Spring Cleaning

 A peaceful spring intention walk.

As my son just informed me, spring has officially been here for four hours.  And yes, they've actually been as glorious as I was hoping for.  It is just about 5 o'clock, the sun is shining, fluffy white clouds are scattered in the sky and it is 53 degrees out.  We spent a wonderful day with friends exploring at a labyrinth, setting intentions and releasing them into the new season.

Spring is a time for detox and cleansing.  Are you feeling it yet?  I'm itching to purge the house, scrub the floors, drink green juice, dive into a cleanse.

I'm sure that you've noticed that an influx on sickness happens in the spring and in the fall.  These are the seasons that encourage our bodies to release toxins.  While our immune system is busy working to release the junk in our bodies, it manifests in the colds that we tend to associate with this time of the year. If we do a bit of work to aid in the detoxification, do a cleanse, bring more alkalinizing food into our diet, drink green juice, exercise, rest, up our water intake, we cut back on the time that our body needs to detox and repair through inflammation, runny noses, diarrhea, and vomiting. Think about it, these are all ways to get the nastiness out. What are you willing to do to help your body spring clean?  Head on over to my Facebook page and let me know what you are committing to do for your body this spring.

 Our Spring Offerings at the labyrinth.

This afternoon I needed a power boost, I knew protein, spirulina and maca were my combo.  I've strayed away quite a bitfrom using much for sweeteners in my smoothies. Sometimes, however, you just have to do it.  I'm having a hard time adding spirulina back into my diet, I know it is so good for me, high in digestible protein, and so many micronutrients and great for the spring detox, so I cheated a bit, but got a full tablespoon down with the love of some local honey and a banana.  Surprisingly, it was really enjoyable, so I thought I'd share.  Let me know what you think.

Green Banana

Recipe Type: Smoothie

Cuisine: Raw Food

Author: Gina Law

Prep time: 2 mins
Total time: 2 mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• 2 C of Your Favorite Milk (I love almond~coconut)
• 1 Tbsp Maca
• 1/2 - 1 Tbsp Spirulina
• 1 Scoop of your favorite protein powder
• 1 Banana
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 Capsules Alphay's Medicinal Mushroom Balance Formula.

Instructions

1. Add ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.
2. And Enjoy

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Sugar, Sugar, Sugar!

I just experienced my first real sugar fast, and I'm not going to lie to you, it wasn't pretty and it didn't last nearly a fraction of the time I was hoping it would.
Learning a bit about sugar right now.  This includes white sugar, natural sugars, whole food sugars, high glycemic fruit, white starches, flours, breads and grains.
I'm not going to get into a lecture. I would just like to link you to a couple of short videos and ask you to think for a minute about your relationship with sugar.
I've been thinking a lot about my relationship with sugar lately. I'm looking forward to my real sugar fast. I know I need to prepare myself better, but I also know that it is time, that it will be best for my body to give sugar a rest.

 Drinking one soda a day...

 And a musical interlude...

Watch the Bears

Frosty Orange-Mango-Kefir Soda

After the family spent some serious time on a hot and humid Fourth of July weeding the garden, we needed a serious reward, and I was happy to oblige.

Frosty Electrolyte Mango Soda
2 oranges, juiced
The meat of one mango
1/4-1/2 C coconut water kefir
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp MSM powder (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tray ice

Blend together and Enjoy!

Strawberry Almond Delight Cookies!

Or...
What to do with that leftover nut pulp!

I've been asked so many times, what do I do with the leftover pulp when I'm through making almond milk?? It's so pricey, and there is so much of it that goes to waste.

We like to get creative. A lot of times it ends up being turned into cookies.
This is the recipe that I threw together this morning.

I started with the pulp of 3 cups of soaked almonds (I used this to make a full carafe, 64oz of milk)
In the blender, I mixed with the pulp:
1-10oz bag of strawberries
1/2C maple Syrup
A dash of cinnamon
1-2 twists of Himalayan Sea Salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Blend well.

I poured this into a bowl and then added:
1/2 - 3/4 C ground chia seeds. You can do this in your high powered blender if you rinse and then thoroughly dry it first, otherwise you can use a coffee grinder.
Mix thoroughly.

If you let it set for 15-20 minutes the chia will firm up the batter and make scooping easier.
I used a cookie scoop and placed the balls on a solid dehydrator tray and dehydrated until firm (several hours) and then transfered to a mesh sheet where I finished drying.

All three kids have been gobbling them up. Its a great snacky-snack for in between meals, when you want them to have something nutritious. The hardest part has been having them NOT eat all of the cookies before they are finished dehydrating!

This is one of my quick and easy solutions to almond pulp.
Get creative! Its easy!
Be sure to let me know what you come up with that you can't keep your fingers off of!

Raw Mama Trick #2 Raising the food vibe

We've had quite a bit of fun going on in our lives recently, with the excitement of the Holidays and being involved in the local theater. With all the activity, food seems to have fallen by the wayside. My oldest declared "We need to eat more fruits and vegetables. More raw food." Ah, and is she ever right! Now, the tricky part... reclaiming those corrupted palates.

Time for Mama to get creative.

When "have an apple" gets groans, I grabbed a few fruits, a knife and cutting board and the large serving tray and went to work...

My Son has deemed him, "Puff the Magic Monster"
And most all of the fruit was eaten.

Next we had to reclaim the morning. Smoothies are tired. Fruit is boring. And our skin is revealing that we all need more good fat in our diets now that the heat is on. And with that the morning pudding is renewed.

Each morning, I have been crafting a pudding based on what we have in the house. Mostly a variation on the following:

• a dollop of coconut oil.
• a heaping scoop of irish moss (we keep blended irish moss in the fridge for easy use)
• a few leaves of kale
• an avocado (or two, depending on how much I am making)
• agave, maple syrup or honey
• a pinch of salt
• a TON of frozen fruit
  
• just enough water to blend

When the children are full and I am left with two half eaten bowls of pudding.. off to the freezer for a ready made ice cream the next time I hear those oh too common words, "I'm hu-u-u-n-n-n-gryyyy."

Happy Munchkins

A Wintery Winter

It's been awhile since we've been able to enjoy such a beautifully white winter. So many Rhode Island cold, wet, freezing winters have graced us in recent years. Every flake of snow that falls puts a smile on my face. Another blanket laid upon our existing covers. The kids enjoy every moment. I believe this could almost be more enjoyable to them then the blustery days of summer. The knock at the sliding glass door when they just about had enough. The rosy cheeks and snow drenched hair poking out beneath their hats. Another adventure.

The moments when the house is silent.

Someday I believe we will be blessed with a wood stove, but for now every time I hear the heat click on, my two oldest scramble for the warmest vents in the house (the back room and the bathroom), shut the doors to contain the warmth and pull up a child-sized chair. Their slippers come off and those tiny toes caress the warm metal grates. And there they will remain, quiet and peaceful, for the duration that the warm air blows.

How does a family who focuses on raw food stay warm and happy during a New England winter? Well besides amazing green-fruit smoothies, superb super foods and to live for home-made chocolates. Have you ever tried an irish moss mousse? We've been taking this super nutritious sea vegetable and creating the most out-of-this-world desserts. Any occasion is an occasion for celebration. Recently we had some great friends over for dessert. I decided this was a perfect excuse to treat ourselves to something a little decadent. Strawberry mousse with a coconut meringue, chocolate covered strawberries and a splash of chocolate love hearts. Who needs dinner? Life's short, eat more dessert! All raw, mostly organic and filled with love. A bit of heaven in every bite!
I highly recommend Sweet Gratitude: A New World of Raw Desserts this book brought to us our irish moss Ah HA! moment. This amazing book is refining the simple pleasures that we delight in sharing with our loved ones.