Onwards, with Gratitude...

Ooooo, here we go then…out with the old, in with the new…I hope you’ve had a great year so far and that the closing moments of 2007 find you in loving company, with joyful thoughts and a blissful vision for our next…13 moons :)
We’d still love to hear your raw reflections from 2007 if you’d care to share :) The current RawReform Giveaway prize is a pair of our uber-popular exercise toy – POI – and to be in with a chance of winning, just email in YOUR answer to the following question:

‘What have been your top THREE raw food highlights of 2007?’

…what in the world of raw food has inspired or uplifted you this year? What stands out in your memory? Who did you love sharing recipes with? What helped you to stay motivated? Which recipe made a difference in your enjoyment? Send your answers in to angela@rawreform.com. We look forward to reading and sharing your responses :) The winner will be picked at random and with joy in a few days… :)

on December the 29th I had:

2 cups water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
big chunk of watermelon
big handful of cherries
2.5 cups green smoothie: mango/banana/red dandelion/romaine/tatsoi swirled with goji berries and incan berries
3 cups water
1 pint tatsoi/fennel/cucumber/bok choi/red dandelion/radish/red pepper/random greens/mizuna/carrot/apple juice
little bowl of soaked dried prunes blended with hemp seeds
3 cups water

Are you looking for a yummy raw place to hang out next year? Here’s a little site that you might find useful: http://www.rawcommunities.com. This has a list of – you guessed it – raw communities, worldwide…PLUS, remember to check out the Raw Permaculture Course in Hawaii in February if that appeals to you: www.livingmandala.com aaaaaaaaaaaand – guess what? There’s ANOTHER Permaculture Design Course coming up soon at another raw-friendly place: Punta Mona Community in Costa Rica. Their course runs from Jan 28th – Feb 10th at their eco-community on the east coast. I didn’t actually tread on Punta Mona ground when I was in Costa Rica this time last year – came VERY close though and I’ve been in contact with some of the lovely people there, who grow muchos amazing greens and rare plants…it’s an incredible community by all accounts – check it out at www.puntamona.org for more info :)

on December the 30th I had:

3 cups water
slice of watermelon
1 pint tatsoi/fennel/cucumber/bok choi/red dandelion/radish/red pepper/random greens/mizuna/carrot/apple juice
big handful of cherries
1 cup water
½ an avo mashed with 2 tbsp raw pesto, mixed with diced tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts and a pinch of Himalayan salt, served with romaine leaves and flax crackers
1 quart water
1 pint green lettuce/fennel/cucumber/mizuna/ginger/apple/celery juice
little bowl of soaked dried apricots blended with hemp seed, swirled with slices of fresh banana and cherries
2 cups water

Tomorrow – January the 1st 2008 – the RawReform website is 4 years old. WOW :) Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to yoooooouuuuuuuu…what an extraordinary four years it has been…if you’ve ever wondered how the site started, here’s a little insight from a piece I wrote recently:

“British health magazine Zest wanted to run a piece on my story for their January 2004 ‘new year, new you’ edition. I was thrilled. My partner at that time was an extremely talented web designer and began to suggest we put up a website about my transformation too, to share this message. I laughed at first. At that point, the internet did not play much of a role in my life, other than reading about raw foods and emailing friends. I had certainly never considered having my own website. The more we talked about it though, the more I came to like the idea. It was in Greece in the summer of 2003 that the name ‘RawReform’ was given to me, as I wandered the sandy beaches, pondering which name would suit this venture. I began writing out the content for the website that autumn, which was a hugely cathartic experience for me. It helped me so much to see clearly the patterns I had lived out with food. I was also terrified. I had never spoken honestly with many of the people in my life and now I was about to bare my soul to the world. How would my family and old school friends react when they read my truth?
It took my partner just a few days to put the first website together. Then on January the 1st, 2004, the day my article was published in Zest magazine, RawReform.com went live…I was thrilled…and terrified ;) In the end, the reactions of my family and friends were mainly filled with love, appreciation and kindness. Mostly, people said they felt sad to read how miserable I had really been all that time, underneath the façade. Some seemed surprised that I was sharing so much personal information with the world. Others were silent. The whole experience left me with a huge sense of relief and fulfillment. I had shared my truth with the world and it did not seem to have back-lashed on me ;) I felt encouraged and supported to go on sharing my truth. People seemed to respond with great enthusiasm to my before/after pictures. After all, as the saying goes ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’ and many people seemed to draw inspiration from my photographs.
The journey of RawReform has continued to expand exponentially since those simple beginnings…and I had no idea at that point of what would unfold over the coming years via this website, my little portal to the world… ;)”

…and who knows what 2008 will hold for all of our ext-RAW-dinary adventures…I wish you yummy goal setting and even more delicious fulfillment of your deepest desires in the coming months… :)
Thanks for all your messages, comments and support this year – it is all greatly appreciated…

One love,
Angela (and Mr Monarch ;). xxx

Ancient Wisdom...

Did you know you could read the whole of the Essene Gospel of Peace online for free? I didn’t, until yesterday…then I found this Essene site and had some fun poking about and seeing what Jesus apparently shared about living foods – here’s a great excerpt from Book 1:

“I do say to you: Kill neither men, nor beasts, nor yet the food which goes into your mouth. For if you eat living food, the same will quicken you, but if you kill your food, the dead food will kill you also. For life comes only from life, and from death comes always death. For everything which kills your foods, kills your bodies also. And everything which kills your bodies kills your souls also. And your bodies become what your foods are, even as your spirits, likewise, become what your thoughts are. Therefore, eat not anything which fire, or frost, or water has destroyed. For burned, frozen and rotted foods will burn, freeze and rot your body also. Be not like the foolish husbandman who sowed in his ground cooked, and frozen, and rotten seeds. And the autumn came, and his fields bore nothing. And great was his distress. But be like that husbandman who sowed in his field living seed, and whose field bore living ears of wheat, paying a hundredfold for the seeds which he planted. For I tell you truly, live only by the fire of life, and prepare not your foods with the fire of death, which kills your foods, your bodies and your souls also."

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-HAH :) Tell it like it is, brother… ;) You can read the whole thing over at this site: http://www.essene.com/GospelOfPeace/peace1.html
Enjoy :)

on December the 27th I had:

2 cups water
1 lb cherries
1 pint all-the-greens-in-the-fridge/daikon/carrot/apple/cucumber/turmeric juice
small slice of mango/macadamia raw cheesecake with bowl of grawnola with fresh sliced banana and homemade macadamia cream
1 quart water
1 pint beet green/fennel/cucumber/lettuce/tatsoi/random greens/carrot/apple juice
bowl of cucumber cream = blended cucumber/avo/garlic/lime juice/salt with a bowl of chopped fresh tomatoes covered with basil pesto and flax crackers
3 cups water

I think it’s time to play the fun game again of ‘what have people been punching into Google to end up on this blog?’. If you’ve been reading here for a while, you’ll know I mentioned before that there is a part of the stats data for this site that shows me how people ended up looking at this blog – what they were searching for in Google which led them here…there are always some pretty fascinating enquiries in there – here are some recent examples:

*can you lose weight by eating a raw potato
*how do i make carob fudge with just water
*i have been detoxifying with bentonite my skin looks so nice
*how to get women on facebook
*cracao, Poland
*smelly pee wheatgrass
*her angry enema bag
*i ate fresh pineapple and my tongue started to bleed

...???…yeeeeeeeees…well, I do hope these people all found some kind of useful information here to serve them, if not the exact cure for bleeding tongues, smelly pee or pacifying enema bags… ;) LOL… I LOVE the idea that Krakow in Poland could be re-named ‘Cracao’ instead though – perhaps we could organise a raw chocolate party there…any readers in Poland…??? ;) As for making carob fudge with JUST water…hmmm…I’m not sure if even the master of living foods himself – Jesus – could muster that one… ;)

on December the 28th I had:

3 cups water
1lb cherries
2 mangoes
1 pint beet green/fennel/cucumber/lettuce/tatsoi/random greens/carrot/apple juice
little bowl of buckwheatie grawnola cereal with chopped fresh banana and apple
1 quart water
1.5 cups beet green/fennel/cucumber/lettuce/tatsoi/random greens/carrot/apple juice
bowl of pesto soup: basil pesto blended with fresh tomatoes, ½ a cucumber, fresh garlic and hemp seeds, with sprouted lentils stirred in for chewing, served with chilli flax crackers
3 cups water

My hair is drenched in coconut oil today. I LOVE the smell of it. I run the oil through my hair like this from time-to-time and leave it in for about a day or so, to let the hair soak up lots of yummy nutrients and get soft and sleek, then I wash it out. I used to see people coat their hair in coconut oil all the time when I lived in Sri Lanka. I thought they were crazy back then…lol…in my pre-raw days, it looked so greasy and disgusting to me, especially in a hot and humid tropical climate…well, here I am a few years later, smothered in coconut oil myself in summertime and loving it ;) My favourite coconut oil is made by Cocopura (see HERE) – it feels soooooo clean and pure to me, smells fantastic, tastes great and comes in glass packaging too, to keep it more stable. It’s hand-harvested in the South Pacific Islands – not so far from where I am now…actually, I’m rather surprised at the scarcity of coconuts here in OZ – any that I have seen are either the imported white-husk young Thai Coconuts or big orange fresh cocos that are $5 EACH…huh??? Looking forward to getting to Thailand in a few months and back to an abundance of fresh cocos – yummmmmmm… ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Gifts of Inspiration...

Hello again :)
I hope you had a wonderful time over the Christmas days…I had a really enjoyable, relaxing time…I feel really rejuvenated…
One of the greatest gifts I received at this time was being guided towards the music of my new musical heroine – Allison Crowe. I had been asking Spirit for inspiration about the music in my life and then by some ‘random’ net-search twist, completely unrelated to music, I ended up watching the video below. I was absolutely smitten on the first play. I have quite probably listened to this song around 60+ times since…it is, to me, a simply magnificent interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, sung by the uber-talented pianist Allison. She is phenomenal. Apparently she’s 26 years old, from Nanaimo, BC, Canada and is a completely independent artist. She has her own record label and seems to be doing incredibly well – from listening to her music, it’s not hard to understand why. The spirit moving through this woman is so clear – the emotions are raw to the core…the sincerity and reverence with which she sings moves me to tears. I am also in love with her versions of ‘Angel’ by Sarah McLachlan and ‘River’ by Joni Mitchell. I recommend listening with earphones for full appreciation :) Check out the video below and her site at http://www.allisoncrowe.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMOdVXAPJ0

on December the 25th I had:

3 cups water
parts of a huge watermelon throughout the day – about 2/3rds of it in total
2 cups water
1 pint tatsoi/bok choy/cucumber/arugula/parsley/radish/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple juice
little bowl of apple-flax – ground flax seed stirred into blended apples, with a little cinnamon, goji berries and hemp seeds
2 cups water

Christmas Day was my first day of eating solids again after my 7-day psyllium-bentonite cleanse. I mono-mealed watermelon for most of the day and LOVED it :) We had a really chilled day – we went to the beach and walked in the sun out to a lookout point where there were pods of dolphins swimming round a cape :) It was gorgeous…such a wonderful Christmas gift :) I spent most of the day out in nature – my ‘church’ – it was blissful, laying on the beach, eating watermelon, watching kids playing happily in the ocean…a very very different kind of Christmas than the ones I knew as a kid growing up in the south of England… ;) I got to speak to all my family in the UK too – due to the time difference they were just starting out their Christmas celebrations as we were winding ours’ down…it felt good to connect and especially to speak to my delightful three year old niece who was extremely excited about it all…ahhhhh, there is much that I appreciate about the spirit of this time of year…

On December the 26th I had:

3 cups water
1 cup beetroot/apple juice
1.5 cups tatsoi/bok choy/cucumber/arugula/parsley/radish/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple juice
little bowl of apple-flax – ground flax seed stirred into blended apples, with a little cinnamon, goji berries and pumpkin seeds
1 pint all-the-greens-in-the-fridge/daikon/carrot/apple/cucumber/turmeric juice
small slice of divine mango/macadamia raw cheesecake
bowl of grawnola with fresh sliced apple and banana and homemade macadamia cream
2 cups water

Santa may have gone back to his workshop now, but there’s still time to Stuff Your Own Stockings at the RawReform Store ;) You can still use the Holiday coupon code

‘stuffmystockings’

…to get 10% off ANY purchase in the RawReform Store for the next few days. Just enter that code as you’re checking out. The coupon works until Midnight on December the 31st…whereupon it turns into…a pumpkin… ;) You can visit the store HERE.
I hope all of you who ordered the Raw For Life DVD have been enjoying it – we sold out, it was so popular ;O We’ve got more back in stock again now AND our copy just arrived here in OZ today for us to watch :) YAY :) I was very excited…we watched about half of it so far and I think it’s a really great production – I’m so excited to see how this will help more ‘mainstream’ people shift into healthier patterns. The editing’s fantastic – all kinds of ‘talking head’ clips of different people talking about aspects of being raw/detox/exercise/healing etc…watch out for a Raw For Life party happening near YOU sometime soon ;) Or indeed, consider hosting a showing yourself if you haven’t heard of one happening in your area yet…ENJOY :)

One love,
Angela. xxx

A Time of Love...

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the streets, snow is glistening…well, not here in Australia actually…yet with some of you though I hope… ;) WOW…what a magical time this is…Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas and all sorts of other yum-fests and reflections occurring worldwide simultaneously and under the loving gaze of the Full Moon in Cancer…how blessed we are :) Wherever you are and however you may be enjoying this ‘Holiday’ period, I send you bountiful wishes of joy, upliftment and peaceful unity…
Here’s a little of what astrologer Lisa Dale Miller shares about this full moon:
http://astrowisdom.com/thisfullmoon.htm

“This is the Full Moon to swim in the unbounded ocean of love that connects us with the rhythm of life and all other sentient beings.
This is that once a year when the Full Moon is posited in the astrological sign it rules, making the force of love and trust so abundant that the heart just naturally opens.
Make this a “get real and get committed” Full Moon: a Moon for setting an intention to love yourself and others even through the hard times. Cancer rules emotional healing of all kinds and this is the Full Moon to make an effort to bring love back to all your relationships; especially between family members.
This is the Full Moon to stop and really appreciate our loved ones: to fully embrace them, look deeply into their eyes and let our hearts soar in the recognition of oneness. It is also a great Full Moon to do something wonderful for the primary caregiver in your family.
Cancer’s greatest gift is the consideration of the needs of others over our own needs. To help others and relieve suffering is strengthening for everyone: to disregard others, only weakens oneself.”

Mmmmm…what a fitting end to the major moon cycles of this year :) To check out Lisa’s full account, see HERE.

On December the 23rd I had:

1 pint water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon/radish/celery/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint cucumber/apple/mizuna/red chicory/celery/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint beetroot/cucumber/apple/ginger juice (YUMMMMMMMM ;)
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint 1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/celery/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

Here’s a quick question that came in a couple of days ago as a blog comment:

“When you make a green juice, Do you put it in a Vitamix and then nut milk bag? Why do people do this? It seems like the hard way to me...Please help!”
Laura

Hmmmmm…thanks for the Q, Laura…my current answer is that I do not use a Vitamix to make juice. We use a twin gear juicer – examples of which you can see HERE. When I was Juice Feasting this time last year, I did often use the Vitamix/nut milk bag combo however, as I didn’t have a good juicer on hand at that time in Costa Rica and actually also found it a lot easier and faster to use the blender anyway. Using the blender is MUCH faster in comparison to a quality, twin gear juicer – both in terms of food prep time (no need to cut veggies small to fit in juicer hole), machine use time and time spent cleaning afterwards. The downside is that using the blender/nut milk method leaves you with a less high-quality juice, which oxides faster and has often been mixed with a little water. HOWEVER, many people are still happy to choose the blender option, when the time/cleaning benefits are considered. Now, in comparison to the speed of using, for example a Breville Juice Fountain of course, the blender/nut-milk bag method may seem clumsy and pointless. The amount of liquid you actually get out of the produce when using something like a Juice Fountain though is less than using a twin gear OR the blender method, if you’re thoroughly squeezing the contents of the nut milk bag that is ;) Personally, I prefer to always use a nut milk bag to double-strain juice anyway, even if it’s from a twin gear, as there is always SOME pulp left in the juice and I want it as obstruction-free as possible… Hope that all made some sense – there are advantages and pitfalls to all the methods described – it just depends what suits your lifestyle and choices best… ;)

On December the 24th I had:

1 pint water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon/radish/celery/cucumber/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon/radish/celery/cucumber/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint tatsoi/bok choy/cilantro/cucumber/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint tatsoi/bok choy/cilantro/cucumber/apple/orange juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

So, today has been the 7th and final day of my Psyllium-Bentonite Cleanse. It’s been a great experience overall. I’ve released a LOT of old dark nasty stuff from my intestines and my energy has been pretty good throughout. Compared to my energy levels when I first did a cleanse like this, abt 4 years ago, my energy levels this time were superb ;) Back then I was almost incapacitated – I spent most of the week in bed. I’d only been raw for about a year at that point – and abt 70% raw, not fully raw like I am now, PLUS, I’d never done any colon cleansing at that point, so it was all very new to me. This time round I’ve been very functional in comparison ;)
I’m definitely excited to get back to eating solids tomorrow though and not be doing full-on enemas twice a day ;) Very different to the end of my Juice Feast back in February – as you may recall, I was not at all excited to get back to solid foods back then. Watermelons are just looking so appealing to me to EAT now though :) Tomorrow is Christmas Day here and I intend to celebrate my Christmas gift to myself of a freshly cleaned out system by gently mono-mealing on melon :) YUMMMMMMMMMM… Would I do a cleanse like this again? Yep...not for a good few years again though, if at all - it's a pretty hardcore process...

If YOU want to enjoy a cleanse soon, after the usual ravages of this season, do take a look at what Steve at Raw Vegan Radio is up to – he’s hosting the ‘Biggest Group Cleanse, EVER’, starting on January the 7th for 21 days, with tons of online support through e-books, podcasts, webinars and more…you can see all about it HERE. (Worth taking a look, if only to see Steve’s before and after pics – WOW – I’ve never seen his 'before' shot before – pretty impressive transformation… :)

Blissful Holidays to All :)
Angela. xxx

Raw Radiance...

Looking for smthg inspiring for the New Year? Well, here is an opportunity not to be overlooked…there’s a course coming up soon in Hawai’i that I would attend in a heartbeat if I was able to go there…it’s a RAW Permaculture Course. YUMM. This is one thing that's been on my personal goal list for years…If the term ‘Permaculture’ is unfamiliar to you, it is a union of the words ‘permanent’ and ‘agriculture’ and is based around creating SUSTAINABLE living systems – for our gardens, homes, communities and more…It is all about working WITH nature and mimicking natural ecosystems. The intention is to move away from reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution. Permaculture was developed HERE actually, in Australia back in the 70s, by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison, who’s still running courses now :) I have long wanted to do the full-length Permaculture Design Course and am SO excited to see people holding RAW versions of the course – this is (unfortunately) rare it seems – the only people I’ve known to hold RAW Permaculture courses so far are the lovely Steve Charter in the UK/Spain and now this team behind the upcoming courses on Hawai’i – the beautifully named ‘Living Mandala’. There are actually going to be two courses running back-to-back – firstly a 2-week Permaculture Design Course from February the 3rd-19th, then later a hands-in-the-dirt Practicum from Feb 24th-29th. Participants get to learn in a tropical paradise, share with other like-minded yumsters, receive certification for both courses AND eat luscious raw food the whole time (made by someone else – nice – PLUS – other food options available if you’re not up for full-on raw… ;)…sounds blissful…hope it all rocks on in 2009 too, so I can play as well…in the meantime, if this is tickling YOUR interest nodules, do check out their website here for more info: http://www.livingmandala.com

on December the 21st I had:

1 quart water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
3 cups mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/celery/beetroot/apple/ginger/garlic/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/cilantro/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/celery/beetroot/apple/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/iceburg/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/turmeric/beetroot/apple/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/iceburg/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/turmeric/beetroot/apple/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

Do you know any raw dogs? Do you perhaps live with one? Well…the lovely Anna from raw lifestyle magazine ‘Purely Delicious’ wants to hear YOUR story ;) She is putting together a ‘Radiant Hound’ calendar for 2009 and is looking for submissions. Here are the details:

“I would love it if those of you that are feeding your companion dogs a diet comprised mostly or entirely of fresh, raw ingredients, would consider sharing a bit of your experience with us. I would also like to include photographs of the dogs we select for the calendar. You are welcome to keep your personal information confidential (name, location, etc). If you have a story or recipe you would like to share, and believe that you currently have or can get a good quality photograph of your dog, please forward it to: anna@purelydelicious.net You may also send any questions to this same address. We don't need the photographs at this time, but if you have a thumbnail you would like to send along with your story/recipe, feel free to do so. There will be prizes for the winning entries… MINIMUM photo specifications are as follows:
- 8x12 (inches) or 3609x2406 (pixels)
- at least 300 dpi
- .jpg format
- full color (no black and white images, please)
- if you use a professional photographer to take the photograph, please get their written permission and appropriate credit line for reprinting in a calendar.”

on December the 22nd I had:

1 pint water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/iceburg/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/turmeric/beetroot/apple/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
3 cups celery/cucumber/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint mizuna/dandelion/iceburg/cilantro/daikon/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/cucumber/apple/carrot juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint mizuna/dandelion/iceburg/cilantro/daikon/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/cucumber/apple/carrot juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

My psyllium-bentonite cleanse is still going grand. I’m at the end of day 5 as I write this…I've actually started to see some sections of the ‘black-tyre-rubber’ stuff come out of me. Nice. I've started using additives in the enema water like liquefied, strained garlic water or liquid bentonite. I LOVE the psyllium and bentonite products from the 7-Day Cleanse that I’m using. They’re the ones Bernard Jensen recommends in his book and they’re so quaint and old-fashioned looking ;) They also seem extremely high quality to me – I love that the psyllium is powdered – it seems to make it much more user-friendly to me than the full husk, which I’m used to using… I am brushing my teeth a LOT – about 8-10 times a day at the moment – there’s a lot of apple juice, honey, juices etc going in and I can’t bear the fuzzy-teeth feeling, so, much scrubbing is the answer ;) My energy today has been really great. I find that as long as I take time to rest after the morning enema sessions, I feel good for the rest of the day. I’m definitely at a much slower walking pace than normal though – I also stand up slowly after being seated for a while, as my blood pressure is pretty low right now… I also notice how sensitive I’m becoming to chemicals. We went to some shops a couple of days ago and one that had a lot of plastic items in it was almost unbearable for me – it felt SO toxic to breathe in there for me…I recall having similar experiences last year in Costa Rica on my Juice Feast and starting to consider just how far it might be beneficial in our modern world to keep on detoxing/ cleansing…there simply comes a point when being in a city full of pollution, for example, feels deadly, if you’re extremely ‘clean’. Those of you who’ve read Mr Monarch’s latest book – Raw Success – will know that he goes deep into these environmental factors in regards to our food/lifestyle choices…it’s a big area to consider...hmmmm... ;)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Almonds, almonds everywhere and not a bite to eat...

OOooooo, this is exciting…did you see the recent almond update from Cornucopia.org? Some of the magic peoples from there went recently to Washington DC and met with 3 high-ranking USDA officials, to discuss the future of the almonds…eeeeek ;)
Inspiringly, they report that around HALF of the comments coming into the Secretary of the USDA’s office at the moment are regarding the almonds – WOW…and this seems to be having an impact…
Cornucopia set forth 2 suggestions for alternative strategies with the almonds. The first was that those who sell ‘unpasteurised’ almonds would have a ‘warning label’ to use on the product. This would leave the choice to the consumer.
The other suggestion is that the pasteurisation ruling would not apply to organic farmers, as their ‘rules’ are different anyway and there has never been any association between organic almonds and salmonella. (They are concerned however that this option might negatively impact small conventional growers.)
Now Cornucopia are eager to keep up the flow of letters, calls and emails to the USDA on this matter, to keep the pressure and focus on this key issue. You can visit their site to download a ‘proxy letter’ to send on to the USDA. Go to www.cornucopia.org, go to the Authentic Almond Project link on the left hand navigation column and find the proxy forms there. This is a critical point in this campaign...
If we pull together and act now, there still may be a chance to turn this ruling around and cease ‘nuking the nuts ;)

on December the 19th I had:

1 pint water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/beetroot/carrot/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/beetroot/carrot/apple/ginger juice
1 pint water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/beetroot/carrot/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/beetroot/carrot/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

FYI…I have posted details of our upcoming talks in Byron Bay and Perth on the front of the RawReform site – HERE. The website gremlins seem to have weedled their way into the events calendar at present, meaning I’m unable to add the lectures in there…So, for details of Byron on Jan 12th and Perth on Jan 23rd, just check out the homepage and scroll down a little...in the meantime, any 'time to leave now, thanks' vibes sent in the direction of the gremlins would be appreciated, ta... :)

on December the 20th I had:

3 cups water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/beetroot/carrot/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/beetroot/carrot/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/celery/beetroot/apple/ginger/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint mizuna/tatsoi/romaine/kale/parsley/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/cucumber/celery/beetroot/apple/ginger/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

Today was day three of my 7-Day psyllium-bentonite cleanse and I’m enjoying it so far. One of the things I appreciate about this cleanse is that one drinks smthg ‘nourishing’ every 1.5 hours. I like the pace of this…every time I start to feel hunger, it’s not long before the next drink comes…which alternates between ‘The Cleansing Drink’ concoctions and yummy veggie juice. I am doing an adaptation of Bernard Jensen’s cleanse, replacing all the supplements he suggests with veggie juice instead… So, what’s been happening for me with it? Well, yesterday I felt very cold a lot of the time…it’s summertime here, yet I was dressed in thick socks, a long skirt and a warm hoodie. My nose has been running a great deal. I have a feeling of ‘lightness’ and am noticing that my thought patterns are slower and I’m forgetting things more often…;) Seems the psyllium is cleaning out my brain as well as my intestines…lol… I’ve been getting a LOT of rest and doing my best to conserve energy during each day – i.e. cutting back the number of Tibetan Rites yoga repetitions in the morning from my usual 12 to just 3 of each move instead…I like to try to pace myself like this, rather than ‘crashing’ in the middle of the day…
The cleanse involves colon cleansing twice daily – morning and evening. Hence, it’s a pretty intensive programme, between that and the drinks every 1.5 hours. Jensen recommends using a colema board…I’m using a 6-quart ‘pro’ enema bag instead…I find that much more convenient. So far I’ve been releasing some pretty dark stuff with the enemas. I haven’t noticed any of the textbook ‘black tyre rubber’ nasty stuff yet…might be that it comes in the next few days…might be that I’ve already cleared lots of it…we’ll see ;) As I wrote before, it’s been about 4 years since I did a cleanse like this and I got some pretty interesting stuff last time – old lymph, mucus, dark old mucoid plaque etc…I’d been raw for about 1.5 years at that time, so I’m intrigued to see what happens now, after 5.5 years of this lifestyle… The main thing I’m seeking to release with this cleanse is old waste in the SMALL intestines. That is where the majority of ‘mucoid plaque’ resides and using a cleansing system like this can be very beneficial for releasing nasty old stuff and rejuvenating the body…as some of you may remember, Mr Monarch recounts his experience of doing this cleanse in ‘Raw Spirit’. He’d been raw for 6 months when he did it and on the final colon cleansing session, he had a huge release and his third eye chakra burst into effervesence and started vibrating…much to his surprise and confusion ;) Well…my third eye re-activated a few years back now…I’m excited to see what other shifts this cleanse brings me though... ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Raw For LIFE :)

Ok, remember how I said there seem to be so many interesting films around at the moment? Well, here’s another one that I’m really excited about…RAW FOR LIFE :) Have you seen anything abt it yet? We have a copy winging its way to us here in OZ, so I haven’t seen it yet myself – I am VERY excited to though, when it arrives. The trailer alone is wonderful :) (You can see that HERE). It is a beautifully put together ‘A-Z encyclopedia of raw foods’, in a two-disc DVD set. It features various yumsters talking about the what/why/how of raw life…including the good Drs. Cousens, Wolfe, Bisci, Clement and Fuhrman, Rev. Beckwith, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Spurlock, Mike Adams, Anthony Robbins, Victoria Boutenko and…ME, holding up the girly side of things ;) From the trailer, the editing seems slick, the message is clear, the cover and artwork are just gorgeous and I think this is going to be an incredible gift to share with loved ones this Holiday Season…This set has been created by Mark Perlmutter’s team in California – the people bringing ‘Raw for 30 Days’ to the big screen next year – which is going to be SUCH a momentous time for spreading the raw message…in the meantime, this Raw For Life DVD set is already available for us all to get our hands on and share. The Raw For Life team are encouraging people everywhere to gather together groups of friends for a raw party and show the DVD. Seems like a marvellous way to share some healthy fun this Holiday season to me…hope my copy arrives soon ;) If you’d like to grab a copy for yourself, we have the set in the RawReform Store HERE.

On December the 17th I had:

1 quart water
slice of watermelon
2 cups water
avocado mushed with sliced garlic, sprouts, alive hummus, diced tomatoes and Himalayan salt, stuffed in nori rolls
2 cups water
2 cups cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
1 papaya
3 cups green smoothie: mango/banana/romaine/tatsoi/parsley
2 cups water

Ooo, here’s an exciting opportunity for some luscious lovely out there, from Sedona:

“Sedona's Café Raw Bliss and Chocolates is looking for a new member to add to their team. It is a wonderful Raw restaurant that has been open now almost 2 years and the opportunities to expand have created a need for more assistance. We are looking for a wonderful person who is passionate about being in the kitchen...to create, and virtually run all aspects of that part of the show...a beautiful opportunity for the right person. Contact Jim Bottarini at jim@chocolatesuperfoods.com”

Wow…hope to see you there next year if YOU turn out to be that ‘right person’…or do pass the info on to anyone you think might love a bit of it... ;)

on December the 18th I had:

1 quart water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 cup water
1 pint cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

So…today was the first day of my 7-Day psyllium-bentonite cleanse. It’s been good. My energy is a little lower than usual and there have been a number of detox symptoms to breathe through, yet overall, all is well. Symptoms = my nose poured for most of the day, I had a very slight headache on-and-off at times and mainly I just felt slow and tired. There’s been a little bit of hunger too, as my stomach adjusted to not having food. The psyllium really helps with not feeling hungry though, as it is such a bulking agent… Incidentally, the 'Cleansing Drink' routine is the same thing each time, repeated 5 times a day - hence I didn't write out all the ingredients for every repetition of the day...I find it quite bizarre to drink apple cider vinegar…I’ve never used it in a cleanse before, yet it’s one of the things recommended in Jensen’s book…I’ve been using ACV as a cleaner and ant deterrent in our house the last few weeks, so it seems kind of odd to now be drinking it too… ;) Jensen also recommends many supplements to take inbetween the ‘Cleansing Drinks’ – I decided to replace those with fresh veggies juices…I had 2 quarts (abt 2 litres) of juice in total today and feel fine – that’s abt half what I was drinking this time last year while Juice Feasting…as I said though, the psyllium makes a huge difference in terms of feeling satiated…

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Sidestepping the 'Shopocalypse' ;)

Ooooo, the latest RawReform Newsletter just went out and the Prize Giveaway for this month is a pair of our beautiful poi :) Here’s the info:
Now YOU can simultaneously exercise, play, tone your upper body, impress the kids, improve coordination and much more… ;)
So, as the year draws to a close, many of us use this period as a time of reflection and celebration of what was shared in the last 12 months…I know personally it’s been an amazing journey – from a Juice Feast in Costa Rica to an intensive speaking tour of the US, announcing my engagement to Mr Monarch in England, launching the RawReform Store, hanging out all over Canada speaking at festivals, passing many an hour writing my new book and coming down under here to Australia for a summer of sun, sand and seasonal produce…I feel very blessed…
In the spirit of all things reflective and delectable, we’d love to invite you to send in YOUR 2007 RAW REFLECTIONS…what in the world of raw food has inspired or uplifted you this year? What stands out in your memory? Who did you love sharing recipes with? What helped you to stay motivated? Which recipe made a difference in your enjoyment? We wanna hear YOUR raw highlights. So, please send your answer to the following question to angela@rawreform.com:

‘What have been your top THREE raw food highlights of 2007?’

We certainly look forward to reading and sharing your responses to that :) The winner will be picked at random and with joy in January :)
(p.s. if you’re not yet signed up for the RawReform Newsletter and would like to get it, you can subscribe HERE.)

on December the 15th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups orange/sugar cane juice
1 pint cucumber/celery/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple/ginger juice
piece of Monarch raw pizza with handful of delicious homegrown sunflower greens
3 cups water
bowl of papaya flesh with lime juice
1 cup cucumber/celery/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple/ginger juice
a cacophony of cracao at a raw chocolate party – chocolate with lemon myrtle, rose, cashews, chocolate mousses, chocolate drinks… (Result=feeling drunk and now hangover today. Eeek ;)
1.5 quarts water

I’m EXCITED…tomorrow (Tuesday for me) I’m starting a 7-Day Psyllium-Bentonite Cleanse…eeeeeeeek :) Been a looooooong time since I did one of these – 4 years or more I think…I did one with the uber-fabulous Dao and Sho of Karuna Detox Retreats in Devon, England. It was a bit different to the one I’m going to do now though...back then we just used carrot juice for the whole week and quite amazingly to me now, at that point I’d never yet done ANY colon cleansing…it was a tremendous experience for me and I’m excited to play again now. This time round I’m going to be ‘administering’ the whole thing myself (with the support of the Monarch of course ;) and using mainly green veggie juice. I’m basically going to be doing a modified version of Bernard Jensen’s cleanse from his book ‘Dr. Jensen’s Guide To Better Bowel Care’…I’ll be drinking veggie juices instead of taking the supplements he recommends…I have been wanting to do this for MONTHS now and it kept clashing with my schedule…I am SO excited that tomorrow is finally kick-off day… ;) Let’s see how it unfolds…

on December the 16th I had:

2 cups watermelon/pineapple juice
little bowl of banana/mango ice cream
slice of watermelon
3 cups mizuna/kale/cabbage/cucumber/zucchini/carrot/apple/ginger juice
1 avo mushed with finely sliced garlic, diced tomatoes, Himalayan salt and Alive Hummus, served in romaine wraps
3 cups water
2 cups mizuna/kale/cabbage/cucumber/zucchini/carrot/apple/ginger juice
2.5 cups green smoothie: mango/banana/romaine/mizuna/parsley/sunflower greens
2 cups water

There seem to be SO many wonderful films around at the moment that people are recommending to me…wow…how blessed we are…today I’d love to mention ‘What Would Jesus Buy’ for example – which is Morgan Spurlock’s latest project (the ‘SuperSize Me’ man). I haven’t had the joy to see this yet myself – I would definitely go and see it if it was playing here however…
This film seems to be a humorous, yet inspiring exposé of the commercialism that drives the Holiday Season…now, apparently no movie companies would back Spurlock up on this project because they wouldn’t want to lose their ties with the big corporations…ho-hummmmmm…so, Spurlock’s piece is relying mainly on word-of-mouth for advertising…it follows an outlandish ‘preacher’ called Reverend Billy and his ‘Stop Shopping Gospel Choir’ who travel around, passionately sharing their views on consumerism at malls and shopping centres…their aim is to ‘Stop the ‘SHOPOCALYPSE’ which is defined thusly:

‘Sho•po•ca•lypse [shah PAW kuh lips] n.
The end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption
and the fires of eternal debt!’

Sounds intriguing…you can see the trailer and show-times here: http://wwjbmovie.com…hope some of you get to see the whole documentary soon too – lemme know how it is if you do ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Connecting The Dots...

Here’s an exciting free gift that keeps on giving, that I stumbled across recently: Free iTunes Songs. Apparently every week, iTunes makes some songs available for free, for anyone to download (plus some audiobooks, videos and more). One kind person collects these freebies together and lists them on a blog called ‘freeitunessongs’ – see:
http://freeitunessongs.blogspot.com/ . I’m LOVING it. :) It seems like the freebies usually last for about a week – if you get in there now, you can get a gorgeous song called ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ by Carter’s Chord – just go to the link above and scroll down a bit – I got that one and have been playing it over and over again ;) There are quite a few ‘Holiday Tunes’ on there for free at the moment…yummy :) Enjoy…

on December the 13th I had:

1 quart water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
2 cups romaine/kale/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple/lemon juice
2 cups water
bowl of avocado mushed with Alive Hummus, diced tomatoes, dulse flakes and lime juice, served with a flax cracker
three homemade cracao bliss balls with cinnamon
3 cups water bowl of LUSCIOUS cherries and a sublime red papaya (we are SO blessed)
2 cups water

Have YOU joined the new raw food community site, ‘Give It To Me Raw’ yet? I’m loving it…it just opened in the last week and already has nearly 500 members, as I write this... :) I get a really good feeling for it – seems like a lovely, open, positive vibe and easy system to use to connect with others. Hurray :) It’s hosted by the divine Dhrumil et al, over in the NYC area…and so naturally, it has a beautiful, loved-up vibe ;) Hope to see you there…my page on the site is here:

http://www.giveittomeraw.com/profile/AngelaStokes

You can take a peek and join in the fun if you’d enjoy some more raw rendezvous-ing ;)

on December the 14th I had:

1 quart water
1 quart watermelon/orange juice
1 pint celery/cucumber/kale/mizuna/cabbage/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple/ginger juice
2 pieces of the supremely delectable raw pizza de la Monarch – base of buckwheat and coconut flours, filling of avo mushed with alive hummus and diced tomatoes, dusted with coconut flour and sliced tomatoes :)
3 cups water
handful of cherries
1 pint celery/cucumber/kale/mizuna/cabbage/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple/ginger juice
3 cups water
huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge piece of watermelon
2 cups water

La-di-daaaaaaa…I do believe it be time for some reflections on life down under…Some observations and appreciations so far:

1. We are muchly enjoying the fact that both fruits AND amazing leafy greens are to be found in abundance here…as you may have noticed from my food logs of late, I don’t even know what many of the greens we’re eating here ARE – there are just so many amazing things to try from the farmer’s markets…
2. I have not yet met a kangaroo OR a koala. This seems rather unreasonable to me…where are they…? Please remedy asap, thank you… ;) I do enjoy seeing the bright yellow road signs for them though ;) Many a British backpacker seems to return from trips down under armed with fridge magnet versions of these kind of yellow road signs…it’s nice to see the gen-u-ine models and to think that we’re in the vicinity of those magical creatures :)
3. Methinks…if I were to say on a scale from 1-10 of how happy I’d be to live here in the long-term, the current verdict would be ‘8’, with 1 being ‘gemme outta here NOW’ and 10 being ‘I don’t ever wanna leave, thanks’. It feels ‘easy’ to be here in many ways, for me…it’s fun… :) Not to suggest that we have intentions to remain here, of course – tis but a reflection… ;) My one major concern would be the fact that the country’s apparently been in drought for the last 7 years and greengrocers tell us it gets progressively harder year by year to get different produce, plus prices rise constantly…hmmmm, well…all food for thought… ;)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

STUFF...

WOW, have you seen ‘The Story of STUFF’ yet? This was another inbox treat recently and I’ve been LOVING it ever since – it’s a little 20 minute exposé of the inner workings of modern consumer-driven society. The presenter, Annie Leonard, leads us on a highly informative, entertaining, action-packed adventure through the processes of Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption and Disposal. You can watch it here: http://www.storyofstuff.com/ and remember to pass it on – this is powerful ‘stuff’ ;)

on December the 11th I had:

1 quart water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
big chunk of watermelon
3 cups watermelon/honeydew juice
3 cups green smoothie with chia seeds stirred in: banana/mango/apricot/romaine/kale/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens
2 cups water
1.5 cups cucumber/celery/carrot/apple/all-kinds-of-greens juice
bowl of green smoothie/chia leftovers with little portion of ‘apple flax’ – blended apples mixed with ground flax, coconut flour and cinnamon powder
3 cups water

Fanfare perrrrrr-lease :)
It’s that time again…time to announce the winner of last month’s RawReform prize giveaway…
The prize was a yummmmmm-hummmmming three pack of Ulimanamana chocolate tubs…and to be in with a chance of winning, all y’all were asked to do was send in YOUR favourite recipe with the ol’ cracao monster lurking in the ingredients list…well, send in those recipes you DID…thanks be to you all…there could only be one winner though, drawn at random…and that was the divine diva ELENA Hvidz, with her ext-RAW-dinary ‘Chocolate Raspberry Bliss Balls’. You can see the full recipe for them below, PLUS check out a whole stack of the recipes y’all sent in, which have been posted to the RawReform Reader’s Recipes page, HERE: http://www.rawreform.com/content/view/290/
(Scroll about half-way down the page to reach the chocolatey yumm section ;)

on December the 12th I had:

1.2 quarts water
1 pint watermelon/orange juice
big chunk of watermelon
3 cups mizuna/kale/cilantro/arugula/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple/lemon juice
bowl of avo/banana pudding blended with cinnamon, swirled with goji berries and mung bean sprouts
3 cups water
2 cups mizuna/kale/cilantro/arugula/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple/lemon juice
bowl of cherries
3 cups green smoothie: mango/banana/dragonfruit/romaine/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens
2 cups water

Ok, so, here’s Elena’s winning recipe – enjoy ;)

Chocolate Raspberry Bliss Balls!

1 Cup of fresh raspberries (or defrost a bit first, if
frozen)
1/2 Cup raw cocao powder (or nibs ground in a coffee
grinder)
1/3 Cup raw coconut oil
1/3 Cup Agave or other raw sweetener of choice
1 Tablespoon hemp seeds
1 Tablespoon raw coconut flakes

Optional: a dash of ginger powder or grated ginger if
you like a touch of spice!

Blend all ingredients in food processor and separate
into little balls and freeze. Whenever you want a
chocolate berry bliss treat, grab a chocolate berry
ball!
Elena Hvizd

Thanks Elena :) …and thanks to all of you for sending in your masterpieces :) The Ulimanamana Truffles are on their way to Elena for Holiday-time FUN and the rest of us…well, the next RawReform Newsletter will be out any day now…and there’ll surely be some yummy offers and a new contest to play with then… ;)

All blessings for now,
Angela. xxx

Reflections...

WOW, now this is a MUST see :) LOL…Mr Monarch has just put up a before/after video of his personal raw food transformation, on YouTube…it’s pretty phenomenal to see the contrast…he recently found all these old tapes of his pre-raw and early raw days from 8 or so years ago and has been cutting them together into this piece – it’s really quite lyrical…there's also a little Stokes cameo in there too ;) Enjoy...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PMBd9SQ1bP0

on December the 9th I had:

1.5 quarts water
3 cups cucumber/celery/parsley/mint/kale/dandelion/pineapple juice
chunk of watermelon
1 tbsp greener grasses powder
handful of cherries, one little mango
2 cups water
1 green mamey, ½ a cherimoya, ½ a sapodilla
3 cups water
7 dried figs dipped in raw tahini
3 cups green smoothie: banana/mango/figs/romaine/all-kinds-of-intense-greeeeeeeens ;)
2 cups water

I had a lovely time speaking in Brisbane this weekend, then also got to hang out with some old friends of mine from my years in Iceland, which was GREAT fun – it is so interesting for me to reconnect with people from a time when my life was so vastly different…I can feel pathways opening up to parts of my brain that I never go into these days as we talk about old times and speak some Icelandic…fun ;) It was really nice as well to visit Brisbane’s amazing all-organic farmers’ market on Sunday morning – they even have a pre-prepared raw foods stall, with pizzas, cakes and so on :) I also collected a whole bag of fresh macadamia nuts straight from the tree in my friends’ garden…mac nuts are native here and very abundant...yummmm :) I DEFINITELY also appreciated coming ‘home’ though…after so many years of hobo-ing around the world, the times when I have an actual base are so precious to me…and especially sharing this one with my beloved – yumminess…I FINALLY understood what a dear old friend said to me once about going to stay at other’s houses. She lived in London with her partner and they were going to stay with his parents for a few nights, a few hours away. She said to me ‘I can’t see the point – I have my own house, why would I want to go and stay in someone else’s?’ At the time, I couldn’t relate at all, as to me, it really made no difference where I was – it was all the same to me – always someone else’s house…well, NOW I understand what she meant…it’s LOVELY to visit with friends and connect and it’s also DELICIOUS to me at this point to come home again, to a little space in the world that is filled with ME things… ;)

on December the 10th I had:

1 quart water
bowl of papaya flesh with lime juice
2 cups water
1 quart celery/cucumber/romaine/kale/cabbage/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple juice
½ an avo mushed with diced tomatoes, a pinch of Celtic sea salt and a dash of alive hummus, served with cucumber sticks and a piece of flax cracker
2 cups water
1.5 cups celery/cucumber/romaine/kale/cabbage/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple juice
1 egg fruit
2 cups water

Ooo la la…it’s time for another ‘exciting opportunity’ alert. T. Colin Campbell, the author of the fantastic book ‘The China Study’ (the most comprehensive research study ever conducted on the relationship between diet and disease) is looking for people to share their stories of healing with a plant-based diet. YUMMY. Here’s the relevant blurb:

“All of Dr. Campbell's research points to the benefits of a plant-based diet and the dangers of the over-consumption of animal protein, including red meat, pork, poultry, fish and dairy. To support Dr. Campbell's work, we endeavor to create a library of accurate and personal accounts by those who have used plant-based nutrition to inhibit disease. These accounts will be aggregated and made available to the public to serve as a reference material for patients, physicians, researchers and anyone else who may need it. As well as to create this reference resource, the intention is also to collect a critical mass of information that may pave the way for further study. The more information we are able to gather, the greater impact we will have.
We seek to gather tens of thousands of accounts. If you have had a positive experience using a plant-based diet as medicine, your story would prove invaluable to our project. If you should you know of others with compelling stories regarding foods' use as medicine please share this letter with them as well. Should you be willing to participate, I invite you to contact me without delay. Please contact Micaela Cook at micaela@spiralupworks.com.”

Hope to see you on their database if you have a juicy tale to tell... ;)
All love,
Angeeeelllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Poi, Passion and Publicity... ;)

OOoooooo, seems like lots of you have been getting inspired about POI dancing – YAY :) That’s great, I’m happy to see that…maybe at next year’s Raw Spirit Fest we can have a big poi dancing session all together ;) Some questions abt poi have been coming in too…
1. Do we have different colours of poi available in the RawReform Store, other than red?
YES, we do – we currently have 5 colours available: black with white, blue with light blue, red with white (shown here), pink with white OR lime green with yellow. If you would like a specific colour, you can leave a note as you order, stating the colour you’d like ;)
2. Can you dance with fire poi?
Yes, I can. In fact, I learnt to poi dance with fire poi. I rarely do it though. I also got many bruises from the fire poi while I was learning, as they are MUCH bigger and heavier than the soft practice poi we sell. I definitely recommend starting out with the practice poi and later moving to fire spinning with GREAT caution, if that interests you ;).

on October the 7th I had:

1 quart water
3 delectable little yellow dragon fruit
1 pint celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi/spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
2 cups water
bowl of avo mushed with alive hummus, sprouts, chopped tomatoes and Celtic sea salt, served with flax crackers.
3 cups water
2 mangoes
2 cups water
1 pint celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi /spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
3 cups water

NEWSFLASH: There is still space available in the ‘Green Retreat’ house in Ojai, California. This is a fabulous opportunity to share space with loving, open, raw-food-friendly peoples in a beautiful setting…There’s lots more info HERE – and please note, there’s no requirement to be 100% raw to join the fun – just mindful of what you’re feeding your body and mind ;) Please also feel free to pass the info on to anyone else you think may enjoy to know abt this opportunity… ;)

On October the 8th I had:

1 quart water
1 pint celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi/spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
2 cups water
handful of cherries
chunk of jackfruit
2 cups celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi/spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
3 cups water
1 egg fruit
2 cups water
1.5 cups celery/cucumber/mizuna/tatsoi/spinach/cabbage/apple/ginger/all-kinds-of-greens juice
2 small mangoes
little bowl of avocado mushed with tandoori spice hummus, diced tomatoes and Celtic Sea Salt, with cucumber sticks and ‘bitter gourd’ salad (VERY bitter ;)
3 cups water

Wooooow, looks like maybe the ‘mainstream’ media in the UK at least is catching on to sharing some more raw foodie info…a few days ago the Guardian published a story titled ‘Is Cooked Food Dangerous?’…To find out what their conclusion was, see the piece in full here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2221384,00.html

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Retro Jiggling... ;)

Ahahahahahaahahhhahaaaaaaaaa :) Look what Mr Monarch made yesterday…I LOVE it…LOL…and the picture here is just a taster – click the following link to get the full effect:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1172532853

(Watch for the special Wiggie cameo at the end - love it ;)

on December the 5th I had:

1.5 quarts water2 cups cucumber/romaine/all-kind-of-greens/carrot/apple juice
big chunk of lush watermelon
1 cup water
sauce of tomatoes and cucumber blended with spinach hummus, hemp seeds and a little Celtic Sea Salt, mixed with fresh alfalfa and fenugreek sprouts and stuffed in nori/romaine wraps. ½ a cinnamon/raisin raw bar
1.5 quarts water
1.5 cups cucumber/romaine/all-kind-of-greens/carrot/apple juice
bowl of dark yummy cherries
2 cups water
4 amazing little yellow dragon fruit and one black sapote with lime juice squeezed over it – yummmmm :)
2 cups water

Ooo la la…the last one is barely over and plans for the next spectacular Raw Spirit Fest are underway – yeeeeee-HAH :) The dates for 2008 are September the 12th-14th, back at the charming Radisson grounds in Sedona, Arizona…I certainly do hope to be back by then ;) The organisers of the festie are currently offering an ‘early bird special’ rate, until December the 31st of just $250 for the entire weekend event – bargain…now THAT would make an amazing holiday gift, methinks… ;) You can sign up HERE...hope to see you there ;)

on December the 6th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups sugar cane/lime/ginger juice
big chunk of watermelon
3 cups cucumber/celery/mizuna/spinach/cabbage/beet greens/apple/ginger/masses-of-unidentified greens juice
chunk of yummy soft jack fruit
3 cups water
2 cups cucumber/celery/mizuna/spinach/cabbage/beet greens/apple/ginger/masses-of-unidentified greens juice
bowl of avo blended with banana/bamboo shoot/cinnamon, swirled with sultanas and a handful of sprouts, served with cucumber sticks
3 cups water

I was inspired to do a ‘flashback’ here today, to retro RawReform ramblings…so I took a look at what I was up to this day last year…turns out I was on day 16 of my Juice Feast and tried my first fresh noni juice…eeeeeek ;) here was my opinion:

‘…definitely seems to fall into the ‘acquired taste’ category of foods…the taste to me is unfortunately rather reminiscent of…vomit…LOL…’

I also had this to note abt my juicy days:

‘I am noticing how much easier it seems to be getting to get up and going in the mornings now, compared to the first week of this feast…’

and established my first ‘rule of Juice Feasting’:

‘1. Never travel without a toothbrush...’

The most interesting part for me though is my observations about sugars going into my system:

‘I started to notice how interesting it is with sugars that if I take them into my body in conjunction with exercise, all feels great and the net effect is I feel energized. If I have that much sugar however and don’t get much exercise in around the same time, the net effect is I feel spacey and sleepy…it’s interesting to me that the effect can be so different, almost opposite, after ingesting exactly the same stuff…’

This pattern with sugars has become more and more obvious to me over the last year – this very morning in fact I was musing on this matter, after drinking some of the fabulous fresh cane juice available around here…fruit sugars necessitate exercise for me. Fruit=sugar=energy food=mooooooooove ;) If I have lots of sugar and then keep still, I slump majorly…ideally of course I prefer to exercise FIRST, then have sugars ;) Well, it was just interesting for me to see how the exact same things were on my mind this day last year... ;) You can read the whole retro past HERE:
http://rawreform.blogspot.com/2006/12/noni-and-other-new-toys.html

One love,
Miss Angela Claire Stokes, MA. xxx