Identifying Wild Edible Greens for Green Smoothies

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Dandelion Greens

Dandelion Greens

If you are interested in eating more wild edible dark leafy greens in your diet, but don’t know where to begin in terms of identifying them, I have a fantastic link for you!

You’d be surprised to know that most weeds and many greens are edible, so if you are struggling financially on a raw food diet, you can definitely save money from picking wild greens for your smoothies. You will also benefit from the additional variety in your raw foods as well as the increased energy and enzyme capacity found in wild, uncultivated foods.

Miner's Lettuce

Miner\’s Lettuce

Some common edible weeds used in Green Smoothies include the above mentioned as well as malva, plantain, miner’s lettuce, dandelion, Lamb’s quarters and chickweed.

Now available! My Green Smoothie DVD and Green Smoothie eBooks,including 200 recipes and a Quick Start Guide, so you can learn at home at your own pace. You can become the next Green Smoothie success story!

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Green Smoothie Ideas and Recipes from Victoria Boutenko

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The Green Smoothie info and recipes below come direct from Victoria Boutenko, the author of Green for Life. Some great ideas if you’re looking for good combinations and greens and fruits.

Which fruits taste good with which greens?

Here are some tried-and-true combinations that unlock the secret to delicious smoothies. The fruits in parentheses are optional. I’ve suggested banana to sweeten EVERY smoothie, but you could also use pear, apple or mango. Of course, I hope you’ll experiment to find your favorites!

Green Smoothie Power

Green Smoothie Power

    The Kale Family: Any variety of Kale OR Dandelion Greens, PLUS Apple OR Mango OR Pear, AND Banana (berries OR kiwi)
      The Spinach Family:
    Spinach, PLUS Apple OR Peach OR Mango OR Kiwi, AND Banana & a squeeze of lemon (berries OR cherries OR figs)
    The Collard Family: Collards, PLUS Blueberries OR Peaches OR Cranberries, Peaches OR Pear, AND Banana
    The Orange Family: Arugula OR Celery OR Swiss Chard, PLUS Orange OR Mango, AND Banana (strawberries, peaches OR pineapple)
    The Sprout Family: Romaine OR Clover Sprouts, PLUS Apple OR Pear, AND Strawberries OR Kiwi, AND Banana
    The Herb Family: Parsley OR Cilantro, Apple OR Mango, Banana (strawberries, pineapple)

You can use this overview as a guide whenever you’re at the grocery store looking for what’s fresh and ripe!

Now available! My Green Smoothie DVD and Green Smoothie eBooks, including 200 recipes and a Quick Start Guide, so you can learn more home at your own pace. You can become the next Green Smoothie success story!

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How to Eat Raw Food in Winter – Sprouting, Raw Hummus & Recipes

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Some people have asked me recently about what to eat during the cold months when transitioning to raw food, especially because the price of fruit and veg goes up and the quality of fresh foods goes down. So what’s a raw foodist to do? Well, in my opinion, winter is the perfect time to start experimenting with sprouting and dehydrating foods. Why not add a new level of excitement and interest to your raw food diet choices!

The sprouting is SO easy and it is super cheap! This is the best way to save money and still have an abundance of raw foods. You can go crazy with sprouting. My favorites (just for ease) are mung beans, chick peas and sunflower. With sprouted chick peas you can make your own raw hummus:

1 c. chick pea sprouts (sprouted overnight)
Juice of 1 lemon or lime (I prefer lime)
2 T. fresh orange juice
1 clove garlic
2 T. raw tahini
Optional seasonings: ground cumin, spike or sea salt to taste, chives, paprika, cayenne pepper

Blend all of the ingredients. Add water to thin to desired consistency.
Very delicious spread on leafy greens or red bell pepper strips or even celery. Enjoy!

Mung bean, lentil & wheat berry sprouts

Mung bean, lentil & wheat berry sprouts

If you are unsure of how to begin sprouting, don’t be afraid – actually it is so easy. You don’t even need sunlight, just a jar, container or sprout bag and water.

I encourage all of you to get your seeds wet and your hands dirty and start sprouting this winter!!

The Sproutman website has some useful info on getting started with sprouts.

His instructions are:


Basic Instructions for Sprouting in a Sprout Bag

1. Soak your seeds in a jar of pure water overnight. (about 8 hours).

2. Moisten the bag and pour the soaked seeds in. Rinse and hang the bag on a hook or knob or lay in dish rack. Dripping stops in about one minute

3. Rinse sprouts by dipping the bag in water for 30 seconds, twice daily, morning and evening.

Commentary: Sprout bags travel well, they never break and since they drain on all sides and breathe throughout, mold and mildew are rare.

Another good site, Sprouting at Home, explains what the benefits of sprouting are:

Buy you own 100% cotton sprout bags, just visit my Healthy Bliss store!

Why Eat Sprouts? quoted from The Wonders of Sprouting by Lucie Desjarlais, RNC

“Lots of reasons! They carry plenty of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and enzymes, all necessary for the body to function optimally. In addition to providing the greatest amount of these nutrients, sprouts deliver them in a form that is easily digested and assimilated. In fact, they improve the efficiency of digestion. Sprouts are also deliciously fresh and colourful!

Sprouts are very inexpensive (even when organic), always fresh (they grow until you chew them) and have the potential to help solve hunger and malnutrition problems in our communities and in developing countries, because they are so rich in nutrients, affordable, and easy to transport before sprouting. Sprouts are precious in winter, when the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables is declining as their price increases.”

“(Sprouts) supply the highest amount of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc. of any food per unit of calorie.”

“… sprouts nourish and strengthen the whole body, including the vital immune system.”

So, the dehydrator. Well the best thing about dehydrating in winter is that, although the food is not considered ‘cooked,’ it can still be warm when it comes out of the dehydrator so it is a nice option is you are yearning for something heated for you belly. You can make raw crackers and breads, and again, during winter when you are stuck inside, why not give the dehydrating a try!

Here is an easy recipes for Flax Crackers:

Flax Crackers

4 cups whole flax seeds, soaked 4-6 hours
1/3 to 1/2 cup Braggs Aminos
juice of 2-3 lemons

Soak flax seeds for 4 to 6 hours in purified water. You will then have a gelatinous mixture, be sure to keep moist and loose for spreading. Add Braggs and lemon juice to taste and mix well. Spread mixture as thin as possible on your dehydrator trays with a teflex sheet on top. Keep your hands wet as this will help on spreading the flax seeds (or use a spatula) Dehydrate at 105 degees for 5-6 hours and then flip the mixture and remove the teflex sheet. Continue dehydrating until the mixture completely dry. Approximately 5-6 hours.

Optional:

You could add garlic, onions, carrot juice, taco seasoning, Italian seasoning, chili powder, cumin in any combination. Be creative and make up your own recipe.

Start sprouting today – get your own 100% cotton sprout bags!

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You’ve Gotta Cleanse! by Scott Kalechstein at Sedona Raw Spirit Festival

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King of the Raw!

King of the Raw!

Scott Kalechstein has an amazing gift for making up songs right in the moment.

Watch him inspire us with his great lyrics, energy and inspiration at the Sedona Raw Spirit Festival in Arizona.

See more of Scott at scottsongs.com. King of the Raw!

Scott says it best! Enjoy 🙂 More good clips from the Raw Spirit Festival to follow….

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Raw Spirit Festival Sedona, Arizona – Raw Food Lectures, Speakers & Inspiration!

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Well, it’s all over now, but it was a great 3 days last weekend in the magical red rock of Sedona, Arizona. The 3rd Annual Raw Food Festival was in full-force, and even though the turn-out was less than expected…there were perhaps 1,000 people instead of the predicted 5,000….it was still a great time had by all.

Viktoras Kulvinskas

Perhaps the hardest thing to deal with all weekend was that there were too many things all happening at once – with 3 talks going at any time plus raw food cooking demos plus meditations every hour and exercise workshops in addition to live music and all the vendor booths, it was just impossible to see and do everything!

I met some amazing people, from the speakers to just other participants like me, and if only I had more time, I would have met more of them! I guess there is always next year….

Anyway, the speakers….so many good ones.

Everyone had something unique to add and something good to say – this was the beauty that I saw even within the diversity of the speakers.

David Wolfe was someone who I was really excited to see…especially because his book ‘The Sunfood Diet Success System’ was the main book that I used in my raw food transformation. I must admit that since then he has gone a lot more commercial, and many would say that he is a supplement pusher more than anything else these days, but I did enjoy his talks and his enthusiasm. You can’t deny that this guy is into raw foods, that’s for sure. He had some great points. I liked when he said, ‘We are coming out of a nutritional holocaust.’

He noted that, ‘Everything we eat is affecting our state of consciousness.’ Now we all know that, but think about it really. I mean REALLY. Include in there the coffee and cakes and chocolates and all the little things which really do add up in a big way.

I had the great pleasure of seeing Dr. Flora VanOrden speak, she has been a raw foodist for over 40 years and worked with Ann Wigmore for over 25 years. This was her first public appearance in over 10 years, and we were all blessed to hear her words of wisdom. She has done some amazing work over the years doing outreach education. She outlined her secret recipe for a longevity smoothie, and hey, it looks like it’s working for her!

Kris Carr

One of the most motivating speakers I saw was Kris Carr author of Crazy, Sexy Cancer. This woman is so incredibly positive and uplifting, and to hear her come from a place of real healing and still remain so full of love and gratitude, well it was completely inspiring. She definitely advocates changing to a healthy diet but also doesn’t over-define the diet she is on and allows room to accept herself with the cancer, instead of feeling that life would only be good or whole if the cancer were gone. I hope to see more of her outside of hospitals and more speaking to general audiences because we need to get this message to people BEFORE they get sick. Prevention, yeah.

She also talked about affirmations and saying every day, ‘Thank you for my perfect health, my spiritual wealth and my happiness.’ Something we can all do, wherever we are!

Other great quotes to remember…’Vote with your Fork!’ and ‘Make Juice, not War!’

I also saw Dr. Yashpal Jayne who spoke about Ayurvedic principles, Dr. Jameth Sheridan, Dr. Ritamarie Loscaizo talking about thyroid dysfunction, Brigitte Mars explaining color therapy, Philip McCluskey who has had an amzing transformation and has lost over 200 pounds on his raw food journey, and Ronnie and Minh talking about sprouting sunflower seeds at home (they are so cool by the way).

Minh, me and Ji Young – Raw Girl Power!!

Are you overwhelmed yet??? I was!!

I was very inspired by seeing Matthew and Terces Engleheart, owners of Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco talk about their concept of ‘Sacred Commerce.’ They are the most genuine, kind-hearted people and I am sure that every staff member they have feels lucky to work for them. They talked about ‘clearing energies’ with each staff member before each shift as a way to make each and every person feel loved and appreciated, and from there as they start their work for the day, they are only spreading more of the same love and, well, gratitude. We practiced the exercise on each other…and it really works!! I so hope to meet them again!

And, just so you know….we are only half-way through the festival at this stage!!! So you can imagine how many great speakers there were…quite a few that I was sorry to have missed 🙂

I was very happy to see Karen Knowler from the U.K. and I was impressed how authentic and down-to-earth her message was….I really wasn’t sure what to expect after seeing her website which seemed very commercialized, but I’ve gotta say that girl is speaking her truth, and living it too. She’s a great public speaker and had me feeling inspired by the end. As she said, you’ve gotta ‘find a way that works for you.’

She points out that when you eat something, ‘ask yourself, what am I trying to get from this food and why?’.

She also stresses visualization and emphasizes that you need to have a bigger version of yourself to step into on your journey. So….who do you want to be???

Sunday morning was my day of enlightenment during the festival. I had a silent prayer very early Sunday morning where I asked to meet someone who really motivated and uplifted me, and on the very first talk I went to at 8:00am Sunday morning, I knew I was receiving what I had asked for! Dr. Medicine Wolf was, by far, the highlight if my weekend. One of the first things he said was that he has dedicated his life ‘to the healing of Mother Earth and all Life.’ And he was genuine, wow this guy moved every single person in that room. The most impressive thing about him is that he has no ego whatsoever. Just a man full of love dedicated to helping everyone. As he said, ‘I don’t care if you are a butterfly, an elephant, a dog or a cat or a human being, I want to help you all just the same.’

He made it very clear that ‘we lose a species to extinction every 10 minutes, and WE are on that list!!’.

Medicine Wolf, what a special soul

He talked a lot about the chemicalization and radiation that is affecting the planet and all life today. His words were ‘we have to move from a numb and dumb situation; we need to advance our brain and we will discover that we have the intelligence to live in a disease-free state and every thing we need to do this is in Mother Earth.’ He also explained the importance of frequency 528, the exact scientific frequency of divine unconditional love. If you make one goal from reading this entry, it should be to try and meet Medicine Wolf just once in your lifetime.

Before I forget, I must mention Shantree and Lorenna, such a beautiful couple living their message and sharing so much wisdom and knowledge with others. I really felt a connection to them and would highly recommend anyone visiting their centre and working with them in the future.

I love Shantree’s concept of ‘spending 20 minutes every day with a tree’ as a way to actively meditate and re-connect with nature. You guys rock!!

I was so busy moving from talk to talk that I missed Victoria Boutenko’s talk, but luckily I was able to meet her in person and have a chat about Green Smoothies, because I tell you, her book ‘Green for Life’ is incredible, and it really helped so many raw foodists I know add an extra value-packed meal to their diet each day. That woman is so gentle and kind and really genuine…I so hope she comes to Thailand soon 🙂

Now…we are finally getting to the ‘headliners.’ Sunday was a day FULL of amazing speakers. I finally got to see Victoras Kulvinskas speak, and I can honestly tell you that this guy is so HIGHLY evolved and so incredibly intelligent that he has to struggle to come back to earth and find a way to communicate to us mere humans. It’s so unbelievable and if you weren’t energetically tuned-in, you might say that he has dementia or that he is ‘out-there,’ and guess what, in a way you would be right! This guy is super-knowledgeable and I find it such a shame that in the recently aired television show 20/20 on USA tv network ‘abc,’ that Victoras was edited to look like a complete fool when asked about this so-called new health threat called ‘orthorexia.’ If you had a chance to meet Victoras in person and if you had any ounce of conscious to your spiritual body, you would know instantly that this guy is tapped into something much bigger than what we know on earth to date. Enough said. I love him! His talk was uplifting, full of useful knowledge and very funny as well!

Victor man, keep being you!!

So many people to mention, but gotta wrap this up so I’m going to end with mentioning 2 very impressionable speakers for me this year…one is Gabriel Cousins who has been a spiritual and health teacher to so many and is so powerful in his energy and his presence. His talks centered mainly on the success he has has in reversing diabetes just through diet. Check out his new DVD on the subject. This guy is an MD from Columbia Medical School by the way, and he has embraced the raw food diet for over 30 years!!

So enough with calling us ‘airy-fairies’ – ha!

And finally I must mention Doug Graham who was one of the last speakers of the festival but had one of the most powerful messages and that was ‘I though this was a raw food festival…so where is the FOOD?’ Hahaha…you knid-of had to be here to get the joke, but the festival was over-run with vendors selling supplements and ‘super’ foods and everyone agreed there was a definite lack of ‘real’ food.

Gotta give it to Doug who is true to his message which is EAT WHOLE FOODS!

One Free Raw Food Meal Per Day

In that case there is no need for supplements or processed and refined superfoods. I liked his simplicity – it goes a long way. All the Doug crew are invited to Koh Samui anytime for some yummy Durian indulging. Earn your food – yeah!

What can I say to close except I am fully inspired to be a speaker at the festival next year! We need more girl power representing and also we need someone like me to tell my story, which is totally different to everyone’s story I heard, and to speak to the newbies in the raw food world because we have to find a way to make this lifestyle work for everyone, no matter where they are on their journey!

With that I say HAPPY EATING and MANY BLESSINGS!!!

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Raw Spirit Festival In Sedona, Arizona and I’m there!

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I’m back in the raw foods again and ahh, it feels so RIGHT! The energy of the cooked foods was ok, and I guess in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine I was removing excess ‘damp’ by having steamed veggies, but I can honestly say that my overall alive-ness feels so much more ‘alive’ when I am eating the veggies raw, not steamed.

Yum.

And on that note…it’s a perfect lead into talking about the Raw Spirit Festival this year in Sedona, Arizona:

So…guess who’s going?? ME! I’m really excited. In just 1 week I’ll be back in Philadelphia visiting family and friends and enjoying all the love from home. And in just over 2 weeks, I’ll be in Sedona, Arizona celebrating life and raw food living with the best of the best raw foodists from around the globe! What an idea and already the energies of good intention are conspiring to bring good things to me out of this experience and I am not even there yet!!

I’ve met some super people online who are giving me a ride from Phoenix to Sedona, and, if that wasn’t enough, they’ve offered to let me share their hotel room with them for the festival – yeah! Shower and bed, check. I’ve got another friend who is flying all the way from Korea to come to the festival – she’ll be hanging out with some friends who have a van to sleep in…so I’ve got more people to catch up with. Friends, check. Then I’ll be seeing all the latest and freshest information and knowledge from some of the most experienced raw foodists, vegans and vegetarians ever, people like David Wolfe, Doug Graham, Victoria Boutenko, Victoras Kulvinskas, Karen Knowler, Gabriel Cousins and more!! Inspiration, check. Excitement, double check!!

I’ll be keeping you all posted along the way.

Til then, remember, you have everything you need from Mother Nature to heal yourself.

Fall is fast approaching in the Northern Hemisphere. Apples are soon to come out in season. You know what this means? Time for some liver cleansing!!! Make a variety of fresh apple juices every day to help the liver tonify and detoxify. It’s that easy.

Slow down on the caffeine and alcohol for awhile. Give the liver a rest. Eat more GREENS! Try some GREEN SMOOTHIE POWER for yourself!!

Feel how good it feels to be healthy inside! Let GO of any anger or resentment. Live in gratitude in every moment! Feel how lucky we are to be alive and have this experience on this beautiful earth! Now…go and have some FUN!!

Read about my personal experiences and see the pictures from Sedona Raw Spirit here:

Raw Spirit Festival 2008 – Sedona, Arizona – Raw Food Inspiration!

You’ve Gotta Cleanse! by Scott Kalechstein at Sedona Raw Spirit Festival

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Cooked Food vs. Raw Food – Giving Traditional Chinese Medicine a try

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Traditional Chinese Healing Zen

Traditional Chinese Healing Zen

Yes, yes…it is true – you are reading that correctly! I have been humbly trying a different approach on my healing journey for the last week or so and that is by reducing the raw foods and increasing cooked foods in my diet. I’ve been seeing an acupuncturist and he has told me that my stomach and spleen energy are very low and that in order to increase them I have to add more cooked foods to my diet, even if it is on a temporary basis. So I thought about it for awhile and then finally decided well, what do I have to lose really? 34 years of cooked foods didn’t kill me so what’s wrong with a few weeks or even months at this stage?

Balance, Forgive, Heal

Balance, Forgive, Heal

So, I’ve been eating mainly steamed veggies every day and also an occasional salad or some fruit. I try to stay away from the rice even if it is brown rice because I noticed that the rice really brings my energy levels down. I have also been told that there is too much ‘damp’ in my body and the best way to combat damp is with cooked foods. I don’t mind being the guinea pig here, it if works I shall let all of you know. I think we have to be flexible on our healing journeys and also be open to receiving the right information when it is needed for us. For many of you it may be the perfect time for a raw food cleansing diet and I fully support you on that path. But I have been suffering with some lingering bacterias in my body and all of the raw garlic and raw food in the world has not sorted it out for me yet, so I’m gonna give this 5,000-year old Chinese thing a try. With the change in diet and over 3 weeks of acupuncturist so far, I have felt a difference but I can’t really tell where the big picture is taking me just yet.

I do hope that I will balance out the energies and get back to 90-100% raw food soon!

That’s enough on the body for today…how is everyone doing in mind and spirit?? Here’s a little loving nudge to work on forgiveness in your life, LET GO of any lingering negative emotions and tell everyone in your life whom you love that you love them! When you work on your meditation today, focus on the gratitude that you feel for all of the abundance in your life and visualize yourself in your perfect state of health, whatever that means to you.

We must have the powerful energies of gratitude and love flowing freely through us in order to reach our full healing potential!

Much love from a sunny corner of Koh Samui…

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Green Smoothie Power and Tabouleh Raw Food Salad Recipe

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I’ve found a new discovery in my healing journey….yes it is the GREEN SMOOTHIE! Wow, I am loving these things – so tasty and so packed with nutrition, and such an easy way to bring more greens into my diet!

Green Smoothie Recipe:

  • Greens
  • Fresh banana, papaya & pineapple
  • The stems from parsley (left over from raw tabouleh salad…see below)
  • 1.5 cups cold water
  • 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
  • 1 tsp. spirulina
  • 2 probiotics, opened and sprinkled into the blend

High Energy All Day!!!

Green Smoothie Ingredients Before

Green Smoothie Ingredients Before

Green Smoothie Ingredients After

Green Smoothie Ingredients After

Next step...Drink and Enjoy!!

Next step…Drink and Enjoy!!

Another Green Smoothie Recipe

  • Greens (different than yesterday’s but it’s Thailand, so I have no idea what they are – just dark and leafy with little flower buds, all thrown in!!)
  • Fresh banana & pineapple
  • The stems from parsley (nothing goes to waste!)
  • Coconut Oil
  • 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
  • 1 tsp. spirulina
  • 2 probiotics (same as yesterday)
  • 1.5 cups cold water
Fast, Easy & Delicious TABOULEH!

Fast, Easy & Delicious TABOULEH!

Raw Tabouleh Salad Recipe

I also made a wonderful Raw Tabouleh Salad:

  • 2 bunches fresh parsley, chopped
  • 3 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 small red onion, chopped
  • 1/2 white onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • handful of dried goji berries (they soften in the salad after about 2 hours)
  • extra virgin olive oil, cayenne pepper, black pepper & sea salt

All the parsley, what a blast of nutrition!!

Watch out world – I’m on a role now!!!

Now available! My Green Smoothies for Dummies book and Green Smoothie eBooks,including 200 recipes and a Quick Start Guide, so you can learn at home at your own pace. You can become the next Green Smoothie success story!

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How to Deal with Social Pressures on a Raw Food Diet

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I consider myself very lucky to have a few raw food vegan friends (ok, 2)…but it really helps when you try this new path and way of living to try to find others around you doing it too, mainly just as an avenue to share thoughts or ideas and also to help inspire and motivate.

Often I find if I am in a ‘normal’ group of people, they immediately begin to defend and preach about why they think eating meat is essential or why eating cooked foods is necessary, and I find it, well to be honest, exhausting sometimes. I am never judging others for what they eat or don’t eat, and in that respect I find it quite harsh when I feel people judging me. What’s da dilly guys?? Can’t you just accept me for who I am where I am on my life’s journey? I accept you unconditionally, regardless… so why all the fuss???

What a wonderful world it would be if we all had more love and compassion for each other. Friendship should be about support and acceptance, yes?

Where's the Love??

Where\’s the Love??

One time last year while I was on a 100% raw food diet, I went out with friends for a meal. I mainly went out to appease my one friend – her other 2 friends I didn’t even know…anyway my friend at the time knew I was eating raw foods, but mentioned nothing of it at the meal and I proceeded to order a salad without a hitch, also not mentioning any special dietary requirements myself. All safe and cruisy on the down-low. My friend then ordered a Bailey’s shake made with coconut and banana…when she tried it she said ‘Jennifer you must try this it’s amazing…’ so I said ok, and had a sip. At that VERY moment, her friend immediately commented a ‘Oh, so much for the raw food diet!’ I said’ ‘Excuse me? There isn’t any milk in the shake…’ And she said’ ‘Um, Bailey’s, DAIRY, Hello???’ I mean, can you imagine???? In front of a group of people having this stranger try to humiliate me? If I had any ego whatsoever about the diet, maybe, maybe, I could see that response, but never did I ever mention it to anyone….I was horrified to know that I was being watched like a hawk when I was simply trying to experiment with a healthier way of living.

The whole ‘healthier than thou’ tactic to me is quite elitist, condescending, and ultimately self-defeating.

These are some of the obstacles you may face when transitioning to a better diet and lifestyle.

Celebrate your differences!

Celebrate your differences!

And this is why I mention how wonderful it can be when you meet others who are already on your same journey and who help to uplift, love, support and inspire you – it is very important to find a few people like that on your journey! When you find them, stick together!!

True friends will love and support you no matter what you eat or don’t eat, but they are rare gems in this world today, and when you find them, keep them!

Anyway, my 2 raw food friends had recommended some books for me to read and I am so grateful that I asked because I am now reading them and have learned so much new information already!

Based on the one, I am going to try more green vegetable smoothies and see if I can feel a difference…up to this point I was having my ‘standard’ smoothie but with more fruit mainly and just spirulina as a green…now I see that I must add the whole green veggie as well – spinach, kale, bok choy, etc….today I made my first one and it was great!

Green Smoothie Recipe:

  • Fresh Kale
  • Fresh pineapple, banana, & papaya
  • Ground Flax Seed
  • Probiotics
  • Water

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Day 21: Juice Fasting and Detox in Koh Samui, Thailand

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Cleansing is great, but eating after cleansing is even better, especially when you know and feel healthier and stronger in every moment!!

Cleanse, Fast, Balance

Cleanse, Fast, Balance

Life is better than great for me right now. This fast was absolutely earth-shattering for me, in fact there is part of me that is missing the challenging aspects of the cleanse, in a way life is too easy post-cleansing this time around!! I cannot express in words my pure respect and gratitude for my healing progress, from the inside out, and both on a physical and spiritual level. After all these years of cleansing, I still learn more every time, and I can speak with hesitation when I say that the body can heal itself of anything through fasting and cleansing.

Gratitude is Bliss

Gratitude is Bliss

I spent a lot of time meditating during this last cleanse, and already in such a short period of time, I can see and feel my goals and intentions manifesting right before my very eyes! Thank you to every single person who has helped me through this journey of healing over the last year. From my heart to yours, I want to express my pure love, respect and gratitude for having met so many kind-hearted souls – and each one of you knows who you are!

Food, fresh, pure and delicious! Where to begin!! Many people are curious to know exactly what I eat and where I get ideas for recipes. I can tell you all now that I don’t really ‘do’ recipes…I tend to go to the market and check out what looks good on any given day, keeping variety in mind at all times, and I simply buy what looks good and somehow make my own creations from there.

Here are some example of Raw Food Salad Recipes that I threw together in the last few days:

‘Raw’ Cucumber Soup

Fresh Cucumber Soup Great for Cooling..

Fresh Cucumber Soup Great for Cooling..

  • Fresh Cucumbers (about 5) chopped in a blender
  • Fresh Lemongrass, Fresh Mint
  • Fresh Coconut Flesh
  • Virgin Organic Coconut Oil
  • Sprinkled Cayenne Pepper and Celtic Sea Salt to taste

Green Bean Salad

  • Fresh chopped green beans (uncooked)
  • Fresh chopped tomato
  • Fresh chopped cucumber
  • Fresh chopped coriander (cilantro)
  • Cayenne Pepper, Wasabi Powder & Seeds (sesame, poppy, mustard, basil)
  • Olive Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar & Honey

Fresh Yummy Raw Food Salad

  • Chopped Fresh Local Greens
  • Freshly grated carrot & zucchini
  • Freshly chopped red onion & garlic (2 cloves)
  • Freshly chopped mini-corn (raw) Olive Oil, Bragg’s Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Cayenne Pepper, Celtic Sea Salt & Freshly ground Black Pepper
  • Seeds (poppy, sesame, mustard, basil, sunflower)
  • Dried Goji Berries

Carrot/ Mung Bean Sprout Salad

Fresh Grated Carrot Salad

Fresh Grated Carrot Salad

  • Freshly Grated Carrots (2 or 3 large)
  • Freshly Sprouted Mung Beans, chopped finely in a blender (one large bag)
  • Olive Oil, Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids
  • Cayenne Pepper, Seeds (poppy, sesame, basil, mustard, sunflower)

Fresh Raw Power Juice Recipe

  • Carrot, Apple, Ginger, Parsley, & Celery

Fresh Durian – Yumbo!

Nothing else needed but pure, fresh, gooey, stinky DURIAN BLISS!! Much love to the blessed DURIAN, so glad you are finally in season!!

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Healing – Sharing – Flowering – Transformation – Change

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Blossoming, Healing, Living

Blossoming, Healing, Living

These were my Tarot cards that came up on the Osho Zen Tarot today (no joke!) and so I knew it must be time to update the website, finally. I’ve been under the radar for awhile, out of touch with updating my websites, but not for lack of content, just lack of a positive perspective perhaps. I’ve had a very rough time in my life the last several months and I have fought hard both physically and emotionally to pull through it. Amazingly enough, I found that I was able to keep to about an 80% raw food diet despite everything, and for that I am so grateful because really, in times of stress, your body needs good nutrition more than any other time. At the moment I am back to about 90% raw, and working to get closer and closer to 100% every day.

We will all face challenges involving pain and suffering in our lives, and we must remember to take care of ourselves and feed our bodies well during those times.

Forgiveness is a Blessing!

Forgiveness is a Blessing!

The transformation and change part stem from the ability to forgive those who have hurt me during this process. It is important to note that forgiveness is not at all a sign of weakness; it is merely part of the ‘letting go’ process. We will never truly heal if we do not find a way to forgive those who have hurt us. And forgiving ourselves is equally as important. I will not lose my faith in human kindness!! There so many more people who have inspired and motivated me through life than those who have disappointed me!

I continue to surround myself with positive energy and kind-hearted souls.

I plan to do another fast/cleanse again soon and hope that I can transition to 100% raw food again after the cleansing. We will see how I go. In the meantime, I have been enjoying a wonderful morning smoothie inspired by my lovely Hawaiian friends Zeoc, Jen and Micah. You should definitely give this one a try…

In a blender combine:

Frozen chopped bananas
Fresh pineapple and papaya
Spirulina powder
Ground flax seeds
Goat’s yogurt
Probiotics (2-3 capsules opened)
Coconut Oil

Blend and enjoy – Yum-bo!

Can also add bee pollen, honey, flax seed oil, hemp oil, or liquid mineral supplements.

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Traveling on a Raw Diet: Eating Raw Food in a Cooked World

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Gotta admit that it’s been tough sticking to the raw food diet whilst being in Australia…but not impossible!!!

Healthy in WA

Healthy in WA

There are so many yummy foods to tempt me away from the healthy stuff..but the amazing thing is that I don’t actually crave any junk, a good thing indeed!

I’ve been mainly eating all fruits during the day while at work, and I find it so very interesting because I have high energy all day while the other girls (mostly 10 years younger than me) are all tired and dragging themselves around.

Better fuel runs a better car, there is no denying it!

At night I generally have a salad and I am absolutely loving the spinach, kale, silverbeet and other fresh greens here that you can’t get in Thailand!!! Yum yum…

The only other thing I was really wanting was a juicer…and low and behold I went to a Lions Club Garage sale on Saturday, and I got a Breville juicer, 4 tupperware containers, a tea strainer and a cooler bag ALL for $5!!!! So even as a ‘backpacker,’ it is still possible and affordable to be healthy.

Just takes some focus, determination and willpower!!

Loving Margaret River, WA

Loving Margaret River, WA

Speaking of backpackers, I find it amazing and actually kind-of sad how many other young people I have met in the month I’ve been back in oz who are strung out on pills, speed, anti-depressants or all of the above. What is happening to people in the world? It’s really unbelievable, I mean these people are out travelling and they probably won’t even remember half of the experience!! I am definitely in the minority eating salads and often choosing not to drink, but who cares, because I FEEL GREAT!

Treats this week from Margaret River WA: fresh figs, organic grapes, raw honey, plums, plums and more plums!

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