Welcome back!!!!

Oh my Goodness!  Has it already been a year since my last post?

 I cant believe its been that long, then again I can as its been a massive 12 months and so much has changed. Honestly, I haven't even logged into my blog or viewed it in all of that time. I tried tonight for the first time in a year and couldn't even sign in as Id forgotten passwords and my email account had voided. Whoa....but I'm back now and have so much to share.......

SOLD - Our home in Kalgoorlie

So where to start? Where was I before I left? Living in the outback mining town of Kalgoorlie WA, I think our house had just sold and we were preparing to move back East. Well we did. We are back East at last. After a long story and many stop over visits and stays with families and friends, we found ourselves attracted to the beautiful community of Mullumbimby, hinterland of the amazing Byron Bay Shire. We spent 6 months living within town of Mullumbimby in a rental home, introducing ourselves to the community and discovering all that this incredible place has to offer. We fell in love within the first week and immediately  began searching for our ultimate dream parcel of land to begin our everchasing goal to live in nature and become self sufficient. By the end of 6 months, we had found our 'space of love' a place to grow, discover, enjoy and live. We found and purchased 24 acres of the most stunning land only 8 km out of Mullumbimby. The land is fertile, private, pituresque, diverse, amazing......filled with a flowing fresh water creek, trickling from a spring in the hills, bordering forested ridge and many glorious level acres scattered in an array of ancient trees, native and fruiting. There is a beautiful rustic, handmade stone and wood dwelling on the property made from materials sourced from the land itself. Within the boundary of our property we have everything we could have dreamed of and more. We have found paradise and are living the dream.

Our beautiful new retreat in the hinterland of Mullumbimby

As for my raw journey....well over the last 12 months it has very much fallen to the way side. After leaving Kalgoorlie and living with so many different people and locations, food of any description (vegetarian still though of course) was consumed.....hence I suppose why I haven't wanted to follow up on my blog during that time. My eating habits have turned to crap, I have caved into every craving I have ever wanted. It would even be safe to say that my diet has been the worst its ever been since I was a teenager after first moving out of home. Processed junk food has been a big part of my meals along with many glorious healthy dishes, raw and vegan. I have been swinging from a highly processed diet for a long period, then swinging to an extreme raw, lasting only days, before having major 'splurges' and hitting the processed food again. Though my taste buds have enjoyed so many of these artificial delights, my physical and mental body have not. I have gained weight, I have lost all of my energy, I have lost motivation, I have lost passion, I have lost will power and control, I have suffered skin breakouts, constipation, headaches, I have low self esteem and constantly crave junk food and I feel drained, fat and lazy. It all does sound really bad doesn't it, but I suppose to someone who eats a regular diet of highly cooked and processed foods suffers these symptoms regularly and knows no different, so isn't really noted to them. But since I have enjoyed a long period of 100% raw diet over almost 10 months, these effects I am experiencing now are being felt heavily. Maybe If I never went raw for that time, I would consider all those things to be normal and expected. Anyway, Ive had enough. No more excuses. We now live in paradise, surrounded by an 'aware' community  with an array of markets everyday filled with fresh, raw and organic food. Eating raw is highly accepted here and even has a large following. These last 12 months of searching and finding and my journey into a 100% raw diet in Kalgoorlie has taught me so much though. I have experienced comparable diets on both ends of the spectrum providing an understanding and recognition of extreme vibrant health and regular mainstream health. I have also experienced a very disciplined and highly controled lifestyle and a 'who cares' attitude to diet. And now with the knowledge, experience and awareness of both these extremes in my life I am ready to move forward on this beautiful, ideal location with a healthy balance and harmony in my life.


View from our front door.

Our driveway

Our tranquil fresh water creek

My typical day of eating Raw

As I was sitting down to my meal today, I thought it would be great to just do a simple post on what a typical day of raw eating consists of, for me. When I first started on the raw journey a year ago, I was overwhelmed with the whole idea of how to satisfy the family by just eating raw for a day...it seemed like a real challenge, but over the course of a year or more, I have simplified my raw eating quite a lot. In the beginning I spent many hours searching books and Internet sites for great raw recipe ideas to imitate cooked versions filled with loads of nuts and spent many hours in the kitchen preparing. Today things are a lot simpler and I don't spend much time thinking about the next meal.
Here is what a typical day of eating raw with no fuss is for me.

Breakfast: I usually love to eat a big bowl of chia pudding, filled with nuts, fruit and almond milk. I keep it interesting by changing the fruit to coincide with the seasons and sometimes blend the pudding and add a banana to make a creamy consistency or chia milkshake. I have even lately used blended berries instead of almond milk. I love to start the day with a big breakfast to keep me satisfied until midday or later. I feel better eating a large high nut and seed meal at the beginning of the day so that I have the rest of the day to 'work it off'
Occasionally (generally around the new moon) I wont feel like eating a large breakfast as my appetite is slower, so start the day with a fresh juice or fresh fruit.

Chia breakfast with 'the lot'

Chia banana milkshake

Blended Chia pudding with raspberries

Lunch: I tend to feel like eating lunch around 1 or 2 pm. This meal is generally a large selection of salads. I love to create a smorgasbord of salads with a 'choose your own' salad dressing. Like today, I filled bowls with grated carrot, grated beetroot, homemade sauerkraut, home preserved olives in oil and herbs, a bowl of fresh sprouts with avocado, a salad of diced tomato, fresh basil and garden greens, hemp seeds and then drizzled in lemon juice, cucumber slices in a balsamic vinegar, broccoli bits in a raw sweet and sour dressing. I then left a couple of left over dressings on the table. All these dishes take a minute to create and makes for a real 'family friendly' raw meal time. 
I love salads and there is no limit to what fresh raw ingredients you can use in season and every dish can be made unique by changing the dressings. 

A selection of raw colour

An array of seasonal salad options for all the family

Dinner:  At the end of a day, as we wind our bodies down and prepare for a night of sleeping, the last thing we should be doing is stuffing our bodies with a big meal, so I like to eat a fruit platter for dinner. If I'm extra hungry, I will toss in some seeds or nuts or like tonight, a large scoop of fresh young coconut cream (made by blending flesh of young coconut and a date). Sometimes I will enjoy my fruit as a delicious almond milk smoothie as an alternative. As the kids are growing and use up lots more energy, I will lightly steam some vegetables with quinoa, or a boiled egg for them at night if they request it. 

Delicious mango and strawberry fruit salad

Fresh fruit options for dinner with an added dollop of 'young coconut cream'

Dessert: As an occasional special treat, I love to make a raw dessert - usually something sweet and chocolaty. This will be indulged any time of the day and doesn't last long!

decadent raw caramel slice for a luxurious dessert

Sweet raw balls of chocolate for a sweet treat.

Decadent raw cake for desserts

 Snacks: Snack are always just fresh fruit - I have a constantly full fruit bowl brimming with organic fresh fruit for all day access. I love fruit and find it so easy to snack on.

This is my typical day that I feel is easily achieved. When I am in the mood or have the time, I do like to create a raw masterpiece, or trial a new recipe, but generally this is what I like to maintain daily. By consuming a good portion of fruit, vegetables, greens, seeds and nuts everyday, I feel balanced in mind and body.

Last Raw Food Workshop for Kalgoorlie

Wow, what a great start to the year already...(though, not a big one for my blog - sorry for the lack of posts.....) but we have been busy preparing our lovely little home for sale...only to have it under contract the day after it is listed! Wow, a little faster than we anticipated, but were certain the first person to view it, was going to fall in love with it.
So now we await the final inspections and then it will be officially sold! yay.

Due to popular demand though, I have decided to squeeze in one last and final raw food wokshop in Kalgoorle before we depart this side of the country.
The intended date is for Sunday 26th February at 12midday. This workshop will be designed to introduce interested people to the raw food world as I prepare simple, fast and delicious meals. Most of the recipes I will be making, I have already covered in my previous workshops as I hope to show off some of my most popular and favourite meals to first time 'rawists'. If you are keen, please check out my Facebook page - 'Raw harmony' and comment or email me at mickpeta@aapt.net.au for more information. Looking forward to a relaxed special last workshop to excite some Kalgoorlians into the world of raw living!

Welcome 2012 - the year it all happens!

Happy New Year Everybody!
And a happy new year it is!
2012 has arrived and I am so excited to welcome it in.

This is the year we will be finally achieving a dream we initiated 15 years ago. It was that many years ago that Mick and I got engaged on a Gold Coast beach as 20 year old's and decided after a drive through the Sunshine Coast hinterland, that we were going to one day live in the hills on a patch of land and call it ours.

We had often looked back, in hindsight over the last many years and wondered how we could have done things differently to achieve this goal quicker and wished we did, but it has only been recently that I have come to realise that we were just not ready until now.

Our life that has been our journey to this point, has been a learning journey to prepare us for our dream and without experiencing it thus far, our dream would not have been achieved in a complete way. 

Both of us have grown in Independence, maturity and most importantly spiritually which has lead us to more than just wanting to buy a parcel of land on the Eastern Coast hinterland to call it ours. We now have real purpose on how to 'live' on that parcel of land and achieve a life of contentment.  We now also have greater financial security, a greater awareness of simplicity and a greater understanding of our life's purpose. Its only during the recent years we have really developed this long term dream into something realistic and sustainable. I now have been introduced to the world of 'unschooling' for our children's needs, I am now involved in an ethical and fun dreadlocking business for future income, We have sufficient financial funds to keep us debt free, We have greater insight in to a completely healthy and sustainable form of eating and have a stronger burning passion to start living this way of life which is getting stronger every day. 

I have now come to realise that things always happen for a reason, nothing is a coincident, life is how it is for a purpose and we are exactly where we are suppose to be at this very moment. Everything that happened yesterday has been a lead up to this moment and everything that will happen this moment is a lead up to what is going to happen tomorrow. Timing was just not right until this year for us and so bring it on! 2012 here it is!

I will also look forward to another year of eating a fresh and energising live food diet and so have started the year with a fast to shed my last few months of 'un-enthusiasm'. The past 3 months I have lost a lot of my 'passion' for life due to a number of reasons, hence my eating has not been as high raw and exciting as I would have preferred. But today is the start of a new year and I am looking forward to getting back into a few new raw recipes and simplifying my meals and life as we transition from this life to the start of the rest of our life - back east.   

Mangoes!

For all those that know me, know that I LOVE Mangoes! It is the one fruit of the year that I get really excited about. Seeing that first tray of mangoes available for the season is a joy in itself. In the midst of mango season, I will easily eat on average between 5 and 10 mangoes per day. When I'm hungry, I eat a mango, when I'm thirsty, I eat a mango, when I'm bored, I eat a mango. And the best way to eat a mango is raw, ripe and freshly sliced with nothing added - they are perfect just as they are.........that is until this season! and that's the reason for my post tonight.

Sadly, we should be in the peak of the mango season, they should be available by the tray full in all stores, shops should be filled with the scent of fresh mangoes.....but so far they aren't. I haven't been able to buy one for a couple of months now. But, you may say...."I've seen them in the supermarkets, tray fulls....." These, my friends, are NOT mangoes. They are not a true mango, but a modern hybrid variety known as Calypso mangoes, and that is all they are selling by the tray load to my disappointment.

To the average person who likes the odd mango may think that the Calypso mango is fine, but to me, who is a 'mango connoisseur', believes its taste is nothing in comparison to the magnificent essence of the Kensington Pride, or commonly known in QLD as the Bowen mango. This mango is superior in taste to all mango varieties. Its texture is juicy, its flavour is devine and its aroma is like perfume..... when my house is filled with this beautiful fruit, the essence fills every room. 

So this year as I walk through the shops searching for my beloved mango, all I have found so far is Calypso, honey gold and some other strange unheard of variety called Parvin....  So with this disappointment, I conducted a little internet research on the Calypso mango and was disheartened by what I found. 

Created only a few years ago by crossing the Kensington Pride mango with some other unknown Florida form of mango called 'red blush' or something a rather and creating this hybrid poor tasting mango now dominating the market known as the Calypso. Creating hybrid fruit is nothing new and is not always bad, but just like most modern fruit sold today is designed and marketed for all the wrong reasons.  

This Calypso variety is being haled as the 'new improved' mango to meet so called - 'customers demands'...
- as it has a higher seed to flesh ratio,  
- a constant yearly yield,
- a more cosmetic appeal with its pretty little red 'blush' cheeks' 
- has firmer flesh so that it can 'chop up' nicely
and most importantly.....dah dah dah, drum roll.....
- it has a high shelf life!
And that says it all!

So once again another exquisite tasting fruit such as the magnificent Kensigton Pride mango is getting the 'boot off' the shelves as undesirable because it doesn't look as pretty, yield as consistant and last for many months to export around the world all year round - with no concern or reference for the taste. As usual, the taste of the fruit is of no consideration or of any relevance to the marketing of the product with all concern to what will generate the most money. So in another few years we will adding the mango to the growing list of fruits that we will be saying..."oh, those mangoes in the shop just don't have any taste any more, they taste like rubber!"

Anyway, now that I have that off my chest, I will admit, that a Calypso mango, no matter how bad they taste in comparison to the Kensington Pride, is still better than no mango at all - I cant survive a summer without a few mangoes, so for the first time ever, I have been experimenting on some raw mango dishes. In the past I considered a mango used for any other purpose than to eat fresh straight out of the skin as is, was a waste, but if you are using a Calypso variety, then I am willing to add it to anything to improve its flavour.

Here is my latest simple and refreshing mango salad, great for these lovely 40 degree summer days in Kalgoorlie!

Simply dice a couple of mangoes into a bowl, add shredded fresh basil leaves, a handful of afalfa sprouts and drizzle with a little olive oil and lemon juice.

Simple raw summer mango salad

All that said, I know the first tree I will be planting on our 'space of love' when we move back east - actually, make that about 10 - the Kensington Pride mango so they will never be 'out of fashion' on our place.

Delicious sprouted lentil summer salads

Today's 'invented' summer salads were so yummy, I thought they were worth sharing, so here they are:


Raw Mango and sprouted lentil salad In a bowl add:
2 sliced ripe mangoes
a handful of fresh shredded basil leaves
a handful of sprouted lentils (I used brown lentils)
a Tablespoon of black sesame seeds

toss through a drizzle of olive oil and the juice of half a lime.



Raw mango and sprouted lentil salad



Raw Sprouted Lentil salad with raw hommus dressing
In a bowl add:
1 Chopped cucumber
1 diced avocado
a handful of cherry tomatoes
a handful of sprouted lentils
a handful of fresh shredded parsley
a small amount of thinly sliced red onion
(Optional celery if available)

Top with raw Hommus:
Made by blending until smooth:
1/8 cup of sesame seeds
1/8 cup of hemp seeds
dash of olive oil
1 garlic clove
pinch of salt
juice of half a lime
(a little water to thin if needed)



Raw Sprouted lentil salad with raw Hommus dressing

 I have never really used raw lentils much, but was quite impressed with the results from today's efforts.

To sprout the lentils, I simply soaked a cup full of brown lentils in filtered water overnight. I then drained and rinsed them twice a day for about 2 days, leaving them to sit in a colander until sprouted. They will keep in the fridge for a few more days. They have given my salads an extra crunchy texture, a little more nutritional value and created an extra interest to the meal. Sprouted lentils will be something I will be using more often.

My new favourite 'tangy cheese' raw kale chips

My friend introduced me to these fabulous flavoured raw kale chips recently and so I just had to make a batch of my own...well this is actually my 3rd batch as I love them so much!

They are so simple, just toss in the following ingredients and dehydrate!

Tear up 2 bunch of washed and destemed kale and toss through:
about 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast, juice of half a lemon or lime, couple of pinches of salt and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  

Its that simple and they taste amazing!

Raw 'tangy cheese' kale chips

My new favourite raw 'fresh and spicy thai' dressing sauce

I had one one of those great moments in the kitchen yesterday when I was making up a simple raw meal last minute, and decided to just invent a salad dressing to compliment the sprouts on the spot.....and it worked! I loved it so much I was licking out the bowl. So here it is: 

In a blender (I used my little personal blender) process the following: (measurements are estimates only)

1/4 cup of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of raw honey
1 garlic clove
1 dried chili
juice of half a lime
and a fresh kefir lime leaf.
(Optional to add a couple of fresh basil leaves, or just add a handful to your salad) I love the taste of fresh basil leaves in a salad or 'raw fry'

I was delighted with this simple dressing and found it complemented my fresh sprout and avocado salad, as well as my kelp noodle raw fry.






kelp noodles, broccoli and basil 'raw fry' with my new 'fresh and spicy thai' dressing.
I served this with a sprinkle of crushed almonds.



My fresh and spicy thai dressing also goes well over a bowl of
fresh sprouts, basil leaves and avocado cubes.

Served with marinated mushrooms

(simply mushrooms soaked in olive oil, nama shoyu and apple cider vinegar..

about a tablespoon of each)

Homemade sauerkraut (fermented cabbage and beetroot version)

Raw tabbouleh (chopped parsley, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion

tossed in olive oil and lemon juice and a handful of hemp seeds)

And of course my beautiful home cured olives

I believe the best meals are always the simplest and serving up a smorgasbord of super simple dishes such as these is sometimes better than a single complicated dish.   

Delectable Raw Desserts workshop

On Saturday I held my final raw food workshop for the year and it was so much fun. I had my biggest class of 15 people attend and delighted everyone with some delectable raw cakes and treats. Most of which were full of chocolate - my favourite!

Here is some of the photos from the day which I remembered to actually take some. 

Raw Carrot cake Raw Caramel slice cake and Raw Chocolate and coconut Layered cake, 
all ready to share with everyone at the workshop.

Everyone helping themselves to a slice

It was such a wonderful day, fully enjoyed by all. I love to be able to share with interested participants the amazing benefits of raw and just how delicious a living lifestyle really can be.

If you would like a copy of the handout from today's workshop of raw cakes and treats, I will be making it available in the comming days through a payment of $5 via paypal. It will then be emailed to you asap.

The list of recipes are:

Carrot cake with a cashew cream frosting

Caramel Slice cake

Caramel slice

Coconut and Choc Fudge Layered Cake

Coconut Roughs.

Raw bliss balls

Chocolate mousse topped with bananas

Surprise ingredient Chocolate mousse and berry cake

 

And many more ideas that can be evolved from these basic recipes.

Raw  desserts are the best!

'Delicious Raw Dinners' Workshop.

On Saturday 26th November, I conducted another raw food workshop as a follow up to the successful breakfast workshop from the month before. The day was a great success and the creations made were simple, delicious, and totally amazed a few of the attendees who were new to raw. 

I chose a collection of my favourite raw dinners that I often create which are quick, tasty and can be easily varied to accommodate for the availability of ingredients during the changing of seasons.

The meals included:

Sweet and Sour Vegetable 'stirfry'

Fresh spring rolls

Pasta Pesto with a cheese sauce

 

Spaghetti bolognaise with 'meat balls'

Spicy Phad Thai noodles with a spicy almond sauce

If you would like a copy of the handout from the workshop which has been written in an easy to read, step by step, photographed instructions, format and include all of the above recipes, then it can be purchased for just $5 via paypal which will be emailed to you in pdf form. This will be available within the comming days.