I’ve been spending some time lately looking at restaurants all over the world, culinary schools, raw recipes, YouTube channels, online raw shops, resorts, detox centers and so on and thought may be you all would be interested in seeing just how many options there really are out there.

I have a few websites that I like to check out daily that are worth the time to check out. For some it may seem impossible to find these things, or they wish there was something out there for healthy options like raw food but haven’t been able to find what they are looking for. Here are a few of my favorite sites to check out!

Raw Food Planet – From this website you can search for dehydrators, recipes, resorts, restaurants, culinary schools, dating services, books, magazines and so on. There are even places listed out of the country. I’ve used this website mostly for finding restaurants and recently I’ve been admiring their vacation list. Soon it will slow down immensely at my job and I’m geeking to get off this island and country!

Yelp! – Yeah, that’s right, yelp. If you go on their website, go to categories and click on live/raw food you can find out where a raw restaurant is in your area. (Here’s an example with New York City)

Now I’ll enter what I like to call the raw foodies versions of “Real World”! With less drama, far more attractive people, and inspiring meals by inspiring people.

Raw Reform – Here you can read Angela Stokes-Monarch’s experience with going raw and how it literally saved her life. She once had emotional eating problems & morbid obesity. On here you can also watch her TV show with her husband Matt Monarch called The Raw Food World. The couple even created their intro jingle together ❤ This extreme adorable raw couple met when Angela decided to reach out to the raw community for assistance with her health problems and ended up writing back & forth with Matt. Gah, you guys are so cute you’re making me squeeze my body together like I’m getting a hug. There are loads of other links on here too for recipes, shopping, news, blog posts and much more.

David Wolfe – David Wolfe, the avocado man! I remember the first time I saw a video of him he was going on and on about the health benefits of cacao. This man has some controversial views even in the raw world. The best way to learn about him is through YouTube and his books.

We Like It Raw– Recipes, podcasts, recommended readings, personal stories/transformations from going raw, & instructional videos.

Here are a few of the websites I check out for recipes, there are so many out there. But I’m only mentioning these ones because I actually check them out daily and am extremely satisfied with the recipes I have tested out.

Raw Food Recipes – They have everything from fermented, juice, main entrées and dehydrated recipes. The difficulty levels vary so there are recipes that anyone can pull off. This website has a variety of chefs that share their recipes, lots of different styles, tastes and vegetables are used. You can even read reviews of recipes! If you are more of a visual person or just enjoy watching food videos there are videos of many of the recipes. The Raw Food Recipes blog is pretty fantastic too! There are wonderful articles on the health benefits of certain foods, how to use certain ingredients and lots of raw knowledge to absorb.

Raw Guru – Raw Guru has an online store, blog, recipes, newsletter & jokes (yes, raw people are silly too :P). Their store has supplements, seaweed, oils, berries, condiments, seeds, butters, olives and many other goodies. I frequently drink the Spirulina Elixir (I didn’t put any sugar in it though) and munch on Kristen Suzanne’s Fennel Orange Kale Salad (I prefer it without olives though, very strange because I LOVE OLIVES).

You can follow both of these websites on facebook & I highly recommend it. You might want to add them so recipes/photos pop-up on your news feed because you are more likely going to try to incorporate raw foods into your diet this way. It’s also a great way to get some inspiration on what to make for a meal. Sometimes I look at recipes for the longest time and do not even make a recipe on one of the sites but something that came to me from looking around.

Here are two raw foodies that I own uncook books from & follow their websites and/or facebook page.

Ani Phyo – On Ani’s website there is more than just recipes and info about her books, she has articles on music, travel, beauty, retreats & farmer’s markets even. You can also check out her blog through here, she does not update it too frequently but it’s nice to get to know the people who are making an impact on your life and see how much good they do in the world. Ani’s recipes at times vary from being on an intermediate uncooking level to advanced.

I guess for me personally it’s inspiring because most raw chefs that I follow did not go to culinary school, they enjoy the same activities as me (yoga, biking, taking care of animals) and they somehow manage to volunteer and donate their time and money to some amazing causes.

Sarma Melngailis – Sarma owns Pure Foods and Wine in New York and One Lucky Duck (I love the online shop! Sarma always has a sweet deal. Sadly I’ve never been to the actual shop). I’m pretty much obsessed with checking out her menu and dream of eating at this restaurant some day. Sarma’s recipes are a bit advanced and usually time-consuming. I’ve made her raw falafel with hot sauce and cauliflower tabouli before and it was fantastic but too me forever to make.

Man I could totally go for some of that raw falafel right now…in case you are wondering what that looks like take a peek! It’s mostly made of mushrooms 😀

<img class=”aligncenter size-medium wp-image-92″ title=”My batch of Sarma’s Raw Falafel her recipe with hot sauce, tahini and tabouli!

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