Another Day, Another Green Juice!

Fresh Spicy Juice

All organic!
Spinach, parsley, kale, carrot, red bell pepper, lemon, lime, green apple, ginger

Chocolate Malty Meal - Raw Breakfast Cereal

Thick meat from one coconut (thin meat will create a smoothie)

1/2 cup to 1 cup raw fresh-pressed cane juice depending on consistency desired

One heaping tablespoon raw cacao

One tablespoon raw hemp seeds (gives it a buttery taste)

Blend on low
Serves 2

Reminiscent of childhood hot breakfast cereal that mom would make... Tastes exactly like it!

Persimmon Season

... is finally here!

Cilantro Cashew Dip & Curly Kale

Use my cashew cheese recipe as a base. Add cilantro, peppers, onions, garlic, a little cumin, and a bit of either raw cacao or carob.

Seed Porridge

A spoonful of each of the following:
White chia seeds
Black chia seeds
Buckwheat hulls
Sunflower seeds
Sesame seeds
Hemp seeds
Cinnamon

Soaked for ten minutes with your choice of raw milk.
I used a blend of young coconut meat, fresh coconut water and raw cane juice from www.sugarcanejuice.org

Shown here with organic peppermint Tulsi tea.

Kale - Apple - Beet

Organic Seasonal Salad

Rainbow chard, yellow heirloom tomato, red flame grapes, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, kelp, dill, olive oil and lemon juice.

Raw Chocolate Covered Banana Smoothie

Water and meat from one young coconut
One banana
8 oz. Raw Cane Juice, see www.sugarcanejuice.org
Three heaping teaspoons raw cacao powder
Two tablespoons chia seeds, soaked in water

Carob Avocado Creme Smoothie

Avocado
Carob
Coconut water
Raw Cane SuperJuice sugarcane juice
Cinnamon
Ice
Billy's Infinity Greens

Musical Figs

Figs from my music partner's back yard. Check out our songs at www.myspace.com/fallenfruit and follow us on twitter @FallenFruities.

Curry Noodles

Curry Sauce:
Soaked sunflower seeds
Lemon juice
Water
Sea salt
Curry powder
Hot peppers
Dill
Nutritional yeast

Sauce served over spiralized yellow squash and a mixed greens with cucumber salad.

Late night snack: Raw Pasta

Spiralized zucchini linguini topped with spicy garlic sunflower seed cheese and side salad of baby romaine and cucumber sprinkled with sesame and hemp seeds with dressing of fig balsamic, olive oil and lemon juice. Garnished with spiralized carrot and blueberries.

Raw Tacos from Sage Organic Bistro in Echo Park

Organic Red Flame Grapes

From Summer Harvest Farm at the Mar Vista Farmers' Market. Local! A delicious and moisture-rich source of vitamin C.

Banana Creme Pie Smoothie

1 small organic banana
4 brazil nuts
1 tsp. carob
1 tsp. raw coconut butter
1/4 cup raw sugarcane juice (may substitute with a teaspoon or two of raw honey or raw agave)
Water

Serves 1

Whipped California Mango Smoothie

Fresh, grown in California(!!!) mango blended with carob and cinnamon in a base of CocoSoSmooth (coconut flesh, coconut water and raw sugarcane juice) from Raw Cane SuperJuice

Summer Smoothie

Banana, orange, strawberries, lettuce, raw coconut butter, carob, cinnamon and agave

Onion Dip

Another Smoothie

Pitted cherries, frozen strawberries, a banana, a peeled orange, fresh raw cane juice and water

Today's Smoothie

Fresh young coconut, banana, frozen strawberries, a peeled orange, fresh raw cane juice and vanilla

Strawberry Parfait Smoothie

Frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, fresh young coconut and fresh raw sugarcane juice from the lovely people at Raw Cane SuperJuice in Hollywood, CA.
www.sugarcanejuice.org

Carob Spinach Smoothie

Two to three cups packed spinach leaves
Half large banana
One orange, peeled
Two tbs. or more carob
Two tbs. Raw coconut butter
Hint of vanilla
Your choice of sweetener like raw agave or stevia
I used one cup of Ginger Lime Raw Cane juice from Raw Cane SuperJuice

Dessert!

I blended one avocado with carob powder, raw coconut butter, raw agave, raw cane juice, vanilla, pistachios and sea salt to make a delicious mousse. However, I was unable to take a photo because this was just too good. I inhaled it before I had the chance.

Sent from my iPhone

Strawberry Ginger Smoothie

Two frozen bananas
Small tray of strawberries
Juice of one orange
Juice of one blood orange
Juice of half a lime
Freshly juiced ginger, to taste
Fresh pressed raw sugar cane juice from Raw Cane SuperJuice, 8 oz.
www.sugarcanejuice.org

Today's Green Juice

One bunch dinosaur kale, five carrots, two apples, 1 Meyer lemon, a little celery, a bit of lettuce and lots of ginger!

Oh Hell Yeah

Coconut water
Coconut flesh
Banana
Raw almond butter
Raw agave

Broccoli & Cheese

An easy snack for one person. One and one half cup of soaked cashews blended with juice of one large lemon, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper, half a jalapeño, garlic, onion and sea salt.

Liquid Cleanse Summary - and "What I ate when I stopped drinking my food"

By the afternoon on day five of my liquids-only cleanse I decided it was time to break it. I started by slowing chewing an organic pink lady apple. It took me over twenty minutes to eat the whole thing. I noticed I was paying attention to making each bite turn into applesauce before swallowing it.
I hastily made plans at the new Cafe Gratitude location on Larchmont just south of Melrose in Los Angeles. I met up with a couple of friends and I hesitantly ordered a glass of cabernet. I know, I know… probably not the best decision. But, honestly, I love wine and I wasn't going to pretend I didn't want to have a glass. I savored every drop and didn't guzzle it down like I usually do!
The three of us shared a caesar salad. It was definitely delicious. I noticed that, though I was eager to get some solid food in my system, I was eating slowly. Shoveling down a huge plate food is something a lot of us in the food business have trained ourselves to do when working in a busy kitchen. I felt like I re-learned how to eat yesterday. I really needed that.
I tried to play it safe and ordered a spicy coconut curry soup. Though I was disappointed with the large size of the of the avocado and sprouts just tossed onto what appeared to be a spicy green smoothie in a bowl, I enjoyed the taste. I wish their kitchen staff would have cut the ingredients to fit onto a soup spoon. It makes a soup so much more edible when you don't have to use your fingers to eat it.
For dessert, which I felt I deserved, I ordered the chocolate hazelnut mousse pie along with a Sauvignon Blanc. (Again, just because I eat raw food doesn't mean I'm perfect.) Yum! If only the pie had been drizzled with a caramel date sauce and covered in raspberries!

Benefits noted on day four were:
- less puffy and swollen hands
- the tremor in my left thumb has magically gone away
- my bad skin (from too much caffeine over the last few months) is finally starting to clear up
- feeling more rested in the morning
- having more energy during the day
- feeling naturally sleepy before bed
- less anxious
- more sound sleep
- extreme joyousness

Post-cleanse benefits:
- appreciation for savoring a meal and chewing it slowly
- desire to choose more liquids that digest easily
- desire to drink less alcohol while with friends and instead sleep better
- being able to notice how I feel after ingesting certain things like heavy raw foods and/or alcohol
- able to get back into the swing of my raw foods lifestyle (now that I don't make cooked vegan food all day everyday in a restaurant)
- I spent a lot less money while juicing and drinking smoothies!


Today's breakfast:
Homemade Kombucha and a Green Smoothie consisting of: banana, orange, coconut butter, agave, carob and Billy's Infinity Greens

Day FOUR(!) of Spring Cleaning

Breakfast: smoothie shown above. Same as yesterday (see previous post) only with teaspoon of cinnamon added.

Snack: ginger tea, homemade kombucha

Lunch: cheated a little bit with the Aztec Maca Shake from Euphoria Loves Rawvolution in Santa Monica. Ingredients: cacao, maca, coconut meat, coconut water & mesquite

Dinner: green juice shown below
1 bunch kale
5 carrots
1 cup bean sprouts
sprig of basil
1/4 lemon
2 apples
4 stalks of celery
2 tbs. fresh ginger

Bedtime snack: senna tea





After non-stop peeing for the first three days I finally got back to normal today. I must have had quite a bit of water weight built up because I am 5 lbs. lighter today than I was the day I started this liquids-only cleanse.
Benefits I have also encountered besides losing the water weight have been:

less puffy and swollen hands
the tremor in my left thumb has magically gone away
my bad skin (from too much caffeine over the last few months) is finally starting to clear up
feeling more rested in the morning
having more energy during the day
feeling naturally sleepy before bed
less anxious
more sound sleep
extreme joyousness

These benefits can be maintained by choosing a low-fat, low-sodium raw vegan diet after my cleanse. I plan to return to about 90% raw while continuing to break for weekly avocado rolls and sake at my neighborhood sushi joint.

Day Three of Spring Cleaning

Experienced a wet, windy and rainy farmers' market in Hollywood followed by a day of reading under a blanket! Okay, I also watched a little Portlandia...

Breakfast smoothie (see above):
1 banana
2 whole oranges, sans peel
2 tbs. coconut butter
1 tbs. raw agave
2 lettuce leaves
water

Various teas, a little homemade kombucha and also a smoothie from the farmers' market were consumed here and there.

Dinner juice (see below):
3 apples
1 bunch kale
5 medium carrots
2 stalks celery
2 little nubs of ginger (totally could have used more)

Day Two of Spring Cleaning Super Moon Funtime

Another day, another green juice for dinner… Tonight it's apple/carrot/kale/celery!



With the Super Moon nowhere in sight this evening, thanks to an overcast Los Angeles sky, my exhaustion almost prevents me from tying this entry. I started my day with a 40-minute run. I then made my way over to the Silverlake Farmers' Market with my good friend, DJ Brazilia. I picked up more kale, apples and some celery for my juice cleanse.

I also stopped at one of my favorite stands, Raw Cane SuperJuice, and picked up an Alkalizer Tonic. It's fresh raw cane juice, lime juice and chlorophyll and is basically a dark green limeade that isn't bad for you. It's not refined sugar and has a low glycemic index meaning it won't spike your blood sugar. Read about the tasty benefits and their other amazing products on their website: www.sugarcanejuice.org/
I'll be visiting with them tomorrow at the Hollywood Farmers' Market from 10AM until 1PM! Stop by!


See this article about the difference between raw cane sugar and refined sugars.

TODAY'S INTAKE
Breakfast: Raw Cane SuperJuice Alkalizer Tonic
Snack: tulsi tea
Lunch: fresh squeezed orange juice blended with blueberries and strawberries
Late afternoon: I had to bottle three batches of my homemade kombucha… had a bit of that, too!
Dinner: GREEN SUPER MOONJUICE! (See first photo… hahaha)
Bedtime snack: senna tea

Day One of Spring Cleaning

I started the day with a glass of homemade kombucha followed by an hour-long run in the beautiful California sun.
I felt really great but got a little hungry around 4:30pm. I had a large glass of fresh squeezed orange juice blended with strawberries. Yummy yum!
After my late lunch I took a bike ride up to the store to buy kale, apples and carrots for my green juice dinner.
I'll be juicing, blending and drinking various detox and senna teas over the next few days.

My goal of this "cleanse" is to feel lighter after months of what I believe to be too much cooked food and definitely too much alcohol consumption. I plan to do this for at least three to five days but may go for a whole week if it feels good.

I will be blogging more frequently and, as always, you can follow me on twitter @aprylelectra and @rawmacitas.

Spinach Dip!

Cashew based and slightly spicy. This was delicious with crudités as a pre-dinner snack.

Today's Smoothie

One medium banana, one large orange peeled, five strawberries and filtered water blended.

Chocoberry Smoothie

Blended banana, oranges, strawberries, spinach, coconut butter, agave nectar, cinnamon, carob, and water.

Papaya Orange Smoothie

2 small papayas
2 oranges, peeled
1/2 banana
1 tbsp. coconut butter
1 tsp. agave nectar
1 cup water

Serves two or one really excited person.

Jalapeño Cashew Cheese Over Bananas

Breakfast with detox tea and kombucha.

Jalapeno Cheese Portobella Burgers

Raw Chocolate Pudding

Frozen bananas, coconut butter, raw cacao powder and agave nectar.

Cashew Cheese Collard Wraps with Kalamata Olives and Onion Sprouts

Farmers' Market Salad with Guava

Kale, cucumber, broccoli, and carrots from the farmers' market topped with yellow strawberry guava from the back yard and fresh squeezed lime juice.

Green Smoothie

One banana, quarter of an avocado, some garlic, a handful of mixed baby greens, water.


Blend.


Yum!

Portabella Burger with Cashew Pepper Jack Cheese

Portabella cap marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and topped with green onions, dehydrated for about 30 hours at 105 degrees. Topped with Cashew Pepper Jack Cheese and dehydrated for about 6 hours. Topped with avocado, raspberries (for a ketchup taste) and sprouts. Wrapped in a piece of romaine lettuce.