Alive in 5: Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes [Paperback]

Angela Elliott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2007

Here is a great resource for anyone looking for easy alternatives to complex raw recipes that require lots of time and expensive equipment to prepare. Acclaimed raw chef Angela Elliott shows how to whip up mouth-watering lasagne, spaghetti marinara, stuffed mushrooms, broccoli in cheese sauce, apple pie, decadent whipped cream and strawberries, chocolate shake, and more--all in about five minutes, with easy-to-find ingredients and just a blender or food processor. She shares her personal wellness journey and her playful enthusiasm to make the book an enjoyable and inspiring guide to delicious living.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Angela Elliott was raised by a world-renowned physicist/chemist stepfather and a gourmet French chef/writer mother whose occupations enabled frequent travel abroad. She is a practitioner in holistic endeavors, including Chinese medicine, nutrition, herbology, reflexology, culinary arts, living food, and intuitive healing. Angela also has extensive experience as a licensed paramedical aesthetician. She is the owner and operator of Celestial Raw Goddess Enterprises, which promotes raw food as a life-enhancing aspect of natural wellness. Angela currently resides in San Diego, California with her husband and teenage son, Ian, who has adopted the raw food lifestyle as well.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Book Publishing Company (TN) (February 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570672024
• ISBN-13: 978-1570672026
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

471 of 486 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You call this gourmet?, March 26, 2007

By 

Ajax (OKLAHOMA CITY, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Alive in 5: Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes (Paperback)

I think the title of this book is quite misleading. I'm giving it two stars because I think the author is representing it as something it's not: "gourmet food".

While the recipes are not complicated, most of them are far TOO simple. Over and over, I kept asking myself, "for THIS I need a recipe book??" For example, "Cucumber Pizza", which sounds intriguing, is nothing more than chopped olives on slices of cucumber. "Scrambled Eggs", which sounds like something you wouldn't find in any ordinary raw food recipe book is -- are you ready for this? -- 3 ripe avocados mashed in a bowl, add salt and pepper! The "salad" recipes are the most basic of salads ... if you can chop some vegetables and lettuce into a bowl, add some lemon juice, olive oil and your favorite seasonings, you already know how to make most of the salads in this book.

There are several different nut milk recipes, each with a fancy, delicious-sounding name, but they're all the exact same recipe ... only the kind of nut you use is different.

Many of the recipes call for the pulp left over from making nut milk, and some of the soup recipes require nut milk. So unless you've taken the time to make nut milk, and have saved a supply of the pulp, you're out of luck.

One problem I have with many raw food recipe books is the inordinate amount of nuts, seeds and avocados called for. One recipe in this book calls for 5 avocados to make a dish that serves 3 people (just about all the recipes in the book make 3 servings). A taco recipe calls for 2 cups of soaked sunflower seeds in the pate', plus an avocado in the filling, and another cup of sunflower seeds to make the "sour cream" topping ... serves 3. I don't like gorging on fats, even if they are the healthy kind.

Some recipes call for coconuts, which is a no-go for me, because I don't want to have to deal with cracking coconuts and scraping out the flesh, etc. One recipe (that makes 3 servings) calls for 3 young coconuts.

I'm a big proponent of raw foods, and have a large collection of raw food recipe books. For "quick and simple" recipes, I especially like Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People, by Jennifer Cornbleet. Raw Foods for Busy People by Jordan Maerin is another favorite. But I cannot recommend Alive in 5, for all the reasons mentioned above. Perhaps if it were titled more honestly, something like "Dishes You Really Don't Need a Recipe Book For", I wouldn't have been so disappointed with it. I'm not saying there aren't some tasty combinations of foods in this book, but many of them are just TOO simple. To call it "Gourmet Meals" is misleading.

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not always 5 minutes but always Tastey!, April 8, 2008

By 

Sandy Edwards - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alive in 5: Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes (Paperback)

I recently purchased three raw cookbooks, this is the first I have tried.

I have tried all but two recipes of the first three days menu plan, plus two extras, sometimes they took a little longer than 5 minutes but I have enjoyed every recipes.

This is my fourth try going raw and I may make it this time because the foods in the book are readily available (except maybe one or two).

There is not a lot planning days ahead to soak, sprout, grind, dehydrate for three days so maybe it will be ready and hopefully you will still want it and remember what you were trying to make in the first place! With this book you see it, you check the frig and find the ingrediants, you make it, you love it!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gloriously simple, August 31, 2008

By 

Smartypants "FBGA" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alive in 5: Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes (Paperback)

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking into or transitioning to raw food and anyone who is a busy person. It is simple, easy and the recipes really are ready fairly quickly. The food itself is very tasty and as long as you plan ahead you can be eating within 10 minutes of walking in the door. The "high fat" content alluded to in another review is much lower than a typical mainstream meal and it is my belief that when you transition to raw foods you need to have as much of the heavier foods around as possible, so that you feel satisfied as your body is getting used to the change. Worry about the fat later, when you are an experienced raw foodist. Chances are your body will tell you by then anyway! Enjoy this delightful little book and enjoy all the time you have not cooking!