WOW...one year ago tomorrow – February the 20th 2007 - I broke my 92-Day Juice Feast...this was my last day in liquid world and this time last year I was busy breaking out the prunes to soak for the next day ;) Here’s a little of what I wrote that day:
"Over the last three months I have lived and juiced through the ups and downs of green juice rejection, pancreas issues, sugar withdrawals, massive mucus expulsion, intrepid hiking trips, housing upheavals and more… You could probably fill a swimming pool with the amount of
juice I’ve consumed…and going by the theory that we ‘go back in time 120 days for each day of juice feasting’, I have gone back in time over 30 years now…which means…I am pre-birth again I guess… ;) well, that’s nice…time to rise like a phoenix again then…"
…wow ;) You can read the whole of that post HERE. It seems I’d also JUST finished editing the Juice Feaster’s Handbook that day too – that crazy juicy energy was obviously working its magic…and what a long way the Juice Feasting world has come since then ;) There are an astonishing number of yumsters out there living la vida liquid at the moment and with the official kick-off of the GLOBAL JUICE FEAST on March the 1st, I suspect supplies of mason jars may very well run dry in N. America ;) To see who’s juicing what, check out the ‘Ultimate List of Juice Feasting Blogs’ compiled by Heidi and Justin over at RawFoodRightNow HERE.
The delightful masters of juicy ceremonies, David and Katrina Rainoshek are doing incredible web-weaving to bring this whole event together and EVERYONE is welcome ;) Just check out juicefeasting.com and you’ll find all the ‘juicy’ details there...(tee-hee ;) BTW – people keep asking if I’m going to JF again now with the global waves...hmmm...to be honest, I’m not sure yet...might be...might do one juicy day a week...I’ll see how it unfolds as the time draws nearer... ;)
on February the 18th I had:
1.5 quarts water
1 quart celery/cucumber/zucchini/radish/carrot juice
bowl of mulberries blended with veggie juice, stirred with fresh blueberries and more dried mulberries to chew on ;)
2 cups water
2 cups rooibus tea
1 cup green smoothie: banana/spinach/weeds
7 little mandarins and 2 nectarines
1 quart water
little bowl of avo mushed with sprouts, diced tomatoes/garlic and karengo seaweed, served in lettuce wraps and nori sheets
3 cups water
Tomorrow - Wednesday, February 20 – also happens to see the Full Moon in Virgo – time for health and healing with a total lunar eclipse, according to the lovely lady of lunar forecasts, Ms. Lisa Dale Miller. Here’s a little of what she has to share about this occasion:
“In truth, we all express our Virgo side when we strive to be our best. Virgo is the healer, the doctor, the nurse, the teacher, the therapist, the worker, the researcher, the scientist, and the engineer. Virgo is the true healer of the zodiac because in its mind, if it causes pain, it warrants attention and a cure. For Virgo, caring comes in the form of finding workable solutions to everyday problems.
This is the Full Moon to celebrate the body and take responsibility for our health. If you are currently dealing with a serious health issue, don’t take anything at face value.
Become an active partner in your healing process. Read the research, ask lots of questions and engage your practitioners in dialogue about your progress. Virgo wants to understand the mechanics of illness so that it can better affect a cure. This kind of questioning may include opening yourself to alternative treatments or new approaches.
By the way, this is the ideal Full Moon to start a weight loss or de-tox program... the Full Moon in Virgo reflects a tremendous desire to throw off unhealthy habits that create sickness and sadness in our lives.
This Virgo Full Moon also gives us all an opportunity to make friends with our inner critic; that slave driver who can be either a helpmate or a hindrance. For those of you with strong Virgo in your charts, this is the Full Moon to tame the perfectionist living inside your head. You know… the one that says, “Nothing I do is good enough.” Those inner voices of self-doubt block the ability to act with conviction. This is the time to talk back to self-doubt and take control! Use this Full Moon to say, “This is good enough!” and get your talent out there.”
Oooohhhh, thank you for that last paragraph, Lisa ;) If MY Virgo has its way, I don’t think ‘Raw Emotions’ will ever be ready for public viewing ;) Breathing deep and extending a friendly hand to Virgo here... ;)
on February the 19th I had:
1.5 quarts water
24oz celery/cucumber/radish/lettuce/cabbage/carrot juice
bowl of magical berry mush: dried mulberries blended with banana and blueberries, with more mulberries and blueberries stirred in
2 quarts water
big handful of cherries
½ a big watermelon
handful of wakame seaweed with pumpkin seeds
1 quart water
Today we walked up Mount Maunganui near Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty. WOW :) Here a
re a couple of pics I took from the summit. It was a glorious day for it and so beautiful to see the shimmering waters, the fern-clad hillsides and all the sweaty, smiling jogger
s ;) The mountain is out on a spit, surrounded on three ‘sides’ by water and there are paths around it, as well as up to the summit. This was an especially yummy trip for me today, as when I was last here, I was not really able to reach the summit. Back in the year 2000 I weighed nearly 300lbs and was staying in this area as a volunteer on an organic farming homestead. On my day off, the ‘grand-dad’ of the family I was with suggested I might like to visit the mountain, then hastily added, ‘you won’t be able to walk to the top though’. I w
All love,
Angela. xxx
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Reflections and Rejoice...
Sunday, 17 February 2008
An Attitude of Gratitude...
Three things I am grateful for today:
1. Waking up at 7am, running to the beach and enjoying my morning yoga and meditation with the seagulls in the black sand, crisp morning air and seaspray...
2. Speaking to a delightful crowd at a packed event in Auckland. Thanks to all who turned out – it was a pleasure to connect with so many of the kiwi raw tribe ;)
3. Eating so much seaweed. I recently declared to Mr Monarch that I would happily live on papaya and seaweed...I hold this to be true...the wakame and karengo seaweeds we have at the moment are just diviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine...we found it challenging to find seaweeds in Australia, so are very happy to be munching our way through bags of it again now...if you’d like more info about just WHY one might think it jolly to eat sea shrubbery, pls see this informative video courtesy of Dr Wolfe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkUrgi7pZlY
1.5 quarts water
30oz watermelon/orange juice
30oz celery/cucumber/zucchini/spinach/carrot/radish/cabbage juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/papaya/kiwi/goji berries/plum
1.5 quarts water
12oz celery/cucumber/zucchini/spinach/carrot/radish/cabbage juice
bowl of ‘apple flax’: blended apples mixed with groud flax/pumpkin seeds, with goji berries and karengo seaweed stirred in...yummmmmmmmmm
1 quart water
Three things I appreciate about New Zealand:
1. The greeeeeeeeeeeeeenery...this morning we drove through what seemed like a primitive rainforest to me – I found the trees and ferns and plant life just staggering in their beauty...I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stretch of greenery that looked so...pristine...I somehow had the impression it had barely changed in many centuries...it was like I imagine the scenery would be if one was to rock up on a deserted island in the South Pacific or somewhere – lush
gorgeousness and SO many shades of green...mmmmmmmmm2. Small population – YES :) I LOVE countries with small human populations...I find that people usually tend to be a lot nicer to each other in these countries...this was one of the things I loved most about Iceland, where I lived for 3.5 years, on and off...you can drive for hours on end in some areas of both these countries and not see a single other vehicle...there are many other similarities betwixt Iceland and NZ too, from my perspective – dramatic scenery, lots of sheep – in fact, quite probably more cattle than humans, glaciers and volcanoes, no major mammal life etc...
3. Maori culture – in no other country which the British and other Europeans decided to take over have I seen as much apparent embracing of the ‘native’ culture as here. Maoris seem vastly more ‘visible’ in society here than, for example, Aboriginis in Australia or Native Americans in N. America...there are Maori statues, sayings and place names all over, museums, businesses, artwork, jewellery, cultural gatherings and so on...not that there aren’t challenges still, I’m sure – I just find it interesting to see the way in which two very different societies seem to have found a way of integrating here, compared to similar scenarios in other parts of the world...
ommmmmmmmm February the 17th I had:
1.5 quarts water
30oz watermelon juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: apple/kiwi/plum/banana
1 quart water
1.5 cups celery/cucumber/leafy greens/carrot/apple juice
½ serving of mung beans/tahini/seaweeds/pumpkin seeds mixture served in lettuce wraps
1lb of cherries
½ serving of mung beans/tahini/seaweeds/tomatoes/pumpkin seeds mixture served in lettuce wraps
1 quart water
The final thing I’d like to express gratitude for today is ‘Asana Kisses’. This cheekily named balm is one of the extraordinary products from yummy skincare company ‘Little Moon Essentials’. It is like a natural version of ‘Deep Heat’ and it performed incredible healing work on my body the last couple of days. I pulled a muscle in my back quite badly a couple of nights ago, when we were moving house. It was VERY painful. I’m not used to injuring myself much and find it a bit bizarre when I do. This injury left me unable to breathe fully into my left lung cavity without pain and any twisting of my torso was agonising. I assumed it would tak
e quite a while to heal. I pulled out the aforementioned ‘Asana Kisses’ balm and slathered it over the painful area on my back before going to bed, for 2 nights in a row. By the third day, I was back to FULL functionality...I was amazed...this product is actually designed for ‘extreme sports enthusiasts’, to help heal injuries quickly...I’ve been carrying this pot of balm with me for quite some time on the road and had never had cause to use it until now...well, WOW is my verdict, this is potent stuff...I’d definitely recommend it for speedy, natural healing – you can check out all their products on the Little Moon Essentials site HERE and I do believe I’ve often seen their things in places such as ‘Whole Foods’ in N. America as well...we actually met Laura, the owner, many mooooons ago, in Arizona on a raw retreat – she’s a magical little raw pixie of joy and I for one am very grateful for these 'Kisses’ she offers the world ;)One love,
Angela. xxx
Friday, 15 February 2008
New Raw Arrivals...
The translation was produced by the talented Ms. Valeria Urban and what a lovely job she’s done on the cover :) (I’m taking her word on the translation aspect however... ;)
Valeria Urban (pictured here below) is a woman on a mission: she is single-handedly bringing the raw food revolution to Hungary :) Yeeeeeeeee-HAH ;) She set up the first (and so far only) Hungarian raw food website - http://www.nyersetel.hu/ - studied live-food cuisine at the luscious Tree of Life in Arizona and has already translated and published Victoria Boutenko’s books ‘Raw Family’ and ‘Green for Life’ into Hungarian. GOOD WORK :)
You can see the PRINTED version of this book at Valeria’s site HERE and in the next fe
w days, we will also add it as an e-book to the RawReform store – stay tuned ;)
If you’re reading this and thinking ‘hang on, I could translate raw books into Italian/French/Swahili’ and so on, do feel free to drop us a line to angela@rawreform.com with a few details and we can get you set up with info on how YOU could be the next star translator, helping spread the raw message ever-further ;)
on February the 14th I had:
1.5 quarts water
16oz carrot/spinach/zucchini/cucumber juice
fruit salad w/chia gel (papaya/peach/golden kiwi/plum) with a bowl of banana/maca ice cream
3 cups water
12oz carrot/spinach/zucchini/cucumber juice
bowl of banana ice cream with cherries and a couple of mandarins
1 quart water
We are so bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeessed :) After the ‘torments’ of inner-city life in Auckland, we have now headed out west for a few nights of recuperation and detox, before our talk in Auckland this Sunday. We are so grateful to now be at a STUNNING beach house, just a few paces from the ocean. Fresh air, the sound of crashing waves, rainforest-clad hills and the sound of bird call rather than truck brakes...aaaaaahhhhhh, breathing deep and giving much gratitude here...plus detoxing at a rate of knots ;) I sense some more beautiful west coast sunset moments in the
on February the 15th I had:
1.5 quarts water
30oz watermelon/orange juice
20oz spinach/cucumber/zucchini/carrot juice
bowl of tahini/hemp seed mushed with diced tomatoes and karengo seaweed, served with lettuce leaves and cucumber sticks
1.5 quarts water
12oz spinach/cucumber/zucchini/carrot juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/papaya/golden kiwi/goji berries/blueberries/cherries
1 quart water
Mr. Monarch already mentioned this a bit in his blog yesterday – however, I know not everyone reads both of our posts, so I thought I’d repeat this here too, especially as I’d like to see these beautiful people get as much coverage as possible... Our gloriously raw friends Kathy and Danny Living (yes, that's their real surname) recently opened a new raw restaurant in the Chicago suburbs called ‘Borrowed Earth’ and were featured in a sweet little clip on local TV a few nigh
We definitely plan to give talks and visit up there one day – hopefully later this year, as and when we get back to the States ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
The Raw 'Insider' List...
OOOOOooOOOOOoooooo, we’ve got a FUN announcement for you today...how would you like to join a raw ‘Insider’ list and get the best deals on raw foods? We know there are a lot of INCREDIBLE independent parents out there, doing their best to bring up sparkly raw families on budgets, plus many others who simply find it challenging to afford all the quality raw foods they’d like…well, help is now at hand ;) We have a big depot full of raw food products and from now on, as the expiration dates
For example, in our first round-up we’re going to have items like:
*3lb bags of hemp protein powder for $15
This product is actually no-where near its expiration date – these bags are brand new – we just have an excess of them. ONE lb of hemp protein powder usually costs that amount – here you’re getting 3lbs for that price - :O – bargain...
We also have:
Probiotics, Digestive Enzymes, Hemp Seed packets, Hemp Protein packets, Flax/Raisin Bars, Coco-Chia Bars, Aromatherapy Inhalers, Raw Power Protein Powders and many more...
You don't need to learn any complex handshakes or anything to join in the fun ;) To join ‘The Insider List’, just send an email to matt@rawspirit.org and ***be sure to include the word ‘INSIDER’ in the subject line so that it sneaks past Mr. Monarch’s spamblocker ;) *** We look forward to furnishing your cupboards with many shiny bargains in the future ;)
on February the 12th I had:
1.5 quarts water
12oz celery/cucumber/parsley/apple/radish juice
½ an avo mushed with finely chopped garlic/cilantro, diced tomatoes, sprouts, karengo seaweed, served with cucumber chunks and cabbage leaves
1 quart water
6oz celery/cucumber/parsley/apple/radish juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/kiwi/peach/cherry
3 cups water
After my little update on the Andressohn family a couple of days back, one person wrote in wondering why cheques to support the family are to be sent to Dr Flora and why the parents’ Bail Bond had not been paid back already...well, here’s what I found out... ;)
It was Dr Flora who posted all the bail money for the Andressohns. 50% of it was her life savings; the rest she put on her credit cards. She's not looking for the cash part back, just the credit card principle and interest. Also, Flora is the court-appointed Guardian-ad-Litem for the Andressohn children, and has to account for all funds to the Court. Any donations are deductible on people's taxes. It is also very much appreciated if people do want to send funds to the Andressohns directly, especially for donations. The only issue is that they move house a lot, constantly seeking affordable housing.
Hope that helps ;)
on February the 13th I had:
1.5 quarts water
36oz watermelon/orange juice
24oz spinach/zucchini/carrot juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/papaya/golden kiwi/black plum
3 cups water
12oz spinach/zucchini/carrot juice
bowl of banana ice cream with dried figs
1 quart water
Here down under, ‘tis Valentines Day tomorrow – oooo lala…
Here are some fabulous ‘GREEN’ Valentines Tips from Michael Bloch over at GreenLivingTips.com :
“Around a billion valentines are sent each year globally...Valentines Day is big business and as such has the potential to have substantial impact on the environment. For example, the one billion cards laid end to end would stretch around the world 5 times! That's a lot of trees.
If Valentines Day is an important day for you or the one you love; then you can show a bit of extra love for the environment by carefully considering what you buy. Here's some ideas:
- Cards made from recycled or tree-free paper (this will be indicated on the card)
- Consider sending an e-card instead using one of the many quality services around.
- Fair trade and/or organic (RAW ;) chocolate
- Choose organic and/or locally grown flowers
- Make a donation to an environmental organization on behalf of the person (like the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation...)
- If you wish to give jewelry, consider pre-owned or purchasing from jewelers who are certified to be sourcing precious metals and gemstones in an ecologically and socially responsible manner.
- Buy the person a gift certificate for holistic therapies e.g. massage, naturopath, health spa
- Arrange dinner at a local restaurant specializing in organic or locally grown food. Eating locally cuts down on food miles
- Book a retreat in a wildlife reserve, park or natural area. Your business will help support the running of such establishments.
- Give natural perfumes and fragrances. Popular mainstream fragrances are chemical cocktails. By buying natural fragrances, you'll be showing you not only care for the environment, but the person's health."
See the full article HERE. Thanks, Michael :)
Oooo, and wishing YOU all an uber-delicious, joyful to the max, cuddly, yummy, Happy Valentines, until whence we meet again ;)
Kisses to all,
One love,
Ms. Stokes. xxx
Monday, 11 February 2008
Kiwi Life and the Master Cleanser...
Ok, there have been quite a few requests lately for more info on New Zealand - particularly where to get raw goodies here ;)
Well, we’re in Auckland for a few weeks at the moment...and as I said before, we had a challenge to locate organics to buy at all in the beginning, in the area we’re in, despite the fact that I KNOW there are many hundreds of organic farms country-wide here. It made no sense to me and we were very relieved when we started to find some goodies ;) Here’s what we’ve
Health Food Stores:
Ceres – This company seems to actually be a HUGE distributor of organic foods in NZ – we’re just fortunate to be located somewhat near their retail outlet in Ellerslie – see http://ceres.co.nz/ - they have fresh organic produce, plus a bulk section with dried fruits, nuts, seeds etc...
Huckleberry Farms – this company seems to have 2 big retail outlets in Auckland. The one we visited had lots of produce, a bulk section and even a juice/smoothie bar :) Apparently there is also a farmer’s market in the street across from them on weekends... See HERE for more info.
Others:
Auckland City’s Farmers’ Market – Saturday mornings, 8.30am-12.30pm, at the Britomart Precinct. A few organic growers/spray-free – not masses of choice – still, nice to buy direct from the growers ;) See http://www.cityfarmersmarket.co.nz/ for more info. It’s my understanding that there are a few other farmers’ markets at the weekends around this city too – I don’t know where any of them are though...Auckland seems vaaaaaaaast in terms of the land area it covers and we’re only just starting to get our heads round the public transport here ;)
Other than that, we’ve found that many of the supermarkets have a few organic fresh items – currently, mainly cherries (YAY), blueberries, kiwis and...dates...not much else...
As for raw food companies...well, our lovely friends Mark and Veronique here in Auckland run ‘Vital Essence’ - http://www.vitalessence.co.nz/ though they’re not doing a full raw catering business anymore.
Ooooo, one other really useful and interesting site I’ve found here is ‘Organic Explorer’ – see http://www.organicexplorer.co.nz - they have info on ALL kinds of organic contacts, resources, outlets etc in NZ...
I’m really excited to get beyond the city soon and explore more of this LUSH country...a
If anyone reading this has more useful info to add about where to locate raw foods/services in Auckland or New Zealand in general, please do send them in and I’ll piece them together for another post – there’s definitely lots of reader interest ;)
on February the 10th I had:
1.5 quarts water
20oz spinach/carrot/zucchini juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/kiwi/golden kiwi/black plum
2 cups water
small handful of seaweeds – wakame and karengo
1.5 quarts water
2 handfuls of cherries
12oz spinach/carrot/zucchini juice
bowl of ‘figgy pudding’ – fresh figs and oranges blended together, with chopped up pieces of banana in it – yummmmmm ;)
3 cups water
Ooooo, Monika from the Raw Network of Washington (RawNOW) emailed through a link to all the items for the silent auction at their big raw fundraising event in Seattle this week, which I mentioned a few days back...the auction list’s pretty PHENOMENAL, so I thought I’d add the link here for all to ogle at ;) Monika also says that any items that AREN’T sold on the n
http://rawwashington.org/events/auctiondonors.htm
Ooo and while we’re on the subject of raw events this week, a quick reminder that the Monarch and myself shall be sharing juicy raw tidbits and tips in Auckland next Sunday, the 16th...full event details HERE: http://www.rawspirit.org/events.php
on February the 11th I had:
1.5 quarts water
24oz celery/cucumber/parsley/spinach/lettuce/apple juice
big bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/kiwi/golden kiwi/black plum/mango
2 cups water
1 peach
16oz celery/cucumber/parsley/spinach/lettuce/apple juice
3 cups water
big bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/kiwi/black plum/mango/apple/cherry
3 cups water
There are some questions I get asked over and over again – one of them (somewhat bizarrely in my opinion, as I’ve never done it ;) is ‘What do you think of the Master Cleanser?’
Well, here’s an answer...
Hmmmmmm...to be honest, I don't feel great about the idea of the Master Cleanser (MC - also sometimes known as the 'Lemonade Diet', or 'Stanley Burroughs Master Cleanser'). For a start, it recommends to use maple syrup or molasses to cleanse, neither of which are usually raw.
Now, for some people it is a useful tool because they're coming from a background of SUCH toxicity and eating a lot of 'junk' foods, so merely the fact that they're NOT eating those kind of things and are giving the body a break from digesting solids is going to bring them MUCH healing, HOWEVER, I would SO much rather see someone do a cleanse on vegetable juices than the master cleanser recipe, as then they are also experiencing the benefits of putting down those other foods and getting a break from solids, PLUS getting in MASSES of nutrients from the veggie juices at the same time - seems like a much better deal to me ;) The Master Cleanser is much easier to prepare of course than veggie juices, which appeals to some people, plus tends to work out cheaper.
Another concern I have about the MC is that I often see people use it as a kind of 'escape hatch' from less-than-optimal eating patterns - i.e. - they will eat a messy intake for weeks on end, then go into master cleansing, then yo-yo out of the other side of that, straight into less-than-optimal eating again - it just doesn't seem very balanced to me - I'd rather see people eat a balanced, healthy, high-raw intake regularly, using veggie juicing to cleanse periodically...
Many people enjoy the MC though and seem to get happy results from it...so...the choice is
One love,
Angela. xxx
Friday, 8 February 2008
Fruits, Friends and Fundraising...
Today I only ate fruit salads with chia gel...I was having some intestinal issues and my energy was low...my body asked for just fruits, so...that was the menu for the day, with a bit of chia gel added, to offset the sugar bursts a little...it felt good...light enough to not tax my system, yet packed with enough energy to sustain me all day...it also stirred up some childhood memories which I found really interesting...I suddenly remembered that as a kid, whe
on February the 8th I had:
1.5 quarts water
20oz spinach/carrot juice
bowl of avo/tahini mushed together with diced garlic/tomatoes/cilantro, with assorted sprouts and karengo seaweed stirred in, served with lettuce/cabbage leaves and an Italian Power Wrap
1.5 quarts water
box of cherries and 3 gorgeous kiwis
bowl of bananas mushed with ground flax, goji berries, tahini, maca and dried figs
1 quart water
Oooo, yummy event alert: next Saturday, February the 16th, The Raw Network of Washington (RawNOW) will be holding a Fundraising Gala at the top of Seattle’s tallest building :) The event includes a gourmet 4-course raw vegan dinner, an extensive silent auction, with go
on February the 9th I had:
1.5 quarts water
20oz spinach/carrot/kale/watercress/green pepper juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/papaya/kiwi/cherry
1.5 quarts water
12oz spinach/carrot/kale/watercress/green pepper juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/mango/golden kiwi/fresh figs
1 quart water
While we’re on a ‘fundraising’ note, here’s a little update about the Andressohns in Florida – the raw family who were separated and put on trial after their youngest child passed over a few years ago. It seems they received the care package of food we sent over to them, this week...YAY :) Thanks too, to all of you who have been generously sending in donations and support, to help the Andressohns pay off their bail bond and re-establish themselves after this traumatic period. Know that every gift and prayer sent their way is very much appreciated. From this message below, from Dr Flora, their friend and benefactor, it seems howe
“…One of their sons had his 7th birthday a week ago and he shyly asked me for a present the next time I come. He got underpants, but no toys. She (Lamoy – the mother of the family) is happy to know that the principle for the bail bond has been paid off...and is struggling to make sense of having to pay interest too. This innocent young family had not even had a checking account when I met them and had been trying to live just from their pocket change. ...the minute they were forced into that expensive home by the state, with the payments of $1,400/month for just the rent, there was nothing left. She has gotten her driving license, and has sent in the papers for her business license. She's almost there to being an independent businesswoman with a catering service. Help her just a little longer, and then she will make us all proud. I'm proud of her for just being a good, loving mother under the circumstances, and trying as hard as she is to help others, and never doubt God's path for her.”
Hmmmm, we’re breathing deep and sending love from here...if perhaps you feel moved to send more assistance their way, please do ;) You can send gifts or cheques made payable to ‘Flora Van Orden’ to: Flora Van Orden, PO Box 900963, Homestead, FL 33090.
All gratitude, blessings and love to you,
Angela. xxx
p.s. - thanks to ALL of you who sent in yummy wishes to Mr Monarch for his birthday - twas a yummy occasion :)
Thursday, 7 February 2008
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 ;)
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
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
The Visionary Age...
Well, well, well...seems my recent post on bowel movements during Juice Feasting stirred up many curious questions in your noggins...we’ve been inundated with stool-related queries here - thank you ;) From ‘how is it that if I eat sweetcorn it comes out a day later having bypassed all the encrusted waste in my intestines?’ to ‘why am I not having bowel movements, if I’m doing juices AND smoothies?’ to ‘I’ve started Juice Feasting and am scared of doing enemas – do they really matter? I’m releasing lots of mucus through my nose…’
Ok…here’s my answer for that last one...
Enemas are very simple and not painful - nothing to worry about ;) You can even see videos of how to do them on YouTube ;) They are discussed to a degree in my book 'Revealing the Physical Changes', which you can see HERE.
Colon cleansing is EXTREMELY important while Juice Feasting - you won't be getting anywhere near the amount of cleansing benefits without doing some form of colon irrigation. Most of us are SO toxic and have so much to release - if you're not keeping up with that through internal cleansing, you can easily run into issues. Use a simple lubricant like coconut oil to help the process, take it slowly and I'd recommend some of the writings of either Dr Norman Walker (Become Younger, Colon Health) or my partner Mr Monarch (Raw Spirit, Raw Success) - you can also read many informative articles for free on Matt's website - see http://www.rawspirit.org and go to ‘Articles’.
If you really can't face the idea of enemas by yourself, maybe doing a PROFESSIONAL colonic would appeal more? Or use more Cascara Sagrada to keep things moving out of the system, or use other herbal formulas (e.g. 'Intestinal Movement Formula' by Healthforce), to move st
Mucus is just clearing out of your body as a result of the DETOX you are triggering by Juice Feasting - DO AN ENEMA and you'll find this clears MUCH quicker - your body is just taking the opportunity to throw out stuff that's been building up for YEARS... Other things to help: do a sauna, sweat, exercise, tongue scrape, dry skin brush etc - just help your body RELEASE every way you can... ;)
on Feb the 4th I had:
1.5 quarts water
1 quart zucchini/watercress/cabbage/carrot juice
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes/garlic, masses of sprouts – whero peas/sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds/alfalfa/broccoli/mung beans, karengo and wakame seaweeds, served with cucumber sticks, lettuce leaves and bits of green crackers
1.5 quarts water
1 apple
20oz carrot/celery/spinach/parsley juice
3 dried figs
¼ pineapple
1.5 lbs cherries
3 cups water
Hmmm, sorry to hear the link was broken to Steve ‘Sproutman’ Meyerowitz’s book, in my last post ;( HERE it is again, for those of you who wanted to check it out. PLUS, if you missed his talk on RawVeganRadio many moons ago, I'd definitely recommend it - it's tres inspiring ;) You can listen to that HERE - it's now been moved to the 'Premium' area of the RVR site - they have a NEW offer on right now though, to try out the Premium area for just $1, for a limited time - so, seems like an ideal time to check it out ;)
…and for those of you who still don’t believe raw food fun can happen in the garden in cold places in winter, check out this super-cool picture of ‘Mrs Raw Snowwoman’ forwarded to us from Jan in Georgia this week ;) JUICY :)
on Feb the 5th I had:
1.5 quarts water
8oz orange/pineapple juice
24oz celery/carrot/watercress/kale
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes/garlic, masses of sprouts – whero peas/sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds/alfalfa/broccoli/mung beans, karengo and wakame seaweeds, served with lettuce leaves and a Mexican power stick
1.5 quarts water
24oz celery/cucumber/lettuce/radish/carrot/cilantro juice
2lbs cherries and a banana
3 cups water
February the 6th is the New Moon in Aquarius - time for radical change, according to Lisa Dale Miller – and this gorgeous occasion comes with a partial solar eclipse - oooo la la, how blessed we are ;) Here’s a few snippets of Ms. Miller’s report for this moon:
“Aquarius is often thought of as visionary: an energy that looks beyond the norm, questions accepted truths, boldly claims originality, flies in the face of reason; and flatly refuses to blindly follow the dictates of others.
The annular solar eclipse will add a bit of heightened energy to this New Moon. Partial phases of the eclipse will be visible primarily from eastern Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. For more information on the eclipse go to NASA’s Eclipse homepage http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2008.html#2008Feb07A
The Aquarius New Moon asks each of us to awaken to the reality of our lives. To see it as it truly is (no rose colored glasses allowed) and then envision a better life; one free of old rules and restrictions that reflect your “I can’ts, I won’ts, I’m unable, and I’m scared”. This is a truth or dare New Moon. Recognize your present circumstances and then dare to vision beyond them, past the boundaries of the known into the unknown.
Aquarius is all about the “power of one” to change the circumstances of the many... Aquarian success comes from connecting to the needs of your generation and making your life a testament to upliftment.
The Aquarius New Moon is all about individuation and freethinking. It is a time to get free of self-imposed restrictions and think out of the box.
Think about how you can become a force for change at your workplace, in your neighborhood, and at home. Change is good! So this New Moon, commit to changing your life and you will change the world. Ride the wave of this mind-altering, life-altering New Moon Cycle.”
Mmmmm, beautiful...from a Leo full moon into an Aquarian new moon :) You can check out Lisa’s FULL report HERE...and GUESS WHAT – in just a few days – on Friday Feb 8th – it’s
One love,
Angelallalalalalalalalallaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx
Sunday, 3 February 2008
The Growing Advantage...
I’m also really enjoying exploring different kinds of sprouts...if we were settled in one place, I’d love to use one of the EasyGreen Sprouters to be growing masses of young greens, sprouts
One of the questions I’m most often asked is ‘how do you eat well as a raw foodie, on a budget’???
on February the 2nd I had:
1.5 quarts water
1lb cherries
12oz kale/cilantro/celery/cucumber/spinach/carrot juice
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes, SEEEEEAAAAAAAWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED and masses of sprouts – alfalfa, sunflower sprouts, broccoli sprouts, mung beans etc, served with lettuce wraps, cucumber sticks and a few crunchy dehydrated green crackers
1 quart water
little bowl of refreshing fruit salad: banana/apple/blueberries/papaya
12oz kale/cilantro/celery/cucumber/spinach/carrot juice
little bowl of soaked dried figs blended with hemp seeds
2 cups water
little bowl of fruit salad: banana/blueberries/orange/peach
2 cups water
Those working with a ‘budget’ might also look out for reduced organic items in supermarkets, or start a bulk-buying coop with other like-minded people. Buy filling/satiati
ng, nutrient dense things in bulk or when you see offers – like spirulina, nuts or hemp protein powder…learn to forage and gather your own food…Volunteer your time at an organic farm/CSA/coop for a few hours a week, in return for good organic fruit/veg…or help out at a raw restaurant/facility if there’s any nearby…and yes, above all – GROW YOUR OWN ;)on February the 3rd I had:
1.5 quarts water
4 black plums
3 sips of OUTRAGEOUSLY intense grapefruit juice
24oz spinach/celery/parsley/carrot juice
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes/garlic, muchos sprouts – alfalfa/whero peas/sunflower sprouts/mung bean sprouts/soaked pumpkin seeds, karengo/wakame seaweeds, served with cucumber sticks and lettuce leaf wraps
1.5 quarts water
1 peach
24oz beetroot/cucumber/carrot/watercress juice
bowl of apple flax with 1 mushed banana and a handful of goji berries swirled in to chew
3 cups water
Why is it so key to grow your own produce? Well...many reasons...among them: it’s cheaper, you can pick and use your produce fresher, you know EXACTLY how it was all grown and cared for, you can grow exactly what you love, in quantities that work for you and if you’re using the method for growing outlined in Anastasia, the plants you grow will actually be producing
food that is specifically beneficial and healing for YOU – pretty phenomenal ;)Aside from all that though, I simply think that at this point in the story, it’s wise for all of us to start taking at least a bit more responsibility for our food supply, as things are pretty much undeniably going a bit ‘wobbly’ with the food chain worldwide. Prices for foods are sky-rocketing due to the ‘oil situation’ and the cost of shipping worldwide, mysterious laws are being passed to nuke raw products and we are likely to see many more big shifts in the structure of our societies and food chains in the coming years.
There are SO many humans here on Earth now (over 6 billion of us), that if everything was to collapse today and we all tried to go out and forage from the land, it seems HIGHLY unlikely that many of us would survive – partly from lack of foraging skills, mainly because there simply isn’t enough food OUT there for 6 BILLION people to forage...OVER ¼ of the Earth’s surfac
e is said to be used in the processes of cattle farming alone…that means more than ¼ of the land has already been damaged in such a way that it currently yields little that we would want to eat...add to that deserts, concreted cities, glaciers, levelled forests and so on...and there’s just not much space left for us to feed from...those who grow their OWN food (and know something of foraging) will be the ones to thrive.Now, I’m not prophesising doom and ‘the end of civilisation’ here ;) I just think it’s a salient point to consider...most people these days seem to ASSUME their food is going to come from SOMEONE else – grown, picked, processed, packaged by SOMEONE else – i.e. - not nature – another human, or many humans in a long chain of production. Most of us seem remarkably dis-attached from our food source... So, I feel now is an ideal time to start being proactive and get planting and growing some yummies of your own...and for those of you in colder climates, I would HIGHLY recommend you check out the books 'Four Season Harve
st' and 'Winter Harvest Manual' by Eliot Coleman, who runs INCREDIBLE farms in the States, growing and harvesting ALL year round, in colder climates. You can see those books here: http://www.fourseasonfarm.com/main/books/books_eliot2.html#harvest.As for me, my biggest desire is to get to a piece of land and start growing my own stuff...in the meantime, I’ll keep on sprouting, foraging and renegade composting my way along this current journey… ;)
ENJOY :)
One love,
Angela. xxx
Friday, 1 February 2008
Just gimme land, lots of land under starry skies above...
Today I decided to check out what was happening for me this day last year on my blog...February the 1st 2007, I was...74 DAYS into Juice Feasting and amazed to be ‘STILL having solid bowels movements’...lol…;) Those of you who followed my juicy adventures more closely will know I actually experienced solid BMs for the ENTIRE 92 days...quite phenomenal...it really shows me how much there is to release from these structures, after soooo many years of less-than-optimal eating... Here to the right is also a pretty picture I took on this day last year, while visiting a local art gallery in Costa Rica, where I was at that time...seems like a few lifetimes ago now... ;) My, my, how quickly things seem to flow these days...and how JUICILY things seem to flow too – have you noticed how many people out there seem to be Juice Feasting at the moment? It’s quite amazing to see...all power to you if you’re immersed in liquid land at the moment ;) (You can see my full post from this day last year HERE.)
on January the 31st I had:
2 quarts water
1lb cherries
12oz pineapple/cucumber juice – YUMMMM
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes, pinch of salt and assorted micro-greens/alfalfa sprouts, served with cucumber slices and carrot ‘unbread’ sticks
1.5 quarts water
1/5 tbsp green powder
bowl of fruit salad: delicious mix of papaya, banana and blueberries – absolutely GORGEOUS :)
1/5 quarts water
YAY, I’m happy to hear so many of you enjoyed the link to the free Ann Wigmore book over on the ChiDiet site :) REMEMBER that there’s still time to enter the RawReform giveaway contest for January – though it somehow already became February where we are – there’s a few days yet before the next newsletter goes out... The question this month was all about the ‘old school’ raw food pioneers, like Wiggie herself ;) The prize is a free copy of Mr Monarch’s ‘Raw Succ
Examples of pioneers who have passed to the other side include:
Dr. Norman Walker, Arnold Ehret, Bernard Jensen, Szekely, Paul Bragg, Dr. Ann Wigmore, Herbert Shelton, St Louis Estes and Hilton Hotema... There have been some fascinating Qs coming in so far – keep ‘em coming ;)
Send your answers in to angela@rawreform.com and the winner shall be selected at random and with much joy in a few days... ;)
on February the 1st I had:
1.5 quarts water
1 golden peach and 1lb cherries
3 cups water
delicious fresh sprouts/greens salad, straight from the garden, with diced tomatoes and bell peppers, celery/spinach sauce, salad dressing, avocado and home-preserved olives – yummmmm :)
A few orange slices and a chocolate bliss ball
Shot of INTENSE kombucha
2 cups water
24oz juice: cilantro/cucumber/watercress/kale/carrot/spinach juice
bowl of chia gel with papaya/banana/blueberries and dried figs dunked in tahini on the side
3 cups water
We were so blessed today to meet the lovely Mark and Veronique of Vital Essence, who showed us some places to get organics in Auckland. We were starting to wonder... ;) We’ve actually never been anywhere that seems to have such scant access to organics – we were a bit baffled, especially as New Zealand tends to be renowned for being very eco-conscious and there are MANY organic farms here...a couple of days ago we tried our luck in one supermarket only to discover the interesting ‘health food and soap’ aisle...yes...those of you who’ve heard me give a talk may remember me joking that ‘the middle aisles will kill you’ – well, this ‘health food’
aisle definitely didn’t appear to be an exception to that, with all it’s packaged soya products and the alluring smell of soap wafting along from the adjoining shelves… Fortunately we located a couple of places to get organic goods today – hurray – including Ceres, a nice little health food store :) Then even more exquisitely, we were treated to a delicious fresh salad, straight from Mark and Veronique’s garden – YUMMMM. It was so beautiful to me to see a young family living the kind of life I would LOVE to soon settle into too – a garden full of greens and fruit trees, a beautiful, happy young raw toddler and people who are clearly curious about the joys to be explored here...FUN :)By the way, I have the full event details now for our talk here in Auckland: we are speaking on Sunday February the 17th (N.B. - not the 16th as previously thought) at the St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont St, Ponsonby. The event runs from 1-5pm and you can see more details on the RawReform homepage HERE. Hope to see you there if you’re in the area ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx
