At a recent raw food meetup, I was surprised that so many raw foodies aren’t aware of the raw almond controversy. Maybe most of our Pure Jeevan family members aren’t aware of the fact that most almonds are not raw. It’s sad, but very true. In 2006 a mandatory almond pasteurization ruling was created. The rule was passed sometime in 2007, I believe, and since then it’s been near impossible to purchase truly raw almonds. Maybe pasteurized almonds don’t seem like a big deal to most people.

Raw almonds are alive, yet dormant until they are soaked. Once soaked (or moistened in the springtime rains when outdoors), they sprout to begin growing into almond trees. Once soaked and sprouted, the nutritional content of the nuts change significantly. They are alive and filled with protein and so much more!

When foods are pasteurized, they are treated in one way or another that eliminates the possibility of molds or bacteria forming on the foods. However, the treatment also renders the foods dead. I don’t know about you, but I’m not into eating dead things. Life comes from life!

I’m passionate about the raw food diet, as most of you already know. So, when I heard about the mandatory almond pasteurization ruling, I was extremely upset. I felt helpless and needed to find a way to let others know that they would be eliminating a nutritious food from my diet (and the diets of many others, as well) if they killed the almonds with the pasteurization process. I figured those making the rule probably didn’t realize that the almonds would change in a way that wasn’t healthy for the human body. So, I sent out many letters, trying to educate others about the precious little almonds. Here are some old Going Raw Journal posts I made at that time about the ruling.

• Here’s a post I wrote at the beginning of my raw journey. It’s about the outrageous price of organic raw almonds and why they were so expensive for a long time.
   
• In this old Going Raw Journal post, I announced the mandatory almond pasteurization and individuals to contact about the ridiculous ruling.

I sent out hundreds of emails about the ruling, hoping to bring attention to the harm that was being done to the almonds (and essentially our health).

• Here, I share a very strange dream I had about the almonds, and my frustration after talking with the chairman of the almond board.
   
• After repeated discussions about the almond pasteurization with the chairman of the almond board, I was saddened to hear that he felt helpless, as well, about the ruling. I wrote a bit about my thoughts on freedom and breaking free from the bonds we, as a society, have created for ourselves.

The sad news is that even with so many other people out there speaking up for the raw almonds, the ruling was passed. It’s now nearly impossible to purchase truly raw almonds. Many sellers label their almonds as raw, but in all of my testing 99% of those almonds are not truly raw. I’ve even contacted some very big name raw food suppliers to ask about (and purchase) their almonds, only to find that their almonds aren’t raw, either.

Here’s a simple test you can do to determine whether your almonds are truly raw, or not. I learned this from the lovely Rhio, of RawFoodInfo.com last year. At first it brought hope to my life, because I could then test and begin eating raw almonds again. However, it was at that point that I realized truly raw almonds are nearly impossible to find.

RAW ALMOND TEST

• Place one cup of almonds into a bowl
• Cover almonds with water and let sit for 12 hours
• In the morning, drain and rinse the almonds
• Squeeze the almond to see if you can remove the almond from the skin.
• If the skin can be removed by the skin kind of sliding off the almond, the almonds have been pasteurized in some way. The easier the skin removes, the more treatments the almonds received.
• If you have to use your fingers to peel the skin off the almonds, piece by piece, then the almonds have not been pasteurized.

When Rhio told me about this test, I knew it was accurate. I remembered years prior to the almond ruling how it was a difficult job to soak and peel almonds in order to create beautiful white almond milk and almond sour cream. My fingers would feel sore after painstakingly using my fingernails to help me remove the skins of the almonds. The pasteurized ones peeled as quickly as ones that have been blanched in boiling water.

Maybe you’re still wondering what the big deal is? Well, I’d like to repeat what I wrote earlier: Life comes from LIFE. If an almond can’t sprout, they aren’t alive. None of the pasteurized almonds that I’ve sampled have been able to sprout. They are DEAD. Our bodies thrive on living foods, not dead foods. It IS a big deal to those of us in the raw and living foods community. If others understood the importance of living foods, they’d understand how big a deal this is, as well.

So, there you have it. Go ahead and test your “RAW” almonds and report back on what you’ve discovered. If you haven’t sourced the almonds directly from a trusted almond grower, you’re most likely going to be disappointed in what you find after doing the test.

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Yesterday we talked about attending raw food meetups / potlucks. Today we’ll focus on…

*Hosting* Raw Foods Meetups

There are two main ways to host a raw foods meetup. The first would be through the meetup.com web site. If there is no raw foods meetup in your area, you’re going to need to launch one. (See the Meetup web site for details.) If there is a group, you’ll need to sign up and get to know the moderator, as you’ll need to announce your meetup through that person. 

 The second way is to simply host your own raw foods potluck without using meetup.com. Obviously, you can do that by simply inviting some friends and acquaintances. In either case, below are some tips for hosting the “best raw foods potluck ever.”

• Try to be clear in your announcement about how much food you expect each person, group, or family to bring. In general, it makes sense to me to recommend that each person, group, or family should bring at least a little more than they’re probably going to consume. Mathematically and socially, it seems to just work out well this way.
   
• As the host, though, I think it’s fair to say that you’re usually offering more food volume-wise than your guests. So, our recommendation is to err on the side of providing too much rather than too little if you’re the host. Consider, for example, putting together a huge salad or other entree, a snack or side-dish, and maybe even a dessert.



• Speaking of snacking… Raw foodies aren’t any different from cooked folks when it comes to nibbling on appetizers. For larger potlucks, there’s usually a window of time during which people arrive, and also a bit of a lag before everyone finally migrates to the buffet. So, as a host, it’s probably a best practice to put out some raw goodies for before the meal. (I’m realizing now, as I write this, that we don’t always do this!) But, you know, maybe just some carrot and celery sticks would do the trick.
   
• Another good consideration for the host is to realize that almost everyone will likely bring solid foods to your party. (It’s kind of tough to lug pitchers of juice around.) So, at a minimum, you’ll want to think about what you’re going to offer people to drink (and make sure you have enough cups!). We usually put out pitchers of water, and also often have a tea kettle going. From time to time, we’ve been known to fire up the Vita-Mix as well during potlucks. (I don’t think we’ve ever actually juiced at a potluck, although we’ve certainly attended a few at which the hosts offered fresh juice.)
   
• As we mentioned yesterday, a lot of people interested in raw foods follow fairly strict dietary practices.  So, it might be a good idea (especially forlargeer meetups) to request that attendees write down their ingredients on cards or pieces of paper. This way, everyone will know what they’re eating. Admittedly, we’ve not always followed this suggestion, but I do think it’s a good idea.
   
• If you own raw food books, leave some out for people to look at.  Among the many interesting qualities of raw food meetups is the fact that not everyone knows each other. So, the presence of these books can be good conversation starters. (Actually, they’re pretty good conversation starters even when everyone does know each other.)

Naturally, other standard party tips also apply:

• Make sure you’ve communicated the date, time, and place
• Make sure you’ve offered directions
• Make sure you’ve communicated to your guests where they should park
• Make sure you have enough cups, plates, silverware, napkins, etc.
• Tidy up beforehand
• Get creative:  Put thought into making it extra fun!

Two closing questions:  (1) Anyone have further suggestions for hosting  raw food meetups and making them the best-ever? (2) On the fun side, what are some great experiences or ideas you’ve had? Bonfires, drum circles, camp-outs, picnics… please share some great ideas!

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As Pure Jeevan blog readers probably know, we’re big fans of running ongoing series. A good blog can never have too many, really. So today we mark the official kick-off of another super series. We’re calling these articles ”Pure Jeevan Guides.” 

Guides to what?, you may ask. Well, to various topics of interest to raw foodies, of course!

It seems like there are a million topics to cover. But, lately, we’ve been talking (again!) about how many “raw pasta” emails we receive. So, we thought, “Why not start with raw pasta?!”

Yes, we covered raw pasta-making recently. Only three months ago, we ran some great raw pasta demo videos here. But we wanted to launch this series with a more definitive post on the matter, as so many people write to us about it; hence today’s “Guide.” So, this post will rehash a bit of what we showed back in May (we’re re-embedding those how-to vids Wendi did), but will also include some pictures and descriptions of the equipment involved, as well as links to sources for the equipment. (Both the spiralizer and spirooli are very affordable tools, especially considering the versatility they offer and the frequency of use you can enjoy with them!)

The Spiralizer:  This is the one we use most here at Pure Jeevan. It makes fantastic angel hair pasta, as well as ribbon-style pasta. You basically just insert your veggies, crank, and enjoy! These contraptions cost about $24 and can be obtained here. Here is a video we ran a few months back in which Wendi demonstrates how to use a Spiralizer:

The Spirooli:  I originally wrote here that we don’t own one of these!  But Wendi soon reminded me that we do. I guess I forgot! But, truly, we seldom use this one. The spirooli does work well; it’s simply more suited for making larger noodles (and we seem to usually prefer the smaller ones). These machines cost about $40, and are available here. Here is a video we ran a few months back in which Wendi demonstrates how to use a spirooli:

    
Since we’re on the topic, here’s another pasta-making demo video we originally ran in May. This one was for our delicious Paradisio Pasta Pomodoro recipe.

    
Those equipment links, again:

• The Spiralizer –
  http://tinyurl.com/pj-spiralizer
  ($24 via Natural Zing)
   
• The Spirooli –
  http://tinyurl.com/pj-spirooli
  ($40 via Natural Zing)

Okay, so that covers raw pasta!  Anyone have any questions or comments about this topic?  If so, fire away!

We’ve got a long list of wonderful topics to cover in future “Pure Jeevan Guide” installments! We’re already researching and compiling the next one! Mmmmmmmm… you’re going to LOVE it!

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