Did you know that sesame seeds are the most abundant source of calcium? They have ten times more calcium than cow’s milk and more protein than chicken or beef! And did you further know that properly produced wheatgrass juice contains well over a hundred vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants? Wheatgrass juice can single-handedly support the human body! I learned these things, and so much more, by reading I Am Grateful: Recipes & Lifestyle of Café Gratitude, by Terces Engelhart with Orchid.

I Am Grateful had been on my shelf for a few years, but I just hadn’t gotten around to reading it yet. I had eaten at one of the Café Gratitude restaurants though. Last June (2010), when I attended the training program with Insight Prison Project in San Rafael, California, I was delighted to discover that there was a Café Gratitude right across the street! As a vegan I was just thrilled to eat lunch there every day that week, and it was so fun to experience the ordering process. At Café Gratitude, each item on the menu is an affirmation, so when you place your order, you say something like “I Am Sensational” or “I Am Cheerful”, and then when the server brings your food, they say “You Are Sensational” or “You are Cheerful”. 

In addition to opening several living foods restaurants, Terces and her husband Matthew have invented an explorational board game, The Abounding River, that introduces people to their view of being abundance. And, they have written The Abounding River Personal Logbook that offers a 42-day practice in “opening up to the unceasing flow of everything.” After reading about their philosophy and lifestyle in I Am Grateful, I am inspired to get that workbook. Actually, I spontaneously used the recipe book as a workbook, because along with all the great information, delicious live food recipes, and inspiring quotes, there are wonderfully probing questions, such as: “For whom or what can you kneel and kiss the ground?” “Do you adore the person in the mirror?” “When do you experience the ecstatic?” Without planning to, I found myself writing my answers to the questions throughout the book! Such a beautiful self-reflection process!

I Am Grateful was one of those books that I was sad when it was over, but the beauty continues as I am now trying out the recipes. A few nights ago I made the “Peppery Avocado Caesar Dressing” and it tasted so fabulous on fresh romaine lettuce. And, it was fun to get the blender out again. Some of the recipes call for the use of a food processor or dehydrator, and I don’t have either of those (yet), but I’m not letting that stop me. Since I tend to improvise and change recipes as I go anyway, I’ll just keep trying the recipes while following my inner guidance.

I am really grateful to Terces and Orchid for publishing this high vibration recipe book. We really need books like this to inspire people to eat plant-based diets. As they write in I Am Grateful, “The meat and dairy industries are resource-dense; they require a lot of fossil fuels, water, and other resources. By eating vegan you make more food and resources available for all of us. In recent years the exposure of factory farming and its cruelty to animals has become more apparent; by eating vegan you vote for the ending of this cruelty. You also stop ingesting the violent energy that is held deep within the tissues of these animals. We are becoming more aware that animal foods are not healthy for the human body. We have to transform everything we eat, and animal foods require the most energy to transform, keeping us slow, less alert, and less active.”

The organic, vegan, living foods served in the Café Gratitude restaurants provide a wonderful example of what is possible on a diet that is free of animal products. Many people wonder if they will be able to get enough protein on a vegan diet, and I used to wonder that myself when I first shifted from a vegetarian to a vegan diet, but then I met someone who eats only raw foods, and he told me that the primary concern is not about protein, but rather it is about healthy fats and oils. Terces mentions this as well, when sharing what she and Matthew experienced when they first tried a living foods diet. She writes, “We came to realize that it was healthy fat we were craving when we thought it was protein. An avocado, a few macadamia nuts, or olives sustained us well.”

I could write all day about how much I loved this book! If you get this book and try the recipes yourself, let me know what you think… 

May all beings everywhere have plenty of healthy food to eat each day. May all beings know the Bliss that arises from a Grateful Heart.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of I Am Grateful on Teja’s coffee table taken by Teja Shankara.