"Go Fruit Yourself" ~ Yes it is all change for me!

I am LOVE-ing the title of this post - thank you Freelee Banana Girl for coining the phrase for us all to share!

This has come at last, the realisation that not all has been a happy ship for me this last year or so, and I am rejoicing that I am finally coming to realise that calorie restriction and eating high fat foods to boost the restricted calories just HAS NOT worked end of.

I have had a HUGE amount of support and encouragement from dear friends Nichola Fruityroots Sherlock, Em Smedley, Lynn Bunny Paws and all the beautiful Goddesses in the group Raw Till 4 on Facebook since I began this NEW chapter of life and living all things fruity - thank you so much ladies, I know my hand and heart will reach out to you often as the journey continues.

In my life quest to be the best I can be at 46 years in this mortal body, I have tried so hard with raw and living foods, giving my whole being to sharing the love of foods that are 'better' than all the cooked and fake foods we are deluged with on a minute by minute basis.  I was just not resonating with the facts that fruit is Queen of all the foods and as such she ought to be our first and foremost food source, not a tiny end thought as I have been doing for over 18 months, being led to think that fruit was going to stop me releasing weight and stop me healing my body!
NOTHING I have done has brought me the results I sought, no matter how hard I 'tried'  the only thing that did work was juice fasting, but that cannot be sustained by myself, with deep seated ED and a love of actually chewing yummy foods - I wonder who out there feels the same?  Yeah, sure, if I went on a swanky retreat and paid $£$£$£$ for a month somewhere nice and sunny and was fed fresh green juice every day, I would LOVE that, sadly this is not reality, being a little frugal faery.

So, it is with GLEE that I embark on the HCLFRV way of being (High Carb Low Fat Raw Vegan).

Now, at this stage I have been transitioning into eating more fruit, steadily for just 2 weeks now, aiming to increase the amount my shrunken, malnourished stomach can cope with as the weeks go by.  At this stage I am not 100% Raw, it is bloody cold here in the UK and potatoes are SO lush AND part of the Raw Till 4 meal plans - the main rule is we are RAW till 4pm so it is all about the FRUIT, some greens if we want them, either all blended into smoothies, or enjoyed as mono meals - all the papaya you can eat if you like!
After 4pm we can either stay Raw, or, as I am at the moment, have a cooked carb meal - aiming for about 1kg in total - I am not there yet - that is a mean feat for me to eat!  I get in about 700g of mixed veggies, slowly increasing it so it is always a mix of veggies to even up the taste etc.

I have just ordered a CrockPot slow cooker to make winter cooking a breeze - this will arrive either tomorrow or Monday!  I have to add in here, that we have NO COOKER in our house, so reliant on a camping stove for warm meals - the slow cooker will make this so much easier to create warming stews, casseroles and curries without going outside in the freezing cold and hoping the wind doesn't blow out the gas whilst you are having a pee!!

We chose not to buy another oven when we moved into this cottage - it would have gotten used far too much - and our desire is to be as raw as we can be - so, the freezer sits in its place, with our EVA water filter system on top, next to our SWAN tea urn which is on constant brew with Chaga tea.

Today for me is Day 5 of the RT4 plan and it is the 1st day of not eating any salt or added oils as fats in my cooked dinner - this is HUGE for me and has been the toughest change so far.  I am hoping that in a couple more days I will wonder why I ever added them in the first place, as my taste buds return to full function.

What does a typical day for me look like?  Well, this is an example of where I am at just now, with changes to come.

I wake up and drink as much water as I can before having some Chaga Tea
around 9am I have my first banana and mixed fruit smoothie - making about 44oz - which is all I can manage to eat at the moment.

I drink tea through the day.

sometimes I will make another smoothie or eat some fruit, just one kind, as much as I like.

Afternoon I make another 44oz smoothie, adding in some greens this time.

Dinner is currently either steamed quinoa with spices and herbs plus some form of veggies OR a huge plate of potatoes and veggies - I am aiming for more stews as soon as the CrocPot arrives!

In all my carbed up calorie intake is coming in around 2000 each day - working on getting it up to 2500 minimum to be able to re-set all the damage my body has been loaded with, and then the weight will release far more easily.

I am exercising each day too, with 2 brisk dog walks of 45 - 60 minutes each and I work on the CrazyFit vibration machine 2-3 times a day too - I hope this will bring about more fitness and more healing.

More to come soon xxx

Love and Faery Dust
Peace xxx

It's All About Chocolate…RAW That is!

Hey, we are in November now and I am shunning all the rubbish that is Movember Madness - we all know that the hairy-wash surrounding any cancer charity work is just bullshit - don't we???  Well, if you didn't then please do some digging to find out the truth.

Right, so, what is this chocolate thing all about?  I seem to be inundated with orders and craftings of the raw cacao variety right now and that is making for some mind bending adventures for sure, and a happy cacao faery am I.

I have always LOVED working with raw cacao, both in ceremony and for fun especially as this little sacred bean was responsible for me taking to the whole raw journey 3 years ago, so I have much to be thankful for.

These days I am truly blessed to be sharing the how to of crafting raw chocolate and to still be seeking to learn and improve my own way of making cacao look and taste amazing along the way.

I have even made a little venture into writing an e-book of Alchemical Elixirs - published and awaiting your calling, which contains my love of both the liquid form of magical foods and of course venturing into chocolate and Cakery!

I actually feel we live on cacao and greens a lot of the time, most days we share a lovely chaga and cacao hot chocolate for a meal and nibble on some goodies when we feel peckish - is that terribly bohemian?  Oh GOODY

As I am writing this, whilst the mac is working rather slowly today, I am wondering if it will indeed be saved and sent as there are error messages coming up every few minutes…oh the joy of technology eh!

In our little thatched nest, deep in rural idyl, we are enjoying the crisp sunny days walking the fields, Autumn dog and I, occasionally tripping over wild mushrooms (yes those kind too) which I bring back for our neighbour to enjoy - I admire the abundance of a good start to the winter - lots of yummy wild greens still looking good enough to juice - and the wild mallow is in full leaf meaning I know where to pop and forage a root or two next spring to transplant into the garden.

I ponder how to make my Blog all sexy like a lot of the blogs I see, full of lovely pictures and recipes - I am a bit daffy when it comes down to making stuff on the pc look nice - still my sentiments are there.
I will take time in the coming instalments, to write down some recipes, take a pic or two and throw them on here to see what happens.  Will that do you?  Argh…

Oh I do like a good old ramble, writing down any old thought as it comes into my head, free from worry about boring folk stupid - sharing my free flowing cacao fuelled love as I go - I am sure some of you will 'get it'.

I have been a bit lax juicing for the last couple of days - just been in the other space of eating loads of quinoa, milky shakes (nuts of course, not nasty cow juice) and generally no time to make juice - been making a great deal for orders too so this takes up my juicing time.  Still, all is good and balanced and I am feeling in good order mostly.  Life is for fun and freedom after all, not dogmatic discipline.
One thing I am really thankful for are my supplements, all of them from Touchstone Essentials and the zeolites are amazing - having big things happen on a small scale, and I know that makes sense some how.
I feel lots of brain work is being thankful of the cacao and quinoa feasting - we are in process of forming a housing co-op and writing a book, nutritional therapy training homework and other interesting gubbins happening, so, juice aside, we are healing our bodies on a high vibrational matrix of love, forming an awesome future for ourselves (you know who you are) and enabling much space creation for assisting many folks shift out of their physical, emotional and energetic bodies crap loads - I am totally committed to feeling awesome and assisting others to feel this way to, no matter what circumstances may be presenting themselves real or imagined! We are more than our bullshit, so there!


Watch out for recipes coming up soon, until then, keep warm, enjoy breathing the air, grounding on the earth and opening your hearts to the one emotion that matters above all else - LOVE

New look to my blog and new content direction - sharing MY journey with you - warning, may not always be pretty!

Hello there!  Well, over a year since I last wrote anything here - all I can say is that life has taken me all over the place and it was not in my orbit to blog for such a long time.
I am a bit rubbish when if comes to venturing off FaceBook for posting what is happening in the life of this little raw faery and for that I am deeply deeply, well, not apologetic, just busy!
However, thanks to my FB friend Sarah (you will know who you are if you read this, fellow blogger)  I have come back to the fold as it were and here is, I hope, the first of many NEW vibrational blog entries, taking me away from FB land a little in favour of the land of the Blog.

What I wish to share with you here, and I may not be very technical mind, is just what is going on in my world of living foods and focussing on the healing aspect of raw.

For the last year I have spent in what I feel is purgatory - in the Welsh wilderness of wet land, damp, cold and darn right not good for my body-ness - I kind of went into a bit of depression as I felt trapped on the side of the hillside, with debilitating knee issues meaning I could not get the exercise and fresh air my body so deeply needed.  When we made the choice to return to our home place of Northamptonshire I was so very very happy!  We landed another pretty postcard cottage to rent, thatched in a very unique way and a nice sized garden, lovely neighbours and rolling nature all around us. Perfect, for now!  More of that in a follow up post.

So, it is my mission now to get my fitness and health back on track, and I share this with you here - in all the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly details.
I will not hold back, I promise you, for I wish it to be as real and authentic as it feels for ME - then, you, the reader, may find some similarities in your own journey perhaps and gain insight as to what moves to shake next?

I have been through it I can tell you, still am, yet I never stay knocked out for long and always keep focussed on the positive long term outcome of this merry dance with healing I am jigging to.

I  love life and all it has to share with us and this involves eating a rather good amount of raw cake and chocolate - so, please do pour yourself a cuppa herbal yumminess and let us settle down to some serious back to nature stuff - basics and beyond here we come.

Chef available

I'm offering to be of service to you if you need help starting or maintaining your raw food lifestyle 
~ if you need a chef to cater for your small events or dinner parties 
~ one to one online/telephone consultations to assist you in finding your way with living foods 
~ if you need extra help in the kitchen at your raw food restaurant/cafe or retreat center. 


I have two years practical experience preparing many raw meals, from juice therapy to gourmet meals, buffets and special events. 
Currently I am nearing the end of a 3 month juice feast and will be a fully certified juice therapy coach. 


In April I will graduate from the Pure Joy Culinary Academy under the tutorship of Elaina Love and Chris Whitcoe 


I have also gained much from completing the Raw Nutrition Course with David 'Avocado' Wolfe. 


I am looking forward to travelling the UK this year to be of further service and continue to share the love and benefits of a living food lifestyle. 
I have a passion for raw chocolate and dessert creations. 
My main desire is to work with people interested and engaged in providing amazing health and healing services through simple fresh live menu creation. 


May the Joy continue 


Dawn    

The Juice Feast Journey ~ Day 31

Hurrah!  I have made it through a whole 30 days of the juice feast, and wanted to give you a little update on how it has gone so far.


I am so happy to have gotten so far with this and not had too rough a ride really.  Times have been challenging but nothing I did not foresee.  I found the first 2 weeks the easiest to be honest and the last 2 weeks to be the most interesting!  I have never been hungry at all, but have craved chewing really badly.  


The last week has been the toughest to date as I have hit the emotional detox phase plus the healing has begun on old traumas and illness's.
For the last 5 days I have had really bad back pain, neck pain, nausea and headaches...all centering from the endocrine system of imbalances.  


Thankfully I seem to be through the worst of this now and today I feel human again!  I can now fully engage in the feast without the need to have any portions of food to eat ~ During the worst of the days I had to eat some root vegetables to slow down the healing and detoxing process or I think I would have just stayed in bed and not done anything!


So, yes, a little deviation from full on feasting, but, I remained juicing apart from the root vegetables.


The next 30 days will be going even deeper into the healing process and I am eager to see what happens next.


I'm going to be adding recipes each week from now on...all juice recipes...to encourage you to experiment with your own juicy journey. So, head on over to the Recipe Page to see the first one.


Thank you all for keeping me company ~ it is comforting to know this is not a lone journey


love and peace
Dawn xxx

90 Day Juice Feast

Okay, I must start as I mean to go on as we jump exuberantly into 2012 ~ to do this I have begun a 90 Day Juice Feast!

Woah, I never thought I would be committing to something like this, after all it does seem an awful long time when you first look at it, but, when you look deeper, it is in fact not that long at all, with how fast time flies and all.

Only a 1/4 of the year and that will be gone in a flash and Spring will be here in all her glory!

Now, some of you may or may not know, that I have been on this road of rawsomeness for around 2 years now, with ups and downs and sidetracking galore, with it comes periods of denial about what I am actually eating when in the cooked food world.  These foods have ranged from home made veggie soups to the very un-friendly pork sausages when craving meat hits me (thankfully not that often) included in this was bread which became more frequent as did cheese...all with horrible and undesirable bodily effects like bloating, wind and palpitations.
Why eat it if that is what it does?  Well, addictions are hard to break aren't they?

So, here we go, with 2012 to be one of the biggest years for transformation and healing, I pledged to go the whole hog starting on January 1st. This feast will take me up to the end of March, and then in April I fly out to Bali for 4 weeks training with Elaina Love's Pure Joy Culinary Academy and the Raw Chef Certificate!
To ensure that I am not flying out with out breaking my feast correctly I plan to re-introduce solid foods in week 10, with one meal per day of a Green Smoothie, salad or soup, but remain at the level of 90% juice until week 12 when more solid foods will be brought in to get used to chewing again in prep for the course which is 3 weeks of gourmet raw (low Glycemic though).

How did I prepare to begin this feast?
Well, the week or so leading up to 1st January, I went high juice every day ~ eating an evening meal of cooked or raw foods that were vegetarian and a little fish on occasion.
In the last 3 days preparing I moved the main meal to lunch time so that my body got used to having a juice for supper.
The day before the feast began I signed up for 90 days membership of David Rainoshecks Juice feasting site www.juicefeasting.com
This is an invaluable resource for anyone wishing to do any length of juice feast and the information contained in the site is VAST!

I began to film my progress, which you can find on here through other YouTube videos, and will be filming almost daily to log all the ups and lows of this 3 month adventure.

Why am I doing this?
To fully engage my body, mind and spirit in the healing powers of juice feasting
To finally end my addiction to foods
To fully connect to all things in a deeper level and higher vibration
To ensure my body is at it's best to have the mercury fillings removed on the 21st February and continue to heal afterwards
To release that stubborn waste that is no longer serving me as it once did.
To end the pain of a toxic body
To further my knowledge and experience of the Live Food as healer and so further be of service to many who need guidance as they step onto their own healing path.

So far it has begun well and I have not had any hunger pangs or too much detox symptoms yet...If I feel a little tweak of hunger I grab another pint of juice or a large cup of herbal tea laced with raw honey!

Stay tuned for more as the weeks turn into months...it is going to be one heck of a journey

Namaste
Dawn xxx

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheezecake

I made this dessert the other day and have been begged to share the recipe with you, so here it is!
The recipe is from the book Sweet Gratitude ~ I highly recommend you invest in it if you love desserts as much as we do!
This was my first time at swirling two different coloured fillings, and I do need more practice, but the taste of this is worth all the effort of making it...hope you enjoy xxx
 

makes one 10" cheezecake

CHOCOLATE ALMOND CRUST
3/4 cup almonds
3/4 cup coconut flakes (not toasted)
11/2 oz cacao powder
5 oz date paste*
1/3 cup cacao nibs
2 tsp liquid vanilla*
1/8 tsp Himalayan salt


process all the ingredients until a fine crumb and press lightly into the bottom of the springform tin. Set aside whilst you make the filling.


WHITE CHOCOLATE FILLING
3 cups soaked cashews (soak for at least 3 hours)
2 cups almond milk*
3/4 cup agave syrup
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 liquid vanilla
1/4 tsp Himalayan salt
3 tbsp lecithin
2/3 cup melted cacao butter


method:

1. add to the blender all the ingredients except the cacao butter and lecithin.
2. blend well until smooth and creamy (3-5 minutes)
3. stop blending and add the lecithin and melted cacao butter
4. resume blending until the butter and lecithin are fully incorporated
5. reserve 2 cups of this filling for the swirling
6. make the swirl layer: to the reserved 2 cups of filling add 6 oz of fresh raspberries & 2 tbsp lemon juice.  blend this until smooth and pink.
7. add the white chocolate filling to the springform tin, shake gently to distribute.
8. with the pink filling you want to add this now ~ confidently pour the pink filling into the white chocolate filling (only use about 2/3 of the mixture), aim to pour it so it breaks the surface of the first filling and goes into it well, pour at random in blobs as this will create a marble effect that can be seen in each slice of cake. Once you have poured 2/3 of the mixture start pouring lightly so the filling sits on top, make sure you do not cover the entire edges of the cake.  Then, take a chopstick or some similar item, and insert it just below the surface of the mixture.  Begin swirling the fillings into each other to make a balanced pretty pattern.  Don't over swirl though or you will just blend it all together!

Once you are happy, put the cake in the freezer for a couple of hours to set, then, with a spatula, gently ease the sides of the cake away from the tin and then remove the tin.
The cake will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge (as if!!!)


MAKING DATE PASTE
take 2 cups of either pitted or Medjool dates and chop them finely.  You can add them to a pestle and bash them into a paste or, if you have a high power blender, add them to the blender and pulse them until they make a thick paste.
This will keep in a container in the fridge for a good few weeks.


MAKING LIQUID VANILLA
use 3 or 4 vanilla pods chopped up into small bits, add them to the blender with a cup of water and blend on high power for a minute or two so that the warmth of the blades warms the liquid.
Store this in a glass jar in the fridge and it will keep for several weeks or more.
(I had some vanilla powder so used that instead and infused it in the sun for half an hour)


MAKING ALMOND MILK
soak 2 cups of almonds for 8 hours or more
rinse and drain the almonds and add to your blender
cover with 3 cups of water
blend on high power until the nuts are broken down
strain the liquid nut milk through a nut milk bag ~ squeezing all the liquid out into a glass bowl.


Use the nut pulp to make other lovely foods like nut burgers or add some to a smoothie, OR dehydrate the pulp and keep in an airtight container to use as almond flour for other cakes!!!

Yin~Yang chocolate treats

Here is a little recipe I made today, for yin~yang cacao treats, very simple to make and very light to eat.
Enjoy xx

for the dark layer you need:
100g cacao butter
100g cacao powder
1/2tsp spirulina
agave/honey to taste
pinch of Himalayan salt

for the white layer you need:
100g cacao butter
50g cashew nuts ground to a fine powder
50g lucuma
pinch vanilla powder or 1 vanilla bean scraped out
agave/honey to taste

Gently melt the butters in separate bowls over warm water ~ make sure no water is mixed into the butters!
Once melted, add the powders after sieving to make sure the chocolate is not lumpy.
Stir in really well and add the sweeteners to taste


Using what ever moulds you like ~ first pour in some of the white chocolate mixture, then place the mould in the fridge to allow this layer to set a little
Then, take the moulds out and pour over some of the dark chocolate mix until the moulds are full.
Place back in the fridge until set.


Enjoy xxxx

Day one of Green Smoothie Detox with Raw Divas

At Last, I found the hit to make that change back onto this rawsome journey again!
While browsing all the daily inspiring posts on Facebook earlier today there was a post from The Green Smoothie Queen reminding us that the latest Green Smoothie Detox was starting ~ TODAY!!!
Well, that did it, with no hesitation I went and signed up, for the full supported program, and felt my body sigh with relief...

To say I have fallen off the raw wagon is not fully true, but, since the end of July I have slid down the cooked food slope more than I wanted to, and found each day one of the worst challenges to keep on track than I have since this journey began 2 years ago.
I have no excuses or reasons why cooked foods hooked me in again, they just did...and I have been getting deeper into a spiral of feeling not too well again, loosing inspiration, confidence, drive and life feeling difficult again.

That is just not where I wish to be at, so, off we go again with this amazing opportunity to get back the mojo, the vavavoom, the sexy, the happy and the ecstacy!

Supper this evening will be a goji berry and strawberry refresher, as I am in no need of anything more than a glass full of sunshine to send me off to dreamland a happy Goddess.
I am so looking forwards to tomorrows smoothies ~ with a garden full of kale, salads, cucumber, melons and tomatoes...this next month is going to be AMAZING.
I will be adding a link to the Green Smoothie Queens on here and on the website soon, so everyone will be able to join the raw-volution!

for a taster of some green smoothie goodness, here is a very lovely one for you to make:

Kale
Cucumber
Apple
Spirulina (1 tsp)

simple and fresh ~ make in what ever quantity you prefer

Love and sparkles xxxxxx

lovely light juice recipe

Okay here is a lovely little juice recipe for you that is so easy and light but packed...PACKED...with vitamins, enzymes and chlorophyll!

We need to pack in the chlorophyll if we want to be experiencing wellness and healing, so, here is the secret to accessing this in large amounts...

WHEATGRASS!

Yes, this is the way folks...actually, in the growing season, your own lawn is an ideal source of it...you heard right...the humble lawn is just as good at providing chlorophyll as wheatgrass, but this needs careful nurturing to keep it clean and fresh, so it may be best, until you get into it, to order in trays of fresh wheatgrass from a reliable source.

I use Aconbury Sprouts for mine, and have to say it is a great place to go for anything to do with sprouting seeds and the trays of lovely grasses, snow peas shoots and sunflower greens...why  not check them out?

2 trays of wheatgrass cost £9 plus postage but so worth it, particularly as you can harvest each tray several times if you look after it.

So, the juice?

Okay...you need to juice:

1 head of celery
4 crispy apples
1/3 tray wheatgrass
1 lemon

there you have it!
This yeilds a pint of juice that will start you off on the right track each morning.

Try and see for yourself

NOTE; all produce is organic of course!

Love and peace

Dawn xxx

Changes

Hello again,
Just a very short visit, and so sorry not to have posted since June!  It has been a very busy summer with many activities taking me on the road around the UK ~ more of those soon :0)

I am in the process of looking at incorporating some changes to this area of the website, to bring you the freshest of my raw food creations as or before I make them...I will aim to give a few days notice of what will be available so you have time to put in your requests :0)

I am finding that having the 'shop' on the website is far to stagnant and stifling the creative flow, and having 'stock' is often not a good thing with the sometimes delicate ingredients I wish to use in the foods.  So, on here may just be the space for all those more spontaneous creations I get the urge to make at silly o'clock in the mornings LOL

There will always be an abundance of Chocolate Elixir available, but this too may change regarding ingredients, and, with the cold weather coming, I want to make some tea Elixirs for you all...so again here will be the place for those too.

If you have any requests you can always post them here in the comments area, for any foods you have dreamed of but do not know how to make...I am sure it is possible for them to be made for you xxx

Also, I will be posting more recipes (one per month) for you all to try out at home...I will aim to keep to fresh ingredients that are as seasonal as possible now we are entering the most exciting time of the year..yes, KALE season is here! LOL

So, to get the word out there of all these new things coming, please do share this link to your loved ones and together we can change the world, one meal at a time.

Blessings and love
Dawn xxx

ups and downs

Here is a progress report on how things are going during the 100 day challenge.  I have to say that mostly I have kept to the program but I did have about 3 days or so where I just ate some not so good foods, like oven fries and fried eggs...this was due to me feeling very lazy and lonely and craving some of the old foods that made me so obese and ill for many years :0(

I have until now, been drinking the pint of  bicarb water every morning and having the vitamin C smoothie an hour later.  I have no idea if it was making a difference or not, but what is for sure is that I have been in a lot of pain and discomfort for the past few weeks - more so than initially.
So, today, I did not have the bicarb water, just went back to a pint of warm water first thing followed by a green smoothie with a hunk of coriander in it.  
For lunch I ate a courgette pasta salad with olives and hummus, a while later a raw chocolate mousse made with Irish moss (yummy) and mid  afternoon some more olives and hummus.
What can I say...I fed my stomach and soul today! LOL


Supper has been for the last 2 days, another green smoothie, again heavy on the coriander, chard and rocket.


The pains have been all over my body, and they are making me feel very down at the moment.  Being a little hypochondriac all my life (not to the point of going to Dr's all the time, but being aware of the aches and pains and worrying they may be some dreadful disease), I am of course worried what it all means, but I really have no faith in the NHS system and wish to avoid radiation of any kind when they do explorations as to what is going on in the body...not that the Dr would go that route when mostly they say.."you look too healthy for there to be anything wrong with you"

Well, let me tell the world...I don't blummin feel to great at the moment!

I am not one to complain much to anyone but my beloved husband, and keep most of how I feel health wise quiet from even him until of late, and I totally hate to come over as being negative or whiny...so this sharing here is a first for me...I hope it is of help to some of you to know how and where I am right now.
Being raw is not the be all and end all of life and wellness...not when there are years of healing going on right now, not to mention all the energetic shifts that many of us are experiencing - most of the time we have no idea what is going on and why we are feeling like we do - very disconcerting and frustrating.


When I wake up every morning, and most nights, in pain with my back, hip or legs, I wonder what on Earth is going on, where am I going wrong in my diet, what can I do to make it heal easier...
I am also having pains in my left breast - so much so that I sometimes cannot bear to wear my bra as I think that is contributing to the pains...and, being well provided for in the chest department, this is not the best option for going out in public...LOL
All this is a chore to cope with and a bore for someone who has so much energy I just want to get out there, dance, sing, laugh, play, run, bounce and be on the go all the time...but this soul carrier just cannot keep up with the soul it is holding!
I am impatient for the healing to be complete, so my body can carry me to all the glorious places we want to go and have all the experiences we need to be having.


So, onto food again.  I have to keep on track and not deviate if I am to allow the healing to continue.  If I choose cooked foods I have to ensure they are good choices, like whole foods and not frozen chips and animal embryo's (urgh)...nice baked potatoes and a huge green salad sounds a better choice doesn't it?


I am happy today for the food I have chosen to eat since Thursday...all high raw, well, almost totally raw really...but, I think to see exactly what I can bring to my healing, I need to stay raw for at least another 4 days or more before I choose any cooked foods for a meal.
What I did see when beginning the challenge, was that each day my weight went down by a pound or so...only when I deviated from the raw plan did it go up again.
I am still lighter than I have been since I was in my late 20's and this is such a positive for me on a mental level.


To keep retreating from that 15 stone level is a plus every day.


My next goal is the number 14.


But, I am no longer on the weight train, but rather have jumped onto the health train, in the mind set that it is better to gain health than loose weight.


Today my emotions took a down turn.  I have spent the day resting mostly, after a busy few days - making foods for a festival, then the festival yesterday, which left my body in lots of pain which again knocked me for six and leaves me wishing I was able to share the work with a dear one who has the same understanding and passion for sharing raw foods with as many people as possible.

Now, this may not be the case, and there may be huge shifts of change around the corner that are just out of sight right now, and we all have feelings like this - I know that.  But, when we get like this it can seem hard to shift out of that energy alone.


I am determined not to give up and to carry on with the search for where I am supposed to be in this changing Universe, for I know that it is coming.  It would be a travesty to give up now and go join the rest of the population on the treadmill of boring 'normality and conformity' just to keep the roof over our heads... being out of the box is often not the most comforting place to be and the faith is certainly shaken today.


I am eternally grateful for the support and love of Ant and my family up north, for they never give up on me (Only I do that).

I am eternally grateful for all of you who read these ramblings here and on Facebook (although I am having a few days off being on there for now)

I am eternally grateful for the inspirational people all over the world who share their passions and also their ups and downs on this path to health and freedom.

I am eternally grateful to wake up every morning to another day of opportunity and blessings to spend time connected to Gaia .


I am eternally grateful to be learning to make some of the best food ever and to share that with beautiful souls at the events we go to.


I am also eternally grateful to be present in this moment, in this reality, in this breath, to share the deepest darkest hours as well as the highs and vibrational love flowing ever on towards our transformations in this incarnation.


I am also eternally happy to not be what people expect me to be, to not fit any mould or any box and also to not be defined as anything - I am just ME, I just AM...I just BE, and although I wish to know where I am needed and what to do (an how best to do it) I am happy to do that quietly, behind the scenes and then burst through the chrysalis to blossom and bloom full of light and sparkles so that it is very clear exactly what it is ~ shine time!


Off to dream sleeps now ~ blessing, love and peace to you all ~ may tomorrow be a better day for us all, better than we could ever hope it to be xxx








 

June ~ growth and more bounty

I am often stumped as to how to write in this Blog, I sit here with a blank mind even though there is much I could say, but not knowing how to put it all down!

So, just ramble on and let if all flow out...

June is here and I must say it is a bit cold for my liking...we are having more stormy days that really should have been here in April, and the evenings have a real chill (I feel the cold anyhow but this is silly)

Thank fully we got the tunnel up and covered and now I am working on the bed edging for the planting areas.  We planted tomatoes, melons and cucumbers and will add basil, calendula marigold and some more herbs to make it really pretty and productive.
There is bounty in the salad beds outside too, with so much salad leaves we have too much...must get juicing some of it!
This year sees the first success with Henbane too ~ never got it to germinate before but it is doing really well now (I have a passion for deadly plants that is perhaps a bit worrying...LOL)

Today I planted out some mallow and it looks really healthy ~ must look up the best way to eat it and all its benefits.

I'm pondering how to support the melons but may just let them sprawl as we have water melon which may be too heavy to climb a net.  the Charentais will be ok too fingers crossed.

100 day raw food challenge
Today is day one of a 100 day challenge to be, well, 100% raw and fully cleanse the body mind and soul...I am doing this with the support of Michele at Super Raw Life magazine, and following her book of the same title.
I went out and bought a set of digital scales today so I can now weigh at home instead of going into town, and I am pleased to say I am at my lightest in 20 years...
My weight today is 14st 13lbs

I have been doing good on a high fruit/carb raw diet for 2 months but feel it is lacking something...so I begin this new challenge, with determination to stick to it for the whole 100 days...
Each day has a journal page to fill in and lots of stats to record, at the end of the challenge I hope to collate all the information into some format and share it all with you...

Today I admit I feel a little scared and very lonely.  I have allowed some old patterns back in over the last 2 weeks, even though I maintain a high percentage of my daily food as raw, some of the foods have been real shocks for my body, but I felt that I just need them some how...not sure why.

So, as day one of this challenge comes to an end, I have actually sat down at lunch time and eaten a huge plate of salad with olives and courgette hummus...rounded off with a bar of my raw chocolate ( I always feel the need for cacao after eating a chewable meal)
Then I went into the garden for an hour or so, actually I am off out again now to do some more work.

Here is what I will be drinking every morning:

Vitamin C Blaster

juice ~ 1 lemon, 1 lime, 1 grapefruit, add 1 cup fresh or frozen berries and blend on high power.
Drink one hour after drinking 1 pint of bicarbonate water (1tsp bicarbonate of soda in 16oz water)

The bicarb water helps flush your system of lactic acid every morning.

I will let you know in a few days how this routine makes me feel.

Love and blessings

A busy month ahead

Just flying in to add a few words ~ I am trying to keep up with this area so it stays fresh and vibrant with news and happenings!

Over the coming weeks I will be making lots of new chocolates including ones with liquid fruit centres...yummy! They don't keep long though, so as soon as they are made they will go out into the world to delight your senses and fill you with dreamy loveliness...

I'm also going to be out and about at a few events over the summer, hopefully with some lovely friends to share all the lush raw goodness with.

We will be at Barefoot Festival in Leicestershire in late July and Gaunts House Summer Gathering in August, plus a few one day local events for Well Being week in June.

Each month I will be holding a free evening talk and food demo in the Health Studio in Northampton (TLC Holistics) ~ this is the home of my teaching kitchen, so hope to see many new faces in the kitchen and at the free class.

On a personal note, I am about to begin a green smoothie feast this week ~ no time limit, and there may be little breaks of a meal or two, but I will aim to be as 'liquid' as possible for as long as possible. 

I find smoothie feasting easier than juice feasting, although I love juices, smoothies are just faster and easier to clean up the machine afterwards!  Leaving time to get on with the day rather than dismantling the juicer! LOL

My favourite smoothie at the moment is strawberry, banana, mint and wild/garden greens.

Look forward to hearing from you with any news you have xxx peace and faery dust xxx

Summer Raw Live & Wild Food Retreat
August 18th - 21st

Join us for 3 days of rejuvenating raw juices, super smoothies, sumptuous salads, raw chocolate making and wild food foraging.

Each day you will benefit from 2 cleansing and energising green juices and 2 super fruity smoothies ~ a real feast for body and soul! 
In the evening there will be a huge feast of salads and raw delights to choose from ~ and you get to assist in the preparation should you desire.
Day time activities will include wild food forages, walking the lanes around the Tor in search of edible greens for our meals. 
Live food talks and discussions daily ~ what is raw food all about and how can it benefit your health and life long term, how to get started, avoiding pitfalls and back tracking, releasing food addictions and negative belief patterns, how much raw food is appropriate for each individual, and how you can design your own 'sun food triangle'!
We will also explain the changes we can make when growing our own fruit and vegetables with eating more raw - how to design a juice feasters garden for example!
On Saturday 20th will be a daytime session on making raw chocolates, from bars to truffles and even a nut free cake for dessert!

There is ample time to relax, share stories and life experiences, chill out and do your own thing, in the supportive environment created by Dawn and the team.
We will also take a trip into Glastonbury to 'shop' for goodies!
This retreat will allow you to create a new and healthier body, mind and spirit - one meal at a time!

" The raw food lifestyle is a perfect example of really living 'green' ~ No cooking needed - ever.  Our emphasis is on creating a living kitchen in our gardens ~ eat straight from the earth from home grown edibles, with minimal preparation, and whole food nutrition from wild greens and locally sourced seasonal organic fruits and vegetables"

Investment £195 per person ~ inclusive of all meals and accommodation.

To book please contact info@rawalchemy.org.uk
www.rawalchemy.org.uk
Tel; 01604 696771

Ce~RAW~monial Chocolate Workshop

Blessings this sunny May morning.

I would like to include some of the workshops I will be running, in the blog, so you get advance opportunity to come along and have some fun and learn some new skills too.

Where better to start than with the next Raw Chocolate class!

So, here are the details for you ~ hope to meet some of you soon xXx

Ce~RAW~monial Chocolate making workshop

Saturday June 18th

10am ~ 4pm

investment £90 per person including light lunch (raw of course).

Join me in my chocolate temple where you will learn a brief  history of the cacao tree, how it came to the Western world and how we can work with live raw chocolate to create a shift in our conciousness & move us forwards on our journey to wellness.

Of course you will also learn how to make some beautiful raw chocolates!  Bring a small container with you to take some home.

Raw chocolate creations make a great 'transition' treat ~ helping us to release our addictions to less healthy snacks and foods.

To book your place telephone me on 01604 696771 or e-mail me on info@rawalchemy.org.uk

Sunny day part two

Sunny day in raw heaven

Alchemist Kitchen day one

So, what am I eating?

Merry May Blessings!
As we move towards the warm sunny days of summer ~ finally here and are we blessed or what? Amazing weather for April and although a little cold in the evenings, the days have been perfect for getting out side and eating up our Vitamin D!!

I wanted to share with you what I am eating at this time of year, now I have moved steadily towards more low fat raw vegan.  I hope it is of use to you if you are wondering what it is all about.
Now, there are the odd times when I enjoy a little bit of feta cheese or the occasional egg, but on the whole this is what a typical day looks like for me.

On waking ~ 6am-ish ~ one pint of warmed water with lemon juice and MSM powder, drank in bed while reading something inspirational ( great way to start the day)
10am ~ smoothie made with 2 bananas, mango, 1/2 pineapple, 2 cups of berries, 1 tsp MSM, 2 tbsp super morning jing powder and 1 tsp E3 live digestive enzymes (I have under performing kidneys and absorption issues so wish to assist them if I can). Cover almost with water then blend until smooth.
OR half a watermelon (shared with Aura the Wonder Dog) or other melon ~ if it is a small melon I eat a whole one!
The smoothies vary in content depending on what is in the house. That amount of fruit makes around 3 pints of smoothie which I drink through to mid afternoon.
2pm ~ Green Smoothie made with 4 sticks celery, 3 handfuls of salad greens from the garden, handful of spinach/kale, 2 cups berries, 1/2 pineapple or 2 bananas (any sweet fruit can replace what I list here) tbsp raw honey.
OR melon.
Supper ~ large green salad with tomatoes, cucumber, celery, sweet peppers sun dried tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil plus some nutritional yeast flakes if I fancy a cheesy taste.  Now, I do not hold the olive oil for this is the fat I choose to include in my daily diet, rather than avocados or coconut fats (I do sometimes have them but not often) and I leave out nuts most days too (occasionally I throw a small handful into a morning smoothie).
Occasionally I will make a dressing with balsamic and olive oil or tamari but I tend to like it just with oil.

Some cooked foods I still include once or twice a week ~ eggs, potatoes, one serving of feta cheese.

Oh, and I have started to eat some raw chocolate again and so long as it is not a huge amount, I'm loving it again :0)  I did over do it earlier in the year!

What other things do I have?  Rooibos tea with fresh lemon and raw honey, water and any herbal tea I have around, but, drinking so much smoothies means I am rarely thirsty and eating melon really helps hydrate.
Coconut water and chlorella 2 x a day ~ to assist removing heavy metal toxins from the blood and cells!

Since starting to eat this way I have released 1 kilo each week and have found it to be the easiest way so far to not only feel good but remove excess in a steady way without worry.
I'm still working through emotions and 'head stuff' but this is part of the process and it, like toxins, need to come out!
I'm due to book my first colonic since transitioning to raw...no pictures...but(!) I will let you know how it goes!
What have I noticed since upping my game?  That I have little or no tolerance to cooked foods other than those I include above ~ they make me feel blocked up, bloated, dull, heavy and sleepy!

more soon x x x Namaste x x x