To Each Her Own...Eat What Nourishes You and Let Others Do the Same

Saturday's Food:

Blueberry Bonanza with water, frozen blueberries and banana, psyllium seed powder, flax seeds, Revitaphi superfood alkalizer, agave

Lunch:
Guacamole with lettuce and orange pepper, raw cashews and apricots

Dinner:
a stuffed portobella mushroom, marinated with Bragg's, with sunflower, sundried tomato pate (soaked sunflower seeds, soaked sundried tomatoes and the water, olive oil, cayenne, dulse peices and flakes, sea salt, garlic, nutritional yeast)
Raw Chocolate Midnight Madness with fresh Thai coconut water and meat, frozen banana, raw crunchy almond butter, psyllium seed powder, raw vanilla bean, agave, cacao powder and nibs; this was rockin!

I let the writing of my blog go last night and allowed my body to fall into bed and get extra sleep. I am truly honoring its need to rest and rejuvenate, and my 2:00 AM blog entries keep me up really late. Though I love writing them, I knew it was time to tuck in early. Between my car breaking down this week and still in the shop, my hot water heating not working and my body going through Spring detox and change of seasons, my body is sending me signals that it has stored all this information and is asking for sleep to process and integrate it all.
So, last night, as I was at my computer after a full day with a dear friend, including a hike, for one minute I thought, "Will I be letting down my readers by not blogging tonight?" This was quickly circumvented by the thought that self-care and honoring is the best way to show up for others. My body always steers me in the right direction; from sleep; to energy; to emotional responses; to intuition; as long as I pay attention to its signals, I am on the right path for me.
So, I am writing yesterday's entry today and will now go whip up a raw Seaweed Chowder to take to my friend's for an Easter gathering. They will be eating a classic Easter meal (which I did with them at Christmas, and it was delicious), and today I am bringing my raw food with me. I get to focus on the relationships, and we will all be drumming and talking and 'revelring' as we always do when we gather. I am excited, because this soup is the Best Soup Ever; it's Matt Amsden's recipe from RawVolution. I've made it many times, and even cheffed it for workshops and demoed it at lectures. It tastes kind of like Vichyssoise, but with seaweed!
I'll also bring a stufffed portobella and a couple of coconut rolled dates.
I bought everyone some fabulous Italian pastries from a shop here where I live, filled with mini canolies and cream puffs.
Don't be afraid to mix your worlds; eat what truly honors you, say what you need for yourself, and fully honor others' choices, even if they are radically different than yours.
When someone comes to me for counseling, then I share education and health recommendations for how to shift their food and address their health issues; otherwise, I appreciate each person's individuality and right to choose what foods light them up; therefore, I got satisfaction in knowing I could bring these rockin' Italian pastries for my friends to eat on Easter.
If you do decide to eat traditional Easter food, please enjoy every mouthful; I know I did at Christmastime.
Please write in and tell me about your Easter Sunday...

Spend time with good friends

What I ate today:
Breakfast:
Juicy Bosc pear

32 ounces lemon water
bites of fresh Thai coconut
tastes of raw chocolate pudding as I was making it for tonight. I licked the bowl clean, and it reminded me of being a child.

Lunch:
remaining teaspoon of sunflower seed sundried tomato pate
elixir of:
fresh Thai coconut
water
blueberries
banana
agave
cacao nibs

Dinner:
beautiful salad with greens and sliced daikon (thank you, Jane)
Sunshine cheese with celery and carrots (Liz and Michael); Yum!
Stuffed portobella mushrooms with walnut pate (Nick and Irina!!!) really elegant

pear juice and Pellegrino

Dessert:
My chocolate pudding:
avocados, fresh Thai coconut water and meat, cacao powder, agave, cacao nibs, rolled dates in coconut
Coconut Bliss ice cream (not totally raw but clean)

Tonight was our monthly Raw Food & Film gathering, which is held at the home of my dear friends Irina and Nicholas.
I know Irina will love me sharing this, as she always tells people that a year ago January (the 16th, to be exact), I held an Un-Cooking Class and she and Nick attended. We made so many dishes, and afterwards, Irina went raw! I didn't find this out until months later, when I ran into a mutual friend who said, 'You know Irina is raw, right?' Tonight, Irina was relaying this story and said, "We ate all these dishes, maybe nine of them, and I thought, if raw food tastes like this, what need is there to eat cooked food!" And so she went raw.
If you are trying to integrate more raw into your life, create opportunities to surround yourself with others who are doing the same. It keeps you accountable to your personal visions and supports having community around the process.
Plus, what could be better on a Friday night than eating, watching a film and having great conversation? Choose those with whom you feel wrapped in a blanket of love and stimulated in your conversation and passion. Friendship is the highest elixir of all.
Think about this:
Who sees you as magnificent?
With whom can you let down and be real?
With whom can you speak your truth?
Who spurs your creativity?
Who will hold you when you need holding?
Who will run with you through the sprinklers in Summertime?
Please share what friendship mean to you....
In Raw Bliss,
Hope