RawketScience

Banana Production

2011-09-26T20:44:00.001-04:00

Before packing, bananas spend 20-30 minutes in a pool of water to seal the latex put on the freshly cut crowns.

The banana "tree" brings only one harvest in its life.

During the harvest, bananas are laid in a special sponge so that they are not damaged during transport to the packing station.

Machete - the tool is in nearly every home in Costa Rica.

After the cut-off plant stem is cut down, next to it and in its place, a new one is already growing.

Slicing down bananas is hard physical labor.

The bananas are on their way to the packing station.

Waiting queue to get packed.

Selection of fruit and the division into clusters is performed mainly by women.

The production of bananas - not just a process, it's history, a culture from which grew more than one generation in many countries in Latin America.

The final stage - the packaging.

From http://fishki.net/ - and translated from Russian

The Fun Theory

2011-09-22T14:40:00.002-04:00

Abstract Expressionist Work

2011-09-05T21:41:00.001-04:00

White canvass (cashew cheese) ----> Painted!

Picking Raspberries

2011-08-23T22:02:00.001-04:00

Mom and I went raspberry picking - twice. The second time we were smart enough to pick in quart containers, like above - we picked 12 quarts.. 1/2 as many as the first time. But the first time we made the mistake of picking lots in big buckets and the weight of them squished the bottom ones.. we still got them all spread out on cookie sheets and froze most of them when we got home, but we were left with a couple glasses of fresh squeezed raspberry juice at the bottom. The containers were too deep, lesson learned and we did much better the 2nd time around.

It was beautiful there. We went to Harper's U-Pick in Hillsborough - this is where Mom always goes to stock up on raspberries and fill her freezer for the winter. She has a 2nd fridge and a huge freezer in the basement (we're always well stocked!)

The rows are clearly marked and someone will guide you where to start picking. The berries are big and dripping off the branches, like grapes.

Home with all of our berries and its lunch time:

This is a pic of what our table frequently looks like at lunch lately - Collard leaves to make wraps with, dehydrated nut & veggie burgers, burger sauce, BBQ-chili sauce, lots of sliced up veggies (often from our garden :) sometimes left over salad, hot banana peppers for me & always lots of sprouts!! These are really delicious and one of our favorite meals!

Hopewell Rocks - my childhood playground

2011-08-14T22:02:00.001-04:00

A few weekends ago we went to Hopewell Rocks. Its about a half hour drive from where we live here in NB and was only a mile (or less) from our cottage when I was young and growing up. I used to walk here often and hang out.. more often I would go to the pool at the campground next door, they had pinball machines and more kids hanging out at the pool.. but often I would go walk the shore and caves of the Rocks.

I took a lot of pictures but I only noticed when I got home that they came out kind of blue. I'll post some below anyway ; ) I was willing this time to pay the price - they charge now, and for many years I refused to pay the price, because I was used to it being free to go there. ..but it was worth it.

Heres the official website they have now: http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/
I was surprised to find out that they are a finalist for one of the 7 natural wonders of the world!
Actually its the whole bay of Fundy, not only the Rocks. The bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world!!!

Here are some of the pics I took:

They rope off the caves so you cant go in them anymore. They are not very deep... but good for playing hide and seek in ; )

I think I look like a giant in this picture, so I like it because of that. lol But I think this picture inspired my little delve lately into subliminals, more on that later!

We took the shuttle, they run every minute or two.. or you can take the 20 minute path.
They made it seem longer to get to them.. they are actually not far from the main road..but if you look at a map you can see your just traveling along the coastline to get to them. ..maybe a moneygrab for the shuttle?? not sure ..but at least its a nice path whether you walk or shuttle.

Mud!!! We have lots of it out here!!! ..some people like to play in it! ; )

The trip back..

Some nice pics here:
http://www.worldbeachvacation.com/hopewell-rocks-bay-of-sunday-natural-wonders-vacation.html/

Incredible Ice Cream - raw, dairy free, vegan and delicious!

2011-08-08T22:35:00.000-04:00

Hi. These are a few pics of one of our favorite treats lately. When we moved here to NB and were getting settled in to live here with Mom I had a few little splurges before we settled into a few months of Extreme Budgeting (which we are still on). Don't get me wrong, we have amazing abundance here - I couldnt believe how the freezer was stocked with E3Live, local berries, maple syrup.. pantry stocked - really, we have so much.. but to be honest I went from a nice comfortable salary (to create raw foods - imagine!!) to no salary overnight. & so now, time to reestablish etc.. and I am enjoying the slow pace of life, time to think and walk barefoot, enjoy the sun and flowers, talk, play.

so anyway, a few of my purchases that I figured I really needed - a couple new pair of Vibram five finger shoes, a few weights (15 & 20 lbs) and a Cuisinart ice cream maker!!

Chocolate and Espresso flavors - my favs! Made with cashews, young Thai coconut, local maple syrup, agave and flavorings - raw cacao, vanilla, espresso. Raw ice cream is the best! Incredibly delicious!!!
(& I had just developed 21 fantastic flavors for Raw Pantry/ Raw Bistro!)

The machine that makes magic..

..and my boss had just bought me this super heavy (& expensive) cleaver (I mentioned that I left mine, a $10 one, at a friends place when I brought a case of coconuts over for a party). So I get here and try to use the cleaver and cant open the coconuts the way I am used to - shaving off the top and whacking the shaved opening (it naturally cracks open this way). I got frustrated and vented my anger on a few huge whacks on the top of the coconut and lo & behold.. it opened right up. It turns out this way is even easier than my shaving the top method.. which I have used for 100's (1000's?) of coconuts.. now we just need a good source of coconuts in Moncton! Randy drove these up with him from Halifax, closest place I know to get them.

Buddy and Zoey

2011-08-05T21:50:00.000-04:00

These are our pets - Buddy and Zoey. Zoey is the black cat in back (please dont mind the mess on the floor back there, this is the back door and theres often a jumble of shoes around here). Zoey came with James and I from Toronto.. and has never lived with a dog before - totally new experience for him!!

Buddy is Moms dog. He's nuts!! He was a rescue dog and had an abusive childhood (puppyhood?). Mom got him from a shelter, apparently he was returned by someone else who tried to take care of him first before mom got him. Mom has had a bit of a history with her past few dogs of rescuing dogs, usually older ones, who needed a home. Moms always had a dog as long as I've known.. and at first she usually had purebreds. She had Rembrandt, a tri-color Collie who was so beautiful and regal and well trained. I remember mom always taking her dogs to obedience classes when they were young. She had Megan a soft coated Wheaton, a nice golden Lab, Peter and of course my favorite Cindy, the dog I grew up with, an Airdale who I named (after Cinderella I think & I cant believe I'm admitting that!) ..Anyway,

Here she is now with Buddy. Anyone who would take this dog in would have to be a saint!! (thats Mom ; ) Moms has had Buddy for about 8 years now.. She had him doing really well too. Until her stroke and I think his old abandonment issues began resurfacing. I tried really hard to take as good of care of him as she does.. but according to Mom hes taken a backward step and now we are all trying to get him comfy and secure with life here again.

Buddys never lived with a cat either and it was a lot of work, and interesting, getting them used to each other. I really came to notice how opposite they are, cats and dogs give totally different signals and just don't understand each other at all.

Buddys hyperactive. He goes crazy when the mailman comes or anyone comes, for that matter, to the door.. Barking like crazy. & he likes us all to stay together, if one of us - me, mom or James, leaves the house, or the car.. he goes crazy again, like its the end of the world and nothing will ever be the same again.
He loves the car!! In fact, he often wont get out of it.. hell sit in there for hours after a car ride and no way are you going to get him out of there. Of course, were learning some tricks that help sometimes. And hes totally afraid of thunder and lightening.. I've never seen anyone so afraid. One night when Mom was in the hospital and it was thundering he curled up right next to me and I had to hug and pat him all night.. hes kind of cry and shake and curl under our legs. One day when it was thundering & I had to take mom to therapy, I got James to sit with him and take care of him until we got back.

They're slowly getting used to each other. I've notice Zoey is now sleeping on chairs closer to the ground, so hes feeling more comfortable. Sometimes they fight, Buddy will chase Zoey or Zoey will hiss and swing a claw toward Buddy but often they will come close and almost have their noses together checking each other out. These two are a big part of our family out here.

Flashback - The Great Mud Sauna Adventure

2011-07-29T19:49:00.000-04:00

This was from the day before I came to NB, the day before my mom had her stroke and went into the hospital. Who knew the following day I would be living in NB and on a completely new adventure. But the day before my journey took me to an incredible sauna.. with everyone covered in black mud, getting grounded with crystals and candles and essential oils and all sorts of wonderful high vibe earthly and unearthly things. massages, laughter, Bliss.. black mud!!

We brushed our skin and steamed and showered and steamed and got our pores opened and covered ourselves with essential oil doused deep dark living black mud and sat in a candle and crystal filled steam room, house powered completely down..

We drank gnome water (from up north, property close to David Wolfes land, with incredible magical gnome spring water) sat and sweated with a few of my favorite people.. what a way to leave Toronto. Who knew that the next day - actually this was a Sunday and I left on Tuesday, but close enough.. who knew that very soon I would leave Toronto.. and I still havent been back! All my things, including my boyfriend and cat, followed me out here & here we still are! Live can be interesting - Expect the unexpected!! ; )

Mud steams are usually followed by feasts of the best food ever!!

Sprouts and probiotic hummus and garlic/herb marinated heirloom tomatoes, wild leek spread, jerusalem artickoke antipasto, Earth bread (the best raw bread ever!!) ..lots of sprouts!!

We made open face sandwiches..

Chaga and other medicinal mushrooms..

more sandwiches.. freshly grated organic turmeric on top..

and crystal goblets of keffir coconut water - thank you, thank you, Thank you!!! xox

What a beautiful send off, love u very much! big hugs and smiles : ) xo!

Strawberry Day

2011-07-08T21:50:00.001-04:00

It's strawberry season and yesterday we bought 5 flats (60 quarts) of strawberries. They are so beautiful and so delicious - local and unsprayed (although not organic, which are hard to find around here and very expensive) but unsprayed works for me.

Fresh produce always looks so great. You always feel good buying it in the store and bringing it home. Colourful and beautiful.

& everything strawberry is beautiful!

We set up production. Washing, hulling, setting trays of them in the sun to dry and bagging most of them for the freezer. ..for when strawberry season is over.

After sitting in the sun they tasted even sweeter, almost like strawberry jam.

Our back porch with strawberry plants, tomato plants and solar water.

It seemed sad to put them into bags, but we'll appreciate them later. Enjoy strawberries now!!

Yoga and Foraging at the Cemetary

2011-07-05T22:32:00.000-04:00

ok, this may sound weird.. but one of our main hang outs lately is the cemetery. I've just realized/worked out that Mom used to take Buddy often to the cemetery for walks. My dad is buried here, and my grandparents and other relatives.. and in the back section its cleared and kept landscaped and mowed, but only has a dirt road to drive on and not many people are buried here yet. ..and in back there's an area they are just clearing, which is almost always just empty, there's never anyone there - the dog can go free and we can pick wild strawberries and forage for greens for our smoothies.

Most of the cemetery has plaques on the ground, but some areas have tombstones, sculptures and landscaped park areas. Along the edge of the cemetery on each side it wanders off into wooded area, on one side you have to cross water.. which Buddy loves to get into.

It was finally hot here today. Its been a very cold, wet, rainy spring and is just starting to warm up.. I'm loving it!!. But I really enjoyed a shady area we found and doing yoga there. I've missed doing yoga very much during the past 2 years.. and am really enjoying getting back into it!! : )

ps. The best thing about the cemetery is that Mom is always so happy going there. ..and the curvy fun road that you drive getting there.. its hard not to speed a bit here on these roads, they make driving fun. & the speed limits higher out here!

Happy Ivan Kupala Day!!

2011-07-04T21:21:00.001-04:00

On Ivan Kupala day, children are engaged in water fights and perform pranks mostly involving pouring water over someone. Many of the rites related to this holiday are connected with the role of water in fertility and ritual purification. Youths would jump over the flames of bonfires. Girls would float wreaths of flowers often lit with candles on rivers and would attempt to gain foresight into their relationship fortunes from the flow patterns of the flowers on the river. Men may attempt to capture the wreaths, in the hope of capturing the interest of the woman who floated the wreath.

There is an ancient Kupula belief, that the eve of Ivan Kupala is the only time of the year when ferns bloom. Prosperity, luck, discernment and power would befall on whoever finds a fern flower. Therefore, on that night, village folks would roam through the forests in search of magical herbs and especially the elusive fern flower Chervona Ruta.

Traditionally, unmarried women, signified by their garlands on their hair, would be the first to enter the forests. They are followed by young men. Therefore, consequent to the quest in finding herbs and the fern flower may be the blooming of relationships between pairs of men and women within the forest.

It is to be noted that biologists have held the persistent scientific fact that ferns have never and will never bloom.

The Russian name of this holiday combines "Ivan", Russian for the name John (the Baptist), and Kupala which is related to a word derived from the Slavic word for bathing, which is cognate. The latter is reinterpreted as John's baptizing people through full immersion in water (therefore his biblical title of the Baptist). However, the tradition of Kupula predates Christianity

Images from fiski.net and google images
Info from wikipedia

Whats going on in the Kitchen?

2011-07-02T22:12:00.000-04:00

Pizza Crusts just coming out of the dehydrator - 2 square, 2 round. I'm going to spread a square one now with cashew cheese and marinara and toppings and put the rest in the fridge, so they are ready to create a quick meal. (I have extra cashew cheese, marinara and pesto made from the lasagna I recently made ;)

The herbal tea brew.. I always feel extra witch-like when I make special blends of herbal teas.. even the hands taking a picture, dont they look witch-like?? ; )

wow, this is bad, you know what? I dont even remember! ..probably crackers. I have been looking for and creating ways to use up the pulp from the almond milk - one of the ways was crackers, and it gave them a really great texture.

Mom's homework (a small part of it) - her words of the week are: Joan, walk and smoothie. I have to try to get her to say them as often as possible. Her therapy and this process we are going through is really interesting. Mom is great at responding 'off the cuff' or 'spur of the moment' and is getting better and better all the time.. but the problem with aphasia is that the connection gets lost when you think something and then have to voice the idea.. if you have aphasia the more you think about it the harder it is. So you can sometimes get the right responses by surprising it out ..which leads to some interesting homework sessions. Not to mention Mom has a great sense of humor (which I have only really discovered since coming home in April, and it is amazing to see this side of her that I missed before) We get so silly sometimes, its kind of ridiculous - For 3 nights in a row I was laughing so hard I was literally crying.. just really crazy. Now, dont get me wrong.. its crazy and bizarre and fun sometimes.. but its also hard, for both Mom and I - There are periods when its really frustrating for her not to be able to convey her thoughts ..and periods for me when I feel very inept. I know I'm most likely the best person for the job.. but sometimes I feel so clued out. Most of the time I think I am fairly good at translating or deciphering what she is getting at.. but sometimes, its like shes talking Japanese.. and I'll go get James and he'll figure it out ..and I'll wonder what I am doing here?? But, I know that really, I'm just too close to her and miss things because of that sometimes. Sometimes a really simple idea will take a half hour, even longer to figure out.. we have all these different strategies we can try to figure it out. A few nights ago after trying and trying.. finally I said 'can you show me?" (one of my favorite lines now) and outside we go running in the rain to get the 2 bananas we left in the backseat of the car. I thought that was hilarious. Its really kind of bizarre around here sometimes - Mom has a new name she creates for herself regularly (it changes each time) and often when I dont know what she wants I just ask if shes suggesting ice cream, or buying me something interesting or going to some fanciful place.. I have my ways to make her smile ..and turn it all around to the most important things in life - Having Fun!!

Last 2 Cinnamon Rolls, with a squeeze bottle of Macadamia Caramel Frosting (from Sweet Gratitude ; ) Yumm!!

Burgers

2011-06-27T22:25:00.001-04:00

This has been one of our favorite things to eat for lunch - Burger Wraps! I've made burgers about 4 times in the past month. We have been really into making lots of other things also: pizzas (just made 4 crusts a few days ago), lasagna (a few times), lots of crackers and dips and more - but burgers may win for frequency.

I made a burger sauce (a sweet mayonaisse with tomato and a bit of mustard), which is great! and another time I made a chili sauce for the burgers, like a sweet and savory BBQ sauce. We bought a stone ground mustard and a habanero sauce that I love from Shashi who sells East Indian food at the market. Indian is a bit of a weakness for me.. and James brought me $58 worth of Indian spices and Masala blends from Toronto when he came.. I have done some experimenting with Indian also.. but here I only went through a temporary phase - it was taking too much of my time, I just put it away.. but the burgers stayed. 1. They are easy 2. They are delicious 3. They are filling.

I havent really followed a recipe, basically its a blend of nuts/seeds/vegetables.. and herbs and spices. You have to get a feel for it - texture-wise, ingredient-wise - so that it holds together well. The last time I made it I decided to use sunflower seeds because I had lots - it was basically 2c sunflower seeds, 1 c walnuts, 3 cups vegetables and I had a cup or so of almond pulp left over from making almond milk.. and for the veg, I just cleaned out the fridge - carrots, cauliflower, red pepper, onion, celery ..I am fairly frugal here, and burgers are great for using up ends of things - we eat insanely well, but food prices are high out here.. I cant even think Toronto prices, often for produce its 40-50% more, maybe its the transport costs? but C'est la vie! Oh I love mushrooms chopped up in burgers also.. Mmm and garlic ; )

Mushrooms are good for holding the burger together but make it dark.. I didnt have them this time and just ground up the seeds really well to bind the rest of ingredients together. Think about texture with raw foods, leaving some veg's (or mushrooms or nuts) not chopped up too much can give a nice texture - onions and peppers can give a slight crunch and mushrooms left just chopped can give a tenderness. Parsley and fresh herbs are great for flavor. Spice is always nice. Enjoy, create ..turn the music up and have fun! : )

Our Garden

2011-06-26T22:40:00.000-04:00

At the back of our house, actually the side, as our house is on the corner of 2 streets, we have a garden. Every year Mom puts in a garden.. and I suggested to her when she was still in the hospital that we put one in again this year. she loved that idea.

The pictures above are side by side of the garden. Moms brother came one night and turned the soil, by hand (well, and a pitchfork) That was a big job! but made our job of planting it easier. Mom and I went through a seed catalogue from William Dam and picked out about 12 packages of seeds, mostly different varieties of greens. We started some seeds inside from yellow cherry tomatoes she grew last year. ..and we went to the garden center and splurged on some plants already started.

The most challenging part was planting as the communication is difficult and Mom is an accomplished gardener - when I was young we used to have over an acre of land where our cottage was and every summer she planted a huge vegetable garden. we had everything from corn to beans to potatoes and many fruit trees as well as lots of strawberries and raspberries ..and cranberries and blueberries just below our land growing wild, but plentiful. It was awesome there in the summer! We had a tire swing and the neighbours were farmers and had 2 young cows which my friend and I loved and petted and fed them things they shouldnt have, like apples from the trees and named them Fluff and Star.. until one day they werent there anymore and the neighbour came and asked my Mom if she wanted to buy the meat! (Ahh, uck, that was slightly traumatic!) Oh, but I really got off track this time.. anyway, Mom knows vegetable gardening inside out and although I know a fair bit about it and have done it.. the communication problem really showed up here. I wanted to do it her way and ask advice, but she couldnt understand me, or I wasnt sure if she could and certainly couldnt answer me.. so we felt our way through it.. as we do most things. Its interesting how we have our way of understanding each other sometimes without language. Dealing with Aphasia (I'm sure from both sides, hers and mine) is an interesting process. It can be frustrating and hard..but we try to laugh at it or just let things go that we cant figure out.

We have lots of containers of tomato plants!

I particularly like this little pot of pea plants running up thin stakes and small pansies (viola) in between. I was having a little thing with violas this year and went out and bought a whole bunch more to plant throughout the garden.. mainly because their edible and so pretty on desserts and in salads.

Me in the garden : ) Its an every day event!

The Tidnish Bridge Art Gallery

2011-06-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

Mom is a member of an art co-operative, a group of 8 artists - including mostly painters and also a writer and potters, who run a gallery throughout the summer - The Tidnish Bridge Art Gallery, just outside of Amherst, NS. Tomorrow is our Open House (I am including myself in here because as Mom is involved, I am involved - I am like her 'seeing eye dog, but more a 'speech and communication person' I try to decipher and translate as best as I can, often I can't, but I try. Mom has aphasia - this is a common effect from having a stroke. It seems shes textbook aphasia with a touch of apraxia.

Here are some quick pictures of the Gallery and surroundings:

These are mom's art cards.. all original watercolors! She is a prolific artist and before her stroke taught several groups of art classes. She enjoys making these cards which she makes from the studies done in her classes or from larger paintings. ..all from before her stroke.

Mom out for a walk, its really beautiful around the gallery!

Buddy, her dog, Loves the car!! ..sometimes its hard to get him out. Buddys raw too!! : )

I was so happy when I saw her doing this sketch when we were last there.. its so similar to her past style. Its a really good sign.

She wrote some words on the bottom left page, but I am not sure what they mean. yet.

a personal note - I'm coming back

2011-06-22T22:25:00.000-04:00

Hi,
It's been awhile since I've been here blogging. My life has had a dramatic flip in it.. life can be so crazy sometimes! I have moved and am now mostly settled in to my new life here in Moncton, NB. I just uploaded a bunch of pictures from my camera.. I have been getting into taking pictures lately. & this is such a new and different adventure that I thought I would share some of it online.

I am realizing that when I started blogging a primary reason was to share some of my life with my family and friends here in the east and now that I am in the east, I miss my Toronto family and friends and want to share some of my life here with them. ..And also of course anyone into the raw foods and healthy empowering lifestyles.

So I'm going to be back soon and share some pics and stories ..and whatever positive and creative things pop into my head.
Big hugs and LOVE xo

Mom and life changes

2011-04-17T22:17:00.001-04:00

The pics a little blurry.. I just took it from Randy (my brother's) facebook page (uploaded from his iphone).. Its me with my Mom outside the hospital. My Mom had a stroke almost 2 weeks ago and I have been here in Moncton, NB (east coast of Canada), since the day after she was admitted. Its considered a 'major' stroke but fortunately she is not paralyzed on the right side as can often happen - the stroke was on the left side of her brain. Mom has had a history of high blood pressure which she has been keeping under control through the years.. the raw diet helped it a lot when we started 8-9 years ago and so she continued eating raw throughout the years.. but it still was fairly high. She was born with a congenital hole in her heart and had open heart surgery about 20 years ago. just to give some history and to understand that this was a lifelong health concern.

Mom's amazing. She continues to be my spiritual guru through this and stays positive, despite not being able to communicate a lot. We are working on the alphabet and numbers and colors.. how can an artist not know her colors?.. she had had enough of me this afternoon when I walked her past this painting that I always go through the colors with her on.. its a big painting of abstractish flowers.. as we approached it she said ' oh no, not that painting!!' lol I let her off the hook.. she worked hard today, and she hasnt even officially started her therapy sessions yet.

I was soo happy that she got into intensive rehab - they often only take people under 65 and Mom is 72.. but shes been very independent, living in a big house - same house that I grew up in with her 'wildish' but incredibly loveable dog (personality++) and her 16 year old granddaughter.. driving everywhere, teaching 3 sets of art classes, about to go for her 3rd gold bar on her black belt(maybe I shouldnt say that, she wouldn't, incredibly modest - but I think thats the way, when you get your black belt..humility is also taught.. but hey, I'm her daughter and proud) & mom is an artists artist.. like, she can stay up all night painting, very passionate about it ..its her life and what she loves most.. and so I am here to help her get it back.

I am moving back to NB to live here with her. James is coming and Zoey my cat ..the house is up for sale. My things are all being packed as I type by him (James) and friends and will be on a moving truck in days. Isn't it wild how life can change... expect the unexpected. go figure.. and now to sort it all out.

One thing I know is that its not an option but to be here with my Mom! Honestly, its like an honor for me.

Raw - Mom is amazing.. my guru once again - she is completely raw in the hospital. The dietitian wasn't sure what to do with her. and we worked it out. I make green smoothies everyday and bring those and salads. crackers etc to her. One day stuffed dehydrated marinated mushrooms and tomatoes with an herb coating.. salsa, guacamole.. today it was Indian food, complete with a coconut chai drink. Mom has her own gourmet raw chef here ; ) I made a list of everything she was having for awhile for the dietician.. her smoothie alone was a job to decipher I'm sure for her with all the herbs, superfoods, gojis, maca, blue green algae, medicinal mushrooms etc etc mixed in.. I got the green light and have fridge space to keep her going. Everyday is a picnic there.. even the nurses come over to check out what we're having.
But life is busy, her dog is raw also and that was an adjustment to get used to taking out a dog 3x a day and making his food.. but I have it down. Its a full day but its flowing, speaking of which, bedtime.

ps. I should have my camera back in a week or so when my things all get here. I hardly brought anything, only a small suitcase so I wouldnt have to check anything on the plane. I had no idea how things were going to play out when I left Toronto, or that I wouldnt be going back. life changes.. gotta flow with it. We just keep doing our best!! peace.

psps. Moms website - http://www.joangregory.ca/

Life - black mud, Spanish, ducks and raw foods ...and lemon water

2011-04-02T22:47:00.000-04:00

ok, this is probably a super-crazy picture to come back with after 2 months away. 2 months!! wow, where does time go? (gotta love that question!!) and what have I been up to?? or better asked is probably - What have you been up to?? Ah, but I can only answer for me.

I have been really into my Spanish in my spare time.. and that probably accounts mostly for my lack of blogging. It's been really awesome and enriching, in a different way from raw foods.. like exercising the brain muscles. & now it feels really great that I can understand radio and tv from Spain and Latin America.. and forget that its another language and just have to look words up now and then. But then again I'm having a good day.. there are ups and downs with learning.. I still have moments when I listen to something Spanish and am totally clued out, but for the most part I get along fine.

I am still very into my raw food thing. I dont think I will ever eat again another way, it just makes too much sense to me. That being said I have had my moments this past year or so when I have only considered myself high-raw (instead of the complete raw I used to be, and very likely will be again) and I've slacked off a few times here and there. I know I feel at my best the more raw I am.. I've just gone through some emotional life stuff in the past few years ..but I'm feeling strong and like a duck.. y'know how they just ruffle their feathers and shake it off and float along again. Oh, to be a duck! ; )

I got very into drinking lemon water in the mornings.. and have been almost living on green smoothies. I made some flax crackers this past week.. and have sprouted buckwheat ones sprinkled with sesame seeds in the dehydrator right now & I made some super-hot salsa today with about 5 kinds of peppers in it. I'm so into hot and spicy foods these days!! & it turned out so good.

The pic above is because there was a cricket match today between India and Pakistan and I live in Little India and it was so loud walking down the street this afternoon, hundreds of flags everywhere, on cars, people, shops.. the traffic was almost at a stand-still it was so packed. It was very loud and busy and fun to walk through.

Tomorrow morning I am going to go for a black-mud super-steam crazy high vibe morning bright and early, where we do just about every good thing there possibly is you can do for yourself. I went a month or so ago also and took a pic, but it was too dark in the steam room to show you.. but picture candles, essential oils, magic black rocks and cedar boughs everywhere and us covered in black mud.. and the best food ever, after that is. Maybe I'll have pics tomorrow.

& 1 more thing. We're building a new website - yes, all raw foods based, the best foods ever! Tell you more later. xo! Peace and love!!

Superfoods Song

2011-02-03T22:50:00.000-05:00

Denise Mari on Alkalinity, Acidity and Thoughts

2011-01-29T22:44:00.000-05:00

Ding Ding Love is my Religion

2011-01-29T22:33:00.000-05:00

Jack LaLanne

2011-01-25T17:50:00.000-05:00

"Anything in life is possible if you make it happen" Jack LaLanne

Jack LaLanne, Fitness and Nutrition Guru, passed away this past Sunday at the age of 96.
His simple message that 'If God didn't make it, People shouldn't eat it' helped to make him an American legend. There are many YouTube videos available from his exercise show. I just got into watching them.. Fun. He has a very straightforward direct approach that you've gotta love him for! Here are a few.. Enjoy!

This is my favorite!

Super Ti

2011-01-23T23:27:00.001-05:00

This is a bottle of Tea. I am up to my old tricks again.. and happy to re-realize how wonderful this one is. The tea recipe started with one from David Wolfe - Chuchuasi bark, Pau D'Arco, Cats Claw - those are typical, Maybe Chanca Piedra .. Everytime I get into making this tea, it changes.. I Love playing with herbs! This batch had Slippery Elm and Nettle, some Horsetail and Damiana - a happy herb, Hey, its winter in Canada!!

You have to be careful with herbs, its true.. but years ago I spent lots and lots of time studying them and I feel like I have a pretty good feel for them. For myself I am comfortable to go between that and intuitive - in selecting, but I always check it out to make sure before using.

Its kind of like a game for me.. choose a bunch of herbs.. then go look them up (if I don't know) and sense the combined effect. I think I get pretty close. Really it's like medicine though.. so you have to be careful what you combine. I like analyzing ..but really its the intuition that I trust.

So the process is this. Mix handfuls of herbs in a big bowl (after feeling very secure about them & the combination) I kind of intuit the many handfuls and bunches of each.. but then mix them all together well in a big bowl. Then I steep a handful of the mixture in water in a big pot on the stove, its about all I use my stove for, but you dont need to .. if you've given your stove up (the way of the dinosaurs and all.. relics ; ) you can just pour hot water over them in the bowl.. Let steep. Then I fill 1 or 2 glass bottles, dependingon how much I've made, refridgerate and then use this as the 'water' part of my green smoothies.. which consists of at least half of my diet these days. I usually make enough for 4-7 days, so I dont have to make it every day, just pour from the fridge.

Oh, I put Ginger and Goji Berries in also.

above pic: from a couple days ago.. below: from a year or so ago, like I said old trick. But a good one!!

Kelp Diving

2011-01-19T22:10:00.000-05:00

As in Fore-gone days, I'm sharing my adventure with you, this time we're Kelp Diving.

I was invited a few days ago:

Kelpo Ti!

..We must soon go way down, into the bubbles and the leafy green phantom shadows. Blue green and aquamarine!

The fulgent tidal urges tickle us with surging strands and strings and passing sea bass, and we

breathe calmly and deliberately, preciously blissing on the pressure of our suits under the surf zone's crystal thickets.

Falls and rises in the bush create a center of neutral bouyancy. Flexible stems can erogenously wind on our legs, so resist urgent struggling and soothe smoothly through the canopy, and finally up into vertical sun ...now.... Keep your flippers together and drink the light.

Race ya!
Emerald forest

Because of the shadows formed by the canopy, the lower part of the undergrowth is thin, it contains many passages and edges.Possibility of interaction between them, as well as predation outside the forest, allows the existence of more than 800 species of organisms.

Among the branches can be seen scurrying river crabs, Terpugov, sea bass, groupers and sea ruffs. Predators such as barracuda and yellowtail are patrolling the edges of thickets. In the thickets of kelp can often come across a sea lion or seal, flying like a rocket. At the bottom of the base of live patir, brittle stars, crabs and sea urchins, which feed on fallen leaves.

translated & pics from here

Italian Light Butterflies

2011-01-12T20:56:00.000-05:00

During the Milan International Led Light Festival, which ends on Monday, Chiara Lampugnani Design created an installation called Light Butterflies on Paolo Sarpi Street and Canonica Street. If you’re in the area this weekend, check it out.

Inspired by the Butterflies Oasis based in Palestro Street in Milan, the light butterflies by Chiara Lampugnani are an homage to the beauty of nature through the splendor and magic of light. They are a message to the city of Milan to slow down and think about the simple things in life as if through the eyes of a child.

Article from Design-Milk

A Farmers Story - The Interconnection of Life

2011-01-11T20:06:00.000-05:00

Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow.

- Anonymous

& now, a Story..

There was a farmer who grew superior quality and award-winning corn.
Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won honour and prizes.
One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it.
The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field.
If my neighbors grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn.
If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours grow good corn."

The farmer gave a superb insight into the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbour's corn also improves.
So it is in other dimensions! Those who choose to be at harmony must help their neighbours and colleagues to be at peace, those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.

And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

If we are to grow good quality corn, we must help our neighbors grow good quality corn too..

Happy 2011 - All over the World

2011-01-05T18:11:00.000-05:00

The new 2011 tower 'Space Needle', Seattle, USA

Zurich, Switzerland

Champs Elysees, Paris

London, England

Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

Town of Narlai, India

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tokyo, Japan

Karada, India

Ahmedaban, India

Vienna, Austria

Times Square, Hong Kong, China

Tehran, Iran

Bangalore, India

Manila, Philippines

Karachi, Pakistan

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany

Beirut. Lebanon

New mexico, USA

Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -above and below

Port au Prince, Haiti

Davos, Switzerland

Yangon, Burma (Myanmar)

Waikiki Beach, Honalulu, Hawaii

Edinburg, Scotland

I think if you concentrate and think of extending your energy to hug the whole world, you can do it. Happy New year to the whole World!
Each and every one of us are 1.
Peace, Joy and Love to all of us in 2011!!

Thanks to fishki.net for photos!

Festive Pizza Tradition

2011-01-04T20:52:00.000-05:00

I have gotten into a Holiday tradition.. every year when it gets close to Christmas I have been making an abundance of pizza crusts, about 8 crusts and keeping them in the fridge until its time to eat them. It started 3 Christmases ago, I was moving to where I live now within a week before Christmas. & the guys who were helping me move were raw, or mostly, or at least into eating raw foods.. So it started with that, thinking if I have this all pre-prepared, it will be easy. & it was. Not to mention that Pizza is great moving food! Its often tradition when moving to have lots of beer & pizza for the movers, in my case that would be Pizza and Kombucha, or as close as possible. So that year I had Pizza crusts, Cashew Cheese and a Pizza-Marinara Sauce and the morning of moving day I only had to spread a few crusts with cheese, sauce and toppings and put them in the dehydrator just before the move. It was great.

& Then with the rush of everything else that goes on at Christmas, it was an easy Christmas Eve dinner. And the highlight. 3 years in a row now.

This year I had a raw potluck to go to between Christmas and New Years and when my friend mentioned me making pizzas, that started it again. ..& I just realized as I finish off the last of the pizzas, that this was the 3rd year in a row. Definitely a tradition starting I think!!

Here is a pic of the pizzas boxed and getting ready to go to the pot luck. They fit in perfectly and it all went great. Maybe I should set up delivery service? ; )

Happy Pono New Year!

2010-12-31T18:17:00.001-05:00

I have a sign written on the wall in my room that says:

"Everything is Pono (perfect)

until we tell ourselves otherwise"

Warmth in your Igloo, Oil in your Lamp, Peace in your Heart and Seeds in your Jar!

2010-12-30T13:04:00.000-05:00

“May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart!”
Eskimo proverb

& seeds in your jar!!! This year I started onto this different kind of gift-giving before Christmas. I think I was inspired when my sons girlfriend told me her parents got her & her brother a gift for every day of December. & I thought of the Advent calenders and thought what a great idea.. So I started getting these small things for James and giving him 'advent' gifts (but I know I am totally corrupting the word, need one better) These gifts I decided should be small unexpected, thoughtful things, not expensive and not required, not even every day, but most days.. like a truffle, or I bought him some dusting gloves (& actually used one! lol), and this one in particular turned out to be very useful.. in fact its already time to go refill it. I took a bottle that I had and filled it with different seeds. Then gave it to him to shake up and I pour some in our green smoothies every morning. This addition to the green smoothie makes it stay with you longer. & the seeds are all so good for you!!

Love. Happiness. Spiritual Growth

2010-12-26T11:32:00.001-05:00

Love is Within

At level 500 which is reached my 4% of the population is the capacity for actual love. At 500 love takes on a different experiential reality. Its not the emotion of love. When people talk about love they're talking about an emotion that which goes from this to that, I love you, You love me, and therefore it can be lost. That person can stop loving you and if that person is the source of your happiness now you're gonna be quite desperate and of course love relationships that go downhill y'know often result in suicide and homicide in other words that can cause quite a violent reaction. So one is always vulnerable so to be in love in that sense then your putting your happiness outside of yourself. As you get to the 500s now the source of happiness is not outside yourself but comes from within, so love calibrated at level 500 now changes into a way of being in the world. Spiritual love is a way of being, its the way you are within the world, what you are to the world, its now beyond emotion. It doesnt depend on emotion and its independent of the world, if the other person loves you so much the better and if they dont you continue to love them anyway. So I love my kitty no matter what and if my kitty suddenly stops loving me thats the kittys loss because I'll still love the kitty y'know and he'll get out of his bad mood. So, we become that which sort of nutures life.The energy field of somebody in the 500's now begins to radiate out and support life.

Happiness is Within

The best way to handle a prayer for a Ford is to surrender your desire for a Ford.
Why did you want the Ford? Because you think that happiness is something outside of yourself. If I have the new Ford then I will feel successful and then I will feel happy so all desires then have associated with them the unconscious belief system that they will bring us happiness but that makes us very dependent on the external world and so our happiness is always vulnerable and therefore we live in fear all the time because if the source of happiness is outside of yourself your always in a weakened possibly victim position. If the source of happiness then is self fulfillment within oneself then no one can take it away from you.

Divinity is Within

So people say how can I grow spiritually. Do I have to go somewhere? Do I have to get a guru? Do I have to join a meditation group? Do I have to recite mantras or what? No you dont have to do that at all. Its so simple that its overlooked all the time. Its a decision to be loving and kind towards all of life including your own at all times no matter what. To be forgiving, to be gentle, to be that which is supportive of live so that becomes not what you do, but what you are. You become that which supports life, supports all endeavors, it encourages those who need encouragement and it becomes the energy of life itself so it becomes almost like the manifestation of the divine mother as well as the divine father, so its the merging of the two y'see. That which is nurturing at the same time that which is demanding of excellence.

These are exerpts from 'The Highest Level of Enlightenment' cd's by Dr David R Hawkins

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T22:58:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!

I have been having an incredible Christmas and want to share some of it here. Often with Days, Years, Events, Holidays.. I get themes happening.. this Christmas my Main theme seemed to be that it wasnt about the day itself that was important, but what the person had done and been all year through that was important.. the gifts (although I got amazing gifts!!) definitely seemed to take back stage. It was so fun opening them with the group of people around me and there were lots.. but it just was no not really about the presents to me, it was all about being with these people and how important they were to me.. and the Love of course. But so many times it came up how someone had given someone a small gift, a token, as they do so much all through the year.. esp my Mom, who has spent a phenomenal amount of time at the hospital and taking care of people. But really its all about the love.. Everything!!! Its all about the love!

Be the One

Be the one who smiles with your spirit and warms the heart of others.
Be the one who lovingly commits random acts of kindness.
Be the one who feeds parking meters anonymously.
Be the one who listens, really listens to someone in need while
Holding the energy of love and knowing they can do it.
Be the one that feeds a hungry person.
Be the one who embraces the angels and shines their
Love around the world.
Be the one who knows they are loved, they are love and
They are lovable.

Be the one who allows the magic and wonder of the season to
Follow you throughout the year.

this was written by Susan Gregg, mom sends me the greatest inspiration all the time. & I have been thinking that I really should come and post more of it here. Cause it always makes me feel so good.

So Shine on the Love, and keep the Magic alive!!!

..and I have to run, cause my daughter just came back.. and I want to go hang ; ) But I will be back.. cause I have to tell you about my presents, or at least very quickly.. I got a new camera!!!!! I am so happy!! & this incredible book of inspiration I want to share. Definitely blog material.. I think someone very influential wants me to stay here writing!!! & I always feel happy when I do it, so Be back Soon!!! Merry Christmas!!!! xo

Joy of Giving

2010-12-14T16:48:00.001-05:00

Back from Mexico!

2010-11-20T23:56:00.001-05:00

I'm back and unpacked and getting settled back in. Great vacation in Mexico, we ended up in Playa del Carmen, beautiful spot! There was a tragedy when we were there, in a hotel nearby, the floor exploded, thought to be from an accumulation of methane gas under the lobby floor, killing 7 people (5 Canadians) and leaving 18 injured (8 Canadians). We didnt receive much information about it from there, they were keeping everything very under wraps, we only heard a bit from other Canadians who heard about it. So it didnt affect our vacation so much except that the internet became very slow after that, as people would have been trying to contact family-friends and when we were leaving we flew back with several couples who had been staying at the hotel and heard more about it. That was a real tragedy. But aside from this, and of which we didnt know much of what happened until leaving, we had a great time. My deepest condolences and sympathy to those who were involved in this!

On my birthday we climbed pyramids and swam in an incredible cenote.. I still have to go through pics to put up, and that day we didnt have my camera, but a friend we made there took pics. I got to speak lots of Spanish, walk on the beach lots - feeling very grounded!! and they made a delicious array of juices and drinks in the mornings.. my favorite was made with nopal cactus, orange juice and celery juice. I am tempting to start making it... nopal is soooo good for you - but I had been working with it a few months ago and got some splinters in my hand that took months to come out, and were quite painful and annoying. Decisions, decisions.. but thankfully due to speaking spanish and tipping the juice person (Always tip the juice-smoothie person!! so they dont mind you drinking Lots! ; ) I learned some new techniques for working with these dangerous cactus leaves.

Above is a beach we walked a lot.
Below is a cenote, underground swimming hole, of which this area of Mexico is filled with.

Grounding, Spanish ..and I'm going away soon, but not as long this time!

2010-11-08T23:05:00.001-05:00

Hi!

I have had a number of people asking about the blog this week. I dont know why all of a sudden.. but maybe its a sign. So, I thought I would check in & say hi.. and maybe I'm going to be getting back into blogging again soon. Cause I really enjoy this part of my life.. writing and sharing the things that I find enriching - healthy, colourful, soulful.

I have been on a big Spanish journey,& thats what I have been doing a lot of in my spare time, when I wasnt blogging - I was reading, listening, watching everything in spanish.. outside of recipe books and research for work.. which also has been filling up most of my time. Working on such wonderful raw food creations and experimenting. I am so in heaven with my job!! ..and maybe one day I will have a Comida Cruda blog en espanol ; ) y quizas eso va a pasar un dia cuando sé mas ..pero por ahora, estoy feliz - sé lo suficiente para leer novelas y ver peliculas y programas sin subtituladas y aqui es donde yo queria estar. Lo Hice! : )

...oops, from the Spanish - a Raw Food blog in Spanish ; ) & maybe that will happen one day when I know more ..but for now, I am happy - I know enough to read novels and watch movies and shows without subtitles & this is where I wanted to be. I did it! : )

Above - about a month ago I bought a Grounding Kit. My Mom bought one for herself before me and had incredible results!! I was so impressed, I wanted it too, of course ; ) and bought the mattress sheet and the pad (for when I am on my computer. I had a pretty good feeling it was working because my cat would sleep in a different spot than he usually did.. to where the grounding sheet was underneath the blanket. Thats a pretty good sign for me, animals are more intuitive and know these things. We'll talk more about grounding later!

Oh, and I want to mention quickly before I head out again, I am off to Mexico for a week.. leaving early Thursday morning - 3 more sleeps.. that is if I sleep Wed eve, because I have to get up at 2 or 3am! very early flight. 2 days!! so excited!! Hey, it's nice to be back! I've kinda missed this place.. it feels right. Hasta pronto!! Ciao!

The Strangest Secret - Earl Nightingale

2010-08-23T07:50:00.000-04:00

Hi,
I just watched this video which I found on the Loving Yourself website. I really enjoyed watching and want to share it. I also want to mention that I expect to be back blogging one day, I'm just in a slow period (in regards to blogging) but I love my raw life and life in general and look forward to be back posting about wonderful adventures one day soon.
I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!!
Thanks for keeping in touch and stopping by.
Hugs, Love & Peace!!
xo, : ) R

Raw Beauty Calendar 2011

2010-07-29T18:44:00.000-04:00

Raw Beauty Calendar

Being Quiet

2010-06-28T08:23:00.000-04:00

Hi. I think I am in a more quiet period of my life. A few times lately I have thought - Oh I should go write a blog.. and then I go blank. Its not that I cant come up with artsy, musical, spiritual, metaphysical, fun posts.. but I think the thing that has been holding me back is really my work. Everything I do is quiet, for now, as its to open up a business.. and I prepare and experiment with raw foods 6 days a week! I feel like I'm earning my doctorate in raw foods.. but I cant write about it. Weird, as this is what my blog is primarily about.

So. thats life right now.. I'm going to go on being quiet for now for awhile.. I'm missing the raw community, my tribe. But this is just what it is, for a little while.. and I will be back soon! But for now, I am just being peaceful and flowing with it. Thanks for stopping by! Hugs & Love!

I Love being Part of a Tribe!!

2010-06-16T22:48:00.000-04:00

Magic - Of Nature and God

2010-06-11T23:24:00.000-04:00

Just one thought for tonight.. that is staying with me from Wayne Dyer's movie - The Shift.
Its a very simple thought.. and yet very profound, if you really get it. It is that for the 1st 9 months of your life, before you were born, everything went perfectly well so you would grow and become who you were to grow to be - perfectly.. and when you look at Nature, and however you look at God - How can we possibly think that everything for the rest of our lives is not also perfectly planned out. That we will naturally grow to our full potential, and do what we are meant to do.. unless we hinder our natural growth. If we can stay out of the way and not stop the growth, we really dont have to do anything.. just follow our hearts and feelings and do what we love to do and everything will grow exactly as its supposed to. Things only go astray when we start using out brains, our egos and logic to figure out what to do.

He has an acromym for EGO - Edging God Out.

We naturally want to grow to our full potential and experience a full Life. We just need to let it happen. & when you take a perspective of stepping back and watching the magic happen, its much more exciting. Thats not to say we are not active, of course we are, because we are doing what we love to do!

It was inspirational having my Mom here. She said to me yesterday " I live in a magical world, but most people dont see it." So simple, yet so profound.

Watch and.Embrace the Magic!! xo

Our day of Adventure - my Vibram Five Fingers & Cruda Cafe!!!

2010-06-10T00:26:00.000-04:00

Mom's still here & we had lots of fun today!! I have today and tomorrow off work to enjoy her company! : ) However, I dont have my camera!!! I will have to rectify that soon (get it back from my daughter) Hopefully it still works, the last one we lent out (my bf's) came back broken, yikes.

So, I cant show you the cutest pair of Vibram 5 Finger shoes I bought today at Mountain Equipment Co-op - Pink & Orange!!! I wouldnt have picked that color, but it was the only pair they have in my size, and no more until next summer and once I put them on I was in love with them!! We've been having a real shoe & sock trip.. we picked up some Solmate Socks too in Kensington Market, the cutest knitted cotton mismatched socks ever!, which I had looked at online & was amazed to find (had been thinking of ordering).

& What I should have had my camera most for was lunch at Cruda Cafe!!! The food was so beautiful.. and possibly the best raw food in Toronto. ok, I was really, really hungry.. but that food was amazing!! & definitely had to be filled with the most love - I could feel it!! It was all so beautiful.. Moms salad was one she said she was going to remember for a long, long time!! The St Lawrence Market Salad - with fresh figs and beautiful flower on top. We bought so much food - almost one of everything! & we brought dinner home too! & ate it watching The Shift - Wayne Dyer's movie.. which my friend at lunch told us we could watch online for $5. & so, we did!!! ..while eating Cruda Food - Cruda is raw in Spanish, Love that!!

We went to the sculpture garden, Allan Gardens.. Queen W.. hmm, I'm getting tired, and up tomorrow morning for another adventure!! Sweet Dreams! xo

Barefoot Week - June 1-7

2010-06-06T00:57:00.002-04:00

June 1 - 7 is National Barefoot Week!! (I am just finding out about this..but my calender is marked !!..for following years)
My Mom is here visiting me & when I told her she said "no wonder I have been feeling like being barefoot lately!"
We have a tight agenda, I'm taking a couple days off so we can spend a couple days together and I got it together this time to check out whats going on & make a few plans. Earlier tonight we went to the distillery district and wandered around and saw lots there.. and then on the way home stopped off at the Blues festival, which just happens to be very close to home, just blocks away at Woodbine Park.. and we caught Lil Ed & the Blues Imperials - Fun. & tomorrow we are off to Kensington Mkt.. maybe barefoot!!?..

from Barefoot Canada - at one with out world:
"June 1-7 has been, once again, declared “National Barefoot Week” by Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based charity that collects new and used shoes to be donated to people in need around the world. The week-long event is a yearly highlight the charity uses to encourage people to get involved in donating any type of footwear to be re-distributed in the US and other places where people might need it.

As part of the drive, Soles4Souls encourages people to take off their shoes and spend some time barefoot in order to personally experience what would it be like to have no shoes to put on their feet."

ps. Checking out Vibrams Five Finger shoes is on the agenda.. and shoes are a theme this trip, we were just looking at Toms shoes, in a store that had just closed and I was thinking I should go back & try them - vegan (which is always nice!!) and with every pair sold they give a new pair to a child in need!!

Happy Barefooting.. or at least here to being consciously shoe'd, if not!

50 Best Blogs for Raw Food Recipes and Inspiration

2010-06-02T00:04:00.000-04:00

50 Best Blogs for Raw Food Recipes and Inspiration

Daily Affirmation - Great way to start the Day!

2010-05-26T07:56:00.002-04:00

Canciones and Drinks

2010-05-25T22:13:00.004-04:00

This is my leccíon en español esta noche. I love that I can post whatever I want here!!!
& that I know what this means! : )

Yummy Drink for Night Lessons

2 parts Pineapple juice
2 parts Orange juice
1 part Lemon juice
1/2 part Agave
Ice

or easier still: Kombucha in a glass with ice and an umbrella! ; )

el último leccion de la noche.. (its all Very beautiful, but if you dont know Spanish, you might want to skip in to about 4:04 ; )

I am studying lessons now from La Casa Rojas - I am LOVING these lessons. They are free and they are awesome! : ) Muy, muy divertidos! (very, very fun!)
Dulces sueños!!

Courage, Truth and Doing Good ..and Beauty and Fireworks

2010-05-24T19:44:00.002-04:00

Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it may never be enough: Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God: it was never between you and them anyway.” – Mother Teresa

"Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.”

Meister Eckhardt (via wephala) (via azultierra)

“This is what I believe: That I am I.

That my soul is a dark forest.
That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.
That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self, and then go back.
That I must have the courage to let them come and go.”

— D.H. Lawrence

Another beautiful soul just passed away of Cancer. I love the world and all the beauty in the world.. but I have my issues with cancer. ..and the lives it takes away. It makes me very sad. Its Victoria day, it is beautiful and sunny outside, flowers, laughing, playing... I am going to go watch fireworks tonight at the beach. Life is beautiful! Love life! xo

Green Smoothies, Raw Living, Love and a Quiet Mind

2010-05-19T22:51:00.001-04:00

Hi. I'm listening to Byron Katie while I type this. I love Byron Katie, Love her!! I think she is creating a lot of peace in the world. I think she can solve everything!! ; )

I love writing my blog. But I'm having a bit of a hard time getting through this period in my life writing it.. as what I am doing is not bloggable, at least yet. I have been working every day creating and testing new raw recipes. How appropriate for my blog!! .. and yet I cant blog it.. like I said, yet. So, those of you who are sticking with me and checking in every once in awhile.. thanks. I am slowly keeping it going until I can post more.. you all know how much I like to write and post!!

I am still living on green smoothies.. on days when I am not in the test kitchen I drink usually 2-3 big ones a day. I get at least one in on testing days. & I really miss it and feel it when I dont drink as many. ..or get enough green. I pop chlorella, mushroom caps, turmeric, enzymes, maca, etc etc (not all at the same time) but regularly.

I had a huge Taboulli salad tonight. I made zucchetti & marinara last night. I am enjoying keeping it simple.. I always have a case of mangoes going now (its mango season), I regularly make almond milk, keep lots of granola, bananas.. crackers antipasto.. oh tomatoes, really into tomatoes these days ..and sprouts of course!

I still (always) consider myself so blessed to have discovered Raw Living!!

I need to stretch a lot these days.. I wonder if its detox ..or spring? ..maybe its some sort of inner awakening? ..I may not know till its too late!! ; )

"Think of all the pleasures in life -- food, friends, love, hot showers, babies, nature, the sky, animals, dancing, singing, creative expression, books, music, films, the Internet, beauty, sunshine, skin, touch, sensuality, massage, swimming, water, fruit…the list goes on…. Make a list of pleasures, and see! Did someone design this place as a giant amusement park for us?" ~ Jinjee

"Maybe everything we've ever done has been for love" ~ Byron Katie

“The most valuable skill that you could ever develop is the skill of directing your thoughts toward what you want—to be adept at quickly evaluating all situations and then quickly coming to the conclusion of what you most want—and then giving your undivided attention to that.” ~ Esther & Jerry Hicks from Money, and the Law of Attraction

A quiet mind is all you need. All else will happen rightly, once your mind is quiet. As the sun on rising makes the world active, so does self-awareness affect changes in the mind. In the light of calm and steady self-awareness, inner energies wake up and work miracles without any effort on your part. ~Anonymous

Hawaiian Waves

2010-05-18T19:22:00.000-04:00

These are some of surfer Clark Little's amazing photographs of some of Hawaii's waves. The above is his favorite.

Truth Calkins Videos: Instant Stress Relief and Flu Tonic

2010-05-12T20:53:00.000-04:00

Instant Stress Relief

Holy Basil - Tulsi - Lowers cortisol, Stops stress. Heightens awareness, Opens consciousness. Great for meditation.. feel very present. Boosts Immune system. Gentle antibiotic. Antioxidant. Kills some candida. Reduces inflammation.
Spiritual growth herb. Most sought after herb in Greek herbalism and Ayervedic herbalism for last 5000 years.

Flu Tonic

1 t Silver
1 t Kyolic Garlic
3 drops Oil of Oregano

Happy Mothers Day to you and me and everyone whoever helped a child grow.

2010-05-09T21:02:00.000-04:00

Mother

e e cummings
MOTHER

if there are any heavens my mother will (all by
herself) have
one. It will not be a pansy heaven nor
a fragile heaven of lilies-of-the-valley but
it will be a heaven of blackred roses

my father will be (deep like a rose
tall like a rose)

standing near my

(swaying over her
silent)
with eyes which are really petals and see

nothing with the face of a poet really which
is a flower and not a face with
hands
which whisper
This is my beloved my

(suddenly in sunlight

he will bow,

& and the whole garden will bow)

(reposted from Alive On All Channels )

YouTube Inspiration - Arnold, David Wolfe and David Hawkings

2010-05-04T21:42:00.001-04:00

Arnold from Arnolds Way. I started off tonight to find some very inspiratonal videos I watched of Arnolds a few nights ago (to post here) but then I realized there were so to go through - He has 410 videos on Youtube!! & I decided to watch one of him, I've watched lots of him interviewing others.. interesting to learn more about him. & hes, of course, inspiring. ; )

I could just listen to David all night!! Super inspirational! & Always something new to consider.

David Hawkings wrote one of my favorite books - Power vs Force. Loved getting to see him being interviewed here.

Happiness

2010-05-02T21:30:00.000-04:00

Thoughts on Happiness

Choose Happiness. In order to be happy, its important to choose happiness. It is a choice we make. : )

Choose to be an environment of happiness. Choose to be around people who bring you up and make you feel good. Choose to listen to positive information. Listen to Optimistic, Successful, Creative and Motivational people.

Eat Healthy. Get enough Sleep. Exercise.
Food does affect your emotions and attitude. Raw foodists naturally feel happy, connected, an inner joy of being alive, its not coincidental.. its coded into the food, it fills us with light and makes us feel good.

Take action. Be Pro-Active. Give back to the Universe.
Happy people are often those who are giving to others, those who get out of themselves and give back. It is this giving out which fills us up and we feel complete and satiated and abundant.

Gratitude. When we are thankful we are acknowledging what we Have and what IS in out life. This naturally makes us feel full, complete and abundant.
It also puts us into the Now.. out of the past (fear) or the future (worry). When we are fully in the now, there is no fear or worry, those states only belong in the ego mind and never in the now.

Do things that make you feel good.

Do your best. Always.

But mostly choose to be happy ..and then, expect happiness.

Colorful Caves and Exotic Fruit

2010-04-26T23:02:00.001-04:00

I've got lots of exotic fruit snacks and green superfood smoothies packed and am off to go hang out in some fantastic caves tonight.. may make it a few day trip.. wanna come on an adventure? Come, lets go!!

A Tropical Fruit Tour

2010-04-26T00:30:00.003-04:00

Acai Berries (aka Chocolate Berry) - Fruit is produced 2 times a year.

Acerola Cherry - Tangy, Sweet and Sour, very high in Vit C.

Ackee (aka Vegetable Brain) is the national fruit of Jamaica. The Pod splits open when ripe. The pod and seeds are inedible, only the inner fleshy yellow arils are consumed. Careful, can be very toxic. ..but very nutritional when consumed properly and much of the plant is used medicinally.

Black Sapote (aka Chocolate Pudding Fruit and Black Persimmon ) Mmm chocolate pudding!

Brazillian Cherry (aka Cayenne Cherry) Turns red-black when ripe.

Breadfruit is a Polynesian staple, it is used as a vegetable before it is ripe.

Carambola - Starfruit

Cherimoya - Custard Apple. I ate my first one this past week,, they are all over Little India here where I live. I can't believe I waited so long to try these.. they are soo delicious!! Subtle, but very delicious!

Fushia - The very tart berries are often used to make jam and jelly.

Grosella - Gooseberry Tree

Guanabana - Soursop - Its flavor is described as a combo of strawberry and pineapple with a sour citrus flavor which contrasts with an underlying creamy banana coconut flavor.

Guava

Jujube (aka Chinese Date or Apple Date)

Kei Apple - from Africa

Loquat - Japanese Plum - Has lots of pectin before ripe (enough to make jam)

Lychee

Mangosteen - called the queen of fruit, many think it has the best flavor of any fruit.

Marang - When ripe the spines harden. Its name means 'smells pleasant'

Miracle Fruit - is amazing! ..its called this because when you eat it it causes your taste buds to change and anything you eat afterwards that is sour, tastes sweet.. Effects of this can last from a half hour up to two hours. The berry itself is the size of a coffee bean, has a low sugar content and tastes mildly tangy sweet.

Pepino Melon - tastes a combination of tomato, pepper and melon.

Rambutan - Delicious!! Tastes something like sweet grapes.

Syzygium jambos - (aka Rose Apple, Water Apple, Malabar Plum)

Salak - Snake fruit

Inspired Bicycles - Danny MacAskill - Worth the watch!

2010-04-24T17:49:00.000-04:00

Lychees

2010-04-21T17:53:00.000-04:00

Lychees are called Alligator Strawberries in some places.. and are said to have a taste something between grapes-strawberry-watermelon. I think they have a subtle, sweet, very delicious taste. Lychees have been a prized fruit in China for over 2000 years. When dried they are called lychee nuts.

Of course, I know you know how to open lychees.. but here is some inspiration..

Just use your thumbnail, or a small knife to tear and lift the peel off, it comes off quite easily if ripe.

If they are very fresh you have to peel the outer skin and an inner membrane, something like peeling an orange. If you are peeling a lot, use a small serrated knife to cut lengthwise around peel and slip out. If they have been stored awhile they slip out of their skin more easily.

If the fruit is very ripe you can cut or tear the skin open and then pinch one end to propel the fruit easily out of its skin.

When peeled the lychee looks like a peeled grape, but inside is a big seed. To remove, cut around the meat lengthwise to the seed and pull the meat away from the pointed end of the seed. It releases the seed quite easily if its ripe.

Select lychees which are a bright light red without blemishes. The skin is naturally tough and leathery, but pliable and not dull and dark or cracked or leaking. If it tastes bitter or sour, its not ripe. Lychees stop ripening once picked.

Notes from David Wolfe Event

2010-04-18T18:54:00.000-04:00

A Waterfall is more healing than a Hospital.

In order to heal - You have to have Fun.

Keep saying "I want the Best Health Ever" and watch and pay attention to what comes at you.

not 'Diet', rather 'Livet'

'Reishi Cappuchino'

Take this with a grain of salt water.. if I have this right: 'We are an ocean inside.. and have molusks, corals, clams living inside us. The Calicfication absorbs the heavy metals - lead, etc in us, it absorbs the toxic garbage.. (when you boil water you see the white stuff) ..building barnacles - parasites want a warm home, they're making a home, a coral reef in our body.

Reishi - Chiangbai Mtns in China thousands of people looking for Reishi, hard to find, in Canada - 0, lots available!

Horsetail and Nettles - 2 important herbs found all over Canada

Bone density - 1. Silica, 2. Magnesium, 3. Phosphorous

Calcuim supplements have never been shown to increase bone density.

#1 food for bone density - Chocolate!!!

Longest lived people of the world eat Chocolate.

Jeanne Louis Calment - longest living person, 1875-1997 - 122 years old - claimed to have eaten a diet of chocolate - 2 1/2 lbs per week. She attributes this and olive oil, which she poured on her food and rubbed in her skin ..and port wine to her longetivy and relatively youthful appearance. (you can wikipedia it : )

Chocolate - #1 food for your heart.

We have no idea how far we can go.

We suffer only for a belief system.

The answer is out there.

Fav herbs: Astragalus -one of the most researched herbs on Earth. Pau D'Arco, Cats Claw, He Shou Wu, Rooibos, Cayenne, Hawthorn Berry.

Maca! - is a cold weather adaptogen.. Helps you adapt to cold weather ..and adapt to different conditions.

Less food = More Energy.

Digestion causes an energy drain.

We are energetic beings.. how can we not have energy?? Constipation.

Marine Phytoplankton - 0 calories, no stimulant, gives you lots of energy, total clarity, no crash!

The worse it gets - The better it gets.

It was the worse of times, it was the Best of times.

(depends on what train you're on)

Go lower on the food chain - Think about it : phytoplankton.. plants.. fish.. meat.

Well water is often contaminated with Calcium.

2 people died on raw meat, 1 person died on raw eggs.. meat is too dangerous, why we started cooking it.

Raw milk & dairy good if cultured, if not risk of it being contaminated with viruses. ..exposing yourself to the unknown. Kefir culture will kill off viruses.

Where does culture come from? No one knows. (Interesting!)

Take the conventional truth and inverse it = the real truth. (famous quote?)

Salt - Too little= dark circles under eyes, too much = puffiness under eyes.

Zapper - like being barefoot on earth - it recalibrates our circadium rhythms. ..discharges static electricity.

To get grounded touch the earth, trees...been studied, immediately within milliseconds our vibration is changed.

If we are electrically connected we naturally detoxify.

If you are barefoot on earth talking on cellphone you are 100% more protected

Steiner says as soon as you touch the earth your intelligence increases.

Bananas are Not for Losers - LOL !!!

2010-04-16T07:09:00.001-04:00

Heaven found in the Mud!

2010-04-11T23:34:00.000-04:00

The David Wolfe event was last night.. it was great. But what is taking precedence in my mind is my morning.. despite getting home very late, I was up early and heading out with my friend to a total mud adventure. It was the most awesome experience ever!!! A big jug of the coolest black Moor mud ever.. but wait, 1st.. rubbing down totally with a mud-pumice-essential oils scrub in the sauna, total body care. Cool showers, hot steam alternating.. opening pores getting circulation going, lymph going, everything.. and the best part ever, hot from steam room and putting hand down deep into this jug of black mud, which felt alive it was so real!!! and rubbing cool mud all over.. it was kind of pumicy also. Head to toe, completely black.. I would have taken a pic of myself in the mirror if I wasnt so muddy, lol The black mud was fun to draw designs into.. awesome stuff

Its no doubt that the closer you get to the Earth, the better you feel, the more connected, grounded you are.. the further away ou get, the opposite happens. No doubt. I have no hesitation is stating and believing that one!! I felt it.

The mud, it brings you right back to Zero. Right back into balance, sooo healing. Its incredible how refreshing playing in mud can be. & then we had the best Raw lunch ever!! Heaven is being nature girl, its right here!! I am so refreshed and dreamy soft! xo

Multicultural Mangoes and Music

2010-04-09T22:27:00.000-04:00

Wow, this is my 1001th post!

Everything we say and do has an effect on the world around us. ~Madonna

I am in from my day testing - raw foods creating - Moroccan food, Persian food, North African.. lots of experimenting. I feel really good about that.

I am happy and content because I think I am. ~ Alain Rene Lesage

I am grateful that it is now mango season again.. and I have a big box of mangoes downstairs int he kitchen!!!: )

Just being alive doesnt mean you're fully living. ~ Izzy

There is a David Wolfe event tomorrow night, put on by my friend Marie.. 300 people and it sold out right away while only early bird tickets were available. I just put together 10 hours of music - Brazillian, Flamenco, Latin, World (David request ; ) Its going to be so fun, love these events!!

Expect your every need to be met, expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level, expect to grow spiritually. ~ Eileen Caddy

I have a favorite show right now, even though I dont have tv, I have been watching a show from Spain ' Cuentame Como Paso' its about a family and life in the 60's-70's the Franco years and just after.. really fascinating history, I really love it. I love how the family interacts and th community and I especially love that they always eat fruit after their dinner. Theres a bowl of oranges and bananas or other fruit.. and they sit and peel and chat. The show is really so much more than that, but its those little things... k, off to watch an episode now. : ) Why do I love Spanish so much?? ..but I do! xo, 'Night

Desire, ask, believe, receive. ~ Stella Terrill Mann

Intent for the Day

2010-04-06T09:37:00.004-04:00

Nice thought for today from Dr Susan Gregg:




What Is My Intent ? Often we forget that we 
create our experience of life with our filter system ... with our 
beliefs ... agreements. Life is ... and then we tell ourselves a 
story. Our story either adds more love ... or fear ... to the world. 
Is my intent to, hold on to my story ... or to remember how to respond 
from love?


 If we want a world of peace ... we add only love.


 





Every event in life is either loving ... or a cry for love.
So we love ... just love.

Life con't - Yoga, Running, Espanol, Passover and August Gold

2010-03-31T23:54:00.001-04:00

I am feeling Spring in the air now.. and it sounds almost summerish coming for the end of the week. I'm excited for that.. I am such a sun lover!!! Love this warm weather!

I just got in from running again! : ) & I just went and picked up 3 Yoga DVD's from the library, 4 more in transit and more waiting on hold!! I told a girl in Cuba that I would look into sending her some Yoga DVD's and finally getting at it, well, researching, but close. I was feeling a bit bad that it was taking me this long to get at it.. I figured there must be some reason.. and maybe, just maybe its because it feels like exactly the right time to really get inspired myself. I just checked one of them out, it was so peaceful, on a sandbank.. I felt like it was in Cuba. I am so up for being transported, me and my yogamat to a sandbank on a Veradero beach. : )

Food-wise, Yesterday (& the day before) I prepared a big Raw Passover Seder-Dinner. It was great. & I've been really into raw cheeses lately.. and tomorrow I have a testing for a few 'rice'-based dishes, and more.. so much to experiment with. How wonderful to be so into something I love!!
Did you know that many sushi chefs spend years on getting the sushi rice down down before they get to move on to rolling. wow. I love Japanese culture.

& as for my Spanish, I am excited that I have downloaded on my iPod - The 4 Agreements in Spanish - Los Cuatro Acuerdos - audiolibro!! It's awesome, so exciting to understand it so well. I know the book so well, have read it a few times and love it. I also recently just bought "En Mis Propios Paabras - por Su Santidad el Dalai Lama" In my Own Words by the Dalai Lama, but in Spanish! ; ) an introduction to his teachings and philosophy. Ahh.. life is good.

A little piece of paper next to me reads (this is from a a podcast-interview with August Gold, who I really enjoyed. I just went through a small pile of papers, tossed some, kept some, this is selected at random) :

"You must welcome everything"

"I agree. I agree."

"Life is in constant conversation with us. Our job is to keep the door open to every conversation life wants to have with us."

"Life leads those who will & those who won't, it drags."

She has an inspiring morning ritual which she shared, called the 5-5-5 plan (or maybe I made that up ; )
To start your day is a very positive way, she recommends doing this:
Take 5 minutes and Read a book of higher truth, something inspiring, a spiritual or inspiring text which you enjoy. Then..
Take 5 minutes and Write - what you are feeling inside ..and then
Take 5 minutes and just Sit. Not even meditating, she said she didn't even want to call it meditating (but it could be) just sitting in silence ..she suggested you could take a statement of Truth and sit with it.
By doing this you are developing a conversation with life that is so important.

Little Slice of My Life

2010-03-26T23:36:00.001-04:00

Hey quick update, touching base.. I have my funky De Phazz Death by Chocolate music going.. bought it tonight & a new Baka Beyond cd "Yelli is still sung to enchant animals by Pygmy women in the rainforests of Africa. This is singing for survival, developed through thousands of years of communicating in song with their forest world. .." Its awesome. I was soo into it when I was listening. I havnt bought myself cds in ages it seems. I downloaded lots of highly unusual and very listenable music from lounge, french cafe, african, gypsy violin, accordian music.. I love having good music collections. Music is so awesome!!

But Food. Thats what we're really here for isnt it. Well, I have been sustaining myself on mostly green smoothies, as usual - Like I say, I could live on these - almost! and sandwiches - all raw!! Raw bread & filled with tomato, sprouts and special sauces. I have one almost every day. I have a container of highly charged superfood cookies in the fridge - always almond milk for my tea.. and intersperse that with much ethnic and other food I get to experiment making at work. ; ) Oh the night before last I was craving this incredible spinach puree I had made before, just top tomato slices with a raw nut cheese & spinach & sprouts too : )

What else? Oh running.. still doing it.. I'm working on developing as good an attitude about this as I have for most things in my life ; ) James is being really good at getting my butt in gear. The other night, its 10:30 pm, I'm all settled in my pjs & I think hes long forgotten about it.. but nope. Off we go running into the night. crazy. lol & I'm making a big deal about it, & I'm such a beginner, not even running that much.

k, time for a quick Spanish lesson - still keeping that up. Fun watching shows and actually understanding most of what they say . Love seeing that kind of improvement ; )

"well you got to meet me online
download you for a lifetime.. " De Phazz

photo from my recent trip to Mars

Insight Course - Fluid vs Static Intelligence and Transparency

2010-03-22T16:07:00.000-04:00

My Mom sent me the link for this Insight Course. I am only on the 1st of 21 lessons so far..but enjoying it so far. The foreword is interesting - about fluid vs static intelligence and about transparency or openness.

"Fluid intelligence has little to do with IQ or "book" intelligence. It is rather the ability to step outside of our beliefs and consider information which does not fit into our previously accepted view of reality. .. At the other end of the spectrum from fluid intelligence is static intelligence. If an individual is rarely willing to reconsider or challenge their established beliefs, they are said to have a high degree of static intelligence. They aren't much interested in thinking outside of the box."

"Scientists with a high degree of fluid intelligence who are attracted to study matters outside the current paradigm are often labeled kooks or wacky by those operating with static intelligence." & yet, we all know whos coming up with the great ideas in life!! - Einstein, Pasteur, Tesla, Galileo..

I enjoyed this video - Its a Perception Test
This is a short, but fascinating two-part test of your perceptual abilities. For the first part, you will be shown a 30-second video of six college students divided into two teams. Three students are wearing white T-shirts, while the other three are wearing black. Each team has a basketball which they are passing to members of their team. Your task is to count the number of passes made by the team wearing white T-shirts

"..the more transparent we are to ourselves and to the world around us, the more consciously we can make choices. And the more fluid we are in expanding our intelligence and beliefs, the more powerfully we can adapt to and make good use of the changes that occur in our lives and world...

Let us then choose to be open, transparent, and fluid both with ourselves and with each other, and to offer support for the limitless possibilities of growth and expansion which lie within each one of us. "

Life - Live On Chocolates, the Symphony, Garlic and Running...

2010-03-18T22:55:00.000-04:00

I just got in from a run.. I cant believe I did that ..my boyfriend urged me to go with him. & I was feeling so tired.. falling asleep in front of my Rosetta Stone (level 4!! : ) So happy that I got levels 4 & 5 now.. and thats as far as it goes. But wow, I feel amazing now. That was great.
I drank 3 green smoothies today - 16 oz glasses.. I love when I do that, cause often I only have 2. I just dont take the time to make them.. and really they are so easy..but its easy to get wrapped up in other things. ..& I really do understand the difficulty of keeping up the raw lifestyle with a busy lifestyle. I think I picked my profession to be making raw food mainly for a reason!! ; )

What else is going on.. well, I didnt make it to the Total Health Show this year.. I always go & I love going. But it turned out that I was working - Full-on recipe testing (& tasting) for 3 days -Last Thurs, Fri & Sat.. and then Sunday my son was coming over.. and to be honest -1. They didnt have a big name raw chef or speaker this year, like usual, and 2. I really was looking forward to a 'me' day and getting things done around here.. working 6 days a week is a lot! & I slept in till noon, with the time change.. it was wonderful, luxurious.. Oh & James & I went to the symphony on Sat eve & that was wonderful. There was this young 26 yr old conductor, who I was totally taken with, here visiting from London. I thought he and his story and the music was fascinating, Robin Ticciati. I met some friends from the raw-scene, who were obviously symphony frequenters who said they played some pieces better for him that they've ever seen them played.. really enjoyed the evening!! Fun & inspiring.

James went the health show & brought me home some Live On Chocolates made by Stacy, which are delicious. I am savoring one now!! I highly recommend trying them. Raw chocolate is definitely the way to go. I can eat just raw nibs, love it. .. but homemade raw truffles are a true delicacy for me. I am treating myself. I came in from running, ate a whole garlic clove.. just straight up popped the clove in my mouth and chewed and chased with water. I feel so hardcore - I've come a long way - I used to chop it up first and chase it with honey, etc.. gotta be able to appreciate some garlic once in awhile to get close to me. lol
& now I am enjoying apple cider and truffles. Thank you Stacy!! : ) Have a beautiful night. I'm off on a testing marathon again tomorrow. Have a great day too!!! xo

Back from Mars

2010-03-15T07:50:00.004-04:00

Mars Vacation Pictures

Here are some of my vacation pics from Mars.
We stayed at Frost Beach on Oceanis Borealis
after our arrival at the Dome.
(As you may know, Frost Beach
is about an hour from the Dome).
It was great.

David Wolfe Event - April 10th - Get Earlybird Tickets Now!

2010-03-14T14:08:00.006-04:00

David Wolfe is coming again in April, for those who missed him in December (he sold out early!!), get your tickets early!! ; )

click here to purchase online!

I love David Wolfe events. He is so motivational, & so full of empowering and the highest vibe - highest health ever information. Always filled with ideas and insights.. He makes Raw food fun & for me re-instills a deep sense of why we do this, live this lifestyle.. to be the highest, most clearest, most true, most Fun and to love closer to our highest potential.

I always learn something new at every event.. often many things!!! This event will be especially interesting as David is focusing on cleansing, detox, sustainable weight loss and age reversing.

ghlights:

Learn how to: detoxify, conquer candida, lower inflammation, restore bone health, and create healthy joints.
Lose weight and reverse aging with raw-living foods, superfoods, superherbs, and new healing technology!
Superherbs simplified.
Immune System rejuvenation.
Rebuilding core Adrenal, Kidney, and Reproductive energy (Jing energy).
The Healing Power of Raw and Living Foods and Fresh Juices.
The LongevityNOW Program.
Questions and Answers with David Wolfe.

Plus:

Network with David and Toronto’s Raw Foods Community

Shop the Spring Market (featuring raw, organic, & green products)

Enjoy raw food & beverages available for purchase onsite

Win Great Door Prizes & Raffle

Order Earlybird Tickets Now!

Learn more about David here.

Mars ..Tonight!

2010-03-14T00:28:00.000-05:00

Random outing to Mars tonight.. just got an invitation..

Consider what a new life on Mars would have to offer:
Tanning possibilities, licorice, sundried tomatoes, guava, yams, arp rides ( big transparent beasts), sangria canals, roses,
Cherokees (people and trucks), salsa (food & music), floating bumpercars, rhubarb, cranapple trees, goji fields forever, cherry tree oasis retreat,mudbaths, cinnamon sticks, RCMP jackets and scarlet kilts, pomegranate forests, cardinals, etc.?
See you at the launch pad?

How can I resist. I can't. I'm off. ...but will see you soon. ; )

Raw Beets - Lebanese Dream Salad

2010-03-11T19:53:00.000-05:00

Pillow Talk, Ep 18 - Lebanese Dream Salad

I am always amazed whenever I get a chance to go Raw Surfing at how many new Raw Websites and blogs there are. So many creative people who are getting into sharing the high-vibes online. I love it!!
This was one I really enjoyed from Lisa Paris of Raw Beets - Funky. Raw. Gangsta. Vegan ..she's great!

The Blog is great filled with video-blogs ..buit also dont miss Raw Vegan Shenanigans - the printed Blog:

"I'm raw. I like to party. Confused? Don't be. There are many of us out there. You too may have considered a torrid love affair with the raw foods but have hang-ups over sacrificing your weekends. Have no fear, a clean diet and killer social calendar can become one."

... "The energy you get from juicing is palpable. I realized this first hand after watching guests bounce off the walls, scrub my juicer, ask me where they could buy one, how much they cost and brainstormed what they could sell to fund the purchase. Call me a pusher. Label me an enabler. The juice will take you to a whole new level of raw."

& her Disclaimer -Disclaimer:

"Though I may look ultra professional in a pair of prescription-less designer specs, I am not a doctor. The information on this site comes from personal research and inductive reasoning based on experimentation within my own life. Apply the ideas at your own risk. Possible side effects include higher energy levels, a general enhancement in disposition and an increase in utter sexiness."

You'll just have to go read it! : )

The Nasty Stuff

2010-03-07T12:01:00.001-05:00

Just started a spur of the moment blog, after reading an article 'The Truth Behind Your Food' - read most of it anyway, ; ) I have a hard time reading The Nasty Stuff. : ) But it's there. Peace, Love and Awareness

.

Inspiration, Motivation and Empowerment - What you put In

2010-03-04T23:14:00.001-05:00

Hi. I have a big meeting tomorrow and I have been so into preparing for that.. I almost forgot to come write. Yikes, I shouldn't do that.. cause I love doing this!! : ) I have been so into my books, lots of research: spiritual, metaphysical, universal.. and lots of recipe and chemistry stuff.
I love books!!

Also, I love that I dont have a tv. !! ..altho I did kind of miss too much of the Olympics, that was too bad.. I kept getting it 2nd hand from my mom and friends..but I did get to drive downtown and across Yonge St shortly after Canada won the Gold for Mens Hockey and record for golds.. and that was very exciting. Went to meet Erika (Power of Raw) & Marie (TorontoSprouts) for a salad.. nothing like name dropping ; ) lol

So, one thing I do often.. and what I love to do, in the evenings is find empowering videos or teleconferences and watch or listen to them. Theres always lots going on on the internet. & I love that I am being selective in what I choose to watch. I have a few different teleconferences to choose from each night right now.. Often they will have them online to listen to free for 48 hours and after you can buy the package. Right now theres one just on EFT!! Theres all kinds of these things. .. I listened to John Assaraf the other night - empowerment-success speaker, and another night listened to Nadine of Living Libations on essential oils which was fascinating. That was from Patrick Timpone's One Radio Network - Live radio focusing on health, wealth and well-being - your link of the evening! ; ) Also, I am really into Cafe Gratitude right now, watched lots of their videos - they have a monday night live series out. I love health & raw speakers ..and then after that my next fav thing to do is watch Spanish shows, try to listen to a bit every day, at least an hour.. I figure that was inevitably one day I will get it!! perseverance.. and just keep putting as much positive in as you can, all the things that make you feel awesome!

Be Happy!! Love Life!

10 Steps to going Raw

2010-02-27T23:13:00.001-05:00

Eating more Raw Foods will Change your life - You will change and your experience will change. It is inevitable. Well being and happiness is our true nature - Eating raw will help this wellbeing, clear energy to flow through you, unobstructed. It is the obstructions in our body and energy which causes dis-ease.

I came across this article on Going Raw a long time ago and it has just resurfaced. It has some really good ideas to help Go Raw. Everyones path and process is different, so take from this what works for you. Add raw slowly or dive in completely.. & enjoy!

"the secret to success is having a plan."

I t's not enough just to say to yourself, "I'm going raw." That will work for a while - a few days, perhaps a few weeks - but unless you have tons of willpower, very shortly you'll find yourself going back to your old habit patterns and comfort foods.

That's why a plan is important. Let's consider a plan for going raw:

10 Steps to Going and Staying Raw

1. Assemble the tools you need. A blender - any blender - an expensive dehydrator, some jars for sprouting, and a variety of raw recipes are the minimum requirements.

2. Assemble your list of suppliers. Where are you going to buy your food? Are you going be mostly organic? You'll also need to find a supply of sprouting seeds - at least some alfalfa, clover, sunflower and wheatgrass (hard red winter wheat). The wider the variety the better.

3. Read your instructions. Do you know how to sprout, and how to run a dehydrator?

4. Plan what you're going to do. If you decide you'd like to make angel-hair pasta from zucchini, for example, you might find having a spiral slicing machine handy. This might put you back to step 1.

5. Set a starting date and create your support mechanism. Having a support group is the greatest. Check meetup.com for raw groups in your area. If you don't know any rawbies in your area, find a raw chat group or two for support. A professional Raw Coach is idea, if available.

Share with them what you plan to do, and the date you're going to start. You'll find yourself more successful this way, than if you "go raw secretly." Secret quitting doesn't work.

While I'm constantly reminding people that we don't have to justify our lifestyle choices to anyone, sometimes we can't avoid it. This video I made about Dispelling the Raw Food Myths will help you deal with the standard objections you're going to hear:http://www.chidiet.com/blog/free-stuff/dispelling-raw-food-myths.htm

6. Don't forget that you're going to need to stay inspired as you go raw. Build a collection of books, videos, and CDs before you start so that you'll have lots of material when you go raw. This will help maintain your momentum. Otherwise you might find yourself running out of steam before you get to the top of the hill.
I find that videos motivate me the most. Instead of watching the news or a movie at night, I'll pop in a video on raw foods and watch it, instead. chiVideos.com is a good source for these, and if you have high-speed internet you can watch raw videos online at websites like YouTube.com/chidiet.

7. Research shows that it takes 21 days for a new behavior to become a habit; if we move to a new house and now have to turn right instead of left when we leave work, it'll be 21 days before it seems natural to turn right when head for home.

In dealing with addictions the transitional period is longer. Yes, cooked foods are an addiction. Thus, we need to deal with them as such.

Victoria Boutenko has a good book on this subject - 12 Steps to Raw Foods. Her website is RawFamily.com and the book is on Amazon.com, too. Her book covers the subject in detail, but here are her 12 Steps to Raw Food:

Step 1 - I admit that I have lost control of my addiction to cooked
              food and my eating is becoming unmanageable.

Step 2 - I believe that live vegan food is the most natural diet for a
               human being.

Step 3 - I shall gain necessary skills, learn basic raw recipes and
               obtain equipment to prepare live food.

Step 4 - I shall live in harmony with people who eat cooked food.

Step 5 - I shall stay away from temptations.

Step 6 - I shall create a support group.

Step 7 - I shall find alternative activities or hobbies.

Step 8 - I shall let my higher self lead my life.

Step 9 - I shall make a searching and fearless inventory of the real
               reasons for seeking comfort and pleasure from cooked
               foods.

Step 10 - I shall let my intuition help me.

Step 11 - Through clarity I will gain happiness.

Step 12 - I shall provide support to other raw fooders.

8. Part of changing your diet and lifestyle is detoxifying the body. Not as a one-time detox, but instead, we should be constantly detoxing. That's where Dr. Ann Wigmore's program comes in. She taught much more than a diet. In her books and videos she lays out the procedures for a continuous healthy detox, including the foods we eat, how we combine them, the usage of colonics or enemas, the uses of wheatgrass juice, and more.

The basics are laid out in her book, Why Suffer? How I Overcame Illness and Pain Naturally, which you can download for free at http://chidiet.com/books/whysuffer.pdf. If the book won't open for you, you might need a free copy of Acrobat Reader from adobe.com.

Other great books of Dr. Ann's are Be Your Own Doctor and Rebuild Your Health, both available at Amazon.com. They're also available as audio books on CD athttp://chidietvideos.com/index.php/cds.html

9. Be aware, not discouraged. You're going to backslide at times, and it's normal. Don't feel like you've "failed" if you happen to go out for pizza or a hamburger. Instead, think about how well you've been doing, how much better you're eating than you used to, and how much better you're feeling since you started going raw.

10. Experiment, experiment, experiment. Knowing that I have addictions to comfort foods, I found new comfort foods. For me that's fresh blueberries, raspberries, and raw vegan pizza, made with flax crust in the dehydrator. It's a recipe I've included in my book. Victoria's Step 9, above, has helped me a lot, too.

Overwhelmed? I would be, too, if it weren't for the teachings of Dr. Ann.

Sometimes I get off the raw path when traveling the country, visiting family and friends. But when I get home I head to the market, stock up on good raw, organic fruits and veggies, then pull out my Dr. Ann Wigmore Raw Living Foods Home Study Program and get back to it.

I'm feeling better, more energetic, happier and de-stressed than I did in my old cooked-food life. MUCH better. My warning is when I felt the arthritis coming back in my knees - that's my personal sign that I'm not eating right.

Article by Jim Carey, excerpted from annwigmore.com

http://jcarey.net (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)

Special Delivery! ~ Entrega Especial!!!

2010-02-26T23:27:00.003-05:00

Happy Dreams, Quiet Minds and Careful Attention

2010-02-23T19:08:00.000-05:00

I have been having the most wonderful dreams lately - I love that!!! I am very sensitive to my dreams and have to be careful of the input I put into my brain to keep my dreams really high-vibbing and as creatively wonderful as they are! ..So in last nights episode, Owen Wilson was in it, we were hanging out. My mom had this tottally cool convertible sports car which she thought she could drive anywhere she wanted even vertically on hills in up-scale properties (& she could!).. and we went to this really cool retreat by the ocean, with of course Owen Wilson.(I got to watch videos with him on his amp, which he had set up with a monitor on front and to his laptop, he was a musicial, and kind of Kurt Cobain looking, but very, very cool, and hot ; ) But the coolest part was where this gypsy woman was checking my energy and gave me a black shiny paper to hold - to put my thumbs in a certain place on each side and from them the energy came out and drew a picture of my body.. and showed pure clear energy flowing through it. I had the clearest energy ever - & it was very cool!!

I had a dream the night before with Kevin Gianni that I really enjoyed. A few nights ago I came up with this documentary video idea to make a doc called 'Booger' about the fast food industry and talked to an Indian woman about it and helped get her set up to make it.
Its nice to enjoy sleeping as much as you enjoy living!!
: ) xo, Love Life and Happy Dreams!

A quiet mind is all you need. All else will happen rightly, once your mind is quiet. As the sun on rising makes the world active, so does self awareness affect changes in the mind. In the light of calm and stady self awareness, inner energies wake up and work miracles without any effort on your part. ~Anonymous

Stay awake.
Watch and reflect.
Work with careful attention.
In this way you will find the light inside of yourself.
~ Gautama the Buddah

A Talk on Energy - Essential oils, Thoughts, Magnets, Yoga and Everything

2010-02-21T12:07:00.003-05:00

Here are some thoughts from an energy therapist relating to the energetic effects on the body.. it comes from a essential oil e-group and is regarding the potential negative effects of using magnets on the body.

"My personal opinion from an energy therapist perspective.

Everything electrical effects us - our hairdryers, our cell phones, the outlets in our kitchens, or our computer TV rooms... and none of it is good. Just before the rolling brown outs in California a few years ago a major paper was going to be presented that said that electrical pollution from innocuous appliances we use like shavers, curling irons, irons, etc were detrimental to our health. Humm... it never came out... there may be some deeper politics here...

Compare what the FDA approves and what is good for your health to what passes 'electrical standards' inspectors, and what is known to be good for the health. Consider what we were told about microwaves, or what we used to believe about X-rays, and how all that has been downgraded. Quebec Hydro had employees develop strange and rare cancers when they were responsible for substations out in the middle of now-where in the far reaches of the wild natural and untouched Canadian tundra. The common factor - electrical exposure.

Think of magnets. Gary says they curtail the effect of essential oils which are naturally electrical. I have seen magnets literally 'blow the circuits' of spiritually sensitive individuals and it has taken them days to recover their own inner balance within their meridians and chakras. Magnets are stagnant frequencies. Beware of what you play with. They will lift you up if you are sick and your internal frequency is below that of a magnet, and pull you down if your innate frequencies are higher than the magnets.

On 'ultra sensitive days' I have felt the different frequencies of different diseases at a distance from a stranger only to have their medical challenge reveal itself years later. Everything is frequency. Disease has a frequency that exactly corresponds to some of our thinking/emotional patterns. I suspect you know and have experienced that - someone walks in a room, and the energy drops, or it rises. If one wants to create a change, start with thoughts... Feng Shui indicates stay away from electrical sockets, especially in your bedroom when you want to rest. Do you see the inconsistency of artificial electrical stimulation?

A chain around the neck can upset a human body. A piercing can effect the subtle electrical flows. I have had bodies call for rebalancing people because of their tattoos. Even a wedding ring (hold thoughts - electrical impressions) regarding and releasing the itch (irritation & limitations) of shingles. Anything that can conduct electricity usually does regardless of our intellectual awareness of it of not.

I would start with yoga, or another mindful martial art and listen to the messages within.

Or learn Kinesology, and start to muscle test to see what is optimal for you.."

Energy is so important. It's all about energy!! Raw foodists have awesome energy. Our energy flows smoothly and clearly! ..& we make great energy healers too!! ; )
Peace and Love, xo

Chakra painting by Dina Herrmann

Hearts Everywhere!

2010-02-14T14:38:00.001-05:00

Amazing Valentine's day with One Eskimo and Little Feather

2010-02-14T00:17:00.001-05:00

U are Amazing!!! Me too.

Happy Valentines Day!

One Eskimo - Amazing

One Eskimo - Kandi

Eating Raw in Cuba

2010-02-12T21:25:00.002-05:00

Food in Cuba.

Staying raw at an all-inclusive resort in Cuba is more challenging than I thought it was going to be. I had hints to pack lots of superfoods, which I did and was sooo thankful for. They made it for me.. I can handle 'cheating' a little bit with eating raw.. but only a bit. I love it most and feel best when I eat 90-100% raw. Fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.. I really dont think you need anything else. But I do believe that to do this you have to eat really smart.. for optimum fuel you need the superfoods - This works for me. So I packed a big bag of Goji berries with a few handfuls of Cacao Nibs, a few bars of ChocoSol raw chocolate bars ~and Thank God for that, if you love chocolate as much as me.. : ) there was No chocolate there, and certainly no raw chocolate. I brought Lots of chlorella tabs, Turmeric, Mushroom caps, Digestive enzymes.. lots in case I ate cooked food, which I did a few times. ..but food:

Every morning there was lots of fruit - However, I guess most people who travel the Caribbean know that the quality just isnt as high in Cuba. I hear to subtract a star off the normal rating. If its a 4 star resort, its going to be like most 3 stars, its worth going for as high a star rating as you can afford if food is a concern. So, yeah, there was lots of fruit..but the pineapple was kind of hard, not quite ripe enough.. the rest was good though, and plentiful. I was happy that the watermelon had seeds ; ) always lots of melons, and fresh orange juice.. and I became good friends with the fruit lady (even gave her my favorite silver crocks! ..could sympathize with sore feet, standing all day ; ) and she would make me a fresh smoothie in the mornings. Mo milk or yogurt!!! just banana and select whatever fruits.. I was telling her about putting spinach and lettuce in there, she couldnt believe it! lol I had fun explaining it to her in Spanish!! ..so fruit was ok, always lots for breakfast and dinner and sometimes at night.

Lettuce was always available..but a few times as a garnish, which I went for, of course. sometimes we actually had dark greens, parsley or some other dark green veg cut up. but not always.. it was challenging a few times. There was always cucumbers and shredded carrots and tomatoes, although they were quite green the last 2 days?? I would often eat beets, which were always there, but cooked.. but I figure when in this situation, just pick the best you can - pick the best, leave the rest.

But overall, if you couldnt eat as a fruitarian for a week, eating raw is going to be very challenging.

Oh and I packed a big bag of granola and some dehydrated spiced nuts - so thankful to have those!!

..and another thing tipping goes a long way here. a Long way!! Things mean a lot when you dont have a lot. & they do have a lot, I just meant financially and with things. I left almost everything there.. we have a ridiculous amount of abundance, every one of us here in North America.. and a trip here really helps you see that. I also learned that they have a lot there too, which is really wonderful, its just not so much about money..

I loved it. I think next time I go tho I would like to stay for a week in a hotel in Havana or right in Veradero. I'll definitely be packing a blender! ..and yeah, maybe one that I can just leave there.

&it helps to like the song Guantanamera! (which of course I do, esp with the Fugees!)

Love Cuba!!

2010-02-07T18:40:00.000-05:00

These are some of my favorite images and memories of Cuba. I Loved Cuba!! Loved the people, the energy, the music, the beaches, the Spanish architecture..but mostly the people. Generally poor, low access to internet, but they seem to have an inner happiness, a connectedness to each other and the earth, a vibrancy, peace, and fun love of life - the laughter, the connectedness, the sun - it's a beautiful place. I had a huge education - learned a lot about the system from outside and from inside - Life is fascinating & all I know is that I dont know.. and that I love the people here!
Music everywhere..

Coco's Taxis - all over the place - very fun!

The best part - the Beach

Cactus trees!

Arbol de Queso - is not a Cheese tree!! but a Noni tree. ..and a bit of advice: if you make friends with a Spanish gardener and he lets you take a Noni from the tree, dont decide to wrap it in a cloth bag and put it in your suitcase and bring it home to see if it will ripen, because - there is a very good chance it will get hot in your suitcase, and mushy.... and we all know what noni is like!!! yuck! the noni will go straight into the garbage and the clothes and anything around it will go straight into the laundry.. and everythign will eventually get resolved - but just dont do that! ; ) !!

We discovered we could walk into the town of Veradero - it took a long time & I had a blister on the bottom of my foot the 1st time - but it was so interesting & we had the most beautiful walk back on the beach, ..and so it didnt stop us from doing it again the next day! : )

From the main road it was only a block down to the beach.

One of my favorite views ; )

..and a few pics of the many I took randomly from the window of the bus leaving..

Adios, Hasta luego! Espero ver a mis buenos amigos que conoci un dia de nuevo pronto!! xo

Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps in Haiti

2010-02-06T23:31:00.002-05:00

Haiti - Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps

The Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps will be a group of 50 trained Haitian young adults (ages 18-30) dedicated to serving their country for 2 years to: implement mass-scale mental health interventions and community-based sustainable solutions for food, water, sanitation, and construction systems (Permaculture).
The Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps is the International Association for Human Value's response to the Haitian Earthquake. It is born out of IAHV's pre-earthquake programs in Haiti. Since October 2007, IAHV has impacted 350 Haitian youth in: youth leadership, sustainable agriculture, and small business development.

New Arrivals

2010-02-06T10:07:00.003-05:00

This ‘being human’ is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

–Rumi

painting: Monet's Impression Sunrise

I Love Flying!

2010-02-05T21:35:00.010-05:00

The Cuban countryside...
& below, Veradero, the long peninsula, and incredible beaches!!

Love watching the clouds..

scary white place, incredible designs!

& Toronto! ..see the CN Tower? Home again.

Cuban Art

2010-02-03T06:50:00.003-05:00

Intensidad y color en la obra de Carlos Quintana
Uploaded by diariodecuba. - Discover more animation and arts videos.

The Fire Dances Without Us Like the Spirit Within Us

2010-01-29T09:36:00.012-05:00

Burning Flowers Of Flame and Flash

Beaches, Inspiration, Love and Peace

2010-01-27T19:27:00.006-05:00

This is Veradero, the beach I will be on tomorrow afternoon. : ) Just set my alarm for 3 am!! Got an excessive amount of superfoods packed - gojis, cacao, chlorella, maca, enzymes, lots of dried mushrooms - keep the immune system high ..and a big bag of granola and dehydrated spiced nuts and seeds..

I hear internet is Very slow, like dial up.. so bringing a small laptop but not expecting to post here until I get back in a week. & then hopefully one full tropical fruit, salads and beach scenes!! Yay, Sun!!! I'm craving the sun! : )

ok, I'm almost packed.. gone in a few hours. See you in a week.. xo!!! Love and peace
JJ Cale - Crazy Mama

Haiti

2010-01-27T18:10:00.001-05:00

Wyclef Jean - 24 e tan pou viv

Hope for Haiti Foundation

My Mom has been selling her paintings to raise money for Haiti. She's the biggest inspiration in my life. She is Always doing things for others.. and is the happiest, most peaceful person I know. .. it may have a bit to do with being raw! ; ) Love you. Mom!! xo

GMO's

2010-01-27T15:00:00.006-05:00

It's come to my attention lately that many people do not know very much about GMO's and the dangerous threat they pose. & It's a really important thing to be informed about.. they are a major health concern!

I just watched the video 'Everything you HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods' by Jeffery Smith, activist and author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette. He is very positive that we can make a change and are on our way to doing so.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are the result of laboratory processes which artificially insert foreign genes into the DNA of food crops or animals. Those genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans. Although banned by food manufacturers in Europe and elsewhere, the FDA does not require any safety evaluations. Most Americans say they would not eat GMOs if labeled, but the U.S. does not require labeling. GMOs are not safe, but have been in the food supply since 1996 and are now present in the vast majority of processed foods in the US.

A large portion of Europe have already succeeded in kicking GMO's out of the food supply.

What it takes to do that are people in the know avoiding buying GMO products.

The Biggest GMO products are the ones most heavily subsidized by the gov't: Soy, Corn, Cotton and Canola. ..another good reason to avoid vegetable oils.

& most importantly - How to Avoid GMO's:
- Buy Organic
- Buy products labeled non-GMO
- Buy products listed on a non-GMO shopping guide
- Avoid at risk ingredients ((soy, corn and canola & almost all packaged products, which contain these, ..and often hidden))

For more info check out his website - Institute for Responsible Technology & download the Shopping Guide ! : )

& also this page is interesting - shows invisible GM ingredients.