Friday, February 15, 2013

Recipe for something BLUE: Balance those free radicals with Blueberry power!

Yes indeed Happy Day after Valentines! May your heart continue to feel warmth everyday, and your life be surrounded by love, always.

So here is a recipe to nurture our bodies from the inside out and perhaps help our bodies deal with the extra sweets from yesterday! Something BLUE to start the day, full of antioxidants that help our bodies fight the free-radicals in our bodies.

Yes indeed BLUEBERRIES are in my mind today, they protect  the heart and the brain, they boost memory, they help fight aging, and disease causing free radicals.

What exactly are FREE RADICALS you ask? well well, they are single atoms or groups of atoms, with an odd number of electrons. They are unstable and they go about in the body stealing electrons from other cells to gain stability, creating new free radicals along the way. They are responsible for cell damage. They have the potential to cause DNA damage and organ damage. As well, free radicals damage produced by excess of free radicals is believed to be associated with cancer.

Now, our bodies produce free radicals as part of our metabolism process, to neutralize viruses and bacteria, but the numbers of free radicals produced in these cases are what our bodies can handle. They can be easily neutralized by a diet high in fruits and vegetables, specifically foods rich in ANTIOXIDANTS,  and lifestyle.

When we experience physical and emotional stress, when exposed to environmental pollution, radiation, industrial chemicals, cigarette smoke, herbicides (used in our food production), processed foods, consumption of drugs (recreational and prescription), the presence of free radicals in our bodies can become excessive which as you read, can lead to all kinds of trouble.

The solution is easy. Find ways to manage your stress (exercise, yoga & meditation are great options!) and eat a diet filled with foods that are rich in antioxidants, vitamin C and vitamin E... some examples are berries, grapes, broccoli, garlic, tomatoes, and green tea. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables, with a lot of raw power I might add, will take care of those free radicals dancing around in your body which will of course lead to more happy days ahead...

So roundabout we go to our friends the BLUEBERRIES...

RECIPE FOR SOMETHING BLUE: Balance those free radicals Blueberry Smoothie

1 1/2 cups of Hado water, spring water or good source water
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 bananas
2 TBSP raw almond butter
1 TSP raw honey
1 TBSP hemp seeds
1 TBSP Sea vegetable powder (spirulina, chorella, or any combination powder). IF you are new to them start them slow as they can be cleansing if you are not used to them. So start with 1 TSP and build your way up.

note_ I don't use frozen fruit in the winter, as the smoothie becomes to cooling for me, but in the summer I will even freeze bananas to add them to the smoothies!


Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend well, and shazam! you got your 'balance those free radicals power' ready to work for you!!!!! Sip slowly and enjoy!

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Quote of the Day
"We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it"- John Lennon

Friday, February 8, 2013

Brr.. honey it's cold outside! Its time to warm the heart up..

What better time to connect with the energy of Love than when its -10C outside and the mother Snow Fall, right?
It's time to open our hearts and warm them up!

It's time to connect with Love, it's time to share the goods and as importantly it's time to receive them back tenfold! I believe if we follow through with our intentions, if we hold them present in our mind through our day, if we commit to ourselves to pursue them, to pursue inner peace, love, happiness whatever it is you wish to pursue...  if we continue to show up...  IT happens. IT comes to us. IT fills our lives and our hearts until there only is room for IT.

So to celebrate whatever IT means to you in this cold February month I want to share a few things in hope of offering warmth and love to your hearts.... ready? of course you are...
so here we go..

Something borrowed, 
something blue, 
something old, 
something new, 
something rawllygood!


SOMETHING BORROWED: INSPIRATION

I would have to say one of the best things I borrow is inspiration. People, Things, Doings that keep me going, that bring a smile to my face, and the feeling of peace to my heart. Its quite easy to go through our days in autopilot mode. I have been there plenty of days.. but what happens when we take the time to do things differently?. When we start the day by reading something that inspires us, when we start the day with a warm embrace, when we go the extra mile for a stranger nearby, the day just simply seems to be a better day...

A few of my favourite borrowed inspirations are:
books by the Dalai Lama
Raw Food cookbooks (I just love them too much!)
dreaming of playing in my Garden when spring comes around!
Chanting music by Brenda McMorrow to meditate with
Singing Bowls music by Darren Austin Hall
Deepak Chopra
Kriss Carr
Caroline Dupont
Ananda Yoga Studios
Art Galleries
anything that makes me stop, breathe and smile!



RECIPE WITH SOMETHING BORROWED:  Homemade KOMBUCHA (Fermented Tea Drink)

Kombucha is a brew of fermented tea that is jam packed with probiotics, it alkalizes the body, it is high in antioxidants, and it is believed to aid in digestions, improve metabolism, and detoxify the liver. I love it when the list of goodness is long... 

There are many ways of making Kombucha, but to start it one must have a Scoby starter, you can either borrow one or buy one.. I personally believe in the power of passing on the goodness, and the goodness of a Kombucha Scoby came to me from my friend Kim. A Scoby is the spore that ferments the tea, and during the process of fermentation it gets bigger filling up the top of your glass jar (if you do it that way). The process of fermentation can last anywhere between 10- 14 days depending on your conditions (how cold/hot/dark/light your environment is). The Scoby spore itself is not to be consumed, but rather kept in about an inch of the fermented tea and to be used in your next batch of Kombucha. If you are brewing more Kombucha for your next batch, you can always cut a Scoby and divide it for your next batches (as always, one must thank it first for the love it is brewing for our bodies! then cut, and pass it on to your next batch or to your dear friend who can't believe you have gonne wild and have 19 jars of Kombucha brewing at the same time!). Yeap, got a bit too excited there... I am in my experimental brewing phase! ha.

Anyway back to the real thing... the shorter your brewing time, the sweeter the Kombucha will be. The longer your leave it to Brew the more Sour it will get... It's a beautiful thing! It's really up to you. 

Once the Kombucha has brewed, transfer the fermented brew onto a clean glass jar and store in the fridge. Leave the Scoby spore in the previous glass jar with at least 1 inch of brew (a cup of brew would be wonderful! -if you are making a large batch that you can offer a cup to your Scoby). Scobys DONT like the fridge:) 
What is that I heard? How much Kombucha to drink? Start slow. Everyone is different. Some people can do 4 oz of Kombucha, for some 1oz is enough until their bodies get used to its superpowers! Now that being said Homemade Kombucha is quite different than store bought Kombucha... try it out!

Now here is how to make Kombucha :

For a 1 liter (4 cup) brew you will need:
 *Sterile glass jars (wide mouth works best) or glass containers to fit the amount of tea volume you will be brewing. Write your love & gratitude dedication to your Kombucha prior to filling the jars up... kind of easier to do.
*A piece of cloth or folded paper towel to cover the mouth of the jar or top of you container (no cheesecloth, the thread is too loose and fruit flies might come to see what is happening in your town!)
*1 large elastic band to secure the cheesecloth or folded paper towel
*4 cups of spring water (good quality water, no tap water please
*1/2 cup organic (if possible) cane sugar or RAW organic honey
*2 bags or 2 TSPN of tea (Oolong, Green, White, Black, Ginger, and so on)
(any herbal tea can be used for flavour, my suggestion is that you keep the tea clean and free of additives. READ your tea labels, you might be surprised to see a few too many non recognizable- not so- friendly "friends" in there. )
* a borrowed (now adopted) Scoby spore and starter liquid (the inch, hopefully few inches your scoby is happily swimming in)
* heaps and bounds of Love & Gratitude, and I will show you why!

Bring the water to boil. 
Remove from heat. 
Let it cool down and add the sugar, and mix it up until dissolved. If you are using RAW honey it is best to let the water cool down to lukewarm temperature before adding the RAW honey. 
Add the tea bags or loose tea (you will have to strain or use a reusable tea bag for the loose tea). Let it steep for at least 10 minutes (depends how strong you like your brews, so have fun and experiment with it). 
Remove tea bags or filter out leaves.
Let it cool down to room temperature.
Pour into your glass container or jar (S!)
Add the Scoby spore and started liquid.
Cover with the cloth of folded paper towel. Secure with elastic band.

Leave to ferment at room temperature, covered and out of the light for 10 -14 days. Now sometimes your Kombucha can be ready in as little as 7 days! So keep checking it and tasting it until you get an idea of your Kombucha's synergestic environmental cosmic dance! Remember it's alive and brewing.. 

Now I had said before that I was gonna show you why I am so into the heaps and bounds of Love & Gratitude... a few months ago I wrote about HADO WATER and the power of prayer and intention to change molecular structures. So I decided to experiment a bit.. ok ok  A LOT! with my Kombucha. I decided I was gonna brew Kombucha and give it to my friends as a Holiday gift.. as a way of passing on the goodness.... So I made labels that had an image of the photograph of a water molecule that was exposed with the prayer & intention of LOVE & GRATITUDE as well as goodness wishes. I then placed the Kombucha near some quartz stones... now I had a lot of jars going.. and there were a few that I didn't put the label on.... and guess what!!!! YEA! The LOVE & GRATITUDE Kombuchas placed by the Quartz stones had the most beautiful Scobies!!! White and even all around, thick and lovely!
The ones that were not totally beside the stones where nice but not shinning beauties if you know what I mean, the ones without the label where sad looking, deformed, miserable beings!
There you go.... AMAZING! 

See it for your selves:

Love & Gratitude Shining Beauty Kombucha placed by a clear quartz stone.









Sad looking, deformed Kombucha (sorry I threw out the mouldy ones faster than I could think 'Hey lets write about it!', but you can just imagine it.)







Have fun with it! If you live around my area, I will be happy to share scobies with you! For those on far away lands.. check with your health stores or health practitioners, you might be happily surprised!

Now stay tunned for something BLUE! it will soon be coming to you....
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Quote of the Day
"Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love." - Mother Teresa
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