Tag Archives: juicing

Juice! Sandy’s Cilantro Detox and Benefits of Cilantro

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

green juice

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!

Juice! Crimson Cleanser & The Benefits of Swiss Chard

dark leafy green

This weekend I was inspired by a gorgeous vegan friend to begin a juice fast I’ve been avoiding. She’s on a 48 Day cleanse right now. Talk about gangsta. When you see how incredibly flawless her skin is, it all makes sense that she commits to this regimen at least once a year. I always know when my body is crying out for a detox. A sure giveaway is the quality of my skin starts to dull a bit. After a few stressful days in New York, eating a few things I shouldn’t have, and also having MAC makeup applied for a fashion show on my skin (which I’ve discovered makes me break out), juicing is the remedy my internal doctor can prescribe without hesitation. So, I’ve been juicing, and when the recipes are not boring, I will blog about them so you can follow my progress. It’s really good, especially in a juice fast to get out of your rut of familiar juice recipes and incorporate others, you never know how much your body needs what a particular veggie can offer. For this crimson juice, I used beet, which is a great blood cleanser and red swiss chard. Funny enough, beets and swiss chard are in the same family. If you know your vegetables, you should know that beet greens (the leaves above the root) look strikingly similar to red swiss chard leaves.

Swiss chard is a colorful dark leafy green that can have stalks that are green, white, red, orange, or yellow. This plant despite the misleading name originated in Sicily, and is one of the most antioxidant rich foods, like, on the planet. Definitely, a nutrient dense veggie, chard is packed with disease fighting antioxidants and also vitamin E, C, A, K, B6, zinc, magnesium, manganese, copper, potassium, iron, fiber, riboflavin and protein. Swiss chard is also great for diabetics or anyone at risk for diabetes because it contains acids that help to regulate the blood sugar levels in the body. This green is also great for people with eye problems and for hair growth. It contains a high dosage of lutein, an antioxidant that is essential for eye health, and biotin, and important vitamin that promotes hair growth and strength. The stems of swiss chard are full of glutamine, which is an amino acid that with give your immune system a boost and help you recover faster from major surgeries or injuries. Besides all the aforementioned benefits, it can also help your body maintain the proper bone density, and can prevent colon cancer. Not too shabby. The next time your carting your way past these rainbow colored greens, I highly recommend you grab a bunch and give them a try. If not, just for the sake of adding some variety to your diet. To get the full nutritional benefits eat them raw and toss them in a salad or juice them. -XoXo Raw Girl

Crimson Cleanser

1 whole head of celery

4 Red Swiss Chard leaves

1/2 beet

1/2 lemon

ginger

Juice all ingredients, strain and serve. Made me a little more than 32 oz of juice. Enjoy!

Juice! Lemon Asparagus Flusher & Benefits of the Aphrodisiac Asparagus

asparagus

Got a little creative with the juice this morning. Had some asparagus and thought I’d throw it in my juice, and discovered afterwards that asparagus is great for detoxifying the body. Decided to make the juice with no apple, but it still had a refreshing mild taste and the lemon makes it more palatable.

Strangely enough this veggie is a member of the lily family. Due to its suggestive shape, it’s considered an aphrodisiac which can get you, um, a little excited to say the least as it increases libido. For all the grown folks check out my past post on raw aphrodisiacs if your naughty and want to eat something sexy. Besides its potential ability to leave you a little aroused, asparagus contain vitamin C, vitamin A (betacarotene), iron, potassium, manganese, selenium, fiber, protein, antioxidants, and is a particularly potent source of vitamin K which is necessary for the synthesis of a protein that strengthens your bone composition.

What makes asparagus great for detox is the fact that it is a natural diuretic, which means it promotes the formation of urine in the kidneys and helps to flush the body out. I combined this juice with cucumber and celery and lemon, which are all great additions that make this juice a great addition to a detox plan, or just on a regular day when your feeling up to it.  Asparagus also has a high amount of folate which is essential for pre-conception and early stages of pregnancy and can help to prevent birth defects, and contains inulin a compound that aids digestion and provides food for good bacteria in the body. Below is a nice summary of some additional benefits and the recipe for the juice. If you’re detoxing, need a boost to dull or acne prone skin, or juice want to try something new, I recommend juicing some asparagus. You can also of course eat asparagus steamed or raw. Whatever way you choose, I’m sure you’ll bring your sexy back, the veg way.  -XoXo Raw Girl 

Additional Benefits of Asparagus: 

  • Improves mood, fights depression
  • Lowers cholesterol
  • Stimulates milk production in nursing mothers
  • Cleanses the body & aids in detoxification
  • Prevents kidney stones
  • Lowers blood pressure
  • Stimulates hair growth (good superfood for hair loss)
  • Prevents osteoporosis
  • Reduces risk of heart disease
  • Energizes and helps with chronic fatigue

Lemon Asparagus Flusher

1 Lemon

7-9 stalks of Asparagus

1 whole head of celery

1 Long English Cucumber or 1 Regular Cucumbers

Juice all ingredients, strain, serve, enjoy! 🙂

The Power of Celery Juice

alkaline

Celery is one of those dependable veggies that most often gets taken for granted. The word celery comes from the Latin word celeri which means quick acting, probably referring to the therapeutic properties of this powerful root vegetable. A great base for vegetable juice due to its high water content, celery has been considered a cure-all since ancient times. Besides being extremely hydrating, celery juice is highly nutritious and boasts a good amount of vitamin A, along with vitamin B1, B2, B6, C, potassium, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, phosphorous, and essential amino acids. I consider celery juice a staple in the Raw Girl super power boosting arsenal because it is extremely alkalinizing and can balance out the bodies’ PH level. It provides live sodium essential for the body that is soluble and organic, and is a great juice for athletes because it replenishes electrolytes in the body. Below’s a quick run down of some of the amazing benefits of celery juice:

  • Fights cancer
  • Lowers blood pressure
  • Gets rid of LDL “bad” cholesterol and leave HDL “good” cholesterol intact
  • Prevents stress, calms the nervous system and relaxes the body
  • Regulates body temperature
  • Boosts weight loss and reduces cravings for sugar
  • Natural diuretic
  • Eliminates toxins from the body
  • Prevents constipation and reduces risk of kidney, urinary, and gall bladder stones
  • Research has shown celery juice useful in treating numerous conditions such as: arthritis, rheumatism & gout, nerve disorders, blood disorders (such as acne and anemia), respiratory disorders, indigestion, insomnia, kidney and gall stones, stomach ulcers, treating neurological damage from parkinson’s disease and stroke, and more.

    If you’ve put celery on the back burner, I suggest you start showing some celery love. Your body will say thank you. -XoXo Raw Girl

Breakfast Options for a Raw Girl On-the-Go

breakfast

It’s morning, you have a full day ahead of you, and you want to stay on the healthy track. Here’s ten quick breaking-the-fast/breakfast ideas to get your morning started right! There is an asterisk next to some of them to indicate that those recipes require some overnight soaking or prep the night before. I try to mix it up, but my favorite breakfast meals are quick, usually liquid meals that include superfood supplements. Below, I’ve also compiled links to a few past recipes from the blog that work well for breakfast. Have a favorite raw breakfast you’d like to share? Feel free to post your recipe on the Facebook page. –XoXo Raw Girl

  1. Fruit Smoothies with superfood supplements or green powders
  2. Green Smoothies
  3. Green Juices/ Vegetable Juices
  4. Cacao Smoothies/ “Milk” Shakes from nut milks
  5. Young Coconut Water/ Meat/ Young Coconut Smoothies
  6. Fruit Yogurt/ Puddings
  7. Chia Seed Pudding
  8. Raw Oatmeal*
  9. Raw Granola*
  10. Raw Banana Pancakes*
Click on the links below to review some past recipes featured on the blog that can work for breakfast. Also be sure to check the recipe category for more juice combinations and recipes!

How to Make a Green Smoothie

How to Make Raw Blueberry Pancakes

How to Make Blueberry Banana Coconut Yogurt

How to Make a Sweet Popeye Smoothie

Juice! : Cucumber Melon Lemonade

cantaloupe

Made this juice yesterday which I found pretty refreshing. Did you know you can juice melons? In this recipe you can try honeydew melon or cantaloupe, they both will work.  Melons in general are great for alkalinizing the body because of their high water content. They are a great addition to your diet if you are trying to lose weight, keep your skin clear, or just get your daily fruit and veg. Honeydew melon contains Vitamin C, calcium, potassium, magnesium, beta carotene, and B Vitamins with the exception of B12.  -XoXo RawGirl

Ingredients

2 Long English Cucumbers or 4 regular cucumbers, 1/4 Honeydew melon or cantaloupe, 1/2 lemon, 1 whole lime, 2 apples.

Juice all ingredients, strain, serve, and enjoy! 🙂

Natural Cures: Bitter Melon for Diabetes

bitter melon
Did you know that the number of people with diabetes rose from 1.5 million in 1998 to an epidemic 17.9 Million in 2007? How about that each year over 1.6 million new adult cases are diagnosed?  At this point it’s an anomaly to not know personally or have at least heard about someone that has had to deal with some of the devastating side effects of diabetes such as blindness, kidney failure, and even cognitive decline. Many people who have altered their diet to include a wide array of fruits and vegetables and have seem remarkable results, even those who were former sufferers of diabetes and all sorts of other degenerative dis-eases.  Diabetes is essentially marked by the presence of excess sugar in the bloodstream, which then results in an inability for the pancreas to secrete sufficient or sometimes any insulin.
            Bitter melon is a special vegetable that you probably have never heard of, that has been used with positive results in the attempt to treat diabetes naturally. This vegetable is very well known in Asia and has been shown to significantly lower blood sugar. Bitter melon is an amazing healing agent  has a structure similar to insulin, hence its natural ability to assist in the movement of glucose into cells which gives you the energy to do all the great things that you do! Bitter melon has been used as in traditional medicine for a long list of conditions such as: killing bacteria, parasites, and viruses, reducing inflammation, cleansing the blood, acting as an antibacterial agent against e.coli, and possibly destroying some strains of the herpes virus.
          What’s even more interesting is that this vegetable is widely used by the Okinawa people in Japan which have per capita some of the longest life spans in the world. This vegetable grows in tropical areas like East Africa, Asia, South Africa, and the Caribbean. Bitter melon is very rich in iron, phosphorous, contains twice the beta carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, twice the potassium of bananas, and Vitamins A, C, B1 to B3. Which is not surprising due to its amazing healing effects. To make things even better,  it is a great source of dietary fiber. Bitter melon can usually be found at your local Asian supermarket, or bought as a supplement from a health food store. It can also be made into teas, tinctures, and soups.
         The mother of a friend of mine a few years ago was suffering from intense symptoms, and was later diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. She started juicing bitter melon with lemon every morning, and in a matter of months the doctor was flabbergasted at the fact that she was no longer in need of any insulin. Moral of the story? Mother Nature has always provided us what we need and our bodies can heal if we choose to give it the right fuel.  I encourage you to try bitter melon out for yourself and recommend it to others who are battling diabetes. As the name suggests, it may be an acquired taste, but in order to live optimally we need balance. We need the bitter and the sweet, and sometimes the bitter may hold the key to our healing. – XoXo Nicola, signing in for Raw Girl 
**Be sure to take precautions; consuming a large amount of bitter melon juice may cause diarrhea or abdominal pain. If you have diabetes or other terminal diseases please consult with your doctor or holistic health practitioner.**

Raw Girl’s 40 Day Soul Fast

40 Day Soul Fast

“Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source of sustenance beyond food.” ~Dallas Willard 

About two months ago, I kept getting a “hunch” that I needed to do a fast. Not a fast for health reasons. A fast to confirm and deepen my relationship with God, the ultimate force.  Right at that time, a friend of mine who is actually a meat-eater, was doing the Daniel fast for 40 Days. The Daniel fast is based on the prophet Daniel’s diet  that consisted of only fruits, vegetables, and drinking only water for a period of 21 days. Additional restrictions include no wine, no breads, meat or sweeteners.

I knew my soul was craving a 40 Day fast and  after speaking to my friend I thought that was it, I would do a Daniel fast for 40 Days too! But in the weeks after my encounter with her, I allowed myself to get lazy about it. It’s too long I thought. Then a couple of weeks later God made it pretty clear that I was not going to get away with avoiding a 40 Day fast. I was in New York at the beginning of May, and another friend  who knew nothing about my desire to fast and subsequent laziness, gave me a Christian book called The 40 Day Soul Fast. I almost laughed out loud. AHA! Here was another sign, and this time I knew that I could not ignore it. The next day, May 7, 2012, I began my 40 Day journey. During the 40 Days I chose to be 100% raw and read excerpts from the book, as each chapter was dedicated to a day of the fast. Funnily enough, at the exact same time by happenstance, my mother and father decided to embark on a vegan fast together for 40 Days.

During the fast, at times I would feel like I was going through the motions. Probably because I was. I ate raw food, focused on prayer, meditation once a day, attended Bible study, read the book, listened to an awesome CD of gospel tunes made for me by a friend. Nothing seemed to be HAPPENING. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I continued to go day by day and eventually my impatience was replaced with devotion to being present and engaged. The fast ended on June 15th and it seemed to happen so suddenly I was left wondering what I had gained although I had noticed the immediate effects of meditating. Now a week following I have been inundated with daily blessings, miracles, and a deep sense of peace. It’s an amazing sense of grace that has emerged from feeling an intimate connection with THE SOURCE. Post-fast, I am continuing to cultivate that relationship with continued daily practice of meditation. Health is beyond just the body, it’s the soul/spirit, body, mind. All must be nourished in order to create optimal wellness, so it’s important to find what mindfulness practice works for you an incorporate it.

I happen to be Christian, and in the Bible the power of fasting is advertised regularly through the struggles and triumphs of many biblical figures. Across all religions examples can be found of how fasting unleashes extraordinary power and connection with THE FORCE. The great news for veggie lovers is that the way we eat already connects us with the divine flow. My mother, who after fasting for 40 Days on a vegan diet has now become a vegan, said that she is amazed by how at peace a vegetable diet has made her feel. Yes, we are what we eat, and when we eat plants we become one with the stillness of nature. A raw food lifestyle can accelerate your spiritual journey even further, intentionally or unintentionally. Years ago when I went raw and also happened to begin meditation simultaneously, I experienced an increase in synchronicity, heightened energy, and noticed that things I desired or thought about seemed to be drawn effortlessly to me. All that said, fasting is not for the faint of heart. Listen to your body, mind, and soul. If you are feeling cluttered, overwhelmed, disconnected, want to break bad habits, or just want to discover or renew your relationship with the Divine source, I highly recommend a spiritual fast. -XoXo Raw Girl

For more insights on fasting, check out this past post Wise Ones on Fasting.

Veggie Love: Watercress & Juice! Cucumber Watercress Delight

green juice

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!