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

on February the 16th I had:

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...mmmmmmmmm
2. 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 take 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

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 discovered so far...

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...as I mentioned before, I was here years ago and worked my way round the whole country, on organic farms with WWOOF (http://www.wwoof.org), hence I KNOW they are out there ;)
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 night will be put into an online auction – ooo lalalalalalaaaa – so, if you’re not able to attend the actual event, maybe keep an eye on their site afterwards, if there’s smthg you were interested in ;) Here’s the link to see the list:
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. Even if one replaces those with agave syrup or raw honey, the glycemic content is very high. What MOSTLY concerns me abt the MC however is that it seems to be very low in nutrients - it is basically just sugars and spice.
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 yours, but I would certainly recommend you check out Juice Feasting in preference to living on spicy sugar-water for a week or more ;) You can see my booklet all about Juice Feasting HERE. If you want to read more abt the Master Cleanser, Stanley Burroughs' book is HERE and I believe curezone.com has a lot of good info on it ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

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 Success’ on e-book and to be in with a chance of winning, just email in your A to the following Q:

If you could speak to any of the Raw Food Pioneers of by-gone days and ask them a single question, whom would you connect to and what would you ask them?

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

Monarch Musings, Beans 'n Cheese...

Oooooooo, look what you started – Mr Monarch had such a jolly time with y’all while he was blogging here that he’s been n’ gone’ n’ started his OWN blog ;) LOL...beautiful :) I think it’s marvellous and am very excited to see what he shares there... If you’d like to visit, or sign up to get his posts emailed to you whenever he writes, just follow the link below – (N.B. the email subscription is a 2-STAGE process – be sure to click the link in the email that is sent to you, to verify and start receiving the Monarch Musings… ;)

http://mattmonarch.blogspot.com

on January the 16th I had:

1 quart water
1 papaya with lime juice, 1 mango
1 pint celery/cucumber/zucchini/lettuce/fennel/lemon juice
bowl of avo mushed with finely chopped garlic and cilantro, stirred in with mixed sprouts, lime juice & salt, served with cucumber sticks and romaine leaves
2 cups water
3 cups straight zucchini juice – yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
bowl of chia gel mixed up with a diced mango and diced dried figs
3 cups water

Time for a little TALK update again for those currently down under or headed this way...we are speaking at Alive Organics in Perth a week from today – January the 23rd from 7pm, then we speak in Adelaide at the Hillcrest Community Centre on January the 26th, from 2pm. You can see full details on Matt’s events page HERE: http://www.rawspirit.org/events.php.
We are also scheduled to move on down to New Zealand and speak in Auckland on February the 16th, then Tauranga on February the 23rd – more details to follow ;)


On January the 17th I had:

1 quart water
big handful of BLUEBERRIES – YummMmMmmmmmmmmm
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
1 pint HARDCORE green juice – red chicory leaves/’tree spinach’/dandelion/unidentified-greens/celery/cucumber/ginger/lemon
bowl of avo mushed with finely chopped garlic and cilantro, stirred in with mixed sprouts & salt, served with cucumber sticks and sunflower greens
1 quart water
3 cups zucchini/orange/ginger juice
bowl of ‘beans ‘n cheese’ :O – dried figs soaked in zucchini juice, blended with tahini and egg fruit, with pieces of egg fruit swirled in...
3 cups water

Ok...that last meal of the day today warrants further discussion...it is absolutely amazing ;) It SMELLS and TASTES exactly like refried beans with cheese...it even LOOKS like it – see photographic evidence to the right... WHO would have predicted THAT one...??? This is the kind of dish I would love to serve to some random person as an experiment, to see if they could guess the ingredients...I suspect there may not be a single person in fact who could guess the ingredients – even raw food chefs... ;) It contains just 4 simple ingredients: dried figs soaked in zucchini juice, tahini, egg fruit. Therein lies the unfortunate aspect of this recipe of course – egg fruit (canistel) is hardly the most widely available fruit…it’s pretty abundant here and in Florida though – maybe reason enough to plan a trip…??? ;) If you DO try this mixture out, we’d LOVE to hear your experience - especially if some unsuspecting volunteer manages to actually guess the ingredients... ;)
(BTW - according to the 'Doctrine of Signatures', it seems this meal would be good for both the male and female reproductive organs, amongst other things. If you haven't heard of the 'Doctrine', you're in for a fun treat - check out THIS LINK sent in recently by reader Sally ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx