Happy Spring

...yesterday was the spring-equinox, when the amount of day-light & darkness were equal. So from now on there'll be longer day-light hours. The equinox is an auspiciously ideal time to make goals & set intentions as the fertile energy of spring will support them. So I was chuffed when an open-day for a Raw Food Instructor Course I want to do was on yestersay, I signed up for the course with the force of the equinox behind me:)

It was in the Hayden Hotel in Portlaois about 2.5hr drive, a fab day, Sabrina came with, I kinda dragged her but I went to a Chipmunk concert with her on friday night so I didn't feel bad . The event was mostly raw recipe demo's & some info about the course. It was nice to meet other like minds. The recipes included coconut-milk, coconut-cream, pickled onion, pickled cucumber, cashew mayo, pumpkin seed mayo, waldorf salad, nut burgers, lentil soup & choc-peppermint surprise for dessert, that was my favorite. Sabz loved the choc-mint cake too. I'm still juicing but I couldn't let that sweet yumminess pass me by.. I got some maca & pau d' arco bark there that I'll use for elixiers.

The cherry on top was a visit to the local play-ground for some fun, sun, fresh-air, stretching & play :) & to the health shop of course.. which didn't have a huge selection but it had a funny name at least 'the fruit & nut place':)

Green 4 Go

Random pic from ages ago, sea spagetti, red peppers, hemp seeds, onions & a dressing all tossed together, yummers I'd love it now but I'm still keeping it juicy, kinda. Yesterday, day 1 I didn't have any juice instead I drank around 6 litres of water thru out day, that was it. I drank that much to keep me full & I was thirsty from the spinning class I did in the morning but I think it was too much as I kept having to get up during the night to go to the toilet, interupting my beauty sleep. Speaking of which, I went for a nap for two hours during the day yesterday & went to bed early & slept deeply except for going to toilet x5. I felt achy all over aswell like I was healing or detoxing, bowel movements were v frequent aswell all day, so I feel that the water really shifted/healed something.

Today was relaxed, I wasn't as achy, I drank 1ltr of water, 1.5ltr juice made from celery, cucumber, fennel, lemon, ginger & apple, & 0.5ltr cherry juice with hemp oil, & some bee-pollen- I couldn't stop nibbling :)

Tomorrow I'll get more juicing ingredients- lots of greens for st. patricks day ;) I might even juice some shamrock..

It's after 12 so its Green to Go Happy St. Patricks Day xxxx

Spring Clean

I am about to embark on a long juice cleanse. I have done a few 10 day ones already and from those juicy experiences I know how good it feels to give your digestive system a break. The benefits are really amazing. I'm going to go for 30 days on just juices, no superfoods like bee-pollen, spirulina & chlorella as I tend to over on eat them when I'm juicing & not eating any other solid food. Not only does it cost a bomb to live like that but my body isn't getting the rest it needs as the super-stuff is passing thru me & keeping my digestive system ticking over which defeats the purpose. So just juice for 30 days at least, ideally 60 or 90 days but I'll take one day at a time til I get there. I'll write about my adventure here, things like the complementary aids & practices I'll use, my intake, how I feel & sleep, & how my body changes. Starting tomorrow.

I cant wait to get juicy-er for summer.

I made the juice in the pic today, it has celery, cucumber, apple, lemon & sprouted sunflower seeds in it. Its the sunflower seeds that give it its creamy color which make me think that it is good for my skin, let me explain.

Mother nature has a clever way of letting us know what is good for us & what body part it will benefit by giving us visual clues in whats known as the Doctrine of Signitures.

A walnut for example is shaped like a brain, and omega 3 fatty acids in walnuts benefit the brain.

A tomatoe has 4 compartments/chambers inside it like our hearts have, its also about the same size & is the same color as the heart. Beetroot juice looks like blood & is a blood builder. A sliced raw carrot has the shape of an eye on it & everyone knows carrots are good for your eye-sight.

So I definiatly think I'm onto something with my skin-colored-juice :)

Now there's some food for thought ;)

Roll Them Balls

I created these tasty chewy balls sometime last year. They're a real treat, raw, organic and healthy. The original recipe called 'cacao-coconut balls' has both them ingredients mixed into a base of ground flaxseed & raisins, then roll them in coconut flakes. I've since varied the recipe to make 'lemon-coconut balls', by adding lemon zest & lemon powder to the base & also rolling the balls in the lemon powder. These are the bomb, they actually look & taste like lemon bon-bons.

Another variation are 'goji berry balls', with goji's mixed into the base & then roll the balls around in goji powder, which is made from ground up goji-berries. Go on roll your balls, you know you want to, its quick and easy and fun, enjoy.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Make sure to zest them and make some nice recipes too ;) And they also have many other uses. Adding the zest to desserts gives a subtle yet distinct flavour, another taste dimension.

I love lemon, its a refreshingly feel good fruit.

It's so adaptable, it is used in recipes and remedies like -

~ Salad dressings

~ Desserts

~ Fruit juices

~ Herbal tea's

~ Lemonade

~ Spritzer & toners

~ Flavoured water

~ Flu tonics

~ Beauty aids

Its the ultimate beauty aid~

Add a few drops to face-masks, it lightens freckles

It useful for oily skin & lessens acne

It helps to diminish wrinkles

Dab it neat on the face to tone & tighten the skin

Use it as a hair rinse for dandruff

It whitens teeth when used with baking soda & it freshens breath

Use it topically on toe nail fungus

It alkalises the blood which can with weight loss

Reduces water retention

And its used in many cleanses & flushes for health & beauty

Lemon Powder

I keep the organic lemon peels and dehydrate them until they are hard and crisp then I grind them up into a powder which I use in recipes and also as a natural shake-n-vac carpet freshener before hoovering.

And I make my lemon cheezecakes with lemon powder which gives them their lovely color and taste, yummers.

Health Day

There was a 'health day'on yesterday at UCC in Cork so I went to sell & promote my raw food treats that I make. I made some of the cheeze-cakes I made the last day for 'health week' except these ones were a bit different, they had the same filling but for the crust I used raisins instead of dates & flaxseeds instead of nuts so it was a bit chewier, and they looked more like pies so I called them 'lemon & goji pies'. I told people they were like cheezecakes with no cheese. I sold them all so I was delighted. I also made flax-crackers & energy balls, yummers.

It was a good day the sun-shone all day. There were lots of people, and some were actually curious about health food & nutrition. But I was surprised to learn that many of the students there hadn't heard of the raw vegan diet at all, which makes me feel fortunate and grateful to be on to a good thing and to be able to guide and advise people with their diet.

Health Shopping

Nicole & I went for a spin to Dungarvan the other day, quite spontainous it was, think the sun -shine helps. We stopped at a few health-food-stores there & on the way there. I love visiting health shops wherever I go, I usually find the people who own them or work there to be positive & open-minded & of course to know a thing or two about health.
The one we went to in Dungaran is called Blasta Wholefoods, Blasta is Irish for 'tasty' the owners are a nice english couple Rob & Ann Whinnett & are very proud of their store.

We had a quick look in this one too but the selection wasn't as good as the first.

On the way back to Cork we stopped in Middleton and yip we checked out the Health Store. There was an Indian guy in there who usually does the farmers markets doing samples of his sauces & spices in a warm lentil stew. Nicole was getting hungry so that filled her up for a while until we went for dinner in Douglas.

She had fun pretending she was drinking wine while she sipped on organic cherry juice that we got in a health shop, she definatly fooled a few people tho.