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

ACTIVATE... :)

Yeeeeeeee-HAH :) Warning: excited outburst follows…
I am VERY excited to announce that we now have POI for sale on the RawReform website. Have you ever tried poi dancing? I think it’s a FANTASTIC form of exercising…I’ve been learning/practicing for about 4-5 years…I used to teach myself out in the snow at night in Iceland when I was first learning ;) I LOVE it…I find it so beautiful and graceful…it’s also great for toning the body (especially upper body), improving coordination, meditating, inspiring kids to be more active and much more… ;) The poi we’ve just started to sell are soft, GREAT for beginners and a bargain at $15 a set – an ideal ‘stocking-stuffer’– see HERE.
I filmed a quick 3 minute YouTube video demo of me poi dancing on the beach yesterday, so you can see what it’s all about if you’re not familiar – see here:

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

If you’re after a bit more in-depth instruction than that, we also have a FANTASTIC full-length instructional DVD from super-fit raw food wonder-girl Tonya Kay, called ‘How to Spin Poi’…see HERE...

on December the 3rd I had:

7.30am to 11.30am 1.2 quarts water
12pm 1.2 quarts watermelon/orange juice
1.30pm 3 cups cucumber/carrot/tatsoi/parsley/apple/wild celery/all-kinds-of-greens juice
3pm 2 slices of Mr Monarch’s fabulous raw pizza – base of ground buckwheat and coconut flour, topping of avo mushed with curried hummus and chopped tomatoes, dusted with a layer of coconut flour. Three little cacao/dried apricot/coconut flour balls.
4.30pm 3 cups water
5.30pm 1lb cherries
6.30pm 2 cups water
7.30pm 2.5 cups green smoothie: mango/banana/sultanas/romaine/all-kinds-of-random-greens blended, then swirled with goji berries – yummmmmm ;)
9.30pm 2 cups water
10.30pm 2 cups water

Ooooo la la…what’s the timeline all about then…??? ;) Well, one of you stunning cherubs wrote in to request an approximate Stokes feeding timeline…so, the last couple of days have been closely monitored and the results are…thus…hope that helps make some more sense of it all…I tend to just have water the first hours of the day, then light stuff to ‘break into’ the day, like fruit/juice etc, then my heaviest meal in the middle of the day, then more fruits/juices/green smoothies later, wrapping up ingestion of solids around 7.30 – water again after that…

on December the 4th I had:

7am to 11am 1.2 quarts water
11am 2 cups cucumber/spinach/parsley/pineapple juice
11.45am 1 juuuuuuiiiiiicy mango
12.15pm 2 cups water
12.45pm slice of Mr Monarch’s exquisite pizza: base of ground buckwheat and coconut flour, topping of avo mushed with curried hummus and chopped tomatoes, dusted with a layer of coconut flour. ½ a brazil nut/carob raw bar
2.30pm 2 cups water
4pm big slice of lush watermelon
5pm handful of yummmmy flowers out on my foraging run
6pm 3 cups cucumber/romaine/sprouts/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/apple juice
7.30pm 3 cups green smoothie: mango/banana/sultana/romaine/all-kinds-of-greens, swirled with goji berries
9pm 2 cups water
11pm 1 cup water

Two little reminders for you:

1. Although it is somehow already a few days into December, there is still time to enter the current RawReform prize giveaway, to receive three tubs of delicious Ulimanamana raw chocolate balls – yummmmm ;) To be in with a chance of winning, all that is required of your dear self is to send in your answer to the following Q:

What is YOUR favourite recipe containing raw chocolate (cacao)?

Send your answer to angela@rawreform.com and the winner will be picked at random and announced very soon. Enjoy :)

2. Myself and Mr Monarch shall be presenting presently in Brisbane…next Saturday to be precise, December the 8th, commencing at 1pm at Ahimsa House…full details on the RawReform events calendar HERE…we do hope to enjoy the pleasure of your company should you happen to be in the area…
(FYI, we are also delighted to announce that events are in the works for Byron Bay on January the 12th, Adelaide on January the 15th and Perth on January the 23rd – more details to follow... ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Going with the flow...

I like this picture of Maria - it looks to me like she's doing the Five Tibetan Rites ;)
I’ve been getting so much lovely feedback from y’all about the ‘Favourite Things’ song I just posted to YouTube – thanks so much ;) I especially like this comment on the YouTube space from ‘HerbGardener00’:

“how much cacao did you have before you filmed this? i love it!”

LOL…I actually hadn’t had any cacao before we filmed this…or before I wrote the lyrics either…it all just flowed by itself, promise ;)

On July the 10th I had:

1.5 litres water
500ml green juice with apple and ginger
bowl of chia seeds soaked in apple juice with apple pulp stirred back in, lucuma, maca, goji berries and raw honey
1 litre water
small cup of raw green soup with a big strip of dulse and piece of flax bread
1 litre water
300ml rejuvelac
small cup of mango parfait
big green salad with dulse strips and a dressing made from red pepper, leftover pumpkin seed spread, rejuvelac, salt and garlic
1.5 litres water

I moved house again…now I am immersed in the wonderland of a raw family raising two beautiful young boys. Never have I heard two BOYS speak and play together so lovingly, generously and openly – they are absolutely delightful, as are their parents of course. It’s fun too to try out tastes of someone ELSE’s raw food – that’s always so exciting ;) …different flavours and textures and ideas…I love it…it’s also so rewarding for me to learn from someone who is a raw food mother and who is in the home daily, making food and directing a lot of love and care in that direction. Taking time to make more complex dishes and prepare things is not so high on my agenda at this time in life and it’s so interesting for me to catch these glimpses into the world of someone who IS living that life…what a blessing…and how blessed we ALL are that there are people out there like this family, giving a huge amount of time, care and loving attention to raising incredibly vibrant, loving children to nourish this world…WOW…

On July the 11th I had:

1.5 litres water
2 tbsps bee pollen
small cup of banana/kale green smoothie
2 apples and a small handful of dulse strips
baby spinach and romaine with dulse, nori and a dressing made from ground seeds, aloe vera juice, garlic, cayenne, lemon juice and salt
1.5 litres water
300ml peppermint tea
1 litre celery/cucumber/romaine/fennel/apple juice
apple pulp mixed with maca, raisins and honey
small bowl of green salad with tomatoes and sunflower dressing
1 litre water

ALRIGHT. Ok. I give in. As un-thrilled as I am in general about quantities in regards to recipes, so many of you have emailed asking for quantities to make the lucuma shortbread recipe that I am going to do my best to give you some guidelines. I’ve said it before though and I’ll say it again now – JUST USE WHAT WORKS. Raw foods aren’t like cooked/processed foods in terms of consistent flavours – they can vary wildly – your lucuma powder might be totally different to mine…you might have really mild, runny honey and I have super-strong and thick manuka…just try it out and taste it and see if you like it –if you don’t, play some more…raw food can be FUN in this way – for me it’s about experimenting, not rigid weighing and measuring of ingredients…
OK, that little rant having been…‘runt’…(???), here’s a rough guideline:

Raw Shortbread:

1/2 cup ground almonds
1-2 tbsp raw honey
2 tbsp lucuma powder

Alright, try that out and let me know if it works for you…Enjoy ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx

WOW - the Wild Organic Way

Yesterday I ate at the wonderful WOW raw food restaurant in Guelph, Ontario. WOW stands for ‘Wild Organic Way’…and what a marvellous place it is. Run by beautiful shiny beings Carin and Thomas, this totally organic, raw restaurant has been open for nearly two years – quite some feat I would think in this fairly little town of Guelph…considering raw restaurants come and go pretty quickly even in the raw food ‘meccas’ of LA and NYC.
It’s clear there’s a very loving and loyal clientele at this place though and deservedly so – it’s beautiful. From the vibrant décor with many green plants, to the sublime food and super-friendly service – this place is such a treat. I had a delicious raw combo platter and a slice of their chocolate ‘dream pie’, which was literally given to Carin via a dream one night and is luscious (see pics ;) It also turned out that the universe had been playing one of its interesting games again, as just the DAY before, Carin had come across my ‘prune-eating-video’ on the internet and had been learning all about my story and work…then in I walked to the restaurant, the very next day ;) Beautiful how it all unfolds…You can see the contact details for WOW under ‘Guelph’ HERE.

On July the 8th I had:

1.5 litres water
1 litre rejuvelac
big bowl of raspberries
sample platter of quesadilla, falafel and taco with baby greens
slice of raw chocolate ‘dream pie’
1.5 litres water
500ml rejuvelac
2tbsp fresh bee pollen
2 litres watermelon juice

I ran somewhere in the region of 4-5kms this evening. WOW indeed…this, for me, was a great feeling. I have been running these last weeks in a local park, each time running to the next bench in a series of benches, before I turn around and come back. Well, I finally made it all the way to the end of the whole track and back, running the whole time. I was so pleased…I LOVE being able to run again after years of inertia and building up my stamina like this – it feels so empowering to me…I always feel snake-like in my spine after a good jog – like it does amazing things for my alignment...

On July the 9th I had:

1.5 litres water
500ml rejuvelac
2 litres watermelon juice
½ medium papaya
salad of baby spinach, sunflower greens, red pepper, dulse and sauerkraut with flax crackers and an AMAZING dressing I made with ground sunflower seeds, fresh basil, garlic, rejuvelac and salt1 litre water
500ml green juice with apple
big bunch of grapes and handful of freshly-foraged wild blackberries – YUMMMMMMMMMM :)
1.5 litres water

NEW EVENT: I am going to be speaking in Toronto on Saturday July the 21st. This was just announced today. It is a joint event, with Matt Monarch and I both speaking on raw food transformations. Hurrah. The event starts at 2.30pm in Nassau Street and you can see all the details HERE…hope to meet some of you there :)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Three Things I LOVE :)

Number 1: Spinach
Don’t worry…I haven’t been neglecting my tongue scraping…it’s spinach…I just LOVE baby spinach leaves…they taste like BUTTER to me…do you get that flavour too…? I will happily just snack on them straight from the bag…and this particular leaf pictured happened to be an exact match for my tongue… ;)

On June the 27th I had:

2 litres water
big bowl of cherries
500ml water
1.2 litres green smoothie – banana, romaine, spirulina
500ml water
1 litre watermelon juice
salad containing fresh young greens, watercress, basil, cilantro, spinach, cumin, lemon juice, avocado, sauerkraut, red bell pepper and dulse. Flax crackers and jalapeno/cilantro dip
spoon of chocolate/coconut spread
1 litre water

Number 2: Watermelon Juice
I am also extremely excited about watermelon juice at the moment. It’s been one of my favourite juices, without question, since starting the Juice Feast back in November…HOWEVER…I had NO idea just quite how amazing it was for me until I read a little bit about it in a book of the teachings of dear old ‘Wiggie’ Ann Wigmore herself – listen to this:

“Watermelon…is the most alkaline of any fruit or vegetable, providing a great aid for overcoming any acid condition.
Watermelon rind is rich in protein, vitamins A, B, C, enzymes and minerals, chlorophyll…watermelon juice plays a great role in bringing the body to its normal balance…”

WOW :O I LOVE it…the yummiest, cleanest-feeling juice with an incredible alkalising action…how blessed we are…be sure to buy organic and juice the WHOLE thing though – seeds, rind and all, for maximum benefits... ;)

On June the 28th I had:

2 litres water
bowl of watermelon flesh
1 litre romaine/banana/spirulina smoothie
3 peaches
800ml water
small bunch of grapes
800ml cucumber/celery/apple/ginger juice
small salad with spinach, watercress, avo, lime, cumin, dulse, sauerkraut, flax crackers and jalepeno/cilantro dip
3 choco treats
1.5 litres water

Number 3: Rebounding
I LOVE rebounding…anyone who has heard me speak at lectures about exercise will likely know that this is my favourite form of exercise…in fact it is one of my current conditions for agreeing to live permanently anywhere in the future – there must be a rebounder available ;) another condition is that the location is by a large body of water…well, the universe being the blessed manifestor of dreams that it is, has brought forth both for me already in my current location and I LOVE it…bouncing about on a trampoline daily while gazing out over a serene, huge forest-fringed lake is so divine to me…and rebounding is such an incredible way to exercise – there’s some crazy statistic that 5 minutes of rebounding is the equivalent of about 20 MINS jogging…wow…I know which one I’d rather choose…;) You can see more about the marvelous Needak rebounders HERE…

All love,
Angela. xxx

Luminescent....

Ooooooo, I’m excited about Living Luminaries - a new film that’s started to show, from the Spiritual Cinema Circle. The director contacted me about it this week and I watched the trailer here:

http://www.livingluminaries.com/trailer.html

Looks great to me :) In the same kind of line as 'The Secret' and ‘What the Bleep do We Know…?’, this one is subtitled ‘The Serious Business of Happiness’ and includes interviews about creating happiness and enjoyment with all kinds of people spreading the light, such as Eckhart Tolle, Gary Renard and Don Jose Ruiz…looks very inspiring…more info HERE…enjoy…

On June the 23rd I had:

1 litre water
little box of cherries
3 peaches
10 fresh figs
500ml water
1 litre greens with carrot juice
1 durian
huge amount of raw chocolate
1.5 litres water

Ok, it was a bit of a cacao ‘party weekend’ here ;) …and now it feels like recovery time for me…nothing too severe…definitely a far cry from the alcohol hangovers I used to bring on myself…this contrast felt pretty apparent to me on Sunday night as I sat in a comedy club surrounded by people drinking alcohol, eating nachos and so on – and there were we, munching on raw chocolate – something which to me feels like an equivalent of alcohol these days, yet to most people in that room would be like having health food probably… ;) Interesting contrast…anyway, I’m MUCH happier to be dealing with my current slight cracao hangover and knowing my antioxidant levels are quite probably through-the-roof right now, rather than feeling grouchy and drained from drinking grog… ;)

on June the 24th I had:

1 litre water
big bowl of cherries
2 shots of E3 Live
800ml green juice with carrots
8 dried figs
1 litre water
big kale/avo/tomato/dulse salad with flax crackers
cacophony of cacao
1.5 litres water

I was happy to receive this message a couple of days ago from a newsletter I subscribe to…it affirmed to me that OTHERS are also dealing with issues trying to deliver messages to Yahoo email addresses at the moment…

“Notice to Yahoo subscribers: Because our emails are being blocked randomly and without explanation on the Yahoo mail servers, we cannot guarantee dependable delivery of our emails to you at this time. Adding us to your list of Safe Senders may help. However, if it is important to you to receive our updates, we recommend you change your email address to something other than Yahoo. We apologize for this inconvenience.”

Ok…so, it seems this is a widespread issue at the moment…I don’t know WHAT is happening with Yahoo, but if you are a user of their system, I’d love to encourage writing to them suggesting they relax their approach a bit…I don’t think I’d be too happy if MY email service wasn’t actually delivering my email to me… ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Sweeeeeet to Share...

I made a new webpage on YouTube – I’m excited :) I just learnt that I can make my own ‘channel’ to store all my videos together, as well as share my favourites with the world – I really like it – you can see it HERE: http://www.youtube.com/rawreform
Check out the UK news interview with Shazzie in my favourites section – I find it sooooo wonderful – she shines with all her truth and raw glory and the presenters just about implode with outrage ;) tee-hee-heeeeee ;) I love it…

On June the 21st I had:

1.5 litres water
bag of cherries
800ml celery/cucumber/apple/fennel juice
big green salad with avo, dill, cumin, salt, seaweeds
1.5 litres water
1 papaya
2 bananas mashed up with a handful of seeds, goji berries, pinch of salt and some lucuma powder
1 litre water

I am SO in love with lucuma powder…have you ever tried it…? Those of you who have heard me talk at lectures may remember me mentioning it…it’s EASILY my all-time favourite raw sweetener…it is made from a dried fruit from Peru (see picture above), comes as a golden powder which is low glycemic and it tastes like SHORTBREAD…just divine…that recipe I made up recently of raw honey mixed with ground almonds and lucuma is outrageously good…the nearest thing to raw shortbread I’ve ever tasted and so simple – just 3 ingredients…yummmmmmmmm…it’s not always easy to locate, but you can see more about lucuma and order some to start playing with for yourself HERE…ENJOY ;)

On June the 22nd I had:

1 litre water
500ml spice tea (coooooooooooold here in the morning)
big bowl of strawberries
1 litre celery/cucumber/apple/fennel juice
2 bananas mashed up with a handful of seeds, goji berries, pinch of salt and some lucuma powder
1 litre water
1 mango
3 litres watermelon juice
bowl of baby spinach, sunflower and broccoli sprouts, dulse and jalapeno/cilantro no-bean hummus
Explosion of raw cacao treats (uh-ohhhhhh…cracao-ed and dangerous… ;)
500ml water

I had a look at the stats for the RawReform E-journal recently and discovered that people are tuning into these musings daily from over 30 COUNTRIES worldwide…wow...predictably, most of us are located in Canada, the US, the UK and Australia, but a big HELLO and WELCOME too to those of you joining in from Brunei to the Solomon Islands, Poland to Pakistan, Malaysia, Venezuela and Morocco to Saudi Arabia, Barbados, Vietnam and beyond…WOW…what a global community we are of like-minded light beings ;) I'd be fascinated to hear about perceptions of the raw food lifestyle from some of you in these far-reaching places if you'd like to leave a comment... ;)

Much love and joy to all,
Angela. xxx

Happy Summer Solstice... :)

The Sun Never Says

Even
After
All this time
The sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."

Look
what happens
with a love like that,
it lights the whole sky.

Hafiz (Sufi poet)

Tomorrow (Thursday the 21st) is Summer Solstice. Yeeeeeee-HAH. The longest day of the year and a true sign, if anyone needed another clue, that summer is definitely with us up here in the northern hemisphere…personally, I am simply LOVING the abundance of fresh fruit and leafy greens, plus playing out in the sun every day… and on summer solstice, we get to spend more time appreciating the magical sun than on any other day of the year…hurray :)

On June the 19th I had:

1.5 litres water
4 peaches
600ml celery/cucumber/apple/ginger juice
green salad (arugula, basil, sunflower and broccoli greens, romaine) with lime juice, cumin, avocado, dulse
1 litre water
600ml ‘juicy-smoothie’ mix of romaine/spinach juice blended with strawberries
mini-bowl of strawberry shortcake pie (sans cacao this time ;)
1.5 litres water

I have a new trick. It helps me deal with post-meal sweet cravings. I don’t really want to put sweet stuff in my body anymore after eating savoury things (like salad at lunchtime) and YET, I still have the desire for something sweet... So, my trick is to take a couple of packets of ‘Pro to Go’ – these are little yummy packages of sweet flavoured probiotics that you can just tear open and knock back – I get the sweet hit AND probiotics at the same time. The sweetness comes from xylitol – which wouldn’t be my first choice of sweetener, but is raw and this feels like a great stepping stone for me away from desserts…hurray :) You can see more about Pro to Go HERE.

On June the 20th I had:

1 litre water
2 quarts strawberries
500ml celery/cucumber/ginger/apple juice
bag of ORGANIC CHERRIES (YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY - first ones I've found in Canada ;)
½ box of baby spinach
700ml banana/romaine green smoothie with spirulina3tbsps of bee pollen mixed with hemp seeds
1 litre water
700ml green smoothie with spinach, romaine, peaches, banana
1 litre water

To celebrate Summer Solstice tomorrow, the organisers of Raw Spirit Fest are holding a special FREE TICKET promotion. Raw Spirit Fest is being held from October 12th-14th this year, in Sedona, Arizona and is going to be INCREDIBLE :) I am so excited about this event. I will be there as a workshop facilitator, along with many other wonderful raw speakers like Matt Monarch, The Boutenkos, David Wolfe, Viktoras Kulvinkskas and Ani Phyo. Buy your ticket for the festival on Thursday 21st June – Summer Solstice – and you will be in with a chance of receiving another ticket, completely FREE, to share with a loved one. The 1ST and 21ST people to purchase their tickets on this day will receive the free gifts, SO, I suggest you follow THIS LINK and book your place today if you haven’t done so already…See you there… ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Berry BLISS ;)

I went strawberry picking yesterday. WOW. I haven’t been since I was about 15 I think…it was GREAT…I picked about 6 quarts of juicy sweet berries and went on to eat them with every meal of the day ;) lol…it was incredible…the cacao strawberry shortbread pie we made in the middle of the day yesterday was outrageously good. I had not had cracao again for about 10 days, so really enjoyed the blissful, opening, love vibe of it. The recipe was SO simple:

Base:
Ground almonds
Lucuma powder (gives the shortbread taste)
Local raw honey
Ground cacao nibs

Filling:
Strawberries
1 Banana

Please don’t ask me about quantities. I don’t know…I just use what works. We used the food processor to mix together the pie base and pressed it into a dish. Then we blended the berries and banana together, poured that on top and decorated with more sliced berries. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY…very liquid – I would perhaps add lucuma powder to the filling as well in the future, to thicken it up…

On June the 18th I had:

1 litre water
about 2 quarts of strawberries
500ml water
500ml green juice
incredible cacao strawberry shortbread pie
2 litres water
750ml ‘juicy-smoothie’ hybrid containing romaine, spinach, lime juice blended with strawberries
1 litre water

I’m excited to say that this evening –Tuesday June 19th – at 6pm PST (9pm EST), Matt Monarch is giving a FREE live teleconference with Mike Snyder. You can listen live through the web via this link:

http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=270678

OR you can also listen live by phone by calling 218-486-3695 and entering access code 408606#.
You can submit YOUR question for Matt on the above webpage too – enjoy ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Calling all Juice Feasters... ;)

Yesterday saw the first ever Juice Feasting Teleconference Call. I really enjoyed it and MUCH has unfolded today as a result…one of the most exciting things being that I have now created a FREE Google Group called ‘Juice Feasters’ for connecting. I am really excited about this – I have been looking for a user-friendly way to help people connect around Juice Feasting for the last couple of months and this seems like a great solution to me.

You can see the group and join up here:

http://groups.google.com/group/juice-feasters?hl=en

Here are some of the features I’m impressed with so far:

We can:

*post messages/ask Qs

*upload files and pictures to share
(I have already uploaded a few items)

*co-create and add to web pages within the group space (VERY cool). Everyone can participate in this – I have already put up permanent pages today for links, recipes and top juicing tips. We can create pages on anything related to juicing and anyone can add.

*easily follow conversations, which are grouped together logically

*create our own profiles for each user, with picture, info, location etc – so you can see who else is onboard and in your area/time zone to connect with…

*receive new messages by email to stay updated or just go and catch up online whenever you choose to.

you can visit http://groups.google.com/group/juice-feasters?hl=en, register yourself and start connecting in today with others on this path…HURRAY :)

I am also REALLY happy to say that following on from the free Juice Feast Conference Call yesterday, next week I will begin hosting a NEW 4-week long series of Teleconference Sessions on Juice Feasting.
The sessions will be on Monday nights, starting on April the 16th…
To read more about the calls and sign up, see here:

http://www.rawreform.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,36/category_id,12/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,55/

On Tuesday April 10th I had:

500ml water
500ml tea
sliced apples topped with goji/strawberry/lime juice/figs sauce
700ml veggie juice
800ml water
banana/chocolate crepes with coconut ice cream
800ml water
500ml celery/red pepper/garlic/hot pepper/orange juice
500ml tea
kale salad
600ml water

In the afternoon I went running for the first time in a loooong time. It felt really great. I love the feeling jogging gives me of everything being given a huge shake up. It feels really rejuvenating to me, especially here out in the warm sun…love it…

Today I have had:

500ml water
500ml tea
700ml veggie juice
500ml water
700ml veggie juice
meal of durian blended with fresh vanilla bean and coconut water, stuffed in romaine lettuce leaves with banana/choc crepes
500ml peppermint tea
1 litre water
500ml water
500ml peppermint tea
500ml water

The durian meal in the middle of the day today was enough solids for me for the whole day, Durian is SO dense for this body to handle…LOVE it though – and WOW, combined with a fresh vanilla bean, it was totally lush…here’s a bizarre article a raw foodist recently forwarded me about genetically modified durian – yes…someone has cross-bred the smell out durian…

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/world/asia/08durian.html?
ex=1176782400&en=278734180b9e1b6a&ei=5070&emc=eta

Hmmmmm…I am fascinated that a man would choose to devote over 3 decades of research into removing the smell from a fruit…lol…wow…humans are so fascinating to me…
Here’s a great line from the article:

"There is probably no other fruit that elicits such passion — and revulsion — as the durian."

And another:

"Rarely does durian season pass without newspapers somewhere in Southeast Asia reporting a durian death. The fruit, which is rich in carbohydrates, protein, fat and sulfurous compounds (thus the smell), is said here to be “heaty,” and can therefore be deadly for those with high blood pressure…"

Lol…the article also concludes that he is now trying to breed out the spikes from durian too…hmmmmmmmm… ;)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Hunts and Hoops...

This was a wonderful Easter Sunday for me :) I woke at about 5am, excited to get up and prepare Easter Hunt Trails for my two housemates :) As a child, my dad always prepared these for my sister and I at Easter – it was one of the highlights of the year for me. I would awaken on Easter Sunday morning, so excited, looking for the first of many clues that would lead us on a trail all over the house and garden, searching for our hidden stashes of chocolate easter eggs…all the clues would rhyme and lead us from one place to another, until in an excited frenzy we would throw open the door to some cupboard or the washing machine or something, to reveal sweet stacks of chocolate treats…it was SO much fun ;) wow…we received and ate such incredible amounts of chocolate back then – up to maybe 15 different packaged easter eggs from the big commercial companies, complete with sugary sideline sweets in the box…it was definitely a sugar frenzy for days on end at Easter time…needless to say, I LOVED it ;) and not a raw cacao bean in sight back in those days (got some in this year though ;)
So, this year I decided to pass that tradition on (minus the cooked cacao/sugar/dairy concoctions), with my lovely housemates…I prepared their treats and trails before dawn and set everything up…then it was so much fun once they arose to watch them scurry around the house, trying to find their stashes…they both seemed to enjoyed what they found and I got to relive those magical Easter moments and share the joy…YAY :)

On April the 8th I had:

500ml water
1oz shot wheatgrass
500ml water
6 satsumas
700ml veggie juice
3 nori sheets stuffed with hemp seed/flax oil/Himalayan salt mix
1 apple
500ml water
Au Lac meal – mix of Humanese soup, ‘De La Mamma’, salad and mock salmon roll, ‘green balls’ and chocolate/chai pie.
1 litre water

In the evening we were at Au Lac restaurant in Orange County, for a raw food presentation. It was a great event and frankly, any reason to visit this restaurant is an opportunity not to be missed ;) Ito’s creations are just amazing and the mysterious new ‘green balls’ are like a raw food phenomenon…no-one seems to know what’s in them, but they are green on the outside, dusted with coconut crème powder, with an incredible, sweet, chewy, warm, brown centre…served warm from the dehydrator, they are just divine…little plates of them will appear from the kitchen, inspiring intrigued onlookers to order more…and there seems to be something almost clandestine about them – they’re not on the menu and no-one really knows what they are it seems, but…it really doesn’t matter – they taste so great and when they’re being made by Ito, you know there’s just a WHOLE lot of love in those little green balls… ;)

Today I have had:

500ml water
700ml tea
700ml veggie juice
bunch of loquats
500ml veggie juice
500ml water
figgy/halvah coconut wrap with coconut ice cream and raw chocolate
500ml cinnamon tea
500ml water
herb salad/raw hummus/black olives
water of one young thai coconut with green powder
400ml water

Mmmmmmmm, loquats are in season…bought mine from an outrageously sweet little old Chinese couple at the Farmer’s Market who told me that the loquat season is short, so it’s a great idea to grab them while they’re available…which indeed I did…wow, they’re so delicious – little orange droplets of soft-fleshed, peach-like yumminess…(see pic above)
This evening we went to visit Storm and Jinjee’s beautiful new retreat space – they’re holding space for individuals/groups to gather there and share being 100% raw vegan together. It’s a beautiful setting – the grounds have massive scope for exercise, as would naturally be the case around Storm ;) We went out to explore and I ended up playing basketball for the first time in perhaps…10 years…it was soooooooo much fun – and I found I was surprisingly accurate with my shots, which never used to be the case as a teenager – I LOVED basketball back then, but was far from being considered a great shot ;) tonight I was making about 90% of all shots I took…wow…yet another benefit to attribute to the raw food lifestyle ;)
All love,
Angela. xxx

(BTW - for years now, I have signed off all my messages with 'xxx'...tonight a new friend here in the States just shared with me that in the US, 'xxx' is one of the ratings given to pornography ;) lol...apparently it is in fact the most 'hardcore' rating given...hmmmmmmm...soooooo...for all you readers out there in the US who make this association too and have perhaps been wondering why I sign myself off this way...these three little xs are, to me, KISSES :)...nothing more suspicious than that, I assure you ;) so...now I'm wondering if I will perhaps begin using smthg else instead...but mostly feeling resistant to changing it, so...hopefully this little message here will suffice for now to clear this matter up...and we can keep the kisses flowing ;)

Easter-time Explorations...

Public Service Announcement: it has been decided that the term ‘blog’ is a little too unpleasant sounding to convey the beauty of sharing one’s personal truth with the rest of the universe. Thus henceforth, the title ‘E-Journal’ will be used in preference (at least here and in my head, if not elsewhere… ;)

On April the 6th I had:

500ml water
500ml herbal tea
700ml veggie juice
bowl of ‘Apple Flax’ – shredded apples combined with ground flax seeds, goji berries, spirulina, mesquite powder
500ml herbal tea
bowl of raw ice cream
500ml water
700ml veggie juice
bowl of salad with avo, olives and tomato. Flax crackers with seed cheese.
2 homemade raw chocolate balls
1 litre water

Spent a great evening with lovely new friends this night...it was interesting, as most of us there were people very immersed in a raw food lifestyle, yet one of those gathered is new to the idea. It struck me that our meandering conversations about nutrients, eating styles and fast-breaking techniques perhaps seemed quite peculiar to him…which he did indeed later confirm ;) He likened the experience to how he imagines the ‘average woman’ feels when he speaks about football moves…lol ;) It felt refreshing to hear this ‘outside’ perspective on such an occasion…I spend most of my time surrounded by raw food people/places/events etc and to share space with someone for whom it is an oddity rather than the norm was eye-opening…

Today I have had:

700ml water
700ml veggie juice
bowl of amazing apple ‘pasta’ with sauce of blended young coconut meat/water, cinnamon, raisins, goji berries, chopped figs
500ml water
500ml herbal tea
700ml veggie juice
serving of ‘rawvioli’ made with seed cheese wrapped in a ‘skin’ of coconut meat blended with salt and cayenne pepper (see pic above). Salad of spiral sliced jicama/turnip/carrot/beetroot with a sundried tomato sauce.
Bowl of raw coconut ice cream
1.5 litres water

We have been having massive fun with the Spirooli slicer today. This style of spiral slicer is sadly no longer in production, but produces the BEST noodles from any hard veg like carrots, squashes, jicama etc. The noodles come out in these INCREDIBLE thick, crunchy long strands that you can cut down into shorter pieces if you like, or leave in outrageously long threads to enjoy with a loved one ‘Lady and the Tramp’ style ;) Using apples in this slicer was new for me today and seemed like it would be a GREAT meal to use for kids especially…fun and sweet and tasty and simple…YUMM ;)
THANK YOU to all who participated in last month’s Prize Giveaway from The Raw Chocolate Company. Up-for-grabs were 3 CASES of phenomenal raw bars from these outstanding raw chocolatiers, based in Brighton, England. Handmade with love and only the finest raw ingredients, there are currently five different bars in their range: Cacao Bar, Vanoffe (my personal favourite raw bar ;), Sunberry, Pith Dark and ‘Bonkers’…
To enter the giveaway, readers submitted their answers to the following question:

What is your favourite home-made yummy raw treat…?

And WOW…what a treasure-trove of responses we received… ;)
There could only be three winners though, drawn at random, so, here they are…

(DRRRRRRRRRRRUMMMMMMMMM RRRRROOOOOOOOOOLL ;)

Rosemary Hudson Jocelyn K (from AZ)

And

Lauren Sina

CONGRATULATIONS, GALS ;)
Your chocolate treats will be winging their way to you soon…

To see the amazing homemade treats these women prepare – Rosemary’s ‘Avonanamon’ pudding, Jocelyn’s incredible Choc-o-Nut Brownie and Lauren’s ‘Mango Heaven Tartlets’, visit the new RawReform Readers’ Recipes page, here: http://www.rawreform.com/content/view/290/

Even if you didn’t win a prize this time, if you’re around in the UK, you can actually learn how to make your own incredible raw creations with the Raw Choc masters themselves in Brighton. Their next workshop is on Saturday 12 May 2007 from 10-6pm, with head chef Amy Levin. For more info, call 01273 677821 or contact more@therawchocolatecompany.com.

Happy Easter to all who enjoy this holiday ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Away-days and Almonds...

The last couple of days have been pretty full-on for me with filming for two different TV shows…it’s been LOADS of fun ;)

On April the 4th I had:

500ml water
600ml veggie juice
800ml veggie juice
3 apples
1.5 raw Thai spring rolls
1 litre water
400ml ‘elixir’ tea
kelp noodle ‘Pad Thai’
coconut/chocolate mousse dessert
450ml spice tea
300ml water

This was a really fun day filming in lots of different locations around LA, including some great raw food hangouts – I LOVE Erewhon, the huge natural foods supermarket – their raw section and promotion is just phenomenal – we picked up some pre-prepared Thai raw spring rolls there that I’d never seen before and they were DELICIOUS – the ‘skin’ of the spring roll was young Thai coconut meat blended and dehydrated into sheets, sprinkled with black sesame seeds and wrapped around veg…very very yummy and felt very ‘clean’ and easy to digest too – lots of high water-content veg in there… in the evening we visited one of the lovely Leaf Cuisine establishments too and their new Pad Thai meal with KELP noodles was SUCH an interesting experience for me…I am fascinated to know how they made them or where they’re from…I’ve never seen them before…it was extremely reminiscent of eating pasta…great stuff...

Today I have had:
500ml water
2 apples, 1 kale leaf
500ml water
300ml almond milk
Handful of soaked, sprouted, dehydrated seeds
400ml water
½ avocado w/cilantro, basil, sauerkraut, grated carrot
1 banana, 1 tbsp hemp seeds, handful of figs, 2 tbsps coconut ice cream
700ml green juice
500ml water

Filming started early today and has been a hilarious whirlwind of activity all day – wow, TV studios are such a different reality for me – the make-up and hair spray and lights and so on….it’s good fun to play those games for a while ;) I am so very unaccustomed to wearing make-up now though – I feel as if I look like a bit of a ‘drag queen’ with TV make-up on…they assure me it all looks natural on film… ;) we’ll see…
I made almond milk in a food demo today and it went down really well with the people on set…then I used the pulp to make some little ‘truffle’ treats for them too…the world of raw almonds is being pretty severely rocked around at the moment though, with bizarre threats bouncing about that all almonds must be pasteurised from now on in California…hmmmmmmm…seems very curious and undesirable to me…and there is currently a petition building to protest about this – if you haven’t accessed this already, you can see it and sign it here:

Online petition - Mandatory Almond Pasteurisation is WRONG ;)

All blessings to all,
Angela. xxx

Beauty Overflowing...

The latest issue of the fabulous Funky Raw magazine is out now, including an article by me about Juice Feasting…and the great news is that Rob is now offering the mag in e-format too, so that those outside the UK/Europe can access it more quickly/easily…see www.funkyraw.com for more info and to order…

On March the 27th I had:

300ml water
500ml water with lemon juice
300ml prune soak water
200g soaked prunes
apple pie – pecan/raisins/mesquite base, apples/cinnamon/nutmeg/coconut butter/agave middle, macadamia/coconut water/vanilla/prunes sauce
500ml mint tea
500ml water
200g nut/seed trail mix
green salad with jicama, lime juice and avocado, with nori sheets stuffed with mixture of hemp seed/flax oil/Himalayan salt
500ml mint tea
300ml water

It was fun to make cake in the middle of the day…it was great for me to get into the kitchen and play with food a bit – let my creativity flow through that outlet instead for a while…it was a yummy creation…I’m still interested to hear about YOUR favourite home-made treats too for this month’s RawReform prize giveaway of cases of exceptional raw chocolates from The Raw Chocolate Company in the UK. Just email details of your favourite treat to angela@rawreform.com and three blessed beings will be receiving batches of oompah-lumpah loved-up cacao bliss early next month ;)

It’s a month until the next retreat I’m holding and I’m excited. It’s a women’s Juice Feasting/weight loss retreat at Ronora Lodge in Michigan, from April 25th to May 2nd…we’re going to be TREATing ourselves to a 5-day juice feast, yoga classes, emotional healing sessions, massage, nature walks, meditations, dancing, sharing circles and masses more…it’s going to be a magical time and there’s still room for a few more lovely ladies, so check out more details here: http://rawnora.com/Angela/
We had a womens’ song circle gathering tonight and it was soooooo yummy…I LOVE raising up the Goddess energy with other beautiful beings in a capella bliss ;) singing bowl, fresh flowers, tea, resonance, sisters united in harmonic bliss…YUMMY…singing is such an important form of expression for my being – that’s how I can tell if I’m truly feeling happy and relaxed somewhere, if I start spontaneously singing – and these song circles give me lots of new lovely tunes to fuel my song banks with… ;)

Today I have had…

700ml water with lemon juice
500ml spice tea
400ml greens/carrot juice
bowl of protein-power meal – bananas, seeds, hemp protein powder, dried figs with 2 nori sheets stuffed with hemp seeds/flax oil/Himalayan sea salt
700ml water
1 fuji apple
500ml green juice
meal of courgette (zucchini) ‘pasta’ with pesto sauce, accompanied by seaweed/jicama salad
amazing bits and pieces of raw cookie dough ice cream creations ;)
500ml mint tea
300ml water

I felt nauseous in the afternoon from all the fat at lunchtime – I was really keen to try out this amazing banana/seeds etc meal that I keep seeing here and so went for it, but it was really a bit much with the nori rolls too and my body went into a kind of nauseous state…oops…ok, message received… ;)
It was SOOOOOOOOOOO much fun today to watch my beautiful raw GODDESS friend Kate Wood on TV in Iceland - I lived up in Iceland for around 3.5 years, on and off and she went up recently to hold some raw events and explore...here was the Icelandic TV coverage of her visit - click on 'Hrafaedi' (raw food) to watch the piece:

http://dagskra.ruv.is/streaming/sjonvarpid/?file=4301758/1

Ég elska ykkur öll ;) - I Love You ALL ;)
Angela. xxx

Durian and the Divine Dance..

WOW…it’s been a blissful couple of days here, involving a LOT of raw ice cream and durian in particular… ;)
We held a raw ice cream party/pot luck on Saturday night and it was soooooooo much fun…I was HIGH on a combo of durian, cacao ice cream, ecstatic dancing and blissed interactions…it was one of those parties where for me, the whole thing felt like it passed in about half an hour, it was so joyful and flowing and I found it very hard to get to sleep afterwards, I was buzzing…cacao opens me so much to the love vibration and l was in bliss ;) It was great fun to share durian and other raw yummies with people who had never tried them before and especially to experiment with giving people spilanthes flowers…ahahahaaaaaaaa – if you have never tried these buds, it’s something that really ought to be experienced ;) they are so incredibly intense, but start out so subtle, then EXPLODE across your taste buds, often leaving the mouth (and mouth-owner) in a semi state of shock…it’s like nothing else I have ever put in my mouth and the reactions watching people try them was just hilarious… :)

On the 24th of March I had:

1 litre water
250ml greens/carrot juice
350g sugar snap peas
500ml green juice
500ml greens/carrot juice
500ml water
500ml spice tea
raw ice cream party mayhem – chocolate, goji bliss, vanilla ice creams, masses of durian, dark chocolate sauce, frozen strawberry sauce…


Today I have had:

500ml water with lemon
samples of citrus fruits at the Farmer’s Market
shot of wheatgrass
3 coconut date rolls
700ml spice tea
500ml green/carrot juice
1.5 durians with raw ice cream
1.5 litres water
1 litre peppermint tea
500ml greens/carrot juice
500ml water

I had one of the most incredible animal encounters of my life today. I met a huge, majestic moth who seemed almost mythical in nature to me…he was absolutely stunning to share space with. I met him coming out of a health food store. He was laying on his side on the floor and looked to be dead. I didn’t want to leave the body there on the street, so went to pick him up with a piece of paper. He began to move and walked himself onto the paper, then my hand and up onto my arm. He was like a tarantula with wings. Big beefy hairy legs and body, the most extraordinary fan-like antennae and a beautiful wing display with eye markings and colours that shimmered and looked like decorations found on a sari…he started to shake dramatically – like a mixture of trauma and kundalini energy rising. I felt so connected to him and in awe, thrilled to be there with him…a crowd of people gathered around to see this amazing creature, before his shaking turned to stumbling forward, raising wings and fluttering up and away into the sky…I clapped and cheered his journey back off into the world and felt very blessed to have enjoyed his presence for a few minutes…hmmmmmmmm…I was inspired to check out what kind of beliefs Native Americans hold about moths and Google gave me a few responses, including… ‘a symbol of rebirth, regeneration, happiness, and joy to Native Americans in Mexico’ and ‘the happy dead in the form of beautiful butterflies would visit their relatives to assure them that all was well.’ Well, whatever meanings these incredible creatures may hold for others, I know that this encounter touched me deeply today…and I would LOVE to know the given name of this creature if anybody out there happens to know…
Ok, I think I’m just about done with durian for now…it’s becoming almost a daily ritual at the moment and I think a break would be great – they are amazing, but sooooooo full of fat, which leaves me sleepy afterwards…went out on a wonderful 6 mile bike ride to re-energise this afternoon, but will be choosing other foods for the next few days methinks ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Shifts...

Happy Equinox, beautiful people :) whether you’re up in this hemisphere and moving into spring or way down there on the other side of the equator and shifting into autumn, many blessings to you at this time on change…last Sunday was the start of the new moon in Pisces…it is a powerful time for unconditional love, total compassion, and absolute oneness. Yeeeeeeeeeeeee-hah ;) Here is what the fabulous astrologer Lisa Dale has to say about the next couple of weeks:

"This is the New Moon to practice compassion and selflessness by radiating peace and calm through prayer and meditation. Pisces acknowledges our essential connectedness and realizes it through the practice of unconditional love and unwavering compassion. What can you give away? What can you share? The world needs your generosity, your caring, your compassion, and your love.
…this is a great New Moon to commit to a daily meditation practice. Think of it as a gift to set aside time each day to meditate and find the source of inner peace that resides within. This is the New Moon for spiritual awakening!
Pisces is the sign of endings: of letting go for good. Take a hard look at whatever pain you are holding on to; especially if it involves addiction of any kind. Realize that what is done to one is done to all, and create the conditions for peace to grow all around you.
Heal your life and you will make a great contribution toward healing this world. Open your heart, let compassion be your guide and become an active peacemaker. Don't be afraid to do the work of loosening your attachment to self-identification. Love yourself by loving others. We are all in this together, and together we can do the impossible. Be inspired to be a beacon of peace and light for the world. Dive deeply into this powerfully transcendent New Moon cycle.

Wow, I love her writings on the moon cycles – you can read the full piece here: http://astrowisdom.com/thisnewmoon.htm…enjoy ;)

Today I have had:

750ml water
500ml lemon tea
600ml prune soak water
8oz soaked dried prunes
500ml spice tea
300ml water
650ml greens/carrot juice
1.5 durians
500ml spice tea
400ml water

MMMmmmmmmmmm-HMMMmmmmmm, I am BACK in the prunes…and loving it… ;) They just feel so great to me – so clean and simple and cleansing…they definitely didn’t taste as vibrant to me today as they did a few weeks back, immediately after Feast-breaking, but they were great…
So…I’d like to talk about cacao… :) after blogging last night about how I’d had some cacao and it seemed to feel fine and manageable, I ended up being awake until around 4.30am, wired and blissed out…lol…yep…re-learnt that one the long way ;) The upside was that I caught up on a mass of emails, the less optimal aspect was that my body felt dehydrated, over-stimulated and bloated. I love the taste of cacao, but need to take it very gently – it really only takes the tiniest amount of it to stimulate me these days I’m sure, given the cleaner state of my body from Juice Feasting…and yesterday turned out to be waaaaaaaay too much…it felt like the same kind of pattern I used to experience when I drank alcohol – it wasn’t until I stood up from the table that I would realise how much it was affecting me…some friends in Costa Rica call it ‘crackao’ and now I can see (and feel) why… ;)
There is a poll on the RawReform website, HERE, that asks you to define your main feeling after eating cacao…Interestingly, the current results show a tie between these three responses: ‘loved up – like everything is great’, ‘kind of spacey, ungrounded, heart racing’ and ‘just the same as usual’…wow, it’s amazing how our bodies can react so differently to the same substance…I know for me it feels mainly like a stimulant and not something I choose to use every day at this point in my life – I am definitely more interested in fresh whole, water-rich fruits and veg right now…or at least my BODY is – my MIND may well be often in other places, but I am doing my best to bypass the demands of the mind and listen to the messages of the body, as after all, that is the part of me that is mostly fuelled by the physical foods I intake. The mind may dawdle in images and requests for all kinds of things, but unless the body seems genuinely in alignment and ready for that kind of nutrition, I am not going there. This feels like a real gift post-Juice Feast – to be able to separate out those messages much more succinctly and make more informed choices…
All blessings for all our health,
One love,
Angela. xxx