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Raw Vegan Recipe: Eggless Orange Julius

Got a Tasty Raw Recipe to Try?

Please share it in the comments below!

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

P.S. Want some more delicious, satisfying, and easy-to-make raw food recipes? As a member of the Rawkin’ Raw Club, you get a new raw recipe every week that you’re a member for an entire year!

“The Rawkin’ Raw Club”

Providing the Education, Motivation, & Support You Need to Go Raw, Get, Fit, & Live Naturally

To learn all about everything that’s included in the Rawkin’ Raw Club and to join today, click the link below:

==> www.RawkinRawClub.com

Although we still have about 3 weeks to go, it’s already starting to feel like winter weather here in West Tennessee.

The high is hovering around 55 degrees and the low is getting into the 30s.

I know it could certainly be colder (and wetter), but it’s still far too chilly for me!

Anyway, I realized the other day that this will be my third winter on a raw food diet.  While my past attempts at staying raw during the winter haven’t always been successful, I do have some useful tips for you that may help out with your own raw food endeavors this winter.

So here ya go…my top 3 rules for surviving a winter gone raw.

Raw Rule #1: Get Creative in the Kitchen

Unless you’re one of those lucky devils who get to live 6 months out of the year in the tropics (Frederic, I’m lookin’ at you!), you know that locating even decent quality fruit and veggies during the winter months can be a bit challenging.

It’s so easy to find perfectly delectable produce when the weather is warm and just mono-meal it all summer.  During the winter, the fruit is not as plentiful or always at its best.

It can be more than frustrating when you are trying to go raw and all you have to eat are bananas that won’t ripen properly, pesticide-ridden grapes, tasteless tomatoes, and wilted romaine lettuce.

The best way to combat this is to get yourself in the kitchen and start making some recipes. This may seem daunting at first, but it’s actually quite simple.  As long as you choose raw ingredients that you enjoy on their own, you really can’t go wrong!

Inspired by a simple fruit plate my Aunt served for me this Thanksgiving, I’ve discovered a delicious fruity combination of blueberries and pomegranate seeds. With a little creativity and some frozen fruit (see rule #2), I can now re-create this combo over and over again and in multiple different ways this year.

Here’s one delicious example I came up with…

Bomegranate Plueberry Blast

• 3 bananas
• 2 cups of wild blueberries
• 2 cups pomegranate juice

Blend and enjoy.

Lucky for me, I now have someone to do the creating and prep work for me. My wonderful mother/chef has decided to start playing around with healthy raw food dishes this winter!

And you know I’ve been spurring her on. I’ve made sure to give her all my best and healthiest raw recipe books and send her the links to all the best raw recipe websites.

There’s certainly some good raw food eatin’ headed my way!

Raw Rule #2: Frozen Foods

I know it sounds weird…

Cold Climate + Frozen Foods = One Freezy, Weezy Raw Foodist!

Hear me out on this one.

I’m not telling you to buy frozen foods in order to eat them frozen. I’m encouraging you to buy frozen because it adds variety to your less than exciting winter fare.

As you know, the variety of produce available during the winter months is rather limited, especially for those of you living in northern climates. And even the fruit that is available isn’t always the best quality.

That’s where frozen fruit comes in. Because the fruit is frozen when ripe, little freshness, nutrient, or taste is lost. That means you get to enjoy scrumptious, vibrant, and nutritious warm weather fruits like strawberries and mangoes in the dead of winter!

So how do you incorporate frozen foods into a raw food diet?

First, don’t eat them frozen. Not only will this drop your body temperature tremendously, but doing so on a regular basis can potentially affect your intestinal flora (which has a direct affect on vitamin B12 absorption).

You should definitely thaw the fruit in the fridge or on the counter before consuming.

Second, use frozen fruits to liven up your tasty new winter recipes (you did read raw rule number 1, didn’t you?)! I love adding frozen strawberries and raspberries to my banana smoothies.

The Costco here carries these amazingly delicious frozen bags of wild blueberries. It’s great because it means I can make my favorite Banana-Blueberry-Orange Blast Smoothie even when it’s 30 degrees outside!

You can also use frozen fruits in delicious fruit puddings, salad dressings, and many other tasty raw recipes!

Winter Rule #3: Get in Your Greens

Actually, this is a must-follow rule for anytime of year. Unlike fruit, greens and other vegetables are high in minerals like iron and calcium so it’s very important to include these foods in your raw food diet.

However, getting in your greens is especially important during the winter months because it keeps the cooked food cravings at bay. There isn’t a more hearty, satisfying, yet still totally healthy way to end the day than with a ginormous super salad.

And when I say “ginormous,” I mean the largest salad bowl you have ever seen:

My Salad Bowl & a Weeny Cereal Bowl for Comparison

I fill this baby up with greens (romaine and butter lettuce are my favorites), cherub tomatoes, spiralized cucumber, grated carrots, cilantro, bell pepper, jicama, and maybe some sweet fruit like persimmon, apple, or grapes for extra color and flavor.

Another benefit to eating salads?

They really help to stave off cravings, especially for salt.  Eating fruit all day, even the non-sweet fruits, can leave you wanting something a bit more savory by the time dinner rolls around.  A tasty, hearty, savory, and super nutritious salad can really help to round out a healthy dinner meal.

What if you really don’t like salads?  I highly recommend Roger Haeske’s Savory Veggie Stews.  They are extra filling and tasty and since they are blended, they are extra easy to eat and assimilate.  Plus, they take less time to make than a salad because you can put all the ingredients into the bender instead of having to prep everything.

You can check out the SVS idiot-proof recipe system at the link below:

http://tinyurl.com/ygwwahs

Update 2011

Since this article was published, I’ve now survived four winters eating mostly or all raw foods. My last two winters were completely raw and even though it gets pretty cold here in West Tennessee, I didn’t have any trouble maintaining my diet.

In fact, as long as I get outside (even if it’s below freezing) and get all the sunshine I can, I don’t mind the cold months that much at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I do prefer warmer weather. But if I make an effort to stay active outdoors, the winter is much more manageable for me.

Oh, and I recently upgraded my salad bowl to this big beauty by Pampered Chef…

It’s much bigger, but much lighter than the glass bowl I was using before and is very easy to clean and store. I love it!

Any Advice?

Got some more tips for staying raw during the cold winter months? Please leave ‘em below!

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

P.S. Looking for more delicious raw recipes to help you survive a winter gone raw? Check this out…

“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”

Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal

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

To learn more about the book and order your copy, click below:

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

Are you new to the raw food diet and finding it hard to maintain? Do you feel like a raw food newbie, surrounded by thriving veteran raw foodists?

Fear not, dear reader!

These 5 know how tips will give any raw food beginner the confidence and the know-how to succeed on a low fat, raw vegan diet.  You’ll be a thriving raw foodist in no time.

#1: Know How to Pick Good Quality Fruit

This is #1 on the list for a reason.  Knowing how to choose fresh, ripe, and delicious raw produce – as well as knowing how much food you need for the day and what fruits you enjoy – is a huge factor in your raw success.

My original decision to give low fat, high fruit raw vegan a chance was rather impulsive.  I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired and didn’t know where to turn.  I had been on what I thought at the time was the healthiest diet in the world: cooked vegan.  The anemia, excess weight, and joint pains that plagued me screamed that the diet wasn’t working and so raw foods seemed like the next logical step.

Unlike most of the decisions in my life, I just kind of went for it!  I started by eating about 75% raw and saw results immediately.  I had much more energy, experienced immediate weight loss, had more focus, etc.  This got me so excited that I felt I had to go 100% raw right away!

Because I was still a new player in the raw food game, I had to go through a lot of trial and error.  It became shockingly clear how little I knew about produce and what a newbie I was at choosing anything close to edible.  I can’t tell you the number of times I threw away wads of cash on rock hard, never to ripen, out of season, tasteless fruits and turned to cooked foods for sustenance!

My best advice to you is to take it slow.  Gradually adding in raw, sweet fruit to your diet will allow you to learn as you go along without worrying about “slipping up” on cooked foods.

For more on transitioning, I suggest you check out my free mini-course The Fool Proof Transition to Raw.  A new lesson will be sent to your inbox each week and all you have to do is subscribe in the box on the right or visit www.fitonraw.com and subscribe there.

Did I mention it’s free?

#2: Know How to Make Simple (Yet Tasty) Raw Recipes

Many raw food beginners feel that a low fat raw vegan diet is completely tasteless and way too boring.  I understand that eating foods in their whole states can seem a little bland at first.  Okay, maybe REALLY bland!

Well, that’s where raw recipes come in!

To get started, I recommend that you experiment with fruit salads, fruit smoothies and green smoothies.  A fruit salad is just a few different varieties of fruits mixed together.  For instance, I love equal parts of chopped papaya, orange, and pineapple mixed together in a big bowl.  So juicy and refreshing!

A fruit smoothie is a few different fruits blended together.  In most cases, the base is a denser fruit like bananas, mangoes, or papayas.  Smaller portions of other fruits are then added to the base.  My favorite smoothie is 3 bananas, 2 oranges, and 1 cup of wild blueberries.  How much water you add to your drink will depend on how thick you like it.  I usually start with 1 cup.

A green smoothie is just a fruit smoothie with greens added to it.  These are great to help cut the sweetness in your meal and help you get in your greens for the day.  An always popular green smoothie is 5 bananas, 1 cup of blueberries, and 2 handfuls of romaine.  When adding greens, start with small handfuls.  Trust me, a grassy smoothie is not very appetizing.

I also recommend that you have at least one savory recipe that you really, really enjoy.  Salsas with lots of tomatoes and celery are great and you can use them as a dressing over greens to give a heartier feel to the dish.  You can also make lots of delicious raw soups or blended salads using saltier veggies as your base.

For more healthy and tasty raw food recipes, be sure to check out my e-book Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes here:

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

#3: Know How to Eat Enough

Yes, I know I harp on calorie consumption A LOT.  That’s because it’s important!  The best quality fruit and the tastiest raw recipes will do NOTHING for your success if you don’t eat enough.  It becomes all too easy to slip back into cooked food eating habits when you’re running on empty.

So how do you make sure you are consuming the right amount of food?  First, multiply your ideal weight by 10.  This is your basal metabolic rate (BMR), or the calories you would need if you remained in bed all day. Second, add any calories that you burn during the day to your BMR.  This is dependent upon your lifestyle.  For instance, someone who works in construction will use many more calories than someone working a desk job. Lastly, add any calories you burn from exercise.  Voila!  Now you have a rough estimate of how much food you need per day.

It’s important to remember that this is just an estimate.  If you don’t feel satisfied eating this amount, just gradually increase how much sweet fruit you eat during a meal.  The general rule is that satiation should last between 3-5 hours after you have eaten.

#4: Know How to Move Your Body

Exercise can be a lifesaver if you are new to raw foods and struggling with cooked food cravings.  As I stated in my How to Earn Your Raw Food article, breaking a sweat can create true hunger and actually have you craving simple raw foods.  I’ve never enjoyed my simple fruit meals as much as I do after an intense workout!

If you’re new to exercise, don’t sweat it (pun intended)!  A simple jog around the neighborhood or a game of badminton or a dip in the pool can do wonders for your eating efforts.  A little exercise goes a long way!

#5: Know How to Have Fun

Just this past month, I had a lot of fun produce shopping.  Not only did I visit my favorite farmers market, but I also learned about a Hispanic market a few minutes from my house.  I had actually known about this place for quite some time, but was hesitant to go there because it was in a not-so-nice part of town.

Anyway, I headed over there and was amazed by the variety and quality of produce available.  There were at least 10 different types of greens that I had never heard of!

But the really spectacular part was the produce.  Not only did the store have sapodilla, mamey, guava, and my favorite mangoes, they carried JACKFRUIT!  I could not believe it.

It really is so much fun to come across foods that you have never seen in person or never even heard of.  I am constantly surprised and amused by all the different varieties of produce out there.

And even “normal” produce is exciting!  Just look at some of the foods you will be dining on: bananas, oranges, grapes, apples, peaches, strawberries, cantaloupe, pears, kiwi, papaya, pineapple, tangerines, mangoes, nectarines, apricots, blueberries, watermelon, romaine, boston lettuce, bok choy, celery, tomatoes, bell pepper…all of which can be found at your local grocery store!

And don’t forget all the fun you can have making (and eating) simple raw recipes with these ingredients.  The combinations and taste sensations are endless.

Update 2011

I would say the most important know-how tip out of this list is the first one, knowing how to pick quality fruit. And now, I don’t just mean buying organic. I mean eating food when it is ripe and delicious.

You can buy all the organic produce you like, but if it isn’t good quality (i.e. it rots before it ripens) or you eat it before the fruit has a chance to ripen, you aren’t doing yourself any favors.

Then, of course, there’s the eating enough issue. Everyone struggles with this one in the beginning. Part of it is a perception problem (i.e. 5+ bananas for a meal seems like overkill) and the other part is an implementation problem.

It can be hard for someone used to eating low-volume cooked foods to start eating pounds of food in one meal. It takes some practice so that the stomach can stretch to accomodate the food.

Finally, let’s talk about recipes. Most people don’t have much trouble with finding fruity recipes that they enjoy. It’s dinnertime and getting in their greens that they struggle with.

My recommendation is to find one delicious and healthy salad dressing that you love. For ideas, check out Frederic Patenaude’s 70 Healthy Salad Dressings e-book that I offer along with my e-book Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes:

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

If you can tackle these issues—eating quality ripe fruit that you like, eating enough, and having a tasty greens-packed recipe that you love—you’ll be on your way to raw food success.

Go raw and be fit,
Swayze

Not at all! While a high-end blender like the Vitamix is a great addition, owning one isn’t at all necessary.

In fact, you don’t need ANY blender to make mouth-watering raw food meals.

Below you’ll find a few of my favorite blender-free raw food recipes. But first…

Don’t Forget About the Mono-Meal

You certainly don’t have to make a recipe for every meal. For instance, you can have watermelon for breakfast and then peaches for lunch.

It may sound boring, but eating one food at a time is often the tastiest way to eat! There’s just something about eating only mangoes or just peaches, or bananas alone until you are full.It’s so simple, satisfying, and easy to digest.

Now on to the recipes!

Peach Berry Bowl

• 32 oz (907 g) peaches, white or yellow
• 8 oz (227 g) blueberries, wild if you can get ‘em

Pit and chop the peaches and mix with the blueberries in a big bowl. This one of my favorite summer recipes.

Grape Berry Bowl

• 24 oz (680 g) red grapes
• 24 oz (680 g) strawberries, hulled

Slice all the grapes and strawberries in half and mix together in a bowl. BERRY good!

Creamy Spinach Salad

• 8 oz (227 g) baby spinach
• 16 oz (454 g) grape tomatoes
• 4 oz (113 g) red bell pepper
• 4 oz (113 g) carrots
• 1/2 Hass avocado
• Juice from 1 lemon

Chop or tear the spinach and place in a large bowl. Slice the grape tomatoes, chop the pepper, grate the carrots and add to the bowl. Mash up the avocado with the lemon juice and combine with the salad.

Too boring? Add in some fresh herbs, scallions, sun-dried tomatoes, or dulse flakes.

Quality is Key

Blender or no blender, the most important factor in making delicious raw dishes is using great tasting ingredients.

If you start with perfectly ripe produce, the recipes will practically make themselves.

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Looking for more tasty and healthy raw food recipes? Check out my recipe e-book:

“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”

Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal

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

Instead of getting a new one, I decided to opt for its rival, the Vitamix.

I’ve been using my Vitamix pretty much everyday for almost 3 months and I love it.

But the question is, which blender do I love more? The Vitamix or the Blendtec?

The Vitamix, hands down. Here’s why:

The Tamper

Unlike the Blendtec, the Vitamix comes with a tamper. This tool allows you to push the food down into the blades (without actually hitting the blades, of course) while it’s blending.

The tamper was the main reason I decided to purchase a Vitamix this time around. I wanted to be able to make huge batches of raw dressings and other recipes (like Savory Veggie Stews) without having to stop and scrap down the container every few seconds.

Works like a charm!

The Control Panel

Or should I say, the LACK of a control panel!

You see, Blendtec blenders feature an interface of buttons and pre-programmed cycles (e.g. smoothie, whole juice, milkshake, etc.).

I know what you’re thinking…Ooh, a smoothie button! Sounds like it was made for raw food feasters!

Yea, if it actually worked! Every time I tried making a smoothie using the smoothie cycle, the ingredients were never smooth enough. I always had to blend some more to achieve the consistency I like.

With the Vitamix, it’s just two manual switches and a knob to increase or decrease the speed as needed. It’s super simple and easy to use.

Plus, the less bells and whistles, the less that can go wrong.

The Quiet

Yes, the Vitamix is quieter! I didn’t know this until I started the bad boy up. A pleasant surprise, indeed.

The Problem?

There is one problem with the Vitamix and that’s its size. With the container on the base and the top on the container, it won’t quite fit on my counter like the Blendtec did.

Of course, it fits just fine if I remove the top. So I guess it’s not such a problem afterall.

Benefits of the Blendtec

The Blendtec’s big selling point is its power and I’ll admit, that’s what sold me on one in the first place. Those “Will it Blend?” videos are awesome!

Now that I’ve used both the Blendtec and the Vitamix, I can honestly say I can’t see a difference between the two power-wise. They’re both very powerful and neither one has any trouble blending up fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, or even ice.

That said, I do think the Vitamix does a better job at blending. I don’t know if it’s the blades, the shape of the container or what, but the Vitamix rarely ever gets stuck (even without using the tamper) like the Blendtec sometimes would.

The other benefit to owning a Blendtec is the pre-programmed blending cycles, which I don’t see as a benefit at all (see above) unless you’re making the recipes specifically from the Blendtec recipe guide.

Must You Own a Vitamix or a Blendtec?

NO!

You can still make delicious and healthy raw food recipes using a less expensive brand. You may have to add ingredients one at a time and stop to scrape down the sides of a the container a few times, but it will get the job done.

Actually, you really don’t need ANY blender at all to eat raw. There are so many delicious raw food recipes, from fruit bowls to salads, that you can make using a knife and cutting board…or even just your hands!

And You?

Which blender do you prefer: the Blendtec, the Vitamix, or maybe some other brand? Let me know in the comments below!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. So I’ve convinced you to buy your own Vitamix, eh? Awesome, you definitely won’t regret it!

But I won’t lie to you. Such an awesomely amazing blender will cost you some dough. $449, to be exact.

But hey, if you use my affiliate code below when you check out, standard shipping is free!

==> www.vitamix.com

Free Shipping Code: 06-006254