So Obviously I’m a desert lover, but I realize at some point we need to eat more then just chocolate and treats. So I figured I’d add this Tomato Ravioli recipe. Carolyn, my dear friend and the owner of the Red Pepper Deli (the raw restaurant where I make my bars), has another great filling she has created for these raviolis. Its a Pesto, I’ll try to persuade her to share that recipe for those of you that are interested. I love this recipe as its fairly easy and I’ve found it keeps in the fridge for about 4-6 days, which is key for our family.

Personally I’ve found being raw much easier once I incorporated a few simple rules to my lifestyle.

1) Prep on Sunday (or whatever day you have the most free time) for the whole work week. I try to make 2 huge portions of entrees, 2 huge portions of sides, and 2 huge portions of deserts. This has made my life a heck of a lot easier. I’m not in the kitchen all day every day preparing raw meals but they are accessible to me on a daily basis. Allow yourself 4 hours to do all this on any given day. Sunday has worked best for us to gear up for the week!

2) Find like Minded people and stay connected w them- having the Red Pepper deli has been a God sent for me. I connect and exchange tips w people on a weekly basis about our life style. Honestly the more I find my raw food friends through this outlet the more I want to just stay around like minded people. Its hard to stay raw when you don’t know ANY one who lives this way. Honestly this has become pretty normal to me and i’m constantly around people who find it “odd” to eat any other way.

3)Going out to eat- pre screen where your going out to eat. Yes this is annoying, yes you will be the weird one at the table when you order, yes eating raw is inconvenient at times and yes the other food might look good for a moment. I promise “this too shall pass” at some point once you’ve been raw for a while, you will look at that food and go “so. not. worth. it”. I’m at the point now I don’t really care about the quick satisfaction of eating something enticing, I care more about how I FEEL. If you can get to the point of focusing more on how you feel then how things taste, you’ve fought half the battle. After a few weeks of giving up meat I felt SO much better and I have NEVER craved meat since.

So now when I go out to eat, I have salads and whatever sides of veggies they have. Sometimes they’re cooked and honestly I think that’s OK once in a while. I’m not 100% raw, I’m 90ish% and I’m happy here. For me I’ve realized its more important to live and let live rather then be tied to being 100% anything. Just my humble opinion and where i’m happy and healthy at.

OK on to the recipe.

Tomato Shells

10 Roma Tomatoes

1C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cloves Garlic Minced

1t Sea Salt

*** Cut Roma tomato’s into small circles and marinate in olive oil, garlic and sea salt mix while making the Garlic Ricotta cheese

Garlic Ricotta Cheese

1C Cashews

1C Macadamia Nuts or Pine Nuts

1t Sea Salt

3T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2t Lemon Juice

1 Clove Garlic minced

2T Parsley

***Soak Cashews in Distilled water for as long as possible up to 4 hours. Blend all ingredients in a food processor/Vita Mix until completely smooth.

*layer Cheese on one side of tomato and cover with another tomato. Dehydrate for 12 hours @ 105 degrees.

Enjoy!