My Vegan Adventure

Now, I am by no means vegan or on a raw foods diet, but I have been trying to eat healthier and be more conscious about the meals I make at home.

A while back, my mom, her friend, Debbie, and I bought a Groupon for a raw, vegan cooking class at the Thanks Jordan Vegan Cafe in Lockport, IL. The founder of this cafe is Laurie Sloan, whom my family knows very well. Many of you know that my brother had cancer when he was four years old (he is cured and healthy now), and one of the good things that came out of our journey with him to recovery was that we met so many amazing people.

Laurie Sloan was one of them. Laurie herself has been battling cancer on and off for several years, but she also founded the Thanks Jordan Foundation which was started when Laurie met a young girl who was battling cancer named Jordan. Jordan was diagnosed when she was 18 months old and now, 12 years later, lives in remission and has been an inspiration to Laurie. Her Foundation provides many thing for families battling cancer, and recently Laurie and the Thanks Jordan Foundation opened a Raw Vegan Cafe in Lockport. This cafe is 100% VOLUNTEER run, which is amazing.

I, myself, have never gone in there to eat an actual meal, but my first visit to the cafe was this past Wednesday for our cooking class. Wow, was I impressed! There were two foods we made that night - a veggie wrap and a chocolate cream pie. All of the ingredients are natural, raw foods. Many people probably think that eating healthy, eating raw, eating vegan, whatever the case may be takes so much more time than eating "normal" foods. However, the veggie wrap was whipped up in a matter of minutes (not counting the dehydrating time) and the chocolate pie took about 15 minutes from start to finish. Very quick and very easy...oh and very delicious too!!

Here are the recipes:

Veggie Wrap - note: dehydrator needed
2 tomatoes
1/2 large red pepper
1 small zucchini
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons parsley
1-2 cups flax seed, grounded

Place all ingredients, except flax seed, in food processor and mix until blended and smooth. Pour in a separate bowl. Grind flax seed (or you can buy pre-ground flax seed) and pour into mixture. Mix well and make sure there are no lumps. Spread in large circles on a reusable dehydrator sheet (or a Texflex sheet) and dehydrate for about 5-6 hours. Peel off and you have your "tortillas." Then, you can put vegetables, some cheese, whatever you want on it and wrap it up and eat it like a wrap.

Chocolate Cream Pie
Crust
3 cups pecans
8 pitted dates
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling
3 medium avacados
1/2-1 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup cacao powder
3/4 cup water

Process all crust ingredients in blender. Press into a pie plate. Process all filling ingredients in blender and pour into crust. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Even though this used avocados as a base, it tasted so much like chocolate I couldn't believe it!! It was actually almost TOO rich. 


I was pleasantly surprised by my experience there and can't wait to go in and try foods from their regular menu. If anyone wants to meet there for lunch or dinner one day, let me know!

The website for the cafe menu is: http://www.rawvegancafe.org/Raw-Vegan-Menu.html

The chef mentioned that they will be putting out groupons for the cooking classes about every three months. If you ever see one I encourage you to buy it! (The Groupon is $25 for a $50 class).