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:
This pie is amazing and exactly like a traditionally cooked pumpkin pie! I took a few different pie recipes and altered them until I came up with this recipe.
Pumpkin Pie
Filling:
Hi there, Pure Jeevan family! ?Jim here... A few weeks ago, I'd been reading about Bibi McGill, the guitarist and musical director for Beyonce. It was a fascinating piece (linked to below, actually) and, to my complete surprise at the time, touched on her fairly serious interest in raw foods -- and, wouldn't you know, she also lives right here in sunny Portlandia!
Soon, I realized that I'd seen her name around town before -- and Wendi did, too! There are these absolutely addictive kale chips, you see... (We like to get them at our local food co-op from time to time because they're truly something special.) ?But, until recently, we didn't piece it all together -- that one person manages to produce this distinctive brand of raw snacks, teach yoga classes here in Stumptown, AND somehow also tour the entire globe as lead guitarist ?for world-class acts like Beyonce and Pink!
Wow, who knew so much work goes into meeting up with people all across the country ! It's going to all be worth it, though, to meet so many of you!! Below are the definite meetups happening. There are more being planned that we'll share once things are finalized. If you don't see your town/city here, but it's on our list of places we'll be visiting, maybe you'd like to help us put together a little gathering If so, just let us know! We'll be updating later next week with a more finalized plan for the trip and various meetups taking place.
Read more: Meetups Across the Country: Want to Meet Wendi in Your Town/City?
Over the weekend, we attended a fairy festival in Eugene, OR, called Faerieworlds . ?It was great fun -- loads and loads of interesting shops, festival-goers in costumes ranging in complexity from simple fairy ears to full-on ensembles, and some spectacular tribal bands on the main stage all day long.
What was unexpected, though, was seeing not just one (which, alone, would have been impressive), but *two* food carts dedicated to raw foods. ?The first was called Luminescent Foods:
Wendi tells a funny story sometimes about a woman she'd met who was considering undergoing gastric bypass surgery to help her lose weight. When Wendi asked the woman whether she'd consider changing her diet to a raw foods regimen, she responded with something like, "Oh, no, that's too radical."
This is really what it's come to in society; having part of your digestive system surgically altered (in a profound, irreversible, dangerous, and invasive way) is no more than some nonchalant, consequence-free elective decision ... while eating more salads is viewed as "radical."
Just a quick notice that we've posted our December 2009 newsletter. Each month, we email a link to our newsletter to all Pure Jeevan family members. (If you're not receiving that, you're mising out on a ton of awesome raw inspiration and information. You can click here to sign up -- it's free!)
We'll be back tomorrow to continue our coverage of the Chicago raw food scene. As I've been saying for a few days now, you won't want to miss these great interviews!?
Finally, some super news to share!? On Monday, after a l-o-n-g wait, Wendi finally had her appointment with a actual LLMD. (That stands for "Lyme Literate Medical Doctor."? If this and the news of Wendi's Lyme Disease is new to you, check out this post.)
I'll cut straight to the good part: Her prognosis is excellent! Yes, she's still in a world of pain and misery at the moment, but he believes (based on her blood work and her symptoms) that we've caught this early enought to fully eradicate the Lyme. (At least, that's how I understand it. I'm actually not clear on whether Lyme is ever 100% eradicated, or if it's just forced into dormancy or irrelevancy. Perhaps Wendi can clear that point up later.)
Aren't these videos wonderful? Today we have yet another special Raw Spirit interview for you -- the mega-talented Markus Rothkranz. What can I say about Markus? He's a true inspiration, a man who truly lives by his heart and inspires thousands of others on a daily basis. He's actually very tough to interview because he's so interesting and self-actualized, you really just want to hang and chat with him (but then you remember that you're on film and you should probably get back to asking questions that people will appreciate).
On this page, we'd like to share some information about vegetable juicers. There are a number of different kinds, and we'll try to offer some background on many of the leading ones. We're affiliates for some, so if you're in the market for one of the ones we discuss, please follow the links we provide (or click the juicer pics) and you'll help support Pure Jeevan. But, either way, we certainly encourage you to consume fresh, delicious, nourishing veggie juices regularly!
The Jay Kordich Juicer -- The PowerGrind
The PowerGrind Pro is a juicer put out by Jay Kordich, commonly known as the "father of juicing" by many in the raw food / living food world. In fact, our very first juicer was a "JuiceMan" model, purchased back in the early 1990s! But this is an entirely new machine, retooled from the ground up recently. At $289, it's a fairly high-end juicer (as compared with, say, department store models). However, it's certainly got the power and features to back up that level of investment. ?Head on over to the Jay Kordich web site for full details on the latest models.
The Hurom Slow Juicer
A year or two ago, when we still lived in Pittsburgh, we hosted the Monarch's (Matt & Angela) during one of their speaking tours. I remember Angela firing up their juicer in the morning and I thought (or possibly even said), "Wow, your juicer is broken!" I swore that something was wrong because it didn't sound like anything I'd heard before. But they then told us about what was then the newest juicer on the market -- the Hurom Slow juicer. It's garnered a lot of positive testimonials over the past few years, from quite a lot of juicing enthusiasts. While many of the features are nice, we imagine the the most important potential benefit would be the slower speed, which theoretically means less oxidation, less processing, and thus healthier juice. If we were in the market today, I've no doubt we'd try one of these, too (even at $359)! These juicers are available through our good friends at Natural Zing!
Here's an older post, from August 2008, about modifying one's diet to experiment with attaining even greater health. ?I know the before/after pics, alone, are inspirational enough to live a raw vegan lifestyle!
*blows kisses to everyone*
========================
What fun it is to share a fun day with like-minded people at a special location, sharing good times, laughter, and delicious, nutritious raw food wonderment. Here are some pics from our outing -- hopefully the first of many such unique outings blending the Pittsburgh raw group with the D.C. one.
We hope this also provides some inspiration for other meetup groups to consider holding joint meetups in some geographically central location.
If you're new to raw foods, you're probably aware that eating this way isn't exactly mainstream. And, while we've talked here before about the importance of connecting with others for inspiration and support, it's true that a lot of that lends itself to participation in virtual worlds such as Twitter, Facebook, Give It to Me Raw, and other communities, blogs, and sites where raw foodies hang out.