Monday, May 31, 2010

Choose Your Soul's Song

Today's Food: after a fabulous run
Breakfast:
1/2 ripe cantelope
a little water

Lunch:
Synergy Organic & Raw Strawberry Serenity Kombucha drink 16 ounces (contains enzymes, probiotics, amino acids, antioxidants and polyphenols)
Laughing Giraffe Organics Cranberry Orange Cacao Granola - 1/2 cup

Dinner:
Guacamole with 1 1/2 avos, grape tomaotoes and onion; lime, hot sauce, cayenne, dulse, sea salt
with Foods Alive Mexican Flax crackers - 10 pieces

Dessert:
One Lucky Duck Vanilla Almond Buttercup raw ice cream 1/2 pint

16 ounces water

Monday's Rawlisciousness:

Breakfast:

handful of blueberries

12 ounces water



Lunch: at Pure Food & Wine, NYC, in the garden:

Avocolada: avo, coconut water, pineapple and lime

Shared sushi rolls with avo, aparagus, red pepper, marinated shitake mushrooms and jicama pignoli nut "rice"; with nama shoyu

Corn cilantro guacamole with chile lime chips

Ceasar salad with romaine, nori, macadamia parmesan and lemon



Dessert:

Mint Sundae with chocolate, fresh mint and mint chip ice creams, mint chocolate cookies, chocolate sauce and vanilla cream

Chocolate Almond Square with chocolate dipped coconut and brazil nut almond square

RAWLICIOUS MEAL~!!





Sunday's Food:
No Breakfast

32 ounces water


Lunch: at The Fig & Olive, NYC:

Avocado soup with avo, lime, coconut, tobasco, scallion served with cilantro olive oil emulsion

FIG & OLIVE SALAD - fig, olive, tomato, walnut, chive, scallion, green apple, 18 year fig & balsamic dressing - Arbequina Olive Oil



12 ounces water



Snacks:

Raw macadamia nuts

2 small apples

2 dried figs



Dinner: at Palma restaurant, NYC West Village (non-raw):

Starter of whole wheat bread with eggplant capennata and olive oil

2 glasses of deep red wine Lacryma Christi ~ Terredora DiPaolo

Appetizers (shared) of Arancini Siciliani: hand rolled rice balls filled with formaggi misti fried to a golden crust

Carciofi Croccanticrispy fried artichokes with parmigiano & parsley

Entree of Agnolotti di Spinaci: homemade pasta filled with spinach & buffalo ricotta in tomato sauce, parmigiano & basil


Dessert: at Cones, NYC:

Gelato: Dulce de Leche and Mocha Chip

Are you passionate about what are doing in the world? It doesn't really matter what the what is; what matters is most that whatever you choose to "do" aligns with your soul's purpose. Whether your livelihood is to be a baker, a banker or a janitor, as long as you are passionate about it, and know that it is authentic to who you are, you will be filled with right purpose and manifest your dreams.

It is when we compromise our true calling; our inner knowing, that we are not in the flow, and this creates conflict and breakdown. If whatever you choose is right for you, not because of the external rewards but more from your soul's calling, then you will get to sing a song of joy every day. Regardless of what society dictates, the greatest successes come when we receive them in our right purpose. No amount of money or fame given to us in a state of conflict can touch the success of receiving it in the space of when you are born to be doing it.

Please believe with all your heart in that choice and envision yourself receiving from that place.

Write in and share some stories of where you are at in this choice; have you chosen from your soul or are you longing for that feeling?

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Freedom with Your Food and Your Body; It's Here

Today's Beyond the Beyond Rawliciousness:
Breakfast:
Yes, this was my Memorial Day Weekend "Yes, I can eat this for breakfast!": 1 raw almond square - tastes just like an almond joy but 10 times yummier!!!
Caramel bar coated with raw dark chocolate - both of these are from One Lucky Duck in NYC.
I am not a morning sweet eater. Look at my blog; I never eat sweets in the AM. But this morning, after a great hot run, I poured my 32 ounces of water and went to town with a decadent breakfast. Sometimes, we just have to let go and fly free. For those of you who know my story, one of the reasons I got into the field of health counseling was my own journey with food when I was younger. Many of you know I was 220 ounds at one time; also, that my sense of confidence was connected to my ever fluctuating weight. All these years later, I do not own a scale and weigh myself about twice a year. One of my specialties and expertises in counseling is working with people with eating disorders and seeing their pain around food and their bodies. So, I know what it feels like to have freedom and ecstatic joy with my food, my body and my health. Eating this morning's breakfast is a validation of that; I was smiling as I "engaged" these decadent sweets. I am also grateful to have asuch a beautiful and intimate relationship with my food. I wish this for all those who need healing in this area. I know you are out there. I hope you are reading this. Know that it is possible to have a life of freedom with your food and your body; I promise you.

Lunch:
Rockin' Smoothie with thai coconut meat and water, with water, Superfoods of Earth, Vitamineral Green and Vanilla Spice Maca - 25 ounces

Dinner: all made by Chef Lori:
Hors D'oevres of sunflower seed/sundried tomato/olive pate on lettuce leaves and cucumber slices; garnished with olive slivers
Entree:
Taco Madness: Romaine leaves layered with taco crumble, guacamole and tomato; garnished with olive slices
Dessert:
Raw Chocolate Ganache with a pecan cacao nib crust, drizzled with a strawberry sauce and accompanied by raw Madagascar vanilla bean ice cream
Words cannot even describe this experience; this dessert was insane!!!!

Keep enjoying your holiday and love the food that loves you back.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

A Smile and a Song




Lori's Raw Pasta Pesto





Friday's Food:

Breakfast:

Yes Yes Yes! Morning Maniac Elixir with: 1 fresh Thai coconut water and meat, water, frozen banana and flax seeds with Superfoods extraordinare: Health Force Nutritionals Earth, Vitamineral Green and Vanilla Spice Maca - a luscious green powerhouse of energy
Lunch:
Nuts Online Pink Salt & Cracked Pepper Mixed Nuts & Seeds

Dinner: at One Luck Duck Takeaway, NYC:

Taco Salad with romaine, spicy taco crumble, pico de gallo,guac and cashew sour cream; cilantro-lime dressing

Sushi Rolls: Marinated shitake, avocado, asparagus, red pepper, pignoli and jicama rice, nama shoyu

16 ounces water

Thursday's Delicious Food:
Breakfast: after a glorious misty drizzle 6 mile run:
Nuts Online Sundried Rosemary Garlic Pistachios & Almonds
1 Thai coconut, out on the porch with a straw; water and meat

Lunch:
Fruit Smoothie with frozen strawberries, fresh banana and fresh apple juice
Raw kale salad

Dinner:
2 bowls of Mrs. Green's gazpacho with slices of avocado (all organic tomato, cuke, onion, green pepper, garlic, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, herbs, spices, sea salt)

Dessert:
1/2 pint of One Lucky Duck Raw Oreo ice cream

Wednesday's Yumminess:
Breakfast:
Nuts Online Hemp & Greens Superfood Cereal (while hiking)

Lunch: at Pinemeadow Lake, after an ecstatic hike and swim:
Nuts Online Sundried Marinara Almonds & Pistachios
Salad with mixed greens from Genesis Farm, raw Amish goat cheese, sprouts, olives, dulse, nutritional yeast; with olive oil and sea salt

67 ounces of water

Dinner:
Sunflower seed pate smeared inside red leaf lettuce leaves
Lori's Chocolate Pudding

Tuesday's Ecstatic Food:
Breakfast: After a great run:
1 Thai coconut, out on the porch with a straw; water and meat
Some raw Amish goat cheese

Snack/Lunch:
1 Foods Alive flax cracker with a little sunflower seed pate
Nuts Online raw Sprouted Granola
Taste of my shipment of fabulous seaweeds from Ironbound Island, Maine - the most fabulous dulse

Snack:
Mango smoothie with water, frozen mango and banana

Dinner at Lori's:
1 taco sandwich: romaine leaves filled with raw taco crumble, guac, cashew cheese and tomato; ROOOOOOckin!!!!!!
Bowls of zucchini pasta with raw pesto;WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWoahhhhh!!!!

Dessert:
Tropical Pie: mango, banana and coconut pie;aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

"Isn't it better to walk around with a smile and a song than with a face eleven miles long?" Jimmy Durante

I hear this sung most Saturday mornings as part of the opening to David Rothenberg's fabulous Saturday morning show on WBAI 99.5 (both political and theatrical).

This morning his words really struck me in a different way, as I realized how much they echo my beliefs. We always have the capacity to choose how we walk through each moment and each day in our lives; no matter what.

Some circumstances we cannot control; sometimes our own inner reflections of our outer lives surface in us, almost knocking the wind out of us. Even then, we still have the choice to decide how we want to "be" in the face of each life happening. We have an opportunity in our lives to hold a "smile and a song" in our hearts as we navigate the sometimes stormy seas; it is merely who we are and how we choose to live. Our lives are now, and when we can shift the low feelings into remembering that we can access a deep feeling of balance, calm and joy Inside of us at any time, we can create a life of deeper meaning for ourselves. Sadness, grief, hurt and anger have very beneficial places for self-expression and for the markings of loss, relationships and self-growth. What I am speaking of is our deeper energy; how we hold our place in this life with every breath we take. We can be deeply sad and also hold this larger foundation of "well being" in our core. That enables us to live powerfully and feel powerfully at the same time. Yesterday was the anniversary of my dad's passing three years ago. My father and I had a very deep and connected relationship, and each year at this day I feel him and mourn the fact that I cannot now turn to him and give him a hug. But something I read in the prayer book, as I lit the yearly Jewish memorial candle that burns for twenty four hours to mark this day, struck me as much as a truth as the depth of feeling I was experiencing: "There are three ways in which we respond to sorrow. On the first level, we cry. On the second level, we are silent. On the highest level, we take sorrow-and turn it into song." (based on Abraham Joshua Heschel). We do have the right and the availability to live our lives in song every day. May you sing the song that is uniquely yours.


Sunday, May 23, 2010

Getting Healthy and Living Your Dreams is Meant to be Shared

Today's Food:
Breakfast: at Le Pain Quotidien, Greenwich, CT (non-raw):
Middle Eastern Plate with hummus, baba ganoush and tabouleh; with baby olives and sundried tomatoes; famous organic bread: wheat and bagette with some organic jams

No Lunch
Snack:
Sun Dried Marinara Almonds & Pistachios (from Nuts Online)

Dinner:
Fruit Elixir with water, frozen banana and mango

Yesterday:

Breakfast:

Pieces of raw goat cheese from the Amish

Sun Dried Marinara Almonds & Pistachios (from Nuts Online)



Brunch at Le pain Quotidien, NYC (non-raw):

2 soft boiled organic eggs

quinoa with artichoke, chickpeas and arugula

French bagette, wheat and nutted organic bread with organic jams, butter and chocolate spread

16 ounces water



Dinner at One Lucky Duck Takeaway, NYC (Rockin' Raw):

Avocolada: avocado, pineapple coco water, lime and vanilla

Portobello hemp burger with saurkraut, homemade mustard and greens

Taco salad with mescalin greens, spicy taco crumble, pico de gallo, guac and cashew sour cream; cilantro-lime dressing

16 ounces water


Dessert:
1 raw Malomar


Are you feeling connected to a community that supports you and your vision for your life? One of the meanings behind the founding of The Holistic Empire is that it's a new kind of empire; filled with whole health for all people and also, support for each person in their process of getting healthy and living their dreams. One of the things that distinguishes us as humans is the ability to connect with others on a deeper cognitive level. We have the capacity to share our most precious dreams and goals with another; to ask for a hug when we are hurting; to show our vulnerability in front of another and to know that we are heard and we are not alone. It is also that we can dance with another; laugh with another and be in community with others who care about who we are. Don't be afraid to reach out and share your secrets with someone who loves you unconditionally. Ask a friend to support you in your goals for getting healthy; let them know about your food and lifestyle changes. Make plans to make a meal together or go away to a special health retreat with someone you love to be with. Ask someone close to be your "health support guide," and let them know this means calling you and leaving uplifting messages checking in on your goals and leaving positive voicemails letting you know, "You can do it!", and "I believe in you." I've had support guides for my running and my book writing. My running "guide" used to leave messages every day, and all through the Winter months, that went like this: "Run, baby, run!" I would get up and look out my window to the cold outside, not sure if I wanted to set foot out my door and finding some very good reasons to not, and then I'd hear the voicemail and be completely energized to run. If you want to break into a new routine with foods or exercise, find others who are doing this as well and "buddy up" with them. Set a time to speak once a week for support check-ins. Also find and attend as many events, lectures and workshops that are about these new lifestyle additions, where you will meet and become friends with others on the same path. Making change and living your dreams is an ecstatic path; no need for isolation; you can dance together the whole way through.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

The Simple Steps to Eliminate Cravings

Friday's Fabulous Food!:
Breakfast:
Fruit Elixir with water, frozen wild blueberries and banana
Laughing Giraffe Organics Raw & Vegan Cranberry Orange Cacao Granola

Lunch: at The Stand, Norwalk, CT:
1 1/2 fresh green juices with kale, collards, cuke, celery and apple
1/2 hummus avocado wrap in collard with raw almond hummus, tomato avo and sprouts
1/2 curried collard wrap with curry almond pate, red peppers, avo and sprouts

Dinner: at One Lucky Duck Takeaway, NYC!: Shared with my friend Lori
Taco salad: Romaine, spicy taco crumble, pico de gallo, guac and cashew sour cream; cilantro-lime dressing......aaooaoaoowwwwowowowo
rawsagna: Zucchini and Tomato Lasagna: Sun-dried tomato sauce, pistachio basil pesto, pignoli ricotta
Desserts:
Moonpie
Malamar - just think of these childhood desserts a la raw; deep, dark chocolate, cream and bliss
1/2 pint of raw oreo ice cream
complete contentment!

Today's Food:
Breakfast/Lunch:
Amazing fresh raw goat cheese from Amish land gifted to me (thank you, Josef!). This cheese rocks!
Nuts Online Pink Salt & Cracked Pepper Mixed Nuts & Seeds
Fruit Elixir with frozen wild blueberries and banana

Snacks:
Laughing Giraffe Organics Raw & Vegan Cranberry Orange Cacao Granola
Nuts Online Rosemary Garlic Pistachios & Almonds

32 ounces water

Dinner:
Salad with mixed lettuces, spinach and arugula, yam, beet, carrot and parsnip (from Genesis Farm); with sprouts, dulse, nutritional yeast and sea salt

Dessert:
1/2 pint Vanilla Almond Buttercup raw ice cream from One Lucky Duck Takeaway

Are you getting enough sleep? Are you drinking enough water? Are you speaking your truth?
Most often, when we have food cravings, it is from an imbalance in our body system. Our body system is our whole physical body, including our blood sugar, which frequently becomes imbalanced by the foods we consume; it is our emotion/psyche body, which tilts off balance when matters of the heart create deep, intense feeling in us; it is the energy body, when old cellular memory floods the chakra system and elicits conditioned responses from long ago and far away; and it is the spirit body, when our connection to our Divine Source becomes unraveled.
On the physical end, we always need to look first at the primary components of daily health; food, water and rest. Our food should be primarily plant-based, laying low on sugars, flours, dairy, alchohol and caffeine. Our water should try to come close to half of our body weight in ounces. Our sleep should equal the amount you know you need to give you energy, focus and an uplifted mood. When we start compromising these simple components, our body system tries to compensate in other, more depleting ways, resulting in low energy and an increase in sugar, fat and simple carb cravings.
In matters of the heart, when we stop speaking what we are truly feeling; when we stuff it all in; when we stop asking for the love we need and the touch we desire, we look to those imbalanced foods to fill the unfulfilled spaces.
As my dear friend Jessica said to me this morning, "It's always so much more profoundly healthy to say how we really feel than let the "elephant" sit in the living room unidentified." When we actually share the "unspeakable," a huge weight is lifted off of us, and the freedom we feel in our bodies takes the place of the food we were craving.

Take a moment for a self-check-in: Are you eating mindfully, drinking fully, sleeping deeply and speaking wholly?

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Are You Eating with the Seasons?

Food For a Few Days:
Friday:
Breakfast:
1/2 ripe luscious cantelope
Juice: 10 leaves red chard, parsley, mint, 4 carrots, 1/3 cuke and apple!
Lunch:
Foods Alive Italian crackers
Snacks:
Container raw kale and cabbage salad
Raw Revolution chocolate hazelnut bar
Dinner with Girlfriends at Palma, 28 Cornelia Street, NYC - This restaurant is just like being in Paris with the food of Italy. We ate in the garden under the night sky. If you have an event, you can book the farmhouse for a private table:
Fabulous Italian bread with eggplant olive 'caponata'
2 glasses extraordinary red wine
appetizer of Arancini: hand rolled rice (risotto) balls filled with formagi misti fried to a golden crust
entree of fettuccine ai funghi; homemade fettuccine pasta with wild mushrooms and truffle pate
Dessert:
Around the block for fabulous Greek gelatto at "Cones"; Dulce de Leche and Zabaglione
An altogether exceptional meal
12 ounces water
Saturday: traveling to my friend's lake house
Breakfast:
Raw Revolution chocolate hazelnut bar
Lunch: at the house
Salad with Mizuna greens, mixed sprouts, carrots, tomatoes, mustard greens, 1/2 avo and pecans with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt
extra pecans
Snack:
Co-licking the batter for 2 Strawberry Cream Pies and teaching my friend Idele how to make raw pie; we had a bliss time!
Cocktail:
Raw Cacao elixir with fresh Thai coconut, raw crunchy almond butter, cacao, banana and agave; with a shot of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum! (oops); consumed out on the deck overlooking the lake
Dinner: (non raw)
Macro meal (guiding my friend into shifting into a macro and raw combo lifestyle):
Yummy barley cooked with hijiki, with olive oil, raw tahini and a dash of sea salt
Stir Fry of purple kale, Mizuna greens, carrots, onion, mixed mycopedia of mushrooms, fresh ginger root, tempeh and cashews with olive oil, Bragg's, tumeric and Herbs de Provence
Sunday:
No Breakfast
Lunch/Snacks:
1 ripe mango
32 ounces water
2 carrots dipped in sunflower seed pate with soaked sunflower seeds, mixed vege juice 'poop', soaked sundried tomatoes and water, cayenne, olive oil, nutritional yeast, dulse, Bragg's, apple cider vinegar and sea salt
2 magnificent pieces of Strawberry Cream Pie out on the deck
handful of cashews
Dinner: at Fratelli's, Branchville, NJ (non raw)
2 pieces garlic bread with bruscetta tomato
salad with lettuce, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, tomatoes and 1 cube mozarella
Entree of sauteed:
escarole, broccoli, broccoli rabe and mushrooms in garlic and olive oil

Monday:
Breakfast:
5 strawberries
16 ounces water
2 teaspoons raw crunchy almond butter
Morning elixir with water, cacao, banana, raspeberries, shredded coconut, raw crunchy almond butter and agave - made really well by Idele! who will be receiving her own Vitamix next week.
Snacks:
1/2 small bag of unsulphured apricots
3/4 bag of Kaia Food Raw Buckwheat Granola - delicious and a new discovery
Dinner:
Rockin' guacamole with avos, tomatoe, garlic, onion, lemon, cayenne, hot sauce and seal salt
Salad with mixed lettuces, cuke, mixed sprouts, carrot, red pepper, with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt
24 ounces water
Dessert:
Strawberry Cream Pie

Tuesday:
Breakfast:
16 ounces lemon water
Small leftover guac and salad
Lunch: traveling back home
Small amount of Kaia Food Raw Buckwheat Granola
Snacks:
2 handfuls cashews
Raw Revolution chocolate hazelnut bar
Dinner:
From the amazing Genesis organic biodynamic farm in Blairstown, NJ - just picked CSA veges: Check out the farm and learning center:
http://www.genesisfarm.org/
Mixed lettuces and arugula, sweet potato (yes, delicious sliced in rounds raw), carrot, Walla Walla (onion) with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt - Yeaowwwwwww!!!! Nothing like just-picked pure veges
16 ounces water
Dessert:
3 rolled dates in coconut

Wednesday:
Breakfast:
1 luscious mango
32 ounces lemon water
Lunch:
A few Foods Alive Italian flax crackers with raw sunflower pate from the weekend
Snacks:
Lori's frozen Banana Cream Pie!!!, Lori's Chocolate Pudding, Lori's Almond Balls! I was gifted with all of these from Lori. How could I not eat them :)
Dinner:
Salad of mixed lettuces and arugula, sweet potato, carrot, Walla Walla (onion) with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt

Thursday:
Breakfast:
Fruit Smoothie of water, frozen mixed berries and banana
Lunch:
Foods Alive flax crackers with more sunflower paet from the weekend
Snack:
Raw Revolution chocolate hazelnut bar
32 ounces water
Dinner:
Salad of mixed lettuces and arugula, sweet potato, carrot, Walla Walla (onion) with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt
Dessert:
High Country Kombucha Wild Root drink with Organic Nectars Vanilla ice cream dropped in the glass: Thank you thank you to the amazing guy who was demo-ing this drink at Mrs. Green's. We spoke about being raw, and he told me that putting some raw vanilla ice cream in the kombucha makes it taste like a rootbeer float! Not only that, he gifted me a bottle of it! Much gratitude for this rockin' drink!
So, I missed 'being' with all of you on my blog. It's good to see some loved ones exploring more raw food and getting excited about it. Not to go back to the 'Elimination Conversation' one more time, but it's great when friends go raw and notice how radically different their pooping habits are; going from once a day to three, four or five times a day means a healthy colon!
Summer fruits are emerging; getting to eat my first cantelopes and mangoes. Pretty soon is my favorite; pure organic watermelon. So, I'll tell you in advance: Seedless watermelon is NOT a good thing. The melon needs to be genetically modified to eliminate its natural birthright of seeding. Remember when you were a child and would spit watermelon seeds at your friends??? Remember Sunday afternoons eating watermelon and feeling the juices drip down your chin? Remember the texture of the black seeds?
One of the managers of Mrs. Green's once told me that people find it too tiresome to eat seeds and request seedless! There they always get me my seeded (or normal) watermelons. I buy big whole ones and eat luscious chunks for breakfast in the Summer. It's my absolute favorite fruit experience; mangoes and Green Gage Plums (which come out in September, and are near and dear to me from childhood memories of my mom buying them for me) come second. Of course, I love a juicy nectarine, peach or plum, too; but we're not quite there, yet. Be patient and enjoy the fruits of the season, just as our evolutionary brothers and sisters, the apes and monkeys, did. They only ate what grew at the time.
Please write in and share any childhood memories of Summer fruits...

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Go Goofy for Leafies

Today's Food:

Breakfast:
1 bag Living Nutz Mayan Chili Pistachios

32 ounces lemon water

Lunch:
1/2 really ripe and luscious large cantelope

Snack:
1 RawRevolution Chocolate Hazelnut Bar

Dinner:
Salad with romaine, pea shoot sprouts, carrot, daikon, kalamata olives and mushrooms with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and sea salt

Dessert:
Last tiny slivers of Strawberry Cream Pie and Chocolate Buttercup Mousse Pie (AKA Divine Goddess Bliss Pie)

Just a note that I will be away and without Internet for a few days, so I will resume posting on T.H.E. Blog on Wednesday night.
Are you eating leafy greens?
Throughout the years, clients would come to me saying that they ate alot of vegetables. As it turns out, what they meant was that they ate a salad every night, usually consisting of lettuce, cuke, carrot and maybe one or two more veges. My next question was usually: "How about other vegetables with your meal?" followed by: "Do you eat any leafy greens?" Often the answer to the latter questions was, "What's a leafy green?" It was then that I would explain this category, and that it is the highest vege group for offering our bodies oxygen and chlorophyl, the basic sources of life; that it is known as the vege group that most boosts our immune system because of this; that because these greens are sprouting upward, they also offer us high energy, and are especially good if one tends to suffer from fatigue; that you want to eat them every day; and that yes, you can also eat them steamed for breakfast (drizzled with a little tahini and Bragg's Amino Acids) to start your day with some get-up-and-go. Leafy greens also contain large amounts of iron and calcium. Just to mention their names one more time, this category includes: kale, chard, collards, spinach, dandelion, mizuma, Tsat Tsoi and the numerous array of Summer farmers market leafies. Arugula and Watercress are a little different but still powerful in their own right. Do try and buy some that I mentioned with the nice big leaves. If you are eating too much bread, wrap your lunchtime hummus, tuna or turkey in a large collard leaf; you can rub some Bragg's over that to tenderize it as well, and even stuff in some avocado and sprouts.
Just this change will bring you energy and cut down on the carbs from bread. All greens have protein as well.
Are you eating enough leafies? What's your favorite recipe? Write in and let me know...

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

You Can Poop Out!









Lori's "Big Ass" Green Smoothie
Lori's Chocolate Pudding
This journey Lori is taking reminds me of the story Matt Amsden tells in his book "RawVolution." One night, on his way home from the late shift at work, he was listening to Howard Stern on the radio. Howard had David Wolfe on as a guest. After listening to David, Matt went all raw and never looked back, eventually opening restaurants and writing a book.
Sometimes raw just fits like a juice.
Today's Food:
Breakfast:
32 ounces lemon water
Snack:
1 bag Living Nutz Cheesy Almonds
Lunch: At the blissful "Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe" in Fairfield, CT; owners Glen Colello and Lisa Storch; Lisa and Glen are beautiful friends who offer beautiful food, classes, lectures, and inspiration.
"Platter" with raw: 'crab cake' with olives and citrus, hummus, 'refried' beans, guacamole and salsa; with flax crackers
Sesame kelp noodles with almond butter, sesame seeds and ginger lime (and more)
Dessert:
2 solid chocolate cups
Dinner:
The remainder of yesterday's pate made with soaked sunflower seeds, mixed vege "poop", nutritional yeast, olive oil, dulse flakes and sea salt
with cut up carrots
Just a reminder on healthy elimination. Lori reminded me of this topic when she mentioned today that she is pooping alot. I said, "Great, that's the way it's supposed to be; meal in, meal out 20 minutes later (or sometimes sooner). It's normal to have 3, 4, 5 or 6 poops a day! Yes, that's true, and I often do (no pun). It is not healthy to be pooping only once a day or once every couple of days. Your system is then clogging up and holding on to too much waste, or fecal matter. This means something in your food is off balance; usually too many acid-based foods that are not digesting and assimilating well.
That means it is time to reduce your animal protein, white flour, white sugar, dairy, caffeine, alchohol and salt, and start increasing your plant-based protein, leafy greens (kale, collards, chard, spinach, dandelion greens...), cruciferous veges (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts), nuts, seeds and fruit.
If your poops are not firm, a good size and easy to produce, then take some psyllium seed powder for a couple of weeks.
Please write in with any additional questions about this topic.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

What to do with Your Pulp


Lori's Raw Cacao Almond Balls


ingredients:-raw sunflower seeds (unsoaked & grinded)-organic raw almond butter-organic raw cacao nibs-blue agave nectar-organic unsweetened coconut
Today's Delicious Food:


Breakfast: After a Vibram 6 miler run

18 ounce juice of: 5 leaves Red chard, 4 stalks celery, 1 beet, 3 carrots, 1/3 cuke, large handful of fresh mint, large handful of parsley


Lunch:

1 bag Living Nutz Onion-garlic Pistachios


Snack:

1 piece Strawberry Cream Pie


Dinner:

Pate with soaked sunflower seeds, large bag of mixed vege juice pulp from morning juice, olive oil, nutritional yeast, dulse flakes, sea salt and water: YUM!

with 1 carrot cut up and the remainder of Karyn's salad, with tahini and apple cider vinegar


Dessert:

2 slices chocolate buttercup mousse pie :)
24 ounces water
What can you do with all the vege and fruit pulp that gets "pooped" out of your juicer when extracting the juice?
Compost it? Yes.
Give it to your animals? Possibly, but check with your holistic vet...
Here's a great idea: toss a whole bag in with your nuts or seeds when making a pate or nut cheese. It's a fabulous way to get tons of organic fiber and add a deliciousness to the mix.
Mine tasted exactly like tuna salad used to taste; but no animals were harmed.
I brought a container to the office as a gift for my partner in eating disorder therapy, and she just loved loved loved it! And, she is not a raw foodie...though becoming more and more vegan of late. Joanna said it tasted like a cross between tuna and the traditional Jewish Passover ritual dish of Charoset (it must have been the beet color).
If you have a dehydrator, when making nut or raw vege burgers, add it to the recipe for robust patties. And include it in a batch of flax crackers; it will up the whole experience, making them really vibrant and giving you tons of energy.
Please write in with any other suggestions you have for juice "poop"!!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Pie Party!!

Today's Indulgences:

Breakfast:
One yummy ripe and luscious mango (first one of the season!)

Lunch:
Pie!!!! Strawberry Cream and Chocolate Buttercup Mousse; 2 pieces of each

Dinner:
delicious pate of soaked sunflower seeds, soaked sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, dulse flakes, a little water, olive oil, sea salt and nutritional yeast
lovely vibrant mixed salad made by my dear friend Karyn for Mother's Day; drizzled with raw tahini
sliced carrots
sliced small avocado

Dessert:
1 sliver of chocolate buttercup mousse pie

Yes, we rocked between 1:00 and 2:00 PM today eating pie! We, meaning me, Lori and Wendy, another raw foodie. Karyn stopped by to have a slice of each before heading to the airport for Germany. Really, I think she should have taken a couple of slices to eat on the plane.
We ate the food of goddesses. What did I love best? The contrast between the two pie flavors; tart, sweet and creamy strawberry and smooth and silky chocolate. And, thanks to Jonji and Alex's recipe (the trick being to blend each crust ingredient separately, really creating a coconut flour and an almond flour), all three of us decided it was the absolute best raw crust ever. We were 3 blissed-out pie eaters! These pies were bursting with life force. By the way, there was no dehydration; these were purely raw pies.
So, feel free to try creating these pies yourself, and invite your friends over for a lunchtime pie party. It just might change your life....You can read Lori's comments on the pies and the party by clicking on the word 'comments' on yesterday's blog.



Sunday, May 9, 2010

Making Raw Pies










Chocolate Almond Buttercup Mousse Pie (recipe created by Lori Trezza and Me)
Strawberry Cream Pie (recipe from Alex and Jonji's video - posted on my blog; pie made by Lori Trezza and Me). More about this later in T.H.E. blog!...
Friday's Food:
Breakfast:
Mango Smoothie with frozen mango and banana, water, cacao nibs, agave, Marine Phytoplankton
Snack:
Bag of Living Nutz Almond Bliss
Lunch: (non-raw at conference up at Yale)
2 half wraps: hummus, veges and a small amount of cheese; grilled veges and a small amount of cheese
Dinner:
Salad with romaine, daikon, pea shoot sprouts, carrot, 1/2 avocado with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt
Foods Alive Italian crackers
Nighttime Gathering Raw Elixirs: with Thai coconut, water, frozen banana, cacao powder and nibs, vanilla bean, raw crunchy almond butter, psyllium seed powder and agave
Saturday's Food:
Breakfast:
Small amount of leftover salad
10 ounce glass of leftover cacao elixir
Lunch:
Bag of Living Nutz Cheesy Almonds
Afternoon Delight:
Making Raw Pies with Lori. I blogged about Lori a couple of weeks ago. She is my dear friend, who has been reading my blog, and on her own is getting super turned on to the world of raw. She made raw brownies a couple of weeks ago; I described how delicious they were. Saturday, we went to a lecture on calcium, and then came back and co-created raw pies together. The first is the Strawberry Cream Pie that inspired me the minute I watched Alex and Jonji's video and posted it here on T.H.E. Blog! I have to tell you, I have made many raw pies, cheffed and taught classes, and this was by far the best raw pie crust I have EVER eaten! It tastes like raw cookie dough! For the recipe, you'll have to scroll back through my older posts and watch the video. So, Lori and I licked the batter on that one, and since we had an extra crust made, we made up a raw chocolate mousse pie.
Crust: From Alex and Jonji's video
Filling (ours):
Blended in Vitamix: 1 Thai coconut, water and meat; 3 small avocados, cacao powder and nibs to taste (for more chocolatey and chip-like, add more) agave to taste, vanilla bean, a scooper-ful of psyllium seed powder
Fill the crust with the mouse, then line the rim of the crust with raw crunchy almond butter
Garnish with fresh mint leaves
We licked the batter on that one, too!
Dinner:
salad with romaine, daikon, carrot, pea shoot sprouts, 1/2 avocado with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt
Dessert:
3 rolled dates in coconut
Today's Food:
32 ounces lemon water
Mother's Day Brunch at The Lotos Club, NYC (non-raw): Beautiful buffet of exquisitely prepared foods:
Hearts of palm and artichoke salad
Green and White asparagus with a creamy pimento dressing
Farro (a nutty grain) with pear and herbs
Many small chunks of delicious cheeses: Roquefort, Camembert and Reggiano with sliced fig and date
Whole Grain rolls with olive oil
Frisee salad with creamy balsamic dressing
And a little smoked trout
Desserts:
White chocolate cup filled with creamy dark chocolate
dusted dark and white cocoa almonds
small dark chocolate cup filled with whipped cream
mixed berries with Zabalione sauce
12 ounces water
Dinner:
salad with romaine, carrot, daikon, pea shot sprouts, 1/2 avocado with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt
Dessert:
3 rolled dates in coconut
I want to offer gratitude to all women all over; those who have mothered children of their own; those who have mothered others' children; the ones who mother their beautiful animals; those who mother their friends; the women who model mothering for their patients who never received proper mothering; and all of the women who take time to mother themselves properly.
I also want to acknowledge those beautiful men who fill absent-mother roles with their own special mothering.
And to everyone who has come from a mother (all of us), let's acknowledge our mothers for giving life to us and allowing us all to be here now.
Finally, for all those mothers who have transitioned from life this year, we miss you and love you.
Happy Mother's Day!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Be Who You are Meant to Be!

Today's Food:

Breakfast: more to come on my new relationship with Vibram Ten Finger shoes and new freedom in running - 5 miler
1 bag of Living Nutz Curry Almonds; Delicious! Whenever I have these, I cannot stop eating them.

Lunch:
Berry smoothie with frozen blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and cherries; w/ frozen banana, cacao powder and nibs, psyllium seed powder, water and agave
60 ounces

Snack:
container of herbed olives

Dinner:
Great salad made for me by my friend Lori:
lettuce, cuke, cherry tomatoes with dulse, olive oil, sea salt and lemon

10 ounces water

Late Dessert:
Organic Nectars chocolate hazelnut ice cream, while unpacking all my groceries and relaxing; after a wonderful Goddess drum and journey on the beach

20 ounces water

Question:
Who are you to be if not your greatest self?
When you hold back from being all you are meant to be, it serves no one and keeps you small. You have a message to bring to the world; what is it?
Please write in and share what is most important to you...

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Move Your Exercise Outdoors

Today's Lovely Food:
No Breakfast - another run with my new Vibram Ten Fingers shoes

Lunch:
1 bag Living Nutz, 'I Love Vegan Cheezy Almonds!' germinated, marinated and dehydrated: almonds, pumpkin seeds, red pepper,olive oil, nama shoyu, fresh lemon juice, Celtic Sea Salt. I received a call from the wondeful Tommy K's letting me know that my reserved nuts had come in! I love Living Nutz; they have mastered the art of raw and happy.
1 wild berry smoothie with frozen cherries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, with frozen banana, psyllium seed powder, cacao powder and nibs and agave; so so good!

32 ounces water

Dinner:
salad with romaine, daikon, carrot, sprouts, 1/2 avocado and cuke with dulse and nutritional yeast, with olive oil and Herbamare
leftover sunflower seed sundried tomato pate with cut up carrot sticks

Dessert:
Bowl of Organic Nectars chocolate hazelnut rawcream

Move your exercise outdoors. The gym can be wonderful, but moving our bodies in a way that complements our anatomy is so important to our health.
Our evolutionary heritage is to run through the forests; to use our limbs to move long distances. I remember when I lived in NYC years ago, I met a man who had just come back from a year in Thailand. Though he was American, he had spent the last year walking 18 miles a day to get to the local store. He was in his fifties, yet he had the body of a much younger man; I remember being struck by that.
Raw food has the capacity to renew collagen growth, but food alone does not allow our bodies to regenerate. We must find time to make real movement; running on dirt, pavement or sand, swimming in the ocean, lake or sound, dancing on a large plot of land. This is as much or greater a priority than any daily priority we have. We want to age gracefully and with major range of motion and strong bones and spines.
Here's a secret: Moving your anatomy more will increase movement in other areas of your lifes; movement is a metaphor for movement!
Some of my most powerful creative ideas and solutions come during my daily runs. I don't need to obsess or fret over a problem; I merely need to take a long run and the answers come.
What has moved forward in your life as a result of physical movement? Please write in and share your story.

It's OK to Be Abundant with Your Food

Yesterday's Abundance of Raw Deliciousness:

Breakfast: after an ecstatic 6 mile run in my new Vibram Five Finger shoes! http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ Check these out
Amazing smoothie with frozen mango, banana and wild blueberries; with red chard, parsley and mint (and water)

Lunch at The Stand, Norwalk, CT:
Choco Cherry smoothie with cacao, date, nutmilk and banana; Yum!
Curried Collard wrap with curried almond pate, red pepper, cuke, avo and sprouts

Snack:
pack of Emmy's Mint Chip macaroons; Yeaow!!!
Late Snack:
Raw Revolution chocolate hazelnut bar

Dinner at One Luck Duck Juice Takeaway, 17th Street, NYC:
Shared meal of tortilla wraps, in mini flax taco-shaped filled with spicy sundried tomato spread and corn cilantro guacamole, with tomato lime salsa and cashew sour cream; Mmmmmmmmmm
Thai lettice wraps in collard greens filled with mango, pea shoots, carrots, savoy cabbage, cashews and spicy tamarind sauce; outrageous!
Desserts: I ate so much of these :)
Moonpie (modeled after the childhood moonpie or "Ho Ho") with coated raw dark chocolate, layered with a cream and chocolate
lemon square
raw vanilla almond butter cup ice cream
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! I had raw chocolate OD!

8 ounces water

I ate with abundance, savoring every mouthful of my raw meal while sharing a beautiful four-hour conversation with my male BFF (Best Friend Forever) Ron. The intimacy of the conversation, catching up on our lives after not seeing each other for awhile, complemented and supported our relationship with the food. Did I eat alot? Yes? Was it rich? Was it sweet? Was it filled with many ingredients, textures, colors and sensations? Yes to all of the above. In fact, it was directly connected to our conversation, which also was rich, sweet and filled with all the ingredients that make up who we each are and what we were sharing.
Allow your food to model your healthiest relationships. So much of our relationship with food is based upon our childhood models, which were often not supportive of our highest selves shining bright. Now we have the opportunity to cultivate food as a metaphor for the richness of our lives and our relationships.
Please write in and share a story about having a meal as extraordinary as the relationship that surrounded it...

Monday, May 3, 2010

Next Steps in Getting Healthier; Gentle Changes Go a Long Way

Food for Today:
Breakfast:
Rockin' green smoothie with: water, 4 leaves of Red Chard, 2 large carrots, large handful of fresh mint and 1 apple

Snack:
3 Raw energy chunks (cacao, date, seeds, spirulina, chlorella, oat, barley and wheat grass)

Lunch:
soaked sunflower seed pate with sundried tomatoes, fresh thyme, olive oil, nutritional yeast, Herbamare seasoning, cayenne, paprika, Bragg's Amino Acids with 1 1/2 carrots cut up

Snack:
2 Emmy's Raw vanilla coconut macaroons (raw coconut, agave, coconut oil, vanilla and Himalayan sea salt)

Dinner:
salad with romaine, sprouts, daikon, mushrooms, 1/2 avocado and sunchoke! with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and Herbamare

Dessert:
1 Emmy's vanilla coconut macaroon
3 rolled dates in coconut

16 ounces water

Gentle Changes Go a Long Way:
Choose one food/drink (coffee, chips) or food category (sugar, alchohol) that you know, if you let go of consuming, would be your next big step in getting healthier.
Now think how many times a day/week you consume that food.
If it's more than once a day, your Next Step is to decrease it to once a day. If it's five days a week, simply lower it to three.
Take some time and create a "Gentle Guide to My Health." Track all the foods that fall into this category; plot out how many times a day/week you eat or drink them.
Create a set of gradual goals to decrease the amount; chart out the dates as well.
For example:
Food: Chocolate chip cookies
Amount I Eat: 3 cookies 7 days a week
Week of May 10th: decrease to 2 cookies 5 days a week
Week of May 17th or May 24th: decrease to 1 cookie 3 days a week
Chart this out until you've arrived at the place you long to be.
Always be realistic, and don't take on a commitment you will not be able to fulfill; giving yourself daily success is vital to the process.
Please write in and share what foods you are starting to let go of and how it feels to be gentle with yourself...

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Even a Weekend Makes a Difference

Friday's Food:
Breakfast:
banana with raw crunchy almond butter

20 ounces water

Snack:
6 Foods Alive Mexican flax crackers

Early Dinner:
Salad with romaine, carrot, daikon, 1/2 avocado, sprouts and dulse with nutritional yeast, olive oil and Herbamare

20 ounces of water

Dessert:
Shared pint of Organic Nectars raw chocolate hazelnut ice cream while driving up to Woodstock, NY

A taste of raw kale chips with cayenne and othe cheesy raw seasonings

Saturday's Delicious Meals: (raw and non-raw)
Breakfast: after a killer mountain hill run!
green smoothie with Swiss chard, carrots, apples, water and honey

Lunch: at the Garden Cafe in Woodstock, NY
arugula and white bean salad with a delicious creamy mustard vinagrette
small appetizer vegan cheddar and cashew tart
1 organic kumquat (hard to find)
1 raw energy chunk with date, cacao and seeds

'Big Chill Dinner': cooking with dear friends; this meal was extraordinary!
Rockin' Guacamole with avos, tomatoes, purple onion, garlic, sea salt, chili powder, cilantro and dulse with organic blue corn chips (Lizzie)
Beet, fennel, sunchoke and onion extravaganza: steamed red beets sauteed with fennel, sunchokes and purple onion, with a balsamic agave reduction and some rosemary; 1 small log of chevre goat cheese tossed in to melt (my creation)
Wild Ramps (local, seasonal greens) sauteed with olive oil, garlic and sea salt (me)
Michael's Hari Krishna Burritos!
Recipe:
2 cans organic kidney beans heated in a pot
Make a "chaunce" (Indian) of 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin and 1 teaspoon "Hing" or Asvete spice (Indian), along with 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
The chaunce is made by heating oil in a small skillet until hot; then you throw in the spices and it opens them wide up (taught to me by Michael Hoare)
Then you add the chaunce to the kidney beans; add 8 ounces or more (to taste) of tofu sour cream, all the while mashing the beans to a pulp (you can use a potato masher if you like)
mash it to a pastry-like form
Once done, wrap it inside sprouted flax or grain wraps and stick a toothpick to seal.
You can also add other ingredients, such as sliced avocado to the burritos
warm olive foccachia bread with olive oil
2 Corona Light beers:)

Fabulous Midnight Ramble concert at Levon Helm's home in Woodstock
Late Night Dessert:
Raw kale chips
Coconut Bliss ice cream (Naked Coconut and Chocolate Hazelnut)

Today's (Sunday) Food:
Breakfast:
Green smoothie with purple kale, red chard, strawberries, water and honey; YUM!

Snack: at the top of a mountain with amazing overlook, after a great hike
trail mix of raw nuts, seeds and raisins; an apple

Lunch: back to the Garden Cafe
Ambrosia berry smoothie with strawberries, blueberries and banana with coconut water, orange juice and maple syrup
Arugula and white bean salad repeat with amazing vinagrette

Snacks:
6 raw energy treats with dates, cacao, spirulina, chlorella, oat, barley and wheat grasses
leftover foccachia bread dipped in fantastic olive oil
a couple of forkfulls of leftover beet salad
a couple of spoonfuls of Coconut Bliss ice cream


33.8 ounces of water

I encourage you to "take a break." I can find infinate reasons to continue focusing on whatever project I need to complete; I know you can, too!!
Just getting away for two days is completely rejuvenating. Not once did I check email! though I did feel a tinge of missing writing to all of you. It was so great not to be with "technology." I had fabulous meals with fabulous friends; hiked, ran, saw an unbelievable concert and shared intimate, fun and interesting conversation with dear friends. Oh, yes, and just 'chilled.'
What I am left with tonight, after unpacking, is the desire to take such good care of myself always. Taking care of ourselves reminds us to continue taking care of ourselves more intimately. In order to remember this, we need to continue doing it. I plan to log off now and crawl into bed with a good book, starting my next week with a great night's sleep. Please write in and let me know how you have been nurturing and nourishing yourself lately...