Spaghetti Sauce

Raw AND cheap! I can't believe how much money is saved when you make your own instead of buying it at the store, and an added bonus is that there is no sugar. Here is the recipe I used:

 2 tubes of pure 100% tomato paste
1 box of Organic chopped tomatoes (you can find this at Tesco's, you can easily sub a large handful of fresh tomatoes, however)
1 1/2 Cups water
4 tsp oil (I used rapeseed oil)
4 Cloves of garlic
1 1/4 Tsp fleur de sel (or sea salt)
1/2 tsp maple syrup or agave nectar
1/2 tsp mixed spice/Italian spices
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp garlic powder
A few squeezes of fresh lemon
Pinch of chili powder (optional)
Dash of mustardseed (optional)

Everything goes in the blender-stir to remove the air pockets while you blend.
You can also mix this up and use whatever seasonings you like instead, the ones I've listed are just my personal preference. This makes a fantastic sauce over (cooked) barley, alternatively you can make raw noodles out of spiralled zucchini or shredded squash. Bon apetit! x

Smokey BBQ Sauce

I gotta say-I like this BETTER than SAD (Standard American Diet) type BBQ!

240 Ml(1 Cup) Chopped Tomatoes or Cherry tomatoes
9 Sundried Tomatoes
7-8 Dried Pitted Dates
2 Tbsp Sunflower Oil
1 Large Clove Garlic
1/2 Tbsp Water
1/4 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1/4 Tsp Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Chipotle Powder
1 tsp Mixed Herbs; or Thyme
1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne Powder
1/4 tsp Ground Mustard Seed
Pinch of Cumin (optional)
Pinch of Onion Powder/granules (optional)

Everything goes in the blender @ high speed until well mixed. This may take a while. This recipe will be easier if you double it, however I didn't have enough ingredients on hand to make a larger batch.

Bold n' Spicy Veggie Soup

I know. ANOTHER SOUP! Sorry. but I love them! They are low-cal, rich in flavour, cheap, easy and PACKED with veggie goodness and, SO flavourful. I'll let you in on a little secret...I...don't even like vegetables on their own! OK, I do, but not so much. It's boring. My taste buds have been ruined by the horrible standard of eating I once had. I long to be this forager who eats single ingredient meals, and just stuff my face full of naked spinach and broccoli, no dressings required day in and day out. However until that day comes, I shall blend my beautiful, precious vegetables into soups, smoothies, and so forth-and get their raw goodness in any form I can get it. I did something a little different for this soup, however, than my "routine"soup base and I am impressed with the results.

2 Large Organic Carrots (Use 2 Small to Regular Size "Normal" Carrots if Organic Absolutely Cannot Be Obtained)
1 Large Organic Parsnip (Or 1 Small to Medium Size "Normal" Parsnip)
2 Organic Celery Stalks
2 Cups Vegetable Stock (You can make your own raw stock by googling how or you can just buy some organic, yeast & gluten free in the store and mix  it with 1 1/2 cups of water like I did. Lazy, I know.)
1 Big ripe Tomato
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 1/2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
3 Cloves raw garlic
1 Tsp Black Pepper
1/2 Tsp Fleur De Sel (or sea salt)
1/4 Tsp Dill
A few sprigs of fresh basil (optional)
Pinch of ground mustard seed (optional)

Toss everything in the blender and...blend. Garnish with pine nuts if you like-they are delicious and like crutons in a savoury soup. Mm, mm mmm

Good-bye gluten, hello-a Quinoa!

My dear old Daddio reccomended I try this fantastic stuff called quinoa (thanks Dad, this is FAB!) to replace whole-wheat pasta, since that was one of the few things I was cooking and the only thing I was still eating containing gluten, an inflammatory agent found in wheat and other grains. I decided to do a bit of research online and make the quinoa the raw way, and YUM, it is absolutely FANTASTIC stuff. I FAR prefer this to pasta!

I decided to make a salad that's reminiscent of pasta-but I like this much better.

Quinoa Pasta Salad

150g uncooked Quinoa (you can buy this in the health food section at Tesco's, or I'd imagine anywhere else you do your shopping seeing as how Tesco's is a "commercial" grocery store!)
1 Large Aromatic Vine Ripened Tomato
2 Medium Greens Leafs (A large handful of spinach leafs would substitute fine, I'd imagine.)
1 Tbsp Pine Nut Pesto, optional
Ground "Feef" for meatballs
Nutritional yeast
White Pepper

Soak the quinoa in a bowl of water-leave it overnight, for between 12-18 hours. The Quinoa will soak up the water, soften and sprout a bit. Drain the excess water and divide between two bowls. Chop the tomatoes and Greens and divide them, spread them over the bowls....use a half-teaspoon to make mini meatballs to put in (I used 6 meatballs per bowl. spread out a little bit of pesto if you like, and use nutritional yeast in place of parmesan cheese. Nutritional yeast is fantastic because it is loaded with rich B vitamins and is deactivated so you needn't worry about candida. Sprinkle the salad with white pepper to taste and serve. Serves 2, of course, but you can easily double, triple, or quadruple this recipe if you are uncooking for a larger crowd. This is very quick and easy to make-took me less than 10 minutes to throw everything together after the sprouts had been soaked. Easy healthy dinner!

Paul's Mushroom Salad

OK, I am...not a mushroom person. However, it was a big effort on my former cheese luvvin' husband's part to go vegan, let alone RAW (you rock, Paul, seriously). So, to thank him for the tremendously good thing he is doing for: the environment, animals, plants, his body and health, in being a positive role model for our son, ridding himself of his negative relationship with food and boosting my ego (by loving my uncooking!) and happiness...well, to thank him, I take the rare requests he makes and do my best to uncook what I can with them. So, my husband loves mushrooms. LOVES. Here is a hearty, earthy salad we've invented together:

2 Large Chestnut Mushrooms, chopped
1 Large Tomato, diced
About 2/3 of a Leek, diced
About a Tablespoon's worth of diced Red Onion
Small handful of Pine Nuts
Black Pepper

Toss ingredients in a bowl. Paul used a Mexican honey-mustard for a dressing, but you could use whatever you like.

The cancer cure: BURGERS?!

OK, these might not magically cure cancer, but the ingredients contained in these brrgers will come a long way in helping to prevent cancer and will also help you fight cancer if you are unfortunate enough to already be doing so. Plus, they are pretty darn tasty, so what have you got to lose?

3 Organic Carrots (see my note on organic fruit & veg)
100g Sesame Seeds
A small handful's worth of Broccoli-heads only
4 Sun Dried Tomatoes
2 Tbsp Olive Oil (the herbed OO from the Sun-Dried Tomato jar-optional, but it is so much yummier than regular olive oil)-NOTE: I think my burgers may have came out more pliable with less liquid, so feel free to only add 1 tbsp, nonetheless I love the taste!!)
1 Fresh Tomato
About 1 tsp Leek
1 small handful of Pine Nuts
2 Garlic cloves
A few sprigs each of fresh Parsley & Basil
1 Tbsp Fleur De Sel (grey salt)
1 tbsp Black pepper
1/3 tsp Mustard seed
1/2 tsp Cayenne powder
1 Tbsp Basic Cashew Cheeze, optional

Pulse, stir, repeat until you get a gritty but well blended burger mix. I served ours using Cornish Greens leaves in place of buns, but you may use some flatbread or linseed/rye bread (wheat free, score) if you feel so inclined. These go nicely with American mustard or hummous.

HOW do these fight cancer, you ask? Well...you may read more in detail here and here. This is also a great blend of foods for recalcification of the body, to reverse tooth and bone decay. I had 4 visible cavities before I began recalcifying, now I cannot notice any tooth decay!

Mambo Italiano!

This meal is a beauty (and very heart-healthy with all the tomatoey goodness :)) it is not entirely raw, but mostly so and is jam packed with Italian inspired flavours.

For a starter, we have:

Stuffed Tomatoes with Pine Nut Pesto

2 large Aromatic Tomatoes
1 large Greens leaf (I don't know what kind of "greens" these are...at the store it just says "Cornish Greens" :/ The leaves are however HUGE, very long and dark green and they come in a big bulb somewhat like cabbage does, I hope that helps some...they are similar to spinach so spinach could easily be substituted if you cannot find something like this! )
Pine Nut Pesto, which I will detail below.

Gently cut off only the very tops of the tomatoes. Cut them in half and scoop out the innards. Chop and dice your greens and divide them into quarters. If you desire, you may gently cook the tomatoes open-face down on a skillet-but be careful not to cook them too much because A. the nutrient content will be drastically altered with cooking which is why we eat raw to begin with and B. they will fall apart when you try to "stuff" them. Now, simply stuff the greens inside and garnish with as much pine-nut pesto as you like. Serves 1-4, depending on how much you want to eat ;)

Pine Nut Pesto

3 Handfuls of Pine Nuts
2-3 tablespoons Olive Oil (I used the nice flavoured oo from the sun dried tomato jar, but EVOO will substitute fine.)
1 clove Raw Garlic
A few sprigs of fresh Basil
A few grinds of black pepper

Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor. Pulse, stir, and repeat a few times, noting that it will be chunky.

Pasta

Whole-wheat spaghetti
Sauce of your choice (I used Napolina's Tomato & Basil, I know...lazy!)
Pine Nut Pesto

Cook, top with sauce and pesto, enjoy!

Superfood Soup

This soup is very healthy - loaded with rich vegetable antioxidants such as vitamin A, B vitamins, calcium, lycopene, fatty acids, omegas and protein. To health!

1/2 of a large, ripe Hass Avocado
1 Small Carrot
2 Large Aromatic Vine-Ripened Tomatoes
A small handful of uncooked, thawed frozen spinach-one or two large handfuls of fresh spinach would do equally well.
1 Sun Dried Tomato (from a jar if possible, soaked in olive oil)
2 tbsp Olive Oil from the sun-dried tomato jar, seasonings included (optional-I just think it makes it taste better. You may use regular EVOO if this is not available.)
A few sprigs of fresh parsley
1/2 clove raw garlic
240 ml/1 cup warm water
1/4 tbsp dried basil
Black pepper for garnish

Cut the very tops only off of the tomatoes & carrots. Chop carrot and spoon out avocado. Add all ingredients to blender and pulse until smooth and creamy. A spoonful or two of Basic Cashew Cheeze may be added if you wish to make the soup creamier. Serve and crack black pepper on top to garnish. Serves 2.