Sacred Maple Mounds

It all started with a hankering for something sweet. Then, the loose talk on Facebook about coconut haystacks started up. That directed my mission: to create a natural, high raw and improved version of the old familiar Mounds Bar experience. You know what I mean? That thing that happens inside your mouth after you’ve given your bite of Mounds a few good chews and all the flavors and textures start to meld together on your tongue for a fleeting moment of crunchy-chewy-smooth-chocolatey-coconutty bliss... before you have to start swallowing?!

Well, working off of Matt Amsden’s Carob Coconut Haystacks recipe (from his Rawvolution cookbook) I got what I was looking for. Mounds…but better. WAY better.

The chocolate in my Sacred Maple Mounds is provided in the form of raw cacao powder. The sweetener is pure maple syrup. The main ingredient is organic shredded coconut, macaroon cut. (I get mine from Ultimate Superfoods - sold conveniently at my Community Superfoods discount store!) And the secret ingredient is…. Coconut Butter. Not coconut oil (which sometimes mistakenly is referred to as coconut butter) but REAL, stone ground, raw coconut butter, made from hunks of whole mature coconut. (If you’re not sure what coconut butter is compared to coconut oil, think of the difference between almond butter vs almond oil. Almond butter has all the bits of the original nut, just ground into a paste; almond oil is simply the fatty oil, extracted out. Same thing with coconut, except that coconut oil, rich in healthy saturated fats, is solid at room temperature, like dairy butter.)

My Maple Mounds are Sacred because I make them with Sacred Foods Coconut Butter, an awesome product you can read more about here. Raw, organic, stone ground Sacred Coconut Butter is one of my favorite food indulgences – it’s seriously SO yummy you can’t believe it! And more good news is this: as a nutrient dense whole food, a little Sacred Coconut Butter goes a long way. In other words, yes, I’ll enjoy a teaspoon of this tasty treat plain, on the spoon, as a snack or dessert, but I never feel drawn to eat spoonfull after spoonfull, if you catch my drift ;-).

As for feeling drawn to eat Sacred Maple Mound after mound…well, that’s why we make them bite-sized. Enjoy!


Sacred Maple Mounds

1 ½ cups organic raw shredded coconut, macaroon cut
¼ cup raw cacao powder
1/3 cup Sacred Coconut Butter, softened
¼ cup real maple syrup
pinch Himalayan crystal salt

Ideally in an electric mixing bowl (but use a fork in a pinch!), combine shredded coconut, cacao powder and salt. Add Sacred Coconut Butter and beat on low until well combined - no chunks. Add maple syrup and blend in.

Using clean hands, make tablespoon sized balls and press into your palms to form mounded discs. Place each Mound directly on mesh dehydrator tray. Dry at 105 degrees for six hours and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

If you don’t have a dehydrator, enjoy Sacred Maple Mounds wet. Simply freeze or chill molded mounds and eat cold. “Wet” Maple Mounds – a slightly cruder, fudgier and still one hundred percent delectable – version of the elegant dried Sacred Maple Mound must be stored in your fridge or freezer.

Community Superfoods Open Thursday This Week!

For all my dear local readers, please note there is a change to Community Superfoods' store hours for this week only. Store night this week will be on Thursday, February 25, from 5-7 PM, not Wednesday. I will not be at the store this Wednesday! I will be there Thursday! And next week, we'll be back to Wednesday nights as usual.

Now for the good news...


This week on store night (Thursday, as you may recall!), for the very first time ever, I will be taking pre-orders for an incredible new product that has just launched: organic, raw Stone Ground Coconut Butter from Sacred Foods. Many of you are familiar with Sacred Foods as the makers of the amazing Sacred Chocolate bars (now back in stock in many flavors at Community Superfoods - yay!)...

Well, Sacred Foods has done it again! Their new Stone Ground Coconut Butter is simply divine! Made from hunks of dried, mature coconut and stone ground over many days at low temperatures to produce a silky smooth, totally raw product, Stone Ground Coconut Butter is packed with flavor and nutrition.

In case you were wondering, coconut butter is very different than coconut oil. Coconut oil, which I also sell at the store, is pure fat, extracted from the coconut fruit. It's a wonderful fat, suitable for many uses, but it is not a whole food.

Stone Ground Coconut Butter is a whole food, made from whole dried coconut. It hence contains healthy coconut oil fats PLUS healthy coconut proteins, carbohydrates and fiber, along with an array of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Its nutritional profile compares to whole, dried (dessicated), unsweetened coconut as follows:

MACRONUTRIENTS in Stone Ground Coconut Butter are distributed as approximately 65% fats, 24% carbohydrates,16% fiber and 7% amino acid proteins. Most of the fats occur as healthy, cholesterol-free medium chain fatty acids - lauric, capric and caprylic acid - suggested to offer antibacterial and antiviral benefits. Coconut Butter's delightful, delicately sweet taste is provided by less than 8% total naturally-occurring sugars.

MICRONUTRIENTS in Stone Ground Coconut Butter are distributed primarily as minerals (notably calcium, potassium, iron and selenium). Traces of vitamins C, E and B-complex, notably folate and pantothenic acid, are also present.

Best of all, Stone Ground Coconut Butter tastes amazing!
It adds depth to smoothies, curries and soups, is the ultimate spread on warm toast or crackers, and of course, is great plain, right off the spoon! Or use Stone Ground Coconut Butter as a confectionery ingredient (to make candy, chocolate or icing), in dessert recipes (cookies, bars) and in grain or cereal dishes. For example, mash a spoonful of Stone Ground Coconut Butter together with cinnamon and raw honey or your favorite non-glycemic sweetener (stevia, mesquite or lucuma powder) to make a paste. Then add some raw sprouted buckwheat groats or warm steamed millet or quinoa and stir till all the grain is coated. Yummy!

If you are interested in trying Sacred Foods Stone Ground Coconut Butter, stop by Community Superfoods this Thursday, February 25, where my personal jar will be on hand for sampling! I will be taking pre-orders at that time - no product is currently stocked. CSF cost per 16-ounce jar is $10.99.

I am also taking preorders for the NEW! 50-pack of Raw Nori Sheets from Ultimate Superfoods. Raw, untoasted nori is very hard to find. I do have a few packages in stock, with a one-pack limit for store night customers. There is no limit on pre-orders, however, so do take advantage of the opportunity to stock up! CSF cost per 50-pack of Raw Nori Sheets is just $15.95. Great for making raw sushi, wrapping a hummus and sprouts sandwich (skip the bread!), creating a sliced avocado salad roll, tearing into miso soup, boosting flavor & nutrition of any chili, soup or stew or simply as a tasty snack food!

Yours in radiance, diana ♥

Living in the Raw

On August 17th I started a little raw food experiment, upping my raw food intake from high raw to very high raw. Very very very high.

For those who don't know, the "raw food diet" is defined as a diet that contains eighty percent or more raw food. Not necessarily exclusively raw, just 80%. This will come as a relief to many people who are drawn to raw food nutrition but hesitate to give up all cooked food, the option of going out to dinner with friends, etc.

There's a significant degree of confusion or, in some cases, competition in some circles around the whole issue of "how raw" a person is. For many people, there are times or situations when one wants or needs to commit to being strictly 100% raw. Karen Knowler, the UK's exuberant Raw Food Coach, calls this "going through the eye of the needle." I respect people who choose this path, for however long. I've walked on it myself and there's a lot to be said for adhering to that kind of discipline while remaining soft in one's heart.

The current experiment going on here is a step down from 100% rigidity, although exceptions are pretty much limited to things like miso and other condiments (prepared mustard, curry paste, organic soup broth powder) plus some restaurant-friendly items like goat cheese* or olives that make it possible for me to be relaxed when going out to eat with "normal" people. (This happened today.)

Speaking of normal people, many do wonder what on earth a raw fooder actually eats, anyway? Is it just a lot of salad and fruit? Isn't that boring?! I thought I'd answer that question by sharing a few days of my raw food diet-lifestyle, just to show how varied it is, and how delicious!

Let's start with today, Tuesday. FYI, the tostada shells at dinner are a version of a Wild Rice Flatbread from Living Cuisine, Renée Loux-Underkoffler's magnificent un-cookbook. I made these with red rice instead of wild rice and they are fantastic. The soup was gently warmed to 100 degrees, just steaming, to preserve life force & enzymes intact.


BREAKFAST
water. herb tea. Green Juice (celery, kale, carrot, apple, lemon, ginger)

LUNCH
Greek Salad (From Panera restaurant. Feta cheese and olives not raw.)
Apple

SNACK
Sacred Chocolate (69% dark chocolate; 1/3 bar)
2 Seckle pears (from my tree - delicious!)
tea with raw honey

DINNER
big slice of Manchego raw sheep cheese (appetizer)
Raw Blended Soup (Cream of Sweet Corn and Zucchini Dill)
Guacamole Tostadas (Cilantro-Lime Guacamole, Purple Cherokee Tomatoes, Butter Lettuce, Manitok Wild Rice Flatbread)

EXERCISE
AM - 20 minutes rebounding, yoga
PM - 20 minute dog and cat walk (Bonnie, the one-year old kitten accompanied Stella and I. Her brother Clyde stayed home this time.)

* Note: raw fooders are often vegan, but not always. I admire and aspire to an animal-free diet but as a Protein Type O, do well at this point with some goat cheese and even sushi in my raw diet.

Would You Like Antioxidants With That?

I'm writing from the hospital where my mother has been in intensive care for the past two-plus weeks. It's a cruel irony that after finally completing a 6-month course of chemotherapy for lymphoma, she is now fighting another issue: widespread lung inflammation due to either complications from the chemo or "radiation relapse" pneumonitis or some pneumonia-type infection - the doctors aren't sure.

As it becomes harder for her to breathe on her own, Mom's treatment has required the addition of oxygen, given via either breathing tube or face mask or nasal canula, with or without assisted pressure.

The paradox here is that oxygen, while necessary for life, is in itself a toxin that can damage the lungs. This is one reason why lung tissues are naturally loaded with antioxidants, particularly glutathione, a sulfur-containing compound made within the body to help protect cells and tissues from oxidative damage. Glutathione levels are low in people with inflamed lungs, beause the body uses up its stores trying to reverse the free radical damage ongoing from whatever is causing the inflammation.

Because oxygen causes inflammation and free radical damage to lung tissue, I thought it would make sense to give Mom antioxidants as part of her treatment. In other words, if you are knowingly creating a situation where oxidation is going to take place, boosting levels of ANTI-oxidants could counteract or prevent the damage.

I found a good deal of research to support this theory and shared it with my mother's doctors. Respectfully, they considered it before deciding for various reasons not to add any glutathione, acetylcysteine (a glutathione precursor), vitamin E or any other antioxidant to her protocol. I am sorry to report that her condition is not improving. I don't know if the antioxidants would have helped. At least I tried - with my mother's blessing, I might add. Sometimes when things get critical, people open to possibility. She was OK with me proposing this alternative idea to her medical caregivers.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to keep my own antioxidant intake high, considering I've been basically living at the hospital (a great place to get sick) since mid-May and am under increased emotional stress during this difficult time. To this end, I thought of bringing a ton of antioxidant supplements down here with me. But then I realized, instead of carrying around multiple bottles of this and that, why not focus on food?

Enter the local fruit stand, around the corner on 68th Street and 1st Avenue. Fresh berries galore are there for the taking; they make a wonderful breakfast with bananas and are one of the highest potency antioxidant foods to be found. I've partaken of golden raspberries, blueberries and strawberries so far.

I'm also trying to get a daily fresh veggie juice - available from the local juice bar or from the hospital cafeteria here at Memorial Sloan Kettering where they serve a tasty pineapple-cucumber-ginger elixir. (Very impressed to find fresh green juice here - overall, their caf is top notch.)

Delicious and affordable Indian food from Tawa, on 68th between 1st and York, provides great taste and protective curry spices. For $4.95 I get two curries of my choice along with rice (unfortunately white rice, something I don't generally eat but am allowing myself to enjoy as comfort food). Honestly, it's the best Indian food I've had since I lived in India back in 1987 - especially the palak paneer (spinach and fresh cultured, enzyme-containing cheese).

Green tea, dark chocolate and raw Sacred Chocolate are also helping me meet my antioxidant needs. I ran out of high ORAC goji berries a while ago...tossed with cashews, bee pollen and raw cacao they made a fabulous free-radical-busting trail mix.

I did bring one antioxidant supplement with me: Supertonic, a wonderful herbal product from Pioneer Nutritional Formulas that's packed with high potency adaptogenic Chinese and Ayurvedic herbs including turmeric, eleuthero, ashwagandha and shizandra.

So far, I am managing to stay healthy during this transition time. I love my mother so much. Bless her spirit and bless all of us, shining in brilliance, careening through the unpredictability, the joy, the pain and the beauty of a precious life on earth.

Practically Raw! Nutrition Talk Tidbits

Last Wednesday night I had the honor of speaking at Green Fields Market (my local food coop) on the topic of Practically Raw nutrition. We had a terrific turnout (24 enthusiastic, light-filled attendees) and it was so much fun to be together and talk about living the high raw lifestyle.

Following are a selection of Practically Raw ideas we covered in the talk. Try any that sound workable for you!

To begin, let's consider the phrase "Practically Raw!" As you may have guessed, it's intended as a triple entendre:
1) a diet that is made up in large part, but not necessarily entirely, of raw, living foods;
2) a practical approach to eating raw, living foods throughout the day; and
3) slightly cooked food (i.e. lightly steamed broccoli, which may retain a higher nutrient profile than boiled broccoli, as well as some live enzyme activity)

General Suggestions
• Consider eating "light to heavy" throughout the day, with the lightest food in the morning and the largest meal at dinner time. (Helps maintain energy and mental clarity during productive daylight hours; allows for relaxation and release later when needed. For most people, big breakfasts weigh you down!)
• Consider eating "raw till dinner" and have your soothing, cooked "comfort" foods at end of day (when you may need them most)
• Listen to your body! The goal of eating living foods is to optimize health, not get caught up in a food trip. Always be kind and non-judgmental with yourself (and others) around dietary choices.

Practically Raw Breakfast Ideas
• Make breakfast a living liquid meal: ginger-fruit smoothie, green smoothie or freshly pressed vegetable or veggie-fruit blend juice. (please email me for smoothie recipes!)
• During colder weather, eat an ounce or two or raw nuts with bananas and/or dried fruit in the AM to help warm and fulfill the body-mind-spirit complex (may enjoy this 30 minutes or more after juice)

Practically Raw Lunch Ideas
• Enjoy a large raw salad, topped with creamy avocado or a rich seed-based or nut-based cheese, paté or dressing.
• Have a large raw salad with EITHER a cooked protein (such as beans, hard-boiled eggs or sardines) or a cooked starch (such as brown rice or baked potato), or a yummy soup (raw blended veggie soup or cooked lentil, tomato-basil, pureed veggie, miso, etc.)
• Learn to make a great raw dressing using a base of approximately 3 parts extra virgin olive oil to 1 part lemon juice or Bragg's apple cider vinegar. Add garlic, herbs/spices, kelp powder, sea salt or miso, minced red onion, mustard powder, whatever you fancy!

Practically Raw Snack Ideas
• World's Healthiest Snack: raw veggies! Think baby carrots (great for the car and at work), celery, snow peas, etc. May sprinkle with Spike or Old Bay seasoning, or for a treat, enjoy with raw goat cheese.
• Sweet Treat: a piece or fresh fruit OR a few pieces of dried fruit with a handful raw nuts OR a handful of raw nuts with a cup of herbal tea (Suggestion: eat fresh fruit half hour before meals or several hours after, on an empty stomach.)
• Savory Snack: raw flaxseed crackers (like those from Foods Alive!, which were sampled at the talk - many delicious flavors to choose from) or make your own in the dehydrator. (Once you have a dehydrator, this becomes a very easy and practical thing to make.) May spread with raw nut butter or tahini.

Practically Raw Dinner Ideas
• Feeling adventuresome? Try making a delectable (but still practical!) raw dinner such as beet rawviolis with pine nut ricotta (see Euphoric Organics link at right for recipe). Or wrap anything in a nori sheet for instant sushi! Sea veggies are great for alkalizing your blood and supporting healthy thyroid function, lipid & blood sugar levels and smooth digestion.
• Whip up an easy raw dish such as vegetable spaghetti strands created in the spiralizer from fresh zucchini or sweet potato (this stuff is amazing!). Top with cooked or raw tomato sauce, fresh pesto or a creamy, blended nut-cheese sauce. Raw veggie pasta is a surprisingly easy and quick meal to prepare, and will be different every time depending on the sauce you create and the veggies you use for the pasta.
• Old Standby: Salad + large dish of lightly steamed veggies, topped with flaxseed oil and sea salt, or tomato sauce and raw goat cheese
• Comfort Meal: Baked sweet potatoes (I love Garnet Yams best) with green salad and lightly steamed veggies
• Fish Dinner: enjoy baked or pan-fried wild-caught fish or indoor-farmed fish (e.g. catfish or Australis barramundi) served with large raw salad and/or a generous serving of lightly steamed or roasted veggies, seasoned to taste

Practically Raw Dessert Ideas
• Raw Cacao! Try the whole bean, or make some homemade avocado-cacao pudding or raw chocolate with raw cacao powder + coconut butter + raw honey or agave. You can also purchase real, live raw chocolates (like the amazing hearts from Sacred Chocolate - 19 flavors to choose from!) - a fabulous treat.
• Brown rice cakes or Dr. Krackers (100% spelt crackers) spread with raw nut butter or tahini + raw honey
• 70%+ Dark Chocolate (Divine, Green & Black, etc.). Not raw, but easy enough to come by, and a fine finish to any meal!

Have fun experimenting, and please be in touch with any questions or comments! (P.S. Gourmet chefs: check out http://gliving.tv/greenchefs/recipes/category/raw/ for incredible recipes!)

Yours in health and joyful service,
Diana