The Raw Mom Summit is BACK :)

I'm excited to say that The Raw Mom Summit is BACK :) If you didn't get a chance to enjoy this fabulous series of free talks earlier this year, then tune in from this Wednesday, Dec 9th, 'cos the raw mama is back in the house ;)
There are some truly outstanding interviews in this collection - I think I've listened to nearly all of them now, while we travelled our way around the USA this summer - I recall finding Daniel Vitalis's interview to be excellent, as were the talks with Jean Liedloff, Elena Tonetti, Katrina Rainoshek, Shazzie, Kate Magic and many other yummy mummies and magical men :) There's actually even an interview with me in there (once again, I am NOT a mother yet, nor am I pregnant or intending to become a parent anytime very soon - I was talking about emotions and food in this interview ;) There are apparently some NEW interviews being added into this free re-run too - exciting :) You can check out ALL the details and sign up to listen in to this wonderful re-run HERE - enjoy...

on December the 4th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
mug of herbal tea
2 Tbsp bee pollen
3 cups greeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, spinach, lemon, ginger
30 chlorella tablets
bowl of energy soup with Lydia's luna nori crackers on the side, followed by an apple
1 quart water
mug of herbal tea
2 cups water

I'm delighted to say that the ever-lovely Katrina Blair of Turtle Lake Refuge is on a mini-tour right now, giving wild food walks/talks all over the west...we were due to go on a walk here in Ojai, California today - it has been postponed until 2pm tomorrow (Monday) though, so perhaps we'll see you there if you're in the area? Katrina is also leading a raw food hike/talk on Dec 9th at the Go Raw Cafe in Las Vegas from 4pm, then on Dec 10th at 'Health Nut' in St. George, Utah. You can contact Katrina on 505-709-0015 if you want more info. If you're not familiar with Katrina's work, she is a major wild foodie/forager, wildlife refuge caretaker, singer and all-round bundle of raw yumminess - enjoy :)))

on December the 5th I loved:

1 quart water
mug of herbal tea
3 cups greeeeeeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, Jerusalem artichoke, spinach, parsley, endive, ginger, lemon
2 tbsp bee pollen, 20 chlorella tablets, 2 tbsp goji powder
bowl of energy soup with Noniland coconut crisps on the side, followed by an apple and new raw bar samples (bluh)
mug of peppermint tea
3 cups water
mug of herbal tea
3 tbsps bee pollen
2 cups water


on December the 6th I loved:

1 quart water
mug of herbal tea
amazing fresh fruit at the Ojai Farmer’s Market: satsuma, strawberries, baby persimmons
3 cups INTENSE, dense greeeen juice with farm-fresh veggies straight from the market (PHEW ;) – fenugreek, sunflower greens, nettles, dandelion, tat soi, parsley, spinach, celery, romaine, endive, fennel, ginger, lemon
2 apples, bowl of YUMMY grawnola with coconut milk
mug of spicy tea
2 cups water

OoOOooooo, The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center just announced a variety of 'Holiday' discounts for upcoming retreats at their centre, including $200 off our New Year's 'Renew Yourself' Retreat :) NICE :)
You can see all the retreat details and call to claim the $200 discount HERE - we look forward to renewing ourselves in unison with you... :)))

All love,
Angelalalalalaaaaaaaaaa Stokes-Monarch. xxx

Ten Ways to Help Get Raw Food Into Reluctant People ;)

Here below is a fun little article I recently sent out in my newsletter that I thought y'all might enjoy here too...if you're not on my main RawReform newsletter list yet, you can sign up for that HERE...
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Ten Ways to Help Get Raw Food Into Reluctant People

Many of us experience challenges trying to help others to eat more healthily. Well, despair ye no longer, help is at hand... ;) Here are ten top tips for helping reluctant people eat more raw...

1. DESSERTS ;) Almost everyone loves desserts...You don't need to even tell anyone the dessert is raw - just put out a gorgeous raw cake or pie and watch everyone enjoy it. A fabulous tip is to add Irish Moss to the recipe as a thickening agent - that way you're also renegading minerals into them at the same time ;)

2. Gourmet Treats - people are often afraid that raw food will be 'boring'. Surprise your loved ones by learning a few special 'gourmet' raw dishes that will help make the food seem more familiar to them. Raw Pizza, Lasagna, Burgers and other dense, filling 'mock' dishes are great bridges into a raw lifestyle.

3. "Slowly, Slowly, Catch A Monkey" - trying to force other people around you to become raw very rarely seems to have positive, lasting results. A much more effective strategy seems to involve slowly, gently and consistently introducing new foods/recipes over time - slowly, slowly, respectfully allow each person's path to unfold at their own pace.


on October the 18th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
little cup of green smoothie and a little cup of goji juice blended with Marine Phytoplankton and Camu Powder
bowl of energy soup with some of my hand–pickled veggies and a few dehydrated onion crisps on the side, followed by a delicious little hand–blended yumpot
3 cups water
2 glasses of green juice
bowl of lemongrass/coconut soup followed by a little bowl of rawnola with almond milk :)
2 cups water


on October the 19th I loved:

1 quart water
3 cups greeeeeeeen juice: celery, dill, parsley, mixed sprouts
2 Tbsp bee pollen
2 cups energy soup with pickled veggies and spiced seeds on the side, followed by a delicious little hand–blended yumpot
3 cups water
3 cups goji juice blended with Marine Phytoplankton, Etherium Gold and Merlin's Elixir
bowl of Lydia's grawnola with homemade spicy–sweet almond milk ;)
3 cups water


4. Food Gathering - take your loved ones out to pick fruits or forage in the wild. Reconnecting to nature in this way can be thoroughly energising, inspiring and enjoyable, plus helps in understanding experientially where food comes from...

5. Sprout/Grow Food - ask your loved ones (especially children), if they'd love to help you with sprouting in the kitchen or growing food. When people are involved in growing their own food, there is a stronger connection to the produce and you might find they are more excited to eat the harvest ;)

6. Small Portions - if you're offering something raw that you sense will be perceived as 'odd' by your loved ones, try offering only small amounts at first. With my parents for example, I offer shotglasses of green juice and describe it as 'medicine' - they are willing to grimace and knock this back, whereas a big glass might be off-putting to them.


on October the 20th I adored:

1 quart water
2 cups goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton, Merlin's Elixir and Etherium Gold
bowl of chia pudding with homemade spicy–sweet almond milk, incan berries and chunks of freeze–dried durian
1 quart water
2 cups greeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, ginger, lemon
amazing gourmet raw food platter from the chefs at Café Life in Atlanta: raw quesadillas, sweet potato cannelloni, pumpkin pie – WOW ;)
2 Tbsp spirulina crunchies, 1 Tbsp bee pollen
3 cups water


on October the 21st I loved:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeeeeen juice
gourmet creation leftovers from Café Life in Atlanta: sweet potato cannelloni, raw 'samdwich', pear baklava – all outrageously yummy ;)
3 cups water
2 cups goji juice blended with Marine Phytoplankton, Merlin's Elixir and Etherium products
2 Tbsp bee pollen, ½ pack Noniland coconut crisps
1 quart water


7. Food Prep - asking your loved ones to assist in raw food prep can be a great way to get them more involved - especially children. Make it clear that by helping they are not then obliged to eat the food, though they are welcome to eat some if they'd like to ;)

8. Educational Resources - if you have inspiring raw food books, DVDs, magazines or other resources, it can be useful to leave them OUT where other people can see them and may casually dip into them, rather than packing them away out of sight.

9. Abundance - do your best to have an abundant range of raw goodies available on display for loved ones to feast on at their will. A flowing fruit basket, a stack of raw snack bars, a cookie jar packed with dehydrated fruity roll-ups, or an ice-lolly rack in the freezer of frozen raw treats can all go a long way to help making healthier treats easily accessible to the reluctant ;)

10. Shine On :) Be a shining, glowing, positive example of the raw food lifestyle, allowing others to simply observe the shifts in your life, without trying to push anything onto them. BE the change and let others follow along the path at their own pace if they'd like to, as your beaming health and radiance becomes an irresistible beacon to them ;)

I hope that helps some of you out there..

ENJOYYYYY :)


All love,
Angela. xxx

How Much do YOU Chew...?

We were out walking in nature recently and I was struck by the realisation that so many of the plants we were walking past are most likely fantastic food for humans, yet we don't even recognise them as such because we've never had any modelling for eating that way...we can of course take cautious, intuitive and/or educated 'guesses' at what might work for us as food – it just struck me as very odd in comparison to other creatures that we have very little idea what suits us as food out there...I imagine that butterflies, grasshoppers or otters are seldom found scratching their heads in the wild, wondering what to eat – they just seem to know or get natural modelling of what to consume, from their wild kin...whereas most humans in western societies seem to get modelling of how to go to a supermarket and buy cans/boxes/plastic packages...most of us humans are chronically disconnected from nature and this little observation of my own disconnection from what I could potentially eat out in the forest/meadows really underscored this for me...more foraging for the Stokes–Monarch, please ;)

on July the 23rd I loved:

1 quart water
1.5 cups goji water with Marine Phytoplankton
2 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, carrot tops, ginger, lemon
big bowl of blueberries with almond butter
3 cups water
2 cups water with marine phytoplankton, 25 chlorella 'nuts'
fresh fruits: plum, few cherries/grapes, blueberries with tahini
3 cups water

While we're on the subject of the contrasts between wild animals and most humans, I got a very interesting little link in my inbox yesterday all about chewing...now, those of you who have heard me give a talk will know that I often speak about the importance of chewing our food very thoroughly as a key to vibrant health and that most people seem to not chew very much at all (more like inhale ;)...
Well, it seems one researcher, Richard Wrangham, went off to closely study our friends the chimps in Tanzania and imitate their lifestyle and one of the main contrasts he noted was the LARGE amount of time apes pass daily chewing their food. In the article it states that the average person in 'civilised' western societies chews food for around 36 minutes a day or 5% of their time, whereas to match the chimps' chew rate, we'd be chewing more like 42% of our time, or around 5 hours a day... ;O WOW...
Chewing raw food really thoroughly is KEY for accessing the nutrients and assimilating better...you can read all about the 'power' of raw food and the importance of chewing in the classic old raw food text 'Raw Food and Health' by Dr. St Louis Estes...
I think this is smthg that is overlooked repeatedly by all people, raw foodies or not – and it seems it is especially key for those of us who choose to eat raw, so this is one reason why I speak about it so often... ;)
Now, Mr. Wrangham seems to not at all be in favour of eating raw, which is of course his own bag'o'beans to rattle – I do like the chewing stats shared in that article though, so that's why I wanted to share this and I hope it gives you smthg to 'chew' on... ;)


on July the 24th I was blessed to enjoy:

1 quart water
pot of pineapple chunks
romaine wraps stuffed with avocado, dulse, tomato, mixed sprouts, sauerkraut, kim chee
3 cups water
1.5 cups goji water with marine phytoplankton
bowl of blueberries with almond butter
3 cups water


on July the 25th I savoured:

1 quart water
1.5 cups green smoothie from Mr. Tim Van Orden – plum/banana/spinach – yummmmmmm :)
1.5 cups goji water with marine phytoplankton
2 oz wheatgrass juice
1 cup mint/honey water
2 cups water
2 Tbsp bee pollen
2 oz wheatgrass/sunflower greens juice
chunk of AMAZING cultured lemon cheesecake, with fresh blueberries and almond butter
3 cups water
2 curry noriwraps
2 cups water


Un petit reminder, my dears – the current RawReform Giveaway Contest to win a free bag of our yummy chlorella 'nuts' closes on August the 5th...if you'd love to green up your gnashers chewing some chlorophyll–rich greeeeens, then here's a reminder of the contest details:

We're giving away a bag of our SUPER-popular, SUPER-tasty Chlorella 'Nuts' - one of my absolute favourite raw food snacks :) (I usually can't STAND the taste of chlorella, yet these crunchy tasty little tablets of pressed chlorella powder are delicious - to my taste buds at least, lol ;)
Chlorella is a yummy algae with massive amounts of chlorophyll, protein and B vits to share with you...eating it is also a great way to get the classic raw food 'green mouth' look - see evidence to the left.
To be in with a chance of winning a bag of these yummable munchables, we'd love you to send in your best creative raw green mouth picture; yes, get out your spirulina, your blue-green algae, your green smoothies, your wheatgrass or whatever other greeeeeeens you love to green yourself up with and show us your most outstanding green face...here is another favourite from my personal album:


You can send your entries in to rawreform@gmail.com before August the 5th to be in with a chance of winning the chlorella tablets - enjoy ;) The winner will be drawn at random and with a giggle around the start of August. We look forward to seeing your entries...

With love, gratitude and green teeth,
Ms. Sto–Mo. xxx

Funky Raw :)

YUMMY. Just got back last night from the simply BEAUTIFUL Funky Raw festie in the Sussex countryside here in England. Wow, what a delicious treat – wonderful friends, delicious food from ‘The Raw Kitchen’, gorgeous sunny weather, chats about the Anastasia books, live music all weekend, camping out under the full moon, listening to interesting presentations and LOVING the fantastic energy buzzing through this gathering of lovely like-minded, joyous beings...
I really enjoyed going on a foraging walk with Rob of Funky Raw and also listening to a great permaculture talk with inspiring stories of gardens made-over into edible paradises :) YUMMMM...
You can see a few of my pics from the event on my Flickr stream HERE.
Thanks to everyone who came along to my talk and chatted at the RawReform booth – I saw SO many new faces this weekend, which I find very encouraging, in terms of the expansion of the UK raw food movement...indeed, the festie totally sold out this year and apparently could have easily sold out TWICE over, considering the number of people wanting tickets – so, be sure to get in quick next year if you’d love to be there... ;) I highly recommend it...

on August the 16th I had:

1 quart water
3 cups green juice with barleygrass, celery, cucumber, fennel, ginger, kale, carrot
2 cups ‘energy soup’ with coconut chips, followed by ½ a bag of freeze-dried durian = YUM :)
3 cups water
1.5 cups green juice
2 cups ‘energy soup’ with coconut chips, followed by ½ a bag of freeze-dried durian
little bowl of hand-blended yum: lucuma, yacon, cinnamon, maca powders, with water and gojis swirled in
2 cups water
mug of rooibus

Yeeeeee-HAH – guess what? Raw food is front-page news in Iceland ;) LOL... I discovered today that Icelandic newspaper ’24 Stundir’ (24 hours) put an article and picture about my weight loss story on their front page last Friday (see picture to the right)...I was wondering why the traffic to my site suddenly sky-rocketed on Friday ;) LOL...
Can you IMAGINE the impact such a message could potentially have in countries such as the US/Canada/the UK/Australia and so on, if this simple message of a transformative raw food lifestyle was presented as FRONT-PAGE news, in national newspapers...???
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I LOVE Iceland – thank you, Icelandic journalists, for choosing to put health and well-being first, with integrity...(BTW, the headline says ‘Angela lost more than 80 kilos’, if your Icelandic’s a bit rusty... ;)

on August the 17th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups green juice
2 cups energy soup with coconut chips stirred in, followed by ½ a bag of freeze-dried durian – WOW :)
3 cups water
1.5 cups green juice
2 cups energy soup with coconut chips stirred in, followed by ½ a bag of freeze-dried durian – WOW :)
1 tbsp goji berry powder, 1tbsp pomegranate powder
3 cups water
mug of peppermint tea
1 cup water


on August the 18th I had:

1 quart water
mug of pau d’arco tea
3 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, endive, carrot, ginger
2 cups ‘energy soup’ with diced bell pepper and dulse pieces stirred in, accompanied by a curry powerstix packet. Followed by a little bowl of hand-mixed lucuma, yacon, maca, carob powders with water, plus goji berries stirred in for chewability
mug of peppermint tea
2 cups ‘energy soup’ with diced bell pepper and dulse pieces stirred in, accompanied by a curry powerstix packet. Followed by a little bowl of utter MANNA. I soaked freeze-dried durian in hemp seed milk for a while, then blended that all together with lucuma and carob powder, into a thick creamy, duriany, sublime pudding – WOW ;)
Mug of peppermint tea
2 cups water

Have you had a Juice Feasting journey yet in your life? How was it...? Or if you haven’t embarked into a liquid lifestyle yet and feel drawn, what is your motivation? Do you feel ready...?
One juicy raw diva, Aleesha Stephenson is currently many weeks into a Juice Feast and she wrote a little review of my book ‘A Juice Feaster’s Handbook’, for her beautiful online magazine ‘Timeless Spirit’. Here’s an excerpt from her article:

“So many things are covered in this handbook but I have to say my favourite is where she explains the value of each juice and the different combinations she recommends. Once you've been juicing for a while, it's amazing how you can get stuck in a rut of making the same thing day after day. This book assisted me 'mix it up' a little in my head and get some new ideas for juices!
Anyone who has an interest in Juice Feasting, whether it's for 3 days or 92 days should get a copy of this book. Consider it your Juice Feasting Bible! I know I do.”

You can read Aleesha’s whole review and check out her ‘Timeless Spirit’ magazine HERE.
...and if you haven’t read ‘A Juice Feaster’s Handbook’ yet and would love to juice up YOUR life a little more, you can get a copy of the book HERE. ENJOY... :)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Answers and Artistry...

Many of you outside of the US have been writing with 2 key questions:

1. What is a ‘quart’ anyway? ;)
2. Does the RawReform Store ship internationally?

Alright…so, a ‘quart’ refers to a ‘quarter of a gallon’ and contains 32oz or ‘4 cups’. It is roughly equivalent to a litre (1000ml). Half of a quart is known as a ‘pint’ and contains 16oz or 2 cups…it’s roughly equivalent to 500ml…making sense yet? I hope so… ;)
As for international orders…YES, we ship internationally. The online store does not currently handle international orders (i.e. outside the US) very happily, yet we're working on it ;) In the meantime, if you’d like to place an order, you can create your account in the store, place everything you want in your shopping basket, then email matt@rawspirit.org, stating the name you used to set up your account and that marvellous Mr Monarch will help you complete your order. Once set up, all works smoothly for all future orders...enjoy... :)

on December the 1st I had:

1 quart water
1 quart celery/carrot/apple/ginger/beetroot juice
little bag of yuuuuuummmmmmmmm cherries
bowl of avo mushed with lime juice, Celtic sea salt, diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro and sprouts, stuffed into nori sheets
3 little cracao/coconut bliss balls
3 cups water
1 succulent mango
3 cups celery/cucumber/apple/carrot/parsley/all-kinds-of-greens juice
3 cups green smoothie: papaya/mango/banana/romaine/random greens, swirled with goji berries
2 cups water

Here’s a fun video from one of my musical heroes, Scott Kalechstein, from the Raw Spirit Fest this year. Have you heard Scott’s music before? I think he’s absolutely delightful – SOOO very talented at spontaneous compositions and rhymes – I LOVE it…I was very sad to not be there to see him perform at the festie this year…you can check out his whole website at www.scottsongs.com and this video is a little RAW version of ‘King of the Road’:

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

on December the 2nd I had:

1 quart water
1.2 quarts watermelon/orange juice
2 cups water
1 mango
2 cups cucumber/tatsoi/romaine/various-unidentified-greens/apple/carrot juice
2 cups water
bowl of apple flax: apples blended, then mixed with ground flax and brazil nuts, swirled with spirulina, goji berries and lucuma powder
2 cups water
1.5 cups cucumber/tatsoi/romaine/various-unidentified-greens/apple/carrot juice
2.5 cups green smoothie: mango/apple/banana/sultanas/romaine/various-unidentified-greens/purple berries I foraged, plus dandelion leaves, gatacolla and other foraged yummies… :)
2 cups water

Someone recently left the following questions as a blog comment:

I'm wondering, honestly, since going 100% raw do you never get a craving for something cooked? If so, how do you fight it? Do you feel if you ate something cooked it could trigger a desire to eat "bad" things? Now that you are a healthy weight, do you think you will ever go back to a balance of raw and cooked foods in moderation? I guess I'm just wondering what your stand is on doing this long term?

Here is an answer – actually an excerpt from the new book I’m writing… ;)

I no longer get cravings for cooked/processed foods – they don’t even LOOK like food to me – they look toxic. Why would I put something that looks toxic to me, in my body? It was a journey to get to this point though. I experienced some intense cravings/binging with cooked foods at the start of my raw journey, mainly because I didn’t cut out refined sugars and starches completely. I recall sitting with a friend who’d stopped eating refined sugars and was helping me do the same. We were at a café and the waiter served us complimentary foil-wrapped chocolates with our tea. I felt immensely frustrated, as I really wanted to eat them and so much of my attention was focused on them. I looked at my friend, sitting calmly and asked her if she wasn’t frustrated too, to see the chocolates and not eat them. She gently smiled and said ‘no, I look and see they have pretty pictures on the wrapper…I don’t desire to eat them’. At that point, her perspective seemed so far away from mine that I almost couldn’t imagine feeling that way towards these blocks of processed dairy/sugars/cocoa ;) These days, however, I don’t feel any effort in avoiding my old trigger-foods, like doughnuts, for example, as they simply don’t interest me anymore and are so far from the spectrum of foods I now choose.

So, in conclusion, I cannot imagine WHY I would ever start eating cooked foods again…yes, I definitely intend to be here for the long haul...(we’ll see how it unfolds though - 'never say never' ;)…I hope that helps...the book I'm writing at the moment actually has TONS of tips for people struggling with cravings - the emotional/spiritual section of the book just keeps on expanding and expanding...YUMM - I do hope to get it completed very soon though... ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Protect YOUR Leafy Greens...

Eeeeeeek…seems it’s time for another ‘public service announcement’…
Yep...after pasteurising all the almonds already, the USDA are after your leafy greens now…following the supposed spinach-related ‘e coli’ outbreaks last year, a proposed new law would essentially squish out small and medium sized growers with specified, institutionalised growing rules for ALL leafy greens. The blessed Cornucopia Institute are on the case with this one – with step-by-step guidelines of how to express your objections to this bill BEFORE DECEMBER THE 3RD, HERE: http://cornucopia.org/index.php/protect-fresh-leafy-greens-and-family-farms/#more-362
...and this is just one part of the picture that’s unfolding at the moment – I would strongly recommend you check out the very insightful article posted today by Mike Adams of NewsTarget for more info – HERE: http://www.newstarget.com/022308.html

on November the 29th I had:

1 quart water
1 cup sugar cane/ginger/lime juice
2 cups cucumber/celery/parsley/tatsoi/beet greens/red dandelion/carrot/apple/all-kinds-of-greeeeeens juice
2 pieces of Mr Monarch’s new pizza marvel – base of ground buckwheat and coconut flour, topping of avo mushed with sundried tomato hummus and diced fresh tomatoes, with a dusting of coconut powder and sundried tomatoes ontop
3 cups water
1 cup cucumber/celery/parsley/tatsoi/beet greens/red dandelion/carrot/apple/all-kinds-of-greeeeeens juice
½ an egg fruit, big chunk of amaaaaazing soft jack fruit
3 cups water

So, on the subject of leafy greens…I was absolutely DELIGHTED to go on a 4 hour long forage this morning with a local ‘bush tucker’ guy called Cockatoo Paul…WOW…the plant knowledge this man holds is simply phenomenal…he left home when he was around 16…he ended up living on the streets, destitute and hungry. He then realised that Aboriginal people had been living on this land for centuries with no issues and set about learning what to eat from them. He has now been learning for about 20 years. It was such a gift to me to spend a few hours looking at the local landscape through the eyes of someone who sees it all so differently…I learnt and tasted SO much…it is my desire to learn more and more about foraging and wild edibles, especially considering any bizarre laws that may be introduced for commercially-grown produce ;)…I would love to download the contents of Cockatoo Paul’s head into mine… Instead I put my new knowledge to immediate use this afternoon and picked my own little collection of edibles, including these ext-RAW-dinary purple berries (see pic) that I’d been eyeing for days and assuming couldn’t be edible for us – the colour just looked too intense…WELL, turns out they’re called ‘dianella lily’ and they’re delicious. I would thoroughly recommend checking out Paul’s work if you’re in this area…he has a MySpace page, which actually shares about...his music and jewellry skills (he's a very talented guy ;) HERE:

http://www.myspace.com/cockatoopaul

on November the 30th I had:

1 quart water
1.2 quarts watermelon/orange juice
lots of bits and pieces of flowers, seeds, leaves and tubers on a foraging walk
2 cups water
1 apple, Mexican powersticks
bowl of soaked figs blended with hemp seeds
1 pint celery/cucumber/cilantro/spinach/dandelion/beet greens/tatsoi/carrot/apple/all-kinds-of-fresh-greens juice
2 cups water
big chunk of delicious watermelon
1.5 cups celery/cucumber/cilantro/spinach/dandelion/beet greens/tatsoi/carrot/apple/all-kinds-of-fresh-greens juice
3 cups green smoothie: papaya/mango/foraged leaves and berries/greens from market, swirled with goji berries
2 cups water

Thanks BTW for all the Paul Potts-related emails and updates from y’all – SO, it seems I was indeed months out of date with that story ;) Thanks for letting me know that he DID in fact win the talent show and has since gone on to sell over 2 million copies of his debut album and wow audiences all over the world – including an appearance on Oprah, apparently – WOW – what a beautiful story…I poked around on YouTube a bit and there are many clips of him there that have been watched MILLIONS of times…here’s one of him winning the final…aaaaaaaahhh, so inspiring…I get shivers every time I watch him sing…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqWvuMJV0Yw

One love,
Angela. xxx

Intense Times...

So I’ve been learning some fascinating things since arriving in Aus…I was not aware that this country is amidst a severe water shortage. The consequences of course are manymanymany-fold…one of them being that crops are ‘failing’. Grains in particular are being affected – the wheat and barley crops have been particularly small…consequently, people worldwide are seemingly feeling great concern that there is ‘not enough’ grain to go round and it was just announced that Japan for example - who apparently import 90% of their food supply – are using national emergency funds to purchase grain from wherever they can… :O This fascinates me…it seems to me that we started cultivating grains, by-passed the food chain, started feeding grains to other animals and basically got ourselves thoroughly addicted to the stuff and wrapped up in a perversely resource-intensive, apparent dependency on grains…and now when that grain supply seems to be dwindling, humans are freaking out…when in truth, we could all be eating straight from the earth and growing our own food supplies quite easily, if that is what we choose…(in this country it seems that might require vastly re-structured water management systems…and perhaps the situation is ‘beyond redemption’ by now… and yet…there is always a choice…)
My friends tell me that farmers here are being offered $150,000 to walk away from their land, as there is no water to sustain the farms. Of much greater concern to me than the grain crops, I was saddened to hear that entire fruit orchards are being levelled, as there is no water to feed the trees…wow…intense times…

On November the 8th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups green smoothie – banana, mango, kale, flax
1 apple
1 pint celery/spinach/carrot/cucumber juice
bowl of mulberries blended with hemp seed
little box of CHERRRRRRIEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS
1 pint romaine/carrot/cucumber/dandelion/parsley juice
bowl of avo mashed with sundried tomato Alive hummus, stirred with pieces of fresh tomato and dulse, served with flax crackers and nori – yummmmmmm :)
3 cups water

November the 9th sees the new moon in Scorpio… Here’s a little of what master astrologer Lisa Dale Miller of astrowisdom.com has to share on the matter:

“So everyone, what broken down, unhealthy aspects of your life are you ready to release? The New Moon in Scorpio is the perfect a time to put muscle behind an intention to transform cognitive and emotional distortions, especially those that bring suffering to yourself and to others. So take a deep breath, muster up some courage, and gracefully greet this New Moon in Scorpio. This is the premier night to open your eyes to your own self-doubt, insecurities, negativities and self-delusions, and through clear comprehension, transform these negative states of mind into positive intentions for liberation, and internal and external change. Scorpio is the sign that seeks deep truth in all things.
The New Moon in Scorpio is the night to acknowledge the ways this questioning process manifests in your life. This is the most serious New Moon of the year. Saturn rules fear, so look at your fear; where it comes from, what makes it worse and what eases it. This is the optimal night to face your fear head on and make a commitment to letting go of unhealthy and tortuous relationships, jobs, behavior, and habits. A New Moon in Scorpio shows you the truth, shows you your vulnerabilities, and your powerlessness. But it also gives you the strength to let go of destructive behavior patterns, make changes, and learn to be powerful in a positive life-supporting way."

I for one am CERTAINLY feeling the power of this moon. It feels very strong to me and the ‘veils of reality’ seem extremely thin and supple right now… To read Lisa’s description of this new moon in full, see HERE.

on November the 9th I had:

1 quart water
1 quart watermelon/orange juice
2.5 cups celery/mint/carrot/pineapple/ginger juice
1 mango
bowl of mulberries blended with hemp seed
2 cups water
1 pint banana/mango/cilantro/lettuce green smoothie
little bowl of avo mushed with spinach Alive hummus, stirred with pieces of fresh tomato, served with flax crackers and nori
1 quart water


We speak tomorrow night from 6pm at the Intuitive Well in Sydney – details HERE:
The event is catered by the delightful Julie of Conscious Choice – there will be incredible gourmet raw cakes and treats on offer…

Hope to see you there if you’re in the area ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

BLOG ACTION DAY...(and 'no-email-action' day ;)

First off, a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
This comment was left by Heidi today and I replied to it on the comments section, but am copying it all here as well, as I want to be sure everyone sees it who may want to know... ;)
Heidi said:
Angela,
I have been trying to reach you via email, but I can't get through to your email. I keep getting undeliverable messages via rawreform@rawreform.com Please let me know if you have a new email address? Perhaps your email is down?
Hope to talk to you soon,
~ Heidi

I replied:
THANK YOU for your message - yes, having major issues with all '@rawreform.com' emails right now, I'm very sorry to say :( Apologies to all of you who have been trying to send messages there and find they bounce back...The email server gremlins seem to have monkeyed the whole thing at the moment...some 'webmasters' are currently working on fixing the issue though ;) Please send good ju-ju their way and hopefully all of your messages won't have been warped into cyber-space...In the meantime, please re-direct any messages to rawreform@hotmail.com if you want to be sure they get through...

Ok...(exhale)...so, on with the show ;)

Secondly...WOW, today NewsTarget published one of my weight loss articles as their lead article in a whole email blast about raw foods. If you’re not familiar with the work of NewsTarget and its founder, Mike Adams, I’d highly recommend checking it out. They send out email shots most days with cutting-edge alternative health info. It is an extremely popular email service, with over 100,000 subscribers I believe…and today, raw foods got highlighted in a big email blast to that whole list…WOW...imagine if ALL those people shimmied a little further into the light of raw foods, what am impact that would have... :)…aside from my article, which you can see HERE, Mike Adams himself also just posted an insightful personal report from the Raw Spirit Fest – see HERE, plus another article examines gluten intolerance…

on October the 15th I had:

1.2 litres water
800ml green juice with carrot
bowl of soaked dried figs blended with hemp seeds and cinnamon – RIDICULOUSLY yummy and simple…
1 litre water
800ml green juice with carrot
bowl of sea spaghetti with pumpkin seed butter and granulated wrack
Pro2Go packs for ‘dessert’ ;)
1.5 litres water

Thirdly (yet by no means lastly ;) ...today – October the 15th – is officially ‘Blog Action Day’, wherein bloggers all over the world form a ‘united front’ to blog on the same topic, hence drawing attention to that subject. The theme this year is ‘The Environment’…hmmmmmm…well, well, well…what would I like to share about the environment…??? Where to begin…? I think I will give my top ten tips for ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION – action, after all, is where it’s at – we can read and write all the blahblah we like about the environment – taking action is the key for real, lasting shifts…so, here we go, in no particular order…

1. Compost your food scraps and re-use/recycle all else that you can of your waste. Start TODAY. (Hmmmm...have I ever mentioned composting before…??? ;) Are you starting to see a pattern emerging here…? ;)

2. Grow your own food – even if it’s in window boxes, plant pots or indoors – get truly ‘local’ with your food choices and grow your own.

3. Choose organic, if you’re not already. That goes for food, clothes and anything else where you have a choice. You vote with your dollar on these matters every single day – what are you going to choose?

4. Learn more about foraging – the more people who are able to identify edible plants and make use of them/educate others, the better, in my opinion. This is a HIGHLY valuable skill.

5. Read the Anastasia books and put what you learn into practice. NOTHING in recent years has motivated me more to get to a piece of land and start raising my own food and family than these books.

6. Try walking or riding a bike somewhere you would normally drive a car to reach. Re-evaluate this journey. Do you really ‘need’ to use a vehicle to get there, or are actually driving from habit?

7. Plant some trees OR support charities that do so. We support The Woodland Trust in the UK and The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, based in the US.

8. Pick up some litter in YOUR area – caring for the earth is something we can all do. Maybe you didn’t drop that litter yourself. You could pick it up though. Try seeing all pieces of land, all aspects of nature - the whole picture - as something you are connected to.

9. Cease using new plastic/paper bags at shops. Invest in some fabric bags or ‘bags for life’, as sold in many supermarkets these days. Keep some in your vehicle, or near your keys etc – somewhere you will remember to take them with you to the shops. If you live in a country where the shops do not yet charge you for each plastic bag you use, try to imagine you DO live somewhere like that…imagine each bag cost you $1 – then how many would you use?

10. Dry your clothes OUTSIDE IN THE AIR/SUN whenever possible. Tumble dryers are one of the most energy-consuming appliances in the home.

Ok…that will do for now ;) I could have gone on for a few more pages there…10 is a good start…I’d recommend checking out the site of The Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales for more ideas…I used to live/work there…it’s a phenomenal place…

One Earth, one love,
Angela. xxx

'Urban' Raw Foodism...

MMmmmmmmm, yumminess abounding…have you been listening to the free Raw Summit calls…? Hope you’ve enjoyed the sharing so far – I’m impressed with it – I think Kevin’s such a great interviewer – I love how he delves into stuff that doesn’t always get covered in interviews – a rare talent ;) Tomorrow night (Wednesday the 15th) is Matt Monarch’s talk (yay;) then mine, somewhat appropriately, the day after, on Thursday – hope you can make it along for the calls. Remember too that if you miss the calls when they air (8pm EST each day) you can still listen to them FREE for the following 24 hours, until the next call goes out…if you are still yet to sign up, or want to read more, click HERE…enjoy ;)

On August the 12th I had:

1.5 litres water
500ml rejuvelac
tiny glass of orange juice
big glass of amazing courgette (zucchini) juice, followed by lashings of green ‘garden’ juice with apple
bowl of ground chia seed blended with banana and mulberries
bits of raw chocs and treats, sprout/greens salad with tomato sauce, apple pie and herbal tea at a raw potluck
2 litres water

We manifested such a bargain today – a Breville Juice Fountain Juicer for £1 ($2) at a car boot sale (like a big swap-meet/garage sale with many vendors in one field, selling things from the trunks of their cars) :O…wow…we’ve been using the tiny little random centrifugal juicer I bought my Dad years ago for the past few days…the Juice Fountain feels like SUCH an improvement – we are so blessed – we’d been talking about buying a new one for the house, then while out jogging, found ourselves at a huge sale, where the juicer sat waiting for us near the entrance…the Juice Fountain is one of those amazing juicers with a HUGE hole for the produce, so we can literally juice whole apples in one go – much less chopping involved – almost none in fact – it’s SO fast…I love it…see HERE for more info on them...we’ve been juicing whole giant courgettes (zucchini) – if you’ve never tried that juice straight, I’d highly recommend it – it is so smooth and milky – yummmm…

on August the 13th I had:

1.5 litres water
300ml rejuvelac
tiny glass of orange/grapefruit juice
800ml veggie juice
big bowl of salad with greens, dulse, sprouts, red pepper and flax seed/tomato dressing
400ml rose/chamomile tea
500ml water
500ml courgette (zucchini) juice
3 peaches
sprinkling of spirulina sticks
bowl of ground chia seeds blended with apple juice & bananas, swirled with mulberries and pine nuts
2 litres water

I was speaking with Rob from Funky Raw the other day and he said he no longer buys greens – he picks all his own – and he lives in CENTRAL LONDON – now, that is SO inspiring for me as a raw-foodist-forager-wannabe…imagine…freshly picked wild food is SO much more vital than shop-bought/days-old/limp/ produce that’s possibly been flown many miles…even if it IS organic ;) It strikes me often that most of what’s going on with the raw food movement at the moment seems so 'urban' – it’s recipe books and appliances and beautiful restaurants and so on – rather than foraging and getting your hands dirty and composting ;) Well, it is what it is…I know for me that my heart and body resonate a lot more towards simplicity though, in my truth…and tuned-in foraging skills would be SO exciting to me…hmmmmm…Rob says he’ll be heading up some foraging walks at the Funky Raw Festival which starts on August the 22nd, near Portsmouth...nice…more details HERE…

One Love,
Angela. xxx