The Spoon-Licker Cometh...

WELL...as I write this, there are just 10 days until Christmas...looks like we’ll be enjoying a MeXican–shaped X–mas this year...we don’t have a Christmas tree or any decorations...we do have a lot of cacti though and a semi–adopted puppy called Barbados who likes to ‘decorate’ our floor with gifts of her own and chew the cacti ;) I’ve never toilet–trained a puppy before – hmmmm, it’s quite some task, eh? ...it’s SO rewarding though to see how she’s starting to get the hang of it more and more ;) I somehow hadn’t envisioned myself spending quite so much time here in Mexico clapping and cooing at the excretions of a canine...well, the Universe has its own peculiar games to unfold of course ;)
Incidentally, did you know that in Iceland there are 13 ‘Santas’? They come down from the mountains one per day during the days preceding Christmas Eve and they have rather unusual habits...today for example was the day for ‘spoon–licker’ santa to make his appearance...I think you can guess what his passion is...his other compadres include sausage snatcher, window peeper, door sniffer, candle beggar, pot scraper and door slammer...hmmmmm...who would YOU invite to your Holiday parties...? (btw, the mother of the 13 santas is called ‘Grýla’ and apparently she eats babies...) You can read all about the exploits of the unconventional Icelandic santa crew HERE.


on December the 13th I had:

1 quart water
2 apples with 3 tbsp Sproutein powder
2 cups energy soup with okra and kale chips on the side, followed by an almond crunch bar
mug of spicy tea
2 cups water
1 quart greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, broccoli, kale, romaine, asparagus, dandelion, ginger, lime
an apple and a pomegranate with 2 tbsp Sproutein powder
2 cups water

I would like to share here a very simple, beautiful little concept that I received in an email recently:

The best way to multiply happiness is to divide it.

LOVE that...sooo beautiful...how might YOU help to multiply the community happiness factor today? Smile at a stranger? ‘Random’ act of kindness? Gift to a loved one? There are so many ways we can share...and everything positive we share like this is radiated back to us manifold over – we are SO blessed...

on December the 14th I had:

1 quart water
little cup of spicy tea
2 tbsp sproutein powder
2 cups energy soup with okra and kale chips on the side, followed by an almond crunch bar
mug of spicy tea
2 cups water
3 cups green juice: celery, cucumber, kale, fennel, romaine, dandelion, ginger, lime
1 tbsp bee pollen
2 cups energy soup with kale chips on the side, followed by a little yumm bowl of hand–mixed almond butter/lucuma powder/maca/carob powder/dried pomegranate seeds
little mug of spicy tea
2 cups water

on December the 15th I had:

1 quart water
3 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, dill, kale, carrot
2 tbsp Sproutein, 2 tbsp bee pollen
2 cups energy soup with kale chips on the side, followed by a little bowl of hand–blended yum: almond butter/lucuma powder/carob powder/goji berries
little cup of spicy tea
2 cups water
15 chlorella tablets
2 cups greeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, romaine, ginger, lime
1.5 cups energy soup with kale chips on the side, followed by a mixture of chia pudding and leftover blended sweet yummy stuff from lunch
2 cups water

Here’s a juicy question that came in recently from Kelly...
“Hi Angela, when you juice, do you use a juicer? Or do you make it like on juicefeasting.com using the vitamix and nutmilk bag? do you think you lose significantly more nutrients when using the vitamix/nutmilk compared to juicing with a juicer?”
Kelly

Thanks for your Q Kelly :). Well, at this point in time, we are in Mexico and we're using a Breville Juice Fountain juicer - we make the juice, then also squeeeeeeeze the pulp through a nut milk bag, to get LOTS more juice (we tend to get at LEAST another 16oz that way we find ;O... )
When we're in the UK, we have a little twin gear Kempo, Mr. M also has a Norwalk juicer in the US and when we’re travelling in other places/staying with other people, we use whatever is available – so, we use different things depending on where we are...
Yes, the juice definitely oxidises a lot faster when using a vitamix/nut milk bag combo OR when using a centrifugal juicer too - twin gear juicers or Norwalk juicers are the best choices, if you're looking for nutrient value and the potential to make juice ahead of time and store it in a fridge ;) The Vitamix/nut milk bag combo is GREAT though for ease and if you're going to drink the juice quickly ;)
Hope that helps...

All love,
Angelalalalalaaaaaaaaaa. 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

Thank you for the music... ;)

Yeeeeeeeeee-HAH :) Wow…it’s been fun the last few days – lots of travelling and talks…today we spoke at the Simply Raw Festival in Ottawa, Canada – SO lovely…thanks to all of you who humoured the sudden cold snap and came on down to enjoy – I REALLY liked this festie…such a nice crowd of people, a beautiful setting in a sweet little park and I LOVE that it’s free entry for all, meaning all kinds of people make their way along, who may not access it otherwise…it’s organised by the simply lovely Natasha and Mark of Simply Raw and I feel they are offering such an OUTSTANDING service to the world with this event – they pour so much love into it, so selflessly and also seem to enjoy it so very much – absolutely beautiful ;) Attached is a photo of myself and Mr Monarch having a giggle at our booth…;) (Sent in by the lovely Uljana - thanks ;). We also spoke to a charming, vibrant crowd over in Montreal a couple of nights ago, at an event catered by the luscious beings at Cru de Essence…this little crew of light beings have secured a fabulous venue overlooking the whole city, where they hold events, produce the most love-infused kombucha I’ve ever tasted and provide fabulous raw meals…WOW…yes, we’ve had a GREAT welcome to this area – we were even interviewed for a whole segment on the daily news a couple of days back, which a LOT of people seemed to tune in to ;) …thanks to you all who’ve been part of this journey…and so…tomorrow…ONWARDS…we ride west at dawn…yeeeeeeeeeee-HAH…

on September the 13th I had:

1 litre water
500ml green juice with lemon
cup of green smoothie with purslane
plate of raw pies
1.5 litres water
500ml kombucha
plate of savoury raw food – lasagne, nori rolls, salad etc, followed by raw cheesecake with banana ice cream
1 litre water

WOW, lots of you have been making GREAT use of the current coupon code for the new RawReform Store…the code ‘chia’ currently gets you 10% off any purchase PLUS a free 1lb bag of magical chia if you spend over $150 (people seem CRAZY for chia up here in Canada by the way – wonderful :). Many of you have been making great savings with this code already – like $40 off the price of a new Vitamix – NICE ;) Just to let you know, the code is valid until the end of this month, so you have a wee while yet to get your goods in ;) See the store HERE.

on September the 14th I had:

1.5 litres water
big piece of watermelon400ml kombucha
700ml green juice
plate of raw leftovers from meal last night – lasagne, crackers, seed cheese etc
2 litres water

I’m delighted to hear that so many of you have been enjoying the latest ‘Sound of Music’-inspired warblings from ‘Maria von Chia’ on YouTube…‘How Do You Have a Social Life with Raw Food’ has been viewed around 800 times in 2 days…thanks for all your lovely comments and emails :) It’s nice to know how common salad-dressing-smuggling is among this tribe ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx