My Five Reasons

A few weeks ago, ok I guess its months now Bernice challenged me to write about Sugar after I gave her a long lecture on why not to eat it. I guess lecturing is easy actually writing it down so it does not sound like a moan has been proving pretty hard for me. There are hundreds of reasons why sugar is bad for you and I could go on about it all day but I thought if someone really wants to change thier life then five should be enough to stimmulate the process of change. Ok so here it goes:

Sugar is a drug. It is one of the most addictive substances out there. You may not realise it but just a small ammount has you craving for more. Just like alcohol and tobacco your body craves the rush it gets from sugar. If you regularly eat sweet stuff and this includes lots of fruit (yes excessive fruit sugar also has its downside) you are probably an addict. Just try not eating anything sweet at all for two days and see how your body react. Just like with drugs alot of people get the shakes, feeling slightly weak, nausea, fatigue etc. I know I am an addict. I often say just this once or I don't eat that much sugar and before I know it every meal I eat has some thing a little sweet in it or after it.

More people die from sugar related deaseases every year than anything else. I studied diabetes in University and my proffessor likened being sick with diabetes to having HIV. Ok you cannot spread diabetes through bodily fluids but the outcome is very similar. Chances are you will die from a diabetes related deasease. My Grandfather died from diabetes related illnesses (stroke + cancer). My greatgrandmother also died from diabetes related illnesses and for about 15 years before she died she was blind and had both legs amputated due to diabetes. It will wear you down mentally and physically and eventually weaken your immune system to other diseas. Sugar related illnesses include diabetes, ulcers, strokes, heart attack, yeast infections, high cholesterol. Why would you want to have any of those?

Parasites in your body thrive on sugar. What happens to your teeth when you eat too much sugar also happens inside your body, the only difference is that you usually cannot see past your throat so you often don't even know what is happenening. The way your teeth rot is the same way your insides rot. Parasites need sugar and the acid produced from the digestion of sugar to live. These organisms in turn produce more acid and secrete hormones which mimic the bodies sugar craving hormones. So sometimes it is not you craving sugar, it is the stuff living inside you. Have you ever noticed that people who eat alot of green and hardly any sugar do not get ill very often? This is because, even if they come in contact with them, parasites cannot survive inside the hosts body as there is is nothing feeding them. So especially with it being colder this time of year why not avoid getting sick with the flu 3-4 times by simply cutting out sugar and eating more green foods.

Sugar is like a thief in the night. It robs your body of calcium and magnesium. An important companent of teeth and bones. To digest sugar you need calcium and magnesium. Most refined sugar however has been stripped of these minerals during processing. When its time for digestion your body goes looking somewhere else for these minerals to help it out. The most common place to get this from is your bones and teeth. If you are not replacing all this lost calcium and magnesium by eating plenty of green leafy vegetables your bones will eventually become brittle and oesteporosis sets in.

Finally I know the dangers of the overconsumtion of sugar and I am doing my best to provide a good example for my son. I don't want to preach one thing to him and do another. I try to lead by example which isn't always easy but I do sleep better at night knowing that he is growing dense strong bones rather than hollow brittle ones. It will be more difficult saying no to him once he knows the taste of sweetness. So far no he does not know what refined sugar tastes like. We tend to have a piece of fruit in the morning but our other two meals are packed full of green leafy vegetables, pulses and some root vegetables. His favourite meals are Okra (full of calcium) and seaweed rice soup. I would rather he had these two in his meal plan every day than having a cookie once a week.

Cutting out sugar alone is just one part of the process in reclaiming your health. But it is a pretty big part and I promise you will notice the difference.

I hope this has made you curious to find out more.

For more information on why not to eat sugar read:

The PH Miracle: Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health By Robert O. Young

http://www.healingcancernaturally.com/sugar-health-effects-risks.html

Or just google the dangers of sugar.

Alexa

DAY 48 You Are Your Own Worst Enemy

Don't Enslave Yourself With a Mindset That Can't Accept Change Even When It's As Logical As Going Back To The Basics---Free Yourself!

John Hopkins Update - Good article
(the text in red is my addition and opinion based on research done centuries ago, texts in blue just means pay close attention)

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY...

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins :

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect! the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3 When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply..

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a.. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved. or almond milk, I love almond milk.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork, but I say meat and fish can be equally as acid- forming. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C). That's where the precious raw food lifestyle comes in...

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it. I would have to refute this point, distilled water has powerful healing effects, read The Regenerative Diet and search do your own research.

12.. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup. Very important and very true, the quicker people realize this the better for them.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor--very true. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro. Actually, throw your microwave away or use it as storage space. My mother in-law has not owned a microwave for ages.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else--How about avoiding the TV dinners all together, processed foods are the fall of the American society. It is a war that no one seems to realize but some day we will wake up to a society that has lost most of its members to obesity and disease. You can change your fate, your life, your health, you can love yourself a little differently. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

My beloved father passed away from lung cancer and I'm sure many of us know of someone who has been plagued by this unfortunate disease. Don't be an enemy to yourself. A vegetable-based diet is the only way to show proper love and respect for the privileged life you've been given. DO YOUR RESEARCH.

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.

~B~

DAY 44 Spanish Spinach Casserole

MY SPANISH SPINACH CASSEROLE

i CAME uP wITH tHIS rECIpE jUST ThIS eVENiNG (I like writing like this, it's fun isn't it?)
okay, I added the ingredients as I went and happy to say I've started developing the knack for smelling ingredients and figuring which ones would work with which. Well, everything that is Nina approved (she cleaned out her plate) means it has got to be delicious--I passed my taste test. Oh, Rick finished his as well. Watching both of them enjoy my food makes me full :-)

Isn't She Lovely?

This was yesterday's project and now it's all gone. This is what a 5 LBs bag of fresh organic carrot yeilds. We added just two apples to this and juiced them all together. One of my favorite juice. Tomorrow i plan to make some fennel/ginger/apple (and by the way Alexa, I did send and speak some positive things to my juicer, she forgives me :-))



Here are my fruity truffles and chocolate covered snow mountain munchies. WHAM! that's what you feel when you taste these amazing deliciousness. YUMMMMY, hmm, don't let me start. can you permit me to get romantically involved with my desert? okay, "I love you chocolate, so very much." lol

A few of my coconut boats, walnut boats and raisin boats.....ah

A perfect example of my coconut boat desert...if you look below you can see what her insides are made of...pure goodness!

PURE GOODNESS! (Aunty Cathy, you will love these)

Tata for now

~B~

Day 41 ...And The Beet Goes On....

...AND THE BEET GOES ON...

oKAY, sorry for posting so late but as you can see from above, this is what I was doing in the kitchen. Came up with this recipe on the spot because I have more collard greens than I know what to do with it. I hope you like it, I certainly did.

Ingredients for THE BEET GOES ON SALAD

4 cups of thinly sliced collard greens, tightly packed (great source of folic acid)

1 tsp of minced garlic ( I love garlic)

1/4 cup of Bragg's raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar + 1/4 more

dash of salt

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup diced red onions

2 Tbsp green bell pepper or red bell pepper

1 Tbsp dulse granules (great source of iodine)

1/4 cup currants or 1/3 cup for sweeter taste

1/4 cup shaved or grated beets

First add apple cider vinegar and dash of salt to the collard greens and work with fingers to wilt the greens (till they start to take a darker green color). Then add the rest of the ingredients as listed. You can eat as is or garnish for more fun. I like more fun!

...LET THE BEET GO ON...

Day 34 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

My Raw/Vegan Ultra-delicious strawberry cheesecake

"Did you know that calves, instead of drinking their mothers' milk, are fed a formula made from cows' blood? Yes, these practices are all perfectly legal."--SelfHealth Revolution by Michael Zenn

Have You Met Your Meat Yet?

Do you recall that funny feeling after a meal of steak? Like you've just eaten a cow? Well, if you have it is because you have eaten a portion of a cow and all its barnyard Friends. Long ago I used to be very clueless meat-eater. Little did I care or know how my meat was handled and cared for. Who cares right? as long as it's FDA approved we are good to go. The FDA cares very much about us, they bring us the best of nature, right? Well, NO ONE LOVES YOU LIKE YOU, NO ONE CARES FOR YOU LIKE YOU, NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU BUT YOU!

Cows are still fed feed that contains their barnyard friends like cats, dogs, fish, chicken, pigs and other cow parts. Did you read that correctly? Your MEAT is a cannibal! If that doesn't scare you, then this message wasn't for you. Let those who have ears listen; that is not only relevant for the Bible but with everything else in life. And the FDA? What do they say about this? In Michael Zenn's Self Health Revolution it says "Government spokesmen believe that whatever is processed by renders, becomes denatured (meaning it's actually no longer what it was before)"
So your Government spokesperson means that since it has undergone some kind of process to change the meat (they are heated for 30 minutes under very high temperatures), whatever it was before has been changed. What are you eating my friends? First, they heat it up in the rendering process and then you take it and heat it up some more! what are you eating? Ever imagined how eating or lets say being fed other animal parts can change the chemical composition of the animal? Ever imagined how eating that 'sick' and 'alien' flesh changes the chemical composition of you?

There is a famous saying that goes "You are what you eat." I have come up with mine and I think it is even better "What you eat, eats you."-- Most people don't believe animals have feelings but they do have fear vibrations they send out when they 'know' death is coming. Imagine what's going on in them when they see themselves on the slaughter line. I am sure they want to escape, I am sure that their adrenaline in at its peak, I am sure they have feelings, I am sure they like us, want to live, want to survive and enjoy life by playing in the grass or in the mud or just lazying around watching the sky. If "Curiosity killed the cat." I can safely say that "Ignorance kills the man."

If your problem is where to get your protein from, as so many fire back, protein is not all the craze, it will take a hard try on your part for you to be protein deficient. The body can get all its necessary amino acids from seeds, nuts and dark leafy greens. Humans are not meant to me meat-eaters but when it is packaged right and the Gorey red bleeding flesh is camouflage with seasonings and spices, I bet you it is very inviting isn't it? Sometimes it serves to be gullible and this is the one time. When I look at a piece of flesh my brain goes on alert mode and I am very grateful for that, in the past I would still eat it and ignore my inner voice but that is what I called denial. If you were sent out there with a spear in one hand and asked to go get your own meat or chicken or pig, would you? I think you would run the other way. Why then do we let others do the dirty work for us? so we don't feel the guilt because we didn't kill the animal? so there is no blood on our hands?

Did you know that the two leading causes of death in the U.S are directly related to meat consumption (cows, Turkey, pigs, chicken, fish etc)

"Patrice Green, J.D., M.D. and Allison Lee Solin state that animal products easily account for our largest intake of pesticides and herbicides, in fact, more than 80 to 90% by some estimates."--Self-Healing Colitis & Crohn's by David Klein, Ph.D.

"One half of all antibiotics in the U.s. alone are used in the production of livestock." Here are a few facts from Dr. klein's book:

Meat is the most putrefactive of all foods. This means of all foods meat is the most liable for decay in the intestines.

The hardest thing for the human body to digest is cooked animal meat.

Protein metabolism yields great amounts of toxic byproducts.

Flesh food can take up to 5 (five) days to pass through and out of the body (Plant food takes about 1 day).

Meat contains waste products that the animal did not get to eliminate and toxic hormones and fluids released into their blood stream at the time of death.

This may sound extreme but it is the truth and the truth usually stinks or should I say stings; when you look at your steak, chicken, pork the next time you're eating start to think:

Hello meat, how were you cared for? how long have you been dead for? hat sores, cancers or diseases did you have before you were slaughtered? Ask, Ask, Ask and maybe one day you will ask yourself if it is really necessary to eat flesh that you yourself wouldn't go out to kill or slaughter.

Did you know that bowel cancer is the second form of deadly cancer after lung cancer? What causes or puts you at risk of having this? answer: just go back and read from above.

I think I've written enough for today. There are many books and resources out there about animal protein, make use of them all and if you still want to eat animal flesh do so knowing what you are ingesting. It is GOOD to be in the know.

"People think the FDA is protecting them. It isn't. What the FDA is doing and what people think it's doing are as different as night and day."--Herbert Lay, Former FDA Commissioner.

"When I look animal flesh I see death; wilted, unscented, bland, limp and lifeless, but when I look at plants and seeds and fruits, what a difference it makes to see life in all its glory--colors of green and rainbows, sweet scents of fruits that tingle my nose. Life is color."--Bernice Angoh

HAVE YOU MET YOUR MEAT YET?

~B.

Day 33 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

NINA'S GRAPE-LEMONADE POPSICLE

It is drizzling outside my window and I am watching a great movie with some raw/vegan strawberry cheesecake I made yesterday. My morning started off wonderfully, did a 20 minute jog and then a 15 minute Pilate's (abs). For breakfast I had half a cantaloupe, Nina had the rest. Lunch today was pretty basic, pesto and veggies! I can't get enough of that. I tried Nina's creation; grape-lemonade Popsicle and it was fantastic. It's a good treat for a hot day. Here's what she said she put in it:

Grape-Lemonade Popsicle:
1 glass of water
Juice of 5 freshly squeezed lemons
3 packets of stevia
1 cup of red seedless grapes, cut in halves



Pretty creative of her and it did taste good. You might want to try it for you or some little angel you know :-)


Gotta run, got a busy day today. catch you all tomorrow.





~B.

Day 31 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

30-Day Celebration kale Salad

Yes, you read it right, it is Day 31 today and the opening day of Michael Jackson's "This is it". You know I wouldn't miss it for the world. Nothing was new to me as I watched this incredible entertainer whom I just adore; he has one of the most beautiful hearts of anyone I know in the world. I know a lot of people may argue with that but that is my opinion. God bless you and rest with Jesus, my friend.



I started today with a strawberry/banana shake. Decided to shake things up a bit huh? I added a tablespoon of coconut oil and it tasted exactly like strawberry yogurt--only healthier than the store brands.

I won't write too much today as I have been out all day and need to rest my delicate head, lol. For super I am having some julienned zucchini and carrots with some zesty pesto sauce. The recipe for my pesto sauce is somewhere below and all I added to it was 1/2 of sun dried tomatoes. YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!



I promised you the recipe of my celebration kale salad so here it is. AMAZING



30-day Celebration Kale Salad:



1 bunch of kale
juice from two lemons
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 pine nuts, soaked and rinsed
1/2 cup raisins, soaked, rinsed and diced
1/4 cup chopped olives
1Tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 avocado, mashed
1 red bell pepper, diced



Thinly slice the leaves of kale. add juice of lemons and olive oil and mash with fingers to wilt kale. Once it starts to change color to a darker green, it is about ready. Then add the rest of the ingredients, mix and DEVOUR! This never last for more than a day. I could eat it three times a week and it is very filling. Dee-liciouso!

~B

Day 27 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS: WALDROF SALAD WITH ALMOND MAYONNAISE

"Nothing will benefit health and increase chances of survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetable based diet."--Albert Einstein

Waldrof Salad with Almond Mayonnaise

Salad:

2.5 crisp organic apples, seeded and nicely diced
2 cups of red seedless grapes (you can use green if you like)
1 cup of nicely diced celery
1 cup chopped walnut, soaked and rinsed and re-dried
1-2 pears, nicely diced
1 cup of thinly sliced green cabbage
put all in a bowl and set aside

Almond Mayonnaise:
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of soaked almonds, rinsed
1/2 tsp yellow mustard powder
2-3 tsps of agave nectar or honey
1/2 tsp of salt to taste juice of 2 lemons

Blend all until smooth and add just a little bit of water to facilitate blending process. Pour over bowl of prepared salad, mix evenly and ENJOY! YOU CANNOT RESIST THIS ONE. AND IT WON"T LAST MORE THEN TWO DAYS...

Day 26 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

Leaving R. Thomas......Nina and Mommy

Raw Apple Pie...........YUM!

Nina and Mommy....I had just finished eating my RAWmazing seaweed salad.

Nina and Daddy's faces are hilarious, well, that's what happens when you're at R. Thomas.

If there is any one restaurant in all of Atlanta which deserves a million and more applauds, it is R. Thomas at 1812 Peachtree Road, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30309. They have captured the magic of downtown and all of its hustling and bustling and transformed it into the most spiritual, healthy and, without a doubt, a quintessential conscious eater's paradise.

My very first visit to R.Thomas was over eight years ago when I first met my Rick. He would spoil me and treat me like a queen, because that's how you feel when you're dinning at a health conscious place like R. Thomas. It was was just ten minutes walk from our apartment in Buckhead and we lived for their peanut sauce and quinoa. It was also when I met and chatted with the very talented India Arie, I was about four months pregnant with our first daughter then. It is always a very fulfilling and transforming experience at R.Thomas and yesterday night was no different.

After our discouraging hunt for a raw food eatery we decided to go to R. Thomas where I'd decided I'd manage a salad and then Rick and Nina can eat their delicious vegan delights. As we drove, the beautiful sights of the city and many familiar sights caught my heart and reminded me of when I first met my love. The more we reminisced on our drive there, the more excited I became. R. Thomas with its hippy, cheerful look sprung into sight. We were greeted warmly and seated at a comfortable spot right by the door. No matter how many times Nina goes there, she still is in awe about the dream catchers, the wind chimes and colorful decors hanging from the
ceiling and walls. "Look, mommy, look. Is that a real diamond?" Her childlike wonder always brings out the child in us all and we followed her eyes and fingers across the busy room. I slowly opened up my menu, started scanning through the items and let out a very happy shrill. R.THOMAS HAS RAW FOOD! Okay, pardon me if i may seem a little to excited, but I don't remember years ago seeing any of that on their menu and the more I thought about it, I realized back then I was a only a vegan and didn't have a clue what raw food was all about and so I wouldn't have been looking for it.

R.Thomas is by far my favorite restaurant in Atlanta because they not only serve organic meals, they cater to carnivores (meat eaters), herbivores (vegans and raw foodists) and everyone in between (including vegetarians). Now, I think all restaurants should follow their example. In fact it should be a law to serve only organic food and also to cater to all three groups of eaters (lol) okay I know i am just blowing steam here but seriously, HOW IMPRESSIVE IS THAT? I felt at home right there in the middle of everyone eating whatever they think is good for them.

James, our fantastic waiter was ever so patient and very knowledgeable. I drank water, and Nina got a strawberry/banana shake. We all had a Raw cashew cheese appetizer served with cucumbers, celery and pear slices--which, by the way, was hmm, hmm good. For main course I got a Raw veggie dinner #1: Walnut sunflower loaf topped with chipolte sauce, broccoli cauliflower medley, raw veggie kraut, collard kale salad(which was DELISH) and served with sweet potato chips, guacamole and flax chips(the best I have tasted). OMG! okay, I also got a raw seaweed salad (don't judge, I was very hungry--all of a sudden, lol) and for desert i got a slice of their raw apple pie.....wwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Oh, i forgot to say how much I loved, loved, loved the seaweed salad, it was perfecto! The pie was great (had to bring it home, I was done for the night). The amazing thing about all of this was how i felt after I'd eaten. Usually, on a SAD diet, you'd feel like you were carrying tons of dead weight in your belly, tired and ready for bed but I felt full yes, but not Oh-my-God-I-just-gained-ten-pounds full, I felt satisfied and revived. It was a 100% score card for me. here's their website to read more about this amazing restaurant at

http://www.rthomasdeluxegrill.com/

and their phone number is 404-872-2942. Rick and Nina both got what they wanted and we all left happy. It was money well spent and I will be going back many more times and that's for sure.

Stay Blessed!

~B.

Day 6 (30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge)

ZUCCHINI-LINGUINE Photo from site listed Below.

I will introduce you to many sites with great recipes like this one:

http://goneraw.com/recipe/zucchini-linguine-basil-pesto


Wao! I am on day 6 already and feeling as light as air. I feel full yet I don't feel that heaviness you feel when you're on the SAD (Standard American Diet). I had a 20 minutes walk today with my God. I always meditate when I walk or jog, I have on my earpiece and I listen to "Worship Together" I love listening to "Above All", keeps me focused and keeps my mind at peace. You can choose which ever way you want to stay focused, I find that this helps me most. I drank lots of water yesterday and my pee has no color, well sometimes a barely noticeable yellow hue and definitely no odor (sorry if I am grossing you out but I am just being truthful. That is what my daily diary entry is all about; the changes in my body when I'm on raw food).

I find that I've become more patient and I smile more, it's less about me and more about others, I watch them, listen and make them comfy. It is great to hear someone say "You've brightened up my day" or "There's something about you that shines." I heard this compliments before i started the 30-day journey but it's always nice to hear them again and again knowing there's something really 'shining' inside me (my insides, lol more precisely, my colon :-)).

This is what I made for smoothie today:

2 bananas
5 kale leaves
2 handfuls red seedless grapes
1.5 cups of water

You can always freeze your fruits a few minutes before you blend them, that way you get the cold, frothy smoothie you like.

I have a lot of cleaning to do today so I must say tata but I will be back tomorrow with some great insights about what your poop says about your health.

Day 3 (30-Day Green smoothie challenge)

PICTURE OF Bernice's Kale-Panana. FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS.

Good morning, rise and shine! You can tell I feel great right? Well, I do. When I woke up this morning I didn't feel groggy, it was almost like switching on a light bulb and click my eyes snapped open. After my usual glass of water first thing in the morning, I went walking in the early morning sun. I did circuit training with Jillian Michael's for 20 minutes and then I invented one of the best tasting smoothies ever.

Before I give you that recipe I want to tell you about a few changes I've noticed since day one. Day one and two I woke up with a little stuffiness and on day two especially I noticed a lot of mucus being expelled(from my nose, catarrh). Today I woke up not stuffed at all. You will realize as you go along with this challenge that you will sneeze and have a runny nose at times, sometimes even slight chest pains and headaches. Rest assured that your body is doing what it needs to be doing, these are detox symptoms and they will go away so don't throw in the towel yet. Even hunger pangs or cravings are detox symptoms, you might just want to drink more water or another smoothie.

When you've had a habit of eating all the time, it is hard for your body to not be constantly fed so you have to remember this the next time you feel hungry (especially after you've just had a smoothie). The reason for constantly wanting food is due to the body not having the nutrients its need, so when you keep feeding it those empty calories guess what it will still 'need' more food so that it can get what it needs from somewhere.

When you do green smoothies, your body starts to sing, yes, you feel full and energized. I hate feeling tired in the middle of the day but when you're constantly feeding your body the right nutrients you will notice a surge of energy. Here's my AWESOME recipe:

Bernice's Kale-Panana (nice huh?)

2 bananas
2 golden ripe pears
6 kale leaves
1 Tbsp Flax seeds
2 cups of water

This is so delicious and filling. Kale is one of my favorite veggies to use because it if packed with nutrients. It is high in Vitamins A and C and it's a powerful antioxidant and has high cancer-fighting properties. The benefits of kale are numerous. Just know that a cup of kale a day keeps sickness away.

Day 2 (30-Day green smoothie challenge)

HOW DELICIOUS DOES THIS RAW FOOD LOOK?
(photo from www.rawpower.com)

This is day two and everything has been going great so far. I woke up bright and fresh, went for a 20 minute walk. The sun was warm and inviting. My green smoothie today was so tasty

Spinach Delight (Nina's favorite)

2 bananas
1 cup of red grapes
2 cups of spinach
1.5 cups of water

This is one of the best tasting smoothies, no child can resist this one. That's going to be my smoothie for the day. I've been drinking my water constantly and don't feel hungry. Well, I made a peanut butter sandwich for my hubby this morning and couldn't help enjoying the scent of that peanut butter but I am strong and dedicated to this, I didn't even have a lick!

Been reading a most fascinating book (tops my list of health books to read and believe me when I say I have a library of health related books.) I will leave you with a passage from the author:

"A fundamental error of all schools of so-called medicine has been the assumption that disease is something at war with life and that it must be met, subdued, counteracted, cast out, killed or cured with substances that are antagonistic to the body itself. They have never adequately recognized the antagonism that exists between living organism and the chemical substances with which they seek to cure the disease. This is the reason they continue to fill the bodies of the sick with poisons (foreign or non-usable chemicals) which the body must resist and expel. Not only have such causes of disease been mistaken as remedies for disease, but in some cases they have been mistaken for food."

He goes on to state how all drugs impair the body's function. You might want to pick up a copy for yourself, 'Self Healing Colitis & Crohn's' by David Klein, Ph.D. Here is his site:http://www.colitis-crohns.com/ I don't have colitis or crohn's but this book is for everyone who seeks optimum health, it is simply amazing and I'm not even half way through it. The testimonies and reviews alone sparked my curiosity.

Later on tonight (before 8pm, my kitchen closes at 8pm sharp) I will have some raw veggie medley with my dressing being freshly squeezed oranges and olive oil.

Come back for more tomorrow. We shall discuss blood PH and what you must know about how it affects your body. Ta ta!

30-Days Green Smoothie Challenge

YES, THIS IS A RAW VEGAN PIE PICTURED ABOVE, THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN


I know I said I would start my 30 days of green smoothie challenge on October 1st but I decided why not add a few extra days for and extra umph? right?. I am a little nervous. I have been vegan but never gone completely raw for this long. I figure if I want something to chew on I have my salads and celery sticks. I need a detox and I'm willing to give my body the respect it deserves. I can do this, I just need to decide to and I have :-). Basically all I will be doing is green smoothies, salad, fruits and nuts (walnuts). The whole idea about the raw-vegan is not to eat anything that can't be eaten in its raw state, for example, we can't eat potato raw or plantains or rice. I am looking forward to seeing the changes in my body, mind and spirit. I have decided to go for a twenty minute jog first thing in the morning. The main component of healing the body is sleep, so I will sleep more and let my body heal itself. I remember back home Mom would make us take naps during the day or 'Siestas' as we called them.
I have two raw food cook books and I am looking to delving into them. My three basic rules are:
Lots of sleep,
sleep,
sleep. lol

I understand that the first few days will be cranky, nothing new to me, I've detoxed before. I know about the headaches, gloominess and mood swings. These are all good signs as my body will be depositing toxic wastes into my blood stream for excretion. Bananas will be my best friend because they are very filling and sweet. Okay, enough for now, I think I've pumped myself up enough. Tomorrow is the first day of the challenge, come back for my daily report. See you on Health road where Self-doubt street meets Decision ave.
And oh, I will be listening to alot of the Raw Vegan radio :http://www.rawveganradio.com/wordpress/ and visiting my raw food restaurant for more ideas.

Tomorrow I'll go into some benefits of raw foodism.

L'Thai Restaurant

If you are like most people dinning out is an experience, at least for me it is. I make it a habit to choose where I eat and a couple of days ago my husband stumbled upon one of the fine dinning spots in Tucker; L'Thai. It is the first organic Thai restaurant outside of Thailand. So we decided yeaterday to go have an experience. From the outside you would never guess how beautiful it looked inside. I was taken aback by the classy decor. It had a very relaxing atmosphere with a little waterfall at the back of the restuarant. White plates stacked together adorned the maple tables and long stemmed glasses stood tall like candles. The moment I sat down I knew I was in for a treat. The pretty waitress came by in her lavender outfit (my favorite color by the way) her smile was infectious but much more the menu was great and the prices very resonable.

I got some tofu for appetizers and a ginger/garlic sauce (I'm addicted) veggie medly and some brown rice for my entree. Mind you, all this is organic, meaning no additives, preservatives or hormones. And if you want to add chicken you can rest assured knowing it is really chicken on your plate and not an alien. The prices are a little more expensive for dinner but for lunch they rancge from $4.95 for appetizers to $20.95 for specials. Lunch for entrees is a resonable $7.95 per plate. Now you can specify your how spicy you want it to be and sure enough they will do it just right. For those who like a little buzz, they have a great wine list and for the sweet toothers some desserts as well. If I were to grade this whole experience I would give it a solid 8 points and I am usually not that generous.

Adress: 4880 Lawrenceville Hwy, 14-16
Tucker, GA 30084

Phone: 770-491-9948 they do take out as well and have two more locations in Smyrna and Alpharetta.