How to Make a Chicken Happy

It would have been so easy to make Keely happy by discussing my nutritional stupidity in the last 24 hours. Or I could relate how for the last hour we've been listening to how we've had a tornado warning in Franklin County as the sirens blared outside our home. Oh, right, and the sun is shining.

I could tell you how a tornado appears to have missed the "futball" stadium at Ohio State University, but I'd rather talk about something positive.

I was originally introduced to raw foods about 5 years ago by a wonderful lady named Candice Hidegkuti. This lady has so much energy, and is so passionate about raw foods it is unbelievable (she hugs great too!). Candice is still a major force in my area when it comes to raw foods. Because of Candice I dropped 50 pounds.

Then came my trip to Viet Nam. Don't ask me how much I put back on. I'd have to shoot you if I told you.

I played with raw foods off and on, never able to commit to feeling good. Its too easy to feel bad. Then after a second trip to Viet Nam in January, 2007, I knew I had to do something (especially after the Vietnamese women tried to rub my stomach and make a wish. Fun but somewhat embarrassing).

Enter Heidi & Justin Ohlander. These two are the creative (and sometimes crazy) minds behind the great blog "Raw Food, Right Now". Heidi has put together a wonderful recipe book of Thanksgiving recipes that you can download electronically. One of the recipes is an Eggless Egg Salad that my lacto-ovo vegetarian friends assure me is just like real egg salad (pictured above on onion bread with Asian Mushrooms and Easy Caramelized Onions) without eating a chicken embryo. (Bet you were wondering when I was going to work the title into this post didn't you?)

Do you think I'm going to give you the recipe for the eggless salad? No way! I'm not about to take the veggies out of Heidi's and Justin's mouths! It was Heidi that turned me on to the Raw Divas (WATCH YOUR MINDS!)!

OK, I know how stingy some of you can be, so I asked very nicely, and Heidi has sent me a recipe to tempt your pallets. This is based upon a Karen Knowler recipe. Karen's the leading raw food coach in the UK.

Smooth Chocolate Avocado Pudding

3 regular sized avocados
3/4 - 1 cup maple syrup or agave nectar (adjust to taste)
1/4 cup carob powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder or raw chocolate powder
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
splash of salt

First blend the avocados in a food processor. Then add half the maple syrup. Then add the powder while its running. Add sweetener to taste. Add the extract at the end. Keep blending until smooth. Best served chilled.

Happy? Ok, now make sure you check out "Raw Food, Right Now", and support Heidi and Justin. Their blog just turned a year old. They've compiled a list of around 100 raw blogs, a raw ice cream book, and their fantastic Raw Thanksgiving book (which has the eggless egg salad recipe). You can find them at http://rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com

I owe both Heidi and Justin a big thank you for pointing Keely and me to the Raw Divas, and starting us back down the path to health.

Besides everything else they do, Heidi's a Trekkie. Now how can you go wrong with a Trekkie?

Peace and long life! (Yeah, I admit that I find 7 of 9 hot, and wouldn't have thought twice about kissing Uhura either Gene! Real Trekkies will understand...)