"Let me show you how to make it taste great!" -Val Rea (Gourmand turned Raw Foods Chef, born in 1963 in the Midwest. She survived cancer without medical intervention and became vibrantly healthy by changing from the Standard American Diet to a more natural way of eating!) This is her blog.
I will be posting recipes and resources for innovative affordable natural living in the modern world. I will use the weekly delivery of mixed organic seasonal fruits and veggies from Fresh Connect KC, pantry items from Trader St. Joe's, 2201 Frederick Ave, St. Joseph, MO 64506 and a few Superfoods from Ultimate Superfoods Universe to create healthy gourmet meals, treats and health-treatments.
Personally practice a vegan- friendly, glutton-free, mucusless, flexitarian lifestyle. So, I will occasionally include free-range eggs, unpasteurized goat-milk products and clean source meat and fish seasonally when there is a bountiful supply. I will give vegan substitutions for any and all animal products I use in the posted recipes. I will give special diet considerations for those with food allergies. Please let me know your special needs and requests!
"What's Not Cooking at Val's" features raw recipes that raw-food enthusiasts and regular folks alike love to eat!
"The Frugal Raw Gourmet" is a resource for tips on stretching your healthy eating budget. Inspired by world-famous chef, author and 1980's TV personality Jeff Smith, the frugal gourmet and by my mother, Virginia, who never waisted a thi
ng!
"Demo and Dine" features step-by-step instructions for raw and cooked food preparation techniques (including dehydrating, marinating, sun-drying and macerating) to preserve the live enzymatic integrity of food and make it taste great!
"Demo and Dine Live" is the weekly hands-on living-foods workshop held most Wednesdays at my home in St. Joseph, MO 64506 (1/2 hour North of KCI).
We will use Fresh Connect produce and Trader St. Joe's pantry items to create a meal together. Everybody eats! Family members are welcome. The cost is a sliding-scale, free-will offering of $10 to $25 per person. (A good rule-of -thumb is to plan to pay what you would pay to eat at a casual restaurant.) Please e-mail or call for reservations and directions. studiolevel@stjoelive.com, 816-364-6922.
"Demo and Dine Live" February Schedule:
Weds. Feb. 3 - Demo and Dine Live: Vegan for Lent
5:30 – Optional “Stump the Chef” (Bring an unusual organic item to be incorporated into the meal.)
6:00 to 8:00 PM - Live Food Demo and Meal (Learn to prepare a living foods meal from common ingredients. Sample live seed crackers and sun breads!)
8:00 PM – No additional charge, Live Seed Cracker Workshop
Weds. Feb. 10 - Demo and Dine Live: Romantic Vegan Valentine
5:30 – Jitters-Be-Gone-In-60-Seconds!!! Learn the VAST Breathing Technique for Stress Reduction & Love Making
6:00 – 8:00 PM - Live Food Demo and Meal – Lovely Live Foods for Your Libido!
Weds. Feb. 17 – Demo and Dine Live: Happy "Side-effects" of eating High Raw!
5:30 – Optional “Stump the Chef” (Bring an unusual organic item to be incorporated into the meal.)
6:00 – 8:00 PM - Live Food Demo – Good Fats for Weight-loss and Toning
Weds. Feb. 24– Demo and Dine Live: Combining Sea Veggies and Optimal Antioxidant Foods
5:30 – Optional “Stump the Chef” (Bring an unusual organic item to be incorporated into the meal.)
6:00 – 8:00 PM - Live Food Demo – Mineralizing for Optimal Winter Health!
Low-cost environmentally-friendly solutions and suggestions to enjoy life!
Useful tips on using this blog:
Securing a steady supply of fresh food is essential to this life-style and probably the most challenging part, for most people.
If you have not done so already, sign up for Fresh Connect home produce delivery. It costs less than shopping for produce at the store and it's way-super-convenient! You are assured of REAL organic foods and you are helping to create organic markets for local growers.
The corporate foods at most grocery stores, especially the big-ones, are mono-cropped, hybridized food-like substances that are making us sick, even if its labeled as organic. Refuse to participate in the corporate-organic scam! Buy from small family farmers. (Go to: Freshconnectkc.com, sign up, use "Trader St. Joe's" as the discount code.)
Join Trader St. Joe's or a buying club in your area to secure pantry items. group-buying of staples in bulk is much more affordable than pre-packaged foods or the bulk bins at the grocery store. Make sure your buying club is only purchasing sustainable, organic and fresh pantry items! We are working on offering pantry items through Fresh Connect delivery. I'll keep you posted.
Grow some food. Try sprouting, now that's winter. Keep a few herb plants in the kitchen to add fresh green chlorophyll to all your home-made foods. Join a loc
al chapter of Food-not-lawns and plan for a some potted plants or a garden next spring.
Eat sea vegetables! We all need a little more mineralization in this world! Make sure they are hand-harvested. (Machine-harvesting is detrimental to our environment and it ADDs toxins to your diet!) Purchase from reputable, seasonal, hand-harvesters who practice the aboriginal techniques. Trader St. Joe's buys from Mendocino Sea Vegetable Company. Check them out at www.seaweed.net/ if you want to buy in bulk quantities. Otherwise, you can pick up a 1 or 2 oz package at Trader St. Joe's.
Go for it! I encourage you, as an experiment, eat REAL food and watch as your health, mood, learning capability and physical energy improves. Also, as a side effect, you will heal the planet!
I am open to questions and suggestions. I enjoy the interactive nature of the blog.
Much gratitude,
Val Rae
