Tag: Health

Killer Carrots

November 11th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · Alkaline Your Body, All About Raw Food, Anti oxidants, Clean(s)ing, Colon Health, Jazz Up Your Health!, Juicy Stuff! 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

Juicy Stuff

If you are still wondering where to get your proteins from when you go raw you can stop now and be reassured that you will get all you need with raw food. And with raw juices. This is one of the reasons why you have to eat a varied scale of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and sprouts. Also eat all the colors in the rainbow to receive all the antioxidants you want to look younger and feel better.

Carrots are sweeties. Not just because of their soothing taste but because of the treasure of nutrients they are offering us in one glass of juice. They provide vitamins A, B1, B6, C, D, E, G and K, minerals such as calcium, potassium, iron and phosphorus, traces of carbohydrates and proteins.

Color your life

If you dream of  a smooth skin; carrots make it look healthy! They have extreme properties for skin health.

  • Carrot juice contains carotenoids which reduce risk of a heart attack and regulate blood circulation
  • The phytonutrient ‘falcarinol’ helps in the protection against colon cancer
  • And yes, it is true that they are good for vision, especially for night sight because of the beta-carotene
  • Drink more carrot juice and notice how much better your hair, skin and nails will look
  • Carrot juice also contains essential oils. They help digestion and therefor are fighting acne.
  • Drinking carrot juice in summer will help you to protect against sunburn. It heals damages caused by the sun
  • The antioxidants slow down the aging process and protect you against free radicals
  • It lowers high blood pressure and cholesterol
  • A load of iron helps to reduce anemia

And again, this is a list that goes on and on. It is good to know what vegetables and fruits can mean for your body. Just juice what you need to jazz up your health and you will feel the difference soon!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer, a sharp knife and a cutting board

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 to 10 fresh organic carrots
  • A big chunk of ginger

THE MAKING OFF…

  • Juice your stuff and feel juicy…

Carrot Ginger Juice

Orange With A Twist

November 10th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · Alkaline Your Body, All About Raw Food, Anti oxidants, Clean(s)ing, Colon Health, Jazz Up Your Health!, Juicy Stuff! 3 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

It is the season of the oranges. They are juicier and sweeter than ever during this time of year. I almost forgot how nice a simple orange juice can be. Then I saw that last piece of lemongrass and thought; “What if I …?”

Juicy Stuff!

A very simple juice, but only one glass is covering five fruit servings. We are so used to squeezing oranges but what do we know about them? That they are rich in vitamin C, yes. But did you know that they also…

  • … have high levels of magnesium and potassium? So one glass a day will balance high blood pressure!
  • … have inflammatory  properties and help relieve joint pains?
  • … contain folate and increase growth of skin cells and blood cells?
  • … contain enough nutrients and minerals to boost your immune system?
  • … are very good for your bones and teeth because of their calcium?
  • … are very rich in antioxidants and the carotenoids fight free radicals to reduce damage to your cells?
  • … enable a good DNA in your body with their niacin content?
  • … are a rich source of phytonutrients who make the nutrients work optimal?

A lot of good reasons to make that fast juice in the morning when you are out of time!

TOOLS YOU NEED

  • A juicer
  • A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

  • Three oranges
  • One stalk of lemongrass

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and twist!

Orange Twist

Upbeet

November 9th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · Alkaline Your Body, All About Raw Food, Anti oxidants, Clean(s)ing, Colon Health, Jazz Up Your Health!, Juicy Stuff!, Weight Loss Ideas 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , ,

Juice Up Your Health!

I never was really fond of beets until I started juicing them. They are now on my list of favorites. Not only because they make the loveliest juices, but also the best ones for your health. Drink one glass of beet juice every day and it will beat high blood pressure. Beets also increase the body’s production of glutathione, the most important antioxidant we have. Without glutathione, our most powerful detoxifier of cancer-causing poisons, you can’t absorb other antioxidants or can’t pull the environmental chemicals into the colon where they can be removed. So they will stay in our precious body, causing serious health problems.

High cholesterol? Too low cancer-destroying CD8 cells in the colon? Skin problems? Stress? Digestive disorders? Beet juice takes care of you and ‘upbeets’ your health with its rich content of antioxidants, vitamin A, C, B6, B1, B2, calcium, sulfur, sodium, iodine, bioflanonoids, potassium and natural sugars. Oh and don’t forget the source of dietary fiber, carbohydrates, folic acid, magnesium, biotin and niacin.

When you start drinking beet juice, you might experience some diarrhea in the beginning, red stool and urine. Don’t worry and remind that you have been drinking red beets before running off to the doctor. It will go away by itself and when you drink it more often and is purifying you, you will notice less or no coloring as time goes by.

Beet Before...

TOOLS YOU NEED

  • A juicer
  • A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

  • One beet, unpeeled if it is organic
  • Two apples, cored

THE MAKING OF…

Cut, juice and get your upbeet!

Beet After...

Good Mood Juices

November 8th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · Alkaline Your Body, All About Raw Food, Anti oxidants, Clean(s)ing, Colon Health, Good Mood Food, Jazz Up Your Health!, Juicy Stuff! 5 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dark weather all day long, rain, cold wind, the birds stopped singing: winter can’t be far away. I feel like looking at colors… and drinking them to juice up my mood. I took what I could find in the refrigerator; beets, carrots en fennel. I grabbed apples and oranges and decided to make very simple, pure drinks. Oh, this beauty!

Color your mood!

I have to share these good mood juices. Even if you can almost predict by looking at them what they are. Some got a little twist.

Sweet Fennel Juice

Have you ever thought of drinking fennel just as it is? I mostly add it to salads or to mixed juices to sweeten and freshen it up. But eaten on its own it can be a quiet overwhelming after a while. As a juice though, you can’t get it enough. With its extraordinary anise flavor, it is like no other juice. A great choice if you are longing for a drink in the evening. You can leave that bottle of Ricard; juice a fennel and you have the same taste. With much more benefits! Fennel is very rich in phytoestrogens and therefor helping with a lot of issues such as…

  • colic, wind, irritable bowel
  • spleen
  • liver
  • lungs
  • kidneys
  • digestive system
  • menstruation
  • increased urine flow

Fennel Green

But fennel is also used to treat…

  • asthma
  • anxiety
  • depression
  • high blood pressure
  • decreased libido
  • coughs
  • heartburn

And the list goes on. But let’s juice now and “feel” instead of read about benefits.

TOOLS YOU NEED

  • A juicer
  • A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

  • One big fennel

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and enjoy heaven!

Sweet Fennel Juice

Electrolyte Shock

November 7th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · Alkaline Your Body, All About Raw Food, Chlorophyll, Clean(s)ing, Colon Health, Energy, Jazz Up Your Health!, Juicy Stuff!, Superfoods 4 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

When I woke up I had no idea what time it was. It was too dark, too silent, too weary to get up. I notice that I am even more sensitive than ever to the changing hours in autumn. Only one hour, but my whole system still seems disturbed after a week. Even the metabolic clock of my pets is messed up; they start waiting for food one hour earlier than usual.

Electrolytes!

I was wondering what to do about it when it struck me. I would start my day with an electrolyte shock to awaken and coop with the dark weather. So I jumped out of the bed, showered, dressed and took one of my fresh Thai coconuts out of the refrigerator. I grabbed my impressive meat cleaver -with which I will never cleave meat!- and chopped off the coconuts head.  Hmm, have to make a picture of this, I thought. I have to write about all these electrolytes in only one glass! Have you never wondered how this energizing water gets into this heavenly nut? I did!

Electrolytes in a glass

I found the answer when I was reading David Wolfe’s book “Superfoods”. What is so beautiful about coconuts is that they carry and nurture their water as a human pregnancy. Almost nine months is how long it takes to filter each quart in that hard shell. Which must make you wonder how it got there in the first place. Let me quote the master himself here because I can’t think of other words: “The water rises through innumerable fibers which purify the water before it ends up in the sterile nut.”  This water is the most powerful water in nature because of the highest levels of electrolytes.

Moreover young coconut water is very similar to the structure of our blood plasma and therefor was even used in  the Pacific battles of World War II as blood transfusion for wounded soldiers. Coconut water in our veins?? Our blood exists of about 55% of plasma (about the same structure as coconut water) and 45% of hemoglobin (for the transportation of oxygen). This hemoglobin is “essentially transformed plant blood”, chlorophyll. So this means that when you make yourself a drink of fresh coconut water (55% plasma) mixed with fresh green leaf juice or the by Dr. Ann Wigmore recommended wheatgrass juice (45% hemoglobin), you will treat your body on a blood transfusion. Isn’t this amazingly easy?!

Blood Transfusion

If you can’t imagine that you will be able to drink a combination like this, let me give you these very simple yet lovely tips.

  • Use coconut water as the base of your smoothies. It is delicious and will sweeten it up.
  • Take a glass of coconut water and add one table spoon of “green superfood” which is packed with the chlorophyll of barley, wheatgrass, broccoli, spirulena, chlorella and many others. This is what I did here and it tastes… heavenly!
  • Drink this is the morning on an empty stomach if you want the full benefits of it and a quick absorption in the blood.
  • Oh, and give this magic drink to your children before they take off to school! They will be fit and concentrated and love the taste because it is very sweet.

My body is tingling now and my mind is clear. (I drank the green version while I was writing). The effect of this booster is almost immediately. It only takes five minutes to feel your blood pump. So get those young Thai coconuts, grow your grass, juice your greens and get in tune with your body!

Sources: David Wolfe “Superfoods” and my own experiences.

Juicy Stuff!

November 5th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · Alkaline Your Body, All About Raw Food, Anti oxidants, Clean(s)ing, Colon Health, Jazz Up Your Health!, Juicy Stuff! 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

After two days of wiggling from juices to smoothies to salads, I had a very juicy day! And guess what; I wasn’t hungry for one moment, or even craving. Once you flow with the clean feeling you get when you add more an more juices, it all goes by itself. I am now thriving and feeling so much better. It is amazing in how a short notice juices can calm down the body and uplift it to more energy and clarity!

Juicy Stuff!

I am starting my day very simple: with water. I even keep drinking water and herbal tea until noon before I make my first juice. It has a great effect on my body. It feels very clean and light when I give it a chance to get rid of all toxins of the day before. Because this is what happens in the body in the morning until noon; it is awakening and releasing all the toxins of previous meals. This is also the reason why it is best to start your day with a light meal.

But let me share this great juice with you, because it tasted so heavenly!

TOOLS YOU NEED

  • A Juicer
  • A sharp knife and a cutting board

INGREDIENTS

  • Two big apples, cored
  • One pear
  • One kiwi
  • About 6 to 8 carrots
  • A BIG chunk of ginger (I love ginger! so if you don’t, you can leave it out or add less)
  • One lime

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and slurp!

You will be amazed how filling this juice is. Leave one hour between several juices to give them a bit of time to digest. But that will no problem. It took me hours to feel the first hunger and make a  very green juice of cucumber, celery stalks, kelp granules, dandelion and spinach. Enjoy!

Orange Without "Orange" Juice

Jazz Up Your Health!

November 4th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · All About Raw Food, Clean(s)ing, Colon Health, Fresh Juices, Jazz Up Your Health!, Juicy Stuff! 5 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

Ah juices, aren’t they heavenly. I started a soft and gentle cleanse yesterday with juices, smoothies and simple salads. My purpose is to start slowly and only drink juices for a few days. I abandoned nuts for a while because once autumn, I feel like eating them more and more. I was way passed my one handful a day, so had to say stop! and turn the wheel.

Juice Up Your Health!

The first two days are always the toughest ones, although you don’t have to feel hungry for a bit. Juices are so filling! No, it is your mind, fooling around with you, whispering that you fancy a piece of pie or a dense dish. So what can you do about it?

  • Before you start cleansing, put your mindset together.
  • Schedule a colonic for after the cleanse.
  • When overwhelmed by hunger, ask yourself if you are really hungry. Is it hunger in your stomach or between your ears?
  • The moment you start looking for food in your cupboards, take a glass of water and drink it. Often when you feel hungry, it is just thirst. Big chance your ‘hunger’ will calm down after drinking water.
  • When you are really hungry, make another juice. You can drink fresh juices as much as you want or need to.
  • If you feel the juices aren’t satisfying and you can’t hold on, make a green smoothie. The fiber in them will help you.
  • You can start with  juices and some big smoothies a day and replace the smoothies by juices after a few days.

Drink more water than you are used to. How can you know how much water you need for your body? Take your body weight and divide it by two; drink that amount in ounces. During a cleansing, try to add some extra 8 ounce glasses.

Be gentle with yourself during a cleanse -well, always be gentle with yourself…- and don’t do heavy physical efforts. You will be detoxing and you might have a head ache at first, or feel a bit sick in the stomach. Those are good signs! The detox is working!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer

A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

  • Two big apples, cored (apple seeds are poisoned)
  • One pear
  • A chunk of ginger
  • One kiwi
  • One lime

THE MAKING OF…

Just juice and drink! If you wish, you can add your Maca in your juice so you don’t have to miss your favorite superfood.

Health in a glass.

Sprouting

November 2nd, 2010 · Marie-Claire · All About Raw Food, Enzymes!, Soaking and Sprouting, Sprouts & Seeds, Tools in the Kitchen 9 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Day One - Soaking

Sprouting is fun! Isn’t it wonderful how the seeds burst open and reveal new life? I love watching and following the process and I can’t get enough of it.  The other thing about sprouting is that anyone can do it, you don’t need much space or special tools, it is easy and exciting. But most of all: sprouts are your alive food which make you come alive!

Added to smoothies, salads or pates, they upgrade each dish to soft crunchiness and increased health. Don’t overeat in sprouts though; one cup a day will provide you more than you can imagine. Because sprouts are beginning life they have to protect  themselves from being eaten before growing by toxins. But don’t let this take you off of them; their benefits are so much higher.

Why are they so nutritious? Because they contain all elements a plant needs to come alive and grow. They are packed with carbohydrates, proteins and oil. After germinating those become amino acids and natural sugars for the plant to develop. When you eat them, they will reveal their life force of enzymes to your body. It is essential to a raw food diet so let’s start sprouting those beauties.

Sunflower Pits after One Night of Soaking

Even if sprouting is easy, you have to know a basic rule to be successful. Seeds need darkness to sprout. If you are having trouble with growing those small tails, think of how a seed is developing in nature. They are mostly covered up with a light blanket of soil where they can gather all their power to reach out for the light.

So if you want to see those tails come out, you have to cover them up with a dark cloth or towel or place them in a dark place at room temperature. But let’s start from the beginning.

WHAT CAN YOU SPROUT?

All seeds such as alfalfa, sunflower seeds, red cabbage, broccoli, fenugreek, celery, oats, radish, leek, you name it.

Grains as wheat grass, barley, rye, millet, rice and buckwheat.

Legumes require a longer soaking time (about 15 hours) because they are much harder. But lentils, chick peas and mung beans are very worth wild waiting for.

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

  • Any glass jar will do. Take a few jars for different seeds or grains. Or you can buy a system as you are seeing here.
  • A cheese cloth and a rubber band to hold the cloth tight around the mouth of the jar.
  • Or you can use a sprout bag instead.
  • Organic seeds, grains and legumes.

DAY ONE

Day One - Sunflower, Wheat grass & Alfalfa

  • All you need to do is place one or two tablespoons of seeds or grains to your choice in the jars and cover them up with pure water. If you soak legumes, double the amount; they aren’t swelling as much as seeds.
  • Put them in a dark place at room temperature overnight.

DAY TWO

Alfalfa, Sunflower and Wheat grass Day Two

  • In the morning, rinse the seeds very well and turn the jars upside down so all the water can leak out and the seeds won’t get a chance to get mold.
  • Rinse 2 to 3 times a day. If the weather is warm, rinse more often.
  • Always turn the jars upside down and cover up or place dark.
  • Depending on the kind of seed, you will already notice some tails ready to come out

DAY THREE

Wheat grass Day Three

  • Continue rinsing and draining.
  • Some sprouts will be ready, others will need another day such as wheat grass.

DAY FOUR

Alfalfa Sprouts on Day Four

  • Are your sprouts having nice tails? Then they are ready to come into the light!
  • Place the jars upside down in bright light, preferably in the sun light.
  • You will see photosynthesis take place and watch your sprouts turn green in only a few hours.
  • Keep them in the light for a whole day until they are nice and green
  • Store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator. They keep well for about a week. But don’t wait that long; just eat them to benefit fully their life forces!

Isn’t it amazing how much alive and nutritious food you can grow of almost nothing?

Sunflower Sprouts

David Wolfe In Belgium 3, A Trilogy

October 22nd, 2010 · Marie-Claire · All About Raw Food, Back To Nature, Go Wild!, Jazz Up Your Health! 3 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Arrival in the fog

I was surprised by the cold when I got out of my car at De Hoge Venen in Belgium, the place to see a Wolfe looking for mushrooms and wild herbs. I only heard the day before it would be a five hour long walk. I had a bottle of hot green smoothie with me (with nettles and lots of cayenne to keep me warm!), a thermos of hot ginger and black pepper tea and some chocolates I made with lots of maca to stay energized. Five sweaters and a thick raincoat, a pair of cotton stockings and a pair of ski socks, under a warm jeans, two scarves and a pair of rubber boots. I felt like a moon walker but wouldn’t be cold!

Foggy Day

We walked in a cloud of fog and misty rain. But it was beautiful. I didn’t see deer and hoped for a lynx, but a Wolfe made it all up. He didn’t stop talking one moment. How could he, with all these people around who wanted to know something about everything. He was barefoot, only wearing flip flops and I bet he was having a hard time walking through ice cold mud and water.

Barefoot

It took a while before we found our first mushrooms. But once we got to the woods we discovered real medicinal beauties on dead trees and birches, where they love settling and growing. I am trying to remember their names all week, still a very annoying leftover of what I went through. But… I now have what I need to feed my brains thoroughly, to activate my neurotransmitters and get just as smart as when before I became ill! I picked enough of them to get an IQ of 160 and make 700 liters of strong, healing tea. It will all come back to me then!

If I'd still knew the name, I would be happy telling you...

What I do remember is that these species contain neurotransmitters. This would mean that they can communicate to… you and me on a telepathic level. By preparing tea of them they will enter your brain. A lot of mushrooms have the ability to provide you these extremely high medicinal values. You only have to know what you can pick.

Now drying to make tea...

I am looking for a good mushroom guide now, because once you get intrigued by them you simply have to know. I know that these examples are all edible but it is just nice to know all about them. Reishi mushrooms for instance will enhance your immunity system and Natural Killers which fight cancers. They deliver improved adrenocortical function, have an anti-allergic activity, prevent you from getting bronchitis, lower high blood pressure, contain many antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. The right mushrooms are your free superherbs!

Picked lots of these black beauties!

Baby Boletus

I have been picking a lot of these little Boletus mushrooms and eating them. They taste wonderful. I have been extremely attracted to eating white mushrooms lately. I eat a whole box a day and can’t get enough. When I was looking into a solution to raise my ridiculous low levels of lymphocytes I discovered that you can raise these low levels by… eating white mushrooms! This is how our body is communicating with us; by giving signals of what you need. I thought this was a most amazing observation and I am so glad I followed these signs! My next blood test will have to tell me if they did raise!

Another very important observation is also required if you are picking mushrooms. They tell us everything if we can ‘read’ their language. It is written in their color and substance, their ‘belly’, the little ‘guests’ growing on them. Always be very careful when you get out there. Have a good guide with you, learn from others who know what they are doing, read, study and practice in the wild. Let me show you something.

On top

The Bottom

When you turn a mushroom upside down it will mostly tell you if it is poisoned or not. When they are shaped like this one, they are edible. When they have these little ‘ribs’ underneath, leave them be.

Inside..

Chopped Mushroom

One piece like this will make 10 liters or 340 oz of super tea! Put a piece in cold spring water on the stove and heat it up slowly until 80 °C or 176°F during 45 minutes. You can repeat this ten times with that same piece of dried mushroom before it has released all its nutrients. Dried mushrooms stay good for years if you keep them in a dry place.

Coral Mushroom

Brain Food!

Coral mushrooms are the real deal. They are medicinal and true brain food! I was amazed by their beauty and wonderful shapes. Without a guide I would have considered them as extremely poisoned. Now we were told to pick, dry, and consume them to fuel the brain.

"Why are trees always cold?"

The same reason his feet aren't?

I wish I could remember the exact explanation of why trees are always cold… but all I could think off during that story was how his feet could not be!

Misty...


David Wolfe in Belgium 2, A Trilogy

October 20th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · All About Raw Food, Eat Weed!, Green Smoothies, Immunity, Jazz Up Your Health!, Superfoods 3 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Calcification… a disease of civilization that hits all of us sooner or later. How come? Too much calcium, the wrong kind of calcium and calcium supplements. Consequence; cataract, arteriosclerosis, kidney stones, heart attack, Alzheimer, arthritis and so on and so on. In the past they were called old age sicknesses, now you can get them at young age already. That’s when I hear young people say sneering; “We are forty, we are on the decline!” A typical expression when one doesn’t know better and it is such nonsense to settle with it, no matter what age.

David Wolfe

David Wolfe confirmed my own suspicions; that a standard diet is accelerating these reactions. That raw food can turn your life around, react with strength and let your body revive. He wrote a program to reverse the process of calcification, to resolve calcium and to get rid of it. Intriguing. Why don’t we know about this? That’s also his question. I am wondering each time again why essential information isn’t shared with the population. Simple; industry, money, power. It makes me so angry!

So we need solvents to resolve all the calcium which is building up slowly, Wolfe claims. And he is right. Whenever a problem, there is a solution. The higher our intake of calcium, the more issues will manifest. He investigated the whole area, made a schedule and wrote a book about it.

But what are the alternatives? is what I often am asked. Magnesium, Phosphorus and Silica. Those three minerals are strong enough to build and reinforce our bones. By consuming more valuable minerals in a natural way we can prevent so much suffering. How? Green, green, green. How? Just start simple; with a fresh wheat grass juice and a green smoothie every morning; it contains more vegetables and fruits you can eat in a day.

So Wolfe created a plan and takes the problem by its horns step by step. No cheap steps, but so aren’t doctors once you start ailing. Always worth trying because doctors don’t know many answers either. Instead of admitting, they rather write an extra subscription for more calcium. Sigh.

The most important issue always is your body. It is like no other body and this is how you have to treat it, as a unicum on earth, with its specific wishes, moods and needs. What is good for one person can be a disaster for another one. So stay tuned with your body and listen what it has to tell you. Only you can understand its language.

Beautiful Nature

A short note about the Superherbs, as Wolfe is naming them. They are more powerful than any other herb and what more, they are out there for free, they grow in your garden, in the wild and waiting for you to pick them and use. What are you waiting for? Your immunity system will blossom, your nerve system will relive.

Shi Take

Some “bodybuilders” to grab in nature are:

  • Absolute top 1 of superherbs are wild mushrooms; Chaga and Reishi are the most powerful ones and you can find them all around in the woods to make strong tea. One small piece is enough to provide you of 340 oz. of tea. They also heal Candida.
  • Maytaki, Shitake (we all know that one) en Coriolis cure the nerve system. Coriolis is also an anti-cancer medicine.
  • Malva or Mallow ( marshmellows!)  – All parts are edible and deliver you 20 times more minerals than any other plant.
  • Chamomille
  • Artemisia (the name is coming from the protector Artemis)
  • Neem – the most powerful detox herb

And did you have any idea that asparagus is a medicinal vegetable?

We can do so much ourselves! Knowing where and how to start is essential and seminars like these can help you with this. tomorrow we will make a walk!

Resting

Pink Pineapple Smoothie

October 11th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · Anti oxidants, Ravishing Raw Recipes 3 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

As promised here is the pink smoothie you saw a picture of in my post of the pineapple tool. It is a very easy and fast recipe and you don’t need much. This can serve four people if you use smaller glasses than I did. One drink  delivers you lots and lots of antioxidants and a boost of Bromelian. Pure Food for Radiant Health!

Pink Pineapple Smoothie

TOOLS

  • A sharp knife or a cool pineapple peel tool
  • A blender

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients

  • One pineapple, peeled
  • A bunch of strawberries
  • Some mint in fine slices

THE MAKING OF…

Glorious colors!

  • Cut the pineapple in large pieces
  • Throw about two hands full of strawberries (with green tops if they are organic) into the blender
  • Blend

Pink Pineapple Juice

  • Pour in a nice large wine glass and top with a cubed strawberry and mint
  • Yum!

This must be the shortest post I ever wrote. But I wanted to get something up before leaving for my organic farmers to buy my weekly supply. I will show you later what I purchase for a week. If you are new at raw you might want to know how much you need. You will love this abundance!

My Free Gifts For You To Go Raw

October 9th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · All About Raw Food, Ravishing Raw Recipes 3 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

“Raw For 3 Days! Your Step By Step FooDprint

You would like to try out raw food but don’t know how to start, what to get, what to make. I wrote a FREE eBook for you to help you on your way. Leave your email address in the sign up box and my eBook is all yours to go green.

It started as a book with ten easy raw recipes when I wondered if you would know how to implement them when you are new to raw food.  This is why I am guiding you with “Your Step-By-Step FooDprint, From Mindset to Ravishing Recipes” through an introduction to raw food. I looked for a way to make it easy and nice for you with lots of explaining  step by step pictures,. as I am doing here on my blog.  Because I want you to feel the first differences of eating raw, I decided to make it three raw days from morning to snack to dinner and why not, a lovely dessert.

Knowing how important defining your motivation is when you start eating raw food, I created a list of questions to help you investigate your mindset. By writing down where you are now you will be more aware of how much you want to commit to where you want to be. Finding your big “WHY?” will make you reach your goals. Feeling ready to dive into raw food is the step which will support you towards health.

When you are already raw but at a cross point in your journey, this eBook will help to invigorate your motivation. I hope you will all enjoy what I have for you.

What can you expect in “Raw For 3 Days?”

To start with some answers to find your motivation, fast and easy recipes for each part of the day with step by step pictures and an introduction, tips, tools and a shopping list for each day.

How can you receive my free eBook?

By joining  my emailing list in the right side bar. All you have to do is send me your email address through the sign up box so I can forward you the link to download “Raw For  3 Days!”

“Raw For 3 Days! Your Step By Step Mindset”

But this isn’t all. I made a follow up questionnaire for you. Raw food isn’t just about food but about your whole life and the way you want to live it. It isn’t about counting calories to lose weight but about living healthy and regulate your body balances. It is a journey, a lifestyle. Once you can commit to changing your diet, you will lose the weight you are struggling with, become energized, feel better and look younger. If you know someone who made the leap and who’s success is making you consider to try it yourself, you will know what I am talking about.

This is why I want to invite you to answer the questions for yourself in all honesty. Find out what these three days meant to you, what they can mean for your health and well being in the future and how you can go on from here. This free eBook is an inner survey, “Your Step By Step Mindset”  after you finished your 3 raw days and will  help you discover the shifts you felt, what this experience means to you and how it can add new value to your life. The questions you answered can make the difference for you to add more healthy food to your diet or to go and stay raw and reach your ultimate dream goal!

I would love hearing from you what you liked about my eBook, if you liked the recipes, how you defined your motivation, if it made a difference for you, what your goals are, your questions… Email me with your thoughts and comments on my eBook so I  know what is on your mind, what you like me to write about a next time.

Take this Chance For Change, sign up and enjoy!

I am looking forward to hearing from you. Marie-Claire

Drink it Wild!

October 1st, 2010 · Marie-Claire · All About Raw Food, Anti oxidants, Colon Health, Go Wild!, Green Smoothies, Lose Weight 20 comments - Tags: , , , , ,

Stinging Nettles

Last week when I working on my website while drinking a lovely smoothie, my father came in. His first question with frowned  eyebrows and a disapproving expression around his mouth: “Why are you drinking mud?” I am still laughing when I think of this. I must admit, the color was dark but only because it was a very wild composition.

One of the great things about smoothies is that you can throw in them whatever you have. Open your refrigerator, check out your deep freezer for frozen fruits, get some fresh wild edibles out of your garden (or  your neighbor’s if it isn’t sprayed:  they won’t be angry with you for weeding their yard), get your favorite superfoods out of the cupboard and start creating.

This is what I do every morning and wow, does it feel good to pick your weeds and looking forward to the energy they will recharge you with! All these greens filled with chlorophyll mean that you will be drinking direct sunlight. What else can fuel your body more than sunlight?!

What did I have in my frig? Kale and Rejuvelac and some fruit on my counter. I have to go get new supplies today! But no worry, nature offers enough to complete your smoothie when your refrigerator is almost empty: wild edibles! I came back with a basket filled with the arousing scents of mint, dandelion with roots and the soft tops of stinging nettles. Put together they make a wild thing!

Dandelion

Oh, almost forgot to give you my great tips.

  • When you have a blender with horsepower, throw in a half (organic) avocado pit. It is a very powerful ingredient in the prevention of cancer, a booster of your immune system. It also thickens your smoothie a bit when you like it more creamy.
  • When you have a large can on your blender, you can make two different tastes when you get bored easily. I often pour one liter in a bottle as a green smoothie, then add blueberries to the rest of it and blend again. You will now have two different smoothies to consume according to the mood you are in that morning.

You will see, you can’t impossibly eat all these greens from a plate in one day. Liquefied it provides you more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and proteins than you would probably get in a normal week. What am I saying… in a few weeks for the S.A.D eater. You can now understand where your new energy is coming from. Moreover because when you drink a smoothie, the digestion process is halfway, your body can keep its energy for itself and you can go wild!

TOOLS YOU NEED

  • A blender
  • A sharp knife

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Wild Kale Smoothie

THE GREENS

  • 3 leaves of kale without stem
  • 2 big dandelion plants (leaves and roots)
  • About 6 tops of stinging nettle
  • 2 or 3 sprigs of mint
  • 1 pear
  • 1 banana
  • 1 kiwi (with skin if organic)
  • Pure water, Rejuvelac (which is the best in your smoothie! It makes it come even more alive with enzymes and pro biotics) or coconut water. You can also make a combination of liquids.
  • Ice (made from pure water, not tap water)  if you want it cool right away.

Superfoods!

  • SUPERFOODS of your choice. (I wanted some superpower today so added 2 tsp. Maca for energy,  a handful of chocolate nibs for concentration, 1 TBS Beepollen for immunity before winter, a handful of Goji Berries for testosterone, 1 tsp. kelp granules to maintain healthy thyroid functions, 1 TBS. Green Superfood powder for more chlorophyll,  2TBS. Hemp seeds for proteins.
  • A dash of cayenne to spice it up, get the antibacterial benefits and get a deep body glow (it is cold today and my throat hurts a bit)
  • If you want it sweeter, add a medjool date (pitted)

THE MAKING OF…

Superfoods on top

  • Wash and throw your fruits and greens in your blender
  • Add the superfoods of your choice

Filled with abundance!

  • Add pure water or rejuvelac till about halfway the content

Up and Running

  • Blend, taste and adjust to your own taste if necessary

Two Tastes in One Effort

That’s it! The most nutritious breakfast you can think of and enough valuable content to live on all day long if you have to. Buy a well sealed bottle and take the rest with you to work for a pause. You can drink your smoothie out of a large tea cup if you want to avoid questions or comments from your colleagues.

By the way, don’t pour smoothie away if you can’t drink it all. You can freeze it in ice cubes and use later. Or give it to your pets; they love smoothies and will thrive on them just as much as you do.

Ravishing Breakfast!

Grooving Ginger Granny

September 29th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · Anti oxidants, Juicy Stuff!, Ravishing Raw Recipes 9 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

Grooving Ginger Granny

This juice is rocking! It all starts with Granny apples. They have that particular mix of acidity and sweetness when they are in the middle of their season. A good reason to make a fresh juice of them, moreover because apple juice is such a healthy drink when you are longing for something to replace that soft drink in the back of your mind. Your granny will groove on apple juice: it prevents and helps fight Alzheimer disease when consumed on a daily basis.

Scientific research shows that apple juice can boost the brain function because of its increased production of the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine. “We anticipate that the day may come when foods like apples, apple juice and other apple products are recommended along with the most popular Alzheimer’s medications,” according to Thomas Shea, Ph.D., director of the UML Center for Cellular Neurobiology and Neurodegeneration Research. What are you waiting for?

Apples For Overall Health

But there is more to say about apple juice. It is very rich in antioxidants and we all know what that means; they help prevent the development of cancer, heart disease, they reduce high cholesterol levels, slow down the aging process and promote weight loss. Other benefits are a high content of riboflavin, thiamine, carotene, vitamin B6, biotin, folic acid and vitamin C. So let’s make that juice!

To spice it up and give it the character of a fancy cocktail I like to add ginger and lemon. You won’t long for a canned version after tasting the pureness of your own juiced- in- a- minute long drink.

TOOLS YOU NEED

  • A juicer
  • A sharp knife

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Grooving Ginger Granny

  • 4 Granny apples
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • A chunk of fresh ginger (about 1 inch)

THE MAKING OF…

Just juice all ingredients, shake it up, pour in your favorite glass, finish with a slice of apple or a sprig of mint and enjoy!

Grooving Ginger Granny

Eat Well, Live Long

August 28th, 2010 · Marie-Claire · All About Raw Food, Superfoods, U are wonderful! 4 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

This was a title I wrote about a while ago. But finding out what it can truly mean is something else.

Two days ago I received a message on Facebook from a friend who wanted me to have a look at a video. I was stunned and I still am! What I saw was an interview with Bernando LaPallo for his… you are reading this correct…. his 109th. birthday! He is looking 40 years younger! He is still alive and kicking, full of plans and dreams. I simply HAVE to blog about this amazing man and let you all know about him.

Why? He just finished a new book! It is a book with a beautiful title, breathing energy: “Age Less, Live More” Mr. Lapallo is living on raw food since 1979, thriving, still working and now planning on opening a restaurant. I am amazed AND energized by such living power.

109 years old and rocking on raw food!

What is his secret? “Superfoods” he said in the interview while taking the interviewer into his kitchen. He pointed at a big bowl of fruits on top of his refrigerator and showed us a large jar of the powder that “keeps me alive”. “Never miss it a day” he said, since the seventies.

This is such a hopeful message. I am trying to measure what it can mean for me. I don’t know what his health history is or his motivation to go raw halfway his life. Was he ill at that time or just eager to live healthy? I don’t know what raw food can restore in a body that has been very ill several years. But I am wondering since two days. Even with the knowledge around raw food and the proof I received of its healing power, I am not sure yet in how far raw food can turn the clock around. Seeing Mr. Lapallo is so inspiring that I gained a lot of faith. With the clean and raw lifestyle I am living, I can thrive till 100, no matter what my history was.

I want to invite you all to watch this short video of a man who will give you hope, inspiration and courage to live healthy, to become raw or to stay raw if you are on a cross-point in your raw food journey.

109 Year- Old Author Celebrates Birthday

Also have a look at his blog, where you can read about all his activities and lectures; http://www.agelesslivemorestore.com/

Website; www.RawLifeHealthShow.com

To end this short post, I want to share his three top health tips with you. When I heard them, I smiled because these are things I am writing about, trying to draw everybody’s attention to. It just feels so good to hear them from a man who is living long enough to prove to the world they are so true! You can see it all in this movie;

Raw Life Health Show

  1. Keep your colon clean! Keeping your colon clean means your liver can do its job (purify the blood) and keep you healthy.
  2. Take Dr. Schulze’s “Superfood” but it in the right manor; mix it with organic fruit and juice in the morning.
  3. Eat regularly and healthy: avoid fast food restaurants.