#1: Rainbow Fruit Skewers

Who doesn’t like skewered foods?!  And rainbows?!

Ingredients:

• Red: raspberries
• Orange: oranges
• Yellow: mango
• Green: green grapes
• Blue: blueberries
• Indigo: plums
• Violet: blackberries
• Wooden skewers

Directions:

Stick the fruit on the skewers in the ROYGBIV order.  Of course, feel free to substitute any other fruits that you and your kids happen to like.

And yes, I know plums aren’t really indigo and blackberries aren’t violet, but it’s close enough!

#2: Banana Blueberry Ice Cream

The low fat raw way!

Ingredients:

• 6 bananas; peeled, sliced, and frozen
• 1 cup blueberries; frozen

Directions:

Puree everything in a food processor for about 5 minutes (if you have a powerful blender, that will work as well).  You will likely have to stop and scrap down the sides a few times.

And if freezing takes too much time, you can make “Banana Blueberry Pudding” instead!

#3: Carmel Camel Dip

This one is from my low fat raw recipe book Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes (submitted by wonderfully raw reader, Melissa Conrad) and it’s a great one for children and adults alike!

Ingredients:

• 16 Medjool dates, pitted and soaked for at least 1 hour
• 1-2 tbsp of date-water
• 2 medium sweet apples (Gala, Fuji, Red Delicious, etc.)
• (Optional): 1/2 medium banana

Directions:

Drain water from the dates, leaving about 2 tbsp worth. Place dates and water in a food processor or blender. Add half of a banana, if desired. The banana makes the dipping sauce extra creamy. More water may be added for a more runny consistency.

Cut apples into slices and dip away!!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. For more delicious and healthy raw vegan recipes, check out my recipe book Low fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes at the link below:

Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes

The good news is that kids of all ages love sweet fruit and you won’t have a hard time convincing them to dive into this fun raw creation!

Cantaloupe Monkey Face!

Here are the instructions from www.instructables.com:

First, cut the cantaloupe in half. Use a spoon to clean out the seeds. Discard seeds into your compost pile.

You will need a minimum of 9 wedges, each approximately one inch wide. If you cut each half in half (that gives you quarters) and each quarter in half, that will give you 8 pieces. Do not peel the skin!

Step 3: Three Skins Down!
First, you make the upper part of the monkey face. Take a serving platter. Either square or oval/round should work. Select three winners – thicker wedges and place them on the platter – skin down! Make space for the lips, so place wedges off center.

Take a wedge, put it skin up in between existing wedges. Repeat.

Get another wedge and put it to the left – it makes one ear! Repeat to give it ear #2 – both are important!

Place two wedges flesh facing each other on the second side of the plate. It makes beautiful monkey lips!

Yes, it’s coming all together! If you mastered making thinner slices and you have extras, you may always insert them in the same fashion – skin down/skin up – till you run out of pieces. I managed to cut a total of 11 pieces out of my cantaloupe and it’s looking pretty good so far! Don’t go yet, grand finale is a head of you!

Got a couple of plums? Or strawberries, blueberries, M&Ms? Anything round would do it. Give your monkey the gift of sight in the sweetest form you can manage!

Seriously – if you are anticipating a big party, don’t get intimidated by the amount of attention your creation will give you! Take it in gracefully and save it for those days when you need a confidence boost. Don’t forget to eat a wedge. Yum!

Oh my gosh, what child wouldn’t love this?!  I mean, kids love monkeys.  Kids love cantaloupe.  Kids love playing with their food.  It’s a match made in heaven!

Oh, I would leave out any M&Ms, of course.

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

This is a salad that I eat a lot of during the winter months when citrus fruits are at their best, but you can find all of the ingredients year round.

Sunshine Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 head of romaine lettuce
• 2 oranges, segmented
• 2 red grapefruits, segmented
• 1 ounce raw pistachios

Directions:
Chop all the ingredients and mix together.  Beautiful!

Enjoy!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Are you having trouble getting your greens in on a raw food diet?  Then you should definitely check out Roger Haeske’s idiot-proof recipe system known as Savory Veggie Stews.  These raw “stews” are super hearty and delicious and the perfect end to a fruit-filled day.

Check out the recipe program at the link below:

Savory Veggie Stews

Don’t get me wrong, I love America just as much as the next gal!  But is that really what the holiday is celebrated and remembered for?

No, not really.  It’s all really about fried foods, fireworks, and getting faced.

Well, I don’t care for fried ANYTHING anymore, I’m much too old for fireworks (okay, I still like fireworks), and I don’t even know what it’s like to be intoxicated!

So then what do you do if you’re obligated to attend a 4th of July bash?  Is there any way for a fit and fruity raw foodist to truly enjoy this hot summer holiday?

Fruit, Of Course!

In my opinion, the 4th of July is the easiest holiday to celebrate on a raw food diet because it occurs during the summer.  Think about it: The bigger and even more food-focused celebrations like Thanksgiving and Christmas go on when it’s frosty outside.

It’s definitely more difficult to enjoy a tepid fruit smoothie when everyone else is warming their innards with comforting cooked soups and casseroles.

Not a problem for the Fruity 4th of July.  There are just so many wonderful fruits available during this time of year:

• peaches
• nectarines
• mangoes
• blueberries
• cherries
• musk melon
• watermelon
• jakfruit
• lychees
• tomatoes
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• cucumber

The list is very long and very delicious.  And the list of raw recipes you can make with all these ingredients is even longer!

Here’s a great themed idea for all you creative types: You know how every year around this time there’s at least one magazine with an American flag made out of cake on the cover?  How about one made out of fruit!

Fresh Fruit Flag

Fresh Fruit Flag

*What You Will Need*

• Wooden skewers – 7 or 8 for each flag
• Strawberries – about 10 small strawberries for each flag
• Blueberries – about 20 for each flag
• Bananas – 2 medium bananas for each flag
• Lemon juice

*What To Do*

1. De-cap strawberries and slice in half (small strawberries) or quarters (large strawberries.) The key is to slice strawberries into uniform pieces so the skewers align.

2. Rinse strawberries and blueberries, then dry. Your preschooler can help with this step!

3. Peel bananas and cut into at least ½” slices. If the banana slices are too small, they tend to break apart when you put them on the skewers. Add a little lemon juice to the bananas so they do not brown.

Note: You can use apple slices instead of banana slices. Be sure to use lemon juice for apple slices as well.

4. Begin by creating the stars by threading about 5 blueberries onto a skewer. Slide the blueberries to the (non-pointy) end of the skewer. Repeat this for three more skewers.

5. Take each blueberry skewer and create four ‘stripes’ by adding one banana slice (lengthwise), one strawberry slice, one banana, and one strawberry. Repeat for each of the four blueberry skewers.

6. Create three more skewers of stripes by adding a strawberry first, then alternating bananas and strawberries until you have seven stripes total.

7. On a plate, arrange the skewers to create the flag.

Pretty cute, and clearly great for kids.  You could also use raspberries instead of strawberries and cubed coconut meat instead of bananas.  And I would put the fruit on toothpicks and stick them into a rectangle base for a fancier presentation.

And for all you lazy loafs like me: bring a fruit platter!  Just cut up your favorite seasonal fruits and arrange on a fancy plate.

A favorite combination of mine is peaches and blueberries.  Uber simple, but oh-so hard for anyone to resist…especially on a hot summer day.

Cooked Cravings

If you are new to a raw food diet and worried about cravings during the celebration, the best advice I can give is to eat beforehand.  And not just a few measly handfuls of leftover blueberries.  I mean an entire fruit meal.

If you’re good and full, you won’t have to worry about cravings one bit.  And if you are just a big worry wort, go ahead and take some sugary sweet, calorific dates along for extra insurance.

Actually, eating beforehand is good advice for all fruit eaters.  I know if I tried to bring a fruit flag without eating my meal beforehand, there would be nothing left but skewers by the time I arrived!

Happy July 4th (and a wonderfully raw weekend to all my non-American readers!),

Swayze

It was one of the first savory low fat raw dishes I ever made that I actually enjoyed eating and became a staple for me during my first few months raw.  Whenever I had a craving for salty cooked food, I turned to this bad boy.

I hadn’t made the recipe in a while, but was having some fellow raw foodists over and knew this recipe was the perfect way to showcase healthy and delicious low fat raw fare (along with lots of sweet fruit, of course).

Check it out!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Salty Salt-Free Salsa

Ingredients:

• 24 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes (sweetest you can find)
• 16 ounces of celery (4-6 stalks)
• 8 ounces red bell pepper (1 pepper)
• 4 ounces sweet apple (Gala or Fuji, 1/2 apple)
• 1 handful cilantro
• 1 English cucumber, sliced diagonally*

*I prefer the English variety.  They are less watery thantraditional cucumbers and have much more flavor.

Directions:

Cut half of the celery, red bell pepper, and all of the apple into medium-sized pieces.  You want each piece about the same size as the tomatoes.  Pulse half of the tomatoes and cilantro with the celery, pepper, and apple chunks.  You want a slightly chunky mixture, not a puree.

Dice the rest of the tomatoes, celery, bell pepper, & cilantro.  Stir blended portion with the diced portion and devour with cucumber slices or any veggie you like.

Swayze’s Tips:

Another great way to eat this salsa is with pineapple rings!  Simply slice the pineapple into thick rings, core (a little circular biscuit cutter works great) and spoon the salsa on top.  Delicious and beautiful presentation.

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. If you’d like more tasty and healthy savory raw recipes, be sure to check out “Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes” at the link below:

www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites