Gardening in The Valley of Longevity - New Pics :)

Yesterday I posted up online a new collection of photos from our blossoming garden :) You can see the photos HERE if you'd love to check out how the Stokes-Monarch garden is growing, approximately three months after planting...see Chia, Flax, Dill, Fennel, Borage, Lettuces, Kales, Namenia, Tomatoes, Goji, Cacao and a sacred Wilco tree, all growing in glory :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29292390@N08/sets/72157624358142898/

We LOVE it :)

On June the 23rd I loved:

1 quart water
water of 3 young coconuts
2 cups greeeeeeen juice mixed with pineapple juice
a papaya
2 cups water
YUMMY shared raw taco meal with friends: including taco shells, nori sheets, lettuce leaves, pecan pate, guacamole, coconut sour cream, grated cucumber and jicama, etc, followed by raw mango pie :)
mug of reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
1 cup water

I am SUPER-excited to say that I've recently been connected to two more wonderful links for accessing the work of wisdom-keeper shaman Little Grandmother. Little Grandmother (Kiesha Crowther) now has her OWN website - YAY :) That can be seen at http://www.littlegrandmother.net and has photos, links, background info AND Kiesha's upcoming event schedule, which is exciting to see :)
The other fabulous website link was sent in by Serena and is actually another whole website full on info and links on Little Grandmother. This site, which you can see HERE, seems to be a work of love from someone in Europe, who is pulling together in one place all of the interviews that they can find with Kiesha. There are many different video and audio interviews on this site that can be listened to online or even downloaded to listen to at your leisure - WOW :)
I think I've listened to just abt everything on this site now - I LOVE, love, LOVE the positive, beautiful, transformational message Kiesha is sharing and it feels like such a treat to listen to her. I know *many* of you have been enjoying her sharing too - if you haven't yet listened in to anything with Kiesha, I strongly recommend checking her out on one of these sites above - enjoy :)))


on June the 24th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
4 granadillas and a dragon fruit
2 cups water
30 chlorella tablets
another group meal on a farm visit - leftovers from raw taco meal the night before, fresh salad, flax crackers
2 cups water
2 cups YummmmmmmMmMmmMmmmmy horchata tea with honey
a papaya and a dragon fruit
1 cup water


on June the 25th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
3 cups greeeeeeeen juice mixed with pineapple juice
2 tbsp bee pollen
water of two young coconuts
2 cups greeeen juice mixed with pineapple juice
a papaya, a dragon fruit
2 cups water
yummmmmmy shared cucumber/jicama salad meal with Mr. Mmmmmmm, followed by a hand-stirred yumpot of brazil nut butter with coconut nectar, maca and chocolate extract
mug of shilajit/reishi/ormus tea
1 cup water

Our health-ranging friend Mike Adams, from NaturalNews.com recently posted a fun little article to his site, sharing the "Top Ten Things To Love About Vilcabamba, Ecuador" - lots of interesting info in there abt life in the Valley of Longevity, for those of you who are Vilca-curious - enjoy :)

http://www.naturalnews.com/029005_Vilcabamba_Ecuador.html

...and we also recently did a video on our daily "TV" show, answering some of the questions people most often ask us abt life in Vilcabamba - you can see that video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLLuN3VD2DI

ENJOY :)
All blissings of infinite gratitude,
Angelalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Natural Energy Flowing...

WOW. I am just LOVING being back in Iceland soooooooooooooooooooooo much.
Last night was UBER-YUMMY – Sigur Rós and Björk gave a huge free concert in the botanical gardens in Reykjavík, attended by around 40,000 people. The weather was gorgeous, the energy in the crowd was buzzing and the performances were...simply superlative. The concert was called ‘Nature’ and was put on to raise more awareness of environmental concerns here and celebrate nature. (There was even a stall selling raw fruits and veggies, plus raw chocolate ‘bliss balls’ – so cute :)
Sigur Rós and Björk are two of my absolute favourite musical influences and it was SUCH a gift for me to see them BOTH play live in such a gorgeous context. I’m still grinning now as I write this :)))
There was one point where Sigur Rós (along with Amiina, the gorgeous girls who share stage with them) were playing a really high energy song, then Ólöf Arnalds and Björk came on too, banging big drums. It was SOOOOO fun to watch – everyone was dressed so vibrantly and the energy was HUGE – they looked like they were having SO much fun up there - everyone just doing their thing, spirit flowing, incredible energy :)))
OOoOooOoOOoooooo, I love Iceland :)))
The night before, we had a raw potluck here too and it was so lovely for me to connect to the energy again of the meetings that used to ‘keep me going’ when I lived here as a raw foodist in the beginning...the gatherings were much less frequent then – once a month or less often at times – now raw-yumsters meet up here every other Friday for sharing...and what a vibrant, healthy, happy bunch :) Tons of fresh greens and sprouts, tasty experiments, talented chefs and herbalists...and there were around 30 of us in attendance...it definitely feels to me like raw food interest has continued to blossom here in the years that I’ve been away… ;) YAY :)
Iceland actually recently topped the charts of a United Nations ranking of the ‘best’ place to live in the world (based on factors like wealth, health, education). Icelanders were also reported to be ‘the happiest people in the world’ in a 1996 study... These topics and more are explored in a beautifully insightful article on life in Iceland, printed in the Observer last week (forwarded to me by my equally fabulously insightful editor Sue ;) You can read that article HERE if you’re interested – it’s raaaaaaaaather long, so I won’t go into it now – just enjoy, if you feel inclined :)))

on June the 27th I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass
2 cups smoothie: lucuma powder, almonds, green powder, maca, vanilla powder, cinnamon, water, with goji berries and pine nuts for chewability
3 cups water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, celery, watercress, parsley, fennel, ginger, sprouts and amazing greens from the garden: chard, kale, tatsoi, arugula, other unidentified yummables ;)
plate of delicious raw food potluck loved-up food :) A cornucopia of greens, salad dressings, pates, nibbles, breads, crackers and so on – wonderful :)
3 cups water

A petite note-ette for all of those who are intending to play out with Mr Gianni and I on the telephone inter-change system on Wednesday cometh. The time of the event has shifted ever-so-slighty, due to the fact that I’m currently located a few hours ahead in time from the US...(8pm EST = midnight Iceland time...even if it doesn’t get dark here, I still like to go to sleep ;)
So, we've shifted the clockage back an hour and the talk will now commence at 7pm EST, 4pm PST, on July 2nd (with the chance to listen in to the whole thing for free for 24 hours after it manifests, I do believe...) Anyway, as and when you register for the call info, you’ll get all the details on there...I look forward to answering your Qs soon :) You can read all about it and submit your Qs HERE.

on June the 28th I had:

1 quart water
mug of rooibus tea
shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups yummmmmmmmmmmmmy smoothie: lucuma powder, almonds, green powder, maca, vanilla powder, cinnamon, water, with goji berries and pine nuts for chewability
mug of ‘pleasure tea’
3 cups water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, celery, spinach, lettuce, parsley, fennel, ginger, sprouts and amazing greens from the garden: chard, kale, tatsoi, arugula, other unidentified yummables ;)
3 big luscious nori rolls stuffed with pine-nut/basil pesto, alfalfa, red pepper, cucumber, avocado and spinach. A little handful of cashew nuts
1 quart water
mug of ‘pleasure’ tea

OooOooOooo, exciting developments in the world of CHIA :) You may have read the ‘Chia Cheat Sheet’ article that I wrote sometime last year, outlining the background of chia, uses for the seeds, some yummy recipes and so on. It is one of our most popular articles – so much so in fact that now we’ve had it made into an attractive, colourful wall-chart that you can keep on hand in your kitchen :)
The charts are just $5.95 and are available from the RawReform Store HERE, along with bags of both ‘black’ and ‘white’ chia, ground chia, yummy Cocochia bars, ‘The Magic of Chia’ book AAAAAAAAND the gorgeous NEW ‘Chia Goodness’ all-raw cereal from Ruth’s Hemp Company. WOW, things are really movin’ and shakin’ in the chia world these days, especially since Oprah mentioned it on her show...and IMO, the attention is very understandable – it’s an amazing food – I recommend it to everyone, especially for beginners... ;)
SO, if you have yet to delve into the delicious world of CHIA, I suggest you strap on your ‘raw explorer’ love boots and get munching ;) See HERE for our whole range of Chia Yummables.

All love,
Angelalallallaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Beyond the Silence...

HelLLLllLlllLLllllllllOOOoOoooOooOooooOooOooOOOOOOOOOOO :)
...back from the silence now...apologies for the temporary hiatus in communication from either of us – I promise I hadn’t absorbed the Monarch into silence too ;) ...we were just re-integrating life here after my absence...then last night we also spoke here in Byron Bay, which was a bit ‘trippy’ for me, to speak to a room full of people after silence for 4 days ;) In any case...I’m happy to be back from the ‘void’ now and DELIGHTED that you all seemed to enjoy the Monarch musings so much last week :) That’s so lovely :) Perhaps we can persuade him to write more frequently in the future... ;) I think he did a wonderful job...and feel very humbled to have such a loving, open-hearted and generous partner at my side… ;)
Thank you for ALL your messages to both of us during this last week – it’s taking a while to catch up with email, so please be patient if you’re still waiting for a response to smthg... ;)

Here’s what I had for the 4 days while I was away:
Jan 8th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 papaya with lime juice
1 pint celery/cucumber/mizuna/parsley/apple/carrot/red chicory leaves/radish juice
2 cups water
bowl of mushed banana mixed with chopped basil and garlic, alfalfa sprouts and tahini, served with sunflower greens, cucumber sticks and a piece of macadamia/flax bread
1 mango
3 cups water
1 avocado mushed up with curry Alive Hummus & Himalayan salt, served with fresh salad – lettuce/tomato/cucumber/carrot/zucchini
3 cups water


On Jan the 9th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 cup celery/cucumber/mizuna/parsley/apple/carrot/red chicory leaves/radish juice
big bowl of fruit salad: papaya/mango/kiwi/orange/apple/banana
1 quart water
½ a cup celery/cucumber/mizuna/parsley/apple/carrot/red chicory leaves/radish juice
¾ avocado mushed with Chilli Alive Hummus & Himalayan salt & lime juice served with cucumber sticks, a simple green salad and sunflower greens
1.5 quarts water
bowl of salad: lettuce, corn, tomatoes, onion, carrot, beetroot, cucumber, zucchini w/ olive oil & apple cider vinegar dressing, plus a little guacamole
10 dried figs dipped in tahini
1.5 quarts water

My silent retreat experience was...in a word – INTENSE...I was in meditation for 11 hours a day, starting at 5.30am and finishing at 9pm daily. I really appreciated the gift of majorly slowing down and getting masses of clear ‘headspace’, with no distractions at all – no books, media, computers, phones – nothing – not even eye contact with others or speech. Vipassana is certainly an INWARDS process. This was not a ‘traditional’ Vipassana retreat though, by any means – those are 10 days long for newbies and apparently involve seated meditation all day long, often with many dozens of people in attendance. This one I attended was a kind of ‘private’ Vipassana with just 12 attendees, private rooms available, a mixture of both seated and walking meditations and the option to go for shorter periods – e.g. 4 days like I was able to go for. I have never done SUCH intensive meditation. I meditate every day in my usual life, for around 15 minutes in the morning, plus also ‘tune in’ throughout the day to re-connect to the Divine. That’s a BIG difference though to being in an almost constant state of meditation for days on end... I found the method of meditation very different to my own path. It was essentially the concept of going into the ‘void’, where the attention is on nothing other than one’s own breathing or walking, for moment after moment, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day...noting one’s thoughts/feelings etc as they arise in the mind, then always bringing the focus back to the breath or walking feet. I felt a lot of resistance come up in me towards the whole process. While I appreciated the theoretical value of being ‘in the void’ so much as a way of connecting to truth, in my actual experience, I mostly found it...hmmmmm, how to put this...???? ...dull...lol...now, I’m very aware that Vipassana is a pathway of examining the self, so I guess we could draw some interesting conclusions then about my self-concept ;) In any case, my prevailing feeling was ‘where is the love in this process?’ It felt so...empty...I am able to go into the ‘void’ as I choose and certainly appreciate the break it offers me when I do – however, I don’t seem to resonate much with being in there hour after hour after hour...my feeling is that at the moment I am embodied here as a human and there are things to enjoy, love to share, people to interact with and so on...when I leave here and return to the void, that seems the time to really enjoy THAT reality, rather than being out there now, when I could be playing here instead. I hope that makes sense and that people realise I’m simply relating the truth of my personal experience here. I believe the paths to the Divine are many and the Truth is one. This kind of intense meditation is certainly a path that millions worldwide seem to embrace – it just doesn’t resonate that much for me – there are other paths and practices that speak to me much more – and I trust my feelings about that. My feelings are my guidance system. This kind of meditation also felt very ‘masculine’ to me – that love of the ‘void’. David Deida has a great way of explaining how people with masculine energy love to ‘die’ to everything and blank out into the void (picture the 'typical' scene of a guy coming home at the end of a working day, for example, sitting down and blankly flicking between TV channels). I felt that kind of energy in this process – a blanking out, shutting down…nothingness…empty…which can be great and yes of course at the ultimate level, that’s all there really is – nothing, everything, the grand illusion, the web of interconnectedness, the cosmic giggle…and yet...at this stage of my life, passing large amounts of time constantly in that kind of space doesn’t much appeal to me...
I’m back to my own daily meditations here at home and definitely sense how they have deepened as a result of my experience there...and I am also aware that this was my first experience of ‘dipping my toes’ into the deeeeeeeeeeeeeep waters of such intensive meditating and that perhaps in the future I will feel drawn to go there again...we shall see... ;)

On January the 10th I had:

1.5 quarts water
4tbsp chia gel w/ a big bowl of fruit salad: pineapple/plum/apple/kiwi/orange/mango/papaya/passion fruit/banana
1.5 quarts water
big slice of watermelon
salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, zucchini, onion, carrot, beetroot, corn, served with avo mushed with hummus and salt, in romaine wraps
1.5 quarts water
2 tbsp chia gel w/ a bowl of fruit salad: black plum/pear/banana/cherries
little bowl of salad with apple cider vinegar/olive oil dressing and a little piece of macadamia/flax bread
1 quart water


On January the 11th I had:

1 quart water
4tbsp of chia gel with bowl of fruit salad: banana/mango/passion fruit/kiwi/orange/plum/apple/pineapple/pear
1.5 cups rooibus tea
big slice of watermelon
bowl of salad – lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, carrot, beetroot, corn, onion, served with avocado mushed with hummus & salt, served with romaine leaves
1.5 quarts water
3 black plums and a big handful of cherries
1 pint green juice with lemon
1 quart water

I felt extremely blessed in terms of the food I had during this retreat. As a 100% raw foodist, one of the main things that has already held me back from going on Vipassana was the fact that the catering is mostly cooked veggie/vegan dishes. As I said though, this was a more ‘private’ setting and my food choices were willingly embraced. The chef supplied me with some delicious salads, mostly made with produce straight from their organic gardens and with MUCH love ;) I then added in some denser foods and it all worked out fine :) As you can see from the above food lists for that period, I ate salads quite a lot – this was really interesting for me, as I can’t even remember the last time I ate a salad prior to this week – I just don’t eat stuff like that anymore. I drink my veggies far more often than eating them. There was no juicer to use there though, so I was eating salads and found that they were DELICIOUS – it felt really refreshing to eat such simple fare, prepared with a great deal of love and care. Chia and avo with hummus were definitely my saviours though during this event. I made up a batch of chia gel with water, put it in the fridge and would then spoon some out into fruit salads, to help balance my blood sugars and keep me satiated between sessions. Then I would mush up avocado with some of the Alive Hummus and have an instant yummy dip or sauce for salads. I would DEFINITELY recommend travelling with those 3 items... I was also delighted to see on my return to email-world that Mike Adams over at NewsTarget had published my ‘Chia Cheat Sheet’ article to his site in my absence – NICE – masses more people are getting turned on to the magic of chia now :) You can see the article on NewsTarget HERE.
I also noticed that I drank HUGE amounts of water during the retreat…I wasn’t getting my usual juice and the absence of celery and cucumber juice especially makes a big difference, besides which, I think my throat just felt dried out so much from not speaking...I actually didn’t even speak much for the first few hours after Mr Monarch came to collect me...it felt too odd to do so...then as I started to speak...and smile...and LAUGH again, it was SO much fun – I was astounded by the sound of my own laugh – I had not heard it for so many days, it seemed huge and foreign...and I LOVED it :) It felt soooooooooooo good to laugh again and interact and enjoy...in fact, very rapidly, within just half an hour perhaps of leaving the retreat centre, it felt to me as if the whole thing had never even happened – or like it was all a dream – it was SO very far from the reality I was entering back into – watching the trees move past the car windows, holding hands with my beloved and gently, lovingly, joyfully laughing... ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Processed Food Feels So Wrong...

In the latest thrilling installment from 'The Kitchen's Alive with Living Enzymes', Maria von Chia meets some delightful young ladies for a tea party, during which they discover the joy of raw foods...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=i87l4pJ0Xcc

Here are the lyrics:

PROCESSED FOOD FEELS SO WRONG...

Processed food feels so wrong, just gimme
Rays, absorbed straight from the sun, for
Me, someone who eats raw food, moving
Far away from junk food gunge
So, I'm gonna just eat raw...
Lara Bars are good for snacks
Tea can be made in the sun...
Just keep away from toxic, cooked and processed…

…food feels so wrong, just gimme
Rays, absorbed straight from the sun, for
Me, someone who eats raw food, moving
Far away from junk food gunge
So, I'm gonna just eat raw...
Lara Bars are good for snacks
Tea can be made in the sun...
I'll just keep on eating RAWWWWWWWWWWWW :)


On September the 28th I had:

1 litre water
1 delicious persimmon
1.2 litres celery/cucumber/apple/baby greens juice
bowl of avo mashed with spirulina, lemon juice and Himalayan salt
500ml water
1 small papaya
300ml sesame seed milk sweetened with dates
1 apple
700ml celeriac/cucumber/apple/romaine juice
1 nori sheet and abt 1tbsp of sunflower seeds
500ml water
½ galia melon
handful of dried pineapple
500ml water

Mmmm, it’s been fun to edge back into the world of solids these past couple of days…today I’ve been eating small amounts, often and it feels really good to me…might continue this way for the next days…tomorrow I am movin’ on again…to Vancouver this time…
I’ve had a wonderful stay here in Alberta…the raw family I’ve been staying with are simply delightful – as I’m sure you can tell from the video above, with the two youngest members ;) I’ve been getting a LOT of kiddie time here and it’s been a real blessing…as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I avoided all contact with children for many years, as an obese person, due to fear of what they might say about my weight…it’s been a steep learning curve for me in recent years, therefore, starting to interact with younger humans…I enjoy it more and more though – we’ve been dancing with poi, playing basketball, hanging on monkey bars, making cookies and more…it’s been a very active week – well, for some of us at least…the mum of the family actually fell while we were out hiking a few days back and broke her shoulder…eeeeeeeeeek…that was a bit intense and she has been resting ever since, drinking mainly juice and sesame seed milk – for nutrients (esp. calcium) and quick healing…please do send her some loving healing vibes for speedy recovery ;)

Ok, so…adios Alberta…Vancouver, here I come…Matt and I speak at the Taste Of Health Expo this Sunday…hope to see you there ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Two Reminders...

Reminder Number 1:
This is the last week that the coupon code ‘chia’ is available for use in the new RawReform Store…use that code as you’re checking out with your purchases and you’ll get 10% off any order, PLUS a free 1lb bag of chia seeds if your total is over $150 – YUMMY :) The code stops working at the end of this month – Sunday the 30th - you can visit the store HERE. I know lots of you have been using this to enjoy big savings on what you’d normally pay for appliances, books and so on…I hope you’ve all been enjoying playing with your chia too…(and NOT as chia pets ;)
Here’s a super-easy chia recipe to get you started if you’ve just got some and are unsure what to do with it ;)

Chia Yumbowl
4-5 tbsps chia seeds
1-2 bananas, mashed with a fork
1-2 tbsp lucuma powder
small handful raisins
small handful pumpkin seeds
Pure water

Soak the chia seeds in plenty of pure water (remember it can absorb 9 times its volume in under 10 mins). Mash down the banana(s).
Mix together the chia, banana, lucuma, raisins and pumpkin seeds in a bowl and eat.
(If you want an even sweeter meal, use apple juice to soak the chia instead of water. Chia seed is very effective at slowing sugar absorption into the body, so you can eat quite a large amount of sugary foods in combination with it and not experience drastic sugar high/lows.)

On September the 27th I had:

1 litre water
800ml celery/lettuce/carrot/broccoli/green pepper juice
2 succulent, delectable peaches
800ml celery/cucumber/spinach/dandelion/lemon juice
½ galia melon
500ml water
1 tbsp green powder
INTENSE celery/cucumber/dandelion/spinach/chard/lemon juice
1½ tbsp hemp seeds
500ml water

Reminder Number 2:
This is also the final week for submitting your entries for the current RawReform Giveaway, to win a copy of the simply wonderful book ‘Anastasia’ by Vladimir Megre. To be in with a chance of winning your own copy of this incredible volume, just email us your answer to the following question:

Who inspires YOU?

I’m SO enjoying reading your stories about who inspires you on your journey. Thanks for all the entries so far… If you haven’t set in YOUR entry yet, just send us the name of who inspires YOU and THREE reasons why they inspire you and you’ll be automatically entered into the draw to win a copy of Anastasia...

Send your entries to angela@rawreform.com and the winner will be picked at random next month. We certainly look forward to hearing more of your stories :)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Thank you for the music... ;)

Yeeeeeeeeee-HAH :) Wow…it’s been fun the last few days – lots of travelling and talks…today we spoke at the Simply Raw Festival in Ottawa, Canada – SO lovely…thanks to all of you who humoured the sudden cold snap and came on down to enjoy – I REALLY liked this festie…such a nice crowd of people, a beautiful setting in a sweet little park and I LOVE that it’s free entry for all, meaning all kinds of people make their way along, who may not access it otherwise…it’s organised by the simply lovely Natasha and Mark of Simply Raw and I feel they are offering such an OUTSTANDING service to the world with this event – they pour so much love into it, so selflessly and also seem to enjoy it so very much – absolutely beautiful ;) Attached is a photo of myself and Mr Monarch having a giggle at our booth…;) (Sent in by the lovely Uljana - thanks ;). We also spoke to a charming, vibrant crowd over in Montreal a couple of nights ago, at an event catered by the luscious beings at Cru de Essence…this little crew of light beings have secured a fabulous venue overlooking the whole city, where they hold events, produce the most love-infused kombucha I’ve ever tasted and provide fabulous raw meals…WOW…yes, we’ve had a GREAT welcome to this area – we were even interviewed for a whole segment on the daily news a couple of days back, which a LOT of people seemed to tune in to ;) …thanks to you all who’ve been part of this journey…and so…tomorrow…ONWARDS…we ride west at dawn…yeeeeeeeeeee-HAH…

on September the 13th I had:

1 litre water
500ml green juice with lemon
cup of green smoothie with purslane
plate of raw pies
1.5 litres water
500ml kombucha
plate of savoury raw food – lasagne, nori rolls, salad etc, followed by raw cheesecake with banana ice cream
1 litre water

WOW, lots of you have been making GREAT use of the current coupon code for the new RawReform Store…the code ‘chia’ currently gets you 10% off any purchase PLUS a free 1lb bag of magical chia if you spend over $150 (people seem CRAZY for chia up here in Canada by the way – wonderful :). Many of you have been making great savings with this code already – like $40 off the price of a new Vitamix – NICE ;) Just to let you know, the code is valid until the end of this month, so you have a wee while yet to get your goods in ;) See the store HERE.

on September the 14th I had:

1.5 litres water
big piece of watermelon400ml kombucha
700ml green juice
plate of raw leftovers from meal last night – lasagne, crackers, seed cheese etc
2 litres water

I’m delighted to hear that so many of you have been enjoying the latest ‘Sound of Music’-inspired warblings from ‘Maria von Chia’ on YouTube…‘How Do You Have a Social Life with Raw Food’ has been viewed around 800 times in 2 days…thanks for all your lovely comments and emails :) It’s nice to know how common salad-dressing-smuggling is among this tribe ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Raw Events, Ferments and Pregnancies... (don't get too excited ;)

Are you a luscious lady, ripe for a touch of juicy detox??? Hmmmmm…??? If so, I’d highly recommend you shimmy on over to Ronora Lodge in Michigan for their second Women’s Juice Feast Detox Retreat of the year, starting September the 12th. Unfortunately, due to visa blahblahs I will not be present to facilitate this retreat as originally planned…the first JF retreat we held there back in spring-time was AMAZING though and I would be back there in an instant if it was possible…the fantastic news is that the modern-day mumma of raw foods herself, Victoria Boutenko has agreed to step in and head up the juicy joy team…yum :) Visit www.rawnora.com for more info ;)

On August the 30th I had:

1.5 litres water
700ml warm water with lemon
700ml orange/melon juice
600ml green ‘garden’ juice with carrot
3 plums
bowl of chia soaked in blended apples/persimmons/water, with dried figs, mulberries and dates
500ml water
6 fresh figs and a little box of jack fruit pieces
1 litre water

One of you marvellous popsicles – Michelle – wrote in with a couple of questions:

If you have the time, could you share the sauerkraut recipe you enjoy so often? I've made some cultured veggies in the past but wouldn't be able to eat those daily on a bet. And when if/you become pregnant, how will you change your diet if at all? If that is not something you've considered, please forgive me asking. Thank you so much! Michelle

Mmmmmm…yes…sauerkraut…actually, the one we’ve been eating of late is an unpasteurised one we’re buying from Bionova here in the UK…here’s a quick run-down of how I WOULD make it if I were to do it myself though:

Cut up a head of cabbage, really finely. Put with enough water to cover the cabbage, in a glass vessel in a dark-ish, warm-ish place, for about 4 days (keep checking). Make sure it’s covered. Add a little probiotic powder if you want to speed the process up…

As for being raw pregnant…well…my intention is that as and when I get pregnant and have kids, I would remain completely raw - as I am now - and would also raise them completely raw. I know too though that this seems to shift for many raw women when they actually GET
pregnant, so, I'll see what unfolds - I cannot imagine being anything other than raw though...we'll see...and I would feel very unpleasant about giving any child of mine anything to eat other than raw foods...they will have their own journey to explore as they grow up - I'd love to give them what I would consider the healthiest start I can...

on August the 31st I had:

1.5 litres water
600ml warm water with lemon
700ml watermelon/orange juice
600ml celery/cucumber/carrot/radish/fennel
romaine wraps with avo, fermented sunflower seed cheese, sprouts, cilantro (coriander), red pepper, tomatoes and pumpkin seeds
1 litre water
5 fresh figs
big juicy-smoothie hybrid of carrot/apple/cucumber juice blended with spinach and ginger
bowl of chia soaked in apple juice with mulberries
1 litre water

SOOOOO…the spectacular Festival of Life kicks off tomorrow in London…yeeeeeee-HAH…I love it…I speak tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon at 5.30pm and Matt speaks earlier – at 3pm – hope to see you there if you’re around ;) More info on the site http://www.festivaloflife.net…

One love,
Angela. xxx

ATTENTION: Show Almonds YOUR Love...

Ok, things with the almond pasteurisation are at point CRITICAL right now…I hope you get this message in time to add your name to the list of those protesting the move to pasteurise almonds in the US, which is due to go through this week… If this is smthg that you feel strongly about, PLEASE do visit either of these sites:

http://cornucopia.org/index.php/almonds/

or

http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/store2/arti.asp#raw_almonds

and add your voice to the escalating DIN of those vehemently opposed to this plan…it will be soooo appreciated – the time to act is truly NOW…

On August the 26th I had:

1.5 litres water
150ml grapefruit/orange juice
7 fresh figsbig handful of incredible ‘maribel’ plums
700ml green ‘garden’ juice with carrot
500ml water
salad of greens, sauerkraut, dulse, avo, sprouts, lemon juice, tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and love ;)
700ml greens/carrot juice with greener grasses powder
chia pie – yeeeee-HAHAhahahahahahahahaaa – LOVE it ;)
1 litre water

The chia pie was SO much fun to make and delicious to eat too… the base was a mixture of soaked hazelnuts (filberts) and apricots with lucuma powder, maca and cinnamon. The filling was chia soaked in blended bananas/dates/vanilla pod, decorated with goji berries – yummmmmmmmmm…I even gave my parents a slice each – I had NO idea what they’d make of the chia – and they loved it ;) COOL ;)

on August the 27th I had:

1.5 litres water
1 litre watermelon/orange juice
800ml greens/carrot juice
500ml water
small salad – greens, sprouts, avo, dulse, lemon juice, pumpkin seeds, sauerkraut
500ml water
bowl of sugar mania ;) chia seeds soaked in blended apples, swirled with various bits of dried fruits – chopped figs, dates, mulberries…hallelujah for chia’s power to off-set sugar absorption craziness ;)
1.5 litres water

Tomorrow – August the 28th – is the Pisces Full Moon for diving into transcendent, compassionate oneness…yummy…it also happens to coincide with a total lunar eclipse – watch out for THAT ;)
According to Lisa Dale Miller, this will be ‘a very spiritually demanding Full Moon’.
She goes on to say:
“This is the night to put into action all of your intentions and give your gifts in service to the enlightenment of all sentient beings.
On this Full Moon it is important to recognize the fundamental relationship between gratefulness and non-attachment. Use this Full Moon to look at what you cling to and your fear of letting it go. Do you spend most of your time grabbing and craving for more things; trying to fill your inner emptiness with a multitude of possessions? We come here with nothing and leave with nothing.
Pisces' bottom line is to learn to love unconditionally, and to work for the collective enlightenment of all sentient beings; no matter how hard it may be or how long it may take.”

To read Lisa’s whole piece on this full moon, see HERE.

Enjoy :)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Gratitude and Suspicious Stools...

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the amazing book cover designs we’ve received so far – WOW, you’re such a talented bunch :) We’re really impressed…what is also fascinating for us is that the same themes and colours keep coming through – the ones which we too have seen and spoken of since we started to plan the cover…the collective conscious is truly alive and pulsing ;)
If you have smthg you’d still love to submit to us, the deadline stands at midnight, Monday the 27th of August, PST…send entries to matt@rawspirit.org… Thanks :)

On August the 24th I had:

1.5 litres water
500ml warm water with lemon juice
700ml watermelon/orange juice
700ml green juice with carrot
romaine wraps with avo, dulse, sauerkraut, sprouts, lime juice, tomatoes and pumpkin seeds
1 litre water
bowl of chia seeds mixed with blended apples, swirled with mulberries, lucuma powder and cinnamon
500ml water
½ large papaya
500ml water

MMmmmmMmMmMMMmmmm…chia continues to light up my culinary world ;) loving it, loving it, loving it…for those of you in the UK/Europe who want to get your hands and taste buds wrapped around some of these yummy little pods, we still have a few 1lb (454g) bags available here – at £10 a bag – as far as I’m aware, it isn’t yet available anywhere in the UK, so email me at angela@rawreform.com if you want some and we can get them sent to you soon – first come, first served ;) For those of you elsewhere in the world, you can also order all the chia your heart desires – in 1lb and 5lb bags – from HERE…hurray :) We’re all going to be racing around like little road runners on chia energy soon ;)

On August the 25th I had:

1.5 litres water
700ml watermelon/orange juice
½ large papaya
10 fresh figs
handful of extraordinary ‘maribel’ miniature yellow plums
700ml green juice with carrot
big salad with greens, avo, arame seaweed, tomatoes, red pepper, cilantro, sauerkraut and sprouts
500ml water
bowl of banana/persimmon/mulberry ice cream with little rolled balls of pumpkin seed/dried apricot/lucuma powder mixture…mmmmmm ;)
500ml rooibos tea
500ml water

Some Raw Food Reflections...
Mother Nature provides us with raw food, direct from the earth…all the other land-dwelling animals eat what they like/thrive on, then defecate back onto the land the remains, including seeds and so on, to help further the proliferation of species. What do most humans do, in comparison? Well…we take that food from the earth, we process it, steam it, grind it, ‘refine’ it, distill it, boil it, bake it, bottle it, package it and sell it to each other. Humans eat this stuff…THEN we flush our bizarre feces full of Franken-food chemicals and sludge into the ocean, as if we’re trying to hide the suspicious packages of evidence from Mother Earth, who is perhaps wondering where all the nutrients from the land went and what this peculiar species is up to… :O ??? LOL…really…it is totally absurd when you look at it that way…what ARE we doing…? We are given all that we truly thrive on, direct from this land, this planet…and yet we complicate things in the most farcical manner to astonishing levels…it seems if you ask most people if they would prefer to live a simpler life, they give an emphatic ‘YES’ and yet, when it comes to eating simpler FOOD, from a simpler food supply chain…well, that’s a different matter…most of our societies simply aren’t embracing of that model yet…people aren’t accustomed to it…they don’t know where to begin…as ironic as it is, pre-packaged ‘fast-foods’ seem to appeal to most as simpler than eating food straight from the Earth…they can just grab a sandwich at a deli and get on with things…this may seem ‘simpler’ and yet, it belies the complications and processes that have gone into the creation of that sandwich…the processing of the wheat, the baking of bread, the resource-intensive raising and slaughtering of the animals that were made into that meat, the miles that lettuce travelled to get to the deli, the toxins that were released into the atmosphere from the production of that plastic sandwich box…is this really simplicity…??? Yet most of our societies are not yet well set-up to help people reach out easily for raw food alternatives…I am excited to think of how things will look perhaps 20 years from now, when delicious raw food eateries abound in all places and it DOES seem easy and convenient for people to reach out and eat truly simple foods…or gourmet raw foods even, for that matter…throw in a few compost toilets for good measure, so that we give back to the EARTH instead of into the oceans and wow…we might be somewhere near looking not so entirely insane… ;)
(Please note – the current situation with raw almonds in California is, for me, a clear case of this ‘insanity’ run wild – if you haven’t heard the latest, this looks set to be the last week in which truly raw almonds may be produced in the US…the move to pasteurize all almonds is due to go through on September the 1st…eeeeeeek…hmmm…what to do…??? See http://www.cornucopia.org/ for action that can taken TODAY to help show vehement disapproval of this plan…)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Cover Girl...

WOW…I’m on the front cover of ‘First for Women’ magazine in the US this month, which has a reported readership of over 2 million women – yeeeeee-HAH – raw food weight loss is going mainstream ;)…This picture is the cover shot…eeeeeeek…exciting…and yet…does that really look like ME…??? …it seems so peculiar to me…some of you may recall my musings on the lengthy photo shoot for this mag cover a couple of months back – quite extraordinary the amount of time and energy that is poured into creating one shot like this…and it's so interesting to me that I seem to end up looking as the magazine would like me to come across... ;) hmmmmm, well, it's all good seed-spreading...let’s see what unfolds as more people read about a NATURAL way of healing…I haven’t seen inside the mag yet – so, if you see a copy, please let me know how it looks...I believe First for Women is widely available in book stores/grocery stores etc... ;)

On August the 14th I had:

1.5 litres water
200ml rejuvelac
150ml grapefruit juice
700ml ‘garden’ juice
flesh of one ‘personal’/mini watermelon
500ml water
big salad with greens, sprouts, tomatoes, red pepper, dulse, flax/tomato dressing
1 litre water
box of strawberries
250ml rooibos tea
bowl of blended banana/mulberries/hemp seed with whole pumpkin seeds
3 guava
500ml water
400ml rooibos tea

The weather here on the south coast of England has been phenomenal the last couple of days – extremely strong winds, rain, the sea dashing against the shore…in the town where we’re staying, the sea was separated some decades back from the sheer chalk cliffs that mark the end of this island, with a wide walkway of concrete at the base of the cliffs…it occurred to me while watching the relentless thrashings of the sea in the wind the last couple of days, that it was as if the sea was enraged at no longer being able to kiss the cliffs and had conspired with the wind to beat its way passionately northwards to once again embrace its etsranged lover…

on August the 15th I had:

1.5 litres water
400ml rooibos tea
250ml rejuvelac
200ml orange/grapefruit juice
800ml cucumber/celery/apple/ginger juice
½ a phenomenal large papaya
avo/banana blend with lucuma, maca, mulberries and pumpkin seeds
1 litre water
spinach wraps with avo/dulse/sprouts/tomatoes
500ml water
slice of watermelon
500ml water

I speak tonight on Raw Summit – yeeeeee-HAH ;) Hope you enjoyed Matt’s talk last night…wow, he really went into some stuff…misery, social issues, eating issues, colonics, cracao, sex… ;) There’s no stopping the honesty with this guy… ;) If you didn’t hear it, you can catch it HERE for free still, until mine starts at 8pm EST tonight…ENJOY ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

In Gratitude and Bliss...

WOW…
Thank you SO much for ALL the incredible, beautiful, loving messages myself and Matt have received over the last couple of days – we really appreciate all the amazing supportive yumminess you send in our direction and beam it all straight backatcha too ;) We feel extremely blessed…thank you…
I had SUCH a lovely birthday yesterday…Matt and some of the UK raw lovelies had arranged a surprise raw potluck in a park…wow ;) I didn’t know WHERE we were going – we were just wandering up through a park as far as I knew – then suddenly I saw someone waving at us from across the green and realised it was one of my soul sistas, who I hadn’t seen in over a year, who shares the same birthday as me and who I thought I wouldn’t get to see on our day of celebration – WOW – I ran across the grass to meet her and it all unfolded into a magical afternoon of raw picnic-ing with wonderful friends in the sun, as more and more people arrived to join in the fun :) I was SO happy – it was a wonderful treat…

On August the 10th (my birthday ;) I had:

1.2 litres water
big glass of rejuvelac
tiny glass of orange juice
700ml celery/cucumber/apple/ginger juice
box of raspberries
double shot of wheatgrass with ginger, apple and lime
raw chocs
1 litre water
AMAZING bits of loved-up yummies at raw potluck – freshly foraged berries, raw hummus, pesto, salads, energy balls, phenomenal raw pizza and berry cheesecake from Shell and outstanding birthday love cake from Rawlicious – WOW :)
1 litre water
lamb’s quarters with avo, tomatoes, sprouts
1 litre water

‘LouLou’ left a comment on here recently asking where to get Chia seeds from in the UK – I’m going to post the reply here too, for all to see ;)

“Hi Loulou, thanks for your message. As it happens, we have a limited supply of 1lb (454g) bags of chia seeds here in the UK. They are £10 a bag, plus postage. Email angela@rawreform.com if you'd like to order some ;) xxx”

Of course, for those of you in North America/the rest of the world, you can order them from the same link given before, if it pleases you… ;) See HERE...

On August the 11th I had:

1.5 litres water
big glass of rejuvelac
slice of watermelon
a few organic apricots
500ml water
bowl of ground chia seeds mixed soaked in blended pear/lime juice/ginger, with mulberries swirled in for chewing…
1 litre water
bits of raw chocolate, amazing nori wraps stuffed with superfood concoctions, spirulina cracker-biscuits and masterful raw cake…all made by Kate Wood – wow :) we are so blessed...
1 litre water

Tomorrow (Sunday August the 12th), is the new moon in LEO – here is some of the commentary on this powerful day from master astrologer Lisa Dale Miller:

“…this is the New Moon to uncover your own gift and then let it blossom and evolve as you give it to the world at large.
If you have had some creative project simmering on the back burner for the last couple of years, this is a powerful time to take it out, dust it off and see if it still has juice for you. If so, start to work with it again during this New Moon cycle.
...this is the perfect New Moon to look deeply at how much of what you say and do, is done to appease an inner need for attention and recognition of specialness, rather than a selfless, heartfelt, compassionate desire to heal.
True self-esteem is built by developing a calm center from which all decisions are made and all actions are undertaken. A real leader feels a tremendous responsibility to share their talent in an effort to make life better for everyone around us. Use this New Moon to look at how much of your time you share your talents to help others in need.
This is the New Moon for romance. When it comes to love, Leo loves romance; full-blown choreographed romance…if you are just not getting enough attention from your partner, or you are lonely and looking for love, this is the New Moon to create a powerful ritual to invoke and invite romance into your life.”

AAAAUUUWWWWWWWW – thanks Lisa ;) sounds divine – to read her whole article, click HERE…

ENJOY ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Cacao at the Summit...

Another Public Service Reminder ;)

Raw Summit, the inspiring free series of teleconference calls with 12 of the world’s leading authorities on raw foods, kicks off TONIGHT with yesterday’s birthday boy, David Wolfe…

THOUSANDS of people from all over the world are already signed up – don’t miss out ;) If you haven’t signed up for the series yet, you can click HERE to see the impressive schedule for the next couple of weeks and get yourself on the list…

You can listen to the whole series for FREE and upgrade packages with lots of bonuses are available too… Visit the link that is emailed to you when you sign up to get the dial-in info for each call…
I speak on August the 16th – hope you can make it along for the call ;)

On August the 7th I had:

1.2 litres water
300ml rejuvelac
750ml ‘garden’ juice
big yummy salad – greens, dulse, avo, sprouts, chives, watercress, lemon juice, sauerkraut, with fresh homemade flax crackers
handful of goji berries with pine nuts
500ml peppermint tea
400ml water
600ml celery/cucumber/carrot/ginger juice
bowl of chia seeds soaked in blended pear/lime juice/ginger mixture, with sultanas, maca, lucuma and pumpkin seeds stirred in…WOW…
raw ‘conscious chocolate’ – yummmmm…
1 litre water

So, as the modern-day cacao-king kicks off the Raw Summit tonight, I'd like to, rather 'synchronistically' muse on the subject of raw chocolate...Ok, so I was away from the UK for about a year before coming back now…I was advised beforehand that it had all gone rather ‘cacao-crazy’ in the raw food movement here and well, yep, judging by the number of new raw chocolate bars I see all over the place here in the shops, it seems to me it is indeed all pretty chocolate-covered here now ;) There are many choices for people – and I can see it's a useful way of potentially opening up larger and larger numbers of people to raw foods in GENERAL – get them ‘hooked’ into raw with chocolate instead of the proverbial ‘carrot’ and THEN get them onto the real carrots and other goodies…in a nation of committed chocolate-lovers, it seems like a winning strategy ;)
BTW, it seems some of you could not find access to the link to the chia seeds yesterday…so here it is again in full, just in case:

http://www.rawveganbooks.com/product_info.php?ref=6&products_id=1001333&affiliate_banner_id=1

Enjoy ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx

The ch-ch-ch-CHIA connection...

Alright, it’s time to go into it… CHIA… my new favourite toy…many of you have been noticing that in recent weeks, this magical little seed has been popping up regularly in my daily intake… I’ve been experimenting and can say without hesitation that this is my favourite new raw FOOD of the moment…yes, for all you North American readers who are reading this and reminiscing about ‘chia pets’, apparently they are indeed the same thing…sorry ;) All those little bundles of nutrition you all could have been ingesting for years were instead being used ornamentally…tee-hee ;)
Chia is an INCREDIBLE power-house food…nutritionally ‘off-the-charts’ in so many regards – take a look at this for example:

The seeds have 2 times the protein of any other seed or grain,
5 times the calcium of milk, plus boron which is trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones,
2 times the amount of potassium as bananas,
3 times the reported antioxidant strength of blueberries
3 times more iron than spinach
copious amounts of omega 3 and omega 6 which are essential fatty acids...

Chia seed was used by the Mayan and Aztec cultures as mega-energy food, especially for their running messengers…it gives an incredibly ‘sustaining’ shot of energy and I have noticed for myself that it seems to have ‘running energy’ on it as a food – I have been experimenting these last weeks and would see that if I ate chia, then went running later that day, my endurance and ability to run further was enormous…pretty impressive stuff…

on August the 5th I had:

1.5 litres water
300ml orange/grapefruit juice
1 litre green juice with greener grasses
bowl of chia and flax seeds soaked in apple juice with banana, pumpkin seeds, mushed cacao balls, maca
1 litre water
1 apple with 1 small avo and a handful of dulse
fresh figs with pieces of jack fruit
slice of watermelon
1 litre water

Besides the amazing nutritional aspect of chia, it also TASTES great, looks cute (like tiny dinosaur eggs) and is ready really quickly. You soak the seeds in water, as you would flax, before eating and they very radiply absorb a huge amount of water. They're marketed as a 'dieter's dream food', as they bulk out meals and fill you up, yet burn off very easily and steadily ;). They are said to take in up to 9 times their volume in water, in less than 10 minutes…they then work like an incredible digestive broom, sweeping through your intestinal tract, helping to dislodge and shimmy out any old lurking nonsense…
I was first introduced to chia by a lovely friend in Connecticut. She had soaked some in almond milk and made it into a kind of ‘raw rice pudding’ – she was falling in love with chia and shared it with me – it wasn’t until recently though that I got hold of a bag of it myself and really got stuck in ;) Now I’m eating it almost every other day it seems…I love it…it’s SO good just soaked in water, by itself, or I like soaking it in freshly squeezed apple juice too, then stirring in some lucuma powder and other yummies…another chia property I appreciate is that it reduces the impact of sugars on the system if eaten together – so I can combine it with super-sweet tastes like apple juice and not get super-spiked – yeeeee-HAH ;)
So, now’s your chance to move from playing with your food to eating it – you can read more about chia and order some for yourself HERE – at $8 a pound, it’s very reasonably priced and will bulk up to many times that size – great for quick, easy, yummy food for kids or quick snacks ;)

on August the 6th I had:

1.5 litres water
1 litre green juice with lemon
small piece of orange melon
big bountiful amazing greens salad – lettuce, spinach, alfalfa/broccoli/fenugreek sprouts, lamb’s lettuce, rocket (arugula), lemon juice, dulse, avocado, dulse flakes, tomatoes with home-made flax crackers
500ml water
½ a large papaya
½ box of cherries
samples of totalrawfood.com chocolate bars – yummm ;)
1 litre water

THANKS to all of you who rocked up and sent in questions for the FREE Teleconference I held last night with Chef Dan Hoyt of Quintessence in New York…if you missed the call and would love to hear the playback, it is available for FREE HERE...enjoy ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx