Rawkin' Gift Ideas for your Raw Friends

1. Live sukang tuba.

Raw foodies who don't yet own ozonators love to use this to soak their fruits and veggies! It's also perfect for making veggie kinilaw, and all the other yummy veggie dishes. We can't get enough of this!

2. Virgin coconut oil.


We love making raw desserts with cold-pressed virgin coconut oil! Almond-chocolate bites anyone?


3. Extra virgin olive oil.


Look for the expeller-pressed kind.

4. Gift certificates.

Healthy Options

5. Potted herbs.

Basil, mint, parsley, oregano, marjoram, etc. etc.

6. Kitchen equipment.  

Knives, knife sharpeners, bamboo sushi mats, cutting boards, zesters, storage bins, sprouting jars, compost bins, dehydrators (hahaha, asa pa!). Sky's the limit!

7. Raw food demos.

Sponsor a raw friend's food demo. Or take a class yourself and surprise him/her with your new raw-mazing kitchen skills! Lessons by Bahay Kalipay (I heard they are coming back to Manila in January!) and Dahon Kusina.

What other gift ideas rawk? Let me know!! In the subject line, write "Rawkin' Gift Ideas for your Raw Friends". Please include your full name and delivery address. For condo addresses, please inform guards to accept items on delivery. Deadline for entries is December 31st, 2010 :)  


The best response wins a set of 3 pieces of item #5 (Potted herbs) AND  a gift certificate in the equivalent amount of your currency (basis will be Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rates) at a raw restaurant nearest you.   A winning entry from overseas (outside the Philippines) will get item #2 (Virgin coconut oil) plus the gift certificate. 

This contest has expired.

Rawkin' Gift Ideas for your Raw Friends

Strawberry-Banana Ice Cream

Watch Ortrud as she demos strawberry-banana ice cream on the Vitamix Blender.



I have since gotten a Vita-Mix blender for myself and I can tell you that this is a great way to rupture the walls of the plant cells in the greens that go in your green smoothies, enabling your body to digest the greens better. (Thank you to Victoria Boutenko for her research on this!)

Let's say you are blending wheat grass with some saba bananas for your breakfast smoothie. If you make two batches, one in your regular blender, and one in your Vita-Mix, you will see the difference. Your regular blender will have little pieces of wheatgrass floating around while your Vita-Mix concoction will have a smooth consistency.

I have wanted a Vita-Mix for so long that I considered asking my sister to buy it for me when she was in the States a few months ago, but I found Ortrud Ting Yao on Google and decided to go with her. It was a little frustrating to get the Vita-Mix on my first attempt because their credit card machine was offline, thereby setting me back by about a week to get it (no worries; it wasn't their fault!) but I can tell you that the wait was definitely worth it!

Is a Vita-Mix blender a kitchen essential for the raw foodie?

This is  debatable. Most raw foodies will say you don't need one. If your blender has a "pulse" setting, they will recommend that you use this to blend ingredients well. A regular blender will do.

I personally wanted one for myself because I have used my regular blender at least twice a day for several months now and it gets pretty warm even without running for very long.  I didn't want to replace a blender every few months, and I wasn't about to give up my green smoothies. :) Also, the blades of my regular blender wore out in a few months and the greens just ended up moving around in little pieces. Prior to ever considering raw, a vegan blogger I followed recommended it. The promise of a 7-year warranty was what ultimately sealed the deal.

So it's really up to you! :) I just really like mine :)

12/06/2010


P.S.

Here's a great tip I got from Asha Peri, a raw foodie who runs Dahon Kusina and Creative Space: Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of your Vita-Mix so that you prolong the life of your blades.

Strawberry-Banana Ice Cream