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I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude
With locations in San Francisco, Berkeley, Marin, and Los Angeles, Café Gratitude has become well known for its inspiring environment and distinctive, flavorful organic foods. In I Am Grateful, cofounder Terces Engelhart presents her and her husband Matthew’s view of life and business philosophy. She also presents her story of personal healing, sharing highlights of her recovery from food addiction while explaining the benefits of a raw lifestyle. The book’s gorgeous, full-color photographs accompany easy-to-follow recipes for the café’s most popular items, making it easy for readers to prepare live foods at home. Recipes include café favorites such as the “I Am Luscious” raw chocolate smoothie, “I Am Bountiful” bruschetta, “I Am Elated” spicy rolled enchiladas, and “I Am Amazing” lemon meringue pie with macadamia nut crust.
200 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 15, 2022
I like cafe cookbooks, always makes me want to visit the establishment and meet the owners/cooks/authors. I found the affirmation base initially offputting but as I read I got more into it and it serves a good purpose. The recipes are vegan and worthwhile. Surprised by the lack of tofu/seitan but pleased with the many smoothies and drinks.
August 16, 2022
I learned a lot about quality raw cooking from this book. I absolutely love it.
July 21, 2012
This raw food "cookbook" is excellent. It is all gluten-free(except nama shoyu) and dairy-free and refined sugar-free just like my cookbook No Wheat No Dairy No Problem. NOTE: Nama Shoyu has wheat, so just use wheat-free Tamari in its place and it will be gluten-free!
The recipes are so delicious and healthful! I will say that many of them are expensive and time consuming. You also really need to have a Vitamix blender and for some recipes a dehydrator. However, you can use your oven on the lowest setting in place of a dehydrator. I've used a home blender for the cheesecakes and had to make it in small batches and it was not as silky smooth as a Vitamix or Blend-tech blender would get it to be.
Also, I do not like using Irish Moss, although it is supposedly very healthful, I hate it. So, I use more coconut oil to thicken the pies and/or more lecithin instead of Irish Moss.
I love the recipes and enjoy preparing them. Since they are time consuming I make a large amount usually and make it last-especially anything that is dehydrated(granola and crackers). The desserts last my husband and I all week! You can freeze the cheesecakes too.
I do not care for the nut milk ice creams, I prefer my coconut milk based ice creams in my own cookbook! ;P You can try Cafe Gratitudes recipes for free online.
I do not recommend the second cookbook Sweet Gratitude and really disliked the candies.
Make the Lime Pie(too live for), Coconut Cream Pie, Chocolate cheesecake, Granola, soups, Pad thai is so delicious, but not traditional and Strawberry Shortcake is so delicious, and expensive, but worth it!The Macro Bowls are a quick, easy and delicious meal that you feel so rejuvenated after eating. I have to hide the Onion Crackers or my darling Husband will eat them all in one sitting!
We feel so healthy eating this way, especially in the Summer.
The recipes are so delicious and healthful! I will say that many of them are expensive and time consuming. You also really need to have a Vitamix blender and for some recipes a dehydrator. However, you can use your oven on the lowest setting in place of a dehydrator. I've used a home blender for the cheesecakes and had to make it in small batches and it was not as silky smooth as a Vitamix or Blend-tech blender would get it to be.
Also, I do not like using Irish Moss, although it is supposedly very healthful, I hate it. So, I use more coconut oil to thicken the pies and/or more lecithin instead of Irish Moss.
I love the recipes and enjoy preparing them. Since they are time consuming I make a large amount usually and make it last-especially anything that is dehydrated(granola and crackers). The desserts last my husband and I all week! You can freeze the cheesecakes too.
I do not care for the nut milk ice creams, I prefer my coconut milk based ice creams in my own cookbook! ;P You can try Cafe Gratitudes recipes for free online.
I do not recommend the second cookbook Sweet Gratitude and really disliked the candies.
Make the Lime Pie(too live for), Coconut Cream Pie, Chocolate cheesecake, Granola, soups, Pad thai is so delicious, but not traditional and Strawberry Shortcake is so delicious, and expensive, but worth it!The Macro Bowls are a quick, easy and delicious meal that you feel so rejuvenated after eating. I have to hide the Onion Crackers or my darling Husband will eat them all in one sitting!
We feel so healthy eating this way, especially in the Summer.
January 30, 2015
Cafe Gratitude is a raw food restaurant in San Francisco. This is a compilation of raw recipes to prepare living enzyme-enriched meals at home. (Disclaimer- I have never been to Cafe Gratitude so I am not sure how these recipes compare to the restaurant itself.)
The majority of these recipes require raw-foodie contraptions (a dehydrator, sturdy food processor, cheese cloth for straining nut milk, a juicer).
It is a neat concept for a restaurant and book. Each dish is named "I am...___" such as "I am welcoming" and "I am abundant." Saying the names while preparing the recipes folds in a spiritual element to the food processing.
Access to raw-foodie toys (see list above) are pre-requisites to this book. This book contains a mix of intermediate to advanced live-food preparation techniques. If you are new to raw food, hold off on this book. For raw-food basics try out "The Raw Food Gourmet" by Gabrielle Chavez
The majority of these recipes require raw-foodie contraptions (a dehydrator, sturdy food processor, cheese cloth for straining nut milk, a juicer).
It is a neat concept for a restaurant and book. Each dish is named "I am...___" such as "I am welcoming" and "I am abundant." Saying the names while preparing the recipes folds in a spiritual element to the food processing.
Access to raw-foodie toys (see list above) are pre-requisites to this book. This book contains a mix of intermediate to advanced live-food preparation techniques. If you are new to raw food, hold off on this book. For raw-food basics try out "The Raw Food Gourmet" by Gabrielle Chavez
March 9, 2008
I was blown away by the food at Cafe Gratitude when I went to their location in the Mission. As someone who can't tolerate dairy or gluten, I found being able to order off the menu to be an amazing treat, and I felt so great after eating the food, I decided to buy the cookbook. So far, I'm impressed at how simple the recipes are. Of course, this is coming from already needing to make everything I eat from scratch, so perhaps I'm not the best judge of "simple" food prep. We're in the process of moving, so I've postponed any major projects involving soaking, sprouting, and dehydrating, but I've enjoyed the smoothies immensely and cannot wait to make the chocolate mousse! I get the impression that some of the recipes may not be considered "raw" food by some (foods are dehydrated at temps up to 145F), but since "raw" isn't my primary objective, this works fine for me.
June 7, 2007
This is the cookbook from the San Francisco area restaurants/there are a few locations called Café Gratitude. I've eaten the food at the restaurant and, even though I'm not a raw foods fan, I think almost everything I've tried there has been amazing. Some of these book’s recipes are familiar from the restaurant’s menu, some I don’t recognize. Unlike many raw food cookbooks, the recipes don’t call for a huge number of ingredients but for those inexperienced with raw “cooking” there isn’t a ton of instruction, although some good basic information is given. There is also some writing about the place’s philosophy about being grateful and some about the benefits of live foods.
January 15, 2013
I am in no way vegan, nor dedicated to raw foods, but the recipes in this book are really fun and tasty! Each recipe is named for positive qualities we might wish to imbue ourselves with, like "I Am Content" (basalmic dressing) and "I Am Sensational" (pesto pizza). Lots of reminders throughout of all that we might be grateful for, including ways to eat chocolate that don't require dairy, such as "I Am Bliss" (Hazelnut Chocolate Cream Pie). Yum!!
October 29, 2008
so funny that I had to travel 1000s of miles to finally read this slice of home. This cookbook is from Cafe Gratitude, in Northern California, and even though I don't really have cooking capacities in my temporary home in England, it felt so good, so reassuring, so inspiring, to read these recipes.
February 3, 2013
I love the restaurant (Berkeley is the one I've visited), and I love the book! This is full of raw food recipes that they offer in their eateries. Some of my favorites include I Am Thankful (Coconut Curry Soup), I Am Gentle (Coconut Lime Dressing), I Am Content (Fabulous Fig Balsamic Dressing), I Am Impeccable (Smoky Mole), I Am Kind (refried beans)
June 30, 2009
This is a beautiful book, full of inspiring quotes and wonderful recipes, I have tried some of the recipes and they were approved by the gang. Terces story is amazing, and she really teaches you to be grateful for things we take for granted.
June 21, 2014
Everything I've had from this cook book is amazing! We had the marinated mushrooms stuffed with mushroom pate for dinner tonight, with fig balsamic dressing on a salad. It was phenomenal! I can't wait to incorporate more of these recipes into our regular menu!
February 17, 2008
I love the quotes in this book. Some mighty interesting raw food recipe selections too. We recently tried the raw chocolate & hazelnut pie. MMM.
October 28, 2008
If you have the time to devote to these recipes - they are worth it. YUMMY!
March 18, 2011
Nice cookbook on raw cooking. I have tried several recipes so far, mostly successful. Some of the instructions could be a little more clear, but on the whole very good.
August 31, 2013
While I'll never go "raw vegan", the book provides some interesting ideas to combine with other items that can only be beneficial to one's health....
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews