RAW Living and Learning

The past few days I have been eating very little following the juice fast. I actually kept juicing the day after my 3-day fast ended. It just felt like I should keep going. I have been eating whole foods again but not much in the way of quantity and have only had one or two meals per day. Today I felt like a crunchy salad so  I made a delicious curry sauce to toss onto dandelion greens, celery, carrots, and green apple. It sounds strange when you read the sauce's ingredients, but it tastes great!! Later today I will put this same sauce onto some grated cabbage and carrots and have it for dinner. If you thinned the sauce with some more water or lemon juice it would make a lovely dressing for tossed salads, keep it thick and use it as a fruit and veggie dip.  This recipe is from Bethany Tait and she calls it: Dandelion Greens with Curry Sauce 1 head dandelion greens, finely chopped 1 carrot, diced 2 green apples, cubed (I used one) 1 stalk of celery (I used two) ...

I can't believe how fast this fast went!!! The most shocking thing is that I never got hungry. Amazing! Here is what today looked like: I woke up feeling very well rested and had no detox symptoms. I am very shocked that I have not had frequent trips to the powder room, if you know what I mean. I was hoping for a good cleanse. I may have to take some other measures. I was given a pamphlet on some capsules that actually help to loosen old waste and really clean the colon. Something to think about. 8:45AM Big glass of lemon water 9:15 AM spinach, dandelion, pineapple, sunflower greens, and collard stems left over from the kiddos green smoothie ****This was by far my most favorite juice of the fast, it was so amazing!!!**** 9:45AM Dino kale, parsley, carrots--I even shared this one with the three youngest kids. Very yummy . 11:30AM Time for a lemon spritzer 12:00PM Lunch was a "Ginger Fizz" ginger, apple, sparkling water 2:00PM 3 broccoli florets, 2 celery ribs, 3 t...

Last night when I was typing my post I started feeling a bit off--slightly nauseous, a headache and that wicked sinus drainage. But I am happy to report that I woke up today with no headache and no sick tummy. The morning began with a big glass of lemon water at 8 AM. At 8:30 AM I had a mean, green drink consisting of parsley, one cucumber, 2 kale leaves, 2 stalks of celery, a wedge of lemon, 1 red apple and 1 green apple. It was very good! At 10 AM I had a "Pink Morning Tonic" which was simply 1 grapefruit and 1 red apple. Unfortunately I had to run a ton of errands and was on the go with just lemon water from 12:30 PM to 3:30PM. When I got home I made some carrot pineapple juice for the kiddos and I had carrot, pineapple, cabbage, apple, pear and dandelion. Very good but if you don't care for cabbage, leave it out--you can definitely tell it is in there. I liked it! 4:30 PM I had back to back lemon spritzers. I used "Mountain Valley" sparkling water a...

The morning started with 10 oz of water and into it went the juice of 1 lemon and 1/2 tsp of Acacia fiber. At 10 AM I had a cup of Detox Tea. 11 AM was my version of Hippocrates Green Juice. I juiced 1 cucumber, sunflower greens, parsley, kale, celery, a small piece of lemon and 1/2 tsp dulse. At 1 PM I juiced half of a Honeydew melon. Followed it with more Honeydew, ginger and pear juice. 3 PM was carrot apple juice. I made a bunch of it and shared it with the kids. Had another glass of Detox Tea at 4:30PM. Then for dinner at around 5:30 PM I had a simple grapefruit juice.  Lots of water in between. I am feeling tired tonight and will go to bed early. My sinuses are draining like crazy! Don't know what that is about.   +JMJ+ Today I am grateful for making it through a full day of juice fasting. This is the first one for me, so it makes it a bit special :)

Here is a pic of most of my food for the big 3-day juice fast/feast!! I am so excited it is queer. Missing from the pic is my broccoli, some more kale, collards and tomatoes from my square foot garden, parsley from my herb garden, some radish sprouts and three large cucumbers from my sweet neighbor across the canal. For my records I am going to bore you with my food list and the cost. I want to keep track and compare to future juice fasts. 3 (5lb) bags of organic carrots $11.97 1  organic honeydew $4.99 1  bunch organic spinach $2.99 2 bunches of greens $5.98 (organic dandelion greens and organic dino kale) 3.08 lbs organic tangerines $5.21 3.31 lbs organic valencia oranges $5.59 5 organic lemons $4.45 2.89 lbs organic green cabbage $2.57 1.78 lbs  organic green pears $3.54 2 (3 lb) bags of organic red and green apples $9.98 1 box  organic Detox Tea $4.69 1 bottle of Mountain Valley Sparkling water $1.89 (for melon and lemon spritzers) 1 ...

It is a beautiful, sunny, and hot day here in the SW of FL. I am sending warm thoughts to all of you who are still experiencing winter type weather. Today's lunch came together beautifully. I have been wanting to create an oil free, raw, creamy sauce for zucchini noodles for several weeks now and today was the day to make it happen. This creamy sauce is so bright with lemon and herb flavor it is truly an explosion of tastes! Each bite is slightly different as you taste the Greek Oregano, basil, and lemon balm. So simple, so delicious and bursting with raw, living energy. Lemon Avocado Sauce with Herbs I topped some zucchini noodles and diced baby bella mushrooms with this delightful sauce. Right before eating it I decided to add some fresh ground black pepper. Lemon Herb Sauce by Elizabeth @ Raw Living and Learning 1 avocado juice of 1 lemon 1 T nutritional yeast 1 T yellow miso water to process 20 small leaves of Greek oregano 8 leaves of lemon balm 2 large leave...

The other day I just had to do something constructive with the kids to get my mind off of things. I have been having chest pains, well actually a tightness in my chest, every time I think about my very sick sister. I just had to get outside and TRY to clear my mind!! Well, a science project would accomplish two things; science lesson for the kids and therapy for Mommy. Step 1: Obtain a large plastic bin and charge up your cordless drill! Step 2: Drill small holes into the bottom of the bin for proper drainage. Step 3: Drill holes into the sides of the bin for proper aeration. Step 4: Round up the kids, this is their science project after all! Step 5: Load up the bin with some "brown stuff". Dead leaves or twigs work fine. This is a Mahogany tree that drops its foliage every April. We have Fall in SW Florida--crazy! Step 6 : We added a thin layer of black manuer. This helps speed up the decomposition process. Step 7 : Add a thick layer of kitchen compost scraps th...

We had so much fun raising our ladybugs and butterflies this Spring! I had posted about it in a previous post here . I had done this with our older two children years ago and this time around it was the younger three that had a great hands on science project to learn from and enjoy. Here are two of the butterflies just after emerging from the chrysalis. No that is not blood dripping down but some liquid that relates to their pigmentation. I freaked out when I saw it and my daughter explained what it was. Too funny.  Two Butterflies Newly Emerged from Chrysalis Now it was time to feed our new butterflies. We followed the instructions that came with the kit and nourished them for about three days before we released them.  We also were watching our ladybugs get bigger and bigger each day. Now it was time for release day. I had the help of our youngest child. He was very excited and got into it in a big way. He put on the gardening gloves, helped me plant our necta...