Exploring a Raw Vegan Village :)

I’m in Ojai, California at the moment... :) VERY happy to be back in this beautiful area...and today we met with the gorgeous mama Jinjee of TheGardenDiet.com, to explore The Raw Vegan Village project her family is involved with – WOW – what an amazing place...117 acres of pristine land in the hills, with a river running through it, masses of space to grow food, old growth trees, mineral–rich soil, backed onto national forest – just wonderful...if we’re very fortunate, by the time you read this, Mr. M will have posted a video tour of the land over at TheRawFoodWorld.tv (if not, you’ll find it there soon... ;)

One of the things we were talking about with Jinjee today was the emergence of new kinds of humans now, as we shift into a new stage of humanity’s flow here on Earth...some people might refer to ‘crystal’ children, ‘indigo’ children, different DNA formations, memes, states of consciousness, etc...whichever way it is referred to, it seems some interesting shifts are afoot...then this evening I was reading a passage in one book I’m currently enjoying about a ‘spiritual quest’ in S. America and this passage stood out to me:

“If an acorn contains within itself a plan for something as implausible
as an oak tree, then why couldn’t humanity also have an innate plan,
a preset wiring for a greater and more highly evolved human being, and therefore, society?”

I love that – it really spoke to me...so, here’s to our ecstatic unfoldings into territories new... :)

on May the 1st I had:

1 quart water
1 quart beet/apple juice
3 romaine wraps stuffed with cucumber/avo/hempseed/dill/garlic/lemon juice mush, with dulse & tomatoes on top, followed by half an oatmeal cookiiiieeeeeee :)
3 cups water
2 cups greeeeen juice: celery, parsley, romaine, fennel, Jerusalem artichokes, cucumber, spinach, ginger
½ a GORGEOUS pineapple
half bowl of Monarch magic mix: blended apples/tahini/hazelnut butter with mulberries and goji berries on top
mug of rooibos tea
3 cups water

THANK YOU for all the amazing raw food dessert recipes that have been flowing in, in response to the current RawReform Giveaway Contest to win a copy of Ani Phyo’s new book: “Ani’s Raw Food Desserts” :) If you haven’t yet sent your entry in and would love to be in the mix for a chance to win this gorgeous little book, just send in your answer to the following Q, to angela@rawreform.com:

What is YOUR favourite raw food dessert recipe?

Please be sure to send in a recipe rather than simply the name of your favourite dessert, to be in with a chance of winning ;) The winner will be drawn at random and with JOY on Tuesday, May the 5th, by Ms. Phyo herself, so get your answers in soooooooon, m’dears... ;)


on May the 2nd I had:

1 quart water
double shot of barleygrass juice
1lb of FRESSHHHH cherries – love it :)
3 cups greeeeen juice
3 romaine wraps stuffed with cucumber mush, dulse, tomatoes etc, followed by a snackaroon and half a carob/cherry bar
1 quart water
1 quart apple/beet juice
3 cups energy soup, followed by a few chunks of freeze–dried durian ;)
mug of ‘Rainforest’ tea
3 cups water


Somebody wrote in recently about how much they enjoyed the ‘Green Leaves’ song I put up on YouTube over a year ago now – a raw food version of ‘Greensleeves’ – one of my all–time favourite songs ;)
I hadn’t listened to this raw version myself for a while, so thought I’d re–post it here too, for everyone to (re–)enjoy :) I feel getting plenty of fresh leafy greeeeeeens into our bodies daily is a key part of being healthy as a human...so, maybe this song will help inspire you along that path some more, if you’re not already resonating with a vibrant greeeeen glow... ;)
ENJOY ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz1Uu_r5ROA

(BTW – I have been drinking the bright red beet/apple juice combo for liver cleansing for the last 6 days now...I’m going to start the liver FLUSH part of the process tomorrow evening (Sunday) – all healing/soothing/releeeeeaaaaaasing vibes gratefully received... ;)

All love,
Miss Stokes. xxx

Gas-guzzlers, Greens and Gardening...

WOW. We watched ‘Who Killed the Electric Car?’ a couple of nights ago. WOW. If you haven’t tapped into that info yet, I’d recommend it – I was pretty amazed at what I absorbed from this documentary. I thought it was really well-made – in general, a documentary about cars is not likely to hold this gal’s interest for that long – THIS one I found fascinating though...I would summarise it thusly: about 100 years ago, pretty much everyone had electric vehicles, if they had one at all, in the US. Then ‘gas’ vehicles started to be introduced and took over (kind of like some people have electric ovens and some have gas ovens ;). In more recent years, primarily due to environmental concerns, car manufacturers started to create electric vehicles again, with greatly improved performance – fast, ‘flashy’, ‘green’, ‘clean’ (compared to gas-guzzlers), cheaper to run and so on. GREAT solution all round, right? Yep...unless you’re part of the petrol industry of course... So, basically, all the new electric cars that had been made got rounded up like some kind of pest and literally CRUSHED by car-crushing machines, left to rust up in car graveyards. :O ??? ...and so, the electric car was effectively snuffed out again...at least at the time this documentary was made... Quite extraordinary...imagine the time, energy, money, effort and resources that went into creating all those cars, that were then just scrapped almost immediately. Well...the documentary fortunately also turned the spotlight onto new solutions at the end too – from ‘hybrid’ vehicles, to the next generation of electric cars and so on – I would be fascinated to know more actually abt what has happened SINCE this film came out, as I’m sure this controversy must have had a big impact on many people...as for me, I thought this was a really well-made piece – it was informative, funny, upbeat, well-structured and thought-provoking...I’d definitely recommend it if you haven’t seen it yet...you can see more abt it HERE if you’re interested... ;)

Ok, double-whammy food log time, peoples:

on April the 9th I had:

1.5 quarts water
2 cups celery/cabbage/lettuce/carrot juice
2 handfuls of fresh figs and 2 apples, all from the orchard here
1.5 quarts water
1.5 cups celery/cabbage/lettuce/carrot juice
meal of mung bean sprouts, pumpkin seeds and wakame seaweed fronds all munched merrily together
1 quart water

on April the 10th I had:

1.5 quarts water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
3 cups celery/zucchini/cabbage/lettuce/carrot juice
1 quart green smoothie: peach/apple/spinach/parsley/sprouts/dandelion, with goji berries swirled in for chewability ;)
1 quart water
cucumber yum bowl: grated cucumber mushed with avocado, mixed sprouts, finely diced onion, karengo seaweed, served in lettuce leaves
1 quart water

THANK YOU for all the yummy feedback that has been coming in about my latest YouTube outburst ‘Green Leaves’ ;) I know some of you had issues opening the links to the song from the last blog post – apologies for that – here it is as a simple link you can hopefully all use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz1Uu_r5ROA.
Remember too that you can always see ALL my videos on the RawReform ‘channel’ on YouTube – that can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/rawreform.
‘Green Leaves’ even got its first review, courtesy of Ms. Blaqberry over at Hi-Rawkus.com, who said:

“Here’s another beaut from Ms. Stokes that’s sure to make you smile! I found myself giggling with delight at her absolutely creative lyrics focused on the importance of greens. This tune will be hummed a lot, methinks. I’ll admit that I can imagine myself singing a bit (possibly even a doing quick twirl) while prepping my next green meal. Yes, really. [laugh] How about you?”

THANKS :) You can check out that whole post HERE.

on April the 11th I had:

1.5 quarts water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
3 cups spinach/celery/parsley/cabbage/sprouts/carrot juice
a cacophony of cracao – UH-OHHHH ;) hemp seed/cacao brownies, butters and trail mix = whacked out of all balance for rest of day, in loved-up, blissed out, cracao-land ;)
1.5 quarts water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
½ a watermelon
1 cup spinach/celery/parsley/cabbage/sprouts/carrot juice
1 tbsp wheatgrass powder
3 cups water

on April the 12th I had:

1.5 cups water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
3 cups hardcore green juice: dandelion/spinach/mixed sprouts/celery/zucchini/carrot
handful of fresh figs and persimmons from the orchard
small amount of cracao brownies and spread
1 quart water
2.5 cups hardcore green juice: dandelion/spinach/mixed sprouts/celery/zucchini/carrot
meal of mung bean sprouts/wakame seaweed/pumpkin seeds, followed by a few more bites from the cracao monster ;)
1 quart water

I’ve been pottering muchos in the garden here the last few days and LOVING it – even if I am not yet on a piece of land that feels like ‘my motherland’, I can still nurture someone else’s – especially as after all, ultimately, it’s all the same thing ;) Yes, in response to the question many of you have been asking, the garden in the background of the ‘Green Leaves’ video is the place we’ve been taking care of for the last 2 months – it is divine and we leave in a few days ;( Time to shimmy onwards...in the meantime, it’s been a real blessing to get my hands in the soil here and connect a bit more the last few days – and synchronistically, one reader – Marie – sent in this lovely little article abt the benefits of gardening, which really spoke to me – enjoy ;)

-----------------
Healing Benefits of Gardening
by Melanie Waxman

Exercise - Muscles are developed through digging, lifting and raking. Walking, weeding and mowing provide aerobic activity.
Connecting to the earth helps us to be in the here and now, and to get grounded. Best of all, the enjoyment and focus of working and creating in the garden makes exercise easy.

Stress relief - the serene beauty, sights and smells of the garden are relaxing, calming, can lower blood pressure and inspire meditation and reflection.

Structured learning - gardening stimulates the mind on a daily basis and is considered one of the top three "excellent mental workouts".

Improved Self-esteem - The hard work and dedication in the garden provides a great sense of accomplishment and increased self-esteem.
There is nothing more wonderful than watching your labor transform into flowers, fruits, and vegetables brimming with vitality. Experiencing all the aspects of the growing season provides a great sense of creative achievement.

Social Interaction - Gardening is a marvelous group activity for the whole family as all ages can participate. Harvesting the delicious fruits and vegetables give gardeners the opportunity to share them with friends and neighbors.
April is a great time to get started in the garden. Even if you only have a small space or a balcony, gardening can be enjoyed with containers and pots. I encourage everyone to have a go and harvest the benefits on all levels.
-----------------

One love,
Angela. xxx

Green Leaves :)

Well, the mischievous musical membranes of my right hemisphere appear to have been at it again and here is their latest creation, over on YouTube:

Green Leaves – a Raw Food Medley

Enjoy :)

As I’m sure most of you are aware, this is an adaptation of ‘Green Sleeves’, a beautiful English folk song reputedly written by King Henry VIII for one of his many wives...well, it used to kind of be my ‘signature’ song when I did more singing and less raw food munching...
The inspiration for this raw food interpretation of the song came from dear Mr Monarch himself. During our lengthy road trip last weekend down to Christchurch and back, I was reminiscing about when I once sang ‘Green Sleeves’ on national radio in Sri Lanka. All at once, he piped up that we ought to create a raw version called ‘Green Leaves’ and so...I got to work ;) Car journeys like that are great for headspace and flow for me...

Here are the lyrics in full:


Green Leaves
By Angela Stokes

Imagine foods that lift you up,
Restore your health and feel balancing.
Green leafy veggies do all of this
And combine well with almost anything...

Packed with enzymes and nutrients,
Greens even give us great protein.
Yet so few people get enough,
It’s time for us all to go more GREEN :)

Green leaves in all our juices,
Green leaves in our smoothies,
Green leaves in our soups and salads,
There’s so many ways to enjoy greens...

Greens can help us to alkalise,
Detox and re-mineralise.
Your skin will glow from the inside
And SPARKLY will be your eyes.

There’s kale, spinach and romaine,
Sprouts, cilantro, arugula,
Parsley, dandelion and purslane
And so many wild greens to discover...

Green leaves in all our juices,
Green leaves in our smoothies,
Green leaves in our soups and salads,
There’s so many ways to enjoy greens...

I would my dear encourage you,
To enjoy your greens more liberally.
You’ll feel more healthy and vibrant too,
So gather your greens up and join me :)

Green leaves in all our juices,
Green leaves in our smoothies,
Green leaves in our soups and salads,
There’s so many ways to enjoy greens... :)


ENJOY :)
All love,
Angelalalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx