Tag Archives: green juice

Juice! Tangy Cucumber Cooler

Cucumber Romaine Lemon Ginger
I’m on a sugar-free regimen for the entire month of November, and it is in one word HARD. We are so used to being stimulated by sugar in so many forms, it is hard to function without it. In fact, the majority of us are so sugared-up that it leads us on the path to chronic illness and disease.
It is estimated that the average American eats 150 to 170 pounds of sugar each year. That’s the weight of an adult human being! No wonder so many are obese or sick and tired. Take stock of how much sugar you are putting in your body from morning to evening and you may be surprised. It’s in everything from condiments, processed foods, and “health drinks.
” Yes, our body needs carbohydrates to thrive and to give us energy, but it does not need refined sugars found in processed foods, desserts, and candies. Juicing is a great way to break addictions, and help the body reset from unhealthy cravings. Below is a recipe for a simple healthy juice with no added sugars, that is light and refreshing. -XoXo Raw Girl
Tangy Cucumber Cooler
1 head of Romaine
2 Cucumbers
1 Lemon
ginger root (to taste)
Run all ingredients through juicer. Strain, serve, enjoy!

 

Juice! Sandy’s Cilantro Detox and Benefits of Cilantro

Sandy’s Cilantro Detox

1 Bunch Green Kale Leaves (5-7 Leaves)

1 head of Celery

1 or 2 Limes

handful cilantro

handful parsley

1 apple (optional)

Juice, strain, serve. Enjoy! 🙂

To pay homage to the unfortunate Hurricane headed for the East Coast as I wrote and scheduled this post last week, I’ve named today’s juice Sandy’s Cilantro Detox. Cilantro also known as coriander is a lovely addition to a juice or smoothie. Full of antioxidants this herb also has a nice amount of vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, C,E, B6, K, phosphorous, iron, zinc, magnesium, potassium, manganese. The iron and magnesium make cilantro great for fighting anemia. Ladies! Take note, adding cilantro into your diet once a month prior to the onset of PMS may be beneficial because it can relieve menstrual cramps and reduce hormonal mood swings of the condition I like to call Vegan Bi&% Syndrome. In addition to this, along with aged garlic and chlorella, cilantro is great at removing heavy metals from your body like mercury, aluminum, and lead. Incorporating cilantro in your diet will also natural remove accumulated pesticides from your body as well. Other benefits include reducing cholesterol, aiding production of digestive enzymes, promoting liver function, disinfecting and detoxifying the body, relieving arthritis, reducing nausea, lowering blood pressure, reducing cellulite, lowering blood sugar, and being an effective natural fighter of salmonella. Keeping all of these awesome benefits in mind, you may not want to reserve cilantro only for your salsa. Toss it in your juice, smoothie, or salad for a fresh green taste with great nutritional benefits to boot. -XoXo Raw Girl

Juice! Sweet & Sour Watercress

For my morning pick-me-up, I  made this juice yesterday which was pretty yummy so I’m sharing. I call it sweet and sour because the lime and carrot and apple play well together. Over the weekend I made a version of this without carrot and apple and with more cucumber and a little ginger.  That one is more medicinal, but still good for those that can handle greens straight up. I’ve been in love with watercress for awhile so there is already a past blog post on some of the groovy nutrients watercress provides. Read here if you missed it, and also get another juice recipe with watercress in it.

For those dealing with acne, eczema, or other skin irritations, making a juice with watercress will do your body good. Watercress is full of antioxidants, great for anti-aging, and is considered a liver tonic, which is part of why your vegan glow will get a boost when you consume it. Don’t forget watercress is also a great addition to a salad when you get bored of the same ol’ greens. Mix it up by tossing in some watercress, and the peppery taste will literally spice up your life a bit. –XoXo Raw Girl

Sweet and Sour Watercress

1 English Cucumber

1 head of Romaine

5-6 Leaves of Kale

Handful of Watercress

1 Lime

1 Carrot

1 Apple

Juice all ingredients. Strain, serve, enjoy!

Veggie Love: Watercress & Juice! Cucumber Watercress Delight

This weekend I tossed in some watercress to my green juice and it made for a delightful addition. If you know nothing about watercress, it’s a green herb aptly named due to its high moisture content that has been used for food and medicinal purposes since ancient times.  Having an almost peppery taste somewhat similar to mustard greens, watercress can be added to salads or juiced. One bowl of watercress salad greens contains a high level of antioxidants, and almost 1/2 the daily recommended intake of Vitamin A. In addition eating watercress will give you a nice dose of Vitamin C, beta carotene, B vitamins, Vitamin E, folate, iodine, calcium and more. Just 100 grams of watercress will also give you 200% of the daily recommended value for Vitamin K which can strengthen bones and prevent osteoporosis.

Incorporating watercress in your diet can also help to prevent several kinds of cancer including skin and breast cancers. Some of the uses of watercress as a medicine or natural remedy include: purifying the blood, healing colds and coughs, asthma, anemia, and much more. Because of its high sulphur content, watercress is also a beauty vegetable that will assist in clearing and improving your complexion. The juice of watercress has been applied directly to the skin to aid in getting rid of acne, blackheads, dark spots etc.  I chose to juice my watercress, but you can also toss it in salads, nori rolls, or veggie wraps. Check out the recipe for my juice below, and if you’re looking for a new green to add some spice to your veggie life, give watercress a try. -XoXo Raw Girl

Cucumber Watercress Delight

 2-3 long English cucumbers or 4 large regular cucumbers

4-5 leaves of Lacinato Kale

large handful of Watercress

1-2 apples

1 lemon

Juice all ingredients, strain and serve. Enjoy!

Juice!:Cucumber Lime Cocktail

Had fun last weekend using ingredients left in the kitchen and mint from the garden to create this very refreshing summer juice. -XoXo Raw Girl

Ingredients: 2 limes, 2 large cucumbers, 1 carrot, 3 baby apples or 1 1/2 -2 regular sized apples, a couple mint leaves.

Juice everything but the mint. Strain juice into blender and blend juice with mint leaves. Serve & Enjoy!

How to Design Your Own Fast

“Fast and your light will break forth like morning…[and your] healing shall spring forth speedily.” – Isaiah 58: 6-11 

One of the coolest things I’ve ever learned about fasting I read in Gabriel Cousen’s book Spiritual Nutrition. He mentions that when you fast, your body turns on a “youthing gene,” and that it has been scientifically proven that our genes revert to an earlier expression of themselves when in fasting mode. In other words you begin to get younger, rather than older! Which is why long-term, adding the habit of regular fasting into your lifestyle literally adds years onto your life. Besides living longer, fasting, especially on fresh vegetable juices can speed your healing process, cleanse your body, boost your energy, revive your skin, and enhance your general joie de vivre.

You may be sold on the idea but have no idea where to start? No fear, it’s not as daunting as it seems. Most people like to have a program to follow and a schedule so they can stick to something and not fall off after one day of fasting. The first day and sometimes even the second can be the hardest. Preparation is definitely key when fasting, as well as motivation. You want to be clear on your motivation and fuel it, so that when the going gets rough you can stick with it to the finish line.

I fast for a number of reasons. Sometimes I feel like my skin is looking dull and I’ve had too much cooked food, so I’ll juice fast for a while to cleanse and get my vegan glow back, and other times it’s more of a spiritual thing. I’m sure that other avid fasters can attest to the fact that fasting can also put you in a heightened state of receptivity, and/or force you to listen and be more aware if you are seeking guidance on a major decision or waiting for something awesome to manifest in your life. There’s a reason so many spiritual leaders and sages have engaged in fasting. In the Bible alone there are several stories that are awesome commercials for fasting, from David to Jesus himself, which illustrate how fasting can unleash supernatural power.

There are plenty of fasts you can follow in books or even online, but I highly recommend creating something yourself that works for your personal goals. If you’ve never embarked on a fast I would recommend no more than three days. Also, be sure to consult with a doctor or holistic practitioner if you have any preexisting medical conditions. Below are five simple steps you can take to create your own fast. Hope this post is helpful, if you have more questions feel free to post or message me via Facebook-XoXo Raw Girl

  1. Find & fuel your motivation. Whether it be for cleansing/detox, clarity, spiritual insight etc. figure out your reason to begin. If you are doing longer fasts up to 10 days, you should be prepared with daily reading, quotes, or whatever works for you to keep you focused on your intention. If it’s a spiritual fast, or even if it is not, you may want to make time daily for prayer, meditation, or just reflection.
  2. Set the parameters.  Decide whether or not this is a 3 day fast or longer. Choose your method: are you fasting on green juices, veggie juices, water, raw foods? Fasting just means that you are committing to abstain from something. You could do a vegan fast or a raw fast. You could even be a meat eater who decides to abstain from meat for awhile. But for cleansing purposes if you want results, juice fasting with mostly if not all green vegetables is definitely the way to go.  If you are incorporating other sweet veggies like carrots and beets make sure you balance it by getting in some green juices daily as well. If you have a specific ailment you are nursing, you can actually look up recipes online or in holistic health books that will cater to that dis-ease. I don’t recommend you do a water fast unless it’s supervised. Make sure whatever method you use that you also consume large amounts of water during your fasting period. There is no set rule to how many juices you consume a day. Make sure you have enough on hand to get your fill. Some days you may need more juice than others. Go with the flow.
  3. Relax your schedule & plan ahead. Make sure you’ve got enough groceries and recipes for juices or whatever method of fast you choose. Even with die-hard commitment when the veggie hits the fan if you are juice fasting and can’t get your fix you may leave yourself vulnerable to eating other foods that happen to be around and breaking your fast the wrong way. Your fridge should be stocked with more than enough veggie ammo to survive your cravings. During this time respect your cleansing process and try to relax your schedule as much as possible. It’s possible to exercise while fasting, but for beginners and even veteran fasters, you may opt for much gentler workouts during your cleansing period. My favorite exercise while fasting (not exactly gentle) is hot yoga, because I get to sweat more toxins out.
  4. Commit to some sort of colon cleansing for the duration of the fast. This is a HUGE must. I recommend you also read my past post Tips For a Stress Free Fast which elaborates on this point even more. Fasting accelerates the bodies process of eliminating toxins, and if you do not support this process you could end up feeling sick during your fast. To avoid this you are going to need to incorporate enemas or colonics in your process. You will feel incredible if you do this. Some people say daily enemas, I say feel out your body and do what works for you, but do not skip this step.
  5. Have a plan for breaking the fast. Alright you made it to Day 3, and you are salivating because you want to bite something! Slow down. Make sure that you spend at least half of the time you fasted coming down off the fast. So for a three day, at least a day and a half coming down off the fast. Introduce solids very slowly. Veggie broths, fruit juices, and raw fruit can be great and not jarring. Eating things like nuts would throw your system into shock and may cause constipation so start with lighter foods.
** Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Listen to your body, consult w/ yr doc if need be, and take my advice at your own risk. Side effects may include general joie de vire, a spiritual awakening, or an increase in magnetism & overall sexiness.***
Check out this past post Tips for a Stress-Free Fast: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2009/11/18/tips-for-a-stress-free-fast/

Dear Raw Girl: How to be a Parasite Killa?

Hi this is Kristina from Arizona and I am seeking help.  It seems like you have some knowledge on parasites and I was hoping you could point me in the right direction.  I have been suffering with parasites for some time now.  I have been taking a homeopathic treatment for the last 6 months now.  It has seemed to help some, but I’m still dealing with these critters.  I am afraid to even eat anymore because I don’t know if what I’m eating is feeding them.  Please help!  I was thinking about doing the master cleanse, but not sure if this is best for me. What can I do to finally get rid of these buggers?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you Raw Girl.

Dear Kristina: Thanks so much for your question! In addition to answering you here on the blog, I answered you live on the first episode of my radio show. Will let you know when it is airing. As far as parasites—they SUCK! The first thing I would want to know is what kind of homeopathic treatment are you taking? Make sure that if you are taking something over the counter that it includes ingredients such as black walnut hull, wormwood, cloves,  and garlic. There usually are a host of other ingredients as well. Six months is a long time to not see results—so you may be eating things that continue to feed the parasites, or perhaps your treatment does not have the right ingredients. Also if you are married or have a boyfriend/partner, if you begin to cleanse and they do not, guess what—you’ll still be picking up their buggers!  

If your homeopathic treatment is not doing the job, I recommend uping the ante by taking an extra dose of cloves and garlic. Now, for regular maintenance and prevention I take aged garlic (odorless) pills and cloves everyday. Its made it easier and prevented the little buggers from coming back into a full out episode. In addition to this your diet is key, if you really want to give your parasites a run for their money. I would NOT recommend the master cleanse, especially since you would be drinking a concoction with maple syrup, which may only make your problem worse. If you choose to fast, I would recommend that you fast on green juices with little or no sugar added (not too much apple, carrot, beet). This in tandem with the homeopathic treatment and colon cleansing, will help you kill the parasites, their eggs, and flush out any dead ones. If you persist, I am sure you will see the light at the end of the tunnel! After you fast, stick to straight up greens in your diet and no carbs, or sugars. If after a month or two nothing changes, you might want to find somewhere to get tested to see what type of parasites you have. Different parasites respond to different things, and you may need to adjust your parasite killa strategy accordingly. Hope this helps! You can do it! -XoXo Raw Girl

For more information about parasites and parasite cleansing, check out these previous posts:

http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2010/12/04/dear-raw-girl-how-to-take-on-parasites/

 http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2010/03/15/the-anti-parasite-diet-foods-that-make-parasites-run-for-cover/

Green Juice: Celery, Arugula, Kale & Apple

Hey Gang:

Below’s a video from my fast, last month. Arugula is one of my new favorite veggies! I love it as a salad or mixed in with other greens, and it is also awesome in juice. It also happens to be a raw aphrodisiac! More on arugula later, for now check out this video and hopefully you’ll be inspired to get down with your own green juice concoction. – XoXo Raw Girl

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiPAaxAbBQI]

5 Reasons to Drink Green Juice

1. A Large Dose of Chlorophyll. You are what you eat, and chlorophyll is the building block of our bodies. More of it means more oxygen flowing, more vitality, and more energy!

2. Trace Minerals & Enzymes. Boost your digestion, encourage detoxification, and give your body the minerals its been missing out on!

3.More Veggie Bang for Your Buck. Juicing allows you to consume a wider variety of vegetables in larger quantities, and the nutrients are absorbed easily in juice form.

4. It’ll Make You Happy. Green juice and fasting help our bodies and spirits get through the icky stuff and clear the way for divine connection and inner peace. So basically, you’ll get a free dose of Zen with each glass of greens.

5. Keep Your Body Alkaline. Green juice consumption will help you ward off health problems, and fight any imbalances in the body. Disease can only live in an acidic state, and drinking green juice regularly will help to keep your body alkaline.

-XoXo Raw Girl

Diary of My 7 Day Spring Cleaning

maids-express.com

I feel like I’m a little late on my annual spring cleaning, but better late than never, as they say. The best way to gauge whether or not you need to detox or cleanse is really to listen to your body, and last week my body was screaming “STOP EATING FOR A MINUTE.” So, I listened. Another factor that always plays a huge part in my personal desire to fast is what is happening  in my life at the time. If I feel like things are in transition, or new projects and opportunities are in  a very important incubation phase, sometimes I use fasting like a form of prayer. It keeps my thoughts still and positive, vibration high, and allows me to hear clearer guidance from the universe.

Fasting, as I have mentioned in previous posts, is a sure way to increase longevity, rid the body of stored toxins, and  awaken a deeper spiritual connection.  In Dr. Gabriel Cousen’s book, Spiritual Nutrition, he discusses fasting as, “the ultimate way to reactivate the youthing gene expression.”  he goes on to elaborate that research has proven that fasting actually allowed a “youthing gene” to be turned on, and people were literally “reverting to an earlier stage of their gene expression.” They were getting younger! If none of those reasons appeal to you, then perhaps you would just like to have a natural glow–after and sometimes even during every fast–my skin always gets just a little bit more radiant and people often comment on it. Below is the regimen I followed on my own Spring Cleaning. I didn’t really plan it out, just kind of went with the flow.

Usually it is best to ease into it, having less and less solids and more liquids, then do liquids alone all day, and then transition back out of the fast easily. In total my spring cleaning was 7 days, 2 days transitioning into it, 3 days of liquid only fasting, and 2 days to transition off of the fast. Fasting for up to seven to ten days is generally considered safe by many fasting experts, but if one has an acute disease it would be wise to fast in conjunction with a health professional.

For more info on Juice fasting check out this previous post/article I wrote: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2009/11/18/my-article-on-the-benefits-of-juice-fasting/

For tips on how to make your fast stress free check out this previous post: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2009/11/18/tips-for-a-stress-free-fast/

Hope you will be  inspired to tailor your own personal spring cleaning and move into to summer glowing and toxin-free. -XoXo Raw Girl

Day 1

Morning: lots of water, Around 12pm: Watermelon (it was a huge piece like 1/3 of a whole watermelon :), Around 3pm: Water & Meat of 1 Thai Coconut, Around 6pm: one large spinach/kale/avocado salad w/ pine nuts and red bell pepper

Day 2

Morning: lots of water, Around 12pm: Water & Meat from Thai coconut, Around 4 pm: Water & meat from Thai Coconut, Around 7pm: Miso Soup with seaweed, carrot, scallions, and ginger

Day 3

Morning: lots of water, Around 12pm 32 oz of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, Lots of water throughout the day, Around 5:30 pm around 24 oz green juice: kale, celery, apple, ginger, Late evening: green tea

Day 4

Morning: lots of water, Around 12pm Coconut Water, Around 3pm 24 oz of green juice: celery, kale, apple, lemon, ginger, Around 6pm Coconut Water,  Around 7pm Several glasses of Hibiscus Flower tea

Day 5

Morning: lots of water, several glasses of Hibiscus flower tea, Around 12pm: 16 oz of Cleansing Cocktail (Watch video of how to make in this post: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2010/03/23/how-to-make-a-cleansing-cocktail/),  Around 3pm Green Coconut Water (coconut water and meat blended with spirulina mixed in), Around 7pm: veggie broth w/seaweed

Day 6

Morning: Lots of water, Around 12 pm coconut water and meat, 3pm: coconut water and meat, Around 7pm: 1 guacamole nori roll with shredded beet, carrots, and a little red quinoa salad w/red onion (tastes like heaven)

Day 7

Morning: water, Around 12pm: green juice, 4pm veggie broth, 7:30pm kale & mixed green salad w/ avocado dressing

Yummy Kale Salad