The Hippie House

I knew I was coming in to a culinary arts program, but what I didn’t know is that I would be walking in to a whole new world, community, family that would touch my heart and change my every thought completely.  The people I have met, from the moment I checked into the Inn have blown me away with the brilliant positive light they all glow with. People from all over the world, Australia, London, Rotterdam, Russia, Canada, and Korea.  Everyone with a different but intense and motivating story of why they are here, either their health depended on the life style change  or they are interested  in following their passion for good food with goodness in it. The place we are staying at is an old two story house till retaining its grandma charm from the gray colored carpets to the flower patterned wallpaper and has been transformed into an Inn

with ten rooms and one kitchen. There are 12 of us living at the Inn and there is never a dull moment. We start our day at 7am with multiple blenders and dehydrators going at once, everyone in the kitchen making green smoothies or creating snacks.  Along with the deafening sound of the machinery are the debates over the nutritional benefit of soaking or not soaking almonds; or if garlic is toxin or a tonic. The kitchen is small but with patience and a little understanding of the raw food inner workings we all manage to get something to eat, along with helping each other out by swapping produce or bartering for dates. When we gather in the kitchen all the different pieces of a full community shine through. We feed and support each other with zero judgment. Everyone is left to eat and “cook” how he/she would like but we are all there for each other to answer questions and find a solution even If we use a little help from Google to do it. Usually when you go to a group of people, school, party, sleep away camp, whatever gathering you may be at you will have an internal pull towards a particular group of people, or a person which is how we get our typical stereotypes of the popular group, nerds, jocks ect. I came into the house expecting cliques to form, and worried about which group would accept me, but that is not what happened at all. I did have that internal pull but not to a group or even to a person, but to everyone in the house. I could not tell you who my favorite person is, I could not tell you who I get along with most, and I won’t even call this a family because even in families there is a black sheep. That just is not the case in this fantastic group of brilliant individuals who, every day remind me that being her is right.

Its going to be a butt whoopin.

As I mentioned in my last blog post I have registered to go to school in California at the Living Light institute. I will be getting certified in Raw Food "cooking", but it wont just be schooling it will also be a life changing experience. I will be living a completely raw and vegan life for three months. So the moment I get on the plane and head to school, everything will be different and I plan on doing it justice by hopefully make it last for the rest of my life.

 

My New Years resolution for this year was not too complicated, I have tried the "I promise to work out more" or "I will focus on myself more", but I tend to forget what my resolution was and just go back to my slacker and distracted ways. So this year I thought I would try something different and just resolve to just finish what I have already started, becoming completely Gluten Free. So far (a whole 6 days) I am proud to say I have been doing a pretty good job at it. Being gluten free is just the beginning of  my preparation process for getting my mind, body, and soul ready for school, I have also cut back on how much meat I intake. I have been limiting myself to one animal product a day. I am hoping to cut out all meats from my diet at least a full month before I leave for school, my thought process for this is that I do not want to shock my body when I get there by all of the sudden not consuming any cooked foods or meat products. I want to be ready by also removing things like sugar, coffee, soda, cheese, and cooking with all fresh organic products. It hasn't been too hard like I said it has only been a week, but this is something I am so excited for and want to be at my best when I get to there so I can produce the best food possible. I am fairly confident i can do this, because I WANT to do this.

Gluten Free mix berry pie (thanks giving)

Tofu veggie stir fry

Gluten free southwestern turkey egg and cheese sandwich

 

saute veggies, with a quinoa patty topped with ham and fried egg

Cooking to clean your system

There are a few things i want to blog about today, but knowing me i will only get through one topic. i finished my full week of just RAW food and passed with flying colors. i was not hungry and i was not sick, a few times my organs were tender but that is just the toxins being released from all the bad stuff i had eaten trying to get out of my system. i loved it i felt lighter and more alive. When i was younger my mom made my family do a raw food detox at least once a month. i didnt really know what for then but i know now and i will be keeping up with it. The day right after my Raw week i went to my in laws for fajitas, and i LOVE me some steak so naturally i had just a plate of fajita meat with the beans, no tortilla because i have been very good about being strictly Gluten Free. The next day i did not feel good, its my own fault i should not have gone from Raw food to fajita meat the next day, so now i am trying to get back on track, and what i have noticed is i am reaching for more Raw foods  now on my own. i feel better when i eat better. i still have not reached my goal weight but, i do feel lighter.

i was craving a way to put all my yummy veggie together and eat them at once, so i looked for ways to make some sort of bread... and i found one. it is absolutely delicious and you can edit the formula to make it sweet bread or thinner to make a pizza crust. i have already made it three times.
The Rawtarian

Hippie in the kitchen

Growing up in a Latin family and traveling all over the world food has been one of the biggest influences in my life. i may not remember where exactly we were or who it was with but i remember the aroma and tastes of the meal, the warm or cooling sensation as the food traveled to my tummy and filled me with a yummy joy. My mother and grandmother always instilled a sense of pride in the food we prepared, being careful not to cook anything in a bad mood so we don't feed anyone negative energy. Every house my family has lived in has always been very warm, open, and friendly, no one comes in with out being ask if they are hungry or thirsty, and even if they are neither a drink and meal is brought to them anyways. Not matter how your day goes a good meal and a smile can change everything.

For years i have wanted to cook but i feared that if i finally let my little secret be known then no one would take me seriously. What kind of life will cooking provide for me, its not a real job. i figured it was best for me to just keep my passion for food under wraps and continue to look for something else to do. Wasn't till my mom came to visit and flat out said i needed to go for it that i let myself believe in me. So now i am working on going to a Raw Food culinary school and i am so excited i cant stop thinking about it, but because i am a little superstitious i will stop talking about it for now.

This is what i have been up to this week, busy busy busy. My mom has pretty much dared me to eat nothing but raw food this week so i am having fun finding different ways to eat my fruits and veggies.

 Raw veggie sushi. i marinated the carrots in apple cider vinegar, red chili flakes and honey to give it a bit of an Asian kick, and some extra flavor so i wouldnt have to use soy sauce. 

(Right:) the beginnings of raw creme brulee. Cashews, pine nuts, honey, vanilla, lemon juice, and coconut oil. it turned out the way it was supposed to but, it still ended up tasting like cashews. So i am going to stay away from sweet treats made of nuts and stick to more fruit based items. But over all not too bad.

(Above:) the finished product of my Raw creme brulee. looks good and tastes good