Cashew Juice

Here in Brazil the cashew grows in abundance. The nut part is separated from the fruit, "apple". Brazil is big on fruit juices, they should be. There are so many different types of fruit. Can't wait to try them all.

There is a very interesting blender that they use. It looks like a regular blender, but inside covering the blade part, coming all the way to the top is a cylinder shaped filter piece that opens to the cover. Placing the fruit in this filter part and blending, the fibers stay inside the filter part and pushes out the juice to the outside of the filter. Water is added to the concentrated juice. This is how I made this cashew juice. Naturally it is not a sweet juice. Usually a sweetener is added.

CASHEWS: The Northeast Region is where the fruit is primarily cultivated. Harvest period is from August to January. The cashew tree is native of the littoral region of Brazil. The cashew was spread through the country by the cashew nuts carried by the Indians. They could feed themselves, produce juice with the fruit as well as medicine. The fruit is excellent to treat rheumatism and skin eczemas. An oil derived from the cashew nut is largely used as antiseptic, as well as to treat intestinal roundworm. Nutrients: Vitamins B (B1, B2 and B3)Vitamin C CalciumIron Phosphorus

Almond Date Coconut Fudge Balls

A delicious sweet this is. Everyone loves it. I do not have any measurement for this. It is very easy to make. Place some almonds in the food processor, chop fine with the S blade. Mix in the cardomon (optional) and cinnamon. Blend well. Add the dates and vanilla. You will need a lot of dates. Make sure the pits are removed. Taste. The way to know if you have enough dates is that you blend until it all becomes one big ball. It is ready. Roll small bite sized balls in your palms and coat it in the raw chocolate powder and or shredded coconut. Make sure they are on the small size....this is very sweet. Great to take to holiday festivities. Enjoy!

Not So Raw Cashew

I love cashews. I use it often in recipes for sweet dressings and sauces. At another time I will post this. A big amount of cashews come from Brazil. Being that this is a far away country, who is going to question it's rawness and probably most people do not even know what a cashew fruit/nut looks like, so we trust the label that says "raw". I visit Brazil often and this time I finally had the opportunity to know what this fruit/nut looks like. A beautiful, strange thing it is. The orange part is the fruit, it is used to make juice and jellies. I love the juice. On top of the fruit sits the cashew nut. The nut is protected by a toxic gray shell. In order to get the nut out, it has to be heated. I visited a cashew processing farm. It was not in use at the time. At another time I intend to go back to see how this is actually done. Not knowing that the shell is toxic, I was biting into the shell to try to get to the nut. This is almost impossible....the shell and the nut seem to be merged together. The worst part is that this shell has a caustic agent. Soon my tongue and upper lip was burning. My lip actually looked like it had been burned. I was worried that this might be permanent. I had my lavender oil with me, which I always carry. I applied it often with a lip balm to cover it. It took about 4 days for it to heal, forming a scab as in a burn. My lip is back to normal, the tongue recovered faster being that it is constantly moist in the mouth. Although the cashew is not raw because it is heated, the only way to get the nut out is by this heating system. I will still use this wonderful nut eventhough it is not totally raw.

In the Raw

Most days I am eating raw vegan foods. For me it is the most complete way of eating. Feeling balanced within is so important. The choices of what to eat are abundant. I love discovering a new recipe I have not tried yet and playing with it if I do not have the exact ingredient. It always comes out delicious.
My skin was the first to let me know that I was doing the right thing by eating raw. In the past I would have eruptions and itchy skin. Now days my skin seems to be glowing.
Having been vegetarian most of my life and sometimes not, going raw felt like the most natural next step. I am dedicating this particular blog, "rawfood with jessica" to recipes, information, and anything in the raw world.