The Basics

It's been five days since I first arrived in Michigan and I have to admit, so far, I like it! Although the internship program hasn't officially started yet due to the holiday season, I've been helping out, getting the place ready for when it opens up on the 3rd of January, 2011. On that day, the interns and staff members will be preparing for the level 1 chef class that takes place that following weekend. I'm really excited about the raw chef class as we will be learning basic techniques in raw food preparation. When most people think of raw cuisine, the things that usually come to mind are carrots, broccoli, celery, etc.., However, that's not the case. A fellow intern by the name of Patty has shown me how to make a few treats that don't require much time, such as almond milk, and fudge chocolate. She has also showed me some basic techniques for preparing cookies. Her enthusiasm for raw cooking has also inspired me to think outside of the box when it comes to preparing raw foods. It's an exciting world within the raw community and I'm excited for what's in store for me in the near future within my internship program.

I know some people, or a lot  of people rather, are interested in Weight loss more than anything else. Most people want to be healthy, but the sad truth is MORE people want to be beautiful. Ultimately, if you are healthy, you will be beautiful. However, people tend to sometimes forget it's equivalence. Anyhow, I hadn't really kept track of my weight since I've been here but I did weigh myself maybe a week or two before leaving LA and just weighed myself today and it looks like I've lost about 4 or 5 pounds, and it's only been a week. Granted I was eating more than usual prior to coming here which probably makes it that much easier to lose. I was in school prior to coming here and it was really stressing me out. In result, I would often find myself conveniently snacking on junk food, and with junk comes extra pounds. I'm sure I'll lose that extra weight plus more during my stay here at CHI. I will officially document my weight at the start of the internship program on the 3rd of January, and will continue with the results of my bi-weekly weigh in. The results will obviously be documented within my blogs, so stay tuned!

Because it's late, I'm going to have to end this post sooner than later. I will, however, share with the "raw food beginners" how to make almond milk, and will also share the recipe and instructions for the raw fudge I made today.

ALMOND MILK

What you'll need:

*Vita Mixer

* 1 cup Almonds

* 3-5 cups of Water

*cheesecloth or sieve

Instructions:

* First, set up your vita mixer, and preferably have everything measured out and ready to go. Place the almonds in the vita mixer first. Then add the desired amount of water. the amount can be anywhere between 3 and 5 cups of water depending if you'd prefer it creamier or more so diluted like milk. If you so please, add a sweetener, vanilla bean, etc.., Once everything is in place, and all items are in the mixer, turn the mixer on and allow it to work it's magic. You want all the almonds and everything else in the mix to be completely liquefied. The color of the liquid should be white, like milk. Once your done mixing, you will grab the sieve, or cheesecloth, and place it over a pitcher, and pour the mixer into it, allowing just the liquid to fall into the pitcher, and the solid remains to fall inside the cloth. 

CHOCOLATE FUDGE

What you'll need:

* Vita Mixer

* 1/2 cup of Cocao Powder

* 1/8 cup of alfalfa sprouts

* 1-2 teaspoons of ground vanilla bean

* 1 cup of dates or agave, or any preferred sweetener

* 1 cup of almond milk

* 1/2 cup of Coconut oil

* 1/2 cup of chopped almonds

Instructions:

* Place all ingredients into the vita mixer starting with the cocao powder, then the vanilla bean and the dates, if that's your preferred sweetener, and then the almonds. Turn the mixer on, grinding up all of the ingredients. Turn off the mixer and add everything else. Upon adding everything else, turn the mixer back on, starting first low, then to high. Add more or less almond milk, or sweetener as you desire.

Here are some pictures of the milky fudge chocolate I made today! MmMmMm....doesn't that just look Delicious! In this photo, the chocolate is on a tray, inside the refrigerator so it can harden, but it tastes amazing fresh out of the vita mixer!