It's about time....

Too many days have gone by since my last entry, and with it many transitions, and personal reflections...
I am now settled into a 160 sq ft cabin, tucked under an historical log cabin, I call home. Though I continue to make my weekly salads, I have also acquired a dehydrator and juicer that complements my small kitchen space.

My First and Favorite Juice For Now
4 stalks celery
2 small cucumbers
small handful fresh parsley
small handful kale
1/2 inch chunk of fresh ginger
2 small apple
It really makes a great way for me to start the day.


My first dehydrator experiments:

Spicy Zucchini Chips
One green zucchini, sliced thinly
sprinkled with Spike Seasoning, cayenne, Himalayan sea salt and garlic
Took about 8 hours to dry. Excellent as a spicy snack or toss into salads

Banana Breakfast Treat
1 ripe banana
1 cup dried coconut
splash of vanilla
1/3 cup cacao
dash of Himalayan sea salt
1 Tbl coconut syrup
1/3 cup date sugar
Mix together, using fruit roll up dehydrator sheets, this took about 12 hours to dry

Flax/Seaweed Crackers
2 cups flax seed soaked in 1 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup minced Dulce
garlic
cayenne
Himalayan sea salt
Mix together, using fruit roll up dehydrator sheets, this took about 12 hours to dry

I have also acquired:
A new reflection in honoring my appetite. There is no shame or guilt in food consumption. I believe what ever I indulge in, is exactly what my body needs at that time. It seems like when I am paying attention to my body, while enjoying the abundance of a particular "raw" food, it is happening just prior to an event or activity that requires a higher expenditure of energy. My body therefore is intuitively reacting and preparing to better serve my needs.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Other reflections:
Currently; I am happier and balanced in general when my daily food consumption looks something like this:
Fresh veggie juice in the morning.
During the day, snacking on mostly fresh fruit, some raw veggies, supplementing with nuts or seeds. Corn on the cob, watermelon, peaches, pink grapefruit and chia seeds seem to be my favorite at this time.
For dinner, a huge powerful salad with flax seed (dehydrator) cracker.
During the week, I may supplement some days with extra avocado, dried fruit, additional nuts or nut butters.

This brings me up to date, and the end of my 90 day Raw life style experiment.

To wrap up;

• These 90 days have been an excellent opportunity to realign my personal beliefs about food.
• My nails are stronger, my body is leaner. My personal confidence has increased.
• I am enjoying new experiences in my life, such as Spanish, Flute, and Yoga.
  
• I have adopted a bike, and living close enough to work, can give my car a rest on most days.
• I have become more aware of energetic balancing of my own, and it's exchange with other life forms. Exploring how to shift it to keep myself grounded and focused, yet, happy and light has become a form of entertainment.
• I have become more forgiving of myself, a reflection of the love that I am personally cultivating.
• I have become more understanding and honoring of others as I send out greater love, letting go of fear and doubt.
• It's a beautiful journey, and I have a remarkable group of people around me to share, as we nurture each others growth.
  

What's next?
I do receive joy from writing, and other opportunities of self expression. I have created the space to bring in more experiences as well as continue with my other blog "These Days"; Lessons and Reflections of from a Student of Life" at http://consciousnesschange.blogspot.com/, to support further exploration of my highest potential.

Packin' up the Kitchen

AZJoe was up this weekend, helping me move. However, as I am creating a small mountain of "stuff" for him to take back to Phoenix to store at my parents house, he is now having a great time creating some kind of raw confection.

Going through my cupboards, he discovered walnuts, pecans, cashews, pine nuts, coconut oil, coconut oil, cacao, agave syrup, date sugar, cacao butter, vanilla and sea salt. The creative process included; mixing things up, grinding things down, gently melting and melding everything together, for the art of "making dessert".

After shaping his creation into little bite size balls and dusting with date sugar, we enjoyed them with fresh cherries, grapes and peaches. He encourages my raw experiment, and even gave it a go himself, as he too is discovering the right kind of diet to fuel his mission here on earth.

I love lentil sprouts! It is so easy using the jar method. Soak over night, drain, rinse 1-2x a day. Bam! Sprouts. Undeniably apparent to see the life force in each legume bursting forth. Wheat berry sprouts are my second favorite. I experimented with larger indigenous beans of which I have lost their labels, and found that after tossing them into my raw salad one afternoon, that though a large portion of them sprouted, a significant amount did not, which makes for an unpleasant surprise while chomping away. I'm thinking I will stick to lentils and wheat.

Try this!
1 avocado, cubed
1/2 cup lentil sprouts
1/2 cup wheat sprouts
1 scallion, sliced
1/2 cup sun cured olives
Toss with olive oil (cold-pressed), apple cider vinegar, garlic, sea salt and a hearty shake of cayenne.
Yum!

Letting go of stuff...
I posted my furniture on Craig's List this week, and at the College. Buyers coming empty handed, leaving with a piece of my furniture and I, with a few dollars in my hand. I gave away,"free with purchase", my stash of non raw, unopened fancy condiments, mustards, gourmet relishes and my small collection of dried herbs. Enjoying the flavors of fresh herbs, I just can't see going back to dry.

Cooking utensils? Decision day has come and what to do with my cast iron pot, large skillet, oven-ware, smaller pots and pans wasn't as hard as I once imagined. I kept one small pot, and one small iron skillet, ...just in case...but the remaining items were sold or given away.

As I settle into sleep on a couch that's not mine, because I sold my bed, I am awake at 2am fully aware of my transition these days. It's a bit uncomfortable, this place of transition, as I am grasping for what is familiar and routine, I find I am grasping at empty air. Looking for the sacredness between the old and the new, I do know that this is verrrrry temporary. This whole thing might be a little nuts, but I am okay with it.