New Easy Dinner Recipe

So no real update on the colon cleanse. Of course, eating green leafy vegetables as your main staple and avoiding all cooked food is considered by many to be an extreme colon cleanse in itself. Wink, wink. Oh! Maca update. All is going well. My mom did a little researching on her own and discovered that it is not supposed to affect hormones at all but does support adrenal function (which in turn aids the thyroid). There is no caffeine but by strengthening the adrenal many experience a boost in energy (and libido!). I can attest to both. It feels like I drank three espressos! And it only takes a 1/2 teaspoon a day.

Ok, but on to my favorite new recipe!

Rice Blossoms

Here's what you'll need to feed two people:

1 cup wild rice soaked in purified water overnight

6-8 whole cabbage leaves (we used green, but purple works well, too)

Handful of sprouts (any kind will work)

8 sprigs of parsley, finely chopped

1 clove of fresh garlic, minced

1/4 onion, chopped (optional)

Seasonings:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup flax oil

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

2 dashes of turmeric

2 dashes of Bragg's Amino Acids

*Please note as with all of my recipes that amounts are not set in stone. Please play with these ingredients and adjust as you see fit.

If you have yet to soak wild rice, you may be in for a surprise. It's amazingly easy and tastes wonderful. I equate soaking with cooking in many instances. Soaking is a lot like cooking in that it softens the rice (usually so that the rice blossoms open--it's really quite pretty) but of course, unlike cooking, it won't be warm and all the nutrients will be activated rather than destroyed. Just be careful what you soak and for how long. You can often google it or invest in a good raw book like Nomi Shannon's Raw Gourmet for soaking charts.

After you soak the rice, pour out the remaining water and rinse the rice thoroughly. Then add the sprouts, parsley, garlic and onion (optional). Drizzle the olive and flax oil and mix thoroughly. Add apple cider vinegar, turmeric and Braggs. Add salt and pepper as needed. Remember to taste the mixture as you prepare. ;-)

Spoon the mixture onto the cabbage leaves like you would a lettuce wrap. It serves as a great lunch or add a salad on the side for dinner. Voila!

(Special thanks to my husband fo modeling how to eat the new recipe! Yum!)

Colon Cleanse Update/Holiday Shake Recipe

We still have not selected a specific colon cleanse. Sorry, not very exciting I know. But I just want to update you on our commitment to stay green.

Both my husband and I have signs of a poor working colon. For that matter, I wonder if we all do. We are seemingly healthy young whipper-snappers (25 and within healthy weight limits). However, I suffer from sinus congestion once in a while (a clear sign that the colon is clogged) and my husband suffers from poor energy and an interesting elimination "schedule." These symptoms along with the knowledge that serotonin is made in the colon and that the colon is the second brain are very motivating for us to keep our colon healthy. Basically it's critical for any kind of real health.

We also learned that no matter how well you eat, it's the absorption that counts. (I know kind of a "Duh" moment but it helps to be reminded.) Of course the raw food diet is the best long term way to ensure this--as you have probably experienced more trips to the bathroom than you thought humanly possible if you have recently switched to a raw diet.

We are considering a juice fast and/or the 3 week diet plan listed in Nomi Shannon's book (heavy on green drinks).

In the meantime, we are eating our greens, juicing our greens and I am headed out today to get liquid Chlorophyll (this stuff is only one molecule different from our blood--very powerful!). We are also going to try to increase our pro-biotic intake and, of course, drink lots of water, exercise and stay calm. Stress is one of the quickest ways to poor absorption.

Btw, we have also been experimented with powdered maca. Wow. Talk about energy (and yes, ok, libido) increase! I think it has also cleared up my skin. We are taking VERY small doses right now, though, and hope that it will help balance our hormones as it is touted for doing.

Here's a smoothie recipe to get you in the holiday mood:

Pumpkin Pie in a Glass A Go-GO

2 pitted dates
1/2 cup rice milk (add more if needed)

2 frozen bananas

1 tablespoon raw almond butter

Dash of nutmeg, cloves

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon maca (purely optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add ice if needed

Mix all ingredients in blender or vitamix. Beware: this is super filling! And tastes a lot like liquid pumpkin pie--which may or may not suit your fancy. I loved it and drank on it all day Saturday (it's all we had in the house, lol). If you want a little less pie flavor, hold off on the spices--it will be more of a creamy almond/vanilla shake. But now that we are in the Thanksgiving month, take advantage of the healthiest way to eat your pumpkin pie! I hope to work on a new recipe using this base for a raw pumpkin pie. Maybe you'll beat me to it? Either way, I'll keep you posted. Enjoy and voila!

Raw Tele-Seminar

Today I woke up specifically for the Raw Gourmet, Nomi Shannon's, tele-seminar. It was mostly a question and answer re: a lot of health issues and how diet, supplements and lifestyle plays a role. I took three pages of typed notes.

And most of them say the same thing! Greens, greens, greens. But according to the seminar greens aren't enough if absorption is an issue. They also talked about the need to balance our PH. And interestingly, though not too surprisingly, the colon and adrenals were identified as roots for many of the illnesses.

While I am convinced that a raw diet is the BEST, absolute BEST, place to begin a healthy lifestyle, health issues can still arise due to stress, environment and absorption. My husband and I are committed to doing a colon cleanse as a result. And I will be looking more into B vitamin supplements, also.

She also briefly addressed the coconut oil/agave craze that has become increasingly trendy in many raw recipes. While I use them in many dessert recipes, I do feel that the best raw diet is just raw veggies and some fruit. I think that's why I have very few raw recipes posted here.

My best advice to maintain a healthy raw diet is to go to your local farmer's market. Select at least one of each vegetable you see there and go home and eat it. Really! That's how I got started and that's continually what I lean on. Please make sure you're doing your best to get organic or pesticide-free--anything else contains toxins that will tax your system and harm your body.

Now there are lots of fun ways to eat these veggies aside from biting into them--which may be a little hard to do if you've purchased something like kohlrabi or a sweet potato. But start with the basics, the green leafy veggies and other familiar goodies like tomatoes, celery, carrots, etc. and just start chopping. Throw it all in a big bowl, add vinegar, olive or flax oil, spices and herbs (Celtic sea or Himalayan salt, pepper, basil, oregano, garlic, thyme, etc.) and eat. You will be amazed at how filling this is. I once read an article about a star athlete who called this his favorite meal. He said it would take a good portion of time to finish it off, but he loved it. Plus it is a great way to cleanse that colon and give you energy.

I would also incorporate sea veggies as I've mentioned before. Dulse was mentioned today in the seminar as a premier way to get the necessary iodine mineral. Snack on them or throw them in the veggie bowl meal, aka entree of greens.

For breakfast, juicing is the best (you can also do smoothies which are very popular). Carrot base is ideal for almost any veggie juice--again, whatever you find at the farmer's market buy a little extra of and juice it. Some typical combos: carrot, celery, spinach, kale; carrot, beet, lemon, spinach; carrot, celery, tomato, ginger. These are not V8 imitations, btw. These are real living juices that you need to drink immediately after juicing. Anything you purchase in a store has been heated, destroying all enzymes.

Don't be afraid as you begin or re-energize your journey. Look at nature and listen to your body. For some great tips, check out Nomi's book Raw Gourmet. Regardless of the food you eat, if absorption is a problem, then look into cleansing. If you aren't absorbing the nutrients, you are headed for trouble. I'll keep you posted on our journey.