I did it :) After countless promptings, I’ve jumped in and joined Twitter – eeeeeeeeeeek ;) For anyone who isn’t familiar with this service, it’s a way of keeping in contact with all your favourite online peoples very quickly and easily, via the web or your phone by text, by posting short little summaries of what you’re up to, which other people can ‘follow’ and you can ‘follow’ them too ;) In many ways it’s similar to sites like Facebook, MySpace and so on – yet somehow like a mini/condensed/very current version of that kind of interaction. You can go and write a few words there at any time you feel inclined, to connect with others in your network – I think it’s rather sweet and does definitely conjure images in my mind of many little birds all perched on telephone wires, chattering away to each other ;) You can check out my profile at http://twitter.com/RawReform - just click the ‘FOLLOW’ button under my name to get my updates, or if you’re not yet a member, you can sign up for a free account first ;) Tweet-Tweet ;)
on April the 17th I had:
1.5 quarts water
½ a watermelon
little meal of mung bean sprouts, wakame seaweed fronds and pumpkin seeds – yummmm ;)
1 quart water
1 pint celery/spinach/parsley/dandelion/Jerusalem artichoke/carrot greens/zucchini/carrot juice
bowl of graaaaaaaaaawnooooooooola with sesame seed/dried apricot milk, swirled with cinnamon and vanilla powders = yum
1.5 quarts water
on April the 18th I had:
1.5 quarts water
3 cups celery/spinach/parsley/dandelion/Jerusalem artichoke/carrot greens/zucchini/carrot juice
handful of fresh figs straight from the trees, plus some outrageously divine concord grapes
1 quart water
big handful of mung bean sprouts mixed with wakame seaweed fronds and pumpkin seeds = yummmmm
3 cups celery/spinach/parsley/dandelion/Jerusalem artichoke/carrot greens/zucchini/carrot juice mixed with wheatgrass powder
½ a watermelon
1 quart water
We’re in Wellington now on the Nth Island of NZ and WOW it’s REMARKABLY cold here at the moment...I haven’t worn so many clothes at once in many, many months. I seem to have about half my wardrobe on most of the time right now – so much for raw foodists not feeling the cold ;) There are times I’ve felt that kind of energy – this is not one of them though – I’ve been such a cold-climate-dodger the last few years, it feels absolutely absurd to me to be in cold places now ;) I think of Anastasia living virtually naked out in the forest in Siberian winters and...shudder ;) (BTW - the '9th' Anastasia book is out now - 'Rites of Love' - seeHERE. We're on book 6 at the moment...)
We spoke here in Wellington a couple of days ago with a really nice group in a cozy warm room – yumm ;) We’re back off to OZ in a couple of days – we’ll be speaking in Melbourne next Saturday, the 26th – hope to see you there if you’re around...more event details on the RawReform site HERE.
Dear Mr Monarch also just confirmed that he’ll be speaking in LA in June – book your tickets now – it’s filling up fast. He’ll be speaking on June the 14th at 7pm in LA – see this link for all the details: http://rawfood.meetup.com/202/calendar/7749240/
on April the 19th I had:
1.5 quarts water
3 cups spinach/dandelion/carrot tops/parsley/Jerusalem artichoke/ carrot juice
fresh apples/feijoas/persimmon/grapes from the orchard
handful of sunflower seeds and wakame seaweed fronds
2 cups spinach/dandelion/carrot tops/parsley/Jerusalem artichoke/ carrot juice
1 plate of yummmmmy, simple raw potluck food – mainly veggies, a couple of chunks of coconut flesh and amazing coconut-chocolate :)
2 cups water
3 little apples and 3 little feijoas
2 cups water
on April the 20th I had:
1.5 quarts water
1 persimmon & 2 feijoas
1 tsp green powder
3 cups celery/dandelion/spinach/zucchini/carrot juice
big bowl of buckola cereal, with sesame/dried apricot mylk, plus almonds and mulberries = yummmm. I LOVE grawnola :)))
1 quart water
3 cups celery/dandelion/spinach/zucchini/carrot juice
2 apples, ½ an avocado and masses of seaweed – karengo and wakame
1.5 quarts water
There are some very exciting raw unfoldings happening of late in ol’ London town. There are now apparently THREE new eateries serving raw food – WOW :) Must be time to head back to Blighty soon, methinks ;) First up is the surely sublime ‘InSpiral’ – where Master Alchemist Joel Gazdar seems to be creating merry raw mischief in the kitchens. Joel is without question one of the most talented and innovative raw chefs I’ve ever met – he is also one of the first raw foodies I ever met in the UK :) I’m so excited for him and all else involved, that this new project seems to be unfolding with grace, yumminess and joy in Camden... They are hosting a series of lectures called ‘New Horizons’ every Tuesday, during which Joel and others share cutting-edge info for a loved-up, mineralized and exceptionally vibrant life...joining the New Horizons line-up on Tuesday April the 29th is none other than Miss Magic herself, for the London launching of her new book, Raw Magic. Kate will be giving a talk, signing books and making outrageously divine cakes, as she is wont to do ;)
You can join in the magic munching at InSpiral Lounge from 7.30pm on Tuesdays for the New Horizon talks. Dear Suki has very generously been filming many of the talks so far and posting them to YouTube – you can check them out HERE: youtube.com/sukixocolatizoe. You can also see more about New Horizons on MySpace HERE: myspace.com/ournewhorizons. Enjoy :)
The other two new raw-friendly eateries of note in Londinium are Saf, which is the London branch of the seemingly uber-fabulous Saf raw/organic/vegan restaurants. The first Saf was opened a while back in Turkey, with Chad Sarno heading up the chefs...now it’s London’s turn for the yummy flow. London Saf is in Shoreditch, in the East End and by all accounts I’ve read/heard so far seems to be bringing much yumminess to raw dining experiences there...yummm - I hope to check it out in the summer ;) You can see more abt Saf HERE. Our final London munchy raw space of the day is ‘Alchemy’, not to be confused with a raw place of the very same name that was kicking around last year – this one is hosted in a yoga/holistic therapy studio in Camden and seems to cater for a mainly liquid lifestyle judging by their online menu – juices and smoothies seem to abound – see more abt Alchemy HERE...ENJOY :)
One love,
Angela. xxx
Sunday, 20 April 2008
Tweet-tweet... :)
Sunday, 24 February 2008
Seaweed Safety and Spices...
I’m writing from the southern tip of Lake Taupo in New Zealand today...what a STUNNING area – the lake is just vaaaaast :) We’ve been travelling quite a lot the last few days, LOVING the scenery here, marvelling at the myriad hues of green, the enormous stretches of land, land, land, sans human settlements, the gorgeous pristine waters...yummy…we also gave talks yesterday in Tauranga – thanks to ye’ all who came out to play – it was fun :) We’re on our way south now...in fact, we’ve just confirmed we’ll be speaking in Wellington in a couple of months' time. We’ll be at the Crossways Community Centre, (Cnr Elizabeth & Brougham Streets) on Saturday 19 April from 3.30pm to 7.30pm, with a raw potluck after...hope to see you there if you’re in the area – you can see full details and book your place HERE: http://www.purewellbeing.com/index1.html.
on February the 22nd I had:
2 quarts water
juice of 3 mandarins juiced in the mouth ;)
20oz of celery/cucumber/parsley/spinach/lambs’ quarters/carrot juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: papaya/dragon fruit/banana/peach/cherries/blueberries
1 quart water
1 tbsp green powders: wheatgrass and barley grass
bowl of homemade tahini/brazil nut butter mixed with mung bean sprouts, diced tomatoes/garlic, karengo seaweed, stuffed in lettuce leaves and nori sheets
1 quart water
This question came in recently about seaweed:
“I wonder about mercury in seaweed? If we must worry about mercury in fish, wouldn't it be in the seaweed also?”
Hmmmm, thanks for the Q...well, while personally I don’t feel that I ‘must’ worry about anything, I was intrigued about the content of this message and so asked our primary seaweed supplier - ‘Maine Coast Sea Veg’ for their feedback – here was what they had to say on the matter:
“Our mercury levels are so low that we actually stopped testing for several years. We started again in response to customer requests for the information.
The levels for mercury have been consistently undetected at 0.04 ppm.
We do testing for heavy metals every year, at the end of the harvest season. I have attached our Statement of Product Testing for 2007, which is the last year for which data is available. You can also check out the same document in our FAQ section online, at http://www.seaveg.com/faq6.php.
I hope that this is helpful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours in Health,
Rae Urban”
Hmmmmm, interesting, eh? Hope that helps y’all feel even more yummy about munching on the ocean’s weedy wonders...I am SOOO into seaweeds at the moment, as you may have noticed in my daily food logs ;) Karengo, wakame, kelp, nori – LOVING it and it’s definitely nice to know I’m not massively stacking up my toxin load simultaneously... ;)
Ok, double-whammy food log now, due to being ex communicado on the road for a while there... ;)
on February the 23rd I had:
1.5 quarts water
3 mandarins
16oz carrot/cucumber/ginger/mint juice
bowl of cherries
2 cups carrot juice with Greener Grasses powder stirred in
3 cups water
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/blueberries/cherries/mulberries
1 quart water
2 cups carrot juice
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes/garlic, mixed sprouts, karengo seaweed & cumin powder, served in lettuce leaves and nori rolls
1 quart water
on February the 24th I had:
2 quarts water
3 mandarins
24oz celery/cucumber/cabbage/parsley/spinach/lambs’ quarters/carrot juice
lettuce wraps stuffed with seed pate (soaked sunflower seeds/sundried tomatoes, blended with garlic), diced tomatoes, sprouts and seaweed
1 quart water
1 tbsp green powders
bowl of chia gel with fruit salad – blueberries, cherries, mulberries and apple
1.5 quarts water
Here’s another recent Q – from Ms. Amy...
“I'm wondering: do you use any kind of spices in your dishes (pepper, oregano, etc)? I'm just curious. I don't know if going without spices is for me, so I'll probably keep them personally, but I was just curious what "real" raw foodies do! Thanks. Making The Transition in Pennsylvania – Amy”
Thanks for the Q Amy :) Well...everyone’s different of course and some raw foodies will use herbs and spices, whereas others aren’t interested in them...I’ll certainly share with you what THIS ‘real raw foodie’ does though ;)
I rarely use spices anymore in foods I make myself – I do go through spates though where I might get REALLY into something – like cumin for example – some of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while might remember I got really into eating cumin with avocado and lime a while back – I was eating it literally every day, then I was just...done, not really interested anymore – though, coincidentally, I did get some out of the cupboard here yesterday in fact and enjoyed a bit with my meal ;) Sometimes I get interested in cayenne pepper and I think that may happen again soon...I feel it coming ;) Cayenne is an extraordinarily healing food – if you’ve never looked into the properties of it, I’d definitely recommend it – especially for anyone in cold, wintery places right now ;) I also absolutely LOOOOOOOVE cinnamon and just got a new bag of it a few days ago, so will start using that again soon, most likely…other than that, hmmmm...I don’t use much myself in the way of spices...
Herbs I enjoy include parsley, cilantro, mint and basil – the first two we use pretty often in juices and sometimes in salads/savoury meals, whereas basil and mint I tend to find more awkward to use in meals – it always seems like when you buy them, they come in huge bunches and unless I make pesto or ice cream or smthg, it just seems like way too much to deal with in one go, so I tend to just not even bother getting either of them ;) I’m not much into using dried herbs myself either... HOWEVER, if I eat some pre-prepared raw food like crackers or smthg that someone’s made, which contain herbs or spices, I usually feel fine about it. Mr Monarch on the other hand has been at this raw game longer than me and is not so enamoured of spices – he’s very sensitive to them and really feels the effect strongly when they’re in foods – he prefers to avoid them. A lot of raw foodists actually don’t feel good about eating herbs/spices – usually it’s people more into Natural Hygiene ideas who feel that way . Here’s a little blurb I wrote recently on spices that might help explain why, if this seems odd to you:
“Spices tend to be powdered forms of certain plants, in concentrations you would not easily come across in nature. Spices are made by powdering down a large amount of some bark, root, or other plant matter. You might even have a spice blend. The concentrated intensity of the spice can throw the body a bit out of balance, as you are getting a much bigger ‘hit’ of this food than you’d naturally be able to get hold of if you were just foraging things to eat in the wild. This can distort taste buds, block your ability to sense when you’ve eaten enough and so encourage eating in excess.”
As for the herbs, well, as mentioned above, some of them just don’t seem that easy to use – if you can’t imagine eating a whole bunch of mint or basil for a meal, some people question the idea of bothering to use them at all...;) Well...different courses for different horses – I hope that’s given you some ideas anyway about raw foodie herb/spice interactions...
One love,
Angela. xxx

