Tuesday, February 9, 2010

the psychological relationship to food

drinking green juice

I am getting to the point where I look at certain foods and even though I know they may taste good or make me feel warm, I know that I won’t feel good later.

This started to develop for me after I stopped eating wheat and gluten upon doctor’s orders. At first I could cheat a little bit with no consequences. But then I started to get very ill if I ate it. I am sure my body had started healing and knew right away that the wheat and gluten would make it sick again. It was expelled the quickest way possible. My symptoms were very digestive upset (both diarrhea and vomiting), feeling very tired and faint, and dragging for a few days afterward.

After you go through this a few times, you start to develop a food aversion to the foods that make you feel this way. I always thought it was because I got such a severe reaction towards wheat, but now I am starting to become more in tune with my body and feel averse to certain cooked processed foods that I know will make me feel dragged down. For example, I know if I eat processed starches like potatoes, rice, or corn, I will feel like I have a hangover the next day and my muscles and joints are sore. This isn’t from gluten, but a reaction my body has to the starch. I have heard of other people feel this way who don't eat much processed food. and then indulge. Chris has this reaction when he eats wheat when he's eating out. Lately when I see or think of those foods, I think of the reaction instead of the taste or texture in my mouth. Then I am not interested in eating them at all.

If we start to think of how foods make us feel over the course of a day rather than how they make us feel in the moment, then we may make better choices for our body.

This can also be said about eating foods that are not ethically acceptable for you. I hear a lot of people say that they wish they could give up meat but crave it too much. If you feel drawn to eating animal products, you probably need to spend more time connecting with the actual animal and not just his or her flesh. Researching the horror of how the animals are treated is one way, but for many the actual bond and respect for an animal in their life (such as a dog or cat) is how they stop eating animals. Once you connect with one animal on a deep level, some people (sadly not all) realize that all animals are special and worth our respect. For me, it was a calf. For you, it might be your cat. Animals can show us love and suffer pain. Think of this when you view meat or crave it. After awhile it will stop being "food" to you.


photo credit: www.joannemcarthur.com

What to eat

The majority of my mental energy towards foods these days is towards what I do want to eat. And raw foods helps me focus on that. Getting the most nutrients per bite is the goal! And enjoying it while you are at it.

Now you may think that I am a total food diva, and in fact I use this blog to show off my diva-style raw food, I actually eat quite simple most of the time. I hope you don't think these eats are too boring to show off. Because they are quite delicious to me!

red leaf lettuce with cherry tomatoes, sauerkraut, hemp seeds, dulse, flax crackers, with oil and vinegar and oregano.

cherry chia pudding: chia seeds, almond milk, yacon syrup, cherries, vanilla

apples, cinnamon, and almond butter

fruit smoothie with chia
(and a dollop of raw vegan meringue in there--more on that to come)

Liberate yourself and the animals!

me and Foucault

Sunday, February 7, 2010

sauer swirl

urban waterfall

I've been enjoying more sun in Seattle these days--while it lasts. So has little sunbather Sienna and roof-prancer Foucault. Chris and I went out and about to check out one of the only water falls in the city (at REI). Then ventured out of the city to Raw Vegan Source to stock up on some special raw ingredients, like E3live and yacon syrup.

chai-chocolate goodness

This week's pie (might as well admit we have at least one pie a week!) was Sweet Gratitude's chocolate-chai. I have written about this before, and it's pretty much our favorite one from the book. Not that their other pies aren't a close second. Last time I made it Chris decided to video me doing some swirling on the pie. It can be intimidating to do your first swirl, but don't worry, if you make a mistake, it will not affect the taste! At all. And practice does make perfect so it's an excuse to make more swirled pies.



The finished product

I had a bit of leftover filling and crust so I made some mini-pies. These are nice because you they will be set much quicker and you can enjoy one right away rather than wait like with the whole pie. Plus they look cute.

mini-tart pans work great

fill with both fillings

swirl

tired yet?

On a more savory note, I finally made my own batch of sauerkraut. I've been wanting to do more fermenting, and I've really missed Real Pickles red cabbage sauerkraut. So I finally took the kraut plunge. I read about a dozen different directions to make sure I had it straight. I was mainly working from Living Raw Food's guide.

Sauerkraut is one food from my German heritage that I actually still eat. Ok, I have to admit, I never ate it when my grandmother made it. Part of the reason is because she made it the cooked way and it stunk up the house for hours while it was on the stove. It could have been whatever she added to it, but whatever that was, it turned me off. She told me her recipe the winter before she died but never got around to making it, partially because it seemed so intimidating. If only I knew this raw food version back then. She would be impressed and I'm sure she'd love it.

We decided to forgo the spices and flavors the first time around. Next time we will get braver. We only let the cabbage sit for a week, although the recipe said you could go longer. I was too impatient and excited to experience all the health benefits (cancer-fighting compounds, good bacteria, vitamin C, etc) of fermented cabbage. And the deliciousness.

still fermenting cabbage

Sauerkraut-making process in a nutshell (this is for you, Dad)

You will need:
red or green cabbage (one large one)
2 tablespoons sea salt (non-iodized)
large bowl
one quart mason jar with lid
mandolin slicer, sharp knife, or grater

1. make sure glass jar is really clean and sterile.
2. shred cabbage using a slicer, grater or knife. If using knife, it needs to be really thin!
3. mix cabbage with salt in bowl.
4. place in jar along with juices. press down firmly.
5. let it sit for 30 minutes to let juices cover the cabbage.
6. add more water if needed in order to completely cover the cabbage.
7. cover tightly and let sit for 1-2 weeks in a cool dark space.
8. then open and eat! refrigerate after opening.

finished sauerkraut

sauerkraut in my sushi

Sushi contains: jicama/sunflower seed "sticky rice", carrots, kelp noodles, sauerkraut, carrots, lettuce. I dipped it in a ginger-tamari-miso sauce.

this blog post was approved by zuki who lay next to me the whole time

Thursday, February 4, 2010

winner, health logging, and raw snacks

green ice cream: 4 stalks kale, 2 cups frozen mango, 1 fresh banana, a few frozen cranberries, hemp protein powder

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on the give-a-way post. It was fun to read all the variety of ways you all like to get your greens. I did a dorky teacher thing and tallied up all the comments. The most popular favorite way to get your greens was through green smoothies! Thank you, Victoria Boutenko! (go read Green For Life if you haven't already) Next up in terms of popularity was salads, then green juice. Other mentions were kale chips, green ice cream, green powder, sprouts, lettuce, wild edibles, and straight from the garden.

I loved the idea of green ice cream and chose to make some of this for my breakfast this morning. When I make my smoothies into ice cream, I end up using a bit more frozen fruit and a bit less greens than I usually do, but it's ok to mix things up once in awhile. And give your straws a rest because you'll be using a spoon instead. If you are stuck in a rut with your leafy green intake, I encourage you to read all the ideas that people posted in the comments. I am inspired to add cilantro to my smoothies, and maybe even try boy choy as a green in my juice or smoothie, which I haven't done in awhile.

Ok, onto the winner of Raw Food Cleanse. In this book you will also find many ways of eating greens. So even if you don't win, go get a copy.

Sienna loaned me her hat...

and we drew names the old fashioned way.

And the winner is....Sie from This Paleo-CRON Existence. Sienna's hat must have been lucky for you, huh? I swear she didn't fix it. Congrats and enjoy the book! Email me at bittofraw at gmail.com with your address so I can send you your copy ASAP. If you'd like to join the Raw Food Rehab February cleanse, join Raw Food Rehab for step-by-step guidance by Penni this month.

Health Logging

Something I've started up this month is health logging. In the past, I've used a food log and exercise log. I highly recommend a food log when you are first getting into raw foods. You can see how much you are eating and watch for variety. It is helpful to see all the nutritious food you are eating. You can even use fitday.com or one of those online sites to keep track of nutrients and calories (more to see if you are eating enough than to hold back).

The new logs I've started are a sleep log and a pain or symptom log. The sleep log is because I have started to take melatonin upon recommendation of my ND. I want to keep track of how long it takes me to get to sleep, how often I wake up, how restful it was, and hours of sleep. I'm not sure how long I will keep this up but it's helpful for now. I am trying to eliminate the guesswork and recall. And look for patterns.

The pain log is because I have had some new symptoms in the past month of nerve pain. It can have a variety of forms (i.e. grawing, shooting, tingling) and come at different places in my body. In order to keep track of this I am logging it so I can watch for trends and to see how it responds to changes I make in treatment, herbs, and diet. Plus it helps to give my doctor rather than have to remember it all.

sample symptom chart

You could make your own chart on Word or Excel like I did (yup another dorky teacher habit). Then you can control the type of columns and headings. I found this was what I needed for the pain since some days I have a lot to say and others I don't.

snoozin' Sienna

For my sleep log I am using this knock knock health log. I found it for sale over break. It also has sections for food, exercise, habit, and body (like all your medical symptoms, etc). Also health minder has a symptom log which I haven't used but has good reviews on Amazon. I've also used my calendar or iCal to track daily health notes. Some people blog all their info. Whatever works!

Keeping track of symptoms, exercise, or food can really help. If you do end up doing it long-term, it can be helpful to go back and look at a time when things were going WELL. This is part of my plan to take better control over my health.

Some Raw Snacks

snacks from the sea: sea ruffles

These little bites, called "Sea Ruffles" are kind of odd but delicious. I saw them on GoRawMe's blog and was thinking of them days later. That is usually a sign I need to make them! I found some untoasted nori at Whole Foods so the timing was right. These little bites have a strong nori flavor, and not for the seaweed-averse. They are flax-free which is always nice in our family since my husband is allergic.

Some changes I made to GoRawMe's recipe were to add some dulse flakes on top (I'm a dulseaholic) and use regular sesame seeds instead of black. I didn't need to dehydrate the whole 8 hours, mine were fine after 5-6 hours (and I munched a few along the way). I also didn't have all the herbs she had so I improvised. I do have fresh thyme and rosemary growing so they starred the show. I do have to say putting the topping on the seaweed did take a bit of time. So I wouldn't whip this recipe out daily, which is too bad because they disappeared in a day! But I think they were fun and really different than my usual snack fare.

the recipe made a lot of sea ruffles

My chocolate cravings are rearing their ugly head. Ok, chocolate is not ugly, but I don't like being beholden to cravings. However right now I think it signifies some hormones talking and to indulge and enjoy! Getting a bit bored of my usual throw-them together-in-an-instant hemp brownies, I decided to use some of my leftover almond pulp (from making nutmilk) to make some emergency chocolate cupcakes. Cupcakes with nut pulp are a bit lighter than raw brownies. Feel free to double or triple this recipe as needed for your cravings and/or family.

two cupcakes on plate, one in my belly

Three chocolate cupcakes

ingredients:

7-8 dates

½ cup almond pulp (wet)

½ cup fresh pecans or walnuts

¼ cup cacao powder

2 pinches salt

¼ cup coconut shreds (optional)

teaspoon vanilla )optional)

Preparation:

Blend dates to make date paste

Add pulp, nuts, cacao, salt, and coconut. Pulse until it forms a ball.

Add vanilla.

Mold into little cupcakes. Mine made about three but I like them pretty big.

BONUS: You could also make a frosting out of avocado, cacao, and some kind of sweetener. Mine weren’t ripe yet. C’est dommage! But they were plenty sweet without.

Foucault on his "stoop"

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

three heavenly pies


Can you believe it? Flowers in February! These are rather early ones, but with our good weather last month, there are buds on many trees and some flowers in bloom. The flowers of late winter are one of the things that I like about Seattle. I grew up with snow storms in early April back in New England, so I appreciate the little things--like pink blooms--in the winter.

I have been busy making some pies the past few weeks. In addition to my own desire to teach myself new tricks and become a better raw chef, I have a husband who loves pies. Ok, who am I kidding, I do too. Before I ate raw foods, I made pies about once a year on Thanksgiving because they were tedious work. Now that I use only raw ingredients, it is easy as, well, pie. The pressing of the crust into the pie or bottom of cheesecake is simple. And simply blending up a filling is a breeze. The hardest part for me is the patience to wait for my coconut oil/butter or cacao butter to melt. Patience is not my strongest suit.

heavenly mudslide pie

This heavenly mudslide pie from Sweet Gratitude (also available in the Cafe Gratitude recipe book) is amazing. Words cannot even describe it but I'll try. The filling is a combination of three flavors, white chocolate, almond butter, and chocolate. It's like a peanut buttery flavor but the white chocolate puts it over the top! I was warned that I might need a bit more chocolate so I doubled the chocolate portion. So glad I did. I really like chocolate. So much that I put a little extra on the side.

This pie may seem intimidating to make but really it's not that bad. The hardest part was making sure all the fillings were of a similar consistency. I used the fridge and even the freezer to speed along the last part. And checked often. But if you overset them you can just take them out at room temp for a bit. And I actually put it into a cheesecake instead of a pie pan, which worked fine.
heavenly mudslide swirl

I loved the flavor combination of the brazil nuts and coconut shreds in the crust of the mudslide pie, so I was playing around with an idea for macaroons which had goji berries in them. Then I got a bit burned out and had to bail on the kitchen for a bit (this happens to me sometimes). I had macaroon dough and an extra empty cheesecake pan so I decided to mush it into the bottom.

Making a few pie or cheesecake crusts at a time is a good idea if you have a few pans. Then the next session's work is just blending. Sometimes I like to split up the work into two days and make the crust ahead of time. Just something to think about if you are busy or have fatigue issues.

I had a whole bunch of delicious frozen blueberries around so I made Carmella's Blissful Blueberry Cheesecake. I melted a bit too much cacao butter but put it in anyhow, so it had a very strong white chocolate flavor to it, which we both liked a lot. This recipe can be found on The Sunny Raw Kitchen. When berries are in season I make it more. You can also use blackberries or raspberries.

blissful blueberry cheesecake

Another pie that we bookmarked in Sweet Gratitude was the coconut cream pie. I remembered making it with one of the Cafe Gratitude chefs at Raw Union. We must have made at least 6 large sheet cakes worth of it. Everyone loved it. This pie is nut-and-seed and agave-nectar free which I know is a concern for some. You do need young coconuts for it. We used three. But I am really lucky and the store just a block away carries them. For how to open a young coconut, click here.

I am really glad I made this pie again! It is super coconutty, so if you like coconuts, this is for you. Heck even if you don't you might want to take a chance and try again. This is a big crowd pleaser. I may make it for an upcoming potluck. And I am glad I have a special memory to attach it to, working in the kitchen and the magic of eating it at the wedding of Matt and Angela.

coconut cream pie

Before I sign off for today I leave you with some cute pet pics. Or as we animal rights people say, companion animals. I hope you notice the quality is better in the following pictures. My old camera was really starting to bug me. It did take some decent ones but it required me to take several shots and that required too much patience on the part of the pie-eater. And it made noises that scared the animals away. Now my new camera took the best picture of Heather ever! Now you can see her true beauty.

Foucault

Heather

Zuki

Sienna

One more day to enter to get a copy of Raw Food Cleanse.
Click here for more details.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

seafood: real and faux

Living Raw Food's raw vegan calamari

There is a certain amount of nostalgia in eating. We look to certain foods to remind us of a certain time period, people, or places that we love. For me, fried foods were always a comfort food. I have particularly strong associations with fried fish, even though I haven't eaten it in over 13 years. As a child, it was often eaten on vacation in Maine or Florida and to me is associated with family fun, long beach days, and plenty of sunshine.

boothbay harbor, maine

However I firmly believe that nostalgia for foods should not overcome the ethics of eating solely plant-based foods nor compromise eating healthfully. Luckily, I love a good challenge, and reinventing an old favorite is fun for me to do. Living Raw Food's raw vegan calamari recipe is just that, a recreation of fried calamari. Does it taste the same? I honestly haven't had calamari in so long that I can't say! But if you strip away the re-naming, essentially breaded mushrooms prepared well are delicious to me and provide a unique texture juxtaposition in my mostly salads dinner menu.

There are a few things that might have helped me before I made this recipe. First, some mushroom indentification! I know very little about these fungi, and I typically stick to portabellos, criminis, and an occasional shitake. So I was kind of confused when I got to the grocery store. There is a pretty big difference between KING oyster mushrooms and oyster mushrooms.
oyster mushrooms

king oyster mushrooms

Oops. All my coop had were the oyster mushrooms and upon coming home I quickly realized that I had the wrong thing. I even sent the author Sarma Melngailis a tweet to get some guidance. Upon googling types of mushrooms, I realized my mistake. This whole recipe hinges on the size of the stem. If you look at the anatomy of a squid (aka calamari) you will realize this mushroom looks remarkably similar.

So I had already made the breading and had the wrong mushrooms, so I made "fish sticks" with the regular oyster mushrooms instead. I should also mention at this point that the breading includes flax. In order to be inclusive of my husband Chris, who is allergic to flax, I made half the breading with ground oats instead of ground flax. He enjoyed it just the same.

"fish sticks"

The next day I went to a different market and found some mushrooms with thick stems (yes size does matter). These were king trumpet mushrooms but Sarma had assured me those were fine.

king trumpet mushrooms

Now for the prep. On reading another blog of someone who made this recipe, she didn't have anything to punch the holes with. I realized I have an apple corer which worked just fine. I think cutting holes by hand would have been tedious so I'd think this step through ahead of time. At first I thought the lack of use of the centers and stems of the mushrooms was wasteful, but a day or two later I easily found a use for them in other food prep.

slicing and punching the holes in the mushroom

mushroom marination

My favorite part of this recipe is that it only dehydrates for 2-3 hours. That is perfect for me because I usually start planning a bit for dinner in the late afternoon and anything that takes 6 hours is not going to work for that night. So you can easily make this recipe up without planning too far ahead (other than buying the right kind of mushroom!).

I took a break to veg out with the critters

A few hours later...the verdict is the mushrooms were delicious and felt fried and kind of naughty in a way. I forgot I was eating flax and mushrooms. I served mine with some simple raw ketchup from the Raw Food Cleanse book, but you could use the tartar or cocktail sauce recipes from Living Raw Food. Or enjoy plain, as Chris did.

Don't be afraid of this recipe. There is a lot of whining out there about hard-to-create raw recipes. I have to say this wasn't too tough, if you have the right supplies. I mean, it's along the lines of Shake-and-Bake. But you can also improvise and enjoy a new way. Strips of another kind of mushroom would be great too. It's nice to learn how to decomplexify recipes to make them work for you.

yum!

eat me

Now all the fake seafood was good, but my favorite seafood is seaweed! I was just reading about Hippocrates Eight Health principles and he said "The three most critical foods to achieve good health are sprouts, sea vegetables, and freshwater algae". I would like to increase and diversify my sea veggie intake. I love dulse--which has a unique flavor that is not too fishy--but I want to explore some other seaweeds.

You should know that when I get jazzed up about something I get a bit impulsive. Like not reading the bulk label bins properly and buying very expensive hijiki seaweed (looking for a cheaper price online). It sure tasted good soaked and rinsed with kelp noodles, marinated trumpet mushroom (leftover punched-out-middles from the calamari recipe), with a sauce of miso, ginger, and a touch of tamari on a bed of kale salad. With some chili flakes and green onion. This was a very delicious meal.

surf and turf: kelp and hijiki with mushrooms and kale

drink your greens!

I'll be back in a few days with some sweet treats and the winner of the my Raw Food Cleanse give-a-way. All you have to do is comment on that post telling me your favorite way to get your greens.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

getting out and about

Me, Rory, Isabelle, Amanda

Even though I have had some pain the past month, I still have taken some time to get out and about. It must mean my energy is a bit better because I am finally not hibernating as much as I was before. I have been out to drink juice or tea with friends (including Seattle raw food blogger Nikki), keeping it pretty mellow so I don't burn out. Thank you, friends, for being flexible with me! I really appreciate it.

My friend Rawdawg Rory, his wife Amanda, and their daughter Isabelle, who I met last summer at the Raw Spirit Festival in Maryland, came out to Seattle for a brief visit. We got some eats at Chaco Canyon Cafe and shopped a bit together. Rory is really knowledgeable about so many things, he was educating me about the properties of certain veggies at the market. He's a walking raw food encyclopedia! Amanda and I could just talk forever. She is truly amazing. She sets up all the youtube videos and edits. Hope to see more of Rory and Amanda, they are great people.

Speaking of youtube, on Monday there was a Seattle meetup and we ran into my friend Dave "The Raw Food Truck Driver". He was excited to hear about Rory's mom's experience (watch her video here) because he has had his own healing from type 2 diabetes. You can watch the youtube below. Keep in mind I am not used to video like Rory and Dave, although I have to say I did OK for being without a makeup crew and being somewhat on-the-spot.



Other than juicing and hanging with humans, I've been taking advantage of the lack of precipitation to enjoy time with Sienna. If there is any sun, we wander out to the porch to soak it up. Foucault usually comes with us. Yesterday, we headed to the dog park. The dog park is easier sometimes because we can go at our own paces. Sienna chose to play with two great danes, the biggest dogs there. She loves a challenge.

headed to the dog park

on the path to the water

A few weeks ago we headed down to Lake Washington on a whim. I figured it would be empty and I was right. Unfortunately Sienna got so excited that she jumped in the freezing cold water after some ducks. She was really cold after that. The ducks were quite safe and knew it. They didn't bother to leave the area.

beach on Lake Washington

the ducks Sienna chased


Foucault spends hours outside in the nice weather

Now for some FOOD! I just got this handy little tiffin, which is just the right size for taking a snack on the go. I am working on phasing out plastics so this is just right for the job-formerly-taken-by gladware. (If you're not sure why to get rid of plastic, watch the documentary "Addicted to Plastic") I bring food most places I go for longer than an hour or so (unless there will be food there) because I don't want to be caught hungry. It's one of the ways I stick to eating raw foods, to be prepared. This tiffin helps. I packed it with kale chips one day and banana ice cream another.

my new tiffin

cheesy kale chips made with red and green kale

banana ice cream in a tiffin with strawberries and Himalayan goji berry trail mix

Chris and I went to go get our bulk order from Azure standard the other day. Some of the things we got were for Chris, like quinoa and squash (35 pounds of it!). We stocked up on 5 more pounds of chia seeds. I have been eating LOTS of chia pudding lately so it will be put to good use.

stocking up on chia

chia pudding with yacon syrup, almond milk, cinnamon, raspberries

If you want another quick and easy raw meal/snack, try Kristen's cheesy hemp nacho sauce. I have her hemp recipe book, but she also posted the recipe on her website. I love a good creamy cheesy sauce like this. I love the depth of flavor that the hemp gives it, it's almost smokey in a way. Anyhow, it helped us eat many veggies in no time. The only adjustment I made to it was to not add garlic, as my husband is allergic. I never really miss the garlic when I omit it from a recipe. Raw garlic is too strong for me most of the time.

Kristen's cheesy hemp sauce

we polished off this tray in 20 minutes with the yummy cheesy nacho sauce!

Later I made a Mexican-inspired salad with lettuce, tomato, green onion, guacamole, and some of the cheesy hemp sauce. So delicious! This is one of my favorite salads ever.

Mexican salad

That's all my adventures for now. Stay tuned for more from Sweet Gratitude. I finally found my recipe book! More sweets to come...just in time for Valentine's Day.



Be sure to enter my give-away for a chance to win a copy of Raw Food Cleanse by Penni Shelton. She will be leading people through the 28 day cleanse in the month of February in Raw Food Rehab.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

raw food cleanse: get your copy!

with my signed copy

I'm so excited that my copy of Raw Food Cleanse, by Penni Shelton of Real Food Tulsa finally arrived! It's available now from Amazon and maybe your local bookstore (if not, have them order one for you). I haven't even read all of my copy yet but I know it's a winner. Since I was one of the "guinea pigs" or participants that Penni tried out some of her cleanses on, I did get to experience a lot of the book as she wrote it. I was lucky enough to listen to a daily video from Penni and also get to have a sneak peek at many of her recipes, which are all delicious.

key lime pie

Penni's book is geared toward an average person, not necessarily someone who is already been eating raw food. This book gently introduces them into raw food. But if you are eating raw foods already, you can use this book to go deeper and do one of the cleanses that involves juicing for a few days. Penni's guidance gave me the go-ahead to do a deeper cleanse. This August, I did the 14-day deep detox cleanse. The juice feasting aspect of it was what really was new for me. But I was armed with many juice recipes and I actually had FUN making juice.

one of my favorite juices: island flush

This book also has some decadent raw desserts, raw entrees, smoothie recipes, and even some cooked food meals for people who don't intend to be a 100% raw foodist. There is also tons of great advice for healthy living in general. My friend earthmother from In the Raw wrote a good review of the book here.

The best part is that Penni has a website called Raw Food Rehab, where you can get support and even MORE advice and information from Penni and other people who are doing her cleanses or just trying to eat more raw food and/or juice. I think getting support is so important when you are trying to make changes in your life like this.

I am so excited about the arrival of this book that I decided to give away a copy of RAW FOOD CLEANSE to one of my blog readers. All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me one of your favorite ways to eat/drink your greens. By greens, I mean leafy greens! Sprouts count too.

You have until midnight pacific time February 3rd to post. I will pick a random post and that person will get their very own copy of Raw Food Cleanse*. No I am not getting any money or anything from this giveaway. The publisher is not even providing the copy, it will be from me (this is some kind of legal thing I have to say).

*be sure to check in next week so you can email me your address if you are the winner.


Happy Cleansing!