Wow – what a fun-filled weekend! From helping out an amazing raw food Chef to attending The Best of Raw Awards Gala – I had an (r)awesome weekend!

If you didn’t see my post on Facebook, here’s a quick video that sort of recaps the night for you. Also below, I’ve included links to some favorite products and/or people. Which, I highly suggest checking out <3

Favorite Kale Chips

Alive and Radiant Kale Chips – especially the chocolate flavor – SO good!

Favorite Chocolate(s) — as if I can pick one!?

Lulu’s Chocolates

Sacred Chocolates – White Passion (holy bleep, this stuff is the jam!)

Random Snacks

Bliss Bars – especially the Chia Mulberry flavor – holy YES! (not as good as Rawxies, but you know )

Living Tree Chia, Cranberry, Cherry & Blueberry Butter – umm, yumm!

Exciting New Product

Sun Warrior Warrior Blend Protein Powder - Yeaaaah, Rice free hommies!

People

Dara Dubinet - not that ya’ll need her link, but ya know…

Amber Zuckswert – Epic Self

Jonathan Human

Chef BeLive

————————————————-

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

PS – this post is messed up and the comment box isn’t appearing, haha… I don’t even want to mess with it!

Happy Friday!

I want to remind everyone to ‘Like’ Rawxies on Facebook and/or sign up for Rawxies Newsletter. Both of which, can be found in the right column of this blog. Rawxies will be partnering with a couple of great green coupon sites and all information will be updated Facebook! This will be a great chance to try Rawxies at a super discounted price… yay!

Now, back to food – after all, it’s what I do (and like) best.

Wakame and Kale – these can be two tough foods for people to consume. I know, so why the hell would I put them together? Well, I was kind of hoping that two wrongs would make a right, if you know what I mean…

Two wrongs made… well, a unique salad that isn’t for the faint of hearts. Let’s just say, if you’re not in the mood for either of the above ingredients, don’t make it! One thing I’d recommend is omitting the wakame OR replacing it with arame, if you’re new to seaweeds. If you love seaweed – then score! You’ll love it.

Wakame Kale Salad

Soaked and rinsed wakame
kale (chopped, washed)
sea salt to tast
Fresh Sauerkraut
Hemp Seeds

Lemon Tahini Dressing

.25 C tahini
.25 C water
.25 Lemon Juice
1 clove garlic
sea salt

In a high-speed blender, blend dressing ingredients. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix kale, wakame and sea salt. Using a few tablespoons of the lemon tahini dressing, vigorously massage kale mixture, until kale is wilted in texture. Top with fresh kraut and hemp seeds.

Enjoy!!

Damn, this month rawks!

Two great Rawxies shout outs I wanted to share with everyone – both, made me happy as hell… I mean, how many times in one month can a girl almost pee her pants in excitement!? No shame, no shame.

This just in from VegNews – A couple of weeks ago, I dropped off a box of Rawxies to VegNews in the Mission – And, it looks like they enjoyed them! Check out the post as they named Rawxies their pick for the week – SO flattered!

And, Kate from A Healthy Passion gave Rawxies an amazing review on her Friday’s Five video last week. Seriously, can everyone who reviews Rawxies please have an adorable southern accent? Yes, that would be amazing. Please. And. Thank you. (specific time for Rawxies is 5:30)

Thanks again for the shout outs — Life has been such a whirlwind this past year and I just feel so blessed to finally have the opportunity to share my passion (in the form of Rawxies) with everyone!! Much <3 xoxo

Yesterday was a good day.

Productive. Calm. Beautiful.

See, I’ve been making it a priority these past few days to try something new – to actually put forth an effort upon waking to create and/or manifest the right mindset. A mindset, that keeps the mind positive, the body productive, and the love flowing. I know, for you energy skeptics – I sound bat-sh*t crazy right now. But trust me, if you take the time to set your mind in the morning, the stress in your life won’t seem so stressful.

Personally, I’m laying in silence for 15 minutes focusing on positive energy – seeing myself how I want to be – manifesting success and happiness – I also repeat affirmations.

I then come to the present and journal – nothing novel like – but rather just a quick synopses of how I’m feeling in that very moment and what I’d like to think about throughout the day.

Yesterday, I actually accomplished much more than expected and even ended up with a little time to play in the kitchen – Love!

Spicy Almond Noodlez

• bag of kelp noodles
• 2 C julienned carrots

– sauce

• 1 C almond butter
• 1 C cherry tomatoes
• .25 C tamari
• .25 C sesame seed oil (pref. toasted)
• 1 lime peeled (or juiced if not using a vitamix)
• 1 packet of stevia
• 1/5″ ginger
• 1 T miso
• .5 clove garlic
• 1-2 tsp fresh chili paste (could also use tai chillies, cayenne, chili flakes, etc…)

In a large bowl, combine kelp noodles and carrots – set aside.

In a high-speed blender, blend all dressing ingredients until smooth. This will yield much more than needed for the noodles. Set aside 2 T – .25 C of dressing and place the reminder in an airtight container in the refrigerator (will keep for 4-5 days).

Mix almond dressing with kelp/carrot noodles – let sit for about 5 minutes until kelp noodles are soft in texture. Garnish with fresh lime zest and serve immediately.

Enjoy!!

OMG – I can’t believe it. My Bite-Sized Strawberry Cheesecake Pops won the 2012 Hot Raw Chef Sweet Valentines Recipe Contest!

To say I’m excited doesn’t even began to sum up how I actually feel! I’m beyond flattered that such well respected Raw Food Chefs would choose me out of many other wonderful candidates – I mean, did you check out some of the other recipes – they were amazing!

I did have to laugh though, as last year’s winner (for the exact same contest) was Chef Amber Shea – blogger behind Almost Vegan and author of Practically Raw… Umm, Kansas City represent!! even if I don’t live there anymore, ha…

So, what else am I super excited about? Well, duh! Both the GreenStar Elite Juicer and $2000 in tuition for Living Light Culinary Institute in Fort Bragg, CA. See, before I created Rawxies, I was debating on moving out West any who to attend LLCI – so, now that I actually get to do it – well, has me grinning from ear to ear! I mean, have you checked out there classes before? Everything from the Science of Raw Food Nutrition (heart just skipped a beat) to Gourmet Raw Food Certification programs! Browse the wonderfulness for yourself here!

Besides the tuition, it goes without saying that I almost pee’d my pants knowing I had also won a GreenStar Juicer from Tribest. If your unfamiliar with GreenStar – well, it’s like the cadillac of juicers. I’m not going to lie, I do love my Omega Vrt HD 350, but I am stoked to now also own a GreenStar Juicer – Which means, I’ll now be able to make juice up to three days in advance with minimal nutrient loss. For a busy girl like myself, that it GOLD. Gold I tell you.

Thanks again to Living Light Culinary Institute, Tribest, my family and my friends – today is a great day!!

Much love <3

Super Bowl, what!? Is that today?….

As you can see, football is the last thing on this girl’s mind. Instead, I’m playing a nice game of catch-up after spending the week with my mom. I don’t even want to talk about my email inbox right now… It’s no bueno.

However, work aside – I did have a great week with my mom, who flew from Missouri to spend the week with her oh-so precious daughter. That’s me – by the way

Since I’m still rather new to the Bay Area, I’m a pretty horrible tour guide (insert: the blind leading the blind), but we did manage to do the obvious – visit the Golden Gate Bridge. After we walked across, Mom said “walk across Golden Gate Bridge, Check. Never walk across Golden Gate Bridge again, Check.” ahhahaha – AMEN! Here are a few pics I posted to my FB page this week — Ignore the android phone photos, as I (in true Callie form) got all the way to the city and realized my battery was not in my camera! Only me, only me.

I also managed to receive the last of my print materials for Rawxies media/promo kits this week and I was pretty excited with how everything came (or is coming, ha) together!

Also, Rawxies received a few shot outs this week, so I wanted to include those links – definitely recommend checking them out!

Sprint 2 The Table

Healthy Diva Eats

A Healthy Passion

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Ok, everyone – if you’re friends with me on facebook, then you were able to get a sneak peak of my entry for the 2012 Hot Raw Chef Sweet Valentine’s Recipe Contest – as promised, here it is!

Voting starts today, so don’t wait – head on over to HotRawChef.com right now and get your vote on (for me, of course! haha). I’m number 26!!! Scroll to the bottom of the video page – enter your name and email address (this is to prevent people from voting 5 million times) and then place your vote! Thanks so much, everyone!!!

While it was fun to be part of this contest, I will say – creating a recipe video in 5 minutes or less, was like asking me to walk in Sephora and leave empty handed… Almost impossible. Seriously, I think I have talking issues, as my first intro was 3 minutes alone… It’s genetics, I can’t help it (thanks, mom). You should have seen me cutting the clips – I was like ‘what else can I cut out!?’… ha.

Any who, what excites me most about this creation are the pink sprinkles… yeah, that’s right – raw pink ‘sprinkles’! So festive. So foxy.

I should also mention that part of the guidelines were to create a ‘low glycemic’ recipe. So, you’ll find my recipe only uses Stevia for sweetening – feel free to sub. this for dates/palm sugar/agave/etc…

If you’d like a printed version of this recipe, you’ll need to head over to HotRawChef.com and place your vote. Once you’ve voted, you’ll be sent a PDF that includes the recipes in written form.

Still eating low fat – Still having fun!

I’ve been so amazed these past two weeks at how heavily I rely on fats for flavor – especially when it comes to my salad dressing! So, by eliminating all oils, I’ve been forced to create alternative salad dressings. This little number surprised the heck out of me, as I went in with very low expectations – fat free salad dressing? You might as well kill me now To my amazement though, it’s really been a great addition to my daily diet and has been helping suppress savory cravings.

Carrot Ginger Dressing

• 1 C carrot juice
• 1 C carrots
• 1 orange (peeled)
• 1 C cherrie tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic
• 1″ peeled ginger
• pinch of salt

In a high-speed blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. Store in glass jar for 4-5 days in refrigerator.

In other non-food related news….

Rawxies promo-video is finished! I posted it on my personal FB wall this weekend, and was beyond flattered by all of the wonderful repost and comments – thanks everyone! I’m very lucky to have such a talented friend that shot and edited the video… Thanks again, Chris!

Check it out!   (I also have embedded the video in the sidebar to the right)

Have a great week!

I. Can’t. Stop. Eating. This.

With the New Year, I’ve decided to clean up my diet a bit – and by a bit, I mean, NO nuts, seeds and/or oils. Unless of course, I’m eating Rawxies – which is where my daily fat source is coming from (yeahh!). However, besides Rawxies and avocados, it’s no-fat for this girl. Which means, someone has been forced to get creative in the kitchen.

Basically, I’m doing my own version of an 80/10/10 diet – 80% carbs, 10% fat, 10% protein. I love Dr. Graham, but don’t fully agree with not eating spices, salt and/or garlic – so, that’s where I’m kind of veering off. Plus, depending on how I feel, I might up the protein on certain days – but, still intend to keep fat very low.

Any who, I feel effing fantastic! Sure, my teeth are a bit sensitive right now due to the fruit and I’m craving fats like crazy, but physically I feel light and clean… Ahh, that’s a great feeling, no!?

I have been having so much fun this past week creating food sans fat… It’s extremely challenging, but man-oh-man, I love me a good challenge!

This dish in particular, I want to eat with a spoon and then bathe in it… Seriously, I want a bath tub full of it. It’s bright, clean and bursting with flavor!! Plus, it’s super versatile – Just tonight, I massaged kale with it and it was super delish!

Cilantro and Green Pea Pesto

• 2 Cups Green Peas (frozen if fresh are unavailable)
• 1 bunch of cilantro greens
• .25 C lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic (less if you’re not a garlic fan)
• 2 green onions – only the greens!
• sea salt to taste

In a food processor, process all ingredients until smooth. Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Every man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not.

 

Alright, clearly this man had nothing to do – but, I’ve got to say, change that month to a week and I’ll hop right on board that idea.

This past month – or really, the past 4 (since moving out west), have been a whirlwind – and to be honest, when Nick passed, it was just the icing on the cake – an emotional cake, that is. Up, down, up, down, up, down – ahh, the life of an aspiring entrepreneur. So, this past week when I flew home (again), I decided that besides emails, I was not going to work – and rather, take a break. Whoa, Break? What!? I didn’t even know I knew that word, ha – So, that’s what I’ve been doing – taking an emotional and physical break. Regrouping, reflecting and relaxing.

Well, 4 days into my ‘break’ and I’ve got to say, this was the best idea I’ve had to date. Not only for my physical well being, but my business as well. My mind is clearing and with that clearance comes new ideas, inspiration, and most importantly, excitement!

I’ve also been thinking hard about the New Year and how I plan on celebrating – to which, I believe I have decided, I’m going to be spending the day/night in a major goal writing session. Not only for Rawxies, but myself as well. What can I say, going out and getting plastered just isn’t as appealing as it once was (ahh, I just laughed out loud). If you have any suggestions on websites, books, etc… pertaining to goal writing, please leave a comment down below – I’ll need all the help I can get on this one!

So, I’m encouraging everyone this holiday season to take a break, sit back and relax!

If you didn’t receive Rawxies first newsletter that was sent yesterday, sign up is on the right hand side of this blog (under the facebook plug-in)! Click here to view the first newsletter – but remember, they will only get better with time (ha)!

And, to do a bit of recapping, here are a few of my favorite recipes from my index – Perfect for holiday parties, traveling, or quick bites for busy days

Citrus Spiked Granola Bars

Asparagus and Basil Soup

Wilted Kale with Shaved Apples and Red Cabbage

White Chocolate Berry Bites

Candied Orange Peels

Holiday Cranberry Cherry Sauce

Chocolate Thin Mints

Citrus Infused Pumpkin Bread

Herbed Italian Flax Crackers

Leek and Herb Nut Cheese

Enjoy – and again, Happy Holidays!