Monday, September 28, 2009

Juice Fast?

Dear Friends,

My computer broke so I have not been on line for over 3 weeks. I have been too busy catching up on other things to go to the library and use the computers there.
I also was exposed to mold last Monday and got so ill from it that I decided to stop the fast till I felt better. It has been a week and today I am feeling almost completely better.

I think I'll start the fast again on Thursday. Until then I'll keep blending. It is late, I'm wired and need to go to bed.

Sweet Dreams!

Susan (Shanti)

Monday, August 31, 2009

3 Month Juice Fast!

Yes, that's right. I start tomorrow September 1st with a group of 7. We will meet once a week and make juice together. Tonight was our start up meeting and we made celery, granny smith apple, and ginger juice together. The group is very fun and supportive. We will be calling each other for support throughout the week.

I joined a meet-up group called, "The Raw Treasure," organized by, Jimmy Be Free. He posted the 3 month juice fast a while ago and I RSVP'ed maybe. Then last night, the night before we start I just decided, YES! I want to do this. I am ready. I know my life will be transformed. This feels so scary and exciting to me. Of the 10 years I have been eating raw foods and of the 16 gallbladder flushes, I have only done 2 three day juice fasts. I'm not sure what is going to happen.

I don't know exactly how I will be feeling form day to day. I'm sure I'll have good days and bad days. The part that feels good to me is that I'm not alone. I have the support that I need to get through this.

I hope to share with you everyday a little about how I'm doing with this fast. I will do my best.

Be Well!
Susan

Monday, August 24, 2009

Green Thing 1 and Green Thing 2

Hi Friends,

I have been making green soups for the past 3 days now and I feel so much more energy! The kind of energy that keeps me aware and centered. Not like when I feel hyper form to much fruit. Here are the recipes:

Green Thing Soup 1

1/2 lemon
1/2 cucumber
1 small tomato
1 apple, I prefer granny smith
1/2 red pepper
2 stalks of celery
6 kale leaves (That is one of the few things I grew successfully)
2 collard leaves
1/2 cups already soaked overnight walnuts
1 inch ginger or to taste
1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
Soak about 1/4 cup walnuts overnight.
Put all ingredients in the Vita Mix, blend, put in a bowl, top with chopped up tomatoes, avocados, and so dulse seaweed. You can sprinkle a little sea salt and cayenne pepper on time if you like.

Green Thing Soup 2

1/2 lemon
1/2 cucumber
1 small tomato
1 apple
1 red pepper
1/2 bunch parsley
6 or 8 kale or collards leaves or any yummy dark green leafy thing
3 celery
1 small kohlrabi or 1/2 big one
1/4 cup soaked then dehydrated almonds
1 inch ginger or more if you are a ginger lover

Put everything in the Vita Mix, blend, add toppings like in green thing 1 or whatever you fancy at the time, and have fun feeling good!

Check out Kevin Gianni's Renegade Health Show!
Always fun and interesting! renegadehealth.com



Friday, August 14, 2009

MMMMMMMM........Yummy Soft Basil Garlic Almond Bread!

Hi,

Well I said that I would give you the recipe the next day but I didn't. Sorry, I was distracted by other things. Well here it is now. It turned out so yummy. My friend Lori loved it. We had such a nice time together it felt like just yesterday that we had been best friends in high school.

Here is what she said about our visit and the sandwitch I made her on my face book wall:

"Thanks so much for having me over and preparing that wonderful meal. Olivia (her 15 year old daughter) and I have already made the almond mayonnaise and I had one of your sandwiches yesterday and today.....Chris loved it."

"Yes, it was great to see you, too, you are such a cutie! I felt like like it was just like yesterday in a lot of ways, too. It's nice to have you back in my life and I would love to come over for a smoothie! Olivia is eager to meet you, as well. She liked your raw veggie bread and was very impressed."

Love you always, Lori

Basil Garlic Flax Almonds Bread!

3 C unsoaked flax seeds
cover with water to soak over night
3 C unsoaked almonds
cover with water to soak over night
3 sweet onions
3 big cloves of garlic
1 big bunch of basil
1 or 2 tablespoons of celtic sea salt or to your taste
Cayenne to taste, I like a lot!

In vita mix blend the soaked flax 1/2 cup at a time. Add water if needed.

Put all the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and mix all together is a big bowl with the blended flax. Put on t-flex sheets in dehydrator about 1/4 inch thick. Dehydrate for 2 hours then turn and take off sheets and dehydrate for 4 more hours or just enough so they are soft and bendy but not to mushy or hard. Makes about 5 trays. Cut into 4 pieces a tray.

Look for the almond recipe on this blog!

Put almond mayonnaise on the bread and fill with you favorite greens, tomatoes, avocados, olives, pesto, what every your heart desires! yummmmmmmmmmmm!

Your Friend the Sandwitch Witch!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

The Raw Food Sandwitch Witch!

I just finished putting some yummy basil, garlic, flax bread in the dehydrator! Tomorrow a friend of mine (Lori), from high school is coming to visit so I wanted to make something yummy! I have not seen her in years. I can't wait to hear about how her life has been. We have a lot of catching up to do.

I hope the bread turns out. It usually does. I'm going to make an almond mayonnaise and roll it all up with lettuce, tomatoes and avocado. I wish I had some OceanGrown Sunflower Sprouts! I will start a tray tomorrow, and let you know how it's done. I'll also let you know how Lori liked her sandwitch!

Last time I made them they were magical. Everyone who had one said if they could have this instead of bread the giving up bread would be easy.

I'll post the recipe tomorrow. I want to make sure it turns out before I give it to you.

Namaste, Susan

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

What's Hot?

In the raw food world GREEN SMOOTHIES are, well I can't really say hot. They're cool! Let's just say many are talking about and drinking them. From what I have read and heard people are feeling great and happy!

Chocolate is also a very popular item, RAW chocolate that is. I have not heard as many people talk about how great they feel after eating this. I myself have felt pretty less than great and happy. Well I was happy while I was putting it in my mouth and tasting its yummy flavor, but within an hour or so of having it my heart feels like it's going to jump out of my chest, and I can't sleep, and I feel yucky. So now I do not eat it accept to taste a very little bit once in a great while.

Of the two I vote for the green smoothies! I have been blending greens for 9 years now. For the first 6 months on raw foods that is all I ate. My smoothies were a lot different than most of the recipes I see out there now. Mine had no sweet fruits in them. At the time, very long ago I could not tolerate the sugars in these yummy fruits. It was because of candida and leaky gut. Still to this day I feel better if I only eat a little bit of fruit. My smoothies consisted of mostly greens and non sweet fruits. It's really a green soup. I'll give you a basic recipe at the end of the post.

It is not always easy to come up with different flavors and always have them taste good, but I do not make them for the taste. I make them because they are healing! I can mostly drink any combination of greens that I put together. Although sometimes I just need something sweet and I go ahead and make myself a durian coconut smoothie! My favorite! I feel good after I drink one of these, but if I did it everyday after a while some of those yucky candida symptoms creep back. I try not do that too much accept this last 5 months I have felt some stress due to the move and have been wanting to feed my emotional body, and have felt the consequences. Time to get on the green thing again and feel better.

I will be sharing with you next time some strategies for staying on an all sweet free diet if your are dealing with candida or any illness that creates a yeast or fungus like condition. For now I'll give you one tip to help you stop craving sweets and other less than excellent foods.
EAT MORE GREENS!

Basic Green Soup! First I put in a half of lemon, half cucumber, celery, small tomato, and maybe a little green apple, and blend them some. Then I put some leafy greens in like kale, collards, bok choy, cilantro, parsley, basil, or maybe even some dandelion. I flavor it with cletic sea salt, garlic, ginger, or cayenne pepper. At this point you can drink it or if your wanting or needing some fats you can add a hand full soaked seed or nuts. This makes it rich and creamy. Use different green each time and get creative with flavoring. Good Luck! If it does not turn out, think of it a medicine and down it! You will get use to it.
I do have some yummy recipes that I will be sharing with you. For now get creative! Explore!

Decide to feel Great!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

The Heat Is On

Today is my birthday and it was 95 degrees! I had watermelon juice with lime to keep me cool. The weather here in Portland Oregon is Hot Hot Hot, so I did not light any candles! Yesterday it was 107. Just drinking juices and eating a little fruit is all I felt like having. I seem to be tolerating the heat, and feel somewhat energized, a little like a slow flowing river.

Today I'm making a promise to myself to blog at least 3 times a week. I want to get used to this whole computer thing. Sounds funny like someone making a resolution to exercise. Of the two I believe exercise is the most important. Truthfully, since I have moved to Portland I have not found my rhythm. I'm looking for a place to take dance classes. My favorite forms of dance are hip hop, jazz, lyrical, with some African mixed in. At the moment my ribs are a little sore from a boogie boarding accident that happened at the Oregon Coast about 2 weeks ago. I hope the green juices, and my Bio Mat help heal it up soon so I can start dance when my daughter goes back to school.

Back to why I want to Blog. I want to keep giving you insight into what a raw food life style is like on a daily basis. Even someone who has been living this way for 10 years has her ups and downs, and sometimes the downs are winning. I will be honestly and openly sharing with you what triggers the downs and how I manage to pull myself up again. I am developing a practice that opens my eyes to the strength and creativity I have inside. I know that with a little love and support we can all create a healthy and vibrant life style for ourselves.

Well I thought the sun had not gotten to me, but here I am with my brain in slow motion.

Before I sign off I want to tell you about my new Meetup Group. It's called....Nourishing Elements! Here is the link so you can check out what I'm up to with my new friend Pandora!

www.meetup.com/Nourishing-Elements/

Funny, My body is not tired but my brain is ready for bed.

Sweet Summertime Dreams!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Sea Ocean Agriculture!

Hi!

I'm so excited to share with you some very important information. It's about a solution that covers most of the globe. YES! You guessed it. Ocean Water! I have been buying it from my friend Gino in Canada and using it in my back yard and kitchen gardens.

Do you think I'm crazy for buying ocean water? Especially when I lived in Port Townsend WA, I could just go to the beach with some buckets and take it home, right?

Well you could I suppose, but once I saw a sign that warned people not to fish because of contaminates in the water. We all have heard that the ocean is polluted, and for more information go to; Water Encyclopedia at www.waterencyclopedia.com.

So, Why do I feel comfortable buying OceanGrown? Here is a quote from their web site; OceanGrownCanada.com

"OceanGrown, Inc. takes great efforts to extract elements from pristine ocean water far offshore and away from possible sources of contamination. Our lab test for 70 violate chemicals. The report comes back non-detectable to 0.5 parts per billion on all 70. It would be difficult today to find drinking water this pure."

The ocean holds all nutrient essentials in perfect balance. When analyzing the elements in our blood and those in pure sea water it reveals a similar elemental profile of nutrients? Including the presence of sodium chloride that is very beneficial to plant growth.

In 1936 Dr. Murray began his life long research in sea energy agriculture. He took pure ocean water and put it into the soil after the minerals had been washed away and literally mined out because of less than excellent modern agricultural farming practices. He found that putting small amounts of seawater on our fruits and vegetables when watering them was the key to proper nutrition, a stronger immune system, and a longer healthier life. For more information go to OceanGrownCanada.com

Most people out there do not care about the condition of our soil. We need to wake up to what is going on in the would. We need minerals to fully support and heal our bodies.

I grow mostly wheat grass and sunflower sprouts with OceanGrown. I just started again after the move from Port Townsend a few months ago and I'm drinking about 3 to 4 ounces a day. It's amazing the amount of energy I have, and I don't get hungry all day. One more salad is all I really want, but I feel really full. Today I had 3 ounces of wheat grass juice, an 8 ounce fruit smoothie, and an avocado, all before 4 o'clock. I don't feel the need for anything else.

To Energy!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Inspiration!

Hi Everyone,

I felt so inspired today! My son Alleh and his girlfriend Kristina came over with 3 bags of all organic groceries. I hope they don't mind me saying this, but they were eating a very S.A.D. diet before this week. I feel so happy for both of them. Kristina is now vegetarian and I'm not sure what Alleh is doing. Anyway, they brought a bunch of fruits and vegetables over and made a gallon of juice to take home. As a mother I feel so grateful knowing that my children are making positive changes in their lives. Change is one of the hardest things to do. Many people would rather die than change their life style. Especially their beloved foods they have so cherished their whole lives. Hats off to you both!

Before going home they each had a shot of Ocean Grown Wheat Grass Juice! Alleh said he felt the buzz right away. They both liked the taste more than I do. I am growing wheat grass and sunflower sprouts with an ocean solution, (Ocean Water) that gives the plants all the minerals they need. More on that coming soon!

Hey, check out my new pictures, and check out my son's photography web site. The link is to the right.

Friday, March 20, 2009

We have moved in!

My daughter Inian and I are completely moved into our new home and happy with how cozy it feels, especially my little 70's style kitchen. I've been making a lot of cooked food for my daughter, and green smoothies for me. Inian has been complaining of feeling a bit dizzy in the mornings. I'm requesting that she start having a green smoothie every morning with me. She is open to it. I'll let you know how it goes.

What a whirlwind it has been. I would make Inian's food first and then was too tired and hungry to wait so I would taste her food while preparing it. Well, that was a disaster. Even if it was only a few bites, I would still get a tummy ache and bloated. I felt frustrated and had low energy. Finally now that I am settled I am putting more attention on taking care of myself and eating salads and smoothies. I feel energized again and I cut out the nuts. All kinds of nuts.

I find that I feel the best when only eating blended green soups and smoothies. I have developed many good recipes and will be sharing many of them with you soon. For now just go to your health food store buy your favorite organic fruits and vegetables, put them in your blender with a little water and or ice, then blend and drink! Yum! Use 60% to 70% fruits, and the rest greens. This is very easy, not rocked science.

I use mostly greens, about 60%, for me that feels the best. Start slow and work your way to more greens!

Inian starts tomorrow morning with green smoothies. She is a little worried. I hope she like them.

Log on tomorrow for our first recipe.

Take Green Care of Yourself,
Susan

Friday, February 6, 2009

Staying on the path while moving!

O.K. I have been very busy because I'm moving from my beautiful home in Port Townsend WA. to Portland Oregon where I grew up. My daughter Inian is going to attend a wonderful new School. Many changes for us both.

I want to tell you that it has been difficult to eat all the foods that are best for my body while creating this new life. I even went to a cooked vegan Thai food restaurant with my daughter and ate some yummy coconut soup. My body did o.k. but I felt a little sick. I am figuring out how to best support my live food life style while things are in a whirlwind.

I'm spending my days driving my daughter 45 minutes to school, looking for a place to live, taking care of life's necessities, and getting our needs met. I'm slowly figuring out what works best. An emotional response I'm having to being uprooted and whirling around this big city is eating too many nuts.

I am starting to realize what I need to do to feel my best. The first thing is to plan my day the night before so I know if I need to prepare food to bring with me. When I go to my son's house I will bring a bag of veggies and make a salad when I get there. If I will be driving around all day I will make a green smoothie and bring it with me, or I will just stop at Peoples Co-op and get a snack.

The easiest way to always have filtered water on hand is to have a water bottle with a filter built in.

I think I have found the right house for us. It has many fruit trees, berry bushes, a garden patch and is near a big beautiful park. I will let you know how I succeed in taking care of myself while on this journey, for it will be a few weeks before we move into our new home.

Love to you all,
Susan~!~