RAW, RAW, RAWSOME!

OUR BLOG HAS MOVED!

2006-06-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

Great news! Our blog is making wonderful changes. We now post about all kinds of subjects and you'll find everything catagorized by subject - Raw Foods, Alternative Healing, Paranormal, General Musings and More!

You'll be able to access our new blog directly from our website by clicking the menu item "Our Blog" You can also get there by clicking the link below.

Our new blog address is:

http://www.spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog

When you get there, be sure to remember to bookmark the page to your favorites!

See you there!

Day 64 of Raw - Inspirations from Dr. Dyer

2006-06-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well, my puddin' is home again. Raw puddin... of course - LOL! We're settling back into our routine of busy daily life. But that's okay because life is GOOD!

Krystle and I had fun this past weekend though, hanging out together. We experimented making smoothies... she came up with a killer Chocolate Carob Smoothie! We were fighting over every last drop! I also came up with a delicious one that was made of an entire lemon, honey and ice. It blended up in the Vita Mix to a slushy smooth and delicious lemon smoothie that was just PERFECT for a hot day.

I got some wonderful "gems" from Dr. Dyer in my email box. Thought you might enjoy them too...

A Baker's Dozen of Inspirational Thoughts from Dr. Wayne Dyer

Chasing success is like trying to squeeze a handful of water. The tighter you squeeze, the less water you get. When you chase it, your life becomes the chase, and you become a victim of always wanting more.

If you refuse to change your job (if you don’t like it), the only sensible thing you can do is practice loving it every day.

Enjoy everything that happens in your life, but never make your happiness or success dependent on an attachment to any person, place, or thing.

The more you see yourself as what you’d like to become, and act as if what you want is already there, the more you’ll activate those dormant forces that will collaborate to transform your dream into your reality.

Most people are searching for happiness outside of themselves. That’s a fundamental mistake. Happiness is something you are, and it comes from the way you think.

You are in a partnership with all other human beings, not a contest to be judged better than some and worse than others.

Life is never boring, but some people choose to be bored . . . boredom is a choice.

Treat yourself and others with kindness when you eat, exercise, play, work, love, and everything else.

Money—like health, love, happiness, and all forms of success that you want to create for yourself—is the result of living purposefully. It is not a goal unto itself.

The opposite of courage is not so much fear as it is conformity.

Try viewing everyone who comes into your life as a teacher.

Forgiveness is the most powerful thing you can do for yourself. If you can’t learn to forgive, you can forget about achieving true success in your life.

There are limits to material growth, but there are no limits to inner enlightenment.

Day 63 of Raw - Are we getting enough Vitamin B12?

2006-06-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Thought you might enjoy seeing my Sweet Grapefruit Morning Smoothie :)

This is a simple smoothie made in the Vita Mix and consists of ice, a bit of oxy water, a whole grapefruit that's been peeled and about 2 TBS honey. DELICIOUS!! Looks like something you'd be served out by the pool, eh? Unfortunately my pool boy is out of town right now :-(

I've posted a good article on our website about the highly controversial subject in the vegan and health industry in general about getting enough B12 on a vegan and raw food diet. You can access the article here - http://www.spiritquesthealing.com/b12.html

Day 62 of Raw - Flax Seeds - Not Only are they Good To Eat

2006-06-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

Versatile Flax Seed - Not only do they make GREAT raw food crackers and chips - but it seems they also make a great hair conditioner!

Hair body Flax Hair Gel

Put 2 tablespoons of flax seeds and one cup of water in asaucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately remove fromheat and let cool for 20 minutes. Strain the flax seedsout of the jelly and let cool completely. Pour into a container with a tight fitting lid. To use: Apply a small amount of gel to wet hair and use before blow drying to give your hair extra body and lift. Or you can use it on dry hair as a setting lotion or to slick back your hair and keep it in place. Note: This gel is unscented, but if you prefer some scentto your gel, add 2 or 3 drops of your favorite essential oil.

Day 61 of Raw - How to Open Young Coconuts

2006-06-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

Young Coconuts! YUM, YUM!!!

Many raw food recipes call for young coconuts. I'd never seen them before we started eating raw. Now they've become a staple.

You can get young coconuts at most Asian food stores like Hong Kong Food market - this is the cheapest place to get them. We've also seen them at Whole Foods and Fiesta. I'm sure they are probably at many other stores too. Look in your produce section.

The meat in a young coconut is not a hard white meat like brown coconuts. Meat in young coconuts is very soft and delicious. It's used for everything from soups to desserts to smoothies.

Here is a wonderful site to learn how to open these beauties - http://www.rawguru.com/html/openyoungcoconut.html

And if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, you can watch them open the coconut in action. Just allow enough time for the film to load and play. The music is fun to listen to as well.

Enjoy your delicious coconuts!!! I'm going to go have some coconut milk right now - right out of the coconut itself with a straw!

Day 60 of Raw - Hanging Out

2006-06-02T06:39:00.000-07:00

Oh boy!!! I'm looking forward to 2 1/2 whole days of just hanging out!!

This will the the first weekend I've had off since... ummm ... well I guess it's before Christmas. I'm looking forward to a couple of days of just hanging out :)
Oh I'm sure I'll do some work on the computer and in the house but I'm going to find me some good movies to watch too.

Hey, have you found the website www.thegardendiet.com yet? Awesome people, Jinjee and Storm. Doing some wonderful work for the raw food community. Their latest idea is to launch an ad campaign geared towards kids and encouraging them to go for fruit instead of junk. They've also designed some free posters you can print out to encourage YOUR FAMILY to eat more fruit : - )

From the Daily Raw Inspiration -

Would you like to launch a Guerrilla Advertising Campaign on your family? Did you know that seeing an appealing image of food more than three times makes most people crave that food? And if you look closely you'll see that most cooked food and junk food advertisements use water droplets throughout their ads to make your mouth water. But really its the water that is appealing to you. They are using your natural desire for water to sell you their dry packaged food!

Further, when advertising to children around half of the ads use pictures of fruit for the same purpose. They know that this is the food that children naturally crave. They use the real allure of fruit to seduce the children into eating junk. They even say "with real fruit flavor"! But why don't we ever see really appealing commercials for fruit? Well, there's not nearly as much money in fruit as in packaged foods. And you can't patent a fruit.

So we've come up with a new project for our Take A Fruit Break Campaign that will allow you to take matters in to your own hands and compete with the billion-dollar junk food advertisers! We've uploaded a series of beautiful posters of fruit that you can download for free and put up in your house, your kitchen, your school, your office, your church, your community centers, and everywhere else where you and your children can see them and re-program your natural desire to eat and drink the healthiest food known to man! By putting up mouthwatering fruit pictures where we can see them several times an hour we can counter-act the hundreds of junk food images that bombard our senses daily. We have six posters so far and we hope to grow this project and eventually have hundreds of gorgeous pictures of lovely fruits of all kinds by many different photographers. If you would like to contribute your own fruit photos, artwork, or videos we will put them on the site with a link to your homepage!You can download our free fruit posters at http://www.TakeAFruitBreak.com/psas

In Joy,Jinjeehttp://www.TheGardenDiet.com

Day 59 of Raw - What Would You Give to be Thin?

2006-06-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

I'm married to the greatest guy!

But don't let him see that, we don't want to give him the big head ;)

Chris is out of town for a few days visiting his father and family in California. I'm not crazy about being home alone although I do enjoy having total control of the Remote :)

When he was getting ready to leave town, I realized that my supply of oxy water would be non existent while he was gone. He's our resident oxy water maker. Not that it's hard to make, I just never have. I didn't want to stop his frantic packing to ask him directions so I just resigned myself to a few oxy waterless days and didn't mention it to him.

Well, when I got home from work yesterday evening, I was thrilled to realize that not only did he make me a big ol' batch of his delicious recipe flax crackers to tide me over while he was gone, he also had made up a jug of oxy water and left if for me in the fridge. Wow! How sweet is that?? I love you, sugar!

I feel that oxy water has been a huge contributor to our weight loss process and I also believe it is why we have not gotten sick with colds or anything else since we started drinking it over a year ago. To read more about oxy water, visit our site at http://www.spiritquesthealing.com/oxywater.html

Okay - here's an interesting tidbit. Found an article in the Houston Chronicle I wanted to share with you. It was in Monday's paper. They printed an article by Rob Stein from the Washington Post:

Survey indicates Americans will give anything to not be fat

Almost half of Americans would give up a year of their life to avoid being fat, according to a recent survey.

The online survey of 4,283 of Americans ages 13 to 79 also found that between 15 percent and 30 percent would rather leave their marriage, give up the possibility of having children, be depressed or become an alcoholic than be obese.

Five percent said they would rather lose a limb, and 4 percent said they would rather be blind.

"We were surprised by the sheer number of people who reported they would be willing to make major sacrifices to avoid being obese. It drive home the message that weight bias is powerful and pervasive," said Marlene Schwartz of Yale University.

Schwartz led a team of researchers tha reported the survey results in the journal Obesity.

The primary purpose of the survey was to gauge anti-fat bias.

People of all weight categories exhibited a significant implicit bias against people who are overweight, the researchers found. But they said that thinner people tended to be more biased.

"The fact that even obese individuals exhibited a significant implicit anti-fat bias is important because it suggests that they have internalized negative stereotypes, such as believing they are lazy," Schwartz said.

***

Day 58 of Raw - Why Eat Raw Foods?

2006-05-31T04:10:00.000-07:00

One of the most important things I realized on Memorial Day when I was talking to family about eating raw foods was I wanted them to realize that it's not just all about the food.

Well, it IS all about the food - LOL! But what I'm trying to say is that eating raw foods has more benefits than just being able to eat pretty much whatever you want (raw) when you want. It's also more than just eating foods that taste really good and satisfy.

The most important thing about eating raw foods is the health benefits that you get almost immediately. Within 2 weeks of eating raw foods, my bone and joint aches disappeared. Excess weight began to come off, I was sleeping better, I could think more clearly, focus, concentrate. I had more energy, I required less sleep, my skin cleared up and skin tone began to even out, I'm losing some of the age spots that have cropped up on my back and the rest are fading, my blood pressure has come down and the list just goes on and on. This is not to even begin to say what will happen down the road as I continue to eat raw. Good things will just continue to keep happening.

Eating raw makes a big difference if you've been diagnosed with high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, thyroid problems, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, achne, migraines, asthma, high cholesterol, hypoglycemia, colitis, diverticulitis, candida, arthritis, allergies, depression, anxiety, cancer or any other health issue. What do you think helped contribute to that illness in the first place? A lot of health problems are directly related to the foods, chemicals, preservatives and artifical colors we eat in convenience foods.

If you've been diagnosed with a serious illness then most likely you're already searching for changes you can make in your life. But if you've been diagnosed with an illness like high blood pressure or depression, diabetes or similar, it's easy to put your health on the back burner and "worry about it later." In the meantime, you're tired, worn out, have no energy, feel bad, and on and on. That's no way to live your life! We are talking about YOUR LIFE!! With just a simple change in your eating habits you can drastically improve how you feel and how you live each day.

Take it one day at at time like we did. We bought Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food recipe book. In it she gives you a 30 day challenge to eat raw foods. She gives you the meal plan week by week, along with the recipes and the shopping lists. It doesn't get any easier than that. 30 days. What have you got to lose besides extra weight, disease and fatigue?

We offer Alissa's book for sale on our site at http://spiritquesthealing.com/livefoods.html it's $29.99. It's got lots of wonderful stories of people who've changed their health and their lives by eating raw, along with their before and after pics. There's info on why eating raw is beneficial, along with 254 pages of delicious recipes. I recommend the book rather than just getting recipes off the internet because it does have more than just recipes. It's very motivating and helps keep you on track - especially during your 30 day challange. But if you don't want to buy a book and you just want to try out some raw recipes, please do that. Do whatever it takes to begin eating more foods that are "whole" foods. Get more fruit, more veggies in your diet. In you family's diet.

Chris was watching the news out of the corner of his eye this morning. A quick news story came on about food. Chris said the man in the news story said, "I've found the weapons of mass destruction." And on the screen they were scrolling thru packaged food labels. The sad thing? It's really true.

Day 57 of Raw - Is it Ground Hog Day?

2006-05-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

Day 57 of Raw. Is it ground hog day?

No it's not ground hog day. We just had to roll back our raw day count number and repeat 57 again. Yesterday was not a raw day for us.

Memorial day weekend we typically host a birthday bash at our home to celebrate 3 or 4 family birthdays all at once. It was quite a dilemma to decide whether we wanted to do a Raw food get together or keep the menu a typical one like we had before in the past. Chris and I probably agonized more over this question than any I can remember in a long time. We wanted to eat raw. We wanted to introduce our family to raw. In the end we decided to keep the menu the same as in the past. Rather than surprise everyone with a raw food menu, which they may or may not appreciate, we thought it would probably be better to slowy introduce raw foods to the family a little at a time. Might have more luck that way.

Well, when the day arrived, Chris and I experienced a lot of different emotions. It's really amazing how much emotion is tied to food! I was having jitters about eating my first cooked food meal in almost 2 months - afraid of how it might shock my system, and wondering how my body would feel. Chris was admitting he was looking forward to the cheeseburger later that afternoon, but was also feeling trepidicious. It got to the point where I almost had decided I would just abstain from the cooked food and find myself some raw things to eat. But I didn't want to make anyone feel weird so I went ahead and convinced myself to just "stop it and enjoy myself and just eat the food. To just look upon the whole experience as an experiment of sorts to see what would happen and how I would feel."

Okay. Well, the time came, we ate the food, it tasted... okay ... but like Chris kept telling me in amazement, "it just wasn't as good as I was anticipating! I kept waiting to taste that taste I'd been looking forward to ... but it was just... eeehhh... okay.."

After I ate, I felt like I had WAY overdone it. The funny thing about eating raw is that even if you've never been able to stop eating (cooked foods) when your body feels full, on the raw food diet, you do. You stop eating when you are full. It's just a natural turn of events that happens on its own without your being consciously aware of it. Well, when I ate the cooked food, that natural ability was gone. I kept eating and eating. Almost as though my body were trying to fill a void or something. I guess it probably was trying to fill a void - a nutrition void! LOL!

Anyway, after the meal I felt so full that my stomach hurt. I had to go to the couch and lay down. Chris and I both noticed that as soon as we ate we experienced a huge slump in energy very soon after eating. We became very tired. I was feeling really bad until my sister in law suggested I eat a bit of fresh mint to soothe my stomach. Thank goodness for her! Very quickly after eating the mint I was feeling much better!

So now I see EXACTLY why this day turned out the way it did. It was a big lesson for us. It showed us how much better we feel when we eat raw. It renewed our commitment to the raw eating lifestyle. It showed us how much we look forward to eating raw foods and how much better raw foods and faw food dishes taste to us now. Thank you, Universe!

Day 57 of Raw - Glorious Grapefruit!

2006-05-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

Did you know that grapefruit helps to break up and flush out cellulite stored in the body?

I've come across this fact time and time again and since I've found out that losing weight when you get older doesn't necessarily mean you will also lose cellulite like you did when you were younger, needless to say, I decided to get more grapefruit in my diet.

I went to Sam's the other day and bought a big bag of huge, beautiful grapefruit. They are truly gorgeous.

I've now figured out how to put those grapefruit to DELICIOUS use! I've discovered making grapefruit smoothies. Now hold on before you wrinkle your nose! Even Mr. Chris, the Smoothie Connoisseur, said it tasted really good.

Here's the simple recipe: ice, 1 banana, peeled, 1 grapefruit - whole - peeled, and get some of the thick white layer off, about 1 TBS of honey and a bit of water. I use oxy water. I put the ingredients in my Vita Mix in the order I listed and blend it all up to smoothie consistency. I don't know if a regular blender will work with this, maybe it will, if it's powerful. Or maybe you have a smoothie maker.

We bought our Vita Mix several years ago and have not ever regretted it. It's a workhorse and when you pro-rate the cost of this very powerful machine over several years, it is really a bargain. I don't think blenders last that long. I doubted its ability to continue to crush ice to a fine consistancy thru the life of the machine but it still breaks it up as fine as the day we bought it. And if you are on the Raw food diet, you'll use the Vita Mix daily, making smoothies, warm soups, nut butters, sorbets, and the list goes on. If you were to only use it to make a few nut butters, you've made back the cost of that Vita Mix - no problem!!

Anyway, just thought I'd share that grapefruit gem fact with you. Try it, it's delicious! Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day and don't forget to take a quiet moment to thank those who've fought for our wonderful USA!

Here's some more interesting grapefruit facts taken as an excerpt from MarketWire:

Grapefruit Puts the Squeeze on Low Carb Diets
WINTER HAVEN, FL -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 11/04/2003 -- Florida Grapefruit may soon squeeze out Atkins and other low-carb diets as a safer and easier way to avoid carbohydrates.
"Grapefruit contains key compounds that inhibit an enzyme in the digestive track, preventing the absorption of excess dietary fats and carbohydrates," says biochemical researcher Daryl Thompson, who initiated the grapefruit diet study with Scripps Research Clinic. "So, by eating grapefruit, you can lose weight without altering your diet at all."
Other studies at Johns Hopkins University and Chapel Hill School of Medicine also show that Florida grapefruit is key to reducing symptoms of metabolic syndrome (Syndrome X), which includes high cholesterol, insulin resistance, hypertension and obesity.

Day 54 of Raw - Delicious Himalayan Salt!

2006-05-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

We use only Himalayan salt now instead of regular table salt.

On 5/12/06 you'll see a post titled "Isn't Salt...Just Salt?" If you missed it, take a moment if you can, to read it. Lots of good info...

It's incredible how much taste difference there is in plain old regular table salt and Himalayan salt. I always figured salt just tastes...well, salty. Boy was I wrong. Himalayan salt has ... I don't know.. a kind of a refreshing taste to it. A clear, vibrant taste. I really don't know how to put it into words..LOL!

We were at a kitchen store yesterday and talking to the people that run the store. The subject of Himalayan salt came up and they all agreed the taste difference is really amazing. Once you taste the difference you won't go back to the bleached chemical laden table salt you've been used to, believe me. Not only for health reasons but also for taste reasons!

We've had a lot of requests to carry Himalayan salt and now we do! You can get it in our CenterPoint store and pretty soon we will carry it online in our Spirit Quest Store. It's pretty cheap compared to many stores and places you'll find. Whole Foods carries a small bag for about $13, I think it was.

Ours is packaged in a reusable, air tight, snap lid container and comes with a small porcelain spoon. You get 12 oz. for $14.00 ... and here's a GREAT deal... bring back your original reusable, empty container and get 12 oz. refills for only $7.00!!

We also now carry Himalayan Bath Salts. You get 3 pounds of bath salts in a soft cotton drawstring bag. You can toss a handful to melt in your tub or you can dip the whole bag in your bathwater and take it out and hang it up to let the water drain out and use it over and over again until all the salts are gone. The bag of bath salts is $10.00. When you get out of the tub your skin will feel soft and silky smooth... perfect, as one of our friends said... to go jump in your jammys and sleep like a baby all night long! :)

Day 52 of Raw - Calzone!

2006-05-24T04:24:00.000-07:00

Did you think you'd be able to eat Italian on the Raw Food Eating Plan?

Of course you can! We made this fabulous Calzone during our recent Chef Instructor's class.

In this picture you can see us filling the bottom "crust" with layers - "mozarella cheese", spinach dip and marinated veggies.

Do you see the top of the Calzone in the bottom edge of the picture? It went on top of the bottom layer and filling. We had a huge "pizza pie"! The recipe for this crust can also be used to make burger buns. It's made from sprouted buckwheat, flax seeds, olive oil, carrot, garlic, curry, rosemary, thyme and celtic salt. It "bakes" up fluffy and light in the dehydrator and looks just like bread when it's done.

Once you have both bottom and top dough layers "baked", you can then make your "mozzarella chese" very simply by using macadamia nuts, cashews, Braggs, lemon juic and water. You will really be amazed at how this tastes like cheese!

To spice things up even more you can make a spinach dip layer to put on top of the cheese layer. The spinach dip is made from spinach - of course, avacado, lemon juice and Herbamare sesaoning salt (can be found at Whole Foods). It's all mixed up in the blender to a yummy dip consistancy.

The Calzone filling is made from marinated veggies. The veggies marinate while you "bake" your calzone dough. We used broccoli, yellow bell peppers, carrots, olive oil and sea salt. You can use lots of different kinds of veggies - whatever you like, really.

Don't be intimidated in trying new recipes, even if they have a few extra steps to them like this Calzone recipe. Just take it one step at a time - it's really very easy! This recipe takes a longer period of time to make but it's not like you are having to baby sit it or anything. Once you make your dough and put it in the dehydrator you pretty much set it and forget it. Add your fillings, put the two layers together with your filling in between, put it all back in the dehydrator and set it and forget it again. In the end we had a beautiful, delicious dish that was huge and fed us several meals with fresh greens in a salad. A nice little hint - you can rewarm your Calzone - or any dishes you'd like to eat warm - by putting them back in the dehydrator for a while to warm up. Yummy! And the best part? This is healthy food!!!! No Guilt, just good!

Day 51 of Raw - Austin's Whole Foods

2006-05-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

If we're dreaming... PLEASE DON'T WAKE US UP!!!

If you ever get a chance to visit Whole Foods in Austin, please do! This place is absolutely fantastic. It has an underground parking garage and two huge floors to wander!! YES!! Two floors!!

Chris and I were in Austin this past weekend as vendors for the metaphysical fair at Park Plaza. We knew before we left that we'd be spending a lot of free time at Whole Foods. And guess what? They have a Raw Food bar restaurant section!

Boy oh boy were we in hog heaven!!! The first night we were there, we ordered the raw lasagne which was just incredibly awesome. Also had the Not Really Refried Bean Tostada and Almost Cheesecake - Raspberry. I thought I was going to have to rope Chris away from the cheesecake! Fortunately when I got home I found we have the recipe!!! And one for the Key Lime Pie as well...

Before dinner we tried a shot of wheat grass juice, the elixer of the Gods. It was our first experience with wheat grass juice. The health benefits for one shot of this green juice are touted as being one of the best things we can do for our bodies. You can learn more about wheat grass juice by doing an internet search. They will even show you how to grow it at home and have fresh "shots" every morning. I can say that after my shot of wheat grass juice I felt a LOT of energy flow thru my body - almost as if I'd had a B12 shot. Never have had a B12 shot, but have heard others describe it. The way it sounds is the way I felt. I wished we could have had wheat grass shots before working our booth each day. But we did have our oxy water which is extremely energizing too and lasts all day long.

The second night we went to Whole Foods for dinner, we loaded up our containers from the salad bar and dined in luxury on fresh, delicious salad fixings. YUM, YUM!!!

Here's a write up I thought you might enjoy about the Whole Foods in Austin from the Post Gazette from about a year ago:

Whole Foods goes awesome in Austin, Texas

Whole Foods opens a huge new market and entertainment enterprise in Austin

Thursday, May 05, 2005By Marlene Parrish, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

AUSTIN, Texas -- It has the complexity of an exotic marketplace, is almost as big as a Wal-Mart and serves up as much fun as Kennywood Park.
Karen Reiter, Whole Foods

Austin celebrated the grand opening of the Whole Foods Market landmark store and world headquarters in March, and Lynn Larson was there on opening day.

"I'm a real foodie, and this store is a perfect fit with my lifestyle," said the former Ben Avon resident. "A week or so ago, friends called and wanted to get together with my husband and me, but they didn't have a lot of time. I suggested we meet and have dinner at Whole Foods."
After nailing a table at the organic and natural food store, they scattered to the food islands, each selecting a dinner -- Mexican, Indian and seafood. After eating, the foursome picked out desserts, went outside on the patio, listened to live music and hung out.

All this in a grocery store?

The March 3 opening of this mega-store celebrates the company's 25th anniversary year. The Austin-born company's largest store, at 80,000 square feet, is located at Sixth and Lamar, just blocks from where Whole Foods Market began as a small neighborhood grocer 25 years ago.
Sorry, but your mom's food isn't better. She could cook better only if she cut and aged her own meat and poultry, smoked her briskets and ribs, picked produce fresh from her organic garden and orchards and made meals fresh and from scratch every morning. Her pantry would be free of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives and hydrogenated fats.

Here's the reality. Whole Foods Market may be the new Supermom.

Free-standing islands are interspersed in the aisles. Each one seems to confirm what we already know: Texas is big.

Some highlights:

A farmers' market display of stacked organic seasonal fruit, vegetables and flowers greets customers at the entrance. Beyond, ringing the grocery aisles, are mini-cafe islands, each named after an Austin landmark, and each featuring a sit-down counter and menu.

Lamar Street Greens -- You can hop on a stool and sip a glass of wine while a chef composes your salad. I munched spring greens with asparagus, wild mushrooms and smoked tomatoes and a Gruyere crouton.

Fifth Street Seafood -- Choose from 150 types of seafood ready to be sliced, fried, rubbed, shucked or cooked to order. I sampled hand-cut wild salmon with a lemon herb rub and chipotle butter. In the unlikely event you want salt for your food, you are handed a small cup of sea salt to pinch and sprinkle.

North Side Trattoria -- Revel in a dozen handmade pastas and sauces, ready to eat or to go.
Want to cool off with a beer? A walk-in beer cooler stocks 800 kinds. To help winnow the choices, have a seat at the beer-tasting bar.

There are more fermented dairy products than in Harrod's in London. To anchor the displays for the sale of Parmegiano-Reggiano, I counted 18 whole wheels of cheese.

Seventy cuts of meat (including venison racks and buffalo roasts) are prepared in-house. Organic meats are aged on site, and an in-house smoker prepares briskets and ribs Texas-style.
Artisan breads beckon to be stuffed with charcuterie. Empanadas and pizzas bake in the brick oven.

Vats of chili -- all meat, all bean, beef or buffalo -- are ready to ladle. At The Noodle Bar soups soothe frazzled nerves, and the Bistro Bar serves comfort food. There's a satay counter, a stir-fry nook and a juice bar. Choosing from more than 50 chef-prepared oven-ready dishes is mind-boggling.

Parisian-style tarts and tortes are the work of 14 pastry chefs, who are not too busy to concoct your favorite dessert. A sweet tooth is sated with handmade lollipops, popcorn balls, fudge and a flowing chocolate fountain for enrobing fresh and dried fruit.

My personal favorite? At the Hot Nut Bar, the push of a button starts roasted nuts in coffee bean-like grinders to dispense swirls of fresh nut butters -- peanut, almond, hazelnut. More than 32 kinds of novelty seasoned nuts are ready to be bagged to go. We liked honey tangerine almonds and cinnamon pistachios.

It's not all foodThe store features a Whole Body section of natural and organic body care and cosmetics. Sampling lotions and other products is encouraged. The chain's first all-organic clothing section is here with a private dressing room.

Even the "normal" aisles are abnormal. Lighting in the produce section is the kind you find in art galleries. Classical music plays. Store signs are made of eco-friendly wheat straw, not plastic.
Innovation goes on even after the platinum Visa has a meltdown. Wheel those groceries down to the underground parking area riding the escalator ramp. The cart's auto-locking wheels clamp safely onto the moving metal grid.

The mega-shopping experience is not for everybody, especially those who are easily overwhelmed. Not me. The multilayer, super-sensual experience knocked my socks off.
The man behind the menuJohn Mackey, 51, is the founder of Whole Foods. Mackey began 27 years ago with the tiny Safer Way Natural Foods store in Austin. Two years later, he co-founded Whole Foods. There are now 168 stores and counting, including a Pittsburgh location.
"Whole Foods thinks shopping should be fun," he says. "With this store, we're pioneering a new lifestyle that synthesizes health and pleasure."

Nobody's admitting to the cost of the new store, but supermarket real estate experts place it as high as $15 million, or about twice the industry average. A company spokesperson says all of the innovations are prototypes. If Austin shoppers embrace the ideas, some will be added to new and existing stores.

Whole Foods plans to build 58 new stores, 50,000-square-foot versions, in the next four years.
Pittsburgh's Whole Foods Market store team leader Casey Dill says at 37,000 square feet, the East Liberty location is considered a medium store. "The super-large stores are not for every city or every location. As for innovative ideas, meat and cheese aging rooms that were once considered new are now a fixture in most of our stores, including Pittsburgh."

Day 47 of Raw - THE EAGLES, THEY SOAR!

2006-05-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

YES, The Eagles Continue to Soar.

Every Day... In Every Way... they are getting Better & Better.

Blessings to our friends, the Eagles.

(And Blessings to the Wolves too - you know I wouldn't forget ya girl!)

Day 45 of Raw - I Was Stuck in the 80's!

2006-05-17T05:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, I was stuck in the 80's. Chris says I'm STILL stuck in the 80's, LOL! I'll admit I'm partial to classic rock but in this instance I'm talking about my bathroom scale.

This morning was a HUGE mental boost for me when I got on the scale. I started my weight loss adventure over a year ago at 212 lbs!!!!! For OVER the last 6 months or more I've been stuck in the 180's.

189.... 188.... 187... the scale stayed in the 80's forever. I just couldn't seem to break the 80's barrier.

Well today - 45 DAYS RAW.... I did!!! Yesterday is the last day I'll ever see the 80's again. WHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!! It's 70's celebration time!!!!!

What's gotten me this far? Hypnosis...Oxy Water... and the Raw Food Lifestyle. I'm blessed, blessed, blessed.

My goal - Hmmmm ... I think I'd like to be in the 150's. Haven't been there since I was in my 20's. I may even shoot for something higher - or would that be ...lower? HA!... wonder what the 130's or 140's would be like? You know what? I don't have any doubts I can get there. Eating Raw, Hypnosis and Oxy Water have saved my life. AND...I'm healthier today than I've ever been in my life. And I know it will only get better and better from here. I'm filled with Gratitude for being led to walk this path.

My Beautiful Kids LOL!

2006-05-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share a pic of my beautiful kids with you. The tall gorgeous one is our soon to be 17!!!! year old daughter.

The two short black ones are the wall chewers Chalupa & Tequilla.

Day 44 of Raw - Have Your Cake & Eat it Too!!

2006-05-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

Cake? Did someone say Cake???

Did you ever imagine that you'd be able to have cake on a raw food diet? Well, I'm here to tell you, you can! This is a carrot cake we made on Saturday during our Chef Instructor Certification Course. Saturday was a long day filled with lots of learning and fun. Amanda, our instructor, arrived bright and early. We got started in the kitchen making wonderful raw food dishes like Amanda's Onion Dip (to die for!!!), Pizza, Calzone, Veggie Raw Stir Fry, and Enchiladas for dinner!!!

My mouth is watering as I write all this down. If you thought eating raw food is all about eating rabbit food, just wait, you've got another think coming! :)) LOL!

Saturday's class was another milestone for me and Chris. We received our Chef Instructor Certification so that now we can go on to teach others about the Raw food lifestyle. So get ready! We'll begin offering classes very soon.

I believe our first class is an Intro to Raw Foods class we will be holding at Tranquil Thymes in Old Town Spring on July 8th. I'll post more details soon here in the blog and on our website.

In the Intro class we'll have a few raw food dishes already prepared for you to sample, we'll also prepare a dish during class to show you how easy raw food preparation can be and we'll discuss the benefits of the Raw food lifestyle.

We'll also be offering later in the month a Raw Food Chef Certification Course. This course will teach you where to shop for Raw foods, how to stock your kitchen, what kinds of equipment come in handy for raw food preparation, how to use the equipment, and we'll make lots of raw food dishes. You'll get to see how the food is prepared and you'll get to try it! Not only will you learn a lot, you will have a lot of fun!

Day 43 of Raw! - Get Rid of Pesky Fruit Flies Naturally

2006-05-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

We're into day 43 of Raw already!

Feeling GREAT! Losing Weight!! Life is wonderful.

I hit a weight loss plateau for a bit, I think my body was adjusting to its new weight, which happens periodically as you lose body fat. Chris experienced the same thing for a while. He's back on the downward trend again. I'll have to check with him but I think he said 4 more pounds lost. I've lost 2 more. We're eating a LOT of food and still have good energy and motivation. The food is so, so scrumptious. I'll write more about our Chef Instructor Certification day on Saturday in an upcoming post and I'll show you pictures of some of the food we made.

Today I want to talk to you about pesky fruit flies. If you find you bring home some of these little pests with your produce, just get a small mason jar and poke some holes in the lid with a nair or other sharp object - I had an ice pick in my kitchen drawer that came in handy for this.

Pour a couple of inches of Apple Cider vinegar in your jar and put the lid with the holes back on. Set the jar out wherever you've seen the little flies. If you have a lot of these little guys flying around, you may want to have 2 or 3 small jars sitting in strategic places. They just LOVE apple cider vinegar and will crawl in thru the holes on the top of the mason jar lids but they can't get out.

Day 42 of Raw - A Day of Celebration!!!

2006-05-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!!!

As I sit here this morning I think of all the things I have to be thankful for - a wonderful family - a daughter I couldn't be more proud of, a husband who's my best friend, a loving mom and family, all our awesome friends . . . I'm so lucky and so blessed!

I'm sipping on a delicious fruit smoothie Chris made for me this morning. Yum!!

We are also celebrating our Chef Instructor Certification Class we completed yesterday!! It was an AWESOME class filled with - what else? Delicous Raw Food, Learning, laughter and fun! Absolutely incredible!!! This is a picture of Amanda, our instructor. She has a heart of gold. She took time out of her busy schedule to come train us yesterday even though she's in the middle of getting ready to move out of the country to Malaysia next weekend!!! Thank you so much Amanda for EVERYTHING! Chris and I wish you and your family much love and many blessings for lots of fun and adventure on your new life in Malaysia.

Day 40 of Raw - Isnt' Salt Just... Salt?

2006-05-12T05:49:00.000-07:00

So what's up with salt? Isn't all salt the same?

No, common table salt has been highly refined and the natural occurring minerals have been extracted. Most people simply don't realise that there are enormous differences between the standard, refined table and cooking salt most of us are accustomed to using, and healthy natural salt. These differences can have a major impact on you staying healthy, or increasing your risk of diseases you want to avoid.

Your table salt is actually 97.5 per cent sodium chloride and 2.5 per cent chemicals such as moisture absorbents, and iodine. Dried at over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, the excessive heat alters the natural chemical structure of the salt causing the potential for a myriad of health problems in your body.

The typical table and cooking salt in your grocery store has been chemically cleaned. What remains after typical salt is "chemically cleaned" is sodium chloride - an unnatural chemical form of salt that your body recognises as something completely foreign. This form of salt is in almost every preserved product that you eat. Therefore, when you add more salt to your already salted food, your body receives more salt than it can dispose of. This is important as over 90 per cent of the money that people spend on food is for processed food.

Typical table salt crystals are totally isolated from each other. As a food, table salt is absolutely useless, and can potentially act as a destructive poison. In order for your body to try to metabolise table salt crystals, it must sacrifice tremendous amounts of energy. Inorganic sodium chloride upsets your fluid balance and constantly overburdens your elimination systems, which can impair your health. When your body tries to isolate the overdose of salt you typically expose it to, water molecules must surround the sodium chloride to break them up into sodium and chloride ions in order to help your body neutralise them. To accomplish this, water is taken from your cells and you have to sacrifice the perfectly structured water already stored in your cells in order to neutralise the unnatural sodium chloride. This results in dehydrated cells that can prematurely kill them. For every gram of sodium chloride that your body cannot get rid of, your body uses twenty-three times the amount of cell water to neutralize the salt.

Eating common table salt causes excess fluid in your body tissue, which can contribute to:

Unsightly cellulite
Rheumatism, arthritis and gout
Kidney and gall bladder stones

When you consider that the average person consumes 4,000 to 6,000 mg of sodium chloride each day, and heavy users can ingest as much as 10,000 mg in a day, it is clear that this is a serious problem. So why are many people still using table salt? Because well over 90 per cent of the world's salt is being used directly for industrial purposes that require pure sodium chloride. The remaining percentage is used for preserving processes and ends up on your kitchen table.

With the use of rigorous advertising, the salt industry is successful in convincing you there are actually health advantages to adding potentially toxic iodine and fluoride to salt.

In addition, your table salt very often contains dangerous preservatives not required to be listed on the packaging. Calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, and aluminum hydroxide are often added to improve the ability of table salt to pour. Aluminum is a light alloy that deposits into your brain - a potential cause of Alzheimer's disease. Many people believe sea salt is a healthy alternative to table salt, but this is no longer the case. The oceans are being used as dumping grounds for harmful toxic poisons like mercury, PCBs and dioxin. Reports of oil spills polluting the sea are becoming more frequent. With some 89 per cent of all the sea salt producers now refining their salt, today's sea salt simply isn't as healthy as it used to be.

Since we have identified that most people already eat far more salt than is recommended, it's also important to look at where the majority of this salt is coming from. Not surprisingly, three-quarters of the salt Americans consume daily comes from processed and restaurant foods. Generally, cutting out these processed foods from your diet, which should be done for a number of health reasons - hint, hint, would drastically reduce the amount of salt you consume. While restricting salt in the diet may indeed be beneficial in some cases, others will easily achieve a healthy amount of salt if they follow a nutritious diet. However, you don't want to use your current table salt. Instead, obtain natural salt such as Himilayan salt or celtic salts.

The difference between conventional and Himilayan or celtic salts are that conventional salt is dried at over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. This amount of heat changes the chemical structure of the salt. Also, conventional processing adds harmful additives and chemicals. When you do obtain Himilayan or celtic salts, you can use them liberally on your greens, such as spinach to decrease any bitter taste.

If you need to avoid salt altogether, lemon, garlic, and other fresh herbs are great replacements that will give your food added flavour and a healthy kick. Salt is not as bad as we have been constantly told. However, like most areas in health there are a number of other factors to consider. Not everyone should take salt. One should not use regular table salt as it is processed. Many sea salts are also processed this way. If the salt is white and flows very nicely, one must be suspicious that this salt is processed. Himlayan and Celtic sea salts are thought to be the best salts and a preferred choice. It is also important to recognize that salt is frequently a "hidden" ingredient in many processed foods, especially canned foods.

Day 39 of Raw - Vegetarian Whatisms?

2006-05-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

Terminology and varieties of vegetarianism

Different practices of vegetarianism include:

Lacto vegens do not eat meat or eggs but do consume dairy products. Most vegetarians in India and those in the classical Mediterranean lands, such as Pythagoreans, are or were lacto vegetarian.

Ovo-lacto vegens - (also called eggitarian colloquially in India) — Lacto-ovo vegetarians do not eat meat but do consume dairy products and eggs. This is currently the most common variety in the Western world.

Ovo vegen - do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.

Vegans — Those who avoid eating any animal products, including eggs, milk, cheese, and sometimes honey, are known specifically as dietary vegans or strict vegetarians. Most additionally avoid using animal products, such as leather and some cosmetics, and are called vegans.

It seems as though there is a classification for everything these days. Maybe if we all get classified and slotted things will run more smoothly in the world... what do you think? LOL! Yeah what are the chances.

Anyway, I thought I'd share those definitions with you in case you were wondering what the differences were. Some of the reasons a person might choose not to eat meat or dairy might be religion, ethical, nutritional, or environmental.

Chris and I have decided in our own raw food adventure to leave out meat and dairy for a while just to see how we feel and also in concern for our health. We already know that being on the Atkin's diet for over a year, we have pretty much consumed enough red and white meat to last us a while. That's not to say we won't ever eat meat again, let me assure you! But not right now.

Now one thing we did try about a week into the raw food eating, and will probably continue to do, was to marinate some fish and shrimp in citrus juices and spices until it became "cooked" - not from heating but from being pickeled in the citrus juices. It actually turned opaque as if it had been boiled or cooked. Chris' mom used to make ceviche this way - it was delicious. And so was this! You just want to make sure you are buying very fresh seafood when you do this.

Okay - speaking of classifications... here's some more I ran into as I researched. These are various eating classifications: (do you feel like a round peg being shoved into a square hole yet?)

Macrobiotic Diet - involves a diet consisting mostly of whole grains and beans and is usually spiritually based.

Natural Hygiene - in its classic form, involves a diet principally of raw vegan foods.

Fruitarianism - involves a diet of only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant. Some fruitarians eat only plant matter that has already fallen off the plant. Thus, a fruitarian will eat beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, and the like, but will refuse to eat potatoes or spinach.

The following similarly named diets are not considered full vegetarianism:

Pesco/pollo vegetariansim - (semi-vegetarianism) — Some people choose to avoid certain types of meat for many of the same reasons that others choose vegetarianism: health, ethical beliefs, etc. For example, some people will not eat "red meat" (mammal meat – beef, lamb, pork, etc.) while still consuming poultry and seafood. It may also be used as an interim diet by individuals who are on a path to becoming fully vegetarian.

Flexitarians - adhere to a diet that is mostly vegetarian but occasionally consume meat. Some, for instance, may regard the suffering of animals in factory farm conditions as their sole reason for avoiding meat or meat-based foods and will eat meat or meat products from animals raised under more humane conditions or hunted in the wild.

Freeganism - Freegans practice a lifestyle based on concerns about the exploitation of animals, the earth, and human beings in the production of consumer goods. Many tend towards veganism, but this is not an inherent practice. Those that eat meat generally support the arguments for vegetarianism, but as freeganism is concerned about waste, freegans prefer to make use of discarded commodities than to allow them to go to waste and consume landfill space.

Well.... I think we need to create a new label for ourselves - what do you think? What shall we call ourselves? I know! Let's be Healthaterians!! :)

Day 38 of Raw - How Raw is Not Raw Enough?

2006-05-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Whooo Hoooo! Doesn't this strawberry pie look good? Well, I can tell you for a fact it was really delicious! The crust is made of finely ground almonds and dates. The second layer is finely chopped (pulsed in the food processor) strawberries sweetened with Agave nectar. The top layer is banana nut cream - bananas, pine nuts and dates blended to a fine cream consistency in the food processor. If I'm in heaven, please don't wake me up! LOL!

I thought I would write a bit today about raw percentages. You may be wondering, "what the heck are raw percentages?", but if you've been eating Raw a while or if you've been reading up on it, you'll soon see that many "Raw Foodies" rate themselves how raw they are by percentage. For instance someone may tell you they are 75 - 80% raw or they are 95% raw, etc. What they are doing is telling you how much raw they incorporate in their diet.

Chris and I believe that everyone should make their own decisions on how much percentage they will be incorporating raw food into their diet. If you want to do raw food for breakfast and lunch and then eat cooked for dinner - GREAT! If you are someone who's meals consist only of what you can find under the golden arches and you decide you want to begin substituting your Egg McMuffin with a fresh fruit smoothie - GREAT!! No one can make the raw food decision for you. And no one can tell you that you are not "doing it right". You have to listen to your own mind and your own body. If you do 50% raw and decide you are feeling so much better you want to move to 75% that's GREAT too!

Chris and I had been on the Atkin's diet for over a year. We knew we needed a change - a healthy change. After researching the Raw Food diet, we knew this would be something we could try for 30 days to see if we felt as good as everyone said it would make us feel.

Well, we did and .... it did! So for us, it was an easy decision to go Raw. Now, will there be times when a special occasion comes up and maybe we decide we want to go have a special birthday dinner or something with friends or family? - I'm sure. But that's okay. It's not something we will beat ourselves up for. We'll just enjoy the special meal and then go back to our healthy eating lifestyle. And that's EXACTLY what it is - a lifestyle ... meaning it is a commitment for us.

The way we do it may not work for you and that's okay. Like I said before, you have to decide for yourself how your eating plan will best work for you. And whatever way you decide is okay. It's not the wrong way - it's your way! Who wants to be a fanatic? Life is way too short to stress and to worry. Do the best you can. If you don't do as well as you want one day, make an effort to do better the next day. Be the very best you can be and don't beat yourself up. Live your life as best you can, love deeply and laugh loudly! After all, that's why we're all here. OOXX

Day 37 of Raw - Eat More Food!

2006-05-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that right! Eat more food!

One of the things I've learned (the hard way!) while eating Raw is that it's very important to eat more (small) meals throughout the day. You don't have to eat big portions, just a piece of fruit or some veggies here and there as you go thru the day. Why? Fruits and veggies tend to digest much more quickly than do carbs and meat dishes. So if you are eating Raw Vegan (Vegan - no meat or dairy - we'll talk more in another post soon about the choice of vegan), you are burning fuel MUCH more quickly and much more efficiently! But the bad news is that when you run out of fuel you begin to feel bad. So don't let your body run out of fuel. It's okay to eat smaller meals thru the day rather than 3 big meals a day. I give you permission! LOL! Now YOU give yourself permission. You'll feel better and you'll have more energy.

The picture you see is Spicy Green Lime Cilantro Soup made with limes, garlic, avocado, parsley and young Thai coconuts (can get them from the asian market cheap!). YUM!! Served with ... what else? All together now... flax crackers!!! :)

Day 36 of Raw - Messages in Water

2006-05-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling SO much better, thank you for the energy! I know I need to slow down a bit and also remember to eat small meals all thru the day. I'll talk more about that in a future post :)

Today I want to tell you about our experience last Thursday with Dr. Emoto. He's the author of The Hidden Messages in Water.

Chris and I were thrilled to be invited to a small gathering of about 20 people for a luncheon with Dr. Emoto before his seminar at Rice University later that evening. The luncheon was at T'afia Restaurant in the same area. What an experience it was to sit with someone who's making such a difference in our world! Dr. Emoto spent about an hour and a half allowing all of us to ask various questions about his research on water. If you don't know or have not heard about his research, you can find more information about it at http://www.hado.net

The gist of it is that he had an idea to study the effects of positive and negative thoughts and words spoken to water. In his research, when a positive thought or word was spoken to water, the water was then frozen and a photo of the resulting crystal was taken to see if there was any difference.

It soon became very obvious that positive thoughts or words resulted in beautiful snowflake type crystals. Negative thoughts or words resulted in no crystal or a very scattered looking pieces of frozen water. It's fascinating to see the photos on his website and in his book.

Later that evening we attended the reception and seminar with several hundred other people. It was a great presentation and one that made you think. Dr. Emoto is a very humble man with a wonderful sense of humor. His mission is to get 650 million - yes, MILLION!, free books about the effect of positive thoughts and words on water handed out to the children of our world in the next 20 years. He hopes that when the time comes for our children to lead the world, they will understand the importance of positive thoughts and words on water and it will help make a difference for all of us. To learn how you might help in this mission, please visit his site.

So what, you ask, is the connection between Dr. Emoto's work and eating Raw? Well, let's think about this. In eating raw, we are consuming fruits and veggies with a very high water content, right? So... what if we were to bless our raw food or send it positive thoughts or verbalizations before we eat it? Just as Dr. Emotos says to do for water, you can do for your food. Bless it with love, gratitide and respect. It certainly can't hurt! I personally think it is all connected and related. How could it not be? We are all one. We are what we eat. We are 1.

Day 35 of Raw - Not So Hot Today

2006-05-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling not so hot and really kinda under the weather today.

I imagine if I'd been eating the way I used to, this would probably be one of my major migraine days. Instead I'm just feeling depleted with a mild headache.

Maybe I'll begin to feel better as the day goes on. I hope so! Please send energy :)

Day 34 of Raw - Chef Certification Day Yesterday!!!

2006-05-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big Raw Foods Milestone for me and Chris. It was our Chef's Certification Day!!! (Happy Dances All Around!!!)

Chris and I received our Raw Food Chef Certification yesterday!!! It was the most awesome experience. Our teacher, Amanda was PERFECT. So inspiring! We watched her create one raw food dish after another. Raw food dishes that were astounding!

And the worst part? We HAD TO EAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!!! Isn't that just torture? Look at this beautiful Raw Date Nut Torte with those big, fat, fresh plump sweet blueberries. Just torture I tell ya!
The Thai Coconut Lime Cilantro Soup was to just die for. All the dishes turned out just as gorgeous and the taste of each one was full of vibrant flavor that burst on the tongue in celebration of life.

What a joy it was to be able to see someone preparing these dishes in front of my eyes. Having her show us how easy and simple and delicious this way of eating can be. It was exactly what I needed to give me confidence in my own abilities and to know that we really can follow a raw eating lifestyle that will satisfy us and fulfill our quest for a long happy life full of joyous health!

Another reason our class was so perfect was because we met another kindred raw food soul there named Patricia that I'm sure must have been related to Chris in another lifetime. The class was exactly how I imagined it would be with lots of learning, love of live foods, and laughter. Thank you, Amanda!

Day 33 of Raw - Acute (or not so Cute) Smelling!

2006-05-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

Imagine.... your sense of smell becoming so acute that you begin to smell things in a way you never did before!

Remember how, in an earlier post, I talked about the cucumber and how it smelled so delicious... so crisp? Ahhhh! As we continue eating raw foods, one of the things I have begun to notice (among many, many other things) is that my sense of smell has greatly increased more and more every day. Each and every vegetable I cut into smells so incredibly fresh and fragrant. The fruits... oh my! The fruits!! Oranges, a delight!.... apples... strawberries... Yum, YUM YUM!!

Now, I'm sad to say there IS a downside to this enhanced sense of smell. When your smeller gets smellier, you can easily become overwhelmed by too much perfume or cologne on someone. And now I know EXACTLY when my little doggies have gone one day too long without their lavender bath.

But that's okay. To compensate I just walk outside my back patio door and take a deep breath. .... ahhhh... I can smell each and every flower in bloom right in my own backyard... the deep scent of the green grass floats by on the breeze as well... my mind drifts back to lazy days of childhood....

I can't wait to go on our Mexican vacation and smell the water, the beach....!!!

Okay... sorry about that! I'm back. I had originally wanted to tell you today all about our exciting experience yesterday, but I think Chris took the camera with him and as you know a picture is worth a 1000 words, so I'll wait to share the day with you when I have the picture. Until then, have a beautiful - and fragrant afternoon :)

Day 31 of Raw - Raw Food Staples in the Kitchen

2006-05-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

Good morning! It's a beautiful day today. The sun will be peaking thru the clouds later. I hope you get a moment to go outside for a moment, take a deep breath and just enjoy being alive. Alive and aware.

Speaking of being aware... another good thing to try today. Today as you eat each meal - whether you eat cooked or raw foods - become very aware of how you feel afterwards. Do you feel good? Does your food give you energy? Or are you tired and ready for a nap? Begin to take notice of how you feel after each meal. You'll be very surprised at what you find if you take a little bit of extra time to do this.

Okay - here's a good question - What kinds of foods do you eat on the raw food lifestyle?

Chris and I eat fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, grains, olive, canola and coconut oils, apple cider vinegar, spices and sea or himilayan salt.

It is best to eat organic produce. We try to eat as much organic as possible (I found a local organic co-op) but I have to admit is is very expensive to purchase organic produce, so we do the best we can and buy the rest of what we need from the grocery store. Even if we don't eat organic all the time, we are still reaping major benefits from eating fresh produce. Some studies suggest that the pesticides and herbicides on produce is negliable but I'm not sure if this study was done by the chemical companies or not ;) So... do the best you can.

Most Raw Vegans eat NO meat or dairy.

Some people eat dairy and meat (beef, chicken, seafood) in limited quantities - cooked. Chris and I have decided to limit dairy and meat to only a few times a year. Again if at all possible try to eat these products organic to avoid steroids, growth hormones and preservatives that have been injected into and on the meat (ever notice that unatural color yellow on your chicken? - bleeech!) The local produce co-op I found in my area also offers organic meats. And I think some of the grocery stores now also offer it.

Here is a partial list of staples that the raw foodist might keep on hand in the kitchen:

All kinds of nuts including:
Flax seeds
Almonds
Cashews
Walnuts
Pine Nuts
Pecans
Sunflower Seeds
Brazil Nuts
Macadamia Nuts
Chick peas (garbanzo beans)

(and any other nuts/seeds you can think of!)

Carob
Honey
Tahini
Almond butter
Cashew butter
(I make nut butters in our Vita Mix using the nuts, grinding them up fine while adding canola oil)

Dates - pitted
Sundried tomatoes
All Dried Fruits

All fruits
All veggies

Spices
All spices! Also some that I have not used before but find that several recipes call for now like Kelp and Dulse

Some recipes call for nutritional yeast (I found this in bulk at Whole Foods)

Braggs Amino Acids (http://www.bragg.com/products/liquidaminos.html)

Grains - wild rice, wheat berries, rye berries, quinoa, buckwheat groats and more - most all these you can find at Whole Foods in bulk - maybe even Fiesta - haven't checked there yet.

You soak grains, beans, seeds, some nuts and legumes and let them sprout, then eat them raw. There's tons of info on the net about sprouting. Some people get fancy trays and jars and all kinds of things. I found an easy way to sprout that works fast and quick. Soak your grains or legumes in a collander with very small holes (I found some great ones at the dollar store). After soaking, you'll pull the grains out of the water, let them drain and then just let the collander of grains, beans or seeds or nuts rest in the dry bowl. Cover it with a thin cloth or paper towel and let sit. Rinse the grains, beans, seeds or nuts two or three times daily. I found a great site about sprouting before but can't seem to find it now. I'll keep looking and post it when I find it again. In the meantime there's tons of info on the net about soaking, sprouting and times. Don't let it intimidate you. It's not hard at all. All you have to do is REMEMBER to do it :)

This is just a small list of things you can keep on hand to prepare delicious raw meals. As in a cooked food kitchen, the options are limitless!

RAW RAW RAW DAY 30!!!!!

2006-05-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

Today is day 30 of our 30 day commitment to eating the Raw foods lifestyle!!!

What's the best thing about eating raw?

I'd have to say it's the joy I receive in knowing that EVERY single bite of food that I have put in my mouth in the last 30 days has been food that is working FOR my body instead of against it. It's an incredibly heady feeling to know that you're doing something so good for yourself and your health.

What's the worst thing about eating raw?

Well, would you believe it's not having one pair of pants that fit correctly now? I'm truly serious. It's a terrible problem, I know! Maybe you would have thought I'd have said "cravings for ______ (insert any item from the Standard American Diet - SAD - here). But really in all honesty I have to say I didn't crave any foods at all. The raw foods I ate filled me up totally. I was never hungry and I always found something to take care of whatever I was hungry for - whether it was something salty, rich or sweet.

Now for the BIG question - will we continue to eat this way now that our 30 day challenge is up????

YOU BET!!! I couldn't be more sure of anything in my life. The way we feel today after eating raw 30 days and drinking our Oxy water is incredibly alive, full of energy and healthy!!!

So, stay tuned because you'll soon be reading more about our raw food adventure including more recipes, how to eat raw and of course, new photos!

And don't forget - this summer we'll be fully trained as Teachers for Living on Live Foods. We'll be bringing you workshops like Introduction to Live Foods, And Raw & Living Foods Chef Certification!

P.S. - Thank you to all of you who have been such a support system through our Raw food eating lifestyle discovery. It means more than you will ever know!

Day 27 of Raw - Here's our Before & After Pics

2006-04-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

Here are our pics. The first ones are before hypnosis and diet. The second one is one year after hypnosis and Atkins diet. The third ones are 4 weeks later with hypnosis and Raw eating. We're getting healthy and skinny!

Day 26 of Raw - Microwaved Water - Is It Good For You?

2006-04-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

Microwaved Food and Water

Have you ever wondered if microwaving food or water is really safe?

Check out this website. It's not a bunch of reading - mainly just pics. This was a study conducted by a school student on the effects of watering two plants - one plant was watered with purified water, the other with microwaved water.

Click this link to see the pics. The answer couldn't be more obvious, could it?
http://www.execonn.com/sf/

Well, it is day 26 of Raw and we're STILL havin' fun! It's been quite a fun adventure trying out all these raw food recipes. Only one problem... we need some cannisters in the kitchen to hold all the nuts and seeds and things. Right now we have baggies scattered all over the island bar. We need some organization to say the least! Maybe we can find some nice cannisters at the dollar store. What are the chances? At last count I have 8 baggies of nuts, seeds and grains that need a new home... wheat berries, rye berries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, nutritional yeast, and so on. Don't let that list of "foreign" foods scare you off! It's all easily found at Whole Foods, Fiesta, etc.

What did we eat last night? Well, let's see... had some more left over "Chili". This raw food dish was made with frozen corn, soaked wheat berries - that Chris was amazed the wheat berries are so similar to ground beef, spices like paprika, cumin and sea salt, sun dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes... and more. Can't quite remember all the ingredients but we all loved it and it made enough to eat for 3 nights worth. Chris said it reminded him of our cooked food days where I'd grill enough meat to last us all work week long. He's such a comedian!

Anyway, I topped our "Chili" with fresh guacamole, put some black olives on the side of the plate, served it with flax crackers and also some slaw. It was a gorgeous presentation if I do say so myself. Made the slaw with olive oil, cider vinegar, honey, orange juice, just a pinch of caraway seeds and sea salt. Most of the time when a recipe calls for sea salt (which, again, you can get from Whole Foods, the health food store and possibly Fiesta) we use himilayan salt instead. Since we sell salt lamps in our Spirit Quest store, we also get ourselves some extra chunks and grind it up for salt. There's LOTS of minerals in it, let me tell you!

Last night I also whipped up some Beanless Falafal that is made out of various nuts and other ingredients, and some (don't let Chris see this) "Mock Turkey". It's in the dehydrator now. The Falafal is to be served with a recipe of cucumber sauce that looked very refreshing. The Mock Turkey is to be served with a cranberry sauce on top.

Tonight I'm thinking of trying a strawberry pie with a nut crust. Yuuuuummmm... I'll letcha know how it turns out :)

Day 25 of Raw - Tools for Eating Raw

2006-04-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

So... time to throw away the stove yet? Maybe not. May need it sometime if the dryer goes out. JUST KIDDING! LOL!

So what kinds of equipment helps making eating Raw more convenient? Here's a list - but just keep in mind that all of this equipment is optional. Remember that eating foods raw and in their natural state can be as easy as peeling a banana or mashing an avocado!

Dehydrator - We got the Excalibur top of the line with 9 trays so we could do a lot of food at one time. It also has a temp control so I can easily control the temp of our foods as they dehydrate. Here's the website of Excalibur http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/ If you don't want to spend a lot of money on a dehydrator, I bet that Wally World has them for cheap. From what I have read, some of the cheaper models may be a bit more work as they might require you to rotate trays as the food dries. Excalibur is a "set it and forget it" model what with its high power fan motor. Another plus.

Vita Mix - Chris and I have had a Vita Mix for years - way before the thought of eating raw even occurred to us. Even though it's pricey, we've definitely gotten our money's worth out of it. If for nothing else, it makes lovely finely iced drinks. Now that we are raw, we make tons of our recipes in it. You can always just buy a plain old blender but the Vita Mix has such a powerful motor it will even grind up nuts into nut butters - another common food item when eating raw. A small jar of RAW - NOT ROASTED almond butter can be anywhere from $8 up to $20 in the food and health food stores! http://www.vitamix.com/

Saladacco - This cool little gizmo will make veeerrry thin ribbons of fine angel hair pasta out of zucchini and yellow squash. Never seen anything like it! Veggie Angel hair pasta with fresh tomato marinara sauce is one of our favorite raw food dishes. The saladacco will also veeeery thinly slice veggies into chips for the dehydrator. Amazon.com sells them cheap at about $24.95 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DDVYE/ref=nosim/103-5396170-4978226?n=284507

Food Processor - you'll definitely want to have a food processor when eating raw. It saves literally hours of prep time. Any food processors will do a good job - even ones in the $40 - 50 range and on up. Just try to get one that has a large bowl size. I found mine at Walmart. It's a huge 14 cup bowl size. Hamilton Beach. It's about $60.00 http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2593958

Juicer - We only have a small juicer right now from Walmart. The cheap $10 one that will juice oranges and lemons, etc. We do plan on doing more research on juicers that are the kind like the "Juiceman Juicer" or the Champion Juicer - those ones that will extract juice from carrots and the like. It's not imperative when you are first starting out raw but it would be nice to have one around.

Well that's about it. Again, as I mentioned before, you don't HAVE to have any of these tools. But if you are planning on making Raw a way of life for a while or for a lifetime, these items will save you a lot of time in the kitchen.

A side note - here's a really cute idea. What to get the "raw foodie" in your life? Or heck just give something that's a fun idea in general? Check this out! http://www.ediblearrangements.com/ How cute is that? Don't know if the chocolate in these are raw or not - probably not. We'll talk more about how to get your chocolate fix while eating raw - soon!

Day 23 of Raw - Success on a Big Test!

2006-04-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Well, today is day 23 of our Raw food diet. As you know, Chris and I made a commitment to do 100% raw foods for 30 days. We made this commitment to see how we would feel at the end of 30 days. Will we feel better? Have more energy? Lose weight? The diet promises this and much more. So far we've been successful in staying raw. We'll see what happens!

This past weekend was a big test for us. We were scheduled to do a metaphysical vendor expo up in Dallas and it was our first road trip eating raw. I planned on making lots of crackers in the dehydrator but that just didn't seem to work out. And to make matters worse, it looked like, at the last minute, we'd even have to leave the cooler at home since the vehicle was packed to the gils.

Fortunately, my Master Packer husband (who learned how to expertly pack suitcases and vehicles when he was a kid growing up in a family that lived all over the globe) was able to squeeze out just enough room for a small Igloo cooler to fit in the back. Thank goodness, because it was our food lifesaver.

Friday we headed out on our 3 - 1/2 hour drive. "Are we there yet???" became my familiar refrain. I couldn't help whining. The Aztek was so loaded down that I was unable to ride in my favorite pose - the extreme reclined position. Instead the seat was straight up and down and my poor lower back was soon feeling the effects of each and every crevice in the road. I can tell you with certainty that they don't build car seats like they used to!

We munched on almonds and walnuts on the way up to Dallas since lunch time had come and gone and we missed our meal. Got into Dallas about 4:30 I guess. Checked into the hotel, rested for a bit and then headed out again to seek out a couple of Whole Foods stores in the area I'd found listed on the Internet.

The first Whole Foods was pretty small. I think we've been spoiled by the awesome 1 full city block Whole Foods store in Austin! The salad bar at this one was very small. We decided to try our luck somewhere else for dinner. Found a Jason's Deli close by and had a mediocre salad for dinner. Then we headed in the opposite direction to check out the other Whole Foods. The one in Plano was much bigger, much nicer. Oh well. Next time we'll know. And of course, we found a Souper Salad just about two blocks away from the hotel when we headed back to our room that night. LOL!

The Expo on Saturday was quite interesting. We arrive and set up for the show. We were actually done on time and ready for our first customers when it opened. One problem. Had a neighbor vendor lady who wasn't happy with her space, or us and ours - thought we were taking up too much room and she asked us to trade spaces. We did. So, nothing to do but take it all down and set it all up again. What fun. We'd brought salt lamps out the kazoo and those things are not light! No pun intended. Well... okay ... it was.

We were so discombobulated by the whole fiasco and the show being really slow at that point that we were really begining to wonder if we were supposed to be there. Chris said something about drowning his sorrows at the Brazilian Steakhouse we'd seen coming into town. All I knew was I was exhausted and still had the rest of the day to go!

I guess our Guides must have been testing us. And I'm sure they were probably getting a laugh or two at our expense! As it turned out, the expo went really well. We met lots of interesting people. Chris had some GREAT healing experiences on the table. I spent most of the time selling products so he could do the healing.

The only thing I'm not crazy about for these out of town shows is that people are so glad to find you but then very disappointed to learn that you don't live there in town. I wish Houston had these type shows but so far they have just not done well here.

After the Expo on Saturday evening we ate a big salad at Souper Salad. It again, was just okay. Now if we'd been looking for cooked food, we'd have been in hog heaven! Instead we reminded each other why we were doing this - for our health and the reminder helped us keep our 30 day promise.

Sunday we ate some bananas and nuts again for breakfast and headed off to work the expo. At the end of the day it was time to break it all down again and I watched the master packer do his magic for the drive back. We'd planned to catch dinner on the way out of town, but things just didn't seem to work out. There were no salad bars to be found. There were some big restaurants like Chilis and I-Hop, but we just didn't want to take that much time out fora sit down dinner and delay our getting home. Fortunately, I had some fruit and nuts packed in the cooler and we ate dinner on the road. Wasn't really all that bad. We actully had a bit of fun with it.

I must say that even with all the hard work, I always felt alert during the entire trip. If I'd been eating my old ways, I would have been passed out on the way home. So.. I really do think the raw foods helped keep me energized way more that I would have been otherwise. I also felt much lighter this weekend instead of bloated from all the eating out we'd have done like we have before in the past. And we certainly saved a lot of money by not eating those expensive meals.

To date, Chris estimates he's lost about 18 - 20 pounds. I've lost about 8 - 10. We've been doing raw foods now for 3 full weeks. Not bad at all!! :)

Day 18 of Raw - Interesting Film Documentary - The Future of Food

2006-04-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

Quick Update - Unfortunately, the free film video of The Future of Food has been taken down off Google. I wish I had downloaded the movie when it was available but alas... The only thing I can find as of this point is the trailor of the move at this link - http://www.thefutureoffood.com/trailer.mov otherwise you'll have to go watch it at a theatre or special screening :(

Today - day 18 of RAWSOME. Still feeling great! Lots of energy. Good to feel the brain power working, concentration in high gear this morning.

Let's see..last night for dinner - found out the crab cakes needed to be dehydrated before eating so I just made a batch and put them in for today's dinner instead. We ate a large, leafy green salad with fresh mint, almonds, raisins, tomatoes, shredded carrots, and broccoli sprouts. Drizzled it with the Italian creamy dressing (basil, olive oil, garlic, lemon, etc.) They raved over it. We also had flaxseed crackers with it - of course :)

Krystle made her first dish of guacamole this morning - I'm supposing it was to take to school for lunch. Can you believe, a child of mine - 16 years old, and only now making guacamole???? I know, I know... you're thinking, "My God, what kind of Texans are these people??!!" What can I say? Ya try to raise 'em right. Better late than never... *sigh*

Anyway .. this morning's breakfast for me was of course the same... banana and kumquats. When I get tired of it I suppose I'll have to find something else but for now I really like it. Chris I think has a smoothie for breakfast. I'll have to ask him what all it consists of but I have a feeling it's everything but the kitchen sink.

I want you to see this VERY interesting film documentary. It's called The Future of Food. Synchronicity is a living, breathing being and its heart beat was fast today. It was no coincidence, I believe, that I found this documentary on the Internet. One issue the documentary dealt with was the use of RoundUp on American farmlands.

My father passed away a few years ago from a type of cancer that killed him only 2 months after he was diagnosed. When I researched the cancer on the internet, I found that the herbicide, Round Up was listed as one of the chemical culprits that can help cause this type cancer.

My father used Round Up for years, in his regular yardwork and also when he moved up to Montana to his cherry farm. I erroneously thought that it was his intentional use of RoundUp that might have helped kill him. Seems as though eating it may have helped too.

As you will see in this documentary, RoundUp hit our country by storm in the 1970's. In the 1990's, gene splicing helped American laboratories create a new type of seed. These new seeds were created to be "Round Up ready". Normally RoundUp will kill any plant it touches. Not so with the new plants grown from seeds that are "RoundUp ready". This was the beginning of what is called the "Gene Revolution". It is also what was the beginning of the American farmer's continuous spraying of RoundUp on our crops.

This was only the beginning. From there, Monsanto (the creators of RoundUP), went on to create a new type corn. This corn is actually changed at the cellular level to create a natural bacteria. The corn is now registered as an insecticide. (yes, it's the same corn we eat) When a catapiller eats this corn, it actually dies. What is it doing to our bodies?

Suddenly, it all begins to make sense...why disease and cancer are out of control in our country now. As they continue to genetically alter our basic food sources and we allow pesticide use to continue to spiral out of control, I think we can only expect more problems. This film is very eye opening to say the least.

The link and description are below.

Link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1340395745035582980&q=The+truth+about+food&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;pl=true

1 hr 28 min 54 sec - Feb 26, 2006

Film Description:

There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America . A revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat.

The Future of Food offers an in-depth investigation of the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film give a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed by the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply.

Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, The Future of Food examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seeks to control the worldÂs food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crises today.

Day 17 of Raw - Flax Crackers are a Staple!

2006-04-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

Alright!! Another wonderful discovery... went to Sam's last night. Found they have great big bags of almonds, walnuts and pecans - price is pretty economical. Also big bottles of honey and of course all kinds of spices. The fruit was on the old side, guess they need to do a fresh check. But it was great to find another source for the nuts since we're making so many recipes out of them. Thinking about making crab cakes tonight - the recipe calls for walnuts among other ingredients.

Flaxseed Crackers made in the dehydrator are a Staple!! They become your chips for dips, your bread for sandwhiches, your snacks. Made some golden flaxseed crackers yesterday in the dehydrator, ate them with dinner. They turned out well. I realized after the first few attempts at flax seed crackers I had been making them wrong. When you soak the flax seeds for 4 hours as called for in the recipe, they would get really goopy. I thought (silly me) you were supposed to rinse the seeds off in a colander or something before you made the cracker recipe. Little did I know that the goop the flax seeds create is the glue that holds the crackers together. LOL! Also gives them great flavor when they harden in the dehydrator. Live and learn....

Breakfast today was more kumquats - what a name for a fruit but I just love them! They are deliciously sweet on the outside and tart on the inside. Yum! Also had some Cuties (Krystle turned me on to those - they're teeny, tiny sweet little tangerines) and a banana.

It's almost lunchtime so I'll be having my standard favorite - radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes in a creamy Italian dressing. Will also have more cantaloupe. The Italian dressing for the radish salad is made with fresh basil, olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic and sea salt - it comes out a beautiful green color. Talk about good.

Last night we made one of our favorites again... summer squash angel hair pasta with marinara sauce. Also had some snow peas with broccoli sprouts on top, sprinkled liberally with the Italian dressing. OMG! The whole thing tasted so fresh. It's difficult to explain how fresh and vibrant it all tastes in the mouth. It's a whole new world out there for the ex-microwave queen!

Day 16 of Raw - Enzymes in Raw Food

2006-04-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I've now caught up with myself. All my posts are current, today IS April 18th and the 14th day of Raw.

I am SO having fun! I can't believe I get to eat all this decadent and rich food. It's such a treat. I've lost about 8 pounds so far in two weeks. Last night... what did I have... oh! I made some "mock" (don't let Chris see that word) BBQ chicken fingers in the dehydrator. Krystle made a delicious honey mustard sauce to go with them. We had guacamole and corn chips (again made in the dehydrator) to go with. For dessert - fudge balls. Yuuuum!!!

The premise to eating raw is that you don't want to heat up your food higher than 118 degrees. The exact number of degrees is highly debated at this point, but suffice it to say that it's somewhere in the 115-120 degree range.

Enzymes are the "Life Force" or Energy of our Food.

Once you heat your food higher than 118 degrees, you begin to kill the naturally occurring enzymes. Your living food then becomes "dead" food. Enzymes help your body in the digestion of food. If you kill the enzymes, the food becomes harder for your body to digest and get rid of. The "dead" food then sits around in your body for a long time. This is unhealthy. It strains your system and works it overtime in trying to get rid of what you are putting in.

Fresh fruits, nuts, veggies and the like, digest pretty quickly and are much better for you. When you kill the enzymes in your food by cooking it, you also kill the body's ability to use those enzymes to help assimilate the vitamins in your food. And of course, by cooking food, you also lose much of the valuable vitamin content. So as you can see, it's all a vicious cycle.

It's been shown that people who eat a diet of "living" foods become pH balanced - naturally. The typical American diet is very acidic. Acid in the body is the cause of diseases like cancer. By eating in a way that neutralizes the acid in your body, you minimize the risk for disease. I realize now that this, along with the help of our oxy water machine, will bring added oxygen and pH balance to our bodies. A VERY healthy way to live!

It's also been shown that when people who suffer from disease eat a diet of raw and living food reverse many dreaded American diseases that come from eating the Standard American Diet (SAD). You know the illnesses - high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, fibromyalgia, migraines, and on and on and on... Now days it's almost as if we get the attitude of not IF we will get diseasee... but WHEN! Isn't that SAD (Standard American Diet)???!!!

Rather than sitting back and waiting for disease to get its grip on you, you can actually make the choice NOW to take hold of your life and your health. All it takes is a commitment to yourself for change. No one but you can make that commitment. And what a wonderful change it is... eating fresh foods, feeling more aware, more vibrant, more healthy, lighter..... the list of positives just goes on and on...

As you learn more about raw foods, you'll hear the term "living" foods and "raw" foods. There are enzymes in both. In living foods it is much higher. Raw foods, for example, unsprouted nuts like regular almonds, contain enzymes in a "dormant" state. To activate the enzymes contained in nuts, you should soak them in water for a while. The enzymes then become active.

I have been practicing soaking seeds and nuts and have also begun to learn and practice sprouting. It's not hard to do at all. The only hard part is just remembering to do it! There's nothing more healthy for your body than eating living foods like sprouted nuts, various beans, and grains like wild rice.

What did I have to eat today? Today I had a banana and kumquats for breakfast. Lunch was one of my favorites - cut up radishes, cucumbers and tomatoes with a yummy olive oil dressing. Had some cut up fresh cantaloupe with it too. And here's the really cool thing... as I cut up my cucumber today, it was as if I were smelling cucumber for the first time! It was so fragrant... so delicious smelling! I know that this is the beginning of the change in my senses. They are becoming more acute...more aware. From now, I know my taste buds will continue to change. Taste will become more vibrant, my sense of smell will increase!

For dinner I'm thinking of making one of our favorites - angel hair pasta with marinara sauce. The "pasta" is made in a special little gizmo that creates strings of what comes out looking like angel hair pasta from raw zucchini! The marinara sauces is made from fresh tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, spices, garlic, olive oil, etc. It's soooo good. See how we suffer???

I'm looking forward to our July vacation to the Mexican beach. I know I will be able to fit into a nice swimsuit by then and even be able to wear all those cute sleeveless summer dresses I bought a few years ago! Can't wait!!

I'll be posting our pictures here soon so we'll have a record of our before, during and always raw. Keep a look out!

Thursday, April 13th, Day 11 of Raw

2006-04-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our meditative healing Reiki circle at CenterPoint. A neat thing... when we were all introducing ourselves, a couple of our Reiki students from the Saturday before mentioned how we'd talked about eating healthy... and raw foods. They said that after the class was done and the week wore on, they began to get the urge to eat healthier. That fruits and veggies began to sound good and seemed to beckon them. :) Hmmmmm... synchronicity again? I think not.

As I explained the raw food eating lifestyle, many seemed to be interested and curious. Even had some to ask me to send them more info about it later. I'm really glad that so many people seem to be so interested in eating healthy.

Chris and I decided a while back, as we were researching all this, that we would like to become Raw Food Instructors. We'll be taking all the necessary training soon and then we'll be able to schedule workshops to train others how to do this. What fun we'll all have!

Saturday, April 8th, Day 6 of Raw

2006-04-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

Today we taught a Reiki class at CenterPoint. We brought lots of fruits, bananas, apples, organges and some avacados for lunch. It was delicious. And we were able to eat them and still feel full of energy after lunch was over.

We talked to some of the students attending our class about our new decision to eating raw and they shared some of their own experiences with us. It was fun to share ideas. Whole Foods was a big topic. I wish there was a Whole Foods closer to us in Spring. Maybe soon they will realize how much money they could make opening one in our area of town.

Friday, April 7th, Day 5 of Raw

2006-04-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

Found some great raw ingredients at the Hong Kong food market last night. Nuts, spices, fresh herbs...good to know where we can find what we need!

I'm still feeling good physically. I noticed a few things - I'm not waking up with low grade headaches now. And we've had a busy week - long days and very little sleep at night. Usually I would have a raging headache or migraine by now. So far so good, knock on wood. I have plenty of energy. Not feeling deprived. Whenever I'm hungry I find some fruit or veggies to eat. My bones haven't been aching either. That's nice. Joints don't seem as stiff.

If I could only get the recipes down I'd have it made. Not sure if I'm doing some of them correctly. I've never been a great cook - they didn't call me the Microwave Queen for nothing!Some of the stuff I've made has not turned out like it should. But some is really good and I think as we move thru this I will get better at "uncooking".

I think I will also more and more appreciate the taste of fresh food. My taste buds already seem to be changing. Flavors seem more intense. I tasted a piece of black pepper last night that I had sprinkled on something, and it seemed to explode in my mouth. To taste pepper like that before, I'd have to drown my food in Tabasco.

Thursday, April 6, Day 4 of Raw

2006-04-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

Holy crapoli! Got on the scale this week. I'm down at least 6 - 7 pounds. Been eating like a horse! Tons of veggie or seed crackers, guacamole, salads, olives, dressings... all fresh, wonderful delicious food. I haven't lost this much weight in a long time! I can really do this! And getting on the scale and having found I lost so much weight so effortlessly - not having to count points or worry about what I'm eating at all! Wow! This is AWESOME! I feel better. My energy level is up. My clothes are LOOSE. I feel great! I am eating delicious food. I am ... I am ... I am so happy! :))

I've bought a dehydrator. I make crackers out of flax seeds, also out of corn for corn chips. We use the crackers to dip our fresh salsas and guacamole... life is just so terrible, isn't it?

Wednesday, April 5th, Day 3 of Raw

2006-04-18T12:07:00.001-07:00

Synchronicity abounds. Not only have we "coincidentally" met 3 "raw foodies" in the past same number of weeks, but the coincidences - that I call synchronicity - keep coming. Today I opened my email newsletter from http://www.gogratitude.com/, and what is the topic from the author? Of course it was how she began her own raw food lifestyle. With links to a raw food cafe in CA. Checked out the cafe menu. Some of those dishes and beverages sound delicious. Maybe I can figure out how to copy them.

Despite getting only about 4 something hours of sleep last night, after our Kingwood Holistic meeting, I'm still feeling amazingling good. I had a lot of energy last night and didn't really want to go to bed at 11pm. All the information I've read on eating raw says that the need for sleep becomes less and less as you continue eating raw. Maybe it's really true! I know I'm feeling pretty good today.. upbeat..

Chris and I were able to resist all the fried and sugar coated food at the Chinese buffet last night, I'm proud to say. We stuck to salad, fruit, sushi and veggie roll ups. Wasn't all raw but it was a great success in eating healthy when being faced with our first experience of being tempted by the old ways - cooked food.

What a great feeling it was to leave a Chinese food restaurant not feeling bloated, sluggish and like a beached whale! Even had enough energy to stand around and visit afterwards with a good friend that showed up to the meeting. Tonight will be another test as we go to our meeting at the Path Foundation. Cheryl mentioned there will be watermelon available. It may be our savior tonight!

I'm looking forward to finally having the time to try my hand with more new raw recipes. I've been reading several web sites on raw food eating. One suggested that it's a good idea to keep a journal of your raw food journey so that when you're several weeks down the road and you're feeling amazingly healthy, you can go back and read your entries at the beginning... to see how much things have changed. How your body/attitude are reacting to the raw foods. They say it's easy to forget how horrible you felt in the beginning. And that's how lots of people get off the raw.. feeling so good that they begin to think, "this little bit of cooked food won't hurt me." And before you know it... you're back to your old eating habits again. I don't want to do that.

I noticed on the way to work this morning my fingers feel less stiff. They've been hurting for a while - maybe a few months or even more. I guess it's what arthritis must feel like. The pain and stiffness seems to be diminishing. My eyesight seemed unusually clear as I drove to work - the world seemed to sparkle almost! More vibrant. Wow! I still can't read the small print on a label but I'm hoping that changes soon :) No more glasses needed to read the tiny labels in the grocery store. But wait... I won't need glasses to buy fruit and veggies! See? There's always a rainbow with a pot o' gold!

Tuesday, April 4th, Day 2 of Raw

2006-04-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we pigged out on our "last supper". Last supper with Dr. Steevo (Chris' brother) before he moves away to Indiana. And our last supper before our new raw food eating.

Ironically, the Chinese food at the buffet restaurant we ate at was terrible. Meat overcooked, veggies overcooked - food tasted like it had been sitting there a long time. All of it tasted bad. Good intro for new life on raw food!

Yesterday I was a bit sluggish waking up. Don't know if it was because it was dreaded Monday (my "other life" is as an office manager for an environmental company) or because of the terrible meal the night before. Didn't sleep well. Joints and bones ached. Mild headache.

As the day wore on and I ate only raw, I began feeling better. Don't know if it was just in my head or not but by the end of the day was feeling pretty good. Didn't have the usual afternoon slump after eating lunch. That was nice. I ate some fruit for breakfast - banana and orange. Had some cucumber soup for lunch.

Made a stop at wally world for a brand new food processor to make these new raw food dishes. Got home, cleaned a bit in the house and uncooked some new recipes. Looked up and it was already 7:30. I was wondering what Krystle and Chris ate for breakfast and lunch but found out they'd managed quite well by themselves. Smoothies for breakfast and Krystle made herself a fabulous and decadent salad for lunch.

Chris and I ate our first raw food meal together last night. It was the raw food version of Fettucini Alfredo. The "pasta" was made with zucchini which was peeled in long thin strips with a veggie peeler. The Alfredo sauce was made with tahini and nuts ground to a smooth nutty sauce. Hmmm... pretty good! I also made "Mock Salmon Pate". Even though he loved it, Chris told me I should never call anything "mock". Says it just sounds too weird. LOL. We rolled the pate up in lettuce leaves. It too was made with ground nuts and various herbs. Delicious! For dinner - a date nut torte. It was pretty good too if I say so myself.

Tonight is the real test. Chinese buffet for a work related meeting. Will Chris and I be able to resist?

How do I feel today? More alert, less foggy. And my eyesight even seems better. If that's all in my head...it's allowed to stay :) I could get used to this!

Monday, April 3, 2006 - Day 1 of Raw - The Death of the Microwave Queen

2006-04-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Note: You'll see that the date I've put on each message for a few postings is not the actual date of the posting. I created this blog about 2 weeks after starting my actual journal so I'll be catching up the postings all at once here until I catch up with myself. Does that help confuse the issue? LOL... Anyway... here goes...

Well, today is the day! I woke up excited and ready for RAW!

Even though this is a new journey for me and Chris and even our daughter, Krystle, I know in my heart of hearts that it it is our new life's journey. Our new path... our new destiny if you will.

How do I know? Well, just a few things (being a bit sarcastic here) that have happened over the last few weeks. A few things that could NOT be merely coincidence - but more like synchronicity. So much so that I knew to ignore these signs and messages coming into our lives would be very foolish.

The first inkling of this new life journey for us was when I'd been told - repeatedly - from some very trusted friends who are VERY intuitive that I needed to think ...seriously think... about a new eating plan. One that incorporates fruits, veggies and unprocessed foods. Foreign ideas to me - the person whose family has bequeathed her the reigning title of the MICROWAVE Queen

I'd gained a lot of weight in the past few years and I am beginning to show signs of how the weight is affecting me in very negative ways. I'm in pain all the time from joint and bone aches. I look older, more aged in the past few years. My concentration and focus are gone. I'm always finding myself to be scatter brained. I lose my train of thought, can't find the right words as I speak, my brain feels like it's gelling. How lovely is that? My energy level is down. I'm tired all the time. I'm sluggish. Exhausted some days! Uggh... okay. I get it. I'm ready for a change.

Chris and I have been on the Atkin's diet for about a year now. That, in conjunction with cellular releasing hypnosis has helped us to lose a good amount of weight. He's lost about 60 pounds and I've lost about 30. But I know... I KNOW that this diet has affected my brain function and concentration.

One of the synchronicities I mentioned above, was to find an article a few days ago that related to studies that have shown how eating too much protein in the diet (like the Atkin's diet) can actually impede your brain function, concentration and focus. I knew it! I'd told Chris before, many times, that whenever we went on the Atkin's diet, a few days in and I'd begin to notice losing my concentration. I felt "flighty", ungrounded and as if I could not think straight. Even so, I continued on the diet out of desperation to lose weight. I knew I needed a plan, just didn't know what kind of plan.

Another synchronicity - in March, we went to Arkansas for a crystal digging and buying trip for our Spirit Quest store. While there, we met the owner of a rock shop who was "into" raw foods. He told us about how much it changes your life. How you feel so much healthier. How delicious the foods are. This man was lucky enough to live on a few acres where he could farm his own land and even raise his own fish for dinner! The more he described the raw eating lifestyle, the more excited I got. I knew we were on to something.

About a week after coming home from Arkansas we got another surprise. We were at our CenterPoint office when a man strolled in. After introductions and talking to him for a bit, we found out he was... what else? A raw foodist. He invited us to a monthly raw food potluck and told us even more about the raw food lifestyle.

Suddenly, everywhere I went on the Internet, I was finding links to site about raw foods - without even looking for them. Chris said he'd be in the library at CenterPoint and low and behold, there was a book from 1950 no less - about eating RAW! On TV - eating raw... it seemed that no matter where we were or what we were doing... the subject kept coming up.

Okay. We get the message. It's time to act. We began researching the subject and found out that eating raw can drastically improve your health and your life. The more we researched it, the more we knew this was something we were going to try.

So... today is the day! Day 1 of Raw. The death of the Microwave Queen. We do not mourn her death for we know that only good can come from positive change.

Follow me on my journey as I take you through the uncharted land - for me anyway - of eating RAW. What will happen? Will I love it? Will I begin to feel better, more healthy? Will I hate it? Who knows! Only time will tell....