Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

Sorry I didn't have time to post yesterday about the liquid cleanse and how it's going. I am feel physically okay, but I think I am emotionally detoxing right now. I've been in a strange mood since I got out of bed, and I slept for a long time. I was taking the bus home in the rain, but decided to get off and walk because I loved the feeling of being soaked with the water falling from the sky. At the skytrain station I bumped into my friend from Vancouver island who is supposed to be staying with me this week... I had completely forgotten. She had tried calling my phone and knocked on my door for awhile but of course I was wandering around getting drenched and trying to figure out why I was feeling so grey, so I didn't notice my phone. Fortunately she had made plans with another friend so she's out right now, but I'll see her later. Once I got home, I realized I was really hungry so I made a mango-banana-date smoothie and it tasted good. Yet even after consuming it, I felt like laying down and crying. I've been feeling that way a lot lately, but I've been too busy to let myself actually give in. I don't have time to be sad.

I think that although I devote much of my time to actively confronting all my emotional demons, I let some become repressed unconsciously, and then convince myself they aren't hidden there. I have let that happen now, with emotions coming from my past relationship. My current partner's roommate is a friend of my ex-boyfriend, and so occasionally my ex will be over at my current partner's house. Inconvenient for us all, to say the least. Well, fate finally wanted to have a laugh so last week I went over there with my friends to see my partner and hang out but ended up walking into a room full of guys laughing together... my ex being one of them. My past relationship was very intense and emotional for me; I tell myself I have healed from it but obviously this is not so, because whenever his name is brought up, I have trouble breathing and speaking; and when I saw him a few days ago by surprise I was basically paralyzed. No one in the room seemed to notice this and they call kept laughing at jokes being told. I didn't know what to do so I just left. A little later I broke down in tears by the road without being able to explain precisely why. By the next morning I felt better... but evidently this was temporary because I think the same clump of suppressed feels has surfaced again and is making me glum as scum today. I suppose I need to allow myself to soak in these emotions and then hopefully they will leave me... I don't know. Sorry for making This Rawsome Vegan Life more like This Rawsome Vegan Depression but I gotta get my thoughts out somewhere.

As far the liquid fasting is concerned: it's going well. Yesterday was probably the toughest for me and partner, I wrote a final exam for archaeology then we went grocery shopping... we ended up getting way too hungry and really wanted to bite our meal instead of drink it, but we are strong willed and it wasn't a serious issue. We drank a bunch of amazing soup - seriously it was one of the best things I've ever tasted - and watched a documentary, then felt much better. And now we come full circle back to today: after having that mango-banana-date smoothie, I wrote the bulk of this post and did other blog/computer tasks. Then I made some soup, wrote in my journal, and still felt hungry. I made a blueberry smoothie with bananas, cacao and almonds. It's pretty good albeit a little grainy because I didn't let the almonds blend fully. If I feel hungry again later, I'll make some vegetable juice.


PARSLEY BEET JUICE

1 bunch parsley
2 beets
5 carrots
1 garlic clove

Juice. Drink. Mmm.


MANGO-BANANA-DATE SMOOTHIE

1 frozen banana
2 mangoes
5 dates
4 ice cubes
Water, as needed

Blend it all up until smooth. 


MEXICO-INSPIRED SOUP 

5 tomatoes
2 cups corn 
1 avocado
Juice from 1/2 lime
Coriander 
Pepper, to taste
Vegetable broth, as needed

Blend everything until smooth. 


BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE with CACAO & ALMONDS

1 banana
1 cup frozen blueberries
3 dates
1/4 cup almonds
1 tablespoon cacao powder
Water, as needed

Blend until smooth. Enjoy.

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CREAMY CURRY CARROT SOUP with BELL PEPPERS, TOMATOES & ONIONS 

4 cups carrots
1 onion
2 bell peppers
3 small tomatoes
Cumin and coriander 
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 dates
Vegetable broth or water

Roughly chop all the veggies. Cover the carrots and onions with vegetable broth or water in a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let them cook for about 30 minutes or until tender. Throw all the ingredients (including the veggie broth mix) into a high speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy, adding the spices as you like. Serve with tomato slices and cilantro if you like.

Note: if ya wanna keep this one totally raw, skip the cooking part! Simple. 

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People have been telling me I shouldn't call this a cleanse, since my system is pretty much as clean as can be. I'd have to agree with this and I'll say right now I am not concerned about becoming more pure or losing weight or anything like that. I just love how I feel when all I consume is fresh juices and organic fruit! I am not restricting my calories as far as I know (although I do not, and never have, kept track); I am drinking and eating as much as I want/need so I don't feel deprived.

That being said, everyone fasts and cleanses for different reasons. Your aim may be to lose weight, detox, transition into a vegan or raw food diet, etc. Whatever your situation, make sure you have a clear goal in mind and that you do it safely! If you're "cleansing" with me, I hope you're doing great!

Today I took it easy again, certainly enjoying not having to work on my book - for now (I get my revisions back in a couple weeks). I cleaned and tidied the house, watered the plants, picked blueberries and immediately ate them, and I am still currently trying to bleach this cute lingerie-esque dress I bought at a thrift store two days ago. I figured it'd look great in white instead of black but the colour is taking a long time to come out... we'll see. Then I watched Reincarnated and almost fell asleep. Following that I made this juice (recipe below)! Hope you like it as much as I did.

























ginger jive carrot apple juice:

3 large carrots
2 green apples
1 cucumber
1/2 pineapple
1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh ginger

Wash, peel and chop the produce as needed. Put through your juicer, strain (optional) and enjoy! 

More juicing for detox! Cleansing your beautiful body is the perfect way to start off the new year, in my opinion. I'm going to do a juice fast, starting this afternoon. (This juice recipe is from yesterday afternoon after I worked out.) I would start right away today but I'm staying at my boyfriends and he is not fortunate enough to have a juicer. Sad face.

Anyone who wants to join me is totally welcome! It'll probably last about 5 to 10 days and I will be posting frequently on the blog (here) and facebook.


Even if you're eating 100% raw (or whatever you consider to be the most optimal diet for you), exercising daily and all that other good stuff, it is never a bad idea to do a juice cleanse - I use the words "fast" and "cleanse" interchangeably by the way - because you are not necessarily restricting your calories so you won't be starving or malnourished.

In fact, on a juice fast you will most likely be enjoying the most nutritious diet ever because - like I just said - you're getting adequate calories, but you are also receiving the highest quality, most nutrient-dense and high water content foods on the planet that are ridiculously easy to absorb and digest. Fresh juice is delicious and can save lives. It has already.

The juice I made today was to give my skin a boost in health and colour. Winter does a number on my skin and hair because both are pretty sensitive. Cucumber is excellent for your skin, as is celery and they are both included in this recipe. Want glowing skin? Drink cucumber juice.

hello, my sweet, plant-loving comrades.

i have decided to go on another juice-alicious fast. why? let's start at the beginning: i didn't tell you that when i THOUGHT i had strep throat and couldn't swallow without flinching for a week... i actually had MONO. it was total agony for seven days and i hope i never go through it again. would've been nice to know what i actually was suffering from...



he tells me AFTER i recover... cool. anyways, that's not really relevant but you must deal with it. tough. the point  is - i didn't eat for a week. the first two days i just drank tea, lemon water and miso soup, the remaining days i basically went on a juice fast. it reminded me how much i love juice, and how much i appreciated my previous juice fast (search "juice fast" on my blog to get my posts about it.) it made me want to complete another one.



we (mom and i) have officially ordered our OMEGA VRT350 JUICER!!! i am way too excited about this, people. but as i said to my girlfriend - at which she promptly laughed - "why can't everyone get this stoked about juicing!?" as you may have noticed, i have gradually fallen head over heels for juice. i used to be a smoothie girl all the way. i will always keep a place in my heart for my green smoothies. but i have warmed up to juicing. i used to dislike the absence of fiber but my mind has been changed. taking out the fiber allows for instant assimilation... it is the fastest way to get the highest quality nutrients in the greatest quantity. simply put: it's excellent nutrition in a glass.


we should get our juicer in about five days (fingers crossed, canadian postal system) and then i'm going to sell our old juicer to my friend. at that point she will join me in a juice fast! i am really excited about this because i've only ever cleansed and/or fasted by myself. i think it's gonna be loads better with a partner. i don't want to set a number of days this juice fast will be, but i'd like it to exceed ten days (the length of my last one). we will see. i plan to listen to my body.


i'm going to be reading up on juice fasting this time too. so far i've gotten juice fasting & detoxification, and juicing, fasting and detoxing for life - sound pretty enthralling, huh?

just wanted to give you all a heads up about this! i will be posting recipes for shampoo and conditioner soon, as well as some salads and other raw concoctions that have come from my twisted mind and dutch-inspired kitchen. love all. drink juice.

i think tomorrow i'll go on a fruit cleanse for a week. i've been eating really well and all lately but it's summer, fruit's in season and i may as well embrace it as much as i possibly can! besides, i feel best when i'm all fruit diet (for a certain number of days). i know as far as my digestive system goes, i'm really clean, but i wanna give my body a break from vegetables, whole grains and "processed" foods like sauces, seaweed and nut-based foods. oh, i should specify - i will still include greens.

addicted to kale for life <3


actually, scratch that. i will start on saturday. tomorrow my friend is sleeping over and we need to make a bunch of vegan delights, of the non-fruit variety. i'll keep it simple though because i don't want to eat a bunch of cooked food the day before a fruit cleanse. i think i want to make these coconut banana ice cream floats, and share a recipe for raw nutella!

stay tuned, my sweet darlings.

P.S. here's another weird song for you all to question my judgement to:

sorry guys, i am house sitting this week and didn't manage to get to my lap top for a few days to write so here's day 6, 7 and 8.


i made the most delicious juice ever! it was so good i did the exact same recipe for my dinner juice. it was made of:

3 carrots
3 celery sticks
1 apple
1 orange
huge chunk ginger
2-3 pineapple slices


i also made a large glass of delicious "spa water". all i did was put in some lemon and cherries. there's endless combinations. i want to try lavender and lemon, for example. here's a bunch of recipes.


today i was feelin' pretty tired. just out of energy. i couldn't run or go up a set of stairs without losing my breath and feeling slightly light-headed. looks like it's perfect timing for this kind of detox because my juice fast ends in 3 days! i am SO EXCITED to eat. all i want is raw food. raw salad, sushi, pasta, soup, smoothies. i also can't wait to eat a banana with some kind of nut butter. and just like... a date. i know it's all gonna taste amazing because my taste buds have been recharged and sensitized.


my juices today were watermelon-themed :) mmm, so refreshing.

juice #1:
2 cups watermelon
1 orange
chunk of ginger
1/2 cucumber
3 sticks of celery
1 cup grapes
1 cup strawberries


juice #2: sorry i didn't take any pics - i slurped it up in the backyard and forgot my camera.
1 cup watermelon
1 grapefruit
1 orange
chunk of ginger
1 cup strawbrries
3 carrots

i'm really looking forward to getting back to solid food and making delicious raw recipes for me and my loved ones. this is the kind of excitement i experienced when i first got into raw food (almost 2 years ago!) but to be honest - i had lost this kind of passion last year.

don't get me wrong, i never stopped loving raw food and the philosophy behind behind the lifestyle. but i gradually let myself become disconnected from that initial enthusiasm. and i was really depressed that i couldn't reconnect with it. slowly i lost my connection when i meditated, and eventually i couldn't find much passion in anything - even though i understood how much i continued to love the people and events happening around me.

this is why i wanted to challenge myself through a juice fast, then a 21 day water fast. i was hoping to regain that original passion and reconnect with what i know is important to me - my soul and it's relationship with the universe! yes, that includes food. food sustains us.

here's the good news. initially i was just incorporating this juice fast as a prequel to the mega water fast, and because i wanted to participate in "cleanse america" (even though i'm in canada); but through these past 7 days - and i'm sure these last 3 - i have already gained from the juice fast what i was hoping to gain from the water fast! plus... mom and dad still aren't very keen on me not eating for 3 weeks. understandable.
-
i have decided to conquer the water fast at a later date. i will certainly be doing it at some point. but it doesn't need to be - and i don't feel it should be - right now.

in these last 3 days i plan to do a lot of resting and meditating, finalizing my thoughts and cementing my renewed excitement and refreshed passion for life. i am so happy to be here, surrounded by my family and friends, living in a beautiful home and city, able to make my dreams come true, and having the best food in the world every day! well... for the next 3 days, it'll be juice. i am not ashamed to say that i can't freaking wait to eat salad. looooooooooooord.

further reading: here's the "diary" of Skinny Bitch co-author Rory Freedman when she did a 7 day juice fast. i love how honest she is.


alright. day 8! i have renewed love for this juice fast. food can wait; the time will pass. it's a gorgeous, sunny day and i intend to take advantage of it. i think i'll do a facial steam with rose water then lay in the yard. i'm seeing some friends later and i'm excited to talk and spend time with them. i've been getting so many amazing emails and comments from my readers! I LOVE YOU ALL! the fact that i can help change people's lives means so much to me, and it's the main reason i'm here.