Better Together??? and a recipe

Well here it is... my first blog post!! This day has been a long time coming. Starting out with raw food is i have to admit very scary. I was introduced to the concept on december 25th, 2008. My boyfriend knowing my love and passion for anything to do with health and well-being chose to give me a very beautiful book for christmas. When i opened Raw Food/Real World by
Sarma Melngailis and Matthew Kenney i was instantly captivated, these people were GORGEOUS !!! I must have read that book cover to cover at least 10 times. As i became more and more intrigued i knew this was something i had to try. But, and i repeat but, it was the middle of winter and all the recipes called for fresh fruits and vegetables. Here in BC you can't exactly go to the farmers market and have an abundant selection of fresh produce in the middle of winter. So my journey began slowly. I made a vow to myself that i would not fully commit to this lifestyle until i had tried it out for awhile. I had just come off of two years being a vegan and i absolutely could not stand the questions and judgement that came from the label i put on myself. Are you doing this because of animal cruelty? Is this a rebellion against your parents? Are you a vegan for attention? I HATED IT!!! So i decided to proceed with caution. However, unlike being a vegan, raw food was totally about health.. i liked this. Plus it totally made sense, why had i not thought about it before? No one has ever told me to not eat more fruits and veggies. Nuts and seeds are good for me too. Why not?! I was always a creative kid growing up. My mom instilled the importance of creativity to my siblings and i at a very young age. We were always doing different arts and crafts from when i was 2-17. Now the idea of raw food presented an opportunity to be fully creative with something that i really enjoyed, preparing food!!! So my journey began. I started researching more on raw foods on the great world wide web. That is where i stumbled across many blogs. Blogs chalk full of information, recipes, and personal success stories. So all you raw food bloggers out there i would just like to say thank you for sharing, i have learnt so much from many of you! Ok, back to where i was. Where was i haha? There is just way to much i want to stuff into this one post! Oh right how i became hooked on raw food. Ok so basically in short i have discovered in the past 6 months that when i eat raw i feel great, i mean really great! Yes i have many slip ups... pizza is a big killer. But i always wake up feeling like sh*t after i eat processed food now. I am very thankful for that. So my title i chose, Better Together, just like the Jack Johnson song, represents how i feel when i when i eat raw. Me and raw food are definitely better together!!!

Here is a recipe that makes living on raw food very easy! Here is my Blueberry Cheesecake that i made a little while ago that tastes even better then real cheesecake!!!

Blueberry Cheesecake

Crust:

1/2 cup dates

3/4 cup dry brazil nuts

3/4 cup dry almonds

1/4 cup shredded coconut

Process ingredients until they are well mixed. Press into the bottom of an oiled 9 inch spring form pan. Set in the freezer while preparing the filling.

Filling:

2 1/2 cups of soaked cashews

3/4 cup agave

1/2 cup coconut oil

3/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbls vanilla extract

Blend ingredients until smooth. Pour over crust and set for at least 30 mins in the freezer while preparing the topping.

Blueberry topping:

1/4 cup dates

1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries

Blend together until smooth. Pour over cake. Set in fridge for an hour before serving. Sprinkle shredded coconut on top if desired.

Enjoy!!

Amelia