What Do YOU Love Most About...

I’m VERY excited to announce a new feature here called:

‘What do you love most about...?’

The raw food movement is expanding so rapidly that I find myself often a-gasp with glee at new additions to the raw scene – new websites, restaurants, stories, books, foods, blogs, films, festivals...this glorious family is just so magnificently abundant with creativity and yummy flow...
In honour of all this, I’ve decided to create a new feature on this blog to celebrate all things raw-ly wonderful :)
There are SO many different raw resources out there these days and even if you don’t agree with EVERYTHING about some raw-related person, place or product, there is nearly always SOMETHING about what they offer, which you can pinpoint that resonates for you...that’s what we wanna know about ;) Let’s keep on bigging up the love and gratitude in this amazing network of people who are bringing forth so much light for the planet...
Here’s how it works...

*I’ll post here what I love most about the chosen raw-tastic person, place, object or similar...
*YOU are welcomed to post a comment to this blog letting everyone know what YOU love most about this raw-markable offering to the world...
*We keep on collectively spreading the love and appreciation :)

You might share about your favourite experience with that person/place/thing, your impression of their impact on the world, what you most appreciate about their contribution to spreading the raw message and so on.
If you’re not familiar with the person/place/thing in question, you could always check the link to their site and see if you’d like to share anything about your first impression of what they’re offering...
You can share as much or little as you like – all comments offered with love are welcomed ;)
In this spirit of love and thanks, it seems appropriate to start off this new feature by bigging up the majesty of: Café GRATITUDE :)

What I love most about Café Gratitude is...

The coconut crème pie. :O RIDICULOUSLY, outrageously, absurdly good...

Now, over to you – what do YOU love best abt Café Gratitude...?
(Don’t worry if you’re not sure yet how to post a blog comment – detailed instructions can be found below... ;)

on July the 6th I had:

1 quart water
mug of ‘pleasure’ tea
2.5 cups green juice: cucumber, celery, sunflower greens, tat soi, mixed sprouts, fennel, ginger, greens from the garden
2 cups ‘energy soup’ with a red bell pepper and a couple of flax crackers. Followed by a little bowl of blended almonds/lucuma/maca/cinnamon/water
mug of ‘pleasure’ tea
3 cups water
2 cups ‘energy soup’ with a couple of flax crackers. Followed by a little bowl of blended almonds/lucuma/maca/cinnamon/water
3 cups water

How to Post a Blog Comment in 5 Easy Steps...

1. If you’re reading this message in an email, first of all, go to the RawReform blog page HERE (you can also just click on the title of the blog post at the top of the email, OR the link that says ‘Blog: http://rawreform.blogspot.com’ at the very end of the email.)
2. Then scroll to the end of the post that you want to leave a comment on.
3. You’ll see a little comment count, written in green, at the end of the post. It might say ‘0 COMMENTS’ or more. Click on that link. This takes you to a new page where you can fill in YOUR yummy comment. You can submit it either anonymously, using your name/URL, using your Blogger/Gmail ID or using smthg called ‘OpenID’ – you choose ;)
4. Press the ‘Publish Your Comment’ button.
5. That’s it – simple ;) Comments are later posted to the blog and everyone hopefully gets to enjoy your delicious musings... ;)

on July the 7th I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass
2 cups ‘energy soup’ with a couple of flax crackers. Followed by a little bowl of blended almonds/lucuma/maca/cinnamon/water
mug of ‘pleasure’ tea
3 cups water
2 cups ‘energy soup’ with a couple of flax crackers. Followed by a little bowl of blended almonds/lucuma/maca/cinnamon/water
mug of ‘pleasure’ tea
1.5 cups green juice
3 cups water

WOW. I had an amazing detox release experience this afternoon :) An ‘ancient’ fat cyst on my back suddenly opened and released its contents. :O Now, once again, this may all be TMI for some people – if so, please feel free to skip this section ;)
I believe this occurred as a result of the very simple, very ‘greeeeeeen’/alkalising way I’m eating at the moment – as you can see from my daily food logs, it’s pretty much green juices and green/fat energy soups going into my system at the moment. As a result, my body has more space/energy to divert into ‘cleaning house’ and seems to be getting to it ;) I suddenly felt an itch on my back this afternoon, went to investigate and found I’d scratched a cyst open. It emptied out a whole little sack of fatty white waste – rather like a little lump of lard ;) LOL...I found myself simultaneously revolted and enthralled ;)
Those of you who have heard me give a raw food talk before may have heard me speaking about the random benign fat cysts that are still on my scalp. There are at least 5 of them sitting there and I’m always curious to see when they might also be released...well, let’s see if there’s any movement up there too in the coming days/weeks... ;)

One love,
Angelaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

A Time of Love...

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the streets, snow is glistening…well, not here in Australia actually…yet with some of you though I hope… ;) WOW…what a magical time this is…Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas and all sorts of other yum-fests and reflections occurring worldwide simultaneously and under the loving gaze of the Full Moon in Cancer…how blessed we are :) Wherever you are and however you may be enjoying this ‘Holiday’ period, I send you bountiful wishes of joy, upliftment and peaceful unity…
Here’s a little of what astrologer Lisa Dale Miller shares about this full moon:
http://astrowisdom.com/thisfullmoon.htm

“This is the Full Moon to swim in the unbounded ocean of love that connects us with the rhythm of life and all other sentient beings.
This is that once a year when the Full Moon is posited in the astrological sign it rules, making the force of love and trust so abundant that the heart just naturally opens.
Make this a “get real and get committed” Full Moon: a Moon for setting an intention to love yourself and others even through the hard times. Cancer rules emotional healing of all kinds and this is the Full Moon to make an effort to bring love back to all your relationships; especially between family members.
This is the Full Moon to stop and really appreciate our loved ones: to fully embrace them, look deeply into their eyes and let our hearts soar in the recognition of oneness. It is also a great Full Moon to do something wonderful for the primary caregiver in your family.
Cancer’s greatest gift is the consideration of the needs of others over our own needs. To help others and relieve suffering is strengthening for everyone: to disregard others, only weakens oneself.”

Mmmmm…what a fitting end to the major moon cycles of this year :) To check out Lisa’s full account, see HERE.

On December the 23rd I had:

1 pint water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon/radish/celery/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint cucumber/apple/mizuna/red chicory/celery/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint beetroot/cucumber/apple/ginger juice (YUMMMMMMMM ;)
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint 1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/celery/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

Here’s a quick question that came in a couple of days ago as a blog comment:

“When you make a green juice, Do you put it in a Vitamix and then nut milk bag? Why do people do this? It seems like the hard way to me...Please help!”
Laura

Hmmmmm…thanks for the Q, Laura…my current answer is that I do not use a Vitamix to make juice. We use a twin gear juicer – examples of which you can see HERE. When I was Juice Feasting this time last year, I did often use the Vitamix/nut milk bag combo however, as I didn’t have a good juicer on hand at that time in Costa Rica and actually also found it a lot easier and faster to use the blender anyway. Using the blender is MUCH faster in comparison to a quality, twin gear juicer – both in terms of food prep time (no need to cut veggies small to fit in juicer hole), machine use time and time spent cleaning afterwards. The downside is that using the blender/nut milk method leaves you with a less high-quality juice, which oxides faster and has often been mixed with a little water. HOWEVER, many people are still happy to choose the blender option, when the time/cleaning benefits are considered. Now, in comparison to the speed of using, for example a Breville Juice Fountain of course, the blender/nut-milk bag method may seem clumsy and pointless. The amount of liquid you actually get out of the produce when using something like a Juice Fountain though is less than using a twin gear OR the blender method, if you’re thoroughly squeezing the contents of the nut milk bag that is ;) Personally, I prefer to always use a nut milk bag to double-strain juice anyway, even if it’s from a twin gear, as there is always SOME pulp left in the juice and I want it as obstruction-free as possible… Hope that all made some sense – there are advantages and pitfalls to all the methods described – it just depends what suits your lifestyle and choices best… ;)

On December the 24th I had:

1 pint water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon/radish/celery/cucumber/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon/radish/celery/cucumber/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint tatsoi/bok choy/cilantro/cucumber/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint tatsoi/bok choy/cilantro/cucumber/apple/orange juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

So, today has been the 7th and final day of my Psyllium-Bentonite Cleanse. It’s been a great experience overall. I’ve released a LOT of old dark nasty stuff from my intestines and my energy has been pretty good throughout. Compared to my energy levels when I first did a cleanse like this, abt 4 years ago, my energy levels this time were superb ;) Back then I was almost incapacitated – I spent most of the week in bed. I’d only been raw for about a year at that point – and abt 70% raw, not fully raw like I am now, PLUS, I’d never done any colon cleansing at that point, so it was all very new to me. This time round I’ve been very functional in comparison ;)
I’m definitely excited to get back to eating solids tomorrow though and not be doing full-on enemas twice a day ;) Very different to the end of my Juice Feast back in February – as you may recall, I was not at all excited to get back to solid foods back then. Watermelons are just looking so appealing to me to EAT now though :) Tomorrow is Christmas Day here and I intend to celebrate my Christmas gift to myself of a freshly cleaned out system by gently mono-mealing on melon :) YUMMMMMMMMMM… Would I do a cleanse like this again? Yep...not for a good few years again though, if at all - it's a pretty hardcore process...

If YOU want to enjoy a cleanse soon, after the usual ravages of this season, do take a look at what Steve at Raw Vegan Radio is up to – he’s hosting the ‘Biggest Group Cleanse, EVER’, starting on January the 7th for 21 days, with tons of online support through e-books, podcasts, webinars and more…you can see all about it HERE. (Worth taking a look, if only to see Steve’s before and after pics – WOW – I’ve never seen his 'before' shot before – pretty impressive transformation… :)

Blissful Holidays to All :)
Angela. xxx

Raw For LIFE :)

Ok, remember how I said there seem to be so many interesting films around at the moment? Well, here’s another one that I’m really excited about…RAW FOR LIFE :) Have you seen anything abt it yet? We have a copy winging its way to us here in OZ, so I haven’t seen it yet myself – I am VERY excited to though, when it arrives. The trailer alone is wonderful :) (You can see that HERE). It is a beautifully put together ‘A-Z encyclopedia of raw foods’, in a two-disc DVD set. It features various yumsters talking about the what/why/how of raw life…including the good Drs. Cousens, Wolfe, Bisci, Clement and Fuhrman, Rev. Beckwith, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Spurlock, Mike Adams, Anthony Robbins, Victoria Boutenko and…ME, holding up the girly side of things ;) From the trailer, the editing seems slick, the message is clear, the cover and artwork are just gorgeous and I think this is going to be an incredible gift to share with loved ones this Holiday Season…This set has been created by Mark Perlmutter’s team in California – the people bringing ‘Raw for 30 Days’ to the big screen next year – which is going to be SUCH a momentous time for spreading the raw message…in the meantime, this Raw For Life DVD set is already available for us all to get our hands on and share. The Raw For Life team are encouraging people everywhere to gather together groups of friends for a raw party and show the DVD. Seems like a marvellous way to share some healthy fun this Holiday season to me…hope my copy arrives soon ;) If you’d like to grab a copy for yourself, we have the set in the RawReform Store HERE.

On December the 17th I had:

1 quart water
slice of watermelon
2 cups water
avocado mushed with sliced garlic, sprouts, alive hummus, diced tomatoes and Himalayan salt, stuffed in nori rolls
2 cups water
2 cups cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
1 papaya
3 cups green smoothie: mango/banana/romaine/tatsoi/parsley
2 cups water

Ooo, here’s an exciting opportunity for some luscious lovely out there, from Sedona:

“Sedona's Café Raw Bliss and Chocolates is looking for a new member to add to their team. It is a wonderful Raw restaurant that has been open now almost 2 years and the opportunities to expand have created a need for more assistance. We are looking for a wonderful person who is passionate about being in the kitchen...to create, and virtually run all aspects of that part of the show...a beautiful opportunity for the right person. Contact Jim Bottarini at jim@chocolatesuperfoods.com”

Wow…hope to see you there next year if YOU turn out to be that ‘right person’…or do pass the info on to anyone you think might love a bit of it... ;)

on December the 18th I had:

1 quart water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 cup water
1 pint cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint cucumber/romaine/kale/all-kinds-of-greens/tatsoi/carrots/apple/ginger juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

So…today was the first day of my 7-Day psyllium-bentonite cleanse. It’s been good. My energy is a little lower than usual and there have been a number of detox symptoms to breathe through, yet overall, all is well. Symptoms = my nose poured for most of the day, I had a very slight headache on-and-off at times and mainly I just felt slow and tired. There’s been a little bit of hunger too, as my stomach adjusted to not having food. The psyllium really helps with not feeling hungry though, as it is such a bulking agent… Incidentally, the 'Cleansing Drink' routine is the same thing each time, repeated 5 times a day - hence I didn't write out all the ingredients for every repetition of the day...I find it quite bizarre to drink apple cider vinegar…I’ve never used it in a cleanse before, yet it’s one of the things recommended in Jensen’s book…I’ve been using ACV as a cleaner and ant deterrent in our house the last few weeks, so it seems kind of odd to now be drinking it too… ;) Jensen also recommends many supplements to take inbetween the ‘Cleansing Drinks’ – I decided to replace those with fresh veggies juices…I had 2 quarts (abt 2 litres) of juice in total today and feel fine – that’s abt half what I was drinking this time last year while Juice Feasting…as I said though, the psyllium makes a huge difference in terms of feeling satiated…

All blessings,
Angela. xxx