In the kitchen with Evie

Yes, I know that my usual raw kitchen assistant's name is Hayden (who is still here with me today), but the two of us (Hayden and I) are showing off a recipe we made from the book, "Evie's Kitchen: Raising an Ecstatic Child," by Evie's mother Shazzie.

I have wanted this book for so long that I can't believe I hadn't picked one up myself (oh, that's right; it's from the U.K., which means it's not just sitting on your average U.S. bookstore shelf). Luckily, I scored a copy from Joanna Steven's blog (you may recall the interview I posted with her on my site a while back). Thanks so much Joanna; you have no idea how happy I am to get this.

First of all, I have been thoroughly entertained by all the info provided in the beginning of this book (don't you love it when the text is just as good as the recipes), presented in Shazzie's own Shazzilistic way (yes, I just made that word up; if you're not familiar with her, check out her website and you'll see why it makes sense). She invites you into her and Evie's world, sharing photo by beautiful photo (she really is raising an adorably glowing child), stories and memories.

Shazzie recognizes that what works for Evie may not be a one-size fits all approach. Don't let your child be a science experiment; instead, make sure you do your best to feed them healthy food, provide them with the nutrients they need and know when to seek assistance if you feel your child is lacking in something.

However, if your child is blessed with the mature palate and an abundant access to nutritious and ecstatic (Shazzie explains what this means in the book) foods like Evie, he or she will most likely fare well eating this way. Yes, there are the usual kid-friendly snacks, smoothies and desserts with cute names (Hayden loves the Zebras and wants to make Evie's Oompa Loompa Cake), but the book is also packed with recipes to entice the taste buds of a more experienced raw foodie (I guess you could call Evie an experience raw foodie, as she has actually been raised on raw foods since before birth), like Russell Brand's Hair Fell on My Plate.


The photos are bright and practically pop off the page. With Halloween almost here, it's no surprise that we had our eyes on the Halloween Howlers, but in the end, opted to quickly blend up a simple mango pudding from the book (okay, maybe it's not as simple as Hayden's mango puree, but it's still easy to just toss all the ingredients in and blend).

To jazz up our puddings for the holiday, we dressed them up to look like Jack-O-Lantern faces. They were almost too cute to eat (although I tasted mine in our video, and Hayden only admired it long enough for me to shut off the camera; then, hers was gone, too. Yum!).



You could do the same thing with your favorite raw pudding, but I advise garnishing with actual ingredients in your pudding, like we did with the mango and hemp seeds.

Thanks again Joanna for sending me this amazing book. I can totally see you raising your cutie pie (her son is a handsome little guy; love the guitar pic) on these recipes, too :-)