It has been some time since I have written a real post here on the Living Vision blog. My intention is to begin regular posts, calendar updates, keeping you up to date with what I’m up to, what’s inspiring me and what new raw goodies I’m getting my hands into.
(Me and My Sis before the wedding)
The newest not so new, but still really very new news with me is that I’m 6.5 months pregnant….yup it’s true! It’s 6.5 months true and obvious if you were to look at me, but this is the first time I’m putting anything about it on my blog. I got married on August 9th and got pregnant very soon after! Many people may be wondering how it’s been, where I’ve been and I’m sure the big question of what I’ve been eating.
This is my first pregnancy and I really didn’t know what to expect although I had many ideas of what I thought pregnancy would be like. First of all, I thought because I had been 80-90% raw I wouldn’t deal with any of those wild cravings that many people talk about. I guess that is somewhat true right now, as I seem to desire the same types of foods as I have for a long time – I just want more of them and there is a bit of a carb monster that comes out and wants bread….we’ll talk about that soon. The first big SHOCK for me was the first tri-mester. I never actually vomited, but I was uncomfortably nauseous almost all of the time. Being that I love food this didn’t keep me from eating and eating actually helped sometimes. However the shock came in when I would think about eating the types of food I was used to eating; a green smoothie in the morning, big salad or kale salad for lunch, some more fresh mostly green stuff for dinner with perhaps some steamed quinoa – oh and of course you should all know I have a BIG sweet tooth, so some sort of sweet throughout the day – well the thought of any of these and actually any raw food made me more nauseous than ever! The thought, the smell, just looking at them, and I mean any raw food. I couldn’t stand the thought of anything green all the way down to a nut or a seed. So for the first three months the bulk of my diet were home made soups, sourdough bread and butter. You better believe I was THRILLED beyond imagining when kale once again sounded appealing to me.
At this point I have transitioned back to eating a lot of raw foods along with some cooked ones. For those first three months I did not touch a thing that was green (other than celery, green leaves and some herbs I would add to my soups) and nothing that was raw! Pretty dramatic coming from a mostly raw food diet for a number of years. I went with what my body could handle rather than trying to force an idea upon my bodies natural process, and I feel great about my choices. Now if I crave some bread, I’ll have it – I do my best to choose the most whole grain organic and ideally sourdough bread available (there are a lot of great bakeries in the bay area that are focused on organic wheat to wheat free to gluten free artisan sourdough breads – it’s awesome!). But now my body does crave kale, seaweed, fresh romaine, celery and cucumber juice, etc. I attribute this to having fed my body such nutritious foods for so long that now my body knows what to ask for when it is looking for more of this vitamin, that nutrient and those minerals.
To sum it up on the food front, I am not 100% raw or vegan, I do eat some organic cheeses occasionally (preferably goat and raw) I also eat fish right now about once a week, some bread, some steamed quinoa and a lot of fresh fruits, veggies, and still a few too many sweets – but at least they are mostly raw, vegan whole foods that are home made with tons of love! I’m sure I will go back to being 100% raw at some point for some period of time, but this is my journey a continual progression to making the best choices within my own personal circumstance. I feel blessed, loved and fully present on my path!
Wheat about outside of the kitchen…..even outside of the kitchen I’ve been spending a lot of time inside many kitchens. For the past 7+ months I have been the bakery supervisor for Cafe Gratitude. For the first three months of my pregnancy I didn’t say anything to anyone, just to make sure all was solid and healthy before spreading the good news. Being that raw food made me nauseous I wasn’t having the easiest time.
As bakery supervisor I worked in the Central Kitchen where the bulk of the food is made for all the cafes. It’s an AWESOME place with such incredible people however, the smell of dehydrated crackers, kimchee, and even just raw pie crusts was pretty much the worst for me at the time. But C’est la vie, such is life! Periods come and go…..that phase passed and I was able to focus, enjoy being in such a creative position and share with all that there was a new life forming in my tummy!
As much as I have LOVED being a part of the Cafe Gratitude community it was time for me to move on and focus more here, in Living Vision, in sharing more with the broader community. I also began working again with my dear friend Elaina Love in running her website Pure Joy Planet, and co-creating other raw, vital endeavors. All of this is also in preparation for greeting the new soul who will be entering our realm of the outside world sometime around the 3rd week of May.
My official last week as bakery supervisor was last week, however I will have the honor to lead one last all bakery meeting and lead a “wedding cake workshop”. So that many of Cafe Gratitude’s bakers will be well equipped to continue the tradition of awesome, beautiful and professional all raw, all vegan wedding cakes! After that I will no longer be an employee of Cafe Gratitude, although it is likely I will still hold some classes with them.
What’s on the Horizon for Chef Chaya??? Many things actually. I am in Los Angeles right now where I taught a raw dessert workshop to a Jewish communities “Woman’s Circle”. This felt very full circle for me being that my initial inspiration for becoming an amazing raw dessert chef was being in Israel and feeling a major disconnect between “Kosher” and “Health”. The information I shared was very well received and it seemed many were inspired to learn more…YAY!!! To top it off they LOVED the white chocolate blueberry tart and amaretto coconut bars with a chocolate and almond crunch topping…oh yeah baby!
This coming Monday the 22nd of Feb. I will be the speaker for Monday Night Live which is held at the Cafe Gratitude location in Healdsburg, CA. The subject will be “Living Vision: The Many Journeys of a Lifetime”. Very different from my normal dessert demo’s, this time I will be telling the story of my life, how I got to where I am now and what Living Vision means to me. I would love to see some of you out there, so please come one, come all, get a drink or a meal and sit down for an intimate evening of sharing!
The first week of March I am heading off to the East Coast to teach some classes, a beginner, intermediate and advanced raw dessert class. I love meeting new raw communities and sharing fun recipes and techniques that people always get excited about. The advanced class will be especially fun. I will teach sheet cakes for up to 80, decorating techniques, 3 flavors of petits fours, and tri layered mousse with Amaretto, Cherry and Chocolate.
One of my favorite things about traveling is seeing new health food stores and trying out the raw foods at new restaurants. That will be easy as the advanced class will be held at “Rawbert’s Organic Garden Cafe”….I am certainly looking forward to trying a few meals there!
I sound a little busy, well I’m not done yet at the end of March I will come back to L.A. to give a demo at the “Green Lifestyle Film Festival” as well as cater some out of this world raw desserts for their banquet.
Enough of the movin’ and groovin’, after that I will be settling down for a bit…or more being that my belly will be much larger and I will need to slow down. I’m still teaching private classes, holding consultations, running Pure Joy Planet, and running Living Vision. So I will be settled but still a busy little bee!
Check back soon, there is more to share. and make sure to take a look at the calendar to hear about upcoming events!
In Love and Gratitude,
Chaya
Strawberry Shortcake
Carrot Goji Berry Cake
German Chocolate Cake
Pecan Turtle Cheesecake
Strawberry Meringue Pie
