Patterns

Hello Every one,

I love patterns because they are decorative designs with regular arrangements. Great to find one that is almost neutral like this jones new york red , black and white print dress. This summer dress turned into my fall dress by adding tights, a vintage belt and a jacket.


I turned my hoodie upside down to do something new.

I'm wearing my new John Fluevogs. These shoes are well made and last for years. one pair stayed with me for six years. Now, I'm saving money by purchasing two pairs a year.


For those of you who are reading my post I apologize for missing a week. My goal is to post twice a week. I haven't post for a week due to my dealing with a close family member who has an illness. My Mother's Multiple Sclerosis is out of remission. MS is a disease marked by destruction of small areas of the brain and spinal cord, leading to neural and muscular impairments. This can be a complicated and not so easy to talk about illness . The only thing I will say is , we are both keeping a "never be defeated" outlook. This is one of the many reason's why I'm inspired to do my best for my health. I'm learning to appreciate my own life each day. My Raw lifestyle has influenced her eating lifestyle as well. She is adding more green juices and vegetables to her eating menu. Her meat intake(fish,chicken) has decreased to once a week and she does feel better. Will she ever stop eating meat completely ? Only time will tell.
Some of you reading my blog may wonder at times what does it mean? Some of you may be looking for the "more factor". My intentions are very simple. I want to express my love for life, my love for others and in the future find a way to encourage many to rethink the way they eat. I may not be the one to change society's unhealthy eating patterns but a least I can put a dent in it! Also, Having a creative talent for Fashion doesn't hurt either. Hey !! I have many wonderful gifts to offer.
Now for some Raw Food!




I've been preparing soups in a concentrated texture so that all I have to do is add water to it. (just like Campbell soup) How easy is that!! It also leaves more space in the refrigerator. All I do is chop up the veggies, blend in the seasonings and place in a storage jar. This is my Raw version of tomato soup. The more you prepare Raw Foods the more inventive your dishes will become. My advice is too find a dish you like to prepare and when you feel comfortable with it , start adding your own flavor to it.





Here is another you can do that is easy too. From the "Raw Food Made Easy" by Jennifer Cornbleet

3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 ripe avocado, chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh dill weed or basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried

Place the tomatoes, water , garlic, onion powder and salt in a blender and process until smooth. Add the avocado and olive oil and blend again until smooth. add the dill weed and blend briefly. Serve immediately . For a chilled soup . refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
Enjoy!

The holiday's are coming , so look out for a complete holiday raw food meal.


More about Patterns......................I've been searching on line for authentic Sewing Patterns dating back to the 30's and 40's. "Dandelion Vintage Clothing" online store had vintage patterns at affordable prices. I was so excited when my package came today. These sewing patterns never been used. The slip pattern from the 30's was the first I opened. Amazing how the tissue paper held up. The instructions for the dress pattern in the middle is very fragile. I was thinking of getting it laminated if possible. The skirt pattern is from the 40's and in very good condition. If you are looking for fun and affordable vintage clothing . Check the store out. www.dandelionvintage.com


I started cutting the animal print fabric using the vintage 30's slip pattern.


I'm gonna look sexy.

Thank you for reading
peace and light to you.

Green Cabbage and a 1940's Green Velvet Hat

Hello Every one,
I get excited when the opportunity comes to prepare Raw Food dishes for people who never tried it. Hopefully, they want to continue to eat Raw Foods and become potential clients. At times What I'm preparing that day will inspire the outfit I wear. That's the Fashion Designer in me. It is hard for me to give up the belief "Life and Art inspires Fashion". During my year of learning about Raw Foods, dressing-up for the occasion became fun. Preparing vegetables is not as messy as I used to think. For example Wearing my 1940's green hat resembles a head of green cabbage. A fellow Raw Foodist asked me if I knew how to prepare a basic coleslaw dish. I said "yes I can". "OH please make it for me, I'll pay you". I said "Okay". All I had to do was show up to the person's kitchen, which was very beautiful. This was an example of an ideal kitchen. The area was Well lit, black marble counter space and chrome every where. The ingredients and two heads of cabbage were waiting for me on the counter. This person wanted an abundance of coleslaw to be prepared and stored in special glass jars. The ingredients I used for the Coleslaw was olive oil,salt,apple cider vinegar, fresh lemon juice, honey and a dash of pepper.

NOTE#1: One sure sign that a person has gone Raw - The huge 2" thick cutting board covering the whole stove.
NOTE#2: Some of you may notice I don't wear tons of make-up on my face or nail polish. It is important to have good hygiene when it comes to preparing Raw Foods. WE all have bacteria and germs. Since no heat is used in preparing dishes, no bacteria or germs are killed. I wear clean clothes and take off jewelry or avoid wearing it. Metal can collect dirt and fall off while working with the food. I place a hairnet or scarf on my head as well.

When I'm at home, my own version of coleslaw depends on what flavor I'm going for. For a sweet flavor, I will add tons of vegetables, ginger, spices and Bragg Aminos to give it a sweet aroma. For a spicy flavor, the Scallions,cayenne pepper and garlic gives it a hot kick. Plus it doesn't hurt to have a good port balsamic vinegar to mellow the heat out.
Here are a few you can prepare on your own . The first two take a few hours to prepare the cabbage. The other recipe takes no time in preparing the cabbage.

These two recipes come from "Raw Foods Made Easy" by Jennifer Cornbleet.

COLESLAW

1 cup of pressed cabbage ( you use a 1/2 of head of green or red cabbage and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cut the cabbage in half. Removing the thickest part. Separate the cabbage leaves into stack of 3 to 4 leaves. Cut the the leaves diagonally into thin shreds or use a food processor to shred the leaves. Toss the cabbage and salt in a colander and allow to drain for 1 to 3 hours. Press the cabbage lightly to remove excess water. Dry between layers with a paper towel. )
1/2 cup of carrot, grated
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion(optional)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon raw honey or agave nectar
1/4 teaspoon whole celery seeds(optional)
dash of black pepper

place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss well. Coleslaw will keep for three days.

LATIN AMERICAN CABBAGE

1 cup pressed cabbage
1/2 ripe tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
1/2 celery stalk, diced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2teaspoons minced onion
1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss well. Marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature before serving . Stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Cabbage will keep for two days.

"living on Raw Foods" by Alissa Cohen

EASY SLAW

4 cups green cabbage, shredded
1cup carrots , shredded
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 red onion , diced
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 tablespoon caraway
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

combine all and toss.

Enjoy!

This hat was handed down to me . What a beauty it is. Hard to find cage wire hats. The velvet flowers have rhinestones in the center. The olive color is perfect for the fall.

vintage 70's dress- Rags-A-GO GO
vintage 40's glass earrings- Mistress of Mine ( store is now closed)
vintage 40's velvet hat - handed downed to me
MJ shoes- John Fluevog

Thank you for reading
peace and light to you.

October the month for absolute victory

Hello Every one,

10-10-10 was a special day for numerologist. For the rest of us, October can be considered an important month to return to your New Year's resolutions and review them. (Do you remember them ?) If you completely forgot..........There are two more months left in this year to accomplish the dreams, goals and desires. Important to Keep in mind the key points in having absolute victory; 1.patience, 2. strong faith, 3. perseverance and 4. a strong seeking spirit. These four key points will enable you to develop vigor and joy. If this year was hard for you, Keeping hope in your heart will support you when life appears as a deadlock. I firmly believe you can make a defeat the cause for future victory. This year I was definitely challenging myself to stay in the present and taking action towards the future. There is no victory dwelling on the past. If life is a "highway", then every month represents an exit. I might have missed the other ten exits....... but I still got the exit eleven and twelve to get off to reach my destination.
ADVANCE! ADVANCE! ADVANCE!

This weekend I dehydrated on of my favorite flavors...ONIONS. As a kid , I just loved the taste of the French Fried Onions that came out of the can. I would put them on top of hot dogs, mashed potatoes, etc,etc,.( I don't eat cooked foods anymore) These taste just like that.
Recipe from the "Living on Live Food" by Alissa Cohen.

MARINATED ONIONS
3-4 onions
enough Bragg Liquid Aminos to soak the onions

slice the onions very thin and separate into rings.
Marinate the onions in the Bragg Liquid Aminos for at least 10 minutes or longer.
Drain, and lay onions out on Teflex sheets on top of a mesh dehydrator screen.
Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 10-12 hours or until crispy.
This is how they will appear. I didn't separate them . I like to leave my whole.










I like to break them up and put them on top of my Avocado boat. My own version is made up of walnuts, apples, sprouted grains and carrots.Here is a recipe from Alissa Cohen.

AVOCADO CUPS
2 avocados, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 bunch chives, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinger
1 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Aminos
dash of cayenne

halve the avocados and pit. remove avocados from their shell leaving the shell intact.
combine the dices avocados, tomatoes, cucumber and chives in a bowl.
place this mixture into avocado shells
combine the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, garlic, Bragg Liquid aminos and cayenne and pour over the avocado halves
Enjoy!

hat / scarf - Ayissa boutique
denim jacket - thifted
vintage skirt- Rags-A- Go Go NYC.
olive cami- H&M
camouflage Stee-letas(worn over black footless tights) - Katerina Lankova- www.lankova.com
shoe boots - John Fluevog

Thank You for reading
peace and light to you.

Jicama - Spicy Fries

Hello Every one,

Jicama What ? When I began eating Raw Foods, I had no idea what it was. I knew from reading recipes. It is often used in salads. I was unable to find it because I didn't know where to look. When I finally found it , this strange root vegetable was under my nose all the time. I became familiar with Jicama from the Spanish Markets. The J is silent and pronounce like H. Jicama is a sweet root vegetable. Jicama belongs to the legume or bean family. The color is usually brownish grey. It has other names like the Mexican Potato , Mexican yam bean, Chinese Turnip and the Chinese Potato.

Now that I'm a pro, I can peel the vegetable with ease. For me it reminds me of the big Chinese Water Chestnut. Yet it looks like a large turnip. It is white inside and taste like an Apple. A good plus for vitamin c. It can be stored up to two weeks in a storage bag. I keep mine in the refrigerator.




This version comes from the "Living on Live Food" by Alissa Cohen.
SPICY FRIES

1 Jicama, sliced into long , thin strips

Then you add..
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 lemon, juiced

Mix all ingredients except the jicama in a large bowl
Marinate the jicama in this mixture for a few hours
drain and serve.



Note : In my opinion , it is best if you let this sit overnight. The jicama will take on the look and the texture of fast food French fries. It will taste like a spicy Apple.These fries will be added to my lonely Collard Green Roll. Which is stuffed with a Carrot Pecan Burger.



Thank you for reading
peace and light to you.

Learning to like Honey

Hello Everyone

I'm doing a Raw chocolate treat for the weekend. I got Raw Honey so that I could make the "Chocolate Turtles". These are very sweet and better than grabbing a commercial candy bar. I have tasted different versions of raw Chocolate treats. Raw Chefs would call these the perfect raw food "candy"
For years I couldn't stand honey. It was the love/hate relationship of it being too sweet and not sweet enough. For example the honey and walnut creation - Baklava. I believed it showed how cultural I was and other times I would get a tooth ache. There was a time I heard of People putting honey in their coffee, I thought it was a weird sub-culture. Totally Unheard of !
Now in the present, I am humbled and appreciative of adding Raw Honey to my foods. Raw Honey is one of those natural foods that the body can easily digest. Honey does aid stomach and digestion. It was hard for me to believe that it supports the immune system and good for allergies. I must admit my intake of over the counter allergy medications has decreased .

Note: The other properties of honey: good for healing ulcers, burns , anti-cancer properties, antibiotic, anti fungal and antibacterial. It also soothes a sore throat.

This recipe is great to have as a snack. It replaces that candy bar in back of the refrigerator.
From the "Living on live Foods" by Alissa Cohen

CHOCOLATE TURTLES
1/2 cup carob powder
1 cup honey
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups walnut pieces

mix the carob, honey and vanilla together in a medium sized bowl.
stir in the walnuts until well coated with the carob-honey mixture
place spoonfuls of the combination onto teflex sheets on top of a mesh
dehydrator screen
Dehydrate for 24 hour a 105 degrees.

They came out of the dehydrator very sticky and it does spread a bit. Once they cool off they will harden.

wool blend poncho- Marshall's
1947 black sheath dress
1960's crochet bag
shoe boots - John Fluevog
earrings by - O'le Funke

Thank you for reading
peace and light to you

Chocolate Mousse for Breakfast

Hello every one ,

Yes, I had the chocolate Mousse urge this morning. It has been a while.
Most people, like myself are attracted to Raw Foods because of the deserts. Knowing that you can eat something rich/ sweet and don't have to worry about the white sugar or butter, is heaven. They give you the energy without the heavy feeling later on. Fruits and nuts make up most of the desserts. Last year when I started Raw Foods , I prepared seventeen different desserts. I was eating them for lunch or dinner. Before Raw Foods , I would eat my dinner first then eat the dessert after. Now, I eat what I really, really wanted in the first place. Raw desserts are good !! They are healthy too !!

This recipe comes from the "Raw Foods Made Easy"
by Jennifer Cornbleet. I've been preparing this dish for a while and I will add a variety of ingredients : Walnuts, Almond cream , strawberries, almond butter or agave nectar. This time I added Walnuts.
You can adjust the flavor.
Enjoy

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

1/4 cup pitted medjool dates, soaked
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped avocados (1 1/4 avocados)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa or carob powder

Note: No one will know that Avocado replaces butter, cream and eggs. I will be honest - it took me a few weeks to mentally overcome the ingredient "Avocado" in the Mousse. I've been so used to the Jello Pudding mixes and the homemade one made from sugar, butter, milk and white flour.

Place the dates, 1/4 cup of the water, maple syrup, and vanilla in a food processor fitted with the S blade and process until smooth. Add the avocado and cocoa powder and process until creamy. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of water and process briefly. Stored in a sealed container. Chocolate Mousee will keep for three days in the refrigerator or two weeks in the freezer.

vintage denim skirt cut off
t-shirt - thrifted
velvet jacket - made in America warehouse
shoes boots - John Fluevog

picture credit - Angie M.


thank you for reading
peace and light to you

Spicy Saturday/Bean-Less Falafel

Denim jacket/cordory skirt - thrifted
shoe boots - john fluevog

Hello Every one,
Yesterday was a Great Fall day for strolling around lower Manhattan. My heart-mate and I caught the tail end of a street fair and I got this whiff of this hypnotic rich fragrance and had to come closer to the wonderful smell. This is unusual for New York City. I confess to you all - In the past I would carry a travel size Lysol spray can. Now I'm too concerned about polluting the air. Getting back to the rich wonderful smell...........Here was This pretty long table with pink and teal tablecloth decorated with big bowls of spices and Organic teas. It has been a while since I've seen a vendor like this . The table was full of colorful curries from around the world, licorice sticks, cinnamon sticks , varieties of salts: like cumin salt, (onion bacon salt - for the meat eaters), lemon pepper salt, and two types of Himalayan salts,etc,etc. I picked up a wonderful organic tea blend .



I was lucky to get a few snap shots , too many people! . This company goes back to 1933 . They family came from Italy.

I looked up "The Markets of New York City" site to find more information about "Spice and Tease" but their website is under construction. The best thing to do is to keep checking the Website for their upcoming online store www.spiceandtease.com . "Spice and Tease" will set up a table at the Union Square Holiday market starting in November 19th to the December 24th. (The Nov.19th -Dec. 24th dates were posted on" The Outdoor Market" site, please check on-line for any changes in the dates).


There was a loud noise in the traffic crosstown that caught my ears . The driver was blasting a Frank Sinatra CD to draw attention to his 1950's ride. What a beautiful burnt Orange color that is. Hard to find that color for a modern day car.

Walking cross town in lower Manhattan you see a variety of street vendors . I wanted to splurge on something different and new. This vendor had a Blind Contour technique he does on T-Shirts.
ART LESSON 101- Blind contour drawings look a bit odd, but are great practice for artist that are developing their eye-hand connection. It can be done with any object or person the artist is drawing. This exercise practice is made up entirely of lines. The contour lines show the edges and outlines of shape. END OF LESSON
I purchased this T-Shirt named "the Cathedral". The arch had an angelic appeal to me. The cost was 20 bucks and the artist displays other themes and colors. Go visit his on-line shop at
www.etsy.com/shop/handmadeinbrooklyn.



All that walking around made us hungry. We stopped at the "Ottmans Cafe" fine Turkish Cuisine. My heart-mate loves Turkish cuisine and will combine Raw Food with vegetarian meals. I ask politely if they can create a salad with whatever raw veggies they had. I do my best to carry sprouts or a Raw fruit bar with me to add the meal. This had Cooked chick peas in it . I have a hard time digesting Raw sprouted beans. Once a blue moon I can handle The Raw Falafel which is made up of chickpeas (but my stomach stills grumbles.) This salad had me craving for Falafel. In the "Living on Live Foods" by Alissa Cohen there is an awesome solution to that gas forming legume- Almonds!!.

2 cups of Almonds
1/2 cup cilantro
1/4 cup parsley
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup water

In a food processor, blend the almonds until fine.
Add the remaining ingredients, and blend well.
Roll mixture into small balls and place on a mesh dehydrator screen.
Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 4-5 hours, longer if you desire a crispy falafel.
Enjoy !

Thank you for reading
peace and light to you.