Bunny Berry

Girls and Guys...you gotta check out Bunny Berry. I LOVE HER. She has that something special you can't fake. Lordy lordy we are lucky to have her as a part of our community. Please check out her blog www.bunnyberry.blogspot.com.

Raw Billy Bob

I did not know until today that Billy Bob Thorton is a raw foodist.
I first stumbled upon a link to an article in the US Magazine, but I was skeptical because my impression is that US magazine is a gossip rag with little actual research.

Then I ran across this article in ESQUIRE magazine in which Billy Bob Thornton quips, "I've been clean of drugs for twenty-seven years now. I've eaten wheat- and dairy-free for years. I eat only raw food. I exercise. I do everything right in my life in order to be able to drink Bud and have a smoke."

Congrats Billy...you have made some really healthy choices! Very few are 100% perfect...but you are ahead of alot of folk out there.

(Other "reported" raw celebrities are Demi Moore, Sting, Angela Bassett, Woody Harrelson, David Bowie, Lisa Bonet, Robin Williams, Donna Karan, Alicia Silverstone, Chef Charlie Trotter, and Canadian Rocker Bif Naked)


Middle of the night UPDATE:

OK... it is 11:55 pm and I found Bunny Berry talking about celebrity raw foodists now... jeez...she can read my freakin mind...give her another huge round of applause!

Unexplained absence

I am been a bit out of touch in the last week. I had the pleasure of whisking off with my hubby and son to see the Rush Snakes and Arrows concert in OKC. Although I prefer folk and country music, I loved seeing my son's reaction at his first rock concert. The Remington hotel was just a block away and I really enjoyed having a bed to myself. For me the highlight was walking around Bricktown and discovering the amazing baseball stadium there. I haven't been to this area since 1998 for a Sarah McLachlan concert...the progress is amazing! I see us coming back to OKC much more often. I think I could definitely live here, although I LOVE Tulsa, Oklahoma. I am hopeful that Tulsa will continue to work towards downtown and Pearl district redevelopment.

On another front, this week we were given conservatorship over my 10 year old niece. Suffice to say her parents have not ever been able to provide a stable home for her. I have a few weeks to get her bedroom ready, arrange for healthcare, fund a college savings plan, and all the other fun that comes with adding a child to one's family. This is a big step, but a very exciting opportunity that we are thankful for.

I am also in the application process for a Master's Degree in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation at Abilene Christian University. I know two very strong and successful Christian friends that graduated from ACU. ACU is the alma mater of the well known and respected Christian author Max Lucado, as well a the university of many professional athletes, judges, entrepreneurs and others. 

I am contemplating sharing my drafted Statement of Purpose here on this blog. I would love to hear from you if you happen to stumble on my humble blog here in cyberspace. 

PS I did try to eat as much salad and juices/smoothies as I could over the weekend. (But the chips, guacamole and a Margarita at Abuelos was probably not the best choice. My body wasn't happy with me. I guess it has been used to my better choices lately.) 

Sex is good, but not as good as...

Sex is good, but not as good as fresh sweet corn. (Garrison Keillor)

May, its just around the corner....

and in this part of the country May means the opening of local farmer's markets.

 With the opening of Farmer's Markets comes the inevitable baskets of fresh local produce I lovingly lug home and admire until it hits me....

what am I supposed to do with all these fresh veggies?

I wasn't born a natural chef...I learn by trial and error, most often error. When I find recipes that I love I make them over and over and over. (Just ask my husband - after I discovered the world's best kale salad on therawchefblog.com - it has become a new dinnertime staple for me)

So because I find corn to be 100% tastier when it comes fresh from a farmer's hand to my plate, I'd like to share my Farmer's Market Corn Salad which I like to dress with a simple yummy creamy sweet basil dressing.

One Raw Mom's Farmer's Market Corn Salad

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1 cup raw corn kernels (cut directly off the cob)

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

1/8 cup sliced green onions

Couple of tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

1/2 to 1 avocado chopped up

1/3 cup creamy basil dressing (recipe below)

Toss everything but the avocado in the dressing, garnish with the avocado (or gently fold it in) immediately before serving.

Yummy Creamy Sweet Basil Dressing

1 cup chopped fresh sweet basil

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons raw local honey

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 clove garlic minced

celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in blender until creamy. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

A new use for my barware

The more raw my diet has become, the less I have indulged in wine. The once nightly glass (or two) of wine has been completely replaced with GT's / Synergy Raw Kombucha tea blended with freshly squeezed blood orange juice. My former daily extra large Diet Dr. Pepper with vanilla has been replaced with spinach/carrot/pear juice. There was no D-day for this change...it snuck up on me and I didn't even notice it. I guess it hit me when we went out to dinner last weekend and I wanted to sneak in my GT's instead of ordering a cocktail How weird is that?

Beware, if you aren't careful, these changes may sneak up on you too!

PS Penni Shelton (Real Food Tulsa) turned me on to my new vices. 

Recipes: Raw Soups

From The Honolulu Newspaper 10/4/2005

Raw Spinach and Avocado Soup:

(must have high power blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec)

1 cup tomato

1/2 cup water

2 cups spinach

1/2 ripe avocado

1/2 slice ginger

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp light miso

juice of half lemon

1T vinegar

1T olive oil

Blend thoroughly and eat immediately. (I double this so that I use the whole avocado and whole lemon) 

Down the rabbit hole

Word to the wise:

When juicing in a hurry, don't try to jam a 10 lb carrot down the rabbit hole. Seriously.

Getting it unstuck without taking a sledge hammer to your new Omega juicer takes so much longer.

(Breathe...........Breathe.....)

Raw Food Diet Study: The Iowa Source

Inspired by her own positive experiences going raw, Lenka J. Zajic went on to obtain a Master's in Vegan and Live Food Nutrition from the Tree Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona, where she conducted an in-depth 500 participant survey of raw foodists. The study's findings showed that people who followed an 80 to 90 % raw foods diet for two years reported marked improvements in immunity, digestion, allergies, weight moderation, chronic illness and mental and emotional well being. 

See more here:  Raw Food Diet Study featured by The Iowa Source

to find out more about:

Overall physical health changes

Exercise and Physical Activity Changes

Women's Issues and Improvement

Mental, Spiritual and Emotional Health Improvement

I find this to be a great high five! to what we intuitively know about eating foods fresh from God's own hands. It perplexes me that many people out there look at a Raw Food diet as UN-natural - when in fact it is completely Natural.

Pure To Go

Pure Cafe, run by Cynthia Beavers, formerly of Dallas, TX and now headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just 45 minutes away from me, operates Pure To Go, organic living cuisine shipped nationwide.

Last summer I drove to Tulsa nearly every Wednesday, where her orders are distributed to local customers in person by her assistant. Wednesday evening she ships the remainder of her customized living cuisine to customers from coast to coast.

From my understanding Cynthia's Dallas restaurant was created in 2003 after the success of her gourmet raw food meal service. Although none of my Dallas friends were able to dine in her restaurant, as it was always closed when they visited, I can testify to the PURE YUMMINESS of her raw delivery menu.

Unfortunately I have been unable to order during the school year, as Wednesday night is Youth Group and gymnastics. To have it Fedexed 45 miles north to my current hometown of Bartlesville is a bit steep for me on top of the $135 a week for 5 entrees (but boy the food is yummy!). But summer is getting closer....and rumor says that Cynthia has been working hard to open up a sit down cafe at 37th and Peoria in Tulsa. I'll let you know more as I find out her progress.

Here are my PURE favorites:
Raw lasagna
Thai chili wraps
The raw cheeseburger (my 12 yr old even loves this)
The PB&J

I have never met Cynthia in person, none of her customers I know of have had the pleasure of meeting her...yet, but we are hopeful to meet her face to face at her restaurant opening. She is a extremely talented but elusive creature to say the least.

Penni for your thoughts

About a year ago I started exchanging emails with Penni Shelton of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I grew up in Tulsa, and now live only 45 minutes away. I was researching the internet to see if anyone in Tulsa followed a Raw Foods Diet.

In February 2006 the Tulsa World featured an article about Raw Food Diets, in which Penni was interviewed. I can't remember exactly when I ran across this article on the internet, but I remember bookmarking it. Later I ran across Penni on Myspace and we struck up an online friendship last summer.

In March 2008 the Tulsa World featured an article on Penni which exposed Tulsa to the 92 Day Global Juice Feast started by David Rainoshek.

If you haven't had the chance to read Penni's blog it is a must read! Penni is refreshingly honest, stunningly radiant and is completely infectious. There is no topic off limits in a conversation with Penni.

I had the opportunity to meet Penni last Monday in Tulsa, and I look forward to doing this more often. The 1 and 1/2 hours we shared seemed to fly by. It was amazing what we learned about each other in person...you know how you race through that brief synopsis of your lives (what got us here to this point in our lives) so that we can move forward to where we are in this journey today. I have prayed for healthy minded, Christian friends and Penni definitely fits this description to a T. I know there are other like minded women in our area that we hope to gather together for friendship and fellowship.

I believe Penni has a inspiring voice, in her writings and in person. My spirit feels strongly that she will continue to learn and teach others.

Penni is a blessing...a beautiful, spiritual, compassionate and radiant woman. Make sure to add her 92-juice fast and raw journey blog to your daily reading list.

John Butler Used to Get High For A Living

Listen to these words and ponder for a moment what makes you high...

Is it that morning coffee you "cant' live without", that glass of wine or two in the evening, or is it that Diet Coke you always have sitting on your desk to "keep you going", the cigarettes you think you can't quit ...

We tell our kids not to use drugs but we can't say no to the seemingly innocent things that keep us locked in a vice grip...hmm. What power we allow these products to have on our lives.

You are stronger than you think. If you need some tips or encouragement just let me know. Maybe some techniques I have used could help you too.

Visit The John Butler Trio here

Talk Dirty to Me

In 2001 when I got married and moved to Calgary, Alberta (Canada) I developed "tummy problems". Delightful.

For the past 7 years I have struggled with "eliminating" either too much or "too little". In the last year, despite drastically reducing meat, dairy and processed foods, and drastically increasing my consumption of fresh raw fruits and vegetables, I have been "stopped up" for as long as a MONTH at a time. 30 days. Seriously - this is a problem.

In the meantime I have tried all sorts of products on the market - with little success and lots of cramping and pain.

Then I remember reading in Carol Alt's book, Eating In The Raw, that her life was changed by meeting Dr. Timothy Brantley. Carol's story is worth the read, you can read it here 

Dr. Brantley wrote a book named The Cure, Heal Your Body Save Your Life . This is an interesting account of how Dr. Brantley was raised in a toxic environment and has spent his adult life learning how to heal others of conditions resulting from the fuel we feed our body and the environments we live and work in.

Dr. Brantley sells an herbal supplement aptly called THE ELIMINATOR.

This is the first product that gently and effectively has "got me going" in a "normal" fashion.

Seriously, this is a huge breakthrough for me.

Recipes: Smoothies and Juicing

By getting my kiddos involved in helping this One Raw Mom create new treats, they get more and more interested in eating healthier too!

Here are few of One Raw Mom's Favorites:

Green Juice

Kale 

Carrots

Pears or Apples

Cucumber

Celery

Green Smoothie

Kale or Spinach

Coconut Water

Avacado

Agave  

Cinnamon

LolaBloom's V3.5

(Mycrazysexylife.com)

2 cups heirloom tomatoes

3 carrots

3 stalks celery

juice of 1/2 lemon

 

No more allergy meds

After being over medicated, mislead and ignored by the medical establishment I have taken my health into my own hands.

In the past 12 months that I have been researching and transitioning towards a primarily raw food diet I have successfully eliminated the EIGHT prescriptions I was taking per day for allergy related symptoms.

I now no longer take any daily allergy medications. NONE.

One Raw Mom's story...

From a young age I was plagued with ear infections, strep, tonsillitis. At age 5 I had my tonsils and adenoids removed. By age 12 my allergies were so bad that I was taken for allergy tests. The doctors were shocked with the levels of my reactions to nearly 100% of the tested items. I scored higher than any other child or adult ever tested at that Tulsa hospital. I was allergic to all pollens and airborne allergens, all grasses, weeds, mold. The only food allergies were corn products (in almost everything) and peanuts.

I suffered through allergy shots and extreme reactions to the allergy shots for nearly 6 years. Twice I was rushed to the emergency room in aphylactic shock resulting from allergic reactions. It was at this point that the University Health Center stated that they would no longer be responsible for administering the shots, due to the allergic reactions caused by the shots themselves.

After graduating with a degree in Psychology from Oklahoma State University, I took advantage of being young, single and adventurous...and landed in Tucson, Arizona. For the seven subsequent years of my life I never experienced any allergies.

From 1997 to 2001 I returned to Tulsa, Oklahoma (where I had grown up) and respiratory allergies were manageable, but severe migraines became frequent.

From 2001 - 2004 I lived in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. No seasonal allergies at all. New food allergies noted were sprouts, pistachios, and sunflower seeds. Migraines fully disappeared but colon problems emerged.

From 2004 - 2006 we were transferred to Houston, TX where my allergies were so severe that I was rushed to the Emergency Room in anaphylactic shock resulting from allergic reactions. During this time I had re-started allergy testing with the test doses being the level they administer to young children. Again testing had to be stopped to to severe life threatening reactions.

(more to come...stay tuned)

Recipes: Desserts

Tootsie-Raws:
1 cup raw cacao powder
1/2 cup mesquite powder
1/2 cup almond butter
3/4 cup honey or agave
2 T. fo-ti (or a few capsles, without the capsule of course)
2 lg. T. lucuma powder
1 T. Vanilla
1 pinch celtic sea salt

Mix in food processor till well blended (It is really stickly and stiff). Then put in bowl and hand knead in more lucuma (up to several tablespoons until no longer sticky. Roll into tootsie logs, wrap in parchment paper, store in freezer.

Recipes: Appetizers

Yummy Hummy 

(Hummus)
Serves 6-8 as a dip

Ingredients:

2 large zucchini, peeled and cut into large pieces
1 large avocado
1/4 c raw tahini
juice of 3 lemons
1/4 c raw pine nuts
1/2 c raw sesame seeds
1/4 c olive oil
3 fresh basil leaves
1 full stem of fresh dill
2 T. raw honey
1 1/2 t. celtic sea salt
1/2 - 1 tsp. minced garlic

Preparation: Combine all ingredients in a Vitamix or Blendtec high-powered blender. Process until smooth.

Enjoy with raw carrots, celery, cucmber slices and/or raw flax seed crackers.

In the beginning...

I wish I had a miraculous story about the day I discovered the raw food diet. I don't. Like everything in life, it has been a process - full of ups and downs, full of successes and failures.

My raw journey has been a process, more of which I will share as I go along. But the one thing I do know now is that my children will learn more from what they see me do than what I tell them.

I'd rather my children have a mommy who's health is being restored, rather than a mommy who is being rushed to the hospital with life threatening allergy attacks, or a mommy who could develop cancer or depression or any number of consequences of a lifetime of poor dietary and lifestyle choices.