Raw Foods Diet & Raw Food Weight Loss Blog

We’re so very excited to announce here on our blog that we’ve launched a Holistic Health Program! It’s a great start for the new year, taking members through a year-long journey of self-discovery, healing, and renewed vitality for life!

As with everything we produce, there’s more that’s included than expected. The HolisticHealth.Me program is packed with information, inspiration, multiple weekly action steps, a private personal journal, tools to facilitate self-discovery and progress, a diet and weight loss video series, resources, and so much more!

The 52-week program is based on the insights, techniques, and understanding that Wendi has gained throughout her life. It’s a roadmap that can easily be followed by everyone, yet is very individual and personal. By observing the steps presented within the weekly topics, activities, and bonus materials, and then taking action as guided, members regain self mastery and begin directing their lives in ways that bring about intense happiness, health, and vibrancy.

We’d love for you to check out the new site and let us know what you think! If you’re interested in joining the HolisticHealth.Me program, be sure to sign up before the end of January 9th, 2012 by clicking on the special deeply discounted offer on the right side of the HolisiticHealth.Me site. After the 9th, the special price for Pure Jeevan family members comes down from the site.

On a side note: Over the past year, we’ve been setting up our new home on the west coast. We had to put things on hold in order to create a source of income (the new HolisticHealth.Me program is a big part of that), so the home renovations have slowed down quite a bit. Wendi has gone through some difficult times with her continued healing from Lyme Disease, but things are working out well for all of us, now. We are renewed and ready to embrace 2012 as the year of fresh direction, joy, health, and inspiration for all of us!

Oh, we’ve been creating some incredible new recipes and taking pictures of the new dishes to share with all of you, too! We’ll be sending those out to Pure Jeevan Family Members, who are signed up on our mailing list, in the coming month. There’s a lot that’s going to be happening here at Pure Jeevan, so keep checking back!

As always, we send lots of love to all of you!

XOXOXO

Hi there, Pure Jeevan family!  Jim here… A few weeks ago, I’d been reading about Bibi McGill, the guitarist and musical director for Beyonce. It was a fascinating piece (linked to below, actually) and, to my complete surprise at the time, touched on her fairly serious interest in raw foods — and, wouldn’t you know, she also lives right here in sunny Portlandia!

Soon, I realized that I’d seen her name around town before — and Wendi did, too! There are these absolutely addictive kale chips, you see… (We like to get them at our local food co-op from time to time because they’re truly something special.)  But, until recently, we didn’t piece it all together — that one person manages to produce this distinctive brand of raw snacks, teach yoga classes here in Stumptown, AND somehow also tour the entire globe as lead guitarist  for world-class acts like Beyonce and Pink!

So, we met up for tea at this zen little spot up on SE Belmont — indoor waterfalls & a 10-page tea menu. I was glad we had a chance to chat before doing the video because we got to talk about yoga, rock and roll, guitars, culture, and other non-dietary fun stuff. Whenever diet came up, I’d just say, “Wait, let’s not talk about that yet!” (because I knew it’d be better to cover that on camera).

We decided to walk to a park for the vid shoot, but it was jam packed with kids. So, we ducked into the doorway of a closed art gallery. I think you’ll enjoy the interview, even though trucks passed by a few times on the street. After a while, a man came out of the gallery to see what we were doing. He was pretty nice (which is how most people are here in Portland!), so I asked if we could finish the interview inside the gallery. As you may have guessed from the picture, above, he let us in.  Fun times!

Here’s the video… (In case you haven’t seen Bibi in action, I tossed a 10-second clip of her on stage toward the beginning of the video — but you can search YouTube for many more.)

Special thanks to Gallery Zero in Portland (near 34th & Belmont) for allowing us to film inside. The striking painting behind Bibi (above on this page and behind Bibi in the video) was painted by Portland-based artist Liz Gill Neilson.

Bibi Links

• Bibi’s Kale Chips
• Bibi’s OM Page
• Bibi’s Fan Page on Facebook

More Interviews w/ Bibi from ’round the ‘net:

• Edge Magazine
• OM Times
• About Face Magazine

Wondering where we’ve been lately? We’ve just been busy with fixing up our home and some other summer things. We’ve been enjoying the nearby Columbia River Gorge from time to time. Above is a picture Jim took of some wild mulberries he found there recently. There’s nothing like enjoying a snack right off of a tree — the berries still warm from the summer sun! People around here are fairly savvy, too;  Jim wasn’t the only purple-fingered park visitor that day.

Anyway, we’ll be returning to more regular posting in the not-too-distant future. In the near term, we have some important breaking news to share soon on the more “activist” side of things, as well as some product reviews that we think everyone will like to read. We’re working on all of that off-line at the moment, but will be back here soon (that is, if we can get Jim away from the wild mulberries for a moment).

Ahh, yes… Ginkgo Biloba. What a distinctive tree, don’t you think? So easy to identify, and so many reported health benefits. This one belongs to a neighbor that seems to have an affinity with Asian landscaping motifs. They also have gorgeous bamboo growing in their yard, and other Asian elements.  I would have liked to have harvested some leaves to dry for some Ginkgo tea, but the owner wasn’t around to ask. Perhaps some other time.

In any case, this site has a nice account of some of the benefits of Ginkgo, along with a narrative about making tea with the leaves. You can also make extracts using the leaves, although that is a bit more advanced. We’re continuing with simply posting a few quick photos this week, as we’ve been busy with some other projects these days.

Here’s a picture I took at Portland’s Saturday Market last week. We’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that artichokes grow rather well here in the Pacific Northwest. We don’t recall seeing them much back East, but many of our neighbors grow them (both for the artichokes and, I suspect, as ornamental plants).

I suspect that some raw foodists tend to overlook artichokes because they’re so traditionally linked with the image of something steamed, stuffed with breadcrumbs, and drizzled in butter — so, “cooked,” “breaded,” and “dairy” all together in one recipe! Being half Italian, I grew up eating them this way. My mother almost never said “artichoke”; she always called them an Italian word that sounded like “ga-GO-che-lee.”  She made them just a few times per year, and they were always a huge treat (and we’d often fight over the hearts — by far the best part!).

These days, I’ll eat a steamed artichoke again, if given a chance.  (I see them now and again on nicer salad bars, and usually toss a few onto my salad.) But, you can certainly enjoy them raw as well. I recall seeing them on the menu at Borrowed Earth Cafe (a raw restaurant) in Chicago. Kathy and Danny Living (owners of Borrowed Earth) have an insanely delicious spinach and artichoke dip there, which we highly recommend.

While searching for that Italian word (which still eludes me), I happened across a raw artichoke recipe that I thought I’d post here, as well. It’s for an Italian Artichoke Salad, on a site called the Daily Dietribe. Looks pretty good to me!