If you’re new to raw foods, don’t be intimidated by these directions, this is just for example   I recommend organic produce because we have a wide variety of toxins that we’re exposed to every day.  Eating pesticides should not be in our dinner plans as far as I’m concerned.  Search ‘dirty dozen’ here

Green Smoothie Steps:

1. Rinse well, 2 stems of Kale and 3 sprigs of parsley.  You don’t want anything crawling up out of your blender!
2. Add Kale, parsley, 1/2 inch or more slice of fresh ginger root, T raw honey, t coconut oil (Nutiva rawks! Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil, 29-Ounce Jars (Pack of 2) ), a pinch of sea salt for mineralizing, t spirulina powder, t cacao to your high powered blender of choice (I love my Vitamix).  Blend thoroughly: this will resemble swamp water
3. Save half in a covered glass for later today (I’ve even had it the next morning).  I just use cling wrap– works fine.
4. Cut off outside of a fresh pineapple and quarter.  Add half of one of the quarters to the remaining half of green mix still in your blender.  (Store the remaining pineapple in a glass container in fridge.) Also add one frozen banana (if you haven’t discovered frozen bananas yet, you’re in for a treat!  Just peel ripe bananas and freeze in a gallon zipper bag.  Makes smoothies creamy and frosty.  Frozen bananas also make amazing soft serve when pushed through an auger style juicer with a blank plate attachment!) Blend on high til smooth.
5. Stop the blender– add ashwaganda extract,  1/4 cup dried coconut flakes (unsweetened!), and t flax and blend on low just until mixed in.  This gives you something to chew– because you have to chew your smoothie!  (Your saliva is the beginning of your digestive process, and you want to get all of the nutrients you can out of this amazing concoction!) 
6. Get ready to fly!  Yum…

Related articles:

http://freshblessings.net/recipe-directory/

http://freshblessings.net/raw-info-series/

Last summer, because of a very hectic schedule, I had some struggles with staying super high on the fresh food chain, but I’ve learned a thing or two over the months since then that have helped tremendously…

Keep it simple.

Summer is the best time of the year for readily available fresh,  local produce.  Many places around the country now have a Farmer’s Market where local people bring their home-grown produce to stands to sell.  This is the freshest food you will get anywhere (short of having a full fledged garden of your own) and it’s often a great place to get raw, local honey if you use it.  Plan your produce buying around your farmer’s market schedule.  Fill in with a grocery store run for the rest of your list on a different day.

I go to the farmer’s market on Saturday, and the grocery store later on Saturday and again about Tuesday.  I have found that ordering many non-produce or hard to find items to be so much more convenient from the comfort of my computer chair …  Keep a running list of things that you may be getting low on, and sit down at the computer for a few minutes once a week or so to stock up on things like yerba mate’ for cool summer beverages like this one…

http://freshblessings.net/?p=162 .

Prepare to be fresh.

After a long day in the sun/ water, the last thing I want to do is food prep.  I just want to grab something yummy and relax!

Washing and cutting up fruits, greens and veggies when it’s convenient for ME has proven invaluable!  I’m using glass storage containers made by Pyrex that I found at my grocery store with rubber lids to store the prepped food.  I find that keeping 2 kinds of fruit and some greens chopped up in the fridge helps with throwing stuff together in a hurry when the time comes and keeps me from eating something easier, but less nutritious…  Having washed greens ready makes a salad or smoothie choice more likely.

During this convenient time, make up a quick batch of guacamole’ or salsa or nut cheese.  Keep you outta trouble…

Freeze it while it’s hot.

Ok, that may be a bit of an oxymoron.  What I’m saying is that many fruits and veggies are only in season ( and thusly, inexpensive) for a short time each year.  There are different trains of though on losing nutrients via freezing, but the loss is minimal.  Berries  freeze very nicely.  Simply place them in a single layer on a tray or plate in your freezer, then slip the frozen berries into a bag or container for storage.  I am currently using gallon freezer bags, but looking for other less wasteful and less plastic storage options. 

Dehydrate in moderation.

I still like some dehydrated stuff, but noone wants the dehydrator competing with the air conditioning on a 100f day!  I now use my ‘D’ while we’re sleeping and it’s cooler temps all around.  I make one batch of chips or crackers (whatever I feel like this week), one batch of cookies and I usually have some grawnola around as well…  Fill up all the trays so that the energy is spent dehydrating food and not just your kitchen.

Evening is the time to set out anything that needs to soak, such as almonds for almond mylk or sun-dried tomato for marinara sauce.  Thinking ahead makes life much easier.

Omgosh!  I feel sooooo amazing!  3 days to feeling great.  Not a thing has changed to make this time any less stressful, but I feel so positive!  Isn’t that what it’s about??  It’s not about the actual circumstances, it’s all about how you choose to handle them!  Raw food in my life enables me to get past the pity party and on to the power party!! 

Today I just wanna move it move it move it, lol… It never ceases to amaze me how 3 days high raw can not only change my attitude, but thins out my midsection soooo much!  Yes, visible results after only 3 days.  I wish I had taken pics!  I sleep better and wake up refreshed as well. My priorities are in order, PDL chap read, Essential oils applied, Supplements taken, Food prepped for the day and I’m off to work.

Food for today:

hot black tea/ orange spice with local honey

16oz water

Big Smoothie (40 oz): kale/ cacao/ banana/ cherry/ goji/ slippery elm/ maca/ sea salt

cucumber sliced in 8 oz water

16oz chilled roobios sun tea with stevia

strawberries w/ cashew cream and pumpkin seeds

randomly donated chocolate pieces (thank you?) 

Half salad like yesterdays, add spinach…

3 organic raw Snackaroons (Thank’s to the lovely @Rawbin!!!)

8 oz water

Move it Move it for today:

Bathroom Break workout (ask me, lol)

20 min Hip Hop Abs (probably hilarious to watch, but I’m getting it!)

Moving Moment:

Packed up one more kitchen box.  (Much more to come this weekend)

Figured a prospective timeline just in case I’m guessing correctly at the date/ place we’ll be going.  Lots of variables.

Encouraged my boss JoAnn (xoxo) to begin interviewing peeps for my position (scary step, but don’t wanna leave them hanging!)

Notified my parents that SoCal is out of the question for now.  President Obama cut the funding for that particular position.  Cried a little more. Picked myself up by the nape of the neck, dusted myself off and am writing this post.  While I am torn up about not getting to go ‘home’ as we thought we were going to be able to, I do see the many, many blessings in store if we do get to go where they Army Reserves would like to send us now.  Monroe, LA.

For ONE… Our son is there!  And his beautiful wife who is about to bring our first grandson into the world in the next few weeks!  (That’s a big blessing as we should be there for 3 years approx.)

We have many amazing family and friends there as well. Sisters, cousins, neices and nephews, Aunts and Uncles and friends.  There are great churches… and shopping! 

Disclaimer: We still don’t have orders, so this could change again.  My hunny graduates in one week and HOPEFULLY BY THEN we will have official orders.

Tomorrow is weigh in and measure (inches) day.  Here we go! 

Joanna Rawvelous

P.S. A big big thank you for coming to read this post!  Knowing friends like you are going to read it has helped me snap out of the funky numb place I had gravitated to…  Many times I have turned away from the junk food in the past coupla days just because I didn’t want to have to put it on here!  ;D