Know Any Literary Animal Lovers?

Hi there PureJeevan readers! We wanted to let you know that Jim's new novel CHROO is available on Amazon. It's a crazy adventure involving a billionaire heiress, her Chihuahua BFF ("Chroo") and a host of human and animal characters. Find out more on Amazon! Here are some links:




How does the following menu* sound for your Thanksgiving meal

Nut Loaf, Apple un-stuffing, Mac Mushroom gravy,

Jim here... We had a whirlwind weekend last weekend when the uber-talented couple Rhio and Leigh came to Pittsburgh for a three-day visit. As many of you probably know, Rhio is a well-known pioneer of the raw food movement, having written one of the definitive books on raw foods, Hooked on Raw. She's also the host of a popular Internet radio show of the same name, for which Leigh serves as primary engineer and co-host. Both have extensive backgrounds in music, as well, which is fitting for such a colorful, vibrant couple.

Saturday, Rhio gave a two-part presentation to a capacity crowd at a local coffee shop / art gallery.Part One was a demonstration on making raw dairy-free yogurt using almonds (a technique demonstrated, I believe, on her new DVD, "What's NOT Cookin' in Rhio's Kitchen " -- available soon on her web site at www.rawfoodinfo.com). According to the yogurt eaters in the crowd (of which I'm not one -- never went in for much dairy), the recipe mimics yogurt perfectly! So, if you're a raw foodie who misses dairy yogurt, you're definitely going to want to connect wth Rhio to learn the technique.

Picking up from the previous installment, Wendi and KDcat absolutely loved beautiful Corvallis, but ultimately felt it had too much of a small-town feel for us. So, they decided to take a road trip to the nearest big city, Eugene. KDcat and Stephanie (one of the lovely daughters of our Corvallis hosts) were enjoying their time together, so Stephanie decided to come along.

The trip from Corvallis to Eugene is but one pleasant hour's drive.The group's first stop was the Buffalo Exchange, a new and secondhand clothing store. Everyone loved the store, which offered a great selection of? fun clothes you can t usually find in other stores or thrift shops. A barely worn pair of red hi-top Converse sneakers was the highlight of this stop for KDcat. She's been wanting a pair of these exact shoes for ... well, forever! She immediately began decorating them when she had the chance (after they were disinfected, that is).

From there, they explored greater Eugene, checking out areas others had suggested. There were a lot of cute shops, but they were geographically spread out. It wasn t like the neighborhoods in Portland, where you can walk blocks and blocks with unique stores, restaurants, etc., all in a row. There was a nice vibe to Eugene, Wendi said, but something about it just didn t feel like home for us. Wendi said there weren t as many people out and about as she'd expected, but that could have been because they visited on a Sunday. Here are some pics from around town -- and then we'll talk food.

The Lovely Rhio
Within just a few days of posting our year-end summaries and plans for the future, we were contacted by a few different individuals who asked to interview us. How exciting, right ! We've been diligently working on helping others learn about raw foods, while also helping our raw food community grow in different ways. It's wonderful to be recognized for all that we've done in the past and are currently working on!
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Our first interview was thrilling. We were contacted by Rhio, who was overjoyed to have found out about the All Raw Directory that we created for the raw and living foods community. She and her partner, Leigh, were down-to-Earth and easy to talk with. Jim and I both liked them very much. If you've never heard about Rhio (that's hard to believe), she's the author of "Hooked on Raw" and the host of an online radio show called "Hooked on Raw with Rhio," which airs on NY Talk Radio (formerly known as Tribeca Radio).Rhio's radio show is about healthy living, primarily through a raw/living foods diet and lifestyle.
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During the interview we talked about the All Raw Directory, our successes with the raw and living foods diet, our projects for the upcoming year, and so much more. The interview is currently available this week on the NY Talk Radio site, during the following hours: Monday, 4 & 8 pm; Tuesday, 9 am; Wednesday, 3 & 8 pm; and Friday, 4 & 8 pm. After this week, the interview will be available as a podcast on a special podcasts page. If you have some time, we'd love for you to check out the interview and let us know what you think. It was our first professional interview, so we'd love to hear your opinions on it! Please also visit Rhio's site if you've never been there before.She is a lovely woman and has a wealth of information available for you on her site.

Original Comments

Below, we have included the original comments from this blog post. Additional comments may be made via Facebook, below.

On January 21, 2009, Paulina wrote:

Can't wait to hear your interview on iTunes!

Hi everyone!? Sorry for not posting yesterday. Things got crazy-busy on my end, and Wendi is still out of town on her tour. I know poor Deb Young is eagerly awaiting our next installment, as that's the one from Wendi and KDcat's visit to sunny L.A. (during which they had SO much fun and captured some great footage at a raw restaurant there!). However, I honestly do not have a single free moment this week. So, we'll pick up on Monday, April 5 -- by which time our raw travelers will have returned home!? Upcoming posts include:

  • Los Angeles -- vids w/ Deb Young, visits to raw restauranrs
  • Las Vegas -- vid interviews @ a raw restaurant there
  • Arizona -- some Makin' It Monday stuff & staying w/ raw friends
  • New Mexico -- visiting w/ raw friend Terri Mares & all sorts of interesting activity/video
  • Oklahoma -- hanging at 105 degrees, & Wendi & Penni's raw event
  • St. Louis -- visiting w/ family there & my mom as a guest Makin' It Monday chef!
  • Geneseo -- visiting with family!! (Hi Cindy!)
  • Chicago -- visiting with Danny & Kathy Living, and a raw event at Whole Foods

Some of those are multi-day posts, too, as we have so many interesting raw food goodies to share!? So, see you soon!

Original Comments

Below, we have included the original comments from this blog post. Additional comments may be made via Facebook, below.

On March 30, 2010, TerriDactyl wrote:

You know we're always awaiting your installments. Your fans LOVE PureJeevan!!

You're such a sweet guy, and I even have more of the "inside scoop" on how sweet you are, so I definitely forgive you for not posting every day. Stay happy, and I'll see you in April.

Much love, Terri

On March 31, 2010, debbiedoesraw wrote:

Thanks Jim! that way I can post about the same time as you!
Mahalo!
aloha
deb

On March 31, 2010, RawAction wrote:

I love watching you check out new places - I want to do one of my own - maybe a UK raw tour...hmm...

On April 2, 2010, Isle Dance wrote:

How exciting!

Yesterday's smoothie was superlatively tasty, eh? It was clearly something out of Elvis' more energetic younger years, I think. You're probably wondering: "How does one follow an Elvis smoothie?!" I know ... it'll be tough to do.

I suppose that, when you buy more produce than the average consumer, you come to observe a thing or two about that produce. We can't say for sure that our assertion is 100% true, but it sure does seem true to us. You see, we've noticed that produce we purchase at farmers' markets tends to keep longer than store-bought. Give it a try yourself, and see if your produce stays fresher longer!

Of course, there are many other benefits to shopping at farmers' markets. Aside from the produce being able to stay fresh longer, you're getting it in a much fresher state than store-bought. So, the things you eat first will be "extra" fresh tasting.

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Well, it's nearing the end of 2009, and I've been unwell for half of the year. (To make a positive statement out of that, I'll add that I've been well for the other half!) It's hard to believe so much time has gone by and about half a year of my life was spent in pain, tears, and sometimes fear (mostly in the beginning of the lyme disease). I'm definitely looking forward to the new year, to leaving this disease behind me while taking the lessons I've learned with me into 2010.

As many of you know, I was very proactive in finding a "cure" to the disease as soon as it was identified. I tried allopathic remedies (antibiotics for about three months), alternative remedies (herbal protocols, vitamin/mineral/supplemental protocols, aromatherapy techniques, healing massage, hands-on-healing, water fasting, prayer/meditation/positive visualization), and so much more. Nothing completely cured my body from the lyme bacteria that seems to have spread throughout my body and found favorite spots to multiply (particularly in my shoulders and arms).

Three months ago today, we put up a post called "Is Alcohol Raw " I wanted to post a little follow-up to that today, while I'm thinking of the story. (And, by the way, a great conversation ensued in the comments section of that article. However, if you visit it now, you'll see that the comments have disappeared. We're hoping to have these and many other comments restored once a new version of Disqus is released.)

In that article, I touched on how the body can seemingly store states of consciousness (noting how I dreamed of being drunk and felt authentically drunk in the dream). This sort of phenomenon is well documented anecdotally (e.g., often associated with LSD use), although still not fully understood by medical doctors or psychologists. In any case, the term "flashback" comes to mind:

Today we bring you the last of our personal video interviews conducted while at the Raw Spirit Festival (RSF East 2009). I'll have one other highlight reel to run next week, just to round out this series by showing some of the additional ambience there.

So, we've finally come to the "infamous Viktoras video"! I smiled as I wrote that because it was quite the topic of discussion around our camp site. You see, one of my fellow campers, BH, was with me as we interviewed Viktoras (she filmed the interview, in fact) -- and, well... let's just say he strayed a bit from the expected raw food subject matter. I was worried that poor BH would be scarred for life after witnessing the discussion, but she did seem to get a good laugh out of it, and I suppose she's fully old enough to attend an R-rated movie.

Yesterday we talked about stress eating and I suggested coming up with a plan for ways you can deal with stressful situations in the future, before mindlessly turning to food for stress relief. I even said maybe it was okay to eat a gallon of ice cream if that's what makes you feel better. A healthy lifestyle isn't only about the foods we put into our mouths; it's about overall health (body, mind, spirit, emotions) and the decisions we make regarding our overall health on a daily basis.

Many times, individuals who struggle the most when trying to eat a healthy diet are the ones who have other aspects of their lives keeping them from attaining the healthy lifestyle they're desiring so much. For them, working on their diet may not be the best approach to overall health. If eating something we know is healthy for our bodies, something we know looks and tastes great, is difficult to do then there's something bigger going on in our lives than just food. If that's the case, it's important to figure out what's going on.