Have a Great Raw Easter Holiday!

So what are you going to serve or take to your family’s holiday celebration?
This is always the question for those who want to eat a diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and not alter the nutrition with heat over 105 degrees. The Raw Easter Coconut Cake and Asparagus recipes will be a hit at your holiday dinner.

This recipe for a delicious Raw Coconut Cake dressed up for Easter tastes so much like the cake I use to make with my mother for holidays. My job was to grate the fresh coconut, as she would never use the packaged coconut, so thank goodness for food processors. This cake is so delicious people will not know it is raw, and it can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.

Raw Easter Coconut Cake

Raw Easter Coconut Cake
Created by Jackie Graff
Sprout Raw Food

Serves 12

Cake
2 teaspoons vanilla powder or flavoring
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup raw agave nectar
5 cups coconut, freshly chopped in food processor (reserving 1 cup to top cake)
3 cups almonds soaked for 12 hours, drained, and dehydrated for 12 hours

1. Place coconut meat in food processor and process until finely chopped.
2. Add vanilla powder and salt to the coconut mixture and process.
3. Add agave nectar and process until mixed well and place in a bowl.
4. Process almonds to flour and add to mixture, mixing well, by hand.
5. Press ½ of mixture into an 8-10 inch plastic lined cake pan and turn over on a serving plate.
6. Top with ¼ inch of frosting and some of the chopped coconut.
7. Press the other ½ of mixture into an 8-10 inch plastic lined cake pan and turn over on top of first frosted layer.
8. Generously spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake and cover with rest of dry coconut.

Cake Frosting
1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts, soaked for 8 hours and drained
½ cup raw agave nectar
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ vanilla bean
1 ½ cups young coconut water
1-cup young coconut meat
¼ cup coconut butter
1 tablespoon psyllium
1 cup fresh dry coconut meat, chopped fine

1. Place the macadamia nuts, agave nectar, salt, vanilla bean, and young coconut water into a blender and process until smooth.
2. Add the young coconut meat and coconut butter, blending well.
3. Add psyllium blending well and stir in dry coconut meat.
4. Refrigerate the mixture for 10 minutes to thicken.
5. Generously spread frosting over cake and cover with finely chopped dry coconut meat

Nest of Coconut Eggs

Nest
1 cup fresh dry coconut meat, chopped fine
3/4 teaspoon of Barley Max to color the nest green

* using gloves makes it easier to make the nest and eggs.

1.Toss the coconut meat and green powder together by hand to evenly distribute color.
2. Make a nest in the center of the cake with this green colored coconut, with an indention in the middle.

Eggs
1 cup coconut butter
½ cup agave nectar
½ vanilla bean
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups fresh dry coconut meat, chopped fine and frozen for thirty minutes.
For coloring agents use small amounts of Beet Max, Carrot Max, and turmeric for coloring the eggs pastel pink, orange, and yellow.

1. Blend coconut butter, agave, vanilla bean, and sea salt and add the frozen coconut, hand mix and divide into three bowls.

2. Color each bowl of mixture with a small amount of the coloring powders mixing well. Beet Max (1/8 teaspoon), Carrot Max (2 teaspoons), and turmeric (½ teaspoon).

3. Refrigerate these for 15 minutes, or place in the freezer for 5 minutes, which will make this mixture firm.

4 This mixture should be firm enough to roll into small balls or “eggs”, not hard. If not firm enough, refrigerate a little longer.

5. Place the eggs on a plate and back in the refrigerator to harden and arrange in the green nest. There should be enough eggs to place around the cake.
6. Garnish with edible violets (we have wild organic violets growing in our yard).

* This cake will keep covered for a week in refrigeration. When transporting, just make sure the temp remains 72 degrees or below, which will keep the coconut butter from melting.

•  For easy opening of young coconuts get our “Nuts about Coconuts” DVD including many other great recipes for coconut. If you cannot find young coconuts, we can ship frozen young coconut meat and frozen young coconut water, go to http://www.sproutrawfood.org for items that we can ship.
•    We have a great price on vanilla beans and will include a recipe for Vanilla Powder with an order.

Jackie’s Vegetable and Fruit of the Month Club

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.

Join my Vegetable and Fruit of the Month Club for delicious ways to serve in season fruit and vegetables. To order, please email me at jackie@sproutrawfood.org

Coconut

I chose coconut because it has been traditionally eaten at Easter. Coconuts and coconut oil are high in lauric acid, a component of mother’s milk, which is converted by the body into compounds with antiviral, antimicrobial and antifungal properties, according to Dr. Mary Enig**, Ph.D. These properties have lead to research on the potential benefits of coconut oil in the treatment of HIV, SARS, and other viral ailments.
 Because coconut oil is, in large part, made up of medium chain triglycerides, it doesn’t have to be broken down in the digestive tract like other fats and can immediately be used by the body as fuel. This makes it ideal for people with slow metabolism or low thyroid (hypothyroidism) and for people with Crohn’s Disease, colitis and other digestive disorders who normally have problems digesting fats. 

Since coconut oil is burned by the body as fuel rather than being stored as fat it’s ideal for those interested in weight loss. Dr. Bruce Fife writes that coconut oil is good for diabetics since it not only does not contribute to the disease but in fact helps control blood sugar. A number of other references refer to the use of coconut oil in combating chronic fatigue, candida, and parasites as well as for skin and hair care. 

Coconut oil is truly an ideal food: it is not hydrogenated, contains no trans fats and is very stable with a long shelf life.

Asparagus

At Easter, asparagus is often served as it is in season, so take advantage of the fresh organic asparagus! Asparagus is an excellent source of anti-oxidants such as vitamins A and C. These antioxidants are destroyed with the application of heat such as steaming, sautéing or roasting, therefore eating asparagus raw will retain all of the nutrients. Asparagus has a high content of vitamin K, Folate, and folic acid. It is considered to be a diuretic, is anti-inflammatory, and naturally detoxifies the body. Asparagus prevents the formation of kidney stones, detoxifies the kidneys, and prevents urinary tract infections. Lowering cholesterol and reducing high blood pressure are additional benefits and asparagus is one of the richest sources of rutin, a compound that strengthens capillary walls.

Asparagus is a particularly rich dietary source of glutathione, which is a small protein, composed of three amino acids: cysteine, glutamic acid, and glycine. Nutrition researchers have regarded it as the most valuable detoxifying agent in the human body. Glutathione has also been called the “master antioxidant” that regulates the actions of lesser antioxidants such as vitamin A and vitamin E within the body and is a regenerator of immune cells. Disease and aging can cause a reduced tissue and blood level of glutathione. The dietary forms of glutathione are efficiently absorbed into the blood, which is not true for glutathione supplements. Cooking and processing greatly reduces the glutathione content in dietary sources.  Raw fruits and vegetables are rich sources of glutathione especially asparagus, avocado, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, and grapefruit, and apples.

Last but not least, asparagus has long been considered an aphrodisiac and along with garlic, I think could be considered the raw food Viagra! Eat more asparagus!

Asparagus is a great vegetable to add to your garden, as it returns each year. Find bunches with firm stalks and tightly closed tips, refrigerate the stems, by wrapping in moist unbleached paper towels for 3 days (eating them as fresh as possible is the best). To prepare, snap off the woody stems ends, which break naturally at the right place. I can just sit and munch away at a whole bunch for a meal. For serving suggestions:

•    The tips can be cut off and mixed in with a blended soup (see recipe) or added to a salad.
•    The stems can be juiced with other greens.
•    The stems from a bunch can be thinly shaved with a vegetable peeler, cut off the tips and marinated both with lemon zest, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt to taste. This mixture can be tossed with spirialized zucchini (see recipe).
•    Served with a dip or sauce (see recipe).
•    Make an asparagus quiche (see recipe).

Marinated Asparagus and Zucchini
Created by Jackie Graff
Sprout Raw Food

1 bunch asparagus
1 zucchini shredded or spiral cut
1 red pepper sliced very thin
zest of one lemon
¼ cup lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
½ teaspoon sea salt

Hold the woody end of asparagus and thinly shave the whole stalks of asparagus with a vegetable peeler, cut off the tips, add spiral cut zucchini and marinate with lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, and sea salt.

Serving suggestions: Save three stalks and tie a bow around them with a piece of red pepper, to lie on top of this salad.

Dilly Coconut Dip

Dilly Coconut Dip
Created by Jackie Graff
Sprout Raw Food

Yields 3 cups

2 cups young coconut meat
½ cup young coconut water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons agave nectar or raw honey
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup fresh dill, chopped

1.    Blend coconut meat, water, lemon juice, agave nectar, garlic and salt in a blender until smooth, and stir in dill.
2.    Garnish with dill sprig.

* For easy opening of young coconuts get our “Nuts about Coconuts” DVD
including many other great recipes for coconut. If you cannot find young coconuts, we can ship frozen young coconut meat and frozen young coconut water, go to http://www.sproutrawfood.org for items that we can ship.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Creamy Asparagus Soup
Created by Jackie Graff
Sprout Raw Food

Serves 8

½ cup pine nuts soaked for 4 hours and drained
½ cup macadamia nuts soaked overnight and drained
4 cups filtered water
1 lemon juiced
1 bunch asparagus with the tips cut off
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons sea salt (optional)

Chop:
6 celery stalks chopped fine
6 green onions sliced fine

1.    Place pine nuts, macadamia nuts, water, salt and lemon juice in a blender and blend until creamy.
2.    Add asparagus and garlic to the blender (except tips) and blend until creamy.
3.     Pour soup over celery, onions and asparagus tips.
4.    Soup may be placed in a dehydrator for 15 – 30 minutes to warm.

Shelf Life: 2-3 days

Asparagus Quiche

Asparagus Quiche
Created by Jackie Graff
Sprout Raw Food

Serves 8-16

1 cup pine nuts soaked for 2 hrs and drained
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 lemons juiced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon curry
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup filtered water
2 teaspoons psyllium

½ small sweet onion, chopped fine

2 bunches asparagus, tips cut off and stems chopped fine (reserve tips for garnish on top of the quiche)

1 Savory Nut Crust
Paprika for garnish

1.    Place pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, salt, curry, cumin, turmeric, water, and psyllium in blender, blending until smooth and remove to a bowl.
2.    Slice asparagus stems fine, by hand and add to the pine nut mixture.
3.    Add onion to food processor, chop fine and add to above mixture stirring all well.
4.    Place into a nut and seed crust in a quiche or pie plate.
5.    Garnish with asparagus tips around the edge.
6.    Sprinkle with paprika for color.

Serving suggestion: This may be warmed in the dehydrator for 45 minutes at 95 degrees and keeps well for several days refrigerated.

Savory Nut Crust
Created by Jackie Graff
Sprout raw Food

Serves  8 to16

3/4 cup almonds, soaked for 12 hours, drained, and dehydrated for 12 hours
3/4 cup pecans, soaked for 12 hours, drained, and dehydrated for 12 hours
3/4 cup walnuts, soaked for 12 hours, drained, and dehydrated for 12 hours
1/3 cup ground flax seed
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup thyme, chopped

1.    Place almonds and salt in processor and process until mixture resembles flour.
2.    Place pecans, walnuts and thyme in food processor and process until mixed well.
3.    Press mixture into glass pie or quiche plate.

Eat Asparagus and make your body happy!

This month I will provide these recipes free! 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 fruits and vegetables. To order, please email Jackie at jackie@sproutrawfood.org

Peace and love,

Jackie Graff

Feeding Finnley

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.

"I love my Nana's teething biscuits!"

"My Nana makes the best raw baby food!"

Peace and love,
Jackie Graff

Raw Food Revival Tour

Raw Revival Tour

Good news for 2009! Jackie and Gideon Graff, with almost a decade as raw food chefs and educators, are on the move in 2009, bringing a variety of raw-food preparation and lifestyle classes to your area. These classes will awaken or revive your love of raw food with amazing celebration and everyday food. We will be bloging our tour so let your friends and relatives know.

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 your health. Testimonies of thousands over the world are evidence of its effectiveness.

Over the years we have found that it is easy for everyone to understand the power and benefits of Raw Food, but for some it is much harder to implement for a long-lasting regimen of good health. Many get good results in the beginning. However, lack of knowledge, food addictions, boredom with their food choices or lack of diverse, delicious raw food options, drive some people to return to old eating patterns. As a result, they experience a return of many symptoms and diseases.

We have taught hundreds of people the practical ways to make kitchen magic with delicious recipes for simple every day food and food for entertaining.  We teach practical ways to shop, keep, and rotate your produce, reducing spoilage and waste. We also offer short cuts in food prep, and how to get the most out of your kitchen tools. We teach all the techniques and principles of why each recipe works for any raw food recipe and solve the frequent question, “Does this take a lot of time?” We teach you how you can spend part of a day in the kitchen and eat the rest of the week. This is part of our “kitchen magic”.  We use only organic foods for our classes and ourselves.

Our prior seminars, held predominantly in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida, have attracted a global following with participants traveling from all over the country and world, to attend our classes. One of their many requests was to take our classes to their community. Now we are coming to you! For ten days to two weeks a month we will be traveling to different places. We will return to our home each month to be with our children, my father and especially our grandchild.

We have individuals host us who assist in finding a location for our classes, help promote the program and enroll participants. If you are interested in hosting on of our classes, or know some one else who will, please follow this link to get a full description of the programs you can choose from.

Please contact us at info@sproutrawfood.org to get your program scheduled.
Or call 770 992-9218

Jackie & Gideon Graff

Who are Jackie and Gideon?

Jackie Graff has been teaching raw food preparation and food science for more than a decade. An RN with 40 years’ experience in various areas of patient care and education, Ms. Graff is considered one of the country’s top raw food chefs and nutrition consultants.
She continues to teach raw food lifestyle classes throughout the country, is an instructor for Hallelujah Acres® Culinary Academy, and has been frequently quoted in print and broadcast news outlets, including the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Atlanta Woman magazine, Atlanta Jewish Life magazine, Fox 5 Good Day Atlanta, CNN Headline News, and North Georgia Today. Jackie is the author of 17 theme raw food recipe books, and has produced two instructional raw food DVDs. Jackie also contributed articles to several national and local magazines.
In spring 2008, Ms. Graff was appointed to lead wellness programs for Anidawehi Plantation Wellness Center and is Program Director for the Detoxification and Juice Fasting Program, in Dahlonega, Georgia.  As an RN, Ms. Graff has held key hospital management positions and was a clinical instructor to nurses. She also served as an associate professor at Life University, teaching raw food instruction to returning alumni. She has an understanding of nutrition, anatomy and physiology of the human body and possesses a firsthand knowledge of the negative consequences of the Standard American Diet (SAD) on a person’s long-term health. She earned her B.S. degree in Nursing from the University of South Carolina.

Gideon Graff – along with Jackie has taught raw food preparation for almost a decade. His roles include raw food chef, health coach, and director of Sprout Raw Food, the Graff’s consulting, and raw food catering and distribution business. He and Jackie have served as instructors and raw chefs for Hallelujah Acres® Culinary Academy and Anidawehi Plantation Detoxification and Juice Fasting Program. Gideon has 35 years experience in food and hospitality management. An accomplished public speaker, he is experienced in both conference planning and fund raising. Previously, Gideon and Jackie co-founded and operated the Sprout Café and Shinui Living Food Learning Center, a first-of-its kind center devoted to teaching and promoting the raw food lifestyle in Roswell, Georgia. Together they lost weight, and eliminated many physical problems, resulting in them no longer requiring blood pressure, cholesterol and other medications. They attribute their healthy state to eating raw foods.

Raw Revival Tour Blog

December 2008

On our prior teaching expeditions to places outside of Atlanta we used a GMC Van and when it died we got a Volvo Station wagon. We would pack it really full with all of our equipment and food for 2 day classes, travel, teach and return home to continue our raw food distribution, Jackie’s part-time job as a nurse and be with family.  This was difficult and not time efficient. We have been searching for a way to get on the road, spending a longer time in one area to teach more classes. We have been looking at travel vehicles for several years in order to manifest our dream, by envisioning traveling in one. We were on a vacation in October 2008 in St. Augustine FL, and on our way home we stopped at a rest stop, which had a trail through a small swamp and nature preserve. We like to periodically get out and walk and this looked interesting. On our way back to the car, I spotted a small key chain size dream catcher. I put it on my key chain and told Gideon at the time that this was a sign that we would catch our dream.

Before the holidays we got a call from the loan officer for our home mortgage that knew we were looking for some sort of travel vehicle. He had a 36 foot 2002 Holiday Rambler RV with only 30,000 miles that had been repossessed and were we interested? It was a couple of weeks before we could look at it. The prior owner had lived in it with a cat and a dog and was a smoker and it looked like he never cleaned it. The smell was awful. I had my doubts that it had been taken care of mechanically. We had it checked out and found that it was in sound mechanical condition and just needed a few adjustments.

The inside was another story, but as we thought about it, the inside was nothing that could not be cleaned or replaced. I began planning the “flip”, hunting and gathering things and was lucky to find everything on sale. I knew we would get the RV, just not at what price. We closed on it the first part of February after some negotiating and we were able to get a loan for about half of the listed price. Now the work began with much cleaning and redecorating. We were able to get the smell, animal hair and dirt out. Then we painted, dumped all the bedding, re-covered the furniture and redecorated. It smells great now and looks like a different place. On our first trip to Florida, one of our hosts who also bought a used RV coined me the “Martha Stewart of Raw Food”. We are still working on some small projects to get it in optimal condition. We appropriately named our RV,  “Dream Catcher”.

The "Dream Catcher"

February and March

We have just finished our maiden voyage to Florida via “ Dream Catcher” on our Raw Food Revival Tour. Traveling in an RV makes it much more pleasurable for us. Gideon drives D.C. as if he was born to and I navigate with the assistance of our Blackberry Navigator “Lily “, directing us everywhere with ease. Our only difficulty was leaving Atlanta – in a deluge on Friday during rush hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic, not our plan, just a delay in getting everything aboard in the pouring rain.  Did I mention we only had one mirror that worked? This was very stressful. It was dark, still pouring down rain so we called it a night just below Macon at a truck stop and got a very early start the next morning. Were able to get our mirror fixed the next morning at an RV center. So much for our first day out!

Corn Fritters

Our first stop was in West Palm Beach where we were hosted by Susan Lerner a Hippocrates Educator and owner of Vital Longevity, who had recently finished a beautiful home renovation. We had a great half-day class teaching kitchen magic with
“Caribbean Extravaganza”. Everyone was amazed and delighted with the food. We taught ginger beer, banana bread, Jerk Nut loaf, Jerk Sauce, Caribbean Plantains, Sweet Potato and Coconut Pudding, Okra and Tomatoes, Bahama Avocado Salad, Caribbean Cole Slaw, Corn Fritters, Green Salad with Tropical Tahini Dressing.

The night before,  we had a much-anticipated visit with Paul and Andrea Nison (our son and daughter-in-raw) and got to see our new granddaughter-in-raw, Noa a beautiful baby.  We spent the night in Susan’s yard and left West Palm Beach in the morning after a personal behind the scenes tour of Hippocrates with Susan. We were impressed with Hippocrates, which is very beautifully landscaped with many artistic surprises around every corner. It has every amenity of a vacation spa in addition to the healing programs, which have helped so many overcome health issues. We hope to have a vacation there someday and will let you know how it was.

Susan and a lot of wheatgrass!

The next day we were on our way to Merritt Island for a presentation and Tex-Mex dinner at A-Live & Healthy Eating and Juice bar owned by Kim Smith. We again made kitchen magic with six delectable recipes delighting everyone’s palate. The café is a brightly painted intimate space with artistic decorating, making for a very pleasant atmosphere. Kim has great food and many exciting functions for her lucky community. If you are anywhere near the area (close to Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach) you really should go. We had a great class, met a lot of new friends who will be feeding their friends a delicious south of the border meal soon. We spent the night in Kim’s parking lot. And had a short interview with Kim before moving on.

Next on the agenda was Lakeland, 30 miles from Tampa. We were hosted by Holly Kelley and assisted by Andrea Adair, who are both Lakeland Meet-Up organizers. We taught more delicious recipes to a great group of people. They have an active Raw Food community with frequent Pot Lucks and meetings. We thank Holly and Andrea for their assistance in arranging this presentation. They told us that we were not too far from a Raw restaurant, Grass Roots, which they said was very good. We were going by there for dessert but it was closed when we finished our class. We will certainly have it on the agenda for our next trip to Florida. We gratefully spent the night at Sam’s Club.

Little Manatee River

Having a couple of days off, we decided to spend it at Little Manatee River State Park, near Tampa and were lucky to get the last spot. Apparently these State Parks are reserved well in advance. The place was beautiful with large live oaks draped with Spanish moss and many palms. The park also welcomes horseback riders with four equestrian campsites along a 12-mile trail. As we were on our way to the Park,  we passed many equestrian estates which were themselves a site to behold.  We spent a very peaceful relaxing day, taking long walks, sitting by the river and canoeing, and just being in the moment. Gideon juiced some carrots and I worked on a photo shoot of the food we had prepared the previous night in our class and then we devoured it. The food we had made has a great shelf life, in fact we did not prepare any food on our whole 12-day trip except for some salads and fruit, and we just ate all those delicious leftovers.

Gideon entranced by the Little Manatee River

Freshly juiced carrots

Taco

Spicey Collard Greens

Salsa and Flax Chips

South of the Border Coleslaw

The following day we went to Tampa to meet Denise Becknell, who owns the Leafy Greens Café in St. Petersburg and is in the process of moving the café to a new location in St. Petersburg, 1431 Central Avenue. Denise hosted us for a class the next day in a meeting facility close to her new place, which is looking fabulous. We hear that everyone is real excited about the opening of her new café, and eating more of her delicious food.

That evening Denise took us to the Grass Roots in Tampa, since we were unable to see their Lakeland location. The Grass Roots is a beautifully decorated restaurant and we had the pleasure of meeting the owner, Sabrina. We noticed that she was hosting Brian  Clement at the Lakeland and Tampa Grass Roots restaurants, the end of March. We missed seeing Brian in West Palm Beach, to invite him back to the Atlanta area, as we had such a good turnout back in July, 2008 when we hosted him. While we were waiting, we met a friend who had taken one of our classes in N.C. and reported that her food was delicious as he was picking up his pizza. We had already eaten and moved on to our parking spot for the night, in a filing station owned by a friend of Denise. You can get more info about Denise’s Café at leafygreencafé.com.

Jackie and Gideon getting ready for a class

The next day we taught the Raw Food Revival class in St.Petersburg with everything from cinnamon rolls, to an “umberger” lunch with all the fix’ins, and a soul food dinner (click here for the complete menu). Everyone was amazed with the kitchen magic and all of the short cuts and tips that make raw food prep a breeze. We left for Sarasota and spent the night at a rest stop.

Is this a quarter pounder or what?

Jicima Fries, great with ketchup and a burger.

What's a burger without a dill pickle?

Toast, cinnamon rolls, strawberry jam, fig preserves

Okra Gumbo- Jackie's favorite

Deviled Tomatoes (taste's like deviled eggs)

Popcorn Cauliflower ( tastes like breaded and fried nuggets) and cocktail sauce

Gideon at Myakka

We had another day off and spent it hiking and driving around Myakka River State park and nature reserve. It is one of Florida’s oldest parks, developed in 1934. A 7-mile scenic drive winds through shady oak-palm hammocks and along the shore of Myakka lake, which attracts a myriad of wetland creatures making birding, canoeing, and wildlife observation popular activities. Over 39 miles of hiking trails and many miles of dirt roads provide access to the remote interior. We went on the nature trail and Gideon ventured on the Canopy walkway and Tower, and due to my fear of heights, I stayed below and took his picture. We could have gone to the beach that day but I am glad we went here.  We plan to return and spend more time here on our next trip to Florida.

Gideon on the Canopy Walk

We arrived at Veggie Magic in Sarasota that evening to be ready for a class the next day. We were hosted by Jenna Norwood and Evona Poplawski the owners of Veggie Magic who have built this great restaurant and have many exciting functions for Sarasota, a very active raw food community. We had another great class, meeting old and new friends. Jenna produced a great Documentary about raw food, “ Super charge me! 30 days Raw”. For more information about Veggie Magic and Jenna’s documentary go to veggiemagic.com and jennanorwood.com.  If you are in the area, don’t miss this jewel and great people. We spent the night at a rest stop on our way back to our home in Roswell outside of Atlanta, GA. I think we should change the name to “Rawswell”.

We will be home for a few days, then on to N.C. for a raw food class at Hallelujah Acres next weekend. Fifteen years ago, our dear friends, Reverend George Malkmus and his wife Rhonda started Hallelujah Acres. Through their ministry based on Genesis 1:29, they have spread the word about the benefits of raw food in eliminating disease and obtaining optimum health, reaching more people world-wide than any other leader in the Raw Food Community. The first Saturday of each month, they have a free seminar with several hundred people from all over the world attending. Dr. Malkmus gives a lively,  informative presentation on, “How to eliminate sickness”.  It is very inspiring as he invites individuals to the stage to give their testimonies for everything from weight loss to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, fibromyalgia, arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis and many other diseases and conditions.

March 15, 2009

We had a great Raw Food Revival class at Hallelujah Acres at the Culinary Academy , following their Health Minister training. Everyone in the class said that our class tied the whole week together with the information and Kitchen Magic we demonstrated. We have been teaching at the Hall Acres Culinary Academy for the last five years and have found it to be very rewarding, as people come from all over the world to improve their health and teach others. They have some exciting things happening, so go to hacres.com to find out more. We were able to have a short interview with Melody Hord, the Senior Ed ucation Specialist, before our class and after the class, spent the night at a rest stop.

We will be home for a few weeks and have some events that we are working on and will let you know soon.

Why we come home! Our Grandaughter, Finnley

Peace and love,

Jackie and Gideon Graff

Please visit our website, for more information

www.sproutrawfood.org