by Pablo Neruda
Stand up with me.
March 6th, 2010Arame Alfredo
March 6th, 2010Seaweed is one of the purest foods anyone has ever experienced. If you ever thought that seaweed was only for the Japanese, think again. Seaweed is the perfect food for anyone and everyone on this planet. We’ve been steered in the wrong direction in the West to think that the FDA or Kraft should be responsible for the bulk of what we eat. I now believe that human beings are innately good, because how else could we have been so gullible and led so far astray? We generally believe that we should trust and the media takes advantage of this. I will tell you right now that the food of the Earth, in all its purest forms, is the only food we would ever truly need. Seaweed is a perfect representation of what I mean.
Perhaps the most delicious and now detrimental foods that most of us love is pasta. So sad that your basic pasta, even if it is whole wheat, basically turns to a moldy, gluey mess in your intestines. Do you love pasta like I do, and miss it on the journey toward great health? Before you go running to Kraft begging them the create a healthy pasta, which is impossible in a laboratory, I urge you to consider your healthy and just-as-delicious alternatives already available care of Mother Earth…
I love Zucchini noodles as an alternative, but even more do I love seaweed! At Planet Raw in Santa Monica, California; you can indulge in the “cheeziest” and creamiest Cheezy Kelp Pasta. Kelp pasta is actually a pale yellow/tan color, much like semolina pasta. Another great alternative is Arame. Let dried Arame soak anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours or more. This delicious and hearty seaweed, when soaked, ends up more “al dente” in texture than the Kelp pasta. The dark color of Arame is reminiscent of Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia (Black Squid Ink Pasta), which I find a pleasing color contrast under a creamy blanket of Cashew Alfredo Sauce and raw crunchy cauliflower. Throw some bright green finely chopped parsley and confetti specks of a ground peppercorn blend on top of that, and you’ve got a glorious banquet of textures and taste sensations!
Amiable Arame Alfredo
*Soak enough Arame so that each diner gets at least half a cup. One package of 1.76 Oz. or 50 Grams will give you about 4 -7 servings.
*Break up enough fresh, raw and organic cauliflower so that each serving of arame is topped with a bit over a 1/4 cup. Make sure the pieces are quite small – about half of what you would consider bite-sized.
To make the sauce, blend the following in your blender/Vitamix…
1 cup of soaked raw cashews, or macadamia nuts
1/4 cup of EVOO
1 Tbsp of Miso (I used the Barley Miso for this and it was knock-out!)
1 small garlic clove, rough chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1 1/2 Tbsp of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1/2 cup of pure water
Few pinches of Celtic Sea Salt to taste (savory is good because nothing else in the dish is salted, but do this to your liking and remember that guests can always add more salt if they like)
To plate…
Place a mound of Arame in the middle of your plate. Press the mound down slightly and top with the cauliflower, like eggs in a bird’s nest. Spoon enough of the creamy sauce onto the top so that it rolls onto the sides. Add chopped herbs like parsley, basil, or dill and only fresh ground pepper.
Buon Appetito and ENJOY!
(for another article about seaweed, go here.)
In Defense of Angelina
February 7th, 2010I would say that anyone who slanders Angelina Jolie should be ashamed of themselves. I won’t.
Instead, I say that anyone who slanders Angelina Jolie is ashamed of themselves.
The tabloids and magazines are out of control on this one – this is downright cruelty. She is a human being, and a phenomenal one at that. Angelina Jolie is one of the most philanthropic female celebrities EVER. She’s a talented actress who has progressed with such grace and refinement, from her tragic and haunting portrayal of the supermodel Gia to her stoic, seductive and tough as nails character in Wanted. She has opened her heart and home to children without any guarantee of a future. She does her best to keep her adopted children in touch with their homeland and culture – we’ve seen her take her son Maddox back to Cambodia regularly (she owns a house there) and explore the streets of her son Pax’s native Vietnam on the back of a moped with Brad. She has traveled as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador to many third world countries, relating to the people there and learning their stories to show the world the truth – they are just like us and there is hope! She has worked with Jeffery Sachs and helped to spread the message far and wide that “yes, we CAN end extreme poverty and it already happening!”
So when I say that anyone who slanders AJ is ashamed of themselves I consider all that I’ve written above. Angelina sets a high standard for humanity, one that is hard to reach from our suburban living rooms or even our penthouse apartments. Most people are not willing to leave their comfort zones to benefit the community around them, or even themselves. In a society of sluggishly suicidal ego obsessed Diet Coke drinkers, yes, we would hate someone like Angelina Jolie. These people do what they’re told, do not take risks, do not performs acts of generosity without thoughts of what they will get in return… and, to feel better about themselves, they bond together and slander anyone who does.
This behavior is absurd and it is amongst the worst evil on the planet. Do we not know from our review of Michael Jackson’s life that this type of cruelty does affect the celebrity in a negative way?? It is a horror how we were so willing to take sides against Michael in a legal dispute that never yielded any evidence of a crime, just to sooth our own egos and unfulfilled, yearning souls.
We are privileged to witness such an amazing spirit at work in the arenas of art, philanthropy, and fashion. I look up to Angelina Jolie. She is a warrior who’s call to make the world a better place is so aptly fulfilled with fortitude, truth and beauty. She has never shied away from experience, and she has never told the public what she thought they wanted to hear. Angelina sets an example for anyone, man or woman, of how to be much much more than a couch potato or corporate cog. Follow this link to learn more about an amazing woman who calls herself “Angie.”
Actually, Angelina is perhaps the more accurate representation of what we all are truly meant to be. Really does make me wonder… how about you?
Peace and Blessings to you, Angelina Jolie, and your family.
Woman: strong, brave and beautiful – YOU ARE LOVED!
Chocolate Pear Pudding
February 7th, 2010I love this recipe because it is versatile as a pudding or a smoothie. Most great smoothies are. Pears help keep you regular and they are low in sugar. Use them anywhere you would use apple (in green juice, desserts, etc.) Both Apple and Pears soften easily in a delicious combination of: a dash of apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, a pinch of salt or a dash of Braggs Aminos. Add berries or enjoy with a raw cheesecake, or just toss the marinated morsels in your mouth. So good!
Another delicious snack is sliced pears and avocado tossed in fresh lemon juice. Add a pinch of superior salt like Celtic or Himalayan to really bring out the flavors. Eating simply is the best thing you can do for your body and you’ll truly realize how much you actually do like the taste of unadulterated fruits.
Ooh! Can you see how the coconut oil glistens on this pudding. Eat this midday (around 1 p.m.) and give your liver a great gift!
Chocolate Pear Pudding (serves 2-4)
2 Thai Coconut Meats
Water of 1 Thai Coconut (or all the water if you’re making smoothies)
1 Avocado
1 1/2 Tsp Stevia Leaf Powder (should be green, not white)
1 Dessert Spoon of Raw Chocolate Powder
2 Dessert Spoons of Coconut Oil
3 Tbsp Thick Rich Jacon Syrup (No Glycemic Rating – it’s amazing!)
1 Pear
5-7 Brazil Nuts (soaked for 3 hours – soak 2 cups’ worth and you can make milk!)
Pinch of Salt (Celtic or Himalayan)
Blend all the ingredients in a Vitamix. Pour into a bowl and let chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight and it will be ready for breakfast. Top with goji berries, sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat groats, and drizzle with Jacon. The only sugar is in the coconut water and the pear, but it’s so delicious who cares?? All you have to do is Enjoy!
Visit my Basics and Essentials page to get yourself these ingredients and a Vitamix today!
THE WAY THINGS WERE
February 2nd, 2010We all become who we think we need to be to get what we feel we need to get. Human beings have very basic needs that we all share, but, if you can get the people to believe that their needs are very complex and vast in capacity, you can get them to “buy” into many different representations of the basic needs and large, continuous quantities of those representations. This is the mechanism behind “consumerism.”
We’ve been taught many absurd and selectively beneficial ideas about nutrition, health, and the quality of life. Food is taken completely out of its natural context and moved to labs where it is destroyed for analysis and reduced to data charts that can’t possible tell us what the food truly is and what it is actually meant to do for us. We’re taught that the human body is a flawed and ailing machine. This machine either needs to be hard at work for some authority head to receive currency and gain footing in an economy of poorly constructed infantile “inventions,” or completely immersed in some brain-numbing pleasure activity created by the company that supplies the currency you think you are enjoying.
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Forget Who You’ve Become to Remember Who You Are.
Initially, this may not be easy, but as we remember who we really are we will become more inspired and amazed by ourselves than we’ve ever been, either since childhood or in this lifetime. Who we really are is beyond our wildest and most exciting dreams in all aspects of experience, and it is completely within our power to create who we are to the fullest, over and over again.
Demand that the Emperor put some clothes on… or at least drink some green smoothies will ya??
If you ever feel that there’s no hope for this world or that you can’t make a difference, think again. Our potential for goodness and positivity is just as strong as our potential for negativity and greed. It’s all a matter of how well we express ourselves and work together. Working together includes learning from each other and teaching each other. And as you acquire the information, share it! Hiding is Hoarding. Don’t be discouraged if people do not accept what you say. The truth always penetrates and prevails.
The more we experience whole foods in their most natural and unadulterated form, the more we come to see how powerful food really is.
If you are what you eat, what would you say you are?
Green Smoothies are Elixirs of Life and Beauty!
January 26th, 2010
Life is the space where “things happen.” Beauty is a measure of the balance that can be perceived with the senses. We live in a toxic environment and we must nourish ourselves accordingly. Greens serve to cleanse our bodies and our minds. They are also a great source of protein. The food that has the highest percentage of protein in the world is Spirulina (a green food!). I now value the art of smoothie-making as much as any, especially green smoothies. The Vitamix makes “getting your greens” more enjoyable than ever before.
Ray and I went 10 days on the 14-day Nutritional Fast. I’m really proud of him – this was his first cleanse/fast! Today I decided I’m going to go back on Liquids and complete the Liver flushes (we didn’t complete the final 2 liver flushes). The gall bladder flush that I did really opened my eyes to what is inside of me… and all of us if we don’t cleanse regularly and avoid dead food. I actually didn’t regain the urge to eat solid food and I still haven’t regained it, so this is a strong sign to me that I need to keep going.
Here’s the recipe for the smoothie I had today…
Sexy Super Green Smoothie
2 cups of cooled Kava Kava Tea (Yogi Tea)
1 small sweet apple
1-2 cups of Dandelion
2 Tbsp Lucuma Powder
1 Tbsp Mesquite Pod Meal
1 Tbsp Billy’s Infinity Greens, Sun Is Shining, or Pure Synergy
1/2 to 1 Tsp Maca Root Powder (start small if you are new to this food)
1 Tbsp Honey (optional – I used Y.S. Organic Farms Super Enriched Honey)
1/2 Stevia Leaf
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Scoop Sunwarrior Protein
1/2 Tbsp Lecithin
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
This would be a great smoothie for breakfast. You do want to have it earlier in the day. Go to my Basics and Essentials Page for information and links about where you can find these ingredients. And of course, you’ll want to blend this smoothie in a Vitamix Blender.
My favorite addition to smoothies these days is Lucuma, a.k.a. egg fruit. Lucuma powder is produced from the tropical Peruvian fruit that is dried and powdered. It gives a “milkshake” flavor and feel to smoothies. Lucuma actually is a popular ice cream flavor.
Here’s an informative video on Lucuma from Navitas Naturals (a popular brand that you can now find at Whole Foods)…
Green Smoothies are a powerful tool for women. If you want to shape up your body, drink mostly green smoothies for a week to a month. You will feel and look better than ever! They also calm the nerves and balance the mind.
I’m going to leave you with one more Green Smoothie Recipe with Chocolate! Greens and chocolate are great together. The calcium in greens combines synergistically with the magnesium in chocolate to create a nutritiously rich shake to start your day!
Chocolate Green Smoothie for Awakened Doing
1 coconut water + meat
1 scoop Sunwarrior Protein
1 Tbsp Dulse Flakes
1 Tbsp Mesquite
1 Tbsp Cacao Powder
1 Cup of Kale or other greens
1 Tbsp High Quality Oil like Walnut, Stone-crushed Olive, or Coconut
7 Cacao Beans with Skins (remove skins if you don’t have a Vitamix)
1 Tsp Spirulina or Superior Green Powder like Sun Is Shining at Sunfood Nutrition
~1/4 Tsp Fresh Grated Nutmeg
Enjoy!
Post Holiday Cleanse
January 21st, 2010Working on losing that weight from the holidays? Before you get too far into the year with the same less than excellent results, let’s talk…
There’s a misconception about excess weight that does little to serve us in our weight loss endeavors. Many of us think of our bodies as food storage centers or a bag that gets stuffed when you fill it. So someone who is fat is more stuffed than someone who is slim. This type of thinking will only ever get you temporary results.
You may have heard that detoxification is an effective means for losing weight, but why? This understanding is key for anyone who wants to lose weight and has learned the hard way that eating less is only one small and relatively insignificant part. Understand that toxicity and excess fat are two sides of the same coin. In order to lose weight and keep it off, especially as you get older, detoxification is essential.
Wikipedia defines Obesity as “a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems.” Obesity is a disease caused by toxicity. The body stores toxins in the fat cells and will actually produce more fat to store more toxins, especially as we get older and the body becomes overloaded with toxins. These toxins are environmental, self-imposed (alcohol or smoking), or, especially these days, the results of eating SAD (Standard American Diet).
I started the 14-day Lifefood Nutritional Fast last Tuesday January 12th. On Sunday I did a gall bladder flush. Tomorrow and Sunday I’ll do liver flushes. This is the nutritional fast that is outlined in the LifeFood Recipe Book: Living on Life Force by Annie Padden Jubb. The detoxification I have experienced during this cleanse has been the deepest and most intense of any cleanse I’ve done so far. Despite the detox symptoms, the fast has been very easy because LifeFood soups and smoothies are delicious.
After Sunday’s gall bladder flush I started passing a few pebbles at about 3 A.M. Monday morning. I couldn’t believe what was inside of me! There was a lot of sediment and I managed to collect a few stones (yes I used tools and washed everything thoroughly, as you should, too!). Here they are… (Look away if you are easily disturbed!!!)
Better out than in!!
I’m at day 9 today…5 more days and I’ll share before and after pics. I’m really liking the results. My legs have really shaped up and I’m feeling much more balanced in mind and body. This is so worth it. I can’t tell you how good it feels to get younger 
Here are some of the treats I’ve been blessed to savour during this nutritional FEAST…
Raspberry Electrolyte Lemonade (this is definitely as good as it looks!), Chocolate Pear Pudding, and Super Savory Green Soup topped with Spirulina, Nutritional Yeast, and Cayenne Pepper. I feel like continuing with this diet for a while. For one, it’s so easy! You just wash and rough chop everything and throw it in your Vitamix blender. I’ve just set a routine every day to prepare a beverage and a soup in the morning and that usually lasts Ray and me until the next day. I’m not spending as much time figuring out what to eat – this is always a plus with cleansing. I’m mostly using my own recipes and incorporating lots of exotic superfoods like Mesquite Pod Meal and Lucuma Powder. Just make sure you follow the book as to what you should avoid completely. I do recommend the recipes in the LifeFood book, especially if you are new to this cuisine. Annie Jubb really knows her stuff and it’s great to learn her secrets through this amazing set of recipes.
Here’s the fridge with a day’s worth of yummy Green Soup and Goji Berry Electrolyte Lemonade…
The basic structure of the cleanse goes Lifefood blended soups, beverages and smoothies for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and snacks. Vitamins like Chromium and the B Complex (use a superior brand like MegaFoods) 2 to 3 times a day. Castor Packs three times a day until day 11 of the cleanse. On day 4 of the fast you do the gall bladder flush, which involves drinking a cup of olive oil and a cup of lemon juice. Days 8 and 11 are liver flush days, which are the same as the gall bladder flush but you drink less oil. You also take a magnesium supplement and a gentle herbal laxative like Swiss Kriss each day three times a day to keep everything moving.
If you want to know exactly how to do this, get the LifeFood Recipe Book. It is a very healing cleanse and it is truly affective in helping you achieve your health goals.
I really feel good right now. You release so much emotionally through this cleanse, too. It’s so liberating!
Check out my Basics and Essentials page for tools to help you with your own detoxification and cleanse!
A truly enjoyable life is an empowered life, and harnessing the power to affect your health and beauty is really the pinnacle of our journey. Say that you’re worth it, believe that you’re worth it, and do something about it!
Are Men and Women Really From Different Planets?
January 20th, 2010This is a question that any woman who has ever allowed herself to love a man has asked herself.
Why is it that we understand each other so well in the beginning, then we seem to speak completely different languages after the Honeymoon?
It’s because we are speaking different languages.
Our past experience and values determine how we express love and receive love.
For example, a woman from an affluent family with a father who was able to provide material goods in place of affection may find herself looking for a man who will share, whether it be with chores, or his free time. Meanwhile material gifts from a spouse leave her feeling empty as she has come to associate this type of expression with absence or a lack of contact. Her spouse though, is likely reminiscent of her father – he works very hard and thus gives her material gifts instead of time or attention for her the household duties. All the while he feels that his expressions are more than adequate to express his love, as he recalls the recognition and praise his actions garner him at work. She may associate the expression with absence, but in his world he is somewhere doing something that he and others appreciate.
Take this same woman and put her in a relationship with a man who is able to give her much more individual attention and help around the house. Meanwhile he does not spend the time making an adequate living and ends up dependent on her or his friends. This is not satisfactory for her either because she has learned to associate a sense of security with the material provisions.
So what is the answer in this woman’s case… and the answer for any woman?
Come to understand what expressions of love you look for, and which ones your spouse or partner looks for. You can work on this together, but the person you need to be most concerned with “getting it” is YOU. In addition, learn the ways that your spouse or partner expresses love and train yourself to take note of these expressions, big or small, so that you can “feel the love” as much as possible.
So let’s take the woman who’s spouse gives her material gifts in place of focused time and attention. First, she may feel that she needs to be with a man like this because this is what she witnessed between her mother and father. But after she assesses herself and realizes that she has come to look at the amount of “quality time” as the amount that she is loved, she must make a choice. Can this relationship work for her?
Some of us become dependent on the identity that a relationship puts forth. This is dangerous when that dependence is perceived to be outside of one’s control. The truth is that we can never change our men, so this woman can choose to continue the relationship she had with her father, or appreciate the freedom that the relationship gives her in other areas of her life and focus on that. If she can develop recognition, self-discipline and self-respect as he does through his work, there can be a mutual respect that will take these two to a higher level in their love for each, their relationship, and their ability to affect the world in a positive way.
This is what the world needs now.
“On Love & Other Difficulties…
The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of his solitude, and thus they show each other the greatest possible trust. A merging of two people is an impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both parties of their fullest freedom and development. But once the realization is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side-by-side can grow up for them, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky.” ~R.M. Rilke
Honor the process and ENJOY! xoxo… c
Raw Cabbage and Fennel Cobb Salad
January 5th, 2010Or, the Ultimate Land and Sea Goddess Salad.
for Shannon…
This is a such a delicious salad. The fennel and mint makes it refreshing and elegant. The avocado, wakame seaweed and raw goat milk feta add hearty flavor and texture. If you really want to please someone with a light, but satisfying salad, try this one. Anyone is sure to love it!
Ultimate Land and Sea Goddess Salad
Half a head of Chinese Cabbage, washed and julienned
Half a Fennel Bulb, thinly sliced
4 Tbsp freshly chopped Mint Leaves
1 Apple, halved and sliced
1 Avocado, 1/2 inch dice
2 Tbsp Dulse Flakes
1 Tbsp Powered Kelp (or Bragg’s Sea Kelp Delight Seasoning)
1/3 Cup Soaked Wakame Seaweed
Juice of 1 Lemon
4 Tbsp Walnut Oil (or EVOO)
Raw Goat Milk Feta Crumbles (optional, and to your taste)
Sprinkle of Spirulina (1 to 2 Tsp)
Place the cabbage, apple, avocado, fennel, wakame and mint into a salad bowl. Combine the dulse, kelp, lemon juice, oil with a whisk/fork in a separate bowl, then pour over the salad. Toss gently and thoroughly. Mound the salad up in bowls and top with the Goat Cheese and a sprinkling of spirulina.
Have this delicious salad during the day at a time when you can sit back and relax. You’ll want to chew this salad well.
Enjoy!
Raw Chocolate Power Pudding!
December 22nd, 2009I’ve been a chocolate-liker all of my life, but it wasn’t until 2007 that I finally became a chocolate-lover as I realized the amazing properties of this heavenly food in its RAW FORM.
Somehow chocolate came to be thought of as a “bad” food, but let me remind you NOT to throw the baby out with the bath water. In this case, the bath water is refined sugar, pasteurized and denatured dairy products, lecithin from genetically modified soybeans (which they don’t have to tell you are GMOs), and that’s just the beginning of the scum you could add to this beautiful food (there’s always something a producer can add to enhance the texture, “taste” or shelf-life). Take that baby and rather than abusing it with extreme heat, pressure, and chemicals eat it as it is, or processed with only the gentlest techniques.
Raw and minimally processed chocolate has been one of the most highly praised and revered foods of all time. Theobroma Cacao, chocolate’s scientific name, means “food of the Gods.” Natives of Mexico and Central and South America used the cacao (or cocoa) seeds as currency. Chocolate was eaten and worshipped all across the world. Some chocolate creations were valued so highly and only available for nobility or royalty. Raw chocolate is full of happy brain chemicals like phenylethylamine, the “love” chemical that causes one to feel attraction, euphoria, and excitement. It also contains magnesium, a calming and balancing mineral of which Westerners are generally dangerously deficient.
Cacao did not become the denatured shell of a food that is today until the end of the 19th century. This is when the cocoa press was developed, and when the Swiss began to add milk to the chocolate. Interesting that chocolate has been so highly revered for so long and now, what most people know of it is nothing of what it has been for so many hundreds and hundreds of years.
If much of this information is new to you, I highly recommend you watch this interview with David Wolfe on raw chocolate for Supreme Master TV. There’s so much to say about this incredible food and David Wolfe is definitely the man to tell it.
It’s always great to have decadent and supremely satisfying raw chocolate treats around. I made a chocolate protein pudding that incorporates maca root powder, another amazing superfood that pairs well with chocolate, and Sun Warrior Protein, a highly assimilable protein that is raw, vegan, GMO-free and delicious. The chocolate, maca, and Sunwarrior protein are all excellent sources of protein making this pudding a meal replacement. Try having a serving of this pudding (the size depending on how hungry you are or how active you’ve been) followed by a nice green salad to feel light and energized with some serious horsepower.
Raw Chocolate Power Pudding
3 avocados
meat of 1 young thai coconut
2 tsp apple cidar vinegar
5 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp maca root powder
2 tsp cold pressed walnut oil
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup raw honey or other sweetener like agave
1 tsp miso
1-2 tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 scoops Sunwarrior Protein
1/4 cup water, or enough for your preferred consistency
Blend all of the ingredient in a food processor or a Vitamix blender. Once it is smooth and free of lumps, pour the pudding into a glass bowl and chill in a glass bowl for a couple of hours or overnite (the longer the pudding sits, the more it will emulsify and the flavors will mingle and become friends). When the pudding is set, serve with shaved cacao butter and/or goji berries as a garnish and enjoy in the morning or after a workout. You deserve it!
