Here's some juicy fun-- a Holiday Raffle-- but just one day left to enter! Dr. Ritamarie is my favourite on-line expert in areas of health such as understanding hormones, leaky gut syndrome, cleansing, and eating in a restorative, living way! I just got an email from her announcing her big Holiday Raffle (ends tomorrow at midnight EST-- December 24, 2009) and it is an excellent opportunity for you to pick up some great healthy deals for yourself or someone on your Christmas list, as well as make a donation to a worthy cause. She writes: Christmas is just 2 days away and that's the day I'm drawing the winners names for my big raffle. Will your name amongst the winners? Here's the scoop. I'll be giving away the following prizes: 1- An e-book of your choice (value up to $29.95) 2- Eat Your Way Out of Pain Home Study Course (Value $67) 3- Lifetime membership in Dr. Ritamarie's Green Cleanse Program (Value $97) 4- A 20 minute private consultation (Value $150) 5- A complimentary membership in my new "Balancing Nutrition Self Assessment Program" (Value $397) As you can see, these are valuable prizes! And I'll post the winners names(and website if you'd like) on the Monday after Christmas.

SO how do you enter the raffle?

There are 2 ways, and one can be fr^ee 1- Make any purchase between now and December 24th at midnight and you'll be automatically entered into the raffle. Each separate purchase counts as a separate entry. HERE's HOW To enter for FR*EE or almost...Use the coupon code 15OFFALL and get $15 off any purchase, including coaching programs or green cleanse. If you purchase something for equal or less than the coupon amount, you'll get it for fr*ee. Click HERE To make a Purchase using code 15OFFALL. 2- Purchase a raffle ticket for only $7<-----Click ***I'll donate 25% of all raffle ticket purchases to Safe Space, a local charity that protects battered women and children. (Click HERE to purchase the Raffle Ticket and have Dr. Ritamarie donate 25%) I wish you a peaceful, joyful and very healthy Holiday Season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah,Kwanzaa, Solstice, Yule or whatever you celebrate this time of year! Love, Health and Gratitude, Dr. Ritamarie

Another refreshing, yummy raw soup from Con-- this one I warmed in individual bowls in the dehydrator at 105 degrees.  Maintains the enzymes but gives that true soup experience. Add the following to the carafe of the blender and whirl up until smooth:

What a joy-- our son Conrad is really into trying new raw recipes while he is here.  This is a raw soup recipe that includes acorn squash as a base, although the avocado and Cilantro turned it avocado green.  It is a lovely savory soup... yummy!

Put the following together in the VitaMix:

This is my son's first foray into a densely-nutritious, sweet and crunchy delicious raw (dehydrated) granola.  

Soak the following individually in water to cover:

2 C. Buckwheat groats

1 C. Sunflower Seeds

1 C. Thompsons Raisins

1/2 C. Pumpkin Seeds

Soak overnight, drain, and rinse and soak for another 8 hours, except for the raisins.  Drain and rinse the raisins and dehydrate for 8 hours at 105 degrees F.  Add the buckwheat and the seeds to the raisins and dehydrate for about 8-12 hours at 105 degrees.

Add the following:

1/2 C. Dehulled Hempseed

1/2 C. organic unsweetened shredded Coconut

1 tsp. organic Cinnamon

The sprouting and the dehydrating both add to the natural sweetness of the granola so no extra sweeteners need to be used.

   Excalibur Dehydrator-- Click on it to see more.

If you are just thinking of adding more raw, living foods to your diet, it will likely be most difficult for you to combat your carb cravings... but many of today's nutritionists will recommend that you eliminate gluten from your diet if you have any health issues... that means goodbye to anything containing wheat, rye, oats, etc. Raw, dehydrated breads and crackers will really help you along... and as Blythe says in the introduction to this video, the living breads and crackers are actually very healing (unlike most breads and crackers we are familiar with).

Blythe's bread/cracker recipe includes: 1 1/2 C. sprouted flaxseed, ground; sun-dried tomatoes, chives, salt and pepper, and extra virgin stone-cold-pressed olive oil. Did you dig those fancy pepper/salt mills she had? Click  below to purchase

The following ideas come from Frederic Patenaude's recent e-letter.  I think they are worthy of passing along as unique gifts for the raw foodie in your life (and maybe that raw foodie is you):

1. Cocotap

This ingenious little tool enables you to open a coconut and drink the water inside, even when it’s a hard one you pick from a tree. As you may have seen in Frederic's  latest video, he initially struggled to use it, but later found a much easier way that was so obvious but that he missed it in his first attempts. He says that he will show us that in a future video. In any case, he states now that he wouldn’t leave on a trip without the Cocotap! You never know where your next coconut will come from…

Check it out: http://www.cocotap.com/

2. Raw Botanicals

Frederic discovered the most amazing cosmetics company in Costa Rica (where he is spending the winter). It’s called
“Raw Botanicals”, and they have a great line of cosmetics
(including shampoo, insect repellant, creams, and more) made
from the highest ingredients. In fact, the cosmetics are so pure you could almost eat them. It’s all hand-made in Costa
Rica, using local ingredients, and a percentage of the proceeds go to local animal rights charities. You can order
from their website and they will ship anywhere. Makes a great gift.

Check it out: http://www.rawbotanicals.com/

3. Breville Juicer

Frederic states he always had a good blender (like mine, his is the Vita-Mix), but
somehow he always settled for a cheap citrus juicer. It was a
pain to use, and needed replacement every so often. So he
finally decided to invest in a quality citrus juicer.  His choice went to the Breville.  He calls it a pure joy to use and the
juice is the best he's ever tasted. It literally extracts almost 100% of the juice and leaves the orange completely dry, all in one effortless movement. It’s a little
expensive, but well worth it.

Check it out at: http://bit.ly/4U7m3i  or http://bit.ly/75Jj3s (Canadian)

4. Box of Dates from Date People

Dates are so delicious, especially when fresh and in season. Fortunately, the date season happens to be right now. The
best dates in the world Frederic has eaten  are from the Date People. They will ship to anywhere in the world. Their dates made it to Costa Rica, where he spends the winter, so I’m sure they will make it to your corner of the world. Go for their Barhi
dates, they’re the best. It also makes the perfect gift. I tried their website and it seems to be offline, so contact
them by email at: datepeople@wgn.net

5. Fenix Flashlight

This may not be a “raw” gift, but Frederic claims to completely LOVE this flashlight. And who doesn’t need a good flashlight? It also makes a great gift. If all you’ve had in
your life is a cheap flashlight, you will be impressed like he was. And best of all, it’s reasonably priced. Get it
online: http://bit.ly/4U7m3i

Also, a great accessory is the diffuser wand, that turns the flashlight into a “torch”: http://tinyurl.com/y8hyowf

5. DVD Set: “The Raw Vegan Cuisine”

"This is a shameless plug, but over 1000 customers who enjoyed my latest raw DVD series “The Low-Fat Raw Vegan
Cuisine” can’t be wrong. I created these DVDs because I saw something missing in the raw food movements. All raw food
recipe DVDs only showed you how to make extremely high-fat recipes based on the “gourmet” raw diet popular these days.

This series is different, and shows you a much healthier and tastier way to eat. It’s also a great way to introduce someone to raw foods, because unlike a book where they may raise many objections based on the arguments, these DVDs go straight into food preparation, which answers the number one question people ask “What can I eat on this diet?”

Check it out here:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/lowfatdvds/
NOTE: Use the coupon code GIFTIDEAS to save $19.95 and get
the bonus DVD for free. This coupon expires in 72 hours.


6. YouBar

This intriguing company makes their own dried-fruit and nut bar, but here’s the interesting part: you get to choose your
own ingredients and even put your own label on it! What could be a better gift idea? Check it out online at:

http://www.youbars.com/

7. Oxo Good Grips Salad Spinner

Frederic says he  looked long and hard for a good salad spinner, and couldn’t find one that he really liked until he found this
one. "Everyone eats salad, so it makes a great gift." Get it online:

http://bit.ly/7HXcmW

http://bit.ly/8k9LRU  (Canada)

8. Extra Tamper for Vita-Mix Blender

Frederic writes (and I concur): "If you know anyone that uses and abuses their vita-mix, chances are that at some point or another they’ve mishandled or lost their plunger. This happened to me more than once. So what could be a better gift than an extra pair of Vita-Mix tampers? Get them online:
http://bit.ly/kCyfb

9. Amazon Kindle

From Frederic: "I must say I’m a big fan of the eBook revolution. I used to go on trips and carry a back-breaking pack of books. Now all I bring is my thin little Kindle DX, with electronic ink and packed with dozens of books or more. I also found that I get
a lot more reading done using this device than regular books. Other friends using one have reported the same thing.

Now that the price has come down and the Kindle works almost anywhere in the world, it’s probably the right time to get
one, or gift one. Check it out here:

http://bit.ly/8H02tz   (and also now ships to Canada)

10. Frontier Seasoning Blends

Frederic writes: "Raw food recipes can be a bit boring without a good seasoning. One of my favorite organic seasonings come from the company Frontier." Available online in different flavors:

http://bit.ly/6eKX3E

11. Toothsoap

According to Frederic: "My favorite dental health product has gained tens of
thousands of fans over the years. Many of them have reported improvements ranging from less sensitivity to overcoming
receding gums. It’s called Toothsoap, and makes a great gift:

http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/toothsoap.html

I hope you’ve enjoyed these gift ideas.

If you’d like to comment on this article, go to:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/blog/?p=282

Wishing you health and success for the holidays,

Frederic
www.fredericpatenaude.com

PS: Our special for the Raw Vegan Cuisine DVDs ends in less
than three days. Get yours at:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/dvds/

Use the coupon code GIFTIDEAS to save $19.95.
This coupon expires in 72 hours.


 

As we move close to the Christmas season (hmm, maybe I should start my cards today?) those of us who are looking at maintaining a high level of living, raw vegan eating during our famly and friend get togethers and celebrations, are also looking for yummy recipes that may not be exact replications of what we ate as non-raw eaters, but are at least "special"... maybe something that takes a little longer to create, maybe a few ingredients we don't normally use. Over the next while I will be reviewing and looking at some of the raw and living holiday fare out there, from books and online sources. I'm starting with Kristin Suzanne.'s " Easy Raw Holidays" book/ebook She has a number of books with great looking lists of recipes. Kristen Suzanne's EASY Raw Holidays Here are the recipes you get in this book or ebook:

6 Basic Raw Recipes
• Rejuvelac
• Crème Fraiche
• Nut Milk (regular)
• Nut Milk (thick)
• Raw Mustard
• My Basic Raw Mayonnaise

Delicious & Nutritious Beverages
• Sweetie Tart Plant Blood
• Festive Party Time Juice
• Raspberry Spinach Smoothie
• Spiced Green Smoothie
• Sweet Chlorophyll Surprise
• Mauve Majesty Smoothie
• Holiday Time Breakfast Smoothie
• Lively Breakfast Smoothie
• Pillowy Vanilla Cashew Milk
• Creamy Dreamy Eggless Nog

Entree, Sides, Salads, Soup & Breakfast
• "Boo!" Halloween Hummus
• Festive Vegetable Mix
• Kristen Suzanne's Raw Harvest Soup
• Holiday Carrot Pear Mash
• Holiday Morning Porridge
• Red Corn Chips
• Groovy Kale Salad
• Bell Pepper Spinach Salad
• Rosemary Ranch Dressing/Dip
• Comfort-Time Sweet Brose
• Banana Nut Kale Salad
• Cranberry Kiwi Relish
• Holiday Not-Meatloaf
• Easy Red & Green Salad

Fabulous Desserts
• Oktoberfest Raw German Chocolate Brownies
• "I Can't Believe It's Raw" Pumpkin Pie
• "Deck the Halls" Pistachio Cranberry Cookies
• Sweet Pomegranate Cheesecake
• Ginger Snap Ice Cream
• Pecan Spice Delight Cookies
• Hazelnut Chocolate Snowballs
• Holiday Chia Pudding
• Rudolph Cherry Cobbler
• Green Monkey Mousse
• Date Paste

Go here to order the DVD series

Detox Teleseminar Series: Call IV Tuesday, December 1st (6pm PST) Register by going here--->bit.ly/6WkDetoxCalls In the final teleseminar of the Demystifying Detox Series, you'll learn:

Why some people just can't detox their enviromnent and others can!

The truth behind “multiple chemical sensitivities disorder”

How genetic variations contribute to your sensitivities and how to easily compensate for what you may be lacking.

That leaky gut, toxic overload, and emotions like anger, resentment, etc. all compromise your liver's defense against environmental toxins.

The most important foods to eat to boost your resistance against toxins and allergies.

The most dangerous sources of toxicity lurking in your home and how to address them with little or not expense.

Why locking yourself in a bubble is not the solution to handling your sensitivities. Detox is!

What 3 things you can do to immediately reduce the level of toxicity in your home (and help you sleep better, too).

Sometimes what you can't see will hurt you! Find out the effects of cellphones and wireless and simple ways to counteract them.

Which foods help you boost your resistance to cancer and other environmental toxins.

What causes your immune system to go haywire and start attacking itself?

How to identify the link between allergies, chemical sensitivities and other autoimmune disorders.

What detoxification can do for people with lupus, hashimotos, eczema, crohns and other autoimmune conditions.

Equip yourself with the information you need to get through the holidays and feel better than ever.

Register freehttp://bit.ly/6WkDetoxCalls