first, where to buy raw products in the UK
i went shopping in our local tesco at the weekend and was cursing my bad timing and hating seeing hordes of fat people buying jam doughnuts and families with trolleys piled high with sunny delight... when i came across something that totally made my day. i found some cool oil (cold pressed, organic seed oil, emphasis on seeds high in omegas) and nākd raw fruit and nut bars. i got two varieties of nākd bars, the apple pie, which is ok, but doesn't stand a chance against berry cheeky, with strawberries and raspberries, mixed nuts and seeds and apple juice. i've been using the cool oil on my salads at work. i got fed up of preparing a small jar of dressing every day so unless i want something special, like orange juice, honey and grainy mustard (mmmm) then i use my little set of oil, apple vinegar and maldon salt which i keep in my drawer at work. i even have salad sprinkles (crushed flax crackers) there for emergencies. how organised am i?
you can also get raw coconut oil in 'ordinary' shops nowadays. try source or fresh n wild. the guys who make cool oil also produce agave nectar and sell it through tesco, holland & barrett and waitrose. and everything else can come from shazzie's online store and the fresh network.
painless raw recipes
this morning i made some nut milk for the first time ever. i don't know why i haven't done it before, it was delicious! to be honest, i didn't think our little blender would do the trick and i thought i'd have to wait for the mythical vita-mix but it was fine. in an homage to heidi and justin's raw recipe challenge, here's the nitty gritty:
the recipe came from raw food, real world, by sarma melngailis and matthew kenney. it's based on their almond milk recipe but with my own twist. so, i used a cup of almonds, soaked overnight (i used half with and half without skins) and 3 cups of water. i blitzed the almonds then poured the mix through my nut milk bag. i added a pinch of salt, fresh vanilla (i cut about two inches off a pod and scraped out the powder, the left over pod went into boo's coffee jar so he will get vanilla coffee eventually) and a tablespoon of light agave nectar. it was a very rich milk, you could certainly add more water, but i loved it that way. it was quite sweet, too, so perhaps i'll add less agave next time, but all in all it was really lovely. i drank the lot, straight, for breakfast. i have more soaked almonds in the fridge so i think i'll be making some more for dinner, too!
you know, it was really easy, there was no prep (other than throwing a handful of almonds into a bowl the night before) and minimal washing up. just make some. any nuts you like - i fancy brazil and pecan myself. add vanilla, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg... whatever you fancy. it makes such a change when we're stuck, especially over here in the UK, with water, herbal tea or expensively imported coconut milk as our only drinks. getting hold of truly raw nuts is hotly debated and i won't go there just now.
support on your journey
let's face it. it's tough being a social outcast raw in a society where food and drink are the cornerstone of socialising and there's not enough support in the UK compared to in the states. no pot luck meet-ups, very few juice bars and even less raw cafes (there are two that i know of in london) and we're not really the kind to develop communities, we're all too introverted. but it is getting bigger in the states and i'm sure things will grow here eventually. it does generally work that way. but there are other ways to get a feeling of community. i do this by reading other people's blogs, subscribing to a magazine and newsletters. i find it does make you feel more involved, especially if you post comments and get a conversation going. i've been slowly 'coming out' to people i trust, too, and that opens my opportunity to talk about it and get feedback. so that's my suggestion for all of you here in the UK. get involved in the virtual community until the real life communities evolve.
here's who i read/listen to:
we like it raw
raw food, right now
karen knowler's blog & newsletter
get fresh magazine
raw vegan radio podcasts
i used to read shazzie's blog, but she no longer updates it. her journals are definitely worth a look, though. i am still working on encouraging boo to take me to her christmas do (it's on my birthday, so it would be a great pressie!) and that would be a fabulous way to cross from the virtual into the real world.
