share! Everyone has a story, and we hope you will help us tell the tales of a variety of Des Moines cooks. Please send us your ideas. Tell us the names, contact information, and a little about your cooking friends. Send to Recipes@DesMoinesCooks.com. making good choices When it comes to shopping more healthfully, holistic health counselor Sheree Clark suggests that you look for items that fit these guidelines: Whole. The best foods are those we consume as nature intended: raw vegetables and fruits, rather than vitamin pills or pasteurized juices. Organic. Besides avoiding toxins and chemicals, organic foods have been shown to be higher in nutrients, and they taste better. Local. Fruits and vegetables eaten in season are cheaper and do not lose nutrients like those that have traveled long distances. Plus, you’ll be contributing to your local economy. Tasty. Why eat it if it doesn’t taste good? If you are struggling to find recipes that you like or you’re just not getting the hang of it, call a nutrition counselor. two of sheree's recipes: ambrosia and smoothies Let it be known that Sheree doesn’t live on raw carrots alone. Her foods are lively, colorful, and interesting, as evidenced by a flavorful ambrosia salad and a variety of fruit and veggie smoothies. Ambrosia 2 oranges, peeled and cut into segments, reserving 2 tablespoons juice 1 banana, thinly sliced ⅓ cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut 1 tablespoon light agave nectar      Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss gently to combine. Chill at least 10 minutes. Makes 3 or 4 servings.      VARIATIONS: If desired, add one or more of the following: ¼ cup red or green seedless grapes, halved; ¼ cup cubed pineapple; ¼ cup pitted Medjool dates, coarsely chopped; 2 tablespoons raw unsoaked walnuts, chopped; or a handful of currants. (Recipe from Chef Jennifer Cornbleet) Smoothie Idea Starters For each recipe, blend ingredients in a high-speed blender. Cherry Cacao Smoothie 1 cup frozen cherries 1 frozen banana 1 tablespoon cacao powder 1 small handful cacao nibs 1 tablespoon maca (available online or through some health food stores) Sliced/slivered almonds (optional) Mango-Orange-Spinach Smoothie 1 cup frozen mango 1 peeled orange 1 cup packed spinach Water as needed Green Piña Colada Smoothie 1 peeled orange ½ cup frozen pineapple ½  frozen banana 1 cup packed spinach Water as needed Orange-Blueberry-Banana-Romaine Smoothie 1 peeled orange 1 cup packed romaine lettuce 1 cup frozen blueberries ½ banana Water as needed Optional additions: Fresh raw avocado; fresh sprouts; Tahitian vanilla bean powder; fresh raw coconut oil; fresh mint leaves or mint oil; ground flaxseeds or flax oil; hemp, green, or other superfood powder.

Many know her as “the raw food lady.” Have you ever met anyone who really stuck with a New Year’s resolution? Say hello to Sheree Clark of Des Moines, who made a vow to herself on New Year’s Eve in 1992 to take on a more healthful lifestyle. “I had high cholesterol, chronic sinus problems, and other health challenges, and my father had died at age 42,” she says. “I had a meal of steak de burgo and never looked back. It is the only resolution I have ever kept. Within six months, I knew I was on the right track. My cholesterol went from 258 to 192.” As Oprah Winfrey would say, it was Sheree’s aha moment. She admits to being a “junk food vegetarian” before making the big switch, making sure she chose organic chips. “But when an acupuncturist suggested that I cut out dairy products to help the sinus problems, I took a closer look. Sure enough, my nose would run after having a milkshake.” She started slowly eliminating items from her diet and started having more energy and feeling much better. She began to make juices from a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and became a full-fledged raw vegan—promoting animal-free eating with no meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy products. She eats 100 percent raw food about 95 percent of the time. “I’m not saying that I never, ever have cooked food, but it is rare.”      For a time Sheree’s approach has been as an avocation or a study because she was busy on a full-time basis for 25 years as the co-owner with John Sayles of Sayles Graphic Design. The two closed the operation in the fall to pursue other separate interests. Sheree had prepared herself by going to culinary school in California in 2007 to become a certified raw food chef, and she has taken courses and workshops in Europe. She also takes classes through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. Needless to say, this has become her passion.      With her new venture, Fork in the Road, she is a holistic health and nutrition counselor. In 2007 she hosted her first raw food “meetup,” where interested persons come to learn from each other. She has hosted 24 gatherings so far, and there are 228 members (www.meetup.com/RawFoodDSM). She is encouraged by the interest.      “If people would take a look at what they eat, they would be surprised at what we have lost in our society,” she says. Through one-on-one motivational coaching, lunch ’n’ learn sessions, and workshops, she helps individuals and families take on a new approach to food. “We have lost what is important, such as Sunday meals together, and too many young people are living on processed foods.” In her workshops she shows youngsters where food originates, sometimes by having them plant and watch the growing process of sprouts, for example. Class offerings include Juicing 101, Healthy Holiday Entertaining, and Desserts to Live For. “Our relationship with food is complex. We use it to salve our feelings and to celebrate. It is multidimensional,” says the purist, who also has a master’s degree in counseling. “We need to focus on foods that are not canned, boxed, or packaged.” She encourages eating organic foods in an effort to know where our food comes from. “When we hear of a spinach contamination, we know that spinach doesn’t poop—but the hogs in the lot near the growing fields do. That’s how those contamination situations happen,” she explains. “Buy local or grow it yourself to be safe.” Sheree has an interesting approach to eating in restaurants. While it’s usually safe for her to order a salad, she sometimes gives a card she has printed to the wait staff to give to the chef. It reads: “I appreciate your creativity. I am on a raw foods diet and would like an entrée-sized raw vegetable salad with as many of the following types of ingredients as you have available—fresh (raw) greens (radicchio, arugula, escarole, endive, spinach, dark green lettuces, romaine, frisée, bok choy, etc.); sun-dried tomatoes; olives; raw pine nuts; avocado; red bell pepper; cucumber; onion; fresh herbs; shallot; jicama; capers; fresh pico de gallo (to use as dressing).” Download Sheree's card for restaurants      She says that chefs love to put their creativity to work, and she has had some of the best meals in Des Moines with that approach. She cites spots such as Trostel’s Dish, Mojo’s, and Dos Rios as being particularly helpful.      Sheree emphasizes that being a raw foodist is not an austere lifestyle at all. “I don’t take away; I add. I make healthy replacements to other foods. In the best of all food worlds, we would eat lactose-free, sugar-free, and gluten-free meals. We would be taking out all the bad stuff.”      Her other passions are collecting vintage clothing and furnishing her home with Art Deco designs so that everything in her 1939 flat-roofed home in Beaverdale is in period style.      But now she can focus on her passion for healthful food. Her best advice: “Eat directly from the earth, and you will be just fine.”