Rawcking near Nelson, British Columbia

My friend Ulla and I had such a wonderful time facilitating our Raw Radiance Retreat last September that we almost immediately started planning other raw events. And so in October we held a three course raw vegan gourmet Mexican Dinner as well as a one day Raw Radiance Workshop at her lovely home near Nelson, BC.

Mexican Dinner
This was soooo much fun!!! Ulla went all out, playing along with the evening's theme by using tablecloths and small serving bowls that she brought back from her trips to Mexico. She even wore a Mexican top! ;-)

We started off the evening with me demoing how to make Cheezy Corn Chowder and Nacho Cheeze. We then all sat down and enjoyed this fiesta together. It was a great opportunity for all of the attendees to talk about their own interest in raw foods and, of course, pick my brains to their hearts' content. ;-)

We were introduced to the concept of raw Tostada (actually I just looked it up online and it's really more like a Taco Salad) during one of our trips to the US. It is now one of our staples as it is so tasty and really simple to assemble: crumble your favorite corn chips at the bottom of a plate and top with guacamole and Nacho Cheeze (we often omit it). Next comes slivered lettuce, followed by fresh Tomato Salsa and Cashew Sour Cream. Yum!

Dessert was Pamela Vinten's Chili Chocolate Nut Bar from her Amazing Guilt Free Chocolate ebook.

I really really enjoyed this formula and will definitely continue to play around with the idea of themed raw dinners in the future!

Raw Radiance Day Workshop
 A few days later we conducted a Raw Radiance Workshop. The intention was to give the participants an overview of the benefits of including more raw foods in their diets, and introduce them to some easy yet really yummy recipes.

In this food prep demo I showed them how to assemble what we like to call our Whole Meal Miso Soup. This soup has been such a life saver for us, especially when we are on the road! The combination of fresh veggies with warm hot ginger miso broth is oh-so-comforting on a cold day!

Marinating mushrooms

Sooooo good!

Later in the afternoon Don and I shared about our own health journeys and passed on various tips that we have learned over the years to help us maintain the raw lifestyle in a wholesome and balanced way.

Afterwards we withdrew to the kitchen to get dinner ready while Ulla and the others continued to exchange ideas and personal experiences.

Got everything ready!

Demoing how to make raw Pad Thai.

 

And for dessert we treated ourselves to Heathy of Sweetly Raw's Beautiful Chocolate Berry Pie from her Just Desserts ebook.

Sunny Raw Kitchen 2012 Tour Update
We have now begun our US travels and are presently staying with the Knoeflers near Walla Walla, OR. They've been exploring the raw lifestyle for a long time and Matthew has been sharing with me all kinds of really interesting techniques and recipes. Guys, brace yourself for a series of awesome posts about their amazing garden, how to grow micro-greens, how to make coconut yogurt and much more!

Where to Next? 

We'll be staying here until at least November 26th in order to attend their local health group's potluck. We'll then continue our way down to Salt Lake City to hang out with our friend Thomas Fox of Omniblender.com and his family.

As usual we try to make as few fixed plans as possible in order to leave room for the magical encounters that Life will undoubtedly put on our path. This is what our general itinerary sorta looks like so far for the coming months:

• Salt Lake City (early December) 
• St-George, UT (mid-December)

Then we'll spend time in the following states:

- Arizona (we'll most likely be RVing there from late Dec. until mid-February or so)

- California (mid-Feb. until late March)

- Oregon (late March)

- Washington (April)

We'll be having some kind of raw get together in most of those places, so drop me a line if you'd like to be kept posted or get more info about the scheduled events. Also, if you live somewhere along the way and would like to hook up or even help put together an event, please send me an email at:

sunnyrawkitchen(at)gmail(dot)com