Sunday, December 31, 2006

New Years eve, reflecting, reggae vibes, Thai broccoli recipe

Today is my day to do some reflecting.. not on the past but what is going on in my mind and in my life right now.

Often on the new moon I will watch what is going on around me, what is coming into my life, the thoughts I am thinking, the events going on around me, the people I am coming into contact with.. these things give me a reflection of what is to come, they are the seeds being planted that will grow throughout the month. It works. Pay attention to your thoughts around the new moon and see these things coming up.

New Years, although it is not a sky thing - it is a belief of mine always seems to work the same way.. and even to a larger extent. Like the major arcanas compared to the minors, they are similar but stronger & bigger themes.

So thats what I have been doing, besides going to the gym, cleaning, cooking, work - I went in & wrapped nori rolls for the event at work tonight: http://www.torontosprouts.com/Strictly%20Vital.html
looks like so much fun. I will be going to Frank & Wendy’s for their annual New Years Bash but this looks like so much fun too! Glad I got to go and help for it and get a bit of those vibes in also.

I am in reggae mode - Jim just got Sirius satellite radio & I have been listening to the reggae channel. Nice!

I am feeling very positive about the New Year.. think it is going to be a very fun & exciting one.

I am making a broccoli dish & sprout salad to bring tonight. I am going to post the basic recipe, but adjust to taste as I didn’t really measure & I’m halving it as I used 2 heads of broccoli.

Thai Marinated Broccoli

1 head organic broccoli
2 green onions
½ bunch cilantro

dressing, in a bowl mix:
1 heaping T almond butter
1 T honey
½ lemon
1” ginger, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1T tamari or nama shoyu
dash sambal oelek or some ground hot peppers

Wishing you all the best year ever!
Bueno y Prospero Ano Nuevo 2007 to everyone!

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Cooked vs Raw, lycopene, dashing and the Dash movie

Randy sent this link to me yesterday. He was wondering about the cooked food tests.
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/27/raw.veggies.wmd/index.html

There is a part in this where they are claiming that cooking is better than raw.
and they give an example that there is more lycopene in cooked tomatoes. I have heard this before and should look into it, to be honest I haven’t yet. Protein is the big question regarding the raw diet and I have that one down pat. lol

but I thought I would just post my response (ok,ok, it’s quick & I’m dashing : )

'I have heard the lycopene thing about tomatoes. Thats one of the big arguments for cooked foods.. ( & protein) .. but I have heard that lycopene is found more abundantly in other veg, not cooked, but not sure which, but maybe I should look into it.

I guess I haven't so much because there isn't really a big need to.. thats the thing that changes with cooked to raw, the need to examine everything. At frst going raw, you evaluate & examine because it all seems so radical.. you are feeling very different and realize that food is very powerful. Then your body is detoxing and you get unsure.. and many others have not tried this and are skeptical.. yet you feel so amazing. It only takes a few days to realize that dramatic changes are happening inthe body. All diseases go away.. you start rejeuvenating.. and even more on a mental/spiritual/intuitive level.. you feel more in sync with it all & realize that it just can't be wrong. So, as far as researching most people do a fair amount of research when they first go raw.. but there comes a time soon when most people stop and just enjoy it, as far as research, why bother?.

I guess all in all I bother for other people who may want to try raw & are intimidated.. but not for myself anymore. I have just heard of too many miraculous stories and very few where anything goes wrong.. except for people going back to cooked & their old diseases returning. It's just all good.. so whether its lycopene, or amino acids, or enzymes or just the life force/aura we are ingesting into our systems which is making us feel alive, healed, vibrant, beautiful, alive.. it stops mattering.. it just is & its all good! '


Another thing I was just thinking of that I find funny is that I am often asked about my diet from people who have diets that are probably about 1000 times worse than mine. (..not that I mind being asked!)

Another thought: A deer, or a bear or wild rabbit doesn’t go around wondering if they are getting enough lycopene, or protein or calcium. They just trust nature.

and Thank you Randy for sending me this!
http://www.thedashmovie.com/: )

Wishing you & everyone a fantastic day also!

Friday, December 29, 2006

I'm back.. Raw Christmas, my Dad, HTML site

I’m back. Wow.. that was a whirlwind trip. I am up, getting ready for work and back into routine. but somehow things have changed. (I guess they always do) But I have been evaluating what is going on with me.. I am not feeling my usual self. I am feeling emotional and meditative.. and I am on a major clean up streak through the house. That is making me feel better.

Christmas was wonderful. I am so appreciative to have been able to go home with my family to share Christmas with them. That was really special. Mom definitely knows how to do Christmas. And we got to have a raw Christmas together.. that was great!

The hard part and the reason I am not quite myself is seeing my Dad. Mom warned me that he had changed a lot. He had. Dad has Alzheimers. He was stage 3 when he finally went into a nursing home in early November. A couple weeks ago he fell and broke 3 ribs. Now he is in a wheelchair and I guess he looks a lot better than right after the fall, but he still looks a lot different than when I last saw him a year ago. I was at the home twice a day for the 3 days I was there and now mom is there usually twice a day to help feed him and take him for walks. It’s really sad and although I have a lot on my mind right now, this is the primary one.. thoughts and pics of him keep fluttering through my mind.

One thing about being raw I have noticed is that it’s harder to block emotional stuff. We can do that easily, and often do, with food on a cooked diet. Being raw usually means facing and dealing with things, which is good.. but.. it"s still hard.

- but as my grandfather used to tell my mother "That's life, girl!"
That's a bit of an inside joke - but it stays with me also. lol

Randy is working on my site – just put up a raw challenge page.. with a video I am just seeing for the 1st time. wow, Good one Randy! : )

He is making the site in HTML. because some people couldn’t access it before without Flash. if that’s the case & you come here through blogspot, you can try it now: http://www.rawketscience.com/

I also have my comments set up so its easy to post.. and they come straight to my e-mail.. and straight to my blackberry. wow! How’s that for becoming a tekkie? and I got a new laptop for Christmas.. lots to figure out.
but I am back to work now.. g2run

I hope everyone is enjoying the festive season and I wish everyone a beautiful, bright, colorful & glittery day!

Friday, December 22, 2006

A Merry Random Holiday - quotes, spa body wrap, kindness, moments, love and magic

My family and I will be leaving tomorrow morning bright and early around 5am on a road trip to spend Christmas in Moncton, NB. I have spent the day whirlwinding around the city shopping and getting last minute things done. I just told my friend on the phone that of the 500 things I had to do today I got 478 of them done & I had to go - to do the remaining 22.. writing this blog being one of them, packing is another.. wrapping wasn’t even on the list, I’ll do all that when I get there.. I’ll probably get kids to help. I can’t wait to go.. road trips are fun!


I just opened 3 Christmas cards that I got today in the mail and each one of them, although totally different, had a big snowman on the front of it. It's raining outside and warm. Wonder what a rainman looks like?


The rest of this blog may be fairly random, cause I like randomness.. That reminds me of Kaiyas Christmas list, everything on it had pics of the items c&ped beside it.. even the make up, very detailed. I had 5 kids to shop for & 5 lists and they were all so different. I went to a video game store to get games for Nick and showed the guy there his list and asked for 3 of the games. he said 'what about this one?' & I showed him.. "No, that one is in italics, theres a legend - italics were the lesser wanted things. lol

I finally found Kaiyas list in a file entitled randomer than random.. which was hidden 5 files deep, it was like a little Christmas treasure hunt just to find out what she wanted.


“If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.” ~ Benjamin Franklin


At that instant he saw, in one blaze of light, an image of unutterable conviction, the reason why the artist works and lives and has his being--the reward he seeks--the only reward he really cares about, without which there is nothing. It is to snare the spirits of mankind in nets of magic, to make his life prevail through his creation, to wreak the vision of his life, the rude and painful substance of his own experience, into the congruence of blazing and enchanted images that are themselves the core of life, the essential pattern whence all other things proceed, the kernel of eternity. ~Thomas Wolfe


1 Make it your own

2 Everything matters

3 Surprise and delight

4 Embrace resistance

5 Leave your mark

from the becoming younger yahoo e-group posting by Mark Jackson in Digest Number 1310


The basic body wrap recipe that almost all spas use is:

1 cup bentonite clay or green clay

1/4 cup sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups water - of course you have to adjust it to make a good paste.

Boil the water and add the sea salt until it is disolved, then remove and add the rest of the ingredients. You can then add herbs as you desire. I would use up to about 2 tablespoon of essential oils. Grapefruit is good, a good cleanser, lavender is awesome and relaxing. Rosemary is wonderful for the body. You could also use chamomile or rose petals. You spread the mixture over your entire body and cover with thin towels, or a clean white sheet. Most spas use wrapping sheets and wrap you tightly. The compaction aids in squeezing the tissues together, and the results are better. You could do it yourself, or two people could work together. You should leave on for at least 45 minutes to an hour before washing off. I know of no products that are premade.
The quality of the clay is important

An Epsom salt bath is also good for this. The hot water draws the toxins to the surface, magnesium sulfate in the salts penetrates the skin, and aids in pulling toxins from the body. Grape juice believe it or not is a fantastic soak, as sit too pulls toxins from the body. I think essential oils and herbs that soothe the body are good for herbal wraps. I would use grapefruit, lavender, sage, ground basil, lemon and sandlawood.

Kindness in words creates confidence,
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness,
Kindness in giving creates Love.

- Lao-Tse

He who is really kind can never be unhappy;
He who is really wise can never be confused;
He who is really brave is never afraid.

- Confucius

http://www.deepbluedream.org/home.html


Look To This Day

For it is Life, the very Life of Life.

In Its brief course lie all the Verities

and Realities of your existence;

The Bliss of Growth;

The Glory of Action;

The Splendor of Beauty;

For Yesterday is but a Dream,

And tomorrow is only a Vision:

But Today well lived makes every

Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, and

Every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.

Look well, therefore, to This Day!

- From the Sanskrit.

We had a Solstice Love Fest at work last night. I missed it because I had a family get together.. but I love that it was there & that it happened even if I wasn't there.

I hope everyone has a very happy Holiday - whether Solstice, Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, or other: Light and Love fests going on everywhere. Enjoy every moment and find the magic within and without.

I am travelling back the 27th or 28th.. see you then, if not before.

Make it special and beautiful and random. Have fun! : )

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Letting go, Kraft guacamole, global orgasm day, space

Story on not letting go of the past from Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth (p 139):

2 monks, Tanzen and Ekido, were walking along a country road that had become very muddy after heavy rains. Near a village they came upon a young woman, who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and carried her to the other side.
The monks walked on in silence. Five hours later, as they were approaching the lodging temple, Ekido couldn’t restrain himself any longer. “Why did you carry that girl across the road?” he asked. “We monks are not supposed to do things like that.”
I put that girl down hours ago,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”

Randy was telling about something he read from http://www.welikeitraw.com/ about guacamole.
This article comes originally from Seth Godin’s blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/12/i_have_no_expla.html

I have no explanation

Here's a link to the ingredients of Kraft Guacomole.

WATER, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COCONUT AND SOYBEAN OIL, CORN SYRUP, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE (FROM MILK), FOOD STARCH MODIFIED, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF POTATOES, SALT, AVOCADO, DEFATTED SOY FLOUR, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, TOMATOES, SODIUM CASEINATE, VINEGAR, LACTIC ACID, ONIONS, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, GELATIN, XANTHAN GUM, CAROB BEAN GUM, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, SPICE, WITH SODIUM BENZOATE AND POTASSIUM SORBATE AS PRESERVATIVES, GARLIC, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, CITRIC ACID, YELLOW 6, YELLOW 5, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BLUE 1, ARTIFICIAL COLOR.

As you can see from this list of the ingredients in order of quantity, avocado is the ninth ingredient by weight, coming in at less than 2%, less, in fact, than the salt.I think I understand why the folks at Kraft prefer to use modified food starch instead of avocados (cheaper, easier to source, keeps better) but what I don't understand is why people buy it more than once.In fact, over time, a generation grows up thinking this is the 'regular kind' and wrinkling its nose at the chunky, irregular original kind.How did we get programmed this way? Is it an inevitable part of the human condition to prefer things that are bland, preprocessed and not so good for us? Or did we market ourself into this corner?


Dec 22 – Global orgasm day experiment:
http://www.globalorgasm.org/demo.html

Pics of space through the Hubble telescope: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-12/18/content_5501941_46.htm

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Festive drinks - juice, tea and chai-nog

I am up so early this morning.. lots of time to get everything done, which I find amazing - since I have been asked to come in earlier to work, kitchen prep - now that the cafe is getting busier. I think maybe Marie is missing the morning smoothies that I haven’t been making as much lately now that its getting busier. lol Seriously though, I was wondering where that extra ½ hour was going to come from out of my day.. I seemed stretched to the limit.. but somehow so far (day 2) it’s working.

I got more shopping in last night, I am learning the fine art of power shopping. I was told yesterday I seem more like the solstice type, by someone who seemed surprised that I celebrate Christmas. But I celebrate lots of things. & yeah, I can be as commercial as the next person at moments, but a conscientious commercial. & I like to blend worlds.

I made a very festive juice this morning. I got up at 5 so that I could get lots of things done around here before I went to work today. One being making the kids juice, which I felt bad that I skipped yesterday. It’s a good morning routine, they really like it. I made myself a special festive juice this morning with cranberries, grapes and an orange.

My raw friend Robin from work brought in an amazing tea that she had made. It was so good! She steeped rooibos, grated ginger and cinnamon overnight in water. In the morning she strained it and added some agave. Really great combination, was so good!

I have a recipe for Chai Nog from another friend at work, which is adapted from Elaina Love’s recipe.

3 c sweet nut milk – Blend 1 c almonds, a few dates and water, then strain
3 bananas
ginger
juice and chai spices to taste: cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, s & p
dates
or agave &/or stevia to taste

more of Elaina Love’s recipes here: http://www.purejoylivingfoods.com/recipes/index.shtml

Have a festive and colourful day. Make it special!

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

the ice hotel

I wonder how the ice hotel is doing with all this warm weather?






Monday, December 18, 2006

Games, shopping, kaiyas piercing, lights.. action... and causes too: Aids, fight for freedom

One of the great things about having kids – and having friends who are kids at heart - is finding fun on-line games. lol Here are 2 fun ones:

http://www.linerider.org/play2.php

http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/bells.htm


It was a super busy weekend. The market was so busy but a definite success. It was so busy I barely got a chance to eat. That was ok because I was so loaded up on E3Live.. everywhere I turned there it was. I did it in the morning, a shot with Gabriella, Bob (distributor) brought me over some while I was making raw sandwiches – think he saw I barely had time to look up, Steve gave me an AfA cap (same thing, dried form) Then a shot with Marie toward the end.. so I pretty much lived on that and chocolate all day. What a superfood diet.. what a way to feel really amazing. and btw, I have been asked but I have not heard of anyone ever taking too much E3Live.. I don’t know if it can be done. Bob told me one time he defrosted a whole bottle by accident and so he drank the whole thing, and just felt great. I have had ½ a bottle in a day but that’s as far as I have gone, yet.

Then after the market I went to a party in the evening and stayed up till 2 am. Got up early, had a HUGE day planned.. Christmas shopping, Kaiya got her labret (just below lower lip) pierced and I went with her downtown, New Tribe, just across from Much Music, Queen W. What a great place.. immaculate. My friend Dawn came & her daughter got her nose pierced.. what a strange thing to do in the middle of Christmas shopping. lol But it was really fun and I got so much shopping done before and after. Not to mention Christmas lights up and tree etc.

I think I need more E3Live now to help me recoup!
Have a very fulfilling, beautiful and festively sparkly day! ; )

2 more websites for causes:

1. Aids awareness:
https://www.lighttounite.org/

2. Modern day slavery abolition – People are still struggling for freedom
http://www.amazingchange.com/

Saturday, December 16, 2006

How to be creative


How to be creative from http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000876.html

30 tips

1. Ignore everybody.

2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world.

3. Put the hours in.

4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

7. Keep your day job.

8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

11. Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside.

14. Dying young is overrated.

15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

16. The world is changing.

17. Merit can be bought. Passion can't.

18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.

19. Sing in your own voice.

20. The choice of media is irrelevant.

21. Selling out is harder than it looks.

22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.

23. Worrying about "Commercial vs. Artistic" is a complete waste of time.

24. Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.

25. You have to find your own schtick.

26. Write from the heart.

27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.

28. Power is never given. Power is taken.

29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.

30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Marketplace, Christmas parties, raw and drinking

10 days till Christmas. Wow. It’s coming really fast. I have not been used to working and getting ready for Christmas so this is kind of strange.. a bit of a rush.. I am not quite sure yet how it is all going to get done.. but I am going moment by moment and assuring myself that it will all work out.
I am working tomorrow & we are having this great Marketplace for the day.. so I will be able to get a few gifts here for sure. : )
http://www.torontosprouts.com/Home.html (holiday marketplace link)

Last night I went to the Seagull Christmas party. Seagull is the store where I used to work before I started at Toronto Sprouts. It’s a family run store here in the beaches on Queen E. and I love them all a lot. I feel like part of the family there and I really love their Christmas parties. They are always a lot of fun and there is always a lot of drinking.

I was thinking about drinking and being raw. ..and I think everyone is going to have a different viewpoint-perspective on this one and just like the whole raw lifestyle in general. My take on it is that everyone’s path is going to be different. What works for one may not work for another. While it is helpful to hear others raw journeys and tips, ultimately we all have to find out what works best for ourselves.

What works for me? Generally a glass of wine very occasionally to rarely.. maybe a glass or two socially, at dinner or something once or twice a month. Often not. Generally I prefer not drinking but it depends of the situation, the hospitality and the people I am with. If there is ever a situation where I am going to drink the Seagull Christmas party is it. Last year I was just raw for about ¾ a year, hadn’t drank at all, and I went to that party and drank not only wine but ended up doing about 6 or 7 tequila shooters. What can I say.. I had fun, it was worth it to me.. it was all about hospitality, bonding and in their own special way Love.. and in that situation, that won out for me. Last night I had a couple drinks of wine, cranberry and sparking water and one Goldschlager shooter. I’m a sucker for sparkly things. : )

Another great thing about raw is that if you do drink – it hits you in a good way and with way less of a hang-over. And you can go on little sleep when necessary!

Also, just in case you need this advice over the holiday season - E3Live is the best hangover remedy ever!

Not that I am advising anyone to drink - it's totally toxic. But a great raw thing is that at least your system will get cleaned out quickly afterward.

Have a great day. Live life, enjoy and celebrate each moment. Life is a party.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

cows and vegetables - time to live!

I was just listening to the radio & they talking about cows and how they contribute to most of the toxic fumes in the world. Cows? Yes, that’s what they were saying.. that 33% of all the world’s methane comes from cows. They are the major contributors of global warming. I wonder if they are talking about the nice fluffy rambling cows who live on hillsides and on farmlands.. or factory farmed cows. But I guess we know that answer.

Of course these cows eat other cows feces and well, other cows.. so I guess it would make sense that their fumes are getting to be quite toxic. But I was just kind of amazed the way it was presented on the radio.. like it was just cows in general. It’s their fault for our global warming. We really have nothing to do with it.. is how it sounded.. But really it is all our fault that they are living in little cages with barely room to move and being force fed their own family.

Oops.. sorry about that. I got a little carried away..

But while I am at it. I hear there is another spinach scare. My husband told me not to buy spinach again. I read the other day also that a whole bunch of Taco bells closed down or something over bad green onions. Vegetables are downright dangerous, aren’t they? Maybe we should all be eating plastic instead. Chemicals, holographic foods, non-foods, artificial foods.. what is going on out there?

It’s like the strong are getting stronger and the weak are getting weaker.. Which direction are you going in? Whose side are you going to join?

On a side note, I am getting overwhelmingly busy right now, getting ready for Christmas, and just trying to do everything else that I usually do. Work is busy. Home is busy. Cookies are selling like crazy & they take time to make. I decided this morning that a few things are going to have to give. The gym has been giving the most lately and until January it will continue to. (except yoga : ) I skipped making juice and breakfast for the kids this morning but am deciding right now that that’s just wrong because I really enjoy that part of the morning. My kids and family are top priority in my life. So, That being said.. Mom, if I am not here to write my blog in the morning once in awhile until Christmas there is a 99.9% chance that I am just getting other things done around here and just taking the morning off from writing. That’s life.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

2 Dvd's - Eating and Sweet Remedy and Newsworthy link

There are 2 Dvd’s that I was reading about which I am posting about this morning. The 1st one, Eating, I have seen and can recommend. The second one, Sweet Remedy, I haven’t seen yet.
The Eating Dvd is available from www.ravediet.com

Also from this website there is an interesting page called Newsworthy, which provides links to items of interest that have appeared in the news during the last month.

http://www.ravediet.com/newsworthy.htm


The Eating DVD is used in wellness clinics throughout the world to motivate people to change their diets and restore their health.

Other topics include:

·Why we have an epidemic of heart disease and cancer.

·Why following federal nutrition guidelines will kill you.

·Why the government promotes foods that shorten lives.

·Why almost everyone has cancer by the time they're fifty - and don't even know it.

·Why our top two nutrition worries should be our last.

·Why doctors treat symptoms of disease, not causes.

·Why our most deadly diseases were rare before 1900.

·Why most school-age children already have heart disease.

·Why there's no difference between white meat and red meat.

·Why Americans are constipated.

·Why American men are impotent.

·Why Americans have weak bones.

·Why politicians are America’s dieticians.

·Why farm animal feces is standard fare in meat today.

·Why our eating habit is like smoking, but more lethal.

·Why the most disturbing death statistic of our time is so little known - and it comes from the Surgeon General.

The Eating DVD also examines the consequences of our eating habit to the environment and animal agriculture.


The Sweet Remedy DVD is available here
: http://www.mercola.com/dvd/sweet-remedy

In Sweet Remedy, you'll see:

·How the "dumbing down" of the U.S. population is simply a matter of public policy (And why lowering your IQ pleases those in power) ...

· The unsettling "Mr. X" link between aspartame and genetically modified foods ...

· Why children are so much more vulnerable to damage from aspartame, MSG and other excitotoxins (Even through their teenage years) ...

·How the explosion in Syndrome X was already well-documented by experiments in feeding MSG to laboratory animals (And could have been prevented in people) ...

·Four ways to minimize the damage from excitotoxins in your diet ...

·Sneaky little MSG tricks that the big companies pull (So you don't know where they're hiding it) ...

·How a corrupt government flagship regulatory agency has encouraged the addition of numerous toxins to our food supply ...

·The shocking stevia shut-down: this sweet plant can't even be advertised as a sweetener (And wait till you see the Gestapo-like book-destruction ordered by the FDA) ...

·How it's patently false for drug companies to blame the high cost of medications on their research and development costs ...

·Why obesity isn't all about lack of self-control (What they put in products to make you keep buying and eating them) ...

·The secret agenda to push genetic engineering (And some grassroots ways you can make them STOP) ...

· The dangerous truth about food toxins: just because you don't have side effects doesn't mean they're not causing you internal damage ...

·Did they really take the MSG out of baby foods? (The story you haven't been told) ...

·How a child's cartoon-character vitamins nearly killed her (Why haven't you been told about seizures, brain damage and other reactions like this?) ...

· How toxic chemical agents attack the body in layers from the outside in (What happens when they invade the deeper tissues and spinal cord?) ...

· How European consumers started a backlash against genetically modified products (And WON!) ...

·The truth about food labeling (How the word "natural" means nothing -- and "flavoring" is a code word for 'we don't have to tell you what's in it') ...

·Are you taking steroids? (The dangers of hormones in your beef and estrogens in your tap water) ...

· The 'bastardization' of the school lunch program (From its noble goal to where it went wrong) ...

·How eliminating certain food additives, including synthetic dyes and artificial colors, could free up school budgets to provide more needed services and pay teachers for quality education ...

·Why the FDA doesn't normally do their own studies (And why they just accept the results the drug companies provide) ...

·How M.S. victims improve markedly just from eliminating aspartame-sweetened beverages from their diets.

·A native American tribe fights back against diabetes by returning to their desert roots (When they realize that grocery store food is killing them) ...

·The Rumsfeld connection to Big Pharma and the FDA ... 8 reasons to keep your kids off Ritalin (And how it only takes 3-4 weeks for kids to recover naturally from being "difficult")
... and much more

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

My luxury vehicle - writing Christmas cards

Good Morning! I thought I might not get here because it's Christmas card season.. and I am into it full force. This bed looks made & it is - but actually it is covered with Christmas cards & envelopes right now.. and I am writing to all my special friends and relatives. Whats on tv? I am watching music videos.. this one's o right now: http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=232321275&channel=232257096 . Where am I going? I will tell you tomorrow.. when I arrive! ; ) Have an adventurous, luxurious day!







p.s. Thanks for the trip.. it's great!

Monday, December 11, 2006

Be a kid again


Be A Kid Again

1. Do a cartwheel.
2. Sing into your hairbrush.
3. Walk barefoot in wet grass.
4. Play a song you like really loud, over and over.
5. Dot all your “i”’s with smiley faces.
6. Read the funnies. Throw the rest of the paper away.
7. Dunk your cookies.
8. Play a game where you make up the rules as you go along.
9. Step carefully over sidewalk cracks.
10. Change into some play clothes. (Always!)
11. Try to get someone to trade you a better sandwich.
12. Eat ice cream for breakfast. (I'm eating cookies, mmm!)
13. Kiss a frog, just in case.
14. Blow the wrapper off a straw.
15. Have someone read you a story.
16. Find some pretty stones and save them.
17. Wear your favorite shirt with you favorite pants even if they don’t match.
18. Take a running jump over a big puddle.
19. Get someone to buy you something you really don’t need.
20. Hide your vegetables under your napkin. (?)
21. Stay up past your bedtime.
22. Eat dessert first. (of course, it's healthier.. and so is eating with your fingers. Kids know this!)
23. Fuss a little, then take a nap.
24. Wear red gym shoes. (I know a little girl with red sparkly dress shoes, if I had a bigger pair I would wear them all the time.)
25. Put way too much sugar on your cereal. (Don't eat sugar! sweet stuff, yes!, sugar, NO! - it's deadly.. eat dates, agave, maple syrup, honey, ..but not sugar!)
26. Make cool screeching noises every time you turn a corner.
27. Giggle a lot for no reason.
28. Give yourself a gold star for everything you do today.

I found this from www.wordpress.com

Have fun all the time!

pic from http://www.metablake.com/photos/pictures/bubbles%20final.html

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Raw dish site



The following is from a new raw site I just found this morning and written by Stephen Parker. http://www.rawdish.com/welcome/


‘"Nature’s laws" is a lofty term but it’s pretty simple. When you provide your body with fresh raw food, pure water, sufficient rest, sufficient exercise, sunshine, fresh air, and emotional and mental balance the body responds by exhibiting health. If you are suffering from an illness, your body will heal when you provide it with these factors. I remember hearing that “the same conditions that produce health are the same conditions that produce healing.’

‘Cooked food has a toxic and stimulating effect on the body. When cooked food is ingested, the body goes into a sort of overdrive and increases metabolism so that the body can deal with the toxic matter and get rid of it as quickly as possible. People who are constantly eating cooked food are in a constant state of toxic stimulation and are depleting their innate energy reserves.’

‘I also became aware that when I ate raw food I felt elasticity in my emotional state. I’d experience the same kinds of ups and downs that unfold in day to day living but I’d quickly return to a balanced state. I felt mentally more flexible and things didn’t “get to me” so much. I felt more tolerant.’

Asking yourself why you're not eating the healthy diet that you know is best for you and that gives you a tremendous sense of well-being can kick up a lot emotional stuff. There is help if you want it; no one has to go through these life transforming changes alone.’

‘I believe that adopting a raw foods based lifestyle has far reaching beneficial effects upon our total individual and planetary wellbeing. To a large degree it is something that can’t be described; you’ve just got to try it and experience it for yourself!’

‘Once you discover and really get it that the raw life is right for you, then do whatever you have to do to live it. Seek support wherever you can find it, support groups, raw life coaches, 12-step groups, raw friends, raw therapists, raw food potluck socials, raw retreats and seminars; just stick with it. Don’t give up; there may be ups and downs, personal and social challenges, but it is worth it.

The raw life path is transforming the world. Don't settle for being an observer; jump in and join us!’

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Anastasia on the Sun, love, dreams and miracles ..and then some time in Moronland - balancing out

I want to read you a story.
The following exerpt is from Anastasia by Vladimir Megre – Book 1 of The Ringing Cedar Series – p 140-142

According to Anastasia, the Sun is something like a mirror. It reflects emanations from the Earth which are invisible to the eye. These emanations come from people in a state of love, joy or some other radiant feeling. Reflecting off the Sun, they return to Earth in the form of sunlight and give life to everything on the planet. (2)

(2- Interestingly, the idea that the Sun has no radiance of its own is in fact quite widespread in both science and religion. For example, a prominent Russian engineer and scientist living in France, Dr George Lakhovsky(1869-1942), a biogenetics pioneer, author of The secret of life: Cosmic rays and radiations of living beings and one of the most respected European scientists of his time, has suggested that “The Sun is a cold black body”. Viktor Schauberger (1885-1958) (from footnote1 – chap 16: an illustrious Austrian forester and engineer, whom gained deep insights into the workings of Nature and did research on the energy of implosion (or energy from a vacuum), as a natural alternative to today’s destructive technologies) argued along the same lines, as discussed in Callum Coate’s book Living energies. Dr. Phillip Callahan (1923- ), a prominent entomologist and radio engineer, author of numerous scientific articles and books, speaks about tachons, particles traveling faster than the speed of light, and attempts to detect them as solar rays and around people in a state of love (e.g., saints or meditating yogis). George Ivanovich Gurgjieff (1872?- 1949) was a spiritual thinker whose thought had a profound influence on such prominent intellectuals of the twentieth century as naturalist Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), originator of land ethics and author of a Sand County almanac, and economist E.F. Schumacher (1911-1977), author of Small is beautiful: Economics as if people mattered. Gurdjieff maintained that Sun “neither shines nor warms” and devoted an entire chapter of his Beelzebub’s tales to his grandson to a discussion of this seemingly paradoxical proposition.

She brought up a whole array of supporting arguments which were not that simple to grasp.

“If the Earth and other planets were simple consumers of the Sun’s grace of light,” she said, “it would be extinguished, or burn unevenly, and its glow would be off-kilter. In the Universe there is and can be no lopsided process. Everything is interrelated.”


She cited, too, the words of the Bible: “And the light was the light of men”.
(3)

(3 – John 1:4 - Authorized King James Version)

Anastasia also stated that one Man’s feelings can be transmitted to another by reflecting off the celestial bodies, and she demonstrated this by the following example:

“Nobody on Earth can deny that you can feel when somebody loves you. This feeling is especially noticeable when you are with a person who loves you. You call it intuition. In fact, invisible waves emanate from the one who loves. But the love can be felt, if it is strong enough, even when the individual is absent. By drawing upon this feeling and understanding its nature, one can do wonders. This is what you call miracles, mysticism or incredible abilities. Tell me, Vladimir, do you not feel a bit better with me now? Somehow lighter, warmer, more fulfilled?”

“Yes,” I replied. “For some reason I have started to feel warmer.”

“Now watch what happens when I concentrate on you even more strongly.”

Anastasia lowered her eyelids ever so slightly, slowly stepped back a few paces and stopped. A pleasant feeling of warmth started running through my body. It gradually intensified, but didn’t burst into flame, and didn’t make me hot. Anastasia turned and began to slowly walk away, hiding behind the thick trunk of a tall tree. The sensation of pleasant warmth did not lessen, and to it was added another – as though something were helping my heart to pump blood through my veins and with every heartbeat came the impression that the bloodstreams were instantly reaching every little vein in my body. The soles of my feet broke out in a heavy sweat and became very moist.

“You see? Now is it all clear to you?” Anastasia said as she triumphantly re-appeared from behind the tree, confident that she had proven something to me. “You see, you felt all that when I went behind the tree-trunk, and your sensations even increased when you could not see me. Tell me about them.”


I told her, and then asked in turn:

“What does the tree-trunk show?”

“What do you think? The waves of information and light went directly from me to you. When I hid myself, the tree-trunk was supposed to significantly distort them, since it has it’s own information and its own glow, but this did not happen. The waves of feelings began falling directly upon you, reflecting off the celestial bodies, and even intensified. Then I caused what you call a ‘miracle’ – your feet began to perspire. You failed to mention that fact.”


“I didn’t think it was important. How do my feet perspiring constitute a miracle?”
“I chased all sorts of diseases out your body through your feet. You should feel a lot better now. It is even noticeable on the outside – you are not slouching as much.”


Indeed, I was feeling better physically.


“So, when you concentrate like that, you dream up something and whatever you want comes to pass?”


“That describes it, more or less.”

“And does what you dream about always come to pass – even when you’re asking for something besides bodily healing?”

“Always. As long as it is not an abstract dream. As long as it is detailed down to the minutest aspects and does not contradict the laws of spiritual being. ...”


I read this on the subway ride home yesterday.. then I came and counteractively spend a bit of time in Moronland:

playing games - trying to protect a red block from floating blue ones:
http://66.197.187.149/~magipcom/mostaddictinggame.html
Most addictive game – I got 15 seconds + & then gave up. Not so addictive. ; )

reading: http://moronland.net/moronia/moron/1049/
Sick Random Stuff – a collection of 13 random facts

& looking at pictures:
pic from The Age of Innocence http://moronland.net/moronia/moron/1005/

Enjoy the day! The sun is shining and I am going out into it!

Friday, December 08, 2006

Sinterklaas!!! Yusuf Islam - small kindness, Mom's flax crackers and three things


There really is a Sinterklaas! It’s true. When I went to work yesterday morning there was an ‘angel’ gift from Marie with a poem : ) ..And beside it there was another poem and a beautiful Jade bead necklace. The poem was signed from Sinterklaas and it has to be from him because I can’t figure out who else it could have been from. But I can tell from the poem he is very intelligent, creative and has a great sense of humour.
“Thank you Sinterklaas”

I brought the cd that my husband got from Sinterklaas in to work yesterday. I was really curious to hear it. It was the Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) cd - An Other Cup. This is the 1st cd he has put out in 28 years. & it was amazing.

Stevens converted to Islam in 1977, after a anear death experience. He adopted the name Yusuf a few years later and became an advocate for the religion, devoting himself to educational and philanthropic causes in his community.

He currently lives with his wife and five children in London and spends part of each year in Dubai. He founded, and is chairman of, the Small Kindness charity, which initially assisted famine victims in Africa and now supports thousands of orphans and families in the Balkans, Indonesia, and Iraq. Islam also founded the charity Muslim Aid and in 2004 he was given the ‘Man for Peace’ award for promoting international social justice and peace. (from wikipedia)

http://www.smallkindness.org/

I would like to listen to the music of one of the back up musician-singers on the cd - Youssou N’Dour (Paul?)

My mom sent me two interesting e-mails lately – amongst many actually, but 2 that I want to share. The first had her recipe for flax crackers that she made up. She told me that they turned out amazing and they were the best crackers she has ever had.. and she’s tried quite a few.
(the other is a forwarded e-mail that she received and sent on to me: Three things)

MOM’S FLAX CRACKERS

You'll need:

* 2 cups flax seeds (I used mostly dark with about 1/2 cup of golden)
* 1 red bell pepper
* ? cup sun-dried tomatoes (I used about 2/3 cup and soaked them couple of hours)
* 2 cups fresh tomatoes
* juice of 1 lemon (mine was not a large one)
* 1 clove fresh garlic and/or ? onion, chopped (I used 3 green onions)

What to do:

1st Blend all ingredients together in a food processor. Add few drops water, if too dry (I didn't need to add any water)
2nd Press mixture flat unto teflex sheets in large squares or rectangles, making sure it is smooth and not too thick. ( The thicker the cracker, the harder to eat and the longer to dry)
3rd Score the size of cracker you want with knife or spatula (I used a pizza cutter after they had dehydrated a bit)
4th Dehydrate around 115 F to 125F overnight. Flip over unto screen once first side is dry. Dry to completion.
5th Store in airtight container. Keep handy for when the cravings strike !

THREE THINGS

Three things in life that, once gone, never come back -
1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity

Three things in life that can destroy a person -
1. Anger
2. Pride
3. Unforgiveness T

Three things in life that you should never lose -
1. Hope
2. Peace
3. Honesty

Three things in life that are most valuable -
1. Love
2. Family & Friends
3. Kindness

Three things in life that are never certain -
1. Fortune
2. Success
3. Dreams

Three things that make a person -
1. Commitment
2. Sincerity
3. Hard work

pic from http://www.flickr.com/photos/o_caritas/48052710/in/pool-ofme/
(self portrait of O Carita?)

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Thoughts

It’s interesting how some things people say don’t sink in. Sometimes at all, but sometimes we are so caught up into our habits and ways it’s hard to take what they say and use it. This is an example but it happens in many ways -Mom told me months ago that you can just throw flax seeds into the K-tec in smoothies and they will grind up. I have been using a little coffee grinder to grind them separately and then add them to the smoothie. Now, after a month of still griding seperately after she tells me this, I finally tried her way this morning and it works. Of course down deep I think I knew it would but I had just been so used to my routine I never even tried.

I remember hearing about a woman who used some pot instead of a roasting pan to cook something. The roasting pan was so much easier to use and she owned one but she continued to use this pot because that’s the way her mother always did it.. even though it was so inconvenient.. she was just used to it.

Another thing I found interesting yesterday was when a friend of mine told me about something I said to them that I barely remembered. I had forgotten about the conversation. It's interesting the things we say that stay with others or the things others say that stay with you.

So he told me he was on the Juno nomination committee for the Jazz selections and they couldn’t decide on someone and he remembered this conversation we had & that I told him that the best song to judge an artist was song #4. Apparently I said song #1 is their Hit song, song #2 is the one that defines them as an artist, song #3 is about being taken seriously as an artist, getting everything out technically, often a slow song, but one they consider deep, musician’s music. (or something like that ; ) ..and then song #4 is where you can tell what the artist is really like.. they just throw in whatever by this point. LOL So after they listened to all these songs on a demo tape & couldn’t decide and then listened to this explanation and went to song #4 and instantly made their decision.. and then after that they went straight to song #4 for the rest of the artists. He says the Juno committee have adopted this strategy. I thought that was really funny.

Best question/thought from the 2 days I was away from here: Do you think you can stop time with belief? I had someone just walk up to me & ask this question. It seemed to come out of nowhere. I thought & was not sure.. so I asked I don't know.. do you? He said maybe if there were a few people and the intent was strong - yeah. I think I agree.. a strong intent and a couple people can create miraculous things.

Sinterklaas was very, very fun. I got flattering and very thoughtful poems and notes. I loved this holiday and highly recommend for others to adopt it! I loved the kids putting their shoes in the windowsill to get treats from Sinterklaas, loved the poems and thoughts and the energy of it all. What a great celebration, such a nice way to start off the Christmas season. Thanks those who joined and helped celebrate with me!!!

Monday, December 04, 2006

More on Sinterklaas - raw pepernoten recipe

It was all about Sinterklaas yesterday.. woke up, wrote poems in bed.. got a plan. Spent the day out shopping.. lots of stores, lots of bags. But the beauty about Sinterklaas is that originality and personal effort and thought are more the emphasis rather than the commercial value of the gift. I love that. So apparently the table is set with chocolate letters as place-cards.. there are gingerbread men ‘speculaasplank’ and a big basket of mysterious gifts to be opened later. In some traditions the gifts are hidden, treasure hunt style around the house and found.. maybe then they go in the basket. Each gift is wrapped with a poem attached which gets read aloud 1st in front of everyone before the present gets unwrapped. The poem is an old custom and one of the most challenging parts of the tradition. The day is all about fun and making fun of people in a friendly way is part of it. The poem enclosed has to do with the recipient, or the gift or both.. habits, love interests, foibles, habits, embarrassing incidents are all fair game. After the present is opened, the recipient thanks Sinterklaas as all the gifts are given technically anonymously and really come from Sinterklaas.

So I shopped, which was easy, small presents for everyone, it was easier and more fun than Christmas shopping, but to be honest I got some of that done also. Then came home prepared dinner, made Dutch chocolate hearts.. my raw chocolate cookies in the shape of hearts. Chocosol sells my cookies at their chocolate bar, they are getting heart shaped ones this week. ..and I made Pepernoten (Ginger Nuts) with a special traditional spice blend, which can include cinnamon, powdered cloves, nutmeg, powdered coriander, allspice, aniseed, ginger, cardamom, & mace. The proportions being a question of taste.. each chef has his own secret blend. The trick is to be careful with the strong spices and leave out the flavours you don’t like. my recipe is:

Pepernoten

1c hazelnuts

1c almonds

1c dates

10 figs

1" ginger -minced

spice blend withaprox. 1t cinnamon, 1/2 t cloves & nutmeg, ground coriander and cardamom. I would have tried aniseed and allspice in there but I don't have those spices here. Roll into little balls, the size of a hazelnut.. mine are slightly bigger.


Have a great and beautiful day!


pic of cooked verson of pepernoten from http://roodpetje.nl/fixeer/archive-122002.html

Raw chocolate letters coming next year!

(Dec 5th note: I am on holiday until Dec 7th.. unless something urgent comes up that I have a need to post. Lots to do! )

Happy Sinterklaas!

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Sinterklaas and Sunburgers



My brother called last night and we had an interesting talk.. as usual! This time he was telling me how he would like to not really change Christmas.. (he knows this would not go over so well, I’m Huge on Christmas) but he wants to add to the tradition.

He wants to celebrate Sinterklaas on Dec 6th .. see his blog http://www.randygregory.info/ - Nov 30th Sinterklass tradition – Its a Dutch tradition which is still more popular there than Christmas.

He also wants to celebrate Epiphany on the 6th of January.. this is a tradition which was celebrated by Judith’s family. Its actually called Le fete des Rois (s/p?) or Feast for the 3 wise men. I think there might be presents then also but I have to look into this. He told me there is a cake which is baked with a bean in it and whoever gets the piece with the bean gets to be king for the day.

I like the idea of still holding Christmas because it’s a big family tradition.. and adding these others might alleviate the huge materialistic focus of the celebration by spreading it out.. but will the rest of my family go for it? ..and Sinterklaas is only days away.. how do I get presents shipped out to NB in time!?!
well, I do have the day off tomorrow. ; )

I have to rush now to work because I have to get in early today to prep for lunch. I made something new yesterday, Maries idea.. Sunburgers. We made Earth bread into buns and yesterday I made the burgers. The recipe is loosely based on one that was originally created by the Boutenkos I think, but I have seen it around so I think it’s ok to post.

Sunburgers

2c sunflower seeds – soaked
½ c carrots
½ c celery
½ bunch green onions
¼ c fresh basil
¼ c parsley
1 t poultry seasoning
1 t raw honey
Process in food processor with the S blade. Shape into patties and eat fresh or dehydrate.

pic from http://www.sinterklaas-verhuur.nl/

Friday, December 01, 2006

2 Poems - Violets for Your Furs and The Cinnamon Peeler


I have 2 poems I am thinking about, remembering them both from my last English class.
I love this first one, definitely not a raw poem.. but very colourful and passionate. I did an oral presentation on this poem and an essay on a few of the poems of George Elliot Clarke.

Violets For you Furs

I still dream the steamed blackness, witness, of you in rain;
I talk about that – pouring living fire on guitar strings,
And suffer Cointreau’s blues aftertaste of burnt orange.
The torturous bitter flavour of the French in Africa,
The crisis of your long black hair assaulting your waist,
Your small, troubling breasts not quite yet spoken for,
Your spontaneous mouth unconsummated with kisses,
‘Cos you cashed in your pretty Negritude and gone.

Ah, you were a living S, all Coltrane and Picasso swerves;
Your hair stranded splendid on the gold beach of your face,
So sweet, I moaned black rum, black sax, black moon,
The black trace of your eyelash like lightening,
The sonorous blackness of your skin after midnight –
The sadness of loving you glimmering in Scotch.
Now, this sheet darkens with the black snow f words;
In my sheets, a glimpse of night falls, then loneliness.

I can’t sleep – haunted by the sad sweetness outside the skull,
The hurtful perfume you bathed in by the yellow lamp,
Three-quarters drunk, your rouged kiss branding my neck,
The orange cry of my mouth kindling your blue night skin.
The night blossoms ugly, I down gilded damnation.
I’ve been lovin’ you – more than words – too long to stop now:
The moon tumbles, caught in fits of grass, seizures of leaves.

He came in to give a presentation one day near the end of the semester unannounced. I had just had a dream about him the nightbefore ..in the dream he came to give an oral presentation and I had figured out why he was writing these poems.. what it was he was searching for through them.. the connection he was looking for & where to find it ( I think Paul had told me earlier) and when he actually came in after class I told him about it.. It seemed very relevant to him.. and he signed my book. He’s from the east coast also, NS, think we relate.

This second poem I didn’t remember so much.. just a haunting memory from that same English class.. but it’s here & I can c&p it. I actually typed out the one above (I like it that much! : )

The Cinnamon Peeler

If I were a cinnamon peeler
I would ride your bed
and leave the yellow bark dust
on your pillow.

Your breasts and shoulders would reek
you could never walk through markets
without the profession of my fingers
floating over you. The blind would
stumble certain of whom they approached
though you might bathe
under the rain gutters, monsoon.

Here on the upper thigh
at this smooth pasture
neighbour to your hair
or the crease
that cuts your back. This ankle.
You will be known among strangers
as the cinnamon peeler's wife.

I could hardly glance at you
before marriage
never touch you
- your keen nosed mother, your rough brothers.
I buried my hands
in saffron, disguised them
over smoking tar,
helped the honey gatherers...
When we swam once
I touched you in the water
and our bodies remained free,
you could hold me and be blind of smell.
You climbed the bank and said

this is how you touch other women
the grass cutter's wife, the lime burner's daughter.
And you searched your arms
for the missing perfume

and knew
what good is it
to be the lime burner's daughter
left with no trace
as if not spoken to in the act of love
as if wounded without the pleasure of a scar.

You touched
your belly to my hands
in the dry air and said
I am the cinnamon
peeler's wife. Smell me.

-- Michael Ondaatje


Great sensual, playful love poem.. love the expression of how love lingers on the body even when away from a loved one.
I was smelling them grinding cinnamon at work and remembered this poem.. a bit more sensual than I remembered.. I just remembered the smells.
When Kaiya was little she always said her feet smell like cherry pie. I think I smell ike apple sauce.. even though I haven’t made it yet.. I am going to do that right now, to bring to work.. love that last recipe for apple sauce posted a few days ago!

It’s pouring out.. have a sensual, scentual day!

Painting detail of Picasso's Le reve, private collection, NY, 1932

Thursday, November 30, 2006

random info, bits and bobs, bananas, nuts and seeds, teenage osteoporosis, raw energy, perception and communication




I have so much random information, bits and bobs, floating around in the periphery of my consciousness. I am going on a little mental detox.. right here, right now, and unloading ..sending this knowledge out into the atmosphere to get reabsorbed somewhere else.

We are like a vessels that keeps getting filled and emptied.. and the more we empty ourselves the more we get refilled. The more we give, the more we get. Laws of the universe.

I ate a banana the other day and shortly after started yawning. Marie told me it’s cause I just ate a banana.. and they contain tryptophan, the same thing that’s in turkey that makes you feel tired after you eat it (if you would eat such a thing, but ykwim) I can’t believe I am just finding this out.. I love bananas.. and that information seems so kindergarten.

Something David Wolfe was talking about stayed with me.. and I really wish I was paying better attention to get more of the information he was giving about this in particular. He was talking about eating lots of nuts and seeds on a raw food diet. How eating lots of nuts can be a bad thing, in moderation ok.. but a lot of nuts are not good for us, and not nearly as good for us as seeds are. I have heard this elsewhere and it rings true for me. He says: ‘Nuts make you nuts.’ .. & ’Seeds will give you seeds.’ They will make you more fertile. Another thing.. and this is really something I would like to know more about, that fruits are meant to be eaten with their seeds. He gave an example of an orange that has something in it which can cause some sort of fungus but the seeds contain a natural fungicide.

Monica was telling me about teenage osteoporosis, it’s getting to be a common thing. She knows a girl in her early 20’s and her doctor just told her she has the bone density of a 65 year old and that it’s from drinking all the pop she drinks. She says that it’s a really common thing these days for teenagers to have osteoporosis and a lot of it comes from drinking a lot of pop when they are young. So many people do not even realize.. I have even seen pop in baby bottles. It’s scary, the advertising and marketing agencies do amazing things with peoples heads. I think it’s really time for people to start to look beyond mass marketing.. it’s time to clue in.. We’ve been duped. They are not really telling the truth. It’s about money.. not love, not health, not truth.. money. ok, ok, I;m done.. and I was good. I was thinking of Lisa and almost started on the aspartame, Diet Coke.. which is the worse drug of all.. but I said I wouldn’t go there. ok, quick.. change of subject.

I am making cooked spaghetti sauce after this for some of my family who likes it. One day hopefully I will be able to make raw sauce for everyone.. it just might happen. I slept 4-5 hours last night.. was up late making raw chocolate cookies.. I am eating them for breakfast right now.. that’s the best thing about raw food.. totally guilt free. I could wake up at 3 in the morning and eat a bunch of cookies if I felt like it & not feel bad. Gotta love that! .. not to mention that as much it’s really good to get a full nights sleep, for optimal health, sleep lots.. but on raw you can handle less sleep much more easily I think.. still energized.

I enjoyed talking to James yesterday. lots of things.. esp about thinking things to people. Told him how I believe that we are meant to communicate this way.. we have just gotten so far away from our true nature that we are not able to do this anymore. Talking can be very limiting, transferring ideas and concepts to someone with thoughts can be so much more multidimensional and complete, yk?

& energies.. I was making buns, raw buns for the raw patties I am going to make this morning (cool!) and it was busy and he came to help me.. but after he was done I had a need to just kind of, not even reform them, more than just touch them.. and then I said I think it might be a kitchen control thing.. and then I realized I think it was actually an energy thing.. I needed to put my energy into them. I really believe that we leave energy in the things we touch and the spaces we occupy. Milosh told me after working in the kitchen one Saturday when I was off that he felt like he was me working there.. could feel the energy. James felt like he was Amber while he was wearing her sweater.

Dylan showed me something he was looking up on Wikipedia –‘plant perception’ He told me that they were saying there that plants cry out when they need to be watered.

I’m reading Anastasia, Book 1 from the Ringing Cedars series of books. The part I read on the bus was talking about how when she slowed down her heartbeat or make it fo faster, everything in nature around her corresponded.. birds chirped more, the water ran faster, etc.. She is really in sync with nature though.. this would happen more for her than for someone like us who just walks through.. she has imbued the forest, her home with her energies.

So many things.. I have lots more.. but I want time to get a bit of meditation time in. I am trying to do this more often and smaller amounts of time nd I think that might be the key to success with fitting it in.

So many things, so many topics.. I am amazed when I hear someone say they are bored. That is so symptomatic of a junk-food, depressed state of mind and body. Raw food gives you so much energy, enthusiasm, creativity etc etc.. and as David Wolfe said, you can never spend too much money on feeding yourself well.. because the more you fill yourself with health foods and superfoods, the more energy and creative you get, which leads to more money coming to you and it just goes on in this cycle.. & I truly, truly believe it.
& miracles do happen.. every day!

Have a miraculous day.. have the best day ever!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Raw Food in a Treehouse - pasta recipes, chocosol website!





Treehouses! http://www.inhabitat.com/category/treehouses/

a few recipes I would like to be eating in a treehouse right now. I remember mentioning these pasta recipes before but I don’t think I posted them, & just in case here they are:

from http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/store2/recipes.asp#8DORIT

Dorit's Living Pasta
This recipe is from Master Chef Dorit’s Recipes For Life to be released in 2007.

2 medium sized tomatoes (locally grown)
6-8 black sun dried, Living Tree olives, pitted then diced
Sprig of fresh oregano (or 1tsp of dried oregano)
2 tbs Living Tree Coconut Dream
1 tsp Living Tree Alive Olive Oil
1 tsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
Dash Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt
Dash turmeric

Method of Preparation- Using a Spirooli or Saladacco Machine, cut zucchini in long strips, resembling spaghetti. Place in a large mixing bowl. Cut tomatoes in quarters, and add to bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Toss several times before serving in pasta bowls

Tomato Sauce
This is so easy to make, it’s just off the top of my head right now.. way easier than grandma’s cooked version!

4-5 tomatoes
½-1c sun-dried tomatoes
1-2 cloves garlic
½ onion
½ red pepper
½ -1 chili or jalapeno
2T olive oil
fresh or dried oregano & basil and any other spices you like.. I put in a bit of onion powder and celery salt last time, my grandma used to put that in her cooked version.
Celtic or Himalayan salt & cayenne.

Put all ingredients in the K-tec blender and puree. It takes minutes to make this.. incredibly quick!
Spiralize zucchini in your Benreiner spiralizer and voila! Pasta!
I posted the link to the benreiner gadget previously. I got it at The Cook’s Place, a great kitchen store a block east of The Big Carrot, Danforth & Pape area. They also prdered one for me from a kitchen store in the beaches before.. forget the name. This gadget is totally worthy of the time it takes to find it. : )

What else in the tree house? An amazing salad! Steve and Amber made an awesome one at work last night.. it had lots of sprouts – sunflower, pea green sprouts, he made an oil & vinegar dressing a bit of agave, dash shoyu & cayenne I think.. & an avocado chopped up & I mentioned to wet some nori sheets and cut those up.. It worked really well with it. Amber was really into the nori in it.. we figured there was something in it that she really needed. : )

& dessert - lots of chocolate! .. make raw cookies to bring. ..or get lots of raw cranberry chocolate from chocosol. It’s amazingly good!

OMG! Just remembered to check this out. Michael told me they finally have a website up.. and here it is! Finally.. ok, leaving for work in a few minutes and I so have to check this out!
exciting : )

http://www.chocosoltraders.com/

Nice! ..from their website:

ca•cao means God’s Food in Mayan.
choc•o•late comes from the Nahuatl words Xocol meaning bitter and Atl meaning water.

The Aztecs credited the god Quetzlcoatl, with introducing the cacao bean to them. The cacao drink, Xoxolatl, was a sacred drink for royalty, priests, and warriors. The belief is that cacao seeds were brought from Paradise, and when the fruit of the cacao tree is eaten, we gain wisdom and power.

By the 1400s, the Aztecs and Mayans were using the cacao beans as a form of currency. The cacao bean went to Spain in the 16th century, eventually getting into the hands of Switzerland where the first chocolate bar was made in 1819.

pics from http://www.inhabitat.com/category/treehouses/