Bloated and Emotional Liver Cleasing... ;)

Two Interview Updates:

*Mr. M and I will be speaking with the marvellous Revvell over at ‘Let’s Talk Raw’ this Sunday, from 6pm Pacific Time – a wedding special ;) See HERE for the details and to send your Qs in for A–ing ;)

*A few days back we did another yummy interview with the lovely Tanisha Marshall on ‘Keep It Real Radio’, about how to overcome the challenges of being raw ;) You can check out the archive of that HERE.

ENJOY... :)

on April the 29th I had:

1 quart water
1 quart beetroot/apple juice
3 cups energy soup with chunks of tomato on the side, followed by half an oatmeal cookie :)
3 cups water
2 cups greeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, Jerusalem artichoke, parsley, dandelion, spinach, ginger, lemon
3 romaine wraps stuffed with avo, dulse, tomato, followed by handful of Celestial Cina–Pecan nutz
3 cups water

OOoOoOoooo, me excited. A version of one of my all–time favourite songs – ‘Change is Gonna Come’ – has just been put up on YouTube from the ‘Playing for Change’ crew – LOVE IT :) You may remember the ‘song around the world’ version of Stand By Me I posted here a while back, which montaged buskers/street musicians from around the world singing the same song (and has been viewed nearly 10 MILLION times now ;O...well, lots of those different musicians gathered together recently in New Orleans and did some shows – LOVE this song – check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvayzIktTJ4

The ‘Playing for Change’ CD/DVD apparently just came out too – yummy – I’d love to see and hear those... :)

on April the 30th I had:

1 quart water
1 quart beet/apple juice
romaine wraps stuffed with grated cucumber/avo/sunflower seed/dill/garlic mixture, plus dulse and tomato, followed by ½ an oatmeal cookie
3 cups water
2 cups greeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, Jerusalem artichoke, parsley, dandelion, spinach, ginger, lemon
2 cups water
big bowl of gorgeous cherries with ice cream :)
3 cups water

PHEW...today was Day 4 of drinking the beet/apple juice for the liver cleanse...some observations:

*I am feeling SOOOOOOO bloated from the apple/beet juice...32oz of this mixture is SUCH a lot of sugar, causing masses of fermentation...I feel like every cell of my body is packed out to capacity...even my ring which is usually a little big for me is snug on my finger right now... ;) Looking forward to the FLUSH part of this process sometime this weekend, to get this liver–cleansing over ;)

*Bodily excretions are currently pink/red from the masses of beetroot juice being imbibed...a little bizarre ;) (Sorry if that's TMI for anyone ;)

*Moodiness, sensitivity and emotional turbulence definitely in action the last few days (largely from detoxing cacao of course ;) ...found myself spontaneously crying tears of joy watching some young girls skipping today, for example – lol ;)

Living with Liver Love,
Miss Stokes. xxx

Make your Own Dehydrator...

Interviews Galore... ;)
Well now, tomorrow (wed 14th), I shall be conducting a live, in–depth interview on the subject of Raw Emotions, with questions directed by Mr. Kevin Gianni. Questioning shall begin promptly at 12 noon EST (9am Pacific, 5pm UK), all being well and will be archived and transcripted afterwards by internet elves with pointy teeth (possibly ;). This is an ‘Inner Circle’ call, so if you’d like to come along to play, you can follow THIS LINK to join in the jollies and send in YOUR questions... ;)

You can also read a nifty little Q&A article with the Monarch in the new issue of the beautiful Purely Delicious Magazine HERE.
Mr. M also just did a ‘Let’s Talk Raw’ interview with Revvell on Sunday – you can listen to the archive of that HERE.

You can also see recent mini-interviews with other raw yumsters on our online show, The Raw Food World TV Show :) Yeee-HAH - meet our chief shipping goddess Lindsey for example, HERE.


on January the 12th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups greeeen juice: celery, fennel, endive, broccoli, local greeeeeeeens, parsley, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and pine nut butter, followed by a yumpot of carob powder, lucuma powder, cinnamon, vanilla, maca powders, gojis, water mixed together, with a little grawnola swirled in
3 cups water
double shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and pine nut butter, followed by 2 tbsp goji powder
3 cups water

OoOooooo, that Mr. Raw Model’s been busy on his land – have you seen his recent video of his geodome, which houses his exotic fruit tree collection, amidst a Minnesota winter? lol – gotta LOVE it...I am soooooooooo excited abt Anthony’s permaculture project and feel so grateful that he’s sharing videos and updates about it all – total yumster ;)
You can watch the dome video HERE – sending blessings and love for all those fruit trees to thrive and bear many bountiful gifts for years to come...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6EfvUeaRM0

on January the 13th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups greeeen juice: celery, fennel, endive, broccoli, local greeeeeeeens, parsley, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and pine nut butter, followed by a yumpot of carob powder, lucuma powder, cinnamon, vanilla, maca powders, gojis, water mixed together, with a little grawnola swirled in
3 cups water
1.5 cups veggie juice: celery, fennel, endive, broccoli, local greeeeeeeens, parsley, beetroot, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and pine nut butter, followed by a yumpot of hemp protein 50% powder mixed with lucuma powder and pomegranate powder
little mug of spicy tea
3 cups water


HERE’s a fabulous link for you if you’d like to dehydrate some foods, don’t have a dehydrator, yet DO have some pieces of wood, screws and some light bulbs (plus maybe someone ‘handy’ to fit the pieces of the puzzle together ;) I came across this webpage many years ago now, way back at the start of my raw food journey and was excited to see it’s still up now – enjoy ;) ...and thanks to ‘Kath’ for sharing this on her site...

All love,
Angela. xxx

Connecting with Care...

That Mr. Monarch is in a bit of a media whirl at the moment... ;) Aside from our new daily TV Show (thanks for all the FABULOUS feedback so far, everyone; check the clips out HERE on Mr. M's blog if you haven't seen them yet ;), he is also lined up to enjoy a fun ‘Let’s Talk Raw’ interview this Sunday, the 11th, with Revvell over at Give It To Me Raw. The call is live and starts at 4pm Pacific time. You can ask Qs before or during the event – see all the details HERE and...enjoy ;)


on Jan the 8th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeen juice: celery, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, fennel, endive, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and tahini on the side, followed by little yumbowl – lucuma powder, carob powder, cinnamon, vanilla, maca, goji berries
3 cups water
30 chlorella tablets
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and tahini on the side, followed by little yumbowl – lucuma powder, carob powder, cinnamon, vanilla, maca, goji berries
little mug of rooibus tea
1 cup water

Ooooo lala...well, if you’re in the UK/Europe area and would be delighted to delve into a raw retreat setting in the not–so–distant future, here’s some yummy info for YOU...:

Dear raw hearts Shell, Suz, Susan and Janet are facilitating a raw food & yoga detox retreat on the turquoise coast of southern Turkey from the 4th to the 11th of May and there are just 6 places left, to join them – OooOooooo :)
There will be raw food talks, demos, meditation, daily yoga and yummmmy cakes to sample (Shell is truly one of the finest raw chefs out there, IMO ;) ...and it’s all set in an eco–holiday paradise...bliss :)
The cost for 7 nights in raw paradise is £475 half-board in an en suite twin room, excl. flights & transfers to the accommodation. You can see allllllllll the fun details HERE.

(As ever, if you’re looking for info on any other raw events, be sure to check out the fabulous events calendar on GiveItToMeRaw, HERE. ;)

on Jan the 9th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups veggie juice: celery, fennel, endive, purple cabbage, turnip, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, broccoli, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and tahini on the side, followed by a little rammikin bowl of hand–blended yum: lucuma, carob, cinnamon, vanilla, maca powders with goji berries and water
2 cups water
1.5 cups Wild Power tea
double shot of wheatgrass
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers on the side, followed by a little rammikin bowl of durian ice cream – YUMMMMMMMM :)
2 cups water


WELL...I don’t think we’ve EVER had such an excited response to a RawReform Giveaway Contest as for the latest giveaway of a signed copy of the super–lovely Shazzie’s latest book ‘Evie’s Kitchen’. This book is actually selling so fast we can barely keep it in stock ;)
If you would love to get your digits wrapped around a personalised, signed copy of this landmark volume, here’s the contest info to play with:

...to be in with a chance of winning, please send in your A to the following Q:

What's your BEST suggestion/recipe for helping children to eat healthier food?

Please send your uber-licious answers to angela@rawreform.com and one winner will be picked at random and with much jubilation sometime in January... YUMMY :)

...aaaaaaand of course don’t forget to also hop on over to THIS PAGE to celebrate the coming 40th Birthday of the Shazzle–Dazzle, by collecting up for your very SELF some ext–raw–dinary free gifts...the Monarch and myself are both giving away one of our ebooks for free and there are masses of other gratis goodies to pick up and enjoy over there – FUN :)

With a sprightly step and a gentle squeeze,
The Stokes. xxx

Inspirations...

I wanted to write a few notes for anyone who is a newcomer to this blog: firstly, WELCOME :) Thanks for joining us :) The readership here grows daily, so I thought I’d maybe go over a few things for those of you who are just joining this journey...
I started this blog back in November 2006, the night before I started my 92-Day Juice Feast. (The pic here is the first pic I ever posted, eating my 'final supper' before starting my feast the next day ;)
I had never even READ a blog before then, much less felt drawn to write one...however, I wanted somewhere to record my juicy meanderings, so I signed into Blogger and this new path began ;) I immediately fell in love with this communication medium, as it felt like ‘writing an email to the world’ – I could easily and quickly share what was happening in my life, with many readers...
Throughout my Juice Feast, I recorded what I drank daily. When I went back to solids, I then continued to write down what I consume, daily, HENCE, the daily food logs you see here, if you’ve been wondering why I write those ;) They also help me feel ‘accountable’ about my food choices (just like the Food Plans I recommend in my book ‘Raw Emotions’) AND many people seem to enjoy seeing what a 100% raw foodist actually eats from day-to-day...though one reader did write to me recently asking me to post pictures of what I eat, as they often sound really unappealing to her ;) LOL – as I replied to her, if the INGREDIENTS don’t sound great to her, I’m not sure the presentation is going to add much to the equation ;) I actually don’t have a stills camera with me at the moment – I hope I will have mine back at some point soon though and then I may indeed start posting food pics – stay tuned ;)
A couple of practical pointers: firstly, if there is anything you want to SEARCH for in older blog posts, just use the search box at the top left of the RawReform E-Journal homepage. For example, if you want to see what I’ve ever written about ‘lucuma’, type that into the box and it will bring up all the relevant posts ;)
Secondly, you can always look back through all the older posts month-by-month, in the ‘Archives’ section on the blog. Again, go to the blog homepage, then scroll down until you see ‘Archives’ on the right side of the page...
Thanks for all your continued lovely support and feedback... :)

on June the 22nd I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass
mug of choco tea
2 cups smoothie: lucuma, almonds, green powder, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, vanilla powder, maca, water, with goji berries and pine nuts stirred in for chewability
3 cups water
mug of choco tea
2.5 cups green juice: cucumber, fennel, spinach, parsley, freshly picked dandelion, lettuce, ginger
3 nori rolls stuffed with mixed sprouts, baby spinach leaves and spread made from blending jalepeno hummus, sunflower seeds, fresh cilantro, garlic and water. Followed by a little handful of pine nuts with goji berries
mug of choco tea
2 cups water


on June the 23rd I had:

1 quart water
mug of cinnamon tea
shot of hardcore strong wheatgrass ;)
2 cups smoothie: almonds, lucuma powder, green powder, vanilla, cinnamon, maca, water blended together with goji berries and sunflower seeds swirled in for chewability
mug of choco tea
3 cups water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, watercress, cilantro, fennel, ginger, spinach, sprouts
a red bell pepper
3 nori rolls stuffed with mixed sprouts, baby spinach leaves and spread made from blending jalepeno hummus, sunflower seeds, fresh cilantro, garlic and water. Followed by a little handful of pine nuts with goji berries
1 quart water


This week Mr. Monarch did an in-studio interview with Revvell Revati in California, discussing his book ‘Raw Success’, raw food travel, the blood gas theory, gas and bloating, his parents’ health and masses more, all packed into a dense half an hour ;O You can listen to the podcast free at THIS LINK.

ENJOY :)


on June the 24th I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups smoothie: almonds, lucuma powder, green powder, vanilla, cinnamon, maca, water blended together with goji berries and sunflower seeds swirled in for chewability
mug of choco tea
3 cups water
a red bell pepper with a little handful of sunflower seeds
2.5 cups green juice: cucumber, watercress, cilantro, fennel, ginger, spinach, sprouts, lettuce
2 cups smoothie: almonds, lucuma powder, green powder, vanilla, cinnamon, maca, water blended together with goji berries and sunflower seeds swirled in for chewability
mug of choco tea
2 cups water

on June the 25th I had:

1 quart water
mug of choco tea
shot of wheatgrass
2 cups smoothie: sunflower seed butter, lucuma powder, green powder, vanilla, cinnamon, maca, water blended together with goji berries and sunflower seeds swirled in for chewability
mug of choco tea
3 cups water
cup of herbal tea
a red bell pepper
2 cups green juice: cucumber, watercress, cilantro, fennel, ginger, spinach, CELERY :) I FOUND CELERY :) YAY :)

I am absolutely LOVING PhilosophersNotes.com. Did you check it out yet? For those of you who didn’t yet tap into this resource, it’s like ‘mini-Cliffs Notes for self-development books’ and I think it’s really amazing.
As you may recall, this new service, created by ‘master-distiller-of-information’, Brian Johnson, offers you condensed versions of numerous wonderful books, such as ‘Authentic Happiness’, ‘Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway’, ‘Loving What Is’ and Eckhart Tolle’s ‘A New Earth’...there’s even Brendan Brazier’s ‘The Thrive Diet’ in there (yes, Brian is a raw food lover too... ;)

Brian takes all his favourite inspirational books like these and distills the offerings in each of them down into 6 page PDFs OR MP3 recordings of around 20 minutes, that you can listen to as you go about your day...
I’ve listened to around six of the Notes now and always find myself grinning profusely afterwards, as Brian offers up one ‘big idea’ after another, touching on so many fascinating insights and concepts...he explains things so clearly and articulately, with a lovely sense of humour thrown in to keep it all fresh and lively...
I’ve been listening to the MP3s while preparing juice or eating meals – I love that the recordings are so condensed I can easily get through a whole set of ‘Notes’ in one juicing session and come away with more than just my physical body feeling ‘nourished’ ;)
I highly recommend taking a look at the PhilosophersNotes.com site. You can even try out a couple of the titles for free there, to see what you make of them...AAAAAAAND, as a special offer to you lovely shiny raw people, Brian is also offering y’all 25% off the subscription prices, using THIS LINK.
I REALLY hope you enjoy tapping into this new resource as much as I am :)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Travel and Inspiration...

Well, we’re back at base now, after nearly a week of hopping around this great continent. It’s been yummy - today we even saw kangaroos munching in the early morning light in country fields :) We spoke in both Perth and Adelaide to lovely, receptive audiences – thanks to everyone who came along :) I also got to see three stunning western-facing beach sunsets in a row...yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...I just LOVE west coast sunsets – I would love to settle near the sea on a west coast somewhere, to enjoy those kinds of moments regularly...mmmmmmmmm...
We were also extremely blessed to have some wonderful hosts to share with in both locations – the raw tribe seems to be growing daily, with so many beautiful, bright, loving beings stepping onto this path...Oooo, for any of you who may be about to set out on travels soon and are looking for places to crash – HERE’s a great article recently forwarded by a friend, which lists ‘8 Tools to Travel Long Term and Live Rent Free’. Wonderful :) I’ve used many of these services in the last years – I think WWOOF-ing was probably the most rewarding for me – working on organic farms. I ‘WWOOF-ed’ my way around New Zealand, back in 2000...LOVED it...and now we’re heading back there, in just a few days – yeeeeeeeeeeeee-HAH :) (BTW – If anyone has suggestions of where to stay in Auckland or Whangarei, please drop us a line at angela@rawreform.com ;)

Ok, it’s going to be a double-whammy of food logs again now, due to recent blog inactivity ;) Hold on tight, here we go...

on January the 24th I had:

2 quarts water
2 cups parsley/lettuce/chard/ginger/beetroot/carrot juice
2 peaches and 4 nectarines
2 cups water
¾ avo mushed with diced tomatoes, powdered kelp and sliced spring onions (green onions), stuffed in romaine leaves
2 cups green smoothie: banana/mango/romaine/baby spinach
3 cups water
2 little boxes of blueberries, 2 peaches
1.5 tbsp fresh bee pollen


on January the 25th I had:

2 quarts water
4 gorgeous little nectarines
bowl of bananas mushed with ‘LPA’ – linseed/pumpkin/almond meal
1 quart water
bowl of chopped green leafies with some raw pesto, ¼ avo and homemade sundried tomatoes, served with a flax cracker
3 cups water
2.5 cups green smoothie: mango/banana/pineapple/celery/lettuce/spirulina/maca with dried banana strips on the side
3 cups water

Internet raw radio host Revvell Revati has a new FREE e-book out, covering the ’10 Most Asked Questions About Raw Foods’. So, next time someone asks...’where do you get your protein...???’, you can feel even more prepared to unveil some nutrition illusions, by downloading this book for free HERE: http://tinyurl.com/29n8y8. (…and in case you missed our interview, HERE’s a link to myself and Revvell having a natter a few months ago ;)

on January the 26th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups dark red mulberries and a few fresh figs
½ an avocado & 2 tbsp raw pesto, stirred together, served with cucumber sticks, fresh tomatoes, a flax cracker and romaine lettuce leaves
1 quart water
handful of cherries, 2 cups mulberries and a few fresh figs
2 cups water
3 cups green smoothie: mango/banana/mulberry/romaine/kale/spirulina
2 cups water


on January the 27th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 tbsp bee pollen
bowl of fresh salad: lettuces/tomato/finely chopped cucumber&carrot/basil pesto/sprouted sunflower seeds, mixed sprouts, served with cucumber sticks
3 cups water
1 mango
2 cups water
big slice of watermelon
2 cups water

Gosh, how very delightful. After passing on the Inspirational Blogger award to a few raw lovelies back in October, it seems as if most of the raw blogging world has now felt the loving touch of this yummy award :) ...and now it’s just come full-circle back to this blog, care of the lovely Melissa and Baby Alex over at rawbabyalex.blogspot.com – thanks petals :) Hmmmm, so, as you’re perhaps aware, this means I get the fun game to play again of passing the award on to 5 more blogs of note – HURRAY :) (You can check out the ‘rules’ of the award HERE.) Ok, so, here are my nominations this time round, in no particular order:

Mr. Matthew Monarch – gotta pass it on to the Monarch ;) His dedication to sharing truth, integrity and giggles inspires me :) I don’t know anyone else who has gone completely raw overnight and never taken a step back again, for example – even 8 years now down the line...his focus is extraordinary and I find his resonance to truth and simplicity delightful...
http://mattmonarch.blogspot.com
Kevin Gianni – Mr Renegade Health has some interesting points to share, including a recent post that gathered over a hundred comments ;O Incidentally, he also has a new free ‘summit’ season about to start this week – on the 28th – with all kinds of speakers, some raw foodies – check that out HERE.
http://renegadehealth.com/blog/

Post Secret – ooooo, here’s a fun one ;) Have you encountered Frank and the fun over on PostSecret before? If not, you’re in for a treat...this blog displays postcards that people send in to Frank in Maryland, sharing their deepest, ‘darkest’, untold secrets...some fascinating things are posted – in fact, he’s even started to make books of them now...check it out HERE:
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Steve Pavlina – Self-described ‘...left-handed, well educated, vegan, lucid dreaming, happily jobless, reality manipulating...blogger’, Pavlina is well-known in the blogosphere for his comfort-zone-pushing experiences. He is currently trying out a 30-day raw lifestyle – NICE :) A couple of days ago he actually mentioned my weight loss transformation too (see HERE) – thanks for the nod, Steve ;) Thanks also for inspiring people to keep the energy flowing ;)
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog

David & Katrina Rainoshek – yes, the juice masters themselves ;) There seem to be an astronomical amount of people out there Juice Feasting at the moment – it’s incredible to witness and the juicy Rainoshek pair are keeping up the helm on this blog. In March, the ‘Global Juice Feast’ will be kicking off, with people living on liquid the world over...oooo, la la...organic farmers, please PREPARE... ;)
http://juicefeasting.blogspot.com/

One love,
Angela. xxx

Sharing the Loooooove...

Today my radio interview with long-term health seeker and raw foodie Revvell Revati went up online. Revvell interviews many different speakers about health, success and realising our potential. She seems a lovely being, sharing useful, illuminating info with the world via internet radio and this was a fun interview to do… ;) You can listen to the interview for free here: http://www.bigmediausa.com/archive.asp?aid=10513

on October the 1st I had:

1 litre water
1.5 litres watermelon juice
3 fresh baby corn-on-the-cobs
500ml green juice with carrot
bowl of durian blended with young coconut meat swirled with cinnamon and cut up dried figs
500ml water
1 litre green juice with carrot
phenomenal bowl of sea spaghetti seaweed with pumpkin seed butter and granulated wrack seaweed; a few baby tomatoes on the side
Pro to go sachets for ‘dessert’ ;)
1 litre water

I’ve been making quite a few little updates on the RawReform main site the last few days…one area I was working on was the FAQs pages…I found it interesting to note that by far the most frequently viewed Q on there was:

‘What are the drawbacks of being raw?’

Hmmmm…intriguing that this is what seemingly interests people the most…the possible ‘negative’ aspects of being raw…I wonder why…looking for escape hatches from the inevitable detox perhaps …??? ;) It’s all a choice, it’s all a choice, it’s all just a choice… ;)

on October the 2nd I had:

700ml water
1.2 litres galia melon/orange juice
2 peaches
1 litre green juice with carrot
little bowl of sea spaghetti seaweed with pumpkin seed butter and granulated wrack seaweed; a few baby tomatoes on the side, followed by a big spoonful of the outrageously tasty Amazon Bliss Butter
500ml water
romaine wraps with durian, orange juice and lime juice
1 litre water

I get beautiful daily emails from a recovery service called Hazelden – I wanted to share here a recent posting from them, which really spoke to me:

“ ‘The gift of love means this: I want to share with you whatever I have that is good.’
-- John Powell, S.J.

How loving are we, really? Do we keep score when we do favors for a friend, keeping in mind that we're owed one? Do we hoard rather than share a favorite treat, hoping to prolong our own feast? And the good mood, when it's ours, do we use it to help another raise her spirits or do we secretly gloat because we're "in a better place"?

The opportunity to respond with love visits us throughout each day. A smile, a kind gesture, including someone in a conversation, noticing a job well done, are acts of love, acts that connect our hearts, at least for a moment.

When someone has shared love with us in some form, we notice it and are moved.”

Beautiful... To sign up to receive these kind of uplifting daily msgs yourself from Hazelden, you can subscribe to the ‘Daily Gift’ emails from THIS PAGE…

One love,
Angela. xxx