How I became a vegetarian

As a kid my mother forced me to eat meat even if I didn't like it. I grew up in a farm where vegetables, fruits and animals were available for food.Once in awhile we would kill an animal like a chicken or a rabbit for a meal and once a year a big pig to make salami etc. This was a normal routine on our farm.

When I came across meditation in India, in a center that is now Osho International Meditation Resort, I discover vegetarianism. It was there that I got to know the passion and the creativity that comes along with cooking and creating vegetarian recipes for thousands of visitor from allover the world.
And in that wonderful place I had the opportunity to create and create!!! And now I am in touch with the chefs there and I orchestrate the menu and recipes through mail.

In one occasion many years ago when I returned to Italy from India, out of habit I killed a rabbit for a dinner party, and in that moment it became very clear that the rabbit didn't like to be killed, so I asked myself "do I need to kill to eat?" For sure no!!

From that moment it became clear that I wanted to eat only vegetarian food.
Recently here in Sweden where I reside now I came across raw food and I took a course from Janne Larsen of the Nordic Raw Living Chef Academy. I'm now graduated as a Raw Chef.
It's very interesting to see the habit that we carry with us about food. Raw food is usually at room temperature and we are used to eat hot or warm food so is quite a change. On the other hand in raw food all the nutrients are available since by cooking most the enzyme get destroyed.

Often I get the question on where I get the protein as a vegetarian or vegan or raw eater?
The answer is quite logic. The cow doesn't eat meat but grass, and there are many animals that doesn't eat meat and they have no problem getting enough protein. Why would humans? Many studies say that the human digestive system is not made for digesting meat.
In fact there are more protein in kale leaves that the same amount of meat and like all the vegetables if eaten raw it contains enzymes that make the digestion easy.

And regarding the myth that drinking milk you get strong bones, USA and Sweden are the biggest consumer of milk pro capita and is where there are more cases of osteoporosis. Worth some thought.

I feel that vegan and raw is the future of food where respect for life is part of human consciousness and meditation is the key to consciousness.

Cleaning Fruit

http://www.herbs-info.com/blog/nine-ways-to-avoid-pesticide-residues-in-food/


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You need a very proportionate, calculated food balance to keep all your needs completely fulfilled, food that helps consciousness to grow, food that makes you more loving, more peaceful, food that destroys your anger, your hatred. It is your chemistry that food changes, and all these things – anger, hatred, love, compassion – are connected with your chemistry.Osho.

Very yummy!!! Try it !!!

Walnut burger

Ingredients for 8 x 10cm diameter  burgers.

1.5 cups Walnuts

 1.5 cup Sunflower seeds

5 pieces Sun dried tomatoes soaked overnight

 1 cup Mushrooms cut in slices

 1tbsp tamari

Salt to taste

½  cups Carrot pulp

 1 tsp Paprika

 1 tsp Fresh  Italian herbs

 1/2 Clove garlic

c 3 tablespoons olive oil

 3 tbsp soaked flax seeds

1 Iceberg lettuce

1 Fennel cut in slices

Ketchup:

4 pieces sundried tomato

6 Baby plum tomato

2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

Little garlic

1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Blend all ingredients in high speed to have a smooth texture.

Mayonnaise

  1 cup Cashews  or macadamia nuts soaked for 1 hour
  2 tbsp  lemon juice
   1 teaspoon salt
  2 tablespoons chopped shallots

1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Blend at high speed until smooth

Burgers:

 Mix flaxseed and sun-dried tomato in blender. Run everything else in the food processor panels mix in by hand. Shape into burgers and dry 14-18 hours, turning burgers halfway through.

Stuffed Mushrooms (Raw)

Stuffed Mushrooms (Raw)

Serving 2

For the mushrooms

6 Large mushrooms peeled and cut in half to have 2 circles.

2 tbsp Lime juice

1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp Chopped thyme

Salt & Pepper  to taste

Marinate the mushrooms with the lime juice, olive oil and the seasoning for 1 hour.

Filling

¾ Cup of cashew soaked for 2 hours

2 tbsp Lime juice

1.1/2 tbsp  Finely chopped shallot

1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Blend  at high speed all the  ingredients to have a smooth creamy texture, if to dry add little water during the blending.

Sauce

2  Avocados if large one is enough.

½  tbsp Chopped shallot

2 tbsp Fresh orange juice

Salt & Red Chilly to taste

With a fork mash the avocado pulp mix in the shallot, orange juice and the seasoning, to have a smooth consistency.

Optional

Organic balsamic cream

You can assemble the dish as per the photo.

Stuffed Mushrooms (Raw)

A Meditator’s Diet

Man is the only species whose diet is not predictable. The diet of all other animals is certain. Their basic physical needs and their nature decides what they should eat and what they should not; how much they should eat, how much they should not; when they should eat and when they should stop. But man is absolutely unpredictable, he is absolutely uncertain. Neither his nature tells him what he should eat, nor his awareness tells him how much he should eat, nor his understanding decides when he should stop eating.

As none of these qualities of man are predictable the life of man has gone in some very uncertain directions. But if there is even a little understanding — if man starts living with even a little intelligence, with even a little thoughtfulness, opening his eyes even a little — then it is not at all difficult to change to a right diet. It is very easy; there can be nothing more easy. To understand right diet we can divide it into two parts.

The first thing: what should a man eat and what should he not eat?

Man’s body is made of chemical elements. The whole process of the body is very chemical. If alcohol is put into a man, then his body will be affected by the chemical — it will become intoxicated, unconscious. Howsoever healthy, howsoever peaceful the man may be, the chemistry of the intoxication will affect his body. Howsoever saintly a man may be, if he is given poison then he will die.

Any food which takes man into any kind of unconsciousness, any kind of excitement, any kind of extremity, any kind of disturbance, is harmful. And the deepest, ultimate harm is when these things start reaching the navel.

Perhaps you are not aware that in naturopathy all over the world, mud packs, vegetarian food, light food, water-soaked cloth strips and tub baths are used to heal the body. But no naturopath has yet understood the point that the effects of water-soaked cloth strips, mud packs, or tub baths, on the body are not so much because of their special qualities but because of how they affect the navel center. And the navel center then affects the rest of the body. All these things — the mud, the water, the tub bath — affect the dormant energy in the navel center and when this energy arises, health starts arising in the person’s life.

But naturopathy is still not aware of this. Naturopathy thinks that perhaps these beneficial effects are coming from the mud packs or the tub baths or the wet strips on the stomach! They do have benefits, but the real benefits are coming from the awakening of energy in the dormant centers of the navel.

If the navel center is mistreated, if a wrong diet, wrong food is used, then slowly, slowly the navel center becomes dormant and its energy becomes weaker. Slowly, slowly that center starts falling asleep. Finally it almost goes to sleep. Then we don’t even notice it as any center.

Then we notice only two centers: one is the brain where thoughts are constantly moving, and the other is a little bit of the heart where emotions are moving. Deeper than this we have no contact with anything. So, the lighter the food is, the less it creates heaviness on the body, the more valuable and significant it will be for the beginning of your inner journey.

For a right diet the first thing to remember is that it should not create excitement, it should not be intoxicating, it should not be heavy. After eating rightly you should not feel heaviness and drowsiness. But perhaps all of us feel heaviness and drowsiness after our meals — then we should know that we are eating wrongly.

Some people get sick because they do not get enough food and some people get sick because they get too much food. Some people die of hunger and some people die of overeating. And the number of people dying of overeating has always been more than the people dying of hunger. Very few people die of hunger. Even if a man wants to remain hungry there is no possibility of him dying for at least three months. Any person can live without food for three months. But if a man overeats for three months then there is no possibility of his survival.

Our wrong attitudes towards food are becoming dangerous for us. They are proving to be very costly. They have taken us to a point where we are somehow just alive. Our food does not seem to create health in us, it seems to create sickness. It is a surprising situation when food starts making us sick. It is as if the sun rising in the morning creates darkness. This would be an equally surprising and strange thing to happen. But all the physicians in the world are of the opinion that most of the diseases of man are because of his wrong diet.

So the first thing is that every person should be very aware and conscious about his eating. And I am saying this especially for the meditator. It is necessary for a meditator to remain aware what he eats, how much he eats, and what its effects are on his body. If a man experiments for a few months with awareness, he will certainly find out which is the right food for him, which food gives him tranquility, peace and health. There are no real difficulties but because we do not pay any attention to food, we are never able to discover the right food.”

Osho, The Inner Journey, Talk #3