Angelina's Sensational Blog

So much controversy in the raw world

2011-11-08T12:42:00.001-08:00

So much CONTROVERSY in the raw world

Not to say there isn't controversy in the mainstream, but the raw food world just isn't the kind of place you would expect to see this.
Everywhere I turn, someone is trying to sell you something. There's always some brand new superfood, some new mineral, or an algae you've never heard of that makes the "natural" news.
I'm all for small businesses and making money using your imagination, but seriously this seems a bit more than that. In the vegan community (my original tribe), everyone is always to trying to help each other out, everyone is sharing recipes, holding potlucks, events, bringing their co-workers vegan meals, and the list goes on and no one charges a dime for all of this, all in the name of saving the planet one person at a time. In the raw world, it isn't about fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, or even green smoothies anymore, it's all about exotic plants, strange drink concoctions, colostrum, etc.. When did we move away from the raw and into the strange? When did we move away from genuinely wanting to help someone without expecting something in return? Now, I understand if we are in the business of helping people and we charge for that, but most are just regular people who had some great thing happen to them from eating whole food nutrition and now they are some sort of expert and charging up the whazoo! When everyone is running around being an expert, it cheapens those who've done all the leg work to get there and it cheats the person you are charging money when you yourself are not one. If a person wants to be an expert of their own body, I think that's fabulous and we need more of that gong on. Everyone needs to take responsibility for their own lives, health, actions, etc.

I remember when raw foods were so incredibly boring yet even though they were boring, the people weren't. It was so grassroots. People gathering and sharing with one another. We need to get back to a place of good old fashioned values and ethics. I'm not saying that everyone is up to no good in the raw food community, but I am saying that there are way too many people who are up to no good. And... what's up with all the GURU WORSHIP?
Do we really need one more teleseminar on what kind of water should you drink or one more radio show on algae? I have been making herbal concoctions for most of my life and I am shocked now to find that everyone is somehow an herbalist and makes "tonics" Ever wonder why everyone is doing this? BECAUSE IT'S THE IN THING! Do you really just want anyone making you up something that personal? I don't, that's for sure. People need to start following their hearts and listening to that inner voice a little more. It's time to stop all the HOODWINKING and start supporting real businesses with ethics and heart and support the real experts who literally spend years getting there by doing all the leg work so you don't have to. If it is raw food you are after, find some real folks who actually care about getting you healthy and vibrant, not some slick salesman/woman in "raw" clothing selling you God knows what.

Here's what pretty fantastic doctors have to say about real health, EAT YOUR VEGETABLES, FRUITS, SEEDS, NUTS, GREENS, and BEANS. It doesn't get any better than that! These are highly respected doctors in their field and they are not telling you to ingest some strange algae or some exotic root from a far away land, or gourmet water. If you use common sense, it is easy to see the path of health.

Just so we're clear here, I am not anti-supplements at all, I think they are great and if you need them, take them. I am a master herbalist, so of course I am not anti-herbs either. I just believe in fair business and ethics and I am not seeing too much of that in the community these days.

Molly!

2011-07-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Please help Molly get the surgery she needs to walk by donating here, thank you!

2011-07-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

7 things about myself blog award

2011-03-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

7 Things About Myself (One Lovely Blog Award)e

I received this “Lovely Blog” Award and am grateful to Bethanne Wanamaker for awarding this to me. BIG love to you and right back at ya. This is a post where I share 7 things you may not already know and you get to know me a little better.

Here’s what you do with the award if you are awarded
- You link and thank the blogger who awarded you (as I did above)–thanks again!
- Copy-and-paste (or download and upload) the award into your own blog post–a teacup of roses!
- Share Seven Things about yourself (there’s the content/structure taken care of!)
- Nominate up to fifteen other great bloggers (happy to do so)
- Comment on their blogs to let them know to come pick up their prize (I’ll do so right after hitting ‘publish’)

7 Things About Myself

1) I am a passionate person in every area of my life. My life has always been devoted to kindness, appreciation, love, service, compassion, and integrity. I love fully and completely without any reservation.

2) Although I have had a life of chronic pain, I've never allowed it to consume my life and I have always passionately believed that I can conquer anything.

5) I will always stand up for the animals and be their voice no matter what.

6) I believe in immortality and not only do I believe in it, I know it is truth.

7) I care deeply about this beautiful earth we all reside on and have dedicated my life to making it greener any way I can.

I hereby pass on the award to these blogs:

* Christian Bates, Eco Lifestyle Expert, Herbalist, Raw Food Chef, Yogi
* Jill Bickford, co-founder of Living Earth Beauty, Natural Beauty Expert
* Bethanne Wanamaker, founder of Edible Goddess, Beauty Goddess
* Amber Zuckswert of Epic Self, Pro Pilates Instructor (Virtual Pilates, too!)
* Audrey Barron of Be Bliss, Massage Therapist, Raw Food Chef, Health Nut

I look forward to how you respond to the award my dear friends!

Love and hugs ,

Angelina Elliott

Our Adventures

2010-09-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!
It has been a long time since I last connected with you. Sorry about that! I have been on an interesting life journey the last three months. I injured my back, basically ignored it and long story short, suffered the consequences of not taking care of it immediately. I started care about a week before Raw Spirit, so when we started on the journey, I was still suffering from severe tension/cluster headaches 24/7 and having issues with my back flaring up. We encounted the strangest journey ever trying to go the back route to Prescott nd ended up having to turn back and practically start over again, because the border patrol told us to. We arrived in Prescott pretty late, missed the first day of RS, but got plenty of rest and started the day out at New Frontier, a cute little healthfood store in Prescott. I love their produce section, it's VEGANIC and many of their amazing gems are grown on their own farm. How cool is that? I prefer wild foods, as you all know, but decided to give their goodies a try and I am glad that I did. We made a lovely plate full of seeded grapes (green, yes you heard me right-GREEN) and concord grapes, beautiful apples harvested by a farm near by (they were such cute little baby sized apples and fresh too, that I am sure they were closer to the wild varieties of apple trees), cucumbers, sprouts, dandelion greens, lemon, pineapple, heirloom tomatoes, and avocado. GORGEOUS and YUMMY too. After our fabulous meal we headed off to RS. Right away, we saw our friends and everyone was happy to be reunited again.

Highlights~
My dear friend Tavis!!!! Tavis is the MAN! Let me tell you a neat story about Tavis, one you may not be aware of. Tavis is a fabulous HEALER. Before going any further, I want you to hold a space in your heart, one of openess and pure love. Tavis workes in Scottsdale, Az and his specialty is sports medicine. He has MAGICAL FINGERS and HANDS. :-) Years ago, Tavis was hit as a pedestrian by a gal going 60 miles an hour and his spine was shattered, hip completely split open, spine was wrapped up like a snake all the way to edge of his body, cranium was cracked and bleeding, and more. The doctor couldn't believe he was alive. Tavis believes that his life food lifestyle is the reason he didn't die. He believes live foods make your blood, tendons, bones, joints more pliable turning you more into gumby. He is a 15 year 100% live foodist. He healed himself through the therapeautae way of life, a therapy he contines to pactice today. It took him 7 months to heal and the accident took place 4 1/2 years ago. You can hear him by visiting this link-pretty extraordinary ">

If you remember, I also mentioned him in my review of Markus Rothkranz dvd set. What a beautiful blessing he is and I am truly happy he is my friend.

Ascended Health Booth!
I am a huge fan of Ascended Health products. My favorite product of theirs is ORALIVE. Ian and I had a blast trying out all the goodies. Let's see if I can remember all the neat things we tried.....
ProAlive Probiotic
Active Detox Probiotic
I Am Blissful Spray
Lemurian Crystal Ormus
Sufi Bliss Ascension Oil
I liked everything we tried, but since I had a limited budget at RS, I just bought more Oralive. I look forward to buying the probiotic program soon.

Feathers in my hair done by a magical being, who instructs you to set your intent, so that when the sacred feathers become a part of your being and your intent becomes you. Very cool!!

Native Soul and her OUT OF THIS WORLD DURIAN SMOOTHIES!

Jameth's booth Healthforce
I was so blessed to have yummy WARRIOR FOOD MILK (Warrior Food mixed in water). THANK YOU! :-))

I am blissfully thankful for the lovely turn out at my talk/demo. The wasps were over the top though, but thanks to my brave assistant BEE BOY, it wasn't quite so scary. THANK YOU BEE BOY! I was stung 4 times, because I had way too much tasty stuff on my fingers.

I wish we had pictures to share with you, but I left my cord at home and my memory was FULL. DARN!

Friends of course!!! We saw all of our beautiful, loving, generous, kind friends! YAY!

So there you have it!
Love and blessings,
Angelina xoxoxo

Final Review of Markus Rothkranz' fabulous DVD set Free Food and Medicine

2010-08-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the end of my review of Markus' fantastic DVD set, Free Food and Medicine. Disk four shows you all about Edible Landscaping, something I am TOTALLY GOING TO DO! Edible Landscaping is where you grow everything to eat. We live in such a weird world where everyone just lets beautiful natural fruit on their trees rot. I am always so shocked when I walk around in my neighborhood and see apples, oranges, mulberries, figs, lemons, tangerines rotting on the ground and always out of my reach! It's CRIMINAL! Then there are the people who grow only ornamental lemons within my reach, what's up with that? So, Edible Landscaping makes so much sense! I mean, why on earth should we be growing things that aren't food, wasting valuable space that could be used for food and saving money on food by growing it ourselves? When I was a kid, my whole neighborhood was a playground of ORANGES, LEMONS, TANGERINES, GRAPEFRUIT, POMAGRANATE, and PECANS! People would just leave their fruit out for you to take, that is, what they themselves couldn't consume. Somehow, we've been convinced that food we grow isn't fo eating, we must buy it from the grocery store-how obsurd. So back to Disk Four, Edible Landscaping is an empowering part of Disk Four, because you can shop for the trees and plants you need to grow everything yourself. How wonderful is that? The next part of the disk is with Tavis Yekael, who is lovely enough to take us for a walk through Scottsdale (AZ) neighborhoods and show us how to live off the food found there locally. He also takes you on a little tour of the Papago Mountains, an old hangout of mine. Love it! This is a fun disk folks!! :-)))

Disk Five features Matt and Angela Stokes walking around a neighorhood identifying and eating plants. CUTE!! Oh, and then we get a special treat, Kevin Kartheiser takes us on a fun and wild walk that teaches all about wild greens (I loved this) and my sweet new friend Jennifer (Jennifer Las Vegas Valley Girl) steals the show with her AMAZING edible garden!!! OMG! I started drooling and planning my garden after she walked me through hers. FABULOUS and a must see! Then, we have this sweet man named Jiri Hlavacek, who's heart warming story will bring tears to your eyes! He is so precious! The last part of the disk is devoted to a visit to the self sustaining Maryland B&B (very cool place that I have to visit!) and Katrina Blair living wild in Colorado. So there you have it folks! This has been the most fantastic journey and I just adore these DVD's! The book is an extra bonus and it provides you with recipes you can make using wild foods! BEST DVD'S IN THE UNIVERSE!

Lots of love to you all!
XOXOX
Angelina

Part Three of my review of Markus Rothkranz' Free Food and Medicine 5 DVD set

2010-08-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

Loving Disc Three too! This disk covers more of the Forest Gardening, which I am completely INTO right now! I have been collecting newspapers, have amazing organic dirt, and my step-mom gave me a bale of straw!! I am so excited! :-) Can you tell? Remember the people I told you about in Part Two who own the Living Centre? They not only talk and show you more about Forest Gardening, they also share about healthy relationships, their experiences, and love. I especially liked the part where they were all lovey dovey with each other whilst talking about healthy relationships. VERY COOL! This Living Centre looks like heaven on earth and I just love the way people come together to create beautiful, thriving environments. Thank you Markus for caring so much about the world and its people, without you, I wouldn't have this empowering, wonderful DVD series! My heart is overflowing with gratitude!

Ronnie and Minh are such a cute couple and so much fun to watch! I so enjoyed him showing all of the food they have growing and especially the fact that where they are it is HOT and they still manage to grow awesome food. NO EXCUSES is what I mainly got out of this disk.

Probably the most heart warming part of this disk, is the fact that both couples chose the simple life, one that maybe others would misunderstand and possibly shun, especially in such an ego driven world we are living in right now. The motto, he who dies with the most toys seems the best way to describe what is going on in the world today and to see these beautiful people living in harmony with the earth, so that others may simply live is refreshing to say the least. It is a dream come true in my book!

I've gotten so much out of these DVD's and I am so thrilled that I am blessed enough to have them!!

Here's what you will find on Disc Three
The Living Centre Part 2
1. Forest Gardening
2. Love and relationships
3. Epilogue

Ronnie and Minh
Choosing the simple life

Stay tuned for part 4!

Love, hugs, and blessings,
Angelina xoxo

Part Two of my review of Markus Rothkranz' Free Food and Medicine 5 DVD set

2010-08-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

Again, I am astounded at how much more information I have taken in, especially since I've probably watched each DVD now like 20 times! Folks, this DVD set is literally blowing my mind. I just have to say it again, if there is one DVD set you buy ever, make it this one! Markus is truly a revolutionary thinker and is dedicated to bringing forth the most cutting edge information I have yet to see anywhere else. Everyone is always trying to sell you something that is the next big thing and Markus is trying to empower you to turn to nature for all of your answers. Considering I am a super nature girl, love everything that comes from nature, and I even make my living from nature, this is absolutely MARVELOUS! In a day and age where everyone is coming at you with the newest and greatest product to buy, it's pretty exciting to see on DVD what I have been teaching on wilderness medicinal walks for more than 20 years! I just love this guy!

Now on to Part two of my review
Just a reminder of what's on Disc Two
Disk 2
The Living Centre Part One
1. Welcome
2. Medicinal Plants
3. The Garden

The Living Centre is run by two awesome individuals, Shantree and Lorenna Kacera. They lovingly teach people about living foods, nutrition, spirituality, and so much more.
Shantree and Lorenna turned what was once a place of old cars, buses, and junk into a paradise.
Check out this amazing photograph

Um, WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They practice a form of gardening called Forest Gardening. Forest gardening is a type of gardening technique that employs the same principles of the forest and meadows. By mimicking what forests do and creating balance, everything simply cares for itself. Nature is so intelligent, it knows how to take care of itself. Forest gardening works on seven layers, instead of traditional methods of gardening. For instance, perennials stay around better than annuals. 95% of the plants growing in the wild are perennials. Think of perennials as parents or like a tree, they stay around year around and sometimes permanently. Perennials have deep roots that go down up to 100 feet, bringing more minerals and nutrition to you when you harvest. Annuals are plants or seeds you plant each year and then plow down. Instead of depending on seasons, you have year round yields. You can yield a bigger and better food supply with perennials. Consider this, Native Americans had more diversity than we have today!

One of the things that Shantree pointed out that truly amazed me (there were so many) was that you can take echinacea (usually only used for its medicinal properties) and use the seeds to make pepper seasoning and you can use the echinacea seeds to sprout and eat the sprouts in salads. NOW THAT'S COOL! :-)))

Nature teaches us so much when we listen. I really appreciate Shantree's knowledge and Markus for interviewing him. There's so much to learn on this disc. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Hope you've enjoyed my review of disc 2. Stay tuned for Disc 3, Disc 4, and Disc 5

Lots of love to you all,

Angelina

xoxoxoxoox

Part one of my review of Markus Rothkranz' DVD set Free Food and Medicine

2010-07-28T15:25:00.001-07:00

It has taken me literally over a month to do this review, mainly because I am so in love with these DVD's I have to watch them over and over again. Each time I watch them, I learn even more. I am so thankful for Markus' passion! These have to be my most treasured DVD's ever, I love and adore the information more than words. I am tremendously inspired and I already live this lifestyle. I thought since these are such amazing DVD's, I would start with Disc One-Sustain yourself naturally and locally.

Here's what you'll find in his 5 DVD set
Disk 1
Original Trailer
I wish I knew
Organic VS Wild
Preparing Wild Food
James Sloane-Medical Expert Goes Natural

Disk 2
The Living Centre Part One
1. Welcome
2. Medicinal Plants
3. The Garden

Disk 3
The Living Centre
1. Forest Gardening
2. Love and Relationships
3. Epilogue
Ronnie and Minh
Choosing the Simple Life

Disk 4
Edible Landscaping
Sent Right To you
Tavis Yekael
Living off Neighborhood Plants in Arizona

Disk 5
Matt & Angela Monarch
100% Raw
Kevin Kartheiser
Wild Greens Walk
Jennifer Las Vegan Valley Girl
Jiri Hlavacek
Former Hunter Changes Life
Self Sustaining Maryland B&B
Katrina Blair
Living Wild in Colorado

The introduction alone is awe inspiring. James Sloane takes you on a trip through the desert teaching you about all the plants, not just telling you the names, but actually all the nutrients, uses, and benefits. I spent a lot of time in the Arizona desert with Master Herbalist Peter Bigfoot, learning all about wilderness survival, edible plants, and herbs, eventually starting my own wild plant hikes on a regular basis over 15 years ago. James is an amazing source of information, actually he might just be one of the most extraordinary sources of desert plant life information I have encountered yet. He gets 5 stars from me. WOW!!!!!! I love this guy!

One of the neatest things he says is he brought his eyesight back with juniper berries in small quantities.
He tells you exactly when to harvest them and how to use them. Love the details!

One of my favorite plants that he covers is chaparral. The chaparral plant is named the Larrea tridentate in honor of the 18th century Spaniard Juan Antonio Hernandez de Larrea, a patron of science. I've spent years gathering chaparral, drying it out, and using it medicinally. Pharmacology manuals state that chaparral contains Nordihydroguaiaretic acid. In the Merck Manual, a highly regarded medical book, this chemical is listed as an anti-oxidant, and its therapeutic category is an “anti-neoplastic”. Broadly, an anti-neoplastic is defined as “an agent that prevents the development, growth and proliferation of malignant cells”. The desert is filled with not just foods, but powerful plant medicines as well.

I can't stress enough how important it is for everyone to empower themselves with the information contained in this marvelous DVD set. Disk One has enough valuable medicinal information, that if you were to only watch Disk One, that would be more than enough to warrant buying the set. Trust me, I spent years studying plants and making a living using them to make medicines and this guy knows his stuff. Wonderfully EMPOWERING!

Hope you have enjoyed this part of my review, watch for more soon!
XXOXOX
Angelina

Nama Shoyu is not a health product

2010-07-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

When nama shoyu first came out I was super excited to have a soy sauce substitute, I used it all the time. At first I didn't notice the ill effects, so I kept using it. After a while, I couldn't ignore the ill effects any longer, because I started getting headaches, brain fog, and sneezing. I thought maybe it was something else, so I started eliminating other foods until I got to the nama shoyu, then I knew. Although nama shoyu claims to be a raw product, that doesn't exclude the fact that it contains gluten. I did some reading on the internet and found that nama shoyu also contains MSG. The MSG may be in microscopic amounts, but none-the-less it is still in there. Here's part of a fantastic interview with Dr. Jameth Sheridan that I think you will all find very interesting and it proves my point even further, nama shoyu is not a health product!

Jameth: There’s the idea that some people think you should be on a completely low sodium diet because so much research has shown that low sodium diets lower blood pressure, it lowers your risk for kidney disease, for heart disease and so forth. Now that research is based on regular white table salt which is heated anywhere from 300 to 1200 degrees. It has chemicals added to it, it has inorganic iodine added to it, and inorganic iodine is toxic and can kill you if you have enough of it. Regular table salt is absolutely abysmal for your health and that should never be. Because that is so bad some people have thrown the baby out with the bath-water and say all salt is bad.

When you have no salt in your diet, or for example let’s talk about when you water fast, you have large amounts of water, no salt in the water and you would thing you would be extremely hydrated but when you water fast you’re actually slightly dehydrated. Because when you have too much salt from any source you hold too much water in your body, there’s too much water held in solution in your body you become puffy and retain fluids. If you have too little salt, salt is what allows you to hold on to fluids, you can’t hold on to enough fluids and no matter how much water you drink, in fact the more water you drink when you don’t have enough salt, the more dehydrated you become and the more work your kidneys have to do to maintain the salt you have in your system. So salt balance is essential.

Now you would think that on a natural diet you should be able to get enough salt from salty vegetables like celery or tomatoes and in some cases I think that’s accurate. But for anyone sweating or doing anything athletic or people who genetically have low blood pressure or most people in my experience need to have additional sources of organic sodium. If you look to animals in nature whenever there is a salt-lick around the animals flock to it and start consuming that salt- lick. Even animals in nature, you even find predator and prey near each other at salt-licks licking the salt because the prey is so drawn to that salt that they’ll risk getting eaten by a predator just so they can have that salt. There’s something very valuable about it.

The best form of salt in my opinion by far in any community is miso, because miso used to be considered cooked which was completely wrong because miso starts out cooked but it’s aged for two years. Usually it’s in wooden casks like they used to do in the old days and its treated with probiotics and enzymes and by the time miso comes out every square molecule of that miso has undergone enzymatic and probiotic action and miso actually has a huge life force field around it. It’s anti-cancer, it’s anti-radiation, it’s a tremendous antioxidant, it’s a tremendous healing food and only a small part of it is salt. To me it’s the number one, I actually consider miso a superfood. A hardcore superfood up there with any other superfood and it compares statistically and with research. It’s a live, living salt.

The next salt, the next things you would go to I think would be a shoyu type or tamari soy sauce. Years ago there was a mistake in the raw food community that someone thought or was led to believe that nama shoyu was raw soy sauce and tamari was not. People said tamari is poisonous crap, it’s cooked, and nama shoyu is the way to go. And let me tell you the truth on that, I’ve done a lot of research on this. Tamari is the world’s original soy sauce, made in Japan, back to recorded records. Miso was made, and the liquid that floated to the top of the miso was tamari, that was what was tamari. It was aged. It was fermented in a good way with bacteria and enzymes and no wheat was ever added to this there was no such thing as wheat in Asia. And today tamari is made on its own and fermented on its own.

Nama shoyu is a very recent, thousands and thousands of years there was tamari and the ingredients are soy beans, water and salt, enzymes and probiotics that treat this. Nama shoyu is made differently whereas today they add westernized wheat to nama shoyu. The wheat actually when it ferments forms a large amount of alcohol. So it has a less full bodied flavor than tamari and it has a larger alcohol content which isn’t necessarily a problem but there’s less flavor to it and since it has wheat in it people with wheat allergies and people with gluten intolerance which is a big percentage of the population cannot consume it. And tamari, unless someone actually went out of the way to pasteurize, it is not cooked. Tamari is raw, so is nama shoyu. They’re equally as raw, but tamari is made the traditional healthy way, has a stronger better flavor than nama shoyu and is completely gluten free.

Nama shoyu has destroyed, I mean absolutely reeked havoc, destroyed raw food cuisine for anyone who is wheat sensitive or anyone who has celiac disease which means they can’t have any gluten whatsoever. It’s just eliminated that for them and it’s less healthy for them than tamari. There’s no reason you need to be having wheat in your tamari, in your soy sauce. So to me, tamari, excuse me nama shoyu’s time has come due to an error, someone thinking it was raw and tamari was not and it’s now time for it to go. It has no place in the raw food community, I don’t think whatsoever, because we have superior alternatives and that would be gluten-free tamari.

There's a new product out on the market that I will be trying soon (although I am quite happy with wheat free tamari on the rare occasion I make Asian style foods) It's called Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Aminos. I will write about that experience next time.

Blessings and hugs!

Angelina

xoxoxoxoxo

Focus on Mulberries by Joanna Steven

2010-06-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

Mulberries are my absolute favorite berry in the world, no scratch that...they are my favorite food! I am excited that this week we have my friend Joanna guest blogging and guess what she is talking about? MULBERRIES! Yay! What a blessing! ENJOY!

Focus on... Mulberries

Every spring and summer, many of us wild food enthusiasts delight in the joys of picking mulberries. These delicious white or dark red berries grow across the country in the US, but surprisingly, many trees go completely untouched. As soon as the weather gets warm enough for mulberries and other wild edibles, my husband and I like to go forage for them, and noticed how many people walk by the trees not even realizing they can eat the fruits! This is good in a way (more for us!) but it really is a shame for such wonderful fruits to be ignored like that.

I am also pretty lucky to have a white mulberry tree right in my own backyard, but, as most raw foodists know, a single tree is not much for our needs.

I remember once - as I was looking for the nutritional analysis of certain foods - coming upon a bag of dried mulberries on an online raw vegan store. These little berries were being sold as a superfood! I immediately had to look up their nutritional analysis to see if it was just hype.

As it turns out, mulberries are pretty high in protein. For comparison, bananas are about 4% protein, oranges are about 6%, and mulberries are about 11%. They are also high in iron. I made a smoothie last spring with a pound of mulberries, and just like that, I had nearly 50% of my iron needs taken care of. And thanks to more than 160% of vitamin C per 3 ounce serving, iron is even better assimilated by our body than in other iron rich, vitamin C poor foods (like... meat, which isn't that iron-rich anyway). Mulberries' nutritional profile in general is quite impressive, there is little that they do not contain (like vitamin D, vitamin B12 and... sodium).

And what does science say about mulberries? Those who know me are well aware of my passion for scientific studies conducted on raw foods. Here are a few studies that I found:

According to a study conducted at the department of food science and biotechnology of the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan, Mulberry Extract "treated mice showed a higher antioxidant enzyme activity and less lipid oxidation in both the brain and liver, as compared to the control mice [and] showed improved learning and memory ability in avoidance response tests." They conclude "supplementation of ME might be advantageous to the induction of an antioxidant defense system and for the improvement of memory deterioration in aging animals."

A study from the faculty of medicine of Khon Kaen university in Thailand concluded that "long-term administration of [mulberry leaf] has antihyperglycemic, antioxidant and antiglycation effects in chronic diabetic rats, which may be beneficial as food supplement for diabetics."

There are more studies, but I don't want to post long lists of scientific findings. I may do this in my upcoming book with Tonya Kay however, since the one currently in the making is focusing on common foods such as apples, avocados, walnuts etc. I might concentrate on wild foods in the next one!

I won't be posting mulberry recipes, since I now believe they are best enjoyed as a mono food. If you can find mulberry trees in your area, don't forget to pick them before the season ends! And if you have an aversion to eating bugs, be sure to soak your harvest in water for a while :)

Joanna Steven is the co-author of the first ever Raw Nutritional Analysis with Tonya Kay, available at kayosmarket.com. She also owns the raw food store Sirova (http://www.sirova.com/) where you can find delicious raw and organic dried mulberries.

Miracles

2010-06-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

I've been doing angel readings for about 6 years now and the more I play with the cards, the more intense the readings get. Within seconds of the readings, magical things started to happen. I find this in line with the master teachings I have received over the years stating that we are the forgotten Gods waking up. We used to wield the power to produce pearls and other instant manifestations right into the palms of our hands just merely thinking about what we wanted, we have enormous power that lies in our thoughts, words, actions, and in the chi that exists within each and every one of us. The mystics, Shamans, Shoalin Monks, and other great masters know this power and they tap into it every day. A Shoalin Monk can harness enough chi to destroy an object or heal a dying person with just a pointing of a finger, because they have mastered the art of chi. Everything is made up of chi, everything including all life forms. Structures like buildings are just chi and a master has the ability to see objects as illusions and therefore can walk through walls. We believe in our society that either this is false or in the mere chance that we do believe in the moving of chi and other great miracles, that only certain individuals are blessed with this gift. Folks, Jesus could do miracles not because he was the son of God (we are all children of God) but because he knew that the answers to all questions, the greatest powers, and the highest form of truth (knowledge) exists within. He used what was within himself to do great things. Siddhartha before becoming the enlightened one known as Buddha sat down and meditated for a very long period of time (another who recognized that all knowledge resides within) until he became the enlightened one, and the list goes on. My point here is this, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Beings such as angels cannot do or be what we are and yet we take the gift of being human so lightly and with little regard. People in some religions shun life here on earth as if it were something to be loathed and insist that there are greater opportunities available to them in another realm, they are missing the point of why we are here. Humans have simply forgotten who they are. Many years ago, I became a Ramtha student and reawakened to knowledge I already possessed. When reading the white book, I immediately went Aha! It was a marvelous confirmation journey for me. Ramtha's teachings are 35,000 years old and yet somehow I feel as if I have been alive for the last 35,000 years right there alongside him. My fascination with immortality began at age 3. I remember when I first learned of death, I awakened from a dream and decided right then and there, I will never die. I have been saying this ever since. I have read the course of miracles many times and each time, I hear the same message of everlasting life. Jesus himself states that death is an illusion. All the great masters have either lived on as immortals or ascended by choice. Babaji the Immotal is said to be living in the mountains to this day and looks to be in his twenties. Babaji taught Paramhansa Yogananda, who authored Autobiography of a Yogi the foundation of Kriya yoga which is taught to thousands of people today. The Chinese recognize immortality as a fact, yet not all strive for immortality. The more I dive into the world of the ancients, the more connected I feel. Immortality isn't a fantasy for me, it is a reality based on studying nature, being connected to earth, its inhabitants, and feeling a sense of eternity when I meditate on a mountain, touch a tree, hear a bird sing, or watch the ocean's waves crash up against a cliff. Some say miracles are things of the past probably because they are expecting to see someone walk on water or water turn to wine, not to say that these are not realistic actions, but at the same time, these marvelous feats dismiss the beauty of life's little miracles each day that go unnoticed by the average eye. I open my heart and mind to the notion that all things are possible and fill my heart with gratitude so as to not ever miss a single miracle. Our eyes are not often in alignment with our hearts, because of blockages that act as blinders. When we free up our hearts by clearing up old emotions and pain that no longer serve us, open and attune our energies to match our new emotions, and open our minds, a gorgeous new being emerges out of the rubble of our old bodies like a phoenix bird and now we are ready to receive the miracles all around us, we are ready to manifest great things, and be the beings we were sent here to be.

Sexual Healing

2010-06-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Communication is often something that goes by the way side in relationships. Couples can be together seemingly happy for years, keeping many deep seeded emotions at bay or merely swept under the rug. Fear of rejection is often the contributor in keeping mum. Take my situation for example, for years I experienced painful sex, but went through years of painful sex keeping an emotionless face in place, because after all, I was the queen of chronic pain and what was one more pain. I thought if I spoke of this to my beloved I would somehow be looked upon as less than, so was silent about it for almost 18 years! Finally one day I just couldn't do it any longer and chose to open up to my husband and tell all. That was the very best day of our 20 something years together, because we bonded in a way that is unbreakable. Now we talk about everything, and I mean everything. I am more playful with him, more trusting, and adventurous than I have ever been in my life. Communication is key in making any relationship work. It builds a strong foundation for long lasting more meaningful relationships. Along with communication often comes respect, clarity, and little room for misunderstandings leading to a more full filling relationship. Love isn't enough to keep relationship ties together. It takes hard work, dedication, open communication lines, and respect. If you have had a relationship built on silence, it is freeing to the soul to start by opening the communication lines, but remember, this is a personal choice-YOUR CHOICE, do not expect your partner to do the same just because you have decided to open up the flood gates. It takes a great deal of trust and if your relationship has been built on "everything's just peachy" when it's not, the other partner has to feel that they too, have something to share. For instance, I thought that since I had come clean, my husband would feel that at anytime things weren't going "status Quo" he could just open up, but instead he chose to bottle it up from embarrassment or the same feeling of "less than", however he is a man that wears the expression "something isn't quite right here" well, but in his mind he thinks he hides it. Yesterday I felt something was very wrong and after asking him a few times and the shrug off I received, I thought it better to leave it alone. Thank God he finally couldn't take it anymore and just came clean with me. He had so much to say, so much fear of his own well being, and when all of his fears were put to rest, he felt as though a gazillion weights had been thrown off and he was a new man, confident, playful, and at peace. Communication is a godsend and those who know it well, live by its code. Trust is the principle role in communication, not necessarily just trust in your partner, but trusting yourself, believing that you are in a safe place, and casting away old fears, memories, and past relationships. When most people embark on a relationship journey, they often carry old baggage into a new frontier instead of dealing with old skeletons in the closet and starting anew. This is why there are emotional triggers in place in relationships that start crying fits, silence, or serious bursts of anger. When we shove everything under the rug instead of dealing with it head on, a volcano is bound to erupt and when it does, it can be either life shattering or life healing, but until it happens, there's no way of knowing which way it will go. Life is meant to be a joy filled experience and the relationships we have with others is a reflection of what is going on inside ourselves. If we were to truly understand this and utilize this, we would take better care of ourselves and create the lives we want. The choice is always ours. No one holds your destiny, you are the keeper.

Raffle tickets, great prizes

2010-06-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

We're selling raffle tickets for $10 and you have a chance to win some really awesome prizes!
Here's just a few of the great prizes you have a chance to win

Distance or in person Reiki Session By Angelina

Distance or in person Angel Reading by Angelina (can choose from angel, archangel, mermaid, fairy, wisdom, or goddess deck)

Dr. Bridget Chelf is offering $190.00 evaluation and treatment in Solana Beach, Ca- to learn more, or to make an appointment with Bridgette Chelf, D.C. in Del Mar, CA, please call (858) 792-7296 for more information.

Acupuncture by Toni Narins http://www.missionvalleyacu.com/ Treatment in Mission Valley,Ca

The Following Books; The Decadent Gourmet, The Simple Gourmet, and A Diva's Guide to Juices and Cocktails By Angelina http://www.she-zencuisine.com/

The following books are offered by Ingrid of Raw Epicurean http://rawepicurean.net/ebooks/
Raw Epicurean Beverages and Raw Epicurean Cookies

Thor of Raw Power is offering the following marvelous raw goodies Raw Jungle Peanuts, Truly Raw Almonds, Raw Cacao Beans, Raw Goji Berries, Raw Golden Berries, and Truly Raw Cashews http://www.rawpower.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Designer Clothing from Couture in Laguna Beach is offering 3 pieces from the Escada collection, woman's jean, black blouse with gold and black buttons, and one black slack (wool) European sizes 42 blouse, 42 slack, and jean 48. Lime colored blouse by Gigli Italian made size medium, gorgeous black blazer by Theory (wool blend) size medium. http://www.havocfashion.com/id7.html

Lisa our fabulous Kombucha Goddess is offering 1/2 gallon of kombucha

Yin Yum Yang/XTC Tonic from Angelina

Emperor's Gold Hair Tonic from Angelina

Extreme Beauty Superfood Soap from Angelina

Lavender Superfood Body Scrub from Angelina

Reiki Abundance Candle from Angelina and Ian

Feng Shui Energetic House Clearing from Angelina

NOTE: You do not have to be present to buy raffle tickets and win prizes!

Ice cream and afternoon love

2010-05-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've often daydreamed of what it would be like to be sitting in my office (which is really my kitchen and my favorite place to hang out) being very businesslike working away, eating ice cream, and having my lover come home for lunch (surprise visit) ravish me like there's no tomorrow while I am still eating ice cream of course (can't leave out the ice cream, now can we). Well, I can wonder no more! I have thought of this and thought of this for longest time and today was that day! Maybe next time, I'll choose chocolate ice cream! Today's ice cream was vanilla, definitely not the flavor of seduction!

This was a prime example of thoughts creating reality. My mind has been focused on this fantasy for so long, it had to come to fruition.

What are you thinking about on a daily basis? Is it fun and lighthearted? Is is sexually stimulating? Is it something that you want to create?

Did you know that really good sex gives you longer life? Did you know that a woman has a gland in her mouth that when it is aroused and activated, it can completely renew a man's vitality? Did you know that there is a spot on the roof of a woman's mouth that when stimulated creates youth and vitality for a woman?

Just some thoughts for you to ponder!
Remember thoughts create your reality. Take time to ponder, take time to fantasize, and create the life you've always wanted

XOXOX
Angelina

Do your actions match your words?

2010-05-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

Do you find yourself filled with fear, doubt, and worry? Do you ever wonder why things happen the way they do in your life? Are you just letting life happen to you or are you consciously creating your reality by matching your thoughts, words, and actions? Do you wait to see the miracles first or do you believe in them without any proof? Do you say you are going to create something good in your life, only to find yourself focusing on all that is wrong? If these things and more are happening in your life, you are not connected to gratitude. In a constant GRATITUDE space, it isn't possible to only notice what's wrong in your life, because when you are in a gratitude space, you can only see the good and nothing else. If things simply are not working in your life, don't swim upstream and make the wrong things work, allow for the shift in consciousness and for the changes that are coming. Check your vibrational meter by checking how you feel. Are you sad, depressed, angry, anxious, stressed, full of fear, or are you happy, ecstatic, joyful, blissed out, these are your check in points. Check in with yourself everyday and allow yourself time for reflection, perhaps a long walk, a soak in the tub, or simple meditation, as these will allow you to release the negative and bring in the joy. Gratitude only works when it is being used. Think of all the things you are grateful for and only focus on those things. Do not look at anything that is not working in your life, because the more attention you give it, the more it will grow. I am not telling you to ignore serious problems in your life, just don't give them so much of your attention. Use them as guidelines to connect back to joy through being grateful for all that is in your life. There are no good or bad things in your life, they are simply teaching tools.

My mantra for today is
I only see with holy eyes.

This mantra came to me this morning after an hour of gratitude journaling. After I finished my gratitude journaling (something I have done for most of my life, but lately my life has been sooooo busy, I have skipped a week, so wondered why things started going screwy and quickly shifted back into gratitude) I noticed that I could see things in a different light with my pup situation. Instead of seeing what has been going wrong with her and getting scared and sad, I saw all the GREAT THINGS SHE WAS DOING INSTEAD. That shift created a change in her behavior and mine. This is the stuff miracles are made of! She needs me to focus on her good stuff, because when I do, she changes for the better and everything else in my life just falls into place.

Miracles happen every moment of every day whether you believe in them or not, you just have to have the eyes to see them, an open heart to receive them, and an open mind to accept them.

Blessings on your day! Remember, you are a vessel for great things, it is your destiny!
Love you,
Angelina xo

Orchids by Carol

2010-05-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you that didn't know me in what I call 'my other life', (before I was a Realtor) I was known as 'The Orchid Lady'. Orchids were my passion, and I had an orchid business for over 13years. I sold them at local Farmer's Markets, shows, and did what I trademarked as 'Orchidscaping'. The Orchidscaping was attaching the epiphytic (tree growing) orchids into the trees in clients yards, the way they would be seen in the wild. I called it the 'landscape icing' on the cake! So for those orchid lovers out there that have a tough time getting them to re-bloom (or even live after they flower) I'm here to give you a few pointers!

80% of all orchids are epiphytic, growing attached to trees in the wild, ( they are NOT parasites)which is why we pot them in bark, moss, or other very porous medium. The roots are accustomed to air circulation constantly. If you put them in potting soil, they rot and die pretty fast. Orchids like to be crowded in their pots. When re-potting, go just the next size up, about an inch or so in diameter. Replace the old medium (either the bark, moss or whatever) with fresh medium. If it's in a ball of moss, it's okay to put in bark and vise versa. Be gentle with the roots, and cut off any old dry or rotten roots.
When growing in the house, orchids like very bright, indirect light. Put them close to the window but not direct sunlight. Skylights are usually not enough to flower them. Any bright window should do the trick. Feed them with a balanced fertilizer like 15-15-15 at least once a month. When watering, take them to the sink and pour a lot of water on them so it runs out the bottom of the pot. This allows oxygen down by the roots. Let them drain completely before putting them back in something decorative so they don't sit in extra water. Dust your leaves to allow better photosynthesis. Easiest to grow are Phalaenopsis (moth orchids), and Dendrobiums, but with high enough light there are many more to have fun with! These exotic and long lasting blooms add elegance anywhere. Happy growing!

Carol Bostwick Prudential California Realty

619-244-6696

Do you believe in whimsical beings?

2010-05-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a book that I haven't been able to find for a while now that has some excellent information on merpeople. Today however after another angel reading, I went to the book shelf and the book literally fell off the shelf, more like jumped into my hand and then opened to the mermpeople page I was looking for. How wild is that? Anyway, there is this detailed section of the book that is focused on Elaine Morgan's research http://www.primitivism.com/aquatic-ape.htm The Aquatic Ape Theory. The main points are hairlessness, subcutaneous fat, protruding female breasts, weeping, nose flaps, hair on the head, webbing, swimming, copulation, oil, and breathing. My favorite one is breathing. Listen to this, Humans and dolphins can control their breathing rate, a feat that allows one to purposely hold the breath before diving. The breathing of land dwellers and primates is automatically controlled, and only changes as a reaction and not as a conscious plan. In addition, only humans, sea lions, and dugongs ( a water mammal) have a descended larynx, which keeps water out of the lungs while diving. COOL, HUH? Merpeople have green or green in the eyes and light blonde to reddish hair, are frequently thirsty, prefer their hair long, and are cold even in warm weather. Uh HELLO? When I was little, I literally LIVED in water, I swam all day, even ate my meals in the swimming pool, after getting out of the water even in hot weather, I would be so cold, I would have to take a super hot bath. Sometimes, I would sneak into the bathroom and sleep in the tub with hot water in it. I loved being wet! I swam like a fish in water, so at home and at ease, a natural mermaid. All my life I have been obsessed with sea mammals. I used to spend all day at Sea World, my dad would drop me off there and I remember it being like a ghost town during the week and you could just walk up and pet pilot whales, dolphins, and a couple of times I even got to pet an orca whale, because a trainer asked me if I wanted to. When we were sailing out in the ocean, grey whales wanted to play around our sailboat and I was so amazed by their gentle yet mighty spirits. I mean, with one whack they could have taken out our boat, but they were so careful! It was amazing! Whenever I am around these mystical beings, I feel like I am home. Even though, I am a mermaid out of water now, I know one day I will return to the magical sea. I am quite sure I am of Lemurian descent, as most merpeople are. Lemurians escaped to the sea and some became merpeople and others became land dwellers. In the book, It's hard to tell exactly where Lemuria was, but my research tells me it is thought to have been in the southern pacific. When Doreen Virtue visited a motu off of Bora Bora, she asked the question, "Is this Lemuria?" She asked this question because it looked like paradise. She goes on to mention, "Imagine the brightest and clearest turquoise ocean water next to silky white sandy beaches; tall, curvy palm trees; and a dramatic green mountain in the distance." When I was in Tahiti, I felt so at home there and I know this description well, it truly is paradise! Another amazing thing is Tahitians believe they come from the sea as well as share a common ancestry with the dolphins, sharks, and other sea creatures. The Tahitians also have a name for merpeople, Meherio. This is exactly how I would imagine Lemuria, so was surprised to find out that Lemuria is not only largely in the Pacific ocean but between North America and Asia/Australia. Check out the book, Lost Cities of Ancient Lemuria http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Cities-Ancient-Lemuria-Pacific/dp/0932813046 it is a fabulously entertaining book, complete with treasure! It's difficult to study about merpeople, because of how elusive the information can be, one minute it's there and then it just vanishes or the information is conflicting and confusing. It's more a knowing than anything else, remember true knowledge is an inside job, as Jesus, Buddha, and other great beings have demonstrated by going within for answers.

For the love of tea by Angelina Elliott

2010-05-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

Tea makes my heart sing! I have been fascinated with tea most of my life. It all began when I was little and visiting my grandfather in Corfe Castle, England. He always drank tea, it was his way of life. Many Irish and English folk drink tea, but it was my grandfather who intrigued me the most, because he seemed to experience the most joy from drinking tea. Of course, my grandfather was a jolly man, so I am sure he would have found pleasure in anything. My real adventures with tea didn't begin until my son was a baby, that was when I discovered Chinese tea. Until you have the experience of Chinese tea, tea is just tea. There is something so mysterious and sacred about Chinese tea. The rich colors, bold flavors, and interesting aroma are exhilarating! From the moment my fingers fondle the dried leaves, I am swept away. I imagine myself as Chinese royalty long ago, elegantly sipping on tea. Tea in Chinese and Japanese cultures is an art. In the Japanese culture it is the art of Zen and tea is drunk in a very ceremonial way. Each cup is lovingly prepared for you and served to you. In China, tea is is at the helm of legend and lore and used in daily life as well as celebrations. It often represents gratitude, perhaps this is why I am so drawn to it.

The art of tea-drinking was called “Cha dao”, which even the Japanese duplicated in their culture. Chinese tea-drinking includes several important aspects such as the making of tea, the way tea is brewed, and the tea set. There are five kinds of Chinese tea: green tea, oolong tea, compressed tea, black tea, and scented tea. All of these come from varieties of the Camellia sinensis plant. I have friends in China who's family have been growing herbs and rare teas for generations. The land is pristine, nourished, and blessed by monks. The herbs and teas were grown for the royal families at one time. The Chinese are rather protective and funny about their medicinal plants and teas and most if not all of what you buy outside of China is not what they covet and keep for themselves. I found this to be true after visiting over 40 Chinese herb shops and buying and tasting the herbs and teas. Put it this way, once you have had the best, it is quite easy to distinguish the best from the rest. I cannot and will not go back to average. Due to my loving and respectful relationship with this family and the length of time we've known each other, a beautiful relationship of trust, love, respect, and harmony has been cultivated allowing me to use these herbs to make my tonics, as well as sell a small amount of rare teas to my clients, friends, and family. If you are used to buying inexpensive teas or herbs, my prices will shock you, but I promise you once you try the teas or my tonics, you will be delighted you did! My beauty care line that's coming out soon will also feature exquisite high quality rare teas and herbs from the same source. I invite you today to try something new and different.

How to make the perfect cup of tea

In a teapot-(Chinese and Japanese teapots work best either iron or clay) place 1 pinch of Green, White, black, or Oolong tea in the pot if using the clay pot or if using an iron pot in the mesh tea infuser. Add hot water (just before boiling point) and let sit for 2 minutes if green tea, 1 minute, if white tea, 3-4 minutes if black tea or Oolong tea. Immediately pour off the first pot, yes you heard right, pour it off (down the sink!) and pour water over the tea again, let sit for 1-2 minutes before pouring the first cup. Our rare teas and flower blossom teas make many pots of tea, so invite friends and family over for a celebration or make all the tea and pour into a large glass container and consume throughout the day as room temperature tea or ice tea. I learned this from a Chinese Medicine and Tea Master many years ago, who seldom visits the US. :-)) You will not find this valuable information anywhere on the internet, as it is taught face to face in a sacred manner.Enjoy!

The benefits of green and white tea include:

Youth

weight loss

prevention of cancer and other auto immune disorders/diseases

strong immunity

longevity

harmony

joy

and so much more!

For more information on my rare teas, tonics, herbs, skin care, soaps, and more

please e-mail me from my website contact page www.she-zencuisine.com

What is a short sale?

2010-05-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

This week, we have a guest blogger, Carol Peterson Bostwick. She is a wonderful realtor, who truly is committed to helping people realize their dreams.

What is a Short Sale anyway? A short sale is when a seller is in need of selling a home for less than what is actually owed on it. The seller's borrower is then contacted by your agent for the 'short pay' to see if they will accept less than the loan amount. A sort sale is ussually to the advantage of a bank, because it will cost them less to take a short pay rather than foreclosing on the property.
Short sales are usually better for the borrower (seller) because it does not have nearly as severe an impact on your credit score, and does not stay on your FICO score as long as a foreclosure, which can negatively affect your credit score for up to 7 years.

Whether or not your lender will accept a short sale depends on the lending institution and investors. They will require a hardship letter, bank statements, tax returns and other documents to support the hardship. We will work directly with your lender to get the necessary documents you will need to submit in order for a short sale to be considered.

Foreclosure VS. Short sale:

A home owner that losses a home to Foreclosure is ineligable for a Fannie Mae backed mortgage for a period of 5 years. A home owner who successfully negotaites and closes a short sale will be eligable for a Fannie Mae backed mortgage after only 2 years.

On any loan applied for in the future, on a 1003 application, a perspective borrower will have to answer YES to to question "have you had a property foreclosed on or given title or deed in lieu thereof in the last 7 years", which will affect future interest rates. There is no similar declaration or question regarding this for a short sale.

Credit score on a foreclosure can drop by 250 to over 300 points for at least 3 years, vs. a short sale where only late payments on mortgage will show and after sale mortgaga will be reported as paid or negotiated. This will lower score by as little as 50 points for for 12 to 18 months if all other payments are being made.

Foreclosure will remain as public record on credit history for 10 years or more, where short sale is not reported.

It's always best to consult your CPA or tax preparer to fully understand the tax ramifications with debt forgiveness on short sales.

If you would like a free confidential and understanding consultations on what a short sale could do for you, please call us. We are here to help you so you can make informed choices. We take the time to listen to your needs and dreams. We work tirelessly to facilitate your goals without compromise. We are committed to treating every client as if they are our #1 priority.

We are SHORT SALE CERTIFIED!

Vistit carolbostwick.com

avoidForeclosureinElcajon.com

Guest Blog Post on Natural Beauty by Angelina Elliott

2010-05-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

Guest Blog Post on Natural Beauty by Angelina Elliott

I can't place this up on my blog, so be sure to click on the link to read my article.

lots of love and hugs xo

Creating joy in your life

2010-04-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

When I was little, I remember being thrilled doing the simplest things. Summers were spent swimming in the pool day and night and when I wasn't in the pool, I grabbed the raft and went floating through my yard and neighboring yards as well. We had a huge front and back yard that used to get irrigated regularly and I looked forward to the adventure of it! There was an orange grove near my house that I loved to play in and eat lots of oranges too of course. There were long walks with my stuffed animals and interviews with neighbors, I was the town mayor after all. There was always something to do! My Grandfather was a marvelous storyteller and I adored him I spent all my time with him, listening, learning, playing, laughing, and going for walks together. He was so full of life, love, light, joy, and laughter. I just adored him! He taught me all about connecting with my joy and how important it was to always spread love and happiness around wherever you go. He loved to meet anyone and everyone. Wherever we went he would introduce himself and make friends immediately. Everyone loved him, so he had friends all over in every shop and neighborhood. I love to meet people to this day and I know everyone. It is because of this beautiful and amazing lively spirit that I am such a people person today! He always told me to smile. If I was frowning or pouting, he would say cheer up, it can't be all that bad or he would say silly things to make me laugh. He taught me so much, but mostly about love and joy! I feel so privileged and blessed to have had such a great teacher and friend like my beautiful Poppy! I love sharing love and joy wherever I go. I feel like I am a fairy sprinkling happy dust on the world.

The best recipe I can think of for creating JOY is this

Find that special thing that makes your heart sing and place it in a spot where you always look.

Make a list of happy thoughts

Start a gratitude journal and start writing down all the things you are thankful for

Do what you love to do

Remember why you are here, YOU ARE HERE TO SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY!

Watch funny movies

Do laughter yoga

Deep Breathe

SMILE a lot at everyone, you will love the smiles you get back.

Do random acts of kindness. Here's one Ian did a while back, he paid all the expiring parking meters! Just think how that must have made those people's day!

DANCE DANCE DANCE

Sing!!!

Play!

Go for long walks in the wild

Connecting with your joy is easier than you think. If you need inspiration, think back to when you were a child, when the simplest things made you laugh or entertained you for hours on end. Think of a loved one, who you have fond memories of.

SMILES THEY DO A BODY GOOD! :-))

TO LIFE!

xoxoxox

More fun pics from Wednesday's Immortals Gathering

2010-04-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesdays with the Immortals

2010-04-28T22:57:00.001-07:00

Kimberlie The Ultimate Chocolatier whipping up some magical chocolates

Angelina playing in the wilds, her favorite place to be!

Lisa and her magical Kombucha

WE EAT CAKE!

Kimberlie's White Chocolate Strawberry Cream Cake

Angelina's Famous Onion Rings

The Miracle House Cleaner

2010-04-28T11:18:00.001-07:00

For years now, I have been using only one ingredient to clean my whole house and that amazing ingredient is distilled white vinegar. Vinegar is a natural stain remover and powerful disinfectant that's great for any job you give it. I use it to clean my windows, floors, including wood floors, sinks, toilet, bathtub and shower, clothes, and kitchen counters! Vinegar is not only a fantastic cleaner, it is also a great fabric softener.

It is inexpensive and good for Mother Earth.

How to use vinegar to clean

Floors

Fill your kitchen sink half way with hot water, add 5 capfuls of vinegar

Toilet, sink, and bathtub

Use full strength

Clothing

Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of vinegar depending on the size of the load

To remove stains

Allow vinegar full strength to penetrate the stains for 10 minutes, gently brush out the stain with a soft brush

To fluff and brighten towels

Use 1 cup of vinegar to the water of the washing machine

To soften clothing add 1/2 cup vinegar to the rinse cycle

Have fun cleaning your house naturally!

Mother Gaia will thank you!

Lots of love,

Angelina

Blondes and He Shou Wu

2010-04-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

I am a huge lover of He Shou Wu. I use it in my specialty teas and tonics for strengthening the immune system, kidneys, liver and to increase vitality in the organs, promoting longevity. We all need vitality in our organs, it's what gives us youth. If there's youth in the kidneys, there's youth throughout the body. In Chinese medicine, the practitioner places a large emphases on kidney health, not what we refer to in western medicine, but to what TCM practitioners refer to as the kidney meridian. Meridians are energy channels. Everyone has energy channels including animals. These energy channels cannot be seen, but they can be felt. Acupuncture is based on the body's subtle energy field and according to traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture points are situated on meridians along which qi (a "life energy") flows. Ancient China holds many secrets of health, youth, and longevity through herbal potions, teas, meditation, Qi Gong, and more. One of their beloved treasures is He Shou Wu. He Shou Wu is one of the most widely praised herbs in Chinese medicine and has been for thousands of years. One of the reasons He Shou Wu is so prized is for its amazing ability to restore hair back to its natural color, but another not so widely known attribute is its ability to grow new teeth. Pretty cool, huh? Even though I have a vast knowledge of herbs, I often experiment on myself when it comes to creating tonics, beauty treatments, and tea blends and one of those experiments has been with Eucommia bark, He Shou Wu, $500 Ginseng, Wild Lily Flower, Dang Gui, huáng qí, Reishi, and Peony Root daily and not only is my neck nice and loose, my BLONDE HAIR IS TURNING BLACK! Now, I knew that it could do this in the back of my mind, but I kept saying, "Nah this won't happen to me." Don't ever think this way folks, because in the end, it always happens to us. Today, I am at my master hairdresser and I tell him about my little problem and he says to me, "Angelina, this is an emergency!" and I am like, I know!!! He then says, "So can you hook me up with this wild stuff, I want my hair to go black too." My hair is growing super fast from my Extreme Beauty Tonic, so I have to get my hair trimmed more often to keep it healthy and lustrous. I am seriously taking the legendary He Shou Wu out of my mix from now on, because my lovely blonde hair will disappear if I don't! Can't have that, now can we? So folks, if your natural color is red, blonde, light brown, brown, or any other light color, DO NOT USE HE SHOU WU!

For more information about my fabulous tonics and rare teas, please be sure to ask for a menu.

Elite Immortals Gathering's on Wednesdays

2010-04-22T23:09:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday a group of us gather together to laugh, play, pick wilds, eat, drink, and talk. We start at 2pm and go until around 8pm. Each person is responsible for bringing something amazing, tasty, and creative. We often assign themes such as Mexican, Italian fare and always, always, always DESSERT! Kimberlie is our dessert master, she is the queen of delectable chocolaty desserts. This week she brought RAW KLONDIKE BARS, OMG just started drooling as I write this, hang on-I have to go and grab one or things might get crazy! Okay I'm back! Just needed a couple of bites and now I am raring to go again. Kimberlie not only brings desserts, she will often bring one or more entrees and green smoothies too. We love Kimberlie! Lisa is our Kombucha Goddess, she is the best kombucha maker ever. She always brings beautiful hand decorated kombucha to our parties for my famous elixirs. She is also in charge of bringing an entree or two and alkaline water, because we can't have a party without alkalizing ourselves too! Lisa Rocks! I am the Ancient Tonics and Rare Teas Specialist, so I bring that to the table along with my old hat (Celestial Raw Goddess and She-Zen Chef) and I whip up delectable food too. Ian the King my amazing and beautiful boy and Sienna my fantastic sister are in charge of the FUN Committee and offer great imaginative playful ideas for Kimberlie's magical children Aliya and Ren. Miss Pollywhirl Girl Princess Penelope P is in charge of puppy kisses, because we all know everyone needs puppy kisses. Pictured over on the left we have mango spring rolls and sexy Asian sauce, chocolate tacos with wild arugula, avocado, sour cream, and tomatoes with cilantro and basil, and raw chocolate klondike bars. I bet you're wondering why we call ourselves the Elite Immortals.... Well, we believe in the possibilities of life everlasting, we do deep breathing, affirmations, meditation, eat wild foods, focus on consciousness and energy create reality and we are consciously bringing into our lives what we focus on, we drink tonics, kombucha, rare teas, elixirs, green smoothies, living cultured foods, chocolate, and alkaline water. We make our dreams come true and envision this reality together, we pray together and honor mother earth together. This is what our wednesdays are all about. We are in the process of creating more amazing dreams together and we are delighted to share our journey with you.

Every once in a while we are blessed with the gift of a beautiful friendship where commonality is shared, ideas are treasured and honored, and there is love that lasts a lifetime. I am blessed because I have found two amazing friendships like that. I look forward to wednesdays with my friends and family and the surprises that arrive aren't bad either.

Here's to friendship!

Lots of love,

Angelina

xox

Earth Day EVERY DAY by Angelina Elliott

2010-04-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

Earth Day is here, but what does that mean exactly? Does it mean people are only thinking green one day a year? What I saw at Balboa Park on Earth Day was this, litter everywhere and junk food. Of course, I also saw a small area full of love, joy, great messages, organic food, awesome music, and beautiful energy. The main reason I have never attended an Earth Fair is this, I believe EARTH DAY IS EVERY DAY. It seems to me having mass quantities of people driving to one area on one day a year is not very green. All I hear in the media is buy a prius, change your lightbulbs, conserve water, and recycle. All of these are great suggestions, but unfortunately this is only a piece of the puzzle. Did you know for example, a prius battery will never break down and it is terrible for the earth whereas a HUMMER will completely break down into the earth? I'm not telling everyone to run out and buy a hummer here, I am just making a point. The United Nations has made the claim that methane produced from animal farming is responsible for more greenhouse gasses than all the cars on the road combined and yet, we never hear any emphases on this from the media. We cut down trees mainly for paper and toilet paper and this is completely unnecessary when there are many tree free options like banana, hemp, mango, and others, not to mention recycled paper! Without trees, we cannot breathe! The oceans are full of mercury, the fish are going, going going, but that doesn't stop people from taking, taking, taking. Did you know that the Japanese were vegetarians before the later 1800's and they are one of the biggest users of fish? They live on fish now and yet we know that it is completely unnecessary since they never lived on it before the 1800's.

The Goddess of mercy has a thousand hands - and needs them all. Japanese Proverb

So, why do we continue to deplete the oceans? Did you know that commercial factory farms feed fish to their livestock? This is an unnatural diet for vegan animals and a complete waste of natural resources. Growing fish such as salmon in factory ponds isn't the answer either, because this practice interferes with our natural fish supply in lakes and rivers. Here's an excerpt from USA Today op ed, October 2002 There are serious environmental issues associated with salmon farming as well. The spread of highly infectious, mutating salmon diseases, large-scale environmental pollution and the escape of millions of non-native fish from salmon-farm operations are all ongoing problems that alarm scientists. They worry about the potential impact on wild salmon stocks.This isn't the only problem with pond raised fish, it is also one big pot of chemical soup.

We all hear talk today of conserving water which is very important, because without water, there's no life. Unfortunately though, telling people to not water their gardens or take shorter showers isn't enough nor is it entirely the issue at hand. Do you ever wonder where all of our precious water goes? Did you know that it takes over 5,000 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef? Did you know that not all golf courses recycle their water? Did you know that California farmers grow the majority of the America's food and in places like Sacramento they are not allowed to use water that they've always depended on, so now that land is turning into CONGRESS MADE DUST BOWLS? So, where am I going with all of this? If we weren't growing so much beef, we wouldn't be using up so much of our water supply. Did you know that the largest fresh water aquifer is slowly running out of water, it will last about 190 years, and when it's gone it's gone and the majority of that water is used for agriculture. Did you know that many states do not allow the saving of rainwater? Can you imagine that it is illegal to save rainwater? What if we saved rainwater and used it to water our gardens in periods of drought? Water is a precious resource that we must find a way to save before it is too late. It seems to me that water is more precious than gold!

After reviewing all my research, it is clear to me that the only real answer to EARTH DAY EVERY DAY would be to GO VEGAN. I understand that everyone needs to start from their own starting point and some need baby steps, but in reality this whole vegan thing is really quite simple. Look at this way, if Samurai warriors, Ninjas, and Gladiators can do it, so can you! I am leaving you with these beautiful words from amazing people who eschewed meat eating for you to ponder. Oh, and by the way HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Jain monks have compassion to all beings; avoid what is sinful; abstain from food especially prepared or them; abstain from wicked deeds and from injuring living beings.
Maxim of the Monks (Jainism)

With the three means of punishment, words, thoughts and acts, ye shall not injure living things.
Jaina Sutras (Jainism)

He who harms animals has not understood or renounced deeds of sin ... Those whose minds are at peace and who are free from passions do not desire to live at the expense of others.
Acharanga Sutra (Jainism)

The butcher relenteth not at the bleating of the lamb; neither is the heart of the cruel moved with ditress. But the tears of the compassionate are sweeter than dew-drops, falling from roses on the bosom of spring.
Akhenaton? (c.BC 1375)

The ways are two: love and want of love. That is all.
Menchius (?732-?289 BC) (Confucian)

This is the sum of duty: do naught to others which if done to thee, would cause thee pain.
Mahabharata (Hindu)

When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.
Buddha (563? - 483? B.C.)

Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.
Udanavarga (Buddhist)

The Bhuddha has mercy even on the meanest thing.
Vinaya, Cullavagga Khandhaka (Buddhist)

All beings seek for happiness; so let your compassion extend itself to all.
Mahavamsa (Buddhist)

Because he has pity on every living creature, therefore is a man called 'holy'.
Dhammapada (Buddhist)

Cruelty is fed, not weakened by tears.
Publilius Syrus (fl. B.C. 42)

All cruelty springs from weakness.
Seneca (4 BC - AD 65)

An adulteress was forgiven, who passed by a dog at a well, and the dog was holding out his tongue from thirst, which was near killing him. The woman drew off her boot and tied it to the end of her veil, and drew water for the dog, and gave him to drink, and for this she was forgiven.
Mishkat-el-Masabih (Islam)

He who abstains from anything animate ... will be much more careful not to injure those of his own species. For he who loves the genus will not hate any species of animals.
Porphyry (233-304)

Have a compassionate heart towards all creatures.
Attr. Ko Hung (284-363 AD) (Confucian-Taoist)

He that will not be merciful to his beast is a beast himself.
Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)

True benevolence, or compassion, extends itself through the whole of existence and sympathises with the distress of every creature capable of sensation.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

To give pain is the tyranny; to make happy, the true empire of beauty.
Richard Steele (1672-1729)

There is something in animals beside the power of motion. They are not machines; they feel.
Charles De Secondat Montesquieu (1689-1755)

I had rather, if cruelty has been prevented by the four prints [The Four Stages of Cruelty], be maker of them than of the [Raphael] cartoons.
William Hogarth (1697-1764)

The butcher knocks down the stately ox with no more compassion than the blacksmith hammers a horse-shoe, and plunges his knife into the throat of an innocent lamb with as little reluctance as the tailor sticks his needle into the collar of a coat.
Soame Jenyns (1704-1787)

The more we come in contact with animals and observe their behaviour, the more we love them, for we see how great is their care of the young.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

If [man] is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practise kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Cruelty to dumb animals is one of the distinguishing vices of low and base minds. Wherever it is found, it is a certain mark of ignorance and meanness; a mark which all the external advantages of wealth, splendour, and nobility, cannot obliterate. It is consistent neither with learning nor true civility.
William Jones (1726-1800)

What is it that should trace the insuperable line? ...The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

The habit of shedding blood, or even of seeing it shed, corrupts all sentiment of humanity.
Compte de Volney (1757-1820)

The brute animals have all the same sensations of pain as human beings, and consequently endure as much pain when their body is hurt; but in their case the cruelty of torment is greater, because they have no mind to bear them up against their sufferings, and no hope to look forward to when enduring the last extreme pain....
Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847)

I wish no living thing to suffer pain.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

For there are deeds which have no form, sufferings which have no tongue.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

It were much better that a sentient being should never have existed, than that it should have existed only to endure unmitigated misery.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

Animal life, sombre mystery. All nature protests against the barbarity of man, who misapprehends, who humiliates, who tortures his inferior brethren.
Jules Michelet (1798-1874)

I could not have slept to-night if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground. (reply to friends who chided him for delaying them by stopping to return a fledgling to its nest.)
attr. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Human dignity begins to assert itself only at the point where man is distinguishable from the beast by pity for it.
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.
Anna Sewell (1820-1878)

The behaviour of men to the lower animals, and their behaviour to each other, bear a constant relationship.
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

The awful wrongs and sufferings forced upon the innocent, helpless, faithful animal race, form the blackest chapter in the whole world's history.
Edward Freeman (1823-1892)

I am sometimes asked "Why do you spent so much of your time and money talking about kindness to animals when there is so much cruelty to men?" I answer: "I am working at the roots."
George T.Angell (1823-1909)

If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)

... the cruelty that goes under the barbarous regime we call civilisation.
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.
Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

Much of the indifference, apathy, and even cruelty we see has its origin in the false education given the young concerning the rights of animals, and their duty towards them.
J.Todd Ferrier (1855-1943)

Cruelty is the vice most natural to dullness of mind.
H.W.Nevinson (1856-1941)

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them, that's the essence of inhumanity.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Cruelty must be whitewashed by a moral excuse, and a pretence of reluctance.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form.
William Ralph Inge (1860-1954)

Once admit that we have the right to inflict unnecessary suffering and you destroy the very basis of human society.
John Galsworthy (1867-1933)

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)

The things I feared were not in the sky, but in the nature and in the touch of humanity. The cruelty of children .. the blindness of the unpitiful - these were my terrors. But not the crash of thunder overhead, not the bolts of fire from the clouds.
Ellen Glasgow (1874-1945)

...this rage - I have never forgotten it - contained every anger, every revolt I had ever felt in my life - the way I felt when I saw the black dog hunted, the way I felt when I watched old Uncle Henry taken away to the almshouse, the way I felt whenever I had seen people or animals hurt for the pleasure or profit of others.
Ellen Glasgow (1874-1945)

It is man's sympathy with all creatures that first makes him truly a man.
Dr Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

Until he extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

Our task must be to free ourselves...by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Love of animals is a universal impulse, a common ground on which all of us may meet. By loving and understanding animals, perhaps we humans shall come to understand each other.
Dr Louis J.Camuti (1893-1981)

Cruelty has cursed the human family for countless ages. It is almost impossible for one to be cruel to animals and kind to humans. If children are permitted to be cruel to their pets and other animals, they easily learn to get the same pleasure from the misery of fellow-humans. Such tendencies can easily lead to crime.
Fred A.McGrand (1895- )

Cruelty is the luxury of those who have nothing to do, like drugs or racing stables.
Marguerite Vourcenar (1903- )

The indifference, callousness and contempt that so many people exhibit toward animals is evil first because it results in an incalculably great impoverishment of human spirit.
Ashley Montagu (1905- )

I don't think you should hurt or kill animals just to entertain an audience. Animals should have some rights. But there are a lot of directors, including Ingmar Bergman, who will injure animals to further a plot. I will have none of it.
James Mason (1909-1984)

Show me the enforced laws of a state for the prevention of cruelty to animals and I in turn will give you a correct estimate of the refinement, enlightenment, integrity and equity of that commonwealth's people.
L.T.Danshiell (1914- )

The heart of the matter is that some people like to cause injury or death to living things. And many of those who do not are indifferent to those who do.
Norman Cousins (1915 - )

I hope to make people realize how totally helpless animals are, how dependent on us, trusting as a child must that we will be kind and take care of their needs ...[They] are an obligation put on us, a responsibility we have no right to neglect, nor to violate by cruelty.
James Herriot (1916- )

Who can go to a rodeo and then criticize the hunter? ... an expertly placed bullet would be the best gift a rodeo horse could receive.
Roger Caras (1924 - )

I feel very sorry for women who continue to purchase real fur coats. They are lacking in a woman's most important requisites, heart and sensitivity.
Jayne Meadows (1926- )

"Sentimentalist" is the abuse with which people counter the accusation that they are cruel, thereby implying that to be sentimental is worse that to be cruel, which it isn't.
Brigid Brophy (1929- )

I am not basically a conservationist. When the last great whale is slaughtered, as it surely will be, the whales' suffering will be over. This is not the whales' loss, but man's. I am not concerned about the wiping out of a species - this is man's folly - I have only one concern, the suffering which we deliberately inflict upon animals whilst they live.
Clive Hollands (1929- )

I dream of a world where Man is at peace, not only with himself, but also with all the other creatures of the Earth. I long for a day when Man rejects the exploitation of other species for food, clothing, health, entertainment or even companionship. - for such a day will mean that cruelty no longer exists and it is cruelty which dominates my every conscious moment.
John Bryant (1942- )

An individual animal doesn't care if its species is facing extinction - it cares if it is feeling pain.
Ronnie Lee (1951- )

Out of 135 criminals, including robbers and rapists, 118 admitted that when they were children they burned, hanged and stabbed domestic animals.
Ogonyok (1979) (Soviet anti-cruelty magazine)

Great article on agriculture

2010-04-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.environnement.ens.fr/perso/claessen/agriculture/mistake_jared_diamond.pdf

Thoughts on agriculture

2010-04-19T16:12:00.001-07:00

Agriculture truly is the downfall of mankind. It is completely flawed, as Ian puts it. In nature, wild plants are completely resistant to disease and bugs, and grow prolifically. In fact, they not only grow prolifically, they keep coming back forever. The nutrients in wild foods are beyond anything we could ever cultivate and even if we could come close to that, we could never create something that would keep on growing and growing and growing infinitely. Nature designed plants so that we would never go hungry. The way agriculture is designed today, we now have famine, we have disease, and our fields are plagued with bad bugs. We go after the bad bugs with chemicals which kill off the good bugs, who are the predators of the bad bugs, the good bugs are poisoned and the birds go after the good bugs now poisoned and they become poisoned, and so on and so on until all of nature is poisoned. Agriculture does not want you to know about wild foods, how healing, appealing, and nourishing they are, they want you to instead get hooked on cultivated foods. Cultivated foods are a trap, that we have become accustomed to, as well as depend on for all of our needs. Our food supply is dependent on what agriculture allows. Take back your power, learn about growing your own food, pick up a book on wild foods or take a class on wild foods in your area. The food is free, the way nature intended it.

Wild food and our future

2010-04-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

Picture this, fields and fields of food, all free, and in your neighborhood! The fields of food I am referring to are commonly known as weeds. People burn, hack, mow, and poison the best food on the planet. Farmers and gardeners see them as foe, yet they are friend to not only farmers and gardeners, but to us as well. We are taught that anything that is not cultivated is not food. We are taught that in order to have a garden, we must cultivate aesthetically pleasing perfectly pruned and organized gardens. This is simply not true folks! Gardens with weeds and other indigenous plants help us water less and provide shade for cultivated plants like delicate lettuces and herbs that often require shade. Weeds can help hold tomatoes and peppers up instead of stakes. Weeds were here first and will continue to be here, because they have the unique ability to adapt and are resistant to bug infestations. Weeds generally have 5 times the nutritional value of cultivated food. We could feed the entire world on weeds. Imagine a world where no more children starve to death, homeless are fed, and we are truly nourished for the first time in our lives. Weeds are the answer to world hunger, a PESTICIDE FREE world, and an end to all disease! Next time you go outside look around you, there's free food all around you. Did you know you can eat pine needles? They are high in protein and vitamin C. How about grasses, did you know you can eat those as well? Did you know that there are over 500 varieties of dandelion and you can eat the entire plant? There's common wilds like malva, which is exceptionally high in protein and catsear which is a dandelion look alike and has furry spikes along the back instead of being smooth like dandelion and it is full of vitamins and minerals. Nasturtiums abound everywhere, they've become so popular in fact, you can now buy them in the store. You can eat the whole plant along with the flowers. Nettles are everywhere in parks in the spring time and if you rub off the little barbs gently with a bag, you can eat them. This is just a sampling of what's out there. If you would like to learn more, there are plenty of guide books you can buy online for wild foraging. Empower yourself, Free yourself, Feed yourself, and Nourish yourself with REAL FOOD that is FREE!

The Midnight Rose Brigade

2010-04-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

I started a group called the Midnight Rose Brigade after months of midnight doggie walks. Every night when we are walking Miss Pollywhirl Girl Princess Penelope P Too Sexy For Her Spots lollypop, we see houses with rose bushes so heavy they are toppled over. Most people do not realize that in order to have healthy rose bushes, you must prune them regularly, so by leaving these roses like this and letting them just die on the bush, they are killing off the rose bushes. The house next door used to have 8 gorgeous rose bushes, now they only have two and I intend to save these last two beauties. Last night, we clipped 15 roses from one of the bushes and there's over 50 more to clip tonight and that's just ONE rose bush. Can you imagine? Tonight, we are going after as many as we can all carry. I have three vases full and my house smells heavenly thanks to my sweet rose brigade team! YAY! If you have any fruit trees or rose bushes in your neighborhood dying off, why not start your very own rose brigade? THE PLANTS AND TREES WILL THANK YOU and so will your nose! Not only that, the things you see in the wee hours will amaze you.We've seen coyotes, strange people, night birds, meteors and more. Who knows what you'll see....

The greening of Bloomies and more

2010-04-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

I am not into consumerism at all. I shop Farmer's markets, local venders, buy fair trade, and always vegan. I have to say though on the rare occasions that I do venture out to the mall, I love to go to Bloomies. So why Bloomies, because for a large conglomerate corporate fashion hall, they at least know the meaning of promoting green to a crowd that may or may not be green. When I was in there the other day, they had a giant LCD screen hooked up and a documentary on oceans was playing. The film was all about how the oceans are being over fished and that the reefs are dying and how people can help by doing something about it. How wonderfully EMPOWERING! Above the display and all around it was a message about TOILET PAPER and where it comes from-TREES. What a great message for the masses! They were urging people to buy only recycled toilet paper. I LOVE IT! I have been buying recycled toilet paper for ages and wouldn't dream of buying anything else. Why is it important to only buy recycled toilet paper? OLD GROWTH FORESTS are CUT DOWN for toilet paper! This is completely unnecessary of course and when people are educated, they often do the right thing. People were gathered all around this prop, so it wasn't just wasting space. Right next to it you could see another display that was all about organic clothing and they had organic designer clothing on display. Marvelous! Even the FAMOUS Little brown bag that is normally made of paper was now made out of reusable material and it comes in many sizes! I love the greening that is going on everywhere that was once reserved only for the "hippies". It is refreshing to see a message like this at a place like Bloomies. Another favorite reason for loving Bloomies is I can spend the entire day in there playing the manifestation game and NOT ONE SINGLE SOLITARY PERSON WILL BOTHER ME! I can't stand it when sales people are on top of you and keep asking do you need this or that, etc.. Bloomies has the sweetest employees, they are always smiling and laid back and wait for you to come to them. I can try on literally anything and everything and not one person will bother me. I've only bought a few things there, well made things that were either made in Italy, Spain, or the US.

While we were walking around FV mall, we saw banners everywhere talking about different sized bras. The one that really caught our attention was SIZE K! We stood there scratching our heads going size K????? So I said, we had better go to the Intimacy store and ask. I get in there and there's a long line of women waiting to be served and the lady says, I will be right with you. I find it odd that she directed that at us first since there were other women who had obviously been in there longer. Did I have a sign on my forehead that says HELP ME FIRST? Anyway, within two seconds a sales lady says to me, "How can I help you?" I promptly ask her, what's size K? She takes me over to the drawer and shows me DOUBLE J and all I can say is HOLY COW, DOUBLE J IS LARGER THAN DOLLY PARTON AND PAMELA ANDERSON! She couldn't show me K, because they were out of them. Can you imagine? WHO WEARS K????

The things you experience at a mall amaze me.

On my way to leave, I saw some pretty barrettes, so I stopped to look further and the lady asks me if she can do my hair. I think to myself what's the harm in it, so I say yes. OH MY, they did my hair soooooo beautifully, I wanted everything until I heard the price! The price for all they did to my hair would have been over $600! I promptly walked away!

We passed the Apple store, dangerous place for me, so had to run past! I am a serious MAC girl. Ackkkkk!

Oh yeah, we were supposed to be leaving remember? That was until I saw Crate and Barrel. We went in there and found so many "green things" it's amazing! A lot of their gourmet prepared food items have ingredients resembling what you would find at Wholefoods! They had bamboo tables and chairs for outside, glass to go containers (tupperware), bamboo to go ware, hand blown glass pitchers, and so much more. They apparently have a very conscious buyer.

All in all, we had a very GREEN day at the mall. I would most likely repeat the whole process, because it was such a positive one.

Making chocolates today

2010-04-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

For some reason starting the day out naked made me want chocolate. It certainly isn't for the high mineral content in them, since I started my day out naked in the sun and then I sat in the sun and drank my wild green smoothie, so it must be the whole primitive aspect of chocolate eating. They do say, Chocolate can be right up there with fabulous sex and until recently I would have agreed with that, since my sex life had taken a turn for the worse for a great many years, so chocolate became my FABULOUS SEX substitute. As you all know, the tonics have healed all that and now I am wild woman! Ooooooh HEAR ME ROAR! :-)) My decision to make chocolates today is most likely because I simply LOVE CHOCOLATE! I started the whole process and then thought, hmmm.. my newest tonic is finished, what if I combined them and made DETOX CHOCOLATE! My imagination went rather wild, because then it drifted into another realm where I started staring at all of my wild greens and wondering what that would be like in the chocolate. My whole life has become revolved around my tonics and wild foods. I live on both daily and now that chocolate has come into my life more and more, it's no wonder that I fondly think of combining them for the ultimate treat. The wild food idea in the chocolate was better enjoyed in a smoothie, but the tonic idea was a hit! My dear friend Kimberlie makes these most amazing mineral chocolate bars. How cool is that? I mean, people are always looking for easy ways to get all their nutrients, not to mention tastier ways of doing it. I am not marketing my tonic or rare green tea chocolates any time soon, simply because I am not a chocolatier. However, if I were to do this, I would certainly team up with my most amazing chocolatier friend Kimberlie and then take it from there. I love the daily adventures at my house! You never know what I might get up to or into. Oh and thank God there were no helicopters flying over my house today! What a sight that would have been, me out there gathering wilds in the buff and then sitting with it al hanging out, drinking a green smoothie to top it all off!

Hope you are all enjoying your Saturday afternoon!

Art by Ian Elliott Copyrighted 2009

Here's something fun for you all to do!

2010-04-09T16:00:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was three years old, I knew amazing things. I can't explain how I knew so much, I just did. It was as though the Universe downloaded things into me. The longest belief I have held in my life has been that I am indeed an Immortalist. Along with being an immortalist, I also believe that aging is a disease, not wrinkles from doing like smiling, repeated use of each body part, but actual aging, aches and pains, bodies that simply do not work, losing your mind, etc.. In Chinese medicine, the body is looked at differently than in any other medicinal practice. The liver and the kidneys determine your lifeline, your lungs and kidneys determine your youth. So, practitioners of Chinese medicine go to great lengths to energize your chi and balance your meridians through acupuncture, breath work, and Chinese herbs. The Chinese are actually experts in the field of Immortality, believe it or not. They had the whole thing figured out at one time and then abandoned it for Alchemy. They guard many hidden secrets that if unlocked hold the key to immortality and the fountain of youth. There are many factors involved in the process of anti-aging and if you desire living for all of eternity. It isn't just a one step process, it is several processes at once. For starters, WHAT'S YOUR BELIEF SYSTEM AROUND AGING? How does it serve you? Once we figure out what your beliefs are, it is easier to approach the next step. How do you eat? When do you eat? What do you eat? Do you drink plenty of water? How about exercise? If you do exercise, do you exercise more than twice a week? What kind of exercise do you do? Do you meditate daily? What's your breathing like? Do you have love and gratitude in your life? What's your self talk like? What do you say to others on a daily basis? Do you love yourself completely and unconditionally? Do you have stress in your life? AND THIS ONE IS VERY IMPORTANT.... DO YOU HAVE FUN EVERY SINGLE DAY LIVING IN THE MOMENT? All of these factor in when we want the anti-aging lifestyle and also if we have chosen the path of immortality.

My secret is and has always been my belief system. I have a very strong knowing when it comes to NOT AGING or DYING. I am eternally youthful period.

Check out these marvelous affirmations~

http://affirmyourlife.blogspot.com/2009/08/youthful-affirmations.html

I am in a movie! It is marvelous!

2010-04-08T14:00:00.001-07:00

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1270700452984RA76

I was featured on LEXI YOGA

2010-04-08T13:57:00.001-07:00

http://www.lexiyoga.com/raw-foods

C-sections and sex

2010-04-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

I don't normally write about these sort of things, but I feel I must. My son was born via c-section. Until recently, I never realized how important it is for a baby to come through the birth canal for the baby. I knew it was important for the mother to have natural childbirth based on my own findings. I was pregnant for way too long (over 10 months!) and when my water broke, I was excited about my all natural child birthing process, but what I didn't know until the last minute that I was never going to have him naturally because I had a deformed pelvis. I still to this day, cannot figure out why the doc never figured that out until we were in a life threatening situation and there was no choice but an emergency c-section! Anyway, after the long scary process, my beautiful healthy baby boy was born. We stayed for a week in the hospital and what an ordeal that was, because I was allergic to all the pain meds, so I just laid there in unbearable pain. The plus side to the no pain meds was that I was able to heal very quickly. In the coming months I noticed that making love was a miserable experience. At first, I thought it was because we tried too early, but when I had my check up, the doc said we had the green light and all was fine. Unfortunately, I kept having painful sex for years and they told me it was all in my head until I was lucky enough to find some research that validated painful sex after c-sections and I even found a support group. Can you imagine? I thought, OH NO, am I destined to have painful intercourse my entire marriage? It weighed hard on our intimacy and made me very sad. Recently however, my tonics have changed all this! I am so thrilled I just had to share! I know I am not the only one who experienced all this pain on a regular basis and if I can touch just one woman by writing this, then I will be very happy. I don't want any woman to suffer through what I have suffered through for years. My husband and I have a renewed closeness, a very engaging and healthy sex life, and our love is stronger than ever. I feel like a GODDESS! I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR!

If you are interested in learning more about my tonics, please contact me directly on Facebook in my inbox.

Lots of love and blessings!

Angelina

My Rare Teas and Tonics Menu

2010-02-05T11:01:00.001-08:00

♥ ♥ Here's my life's passion and work! Blessings and Hugs ♥ ♥ ♥
The SuperHero STRENGTH Tonic is $45.00
The Beauty Tonic and the Handsome tonic are $45.00
IMMORTALITY Tonic $50.00
CONNECTIVITY Tonic (strong bones, connective tissue, fascia, joints, kidneys, and heart) $50.00
Strong Bones, lungs, liver, spleen, kidney, and teeth is $45.00
Extreme Bone Tonic $50.00
Kidney Tonic $55.00
Dan Tien Tonic (strong stomach fire builder) $55.00
Immunity Plus is $45.00
Blood Chi Building Tonic $55.00
Brain Tonic $45.00
XTC Tonic $45.00
Happy CHI $50.00
Liver Tonic $50.00
YIN YUM YANG (Balancing tonic) $55.00
Happy Hormones $50.00
Lung and Spleen Jing is $45.00
Immunity/endurance Jing $45.00
SAY NO TO STRESS $50.00
Extreme Eternal Beauty Tonic $65.00
Warrior Tonic $60.00
Lushes Locks $65.00
Get Flexible $65.00
Wild Thang Tonic $50.00
Detox Tonic $70.00
Aphrodisiac Blend For Lovers $65.00
Custom Tonics range from $50-$95.00

RARE TEA MENU
Beauty Tea $50.00
Flex-ability Tea $50.00
Weight-away Tea $45.00
NEW! Superfood Chocolate Tea $50.00
We only carry RARE white and green teas
White Teas
White tea is tea made from new growth buds and young leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis.
Bai Mu Dan 2 oz $10.00
Bai Hao Yinzhen 2 oz $24.00
Silver Monkey 2 oz $12.00
Green Teas
Bi Luo Chun 2 oz $22.00
Wakamidori 2 oz $14.00
Gyokuro Asahi 2 oz $16.00
Snow Lotus 2 oz $22.00
Drum Mountain and Mist 2 oz $33.00
Dragon Well 2 oz $54.00
Custom blends are available-ask for pricing

Specialty medicinal soups with medicinal mushrooms made to order for wellness. These are prescribed to you with your health in mind and must be made to order according to your health issues. Ask for pricing.
Custom blended teas $55.00
Green Tea and White tea blends available too. Ask for pricing
Homeopathic remedies available. Ask for pricing.
Specialty medicinal soups with medicinal mushrooms made to order for wellness. These are prescribed to you with your health in mind and must be made to order according to your health issues.
Weight Loss Tea $45.00

We have the only 100% raw fresh Tahitian NONI and 2112, if you are interested in purchasing them to make elixirs with the tonics. RAW Noni is $8.00 for 8oz and $15 for 16 oz
Our 2112 $29.95.

Each tonic has anywhere from 55-100 Chinese herbs synergistically combined for optimum results. These tonics are 100% pure! Each tonic is sold in a 2 oz dark glass bottle. Use as directed on the bottle or if you are interested in making elixirs use only 4-5 drops in a base of Kombucha. If you would like NONI or our fabulous product 2112 for your elixirs, these are also available for purchase. Each tonic is either chosen for you and custom blended for your specific needs or you can choose whichever one resonates with you.

Angelina Elliott has been a Master Herbalist, Intuitive Healer, and Homeopath for over 20 years.

The lip scar!

2010-02-02T22:51:00.000-08:00

When I was a baby, I was attacked by a kudamundi. My mom immediately traded in the wild beast for my beloved dog, Arlo. Thank goodness too, because I adored that dog! Anyway, the scars left on my face from that doggone kudamundi, that were once cool, because of a unique story that they told, are now just a nightmare that I am soooooo done with. The worst one is the one on my lip, because it cuts into the pigment on my upper lip and when I want to wear lipstick or lipgloss, it bleeds-BUMMER! I decided to do research on scars and then a few of my friends asked me if I would research lip wrinkles while I was at it and I agreed. I often use myself as a guinea pig for just about everything, I don't know why, I just do. I am pretty gutsy when it comes to trying things, so I won't wimp out-which is good news to my readers! I have been interviewing doctors about lasers and what I found out is very interesting. There are many types of lasers, some that are very invasive require a lot of down time and then there are the "kinder" lasers which allow you to get a treatment during your lunch break-you gotta love that! The idea of using the laser is to create a bit of damage to the skin, so that the brain receives a signal that tells it to produce collagen and elastin to repair the area. I love the idea of treatments that allow the skin to heal itself. I am not one to participate in bandaid technology like Restylane and Perlane and I don't like the idea of surgeries or dermabrasion, YOUCH! So not for me, I am a nature girl. Laser treatments although slightly invasive, at least they don't involve needles, chemicals, and sandpaper style particles.

In my research, I found that treating scars and wrinkles are pretty much the same, so that should make my friends very happy and perhaps those who are reading my blog as well.

As far as lip wrinkles go, it is LIPSTICK that is the #1 cause. Lipstick is full of wax, and wax creates wrinkles. #2 is smoking and second hand smoke, the chemicals wear down collagen and create wrinkles. #3 Drinking from a straw, whistling, eating with your mouth closed, sunburns, and dehydration.

Natural treatments that may work- I am trying them and will keep you all posted with my findings

Here's the first one~ Scrub your lips in circular motions with a toothbrush for 1 minute. Do this 3 times a week. Use papaya around your lips regularly- cut open a papaya and spread the inner skin on your lips and all around them too. Make a mask using equal parts of fresh banana and honey and leave on your skin for about 15 minutes. Use a good moisturizer afterwards. DRINK A LOT OF WATER!

I am waiting to hear back from a company who claims their program completely reverses lip wrinkles and possibly scars. When I am able to interview them about their product and hopefully try their program, I will post the results.

If you live in an area where you have access to a really good TRADITIONAL acupuncturist, who practices non-surgical face lifts, you ought to try it. The idea behind it is the tiny needles create little injuries to the skin, which forces the collagen and elastin to come and heal the sites. Not only is it great for wrinkles and sagging skin, it is excellent for your health, because each meridian is addressed, thereby corrective health issues.

I know this may seem superficial to some, but the hard truth of the matter is that until you have to live with something or live in another's shoes, then how can you really judge? I don't believe in aging, I think it is a sign of disease. I don't believe that the body was meant to ever break down. With good living all throughout life, the body should remain in perfect health and youthful. Not everyone adheres to perfect living 100% of the time, after all we're all human, right? You can't stress about what you did in the past, just start from where you are at. Remember, you have to start somewhere or you'll be nowhere. How about making a deal with yourself to start living 100% HEALTHY TODAY? Get rid of your regrets, forgive yourself and others, start breathing deeply, exercise, drink more water, give up damaging habits like drinking, smoking, eating unhealthy foods, etc.. If you are prone to stress, take Rhodiola regularly and exercise! Exercise firms things up, gets rid of excess fat, nips depression in the butt, and so much more.

Stay tuned for my many adventures!!

I love you all!

Anti-aging Hand and Nail Care

2010-01-31T20:10:00.000-08:00

Best anti-aging hand and nail treatment~

Place extra virgin cold pressed olive oil in a bowl along with the juice of one lemon. Place your hands in the bowl and leave your hands soaking in the olive/lemon mixture for 30 minutes. Rinse your hands briefly and then towel off for the rest, so some of the residue remains. Your hands and nails will be really soft and if you do this regularly, your hands and nails will stay young!

Go to the Spa without ever leaving home

2010-01-28T10:55:00.001-08:00

We all love those trips to the spa! Ooh La La a massage, then a facial, body scrub, body wrap, reflexology, and the list goes on. What if you could do some of these without ever leaving home?

I am about to share with you some well kept spa secrets. For body scrubs in the spa, we used to use a nice blend of oils like sweet almond oil, cold pressed olive oil, walnut oil, essential oils and sea salt. At home, you could simply use an extra virgin cold pressed olive oil, an essential oil like geranium, and sea salt. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Start at your feet and use circular motions always moving toward your heart. Keep going until you've done your whole body. If you have someone who can do your back for you, that would be a special treat, because it is hard to get to your backside unless you are a yogini! Be sure to wipe yourself down with a towel and then rinse off, otherwise your shower will be a very dangerous place or you can buy an inexpensive bath matt just for your "days at the spa treatments."

Expensive hair treatments are nice to have done, but who can keep up with that financially? Why not put coconut oil on your hair and leave it on all day while you are treating yourself to "spa day" ? Just shampoo your hair as usual and then apply coconut oil to your hair, making sure to run the oil all the way through the hair to the ends, wrap your head and leave on as long as you like. The longer you leave it in, the sexier and more conditioned your hair will be. I adore facials and know from experience, that facials are best when done on a regular basis-at least once a month.

Here's an easy way to do a facial at home, Buy a jar of Modern Friction at Origins. Put a little of Modern Friction on your finger tips and with circular motions rub it into DRY skin, not WET skin and rub gently all over your face in circular motions for a minute or so, add a little warm water to your face and continue to scrub in gentle circular motions and then rinse. You can do this 2-3 times per week and is equivalent to a Microdermabrasion treatment. Next, apply a small amount of jojoba to your skin and massage your face in circular motions, starting at your jaw line, move up toward your cheeks, large fluid circular motions around your cheeks, next small circular motions around your eyes moving from the outside of your eyes toward the inside of your eyes around your eyebrows. Next, take your ring finger, middle finger and index finger and slide your fingers gently across your brows a few times-very relaxing. Now, starting at your third eye, take the same fingers and move them up toward your scalp a few times and then sweep them across your forehead, then bring your fingers down past your temples and back down to your jaw line, from there take all four fingers and in gentle up sweeping motions massage your neck up toward your jawline, next massage all around your mouth in circular motions really working the area that tries to sag, don't worry-we won't let it! Take a warm, almost hot wash cloth and place it on your face until it cools and do it again two more times, gently wipe the oil residue off of your skin. Now fillet a fresh aloe leaf and place the inner part of the leaf on your skin, leave this on for about 30 minutes to tighten and tone, rinse and apply a mask of avocado and honey in equal parts if your skin is dry, mature, or aging. If you have oily or acne prone skin, make a mask out of equal parts banana and honey. Leave mask on for 20 minutes, rinse and apply a moisturizer. Your skin will look amazing!!!

Now would be a good time to do some gentle stretching or maybe some yoga. Take in some deep breaths, as oxygen really feeds the skin and makes you more beautiful. Don't forget to drink lots of water. You can make the water they serve at the spas easily at home. Slice up some organic cucumbers and place them in a sun tea jar, add a squeeze of lemon, and fill the jar with good spring water. VOILA! You now have SPA WATER!

Angelina's Delicious Tabouli

2010-01-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

Angelina's Delicious Tabouli
6 cups finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons extra virgin cold pressed olive oil plus 1 teaspoon for drizzling
juice of 1 ripe lemon
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, diced
1 teaspoon fresh mint if desired
1 clove garlic
Himalayan salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Combine all the above ingredients in a bowl, mix thoroughly and let sit, allowing all flavors to meld.

For more amazing recipes, please check out http://www.she-zencuisine.com

Welcoming in 2010

2010-01-03T21:11:00.000-08:00

I am so tickled pink to be ushering a new year with all of you.

I think new years are opportunities to start all over again, fresh and new. A new year, a second chance, how cool is that? On New Year's Eve, I felt positively GIDDY thinking about all the marvelous opportunities awaiting me in 2010. Now that 2010 is here there's so much to do! First off, I am starting my year out right by taking excellent care of me, which means spending time doing yoga, meditating, making juices, going for long walks, doing daily beauty treatments, getting massages, taking nice long hot baths, spending time in nature, playing with my pup, and snuggling and hugging more. After all, when you take care of you, you can take great care of others and you are more productive on your projects! How many people really take time to take care of themselves? Do you find you have good intentions, but rarely follow through? I think when it comes to doing something, skip all the plans, don't talk about it, JUST DO IT, otherwise you could just be giving lip service for the rest of the year. This was my problem for the last half of 2009. I talked about doing yoga every day, but never got back on track with it. I talked about getting regular massages, but never made time for it. Let's leave the distractions at the door, wave goodbye to regrets, put on our happy faces and tie those laces and get going!

I am grateful for all of you!

May you all be blessed!

Angelina xoxoxo

delightful interview I just did!

2009-11-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

http://awakenedrawbeauties.wordpress.com/

Let me know what you think, thanks!

Sexy Chocolate Review! This guy has my thumb way way up!

2009-10-16T12:50:00.001-07:00

I ordered some of Steven Adler's Sacred chocolate a couple of days ago and it finally found its way into my mouth this morning. I very carefully unwrapped a gorgeous silver heart called WHITE PASSION, as if I don't have enough passion in my heart, and bit into it not like a mouse, but like a hungry dog! Oh my God, I think I just might have found heaven on earth. This smooth, white chocolate was so divine, I took another bite and another and another until it was completely devoured. Usually with chocolates by the second bite, I am finished, but this one was especially sexy, creamy, and outrageously tasty. I will be ordering again and again! This guy is the Willy Wonka of chocolate. Check out their site at www.sacredchocolate.com

Raw Spirit Festival

2009-10-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

From the moment we arrived, one could feel the love in the air! Although, I truly believe that there should only be one raw spirit event of the year, I have to say that this tiny RSF was perhaps the most fun one for us yet. I loved the fact that no matter which direction I went off in, I could always find a friend. I can't tell you how awesome it is to have a friend around every cozy corner. The first thing Ian and I did was go for a hike over by Watson Lake. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! I love the desert, it is such a unique and strange place. Although it seems hostile, there's really a fragility to it. Next time we go to Watson Lake, we will be kayaking! What an extraordinary way to see the water. Our demo of Jicama tacos was at 3pm, so we had plenty of time to just hike and take in the beauty. We arrived at the demo area and Jason the fabulous ice cream man and oh so much more was there to greet us. I love seeing him, he has such darling energy! Talk about someone FULL of LOVE, that man is nothing but love. The demo was a blast and everyone loved it. After that, we packed up and headed to vendor booths. The first one we visited was our friend's booth, The Chocolate Tree. We ordered CHOCOLATE of course! After all, what's a raw spirit festival without chocolate? I love Jeffrey and Kelly's chocolate because it is not only delicious, but the most important thing for me is the fact that they don't use cacao powder to make their chocolates. I am passionate about eating chocolate that still has SUPERFOOD qualities to it and they make that happen in a big way by using cacao nibs! I felt so loved at that booth, loved and spoiled! That was the place of dreams really, not only did they keep the chocolate coming, but also the DURIAN~my kind of place. Next we checked out Vivapura, another fabulous place for superfoods and love. After all that snacking it was time for one of my favorite people on this planet, SCOTT HUCKABAY! Ian and I have known him for more than 15 years and he truly is a member of our family forever. I love that man! If you haven't seen him, met him, or heard his music, I suggest you get yourself acquainted with him as soon as possible. You can find out more about him by visiting www.scotthuckabay.com He was more than mind blowing this time around. Whoever was running the sound this time around gets a life time supply of hugs from me, because for the first time ever at the RSF, Scott came through the way he is supposed to come through-PERFECT! I don't remember really sleeping much at all, I mean how could you sleep with so many parties going on and such kick-ass music. We played all night each night with some really extraordinary and beautiful souls. I came back from the Raw Spirit Festival with an intent of LOVE for all. It is so easy to get caught up in all the fear mongering going on, that one finds it difficult to stay in a pure state of bliss and love. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in all that fear, how can we even realize our full potential on this plane? I have always been a love person for as long as I can remember and somehow along the way, I became riddled with fear and out of alignment with who I truly am and the RSF helped me remember that I am being of light and love and I must remain in this space for a harmonious existence. We can be aware and enlightened without buying into fear for even a second. When we are prepared with goods and knowledge, love and harmony, we can share this wisdom with all. We are better able to come from a love space that leads to sharing our abundance, light, and love with the world. When we are in a state of fear, we are in state of despair, this state of mind moves us closer to dis-ease. When we stay in a state of love, we create powerful immune systems. Today is my anniversary and a special celebration of love with a man I loved so much, I married him twice! All three of us have vowed to stay in a state of only love and when one of us falters, we pick ourselves up, dust off our shoulders, and start all over again. In closing I would like to say, the RSF may have been the tiniest one yet, but one thing it wasn't lacking in was LOVE!

My Tribute to Keith Pilotti

2009-09-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Keith was a client and friend of mine for about 10 years. He adored all of my food, but especially a smoothie that I made for him quite often called Caribbean Surprise. I am sitting here drinking it in honor of him and thought I would share it with all of you, so we could all lift our glasses in tribute to his life here on this planet. He died suddenly last week and I m still in shock. HERE'S TO YOU, KEITH!! May you rest in peace. Om Mani Padme Hum

Caribbean Surprise

Ingredients:

2 bananas

1/2-3/4 cup frozen mango chunks (depending on how thick you like yours you may need to add more frozen fruit)

1/4-1/2 cup pineapple chunks

1 lime, cut in half and hand-squeezed into the blender

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1 cup Thai young coconut water

2 cups spring water

1/4 cup hemp seeds

Add softened dates depending on your sweet tooth! (You can soften dates by soaking them in water)

Directions:

Place all the above ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into tall glasses and squeeze in the lime! YUM!!

Alive in Five book review on Raw Epicurean

2009-09-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

http://rawepicurean.net/2009/09/13/spagh etti-with-aioli-sauce/

my new soaps will be available at RSF and on my site soon!!

2009-09-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Interview in Sacramento with my friend Russ of Health Forward Online

2009-09-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mbYnU_syVY -Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ECbMSPlj74&feature=related -Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dH8gIUzTDI&feature=related -Part Three

I had so much fun doing this interview!! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

HUGS!

Women Go Raw Tour

2009-08-31T22:47:00.000-07:00

Speaking of WOMEN, I am being interviewed tomorrow for the WOMEN GO RAW TOUR!

http://www.womengoraw.com/blog/

Get your sexy on raw style!

2009-08-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

I live in California and bathing suits or at least sexy slinky dresses always seem to be in season, so I have to always be on the ball in this department. There's always some potluck, hot springs event, beach outing, or party that I am invited to and like any woman love to look my very best!

Let's face it, how many of us really get all that excited about adorning a swim suit? It is easy to see why women are so intimidated in this department. Years ago, I worked at a modeling agency. My job was to educate models on how to take care of their skin and their bodies through proper nutrition inside and out. I was always amazed though that even with all this education, women never felt comfortable with their bodies and they were models. I remember when I was growing up all my girlfriends were self conscious and all of them thought they were fat or ugly. No amount of telling them they were beautiful worked. I thought to myself, geez if they think they are ugly and fat, what on earth does that make me? I just never thought my body was "all that" and was never excited about bathing suit season. It took many years for me to feel comfortable in a bathing suit and I might add, the right flattering bathing suit! There are actually tricks to looking good in a bathing suit!

*buying the right bathing suit, one that hugs all your good stuff

*Exercise, getting a good workout in an hour before going to the beach

*Dry skin body brushing every single day, it will give you the sexiest, healthiest glow ever

*A diet that consists mainly of fresh raw food

* lots of water

See how easy it is to get your sexy on? All you needed was a little encouragement. love, and motivation! Go on get out there and love yourself the way you are!

Angela's Raw Story!

2009-08-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRw1RAKvfJc&feature=channel_page

Check out my interview with Raw Epicurean

2009-08-27T17:25:00.001-07:00

Ingrid is such a gracious and amazing Love Bug! The interview I did with her was a pleasure! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Here's the link~

http://rawepicurean.net/2009/08/03/angela-elliott-an-interview-and-book-giveaway/

Angela on Raw Vegan Radio

2009-08-27T00:05:00.001-07:00

What happened to our great America?

2009-08-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

We seem to be over run by corporations everywhere we look. We complain about high priced items that are made here in the US, so we buy junk made cheaply in other countries, so we can have CHEAP. What the American people don't seem to understand is that if we don't start buying American made items, there might not be an America anymore. This seems like an outlandish statement, but I am afraid it will one day be true. What if we all woke up tomorrow and we lived in a strange new country run by tyrants? The way we are headed with Monsanto and drug companies at the helm this very sci fi sounding idea might ring true. Why do we support every other country but our own? Why do people think it is okay to shop at Walmart? Shopping at Walmart is un-patriotic! How can we ever really go green if the American people can't even grasp the concept of high quality and the media still argues over whether or not organic is better than conventional? How can we go green when we don't even support our local businesses? How can we go green if we can't even support our precious farmers right here in America? Congress has taken away water rights, Monsanto has taken over the seed bank, and the FDA has taken over basic human rights. We worry about land for future generations, yet we take away water which is a basic need for all life forms. We worry about oceans rising and over population, yet we still haven't grasped the idea of voting with our dollars. We complain about high taxes, yet we have no idea what the government spends the money on. We worry about other countries when our country is falling apart and has been for some time. Isn't time we all woke up and really did our part to save good ol' America? Can you imagine a country like it once was where everyone came from other countries to find their dream? It must have been a glorious place where everyone supported one another. It would be great for us to have this amazing country back again!

>Here's an amazing article I found in Time Magazine(goes perfectly with my ranting)

My Interview with Vegan Culinary Experience Magazine

2009-08-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

>Click here to read my interview in Vegan Culinary Experience Magazine

Gardening and juicing!

2009-08-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

I started out my day gardening for over 2 hours in my friend's garden (she's 88 years old) and then worked in my garden for about 4 hours. Whew! I should have stopped there, but felt the need to do even more after a long break. This weekend, I will be rotating my crops. I am excited about planting pumpkins, more corn, beets, greens of all sorts, squash, and all sorts of herbs! All I can say is I am permanently hooked on gardening. I can't imagine a day without fresh garden produce or a day without having the pleasure of walking barefoot in my garden-so healing! I highly recommend it! Today was especially fun, because after all that hard work, I invited my friend over for a juice party with the harvested yummies from my garden. mmmmmmm, the whole experience was juice-tastic. We made a golden beet, beet green, Swiss chard, basil, parsley, cilantro, apple, lemon, ginger, carrot, and dandelion green juice. This juice is not only energizing, but also very cleansing. My friend recently closed his all raw juice bar, the first and only of its kind. I was so happy when he opened his juice bar after years of talking about his dream. The best part of him opening the juice bar was the fact that HE DID IT. He and I have spent at least 7 years juicing together in many different environments, inside and outside and we always had the best time ever. I think in this whole process, he learned that being alone for hours a day was not part of that dream. Today, when we were together again having fun juicing, we realized that if there isn't joy in what you do, what's the point? Money is nice, but without passion, that money really means nothing. Juicing has been a part of my life since I was 15 1/2. I have a passion for juicing and a passion for gardening. Both of these are so extraordinary for your health, once you start, you will find that the results will knock your socks off!! I hope you will consider starting a garden if you haven't already done so or at the very least, shop locally from your Farmer's Market and start juicing.

In the land of shakes

2009-08-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

I am so enjoying drinking wild drinks since I have been home. This morning I made a fantastic tropical shake out of ice, hemp seeds, water, strawberries, bananas, mango, and dates.

This evening I made a Vanilla shake that was out of this world. mmmmm!! I made some more hemp milk and then added 1 whole vanilla bean pod and dates and blended until smooth. After that, I strained it placed the liquid back into the blender and added ice, and lots of frozen banana slices.

I had some left over, so I added lucuma, cacao nibs, and mesquite powder, and more ice. WOW!

Who knows what I'll make tomorrow. This is sooooo much fun!

2009-08-11T09:41:00.001-07:00

Check out my latest interview!

http://rawepicurean.net/2009/08/03/angela-elliott-an-interview-and-book-giveaway/

2009-08-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Our adventurous trip to Sacramento!

Our trip started out early in the morning, 4 am to be exact last Friday. The drive is a long one, about 8 hours via the interstate 5. Along the way, we saw many signs saying Congress turned dust bowl. We had our suspicions as to what this meant, but had to know for sure, so we when we saw a fruit stand we pulled in and asked what was going on. As it turns out, Congress has decided that the farmers are only allowed to use an allocated amount of water or face fines. There is an aqua-duct I think called the Delta where all the Northern Californian's get their water supply from. The governor has decided that LA should get the water, so northern California where most of the food is grown is in an uproar. There's also the story of the smelt fish that lives in the Delta, that many farmers say is an outright scam because if that were truly the case, the fish would have been affected a long time ago. Water conservation is extremely important, but really should have been address in the early 60's rather than now. Cattle ranching and factory farming use an outrageous amount of water each year. If we were to cut meat consumption in half, there would be plenty of water for growing vegetables, fruits, etc... I am not sure what the actual story is mainly because there's so much in the way of politics going on, as well as heated opinions, so it is difficult to get to the bottom of this. All I know is this, WITHOUT FARMERS THERE'S NO FOOD and WITHOUT WATER, THERE'S NO CROPS! Read more here about Farmer's troubles http://www.povertyandhunger.org/PovertyinAmerica.html

Okay, back to our trip.... When we arrived in Sacramento, we checked in to our very cool, very hip, and completely out of the box hotel called The GREENS http://www.thegreenshotel.com/. The door to the room was steel, the room was orange, the floors were wood, and the bed was super comfy. The people who work there are especially nice and accommodating. We were impressed! After we got cleaned up, we surprised our dear friend Richard at his new and amazing raw restaurant http://theartoffood.org/. We hung out there chatting it up and eating until about 1-am. The next morning, Richard took us shopping at all the Farmer's Markets. FABULOUS! Ian and I even bought a mushroom growing kit. When we arrived back at the restaurant, I met up with some friends, did an interview, and then prepared for my book signing and food demos. The Vegetarian Society came to the event and loved it so much, they all bought books for themselves and for friends! I absolutely loved everyone and the whole experience. We partied all night until way too late and when my head finally hit the pillow, I was out like a light. The next morning, we packed up, checked out, and headed to Whole foods to check out there ridiculously huge store. FUN! We bought some road snacks-organic raspberries, Earth bananas, cantaloupe, and some raw Buddha snacks. YUM! From there, we headed toward San Francisco to take the coast home. I had to stop to pee and when I did, I saw this neat looking Japanese restaurant. I felt intuitively the need to go inside and check it out. So glad we did. There was an AWESOME Sushi chef in there, who told me he could make me anything I could dream up. I had to accept that challenge of course, who wouldn't? He made us sushi that was entirely vegan and raw. He wrapped the outside with mandolin sliced cucumber and he wrapped some with lettuce. I am still in sushi heaven. What a wonderful experience that was. I have no idea where I stopped, so couldn't tell you. Sorry! The drive home ended up being over 12 hours long, because of traffic and of course, the coast is always longer. We had an outrageously good time. I had a great thought while I was driving, what if there were vegan fast food restaurants that stayed open late like McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, and the rest? And then, I took the thought one step further and wished there were RAW VEGAN RESTAURANTS that stayed open late. Do you think there would be as many unhealthy obese people if that were the case? Why is it that all the healthy, good for you, kick ass restaurants all close so early?

2009-07-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

I am back in the world of treating animals. It is funny how this whole thing came about. My old client and friend called me, yes I still have the same phone number, and asked me if I still worked with animals. I said no, but would be happy to do it for her because of our past history. Apparently, the Universe must want me to work with animals, because not soon after treating her dog, the phone rang and it was another person, and another! It is so interesting how we come full circle in our lives. We think by trying something new and different that means we have to abandon other avenues. I guess, it all boils down to following your heart. I am following my heart wherever it leads me and have found great adventures doing so. Remember, when you follow your heart, doors swing open wide!! I am excited to announce that I am working with a shaman, who is teaching me some very advanced healing work. I am honored because she chose me and that is really how it is done. You can approach a shaman, but they are the ones who must choose you. All my adventures, all my life work, and all my lessons have led me to this magical point in my life. I am here to help heal the world and to be the light to lift people out of the darkness. I am also excited to announce that I am working on more books!! I will let you know more about those in the coming months. I haven't been writing much on the blog and I apologize for that, but I have been busy with projects and clients. I hope that all is wonderful in your lives! Oh, one more thing!!! I almost forgot... I will be on Revvell's radio show on Monday, August 3rd, and also on Steven Prusack's Raw Vegan Radio the same day! WHEW! So much going on.

2009-07-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

The following is a tribute to man's best friend, the DOG
by Angela Elliott

Thank you for all you do.
Thank you for always being there.
Thank you for your generosity, kindness and endless supply of kisses.
My life is richer because of you.
I love the way you love me.
I love the way you slurp your water and then fill my face with wet kisses.
I love your scent, like gingerbread, only sweeter.
I could bury my face in your fur forever.
The sparkle of your eyes, the wag of your happy tail, your toothed smile make my world go 'round.
Your undying loyalty, so genuine and true.
My life is safe and secure because of you.
The way you curl up and snuggle the whole night through, bring inner giggles and outbursts of joy.
Thank you for choosing me.
You are my "furry" angel from the sweet heavens above.
To be with you is better than all the ice cream in the universe!
I love you for you are my best friend and my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

My dog Molly is the inspiration behind the poem. :)

Blissed Out with Cacao

2009-06-20T08:42:00.001-07:00

Blissed Out with Cacao

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons cacao powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla flavor by Frontier

• 1 Thai young coconut, meat and water

• 10 fresh dates, soaked

• 2 frozen bananas

Directions: Make milk by blending the meat from coconut with

the water from the coconut. Add cacao powder, vanilla, bananas, and dates, and blend again until smooth.

This yummy recipe is from The Simple Gourmet

To purchase The Simple Gourmet, please visit http://www.she-zencuisine.com

If this is your first time visiting she-zen cuisine, you can sign up for free recipes and more!

I will be presenting/demo-ing at both RSF's.

2009-05-15T22:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.rawspiritfest.com/index.php?page=who-s-coming-3

sign up for free recipes and a free seven day meal planner!

2009-04-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Sign up for free recipes, yes, YOU heard right..... FREE recipes at www.she-zencuisine.com AMAZING RECIPES! Oh, and if you send me an e-mail now for a limited time, I am giving out a free seven day recipe e-book!! This won't last long. Love, blessings, and oodles of appreciation for you all!!!!! Angelina xoxoxoxoxo

Raw foods dancing on your tongue

2009-04-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

I love raw foods! Everyday is a new day full of wonder and surprise. I was first introduced to raw foods when I was a teenager. I worked in a fabulous health food restaurant making juice. I remember when I first went raw, I preferred to just juice. Even though I was a great chef and a baker in the cooked world, all the raw stuff seemed complex and mysterious. Everything I tried in the first month was unappetizing to me and I ended up just throwing it all in my compost. I was very excited one day when I was playing around with some seeds, herbs, spices, and veggies, and came up with the most awesome recipe. I kept playing around with interesting ingredients in many different combinations until I perfected them. This led to the invention of the Celestialwich and many other delicious inventions and then finally-Nut Free Cuisine. The great thing about raw food is it feels great to the body and the flavors dance around on your tongue. My favorite food in the raw world is dessert. Why? Because desserts are so much fun to prepare and everyone loves sweets! If you have some nuts, dates, coconut oil, fruit, and vanilla-you can make practically any cake. You can't do this in the cooked world. I love that when you are raw, the simple things in life like a piece of fruit can send you into a BLISSED OUT state. Faulous! Oh, and then there's cacao. I found my blissed out state with chocolate when I was 5 years old. My Mom said I was the chocolate ice cream conesuier and could say Chocolate in practically any language! I grew up traveling and living overseas, so that statement probably isn't far off the mark. So, imagine my delight when I found RAW CACAO-HOLY COW! The first time I tried it, I was called into Stephen Arlin AKA Thor's office and fed this strange looking bean called cacao. I remember loving it straight away. My reaction was HOW CAN I GET THIS? Of course, at the time it wasn't available yet for sale, to my extreme disappointment. Anyway, I remember the day when it was, I bought a lot of it. My best friend Caneman and I bought a box of fresh persimmons from our dear friend Barry Koral at the Farmer's market and decided to mix chopped and pealed cacao with persimmons. OH MY! It was divine! Back then though, you could only eat as much cacao as you could peel! That probably saved us from going overboard. Nowadays, cacao is so readily available, one could easily OD! So, I guess it is no surprise then why I am so into making cheesecakes, especially chocolate coffee cheesecake. Awwwwwwww RAW FOOD! It is simply a pleasure being raw. I can't imagine any other way of living. People ask me all the time, "Angela, how on earth can you eat only raw?" and "Angela, how can you be 100% raw for over 9 years?" My response, I love the way it makes me look and feel. It is as simple as that. Raw food is ONE BIG PARTY! I say yay for raw. Try it on for a while and see how it makes you feel?

The Wonders of Organic Farming!

2009-03-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

I thought it appropriate to share this marvelous and uplifting video with you since I am embarking on an exciting journey of COMMUNITY GARDENING in my own backyard. We decided to not only make it organic, but also...... bio dynamic, sustainable, and Heirloom too. We mapped out 1,200 square feet of our backyard to start with and then if we are inspired to do more, we will just dig in another area! It isn't easy work by any means, lots of intense digging, weed and grass pulling, pick axing, tilling, and planting! It takes a huge commitment to accomplish something like this. I keep seeing the bigger picture when I am out there surrounded by dirt and weeds, I imagine my own SHANGRI LA! KUDOS TO EVERY FARMER IN EXISTENCE! Anyway..... I will post pictures of the process here.

For now, check out this fantastic and inspiring film!
http://www.youtube.com/user/dervaes?ob=1

Sneak Peak From My Book-The Simple Gourmet

2009-03-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Sneak Peak Recipe from: The Simple Gourmet

by Angela Elliott

Pot O'Captain's Chili

Special equipment needed: dehydrator

Chili ingredients:

1 cup raw barley, soaked for 3 days, drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, unsoaked
½ sweet onion
3 tablespoons of raw olive oil
½ cup of the following fresh herbs: cilantro and parsley
1 tablespoon Celtic salt
10 heirloom tomatoes
5 stalks of celery
2 bell peppers, one yellow and one red
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 hot pepper of choice
3 ears of corn, use more if needed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup raisins
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar

Directions:

Put everything except for the barley and corn in the blender and blend until smooth, it will still be a little coarse, you want that texture! Add the corn and barley and place in a pot. Put the pot in the dehydrator for 16 -20 hours on 104 degrees.

2009-03-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

I had the most amazing juice yesterday
My friend Caneman and I continued with our JUICE PARTY that's been going on for like 9 days now! We decided to mix blood oranges, cocktail grapefruit, ginger, and noni (fresh and raw) and drink it. OMG! It is KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF, SEND YOU TO THE MOON, amazingly tasty juice. After that, we juiced dandelion and drank dandelion shots. CRAZY!
Today, we continued day 10 with green juice, carrot juice, and dandelion shots. It is a party every day here, seriously! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings! mmmmmmmm...........

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the most amazing thing that happened today!
Ian took pictures of our aligator lizard, JAY JAY (I have him this silly rapper name almost 2 years ago and I always say JAY JAY'S IN DA HOUSE!) he was being so silly today. apparently, he discovered JUMPING, so for about 5 hours straight he climbed up and down the step and then jumped off. HILARIOUS! Ian and I took lots of pictures! :-) Here they are...... ENJOY!

Goodbye to Farmer's Markets? Please read and tell friend to tell friends!

2009-03-07T16:45:00.001-08:00

The "food safety" bills in Congress were written by Monsanto, Cargill, Tysons, ADM, etc. All are associated with the opposite of food safety. What is this all about then?
In the simplest terms, organic food and a rebirth of farming were winning. Not in absolute numbers but in a deep and growing shift by the public toward understanding the connection between their food and their health, between good food and true social pleasures, between their own involvement in food and the improvement in their lives in general, between local food and a burgeoning local economy.
Slow Food was right - limit your food to what comes from your region and from real farmers, and slow down to cook it and linger over it with friends and family, and the world begins to change for the better.
And as we face an unprecedented economic crisis, and it is hard to be sure what has value, one thing that always does is food. Which is why the corporations are after absolute control over it. But what obstacles to a complete lock on food do they face? All the people in this country who are "banking" on organic farming and urban gardens and most of all, everyone's deepening pleasure in and increasing involvement with everything about food.
Farmers markets. Local farmers. Real milk. Fresh eggs. Vegetable stands.
Those are things we not only all want, but things we are actively getting involved in, and things we very much need. And where they are truly good, they are growing.
The international financial corporations which have wreaked havoc around the world with astounding nonsensical "solutions" that are destructive of everyone but them, are brothers to the international agribusiness giants (Monsanto, Cargill, Tysons, ADM, etc.) which are just as aggressively after their own form of "taking." Just seeds, animals, water, land.
And freedom.
Because human beings are by in large good and by in large incredibly resilient and clever, and left to their own devices - that is, free - they would handle this gargantuan financial stupidity the corporations brought us with NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT and all other globalized schemes (which they hope to eventually top off with CODEX). How? By being productive in real ways and locally. And farming is the solid ground under that. Farmers produce something of real value (something we used to take for granted), and from that base, businesses grow up. Local markets, local food processors, local seed companies, local tool and supply companies, local stores ... and an economy based on reality and something truly good for us, too, begins to grow.
So, look again at what has been exciting us - Farmers markets. Local farmers. Real milk. Fresh eggs. Vegetable stands. - and realize that they are not only wonderfully healthy but fun and naturally community building. And more, they are a real economy and deeply democratic - and just at a time we need something that works economically, that supports our democratic rebirth, and that protects food itself and our easy access to it.
And it is all those things that threaten the corporations ... which is why we now have these massive "fake food safety" bills in Congress. Everything is going under thanks to these fools, and they wish to be there like vultures to make sure that every drop of blood that can be sucked out of our resources and us, is theirs. To wit, they must get rid of such good and innocent things and yet truly powerful things as:
Farmers markets. Local farmers. Real milk. Fresh eggs. Vegetable stands.
And how will those who contaminate our country's food with pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and more, do that? Why, by setting standards for "food safety" that are so grotesquely and inappropriately and even cruelly applied to a local, independent farmers and ranchers that there is no way they can manage. Imagine your being faced with a 100 page IRS form and facing a million dollar a day penalty for screwing up. That would be in the ball park of the impossible complexity mixed with threat facing our farmers. Imagine having the government and corporations deciding every single thing you can do and must do in your kitchen and backing that up with the threat of 10 years in prison for screwing up - though you have never made anyone sick, and those corporations have. Imagine being surveilled 24 hours a day by GPS tracking devices that feed into ... a corporate data bank, one they have now moved out of the country so no one here can have legal access to see what is in it.
Imagine the devil himself - or a whole boardrooms of them, dressed in suits - defining the only safe and healthy food in this country as dangerous and burdening hard working farmers with more work then anyone could bear, while his own, their own, food is so dangerous at this point that in the last 10 years alone, diabetes has gone up 90%.
And how did they get this far with such a scheme to apply insane industrial standards to every farm in the country? Through fear of diseases and of outbreaks of food borne illnesses, both of which they cause themselves.
How it works: Tyson helps Bill Clinton get into office. Bill Clinton immediately and significantly lowers contamination standards for poultry as a thank you. And it is such contaminated waste from transnational poultry factories which is now implicated as the source of bird flu. Then fortunes on made on that fear. And then poultry industry uses the crisis they created to push out small farmers and take greater control than ever. Their mantra? Biodiversity not only be damned but be eliminated. And get rid of those damn farmers who protect it while we're at it.
The bills would require such a burdensome complexity of rules, inspections, licensing, fees, and penalties for each farmer who wishes to sell locally - a fruit stand, at a farmers market - no one could manage it. And THAT is the point. The whole dirty tricks point. The whole "be in tight control of everything needed for survival because it'll be worth a fortune" point.
So, if you like farmers markets, local farmers, fresh milk, fresh eggs, vegetables stands, and freedom, let your friends know that it's all on the line right now with those "fake food safety" bills brought to us with well-planned evil and more of it to come, by Monsanto, Cargill, Tysons, ADM, etc.
Slow Food reminds us of just where we need to be (and notice how much would help any local economy):
# Forming and sustaining seed banks to preserve heirloom varieties in cooperation with local food systems;
# Developing an "Ark of Taste" for each ecoregion, where local culinary traditions and foods are celebrated;
# Preserving and promoting local and traditional food products, along with their lore and preparation;
# Organizing small-scale processing (including facilities for slaughtering and short run products);
# Organizing celebrations of local cuisine within regions (for example, the Feast of Fields held in some cities in Canada);
# Promoting "taste education;"
# Educating consumers about the risks of fast food;
# Educating citizens about the drawbacks of commercial agribusiness and factory farms;
# Educating citizens about the risks of monoculture and reliance on too few genomes or varieties;
# Developing various political programs to preserve family farms;
# Lobbying for the inclusion of organic farming concerns within agricultural policy;
# Lobbying against government funding of genetic engineering;
# Lobbying against the use of pesticides;
# Teaching gardening skills to students and prisoners; and
# Encouraging ethical buying in local marketplaces.
But we need to stop these bills first or we are left with no money from the financial bailout and no food from the food stealout.
Send a message to Congress.
We need millions to be fighting this. Contact Eli Pariser at MoveOn moveon-help@list.moveon.org to tell him MoveOn is badly needed.
And below, where Oped News offers a means of writing your local newspaper, take advantage of a chance to vent.

Author's Bio: I'm a mother and grandmother. There is no way I can leave my family or anyone else's children, things as they are now.

www.opednews.com/articles/Goodbye-farmers-markets-C-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090303-287.html

2009-03-07T07:59:00.001-08:00

For almost 10 years I have been known as the Celestial Raw Goddess. Although, I will never abandon my superhero name, I have decided to change my presence on the web. CHECK OUT MY NEW HOME! I love it and I know you will too!
www.she-zencuisine.com
On my new site she-zencuisine you can sign up for my very best recipes FREE, and you'll also be updated on my future book releases, classes and special give-aways!There's even an Ask Angela section!
Let me know how you like my new home on the web!

JOLT JUICE!

2009-03-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

Angelina the Mad Scientist has just created the craziest juice yet!
Get ready to Jolt off your seat and go to the next level!
Here it is
I head spinach
1 large handful cilantro
1 handful parsley
1 clove garlic
1/2 jalapeno
3 stalks celery
1 Meyer lemon
10 carrots
Juice according to the manufacturer's instructions on your juicer and ENJOY!

Superfood Green Juice Party!

2009-03-04T18:39:00.001-08:00

Look at all the compost that's going into my new community garden. Oh, we have tons more too!

Ian drinking green juice! Even Teens dig this stuff!

You betta drink your green juice or else. hahahahahhahahaha!

Richard AKA Caneman

Ginger root, Burdock root, J. Artichoke, & Tumeric root

Me in my PJ's and NO MAKE-UP! Ack!!

Here's to your health!

Remember the GREEN JUICE CONTEST??

2009-02-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

I bet you thought we forgot about it!
MOI? I would never do such a thing, especially since I am a Green Juice Junkie! :-)

Jendria's Green Smoothie Recipe (our last contest winner!)

Supreme Fill'r Up Green Smoothie 4 Tablespoons raw, organic smooth almond butter 2-4 Tablespoons raw, organic hemp protein powder 1 pinch Celtic Grey sea salt 3 Tablespoons raw honey (you may substitute agave for honey if you choose) 3 Tablespoons raw, organic carob powder 2 handfuls of fresh, organic baby spinach leaves 1 heaping Teaspoon of Healthforce Nutritionals Vita-Mineral Green powder (or green powder of your choice) 8 ounces of pure water Add all ingredients together and blend with a powerful blender. Enjoy!!!

And here's our guest bogger, Tovah!

Ok-here's my recipe for green juice...had some this morning!!!

1 Apple
1 bunch dino kale
4-6 carrots
1 bunch of romaine
1 bosc pear

I never measure but I always enjoy! Love, Tovah

If you would like to participate, just post your recipe and select FOLLOW my blog and you will receive SEVEN free recipes!

The Beauty Book I have been talking about for years is almost here!!

2009-02-24T09:05:00.000-08:00

GET NAKED AND WEAR YOUR FOOD Excerpt from Angela Elliott and Shannon Leone's upcoming book

FOREWORD

What is beauty? Let’s clarify a few myths upfront. We're not going to talk about your inner beauty; Of course that factors in. But, when we have split ends that look like pubic hair, Zilla skin, a Unibrow or spare tire for a waist, we just don’t look HOT! Let's be REAL about it! There ARE tricks that actually WORK and we are going to spill them all right here, right now. It's also all about how you think, what you do, the choices you make and personal responsibility~ not some esoteric mumbo-jumbo. We women are practical creatures and want practical ideas, albeit with flair. This book is girl-talk with purpose and punch. We are going to kick the spank out of any complacency, shame or guilt that you may have picked up about your looks over the years, and dial-in a whole new sassy, sexy, Stylin’ YOU!

Let’s talk, Girlfriend! About Getting Naked...literally and metaphorically, let's strip down and talk about YOUR body, how you really feel and why…and then let’s stand up straight and tall and systematically take on the unforgivable in-growns, tired eye-bags, calloused heels, droopy boobs and crow’s feet, all the while growing in Beauty Confidence every step of the way. Style counts, too. Its not about hemlines and lipstick shades anymore, Sunshine…Its about YOU taking care of your exquisite self and learning how to bring out your SPARKLE and SHINE, anytime, anywhere.

We KNOW a secret, and we want to share it with you. EVERY woman IS beautiful, or CAN be! It’s not only your RIGHT to be beautiful, but your best hand…A man’s power is power; a woman’s power is Beauty. Beauty isn’t vanity, its VIRTUE. Beauty uplifts the human spirit wherever it is encountered. YOUR beauty is as unique as a snowflake (even if it is hiding under a snow bank!). Sometimes we need to hone it, refine what our Grand Diva, Mother Nature, gave us.

Unfortunately, we have been fed a lot of crap about what we have to do to gloss our lips or smooth our cellulite…Our pretty little heads just KNOW there is a better way to get what we want without all the chemicals, toxic ingredients and uninspiring routines…It is a new day, and women everywhere are awakening to the truth about the cosmetic industry, our food sources, and even the power of our thoughts for attaining STUNNING RESULTS. In computer language it is GIGO~ GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT. Pretty simple! It really is time to delete the old programs and freshen up our beauty regimes. We have divided everything up in to cute little ‘sex-ions’, hehe, for easy referencing and are going to be WITH YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. So SIS-STAR, grab a comfy throw to curl up in, kick your shoes off, stretch out your feline body and get comfy for the ride…

WHO ARE THE HOT BABES BEHIND IT ALL?

Angela and Shannon are both self proclaimed health-junkies, Licensed Aestheticians, Hot Mamas and girl-next-door-regular DIVAS, well-studied in the effects of the relationship between diet, health and beauty. Tera is their Fairy-Godmother DIVA who has encouraged them to lovingly, wickedly, sprinkled sass and smack all over their revolutionary information with wild abandon.

Having explored beauty INSIDE-OUT both Angela and Shannon have come to the SAME conclusion~ our FOOD is really what makes all the difference, from how we feel, to how we look in our 20’s, 30’s 40’s 50’s 60’s…Ok, you get it!

For generations grandmother, mother, auntie, sister and girlfriend Divas have passed down their beauty tips and traditions using Aloe Vera, special mud baths, fruit, herbs, henna, yogurt, special oils, flowers and honey, to scent their bodies, soften their skin or color their hair.

And let’s face it, Honey, they did these beauty rituals without expensive creams, artificial chemicals, or synthetic preservatives. All of the ideas and ingredients in this book are well known to you already and are readily available, and best of all, Angela and Shannon are going to tell you THE SECRETS of how to use them to enhance your natural beauty!

Rediscover the softness of your skin, and the youthful flexibility of your joints, body and attitude, as you explore the chapters to come.

Remember, in an airplane you’re supposed to put the mask on yourself first before you assist anyone else. And despite this perfect metaphor, how many of us really take the time to pamper and prioritize ourselves…?

Shannon and Angela have researched and tested HUNDREDS of recipes and beauty techniques, and only THE BEST have found their way into this book. Bestowing true wisdom calls for clarity and a dancing heart, and these 2 Divas-extraordinaire offer uncompromising passion and conviction!

Whether your skin resembles your vintage Gucci snakeskin wallet and your hair feels like straw from the barn, OR you are actually looking pretty fab but want to turn it up, WAY UP~ The BEAUTY (and BOOTY REVOLUTION hehe) is where it all happens NOW!

So Sweet Pea, this book is for you. It’s YOUR opportunity to indulge in yourself, without all the negatives. And we have just the treats, inspiration and sexy secrets you need to make this your most remarkable journey of self-discovery yet!

All you need to do is allow yourself to be graced by this luminous devotion to ‘polishing the diamonds’ hidden within you. Let tonight become a sparkling soiree of pure enchantment as you delve into this Earthy array of timeless Beauty Pearls. May all your senses open and rise to this sweet occasion where the sublime meets sensibility.

It’s HIP to be Healthy, FUN to be Fabulous, SEXY to be Spiritual, and GREAT to be Gorgeous!

2009-02-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

Thank you Heather Salmon! Heather featured my recipe and book in her newsletter

Why Go Vegetarian Facts for the Day

* 40 million people die each year of starvation
* Every 2.3 seconds a child dies of starvation
* 1 acre of land can produce 20,000lbs of potatoes, but only 165lbs of beef
* a cow grazing on 1 acre of land provides enough meat to sustain a person for 2.5 months
* soybeans planted on 1 acre of land can sustain 1 person for 7 years
* beef cattle alone consume enough grain for the needs of 8.7 billion people
* there are 6 billion people on Earth

From Angela Elliott's "Alive in 5"

STUFFED AVOCADOS

3 ripe avocados

2 ripe tomatoes, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

Cayenne

Chili powder

Hmalayan salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Lettuce

3 sprigs fresh cilantro

Slice the avocados in half lengthwise, twist to separate the halves, and remove the pits. Carefully scoop out the flesh with a spoon and place in a bowl. Set the avacoado shells aside.

Mash the avocado flesh. Add the tomatoes, bell pepper and onion. Season with cayenne, chili powder, salt, and pepper to taste, and mix well. Spoon into the reserved avocado shells. Arrange a bed of lettuce on an attractive serving platter. Place the stuffed shells on the lettuce and garnish with the cilantro sprigs.

2009-02-21T17:44:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Jendria Heaton! She guessed it right. The strange green featured is known as Chou frise Rouge REDBOR KALE. It is absolutely delicious! Jendria won my fabulous dessert recipe-Cherry Cobbler.

OKAY now for the Green Juice Contest.........
It's easy to participate-All you have to do is come up with a green juice that knocks my socks off and yours too and post it. The beauty of this contest is EVERYONE'S A WINNER, yeah-you heard me right, everyone! Each person who signs up to follow my blog and posts their winning green juice recipe wins seven days of fantastic recipes. The only catch-you have to sign up to follow my blog posts and post your green recipe. The contest is on!!
Sunshine Kisses, Angelina

P.S. I guess it's only fair that I post mine, so here it is~
Angelina's Spectacular Green Juice
1 bunch Redbor kale (the one featured in our last contest)
1 bunch spinach
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch celery
2 meyer lemons
1/4-1/2 inch slice ginger root
5 apples
small amount of fresh sage
1/2 jalapeno
Himalayan salt to taste
Place all the above except for the salt in your juicer's hopper and juice. It was sooooooo tasty, I drank 4 big glasses!! YUM!

Okay... It is time for a contest!

2009-02-21T12:15:00.000-08:00

Hello My Lovelies!

I have decided that it is time for a contest.
If anyone can guess what this strange green is..... I will give you one of my marvelous dessert recipes. Here's what you have to do-post your answer on here and the person with the correct answer will be announced on this blog and that person will be responsible for sending me their e-mail address, and the recipe will be sent directly to your inbox.

Thanks for participating!! This is FUN!

After this contest we are doing another- THE GREEN JUICE CONTEST!

2009-02-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

Hi My lovely and Amazing Friends and Family! I am so excited that my Juice and Cocktails book is finally out! This book was so much fun to write because juicing has been a long time passion of mine. Many of you know I have been juicing since I was 16 years old and I love it! I am thrilled to be able to share this passion with you!

Here's some of what you will find in the book~

Try dozens of new recipes for amazing juices and cocktails
Finally be able to replace dairy, soy milk, almond milk and the like with easy, refreshing nut milk recipes that are good for you and good for your family!
Discover loads of beneficial properties of the most common fruits and veggies.
Learn the basics things you need to know when buying a juicer
Feel healthier, more hydrated and refreshed!
Finally nourish your cells with healthy, nutritionally-packed recipes!
YOU WILL BE THE HIT OF THE PARTY!
Here's a freebie that is not in the book-only those reading my blog will get this recipe!

Coconut Cocktail

Ingredients:

1/2 cup frozen Thai coconut meat

2 cups coconut water

Agave syrup to taste

1 vanilla pod

Directions: Add above ingredients to the blender and process until smooth and frothy.

When I was at Wholefoods in Paradise Valley last year for my book signing, we decided to do an open bar and I sampled my newest and craziest cocktail Angela's Mojito and My fabulous Pina Colada cocktail from Alive in Five. People went nuts, including the staff at Wholefoods. Everyone was convinced that they were "HIGH"! Can you imagine? Well, it was so convincing, the books flew off the table, no joke! It was hilarious. :-)

The Mojito recipe isn't in the book, but if you sign up to get my book through the program they are offering right now, I WILL GIVE YOU THE RECIPE! (you have to e-mail me personally and tell me that you signed up!)

You can buy my books and sign up here http://vur.me/celestialrawgoddess/17708482

Tera is offering this LUSCIOUS DEAL~

Right Now when you buy A Diva's Guide to Juices and Cocktails

**Special Bonus**

Get MORE Juicy Recipes by Email!! Order RIGHT NOW and we'll sign you up to receive new juice recipes MONTHLY in your inbox for an ENTIRE YEAR!!This is only available NOW. Because once we get rolling with all those new recipes, you better believe we'll be making them into another book when the time comes. Get these bonus Recipes while you can! That's dozens more recipes and juicy inspiration for ONLY $7.00!! We'll send them to you by e-mail in your inbox, but here's the deal-THIS is only available NOW, because once we get rolling with all those new recipes, you better believe we'll be making them into another book when the time comes. Get these bonus recipes while you can.

So, don't let those parched lips wait any longer!
http://vur.me/celestialrawgoddess/17708482

My new book is OUT!

2009-02-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

A Divas Guide to Juices and Cocktails is finally out! YIPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEE!

C'mon! Lick your lips. Can you feel it?

Can you feel how deyhdrated and parched you are, sitting there in front of your computer??

Let me ask you some questions, my dear:

Do you love the flavor of fresh fruit and vegetable juice from the local market but don't know how to re-create the taste at home?

Are you looking for yummy, easy ways to add nutrients into your diet?

Do you always drink orange juice at home yet crave berry-licious cocktails?

Do you think you need fancy kitchen equipment to make the most scrumptious drinks at home?

If you answered "yes" to just one of the above, A Diva's Guide to Juices & Cocktails is what you need.

In A Diva's Guide to Juices & Cocktails, Angela Elliott provides nutritious, refreshing recipes for more than twenty juices and cocktails as well as instructions to whip up some succulent nut milks so that you can replace dairy and the highly allergenic, soy milk with much healtier nut milks! Discover the joys of juicing and reap the health benefits of drinking fresh juice often!

You can order it here http://vur.me/celestialrawgoddess/17708482
You can also order my other books, Alive in Five, The Simple Gourmet, and Holiday Fare with Angela all in the same place. :-)

We have a guest writer-WELCOME TOVAH!

2009-02-19T10:02:00.001-08:00

An Introduction to Change-the good kind!

By Tovah Terranova

Let’s face it, as Americans we are sicker than we’ve ever been. Our waistlines keep expanding while our bank accounts shrink. Our spending habits are out of control, even though we are one of the wealthiest nations in existence. Americans are developing cancer and heart disease at break neck speeds. We’re being diagnosed left and right with every ailment, auto-immune affliction, disease, symptom and condition yet we refuse to listen to all the signs. What is it that’s making our heart’s so sick and our bodies so weak? Our media? Our inability to “turn off” the chaotic day to day that so many of us allow to enter into our realm? Truthfully, it’s our lack of information. We’ve just been sold on someone else’s program, we’ve been written into the story as overweight, ignorant, and bold and we haven’t yet figured out that we can change our storyline. So what is it that makes us the “smartest and sickest” nation at the same time? The food and information we consume. The exciting part is, we get to write our own destiny. We can choose to change at any moment. But we have to ask ourselves, is the pain of staying the same great enough to change?

Unfortunately for most it will take some sort of auto immune system devastation, a life altering surgery or ailment that won’t heal; maybe a close friend or relative’s death to make them want to change. The point is, is that it will take something significant in order for most to acknowledge that whatever they’re doing isn’t working for them. It is at that point that you might begin to look at your environment (i.e. your workplace or living arrangements), your relationships etc. Ultimately the best ways to replenish the body and mind are a healthy diet and exercise. We know that if we just ate better, exercised more (or at all for some) and slept enough we would have better results. We’d feel more energetic and be more vibrant. The truth is that to “eat right and exercise” are things that we know we should do but most people don’t know how to do it. What food exactly do we need in order to have a more balanced diet? The Standard American Diet (SAD-ironically) is just that, sad. That diet recommends that the average American should consume plenty of complex carbohydrates, lean animal protein and dairy products (think of the food pyramid you learned from in health class). In actuality these recommendations couldn’t be further from what your body needs in order to function. The best diet for anyone to follow is one rich in:

- sunlight

- fresh air and pure, clean water

-fresh juices made from the highest quality raw fruits and vegetables

-organic sun-ripened raw fresh fruit and vegetables, ideally grown in nutritionally balanced soil

-raw honey, & dates

These are all foods with a high quantity of life energy running through them and by eating foods rich within these guidelines we can all develop a “higher” life energy in our own bodies.

One of the first steps in awareness and in efforts to obtain better health is to eliminate meat from the diet. Why eliminate meat? Because meat slows down the body’s ability to digest and process everything else consumed. It can take up to 100 hours to digest meat. That’s right 4 days after you eat meat your body is still trying to assimilate the nutrients. By slowing down the digestive process and the digestive tract you are hurting your body’s ability to function, to fight disease and illness. Whenever we eat a diet that’s processed in any way (by processed I mean altered either with chemical additives, synthetic ingredients or refined in a way that alters the way the food would have been in nature) the body goes into a state of leukocytosis. Eating related leukocytosis means that the body literally shuts down all other systems in effort to digest and process what it’s been fed. That’s why after eating a heavy meal you feel tired, lethargic, or foggy. All of your body’s resources are occupied trying to assimilate what you’ve eaten and in essence your body is attacking itself in an attempt to “make sense” of the complexly refined foods it’s been given to digest. Oh and I forgot to mention the hundreds of legal, moral and ethical reasons to give up meat; the environmentally harmful things that meat eating does; or the fact that eating meat is making global warming worse? I won’t go into all of that-but each topic alone is reason enough. By “meat” I mean all animal flesh including but not limited to: chicken, fish, beef, turkey, lamb, and pork. By eating a more plant based diet we can actually stop leukocytosis. Even if we just ate 51% more plant based, vegetarian we could stop the immune system assault that we wage on ourselves. If disease is present by going higher than 51% we can make dramatic improvements in our health and the way that we feel by healing ourselves with the food that we eat.

As usual the deviation from meat and even lean animal flesh always yields the question: “What about protein?” Contrary to popular belief protein (i.e. animal protein) does not create protein. Amino acids create protein. The best way to get protein into the body is with dark leafy vegetables (i.e. kale, chard, spinach, romaine etc.) I understand that this information is unnatural to process. We’ve been told most of our lives that the way to get protein is to eat our meat and drink our milk and develop strong bones. The reality is that there are better ways to be healthy, we just haven’t always known about them. That’s alright if you’re new to this way of thinking, a novice looking for some guidance. Try going meat free, up your dark leafies and call me in the morning!

Just playing in my kitchen!

2009-02-18T10:50:00.000-08:00

Just playing in my kitchen and I came up with some interesting dishes I wouldn't normally eat

The first one- Kalamata olives! I tried one and wasn't all that crazy about how it tasted by itself, so I thought to myself, what if.....

I decided to add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, tumeric, cumin, fennel, coriander, cayenne, paprika, fresh parsley, oregano, and cilantro. I let the ingredients co-mingle for a while, came back to it about an hour later and WOW! I mean literally WOW! It was DIVINE! So divine in fact, I gobbled up all the olives in my salad.

The second one-broccoli-not a big fan of it even though we are all supposed to be chowing down on it on a regular basis, because it is a good source of crucifers, the cancer fighter!! This is what I decided to do with the broccoli. I made coleslaw with it!

Here's what I used to make yummy coleslaw, that by the way, I CAN'T STOP EATING!

Process broccoli, red cabbage, and carrots (don't chop it too fine, just lightly pulse chop!)

Transfer the "Slaw" to a large bowl and add raisins.

Dressing

Soaked cashews

Soaked raisins

Raisin water

Lemon

Salt

Pepper

Cayenne (tiny amount)

Olive oil

Blend it or process until smooth in a blender or food processor, whichever one you have. Pour the dressing over the slaw and serve! MMMM!

The Third one-

Although, this was a dish I personally didn't care for, my girlfriend gobbled up the whole thing! I sprouted quinoa and then made tabouli with it.

I added sprouted quinoa to a bowl, added chopped tomatoes, fresh mint, fresh parsley, fresh cucumbers, salt, pepper, and olive oil and mixed it all together. I let it marinate for 4-5 hours before I served it. I now know that I am not a fan of quinoa, but my girlfriend sure is.

It is fun playing around in the kitchen and discovering new things.

Bon Appetit!

Some not so well known superfoods

2009-02-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

BLUE/GREEN ALGAE - SPIRULINA

Blue green algae is one of the most complete sources of protein on earth.

Proteins act as carrying agents that make metabolites miscible in the body's fluids.

Blue green algae is rich in phycotine pigments, minerals ,anti-oxidants, and trace elements magnesium, etc.

Magnesium is integral to over 300 detoxification pathways of the body and helps us relax.

Chlorophyll and blood are much like each other blood is in fact formed in the intestinal villi from the food substrate called monora. Digestion is primary in restoring vitality.

A therapeutic dose of enzymes taken with blue green algae can help the body quickly heal an abscess, candida, and clear waste in the tissues of the body and improve rheumatic and arthritic conditions often in a matter of days.

CARROTS

The cartenoids in carrots help protect immune cells (phagocytes) from auto-oxidative damage and also enhances T and B lymphocyte proliferative response. This enhances cytotoxic abilities along with stimulating natural killer cell capacities and increases the production of information substances which enhance immunity.

PARSLEY

Parsley contains an enormous amount of chromium which helps us cope with sugars manage weight and maximize muscle and fitness potential.

Chromium is important in the cardiovascular system and in cholesterol management.

Oranges, tomatoes, strawberries and broccoli are loaded with Vitamin C, Beta Carotene, B vitamins and so much more and the list of health benefits is way too long for this blog.

Here's a hint, if you want to look younger and feel younger, eat more of these super foods!

Just in from the Raw Divas! AWESOME!

2009-02-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

I know you know about our 7 Day Detox, but what if I told

You that I've suddenly come down with a case of Spring

Fever and I'm hosting a 90-Day Detox for FREE on my blog!?

You can check it out here:

http://vur.me/celestialrawgoddess/42187919

You see, I kinda disappeared for a few months and went

Through some, well, grueling life adventures, to put it ever

So delicately. But I'm back and I can *feel* the tulips are

In the air, so I couldn't help myself but decide to host a

90-day FREE detox leading right up into the merry merry

Month of MAY!

Don't worry about it being too difficult, my dear! It's

A very gentle process and you don't need to be all raw

To be successful!

Check this out:

http://vur.me/celestialrawgoddess/42187919

I really think you're going to like it!

I'm starting officially today! Whoo hooo! Bikini season,

Here I come!!

Love and hugs and deep detox vibrations to you

Mmmmuah!

Tera

P.S.

I think it's actually one of the best things I've ever

Written. I even managed to inspire myself!

Check it ooooout:

http://vur.me/celestialrawgoddess/42187919

p.p.s.

Since I'm probably not going to be offering this again

For FREE, I suggest you let anyone you think might be

Able to benefit from this know about it by forwarding

This to them.

The Newest Health in High Heels is out!

2009-02-14T22:43:00.000-08:00

Raw, Unbridled Valentine's Day Treats for You and Your Beloved

By Angela Elliott

While everyone is out running around in a mad frenzy, here are some ways to celebrate Valentine's Day a bit more romantically and creatively. Last year for Valentine's Day, I made my son and Husband each a box of chocolate truffles. I decorated an old cigar box with hearts and I love you's, and on the inside I put candy paper wrappers filled with truffles. I enclosed a handmade card that told each one how much I loved them, my favorite things about them, and I included a favorite photo or two of us having a wonderful time together.

I wrapped everything up in a recycled gift bag, placed tissue paper inside and then tied it up with ribbon. Here's the recipe, so you too, can give your loved one a gift, they are not likely to forget!

These are the gifts worth giving, the ones that oooze your love and admiration for the special people in your life!

Angela's Top Secret Chocolate Truffles!

Ingredients:

1 cup raw walnuts

2 tablespoons agave syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla flavor by Frontier

1/2 cup pitted soft dates

1/4 cup coconut water

2 tablespoons of raw carob

2 tablespoons raw cacao nibs

Directions:

Blend all the above ingredients except for the raw cacao nibs in a food processor until smooth. Mix in the raw cacao nibs by hand. Shape the mixture into truffle shapes, sort of like an egg shape. Dip each truffle in a mixture of 1/4 cup powdered raw cacao, 1 tablespoon raw Rapadura brand sugar, 1 tablespoon raw carob and 1 tablespoon raw coconut flakes. Grind the cacao, with the sugar, carob and coconut in a coffee mill or spice mill until it becomes a fine powder. Place each truffle into a paper candy wrapper and let sit in the fridge until ready to pack in a box. These keep well in the fridge or freezer, but can be left out initially for a few hours to give as a gift.

*A Romantic Bath For Two*

I love romance! Every year, I pick roses from my garden or ask a neighbor if I can pick theirs. I spread rose petals all over my living room, then I light candles and place them all over the living room and the kitchen. I will usually buy a small bunch of daffodils or tulips for the kitchen table. I love Frank Sinatra for every romantic occasion because let's face it, no one does romance like Frank! Don't forget the importance of a bath for two. Only if your kids are out of the house, of course.

Bath Salt Ingredients:

1/2 cup baking soda

1/4 cup Epsom salts

10 drops cinnamon essential oil

10 drops Ylang Ylang essential oil

Directions:

Put baking soda and Epsom salts in a food processor and grind into a fine powder. Transfer powder to a bowl and add the essential oils and stir well. Spoon mixture into a glass jar.

**A Romantic Meal For Two**

Dinner is usually a three course event starting with a salad, the main event entree and finally finishing with dessert.

Greens Can Be Sexy, Too, Salad

Ingredients:

6 cups of your favorite mixed salad greens

1 avocado, cubed

1/2 head of radicchio, chopped

Edible flowers and sunflower sprouts

2 green onion, chopped

Directions:

Arrange the salad greens on each person's plate, then place the radicchio, avocado, and green onion on each person's plate. Surround the salad with edible flowers and then top the salad with sunflower sprouts on each plate.

Siippery When Wet Dressing

Ingredients:

2 cups almonds, soaked and drained

1 clove of garlic

1 cup of cilantro

Himalayan salt to taste

Cayenne to taste

3/4 cup water

Directions:

Blend everything in a blender until smooth and drizzle over individual salads. For a thinner dressing, add more water

"Ravish Me!" Ravioli Alfredo

This is your main meal and the feul that will inspire your man to ravish you after dinner. ;-)

Ingredients:

2 cups almonds, soaked and drained

2 cups zucchini

2 teaspoons Himalayan salt

1 clove fresh garlic

2 teaspoons oregano

Directions:

Process the above ingredients in a food processor until creamy. Transfer creamy mixture to a bowl and add 1/2 cup minced sweet onion and 1/2 cup minced bell pepper by hand to the mixture. Leave large butter lettuce out long enough to wilt, remove the heavy center vein . Place 1 tablespoon of mixture into each lettuce leaf and roll to wrap up tightly.

Dreamy, Creamy Noodle Sauce

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons mellow un-pasteurized miso

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 cup raw pine nuts

1/2 cup cashews soaked at least one hour and drained

1 clove fresh garlic

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Himalayan salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

1/2 cup nut milk

1/2 cup zucchini, peeled and chopped fine

Nutritional yeast to taste

Parsley for garnish

Directions:

Blend everything except the parsley in a blender and blend until smooth. Place four raviolis on each plate and top with Alfredo sauce. Garnish all around the plate with parsley and serve.

The Dreamy, Creamy Finale

Finish it off with a stawberry on top! Where you take it from here, we leave to your imagination!

Strawberries and Whipped Cream

(from the best-selling book, Alive in Five)

Ingredients:

1 cup macadamia nuts, soaked and drained

1/2 cup water

5 pitted soft dates

1 teaspoon agave syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla flavor

1 tablespoon cold pressed coconut oil

Directions:

Blend all the above ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Dip strawberries in the decadent whipped cream and smile at your loved ones.

2009-02-14T21:01:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day with the Elliott's.

I woke up this morning to a fresh pot of beauty tea, a fabulous strawberry banana smoothie, a wonderful card, and roses. WOW!

Ian and I went to the Farmer's Market and we bought freesia flowers, raw cayenne garlic dip, sun-dried tomatoes, tangelos, raw apple cider, raw almonds in the shell, mushrooms, wild greens, and valencia oranges. Fabulous! I love the Farmer's Market.

We started out the evening with my cheesy kale chips.

For dinner- I made savory "sauteed" stuffed mushrooms, tossed wild greens with a lemon herb vinaigrette, and marinated herb kissed kalamata olives.

For Dessert-I made whipped cream and strawberries

We are watching a goofy movie called Private Valentine and I am happily snuggling with my pup Molly.

Hope your Valentine's Day has been absolutely marvelous!
Valentine's Day Hugs to you,
Angelina

Valentine's Day Memorial

2009-02-14T08:56:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day and what a lovely day it is too! The sun is shining! Makes me want to sing, "Oh happy day". :-)

Today is the one month anniversary of the death of my beloved dog, Bunker. Laura Bruno, author of The Lazy Raw Foodist Guide and If I Only Had a Brain Injury, was kind enough to put up a memorial for him. You can see it here http://laurabruno.wordpress.com/in-loving-memory-of/
Thank you, Laura!

Hope your day is over flowing LOVE and Happiness!

Greening your diet with sensational greens!

2009-02-13T11:43:00.000-08:00

Wild Green of the month~Lamb's Quarters
This European relative of spinach and beets grows throughout the North America. It's full of beta-carotene, calcium, potassium, iron, trace minerals, B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, and fiber. FABULOUS!

This morning I was looking in my fridge and in the basket for something to make a green smoothie with that was new and tasty, and I thought, "I wonder if that lamb's quarters that I bought from the Farmer's Market would be a tasty green to use in my smoothie"............
So, I took it out, cleaned it, and put the leaves in the blender. Next came hmmmmmm wonder what fruit or fruits would go well with this strange and marvelous green. I took out a pear, an apple, bananas, dates, blueberries, and frozen grapes, then I looked at the Thai young coconut sitting in my fridge and thought, "Why NOT"? Here you go Folks! This is an amazingly tasty, rather exotic smoothie that is good for you. Enjoy! :-) (sorry no picture is available, it was so tasty I drank it way too fast for a picture!)

Magical Green Smoothie
large handful of lamb's quarters (leaves only)
2 bananas
4 soaked honey dates
1 apple, cored and sliced
1 pear, cored and sliced
handful of frozen blueberries
handful of frozen grapes
1 Thai young coconut, water and meat

Place all the above ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

2009-02-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

Convenience, a big inconvenience-The downfall of humanity.

Do we need another bag? Blockbuster gives out plastic bags for movies, HONESTLY! I mean, you walk all around Blockbuster carrying your movies no problem, but you have to get them to go in a bag? The worst part is seeing a bag laying on the ground and the movies have been removed from the bag after the customer asks for the darned thing.

Is it really so hard for people to bring a bag to go shopping and not just at the grocery store? You know, those canvas bags work for all kinds of items including shoes and clothes, so why not try bringing your bag with you when you shop for groceries, odds and ends, and clothes?

Can a light bulb really save the planet? No, but it can make a difference when you use longer lasting, cleaner bulbs.

Why must we buy and use electric blankets? What happened to using old fashioned hot water bottles to warm our bodies and beds?

We've become a throw a way society, always wanting bigger, better, faster, stronger and not once thinking about the impact this has on the planet. From fast foods to convenient marts, we've become the land of the cheap. Cheap things are destroying the planet faster than anything else, because people no longer care about the quality of an item, they just want bargain prices. Even organic food used to mean something, but not anymore. Now, it is all about sustainable if you truly care about saving the planet. We can't be bothered to shop directly from Farmers, because maybe they are too expensive or inconvenient in some way. Do we really need so many things from far away? Why can't we buy local? Do the things that we want really matter when children are starving, rainforests are destroyed, and people are gunned down? When did we stop caring about others? Do we really think that we are the only ones living on this planet and that this planet only serves us?

Why is it that a car is usually only judged by how fast it can go or how many people it can carry, or the color of the vehicle or the luxury it can provide? Shouldn't we be more concerned about the safety first and the EFICIENCY of that vehicle? What about the fact that a slower energy efficient car could carry you long distances with renewable energy? This is an amazing thing really. Far too many people though, poo-poo such a thing simply because it isn't cool or because it isn't super fast. Well..... First of all unless you live in Germany, it doesn't matter how fast a car can go, because they are never going to let you go that fast.

We need to bring back local trading and simplicity.

MEAT IS NOT GREEN..............

Do we really need to eat animals, use animals, and wear animals? Do we really need that meatatarian attitude? They've proven that cars, houses, clothes, and shoes can all be made now without the use of animals, science can go far without the use of animals by using simulators in leu of vivisection, and fibers that resemble animals are so close and so convincing that most cannot tell that you are not wearing the real thing. Vegetables and fruits and grains used to make up a good portion of most people's diets and then came the era of fast food! We must return to a wholesome diet and a wholesome way of living.

Newest rant...... TARGET plastic bags!

Honestly, I think they ought to charge people $1.00 a bag, so people would remember to bring their own bags. It is such a crime seeing plastic leave stores everywhere.

The other inght I was at target and the amount of plastic they were handing out was staggering. Not only was that upsetting, but when I went outside to my car, there was a huge pile of-YOU GUESSED IT, TARGET plastic bags. If the people didn't want the bags, why do they ask for them in the first place? Plastic should be BANNED. Yesterday, I was at Michael's and saw that the only bag they offer is PLASTIC and there were a gazillion shoppers all getting their craft supplies for the holidays. I noticed the other day that Big Lots thought nothing of charging each customer 25 cents for the use of their shopping carts. People GLADLY paid for the carts, so why on earth can WE NOT CHARGE PER BAG???

If not now, WHEN? Each plastic bag and each plastic bottle, takes 1,000 years to break down. Let me repeat that 1,000 YEARS! This madness has to stop.

I was asked why I am sending out Ecards to friends and family this year for Christmas, and before I could reply-the person thought it was because I am CHEAP. Can you imagine? I pay a lot of money out every year for environmentally friendly Christmas cards and ECO wrapping paper, and let me tell you, that alone is like a Christmas gift, then I buy ECO friendly gifts for everyone-small fortune. I do this because not only do I love all my friends and family deeply, BUT I also love the planet. Can you imagine the kind gift the earth would receive this year if everyone sent out ECARDS for Christmas? How about making your own gifts or buying Fair trade or local handmade gifts at your local co-op, art fair, or Farmer's Market? That would be so much better than buying CHEAP Chinese made junk from the stores that promise you unbeatable LOW PRICES. How about well made? We all need to become conscious of our actions once and for all.

2009-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

Makes 7-8 servings

5 sprigs fresh mint, plus extra for garnish

10 dates, soaked

1/2 cup filtered water
1 cantaloupe, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 small yellow seedless watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 seedless red watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 honeydew melon, cut into 1-inch cubes
Juice of 3 limes

1. Remove seeds from dates. Soak dates in water for 1 hour.

Add dates along with their soaking water to the blender. Blend until smooth.

2. Seed melons, and cut into chunks.

3. Strain syrup through fine mesh sieve into small bowl.

4. Place fruit in large bowl. Add lime juice, and just enough date syrup to lightly coat. Gently toss together. Garnish with remaining mint. Chill, or serve immediately.

Angelina's Sensational Blog

So much controversy in the raw world

Molly!

Please help Molly get the surgery she needs to walk by donating here, thank you!

7 things about myself blog award

7 Things About Myself (One Lovely Blog Award)e

Our Adventures

Final Review of Markus Rothkranz' fabulous DVD set Free Food and Medicine

Part Three of my review of Markus Rothkranz' Free Food and Medicine 5 DVD set

Part Two of my review of Markus Rothkranz' Free Food and Medicine 5 DVD set

Part one of my review of Markus Rothkranz' DVD set Free Food and Medicine

Nama Shoyu is not a health product

Focus on Mulberries by Joanna Steven

Miracles

Sexual Healing

Raffle tickets, great prizes

Ice cream and afternoon love

Do your actions match your words?

Orchids by Carol

Do you believe in whimsical beings?

For the love of tea by Angelina Elliott

What is a short sale?

Guest Blog Post on Natural Beauty by Angelina Elliott

Creating joy in your life

More fun pics from Wednesday's Immortals Gathering

Wednesdays with the Immortals

The Miracle House Cleaner

Blondes and He Shou Wu

Elite Immortals Gathering's on Wednesdays

Earth Day EVERY DAY by Angelina Elliott

Great article on agriculture

Thoughts on agriculture

Wild food and our future

The Midnight Rose Brigade

The greening of Bloomies and more

Making chocolates today

Here's something fun for you all to do!

I am in a movie! It is marvelous!

I was featured on LEXI YOGA

C-sections and sex

My Rare Teas and Tonics Menu

The lip scar!

Anti-aging Hand and Nail Care

Go to the Spa without ever leaving home

Angelina's Delicious Tabouli

Welcoming in 2010

delightful interview I just did!

Sexy Chocolate Review! This guy has my thumb way way up!

Raw Spirit Festival

My Tribute to Keith Pilotti

Alive in Five book review on Raw Epicurean

http://rawepicurean.net/2009/09/13/spaghetti-with-aioli-sauce/

my new soaps will be available at RSF and on my site soon!!

Interview in Sacramento with my friend Russ of Health Forward Online

Women Go Raw Tour

Get your sexy on raw style!

Angela's Raw Story!

Check out my interview with Raw Epicurean

Angela on Raw Vegan Radio

What happened to our great America?

My Interview with Vegan Culinary Experience Magazine

Gardening and juicing!

In the land of shakes

Blissed Out with Cacao

I will be presenting/demo-ing at both RSF's.

sign up for free recipes and a free seven day meal planner!

Raw foods dancing on your tongue

The Wonders of Organic Farming!

Sneak Peak From My Book-The Simple Gourmet

Sneak Peak Recipe from: The Simple Gourmet

by Angela Elliott

Pot O'Captain's Chili

Goodbye to Farmer's Markets? Please read and tell friend to tell friends!

JOLT JUICE!

Superfood Green Juice Party!

Remember the GREEN JUICE CONTEST??

The Beauty Book I have been talking about for years is almost here!!

Okay... It is time for a contest!

My new book is OUT!

We have a guest writer-WELCOME TOVAH!

http://rawepicurean.net/2009/09/13/spagh etti-with-aioli-sauce/

The Dreamy, Creamy Finale