Raw-Riffic happenings...

A Spook-less Halloween

This is the first year that we didn't celebrate Halloween, by decorating and passing out candy. It was a weird feeling, but also a relief. My son left for California with his marching band to compete in a marching band tournament, and they were going to hang out at Disneyland on Halloween night. So, being that it was just my husband and me, and most of the kids on our block have either moved or grown, up I wasn't into doing anything this year. Plus I've been so busy with work, volunteering for marching band boosters, and working on my various projects, I just haven’t had time to plan anything special. Maybe next year! I hope everyone else out there had a fabulous time! Did you hand out candy, or raw treats? Hopefully raw treats, or something close…LOL! Speaking of that, I saw some really clever raw Halloween treat ideas! Very cool!


EFT and The Laws of Attraction

So recently I picked up some self-realization and motivational books recommended by Philip McClusky. One of them is The Secret, written by Rhonda Byrne. It’s mainly about the “laws of attraction”. I have to say, it all makes great sense, and I can truly identify with it. I realize that I have fallen off the path of spiritual insight, and positive thinking and have been trying to get back on the path for several years now. I know that’s why I’ve been feeling out of balance. However, it's obvious to me that I am slowly getting back on track, because here I am surrounding myself with positive influences, and making strong efforts to change my life, and feel better and stronger about my path.

Another very cool thing that was recently introduced to me is the power of EFT. EFT is Emotional Freedom Techniques. My friend and co-worker actually told me about this first. So then I looked it up on the internet (love the internet), and discovered the site, www.tryitoneverything.com. I signed up for their newsletter, and got a free downloadable eBook, entitled “15 Ways To Health, Happiness and Abundance”. It’s a great book! It talks about EFT, and EFT in combination with the Laws of Attraction, and so many other inspiring and healing concepts using this whole method of EFT. You should check it out.


Super-Sweet, Sproutein Green Smoothie
Here’s a great way to get your greens, and enjoy the latest raw protein product, Sproutein: Perfect Protein Superfood. Sproutein is packed with nutrition, blends well, and is delicious too!

1 scoop Sproutein
1 scoop Hemp
Protein Powder
1 scoop MSM granules
1 scoop Amazing Grass Green Superfood Powder
1 ½ cups frozen organic mango chunks
½ cups frozen organic dark cherries
2-3 handfuls organic baby spinach
1 tsp. raw honey
1 dropper full peppermint flavored SweetLeaf Liquid Stevia
1 banana
purified water and ice to cover

Place all ingredients in the blender except for the ice. Blend well on high, slowly adding the ice (enough ice to chill the blender). Makes 2-3 tall glass servings.




Raw-Riffic Smoothie Recipe:
Creamy Cherry Delight

1 apple (skin peeled)
1 pear (skin peeled – recommend Bosch pear)
2 small bananas
1 ½ to 2 cups dark cherries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup raw nut mylk (recommend almond or brazil nut)
2 handfuls spinach
1 dropper peppermint flavored SweetLeaf Liquid Stevia
Purified water and ice to cover

Place all ingredients in the blender except for the ice. Blend well on high, slowly adding the ice (enough ice to chill the blender). Makes 2-3 tall glass servings.




This recipe was taken from my recently released raw recipe eBook, "Raw-Riffic Food's 101 Super-Charged Juices, Shakes & Smoothies". This book is packed with great information, resources and tips; and of course, 101 colorful, nutritious, and delicious raw recipes to make and drink! So check it out!




Well, that's it for tonight! I'll try to write again real soon!

Peace!

:)

- Debbie

Water fasting attempts, green smoothies, and books to read and review

Well the last several days I’ve been busy working long hours, and taking care of home stuff – and doing my best to keep up with my email reading. You see, I belong to quite a number of blog-mails, and newsletters related to the raw food lifestyle, health and well-being, and stevia (since I work for SweetLeaf). There’s a lot of great information out there on the world-wide web, as well as great and inspirational people to meet too. I know I’ve said it before, but if it weren’t for the wonderful raw-foodies I’ve met on the web, I would not have known how incredibly fantastic raw food could possibly be!

I’ve been doing a lot reading, and smoothie making (lol), so I will share some of that with you a little later in this blog. But first, I need to tell you about my attempt to do my first “water fast”. Yeah, 16 hours was the tops for me. I started reading a forum on http://www.goneraw.com/, when I read what raw food coach, Debbie Took, of Raw for Life, wrote about joining her for a 24-hour water fast on Saturday, June 14th (yesterday). Needless to say I was quite interested, and read more about water fasting and it’s benefits. Checkout Debbie’s blog for more information. Anyway, I gave it my best shot, and caved by the late afternoon. Not because I was hungry, but because of the temptation of food. I had just finished shopping at Whole Foods, and then had to make a late lunch for the family – I caved! However, it did feel good while I tried, so I will definitely try it again sometime soon. Hopefully I’ll make it the full 24 hours next time.

If you recall, I was reading Natalia Rose's, "Raw Food Life Force Energy". The sections I just completed were mainly about food combining, and basically “how to eat” (when, how much, and so on). The section term to remember, “quick-exit combinations”. Quick-exit foods are considered high-Life Force Energy foods, and when combined correctly with other lower Life Force foods can benefit the body any many ways. Including cleansing, and feeding the body in the best way possible. I’m getting closer to the end (or to the recipe section). The neat thing about this book, is that it has an actual plan to follow to help you make the transition to a “Raw Food Life Force Energy”. It’s really a great book. I recommend it highly.

As you know, I’ve purchased quite a few raw books over the past several weeks. So I have much more to talk about later. In fact, today I purchased yet another great book, Naked Chocolate by David Wolfe, and Shazzie. I can’t wait to read this one! As for e-books, I recently purchased Angela Stokes’ “Raw Emotions”. I love the way Angela writes – she writes from the heart…so I’m very excited about reading her latest!

I also downloaded some more great recipes. This time from Raw Chef Dan, and from another raw foodie, Shelley Abegg. I always have enjoyed collecting and sharing recipes…whether or not it is S.A.D. or RAW – it’s great fun!

So speaking of recipes, I have made quite a few more smoothies, and some other tasty treats. I had fun making flavorful crackers, and raw ice creams/sherbets. But my favorite lately is making shakes and smoothies – green smoothies especially.

Here are some new and tasty brews to make!

Creamy Cherry Delight Smoothie:
(Inspired by a juice recipe I found in a juice and smoothie book)

1 apple, peeled, cored, and cut
1 Bosch pear, peeled, cored, and cut
2 small bananas, peeled and cut
10oz bag of frozen organic dark cherries (or 1 ½ - 2 cups fresh cherries – seeded and stemmed)
2 handfuls spinach
1 cup almond nut mylk
1 full dropper of SweetLeaf Liquid Stevia, Peppermint flavor
Purified water to cover, and ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender, and puree until very smooth. Makes about 2-3 full servings of a refreshing and sweet cherry treat!

Stone Cream Greenery Shake:

1 handful fresh parsley
1 handful baby romaine lettuce with spinach
2 stalks of celery cut
1 medium banana, peeled
1 peach, stoned and cut
2 plums, stoned and cut
2 nectarines, stoned and cut
½ - 1 cup mango chunks (fresh or frozen)
1-2 cups almond nut mylk
1 scoop Green SuperFood powder
1 scoop raw protein
1 T hemp seeds
Purified water to cover, and ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender, and puree until very smooth. Makes about 2-3 full servings. This shake is truly refreshing and energizing!


Romaine-Star Smoothie:

2 star fruits, sliced (save a slice or two for garnish)
2 pears, seeded and cut
1 medium banana, peeled and cut
2 handfuls baby romaine lettuce
1 scoop Green SuperFood powder
1 scoop raw protein
1 T raw honey
Purified water to cover, and 6 cubes of ice

Place all ingredients in a blender, and puree until very smooth. Garnish with sliced star fruit. Makes about 2-3 full servings.

Berry-Green Super Smoothie:

6-8 fresh strawberries cut and chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup blueberries
2 small bananas, peeled and cut
1-2 handfuls spinach
1 scoop Green SuperFood powder
1 scoop raw protein
2 dashes bee pollen granules
2 spoonfuls coconut oil (cold pressed)
1 T raw honey
Purified water to cover, and about 6 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender, and puree until very smooth. Makes about 2-3 full servings. This one will definitely fill you up!

Three Greens in a Fountain:
(The flavored reminded me of a diner’s fountain chocolate malt shake)

1 celery stalk, chopped
1 handful spinach
1 handful fresh parsley
3 small bananas, peeled and cut
1 scoop raw cacao powder
1 scoop raw carob powder
Drizzle of agave (or dates to taste)
1 scoop Green SuperFood powder (chocolate flavored)
Purified water to cover, and about 6 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender, and puree until very smooth. Makes about 2-3 full servings. Yummo!

I also made two types of tasty crackers from chia and flax seeds. One was made with different seaweeds, and the other with cacao and banana. They both came out quite delicious! And for dessert, I made a very berry raw sherbet using cashews, dates, vanilla, a little agave nectar, water, raspberries and strawberries.

Waki-Nori Seaweed Crackers with Spicy Sushi “Rice” (Jicama)

Choco-nana Crackers with Raw Vanilla Ice Cream and Maple drizzle

Raw-berry Sherbet with Agave drizzle and Coconut flakes

Well that’s it for tonight. I’ll try to write more later this week. Keep it raw!

- Debbie