Laura Miller - raw vegan not gross

I am so glad she has come onto the scene! It's so about time raw food went mainstream and she is taking it there, it needed a voice coming from what society considers normal (not a bare foot hippie AKA me) And so now that Laura has come along beautiful raw/vegan food is going to be taken more seriously. 

She is the equivalent to the lady neuroscientist that is documenting her results with Thc oil for healing illness... I'm even getting emails from my dad who was opposed to the 'drug' beforehand now saying he is all for it. We need 'normal relatable people' bringing in alternative therapies, diets and healing for them to be taken seriously by the general public.

Laura has done a way better job than I could have done publicising raw food and making it somewhat sexy... by showing people how to add more raw and vegan options into their diet and great ways to transition from meat eating into experiencing a more varied fun and cruelty free way to live.

Im pretty extreme in all things... so when I first went raw I was such a nazi about it... Thankfully I am not such a fundamentalist about it anymore and as you can clearly see From my time spent in SanFrancisco I've bee hitting up all the vegan eateries... It's gotten a little unhealthy... 

Check out Laura millers video on Taste Made http://youtu.be/Kbmlwu2wxYg

She also has her own YouTube channel called "Raw Vegan Not Gross" be prepared to be seduced by her deep sexy voice and delicious dishes.

She's a sanfrancisco girl that started her move to the raw way because she had depression and turned to nutrition to solve her lows... She started off selling raw desserts at a farmers market where she put a sign on her stall saying 'Raw Vegan Not Gross' and now that's what her show is called...

She also likes to pose with produce... 

I love Laura Miller, her food and her voice.

Raw Food - Alcamix

And so we were back after a more than successful raw food event for New Years, Elin and I were hired to cater for Twice in Natures second event... 

 

Which had our favourite band 'Alcamix' headlining.

The beautiful seating area where The venue holds 400-600 people

And so to the raw food prep...

Rather than waiting for the staff to get our ingredients (which we spent half the day waiting for when we did their New years) we zoomed off, 3 of us on the moped to the whole salers... 

Almost getting lost in their stock pile...

And got cracking on making the desserts... Which we had many many many to make.

We made carrot cake...

With a sweet lemony cashew cream cheese frosting.

I was really keen to make this event totally vegan but was used to using  honey... So Elin and I were trying to find a substitute for it and came up with a delicious alternative mixture using dates, golden sugar, coconut oil and raisins - which made for a full, rich and fudgy flavour in the 'Chocolate Heaven' cake.

We made Rocky Road bites... 

Took a little break and did some yoga... (Me not so seriously)

Elin is one amazing yoga teacher and I have LOVED being her guiniepig for classes... There has been many an occasion where I have been catapulted into other dimesnsions after a yoga lesson from this yogi bear.

The cosmic earth Angels offer much more than just raw food ;) 

Then the sunset came and the Mosquitos came out and we got back to the kitchen and made 2 trays of chocolate banana and walnut cake...

A Chocolate and Salted Caramel, peanut slice

A bit of joyful dancing 

We completely filled up the fridge and freezer with all our creations

We made so many cakes that we decided to start pre selling them the evening before at a smaller event...

Many customers asked us if we were doing raw food workshops, where else we would be doing events and if we sold our cakes anywhere in the shops In arambol... So we were very pleased everyone was happy and coming back for seconds and some even thirds.

Blowing bubbles at our stall

The real event the next evening... A little more setup and shanti.

Our beautiful menu with the even more beautiful Elinji

Nearly clean out of cakes after just under 2 hours.

With the  Maharaj owner of Twice in Nature - the lovely Hassan

Cakes sold, event complete... Full power, full blown success.

The first honest beautiful loving job I have ever done in my life.

Money is just an energy and it flows where there is love, where the heart sings and the ego sleeps.

Happppppy days.

Here's a delicious recipe for a raw vegan choccy cheesecake... Just divide the mixture by 1/2 because this amount of ingredients listed will serve 24 people! 

Boyfriend - music video

When I was working in the Rawgeous Cafe at Rest Fest last September I didn't get out to see many of the bands playing because I wanted to soak up everything I could learn in the raw kitchen with Pete.... so I would listen (whilst chopping veggies) to the music coming from the main stage and one evening I heard a brilliant band playing which I found out we're called The Undercover Hippys'  the next morning I went in the meltdown sauna to thaw out my cold bones from the freezing cold nights sleep in my little tent, and I met Billy and Theo, the singer and drummer from the band.

After the festival I took a rest whilst being between continents and stayed at my parents beautiful  Hampshire house, and to keep me company in the kitchen while i was recipe testing I downloaded the Undercover Hippys albulm.

The one song I was obsessed with was called 'Boyfriend' it has such an upbeat fun vibe to it I kept playing it over. I looked on their Facebook fanpage  and saw the band was looking for funding  to make a music video using the crowd funding site kickstarter, I messaged Billy and said I would contribute with my 'acting services' if they would like to use me. In the meantime I get a call out of the blue from a modelling agency offering me 3 days work and payment from the job that would to cover nearly 2 months of travelling... The modelling agency had no idea I was even back in the uk so it was bizarre they had even called me, and so I was presented with a decision to make because the two jobs were over the same dates... 

Should I go with my head or my heart... ??!

Follow my head and be swayed by societies views of success and material/money gains?  Or follow my heart and do what makes the heart happy and have ultimate trust that everything will work out and I will be looked after in everyway possible if I follow my bliss.

So I turned down the money job and worked for free for The Undercover Hippys... 

 Here is the link to the behind the scenes footage from the shoot

http://youtu.be/9pV8YYi72W8

And here is the link to the actual music  video...
http://youtu.be/OGDmPlVU9cc

I have learnt to follow my heart so I get to witness magical things unfold. So I didn't make money doing the job but did what felt right and everything did fall into place  call it coincidence if you will but the next day I randomly got a settlement through from a dentists case I logged 4 years previously.. lets put it this way... I had to recount the number of zeros on the cheque !

I'm also earning good money now doing raw food events in Goa (only just finished training in Bali in August) I am seeing more and more that these things just spontaneously happen out of nothing and nowhere.

Raw bounty

This recipe if for my Mama who keeps a secret stash of hidden bounty bars (from my dad) in her kitchen drawer.

Dark Chocolate Buttercups

A super simple dark chocolate version of the rieces pieces penut butter cups... although this is a variation I've done using almond butter instead of peanut.

1 cup cacao powder

1 cup raw honey

1/2 cup cacao butter melted

1/2 cup coconut oil melted

Vanilla extract

Almond butter

Except for the almond butter mix the ingredients together before the oil and butter start to set and fill your chocolate moulds to just below the half way mark.

Use a pea sized amount of almond butter in the centre of each and then spoon some more chocolate mixture over the top.

Set in the fridge and turn out of the when set.

I believe you can buy silicone pop

out chocolate moulds of all shapes designs and sizes off ebay.

Kamy's carrot cake

Amy and Katy's carrot cake....

(Amy also hand Modelling the henna I just did for her haha)

(Serves 10-12)

These girls are awesome! Taking inspiration from websites, books, my sessions with them and then going full power to make their own cakes and raw treats.

It's such a nice change to have a sweet tasting carrot cake in rainbow city (the community on the hills of portugal where I am living at the moment) as everyone is obsessed with cacao (choccy).

Here is their very own recipe they want to share and it's a goodun so def try it out.

Cake layer (makes x2 layers)

3 large carrots peeled and chooped

1 1/2 cup oat flour

2 cups dates

1/2 cup desicated coconut

1tsp cinnamon

Food process all of the above ingredients

Cream cheese (x2 layers)

1 1/2 cups almonds (soaked and skins removed)

1 lemon juice

2tbs coconut oil (melted)

2tbs honey/agave/date pasts

2tbs water (as needed)

Rainbow city chocolate cheesecake

I literally love having Amy and Katy in the kitchen they are so kean to learn the raw food way and Katy has only recently gone vegetarian two weeks ago and is embracing it all like a super absorbent sponge! 

We invented this together yesterday and all agreed it's the best cake we've had all week. It's very very rich so you only need a little slice (sorry Anth you left the day before this creation was born but here's the recipe for you so let us know your verdict). 

Serves 8

Line a 6" pan with cling film and dust the bottom with desicated coconut.

Base

1/2 cup almonds/pecans

1/4 cup raisins/dates 

1 tbs desicated coconut 

1 tbs oats 

1tbs melted coconut oil 

2tbs cacao powder

Pinch of Himalayan salt

Pulse everything except the oats in the nutribullet then stir in the oats afterwards.

Press evenly into the pan and set in the freezer. 

Tip - if you find your fingers are sticking to the mixture while you're trying to form the base just wet your fingers slightly and then press the dough in.

Chocolate topping

4tbs melted coconut oil

1banana 

2 tbs raisins

5 dates

1tbs agave nectar/date paste/honey

2 tbs Carob powder

3tbs cacao powder

1tbs almond butter

1tsp coconut sugar (opt for extra sweet)

1/4 cup water

Blend everything into a smooth consistency in the nutribullet/vitamix.

Pour over the base quickly before it starts to set and then put in the fridge.

Decorate with a few goji berries! 

We all stood around in the kitchen afterwards licking the appliances in silence mmmm yummy!