Would You Rather Be Peaceful or "Right"? ;)

Recently, one reader, Gregory, sent me a very interesting list for some 'alternative' uses for cucumbers, other than eating them (which we have been doing with joy almost every day recently ;)
Here were a few of my favourite cucumber tips from Gregory - I haven't tried to verify any of these yet - I think they're interesting though - lemme know if they work for you ;)

* Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.
* Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.
* Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.
* Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!
* Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.
* Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

ENJOY ;)

on August the 13th I embraced:

1 quart water
3 cups goji juice with marine phytoplankton
2 cups greeeeen juice
bowl of yummy daaaaaark cherries
3 cups greeeeeeen juice
2 cups water
shared nori roll meal with Mr. M: *amazing* reed avocado, dulse, sprouts, chopped cucumber and curry-kraut stuffed into nori sheets with kale chip samples on the side, followed by 3tbsp acai powder ;)
2 cups water


It's that time again: voting is ON right now for the 2010 VegNews Veggie Awards :)

You can vote until August 31st on categories such as your favourite veg*n foods, restaurants, chefs, books and so on...AND there are quite a few raw food options amongst the answers to choose from ;) You can also ADD in your own raw-based answers by choosing the 'other' answer option on many of the questions, if you prefer ;)
There are some GREAT prizes on offer too, for those who share their votes, including a global getaway, veg*n foods, books and more...you can get in on the voting at this link HERE - enjoy ;)


on August the 14th I was blissed with:

1 quart water
3 cups greeeeeeen juice
bowl of YUMMmMmmmmmmy dark cherries
handful of fresh figs
2 tbsp spirulina crunchies
2 cups water
random cucumber salad meal with Mr. M and his family - cucumber salad stuffed into nori sheets, followed by 3 tbsp acai powder
mug of herbal tea
1 cup water


on August the 15th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
samples of stone fruit at market, followed by a fresh fig FEAST w/ Mr. M :)
3 cups greeeeeen juice
1 cup greeeen juice
shared nori roll meal with Mr. M: avo, curry-kraut, cucumber slices, sprouts, lecithin and dulse stuffed into nori sheets, followed by sample of vanilla bean living nutz ;)
2 cups water


LOVE, love, LOVE this passage I received by email recently from the Hazelden "Gift for Today" messaging service:

"In every conflict, ask, "Would I rather be peaceful or right?"

The power of detachment, the willingness to choose to be peaceful rather than make every conversation a battleground, is freedom at its very best. There is no mystery in how this is done. It's a decision any one of us can make as often as the opportunity to disagree comes up.

We don't really even have to hope for a more peaceful life. It's ours just as quickly as we make the choice to want something different in our daily interactions. Remember, those who come forth provide us with opportunities for practicing peace."

I *love* this concept of "would I rather be peaceful or 'right'?" ;) I've received the same message before via Abraham-Hicks too...I feel this is such a vital question to ask oneself in interactions with other humans... "would I rather be peaceful or 'right'?"
So many people seem to be remarkably attached to feeling that they are 'right' and/or have 'won' in a situation...yet who is really 'winning' anything, if someone in your context is feeling uncomfortable, unhappy or shamed?
I choose peace, for myself and those around me...what do you choose? ;)

All love and reverberations of delight,
A. Stokes-Monaaaaaaarrrrrrrrch. xxx

Juicy News, Green Powders and Gifts from Gaia...

OOoooo La Laalalalalalaaaa – we are now officially launched into liquid world with the start of the Global Juice Feast yesterday on March the 1st. Globaljuicefeast.com is all a-buzz with activity and I’m happy to hear that many of you have also been enjoying listening in to the set of JF conference calls we just put up on the RawReform store. I have three pieces of yummy juicy news for you today:

1. We now have the first, FREE conference call up there for download too. This was the hour-long call we did prior to recording the main set of 4 calls and it’s available now as a free download from HERE. We also put together a little package of all four of the main conference calls for a reduced price of $35 for all 4, instead of $10 each if bought separately :) YAY – you can see that package and access all the juicy info HERE.
2. Those juicy yumsters Justin and Heidi over at RawFoodRightNow.com just posted their review of my book ‘A Juice Feaster’s Handbook’ – thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it :) – you can see their review HERE.
3. I’m also happy to say that I’ve reached a personal conclusion about my participation in this year’s GJF – I’m going to have a straight juicy day once a week – most likely every Monday, depending on scheduling and starting TOMORROW :) Back on the juices for Ms. Stokes on the ‘morrow…yeeeeeeeeeee-HAH… :)

On March the 1st I had:

1.5 quarts water
1.5 cups nettle tea
3 mandarins
20oz celery/cucumber/parsley/kale/radish/lettuce/carrot juice
bowl of raspberry bliss: soaked dried mulberries blended with fresh raspberries, with LSA (ground linseed/sunflower seeds/almonds) stirred in, plus more berries for chewability
1 quart water
2 cups peppermint tea
10 amazing, dark prune plums
18oz celery/cucumber/kale/apple/ginger juice
½ watermelon
1 quart water

Here’s a quick reader Q from Mary:

“A question> How do you consume your green powder? I have been taking it regularily now for some weeks just in water, however, I certainly DO NOT enjoy the taste and sometimes it can make me feel a bit nauseous. You do have any tips on how to do it better? Blessings, Mary”

Hmmm...well, to be honest, I just eat green powder with a spoon, straight from the package...LOL...I love it – especially the wheatgrass powder we have here at the moment – it is sweeeeeeeeeeeet – gimme a spoonful of that any day over fresh wheatgrass juice ;) Green powders can vary HUGELY in taste though, depending on which you use – an algae, like spirulina or chlorella? Or grasses/veggie mixes? Or smthg that has a huge range of ingredients in it? Personally, I prefer the tastes of ‘cleaner’ green powders usually – like straight wheatgrass, or straight spirulina for example, rather than complex mixes. I do REALLY like Greener Grasses which is from Healthforce Nutritionals and is a simple blend of 6-8 grasses, no fillers...I find that the taste of green powders starts to get a bit ‘messy’ usually when there’s dozens of different ingredients, besides which, sometimes I really wonder about the body’s ability to decipher the mixed messages in smthg complex like that… ;) So, it really all depends which green powder you’re using...for example, I really don’t appreciate much the taste of chlorella – whereas I LOVE spirulina and can often be found with a green ‘spirulina’ mouth when supplies are nearby ;) If it’s spirulina you’re dealing with, I’d suggest a very simple recipe is to mash up an avocado and stir in 1 tbsp of spirulina and the juice of one lemon (or half, depending on how juicy it is). I used to eat that every day at one point – LOVED it :) Other ways to get more green powder into your life: throw it in smoothies/juices or sneak small amounts of it into sweet meals (e.g. sometimes we sneak some extra greenery into things like the ‘blended mulberry’ meals we make, or ‘apple flax’). If you use small amounts of green powder like that, with stuff that tastes yummy, you’re getting your extra nutrients in, without pulling ‘yuck’ faces ;) Also, the ‘nauseous’ reaction you’re having could be for a number of reasons – it might be you’re simply using a powder that doesn’t agree well with you OR it might be that the power of those greens is creating a little detox reaction in you…
Hope that helped – I’d recommend getting on the tasty greens, like Greener Grasses – or better yet, go mainly for FRESH greens, rather than powders anyway ;)

on March the 2nd I had:

1 quart water
3 cups nettle tea
3 mandarins
20oz celery/cucumber/kale/apple/ginger juice
bowl of the Monarch Savoury Speciality: grated cucumbers, avo, sunflower seed pate, garlic, spring onions, arugula, mixed sprouts and karengo seaweed, wrapped in lettuce leaves and nori sheets
1.5 quarts water
few slices of dried papaya, ½ tbsp green powder
bowl of mulberry fruit bliss: soaked dried mulberries blended with fresh blueberries and served swirled with fresh cherries and a little LSA (ground linseed/sunflower seeds/almonds)
1 quart water

I am feeling SO blessed and blissed in this little corner of paradise we currently find ourselves caretaking...this morning I awoke and wandered out onto the dewy grass for my morning yoga and was greeted by a graceful slither of rainbow, positioned directly in the space between the trees that guides our view down to the ocean...quite, quite beautiful...it only lasted a few minutes...I took a photo – you can see it here to the right – not sure if you can make out the rainbow from here – I hope so :) Then this afternoon I went for a delicious wander in this local area and found my way into an incredible grove full of ENORMOUS old rocks and unfathomably twisted trees that have worked their way up from the floor of this shady grove towards the sunlight way above, clinging to the sides of the rocks in the most bizarre formations – it’s an incredible little pocket of life there…take a look at this picture I took and you can see one of the trees with these huge roots stretching all the way down to the ground down the sides of this boulder...it actually almost seemed like a film set, the whole place – it was just so amazing to think that a place like this actually exists, untouched, except for a pathway to gawp from... ;)
While we’re on the subject of beautiful, inspiring locations, dear ladies and gentleman, we have a request for information from a dear raw chap who is seeking guidance on places to enjoy in Kauai for extended stays this summer...anything yummy to share? Or raw-friendly places anywhere in Hawaii would be interesting to know about for that matter...please send any leads to angela@rawreform.com and I’ll compile all the info and post here – thanks :)

One love,
Angelalalalaalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Gifts and Gratitude...

WOW – ‘tis the season for awards, it seems...those yummy funsters Heidi and Justin over at RawFoodRightNow have been’n’gone’n’created RAW FOOD Inspiration Awards :) YAY :) I am delighted to have received the ‘Juice Feasters Award’...and they’ve created 2 other categories too – the ‘Raw Food Inspiration Award’ and the ‘Raw Food Courage Award’ – you can read ALL about it HERE...
In honour of this award, along with the phenomenal surge of interest in Juice Feasting of late, I finally got it together last night to move my Juice Feast Breaking video onto YOUTUBE, instead of just Google Vids. This is the infamous ‘prune eating video’ which I’m sure most of you reading this have seen before ;) Many people don’t seem as familiar with Google Vids as YouTube however and have issues finding this vid, so...now it’s hopefully more visible ;) FYI, this version also has a ‘bonus’ extra 5 seconds or so on the end for some reason (not sure how that happened) – SO, if you’ve been silently wondering what happened after prune met mouth...click HERE to find out ;)

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

on February the 6th I had:

1.5 quarts water
24oz celery/cucumber/parsley/watercress/carrot/apple juice
1 GORGEOUS durian :)
1.5 quarts water
12oz celery/cucumber/parsley/watercress/carrot/apple juice
bowl of fruit salad: banana/papaya/cherries :) Yummmm...
3 cups water

Anyone is welcome to give the new Raw Food Awards out whenever they want, which seems superbly generous ;) WOW...to be honest, I’m not sure there’s anyone in the raw food community I’ve met who I WOULDN’T want to give at least one of these awards to...for today though, I’m going to pick just one person for each category... ;)

Raw Food Inspiration Award: Happy Oasis
I love Happy… :) Have you met her? She is indeed a blessed being, doing INCREDIBLE movin’ and shakin’ in the raw food movement, with the Raw Spirit Fest growing yearly...a fabulous storyteller and humble fellow Earth-wanderer, Happy radiates shiny-eyed bliss, integrity and giggling joy :) I LOVE the latest Raw Spirit Fest ticket offer too, BTW – call them up on either 928.776.1497 or 928.708.0784 anytime in February to book your ticket, SING THEM A SONG and you’ll get a free goodie bag of Raw Chocolate :) WOW :) Beautiful...


Raw Food Courage Award: Jatinder Daniels
Dear Jatinder healed her chronic rheumatoid arthritis with a raw food lifestyle. She lives in Spain with her husband and gorgeous kids, who all made the switch to raw years ago and experienced IMMENSE relief from different illnesses. Jatinder was pretty much on her ‘death bed’ when she made the transition to raw. She demonstrated immense courage in seeing this through, however...and these days, though her body bears many ‘scars’, she is generally in fantastic health...she also makes the most INCREDIBLE raw spice mixes EVER :) See her site HERE.


Juice Feaster’s Award: John Rose
Gotta hand it to the ‘Grand-daddy of JF-ing', Mr Rose ;) Based in Houston, Texas, John has been on this juicy journey for abt 18 years now...his track record with juicing and health is awe-inspiring...twas he that did help raise Master Rainoshek from his death bed with his juicy ways...and well...now look where THAT led... ;) We met John last year in Houston and I was touched by his gentle sincerity and incredible depth of knowledge – a great man :)


on February the 7th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1lb cherries
1lb cherries
36oz watermelon/orange juice
16oz carrot/spinach juice
little handful of dry wakame flakes, straight from the bag ;)
bowl of soaked dried figs blended with HOMEMADE tahini :)
3 cups water
12oz carrot/spinach juice
bowl of raw soup - cucumber/tomato/garlic/tahini/seaweed, served with carrot sticks and a Mexican Power Wrap
3 cups water


Mr Monarch LOVES his nut/seed butters – especially tahini…and unfortunately, New Zealand seems rather unforthcoming with raw versions (if you happen to know of any suppliers here, pls do let us know ;) So...I decided to take matters into my own hands and make some tahini myself, as a little birthday gift for the Monarch for tomorrow...well, the cheeky monkey realised what I was up to and ended up making it himself ;) LOL...well, at least we know he’ll like it that way...we made it by throwing 4 cups of hulled sesame seeds in the Vitamix, blending them and adding in pumpkin seed oil as it blended – about ¼ cup...it is YUMMY – we used some immediately for a meal, plus now we have a whole tub of it in the fridge :) YAY :)
Thanks to all of you who have been sending him yummy birthday messages too, for tomorrow...sweet :) Here’s an amusing ‘virtual gift’ sent over by Lenie from N. Carolina – a mock-up version of our very selves gracing the cover of People magazine – oooo la laaaa... If you’d like to see YOURSELF on the front of People, or...Time Magazine, Cosmo and more…click HERE – thanks Lenie ;)

All blessings and bouncy birthday joy,
Angela. xxx

I'd like to thank my teachers, my friends, my...

OOOOoooo, I’m very excited. I am delighted to say that I’ve received an award for being an ‘Inspirational Blogger’ – WOW :) Thanks so much…Here’s the award I got:


It came from this site and I’ve put it on the right side of the RawReform E-Journal homepage. However, the most beautiful part of this award-giving is that I now get to pass the award on to 5 other blogsters and share the love…WOW, how sweet…well, as today is Thanksgiving here in Canada, this seems all very appropriate ;) Read on below to see who I am sending the award on to…

on October the 7th I had:

700ml water
1 litre watermelon/cucumber/orange juice
1 Chinese Pear
500ml water
bowl of ‘mushroom’ soup with freshly made corn/flax crackers, pumpkin seed butter and dulse
300ml peppermint tea
1 litre green juice with carrot
bowl of ‘mushroom’ soup with sea spaghetti seaweed mixed with hemp seed butter and granulated wrack seaweed
500ml water
little bunch of yellow-green gorgeous grapes
500ml water

Ok, it was challenging for me to choose who to pass on the 'Inspirational Blogger' award to and I’d love to send it to all blogsters out there who are sharing the raw healing msg…however, 5 it says, so, here are my five nominations, in no particular order:

Raw Canadian Girl Blog
This is written by the inimitable Margi, over in Ontario. Margi is a delightful writer with a passion for simple living, biking and foraging… She has a great deal of insights to share and does so earnestly and without pretense – beautiful ;) Take a look what she’s been up to here:
http://rawcanadiangirl.blogspot.com/

The Raw Kitchen
This site is also known as ‘Shell’s Holistic Blog’ and is written by divine diva Shell over in Brighton, England. Aside from making simply the most exquisite, loved-up raw cakes available, Shell has a beautiful way of sharing her truth online too with her writing – dive in HERE:
http://therawkitchen.blogspot.com/

Raw Food Right Now
Hosted by yumsters Heidi and Justin Ohlander, this site is a magical treasure-trove of useful info for raw fooders in the ‘real world’. They have even put together an incredible ‘ultimate-list-of-raw-food-blogs’, which currently contains 150 different blogs – WOW :O A beautiful example of loved-up raw ‘public service’ work ;) See http://rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com/index.html


on October the 8th I had:

1 litre water
900ml green juice with carrot
bowl of longans – MMMmmmm – this was fun – I’ve never really had them much before – very yummy…seem to range in taste from caramelly to peppery…
bowl of ‘mushroom’ soup with flax crackers, dulse and pumpkin seed butter
500ml water
little bunch of yellow-green grapes
900ml green juice with carrot
bowl of sea spaghetti seaweed with hemp seed and granulated wrack seaweed

Xocolati @ Qito
Eeeeek, watch out, it’s the cheeky little Aquarian choco-nymph of London herself…Ms Suki Zoe… self-described ‘colonic hydrotherapist, chocolatier, writer, artist, chavutti and mischief maker’, Suki has no fear of telling it like it is – it seems perhaps Wordpress feel differently however, as her site seems to be down right now...hmmm…check back here sometime: http://qito.wordpress.com/

We Like It Raw
Mmmmm, this long-standing raw blog is such a gem – it’s like a giant portal into so many intertwining raw food threads. Headed up by huge-hearted Dhrumil in the New York area, this site provides cutting-edge, useful raw info in a friendly, funny, sassy way – just lovely :) Check it out here: http://www.welikeitraw.com/

Ok, so that’s my five nominations – I’ll be emailing them all to pass on the love directly…I hope you enjoyed this little exploration into raw inspiration as much as I have and that the flow continues on round the raw blogging community... ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx