Berry Parfait

Berry Parfait

I'm still focused on green, healing foods, but when I saw 6 oz. of blackberries on sale for ONE dollar, and a pound of strawberries on sale for two dollars, I knew it was finally time to make a parfait. I have been dreaming of this for months. The minute I made the cashew cream sauce for the apple crisp, I knew that was the right sauce for a parfait. According Raymond, Rom, and my taste buds, that sauce was the right call.

This parfait consists of three things: blackberries, strawberries, and sauce. The cashew cream sauce is:

2 cups of cashews

two tablespoons of maple syrup or agave nectar

two teaspoons vanilla extract

Put them all in a blender. Add water JUST TO THE TOP of the cashews. Blend. Add more water until it's a creamy consistency. Make sure there are no cashews chunks. Add alternating layers of berries and sauce, and you've got a winner. Try it with other fruits too!

Buttery Peas

Since I'm making green foods, here's a winner for you: buttery peas. Easy, quick, and delicious! Just like cooked peas, but better for you. From Fresh by Sergei and Vayla Boutenko:

10 oz. frozen peas, defrosted in warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Mix all ingredients and enjoy! If you miss cooked peas, you won't after this one.

And thank you to everyone who took the survey so far. It's still open, so if you'd like to let me know what you'd like to see on my blog, you have until Sunday, May 3rd to answer.

Love,
Althea

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Berry Parfait

Raw Mocha Angel Survey

Hi, Loyal Readers!


After reading Chris Guillebeau's 279 Days to Overnight Success, I decided to create a short survey. It's onlyfour questions, and I'd love it if you all let me know what you'd like to see more of on this blog.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ffWSLUks6_2bnHhFrwEWw5fA_3d_3d

Love, Althea

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Raw Mocha Angel Survey

Live Collard Greens

Live Collard Greens

If you or your family are from the southern United States, then you are familiar with collard greens being cooked to death for hours on the stove. Remember fatback, bacon, and salt being added to the pot liquor?

These are not your grandmother's collard greens. These raw collard greens are so simple to make. This recipe is from The Yabba Pot. My friend, Chef Skai, owner of the restaurant, has a DVD with recipes, featuring other speakers during a 21 Day Raw Food Challenge.

Skai demonstrates this recipe on her DVD. First, start with washing your collards. Break off them stems. Lay them on a cutting board flat.

Roll them up tight in cigar rolls.

Cut them in thin strips. That's it! Even if you cook collards, this is the easiest way to cut them.

The recipe is:
collards
garlic
onions
sea salt
maple syrup
olive oil

Use your hands to mix the ingredients together. Put your love and energy into the food! All of this is to taste. I prefer lots of garlic, but you might enjoy less. Start with small amounts of everything, because once you put the ingredients in, you can't take them out! Let me know what you think of the greens.

Love,
Althea

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Live Collard Greens

"Thank You For My Healing"

As promised, I jumped right back on the green wagon this morning. I've only had apple and banana smoothies today. I feel clearer than I have in a long time, which is good because Jona is not feeling well. He has slept most of the day. Raymond and I have hung out watching American Idol and Food Network Challenge: Last Cake Standing. (Raymond wants to be a chef. He loves Food Network.) Right now, he is seasoning Spanish Rice (seriously).

I realized something after I posted yesterday. I'd said that I was told I wasn't using my "magic" to heal all of my many situations. I'd said I was afraid of what people would think of me. I realized that it's the raw food, Angel messages, and healing that will propel me out of my difficulties. Am I a non-conformist? Without question. But a non-conformist with good intentions for herself and her loved ones cannot walk afraid.

As a confirmation of my realization, I got an email from We Like It Raw advertising a free ebook called 279 Days to Overnight Success by Chris Guillebeau. The name of his website?
The Art of Non-Conformity. No lie. The link is here: http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/

Don't you love how the Universe works?

In conjunction with changing my diet to raw vegan, emotional healing must be present too. That, for me, has been the missing ingredient. I've read about folks who have gone raw overnight. I am not that person. Being a raw vegan means healing your body, mind, emotions, and spirit. They all work together. Three without one equals a car that can't move. I have gone back and forth between raw and cooked, and I've learned that it's okay to be honest about my struggles rather than running from them in shame. There's nothing to be ashamed about.

Today, I did some cool stuff. My Mocha Angels book is ready to be published. If anyone has three to five thousand dollars they just HAPPEN to have sitting around and would love to invest in the sure-to-be NYT bestselling Mocha Angels: 365 Days of Angelic Wisdom and Affirmations, send me an email :-). My Angels always say manifest the life that you want by proclaiming it in the now. So I created a mock cover, front and back, and put it around Friendship with God by Neale Donald Walsch.

And I created a mock cover for Sage, my second novel eight years in the making. This is how you manifest. You come into alignment with what you want. You make it real and concrete. You commit to the outcome. These books ARE best-sellers. Not "will be", but "are." Keep your affirmations in the present tense. I wrote the blurbs from Oprah for Mocha Angels, and Steve Barnes, Tananarive Due, and L.A. Banks for Sage. I wrote the ISBN number, price, bar code, everything.

And for my body, I am saying "Thank you for my healing." I've been saying it to myself all day long and will continue to do so until it's a reality.

Thank you all for reading. You all are a wonderful group of readers. Thanks for the emails and comments of support!

Love,
Althea ◦

"Thank You For My Healing"

Challenges Along The Road of Healing

Days three and four of my "internal greening" went great. I had lots of smoothies, juices, and salads.

And then I fell off the wagon. Why? My response to challenges was not terrific. Everything happened all at once. On Saturday (April 18), in short, I was to get paid to cook for someone for 10 days. At the last second, she had to reschedule. It wasn't her fault, and the gig will happen soon, but the timing was horrible.

On Sunday (April 19), on the way to a birthday party, Raymond threw up in the car. Rom had to turn around and bring him home. I was at my yoga class...that no one showed up to. That night, my sister-in-law had a seizure.

We were watching "The Great Debaters" and we heard her moaning. We ran upstairs to see Laverne in the middle of an intense 10-minute seizure. We chose not to take her to the ER for two reasons: 1) with her last seizure in November, the hospital (supposedly one of the best in Maryland) released her the same day, with no diagnosis and no help. 2) Her then doctor gave her an EKG the next day. When it came back normal, the doc turned to me and said, "These things happen" and sent us out the door. I did not expect any help on Sunday. I knew it would be more of the same. I didn't sleep well that night.

On Monday, April 20, LaVerne had another seizure at her medical day program. Me and the kids went to pick up her and Ruby. A few hours later, I took Ruby to get some blood work done. Guess what happened? The engine light in the car came on. The car nearly stopped seven times. With loads of prayer, we managed to get her blood work done, and make it to the car dealer. I had planned to take LaVerne in today (Tuesday) to her new doctor, but it looks like her scheduled appointment for Thursday will remain.

With all of this happening, plus more, I was not doing well. The pressure was (is) immense. The good news was God/Universe/Creator was on the case. The car dealer is across the street from the library. Me and Ruby waited in the library for Rom to pick us up. My favorite librarian, Cherlyn, said, "There's something here for you. "

"Is it my movie?" I asked.

She looked for it. It wasn't shelved and they hadn't called me yet. "It's right here!" She'd pulled out "You Can Heal Your Life" the DVD. Perfect. Perfect timing.

I watched the movie this morning. I'd give it five thumbs up if I had five thumbs :-). Raymond even watched parts of it with me. If you want to be inspired, here's your movie. Louise Hay talks about her life's challenges and how she came to be a spiritual teacher. Other people are interviewed, but it's the real people, the cancer survivors, who really make it special. I love seeing other people who have conquered hurdles and have come out of challenges healthier and happier. Love, love, love this movie.

I have been holding back my "magic" as one of my colleagues at Mystickal Voyage, Dr. Gwen MacGregor, keeps telling me. We all possess the "magic" which is not what it really is. It's personal power. Sometimes I think, are people going to think I'm wacky because I strive to be a raw vegan, or that I say I receive Angel messages? I've been holding back, and not putting myself out there as much as I could.

Fear is cyclical. If I put out fear (I can't...what if people think....I'm worried about....etc.), I get more of that back. And life is a reflection of what we believe.

I have not been walking fully in my spiritual truth. No wonder I have foot problems.

My life is out of balance. No wonder my right hip is torqued forward, leaving me to walk with a tiny limp.

I get scared sometimes about money. No wonder financial opportunities get choked off.

So I'm not saying I'm making radical changes in my life. I'm starting with my thinking. I'm writing all this to say there is no shame in my game. It's okay to fall off the wagon. Thankfully, my legs work fine, so I can get right back on it!

And this was the Mocha Angel message I got this morning:I trust in the Lord for all my days. Truth is my name. Magnificence is my destiny. I manifest the life that I want by proclaiming it in the NOW. Living the life of my dreams is INEVITABLE!

Life is meant to be a luscious creation of love, joy, beauty, excitement, passion, and glory. It's not meant to be hard. That's a condition we put on life. Difficulty is a man-made creation. There will always be grief and sadness, because when our loved ones die, we will grieve.

But everything else....racism, war, meanness, slavery, gossip, control-issues, terrorism, those are all man-made issues. Any belief that limits us or separates us from one another is a creation of man, not of God. We are made in the image and likeness of our Creator. That means we are Creators as well. We can create a life that is worthy of us. A life that is...loving, joyous, beautiful, exciting, passionate, and glorious......

I create a beautiful life today.

Love, The Mocha Angels

And, Love,
Althea! ◦

Challenges Along The Road of Healing

Green for a While

I can't believe it's been 10 days since I posted! I went to Atlanta to see my family, which was very much needed. My mother was nice enough to have some green smoothies in the fridge waiting for me. Me and my children had a wonderful, albeit short, time with my parents, grandma, brother, and his girlfriend.

I had said I was backing off gourmet raw food to focus on healing. My healing. My perimenopause post hit a nerve, to my surprise. I did go green before I left, meaning everything I ate was green. This isn't a juice and smoothie fast necessarily. It's a focus on healing foods like green smoothies, green juices, energy soup, wheatgrass, Rejuvelac, and simple green salads and foods.

One of my intents of this blog was to offer simple recipes that anyone could make, regardless of income or kitchen skills. In my quest to get my hormones (and life) back into balance, I am reaching back to that original intention.

Yesterday, I had lots of water (I'm not keeping track, but I have two travel water bottles and a 16 oz glass I use around the house), green smoothies made of kale, apple, frozen peaches, banana, buckwheat sprouts, and water. Yes, I know the smoothie sounds scrumptious, but believe me when I say the fruit cuts the bitterness of the kale.

In Atlanta, I'd made Buckwheat Energy Soup.

1 apple or pear or 1 cup watermelon
1 teaspoon dulse (or nori or kelp, for minerals)
1 cup rejuvelac (or water or vegetable juice)
2-3 cups buckwheat sprouts
1/2 avocado

Blend together until smooth, adding avocado last. Adjust all ingredients to taste.
I know it looks like slop, but it tasted good (not great, just good).

Today I had lots of kale salad, green smoothies, apple juice, water, and 2 green apples.

I purchased soft wheat berries today, and I can begin making my first batch of Rejuvelac. It takes about four to five days to make. I'll keep track of it and report back when the first batch is made. Until then, I'll keep posting about going green :-).

Oh! And I connected with a Mocha Moms group where I live. I am SO happy about this. I met the group for the first time today. It turns out one of my yoga students is a member (I had no idea). This is REALLY good news for me. My children had a wonderful time, and I met some lovely women. I've been a member of Mocha Moms for almost seven years, but since I moved from the metro DC area, I haven't seen most of them in three years. (I'm not going anywhere Monica!) But I am THRILLED to have like-minded women near my home.

Love,
Althea ◦

Green for a While

Strawberry Cheesecake and Fudge

Strawberry Cheesecake

I keep saying it's as good as it looks, so here is the recipe. This is a rich, heavy dessert. It's not something you eat everyday. But if you want to impress yourself or your friends with your raw food skills, here the recipe for you!

Strawberry Cheesecake
Crust
2 cups almonds
1 cup raisins

Blend in food processor using “S” blade until fine and sticking together.

Filling
4 cups of cashews soaked for 1-3 hours if not using a Vitamix or Blen-tec blender
1 large lemon juiced
8 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ cup water

Blend together in food processor using “S” blade. Add the water slowly. Add more if needed, but you want a thick filling that will hold when you cut it. Pour into pie plate. Chill for 3-5 hours.

Strawberry Sauce
2 cups strawberries
2 tablespoons raw honey or agave nectar
Blend together in food processor using “S” blade.

I used this picture last week, but I had to show it again :-).

Milk Chocolate Fudge

This luscious concoction is from www.rawfoodart.com, created by Shelley Abegg. People taste with their eyes first. Looking at her site just makes your mouth water. You can buy this recipe for .99 cents, so I will send you all to her website in order to support her. Enjoy!

And since you read this far, here's a free gift: FREE raw food recipes from Kaia Foods. I saw this on We Like It Raw, and I'd like to share it with you all. Just click on the link:

http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/2009/03/32-simple-recipes-to-kick-start-your-raw-food-journey.html. Just sign up for Kaia Foods newsletter and you will receive the booklet.

Love,

Althea

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Strawberry Cheesecake and Fudge