So...its now been 12 days since I started my juice cleanse...and overall Im feelin GREAT! Had a few roadblocks on the way (being sick before I started....which Im STILL recovering from a little bit....in just getting my FULL voice back...my speaking voice is fairly normal now...but I want my singing voice back so I can go to karaoke! Blew out my back/neck the other day doing something stupid, but now thats recovering too....
Im enjoying my juicing! This is definitely the most *different* cleanse Ive ever done. I havent been that hungry, surprisingly...and when I am, I just find other things to focus on. Im excited because so far Ive lost 14 lbs...and Im sure itll be 15 by morning (Im averaging a lb. a day) and now people are really starting to notice at work...and Ive been getting compliments...
My skin looks amazing, my pants that were tight a week ago now require a belt to stay up...and my belts to big too! I need to punch a hole farther up, to keep it on!
Its definitely my biggest motivator and inspiration to continue over the next couple weeks plus...to keep juicing!
When I finish the cleanse I plan on making raw a larger part of my diet, although Im probably not ready for 100 percent now....but Im gonna try and make it a majority. Im definitely planning some delicious dishes already! Im excited to make some indian food recipies and pizza crust recipies I saw online made out of zuchini and nuts.
Cant wait to make some desserts too! And I want to make some delicious seeded Essene Bread. Ill soak and start to sprout the wheatberries....then Im gonna dehydrate them until theyre nice and crispy, then run them through the grain mill attachment I have for my champion juicer...and then add water, and make my bread! Ill probably do the same with some flax (well...minus the sprouting) and I cant wait to make a delicious pizza...and a dehydrator full of kale chips! Im gonna get a crock this weekend too....and make some kim chee...so it'll be ready in time to eat in a couple weeks!
Oooh Im gettin hungry thinkin about it all!
I also bought because they were on sale...some of the raw kelp noodles.
Are you folks farmiliar? [www.kelpnoodles.com] Ive got lotsof good recipies in mind for those! So much better than zuchinni pasta! I do like the squash based pastas, but I find especially with zuchini...I cant eat a ton of it raw...it upsets my stomach.
Anyways....thats all for now. Im about to go wash my face and do a facial masque and wash it off with my dead sea salt soap! Its amazing stuff made by a company called Dead Sea Warehouse. I met the owners myself....theyre good people.
Ciao for Now!
Namaste
Shekinah Love

I used a Dead Sea salt facial scrub before. Worked beautifully.

veganreikiangel,

Your enthusiasm is overwhelming! Your understanding of the need to read your body's signals is a good reminder to me : )

You might have better luck with the Essene bread by soaking and sprouting the seeds, grinding them up into a paste and then dehydrating them. That way, you can really regulate the moistness of the finished product.

Kelp noodles, well, let us know how you like them. There was a thread on here or maybe the Recipes Forum several months back about kelp noodles. People were looking for alternatives to zucchini pasta. The observations I saw on another message board where they had more experience with kelp noodles were interesting:
[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

Keep on truckin' : )

Thank you so much for the wonderful testimony and encouragement. I was especially in need of it today. I'm so thrilled for your success and will look forward to more great testimonies from you. =)

*****************************
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

Thanks for the support folks :-)
Yeah..with the Essene bread...the reason I need to dehydrate it and then grind it, is because the grain mill works best with dry goods. If I had a vitamix, then Id actually prefer to do it while its still wet, but if I do it after theyre sprouted (and bone dry) I can make *sprouted wheat flour* and then make the bread from that. I'll let you all know how it comes out! (in a couple weeks)
I have used the kelp noodles several times in the past. San Francisco used to have a raw food restaurant called Urban Forage a few years ago that went out of business (unfortunately due to violations in health codes) and an expansion that happened too quickly.) but alas...they were soo good, and CHEAP too. Sigh.
BUt yes...they made a DELICIOUS meal out of the noodles. Very fatty but SOOOO good!
THe noodles were mixed with almond butter/tahini/chickpea miso, and strips of nori were sliced over the top of it. When i make it, I like to add some spices too...cayenne and maybe some curry, and they added sesame seeds, but I like to add pine nuts. So delicious! Not an everyday dish tho, mind you, due to the fact that its basically made with nut butters. Im thinking of making something with the noodles....basically some soaked sun dried tomatoes, (save the juice from as part of the recipe) some kalamata olives, cayenne, chunks of avocado, fresh tomato, dried basil and oregano topping...sortof a spaghetti type dish but not really saucy. Of course it would be greay saucy too....When I make raw tomato sauce I like to blend the raw soaked sun dried tomatoes with fresh heirloom tomatoes, italian herbs (fresh basil, but dried other herbs) just a touch of celtic salt (or nama shoyu) and soak over the noodles and add some whole soaked sun dried tomatoes, and/or fresh chunks of tomato, and maybe some small slivers of red/yellow bell pepper and red or vidalia onion. I might dehydrate the onion for a couple hours to *take away the sting* a little tho...but not totally dry it...same with the bell peppers...or perhaps marinate them in something.
Hmm....
I also love making kale salad. The massaged kind with the sea salt/avos that I like to add pine nuts and curry too. etc...garlic. Yep....also kinda fatty. BUt without added oil.
When I used to do 100 percent raw years ago I did eat a fair amount of fat, but rarely did I ever add any actual pure oils. I used to make lots of oil free dressings too, that somehow now Ive forgotten how to make. I was very skinny despite all this, as I just had juice for breakfast, and I walked a few miles in the morning.
Anyways...enough of my rambling this morning.
One thing I did notice is, Im not craving carrot juice as much during this fast. I have a large bag tho and Ive got to use it up (cant afford financially not to!)
but this morning Im making a straight up green juice.
Namaste
John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2009 06:40PM by veganreikiangel.

veganreikiangel,

You sound like a practiced chef!

Thanks Tamukha!
I remember one time I was staying with a friend who was making dinner. She made some kind of rice pilaf thing...and I made the kale salad to accompany it...as it turned out everyone LOVED the kale salad much more than the pilaf! When you make delicious raw foods...how can one even compare?
lol

I did the same thing one Easter at my aunts house, and ironically, of all the people there, my uncle...the biggest junk food/meat eater there LOVED my nut pates and other treats more than anyone else there. Funny how that works sometimes. But since then Ive been banned from making food and sharing it at my aunts house at family dinners. I think its because somehow shes threatened by the healthy food next to her dried out roasts and greasy side dishes. It wasnt all raw but another year I made a bok choy stir fry, and stuffed mushrooms (all vegan) and a big salad with lots of greens, and my relatives secretly came up to me and told me they liked my dishes better than my aunts. lol
It sucks though, than people can be so cold sometimes. Last thanksgiving, my aunt and I got into a HUGE blowout argument over the issue, because she wouldnt let me bring any food to share, despite the fact that many of my other relatives were bringing dishes to share as well. It erupted so huge, that half of my family almost stayed over at my grandmothers house to have dinner with me instead, because of my aunts craziness. But in the end I went over and made peace. I brough my food over and said I was just going to eat it myself.....but I still shared it with my vegetarian cousins (i have 2) which ya think she'd want since she didnt have many veggie dishes there.
Sigh.
Family is crazy sometimes.
But yes..I LOVE to make food!
If theres anyone on this list in the bay area, Id love to get together sometime with you and throw a dinner party, and make lots of delicious raw treats!!!

Love and Blessings!

Shekinah Love aka John

veganreikiangel,

It's so weird about your aunt, but it's good you patched things up. There's an expectation that my vegetarian food will be eaten as side dishes by everyone else at the holiday meal, so I always make extra. If everyone is coming up to you saying they prefered your vittles more, it's possible that your aunt is not a good cook(there's one in every family, alas), and she would naturally feel threatened and hurt. It's not about the food, I mean, it's about the validation from family. It's better to come to an agreement that involves sharing, like you did. No one should battle over sustenance on the holiday that symbolizes safety from privation!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2009 08:21PM by Tamukha.