I’m super blissed out as I have been waking up to bright sunshine everyday, which is exactly why I moved here. I never could have predicted how hard it would be for me to spend my days in the clouds & rain of Portland. I love the city, but my entire being shifted in that environment and I lost a key part of my vibrance. I thrive off of sunshine and this 10 month experiment truly proved that. We’ve actually been exploring California for a move since January, viewing apartment after apartment in Santa Monica, then Marin County and finally in Santa Cruz. We kept hitting closed doors in the first two locations, but when we visited Santa Cruz, everything flowed. It was very clear to me that there was a greater plan for this move and we weren’t going to settle until we hit our target.

We’re thrilled with the decision, finding the ocean, mountains and forests all at our reach for that deep earth connection that we both need. And of course, there’s tons of local organic produce–and a Cafe Gratitude! Adam and I have a pretty regular Cafe Gratitude order at this point. Me? The pizza. Him? The ice cream sundae. YUM!

I look forward to getting comfortable here in Santa Cruz with just the right balance of work, study & play. In the meantime, as I’m settling in, it’s a great time for keeping foods simple when I don’t have a lot of time. We’ve been enjoying lots of salads, smoothies & chia pudding to keep us going with minimal effort.

Here’s a super fast cookie recipe that I whipped up before we moved. These are so satisfying alongside a hot cup of tea. You can always double the recipe if you want more cookies, but this is a nice way to use up small amounts of ingredients that you probably already have in your cupboards.

Cinnamon Raisin Quickies
makes 1/2 dozen

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 3 tablespoons coconut nectar or sweetener of choice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons raisins

Place the cashews in the food processor and process until finely ground. Add the coconut and process again to combine. Add the coconut oil, sweetener, cinnamon, vanilla and salt and process again until well combined and a sticky dough has formed. Stir in the raisins by hand. With your hands, form the dough into 6 cookies, about 11/2″-2″ in diameter. Place in the freezer for 1 hour to firm or Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 24 hours. Dehydrating is no extra work and the results will be a warm, soft cookie, but it’s not necessary if you would like to be able to eat your cookies right away. We actually ate a few the first day and then dehydrated the rest for the next!

Enjoy my friends!
xo!
Natalia

Cultivating the Sweet Life is a combination of transformational teachings, restorative self-care practices, luscious raw recipes & community support.

We already have women signing up from all over the country. It’s such an honor to be able to bring a group together all around the topic of living more nourished, extraordinary lives!

I encourage you to take look and see if you’re inspired to join us on this journey. There are even options to add on coaching support with me & Melissa if you’re looking for some indivdual guidance.

Oh, and if you already love what we’re doing and want to spread the word, check out our affiliate program!

It’s been forever! How’s your winter going? Without writing 5,000 words, I want to share what my winter has been like and of course, give you something sweet to play with.

I’ve been busy taking care of my new baby, Nourishing Our Radiance. If you’ve been missing me, it’s because most of my attention has been focused over there. So I encourage you to take a look around and check out some of my latest posts & recipes.  Plus, you just have to meet Melissa, a gorgeous & deeply inspiring woman that I am so lucky to call both a business partner & friend. We’re planning our online spring course and right now, I’m in super creative recipe development mode. Of course, this means I’ve been eating well and dirtying a ton of dishes.

juicy smiles.

I’m still in Portland and wow, it has been quite the transition after spending the last 3 winters in Florida. Hello cold, damp darkness. Portland is an amazing city, but definitely not for me long term. I’ve never been more grateful for the sun and I cherish those rare days of brightness. Where to next?  I hope to update you soon.  In the meantime, I’ve been deepening my yoga practice which really keeps my mood up on the gray days.  And of course enjoying lots of cozy tea time.

Since the weather has been colder and damper than I’m used to, I’ve been including small amounts of cooked food in my diet. Say what!?!?! I didn’t touch a single bite of cooked food (well not on purpose anyway) in over four years, mostly because I didn’t feel the need for it at the time. Plus, you know raw food makes me feel like I have superpowers. With the new climate and my ever evolving life, I’m now experimenting to find the perfect balance of a sustainable, high raw vegan diet that works for me. It’s been very nice to add some variety–steamed broccoli, lentil chili and my favorite–baked sweet potatoes with a drizzle of coconut oil and a sprinkling of Himalayan salt. Heaven. I sampled some sprouted & cooked quinoa on a couple of occasions, but unfortunately, my body tells me that’s a no-go. My skin freaks out and my tummy hurts. I’m finding it crucial during this time to truly listen to my body as I sample foods that I haven’t enjoyed in the last four years. So when I try something new, I keep gentle (not paranoid) watch on my digestion, skin, energy and mood. Remember, food intolerances show up in many different ways.  I’m only eating cooked food a few times a week and always still with something fresh and raw on the side. Oh the excitement!

Ok, there’s more, but I’ll save it. I want to be a better blogger, so more stories soon.  Actually I’ve been meaning to ask, what do you want to hear from me? I would love to know how I can inspire and support you better. Do tell.

For now, I’ll leave you with a little sweetness that I whipped up this week. Enjoy–hopefully on a sunny day.

xo!
Natalia

Pistachio Refrigerator Cookies

Makes about 20 small cookies, depending on your scoop

You know I love quick, easy & delicious and this recipe surely fits the bill. I love the unique pistachio flavor & color. Let me know if you give these a try!

• 1 cup raw pistachios
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons honey, maple syrup or agave
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of Himalayan salt

Place the pistachios and cashews in the food processor.  Process until the nuts are finely chopped.  Add the coconut oil, sweetener, vanilla and salt.  Process again until all ingredients are combined.  If you wish to use a scoop to make the cookies, place the batter in the refrigerator for 2 hours to firm.  Remove from the refrigerator and scoop into perfect little cookies.  Store in the refrigerator.  Otherwise, press the batter into a wax paper lined 8″ square dish.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.  Cut into squares and serve.

ps–if you love pistachios like I do, you might also enjoy this recipe from the lovely Desi (the Palate Peacemaker) for Cardamom Rose Pistachio Butter. Yum.  I don’t think people use pistachios enough!

Today, I am thrilled to announce the launch of a brand new project & website: Nourishing Our Radiance. As a collaboration with Melissa Geiger, Nourishing Our Radiance was created to connect, support and strengthen a community of visionary women who are dedicated to realizing their potential, creating positive change in the world, and restoring balance to our bodies, souls, communities and planet.  Melissa and I have a shared passion for helping women discover true nourishment through loving self-care & living foods.

Together, we created The Nourishing Wisdom Workbook as an introduction to our work, sharing some simple lifestyle changes that can have a huge impact on your well-being.  I invite you to join our mailing list, download your free copy and begin to explore your relationship to self-care and nourishment.  I think you’ll also enjoy the brand new recipes inside (including the Coconut Hemp Macaroons that I just can’t get enough of)!

Our premier online course, Cultivating the Sweet Life, is launching on March 20th–mark your calendars and stay tuned for discount offers.

I am honored to share this work with you and I am grateful for you continued support. Please share our work with the women if your life that would enjoy being part of a community of truly nourished women.

Here’s to a truly nourished 2012!

xo!
Natalia

I’m sure you know by now that I am green obsessed!  I seriously can’t get enough.  My days are filled with green smoothies, kale salads, romaine, broccoli, green herbs and even some chlorella and spirulina thrown into the mix.  Somewhere between hating vegetables and where I am today, I developed the taste and even the craving for all things green.  Thank goodness!  My theory is that the more greens you can consume (which may be forcing it a bit in the beginning as I did) the more your body will start to crave them.

Starting my day with a smoothie full of greens, healthy fats & protein is the perfect way to kickstart my morning and keep me full until lunch.  I wanted to share what’s been in my daily smoothie because it just tastes and feels too good not to!  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Power Green Smoothie

Serves 1

•  ¾ cup water
• 1 tablespoon hemp seed
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 serving of your favorite vegan vanilla protein powder (I love Healthforce Warrior Food)
• 1 ripe banana (can be frozen if you like colder smoothies, but better at room temp in the cold weather)
• 1 large stalk of celery, with leaves, chopped
• 4 leaves of kale OR 2 handfuls spinach OR ¼ bunch parsley (try all 3 & find your fave)

Place the water, hemp seed, coconut oil and protein powder in the blender.  Blend until very smooth.  Add the banana, celery and greens of choice.  Blend again until smooth.

Thanks to all of you for the amazing support!  Happy Holidays!

Buy a print copy of Pure Pleasures at a discounted rate and get a print copy of Cupcake Heaven for Free.  My Holiday gift to you!  

While supplies last!

Holiday Medley & Sweet Potato Mash

The Holiday Medley is reminiscent of the most flavorful stuffing–now made raw, vegan & gluten-free!  Spiked with a hearty portion of kale, my green lovers will be very satisfied with this one.  The sweet potato mash is divine on the side–perfectly creamy with just the right amount of savory spice.

serves 4 

Holiday Medley

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup diced sweet onion
• 4 teaspoons all purpose seasoning (salt free, my fave is Bragg’s Sprinkle)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• black pepper to taste
• 1 cup Brazil Nuts or walnuts
• 1 cup diced celery (about 2 large stalks)
• 1 cup diced carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
• ¾ cup chopped parsley (about 1/2 bunch)
• 8-10 small lacinato kale leaves + 2 pinches of salt

In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, onion, seasoning, salt and pepper.  Place the Brazil nuts in the food processor and process until finely ground.  Scrape into the bowl with oil and spices.  Add the celery, carrots and parley to the mixture.  Chop the kale into thin ribbons.  In a separate bowl, toss the kale with a few pinches of salt.  Massage the kale with your hands until it wilts.  Add the kale to the rest of the mixture and mix very well.  If you would like, divide the medley over 2 teflex lined dehydrator trays and warm at 115 degrees for 2 hours.

Sweet Potato Mash

• ¾ cup water
• ½ cup cashew
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cup peeled & chopped sweet potato
• 1 cup chopped carrots

In a high speed blender, combine the water, cashews, coconut oil, cumin and salt.  Blend until very smooth.  Add the sweet potato and carrot and blend again until very smooth, creamy & warm.

I found this concept deeply important when I began to prepare raw foods.  When you take a vegetarian diet and strip out the cooked grains, pasta, dairy, cooked beans & legumes, etc, you are left with simple fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds & sprouts.  It is herbs and spices that allow us to retain the variety & culture of our past diets when we choose to journey on the raw path.

I am super grateful to have had the chance to experiment with a couple of Frank’s Finest Spice Blends.  Creatively developed by the talented, classically trained chef, Frank Giglio, these special blends merge the best of culinary tradition with herbalism and superfood nutrition.  In my kitchen, I’ve been playing with the Chai Spice Blend and Mediterranean Seasoning Salt.

The Chai Spice is absolutely perfect for this time of year.  A blend of traditional, warm chai spices, like cardamom, ginger and cinnamon are brought to a new level with the herbs damania, passionflower and rose (instead of caffeinated tea leaves).  I love using this in my fall breakfasts–chia pudding, banana smoothies, apple porridge and of course, creamy warm chai drinks.  This summer, I was on a chai latte kick, brewing strong chai tea and blending it with sweetened cashew milk and ice.  I only wish I had Frank’s Finest then, using it’s divine spiciness to really kick things up a notch.  I know what I’ll be using next summer!  Plus, if you’ve had the joy of experiencing my chai cheesecake (from Pure Pleasures), you will know that this spice would be the perfect substitute for my spice list.

The Mediterranean Seasoning Salt is such a lively blend.  It is not overly salty like most conventional salt mixes, which is very refreshing.  It’s also very rare to find a seasoning salt with Himalayan salt as the base, but with Frank’s high integrity products, he uses only the best.  This blend is wonderfully herby, featuring rosemary, oregano and thyme with a few fabulous surprises mixed in–like lavender and dulse.  The lavender is just lovely–I often use it in desserts, but realized I never had the chance to really enjoy the herb in a savory setting until now.  The dulse plays its role along with kelp, adding beneficial minerals.  This really peaks my interest because normally I avoid sea veggies like nobody’s business (I pray for developing the taste one day) but here, with fragrant herbs, the entire mix is beyond delicious.  I’ve been enjoying this blend to bring simple salads to life.  My favorite has been a massaged kale salad with lemon tahini dressing and a generous sprinkling of Mediterranean Seasoning Salt.

In the Frank’s Finest shop, you’ll also find Autumn Dessert Spice, Lemon Pepper, BBQ Spice, Spirulina Gomasio (very original) and Chili-Garlic Salt among other tempting blends.   I have never seen such an array of creative flavor blends anywhere else.  I highly recommend that you hop on over to his shop and spice up your kitchen with new found favorites.

Creamy Dessert Chai

I count on this to warm my mornings and evenings.  It is perfectly creamy, rich and satisfying.

•  2 cups warm to hot water (whatever your raw foodie preference)
• 6 tablespoons raw cashews
• 1 tablespoon raw coconut butter
• 3 tablespoons raw honey
• 2 teaspoons Frank’s Finest Chai Spice Blend
• 1 teaspoon Frank’s Finest Tahitian Vanilla Powder

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until perfectly creamy and warm.

Now for the Frank’s Finest Giveaway!

Frank has generously offered a fabulous prize pack to one lucky reader–including his amazing Chili-Garlic Salt, BBQ Spice Blend, and Mediterranean Seasoning Salt.  It’s simple to enter!  Just follow the details below.

To enter:

1. Sign up for the Frank’s Finest newsletter 

2. Sign up for my Pure Luscious Lifestyle Newsletter

3. Leave a comment below this post with your name letting us know you did it!

That’s it!  You’re entered!

For additional entries (up to 3 total entries):

1. Tweet this, including the link: I entered the #SpicyGiveaway from @FrankGiglio & @NataliaKW and you should too!  http://bit.ly/qPMNcZ

Comment letting us know you did it, including your twitter handle.

2. Share this, including the link, on facebook: I entered the Spicy Giveaway from @ChefFrankyG & @NataliaKW and you should too! http://bit.ly/qPMNcZ

Comment letting us know you did it, including your facebook name.

The Fine Print:

Contest ends at 11:59pm PST on October 23, 2011.  The winner will be announced on October 24th in my newsletter and here on this blog post.  The prize will be shipped to addresses in the US & Canada.  Thanks for playing!

For now, I’m working on preserving the bounty that Portland farmers markets have to offer.  I have always loved dill pickles–and as in my last post–I’ve been aware of the value of probiotic rich foods for many years.  Home fermenting was a bit overwhelming to me at first, mostly because I just hadn’t tried it yet.  I bought pickles & kimchee when I felt like having them, but in many of the places that I’ve lived, it was really hard to find both raw and organic fermented foods.  Lots of pickles aren’t really raw, meaning they’re pretty much probiotic-less and even if they are traditionally fermented, the cucumbers are usually conventional.  Boo!  Now Portland is a total exception and I actually have access to some awesome, local, raw and organic (woah, all three!!!) fermented foods.  Even still, I’m pretty particular when it comes to pickles, so I picked up a bag full of cucumbers, flowering dill and garlic at the farmers market to make my own.  These are nice and sour, and you can play with the amount of spice and dill flavor that you want to infuse in the cucumbers.  The apple cider vinegar here acts as a starter and I think results in a cleaner flavor than straight up lacto-fermentation.

Full disclosure, I have no idea where the original recipe for this came from.  It was passed from my uncle to my brother and then to me.  I think we’ve all made some adjustments along the way.  Though I usually just use cucumbers, you can also pickle radishes, celery, cauliflower, peppers, zucchini…get creative and enjoy the last of summer’s healthy harvest well into fall!

Garlic Dill Pickles

makes 2 – 32oz jars

Ingredients:

• 2 large cloves of garlic, sliced into a few pieces each
• 1 bunch of dill, roughly chopped (if the dill is flowering, even better)
• 1 tablespoon pickling spice
• about 16 organic pickling cucumbers, sliced in half (depending on their size you may fit a few more or less in the jars)
• 64 oz water
• 1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup Himalayan salt

1.  Start with 2 clean 32oz mason jars.
2. Place a sliced garlic clove in each jar.
3. Place a handful of dill in each jar.
4. Place 1/2 tablespoon of pickling spice in each jar.
5. Stuff the jars with as many cucumbers as you can comfortably fit.  There should be some room to breathe, but they don’t need a ton.
6. In a large container, mix the water, apple cider vinegar and salt until the salt dissolves.
7. Pour this brine into your jars until the cucumbers are covered.
8. Cover and shake the jar to distribute the flavors.  Remover the cover for fermenting.
9. Place a small weight over the cucumbers so that they always remain covered by liquid.  I use a smaller jar filled with water.
10. Cover the open jars with a light towel.  Let sit for 3 days, stirring daily to distribute the spices.  After 3 full days, it’s time to taste test!  Set them in the fridge and enjoy!