Super Nutrition- Super Food Alert!

A diet of mostly raw food (organic fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds prepared in a manner that retains all of the nutrients and antioxidants) has proven to be the easiest way to improve and sustain our health. Testimonies of thousands over the world are evidence of its effectiveness. All of these foods are super in their own right.  There are a lot of opinions about what foods are super foods. Super foods are super concentrated, nutrient dense foods.

Herbs-Using many herbs such as oregano, basil, rosemary, sage, thyme, and others in my recipes that are high on the ORAC scale

Vegetables that are high on the ANDI scale We keep these densely nutritious foods in our diet on a daily basis – see my blog entry for recipes. We drink 16 ounces of this Green Vegetable Juice every day. It is important for us to drink this juice, containing some of the top vegetables on the ANDI scale.   These foods are full of super nutrition and are truly super foods and are as close as your local fresh market. They do not come in a bottle or package, have to be shipped to you, or put a large dent in your pocketbook.

Fruits-There are exotic fruits that have a high ORAC number, but are harvested then cooked to death with pasteurization and bottled, sold to you with a high price-tag. There are wonderful berries each with their own season that you can get fresh at your local market. Right now organic strawberries (see recipes) are coming in and earlier I featured cranberries (see recipes) All of these fresh fruits and berries in their season are much more nutritious than a bottled, dried or packaged super fruits.

Food supplements- Blue Green Algae- a form of micro algae phytoplankton, which grows and is harvested from the fresh water of Klamath Lake. Micro algae phytoplankton form the basis of the food chain and were the first organisms to populate the earth billions of years ago and are still here. To survive this long, they have been able to adapt to many environments and are the richest source of chlorophyll (green) found in nature. Chlorophyll is rich in magnesium and many people are deficient in magnesium, which is why we eat and juice greens. BGA is so easily consumed by our intestinal flora, improving our immune system and allows us to better adapt to changing conditions in our environment. Refer to David Wolfe’s book Super Foods for more information about Blue Green Algae.

Years ago we used a frozen Blue Green Algae, but I never had any health changes that I noticed. A year ago we started taking Simplexity Blue Green Algae and after several months I began having many changes that were noticeable. I began having very vivid dreams; became more creative and better able to focus. I no longer have “blue days”, which I occasionally had; years on raw food had eliminated my need to take antidepressants. People we are acquainted with have had improvements, children with ADD and autism had behavioral modifications. Viktoras Kulvinskas has been eating the Blue Green Algae from Simplexity Health for two decades with great results. We have been using Simplexity Products for a year and have had major changes. This nutrition was the missing part of our raw food diet.  This is a whole food supplement that we use, and recommend, in addition to wheat grass or barley grass juice.

At the same time I also started taking Stemplex, which stimulates our body to make stem cells. Stemplex is a synergistic blend of the Blue Green Algae, blueberry, green tea, carnosine,  and vitamin D. Research shows eating 2 Stemplex veg caps per day help your body’s own adult stem cells to be up to 80% more effective at revitalizing your body. A year ago I was having increasing pain in one of my knees after a fall. I had been diagnosed with a torn meniscus and started taking the Stemplex. After a month of taking Stemplex the doctor took an MRI and discovered that I had a fracture in my humorous and he could only see the fracture after it was healing. After one month on Stemplex,  I was no longer having pain or swelling and could walk without limping. I am convinced that the Stemplex stimulated my body to create bone cells to heal my leg. A fracture usually takes 8-9 weeks to heal.

Go to http://simplexityhealth.com/rawfoodrevival

for more information and to order these products. The best way to start is the Essential Packets, which include blue green algae, digestive enzymes and probiotics, and in addition order Stemplex. Order by April 30 and get the wholesale discount.

Save 20% on ALL Simplexity Health Products!!

We are excited to announce a very special offer only available during the month of April. Here’s a limited-time offer to change your retail account to that of Preferred Customer with NO AUTOSHIP REQUIRED!

What does this mean for you? We’ve made it even easier for you to save money!

You can order products at wholesale prices (that’s a 20% discount!) without having to commit to an AutoShip order. As a Preferred Customer, you will also be eligible for special product promotions that are not available to Retail Customers.

This fantastic special is for April only, so we urge you to take advantage of the offer before it’s too late!

Call before April 30, to secure your special Preferred Customer status without the requirement of an AutoShip by making a $40 minimum wholesale product purchase. It’s easy to maintain your special Preferred Customer status with a minimum $40 product purchase every six months.

This special is designed for all Retail Customers who want to order products at a discount but who are not interested an AutoShip or the Simplexity Health business opportunity at this time. You’ll be impressed with the amount you save on product purchases!

Don’t miss out on this one-time-only offer!

Call our toll free Operator line at 800.800.1300 or your upline sponsor (Jackie and Gideon Graff  http://simplexityhealth.com/rawfoodrevival and join thousands of satisfied Preferred Customers who enjoy better health thanks to their consistent use of Simplexity Health products. This special offer is not available through our online store; so make sure you call our toll-free Order department to get the best savings on your favorite products!

We look forward to hearing from you by April 30!

Other Superfoods

Raw Cacao has a lot of antioxidants, but turmeric has three times the ORAC value of cacao. Turmeric (curcumin) is the yellow spice that gives color to mustard and curry with no flavor. We bump up the nutrition of a smoothie, our salads by adding turmeric powder, and juice the turmeric root for our juices.  Years ago we ate raw cacao, making truffles, drinks and other recipes with the raw cacao but found it to be too stimulating and addictive for us. When we met each other at the refrigerator at 3 AM and fought over the last Cacao Truffle, we rethought our consumption of cacao.

The mind altering affects of theobromine and stimulating affects of caffeine, agave and coconut oil or cocoa butter needed to make this bitter seed taste good were a problem for us and we decided to eliminate it from our diet when we found that we were addicted to it. I do not want to be addicted to anything.

We turned to a sun dried fruit… carob as a substitute. If you have had issues with cacao, you may want to switch to carob. We are not the raw food police, just would like to offer substitutes for raw cacao for others who have issues with it.  Included are some recipes using carob.

Carob comes from a large tree that grows wild in nature, which is a plus. Gideon as a child in Israel with no access to candy ate the carob pod, discarding the seeds, as candy. The flesh around the seed of the carob was sweet and chewy (sort of like Tootsie Rolls). We know it as a dried powder. The raw carob has a better flavor than roasted.

Carob is one of the seven species that the land of Israel was blessed with by God (Deuteronomy 8:8). The seven species are 1. Wheat and 2. Barley, which we grow and consume as grasses. 3. Figs very high in nutrition 4. Grapes, which are high in resveratrol 5. Pomegranates, which are very high on the ORAC scale, 6. Olives high in nutrition and healthy fat 7. Honey, which is the English interpretation of the Hebrew word, Dvash means honey. During the time of the bible, honey was a general name of the sweet substance found in carob, dates and wild bee honey. There were no beekeepers at that time; therefore domestic bee honey was not widely available. Egyptians were the first to keep bees. Refer to David Wolfe’s book Super Foods for more information about honey and other bee products. These seven foods were the original super foods.

John the Baptist lived on carob pods…”the locust bean” which is another name for carob. Another biblical reference to carob pods is in the parable of the prodigal son who squandered his inheritance and so became a servant, looking after the pigs.” He would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate”- the pods would most probably have been the pods of the carob trees which produce crops in times of drought and famine and are used as feed for live stock in Israel.

Carob is an alternative to chocolate. As most of us are now aware, carob is free from the stimulants caffeine and theobromine found in chocolate. It is also naturally sweet, so carob products will generally contain substantially less sugars than their chocolate counterparts.  Carob powder can be substituted for cocoa powder in any recipe.

Carob is 8% protein and contains vitamins A, B, B2, B3 and D. It is also high in calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium and contains iron, manganese, barium, copper and nickel. It has no oxalic acid as cacao does which prevents the body from absorbing calcium and zinc. ?

The main constituents of carob are large carbohydrates (sugars) and tannins. The sugars make carob gummy and able to act as a thickener to absorb water and help bind together watery stools. Tannins from carob, being water insoluble, do not bind proteins as some tannins do. Carob tannins do bind to (and thereby inactivate) toxins and inhibit growth of bacteria both of which are beneficial when it comes to diarrhea.   Dietary fiber and sugars may make food more viscous in the stomach and thus interfere with reflux of acid into the esophagus.

Carob Mint Pie Crust

By Jackie Graff

Sprout Raw Food

Serves 8

1 cup pecans soaked 12 hours, drained, and dehydrated 12 hours
1/4 cup raw honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup medjool dates, pitted
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
¼  teaspoon peppermint essential oil
1 cup carob
1.    Place almonds in processor and chop to flour consistency.
2.    Add pecans, dates, salt, vanilla, and carob a food processor and process well.
3.    Add honey and process until it begins to stick together.
4.    Press into a pie plate until entire pie plate is covered. Crust may be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen.
5.    Crust may be used as is or dehydrated for a dryer crust. Some of the crust may be put aside to use as crumbles on top of the pie.

Carob Mint Pie

By Jackie Graff

Sprout Raw Food

Serves 8

2 cups dates soaked 1 hour in 1 cup young coconut water and add to mix
2 cups pine nuts soaked 1 hour in filtered water and drained
1 cup carob
1 vanilla bean
Meat from 2 young coconuts
¼ cup coconut butter
¼  teaspoon peppermint essential oil
Carob Mint Pie Crust (see recipe)
½ cup mint leaves as garnish
1.    Place dates, pine nuts, vanilla bean, and coconut water in blender and blend until smooth.
2.    Add carob and salt blending until smooth.
3.    Add coconut meat, coconut butter and peppermint oil blending until smooth.
4.    Add psyllium to mixture blending well. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes and blend again until smooth.
5.    Spoon mixture into pie crust and place mint leaves around edge..

Carob Mousse Cake

By Jackie Graff

Sprout Raw Food

Serves 8

½ vanilla bean
¼ cup agave nectar or raw honey
2 cups young coconut water
2 cups medjool dates pitted and soaked in water for two hours and drained
4 young coconuts- meat
¼ cup coconut butter
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup raw carob
1 cup fresh dry coconut meat, chopped fine
1.    Place coconut in the bottom of a spring form pan, reserving ¼ cup for top of cake.
2.    Place the vanilla bean, dates and young coconut water into a high power  blender and process until smooth.
3.    Add the young coconut meat and coconut butter, blending well.
4.    Take half of this mixture out (mixture can be too thick to process all at one time) and add ½ of the pine nuts and ½ of the carob blending well and place mixture in spring form pan..
5.    Repeat this with the other half of mixture, pine nuts, and carob, blending well and place in spring form pan.
6.    Sprinkle remainder of coconut on top.
7.    Place in freezer until firm enough to remove the spring form and slice.
8.    Garnish Mint and  Raspberries

Peace and love,

Jackie Graff

Feeding Finnley III

After returning home from each of our trips, we have Finnley over to spend the night and how she changes in just a week or two! She is eighteen months now and has a mouthful of teeth and chews her food quite well.   She is talking or singing all the time unless she is “reading” a book. She has a large vocabulary along with a long string of what we call

“ Finnley speaking in tongues”. What a happy, smart child who is a joy to us!

I have had so many requests for more ideas feeding children. I have to make it clear that Finnley does not eat completely raw but she eats a lot of raw foods and her mother has been open to trying different things. I approach feeding Finnley as a grandmother who eats a raw food diet feeding a granddaughter whose parents eat a healthy but cooked diet. I think it is best not to have issues over food choices and be an example for new healthy foods that she will eat. As a grandparent be an inspiration and don’t be judgmental!

So what is she eating now…during the summer she ate a lot of blueberries but they are out of season now, as a mater of fact the last month they were available she would not eat them, maybe they did not taste as good since they were out of season. Finnley is so bright because she ate so many blueberries, a brain food.

She adores bananas, her all time favorite. She likes apples and pears cut up and gobbles up my Cinnamon Applesauce and Apple Cobbler. Soaked raisins make a great snack! Vegetables are more challenging now. She will not touch the Green Pudding from a previous blog entry. She will eat cooked carrot slices sometimes and can chew some raw carrot. About the only thing green she will eat are peas. We get the organic frozen peas and simply thaw them out. Since she is trying to feed herself, peas are quite a challenge with a spoon. The last time she stayed with us, I made her some mashed potatoes using a little olive oil instead of butter, mixing the peas and finely chopped raw carrot in the potatoes, which she loved.  She also likes my dehydrated Vege-Burgers.

She still likes my Biscuits (see feeding Finnley II) and eats the whole grain oat cereal for breakfast along with fruit.  She would not drink anything but milk, no water or fruit juice, so I make sure she gets plenty of juicy fruit to eat, such as grapes and watermelon. This past weekend I asked Gideon (Saba) to open a coconut to see if she would like it… she will drink the coconut water and calls it Saba’s WaWa.

I also make cooked vegan whole grain cous cous, brown rice or whole-wheat pasta dish using humus, and black beans, peas and corn (all of course organic). To help her feed herself with a spoon, the humus holds it together and these items together provide a complete protein.

I hope these recipes along with others from previous Feeding Finnley Blogs will provide some ideas for vegan and raw foods that your children will eat.

Apple Cobbler

By Jackie Graff

Sprout Raw Food

6 golden delicious apples, peeled and cored
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
5 medjool dates, pitted
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 cup raisins
2 tablespoons flaxseed, ground fine

1. Place 3 apples, salt, cinnamon, dates, and vanilla in food processor. Process until mixture is almost the consistency of applesauce.
2. Place mixture in a bowl.
3. Chop the 3 remaining apples into small pieces,
4. Mix all of the apples together and add raisins. The raisins will soak up the juice from the apples.
5. Stir in flaxseeds and mix well.
6. Let mixture sit at room temperature for 1 hour to soften the raisins.

Cinnamon Apple Sauce

Created by Jackie Graff

Sprout Raw Food

4 apples peeled and cored
6 pitted medjool dates or more to taste
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground psyllium

1. Place apples in a blender with the dates, cinnamon and salt and blend well.
2. More dates may be added if a sweeter taste is desired.
3. Add psyllium blending well.
4. Let this mixture sit for 5 minutes and blend again.

Shelf life: This keeps well in small jars in the freezer for a month, and will keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. The cinnamon acts as a natural food preservative.

Vege-Burger

By Jackie Graff

Sprout Raw Food

2 cups walnuts, soaked 4-6 hours and drained
2 cups sunflower seeds, soaked 4-6 hours and drained
1 onion
1 red pepper
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons cumin
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 2 hours, drained, and processed into paste
1-2 cups carrot pulp (If no juicer, use finely processed carrots. The slightly moist pulp from the champion works best. Drink the carrot juice!)

1. Place garlic in food processor and process well.
2. Add onion, red pepper, sea salt, cumin, and sun-dried tomato paste in food processor and process until almost smooth. Add sunflower seeds and walnuts processing well. This can also be processed in a 2 hp blender.
3. Add carrot pulp mixing well. Form into 1 ½ inch by ½ inch high burger shape patties and place on a teflex sheet covered dehydrator rack. Make larger patties if desired. The smaller ones work well for children to pick up and hold easily.
4. Place in dehydrator for 8 hours. Remove and turn over using another dehydrator rack, placing it on top and flipping patties over, removing teflex sheet.
5. Dehydrate for 8 hours more. The burgers should be soft in the middle and dry on the outside.

Note: These burgers may be frozen after dehydration.

Let me know if you have more suggestions for feeding babies or toddlers.

Peace and love,

Jackie Graff

Jackie’s Vegetable and Fruit of the Month Club- June, Recipes with Blueberries and Tomatoes

Where does the time go! Here it is the middle of June, oh well it is better late than never. Actually it has been hard to decide on the choices this month, as there are so many now: cherries, nectarines, peaches, tomatoes, blueberries, and all of the fresh vegetables that you can get from your garden or from the local farmers market, we have several within a couple of miles. Therefore, two of my favorites and the most nutritious are tomatoes, (summer tomatoes are the best) and blueberries.

Each month I will feature a vegetable and fruit of the month that is in season, highlighting the nutritional values, selecting the best specimens, preparation techniques, storage, and provide some delicious recipes and ideas for serving. Fruits and vegetables are the best when they are in season. I find it exciting to look forward to the coming season of my favorites.

This month I will provide these recipes free again! The cost for the year is only $10.00,which will include over 50 great recipes with pictures and special surprises during holidays, so join my Vegetable and Fruit of the Month Club for delicious ways to serve in season fruit and vegetables. Order Now! ………

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are technically a fruit and are a rich source of vitamin A and C (one medium tomato provides 40% of the RDA for Vitamin C and 20% of vitamin A), and are a good source of calcium, phosphorous, and potassium. Studies of tomatoes and tomato products show that the more people eat, the lower their risk of cancer. Lycopene, a carotenoid and powerful antioxidant, fighting free radicals, is the chemical that makes tomatoes red. The benefit has been found to be the strongest for cancers of the prostate, lung, and stomach. Tomatoes can also lower the risk of heart disease and macular degeneration.

Native to Mexico and Central America, tomatoes were cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas dating back to 700 AD. In Mexico it is a perennial and in temperate climates it is grown as an annual. Mexico has one of the oldest wild types growing. It was the 16th century conquistadors who introduced them to Spain, where their popularity spread quickly to Portugal and Italy. The French loved them and referred to them as “love apples.” In Germany they were revered as “apples of paradise.” The British rejected tomatoes because they believed them to be poisonous. The early New England colonists also carried this belief until 1812 when the Creoles of New Orleans happily showed them how tomatoes enhanced their gumbos and jambalayas.

Processed tomatoes, it is reported from the food industry contain more Lycopene than raw because the cell wall is broken down and the carotenoids are concentrated. When all of the water is cooked out of the tomato thus concentrating the nutrition, can it really be compared to raw tomatoes? The vitamin C is destroyed by heat and who knows what other nutrients that have not been identified.  Watermelon is also very high in Lycopene and no one is advocating cooking watermelon to get more Lycopene. Eating tomatoes with a small amount of fat helps the Lycopene to be absorbed better, and perhaps the small amount of fat in the seeds are enough. Choosing a good unheated fat is important. Using a food processor and blender to break the cells allowing the absorption of more Lycopene.

The tomato is a nightshade containing glycoalkaloids, which some people believe contributes to arthritis symptoms (this has not been supported by research). I think that this problem occurs with cooked tomatoes. I eat tomatoes every day and do not have the arthritic pain that I had prior to being on a raw diet. I had pain eating cooked tomatoes in sauces and soups before we were mostly raw. This could relate to the metabolism of cooked food to an acidic form, which can lead to inflammation.

Tomatoes purchased from the supermarkets have been refrigerated, and will not keep as well as unrefrigerated. However, tomatoes fresh from the garden will keep well at room temperature for about a week, as will those organically grown from farmers’ markets.

We eat tomatoes in our daily salad and do not really have to have a recipe. In fact one of my favorite snack and fast foods are the cherry or grape tomatoes. Every time I teach these tomato recipes all say that are they are the best they have ever tasted. Three of my favorite tomato recipes are Tomato Salsa, Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing, and Marinara Sauce. All of these recipes have a 1- 2-week shelf life (if they last that long). I always keep these on hand. Hint: chopping an avocado and stirring in some salsa can make a quick guacamole. All three can be used as a salad dressing. And all three can be served over spiralized zucchini or eaten with chips.

4 cups tomatoes chopped
1-3 jalapeno peppers, seeded
3 garlic cloves, minced fine
1 onion
½ cup fresh cilantro
½ cup fresh basil
2 limes, juiced
2 teaspoons sea salt (optional)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 red pepper, seeded
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in warm water

1.    Place garlic in the food processor and chop into small pieces.
2.    Add jalapenos, cilantro, basil, limejuice, salt, cumin, and chili powder into the food processor and chop until very fine.
3.    Pour this mixture into a bowl with the tomatoes.
4.    Place red pepper in the processor, chop fine and add to tomatoes.
5.    Place onion in the processor, chop fine and add to tomatoes.
6.    Place the sun-dried tomatoes in the processor and chop until smooth like tomato paste. Stir sun-dried tomatoes with the salsa mixture in a bowl.

This is better after the flavors have blended for a couple of hours, and has a 14-day shelf life.

Coming Soon! Order our new flax chip flavors now! (Nacho Flax, Oriental Sesame Flax, Wasabi Flax, Onion Flax (tastes like the famous onion bread without all the fat), Barbecue Flax, Curry Flax)

8 roma tomatoes
8 medjool dates, pitted
8 sun-dried tomatoes (soaked in 1 cup filtered water)
1-2 cloves garlic
¼ cup fresh thyme, basil or oregano (optional or use all three)
2 tablespoons lemon juice or apple cider unpasteurized vinegar

Place all ingredients in blender and blend well, if too thick add more filtered water.

Shelf Life: 1-2 weeks

Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing

2 cups fresh basil
2 red and yellow bell peppers
½ cup fresh oregano
3 carrots
2 pints cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 2 hours and drained
1 onion
4 medjool dates, seeded, soaked 1 hour, and drained
2 teaspoons sea salt (optional)
½ cup olive oil (optional for fat free sauce)
1 cup chopped tomatoes

1.    Place all ingredients in blender and blend well.
2.    Optional-stir in some chopped tomatoes (these add nice texture to the blended sauce).
3.    Serve over zucchini spiral sliced pasta.  Add warm filtered water to make a great soup base and add finely shaved or chopped vegetables.

Marinara Sauce with Protein Nuggets

Coming Soon, Order our Protein Nuggets now! Great for Salads or topping any dish and they will put an end to the question of  “ Where do you get your protein?”

Wild blueberries are native to North America where they grow throughout the woods and mountainous regions in the United States and Canada. Blueberries are at their best from May through October when they are in season. In our area they are ripe the middle to end of June. They are ripe when they are deep in color, ranging from blue to maroon to purple-black, and feature a white-gray waxy “bloom” that covers the surface serving as a protective coat. Do not pick the red berries, as they will not ripen once picked. For the most nutrition grow your own or find a place that you can pick your own organic berries. For the most antioxidants, choose fully ripened berries. Choose blueberries that are firm and have a lively, uniform hue colored with a whitish bloom. Blueberries are full of nutrients and flavor, and very low in calories.
Nutrition
Researchers at Tufts University analyzed 60 fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capability. Blueberries came out on top, rating highest in their capacity to destroy free radicals. Packed with antioxidant phytonutrients called anthocyanidins, blueberries neutralize free radical damage to the collagen matrix of cells and tissues that can lead to cataracts, glaucoma, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcers, heart disease aging skin and cancer. Anthocyanins enhance the effects of vitamin C, improving capillaries and stabilize collagen in all body tissues.
A recent study in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that blueberries deliver 38% more anthocyanidins (free radical fighters). In laboratory animal studies, researchers have found that blueberries help protect the brain from oxidative stress and may reduce the effects of age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Researchers found that diets rich in blueberries significantly improve the learning capacity and motor skills. Also they offer protection against macular degeneration.

Blueberries protect the gastrointestinal tract. Blueberries can inhibit colon cancer, cell proliferation and induce apoptosis (programmed cell death). In addition to containing ellagic acid, blueberries are high in the soluble fiber pectin, which has been shown to lower cholesterol and to prevent bile acid from being transformed into a potentially cancer-causing form. Blueberries can help relieve both diarrhea and constipation.
Among their rich supply of phytonutrients, blueberries along with onions, curly kale, leeks, spinach, and broccoli include a flavonoid called kaempferol, which greatly reduces ovarian cancer. Blueberries also promote urinary tract health from components found in them that reduce the ability of E. coli, the bacteria that is the most common cause of urinary tract infections, to adhere.
Handling and Preparation
Fresh berries are very fragile and should be washed briefly and carefully and then gently patted dry if they are not organic. Wash berries just prior to use to not prematurely remove the protective bloom that resides on the skin’s surface. If you know the source of either wild or organic berries try not to wash them at all.
Ripe blueberries should be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator where they will keep for about a week, although they will be freshest if consumed within a few days. Ripe berries can also be frozen, although this will slightly change their texture and flavor. Before freezing, wash, drain and remove any damaged berries. Spread the berries out on a cookie sheet or baking pan, place in the freezer until frozen, then put the berries in a plastic bag for storage in the freezer. Berries last for 6 months in the freezer. I have found the skin to toughen and frozen are best used in a smoothie.
Baby foods with blueberries have no anthocyanins To give your children the full health benefits of berries, purchase fresh or frozen berries and purée them. Anthocyanins are found in fresh and frozen berries, but not in processed or cooked foods.

2 pints fresh blueberries
3 bananas
4 pitted dates
1 teaspoon psyllium
1 nut and date piecrust (see recipe)

1.    Place 1 pint blueberries, dates, and bananas in blender and blend until smooth.
2.    Add psyllium and process well.
3.    Add this mixture to the remaining blueberries and stir well.
4.    Place in a prepared nut and date piecrust (save a little if the piecrust to sprinkle on top or decorate with more blueberries)
Note: This can be served without a crust in parfait glasses.

1 cup macadamia nuts, soaked 8 hours and drained
1/2 cup raw honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 lemons juiced
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 pints fresh blueberries
1-cup pecans soaked overnight, dehydrated for 12 hours and chopped
1 nut and date pie crust (see recipe)

1. Place first five ingredients into a blender and process until smooth.
2. Add 1/2 pint of the blueberries to this mixture and blend until smooth.
3. Add this mixture to the remaining blueberries and stir well.
4. Place in a prepared nut and date pie crust and top with chopped pecans or some of the pie crust. Garnish with strawberries or cherries.

2 cups Brazil nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup medjool dates, pitted
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
zest from 2 lemons

1.    Place brazil nuts in a food processor and process well into crumbles.
2.    Add salt, dates, zest and vanilla powder and process well.
3.    Press mixture into 8 –10 inch glass pie pan, or spring form pan saving a small amount to crumble on top of the pie.

Blueberry Pie With Brazil Nut and Dates Crust

Raw Food Revival Tour is on the Move- June 18
Raw Food Revival Tour is on the move again headed to Toronto, Canada, Rochester, New York, and Ithaca, New York to teach more Kitchen Magic and the basics of a raw food diet. In Toronto teaching an Italian, Tex Mex, Barbecue, and a whole day class of delicious Raw Food Recipes. In Rochester they will be teaching a Tex Mex and in Ithaca a Barbecue. Everyone is getting ready for a Raw 4th of July Celebration.  For more information click on Seminar Schedule.

We have been home now for a couple of weeks. Of course the first thing I did after coming home was to visit my dad, Jack, taking him to lunch (you don’t want to know where), and have my granddaughter, Finnley over to spend the night. Finnley will be a year old in April and I thought it would be of interest to tell you what we feed her. Of course I am not an expert on feeding babies, just a grandmother who wants her granddaughter to have the healthiest diet possible.

When we found out that my daughter Shelly was pregnant, we got her and her husband Bill a Vitamix. My motive of course was to use it to make raw baby food.  At first Shelly thought it would take too much time to make the baby food, but soon found out how much better the fresh food tasted, how much healthier, how easy it was, and how much cheaper it was than buying baby food. When it came time to introduce food, we did not start with the cereals as suggested, we blended fruit such bananas, pears, apples. There is a hand grinder (we found ours in Target) for baby food that we found useful for soft fruits, like bananas, pears, and peaches. The raw fruits have so much more nutrition than the cereal. If the blended fruits were a little too juicy, I would add a little ground flax seed (giving her brain Omega 3 fatty acids), and the fiber also keeps her regular. I add probiotics to her milk when she stays with me. This helped with a yeast diaper rash, which she seemed to get when teething. She did not like the texture of blended spinach, which also became a little watery, so we would mix it with fruit.

Finnley loves some raw food mixtures that I came up with. One was sweet peas, spinach, sprouts, and a small amount of avocado. The other was a green pudding, consisting of kale, spinach and mango or banana, which made getting the greens down easy. The peas need some water when blending, which the spinach provided and the fruit helped sweeten the mixture. Of course she loves my Sweet Potato Soufflé recipe. Babies have a natural affinity to sweet foods. Which is good because her brain needs a great deal of glucose.

Now she is feeding herself small pieces of avocado, peas, cooked sweet potatoes, banana, and other soft fruits. I have also blended frozen organic corn (since we cannot get fresh organic, now) with the greens. She also loves to feed herself whole grain organic oat O cereal. I keep blending the greens because she will not get enough by eating a few peas. She is not on an all-raw food diet, but she does not eat any meat. When Shelly’s Pediatrician suggested that she add meats, she looked at him like he was from another planet, and when she told him what she was feeding Finnley, he said to keep it up because she was healthy and added that most mothers would not go to the trouble of making their own baby food, much less raw.

Another thing that we found to be helpful was our flax and nut pulp cracker, dehydrated until completely dry. They make a great teething biscuits and Daisy their dog loves them too. Shelly had tried a packaged teething biscuit and found out that they were just too messy, thank goodness, as they have sugar as an ingredient. Our flax teething biscuits are not as messy and last a lot longer.

Nana’s Teething Biscuits
Created by Jackie Graff
Sprout raw Food

2 ½ cups Brazil or other nut pulp
3/4  cups flax seed ground into flour
1 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
1/3 cup olive oil

1.    Place pulp, salt, flax seed flour and olive oil in a bowl and mix well by hand.
2.    Roll into 1 inch balls and flatten, placing on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate for 8 hours or until completely dry.
3.    Store in an airtight container and refrigerate.

Serving suggestions: Bread should be kept refrigerated in a sealed container. May be placed back in dehydrator to dry the outside.

I hope this will help others who are feeding babies! If you have any tips for feeding infants, please e-mail me – Jackie @sproutrawfood.org.

Peace and love,
Jackie Graff