Note: I heard from the publicist Monday, 10/17, and now I have TWO books to give away! Your chances of winning have doubled!!

First, a little about the author, Ellen Jaffe Jones:

Ellen Jaffe Jones, an award-winning reporter and journalist and former financial consultant at Smith Barney, teaches cooking classes affiliated with The Cancer Project, part of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, coaches adult running groups, and is certified by the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America as a personal trainer. Visit Ellen’s website at www.vegcoach.com.

(She is aka the “Broccoli Rep”.)

There was a time when Ellen wasn’t following a healthy lifestyle and it showed. She was still a very attractive lady. However, surgery was in her future and her favorite sport, running, was jeopardized by a diagnosis of osteopenia.

She took her health in her own hands and decided to get in shape. What happened was, she no longer needed surgery and her bones became stronger. She ate her way to wellness. The conclusion is, “We are what we eat.”

Food won’t help us if it doesn’t taste good, no matter how nutritious it is. People object to vegan cooking with the argument that it is more expensive (and less tasty) than other regimens. I’ll have to admit that it can be. That’s where Ellen’s book comes into play. She has the experience to back up her claim that you can eat vegan (deliciously) on $4 a day.

For the raw foodists among us, the following either are already raw or can be adapted to raw.

Note from me: Bulghur wheat is not raw—substitute?

Note from me: Miso is cooked though some say it’s a living food because of the fermentation process.

Note from me: There’s a recipe for raw hummus here.

Note from me: Omit oats which shouldn’t be eaten raw.

Note from me: I have a simpler recipe here.

With some tweaking, I believe there are other recipes that could be raw, too.

You know I’m not a recipe book person. I’m not one to sit down and study something to eat. I’m more the “a lot of this, a little bit of that, mix it up, smell it then eat it.” More often than not, my creations turn out to be pretty good if not excellent. Well, today, I sat down with $4 a Day and decided I would reverse that trend—for one day, at least. Going through the pages, I’d think, “Nope, not that one. Don’t have all the ingredients.” That happened time after time until I got to—RATATOUILLE! (I love that movie!) My neighbor had given me two eggplant yesterday and I had all the other ingredients, to a point. I believed I could substitute what I didn’t have (like not enough tomatoes and garlic cloves) with something else (like dehydrated tomatoes and garlic granules).

I got to work. I did my mise en place, not quite to the standard of a professional chef but close. The eggplant was soaking in the salt water, I sauteed the onion, celery and garlic granules in water. I went as much by the recipe as my limited ingredients allowed. Except for one thing. I’m not into black pepper. I have some to try to keep the ant invasion at bay but it’s not something I routinely put into my body. The recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon. Now, that seems excessive to me. I hesitantly sprinkled some in and tasted the broth. It was quite good. I put the other ingredients in, following the prescribed order.

At the end of the cooking time, the mushrooms weren’t even close to being done. I cooked and stirred and stirred and cooked until everything else was just about mush. I’d cooked some quinoa (pronounce that KEEN-wa) to go with it. I loaded up my plate and it didn’t look very appetizing. I canceled the idea of taking a picture. Tasting it, it was plain that the yummy flavor it had had before had been cooked away. I picked up the black pepper and doused it well to give myself something to taste.

Moral of the story is, don’t try to make something unless you have all the ingredients. I don’t think it was the fault of the recipe. It cries out for fresh garlic cloves. One thing I think I would do differently, I’d either slice the mushrooms more thinly or put them in sooner.

And now for the details of the giveaway. Beginning tonight and running through October 30 at midnight EDT, a comment telling how you save on buying food will earn you an entry. Only one entry per person! To get things rolling, I’ll start. I’m not one to skimp on my grocery budget but I’m not allergic to good deals, either. Amazon has a program that is right up my alley—Subscribe and Save. For instance, I get organic raisins for 15% less than the regular price with subscribe and save. PLUS, the subscriptions come with free shipping. Right now, I have 26 items on subscribe and save. The ordering is flexible. If I need something soon, I can click on Extra Delivery and it will be on its way. If something comes due and I don’t need it, I can skip the order. Or, if I’ve tried it and don’t want any more, I can cancel. It’s totally flexible.

Now, give me YOUR idea!

Remember to fill in a VALID email address. If your name is drawn on random.org and I can’t get in touch with you, the book will go to an alternate winner. The winners will be announced on Monday, October 31.

The fava beans were the gateway cooked food. You’ve heard of gateway drugs. This is similar but different. I’d had a few other cooked items along the way but not full out cooked meals until poke came into season. You’ve heard of poke sallit, I’m sure. It’s a staple in the diet of many a Southerner and I grew up eating the leaves parboiled in several water changes and then fried plus fried poke stems. With the meager resources my mother had, it was sometimes what stood between us and going hungry. She often told me the managers of coal mines would try to settle strikes before the poke was big enough to eat. The miners could hold out indefinitely with it on the menu.

The poke was waving at me one afternoon when I came home from work. Not many things tempted me but that poke did. I gathered a “mess” and cooked it. It was divine. Okay. I’d had my poke fling. It was back to being raw except for the medicinal fava beans. I thought.

When the poke had time to grow back, the yen for its unique flavor did, too. This time, I accompanied it with sweet potato mash and stewed onion. It was a cooked meal. I’d added a drop of the vanilla DD had made and sent me for Mother’s Day and a dash of cinnamon to the potato and it was delicious. I enjoyed everything immensely.

I was back to being raw with my salads in the evening after my fava beans and kelp noodles. Then a baker potato loomed on the horizon. It was huge and I could imagine how it would taste, baked to perfection. I bought it and brought it home.

With nothing added, the scrubbed potato went into the oven. I’d pierced it with a fork in several places so it wouldn’t explode. It better be good, I thought. It cost enough at around $1 a lub. It didn’t disappoint. All I put on it was salt and thought of the days when I would have slathered it with butter and sour cream. There was no need. The flavor of the potato with sea salt shouldn’t be masked.

A few days later, I bought a couple more smaller potatoes for a little less a lub. They met their fate the same way the other one did and were equally as good.

I wasn’t quite to the point of having a sit-down cooked meal consistently until DD arrived on June 13. On the 14th, I cooked lentil soup and we dined together. She said it was weird to see me eat cooked food. She had her wheat crackers with hers. I had my raw flax crackers with mine.

We had a cooked meal together every evening, eating fruit during the day. It was very pleasant. I don’t eat raw veggies very well but I can sure tie into cooked ones. Roger would say they were dead. Toxic. Poison.

DD went shopping for me and I added two artichokes to the list. I hadn’t had an artichoke for over six years. Early in my raw days, I had bought one to try to fix it without cooking but couldn’t find a recipe anywhere that was doable. When I suggested having artichokes one day, she let me know that they were something she had often and they really wouldn’t be a treat for her. They were still in the fridge when she left.

The next day, I cooked my first artichoke. I hunted all over the World Wide Web for a recipe for cashew mayonnaise (I used to eat artichokes with Hollandaise but I haven’t found a vegan version) and finally found this one. It was rather amusing that I’d looked everywhere except my own backyard. With the balance of flavors just right, this can taste exactly like the mayonnaise you buy in a jar in the supermarket.

I sat down with my cooked artichoke, baked potato and raw vegan mayonnaise and enjoyed every bite. I was hooked.

For several weeks now, I have been eating cooked suppers. I posted in my journal on the forum that I’d been doing that and Shari wanted to know “So, how do you feel? Emotionally? Mentally? Physically?” I replied, “I feel fine. Eating cooked isn’t a sin. The sin would be if I ate it and lied about it. So I’m not lying.”

When DD and I went to visit DS2 and the rest of the crowd, I ate some of my DIL’s hummus. It was nice to be part of something and not on the outside looking in. I’m sorry. Eating only raw food is alienating to other people. Eating together is social and raw is anti-social unless you are with other confirmed raw eaters. It’s sad but it’s a fact of life. And now for another fact…

I’ve revised my ticker so instead of reading “X days since 100% raw” it now says

While I still believe that eating raw for almost five years was of great benefit, I never really achieved 80/10/10 raw vegan except for the first year. I’m convinced that it would be the best diet for most people. I’ve stated on more than one occasion that I would never go back to eating cooked food. Once again, I have to remind myself, “Never say never.”

Dana! She had left a comment that met the criteria for an entry. She also answered my email with her snail mail address. The book was sent on its way this morning. Congratulations, Dana, and have fun creating!

That being said, the winner picked on random.org is…(drum roll please)

RONDA! with this comment. I’ll be contacting you for your mailing address so I can get the book in the mail ASAP.

Congratulations!

Quite comprehensive, this is the second edition of the original The Raw Truth. The first edition is still available, as well.

This particular one starts out with the Preface which gives a rundown of the author, Jeremy Safron, and his journey into raw food and then the Introduction. Following are Raw Facts, Raw Foods, Raw Tools, Raw Techniques, and then RECIPES!! They are from every category from Drinks to Desserts and everything between.

Something I found very interesting is something many raw foodists miss and that’s tofu. It doesn’t include me because I hadn’t eaten tofu for years before I started eating raw food since it doesn’t exactly agree with my thyroid. However, there are people who would love to have a viable raw tofu and they’d welcome the process of how to make it. It doesn’t look at all difficult.

And now for the recipes I’ve been given permission to reprint.

From page 89

Pesto Wraps

To prepare each wrap, lay a zucchini strip flat on your work surface. Drop a teaspoon of pesto in the center of the zucchini strip. Press a small piece of tomato into the pesto. Fold or roll up the zucchini strip. Secure the wrap by piercing it with a toothpick or place it, seam side down, on a serving plate. Serve garnished with the chopped basil.

From page 118

Note: This is actually two recipes in one.

Creamy Carrot-Ginger Soup

Place the macadamia nuts, pine nuts, and cashews in a bowl, cover with the water, and soak for 2 to 6 hours, until smooth and creamy. Drain. Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, adding additional water, if needed, to obtain a creamy consistency.

From page 142

Root Slaw

In a large serving bowl, combine the jicama, beet, carrots, sunchokes, and yacon. Combine the shoyu, mirin, flax oil, lemon juice, cumin and mustard seeds, and kelp powder in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture over the roots, toss well, and let sit for 1 hour, mixing every 10 to 15 minutes or so. Serve.

Now to the giveaway rules. The contest will run through April 30. The deadline for comments will be midnight, Eastern Daylight Saving Time. There will only be one entry per person. The entry will consist of two things that the person looks before buying a recipe book. Entries without an email address will be disqualified. The address will not be published or shared but it is required so I will be able to notify the winner. Two weeks from tonight on May 1, the winner will be announced and the book will be on its way soon thereafter. Good luck, everyone!

*Reprinted with permission from The Raw Truth, Second Edition: Recipes and Resources for the Living Foods Lifestyle. Copyright © 2011 by Jeremy A. Safron, Celestial Arts, an imprint of Ten Speed Press, a division of the Crown Publishing Group, Berkeley, CA. Photo Credits: Eniko Perhacs.

Starting tomorrow afternoon, snow with accumulation is supposed to come into the area. According to WeatherBug, there will be 1-3″ of snow and sleet between then and Sabbath afternoon. The higher elevations could get as much as 4″. Now, that doesn’t sound like much but, with the back roads and mountainous terrain plus drivers who don’t know how to navigate in such conditions, it’s the better part of wisdom to hibernate until it’s over.

Today, I went to the Pig so I would avoid the rush that is bound to take place tomorrow. There isn’t anything organic there (except for cheese, I learned, but I don’t eat cheese) so I got a couple of bundles of romaine and some red leaf lettuce. Save a Lot was next on my agenda and I got a bunch of bananas. Not a BUNCH of bananas but ONE bunch. With what I have at home, that should do me until I can get to town to do my regular grocery shopping.

Now, as long as the power doesn’t go off, I’ll be sitting pretty if I have to wait out the weather.

Tell me, what would you not be able to do without if you were snowed in? Leave me a comment, cooked or raw.

1. Go to this link: http://community.vitamix.com/_3-Sisters-3-Meals-3-Minutes/video/876065/22442.html
2. Click on any of the stars below the video
3. A log in screen will appear. You can either create a username and password under “join now” or just sign in using your Yahoo, Facebook, Gmail or AOL username and password – click agree to sign in.
4. After you’re logged in, if it doesn’t take you back to the “3sisters” video, then enter vitamixtv.com in your web browser
5. Click on “Vote/rate now” button, “3sisters” video is the second one, click on the star of your choice to cast your vote.

When I joined, I used my gmail account and it made it very easy. When I voted, I searched by “three sisters”. It brought up two videos but it was easy to pick the one I wanted. You can leave a comment or not (I didn’t take the time because mine is limited this morning) but remember, every vote counts! The deadline for voting is midnight Eastern tonight. Let’s make the Sisters and Haiti into Winners!

My Holiday Date Nut Balls have stirred up some interest so I decided I would put them and the Cranberry Salad in a post all by themselves. The balls are on the recipe page, too, and someday I’ll do illustrated recipes but not tonight.

Holiday Date Nut Balls

1/2 lub medjool dates, remove pits (DUH!)
Juice of one large orange
1 Cup chopped pecans
1 Cup unsweetened dessicated shredded coconut
Zest of one large orange
Cinnamon to taste if desired
Additional finely chopped pecans and coconut, mixed

Put dates, OJ and cinnamon (optional) in food processor and run until smooth. Put in a bowl. Mix in chopped pecans, coconut and orange zest. Refrigerate for four hours or overnight. Taste and add more coconut if it’s too sweet. To make the balls, break off walnut sized pieces and roll between your palms to make little orbs. Roll in the additional pecans and coconut. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Now, a note. If you’ve been reading my weekly updates, you’ll know my first batch was too sweet. I increased the amount of coconut in the recipe but you might want it even less sweet. If you do, add more coconut and/or nuts. You might need to add more liquid, too. You can use either water or more OJ. Just add it a little at a time until you can form the balls easily.

Cranberry Orange Salad

This is a variation of the Cranberry Orange Relish that’s on the recipe page.

One 12 ozzie bag of fresh raw cranberries
One orange (size 56), juiced with pulp
Raw organic agave nectar
Orange zest
Chia seeds to thicken it
Chopped pecans
Cinnamon, if desired

There’s no measuring. Put the first two ingredients plus the cinnamon (optional) in the food processor and run until fairly well chopped up. Add agave nectar to taste. Pour into a bowl. Mix in the zest from the orange (I zest the orange and then juice it) and the chia seeds. I didn’t measure the seeds, either. Depending on where you get them, the seeds thicken differently so just wing it. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight, then add the pecans. Taste again and add more agave nectar if needed.

Note: If cranberry dishes go over well at your house, this should be licked up. Otherwise, you might want to mix the nuts with only the portion you know will be eaten. It’s a shame to throw away good nuts but cranberries are a must this time of year!

Unless a raw vegan already lives in the tropics or has the means to move there, for several months there will be cold weather. Did you know that raw food is so easy to digest it doesn’t raise the body temperature like cooked food does? A raw foodist’s average body temperature is lower, naturally. Someone who eats cooked food runs a mild fever as a result. Therefore, that’s why raw foodists wear warmer clothes and like to have the heat turned up higher. So…our list starts with comfort measures.

Warm socks and warm gloves will keep hands and feet toasty. I’d make sure, first, if the raw vegan is vegan to the point of not wearing animal-related materials. At my age, I have a collection of wearing apparel that is of every kind of material available.

I’ve heard for years that, if your feet are cold put on a hat. There are all sorts of warm hats available from the pretty to the bizarre. My raw foodist friend wears an attractive knit hat to church that comes down and covers her ears nicely. She has the right idea for keeping comfortable. I’m tempted to find something that doesn’t look dorky on me. The difference between us, though, is that she is gorgeous to begin with and many years younger than me. She’s the type who would look good in a feed sack.

These are suggestions for the exposed areas of the body. Let’s get a little more personal. How about some long johns? They come in all sizes, colors and temperature ranges. I can wear long johns and still be dressed up because I’m hiding them with a full-length skirt.

Now we’ll get on to other things. Blankets and throws are nice to cuddle up in during the cold months. Beware of the “As seen on TV” Snuggie, though. I a blue one and took it back. The material was thin, the workmanship poor and the book light didn’t work. The Snuggie wasn’t as large as I had been led to believe and it was impossible to walk with it on. Save your money on that one. I returned it. I haven’t had the “luxury” model so it might be a different story but I’ll never know. I’m through with the Snuggies.

You’d think there’s nothing in the cookware department that could interest a raw vegan. Think again. Crockpots, bean pots and teakettles are all great to humidify the dry heated wintertime air. The latter two work better with a wood stove because it’s dangerous to leave a range on all the time. I used to have a soapstone bean pot that I kept filled with water to put moisture back into the air and it was wonderful.

Another way to make the indoor air better is with a salt lamp. My personal favorites are the bowls and baskets but any of them look amazing. Of course, this is coming from a salt addict.

Navitas has a full line of high-quality nuts, seeds, berries and other items that almost any raw vegan would enjoy. I say almost because there are those of us who don’t go for the maca and cacao but there are others who do. Some of the products are available on a subscription basis so it could be a gift that keeps on giving throughout the coming year.

There are other edibles that can be had on subscription, too, like raw organic agave nectar. The price drops and the shipping is free. A good deal all the way around as well as being a welcome gift.

I love my bamboo cutting board. It’s beautiful and functional. I’ve only heard of ceramic knives but they are supposed to be the best to keep from altering flavors. A little pricey but very nice.

If you want to go for broke, a VitaMix is a good addition to any raw food kitchen. A juicer isn’t essential to my kitchen but it’s nice to have for those occasions when I think I need it, maybe twice a year. Another non-essential that’s nice to have is a good dehydrator. I’ve been tempted to get one of these Excalibur models but I haven’t felt justified in taking the plunge.

Now, I’ll tell you about three special gifts I’ve gotten in years past. Two were gift cards/certificates to supermarkets. One was the university supermarket. The other was to the organic grocery. Then, last year, merm and DD gave me a year with Amazon Prime. The first two are no-brainers. The last one was something I thought I wouldn’t really get that much use out of but let me tell you—it’s been one of the best presents I’ve ever received. The only thing that’s beat it was the blog and forum redesign they gave me a couple of Christmases back. But let me tell you about Amazon Prime. I’d thought as long as I got together an order of at least $25, I was okay. I had free shipping and so what if I had to wait a week or two to get whatever it was I’d ordered? With Amazon Prime, I get free shipping on anything I order directly from Amazon. It doesn’t apply to third party purchases but most of what I get is from Amazon, anyway. So what if it doesn’t total $25? Still, the shipping is free. No matter the price, the shipping is cut to two days. No more waiting and waiting and checking tracking to see when I’ll get it. I haven’t sat down and figured up whether or not I’ve gotten all the value out of it but I’ll tell you this…I’m gonna miss it when it’s gone. My membership expires on the 19th. I’ve already checked. I’ll be back to waiting until I get $25 rung up and waiting until the package rolls a couple of weeks later.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas for gifts for the raw foodists in your life. I’d like to hear other suggestions, too. Drop me a line or leave me a comment with your thoughts. And I do hope that everyone will have a very Merry Christmas!

1. For weeks and weeks (maybe months) I haven’t been getting enough sleep. For a long time, it didn’t impact the way I felt and I didn’t put on any extra lubs. Then, it all caught up with me. Last week, I was feeling really rough and I decided, come hell or high water, I was going to get more sleep. The past few nights, I have been in bed by 10 or shortly thereafter. Not early enough but much better than anywhere from 11:30 to midnight. If everything They say about lack of sleep equaling weight gain, then getting more sleep and more before midnight (there’s that circadian rhythm again) should help me get this under control. If nothing else, I won’t look like I have been drug through a knothole as my Mother would say.
2. Let’s explore the calorie component. This year, I have been eating all the yummy fruit IN ADDITION TO my usual standbys. During the winter months, I drink a quart of citrus juice blended with fruit, a half gallon, more or less, of green smoothies, and that’s just the beginning. I also have some kind of “soup” or salsa and then a huge salad to top it all off. My half gallon of smoothies can total more than 800 calories, easily. My solution? Cut out one of the smoothies. That will be 400 or so calories less that I can make up with mangoes and melons. And mangoes and melons are lots more delicious than even the best green smoothie. If I need more greens, I can always make a low calorie green soup like spinach soup, known as Swamp Soup in the kids’ section of the recipe guide I got along with the Green for Life program.
3. Oh! salt! Such a tasty temptation and my downfall, for sure for sure. I have been eating lots of watermelon since the good ones started coming in and I do like to eat those wonderful chunks of watery goodness with salt liberally sprinkled on. If I stay off salt for one whole day, I can drop three lubs in water weight easily. Trouble is, I can’t seem to lick the salt habit. (Get it? Lick the salt—salt lick? Oh, okay. Bad joke.) So…I still put salt on my salad. So sue me. I’m human after all. I’ve been able to eat my watermelon several times lately with no salt. Even if I haven’t cut it out, at least I am cutting down.

So, there you have it. I’ll report back and let you know if it works. I’m not afraid I’ll get fat but I have a whole wardrobe of clothes that are size 4-6 and I don’t want to outgrow them. Besides, I feel better when I get more sleep and I look a whole lot fresher, too. Here’s to eating raw food the raw vegan way!!