a room with a view

This is the view from my bedroom window, taken around 730 this morning.  off in the distance there is the sea.  the sun is wanting to break out from the long hard night of rain and hail.  you can see the hail on the roof of the house next door.  the air smells so fresh and clean.  i really love the room i am in, my two roommates are so great too.  one, angela is from hawaii and she is supper mellow like me and i love hearing her speak about hawaii and her smile is so refreshing.  the other roommate just joined us for the chef's training that began today.  her name is helen and she is from costa rico.  i just finished looking at her beautiful pictures of her property that she has there.  she is a very strong, independent goddess like woman.  like angella, her smile is striking.  

our first day of chef's training was today.  we were given our wonderful green smoothies & e3 live and green juice for snack.  our training began with writing an introduction of ourselves that relates to raw food.  then we formed new teams and began our hands on demos for the day.  we made SO MANY delicious dishes today.  i tried to upload the pictures and gave up.  you can find them on my space soon.

i have to end this and get to the homework and studying for tomorrow.

much love to YOU!

Alpha Linolenic Acid, EPA, DHA...huh??

so, i am not so much a science girl.  this i now remember about myself.   i have such a painful head ache right now from doing my best to wrap my mind around the information of the 

"Science behind Raw Food Nutrition".

Two solid days, 15 hours of sitting through science lectures is NOT my cup of yogi tea.  although i did drink a full box of it while struggling to stay focused on the content.

i do feel just as confident with the raw food diet as i did before all the class.  though, hearing the research studies behind the theory's is indeed as comforting as the yogi tea.  i also realized that the reason i have been noticing and feeling drawn to eat this certain weed (milk thistle) on my walks is because my body could really benefit from it's offerings to help my liver to detox.  the one i am thinking about is all over cambria and it has the leaves that sorta look like dandelion, yet they are prickly and have white stripes.  i will be looking for them tomorrow when i walk to school.  i could always get them organic & bulk at the health food store.  but really they have been catching my eye for the past month.

hmm...i always get excited when i find herbal plant medicine and wild foods while walking around.

last night a group of the LL students and i went to a reggae show at the Casper Inn which is in the little tiny town of Casper.  it is located between fort bragg and mendocino.  the population is 300.  if you ever get a chance to experience a live music show there i highly recommend it.  chill vibes.  i danced like nobody was watching for at least 3 hours.  the music was very spiritual and set with an intention to spread love and kindness.  that was just what was in order for us too.  we needed to get out and have some random fun night of dancing together. it was funny, the drummer had a "buy fresh, buy local" shirt on so it really fit right in with the theme we have going right now at school.

the picture is of my little sunflower babies i planted a few days ago.

i have to end this now.  

much love to you tonight!

Final day of the essentials

Today i graduated from the 5 day Essentials course!  not without a 6 page exam first, which i have to tell you i did very well on.  either the questions were set up for us to know easily or i really learned the information well.  

Cherrie and her staff are great teachers as well so i think it's a combination of it all.

before the exam & graduation we made a black cherry cheese cake to have after our graduation ceremony.  

i will share this recipe, it's really easy and fun to make. and best of all NO CHEESE!!!  

CHERRY VANILLA CHEESECAKE

makes 12 servings

CRUST

2 1/2 cups pecans, soaked and dehydrated

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice or rapadura 

     (or sub raw agave nectar if you wish)

1/4 cup seedless raisins 

FILLING

2/3 cup pitted dates, packed

     (make into date paste first for easy blending)

1/4 purified water

3 cups cashews, soaked 2-3 hours and drained

1 cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup soy lecithin powder

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

TOPPING

1 pint fresh or frozen pitted cherries or berries of choice, thawed  

1. for the crust: put the pecans, sweetener of choice and raisins in the food processor and blend using the "s" blade and process until the crust mixture begins to stick together.  press the mixture evenly into  the bottom of an 8 inch spring form pan. cover the bottom with a round parchiment paper.  that helps to release the bottom.

2. for the filling:  Loosely separate dates, and combine them with the water in the food processor.  process until smooth.  add lemon juice, soy lecithin, vanilla extract, and puree once more until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  this takes a few minutes.  notice the texture.

3. to assemble the cheesecake: pour the filling into the crust and spread it evenly.

4. for the topping: spread the cherries or berries over the top and gently press.

5. chill for 2 to 3 hours

ENJOY....it's delish!

here's a RAW GOURMET TIP for the day:  Coconut meat blended in a high speed blender until smooth, them spread on a teflex sheet and put in the dehydrator for a few hours on a low temp. makes great raw "rice paper" wrappers.

i will be posting more pictures that i have taken on my my space page.  www.myspace.com/brandie_michelle. it's too time consuming to put them on my blog as well.  the blog spot is mostly for me to write and such.

overall i have been having an exceptional experience here at Living Light!  i am very excited for the next 12 days i have left.  tomorrow starts the two day Science of Raw Food. i am really looking forward to this part of the training.  i will be taking my flower essences all day so i have a better chance of staying focused.

since the second grade i have been a "daydreamer"  and often i find my self drifting off into the other world known as "brandieland".  some friend named that place for me a few years ago.  flower essences help me with that habit.  i will do my best to get the most out of the next two days of lectures.

it has been raining nonstop for about 24 hours here in fort bragg.  just like cambria, the town hunkers down when the rain shows up.  tonight at the inn a bunch of students and i watched a dvd called the pleasure trap and sipped on tea.

well, i am going to end this.

much Love!

b

                                                                               

getting into the groove of school

and watching the tides come in.  on the lunch break of course.  this scene is just a couple minute walk from the classroom.  nice huh?

today we were given the usual  green smoothie and green juice with E3 Live in the am.  we needed that energy for todays work for sure.

it was all about recipe development.  all the ins and outs of writing recipes, creating them over and over until they are "well rounded".  we divided into our teams and were given assignments to develop a dressing and a soup recipe.

for me myself this was accually not that difficult because that is how i prepare food at home all the time.  using my intuition as a guide.  well today i had to work with 4 others with their input.  i did learn some things in sharing this activity with a group i would not have learned on my own.  

we made a raw mexican themed buffet today for lunch.  we made raw tacos that were way better than any meat taco i have ever had.  i will definately recreate that at home.

the essentials class will be winding down tomorrow with an exam.  10 more students will be leaving.  that will bring the number in the class to 20 for the next two weeks.  i am a bit sad to see a couple of them go.....

well i will keep it short tonight, i have to study.

lots and lots of LOVE

oh, today i realized that Cherie, the founder, director and main teacher at Living Light reminds me very much of Martha Stewart and the empire she has built.  something Cherie said at the first day of class that i keep telling myself over and over here is

"the way you do anything is the way you do everything"

Fresh Organic = Healthy People + Healthy Planet

today was So incredibly reFRESHing!  they scheduled into our curriculum today to be a very easy day to digest all the way around.  our systems were given a break from all the heavier, dense raw foods we have been given & made ourselves the past 5 days.  all day it was fruit and most of them were juiced.  

let me tell you, this morning was the usual green smoothie and E3 Live shots, at break we were served the green juice which i don't think i have said yet what exactly the green juices here are made of.....green leaves like romaine and kale, celery, apple, cucumber, ginger and lemon.

all morning we were in the classroom listening to lectures.  the first 2 hours were all on the basics of RAW VEGAN NUTRITION.  for example, answers to all the common questions like, where do we get our b-12? protein?, digestion, phytochemicals, enzymes, more food combining...oh and PH, acid/alkaline balance and the importance of pure water.  i knew most of the information because i have read so many books on the subject.  it was nice to hear it all again.

after the nutrition lecture we had a class on greens, identifying different lettuces & "weeds", then "fruits of the mother" class...all about the variety of fruits.  different ways of cutting them and arranging them on platters. our lunch today was all fruit. 

today at lunch i planted my sprout babies and did a power walk for an hour out in the fresh air.  after lunch more lectures of setting up a raw food kitchen and the importance of purchasing ORGANIC food and we went even farther into buying LOCAL and sustainable eating practices.  a moment for complete gratitude for the area of the world i live in where i can have the BEST FRESH LOCAL FOOD all season!!!  a blessing for all the farmers who work so hard to feed me.

after the afternoons lectures we went into the kitchen and did two demos.  one we did seasoned seeds and the other was zucchini pepper wraps.  after that we had a ice cream social.  the ice cream was made with frozen bananas in the green star juicer with chocolate & raspberry sauces.  THE BEST RAW ICE CREAM EVER!!!! after that we were presented with a movie this evening called The Future of Food.  all about genetically modified foods and the impact that has on our world.  i wish i could say it was positive but it is not.  i know i will not ever buy anything genetically modified.  so sad what is happening to the small farmers these days.  please watch it if you haven't yet.  very serious business.

on another note, remember the poison oak i thought i had? then i thought it was gone....well, i still have it and i am SOOO itchy.  my stomach itches a lot!  i am starting to think that it is not poison oak.  anyway, just thought i would share that.  what the hell is under my skin????

putting LOVE into our food

this is just as important as the other ingredients, don't EVER forget the LOVE or the food will not be as satisfying as it could be.  

this morning we had lessons in the energy that goes into putting our recipes together, the importance of colors, balancing all the flavors, having a "relief" in a dish, basics to developing a recipe, rounding out flavors, contrasting flavors, flavors that compliment each other, all of this reminding me of an artist with paint or any other medium, Chef's use food as their art form.  we are the artists learning our medium and all the possibilities.  with food we have all the colors and 6 different tastes, sweet, salty, sour, spicy, bitter and fat.  

this afternoon we had a few labs and a few demos.....one of the labs we played in was to take different foods from each category and put them with combinations we have never had together before and find some new foods that work well together.

here are some of my favorite new combinations i found today:

mango, avocado & basil

coconut, cayenne & apple

olives & basil

dark miso & apple

today they served us green smoothies in the morning with E3 Live then green juices at morning break.  for lunch we had another vibrant salad bar.  our snack this afternoon was a slice of the yummy apple pies we made in on of the labs we did.

i am walking every morning for over an hour before school, then i walk to school which is only about 7 or 8 blocks from the inn.  at lunch when i am not eating our practicing my knife skills i will take a quick walk around the town.  the fresh air feels really good after being inside so much.  after school i walk back to the inn and take the long round about way, to get some more walk in the dark.

it has been VERY cold and wet up here.  the full moon tonight is so beautiful and strong.

i love being around the students here.  living light is an amazing place to be and i am so grateful every single moment to be experiencing this opportunity.

i have to get to the homework assignment for tonight.  i will leave a picture from today with me and my team and our completed apple pie.

getting the essentials today

another fantastic packed full day at Living Light!!!  i even have some homework and studying to do so i have to make this quick....

as usual, first thing we arrive to our green smoothie & e3 Live shots.  what a great way to begin every class huh....

am snack this morning was a green juice too...

my body is humming....

all morning we had labs.  

stations that are set up and we are to go to each station and complete the recipe.  we made granola, cabbage kraut, black forest cherry brownies, garden soup, pizza flax crackers and almond cheese.

this actually was a HUGE challenge for me because i haven't EVER followed a recipe.  this was very important for me to learn how to do today!!!

after the labs in the morning we had another great salad bar.  the pictures just got posted above my head i see...oh well.

after lunch today we had the knife skills lesson!!!!  oh yes, i definitely learned a lot from this lesson.  chopping, julienne, shredding, dicing, peeling all different types of veggies.  after we had our lesson in knife sharpening, skills and safety we got to MAKE SUSHI!!!!

i did SOOOO well, as you can tell by my picture!  i learned how to roll using the bamboo roller!  

so, today was a super fun and challenging day.  i definitely learned a lot!  so with that i have to get to the homework.