Thanks to everyone yesterday who left me mollifying words about Orgo. To those of you who said that I might find it easier than Gen Chem: you made my day. It may not prove to be true, but just knowing that some learners find Gen Chem harder is comforting, because I really struggled with Gen Chem. So we’ll see: I can handle superhuman amounts of work, and I’ve got nothing but diligence. I just can’t handle buffers problems.

Speaking of Gen Chem, on the day after my final this past August, I met up with my good friend Kathy for another installment of the Kathy Gena Show! We had so much fun filming our first segment: if you missed it, check it out here. We’re trying to keep them seasonal, so for episode two, we moved from summer entertaining to everyone’s favorite September theme: back to school.

Starting life as a student again threw me a lot of curveballs: adjusting to a new set of disciplines, settling into the strange sensation of no longer being the youngest kid on the block, re-learning good study habits, and realizing that in the seven years since I graduated college, no one uses AIM anymore. One of the challenges that was most distinct was learning how to pack food and make food for long days of class, when I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to be near my kitchen.

Fortunately, I’m a foodie, so this was the least of my challenges. I quickly came up with lists of tried and true foods—snacks and lunches and sometimes dinners—to get me through the semester. They include:

• kale chips
• snack bars (lemon kissed cashew date, buckwheat energy)
• collard wraps with hummus or nut pate
• portable nutrient dense salads
• homemade trail mix
• cashew cacao hemp energy bites
• grain salads (like leftovers of my hurry up vegan quinoa and black bean salad, mixed with some greens)

Not everything is this creative, of course. Some days I live on snack bars and PB+J like a normal back-to-college kid. But I do try to keep things innovative and nutrient dense.

When Kathy suggested a back to school edition of the K + G Show, I knew she’d have kid-friendly recipes down pat—she’s built her career on making little ones savor their veggies! I also knew I’d have a few tricks of the trade to contribute for the K-12 set, but that my main strength would be sharing a tip or two for grown up students (like yours truly). To wit, in episode 1, you’ll see that I share my technique and logic for building a delicious grain salad—quick, packable, and filling. Meanwhile, Kathy has some amazing tips on putting together the healthiest and tastiest kid’s lunchbox, ever!

In episode 2, I share quick tips for snack-packing, and then I make my famous banana sushi. These are GREAT portable breakfasts for the grown up raw food lover or for the special kid in your life. Since most kids are likely to squirm at the sight of a collard or romaine or Boston lettuce leaf (my go-to options), go ahead and use my instructions for making this recipe with a whole wheat wrap in place of greens. Either way, it’s a perfectly packable breakfast option!

And I’m lucky to have Kathy’s valuable feedback as I go along:

Also mentioned in the video are my fantastic sunflower oat bars. Willie made them recently and wrote a whole dedicated post to celebrate them. Check out his review here!

Need a recipe reminder? The banana sushi are a simple how-to, found here. And below is the recipe for the bars:

Five Minute, No-Bake Sunflower Seed and Oat Bars (Vegan, semi-raw, can be soy or gluten free)

Makes 10-12 bars

2 1/2 cups rolled or quick oats (substitute gluten free oats if needed)
1 cup sunflower seeds (raw or toasted)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup carob chips (or cacao nibs)
2/3 cup nut or seed butter of choice
1/2 – 2/3 cup agave nectar or brown rice syrup (adjust based on how well things stick together)

1) Mix oats, sunflower seeds, raisins, and carob chips in a large bowl.

2) Whisk together nut butter and agave. Pour into oat mixture, and mix well, till everything is sticky and combined. If it’s too dry, add a bit more agave.

3) Press mixture into a shallow baking dish that you’ve lined with foil or saran wrap. Cover with more foil/saran, press well into the baking dish, and refrigerate for 4 hours. Cut into bar shapes, wrap, and keep refridgerated till ready to use. They ought to last two weeks at least.

OR:

4) After mixing wet ingredients with dry, crumble mixture into bite sized pieces and bake at 375 degrees for about forty minutes, or until crispy and brown.

OR

5) Follow step 4 until you get to baking, and dehydrate for 10 hours at 115 degrees instead for a more-raw option.

Enjoy! And if you want another idea, check out the no-bake PB bars that Kathy just posted on Babble.com!

May all of my student readers, mothers, fathers, and friends of students have a happy, healthy, and nutritious fall semester.

So guess what? I’m on in NYC. Again. I’ve got a fabulous wedding to attend this weekend, and the good news for you all is that the food promises to be top-of-the-line: I’ve already had some really promising email exchanges with the wedding planner. Stay tuned for the recap!

xo

Last week, I told you all about my lovely friendship with Kathy, who is one of the most enterprising and talented vegan chefs I know. I also alluded to a special project that Kathy and I were cooking up, which I’m ready to unveil today: The Kathy and Gena show!

Yes, that’s right: I’m banishing my camera-shy side to the curb. All of you who’ve asked me to do cooking videos, your wish is granted! Now you get to see just how goofy and awkward I am in person.

Of course, none of this would ever have been possible without Kathy, who is a tech mastermind and has the patience of a saint. In spite of the fact that we faced a number of tech issues in this, our first video, Kathy plugged away at the editing process and left us with two fun, entertaining, and beautifully put together videos. Kathy, you are amazing! Thank you for this, and for your watermelon frosty recipe, which is possibly the best thing I’ve tasted this summer so far.

So what was the theme of our video? As you’ll see in a moment, our goal was to share some raw and cooked, vegan summer recipes that would be quick and easy for entertaining, but pretty to serve, too. Most of all, we wanted to give you a few useful how to’s, including:

• How to “massage” kale salad (finally! I owe you guys a demo)
• How to wrap a wrap (seriously, how many of you don’t quite know how? I’ll be the first to admit that Kathy blew my mind here)
• How to make a summery frosty that doubles as a margarita base (AND succeeds in making Gena, the Watermelon Skeptic, love everyone’s favorite summer fruit)

Excited yet? I hope so!!! Todays featured recipes include two CR classics: my hemp hummus (which appeared on the blog this week in some cute zucchini wraps) and my massaged kale salad with outstanding miso sesame dressing, which I’ve eaten nearly every single day for a week! It also includes Kathy’s amazing frosty and photos of her bruschetta trio, which didn’t make it onto the video intact, but were absolutely delicious. The recipes can be found in Kathy’s recap! Our recipes come together in this amazing wrap: the GK wrap! Stuffed full with hummus, kale salad, mango chunks, and shitake mushrooms, it’s a cornucopia of flavor and texture! Wrapped to perfection by the wrapmistress herself, Ms. Kathy.

Enough talk: it’s time for you to see for yourself how all this stuff comes together. Let us show you!

Video 1: Hemp Hummus, Kale Salad, and the “GK Wrap”:

Video 2: Kathy’s Watermelon Frosty!

That’s it, guys! The “real me!” As you can see, I’m more of a goofball than the measured prose would suggest!

And if you need a refresher on the recipes:

High Protein Hemp Hummus (vegan, gluten free, soy free)

Makes 4-5 servings

1/4 cup shelled hemp seeds
1 can chickpeas, drained, or 2 cups freshly cooked (heat before blending for ideal consistency)
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
2-3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp tahini (optional)
1/2 tsp cumin
Water

1) Place the hemp seeds in the bowl of a food processor and grind till powdery.

2) Add the chickpeas, salt, lemon, garlic, tahini, and cumin, and begin to process. Add water in a thin stream (stopping to scrape the bowl a few times) until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

3) Garnish with hemp seeds and serve.

Outstanding Miso Sesame Dressing (high raw, vegan, gluten free)

Makes 1 2/3 cups

1/2 cup mellow white miso
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup tahini (raw is preferable, but roasted is fine, and less costly)
3-4 tbsp tamari
1/2 inch fresh ginger (or 1/2 tsp dry)
1 1/4 cup water

1) Blend all ingredients together on high. Add more water if the mixture is too thick.

To make the kale salad pictured, begin with:

1 bunch curly kale
1 large beefsteak tomato, chopped
1 large bell pepper (or 2 small), chopped

1) De-stem, chop, and wash kale well

2) Add about 1/3-1/2 cup of the miso dressing to the kale. Using your hands, "massage" dressing into salad well, till it’s a little wilted in texture.

3) Add tomatoes and peppers, and toss. Serve!

And now, time for some feedback! What do you want to see more of from the Kathy and Gena show?? We’re so excited about future episodes and want to take reader requests. Send them now!!

And now, I’m returning to what has been a so far blissful first day home in NYC. Tomorrow morning, I’ll start recapping all of my dining adventures for you!! See you then.

xo

Every now and then, a fellow blogger will graciously give away some of his or her cookbooks in an effort to downsize. I’ve got a habit of hoarding keeping cookbooks, so you won’t see me donating them anytime soon, but I am far more generous with my video collection.

Some time ago, a dear friend gave me an almost complete series of video lectures from the famous Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida. This health resort is often known as the throne of the live foods movement; they make supplements, educate interested people in the nuances of sprouting, and offer their own health practitioner certification course.

The video lecture series covers all of the basics of the Hippocrates brand of a raw foods lifestyle: a very detailed account of food combining, supplements, fasting, detoxification, and so on. They’re inspiring and positive, and they’ll certainly make any rawcurious viewer even more motivated to explore! I will offer a full disclosure: these videos aren’t really copacetic with my own practice of a semi-raw life. For one thing, they’re geared toward people who eat, or wish to eat, close to 100% raw. For another, there’s a spiritual emphasis in the language that I don’t relate to. Most of all, I don’t agree with a number of the practices discussed (such as fasting and the systematic use of home enemas), and in fact I think that they can be hazardous when practiced by people who are interested in raw foods for the wrong reasons (for example, unnecessary weight loss).

Still, it’s always valuable to explore viewpoints that are different from our own, no? And while I don’t agree with much of what’s taught at Hippocrates, I do admire and support their longstanding efforts to promote good health through the teaching of raw and vegan dietary principles. There’s no doubting that Hippocrates is a formidable institution, and I think that anyone who wishes to explore a more exclusive brand of the raw lifestyle should check the videos out!

Lecture 1 - Principles of Health: A brief history of how Hippocrates came into being. A comprehensive explanation of the food groups in the Living Foods diet.

Lecture 2 – Internal Awareness: The basics of the digestive / eliminative system and how to detoxify.
Instruction on the proper way to use enemas and implants.

Lecture 3 – Supplements, Algae, Herbs, and Homeopathy: A guide of the diffrerent acailable supplemtents and their benefits. Also alternative opinions to complete the needed consumption that our human body requires.

Lecture 4 – Ancient and Current Self-Help Techniques: Many helpful healing techniques that can be done at home. For challenges of cuts, burns, impaired vision, infection, pre-mature gray hair, and many others. These time-tested remedies are at your fingertips.

Lecture 5 – Fasting on Liquid Nourishment: The benefits of fasting on green juice rather than water. A review of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual benefits of fasting.

Lecture 6 – Questions and Answers I: Questions on the science, psychology, and food of the Living Foods Lifestyle. The responses provide clear and thoughtful information.

Lecture 7 – Detox and Elimination: The workings of the elimination systems (Lymph, Liver, Lung, Kidneys and Skin) and your bodies’ reactions to a detoxifying program).
View in English

Lecture 8 – Practical Living: How to really live the Hippocrates Lifestyle when you return home. How to have what you need at home, work, and in social situations.

Lecture 9 – Questions and Answers I: Questions of the participants are posed. The responses provide clear and thoughtful information.

Lecture 10 – Bringing it all Home: The physical, emotional and spiritual healing process. How to achieve your highest goals in life. Applying the Hippocrates lifestyle at home.

Lecture 11 – Food Combining: Proper combining of foods for good digestion. Foods that should never be eaten together. Key information for optimal health.

Here they are, having lived a nice life on my shelf, right next to season 4 of The Wire (takes a moment to bow head in solemn reverence for the greatest show of all time).

Hmmm. According to my home video library, I’ve got rather eclectic tastes.

In two weeks (that’s July 25th), I’ll announce the winner of this 11-video set.

To enter

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me which of the videos would interest you the most, and/or
2. Tweet the following: “check out @choosingraw’s Hippocrates Health Institute video giveaway! http://bit.ly/aMBGiC” and then comment to tell me that you did.

Gooood luck!

xo

I interrupt your regularly scheduled Tuesdays for the following astonishment, brought to me by my friend Ben. I (and, quite possibly, you too) have spent my entire life believing that there is only one way to open a banana. I was wrong. Very wrong. Behold, friends:

Who knew? Now you can make that banana soft serve even faster!

OK guys. I’m about to do something that makes me slightly mortified: I’m sharing a video of myself. Now, this blog is all about self-empowerment and positive affirmation and confidence, but I will admit it: I really dislike photos of myself. And I really really dislike videos of myself! This one, though, deserves sharing, because I was damn lucky: I got to be interviewed by Matt Monarch, who (if you don’t know him) is a huge force in the raw community. Matt has been 100% raw for eleven years; even though I don’t endorse the “100%” label, this is a huge achievement. And Matt spreads that love to others with his heartfelt books, his blog, his store, the Raw Food World, and his consistently amusing and warm-hearted TV episodes on YouTube.

Matt also deserves congratulations: he’s about to get married! This summer, he’ll wed miss Angela Stokes, another leader in the raw community. Angela lost over 160 pounds on a raw diet, and her website and delicious ebook have been huge sources of culinary inspiration to me! It goes without saying that the whole raw community is pretty stoked about this union; I’m so bummed I won’t be able to make it to Oregon!

Matt was kind enough to tape a few moments of conversation with me yesterday at the Expo. I give Choosing Raw a quick shout, and I address my own favorite topic: simplicity! Naturally, I think I sound like a moron, and that I look tired (I’d spent four hours at Book Expo America before all this, so I could be projecting). But before I get bogged down in what my buddy Philip would call negative affirmations, I’m going to embrace my identity as a savvy self-promoter and tell you guys to check out the video, if you like!

http://mattmonarch.blogspot.com/2009/05/raw-salad-dressings-episode-146.html

In other news, I want to congratulate my amazing blogging friends who ran the Brooklyn half on Saturday: Heather, Ashley, Melissa, Sarah, and anyone I might have left out! You guys never cease to amaze me — congratulations!!

I also want to say that the growth of raw interest in the blog community these days (check out Abbie, Erin, Sarah, Heather, Gina, Courtney, and Shelby’s blogs, just for starters) has me thrilled!! When I started this blog, I had one main goal: I wanted to show readers of both the raw AND the non-raw blogging communities that the raw lifestyle can be fun, appealing, and easy. At the time, it seemed that all raw blogs were aimed only at hardcore raw foodists, rather than broader audiences of mainstream eaters. Now, I see interest in raw foods cropping up everywhere. This makes me so happy. To all of you who are eating more raw foods, please keep it up! And always be in touch with questions.

Happy Monday, guys.

xo