Juicy... lets get juicy!

I am having some issues with eating, its drawing on all my energy and just seems right now counterproductive. So I am going to juice, water fast/MC for a while and get this infection out and my health BACK!

Here is what I have kicking about for now :

Oranges

Blood Oranges

Pomello

Lemons

Limes

Cayenne

Dark Agave

Water

Green Powder

MSM

For a few days this tide me over, will re-stock on some bits later on.

I just feel this is the time to do it!! Many fellow foodies are preparing for the Global Juice feast starting March 1st. Some commiting for 92 days or less. Whatever you can do it all adds to the energy!!

Right now I am taking this day by day.

Check it out http://www.globaljuicefeast.com/

Survey time..

RAW-some Survey time!!



Go Raw Chicago had borrowed a survery from http://buellerskitchen.com/. Pretty fun so here goes!!



1. Favorite home-made nut (non-dairy) milk?



Cashew Milk!! With vanilla, dash of cayenne and some dark agave. A real treat! Also makes fab cream!!



2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to make?



Superfood smoothie inspired by Raw Model and his experiments!!

Chocolate torte(from G Living)



Rawdorables Chocolate chip cookies!




4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?



My first green smoothie!! I threw in a load of blueberries and blackberries then took it to work, the pectin worked well, it was completly solid time I got to work!! yuk!! jello lumpy smoothie! ick!



5. Favorite pickled item?



I dont eat pickles!



6. How do you organize your recipes?



I keep scrapbook, for note taking whilst I am un-cooking



Folder of ideas, raw or cooked to be transformed, also tabs and notes all over my books!


7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?

Trash and recycling, currently no space for compost!!




8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be?



Hemp seeds

Green powder

Raw chocolate!!

(hoping for lots of tropical fruits!!)



9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?



Eating strawberries up on Henman hill at the tennis!



10. Favorite raw ice cream?



Banana and cacao yummy sprinkled with hemp seeds!



11. Most loved kitchen appliance?



My Breville Juicer, got it for £10 it retails at near £100!! had been used once! A good scrub down and acv-- good as new!! Love it, use it loads in the summer. During the winter use my handpress for citrus, lush!



12. Spice/herb you would die without?



Cayenne pepper!! great in chocolate, smoothies, salads..everything!!



13. Recipe (Cook) book you have owned for the longest time?


Vegetarian cooked cookbook-- still has some good flavour combinations in it!! Is now covered in sticky post its!


14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?

Jam is heated...


15. Favorite raw (vegan) recipe to serve to an omni friend?

Pesto stuffed mushrooms!! yum!!



17. Favorite meal to make or time of day to make it?

Huge green smoothie for weekend brekkies, relaxing and indulgent!

Or dinner time Fruit platters, just cutting it all up and laying it out for munching is a treat!

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?

Water, my blender, hand press juicer and a jar of green powder!

I have two!..err on the other one.. a tonne of bottles I am saving for recycling!

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking

Raw Toffee Pie



Cranberries

2 paper bags of cut up pineapple!! om om om

20. What’s on your grocery list?

Pomello/Sweetie fruit

Peppers

Tomato

Cucumber

Lemons

Water for the week

21. Favorite grocery store?

Anna's farm store in Norwich, and various fruit and veg stores on the Market. Nothing better than fresh fruit and veg in crispy paper bags-- with the little bugs still on!!

Not in plastic from a supermarket!

22. Name a recipe you’d love to rawify (veganize), but haven’t yet.

James Martin Stem Ginger Cheesecake, it needs raw-ifying!! Would be so so good!!



23. Food blog you read the most. Or maybe the top 3?

Raw model

Rawdorable

Raw Success --Matt Monarch's blogspace

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?

REAL Raw chocolate, Mint flavour..Yum!

My own homemade raw chocolates with dates in, lovely chewy centre!

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately



Black grapes, super pricey but amazing.. keep me going all day!!


26. What is one recipe, ingredient or cooking technique that you’ve become familiar with in the last year that you can’t imagine you ever lived without?

Kale, I wouldnt of eaten it before!! Now I love it marinated with tomatoes, sundried and fresh, basil, curry spices-- yum, super wintery comfort food!!

28. Do you have a food inspiration in your life? Someone who taught you a lot about making a certain dish, or about food prep in general, or someone who taught you how to truly enjoy food?



Shazzie was my inspiration for going raw, the way she approaches raw eating is amazing and inspirational!!



My mum always made these big salads in the summer with everymeal..it may seem small.. But now I prepare my own super salads at weekends/for friends!! Its a small gesture, but full of love. Make a big salad, loads of greens, sprouts, veggies-- different textures, thinly sliced, spiralised, grated. A labour of love, something to always have on the side ready for munching!!

Long time no speak!

Good to be back, had a bit of a break from blogging, finally found out what has been giving me all the pain and problems for weeks now. Have a kidney infection. I am taking conventional drugs for it, as if it doesn't clear up properly I could end up in hospital!! not a risk I am willing to take.

Just keeping my diet clean in the meantime, resting plenty and drinking 3 litres water a day to wash everything through!

Had a long conversation with my dear friend Ju, got me thinking about all of our demons. Whether those be past or present. Food ones are definitely tough to battle with. With so many ideas, ways of eating and "systems" out there it is very easy to get confused and fall off the wagon!!

What with the high fruit, high greens, no fruit, all veggie-- 8/1/1, juice diets, complicated CR type ideas floating around, its really mind boggling!!

I have waded through a lot of those ideas and now found a balance which I think works for me.

High fruit for me is most comfortable.

I find every month I crave or fancy some greens and I just go with it and eat them or have some veggies for a few days until it passes. I don't stress over it breaking my own personal "rules"-- listening to my body has become normal now. When it doesn't want something, it tells me pretty fast!! Sometimes I feel sick straight away, or something wont taste right. An indication its not good to eat right now, or not what my body NEEDS.

For me eating simply keeps me feeling the best, when I start eating gourmet a lot I feel sluggish and drained mentally.

I enjoy playing with gourmet stuff at weekends, for occasions and as a special treat. But day to day I keep things simple. I know eating raw breads, crackers, pizza's during the week would leave me feeling ill!!

The two books for me which are easy to use for daily reference right now are

Leslie Kenton The RAW Energy Bible

Shazzie Detox your world.

I don't leave the house without these two!!

I highly recommend these!! I am eating more simply. Having some blended foods, juices, smoothies and whole fruit.

Working on a superfood smoothie for a supercharged morning drink!! Will report back with this. May get some time to work on it more over the weekend. It certainly is a good way to replace the tea/coffee conventional morning drinks!!

Basically there is a world of ideas on how you should eat or should NOT eat. You have to seek out the balance that works for you. Don't be a slave to a guru or feel condemned for having something which a certain system doesn't ALLOW, Be your own guru, make your own way of eating that's right for your body!!

First stay RAW

Then play with your meals, drinks and what makes you feel good!!

Be prepared, eat for your needs and lifestyle

Thats all for now, when I am up and about I may post again.

Love and Light

8-1-1 Delights: Cucumber Pasta with Pointed Pepper Sauce

Okay so here is what I put together for lunch today, very simple, easy and fruity!! 8-1-1 friendly!!

Cucumber Pasta with Pointed pepper sauce

Firstly I prepared the Pasta

1 English Cucumber

Using veggie peeler made into long pasta strips

Popped this into a bowl, added 2 spoons of ume-- you can use raw soy sauce or whatever you fancy.

Also put in 2 sprigs of mint--fresh from my plant!

1 spoon of home-made garlic sea salt

Left on the counter top, the salt will draw the water out of the cucumber and give them a nice pasta like texture!

Now for the salad/sauce

Shredded up 1 romaine lettuce

for the sauce/dressing

2 Sweet pointed peppers

1 Lime-- juice of

Splash of AVC

Water just to get it moving

Bright red, sweet tangy dressing!

Poured this over the lettuce-- left this to sit.

Finally put together the two elements.. voila! Good balance, the sauce is lovely and sweet, so yummy!! hit the spot :)

Super comfort food pudding

I have had a day of rest, been drinking water all day. Finally I am feeling better!!

Now really fancy a proper comforting meal!!

So here is what I whipped up "Comfort Food Pudding"

2 Banana --super ripe

4-5 Large Strawberry

1-2 cups Sunflower seed milk/yoghurt -- thickened up, lovely

1 Handful raw trailmix--seeds, dates, cacao nibs

Touch more cacao and agave/date puree/another banana for sweetness if wanted

I added carob

Here is the thick sunflower yoghurt, I added 2 cups of this.

All blended up...yum!!
This lovely and so so comforting, I left mine out to get to room temperature, it will take me a good hour or so to eat up!! For a bit of a bite/extra treat you could throw some blueberries on top, some cacao nibs or lumaca-- or sprinkle on more of the trailmix!!

Here are some pics also of some patchoi salad I made in the week, with hemp seeds and garlic!

I am loving eating blended foods right now, so there will be a lot of it featuring!!

Birthdays....New Year, new lives, new starts...

So I havent posted in a couple days, had a bit of a rough few days but I am back.

Bit of thoughtful post, is my sisters special birthday this weekend, has got me thinking. As well as it being Chinese new year last week. This time of year is about a lot of new starts-- setting up new things, making resolutions, changing ourselves, detoxing or failing detoxing... Where does it all end?

My sister got me thinking, we have all these goals, aspirations, urges. Things we set our mind on. By the time we are X years old, we want to have this this and this.

We want kids, we want a mortgage,we want to be married, we want the "right" car-- All this wanting, and still we are totally empty, fed up and dissapointed?

Society gives us this checklist of things to aspire to, house by 30, kids and married by 35-- why do we put pressure on ourselves to conform to the norm?

If you had asked me 5 years ago, what I would of wanted I probably would of said Wealth, career and a fast paced life in London.

5 years on my ideals have completly shifted -- I am lucky they have, I honest think I wouldnt be here to tell the tale otherwise. All of the changes and challenges have saved my life, otherwise I would still be ill, stuck in a rut and thinking all that made ME a Success as a person was having a money, fast cars and a pile of bricks to call my own!

Now what is to me a success is being ALIVE, vibrant, happy and Number 1 . Having my health!!

Without that, nothing else you can achieve.

So.. I guess what parents, or family members see as our "failures" are actually the paths to which we find true BLISS in our lives. This cant be paid for, studied or given-- its a true gift, and it requires a lot of falling down, dusting ourselves off and starting all over again--sometimes literally, stripping back our lives and building it all over again!!

What we do have, is more important than what we do not have. Sometimes shifting that, is all it takes. Waking up and saying.. Thank you..for this..warmth, saftey, family--whatever it is. Enjoy it all and embrace what wonderful things you do have in your life and do have access to!!

So..if your feeling down in the dumps, shout out loud what you are thankful for. Yes it sounds a bit crazy. But do it when you wake up, as you leave the house. It works!! I do it everyday--time I leave the door I have a big smile on my face!!

Anyway guess thats all, bit of mind wandering.

Live, play, run and enjoy life!!!

Energy Drink in a can..OR.. RAW energy Green smoothie? (Part 2)

Which would you choose for a post-workout drink...

Green smoothie..or that well known energy drink??

You know my answer!!

(sidenote: that isnt my energy drink..its now exiting my house!!)

Here are the items I added to my green smoothie

Juice of 3 Limes

2 Mango's

2 bits of fresh Mint

1 Flat local lettuce

1 Tablespoon Green powder

1 cup fresh Orange juice

Few sloshes of pure water-- a little as needed

Thats what you call a SMOOTHIE!!

Mmm this is so good, citrusy and lush!! I want to drink it all now, it is infact for after my core workout this afternoon. I was going to save some for work..but I doubt it will still be around by then!!



Here is my brekfast I had after my morning run







4 Blackberries blended with water



3-4 Spoons of Raw museli mix-- buckwheat, oat groats, cacao nibs, dates and cashew! (that is dark agave and date puree drizzled on top!!)



It was filling and certainly kept me full for a long long time!



I have some lovely banana fruit leathers in the making right now, Heathy AKA Raw Goddess got me inspired.. more about those laters!!



Raw-k on!