Herbally Yours - Day Eighteen

Yesterday afternoon I found some beautiful little herb starters during my daily trip to Whole Foods. To my delight, they also had bags of organic soil, compost and all natural cottonseed meal fertilizer. So today I mixed my soil and used last years pots to create my very own herb garden. Not only am I wanting herbs, but I am currently looking at my other options for growing vegetables and greens. I receive several seed catalogs and I really enjoy looking over all the varieties available. Since my current space is going to be limited to only having a container garden, I will have to chose my favorites and plant accordingly. I will no doubt try my green thumb with tomatoes and peppers and I plan to do a long container which will be perfect for my little bed of fresh salad greens. And did I mention that juice feasters create the best compost?

Later in the afternoon I decided to contact the very cool Mike and Emily of one of my favorite local, sustainable and organic farms, Three Springs Farms. Ever since I read Green For Life by Victoria Boutenko, I have wanted to get my hands on some Lamsquarters, Purslane, Stinging Nettle and other super nutritious greens and herbs. Many people haven't ever heard of these or if they have they consider them to be worthless weeds. Hopefully I will be able to have the respected folks at Three Springs Farms get me the hook up so I can have an abundance of these underrated garden gems this spring and summer.

So.....what's in my herb garden so far? Basil, thyme, rosemary, cilantro, Italian flat leaf parsley, sage, spearmint, peppermint, chives and oregano.

Tuesday's Daily Juice:
water-MSM-lemon
vanilla creme tea
2 qt. watermelon, orange, crystal manna flakes
1 qt. rainbow chard, celery, carrots, yellow bell peper, garlic, jalepeno, clover sprouts, watercress, lime
1 qt. spinach, cucumber, onion, basil, garlic, jalepeno, tomatoes, red bell pepper, Celtic sea salt

I almost forgot to mention....my husband got his juice on right along side me today for the first time since I've been on this extravaganza! He is committing to doing one day a week (Tuesdays) for the remainder of my time on the feast). When I just asked him what he thought about today, he said it was no big deal....well, good for him!

Just Dandy - Day Seventeen

Since the first week of my juice feast I've been enjoying dandelion greens in my juices. Until recent years, I had no idea that dandelion greens and their roots were edible. I always loved them as a child but I also remember them being a pesky addition to my parent's expertly manicured lawn. For those of you who may not realize, dandelion greens pack a powerful punch of nutrition. They are high in Vitamin A in the form of antioxidant carotenoid and vitamin C. They contain good amounts of calcium and potassium and they may be useful in treating jaundice, cirrhosis, edema due to high blood pressure, gout, eczema and acne. Dandelion is also used to treat and prevent breast and lung tumors as well as premenstrual bloating. Adding dandelion to ones diet is beneficial to digestion and is an antiviral that may be useful in the treatment of AIDS and herpes. And finally, dandelion root contains inulin, which lowers blood sugar in diabetics.

Personally, dandelions greens are somewhat tough to stomach alone due to their bitterness, but thrown into a mixture of other veggies or fruit-especially citrus, they are a welcome addition. If you are lucky enough to have dandelions coming up in your yard, don't become irritated this year, just go out and harvest them, then begin juicing them or mixing them into your salads. If you don't have luck finding any patches of this common weed around your area, most Whole Foods carry them in their produce section, which is where I've been getting mine.

So now before I drink my dandelion juice, I have started making a wish. Just like the good old days, only better!

Monday's Daily Juice:
water-MSM-lemon
vanilla creme herbal tea
2 qt. celery, dandelion, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, apple, lime, ginger
1 qt. blackberries, lemon, orange, coconut water
1 qt. romaine, carrot, asparagus, red bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, jalepeno, lime, garlic, salt
1 tbsp. hemp oil
1 tbsp. bee pollen

Successfully Sunday - Day Sixteen

I awoke refreshed and clear this morning and earlier than usual for a Sunday morning. Because everyone else was still sleeping, I had the whole house to myself for about an hour, so I took that time to simply enjoy the silence, read and create a plan for my day. Later, we went to church and enjoyed the beautiful service they had prepared for Palm Sunday. The choir, waving palm branches, marched through the sanctuary and sang Hosanna. The young children sang too and their sweet, clear voices elevated my spirit to heaven. It was good to be there today and hear the inspirational message which was about service towards others. I prayed that God would continue to show me how I can reach out to help and serve those around me. It was a beautiful morning.

Once home, I excitedly made my reservations to travel to New York at the end of the month to join up with Dhrumil and the We Like It Raw team's big event, Successfully Raw! From the minute I heard about the event, I desired to go, but I've waited. When I finally spoke with Gordon, my husband, about it last night, he was quick to tell me to book it! I have such a dear supportive mate in him. So I am totally stoked about my upcoming trip.....in less than two weeks I'll be in my favorite city! So, this was another moment that made my heart sing today!

It should be an interesting experience to be traveling as a juice feaster. There are plenty of others who have done it before me, so I will study a bit about what worked well for them and what didn't. I know that NYC should be a breeze with all of it's organic juice bars and health food restaurants. My hotel is two blocks from Bonobo's and another 8 or so to Pure Juice & Takeaway, so I should be able to stay fully juiced up while there. I am fortunate enough to have been able to book non-stop flights both there and back. I will be sure to blog all about my experiences!

Sunday's Daily Juice:
water-MSM-lemon
rooibos tea
1 qt. grapefruit, orange, Crystal Manna
1.5 qt. celery, carrot, dandelion, beet root w/ tops, green onion, alfalfa sprouts, cayenne, lime
1.5 qt. honeydew melon
1 Tbsp. hemp oil
vanilla tea w/ bee pollen & spirulina

Apples of My Eye - Day Fifteen

My day started at 4 am today. It was the first day of Spring Break 2008 for us and that meant we were on our way to Tulsa International Airport to put Taylor, our eleven year old, on a plane with 30+ other fifth graders to fly to our nation's capital, Washington D.C.! It was all very exciting for the kids and this 4 day excursion will be action packed from start to finish. Many of you may not know this but Taylor is actually not my daughter. Taylor is my husband's granddaughter, but we are helping to co-raise her, as Gordon's ex-wife has legal custody of "The Tay." I love her as much as if she were my own and she has been such a gift in my life. Although we're a blended family, it works beautifully and we know that God brought us together because we all needed one another. Paraphrasing from Dr. Evil to Mini Me, "They complete me!"

Once Taylor was safety in the air, Gordon started working and I was off and running with the rest of my day. I went on a produce shopping extravaganza, visiting Whole Foods, Akin's-our local health food store, and Center One Market-a "she she" boutique market that showcases local growers and local chef's.....it's cool, maybe too cool for this town, and it is pricey. With those three stops, I scored big on beautiful organic greens and vibrant fruits that are now beautifying my kitchen island. When in my kitchen, sometimes I just stand and admire the bounty laid out before me in awe, almost as if it were a shrine. Does being with fresh, organic, ripe produce ever cause you to well up a bit? I've noticed I can get moved this way when I am at an open air farmer's market or at my dad's house, in his organic garden. It is just a passion for me. I have propped up my un-cook book from Cafe Gratitude to be displayed right next to the spread because I love the name and it says it all, I Am Grateful. True that.

Then in the late afternoon, I spent some time chauffeuring my daughter and her friends to and from the mall, movies and dinner. Gabrielle will be 15 in May. Hard to believe my baby is now a lovely young lady. She is a beautiful girl, inside and out, and I am very proud of her. However, her diet is polar opposite of mine. If it's raw or green, forget about it. I hold to the belief that her opinions and tastes will evolve and develop as she matures. I, too, despised healthy food when I was young, and over time, my body simply stopped allowing the dietary abuse and here I am today, working towards undoing all I can from the damage caused by years of poor choices. Anyway, coming back to the present...we have a house full of giggling and shrieking teen girls running around the house and I am enjoying this time of finally winding down to rest and count my many blessings. And since tomorrow is Palm Sunday, a spirit of thanksgiving seems to fit perfectly.

PS....Nub, the wisdom tooth, seems to have stopped hurting today. Thanks to everyone for your holistic dental suggestions....they appear to be working!!

Saturday's Daily Juice:
water-MSM-lemon
ginger tea w/ raw honey & lemon
1.5 qt. celery, kale, dandelion greens, apples, & lime.
1 qt. spinach, tangerine, blueberry
Tulsi vanilla tea
1 qt. cucumber, orange bell pepper, onion sprouts, yellow onion, asparagus, broccoli, cilantro, parsley, carrot, tomato, garlic, jalepeno, & Celtic sea salt. (sounds strong...it was and I loved it!)

Fun Friday - Day Fourteen

DAY 14!!! It's been two blissful weeks of juicy juicing and I am loving it. I feel so blessed because other than an occasional race of the cha-chas, I haven't had any real struggles with detox symptoms, physical or emotional. The only bother, as I wrote yesterday, is the nub of a wisdom tooth that has suddenly decided to rear it's wee little head and act out. At this point I am a bit concerned that it's abscessed. I even broke down and took an Advil this afternoon because the pain was so strong and distracting. I am on this feast to cleanse and detoxify, so my intention was to take NO medications of any kind. Could this tooth issue be related to detoxing? I've not heard of such a symptom, but it might be like me to get a weird one just to spice things up a bit. I moved my dental appointment up to this coming Monday, so I'll have it investigated. That's all I know to do at this point.

On a pleasant note....I had the most marvelous afternoon to celebrate two weeks. I had a colonic, which was pretty uneventful. It made me think of the old movie, Road To Wellville, a story of Will Lightbody (Matthew Broderick) and his wife, Eleanor (Bridget Fonda) who are guests at the health spa of cereal mogul Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins). In the words of Dr. Kellogg, " My stools are perfect! And, have no more odor than a hot biscuit." Hopefully readership didn't just go down with that quote. Time to elevate....

After the afore mentioned appointment, I went to Aquarian Age to have a sauna, steam and marvelous massage by Gena. Gena pummeled me like a grape. I may even end up slightly bruised by tomorrow, but I am pretty sure she schmushed most of my cellulite up and out of my eye sockets. As my husband commented, a good masseuse will do that for you. Rigorous as it was, it was an hour and a half well spent and a great way to celebrate Day 14!

Friday's Daily Juice:
water-MSM-lemon
olive leaf tea
1 qt. celery, kale, broccoli, cucumber, radish, carrots, purple cabbage, basil, tomatoes, garlic, Celtic sea salt.
1 qt. grapefruit, tangerine, Crystal Manna
1 qt. carrot apple, lemon, ginger
1 qt. (see green juice above)
olive leaf tea

NY Frame of Mind - Day Thirteen

I'm not sure what got me started, but today I've been obsessing with thoughts of being in New York. The picture to the left was taken about 18 months ago while I was visiting the Union Square Green Market. It seems like my creative energies have started flowing and I am full of passion & ideas. This kind of energy, adrenaline rush or whatever it is, is something I haven't felt in a long while. I have been knocking an idea around in my head for sometime about wanting to maintain my home here in Tulsa, but also keep an apartment in Manhattan. No, I'm not uber wealthy nor do I have a job/career that causes me to travel there on business.....yet. That's right, one of my top five goals that I wrote down on January 1st of this year was about this very plan. Suddenly, thoughts are starting to materialize and I am seeing this desire/dream/goal/vision start to seem like it really can materialize. We'll see how the days ahead progress.

Moving on....I have been feeling great overall, but I did awake this morning with a weird symptom. I have a wisdom tooth that is only partially in and it has never been a bother, ever. My dentist always inquires about it, but never a pain or sensation comes from the poor little nub of a tooth. Well, this morning, Little Nub was my first awareness of the day. A throbbing soreness that radiates down into my jaw bone...did I brush too hard? I AM brushing my teeth much more frequently these days, due to juice feaster's furry teeth syndrome. Whatever the cause, I am perplexed by this odd pain and fortunately I do have a routine dental appointment scheduled in just over a week. Again, we'll just have to see about Nub.

Thursday's Daily Juice:
water-MSM-lemon
Passionberry Tea
1 qt. parsley, dandelion greens, spinach, english cucumber, apples, pear, lemons
1.5 qt. cantaloupe, broccoli sprouts
1.5 qt. pineapple, spinach, cilantro, apple, lime
I also drank a ton of water today.
(Tragedy occurred....I ran out of organic celery. Guess I'll have to double up tomorrow)

Borscht For Breakfast - Day Twelve

This morning I awoke with fresh juice inspiration. I don't think I have ever dreamed of eating borscht before and to be honest, I don't think I've ever made it in the traditional style either. But today it was borscht for breakfast sans the shot of Russian vodka that I was shooting back in my Kremlin-esque dream. I pulled out a few old cookbooks and what I came up with in the way of a recipe is detailed in today's daily juice at the bottom of this posting. This nourishing vegetable cocktail is a rich and opulent treat for a juice feaster. My only suggestion is that one might prefer it as an evening drink as opposed to the first juice of the day, but it seemed to be just what my inner dreamer ordered!

Now onto an important matter at hand. the lovely Miss Charissa of Raw Royalty has chosen to tag me. What this means is that I am to tell five little known facts about myself. I have thought about this for a couple of days and this is what I have come up with.....
1.) When I was elementary school, my family and I attended a county fair where I won first place in the watermelon seed spitting contest. (I remain quite proud of this achievement ;- )
2.) During my Sophomore year in high school, I was voted Miss Congeniality in the Bixby Green Corn Pageant. This was after I forgot the words to my song and hummed a few bars of Matchmaker from Fiddler On The Roof.
3.) When I was 16, my brother and I formed a new wave band, of which I was the lead singer. I got into all kinds of clubs to perform even though I was underage....thus our name, Circus Circus.
4.) When I was in college I was so poor that I remember watching a guy eat a partial package of Dolly Madison crumb cakes and then dispose the half eaten package in the trash. After I made sure the coast was clear, I dumpster dived, grabbed the crumb cakes and gobbled them down.
5.) My mother died at the age of 57 from a metastasized malignant melanoma. I was only 22 and that was one of the defining moments that I attribute to setting me onto this winding road towards natural health, eventually raw foods and most recently juice feasting.

So that is just a few small tidbits from my personal story and now I would like to tag my dears - Dea, Michelle, LouLou, Blaqberry, and Linda. If any of you lovelies have already been tagged to tell 5 interesting or little known facts, please disregard my tagging. These are just a few of the special ladies who make an impact in my raw and juicy life!

Wednesday's Daily Juice:
water-MSM-lemon
ginger tea w/ raw honey & lemon
1 qt. Borscht for Breakfast! 2 beets w/ tops, 1 head celery, 6 medium carrots, 2 lemons, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 head purple cabbage, 1/2 red onion, hand full of fresh dill, 1/2 tsp. Celtic sea salt.
1 qt. watercress, red chard, cucumber, apples, lemons
1 qt. grapefruit, tangerine, water w/ Crystal Manna flakes
1 qt. kale, dandelion greens, cilantro, clover sprouts, asparagus, broccol, red bell pepper, tomato, carrot, onion, garlic, lime, Celtic sea salt.

I have been doing much better this week at getting my full gallon of juice in a day. I feel really balanced and emotionally stable. I still am experiencing really runny loose stools and with borscht for breakfast.....well, you can imagine. Scheesh.