Goodbye to Vegan Mocha Angel

The way I eat is so simple these days: beans, rice, vegetables, fruit, smoothies. I've settled into a routine that works. It's time to say goodbye to The Vegan Mocha Angel after nearly 12 years. Thank you for sticking around all these years reading my stuff. I appreciate all of you for the comments and emails and encouragement over the past decade.

I started a new blog on Wordpress called Ms. Mocha Angel: The Holistic Storyteller. 
Daily: I write inspirational Mocha Angel messages.
Holistic Saturdays: I share vegetarian/vegan recipes, yoga tips, book reviews, and more.

www.mochangels.com

Instagram: @msmochaangel
email: mochaangels@aol.com

Thank you!

Love,

Althea

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Goodbye to Vegan Mocha Angel

Peanut Butter Smoothie

If you want a smoothie with more than just fruit/water/leafy greens, try this Peanut Butter Smoothie. The peanut butter and hemp seeds are protein sources, which keep you feeling full longer than a fruit smoothie. At over 400 calories, yes, it could be a meal replacement..

I did add spinach into mine, but the greens are totally optional. Taste your smoothie without the greens first and see how you like it.

Peanut Butter Smoothie
- 3 frozen bananas
- 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon agave
- 2 cups unsweetened plain almond milk
-  a few dashes of powdered cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon hemp seeds (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, if you use plain almond milk. Not necessary if you use
vanilla non-dairy milk)
- 2 cups leafy greens (optional)

Blend!

For the frozen bananas, there's two options:
1. Peel and slice ripe bananas, then put them in the freezer inside freezer safe plastic baggies.
2. Put ripe bananas in the freezer. Run them under hot water to peel the skins. Break bananas in half. Then put inside your blender.

And if you're having chocolate cravings, add 2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Then you've got a "Reese's Cup Smoothie."

Coming soon: Peanut Butter Smoothie's crazy rich cousin: Tahini Smoothie. :-)


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Peanut Butter Smoothie

Clementine Smoothie

Hi Everyone!

Here's a simple green smoothie for the holidays.
- 4 clementines
- 1 banana
- 2 tablespoons ginger
- 1 celery stalk
- 2 cups raw collard greens
- 1 teaspoon hemp oil
- water

Blend!

You can always add more of any fruit or greens, or even use another leafy green. If it's not sweet enough for you, add 1/2 of a peeled lemon and/or 1/2 cup pineapple chunks (the canned pineapple in its juice, not canned pineapple bathed in syrup). To replace hemp oil, use chia seeds, flax seeds, or coconut oil.

Let me know what you think.

Love,
Althea ◦

Clementine Smoothie

I love and approve of myself video

I apologize to my email subscribers. For some reason, the video didn't come through the RSS feed.
The video is on my blog. The direct link is:
http://theveganmochaangel.blogspot.com/2018/11/i-love-and-approve-of-myself.html

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I love and approve of myself video

I Love and Approve of Myself

Saying "I love and approve of myself" in the mirror is one of the hardest things I have ever done. I have been doing this for years. I've been more serious about it for the past six months. Some days I believe it. Some days, I'm like, ::eye-roll:: "whatever."

Why am I bringing this up? And why is self-love the cornerstone of my belief system? Because what we think of ourselves becomes the truth for us.

From You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay:
Some of the ways we don't love ourselves:
- We scold and criticize ourselves
- We mistreat our bodies with food, alcohol, and drugs
- We choose to believe we are unlovable
- We are afraid to charge a decent price for our services
- We procrastinate on things that would benefit us
- We live in chaos and disorder
- We create debt and burdens
- We attract lovers and mates who belittle us

If we deny our good in anyway, it is an act of not loving ourselves.

The clip below is less than three minutes long. It's Louise explaining the power of  saying, "I love and approve of myself." If it resonates with you, let me know.



Love,
Althea ◦

I Love and Approve of Myself

Why Can't I Eat Whatever I Want?

The not so long answer:

Again, you can absolutely eat whatever you want. You have free will. You may be one of lucky people who can do that and live to be 105 years old. I read about a brother who was over 100 and his secret to long life was drinking Jack Daniels everyday.

Good for him, I say.

For the rest of us, even those blessed with the genetics of longevity, pay a heavy price for eating whatever we want. In my family, it's been soul food. I have watched my relatives die from Alzheimer's, diabetes, obesity, and every cancer you can name.

If you're a subscriber to my blog, then you are already interested in health. You already know that food has the power to slowly kill, as well as the power to quickly heal the body. And that is why, if you want to live your best life, then eating whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, is not the best choice.

Please know that you are not alone. It may seem that everyone else can eat what they want. That's not the case. I hear people's emotional battles with food almost everyday on my job, and in the emails from you all.

Eat what makes your body, mind, and spirit perform at optimal levels. And seek therapy if the emotional struggle is too much to handle alone.

Health is holistic. It's:
-good relationships with family and friends
-feeling good about your work
-restful sleep
-spiritual connection
-purpose
-living in alignment with your values
-lots of love, especially for yourself.

Focus on all of those things, rather than just the food you're eating.

Love,
Althea ◦

Why Can't I Eat Whatever I Want?

Food Changes: Keeping it Real

I got an email from someone who said. "Are you serious? That's not even enough food for me! (She's petite and weighs a buck fifty.) Are you really doing this?"

Yes and Yes.

Keeping it all the way real.....What's been the hardest part?

Cutting calories. Yikes. I had increased my calories originally because I was still hungry. My challenge was, well, challenging. I wanted to eat in a way that:
- doesn't leave me hungry
- doesn't leave me tired
- is not expensive
- doesn't have me in the kitchen three hours a day
- doesn't have me running to the grocery store every other day
- doesn't leave me bloated or constipated
- is vegetarian
- encourages weight loss
- is high in fiber
- doesn't trigger food sensitivities (like grains)
- has little, if any, processed food

Those are real challenges for a lot of people.

That sounds like raw food. The challenge with raw food is eating enough food to meet your caloric requirements. It also left me bloated and uncomfortable. Only two of my meals have cooked food in them. The rest of my day, including snacks are all raw vegan.

Rainbow Eating is as close as I've ever come to eating in a way that works for me. Although I've had:

Insane SALT cravings. I've spent my adult life battling chocolate cravings. Once I started the food plan I also started taking calcium supplements three times a day. Years ago, on a vegan mailing list, I read a suggestion from Elaine Rice-Fells to take calcium for chocolate cravings. I began eating calcium rich foods like sesame seeds. The cravings went away, but I didn't stick to the plan. Fast forward to now, I remembered what Elaine said. It's easier to take Calcium Magnesium Citrate supplements. Damn if it didn't work. Chocolate is a non-issue now.

Chocolate got replaced by salt. All I crave is chips and actual sea salt. I took it as a sign of mineral deficiency which is why I ordered Ancient Minerals from Body Ecology. And that's not an advertisement. I haven't taken them yet, so I don't know if they work. I'm just a fan of the philosophy of Body Ecology, which is a healthy and balanced inner ecology, especially the large intestine. (https://bodyecology.com/body-ecology-overview)

The Upside

- ZERO PMS. I mean 000000. Nothing. Nada. No chocolate cravings. No mood swings. No nothing. And that is a ginormous big deal.
- No cramping during my menstrual cycle. Again, huge plus.
- Evenness in my mood.

Next time: My long answer to the question: "How come I can't just eat whatever I want?"
My short answer: "You grown. You can eat whatever you want. You do you."
My long answer: "Well............."

Love,
Althea
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Food Changes: Keeping it Real