How Are You Spending the International Day of Peace?

Hurray!  The weekend is finally here (and it couldn't come soon enough!).  What a beautiful morning we have here in North Carolina.  This is my favorite time of year when it is still really warm in the day but the mornings are perfect for sitting out on the porch. I love it so much that I almost forget I'm really a Californian!  I will say that a bright morning like this was often rare on the beaches of SoCal - normally it takes a few hours for the marine layer to burn off.
To start the day, I enjoyed a little morning Vitamin D session on the screened porch with one of my favorite green juice (celery, cucumber, green apple, and spinach) and my lazy cat, Audrey. :-).  With the UN International Day of Peace happening this weekend there are a ton of celebrations going on.  I will be attending one in Cary, NC but if I had my druthers I would be at the California Roots & Shoots Peace Festival in Santa Monica. Enjoy your Peace Day!

Juicing for the Homeless

How cool is it that on September 5th three hundred homeless men, women and children in downtown Los Angeles got to take in a glass of wonderful, fresh organic vegetable juice? The man who made the morning a little brighter for these folks is Q-Mars Imandel who started the very first 100% completely transparent non-profit dedicated to putting together projects that directly benefit and enhance communities and the environment.  The organization is called The G.I.V.E Project and this was their very first event. On the GIVE website Q keeps a running tally of contributions and expenses so you can see right where your donations are going.  You can even suggest a project for them to consider!!

In the City of Angels, almost a quarter million people experience homelessness during some part of the year and 82,000 people are homeless on any given night.  Undoubtedly quality nutrition, much less freshly squeezed juice, is difficult to come by.  If you want to see how everyone liked the juice go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve1sfO4sNEI

This makes me so proud to be a Californian!!

2nd Annual International Juice Feasting Day

I was going to blog about a great article I read on inflammation but then I realized that Sepember 12th is the 2nd Annual International Juice Feasting Day!  I've been contact this past week by a couple of people interested in juice feasting and/or juice cleansing.  In fact I had just posted a juicing  "Question of the Week" on my website (http://www.rawkstarlivingfoods.com/) and then realized that the auspicious celebration was on the horizon.  So with that, I thought I would duplicate my efforts here.  If you want to participate in a "donation only" web conference with the founders of International Juice Feasting Day go to their website: http://www.dayofjuicefeasting.com/dojf/Welcome.html



Q: Can you recommend a juice cleanse?
 (submitted from Raleigh, NC)

A: KINDA- the extent of my juice cleansing has been limited to doing a day or two here and there (normally after I have consumed too much cooked food - like after a vacation). The length of a cleanse varies with most people doing a 7 day. However, some people such as Philip McCluskey (http://www.welikeitraw.com/) completely transformed himself with a 100-day juice fast - or "juice feast" as it has been renamed.. Proponents of juice fasting feel that giving the body a break from solid foods can:

• regulate the colon
• balance the pH of the body (in essence returning the body to an alkaline state)
• reduce the cravings for sugar, caffeinne and other stimulants
• clean the blood, organs, tissues, and cellular structures of the body
• increase energy levels
• restore liver functioning by reducing toxic load
• increase mental clarity and sense of wellbeing

 Juice feasting doesn't mean starvation. Your body will be feed with copious amounts of green and fruit juices. I do know a number of people that have done juice cleansing following the protocols in the book Raw Food Cleanse with good success. For anyone starting a juice cleanse, try to find a good time to start. Choose a time where you will be at home, not too busy, no temptations, and no horrific strenuous tasks. Depending on how long your juice feast is, give yourself time to adjust before swinging back into your busy life. Take it easy and really try to enjoy the feeling of letting your digestive system have a little break from all the work it does. Let your brain be free of the need to think and worry about food. Encourage yourself to concentrate on the healing powers of the juice.

 Below are a few recipes you will normally see with a juice feast. Good luck with your endeavor!!

Vegetable Super Juice

Ingredients:
1 whole cucumber
1 sticks of celery
 2-4 handfuls of spinach
 8 lettuce leaves
Optional boosters: parsley and fresh alfalfa sprouts
Water

Healing Juice

 Ingredients:
3-4 Carrots
2 Handfuls Fresh Spinach
Handful of Flat Leaf Parsley
2-3 Sticks of Celery
Water

Blood Builder (Iron-enriched)

 Ingredients:
2 bunches Grapes
6 Oranges
8 Lemons peeled
1/4 cup Honey
Water

Ginger/Lemon Cleanse

Ingredients:
1-inch slice Fresh Ginger Root
1 Fresh Lemon
6 Carrots with tops
Apple
Water

Stomach Cleanser

Ingredients:
1 bunch Grapes
1 basket Strawberries
3 Apples
4 sprigs Fresh Mint
Water

Constipation Cure

Ingredients:
1 firm Papaya
1/4-inch slice Ginger Root
1 Pear
Water

Skin Cleanse

Ingredients:
1 Cucumber with skin
1/2 bunch Fresh Parsley
1 4-oz. tub Alfalfa Sprouts
4 Sprigs Fresh Mint
Water

International Green Smoothie Day!

In case you missed it, August 15th was International Green Smoothie Day. I think Hallmark is really doing the Raw Food Community a disservice by not creating a card to commorate the grand event.  So, here was my celebratory glass of green............ This is one of my favorite blends:

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

1/2 cucumber

1/4 red cabbage

All of that juiced up and then blended in the Vitamix with

a couple of handfuls of

spinach

DELICIOUS!