Noodles on the Train & Interviewing Dorit in Ottawa

Ok, the sequence of events is slightly mixed up - we started with the E3Live and freshly pressed organic apple cider, mangoes and pineapple .. and then worked up to the noodles on the train.
(I bought mason jars and had them pre-prepared to bring with us.) Between Mi-San and I we had so much food - missing from the pics are the sprout salads, sandwiches on Earth bread and the Thai marinated broccoli courses..

So much for eating lightly or fasting which Dorit suggested while traveling.. which is also a good idea. We kind of went overboard in the other direction!

& we found the Wild Oat - a restaurant in Ottawa. I was SO impressed!!! They had mate (yerba mate) available both bagged and fresh loose leaf - it's not so common & then we had these truffles.. in the pic above, right in the middle.. we made a serious dent in that plate - we had a couple, had a couple more, had a couple more.. they were sooo amazing - goji & maple pecan - if you are ever in Ottawa go here!!!

Although not all raw they have raw Pizza, Salads and Deserts - delicious and such a beautiful atmosphere!

I didn't get many pics of us with Dorit.. but we got a lot of footage on tape with her. She is such an incredibly fascinating woman - There are a few people I could sit and listen to for long, long periods of time. She's definitely one of them.

Mi-San and I.

On the train late last night, coming home.. more truffles & strawberries! Mi-San knows how to pack for a trip!!
I took so many pics on the train - it was crazy fun. I'm not posting the funny face episode though which had me laughing so hard, the crying-side splitting (weird phrase, but applicable) laughing.
I think I was over-tired from 4 hours of sleep the night before.
Dorit made an interesting point that often raw foodists push it and don't get enough sleep because they have so much energy and can get away with it - but that doesn't mean it healthy. We still should be getting lots of sleep. I'm going to bed early tonight (of course, easy to say now! )

Pics of Mi-San (Toronto Sprouts owner, raw food advocate, hosts raw speakers & events & so much more - great friend!) and Brian (filmmaker, actor, improv teacher at Second City - You and Media). Fun!

Living: Unicycle basketball !

"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else."

- Emily Dickinson

Celeste brought in her unicycle today, she plays unicycle baskeball! She also works with us at Rawlicious, is a filmaker and goes to Ryerson Univrsity. Cool!

Just got finished making food to bring on our train trip.. will have to take some pics of our picnic on the train. But I have a wake-up call in 4 1/2 hours - yikes, go off to bed!
Sweet Dreams, much love. xox

Dowsing Daime Druid Bliss

Dowsing - The water which runs underneath the Earths surface is like the blood of the Earth running through its veins. Like our veins, there is an energy current which is created along the surface of the Earths water veins. Dowsers can detect the water running under the earths surface and can often tell how it affects the energy currents of spaces above the earth, which direction currents are running in, where they join, whirlpools, freeflowing and stagnant energy. There are ways of changing these energy patterns.

Santo Daime is a spiritual practise which began in Brazil in 1930 and became a worldwide movement in the 90's. Santo Daime ceremonies are called works (trabalhos) and include singing of hymns, sometimes while doing formalized dance steps, other times seated in chairs, meditation (called concentrations) and drinking of daime (ayahuasca). Dai-me means "give me" in Portuguese, as in "daime força, daime amor" (give me strength, give me love), phrases found in several of the doctrine's hymns.

Santo Daime was founded by Raimundo Irineu Serra, and incorporates elements of several religious or spiritual traditions including Folk Catholocism, Kardecist Spiritism, African Animism and South American Shamanism.

Druids are magicians and enchanters - amongst other things...

Kaleidoscopic Raw Bliss Awareness

Train Trips

1. I have a train trip coming up in a few days, on Friday, to Ottawa. Its a 4 hour trip going east and we are leaving very, very early in the morning and coming back very, very late at night - 4 of us are going. It's too bad we are going to just miss the Ottawa raw pot luck which is taking place Fri eve. Mark & Natasha at Simply Raw put on an amazing monthly pot luck and have a large raw community going there. We are going up to film Dorit who will be there. Dorit hosts the Raw Film Festival in LA and is bringing it to Canada this year.

2. My Mom has tickets already booked for a train trip to come visit me late in June. It's been quite a few years since she has been here and it is going to be so great to be together here again!!!

3. Man on a Train - a really, really good foreign film that I just watched this past weekend.

I love train trips!
It always seems to mean - a good book, interesting people and conversations and relaxing.
I am sooo looking forward to it. ..it's going to be fun!
We are planning on bringing lots of great food with us: green smoothies, Earth bread sandwiches, big sprout salad .. and I am going to make a Thai Marinated Broccoli Salad (special request) and more..

ps from the Simply raw blog I just found Raw PotLuck with Dorit
& Rawlicious! : )

Raw Ice Cream

This is a dish of the most amazingly delicious Raw Ice Cream, which we served last week at Rawlicious, Maple Vanilla. Angus makes incredible ice cream!!!

Yes, Raw ice cream is not only as rich and decadent as its conventional dairy counterpart - it's actually good for you!! ..and it's fun and easy to make.

I just bought an ice cream maker for my friends birthday today and we are going to make ice cream tonight. It makes 1.5 litres - it's small and compact, so the cannister, which needs to be frozen to use, does not take up too much room in the freezer ..and just stay there so it is ready for whenever the ice cream urge arises. Nice.

We have some young coconuts and some cashews soaking right now while the container is getting frozen in the freezer. It'll be ready by tonight. We have vanilla beans but extract can be used also.. and for the sweetener I am thinking agave and some maple syrup but I bought dates also so we can keep it 100% raw.. I'll decide that last minute.

I also have a book that a new co-worked at Rawlicious had and brought in - Vice Cream by Jeff Rogers which has over 70 dairy-free recipes - and 1/2 of these are totally raw! Yes!!!

Espresso, Peanut Butter, Mocha, Almond, Strawberry, Apple Cinnamon, Peach Nectar, Lemon, Banana, Black Forest, Carrot Cake, Peppermint, Gingersnap, Pumpkin, Jalapeno Heaven, Pina Colada, Strawberry Rhubarb, Kiwi Mandarin, Nectarine, Melon Mania, Concord Grape, Apple Strudel, Blueberry Peach, Vanilla Hazelnut, Maple Walnut, Banana Cherry, Coconut Durian, Fig, Mango, Pecan Pie, Chai, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Chocoholic Delight.. etc etc..

But we are making Vanilla - of all the flavours, we both love vanilla the best!

Filming, Meditating, Spellcasting, Dancing and Illuminating

It was a great day, but sometimes it seems my days off are more busy than at work!
Today I filmed a podcast down on College St at the Liberty Clinic for LivHealthy.tv and the Vitamin Junkeys. That was really fun- very interesting.. the segment we taped on raw foods will be up sometime in June I think - will post when it is up.

I made a green smoothie for them - they loved it, of course!! ; )

Then went to Toronto Sprouts after where we found this incredible crystal meditation pod which is useful for interdimensional travel and for meditation - it has 440 crystals imbedded in a circle that you sit within on a handmade golden brocade pillow - quite incredible.
So 4 of us sat in a circle after on velvet couches and ate a big sprout salad and raw earthbread sandwiches together and I pretended we were all witches and wizards - I was the witch of the North - a good witch (of course) ..

Like I said - long day, many adventures, so many things to do..

Happened across Yonge and Dundas - its such a great spot! always so busy, so many vendors and people and music..

The band was amazing!!

I love the billboards and signs and colors and sounds - very busy, downtown To is getting a very NYC times square kindof feel. Everytime I come down here I love it.
The guy below was cool - hes a master chess player, musician, dancer, actor, genius etc .. out to illuminate and expand minds of innocent bystanders - gotta love that!!

It's a great thing to really love where you live!

Purveyors of High Vibes!

Heyyyy... I have so much to talk about - and I have not been here as much as I would like - working on getting into a bit of a routine (which includes blogging more regularly)
..it's happening gradually.
It was more time and work than anticipated getting Rawlicious opened and going - esp cause it took off like crazy from the start, its been super busy and we are now in the progress of expanding - the Zen Den is moving to the room behind where the Zen den was going to be so that we can have a room with tables (much needed) but now the kitchen needs to get streamlined and ready to handle it and more renovations... etc etc... & I'd love to tell you more about it..

But, I have a friend here waiting for me to watch a movie (patiently)
So, will be back tomorrow to chat - promise!!

& talk more about life and happenings at Rawlicious - purveyors of high vibes!

pics coutesy of Fred who came to visit and brought lots of fun toys and crystals and cards and oils, etc.. and truffles - which I am off to enjoy some of right now!! xo

Love

"To show great love for God and our neighbor we need not do great things.
It is how much love we put in the doing that makes our offering
something beautiful for God...We are a pencil in the hand of God..."
- Mother Teresa

“Only love overcomes lack of love. This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible.” – dhammapada

Panama

So, I think the story started like this ... One night, about 5 years ago 2 girls (women) were driving home from work - I was driving my friend Elena home after a long day - and we talked about keeping on driving and driving & driving down to the tip of South America. Elena is from Uruguay - her family still lives there.. we knew we couldn't really go right then - she has a son (who's in grade 6 now) and I had 3 in school also - who are all in high school now.

We decided that although we couldn't go right then that one day we were going to go. The big obstacle that we thought of at the time was getting through Panama. We were really caught up in a whole story of our own - I am not sure what Panama is really like.
It was a fun dream.. and every once in awhile we mention that one day we are going to drive down to the tip of South America.

Well, guess what? I now have a friend who works in Panama, sometimes, and I have a place to stay there and my own personal tour guide to show me around - the canal, the rainforest , etc
I am so excited. I have booked a trip there!
I'm going from June 14th to the 22nd. Yay!!

& I've been working at getting in shape, in case (hopefully) we get to the beach. I am just getting in from the gym I joined, which is right here in my building complex. It's great, it has all new Life Fitness machines and an amazing steam room - (one of my fav things to do at the gym) - it's smaller than Premier (the gym I used to go to) but the machines are awesome!! (& so far usually available) The hours are shorter here tho, usually close by 10, so I've been rushing home after work lately to get a work-out in. It's amazing how quickly muscles come back after a period of not working out!! The body is such an amazing thing!

My friend was telling me its one of the few (if not only) countries in which you can have breakfast on the Pacific and drive and have lunch on the Atlantic - only a couple hours away.

It will be interesting to see how it is staying raw there. I'll have to think about what to bring with me.
Panama is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on an isthmus, some categorize it as a transcontinental nation connecting the north and south part of America. It borders Costa Rica to the north-west, Columbia to the south-east, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. (wikipedia)

I hear the shopping is great!

(not that thats what I'm really interested in!)
More interested in the rainforest etc - but it'll be cool to see & experience the city.

1 week off - Hard to imagine - I've been working a lot lately!

Heaven!

Holiness, Blessings and Fun

"Everything in life can be nourishing. Everything can bless us, but we've got to be there for the blessing to occur. Being present with quality is a decision we are invited to make each day." ~ Macrina Wiederkehr

Life is supposed to be fun. You said, "I'll go forth and choose. I'll look at the data, and I'll say, yes to this, and yes to this, and yes to this, and I'll paint a picture of the things that I want, and I'll vibrate about them, because that's what I'm giving my attention to. And the Universe will respond to my vibration. And then I'll stand in a new place where a whole new batch of yeses are available, and I'll say yes to this, and yes to this, and yes to this." You did not say, "I'll go forth and struggle into joy", because from your Nonphysical Perspective you know it is vibrationally not possible. You cannot struggle to joy. Struggle and joy are not on the same channel. You joy your way to joy. You laugh your way to success. It is through your joy that good things come." ~ Abraham-Hicks

Excerpted from a workshop in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, August 2nd, 1998

"We live in a world of theophanies. Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary. There are burning bushes all around you. Every tree is full of angels. Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb. Life wants to lead you from crumbs to angels, but this can happen only if you are willing to unwrap the ordinary by staying with it long enough to harvest its treasure." ~ Macrina Wiederkehr

Noodles - Tampopo and Creamy Miso Noodle Soup

This is a pic of noodles being made in Taiwan.

I make a Creamy Miso Noodle Soup, which has to be my favorite food in the whole world right now. I could eat it every day. I think I could almost live on this. I just made my 2nd last pkg of raw kelp noodles into soup today - and am in food heaven!

This is often our soup of the day at Rawlicious. It's a favorite with most people. & I will be putting the recipe in the book I am working on, which will hopefully be published in a few months.

I will be be back at working on it soon - and I thought I would be on it today - having the day off, but to be honest I am exhausted and took complete advantage of being able to sleep in - actually slept a few hours this aft also. I think I have some recuping to do - but tomorrow, thats it, back at the book! ! )

The soup recipe was largely inspired by 1. finding these incredible kelp noodles - clear glass noodles which are raw and made of kelp with almost no taste but an incredible texture - & totally amazing! & 2 - Tampopo, the incredible Japanese noodle western, a great movie.. which I was fortunately introduced to a few months ago - & love.

Tampopo - Theatrical Trailer of Juzo Itami's culinary masterpiece.


This was one of my favorite scenes, but there were many great ones!
The Noodle Master scene - Tampopo


This is my noodle soup that I made here tonight - It is best eaten with chopsticks like in the scene above - and of course this is raw & vegan.
It is so, so delicious, my current favorite food! ..but definitely best eaten with chopsticks. : )

Rawlicious Trio

Last night the Rawlicious Trio played at the cafe - It's getting to be a Friday event. They are awesome. I will get more details on the band soon to post. These pics are from last week when they played with VP, who is also wonderful!!
We have this great barter system going on at work - trading for lots of great things - we are even bartering with a massage therapist to come give staff massages.. Nice! ..rushing back there, bbs, Have a spectacular day!! xo