>

And if you want a little chocolate teaser, then take a look at this recipe for Chocolate Chip Ice Dream that I posted last week. This frozen desserts also appears in my e-book. Not only will it make a lovely dessert on any day, but with Pancake Day coming up on Tuesday, I can certainly recommend you whipping up some of this to smother on your pancakes. Oh, I have some lovely pancake recipes in the e-book too. Aren’t I just so thoughtful?!

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Anyone who walks down a high street, or uses the internet (or looks at a calender), can’t fail to notice that on Sunday 14th February, it’s Valentine’s Day.

Like Christmas, this day has become overly commercial, and many people feel the pressure to come up with some material goods to convince their loved one of their affection.

Well, like Christmas, you can indeed celebrate this day without having to spend a small fortune on expensive bouquets, chocolates, soft toys, champagne, giant greetings cards etc. Telling someone you love them costs just the price of the breath needed to whisper the words, or the energy needed to gently stroke their face, or to embrace them in your arms.

You don’t even need to have a romantic interest to celebrate this day of love. Why should the day of love be restricted to people from whom you would like to lick chocolate? Our friends and family need to hear that we love them too!

Whatever you decide to do on Sunday, please don’t save all your kisses and hugs just for this one day – show people you love them every day of the year! After all, just like a puppy is for life, and not just for Christmas, so is love for life, and not just for Valentine’s Day.

To help you create a love-filled day, I have two presents for you. The first is a very sexy 20% discount off my e-book ,‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts’ in which you will find plenty of love-filled recipes for either a romantic, or just a platonic, day of affection. To unwrap this present, please go to www.miss-best.com/LLLD.html, click ‘add to cart’ (you will notice that you can now pay in $US, should you wish!), then at the check out enter the following discount code: ‘Love20′. This offer is valid until Monday 15th Feb 2010. Do feel free to tell your friends about this discount!

The second gift of love is a yummy recipe for a dish that would go so well as a main course before serving one of my Life-Loving Desserts. This Asian inspired salad is deliciously fresh, and doesn’t leave you stuffed, which is a good thing, I think, because an overly full tummy can be rather a passion killer, don’t you think?

Asian-style Love Salad
serves 2

Salad
4 medium/large carrots
2 sticks celery
1 apple
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1/4 cup nuts e.g cashew nuts
Sesame seeds
A nice marinated tofu (optional)

Dressing
1/2 cup cold pressed sesame oil
1 tablespoon tamari
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 large clove garlic, crushed
Piece of ginger – about 1 cm, chopped
1 stick lemon grass, peeled and chopped
Pinch of dried coriander
Pinch of chili (optional)

Make the dressing by blending all the ingredients together until creamy. Thinly slice the carrots, celery and apples (preferably with a mandolin or a thin blade on your food processor). Cut the peppers into thin strips. Mix together and stir in the dressing.

Arrange on each plate, and sprinkle with the nuts and sesame seeds. You can also add some cubes of tofu if you like!

Follow with a sweet and sexy dessert from ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts’, like the truffles in the above picture!

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This morning I have been outside clearing snow off the driveway while our dog and her doggie friend scoot around the garden, playing, and sticking their heads in the deep, white fluff.

When I came in, I made myself a cup of peppermint tea and took two large Chocolate Crisp Truffles from the fridge. I sat myself at my computer to answer some of the very kind messages I have received following the launch of my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts’. I lifted one of the coconut and dark chocolate enveloped truffles to my mouth, and gently bit through the bitter sweet crispy shell into the sweet, mellow and chewy center.

I smiled. I smiled again. I thought of Christoffer, who has taken a box of them with him to work today; and I thought of the lovely people who have already bought the book, knowing what delights are in store for them when they try out the recipes.

Since it is soon the weekend, my thoughts turned to plans for the next two days. I decided that, tomorrow, I will treat myself to a new film on DVD, and cosy on up by the fire with a heavenly treat. Being a bit of a frozen dessert freak, I will make my divine Chocolate Chip Ice Dream for the occasion. I am going to freeze the bananas today, so they will be ready for whenever I decide to make it tomorrow. Then, in about five minutes, I will have a amazing, low-fat, quick and easy frozen dessert to indulge in while watching my new film.

‘Oh, Miss Best, you tease us!’, I hear you cry. Fear not, dear, and faithful but curious Reader. Today, I am actually going to reveal this recipe from my e-book, in the hope that you too can delight in how heavenly, yet ridiculously simple, and annoyingly healthy this dessert is!

So, here comes the recipe. If you have any tips on what film to buy this weekend, please do leave them as a comment below. Or indeed, if you have any other comments to make, I am always excited to read them!

If you are interested in the recipe for the scrummy Chocolate Crisp Truffles, plus more insanely good, and secretly healthy desserts, please take a look at what my e-book has to offer >>

Chocolate Chip Ice Dream
Taken from ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts’, by Johanna Best

Serves 2

6 frozen bananas (peel, slice and freeze for at least 12 hours)
2-4 tablespoons cocoa powder (depending on how chocolatey you like it!)
Small pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla powder / 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
2 tablespoons cacao nibs or chopped dairy-free chocolate

Allow the bananas to stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften slightly. Blend them together in a food processor with the cocoa powder, salt and vanilla to make a soft and smooth ‘ice cream’. This may take a couple of minutes, and you will need to stop the food processor a couple of times to scrape down the sides. Stir in the cacao nibs or chocolate chips, and serve immediately.

Passionate Chocolate Ice Dream – stir in the flesh from 2 passion fruit before serving for a sexy twist.

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Oh do forgive me, dear reader, for not posting a blog last week. I have just returned from my sister’s beautiful vegan wedding in the UK and had meant to use the long outward journey to write a blog for last Friday, but alas, it did not materialize! Because I don’t do much traveling these days I was so enjoying the time to just reflect, watch the changing scenery, and wonder what the clouds beneath me would taste like if I were to suck them up through a pink curly straw, that I forgot to put pen to paper.

Although I produced no blog post on that journey, I did have a nice food journey that I wanted to share with you. I managed to arrive at my dear sister’s after a 13 hour journey feeling tired but not at all icky or fatigued, as I have done before when I have snacked on sandwiches, crisps (chips), sweets and chocolate bars along the way.

For the journey I had prepared a salad for the plane which I enjoyed with some raw crackers and an avocado, and I brought with me a super-food laced green smoothie to enjoy before I went through security and would therefore be confiscated of any ‘dangerous’ drinks that could be used to terrorize my fellow passengers (though I do wish that someone had confiscated the greasy and smelly portion of fish & chips that my fellow passenger was scoffing on the train from the airport!!)

At the coach station in Stockholm (City Terminalen) I spied a juice bar and treated myself to a fresh carrot and orange juice with extra ginger to ward off any cold my fellow passengers may be carrying. It turns out that one fellow coach passenger was proudly shouting down his mobile that he had just been to hospital to test for swine flu which left me wondering why on earth people think that it’s some kind of status thing to be sick!? Well, perhaps swine flu gets you more sympathy than a little sniffle!

When I landed at Stansted I had some time to enjoy before my train departed and was very happy to find another juice bar where I refreshed myself with a wheatgrass juice shot and then a large beetroot, carrot, apple and extra ginger juice. The combination was balancing and hydrating and left me all zingy for the next leg of my journey, which was long, not particularly noteworthy and on which I truly enjoyed a large slab of raw chocolate cake that I had spiked with goodies like camu camu to keep the immune boosted.

And as a bonus – and this is a big achievement for Miss Best – I managed to have all this brightly coloured food and drink without spilling any of it down my new white coat!

On my journey home I didn’t pack anything to eat. I was thinking of foraging for a vegan sandwich at the train station but although I did find one it didn’t really take my fancy, and since I had a little time to spare I was able to venture into a food shop to look for something more interesting. I came away with 2 prepared fruit salads, a bag of washed salad and 3 mini pots of houmous .

I was jolly grateful for this light fresh food (apart from the houmous that made me feel a bit blurgh) especially since I had been enjoying plenty of vegan wedding cupcakes, and other cooked goodies during my stay.

The highlight though was a raw chocolate bar I had found in a health food store in Ross-on-Wye which totally rocked and was a nice treat for such a long journey. MULU silk is so smooth and silky and chunky and is definitely one of the best raw chocolate bars I have tried! MULU is made with unsprayed raw ingredients and is free from refined sugar, dairy and soya. Visit the MULU site here >>

I was jolly impressed with myself as usually when I go back ‘home’ to the UK I can’t help but fill up on all the ‘yummy’ foods they don’t have in Sweden. Those foods tend to be junky and I usually end up eating copious amounts of crisps (chips) and things but it just didn’t appeal to me this time. Maybe it was because I gave myself the green light and ate freely from the amazing vegan buffet at the wedding (plus the following 2 days of left-overs). I feel that – within reason – by not telling myself I mustn’t eat something I am more likely to get back to high raw after a little indulgence. It seems that my inner self has nothing to rebel against then! Besides after munching on vegan quiches and pasta salad for a few days, my body was grateful to get back to my usual Miss Best food!

Here is a quick list of the foods I enjoyed to boost my raw intake during my holiday:

Raw crackers – great when traveling and also to eat at your host’s instead of bread
Buckwheaties – sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat to have at breakfast with fruit, nuts, seeds and nut milk or non-dairy milk.
Green powder – I mixed up some spirulina, barleygrass powder, maca, purple corn and camu camu to either stir into smoothies or just water/juice if there were no smoothie opportunities.
Raw chocolate or raw chocolate cake – great to treat yourself and keep you off the sugar filled versions along your travels.
I also made a point of ordering a salad for a starter when we ate out. That way I layered myself with raw goodies before sampling the exciting cooked vegan dishes I was presented with.
I also kept my peepers peeled for fresh veggie juices at juice bars, or veggie cafes. Yay, liquid salad!

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So, Halloween is upon us it seems. I am a little witchy all year round and have spiders living in my hair, so I don’t feel the need to dress up, but when I was rummaging through the vegetable drawer a few days ago I came across some carrots that looked rather like ugly little fingers so it gave me the idea to make some spooky looking food.

The fun thing about raw food is that it can look a little spooky at the best of times. A green smoothie, for example, does often look like it’s made from liquidized frogs and mud, and anyone who has eaten spirulina or blueberries can confirm that they leave the mouth far from attractive. The other day Christopher tried to make me jump by sneaking up on me. I did jump, and screamed too, but mainly from the fact that he had been drinking a green-purple smoothie and had – unbeknown to him- purple teeth and a green smoothie-mustache and looked really freaky!!

It went totally against Miss Best’s nature to make this ugly food and I grossed myself out by making the brain, so I shall be glad to return to pretty food this afternoon. Anyway, these are fun additions to your Halloween table and am sure kids of all ages will appreciate them!

Witchy fingers

You need:
A few carrots
Red bell pepper

Choose carrots that are as finger-like as possible (hairs and little knobbly bits are most welcome here!) Don’t scrub or peel them (try and use organic carrots if you can) as we want to keep the old fingers looking a bit rugged.

Carefully slice a little piece off the backside of each carrot so that they can lie on a plate without rolling over. Cut little fingernail sized pieces out of the red pepper and place on the tip of each carrot finger. You may need to carve out a little of the surface of the finger tip to get the ‘nail’ to stay in place.

Bleeding Brains (Eeeoww, I know – sorry!)

You need:
Pieces of cauliflower
A slice of beetroot or some beetroot juice
A couple of blueberries

Cut the cauliflower into brain shaped pieces. Either paint on some beetroot juice or dip the beetroot slice in water and rub over the brain to make it look all nice and bloody. For extra goo, squash a blueberry and rub it in to the crevices.

Ghoul Face

You need:
Avocado dip
2 blueberries per face
A slice of beetroot

Avocado Dip (Serves 1-2):
Take 2 avocados and mash together with one large crushed clove of garlic (to keep away the evil spirits – or that horrid bloke at the office who keeps coming on to you!), 4 tsp lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. You can also add some fresh or dried chili to taste.

Spread a little dip on to a plate and make a face with blueberries for eyes and a mouth shaped piece of beetroot.

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The other day we watched an episode of Two and a Half Men when Jake, the 11 year old kid in the show, has been grumpy all week long. His parents keep asking him if there is anything wrong, and even his ‘cool’ uncle Charlie has a go at trying to get him to open up. Assuming it’s a reaction to his parents’ divorce his mother books him an appointment with a child psychologist. The housekeeper suggests what’s really wrong with him, but her idea is waved away and so Jake is dragged off to the shrink. Even she can’t get him to open up about anything, and Jake’s family get increasingly worried about the little chap, especially when he asks to go to bed at seven that evening.

The next morning, however, Jake bounces into the kitchen back to his chirpy self. He grabs himself his usual bowl of ‘wonderfully nutritious’ (not!) maple loops, sloshes on some milk (ahem!) and bounces out of the kitchen again leaving his dad and uncle with questioning looks on their faces. Then the housekeeper tells them that she paid Jake a visit before he went to sleep and gave him a bottle of prune juice. “I told you” she said “ He was just constipated. And what do you expect, all you feed him is pizza and pancakes!?”

So all that Jake needed was a nice relaxing poo! So simple! But I wonder how many people just laughed at the story line and left it at that, as a bit of light comedy relief from the day’s grind, or if many actually reflected on the situation. How insane is it that people – and I know this is not limited to sit-com characters – will send themselves or their kids off to a shrink or a medicine pushing doctor before even considering something as basic yet so crucial as the link between what we put in our body (food, drink etc) and what comes out (energy, emotions, poo!). And we can’t leave it up to the ‘professionals’ to figure it out. Doctors have a frighteningly small amount of hours dedicated to nutrition during their degree.

Fear not, I am not about to digress into another blog about “number twos”. I have already done that and there are plenty of other people out there informing us of the perfect poo and celebrating with a Facebook update or tweet when they have produced such a perfectly formed plop.

But what I do want to convey is that I am constantly fascinated by the effects that food can have on our bodies and our moods. Several studies have shown, for example, that improving the diet of prison inmates and ‘problem kids’ have improved behavioral disorders. So imagine what it can do for you, or your kids, or loved ones who are perhaps struggling through the day, are constantly tired or just swing from mood to mood.

I have recently started a course in Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition Consultancy and while I was buying some of the books on the reading list, and I decided it was time to order Gabriel Cousens’ books Conscious Eating and ‘Depression-Free for Life. ‘Conscious Eating’ is based on Dr Cousens’ 30 years of research into the “art, science, and practice of optimum nutrition” and ‘Depression Free for Life’ shows how to heal depression without the use of drugs but instead using mood-boosting substances (sounds almost a bit dodgy!), vitamin and mineral supplements, and a mood-boosting diet and lifestyle. I haven’t had enough time for more than a flick through these books – the former being over 800 pages long! – but they look that they are going to be a seriously fascinating and useful read.

The reading that I have been doing for the course is deepening my knowledge of the vegan diet and re-fueling my passion for promoting plant-based food for a healthy and happy life. We often read of the vegan diet as ‘beneficial’ to our lives, but based on the facts that I have been reading I now consider the vegan diet to be crucial for a healthy and happy life.

I am so excited that the food I create is really life supporting and not just kick-ass tasty! How could I possibly serve you up a collection of recipes using ingredients that toxify your body, cause cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, obesity etc etc etc etc? I love and respect you more than that and I would feel that I would be doing my fellow humans a sincere disservice by offering them anything less.

The Perky Lime Pie (raw and vegan) that I perfected today is an excellent example. So tasty; rich yet refreshing, and bursting with goodness. It’s made with….whoops, nearly revealed my secrets. You are going to have to wait for the book to find out. Sorry, I know I am a dreadful tease!

So now I have gotten you all worked up, here are some sexy facts for you to think about:

Interesting Facts – Diabetes:

Fact 1:
Studies carried out in Finland and Canada show a strong link between childhood-onset (type 1) diabetes and the consumption of cow-milk protein
(Source: Food for Life, Dr Neal Barnard, NY, Three Rivers Press, 1993)

Fact 2:
A raw vegan diet can reverse diabetes!* Check out this amazing film that documents the journeys of 6 diabetics who go raw for 30 days and remove their need for insulin: Raw for 30 Days
*“The program featured in the film at the Tree of Life Rejuvination Center is most effective with diabetes type 2 but is also very effective at increasing quality of life and reducing insulin levels for diabetes type 1 “

Image: Piku

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