Mangosteen Magic

It’s been a year now since I shared with you all about Radiantly Alive and the sanctuary of raw food, yoga, and light beings residing in the Bali mountains.  I had my first experience with Radiantly Alive over a year ago when I traveled to Bali to participate in their Vibrant Living Yoga teacher training. This year, I traveled back to the heart space in the mountains to work in the kitchen preparing beautiful, enzyme rich food for the hardworking yogis!

A daily buffet of LOVE!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Radiantly Alive and what they do, I’ll fill you in.  Radiantly Alive was created by Daniel Aaron.  Radiantly Alive provides a space for people to come and experience a deeper expression of themselves.  Whether you are joining Radiantly Alive for a yoga class, a yoga retreat, a yoga teacher training, or a raw food apprenticeship program, you will be guaranteed to walk away with a sense of growth and a new understanding of yourself.

You can learn more about Radiantly Alive at http://www.radiantlyalive.com/.

Twice a year Daniel and the rest of the amazing Radiantly Alive crew provide a yoga teacher training that takes place at  Anahata Resort up the hill from the town of Ubud.  Anahata is sanctuary away from town, placed ever so gently in the damp jungle.  During both the 4 week 300hr Level 1 training and the 2 week 100hr Level 2 training, a buffet of organic, local raw food is served three times a day.

Level 2 teacher training

During this visit to Bali, I joined the apprenticeship program in the kitchen during the 4 week long teacher training.  Along with 7 other “westerners” and an amazing Balinese staff, we pumped out 3 meals a day for approximately 70 yogis. Every training, Daniel brings in a talented chef to take on the responsibility of the kitchen, the menu, and the staff.  This fall training we were blessed to have Chef Franky G in the kitchen with us.

Chef Franky G and his grinds!

If you are interested in learning more about raw foods and raw food preparation, look into the Raw Food course that Radiantly Alive is now offering. The next apprenticeship program will be held May 5 – June 4.  This upcoming program will be lead by master raw food chef and instructor Elaina Love.

Here is a glimpse of some of the things that we created over the four week training last fall.

Breakfast

Salamat Pagi!!! After an hour of meditation and a two hour yoga practice, the yogis are hungry for the morning grinds!

A morning table full of goodness!

A new smoothie everyday!

A chocolate morning dip for raw toasts and fruit!

mmmmmm....chia porridge!

A blanket of coco wrapped ever so beautifully around the banana mango filling!

Gingerbread w/ an apple slaw!

Hazelnut cranberry toast with apricot butter!

A savory breakfast option!

Super BALLS!

More super balls w/ a walnut dip and chocolate sauce! We like chocoate in the am!

After Breakfast the yogis head back upstairs for 4 hours of lectures, classes, practice teaching, and more.  This four hours is broken once for a quick juice/restroom break.  Of course the kitchen crew is ready with a different fresh juice everyday.

A locally grown, refreshing juice !

Everyday is a little different!

Nyoman opening a few of the hundreds of cocos we go through weekly!

As the kitchen crew stays busy learning and creating flavors and textures, soups and sauces, the yogis continue to learn.  This class is followed by a lunch break which includes another buffet of raw treats.

Lunch Time

A lunch table

Avocado Corn Salad

Groovin

Coconut Ceviche

Corn Bread

Corn Bread

Anna setting up the beautiful table!

Creamy Fennel Soup

Corn Salad and local ferns

Almond Hummus

Lunch Time

Italian Lunch

Pesto stuffed cucumbers!

Daikon Ravioli

For one week during the training, some of the trainees do a cleanse. Therefore the kitchen crew creates a cleanse friendly and a non cleanse friendly version of each meal!

Rainbow Salad

Creamy Carrot Pate

Sprouted Quinoa Salad

Condiments

Dinner Time

After a long day of absorbing new information and growth, we all join hands to bless this meal!

"It's dinner time!"

Time to join for dinner w/ a blessing!

Joining as one....

Create your own bowl!

Balinese Lawar

Lasanga Night

Lasanga upclose with a sprouted buckwheat garlic stick!

Indian Spinach Paneer w/croquettes

Pizza Night!

Sambal Matah! A traditional balienese condiment served with everything, including all of Radiantly Alive's lunches and dinners.

Final Dinner after 4 weeks of training!

Every once and awhile we have yummy desserts too!

I am so grateful to have experienced the time that I did in the kitchen with a beautiful crew of friends, which included Frank, Boris, Anna, Sara, Joy, Steve, Vicki, and the Balinese staff.  We used our creative minds all day to compose this art, that is raw food!

Some of the Balinese staff w/ myself!

Sharing love at breakfast!

Another bonus about working in the kitchen was the fun field trips we took around Bali visiting permaculture farms, cacao farms and enjoying guest visitors sharing their knowledge.

Cacao fruit for Joy and I!

There is much to this experience that will stay deep in my heart forever.  Thank you to everyone who was part of this experience.  Together we made a month long yoga teacher training a success!

A view from above! Windward side, Oahu

I grew up with a family who loved to road trip every summer from Florida to Wisconsin, across to Nebraska, and down to New Orleans.  My dad would do most of the driving and my mother would pack the coolers full of snacks for the car ride.  One staple snack that my mother would always pack was peanut butter with carrots and celery sticks. As a child, I actually did not enjoy the snack.  However, through the years and my growth as a health conscious being and raw chef, my mind has again been turned on to the idea of veggies w/ nut butters.  I am grateful that my lover feels the same way!

A beautiful man carrying beautiful grinds!

Mountian Top Picnic snack

Together we hiked up to Olomana peak and brought some treats along.  We’ve been super into making varies of nut/seed butters.  If you have a dehydrator, you can soak your nuts or seeds over night and then put them in a dehydrator the next day for 6ish hours before making butter.  We love adding maca to our nut butters and making them super duper and filled with super foods !

Cacao Pumpkin Seed butter and Almond Maca butter!

Salude to our journey up the mountian and our yummy nut butters!

Mahalo Olomana for your energy and love!

Until next time……..

I am one of those people who love sweet treats.  Of course, my sweet treats are free of refined sugars, preservatives, food colorings, gluten, and are never heated.  I appreciate a sweet something everyday and I really enjoy creating them.  I’ve been extremely busy making pies lately.  I’m going to share a few desserts and catch you to date on what I’ve been playing with.

Tirimasu

Chocolate Banana Swirl Pie

Guava Cheesecake

Wyatt's Birthday Pies

Chocolate Ganache and Coconut Cream

Garnish Goddess at work

Singing to the Birthday Boy!

Eggfruit Pie!

Banana Fig Pie by request!

Cacao Coco Cookie w/ a Banana Maple Cream

Chocolate Cupcakes w/ a tangerine "icing"

A photo by Nicole Izak of my Christmas raw cupcakes!

Desserts are one of my most favorite things to create. If you have any suggestions or requests about any type of dessert you would like to make raw, let me know.  I’m always up for a challenge in the kitchen!

Mahalo and enjoy!

North Shore Star Fruit

Aloha Friends!  Though Goldielock’s blog has not been extremely active, there has been no lack of action in the kitchen.  I’ve been moving around for the last 4 months and am now catching you all up to date with photographs of new creations.  I’m back in Hawaii with an appreciation for life, local growth, and a kitchen with all the necessities (big mahalos to team Kaimalu).  I have many blogs to write to fill you all in on my travels and my experiences in the kitchen. Here is some local grinds in there whole form!

Frankies Nusury in Waimanalo

Frankies Nursery always provides us with an amazing array of fruits from his orchards.

Chico Fruit! Tastes like brown sugar.

Pure Brown Sugar

Mountain apples and local pears

Cocos!

My own beautiful merman who opens da cocos!

Just Chia!

Most of us have heard the word chia before, whether it was in the food industry recently or years ago referring to a fuzzy, green “pet”. The chia seed has been a prominent seed in my life for a few years now.  I have been making chia porridge in the mornings for breakfast, putting chia seeds in my smoothies, sprinkling them on salads, and even using them for breads and crackers.

Superfoods on top of chia porriage!

Chia seeds are known for being rich in omega 3 fatty acids.  This tiny seed also is high in protein, dietary fiber, and phytochemicals. Chia seeds contains essential minerals like phosphorus and manganese.  They contain small amounts of calcium, potassium, and sodium, as well.

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The pure excitement of a morning chia treat!

Create your own smoothie and stir in a tablespoon of chia seeds, mix well, and let sit for 20 minutes.  You can do the same thing by adding chia seeds to nut milk.  The more chia seeds you use, the thicker the consistancy will become.  As the chia sits still, it becomes gelatinous. This is caused by the soluble fiber in the chia.

Chocolate Chia Porridge

mmmmm yum!

Chia seeds hold 10 times their weight in water and are extremely hydrating.  Play around with this magical seed and see what you can create!

Chia Smoothie Parfait

For more information on Chia visit:

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/chia.html

http://www.nutsonline.com/cookingbaking/chia-seeds/organic.html

St. Augustine, FL

I am infinitely amazed at how diverse the planet is.  There is so much local abundance being produced in all different climates, soils, weather, and environments!  I was born and raised in the historic, beach town of St. Augustine, FL.  Growing up as a Floridian, I was blessed with a never ending supply of grapefruit and oranges. With a love and appreciation for local produce, I was shocked to find my favorite fruit living across the street from my parents house this past summer.  I was especially shocked because I lived in the same house for 18 years and never knew of this secret fig tree, which was living only 10 feet away. I love local produce for many reasons! One reason being that I can physically stand in front of the tree or bush, reach out my hand, grab a ripe piece of fruit and put it directly in my mouth!

Picking figs in Florida!

My travels have continued to take me to numerous locations, all of which produce their own amazing local grinds.  I feel so blessed to know that my parents will continue to be blessed with fresh, local, figs every year!  I especially like the fact that I can enjoy these fresh figs when I’m visiting!

St. Augustine Figs

Love Life, Live Long, Eat Local!!!

Zucchini with the blossoms still attached!

The magic zucchini!  Zucchini can be used in a variety of ways in the raw food world.  Zucchini can be used in dehydrated breads and crackers to make them more durable and pliable.  Zucchini can be used in exchange for chickpeas to create a tasty raw hummus.  Zucchini is used in raw burgers, salads, pasta, casseroles, and more.

Pesto pasta topped with avocado and an Italian pate!

The zucchini, also known as a courgette, has many health benefits!  Like most raw fruits and vegetables, zucchini’s have a very high water content, which leaves the body more hydrated than eating cooked zucchini.  The high level of Vitamin C in zucchinis help to prevent bruising and diseases like scurvy, which are brought on by a Vitamin C deficiency.  The high Vitamin C content also helps to cure asthma and promote eye health.  Zucchini’s are beautiful for people on a diet or looking to loose weight because they have a very low calorie count and are full of water. Zucchini’s are also known to help protect against colon cancer and multiple sclerosis.  Finally, Zucchini contains good amounts of folate, potassium, lutien, and vitamin A, all of which promote good health.

Asian Flare pasta made with miso, nama shoyu, ginger, garlic, coconut water, raw honey, and more! Like always, it's topped with avocado!

One other quick note is that a zucchini is actually the fruit of the squash blossom and not a vegetable.  Typically we think of zucchini as a vegetable because it is cooked and served in savory dishes.  If you are really interested…… zucchini is an immature fruit, the swollen ovary of  a female zucchini flower!  How’s that for zucchini knowledge!

Love and Light and Zucchini!

The ladies and I getting ready to munch on some raw grindage!

As a traveling yoga instructor and raw food chef, I take on a lot of random house sitting/pet sitting gigs.  I love it!  It gives me an opportunity to experience new places and new animals constantly.

My dear friend and one of my very first yoga teachers, Kate Mitchell, has always offered her beautiful home to me whilst she is off on her adventures.  Kate is a raw food educator who continues to do beautiful work at the Living Foods Institute in Atlanta, GA.  She is an inspirational, beautiful being, who I’m always excited to be in the presence of!

Explaining what's for dinner!

The last time she went on an adventure away from home, I invited some of my bestest girlfriends over for a Goldielocks dinner!  I had been thinking and dreaming of ravioli for some time now and decided I was gonna go for it!  With a few recipes in mind and after reading over different recipes online, I got to work.  In 4 hours, with the help of my beautiful assistant Heidi and my salad making sista Nicky, we busted out a RAWvioli dinner for 6, with days of leftovers.

Mandoline sliced daikon

Since my indecisiveness was shining bright this day, I decided on two different variations of raWvioli!  I used beets as the raWvioli shell for one variation and daikon radish for the other.  I sliced them both using the mandoline.  I then marinated the beet and daikon in garlic, olive oil, himalayan salt and lemon for a few hours before assembling.  The beet raWvioli was stuffed with a traditional cashew cheese and topped with a creamy pesto sauce.  The second variation was a daikon raWvioli stuffed with a creamy portabello filling and topped with a sweet creamy beet sauce and a olive, brazil nut tapanade.  Of course, I love variation, so I set up a table and let the girls assemble their own plates with their choice of “shell”, filling, and sauces!

RaWvioli stuffed w/ cashew cheeses and topped with fresh pesto and sweet beet sauce!

Of course a dinner party would not be complete with out a beautiful raw dessert!  I decided to make banana mango crepes for dessert.  I have always been a huge fan of  crepes, especially for breakfast or dessert.  In my eyes, crepes must be stuffed with something creamy and delicious.  My dear friend and partner in crime Ms. Heidi Blair assisted me in creating a beautiful ice cream to fill the crepes.  We made a delicious cinnamon/ginger cashew based ice cream!  I soaked some bananas and berries in a little rum and agave to make a drunken fruit topping!

Banana Mango crepes stuffed with cinnamon/ginger icecream and covered in drunken berries!

It is always a blessing to share raw foods with people I love.  The girls were stoked and we are excited for the next dinner party to come!

One thing that is eliminated when one chooses to take on a raw food diet is bread.  By bread, I mean baked bread, toast, wraps, muffins, bagels, and so on.  Anything that is made with processed flours and cooked.  I should quickly clarify that as a raw foodist or someone who eats or creates raw foods, you can still enjoy wonderful breads.  Though, it’s not as simple as walking into any location and ordering a big wrap on a raw tortilla!

A tasty raw tortilla stuffed with da yummy grinds!

I have a huge love and passion for sandwiches!  I have always taken pride in creating what I believe to be amazing sandwiches that are big and stuffed full of fresh, organic, animal free goodness!  I recently discussed with a friend Lisa about how there is a specific knowledge and understanding to putting together a proper sandwich that is going to hold together and not fall to pieces, even though that’s fun too!   Lisa just opened a wonderful little lunch stand here in St. Augustine called The Juice Box, where she serves fresh juices, salads, and sandwiches.  Check her out in the Rochelle’s parking lot! (http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2010-07-17/welcome-business?quicktabs_1=2)

A plate of colorful raw grinds to put into the wrap.

I had been craving a big fat wrap that wasn’t a collard green, so I put together a few ingredients in the vita mix to create big, beautiful, raw tortillas!  All sandwiches need a proper filling, so I mixed up a pumpkin seed pate.  My lovely friend Nicky chopped up an abundance of veggies to stuff inside.  I also made a yummy sweet jalapeno sauce for dipping.

Pumpkin seed pate

da insides

Together Nicky and I enjoyed the big raw sandwiches that left us licking our fingers and plates afterwards!  Just the way I like it!

Nicky's super excited!

It is such a pleasure to join together with the people I love and share energy, new ideas, laughing, and food!  I’ve been in connection with the Bikram Yoga Studio of St. Augustine, FL for over 8 years now.  We have created this amazing family of yogis who work together and bring the hot yoga to the little, beautiful town of St. Augustine, FL.  (bikramyogastaug.com) This family we have created is constantly supporting each other through this journey of life and yoga.  Often, we join together for dinners at momma Kate’s (owner of Bikram Yoga St. Aug) house.  Our last gathering was in celebration of our dear friend Kris.  She decided to make a move away from the little town of St. Augustine.  With her being a dedicated Bikram Yoga student for the past 8 years, it only made since to have a celebration of her presence and energy at our studio.  For this celebration, I decided to make a pie for our little dinner party.

A dancing celebration of flavors and colors combine to create......

Chocolate and mint are two flavors that are often paired together and have created a staple in popular sweet recipes! Growing up many of us have gone through our own experiences with mint chocolate chip ice cream, Thin Mint girl scout cookies, mint chocolate brownies, peppermint chocolate bark, peppermint patties, and so on.  I actually experienced my first raw mint chocolate swirl pie with my lovely friends at Maui Kombucha(mauikombucha.com)!  I came across a beautiful bunch of organic mint leaves and decided that I was going to go for the chocolate mint swirl pie!  Indeed, it was a tasty pie which left the mouth bursting with minty freshness.

Getting ready to feed the friends....

With a coconut, cacao nib, date crust and a swirly, minty chocolate pie filling, this pie is sure to cure anyone’s chocolate craving! Yummy!

A creamy blend of chocolate and fresh mint!