Post-Juice Feast Thoughts

Chef Skai's Raw Corn Chili!

A lot has been happening lately. I've been reflective since I ended my fast on April 13th. I think I had a post-juice feast letdown. I had started eating chocolate again, and I was so happy to have found Emotional Freedom Technique . I haven't had chocolate since that post and I do not miss it. True story...my hand to God. To go from a raving chocoholic to not craving chocolate at all is, in my book, a miracle.

I felt like something was missing in my life. One of those things was the JUICE! I started having one juice per day. Below is Oooh Carrots! It's carrots-apple-lemon-ginger juice. I call it "Oooh Carrots" because when you drink it, you go "oooh, this is good!" The lemon gives it a sweetness that you don't expect.


I've been reflecting on where I want to go with my raw food. I know I want to help other moms get their grooves back. As long I am a homeshooling mother, I need all the energy I can find. Raw food is the only that does that for me. I got my certification from Alive and Raw, and I am thrilled about that. I want to be a raw food "chef" (is that the right word?), lecturer, and coach.

I had an interesting experience last Tuesday. You all know I do intuitive readings for a living. Last Tuesday, one of my clients started reading me. She was feeling my reading of her, but she kept interrupting to tell me what she was getting about me. "Natalie" apologized as she interrupted me. Her reading started with me saying that she was highly intuitive, and "Why are you getting a reading? You got skills!" I told her that she was a hospice nurse, which is what she did in a past life, but that is was time to transition to a holistic nurse and work in the wellness field. She confirmed that she is a hospice nurse and was ready to move into the wellness field.

Well, okay.

She knew she was psychic but didn't know what to do with it. And then, the roof blew off the room. Natalie started reading me. "You are going to be speaking all over the world."

Huh? Says me.

She was so insistent about it. And this was the second time someone told me that. At an intuition class I taught last year, a student swore I'd be speaking internationally. He, again, was insistent.

So back to Natalie. She points to my closed laptop. "What's in there?" she asked.
I said, "The novel I am working on."

"That's hot. That's what you need to be focused on. That is super hot. I don't know what it's about but that book is going to be hot."

Okay. Sounds good to me.

I'm trying to complete her reading, when she says, "You like Oprah don't you?" "I love Oprah," I said. "You're going to be sitting on stage with her," Natalie says. Then she adds, "Where do you get your information from (as in, when I do readings, who am I asking)? "God and the Angels," I said. "The book you wrote about angels is what is going to put you on Oprah's couch," Natalie says.

She didn't know anything about my Mocha Angels book. It's completed and ready for publication. And Oprah is into angels like I am.

There was a lot that happened that night. Natalie and I were together for an hour. I felt like some of my deepest thoughts got confirmed. As far as speaking internationally, anything is possible and I'm open to it. I was thinking about doing raw prep videos on YouTube, which is an international forum. So we'll see!

And I've been working on fear. I've had a lot of unfounded fears in my life, which has translated into some hurt feelings amongst my friends. I'm atoning for my wrongdoings and moving forward with my life. I know when I've been scared, I do not speak up for fear of what the other person may think. Well, since I kept my mouth shut, I've come off as ungrateful or rude. I'm definitely ready to create a new reality based on faith and gratitude.


And I forgot to mention all this food! The first photo is Chef Skai's Raw Corn Chili. Skai is a friend of mine and the owner of The Yabba Pot in Baltimore. That recipe is in her Kwanzaa karamu cookbook. I'd had the chili at one of the raw food challenges and loved it. I made it yesterday and it was YUMMY and SPICY!

And the photo above is of cashew nori rolls and kale salad. I am hooked on those cashew burgers from Fresh: The Ultimate Live Food Cookbook by Sergei and Valya Boutenko. I take the "burger" and wrap it in nori. I haven't made anything else in that book, but if everything is as good as those darned cashew burgers, then it is the ultimate live food cookbook...for real.

And lastly, I was feeling a wee bit down when I didn't win the Creative Health Institute Home Study Program.
And then I looked at all the books on top of my refrigerator and realized, I've got a home study program all ready. I took pictures of all my books and DVDs. This doesn't include books I've gotten from the library and all the stuff I've printed off the Internet.

And more...
And more!

And one more!

I think I got it covered. ;-)

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Althea

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Post-Juice Feast Thoughts

Breakfast of Champions

I'm sorry the picture is a little fuzzy. This was my breakfast two days ago. Below was my breakfast yesterday. Above are nori rolls. Inside them are cauliflower and carrots and avocados. I chopped the cauliflower and carrots in my food processor. It's a really simple breakfast. This is carrot tuna and kale salad. The carrot tuna is not all raw. It's carrot pulp from juiced carrots. Then I mixed it with Veganaise and sweet relish. It's easy, quick, and simple!

Just showing you that breakfast can be more than fruit if you are raw!

Love,

Althea

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Breakfast of Champions

I Got an Honorable Mention

I applied to win the Ann Wigmore Raw Food Home Study Course 2.0. I didn't win, but I did get an honorable mention. And what was funny was that I posted on the CHI (Creative Health Institute) blog on April 30th, that afternoon, and my post didn't go through for some reason. I typed it again after my yoga class and it went through.

A lot of what I said is in my April 30th blog post. But since Jim didn't know about my history with my relatives, I said:
"I ended a 2-week juice and smoothie fast on April 13. I did it to heal some stress and emotional trauma within me as a result of caretaking relatives who are mentally disabled. Aside from being a wife and mom to two young children, I am my relatives’ primary caregiver. There have been times that I felt like I was dying. The stress and anguish and pressure are, at times, too much. Raw food has been the only thing that truly makes me feel alive. I have also suffered from hormonal imbalances since I was eleven (heavy periods, cramps, post-partum depression, and early peri-menopause).
I love and respect Ann Wigmore for being the God-mother and Grandmother of the American raw vegan food movement. I would absolutely love to win the study course to help heal myself, my family, and others."

Jim said about the Honorable Mentions: These folks need to be recognized, they too have stories of triumph in the face of adversity.

Wow. This is so inspiring for me. You know how things just start falling into place when you are on a new path? The Universe is giving you the "thumbs up." Wow.

And please go to: http://www.chidiet.com/blog/. Watch Tanisha Marshall's inspiring interview there. Her blog is http://raw.tanishamarshall.com/.

Love,
Althea ◦

I Got an Honorable Mention

Emotional Freedom Technique

On May 2nd, I had:

water

apple-broccoli-lemon juice

carrot tuna and kale salad

cashew burgers w/collards

apple-banana smoothie

Hershey bar (I'll explain this in a second)

On May 3rd, I had:

water

orange-banana-kale-parsley smoothie

veggie wrap from Subway

2 apples

2 bananas

1 orange

chickpea salad

On May 4th, I had:

water

3 bananas

handful of almonds

cashew burger

kale salad

apple-broccoli-lemon juice

apple-carrot-beet juice

1 orange

On May 5th, I had:

water

oatmeal (soaked for 30 minutes) w/ raisins, bananas, apples, cinnamon, and maple syrup

orange-banana-collard smoothie

1 chocolate chip cookie

1 apple

cashew nori wrap w/ cucumber & lettuce salad

kale salad

If you are suffering from ANY kind of emotional or physical pain, run, don't walk to http://www.emofree.com/. Download the free EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) manual. Ya'll know I am not selling anything. I am not an EFT practitioner nor an affiliate. I tried the tapping techniques for the first time on Friday, and I am a believer. The philosophy in a sentence, is that all negative emotions are a result of a disruption in the energy field.

Since I am trained in energy healing (Healing Touch) and a practicing intuitive (All we do is read the energy field. If there were no energy field in and around the human body, there would be nothing for me to read or pick up on), I knew there was something to EFT. EFT works on the body's meridians.

You all know that I (was) a raging chocoholic. The fast did help the cravings, then I started eating cooked food, then, crash, off the wagon I went.

I read the first half of the manual. I did the Basic Tapping Recipe. The first two emotional issues I tackled were my relatives I care for and my chocolate cravings. My reaction to my relatives was definitely different. If 10 is stark raving anger and 0 is no reaction at all, I was about a 6 when I started tapping. I was a 3 afterward. I will continue to tap until my emotional reaction is a zero.

But the CHOCOLATE. Holy Cow!!! The cravings went away INSTANTLY. I could not believe it.

I even went to the store to get a candy bar (it was buy one get one free). I sat in my car eating that thing and I felt terrible. Not guilty; not at all. I mean I had a unpleasant physical reaction to the chocolate. It tasted terrible. I felt my vibration lower. It was like YUCK. That photo above is of the second bar. I bought them on Friday, today is Monday. I do not want it. And this is NOT willpower. Heck, if it was willpower, I'd be sweating and anxious. No, none of it. It is not appealing to me. And yesterday, I baked chocolate chip cookies for the Yabba Pot. I tasted one. It was fine. No urge to eat any more. And I didn't eat the chocolate chips right out of the bag like I used to. NOTHING. I feel so free of that addiction!

And now it's Tuesday (I typed the above part of the blog at the library last night. Now I am at home) Apparently my husband got into the leftover bag of chocolate chips because it was open. I put the chips in Tupperware without incident. I didn't eat any. The chips were as appealing to me as a piece of ham.

Before my recent juice fast, the longest I'd gone without chocolate was 3 days, and was during a 3 day fast in 1998. I was sweating bullets. While on this most recent fast between March 31-April 13, I did lose the desire for chocolate. Since raw food can clear up a lot of issues without much effort, perhaps what it's really doing is clearing the body's energy centers too.

My mom told me I should frame that Hershey Bar. I can't find the receipt, which would make it more powerful. The expiration date is February 2009. When it's been framed for a few years, people will know I'm telling the truth. Go download that EFT manual and see how the technique works for you.

Love,

Althea

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Emotional Freedom Technique

A Festival of Chickpeas

Okay, I am back on my wagon. This weekend, I experimented with chickpeas. The bowl of chickpea salad was my only successful turnout. The chickpea fritters are from The Daily Raw Cafe. Click on the name to get the recipe. I left out the mint and red bell peppers only because I didn't have any. They are falafel-like, but not quite. They kind of tasted like Alissa Cohen's "Chicken Fingers" in her book Living On Live Food. In a salad, they worked great.

This is a photo of sprouted chickpeas. How to sprout chickpeas is here, at the Daily Raw Cafe. I sprouted two sets of chickpeas. I placed a cup and a half in a sprouting jar and followed Terrilynn's explanations to the letter. Perfect turnout. I also sprouted what I had left in the bag in a colander. I had read about people sprouting in bowls, so I tried it. I soaked a cup of chickpeas in a huge Tupperware bowl overnight. Again, following Terrilynn's instructions, I rinsed them 4 times a day, but left them in a colander. They sprouted exactly the same way as the ones in the sprouting jar. So, no, you do not need a sprouting jar. My logic was that the chickpeas need to breathe, including the ones on the bottom, which is why I used a colander. I put the Tupperware bowl underneath after rinsing just long enough to catch the water, then I left the colander on the counter. Easy and breezy. Rinse 4 times a day and they were done 24 hours after they were done soaking.

So I tried to recreate my favorite cooked vegan recipe, and I failed miserably. I'm not upset. The Wright Brothers failed a lot trying to build an airplane, so I'm okay with it all. The cooked version is canned or separately cooked dried chickpeas, sauteed garlic & onions, dried rosemary, tomatoes, and red chili pepper flakes. Heat it all together and serve with cooked spinach and rice. Top with Aaoli, which is mayonnaise and garlic mixed together. To "veganize it" I used Veganaise instead of mayonnaise. That recipe was so fantastic. I miss it terribly. In above photo is the sprouted chickpeas, garlic, onion, tomatoes, fresh rosemary, and red chili flakes. I put it in the oven at 170 degrees trying to soften the chickpeas. (I really did not know what I was doing.) They were still crunchy. I wanted soft.

I put them in lettuce and topped with aaoli. Kind of ick. Okay, but not great. Arrrgh. But I tried. Then I put the chickpeas in the food processor to soften them. Double ick. So the good news is that I will try again, and I did get a great chickpea salad out of the whole weekend.

And what were my kids doing this whole time? Watching Thomas the Tank Engine. They didn't have much interest in chickpeas, but they do love cookies. Next up: EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), Hershey Bars, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Raw Emotions, and what I've been eating!

love,

Althea

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A Festival of Chickpeas