My Lunch. I have just changed my standard green juice, which was: Celery, Parsley, Ginger, Garlic, Cucumber ...to my new fav, which is Celery, Ginger, Garlic, Jalapeno, Spinach, Cucumber.Mmmm... Jalapeno!!
& Hot banana Peppers on my Salad.. with mixed baby greens, Sunflower Sprouts, a Nut loaf Patty broken up, Pine Nut Parmesan and a Caesar/Poppyseed dressing blend.. also my new fav.
I am making up big time for the biggest down-turn to my diet ever.. Not sure why I did it.. maybe my emotional personal life.. but a few nights ago I had a slice of pizza, followed by a few digestive enzymes.. cause it didn't feel so good.. and I have been drinking green juice voraciously ever since. The next day I thought I could feel my joints.. maybe my imagination.. but it was a real thought-provoker. I always feel great physically & maybe I had started taking it for granted. & I realized that most of the people I know don't feel great all the time. So, especially considering that the pizza slice (& it was a small one) was a little disappointing in itself.. I would much have preferred a raw pizza slice if it was here, I think I romanticised this cooked pizza that I havent had for years, and it failed me. Which works out to my benefit. So, that was that.. and sometimes those things happen and we have to move on.. & up!! : )
Cheers!
Cheers!
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The Story of Chocolate from a spectacular site called DigiStory:
Once upon a time Quetzalcóatl descended to earth by the rays of a morning star leaving all the Toltecs surprised by his coming down to earth. Everyone understood that this new comer was not a simple mortal and they broke their ugly dark clay gods, to worship him. They built for him a very large 5 storied temple with staircases. The roof was held up by four monumental stone columns carved in the shape of men. The outside of the house was decorated with large butterflies and a long line of tigers who seemed to be searching for the god. The Toltecs called Quetzalcóatl Tlahuizcalpantecutli, which means, the star that comes in the afternoon. This name was quite appropriate because the star sometimes rises in the morning and others in the afternoon. Today we call this star by the name of Venus.
The temple was located in a central square around which the city of Tollan (now Tula) was built. Tollan was a very important city in the 11th and 12th century. The main gods of the city were Quetzalcóatl-Tlahuizcalpantecutli, and the god Tláloc ("the lord that comes from the earth"), the giver of rain and life and the owner of souls estranged from their bodies. The city also had a goddess, Xochiquetzal ("plumed flower"), goddess of happiness and love. She was the wife of Tlaloc and the giver of pulque (an alcoholic drink). All the gods were good and following the leadership of Quetzalcóatl, they taught the Toltec people all their knowledge, until they were wise in the arts and sciences, and could recognise the march of the stars. The Toltecs were then able to measure time and determine the change of the seasons to plant, and harvest. The Toltecs planted corn, beans, yucca, all sorts of cereals and fruits and spend their free time studying. In time they were wonderful architects, artists, masons and delicate moulders of clay.
Quetzalcóatl, who loved them deeply gave the Toltecs, the gift of a very special plant. This plant had been jealously guarded by the other gods because they extracted a drink which was reserved only for the gods themselves. Quetzalcóatl stole the small bush with dark red flowers which later became dark fruits. He planted the bush and asked Tláloc to feed it with water and , asked Xochiquetzal to tend to it and make it beautiful with flowers. The little tree flowered incessantly and Quetzalcóatl picked up the pods, roasted the kernels and taught the Toltec women to grind them into a fine powder. The women then mixed the powder with water from their jars and whipped it into a frothy drink which they called chocolatl. In the beginning it was only drunk by priests and royalty. It was drunk bitter and the mayas called it kahau, (bitter).
The Toltecs became so wise, so learned in the arts and sciences and so prosperous that the gods became jealous at first, and then, angry when they discovered that their chocolatl had been stolen from them. They vowed to make war on Quetzalcóatl and the Toltecs. They called on Tezcatlipoca -"the fuming mirror"-, the god of darkness and the night. This god was the sworn enemy of Quetzalcóatl, who was the god of the morning star. Tezcatlipoca came down to earth on the thread of a spider and taking on the guise of a merchant, approached Quetzalcóatl determined to cause his downfall. The god of the morning star was in his palace that day very sad. He had dreamt that the gods were plotting against him and he was worried for his people the Toltecs.
The false merchant, got close to Quetzalcóatl and asked - Why are you so sad my Lord? - Because the gods have ordered my downfall and the death of my people, answered Quetzalcóatl-.
- I offer you this drink. It is the drink of happiness. Take it, give it to the people, and they will be happy too!
Quetzalcóatl, who loved the Toltecs, believed the false merchant and drank the juice offered to him. The juice was pulque a drink made from fermented agave. He drank and drank and drank until he was completely drunk. He danced, and jumped about, and made all sorts of hand gestures to the people outside the palace who did not know what to make of the strange behaviour 0f their beloved god. Quetzalcoatl was so drunk that he did not notice he was losing the respect of his people. Finally, exhausted, he fell asleep.
The following morning, Quetzalcóatl woke up with a bad headache and a foul, foul breath. He knew that the gods had made fun of him and ridiculed him. He had lost face. He then knew that the end of Tollan, the glorious city of the Toltecs was near. He could not face the destruction of his city, nor the death of his people. He was deeply ashamed....so, he left Tollan, walking in the direction of the evening star. As he started his walk, he noticed that the little bushes he had planted that gave the chocolatl, had transformed themselves into dry plants with thorns. They had transformed themselves into agaves. He saw that the agave was the plant that made the juice that got him drunk in the first place. He cried and cried and walked for days on end.
He walked all the way to the land of Tabasco, close to the sea. When he reached the shore, and before he left the land forever by just walking unto the sea, he placed unto the ground the last seeds of cacao he had left in this hand. The seeds, with time, flourished and became the last gift of the god of the morning star to the people of Mexico.
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