Go Raw Chicago

Sorry I’ve been M.I.A. as of late, there is just SO much new stuff happening.  I keep making notes on my “Blog” word doc on what to talk about next, and it’s to the point where I have enough to write a 10-page post!  Instead, I think I’ll post some short tidbits on all these new things.  Hope you this newsletter-like post!

-I’ve been jogging around my neighborhood a lot more lately.  Chicago is definitely getting “greener” and greener.”  Especially in Bucktown and Wickerpark–there are more and more eco-boutiques and vegetarian and organic places popping up all over.  Most noteworthy is the organic juice and smoothie bar, Doc’s (which I’ve mentioned before).  When I walked in to say hi to the owner the other day, I saw that he was now selling 100% organic juices and will be rolling out green smoothies (with some help from little ole me) very soon!  The prices are so reasonable too!  AND you don’t have to get carrot juice in it if you don’t want to :)  I had a celery-cucumber juice and it was amazing!

-Another place of note is The Green Grocer that just opened on 1402 W. Grand Ave.  Todd and I went and checked it out on Saturday to meet the owners and thank them for opening up more organic-purchasing opportunities for them.  They are really wonderful people.  The Chicago Conscious Choice ran an article about them and that’s how I found out.  I just love helping to spread the word about businesses like this though.  They have a great little website in the works that even has a coupon on it.  Please check them out if you’re in the neighborhood.  They have some fresh organic and local produce there too.  I bought some organic ginger there (which Wholefoods surprisingly doesn’t even have). 

-I’ve updated some pages on my website quite a bit.  They are the Great Links, How to Makeover Your Kitchen, How to make your own Super-smoothies, Super-juices, and Super-soups, Raw Friendly Places to Eat In Chicago, and How to shop for raw foods if you’re in Chicago pages. Please check them out!

-In the spirit of Earth Day, last weekend my girlfriends and I got together at my place and had a Girls Night In/Score Your Friends’ Clothes Party!  We all brought trashbags of clothes we no longer wanted or were going to wear and just had a ball going through each other’s things.  I think we were all amazed at how many clothes we went home with.  I must have scored at least 30 new items, not including some brand new makeup a girlfriend no longer wanted.  There were about 8 trashbags full of clothes leftover which no one wanted so I’ll be calling the VVA soon to come pick the stuff up BUT I want to do this again!!  This was just such a great idea and SO much better than getting ripped off by going to a Buffalo Exchange or similar clothing store. I should host a Young and Raw clothing exchange meetup.  Hmmmm…..   ;)  

-I’ve been getting into a few new things practices lately:  EFT and Muscle Testing.  I think I’ve watched about 30 YouTube videos on these two things alone in the past week!  Wow.  There is just so much out there (on YouTube), it’s just ridiculous.  I don’t think I’ve blogged about this yet (I probably need to), but when I had the Young and Raw meetup featuring a naturopath guest speaker at my apartment the other week, there was a huge interest in her muscle testing (a.k.a. kinesiology) abilities.  What an invaluable skill to have!  We can waste $100s of dollars a year on supplements that really aren’t doing anything for us or may even be HARMING us.  I’ve talked to my bf about this, and from now on, he’ll be muscle testing me (if he’s with me) before I buy any new supplements at the store in the future.  Here are the best YouTube videos I’ve found on muscle testing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t1qaEAYu1w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vZyWouhNpc

- EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).  A lot of you have probably heard about this in the past.  I’ve heard about it a couple of times a year now for about five years.  It’s never really caught on with me until now though.  I’ve been using it on all sorts of things (mainly while I’m in the car driving to or from work, before I’m about to eat a meal, and before I go to sleep at night) and it’s really been working wonders.  If you haven’t heard about this before or would like to learn more, here are some great YouTube videos I’ve found on this (they can explain it much better than I could here):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQp0kA5a5OI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyU08zK8mzs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKMFPFB1Ng8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1mqUPm7L5A

-A money-saving tip for Chicagoans:  The cheapest place I’ve now found to buy coconuts in Chicago is Chicago Food Corporation (there’s as big sign that says JOONGBOO market that you’ll see from the 90/94).   The address is 3333 North Kimball Ave.  I went there last night to buy some coconuts (in dire need for some more coconut kefir) and realized that I was only paying 39 cents per pound for them.  They came out to less than $1 each.  I was paying $1.50 for them at the Chinese market in uptown Chicago!  No durian at this place though :(   Darn!

-Here’s a really cool news clip taken at Karyn’s Fresh Corner the other week if you haven’t seen it yet.  I hope to be looking at feeling that young at 61!!

-The Raw Spirit Fest:  Yes, it’s still about 5 months away but this is really getting me excited!!  My friend Anthony, from RawModel.com, just registered to host a workshop there (I’ll be assisting him) and I’ll be working with the We Like It Raw team to get the Give It To Me Raw members together at some point in the weekend for a some sort of awesome shindig!  If you haven’t bought your ticket yet, it’s definitely not too late.  But it IS getting a little late if you haven’t make hotel accommodations yet so I suggest you start looking around or talking to others going.  Just a little favor to ask you:  if/when you do buy your tickets, if you could buy them using this link,that would be the best ever! Thank you so much

-Ask and it is given–It’s SO true!  I’ve been wanting to leave my corporate job for a long time now and my wish has finally been answered.  I’ll be leaving with a severance package in July!!!  I’m SO excited to pursue what I want to do and am so good at doing, full time now.  This is the best situation ever.  I’ve just been walking on air the last two weeks.  So many opportunities are opening up in front of me right now and I’m just scribbling down my ideas as soon as they come.  The BIG idea is still on the way though….

Hope you enjoyed the randomness of this post as well as the MANY, MANY links.  Hope this keeps you busy for a while!.  Love you guys!

~Lenette

<—platter from the recent Chicago raw food potluck. 

Coming back to my Go Raw Chicago theme now: Many of you Chicagoans may very well be going to these places already, but if not, I’ve recently discovered and visited a few more places to report to you.  Check them out sometime if you’re in the area and soak up the healthy you can!  

New Leaf Natural Grocer 1261 W. Loyola Ave (Edgewater or Evanston) 

This place has a ton of raw grocery and superfood items as well as a small produce section (GREAT prices on burdock root here!).  They also have a nice bulk section.   Bonus: You can get a weekly box of organic seasonal fruits and veggies from $15-33/week, depending on the box size.  I was there when they were assembling the boxes and the produce looked great!

True Nature Health Foods 6034 N. Broadway St. (Edgewater) 

This place was pretty neat.   They have a juice bar and a non-raw soup and sandwich delis.  Juice prices are pretty reasonable.  I like their dry grocery and supplement selection.  They also had a small produce selection but the prices were sky high and the avocados were about 5 days past ripe.  Bonus: this place is also home to Edgewater’s recycling center, and they have a co-op program with Kings Hill Farm that you could join for a weekly or yearly fee.

Doc’s Juice and Smoothies 2246 W Armitage Ave (Bucktown)

This place isn’t raw or vegan, but it is a 100% organic smoothie bar.  They’re smoothies use a bit of juice but you can customize it and just ask for ½ an apple or 1 peeled orange instead.  The owner is really nice and gave me tons of great advice smoothie-bar- visionary to smoothie-bar-visionary.  Let’s support this guy!  He’s definitely got the right idea.  He’s got great reviews online too.

The Balanced Kitchen 6263 N. McCormick Blvd (North Chicago)

I haven’t actually been to this one yet but have been hearing more and more about it every week.  It’s an organic, gluten-free, vegan, eco-friendly, local, and seasonal restaurant that just started doing some raw foods.  They’re hosting a raw food brunch in two weekends actually.  Call for more details if you’re interested or would like to RSVP.  I think it may be a pretty pricy place because I heard the brunch costs $35 and Karyn’s Fresh Corner only costs $25.  (I know–only, right?)

Another juicy tidbit:

I was flipping through the Trader Joe’s fearless flyer and see that they are now carrying organic agave nectar for a pretty awesome deal (I’ll need to check out the label to see if it’s raw with no other ingredients added in).  They are also selling some sort of 2-week whole body cleansing kit for 14.99 or something.  Everyone wants a share of the detox-conscious consumer market.  I’m pretty skeptical of TJ supplements but would like to go and check out the ingredients and protocol just out of curiosity.

I still haven’t ventured around in south Chicago much.  But that’s definitely on my to-do list with all of the market research I’m currently doing.

Have a great weekend!

~Lenette

This is the question…

I always read conflicting articles on this.  Just yesterday I read another one on this really neat website I stumbled across.  Here is the article. And here is the new website.  The food and recipe sections aren’t really that educational for you and I, but the other stuff on green living is great.

Here’s the story: There are certain fruits and veggies that you should always buy organic and certain ones that you can get away with not buying organic.   Just remember-organic product has more minerals and it therefore ALWAYS better.  About a year ago, I decided to do my own research and double-check, weed through, and consolidate all of these lists.  The result is the below handy-dandy list.  You can copy and print this out and bring to the grocery store with you if you need to.   I’m also throwing in a few tips on how to pick produce.   

Fruits to Buy Organic:                             

• Apples                                                               
• Apricots                                                                                                                        
• Cherries
• Grapes
• Kiwis
• Lemons
• Limes
• Melons
• Nectarines
• Papayas
• Peaches
• Pears
• Plums
• Pineapple
• Raisins
• Raspberries
• Strawberries

Vegetables to buy Organic:                          

• All green leafy vegetables                                                        
• Cabbage                                                                     
• Celery                                                                         
• Cucumbers
• Garlic
• Green and red bell peppers
• Green beans
• Hot peppers
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Winter or hard squash

Other foods to buy organic:

• Nuts and Seeds (Brazil nuts are the exception)
• Oats
• Rice
• Soy-make sure it is non genetically modified too
• Diary
• Sea Vegetables
• Bottled fruit juices

Okay to buy non-organic because low if any pesticides are used (but organic is always best and tastes better):

• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Corn
• Mangoes
• Onions
• Oranges and grapefruit
• Orange Peppers
• Pineapples

Tips on Choosing Produce: 

• better with seeds than without
• Ripe limes are actually yellow     
• Green peppers are actually unripe so do don’t bother with them (harder to digest)
• Carrots, beets and bananas are hybrid foods so try to minimize these

Fresh Staples good to always keep on hand:

• Apples
• Pears
• Avocados
• Celery
• Cucumbers
• Variety of geens (at least 3 different kinds)
• Fresh herbs such as basil, dill, mint, green onion, and garlic
• Parsley
• Peppers
• Zucchini
• Tomatoes
• Ginger
• Lemon

Have a rawsome weekend everyone.  I like the Karen Knowler’s, a.k.a. The Raw Food Coach, suggestion/challenge for the weekend: “Make a list of 10 Great Things you can do for yourself this weekend. Even if you can’t fit them all in, write them in your diary and commit 100% to doing them. Top Tip: Think holistically and think of 2 different things for your mind, body, heart and soul and then throw an additional 2 in for good measure. When you cover all 4 bases like this you feel even better. More rounded, more whole, more loved!” 

I’m working on my list right now…

I am still in awe…I stopped Sunflower Market, by one of my favorite places to grocery shop, on the way home today because I was feeling a Kombucha.  When I walked in the door, a sign said: Last Day is February 21.  This was very sad news to me, and from what I could tell, to everyone else who saw it.  I just love having the option to go somewhere else besides Whole Foods for organic and eco-friendly products.  It seemed like they were doing pretty well, but I guess not good enough.  Where is the love for well-priced organic/green goodies?  C’est la vie I suppose… 

If you’re in the Chicago area, we can support them one last time at least: this week, until supplies last, everything in the store is marked down 25% (no advertising on this until tomorrow but it started today), next week it’ll be 50%, the last week 75%.  I spent a bundle there today and smiled at every employee I could to express my gratitude for the place.  They’re packing all your groceries in reusable totes for free too.

I’ve been getting a few health-related questions from my readers.  I think there are a ton of fantastic resources out there for you to get the answers you’re looking for.  I love these forums and go here for questions that I have all the time.  Anything related to health, products, detoxing, issues with raw food—it’s all there.  Amazing how many like-minded people there are out there.  Here are the major raw food forums that I’m familiar with.  But I’m sure there are TONS more if you really start scouring the web.

http://www.rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum/

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/index.php

http://www.raw-pleasure.com.au/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,71/

http://goneraw.com/forums

http://thebestdayever.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=95  (you have to subscribe to this one but I think it’s well worth it with all of the information on this site.  Leading-edge stuff-all of it!)

Another thing relating to sharing the raw-food-love-knowledge:

There are now over 225 raw food blogs found!

http://rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com/2007/07/ultimate-list-of-raw-food-blogs.html

I’ve found a couple new faves and encourage you to add to yours too.  There is so much experience out there for us to learn from it gives me the chills!  Also, some of the raw food recipes and pictures out there are mind-blowing.  Making raw food is definitely a creative outlet for many of us!

Much love,

Lenette

Hi All,

Here’s my new favorite veggie juice as of late:

2 cucumbers

1 bunch arugula

2 inches ginger

2 lemons

6 inches burdock root

2 bell peppers

This stuff is awesome.  I thought it would be spicy but it really isn’t. (Mustard greens are spicy.  Don’t do it–TRUST ME–the worst drink I’ve ever had)

I just ordered yet another superfood supplement.  Supplements seem to be one of my favorite things to treat myself with, besides new gourmet raw foods and clothes :)  I’m pretty sure I’ve tried over 30 new supplements, superfoods, and exotic foods/powders this year.  Maybe more.  I just love trying out new products.  I go a bit crazy whenever I go to a health food store and see a totally unique one that I haven’t tired before.  You just never know which one is going to bring your health and consciousness to the next level until you try it. 

I just ordered my first bottle of Oceans Alive Marine Phytoplankton from David Wolfe’s Sunfood website.  I usually never order from that site because the stuff is pretty expensive but you really can’t get it from anywhere else.  And from what I’ve been hearing and reading about this product, it’s one of the best supplements ever.  Sounds promising.  I can’t wait to try it out.

My favorite supplements are probiotics, digestive enzymes, fresh E3Live, a B12 or B Complex, and Krill Oil.  Those are the ones I take everyday no matter what.  MSM too.  That stuff is fantastic.  There is a wonderful health food store in Chicago called LifeSpring that has a TON of supplements, healthy beauty products, and raw foods all for 10-30% off the suggested retail price.  I get an enormous bottle of MSM there for only $19.  It’s got to be at least 2 pounds.  I strongly recommend going there if you live in the Chicagoland area.  If you don’t, I recommend a website called Herbspro for all of your supplement and healthy body product needs.  Practically everything is marked down by 33%.  You have to pay shipping and handling but they discount that too if you spend over $89 (which consequently isn’t hard to do if you wait until it’s time to restock on a few things or if you buy a couple of things for some friends).  My favorite things to get from Herbs Pro are Chlorophlly, Hawaiian Spirulina (the powdered kind and the flakes), hemp protein powder, toothpaste, and face/body/hair products.

Tomorrow I’m off to California for Christmas for eight days and then New York (again) for New Years!  I can’t wait.  Hopefully the phytoplankton (being shipped to my brother’s place in Seal Beach) will keep me mineralized enough the entire time since I’ll be without my green smoothies, spirulina, and E3 live.  The baggies are all packed and ready to go.  I’ll probably juice whatever I have left in my fridge tonight to drink tomorrow morning too :) 

I’ll be putting together the business plan for “The Green Crush” smoothie bar on the plane and reading my restaurant book on the elliptical machine at Bally’s all next week.  I’ll be taking notes and asking tons of questions when I visit my favorite California raw restaurants too.  It’s ON. I can’t wait.  Look out Chicagoans!

~Lenette

Unfortunately, we raw fooders don’t get the opportunity to use a lot of coupons. The days of “double coupons” have been long over for me. There just aren’t any raw food companies out there like Unilever or Kraft with hundreds of manufactures coupons for us to snip out and use. The only breaks we get in terms of discounts are 5% coupons here and there on certain websites and Amazon.com discounts (see my Amazon store for great deals on books and superfoods). But, we’re not going to let that get us down, after all we WILL save money in the long run on medical bills, prescriptions, insurance, etc. And it feels SO good to be taking such good care of ourselves in this way!

But seriously, raw fooders need a lot of food–volume-wise. A lot. Note picture above: 1 1/2 days AFTER grocery shopping. Wow! You’d think this would cost an arm and a leg but it really doesn’t if you know when and where to shop. Lucky for us Chicagoans we have stores like Stanley’s to help us cut down on costs. I can fill an entire cart up with organic fruits and veggies for about $40. That’s a pretty sweet deal. Prices at Whole Foods are no doubt almost twice as much and even the costs at California’s farmers markets (I was just at a few) are pretty high. I saw $3.99 per pound of organic Fujis in California and I see $2.49 for them most of the time at Stanley’s or Sunflower. The objective when shopping for produce (because you’re going to have to end up at health food store like Whole Foods eventually for bulk seasonings and other grocery store things) is to find the cheapest stores by you and visit them FIRST, then work your way towards Whole Foods. For me, I go to Stanley’s Fruit and Vegetable Mart first, then Sunflower, and then Whole Foods. I order the items like superfoods and books online. And I usually go to Costco every other weeks for big tubes of organic greens, avocados, and frozen mango and berries (and occasionally the tub of medjool dates). It takes a couple weeks to get the hang of it, but if you can figure out what stores other than Whole Foods carry what you need and go there first, you will get a lot more bang for your buck.

How can you find out about them? Google them, talk to people shopping at your local grocery stores, ask people at raw food meetups, keep an eye on the stores you pass by when driving. You’ll figure it out what your options are really soon if you do this. For more info on Grocery Shopping Mastery, check out the page I recently posted.  Also check out the What Foods to buy Organic page.  It’s actually fun for me to go shopping now. Soak up the vibes of health when you do so and treat yourself to a Kombucha or the latest raw food snack or drink as much as possible! Smile at others in the produce isles and strike up random conversations with others. Happy shopping!

Goji berries and cacao.  These two superfoods make one of the greatest combinations of foods I’ve ever discovered.  I have to admit that when I tried these two out about 1 1/2 years ago, I wasn’t too crazy about cacao nibs and they stayed in the cubbard for months.   I did, however, LOVE the goji berries and savoured them so much that I’d eat only about five at a time!  I thought they were rather expensive too.  No–actually they ARE pretty expensive!  I think that each bag was over $11 or $12 for 8 ounces.   Over time, I realized that I DID really like cacao, as long as it was mixed with a little honey or dried fruit (or in smoothies). It’s hard to deny yourself these two foods when you realize just what gives them their “SUPERFOOD” label too.  For instance, goji berries are probably the most nutritious fruit on the planet–they have 18 types of amino acids (the same as bee pollen) and contain all 8 essential amino acids (such as isoleucine and tryptophan), they have up to 21 trace minerals (the main ones being zinc, iron, copper, calcium, germanium, selenium, and phosphorus), they contain vitamins B1, B2, B6, and vitamin E, they contain polysaccharides which fortify the immune system, they’re one of the only fruits on the planet that are a complete protein (11%), they’re traditionally regarded as a longevity, strength-building, and potency food, AND it’s said that a handful a day will cause you to have a SMILE on your face the rest of the day That’s pretty priceless, I’d say!

Cacao, on the otherhand, has just as many (probably more, actually) benefits.  Here are just a few: it’s the #1 source of magnesium in all the world (magnesium is the most predominent mineral needed for heart function and it is the most deficient major mineral on the Standard American Diet), it’s good for the brain (the cacao nibs actually look like a brain), it’s youthening, it is THE most concentrated source of antioxidants found in any food, it’s a source of chromium, and it’s THE solution to cooked/process chocolate cravings.   

So where is the best place to get these superfoods at the most affordable price?  The solution I’ve found is Amazon.com.  My recent Go Raw Chicago class students were always laughing at me because whenever they asked where I got one of my super-special raw foods (gojis, cacao nibs and powder, coconut oil, gooseberries, mulberries, really raw cashews etc), I’d say I got it from Amazon.  Amazon is carrying more and more superfoods now and in particular, the brand Navitas is distributing more and more on Amazon. I know what you’re probably thinking though–paying for shipping? No way! But the REAL secret is to order those items that when you click on them, say “eligible for FREE Super Save Shipping on orders over $25.”  You just need to spend $25 or more on items that say this (all items in the order have to say this) and you get free shipping!  It’s been an awesome finding for me so I just wanted to pass this onto you.  As requested my some students, I’ve put the items I order all the time (or that I’ve ordered at one time or another) in the recommended items section of these website.  Enjoy!!

*One more tip: sometimes it can take 7-10 days for the food to get to you when you’re getting free shipping so make sure you take stock and order in advance if you can’t go without your superfoods for a couple days!