Welcome to Raw Epicurean where a passion for raw vegan food + ideas + inspiration is shared through pixilated pages.
Raw food is for everyone! You don't have to be 100% raw to receive the benefits and enjoy it.
Recent Entries
- Unleash Your Brain’s Full Potential With Nutrient Rich Foods
- Shiitake Mushrooms
- Artichoke Paté
- Beet Soup with an Orange Twist
- Prickly Pear Cactus Cooler
- Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit
- Rose :: Herb of the Month
- Great Raw Food Recipes To Include In Your Next Meal
- Appetizers + Snacks (11)
- Book + Ebook Reviews (7)
- Breakfast Recipes (4)
- Cacao Recipes (5)
- Condiments (10)
- Cookie Recipes (8)
- Creams + Sauces (5)
- Dessert Recipes (23)
- Dressings + Vinaigrette (2)
- Drink Recipes (24)
- Eco-Friendly Products (3)
- Equipment + Gadgets + Tools (16)
- Etcetera (27)
- Foodie News (1)
- Health and Wellness Articles (3)
- Herb of the Month (11)
- Holiday Recipes (6)
- Main – Entrée (15)
- Make Your Own (2)
- Movie Reviews (2)
- Opinion (3)
- Organic Vegan Wine (3)
- People (18)
- Plant Food (7)
- Raw Kitchen Pantry (4)
- Restaurant Reviews (1)
- Salad Recipes (14)
- Side Dish Recipes (8)
- Soup Recipes (10)
- Suggestions + Tips (15)
Raw Vegan Recipes + More
Ingredient Index
Lists
Miranda Martinez :: An Interview + Giveaway
February 2, 2010
Meet Miranda Martinez, a Latina beauty who is an enterprising entrepreneur with oodles of enthusiasm and passion for the theatrical and culinary arts. She is an aspiring actress, a producer, and a raw vegan speaker, author, chef and superfood retailer.
Miranda lives in Dallas, Texas and works with Bliss Raw Café & Elixir Bar, Dallas’ first and only raw vegan restaurant, as a self-taught pastry chef where she creates sought after raw vegan desserts.
Embracing a raw vegan lifestyle has proved to be a beneficial chose for Miranda, which she talks about in the interview. She also talks about who has influenced her on this journey, about loving her work at Bliss Raw Café, staple items you might find in her kitchen, her dream role as an actress, and much more.
Enjoy the interview…
Ingrid Weithers-Barati: We both delved into the raw vegan diet the same year, in 2007. Since that time, how has this diet affect your overall well-being and lifestyle?
Miranda Martinez: Becoming raw vegan has made an big difference for me! For the first time in my adult life I have been able to keep my ideal weight easily (lost over 60 lbs), I have increased energy and vitality, my skin looks amazing, my LDL cholesterol has stayed down, I have made great friends and have met amazing people. I am very happy I made the transition.
IWB: What was your eating history before going raw, and which junk food addition has raw food helped you overcome?
MM: I was a omnivore… BIG TIME! Before my transition to raw, I ate everything I wanted and, even though I had pretty much done every weight loss diet imaginable, I hadn’t done any research about vegetarians or vegans. I was a food addict, period. I loved all kinds of different foods, but I had more challenges with breads, chesses, chips and sweets.
IWB: What people or events have most influenced your journey as a raw foodist?
MM:
Angela Stokes-Monarch: Angela lost over 160 lbs when she became raw! She’s been a huge inspiration and source of information for me in my journey.
Courtney Taylor and Brian Smith here in Dallas have been instrumental as well. They were the first raw vegans I met in Dallas and they guided my initial steps.
Karen Knowler: She’s been my model and mentor as a conscious online raw business entrepreneur.
Raw Vegan Radio: I’ve listened to many great interviews with raw food movement leaders. Great source of information.
Raw Food Meetups: I’ve met wonderful people who have become my friends, my community and support.
IWB: When did you decide to become a raw food chef?
MM: That’s an interesting question because there wasn’t one moment in which I said to myself “I’m going to be a raw chef”. As a matter of fact, before becoming raw vegan, I really don’t remember enjoying being in the kitchen much. Now in retrospect, I know I had some talent in the kitchen. My mother has told me in the past that her Panamanian “Arroz con Pollo” (rice and chicken) never turned out as good as mine and my friends asked me to make them my special birthday cakes or sugar cookies I made from scratch. The same sugar cookie recipe I started making at 12 years old to give as Christmas presents to my friends back in my native Panama. So I guess I did enjoy *some* kitchen play.
In January 2008 when my friend Israel Luna asked me to help him with a 30-day raw vegan challenge for the local publication called The Dallas Voice. When he saw how much my life (and appearance) had changed with the raw vegan lifestyle, he asked me to make all his food, deliver it and he wanted to make a video: a before and after show with his comments about the diet. You can see those videos on my website at . That was my first experience as a personal chef. I continued developing my skills by making food for clients as well as raw food potlucks.
Then in May 2009 I started working at Bliss Raw Café & Elixir Bar – Dallas’ first (and only) raw vegan restaurant. Initially, I was just hired as a server. I wanted to be part of the only raw food restaurant in Dallas – in any capacity! Then one day that same month, we sold out of all of our desserts and our pastry chef wasn’t around. I was serving that day and I wanted my customers to be able to have dessert choices. So I went into the kitchen and prepared a couple of desserts with ingredients we had available. People loved them, so the owner asked me to continue to cover for the pastry chef on the days when he was off. People kept making great comments about my desserts. The next month, the owner asked me if I would like to help her develop the new Bliss Raw Café menu. We worked on it for a few months and in late September we started serving it. We’ve had amazing comments about our new menu and I’m incredibly proud of it. That’s how I became a chef! I am self-trained and have learned a lot by just playing in the kitchen. I am currently the pastry chef at Bliss Raw Café and have been already for over 6 months, in addition of contributing to the menu at the cafe. I’m also a raw food prep coach and specialize in made-to-order raw vegan desserts/treats I sell via my website and I deliver locally.
IWB: Working as a chef and server at Bliss Raw Café must be a lot of work and a lot of fun. What is your favorite part of being a chef?
MM: YES! I love working at Bliss Raw Café. I’ve met so many wonderful people there. It is a lot of work, and when you love what you do, then it’s easy and fun. The best part of being a chef is when people love your food. I love when people call and ask if I’ve made a particular dessert (or request I make it). When it’s our guest’s first time at Bliss, they don’t know anything about raw food and they absolutely love it. Also when people come to the restaurant because they’ve seen my posts on Facebook or Twitter and I’ve made their favorite dessert. That’s the absolute best part of being a chef. I also feel I’ve done my job is when I’ve made the “new-to-raw” people love our food and have a great time at Bliss. Then next time they bring their friends!
IWB: What are your favorite picks from the menu at Bliss Raw Cafe?
MM: These are my absolute favorites:
* Elixirs: Chocolate Bliss 125, Hemp Horchata & Super Nova Shot
* Soups: Vietnamese Pho Soup (it’s served warm) & Tomato Basil Bisque
* Entrees: Margherita Pizza, Pad Thai & Coconut Kale Enchiladas
IWB: What type of challenges, if any, have you faced with your family, friends and within your community since embracing a raw vegan lifestyle, and how have you overcome them?
MM: Initially most people thought I was crazy for going into such an (according to them) extreme and limiting lifestyle. Before I used to go out to eat with them all the time and now I choose to eat at home beforehand or carry a smoothie with me, also because I do my best to eat before 6pm. My close friends have embraced my new lifestyle; most of them eat what I make and absolutely love it. My family has already gotten used to it and at social gatherings I usually bring dishes I can eat as well as share with them.
Before I became raw I did a lot of research so when I made my decision, I was very secure in my reasons to do it. I know becoming raw vegan is good for me and that’s all that matters. Even though, I don’t mean to talk to so much about my lifestyle, at gatherings my friends sometimes mention that I am a raw vegan to others and suddenly conversations revolve around me, my weight loss and Q&A about being raw. And I’m happy to talk about it, since it’s such a new concept to most people. Since being raw has become such a big part of my life, my friends have gotten used to it. Also I haven’t asked anyone to accommodate my lifestyle or changed theirs. So it has been an easy transition.
IWB: Tell us one of your most amusing behind-the-scenes kitchen stories at home or at Bliss.
MM: One day when we ran out of desserts at Bliss Raw Cafe I went into the kitchen and made a Pineapple Cobbler. I have never heard of a Pineapple Cobbler before, but that’s what we had and I made it. It turned out to be a Summer dessert hit at Bliss! And since it’s so easy to make, I even made it for The Dallas Observer’s Appetite for Instruction column as well as The Texas State Fair’s Celebrity Chef Kitchen when they asked me to participate representing Bliss. Everyone loves it!
IWB: Before becoming a raw vegan chef, you were and still are involved in the film and commercial industry, working in front of the camera as an actress, and behind the scene as a producer. When did you know you wanted to pursue being this industry?
MM: I knew since I was 5 years old that I wanted to be an actress. I was born and raised in Panama until I turned 18, so living in the US and pursuing my dreams seemed so far away. Even though I got a business degree from Southern Methodist University, one of the most prestigious schools in the US, I knew I wouldn’t pursue a corporate career. I’ve always known I would be an actress eventually. Being a producer happened later when I decided I wanted to make my own movies and create my own roles. I started my own theater company in 2001 and recently I started an independent film production company: Barú Films. I’m currently seeking funding for 8 films; some of them have already been written, and some of them are concepts yet to be written… it is all very exciting!
IWB: What is your dream role as an actress?
MM: I love so many movies! It would depend on the genre… In musicals a role like Velma Kelly in Chicago or Satine in Moulin Rouge. In action movies: Fox in Wanted, Mai in Live Free or Die Hard. In dramas: Lisa in Girl Interrupted or Paris in dentity… I guess I better stop here or I’ll never finish!
IWB: Who has been your greatest inspiration as an actress?
MM: Salma Hayek: She came to the US as an adult and has an accent (just like me), had limited roles given to her, so she became a producer and she makes her own movies and TV shows. Now she’s had nominations and has won awards as a producer/director/actor. She’s definitely a huge inspiration in my work. Plus people have told me many times that I remind them of her or I sound like her, which it’s a huge compliment for me.
IWB: What one word would you use to describe yourself?
MM: Outgoing.
IWB: What is the one thing about you few people know?
MM: When I arrived at the US I was 18 years old, didn’t speak any English. Even though I had already graduated in Panama, I enrolled in 12th grade in high school because I was scared of going to college without speaking English. In high school I made the honor roll every semester and graduated in the top 10% of my class of over 300 students with a 3.71 GPA. Two and a half years later I was attending Southern Methodist University. Very few people know that about me.
IWB: If we could have a peak into your kitchen pantry, what raw and living food staples would we find?
MM: In my fridge: young coconuts, raw cashews, Chocolate Bliss superfood mix, kale, spinach, celery, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, hemp seeds, guarana, yerba mate, nutritional flakes, EFA oil, raw cashews, raw almonds…
Pantry: Sunfire Salt, Spirulina, Revitaphi, Coconut Oil, Cacao Butter, Vanilla Powder, Vanilla Agave Nectar, Vanilla Raw Vegan Protein, irish moss, nori sheets, dulse.
IWB: Which raw food has become a staple in your diet?
MM: Green Smoothies and juices. I also love avocadoes.
IWB: What is one of your favorite kitchen gadgets?
MM: I LOVE my Blendtec Blender! We have enjoyed many trips together.
IWB: Where and what was your most memorable raw meal?
MM: Wow…I would have to say Quintessence in NYC. I went in October 2008 and I had some amazing crispy raw tacos and a delicious BLT… I was hooked!
IWB: Any words of advice or anything else you’d like to share to aspiring actors, chefs, entrepreneurs, and raw vegan foodists?
MM: Find something you love and go do it! Your heart knows exactly what that is. Each one of us is an amazing being and our God-given talents are to be shared with the world.
IWB: Thank you Miranda for your abundant enthusiasm, creativity, inspiration, and education you share through culinary and theatrical arts.
MM: Thank you, Ingrid. I’m honored to participate!
GIVEAWAY
I am please present two [2] great gifts for this giveaway.
Miranda offers her ebook “Easy & Raw: Recipes & tips to achieve your goal weight
on a raw vegan lifestyle”
Bliss Raw Café & Elixir Bar offers a $30.00 gift certificate! PLEASE NOTE: this offer is for residence of Dallas or its surrounding areas.
Answer this question and you are automatically entered into the draw for one of these two [2] great gifts.
what role would you love to play?
The drawing for this giveaway will take place Tuesday, February 9th at 11:59pm PST. I will use my favorite random number picker to choose the winning participants. The winning participant will be contacted via email and an announcement will be posted in the comment section of this post.
One entry per person, please.
More about Miranda Martinez
Visit her website Viva Raw and her blog by the same name Viva Raw
Stay connected with Miranda on Twitter
Join her on Facebook.
Tweet This: Send Page to Twitter
Comments
35 Comments so far
| Get The Raw Epicurean Report free monthly food news in your inbox |
Receive the latest raw vegan recipes and related posts via email alerts | RSS subscription
Let's connect via Twitter
Join our fabulous community
Herb of the Month
Cardamon our featured spice for March. We'll highlight its benefits, showcase it in raw vegan recipes, and at the end of the month a reader's name will be drawn from the comments, and our sponsor
will send that person products featuring cardamon. Thank you for participating!
Books + Magazines
Get Your Copy
Get Your Copy
Get Your Copy
[...] Miranda Martinez :: An Interview + Giveaway [...]
I would cast myself as Maria in The Sound of Music so I could enjoy the scenery of Austria!
so I would play Diane Keaton’s role as “Bessie” in the movie Marvin’s Room. I’d get play opposite Meryl Streep, as her sister, AND with Leo D!!!!
I’m hoping this is how I enter for the giveaway. Other than that, I think this is a wonderful interview of an amazing lady….my friend Miranda!!
xxxxx
Maybe in Confessions of a Shopaholic, so I could wear all the clothes I dream about :)
Love this giveaway and interview!
Thank you so much for sharing Miranda’s story :) If I could cast myself in a movie I would pick Snow White because she is my favorite princess, and that is one of my all time favorite movies. Either that or legally blond because I admire how strong Elle Woods’ character is!
Penny Lane in Almost Famous… If I had an alternate ego, she would be mine :)
I would love to try Bliss!
I would cast myself in a rawfood version of Julie and Julia as Julia… I love cooking and want to know everything there is to know, although I am failing miserably at my raw food creations I’m great at cooking all the bad stuff though!!! :)
I would choose to be Amelie. I love that movie so much! Oooh, or I would be Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter :)
Great interview, it was fun to read!
If they ever did a remake of Wonder Woman, I would so want to be her. She was my childhood favorite superhero!
If I could cast myself in a movie the role I would love to play would be a spirited goddess that would come to planet earth to teach mankind the importance and duty of respecting womankind, she would tell mankind her true nature and connection with the Creator and teach women how to embrace they bodies with proper (raw) nutriction, cleanliness, loving and nuturing relationships, holistic and natural childbearing and how to be nuturing and loving mothers and wives, etc (I think you got the picture) I would really like this role because I would be able to transform myself into many different forms, I think this would truly be a different kind of movie!LOL
Great interview – thanks! And Miranda is a lovely! If I could be in a movie, I’d love to play some sort of super hero. ;)
First of all…. I LOVE RAW BLISS CAFE!!! I was fortunate to have the honor of experiencing the incredible menu over Labor Day weekend this past year! What an experience it was! I swear my girlfriend and I ordered one of everything and it ALL was incredible! Every dish was full of flavor and full of life!
If I could cast myself in a movie I’d want to play a role similar to the role Sandra Bullock played in Blindside! As I can only hope that I could come close to modeling such and incredible woman!!!
Many Blessings,
Robin K Moyer
Hm, what movie eh…
I’ll say Labyrinth, as the female lead, but with much more interesting behavior choices.
I would love to play Sabrina in the old movie Sabrina!
Oh most definitely it would have to be the role of Vianne (played by Juliette Binoche) alongside Johnny Depp as Roux in Chocolat!
Mahatma Gandhi’s wife – in order to learn from and serve this great soul.
“Blissed” to live in Dallas right now.
Kiera knightley in pride and predjudice!
I would love to play the villain; the woman everyone loves to hate, probably because that’s the complete opposite of my personality. I guess it would be comparable to Miranda in “The Devil Wears Prada” or someone similar… ;-)
I would love to be in Meryl Streep’s shoes as Julia! MS is my fav actress, and I love to play in the kitchen – and I adore JC, have done take-offs of her while teaching cooking classes in the distant past *U*
I would want to play the role of the eccentric shop owner who moves in to a new small, conservative town and everybody falls in love with her unique style and personality lol
I would like to play the murderer.
i would like to play me.
Penny Lane in Almost Famous… GREATEST MOVIE EVER!!! :)
What a fun interview and great giveaway!
I would love love love to have played Delicia in Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for A Day. I was thinking that as I watched it.
When I first read the question, I began picturing myself in movies that had already been made. But then, I thought, WHY???
So, I’m casting myself in a film as Johnny Depp’s leading lady. It’s a romantic adventure!
Wanna produce it, Miranda?
My fist choice is Maria in the Sound of Music, but as that is already taken, I’ll settle for second best – Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang opposite Dick Van Dyke.
I would love to be in a Martial Arts Movie that way I could use the skills I developed to become a 3rd degree black belt of Taekwondo.
Role in a movie…. I think I’d be an extra in a zombie film. Or a librarian with a secret identity- like in Buffy. Hmmmm…. or maybe just Buffy.
Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind :)
I would love to play Lois Lane in the Superman series. Who wouldn’t want Superman to pick her up and fly to his secret crystal palace!
I would be Babette, – From the most Beautiful movie, which has been my favorite since it’s opening. I would a new Babette – in modern times and as a wonderful Raw Chef…and of course create a feast!
I would like to play Christine (played by Emme Rossum) in Phantom of the Opera or Katherine (played by Kristen Scott Thomas) in The English Patient. Or Maria (played by Natalie Wood) in West Side Story.
I love movies and love to be enveloped by a good story. Heck, when I watch, I find myself captivated and am drawn in as if I am in the movie LOL :)
andra
answer: Viola de Lesseps in Shakespeare in Love i love words
ANNOUNCEMENT :: OUR WINNERS
What fun! I loved reading what role you would play if you could cast yourself in a movie and I wish I could give each of you one of these gift but I can only choose two from the comments.
Miranda’s ebook Easy & Raw goes to Claire of Collage: Raw!
Claire wrote:
a $30.00 and Bliss Raw Café & Elixir Bar gift certificate goes to:
Michael P. who wrote:
Congratulations to you both!!
Wow, tough question. I would love to be the lead in a really romantic movie such as Braveheart, but I don’t like what happens to the wife! LOL But since it is only a movie…