Ten Ways to Help Get Raw Food Into Reluctant People ;)

Here below is a fun little article I recently sent out in my newsletter that I thought y'all might enjoy here too...if you're not on my main RawReform newsletter list yet, you can sign up for that HERE...
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Ten Ways to Help Get Raw Food Into Reluctant People

Many of us experience challenges trying to help others to eat more healthily. Well, despair ye no longer, help is at hand... ;) Here are ten top tips for helping reluctant people eat more raw...

1. DESSERTS ;) Almost everyone loves desserts...You don't need to even tell anyone the dessert is raw - just put out a gorgeous raw cake or pie and watch everyone enjoy it. A fabulous tip is to add Irish Moss to the recipe as a thickening agent - that way you're also renegading minerals into them at the same time ;)

2. Gourmet Treats - people are often afraid that raw food will be 'boring'. Surprise your loved ones by learning a few special 'gourmet' raw dishes that will help make the food seem more familiar to them. Raw Pizza, Lasagna, Burgers and other dense, filling 'mock' dishes are great bridges into a raw lifestyle.

3. "Slowly, Slowly, Catch A Monkey" - trying to force other people around you to become raw very rarely seems to have positive, lasting results. A much more effective strategy seems to involve slowly, gently and consistently introducing new foods/recipes over time - slowly, slowly, respectfully allow each person's path to unfold at their own pace.


on October the 18th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
little cup of green smoothie and a little cup of goji juice blended with Marine Phytoplankton and Camu Powder
bowl of energy soup with some of my hand–pickled veggies and a few dehydrated onion crisps on the side, followed by a delicious little hand–blended yumpot
3 cups water
2 glasses of green juice
bowl of lemongrass/coconut soup followed by a little bowl of rawnola with almond milk :)
2 cups water


on October the 19th I loved:

1 quart water
3 cups greeeeeeeen juice: celery, dill, parsley, mixed sprouts
2 Tbsp bee pollen
2 cups energy soup with pickled veggies and spiced seeds on the side, followed by a delicious little hand–blended yumpot
3 cups water
3 cups goji juice blended with Marine Phytoplankton, Etherium Gold and Merlin's Elixir
bowl of Lydia's grawnola with homemade spicy–sweet almond milk ;)
3 cups water


4. Food Gathering - take your loved ones out to pick fruits or forage in the wild. Reconnecting to nature in this way can be thoroughly energising, inspiring and enjoyable, plus helps in understanding experientially where food comes from...

5. Sprout/Grow Food - ask your loved ones (especially children), if they'd love to help you with sprouting in the kitchen or growing food. When people are involved in growing their own food, there is a stronger connection to the produce and you might find they are more excited to eat the harvest ;)

6. Small Portions - if you're offering something raw that you sense will be perceived as 'odd' by your loved ones, try offering only small amounts at first. With my parents for example, I offer shotglasses of green juice and describe it as 'medicine' - they are willing to grimace and knock this back, whereas a big glass might be off-putting to them.


on October the 20th I adored:

1 quart water
2 cups goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton, Merlin's Elixir and Etherium Gold
bowl of chia pudding with homemade spicy–sweet almond milk, incan berries and chunks of freeze–dried durian
1 quart water
2 cups greeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, ginger, lemon
amazing gourmet raw food platter from the chefs at Café Life in Atlanta: raw quesadillas, sweet potato cannelloni, pumpkin pie – WOW ;)
2 Tbsp spirulina crunchies, 1 Tbsp bee pollen
3 cups water


on October the 21st I loved:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeeeeen juice
gourmet creation leftovers from Café Life in Atlanta: sweet potato cannelloni, raw 'samdwich', pear baklava – all outrageously yummy ;)
3 cups water
2 cups goji juice blended with Marine Phytoplankton, Merlin's Elixir and Etherium products
2 Tbsp bee pollen, ½ pack Noniland coconut crisps
1 quart water


7. Food Prep - asking your loved ones to assist in raw food prep can be a great way to get them more involved - especially children. Make it clear that by helping they are not then obliged to eat the food, though they are welcome to eat some if they'd like to ;)

8. Educational Resources - if you have inspiring raw food books, DVDs, magazines or other resources, it can be useful to leave them OUT where other people can see them and may casually dip into them, rather than packing them away out of sight.

9. Abundance - do your best to have an abundant range of raw goodies available on display for loved ones to feast on at their will. A flowing fruit basket, a stack of raw snack bars, a cookie jar packed with dehydrated fruity roll-ups, or an ice-lolly rack in the freezer of frozen raw treats can all go a long way to help making healthier treats easily accessible to the reluctant ;)

10. Shine On :) Be a shining, glowing, positive example of the raw food lifestyle, allowing others to simply observe the shifts in your life, without trying to push anything onto them. BE the change and let others follow along the path at their own pace if they'd like to, as your beaming health and radiance becomes an irresistible beacon to them ;)

I hope that helps some of you out there..

ENJOYYYYY :)


All love,
Angela. xxx

Sad News...Apologies and Gratitude...

I have some news I feel very sad about. It feels like it’s time to share though… A month from now, thousands of vibrant, lively raw foodists will be gathered together in Sedona, Arizona, to celebrate the fabulous Raw Spirit Festival…and right now, it seems very unlikely that I will be able to join you all… :(
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm…visa complications are persisting for me and unless things dramatically shift in the next 4 weeks, it seems I am currently unable to enter the US…I absolutely love it here in Canada where I am right now...I would be SO delighted to come down to the US for the festie though too...
I have been holding off from announcing this, in the hope that things will shift…and they may indeed still yet – the GREAT thing to focus on is that myself and MANY other bright beings have been holding the vision of me actually being there for the festie…SO, we have a lot of energetic power behind this… ;) If you feel to also lend your visionary attention towards this, that would be wonderful :) Thank You…
I’m sorry for any disappointments and SO hope it will work out for me to join in the fun down south with y’all… ;) All limbs crossed ;)

on September the 11th I had:

1 litre water
½ medium papaya
1.2 litres green juice
bowl of sea spaghetti with sprouts, granulated wrack seaweed, hemp oil, sunflower seeds and baby leaf greeeeeeeens
500ml water
10 fresh figs
500ml water
500ml green juice with lemon
½ medium papaya
500ml water

I’m SO sorry. I guess the last newsletter I sent out produced quite some response and the RawReform server actually got totally overwhelmed with email traffic and crashed…EEEEEEEkkkkk…so, for all of you who tried to send in messages – especially for the ‘Who inspires YOU?’ Giveaway draw – apologies…the mail system is cooperating again now after some gentle encouraging, so please feel free to send things in again if you feel to, to angela@rawreform.com – thanks ;)

on September the 12th I had:

1 litre water
1 litre yellow watermelon juice – yummmmmmmmmm
1 dragon fruit and 6 fresh figs
500ml water
bowl of kale salad with sea spaghetti, sauerkraut and granulated wrack
little raw chocolate bar with raw shortbread
1 litre green juice with lemon
bowl of appleflax – blended apples mixed with ground flax seed, ground almonds, lucuma powder, swirled with a little spirulina and goji berries
1 litre water

Three things for which I have recently felt grateful:

1. Experiencing the most INCREDIBLY powerful thunder and lightening storm a couple of nights ago whilst out bike-riding…it was an intense experience…my energy had been tight during the day and I wanted to release…if ever I wanted confirmation of the truth that the outer reflects the inner, this was IT ;) The weather was beautiful as I set out, then rapidly shifted to gale-force winds, dramatic thunder and lightening all around me, lashing rain, hailstones and gusts so strong that they literally blew my glasses off…it was amazing…I was howling like a BANSHEE into the wind and my arms were whipped bright red from the cold hail and wind…what a release :O
2. Seeing the film ‘Hairspray’ recently at the cinema – MMMmmmmmm :))) SO sweet and funny and uplifting and wonderfully well acted…yes, I do just LOVE musicals… ;)
3. Reflecting on one of the gifts of our ‘constantly-on-the-move’ lifestyle: that we get the opportunity to see how SO many different houses and specifically kitchens function…it brings me so much inspiration and clarity for how I would like a raw kitchen to be as and when I settle somewhere…two things I see very clearly right now are that I want to have a HUGE amount of surface space for things to dry after being washed up, on racks/a surface that allows drainage AND I’ve also been really appreciating flexi cutting-board covers which you can chop things on, then pick up the sheet and slide the chopped yummies into your receptacle of choice ;) I’ll share more kitchen pointers as and when they present themselves ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Vegging...out...

Alright kiddies, this is your last chance to get your paws on a $10 gift voucher for RawVeganBooks.com – the RawReform giveaway prize for July…somehow it got to August already, so the next newsletter will be out very soon…if YOU want to be in with a chance of winning, just email you answer to the following Q to angela@rawreform.com:

‘What strategy would you recommend for raw foodies to handle mainstream social functions like dinner parties and business meetings?’

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas sent in so far…and if you haven’t entered yet, please do send in your fabulous tips. The winner will be drawn at random and announced in the next RawReform newsletter...(which you can subscribe to HERE if you don’t already receive it ;)

On July the 30th I had:

1 litre water
shot of wheatgrass juice
tbsp wakame flakes
handful of goji berries
2 persimmons
2 tbsps sunflower seeds with wakame flakes
1 litre water
3 persimmons
½ tbsp greener grasses powder
500ml green juice with apple and fennel
avo/dulse/tomato/lemon/spinach/romaine wraps
avo blended with lucuma powder and maca, with sultanas swirled in
400ml spice tea
1 litre water


Thanks to the lovely Jenny for this reply regarding the ‘pickling’ request…
“…for any summer squash or cucumber varieties, I slice them like dill spears or bread and butter rounds and fill mason jars, then add apple cider vinegar, a spoonful of raw honey and a bit of celtic sea salt and/or other pickling spices like dill or mustard or coriander seed, and some cayenne or paprika to make them spicy, and fill the rest with water, then shake it up- if the honey isn't melted, keep shaking every so often. . . and keep let it sit at room temp for awhile or keeps indefinitely in the fridge (i'm not exactly sure how long as they never last very long!!!) These taste so much better and more fresh than store bought white vinegar pickles and the variations and possibilites are quite endless!!
hope this helps. . .
xx jenny”

Mmmmm…sounds yummy, enjoy ;)


On July the 31st I had:

1.5 litres water
3 golden kiwis
500ml green juice with apple and fennel
avo/romaine/spinach/dulse/tomato/lemon juice salad
Cacao balls
1 litre water
2 fresh corn-on-the-cobs
box of blueberries with a head of romaine and some dried figs
500ml water
500ml rose/chamomile tea
1 banana, 1 tsp greener grasses
500ml water

On this evening I had a delightful ‘chance’ encounter with an old school friend I haven’t seen in about 10 years…WOW…fun…those of you who have heard me speak will know that this has been, for me, one of the more entertaining aspects of my transformation with raw foods - seeing people I haven’t seen for a long time and watching their freaked reactions as they realise it’s me ;) This particular lovely laydee was my best friend for a number of years when we were around 10 years old…I happened to be in my town of birth, very briefly, for literally about 30mins this evening – went into the supermarket I used to gorge myself in daily as a teenager, this time to pick up some fresh organics and there she was, standing next to the bananas…wow…I LOVE the way the universe works…I was really happy to see her, called out her name and went to hug her…while she stood looking confused, trying to ‘place me’ in her memory…well, after all, last time she saw me I was likely around 250lbs (18 stone)…it ‘clicked’ for her after a while and she realised it was me…she was SHOCKED to see my new appearance and very happy for me – she’d seen my website in recent years and thought it was all amazing…sweet ;) I love those encounters – great reminders for me of where I’m coming from...

One love,
Angela. xxx

Visionaries...

In case you didn’t see my little announcement yet, I’m really excited to be participating in the Raw Food World Summit, which is kicking off on August the 7th and features 12 top speakers on raw foods, sharing their stuff, tele-conference style…yeeeeee-HAH ;)
You can sign up for FREE, or invest in the other packages on offer, HERE.


On July the 26th I had:

1 litre water
500ml celery/cucumber/apple juice
½ tbsp greener grasses powder
1 litre water
chia seeds with blended apples, goji berries, raisins, maca and lucuma powder
400ml dandelion tea
bag of cherries
1 persimmon
1 litre water
spinach, romaine, avo, dulse, raw cauliflower curry, waldorf salad, flax crackers
1 litre water
400ml orange/cinnamon tea

Somebody left a comment recently asking about drinking tea…yes, I LOVE it – especially in cold places and simple teas like peppermint or dandelion that I feel offer some function too (i.e. aiding digestion). I tend to put hot water on the tea, then drink it much later when it’s cooled down OR add cold water sooner, to be able to drink it sooner – I do not enjoy drinking anything hot anymore…sun teas are my favourite way of making tea as a raw foodie – though England seems to be…hmmmmmm…rather severely clenched in sun-shortage right now…wow…it’s like someone left the tap on since I left last summer ;) Thanks to all of you who braved the winds though and turned out for Matt Monarch’s raw food lecture in London on Friday night – it was FUN to see so many enthusiastic faces here, brightening up grey London…hurray :) Thanks for a great gathering :)

on July the 27th I had:

1 litre water
1 chopped apple and a handful of blackberries
600ml green juice with apple and fennel
bowl of chia seeds soaked in apple juice with lucuma powder, goji berries, dried mulberries and maca
400ml dandelion tea
1 litre water
3 tbsps bee pollen mixed with hemp seeds and cardamom powder
1 litre water
6 persimmons, 1 fig and some incredible raw chocolate ;)
1 litre water


...and so, from one Aquarian to another...the moon is about to be full in Aquarius – this Sunday or Monday, depending which continent you’re on ;)
Lisa Dale Miller describes this as the full moon of ‘the visionary’ or ‘guru’. This is:

“A night dedicated to thanking all our teachers, in every walk of life. An Aquarius Full Moon asks us to especially honor unique and revolutionary teachers: those who vision far out beyond the rest of us. Those dedicated to upliftment, freedom, utopianism and humanitarianism.

This is a night to step into your own sense of teaching and service by breaking down the attraction to focusing only on your own life. Selfless giving to others is a true Aquarian vision of working for the collective upliftment of all sentient beings. This is the Full Moon for involvement in something larger than you.

This is the Full Moon to honor freedom, idealism, humanitarianism, egalitarianism, and the revolutionary impulse toward reform, without causing harm to anyone. Aquarius is the impulse to raise-up everyone and leave no one behind. So in service to these calls to action, become responsible and find out what is really happening around you. Get involved in your community, volunteer your time, and raise awareness in your neighborhood.”

WOW…yummy…a powerful time to step into your OWN power and shimmy on into the light with ALL your brothers and sisters :) You can read the whole of Lisa Dale Miller’s piece HERE.

Enjoy,
One love,
Angela. xxx

Are you in...?

Thanks for all the entries that have been coming in so far for the current RawReform contest – some great tips are being shared on Raw Social Issues… :) If you want to be in the draw for the prize of a FREE $10 gift certificate from RawVeganBooks.com, to use on anything in their online store, just email in YOUR answer to the following question, to angela@rawreform.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

‘What strategy would you recommend for raw foodies to handle mainstream social functions like dinner parties and business meetings?’

Social issues, as we all know, is one of the most challenging aspects of being raw for most people. So, let’s share some fabulous tips and make all our lives a little easier ;) The winner will be drawn at random from all the entries at the start of August and announced in the next RawReform newsletter...(which you can subscribe to HERE if you don’t already receive it ;)

on July the 18th I had:

2 litres water
600ml rejuvelac
2 peaches
5 apricots
yummy yellow zucchini (courgette) pasta with explosively delicious pesto sauce, greens and dulse
500ml green juice with apple and fennel
box of strawberries with little glass of avocado ‘key-lime-mousse’
cacao balls
500ml rejuvelac
2 litres water

How many people do you know who are completely, truly 100% raw…? We were talking about this tonight and it began to seem like there aren’t really MANY people making this choice in our societies…interesting…humans seem so peculiar in that regard…and it seems so ironic to me – eating totally raw is truly all about simplicity at the core of it…yet for so many people it seems to represent a complicated, daunting, mysterious way of life…we really are so enveloped in our relationships with food, far beyond the simple function of it as physical fuel…does this all sound familiar to YOU? Have you ever in fact tried spending a whole day eating only raw foods, or...a week? …or a month? If these are new frontiers for you, I’d love to encourage you to explore and enjoy them…it's all about the experiences, baby ;)

On July the 19th I had:

2 litres water
500ml green juice with apple and fennel
bag of cherries
bowl of chia soaked in rejuvelac with lucuma powder, a mashed banana, spirulina, dulse flakes and chopped dried figs
500ml peppermint tea
500ml water
1 litre watermelon juice
small bowl kale salad with avo/dulse/tomatoes/lemon juice/olives
5 dried figs
500ml peppermint tea
500ml water

This Saturday, the 21st, Matt Monarch and myself will be speaking in Toronto, Ontario – hurray – I’m excited to experience a bit of this ‘cultural-melting-pot’ city…whereas over the ocean in Blighty, the Raw Revolution is going to be rocking Oxford…yep…that big ol’ city of traditions is going back to the roots with two raw foodie lads - Joe and Phil – handing out info and samples at a stall in the city centre…do drop by to join in the fun and show them some big raw love if you’re around that area… ;)

One 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