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