BIO
Renee Rubio has lived in the SF Bay Area all of her life. While she’s always had an interest in holistic medicine and anything health-related, nothing caught her attention the way the raw food lifestyle has. She’s a “newbie” to this concept, but knows that this is her preferred way of living (not a diet), and knew it instinctively, the first few times she read an article here, a book there, and then later watched video testimonials describing the power of living food. At this moment she’s 50 percent raw, and has been since the beginning of 2010. Her goal is to be at 80 percent raw by the end of the year. Other goals include becoming trained and certified as a raw food chef so that she can teach others, especially; the elderly and those who need to care for them, children, and latinos. She will be creating blogs to provide resources and education to these groups.
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THIS MONTH'S REVIEW
THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO EATING RAW
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw, written by Mark Reinfeld, Bo Rinaldi, and Jennifer
Murray, was the first book I read about Raw foods. I figured that while I’m not always a complete idiot, at that time, I was indeed, so it was a good place to start, in order to familiarize myself with all of the terminology and methods to this way of eating. I was already a little familiar with some things about raw food but I knew that a complete guide would provide a really good foundation for me.
Part One: Raw Foods Unlimited, goes over the science and many benefits about eating raw.
It also talks about the many misconceptions about raw foods. After reading this, I found myself
clearer on what I needed to look out for (B12 deficiency, although that deficiency is common in
cooked foods and meat eaters as well), and I also was assured that protein and calcium intake
are of no concern...in fact, they are needless worries, as they are found in so many different
plant sources. I was also a little irritated that these myths have been perpetuated to so many
people, for so long. But that’s another article :) Another great thing about this part is that it talked about the benefits of veganism for the environment, superfoods, and how to stock your pantry and kitchen with the right tools and staples. I was extremely excited about this journey, more than I had been, after finishing this part.
Part Two: Raw Techniques, talks about the different preparation techniques and, being
someone who always loves learning (about almost anything), I found these ideas really fun.
It brushed over juicing, and I would have preferred a little more info. I came to find out later,
through different sources, just how important and essential (in my opinion), juicing really is. I
loved the chapter on soaking and sprouting, which was a bit of a mystery to me, until I read
it. It also included a good sprouting chart. The chapter on advanced techniques deals with
dehydrating, culturing, cheese and yogurt making, and kraut. It also included a dehydrating
chart. While it was nice to read, I haven’t personally delved into them yet, other than sprouting, but I do know that it’s on the horizon for me, as I get more involved with raw foods and preparation of it. I do want to keep my eating simple, but knowing how to do these techniques will keep me from being bored, as I like to try new things.
Part Three: Recipes on the Light Side, and Part Four: Hearty Fare, lists about 150 recipes.
Being that I love good food, especially fresh, homemade food, I found myself salivating. It
wasn’t very wise reading this at the time that I did, as I was on a 10 day fast. I guess the
only thing I can reason as to why I did read through it was because of my natural curiosity
and maybe a bit of a weird long-suffering compulsion in me :) Some recipes are very simple,
like different nut milks, beverages, dressings and sauces, and others require tools such as a
dehydrator and soaking time. It’s a nice mix of recipes and levels of difficulty.
Part Five: Raw Transitions, is very much in alignment with Eighty Percent Raw, in that it
talks about making changes, however small, and incorporating raw foods into your diet. It
includes how to eat while traveling (which I’m sure can be a bit of a challenge when outside of
a metropolitan area), how to get your kids into raw foods, snacks, fasts and cleanses. It closes
with a four week success program, which I haven’t tried, since my own way worked out just fine
for me, but it’s nice that it’s there for someone who needs more direction in ways to get started.
The book includes a glossary in the back, as well as a resource guide on where to buy certain
items. I found this book to be a great investment of time and not much money. The majority that I learned was stuff that I was vaguely familiar with at best, so being someone that loves and thrives on clarity made me very grateful for this book. I would highly recommend it, if not only for the reason of being clear on what is what, or for a ton of delicious recipes, but also for the extra help in making the transition to raw foods, as it is a process.
ARTICLE ARCHIVE
Health(ier) Fast Food - In deciding what I was going to cover for the June issue of Eighty Percent Raw, I was in a bit of a quandary, because 1. I ran out of chia seeds, so I couldn’t submit photos of what I do with those amazing little things, and 2. I haven’t had the time to make the trek across the bay to visit another raw
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recently, my wonderful, amazing family took me to Café Gratitude in Berkeley, CA.
I’m not sure where I heard of it…I think I may have Googled raw vegan restaurants .
For the past couple of months, I’ve been using Liquid Stevia by a company called Sweet Leaf. Stevia is an herb that is native to South America. It’s been used for centuries as a natural sweetener in other countries,
I’d been thinking of trying a protein or meal replacement shake lately, but I wanted to make sure it was vegan, and if it could be raw, even better. The reason I was considering this is that I
I recently discovered a new raw, low glycemic, gluten-free product line featuring one of my favorite foods of all time: coconuts.
