Meet Susan

Rawmazing.com

There is a beauty and grace in simplicity.

Whether it’s how you live, how you eat, or how you move through this world, simplicity creates peace, joy, and health.

After years of complicating my life with the endless search to be “filled”, I have come to a place of grace and have a true joy for life. I move with an open heart and a desire to share what I have learned — and am still learning — along the way.

It is my truest desire to help you to be inspired. To bring health, joy, peace, and beauty into your life.

Seven years ago, when I started Rawmazing, I had found a way of eating that helped heal my past digressions with food. At that time, all I knew was that I loved raw food and the way it made me feel. I read everything I could, bought every book I could find (they were few and far between at that time) and started on a journey that not only brought me better health, but also started a love affair with the creation of recipes made from whole, plant-based, raw food.

Driven to Learn

As my life evolved, I was driven to learn more about the food I was preparing and how it affects our bodies and our health. I enrolled in T. Collin Campbell’s Plant Based Nutrition Course through Cornell’s E-school. What I learned not only supported the daily experience I was having from eating plant based food, but also gave me knowledge to support a whole food, plant-based way of life.

It also helped relieve some of the “raw food guilt” that I had when eating cooked food as I learned that, properly prepared, some cooked food can have great health benefits. It helped me to strengthen my desire to have a diet including both the raw food I love and healthy cooked food. Learn more about why I’ve chosen to embrace cooked food as well as raw.

It wasn’t a big departure as I have never promoted a 100% raw diet long term. And I have found a wonderful balance by eating raw and whole food, plant-based cooked food.

The Beginning of My Journey

Changing my diet wasn’t the end of the journey, it was the beginning of a journey into a whole food, plant-based life! I completed my Rouxbe Plant Based Professional Cooking Certification and developed a deep desire to start incorporating more cooked recipes into the site.

But it didn’t stop there. I have learned so much in my many trips around the sun. So much about living with grace, about simplifying but not depriving. About the beauty and grace you can create in your life not by constantly adding, but by finding out what brings you joy. I want to share what I have learned and also introduce you to people who have great gifts and wonderful ideas to offer to you.

It is with deep gratitude that I invite you to my site. I am so glad you are on this journey with me. I can’t wait to see where it takes us.

A Few Fun Facts

I recently married the love of my life, Peter, on September 24, 2015. Never think that love has passed you by! Meeting an amazing life partner can happen at any age and I am so grateful for my husband, who, by the way, became vegan while I was studying the T. Collin Campbell course.
I was born and raised in Minnesota but now live in the San Francisco East Bay Area. I love it here but miss fall and winter and the snow! And especially my mother, Cora. Frequent trips are necessary.
I have two grown daughters, Mia and Kaia, who now live in California and Utah. If you were to ask me what my greatest life achievement has been, I would say giving birth to these two beautiful human beings and being lucky enough to be on their journey with them. They are beyond amazing and I love seeing the incredible women they have become.
I have also recently been blessed with two outstanding stepsons, Alex and Chris. They bring such a fun and interesting dimension to all of our lives. They are intelligent, caring human beings and I love that we are all a family.
We have two wonderful dogs, Atlas, our Kuvasz, and Sadie, our little Pug. Animals are a huge part of my life and I adore all four-legged friends. They bring such peace and unconditional love into our lives, daily.
I am an award winning professional food photographer. You can see my work here: www.ShootingtheKitchen.com and www.Susanpowersphotography.com. I plan on expanding this part of my life into the blog!
I am vegan and strive to have a vegan lifestyle but I am not perfect. I will not judge people for where they are in their journey. I would prefer to extend my hand and help you learn about this lifestyle rather than condemn you. I believe in love and acceptance for wherever you are in your journey.

>As far as the rest of it? I recharge in nature, love to learn, love sewing, knitting, painting, playing the harp and piano, and just about any type of creating that I can do.

I have successfully grown my first limes and lemons and have an amazing herb garden growing in pots. For a Minnesota girl, this is a big deal.

I love that you are here.

Disclaimer:

This website is intended to give you information about healthy eating based on research and personal experience. I am not a doctor and information on this website should not be considered medical advice. Please consult your physician for health treatment and diagnosis.

Also, we are an Amazon, Vitamix and Excalibur Affiliate. We make a small commission on any sales completed through our links. We greatly appreciate your support!

We are also now a Rouxbe Affiliate and proud to be one. We do make a commission when you sign up.

Thank You for Visiting!

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Christina wrote on November 11, 2013

I am in Minnesota too! I love coming to your site for colorful and tasty ideas. Thanks for sharing.

Tanya wrote on September 5, 2013

Hi Susan,

I have yet to jump into “raw” yet. I have been eating much more organic fruits and veggies from my Farmer’s Markets this summer and local stores. I have completely, the past 2 years gone chemical free, no additives, sweetners, dyes, etc. I never really bought much on the boxed, canned or frozen foods as I too am a classicly trained chef and found myself with my own wedding cake business for several years. Butter, sugar, eggs and flour ended up more apart of my waistline than just on it. I have been gluten free for 4 months which is still very hard .
I saw your post about traveling to Lake Tahoe and all the years I have lived here in South Lake Tahoe, I have never seen the lake that smoky not even during the Angora fire. Looking forward to get started and read your blog as I just found it about half an hour ago.
You will probably get more emails from me.
Take care,

Tanya

Eduardo Madueno wrote on July 24, 2013

Susan you are Rawmazing ! !

Katarina wrote on April 21, 2013

Dear Susan!

What a great Website! Thank you so much! I have been looking for information regarding raw food, as I myself started eat raw ( it is about 60 -70 % of my diet) not long time ago. And I can only confirm your words, how great it is, I feel so much better, healthier, have so much energy…. It is not easy to find good, interesting and tasty looking recipes, but I finally found your Website and I am absolutely thrilled. Eventhough I am not 100 % raw, the different is huge – the life quality improved so much. I would really recommend everyone to try it. My husband joined me, as he saw what a great impact it had on me. Now I am trying to introduce my parents to this great, healthy way of living.

Anyway thanks again for sharing with us, take care!

Love Katarina
P.S.: Please apologize my English, it is not my native language:)

Exploding Mary wrote on February 18, 2013

Interesting to read about your journey, Susan. I was also a mad foodie/gourmet before turning veg, and now am working towards a goal of 50% raw, myself, using coobooks, experimentation, skills I developed as a personal chef, and enticing blogposts such as yours. Thanks for taking the time to discuss your successes with us.

Peace, Mari

jenny1122 wrote on January 27, 2013

This forum is a great place to learn about raw foods. I’m excited to know more!

Katie wrote on January 19, 2013

I am so glad to have found your site. It has been so fun learning to eat more raw foods in creative ways. Thanks for having so much in one place! Cheers!

Caroline Lefebvre wrote on September 3, 2012

Namaste

Thank you Susan for sharing your story. I feel the same way as you having gone 100% Raw in 2006, survived the first winter by going to Florida but the next one got me. Besides that I was pregnant! Comfort foods crept back in even though I continued on with my big green daily salad. My daughter Gaby is almost 4 now and I am ready to get back to LIVING with raw foods. She has surprised me by eating raw Kale right out of the field and after a long time of presenting her some salad she has finally begun to eat it with me!!

I keep reminding myself about that peaceful state of mind, energy and presence that a clean diet allows. I remember it so fondly and am on my way back home 🙂

Isis Loran wrote on August 29, 2012

I like the fact that you have cold winters! I live in Canada, where winter is 5-6 months of the year. Most of the other raw foodists I have found live somewhere warm and almost tropical, with year round food growing conditions. I think that makes the transition to being 100% raw more difficult, especially if you are watching your carbon footprint and have a hard time supporting food that comes from miles and miles away. As a learning homesteader, I have usually canned or frozen home grown food, but the awesome thing about switching to raw is dehydrating! I look forward to following your recipes, especially this winter!

Your whole food, plant-based life.