A Jar Full of Sunshine!

Hello Longevity Seekers!!!

I hope you are well!

Hope you have had a GREAT week and have some fun HEALTHY meals and activities planned for the weekend!!!

As for me I am planning on running another 5k this weekend!  The Mardi Gras 5k!  I am hoping for a better time AND better pace.  All of the money raised for this event is being donated to the SOAR (Students Off and Running) program in Santa Clarita, CA.

Admittedly I haven’t been running/training as much as I should be. Now that I have noted this fact on my blog and in my brain – things should get better!

I am really excited to have 4 races DONE and it is only MARCH! Totally trying to stick to my goal and run 1+ race a month in 2011!!

At some point I am hoping to change from only road races to road races AND trail races!!!

Have you been meditating out there?  If possible at this moment take at least 5 minutes to calm your mind.  It could mean the difference of snapping or not snapping at an individual throughout the course of your day!!!

Here is my jar full of sunshine!

100% RAW SWEET ORANGE JUICE WITH THE PULP!

The universe continues to reward me with the most divine gifts of avocados, lemons, grapefruits, (2) tangerines and LOTS of oranges!! So spectacular!

My taste tester and I have primarily eaten salads and soup this entire week!  The avocados have been so wonderful!!!  It feels nice on my tummy!  LOVE SALAD! FRESH! RAW! POWER!

I have also been enjoying better sleep.  I ‘m not one to have trouble – generally, however with all the emotion I was expending while my cousin was ill and his untimely death – I couldn’t sleep.  Things are ALOT better now!

In other news…

Cafe Gratitude opened it’s doors to Southern California this week!  For those of you in the BAY AREA you have been quite LUCKY for some time to have this restaurant in your area!  It is GREAT to see more and more restaurants opening in Southern California that support RAW &  VEGAN LIFESTYLES!!!  YEAH! A visit and taste test SURE to come!!!

California is “organic land of opportunity” according to an article by Food Navigator-usa.com  You can catch the article by clicking on California!  The article indicates a 10% growth for the demand of organic foods and notes that the demand (at the moment) far exceeds the supply.  This sounds great for the state of California, but I am curious what your thoughts are as readers?

And to end this post in a positive note…this is a GREAT article about a Healing Center in BC.  Not only does this article outline what is being offered at the Center BUT it also add some REALLY GREAT ADVICE!  You can read this article HERE – Eat Raw, Breathe and Sweat!

Thanks for READING THIS BLOG!  I love you even if I don’t know YA!

Love and Light!

Namaste!

Enter the Cilantro!

Well Readers…I finally decided to try KELP NOODLES.  The package says their RAW, but I am a little skeptical about that fact…

Anyway, I decied to make a Cilantro Pumpkin Seed Pesto for the Kelp Noodles.  More than anything I wanted 1) to know what they tasted like and 2) I didn’t want to attach any one countries cuisine to the noodle until I had tasted the noodle.

Initially these noodles are kind of chewy and crunchy in a strange sort of way.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s true.  The more they soak in whatever sauce you use, they begin to be much more like a glass noodle found in Asian Cuisine.

So here is the package of the noodles…

Here are the noodles after I rinsed them…

Since the noodles looked a bit like a Glass Noodle I borrowed the cilantro from Thai food flavors + Borrowed the Pesto / Herb Paste type of sauce from Italian Food + and a bit of Mexican with the Serrano Chili and Pumpkin Seeds = Cilantro Pumpkin Seed Pesto.

Cilantro Pumpkin Seed Pesto

1 Bunch Cilantro

1 Serrano Chili

Juice of 1 Lime

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 Cloves Garlic

8 Cherry Tomatoes, Halved

1/4 cup olive oil

1 splash toasted sesame seed oil

1 Handful of Black Sesame Seeds,

Preparation: Halve Cherry Tomatoes and set aside.  Place all ingredients, (except Black Sesame Seeds) into Food Processor and process until you have a nice fragrant paste.  Mix into noodles and add the Black Sesame Seeds. Serve on two plates and garnish with Tomatoes.

Here is the finished plate!

I added a salad on the side.  I used the sauce you see around the noodles as the dressing.

Notes: I don’t know that I will buy these noodles ever again.  However the next time I make this type of Pesto, I will use a Zucchini Noodle instead.

Sprout Update

Sunflower

The sunflower sprouts have filled the jar.  I needed to give them more space and have moved 3/4 of the jar into a colander, and left the 1/4 of the jar filled with Sunflower sprouts .

Here is the Colander filled with the other sunflower sprouts…

The next morning this is what the Sunflower sprouts looked in the jar…

And the Colander…

Radish

Lot’s more little green leaves!! Yeah! This is so exciting!!! Darker green as well.  The jar is at 3/4 of the way full! Wow!  There are some that are a really pretty red/magenta type of color.  Can you see them?  Those must be the China Rose Radish Seeds.

The next morning this is what the radish sprouts looked like! These are almost ready to eat!!!

Peas

These tails are about 2″ at this point.  The first set of leaves are forming and barely beginning to turn green.

Look at the incredible Green color that emerged in the morning!! The second set of leaves are emerging! This is wild stuff!

I will update the sprout pictures as they grow.  Tonight when I arrive home the Radish will be ready to eat.  I admit I sampled a taste and they were SPIIIICY! YUM! LOVE IT!

Thanks for reading!

Namaste!

Mango Salad Adventures – Part III & FREE GIVEAWAY!

Thank you to all who have entered the raffle!

If you haven’t joined please find all the details here!

One of the most beautiful things in life is the experience of our senses.

Feeling water on your skin in the shower, the releif felt when you are sitting and are lucky enough to have someone rubbing your feet, sitting and relaxing in the comfort of your home enjoying a really good movie, book or the scent of beautiful food being prepared in the kitchen….

Life can be a beautiful experience.  It can also be a bit of a challenge at times as well.  Just remember to breathe, stay in the moment and accept that nothing except PURE LOVE lasts forever! (I don’t necessarily mean man and woman love either. PURE LOVE IS PURE LOVE!) 

I looked over all of my recipes I keep in a notebook and saw the last recipe I had been working on was a Vietnamese Mango Salad.  It was a nice switch in heat than the previous night.  I also made a RAW SOUP recipe I had been working on!

Here we go…

RAW CO/CONUT & AVOCADO SOUP

1/2 of the flesh of one coconut

Water from one Coconut

2 4″ pieces Lemongrass

2 tbs. fresh mint

1 Large Avocado

4 cloves Garlic

1 Handful Cilantro, chopped

1 Seranno Chile

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lime

1 tbs White Miso

Preparation: Place coconut water, lemongrass, mint, and 2 cloves of garlic into food processor.  Process with the “S” blade until it is uniformly as smooth as possible.  Using a nut bag, muslin fabric, or strainer – Strain liquid.  Set the pulp aside.  Place the broth back into the food processor and add the avocado, lime and lemon juice, miso, cilantro, remaining garlic, and serrano chile.  Process.

VIETNAMESE MANGO SALAD

1/2 cup lime juice (Approximately 4-6 limes)

1 tbs.  Raw Agave Syrup

1 tbl. Fresh Ginger cut into matchstick strips

1 tbl. Sesame Oil

1 Small Shallot, minced

1 Serrano Chile, minced

1 tbl. Raw Sesame Seeds

1 Handful Mint, chopped

1 Handful Cilantro, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1/3 cup Sake

1 Ripe Mango, Sliced

Preparation: Combine all ingredients in a bowl except the mango.  (Allow to sit about 1/2 hour) Slice Mango and allow to marinate another 15 minutes.  Take out Mango slices and set aside.  Save remaining dressing for the next recipe.

NOTE: I made a sort of Cucumber, Cilantro relish with the rest of the dressing to put on top of the soup.  The texture of the relish went really nice with the creaminess of the soup.  It is included after the mango salad since you will be using the dressing. Also, I made the dressing, then made the soup above, then sliced the mango, etc.)

CUCUMBER RELISH

1 Cucumber, peeled and cubed

1 Handful Fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped

1 Handful Fresh Mint, roughly chopped

Preparation:  Place all ingredients into remaining dressing from Mango Salad.  Allow to marinate 15 minutes and place on top of soup.

Thanks for stopping by!

Live in Light & Love!

Namaste!

Mango Salad Adventures – Part II & FREE GIVEAWAY!

FREE GIVEAWAY!!!

Raw for 30 Days DVD!!!

All you have to do to enter the raffle is leave a comment and/or subscribe to this blog!  (Pretty easy, huh?) I will draw the lucky name on March 27, 2010!!!

Now let’s get to those wonderful mangos!

Last night I began making a spicy powdered mixture for the Ripe Mangos I received from the universe.  I figured that was the best thing to do.

Initially I was going to go with an Japanese theme for dinner last night, however I ended up on an Indian note. I’ll explain…

There is a spice mixture used in Japanese cuisine called “Shichimi Togarashi”.  The ingredients are dried chilies, black peppercorns, tangerine peel, black sesame seeds, minced garlic, and white poppy seeds.

As I looked around my spice cabinet I realized that my memory had failed me once again…No white poppy seeds, and I was also missing  few of the other ingredients.  I went with all of the new indian spices I had purchased at India Sweet & Spice.

This is the mixture I made:

2 tbs.  red kashmiri dried chilis

1 tbs. tangerine peel

1 tbs. lemmon peel

1 drop organic lemon essential oil

1 drop organic orange essential oil

3 garlic cloves

2 tsp. nori

2 tsp. black sesame seeds

2 tsp raw hemp seeds

Preparation: Grind all ingredients and put in a small airtight dish to save.  This will make approximately 1/8 of a cup.

Next…

I cut the mangos into slices and placed them in a large bowl.  I added 1 large scoop of the spice mixture I had just made.

As I was experimenting with my next dish to serve with dinner last night I came up with a RAW BIRYANI RICE recipe!

What is Biryani? Biryani is a set of rice-based foods made with spices, rice (usually basmati) and meat, fish, eggs or vegetables. The name is derived from the Persian word beryā(n) (بریان) which means “fried” or “roasted”.

Biryani was brought to the Indian Subcontinent by Muslim travelers and merchants. Local variants of this dish are not only popular in South Asia but also in Arabia and within various South Asian communities in Western countries.

The spices and continents used in biryani may include but are not limited to: peas, beans, cumin, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander and mint leaves, ginger, onions, and garlic. The premium varieties include saffron.

The difference between biryani and pullao is that while pullao may be made by cooking the items together, biryani is used to denote a dish where the rice (plain or fried) is cooked separately from the thick sauce (curry of Meat or vegetables). The curry and the rice are then brought together and layered resulting in a dish of the contrasting flavours of unflavored rice(which has a hint of the aromas and juices of the curry) and intensely flavored sauce and meat or vegetables. (Wikipedia)

RAW BIRYANI RICE

1 Large Parsnip

5 Sund Dried Tomatoes

2 tbls Spicy Sambar Masala

1 tsp Tumeric

1 tbl. Cumin

1 Handful Fresh Cilantro

1 Large Handful Raisins

3-4 Cloves Garlic

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 cup peas

Preparation:  Peel and chop parsnip.  Place the parsnip in Food Processor with “S” blade and process until it resembles rice.  Place in a bowl and set aside.  Place all other ingredients into the food processor.  It should be a very chunky and be extremly fragrant!!!! YUM!

Here is the Parsnip Rice…

The spice mixture before the rice…

Everything all mixed up and redy to serve…

Here is the final presentation…

I added the peas last, since I didn’t want them to get squished while I was mixing in the spice mixture into the parsnip rice.

My taste tester was quite pleased with this meal I must say!!!  He said he could smell the mangos and chili mixture from the kitchen while he was relaxing in the living room.  Very excited about this dish!  I will definitly be making this again!

Thanks for visiting my blog and don’t forget to ENTER THE RAFFLE!!!

Namaste!

Chapter 4 – Recipe for Disaster

This is the most popular “recipe” people like to make when beginning middle to late age.

Serves 2+

Ingredients:

3 large cups of 11th hour

2 cups of inexperience

1/4 cup bad health

1/4 cup fear

1/2 cup wishful thinking/ideal thoughts

1/2 cup  ego

1 tsp ingnorance

Process all of the ingredients in one or two brains.  You will have enough disater to meet you head on.

This recipe serves two or more.  It is enough to lose the battle of your illness and literally your life.

Explantation

This is what I am continually finding.

Whenever I receive a call from a prospective client it is usually the same situation.  I would like to drop weight, eat a better diet since my doctor told me to and I would like to try a vegetarian diet, I am trying to make some changes in my life.

This is how the recipe for disaster begins.

When I am intaking a new client there are a series of questions I ask for some serious reasons.

1) Why are you needing these services?

2) Do you eat meat regularly?

3) Do you have any aversions to any type of vegetable or fruit?

4) What is your current health condition?

5) Are you contacting me, because you were told you have to make a change?

All of these questions will guide me how to best help the person.  For those that are only doing it beacause they have to it is a HUGE job.  A job that can only be completed by 80% of positive and open mindedness of the client.  Anything else just will not work.  Making this change has to be beacause you want to.  Not beacuse you have to.  Anything that is done with this psyche will fail.  The change is monumentus if you are a regular SAD eater. (Standard American Diet)

However, if you look at this as a direct manifestation of what you have been doing in life and it is time for a change then success will be reached.

Getting Bored! Overwhelmed?

Chapter 3

So.  For those of you out there in California – Los Angeles to be specific, you are in luck!  For cooking classes, Recipes, Advice and plain out acceptance and love ~ Contact Me! I will be happy to help you if I can!

For those of you who are not in Los Angeles, my advice to you is start looking anywhere you can to find delicious recipes.  I always found it interesting to “Veganize” a recipe.  My latest endeavor is to “Raw-ize” recipes.  I was looking at my monthly Bon Apetit mag this weekend.  This was an obsession for the last 2 years. Veganizing recipes from the Gourmet & Bon Apetit mags.  Soy meat helps at times.  This is an example on what you can do to get ideas.  For those of you who aren’t in the habit of cooking – find a cook to deliver organic meals to your door.  I only offer this service to those in the Los Angeles County~for now.  I have to wait unitl My Beloved tells me what my next step is.  For now, it is to help all of you make a change in your life.  Whatever we put in our temple should be healthy and delicious!

Depending on where you are and what you feel comfortable with:

1)Try Craiglist,2) Green People or search for other websites that offer local health concious services.

Your local health food store should be your primary resource.  Try to find a small business rather that a corporate health food store.  (That is just me being me.  Remembering to support the small biz owner) Health food store will have lots of information for you.  Most of the health food stores I have been to have food prepared on the spot.  Maybe frequent this place for awhile and try eating their meals.  Some meals can be expensive, others can be a reasonably good deal.  Just check it out.  Feel the energy!  Once you make this change in your life, the energy of healing and love will follow you.  Just be open to it and there will be some beautiful things that arise!

If you have a signifigent other who is less than thrilled about this latest change in your life then check it out – YOU ARE MAKING THIS CHANGE FOR YOU! NO ONE ELSE!  Attempt to involve them.  Don’t however try to change them.  They won’t make the change for the proper reason and eventually there will be a problem.  If you are cooking, share the meal.  Make it an enjoyable experience.  Maybe use the opportunity to really make the evening nice.  Deck out the table, get a nice wine to pair with the meal, etc.

Chapter 2 – Don’t Be Afraid!

What if I don’t have support?  What if someone makes fun of me?  What am I going to eat? Am I going to be hungry all of the time?

Intitially you will have a lot of questions.  That is normal.  Not knowing what is out there.  Not knowing what to make.  These are all something everyone goes through.  At the time I made my transition from a meat based diet I was lucky enough to have a few people in my life that were a great support group.  Although from all different walks of life, they were still in my life on a daily basis.  I was 19 years old and ready to take on the world~or so I thought!

So the first thing you want to do is look at your list.  Is the list comprised of ingredients over dishes?  or Vice versa? How do you feel about vegetables?

Once you answer these questions you can dictate what direction this path is going to lead you.

There are many avenues you can take.  Extreme or not – you have options.  I personally made a list of all my favorite dishes.  At the time I wasn’t as open to certain vegetables or ingredients.  I was pretty narrow minded.

I put my list in the kitchen.  I thought about the different ingredients they all had in them.  What they tasted like and what they included.  I began to notice that many of the ingredients were easy to change.

Example: My list comprised of Fajitas, Lasagna, Chow Mein, Hot Dogs with Chili Beans, Cheeseburgers, Pizza, Quesadillas with Chicken and Green Chilies, Enchiladas.  So I set about making all the vegetarian options of these dishes.  I figured I had to get used to working with different ingredients for this purpose.  The most obvious was soy meat, TVP, and a product by a company names Quorn.

The soy meat products were:

1)Morning Start Products

2) TVP – (Textured Vegetable Protein)

3) Quorn – Mushroom based meat alternative.

Yes.  Meat Alternative.  That is what these are essentially.  I always have these options on my different menus for the month.  Not everyone is on the Intermediate, Advanced, and Raw diet all at once.  It is a step.  Then another step.  It will take some time, but with the help of this information you will be successful in reaching your goal.  You can also email me or comment on any of the blogs and I will be happy to respond.

Note to you 6 months to a year later:  You will need to push yourself a bit harder.  You will need to further your diet beyond soy products of any kind.  All of the processed soy can be hard for the digestion.  Of course it is better than any meat product, it is still a good idea to graduate to the next level.  That is not to say that you shouldn’t ever eat it or drop it completly; it’s just time to step it up!

Introduction to being a Beginner – Intermediate – Advanced – Raw & Chapter 1

Introduction

Beginner ~ Intermediate ~ Advanced ~ Raw

Listed above are the most obvious steps to change the structure of your diet.

Becoming a vegetarian first and formost must be a solid decision YOU make.  Although it may seem difficult at times and uncomprehensible – it is POSSIBLE.  Many times in our lives we think that there are certain impossibilities.  I am a firm believer in the impossible.  The only thing standing in your way is yourself.  Is your mind open?  Is your heart dedicated to the task at hand?  Remeber, everything takes time.  Having a child, growing a plant, raising a pet, etc.  Anything that is alive takes time to flourish.  It is no different for you.

I could tell you all kinds of statistic regarding why you should become a vegetarian.  I could tell you the same for vegan and raw food.  But it is unrealistic for me to do that.  Make the decision to not eat meat based on your own findings and your own desire to love yourself and your temple.  Your soul is bound by your breathe.  As long as your breath flows throughout your body you are alive.  You have developed into the person you have become by experiences in life.  Some good – some bad.  They are all necessary.

I hope that you will love your body temple and keep it clean.  Part of that is the transition into a cleaner way of eating and living.

The first step to making the change is simple.  CUT OUT ALL MEAT!  As simple as that may seem, it is difficult for some.  Please remember your mind must make the change.  The desire to see this through must enter your sub-concious mind.  (More on that later!)

If the very idea of NO MEAT seems crazy, then I would say begin with 2 or 3 days a week.  If you are making the decision and would like to be a little more intense about your efforts, then I would say 4 – 5 days a week.

In addition to these steps I would encourage you to do a detox.  (Depending on your age).  There are several ways to do this.  Eiether by using a detox product or by fasting on juices.

If using a detox product, please make sure the product is ALL ORGANIC.  I support the Renew Life company.  I have a list of their products that are completly vegetarian and which ones are completly vegan.  Please email me if you would like to know what is what.  I sell the 7 day Rapid Cleanse Detox, Heavy Metal Cleanse, Para Gone Cleanse and many more to come.  Please email me if you are interested in purchasing any of these products.

Namaste

Chapter 1

What do I eat once I make the change?

First – Make a list of all your favorite foods.  Weather by country or ingredient.

Second – Figure out if there is an alternative vegetarian source for your old favorite!

For example: Growing up in our household Chorizo was a favorite every Saturday or Sunday.  My mother would make Chorizo and Eggs and wrap it in a tortilla for me.  She always had to change the meal for me somehow.  I didn;t like it if I saw too much food on the plate or if I focused on the way that it looked for too long.  I was pretty finicky!  But it makes me happy to think of those lazy mornings.  She was a great Mom.  She always made sure we were fed and clean.  She never let a day go by without hugging us at least 10 times ! (Love You Mom!)  Anyway, the company El Burrito makes a wonderful Chorizo product that is 100% vegetarian!  There are a few different products made by this company.  When I initially began my trek up the mountain of great health I started here.  I figured, well if I enjoy what I’m eating then it really won’t be that difficult? Right? RIGHT! (I will be posting recipes at a later date, they will be their own supplemental chapters.)

Third - Explore new territory!  Haven’t tried Indian food?  Haven’t tried Thai Food?  Get ready to try lots of different foods you may not have tried before!  Historicly there are many cultures who have a 100% vegetarian diet.  India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.  There are also various faiths who support a vegetarian diet – Buddhism, Hinduism, The Church of Latter Day Saints, Mormons, etc.

Fourth - Remember that no meat includes various products being cut out of your diet.  Why?  Beacuse there is no sense in not eating meat and then putting something in your body that has beef fat, pork fat, etc. You can find a list of these ingredieant and some examples of what they are in here.

RAW Beet Sorbet

In my neverending quest to try recipes, (RAW specifically), I found this interesting recipe. As usual I found it on my favorite web site Gone Raw

When I initially came across this one, it seemed somewhat strange! BEET SORBET???

-”DON’T KNOCK IT TILL YOU HAVE TRIED IT!” -

Wow! Doesn’t that ring true!!!

The recipe below belongs to:Gone Raw and was
submitted by Jaimie on October 18, 2009

Ingredients:

2-3 large beets, sliced and soaked overnight

8-10 mint leaves

juice of half a lemon

1 dessert spoon of honey or agave nectar or 2 dates

2 tbsp coconut meat

2 tbsp coconut juice

1 cup water

Preparation:

blend all ingredients until very smooth, add more water if necessary.

freeze.

blend again before serving.

Step 1

This was the first step. I placed everything in the food processor and let it mix really well.

*The next time, I think I will strain the mixture at this point of preparation. I think it will rid the dish of the pulp that was in the sorbet. It wasn't bad, I just think it would be nicer if it was smoother.

Mixture ready for the Freezer!

I placed the mixture in a ceramic bowl. I figured it would freeze faster this way. I allowed it to freeze for 2+ hours.

Partially Frozen and Out of the Freezer!!!

This is what it looked like out of the freezer!

Frozen mixture right before serving!

The next step was to blend the frozen mixture and then serve!

Final Step!!!

TA DA!!! Yummy! Very Delicious!!! This was throughly satisfying! It was sweet and it felt so healing on my throat and inside my tummy! It was also very relaxing! A great treat any time! If you want something to cleanse the palate after an extremely rich meal, anytime the weather is sticky or just really hot!

My FIRST Raw Dessert Adventure

I was looking around on the Internet for a Raw Dessert Recipe.

I wanted one that would be fast and simple.  I figured if I could make a dessert that was simple and it turn out semi decent, then I would feel more encourage to continue with this whole Raw Dessert itch I had.

After scouring the Internet for a while I found a recipe for RAW BROWNIE! Yum.

The recipe was from Gone Raw! It is my newest bank of knowledge and delight! Anyway the recipe called for various ingrediants I happen to have had at the house.  So I went for it.

First I made a dough with:

Raw Brownie Dough In the Processor!

1 cup Medjool Dates (12 or 13 approx.)

1/4 heaping cup raw cacao powder

1 tsp agave syrup

1 cup finely ground almonds

a bunch of love

a dash of chili pepper

a dash of cinammon

RAW Love!

This is the dough after I shaped and it.  The recipe said to place it in the fridge to chill so that’s what I did!  However, I made an icing for the brownie pie.

Raw Chocolate Icing

This was interesting.  The recipe called for:

1 tbl Coconut Oil

1 tbl Agave Syrup

1/2 tsp cacao powder

1 tbl Fresh Avocado

I found that the ingrediants didn’t process to well in eiether of my processors, so I put the ingredients in a bowl and used my whisk.

Next I put the frosting on the delicious love cake/brownie!

Fresh Icing on Top!

And then it came out of the fridge after about an hour!

Just Out of the Fridge!

Yummy!! I really enjoyed that it was a sweet treat that wasn’t over the top!  I think the next time I will use a better avocado and I will also double the recipe amounts given.  But overall it was really good.  I will have to see if I can wait and save a piece for one of my clients this weekend.  Actually if I think about it I could make another and enjoy with all of my clients!!

That’s all for now!

Namaste everyone.  I wish you all love and harmony.  I will leave you with a smile and a prayer to the most high!

Rastafari!