Quick Update

Hi Everyone:

It's been a bit hectic. I just wanted to keep everyone updated with what's going on with my sister-in-law. I have to make this quick because I'm home alone with my kids and both in-laws. I'm cutting and pasting a note I wrote on Thursday. Some of you have already seen this, so I apologize for the duplicate:

Hi Ladies:

We got a call from Laverne, my sister in law's, nursing home today. The message was "Come and take her away. We cannot help her." She has been fighting, combative, and will not cooperate with the therapists. My husband is gone to get her.

I'm writing because I will be home alone all day and night tomorrow (Friday July 9) with my two sons and two disabled women, one who just had a stroke, and the other, her mother, also disabled, who can't do much herself.

My husband has to work, then turn around and leave again because he's a featured speaker at Lakeview Mansion Friday night. I will see him long enough to say "hi"and "bye." The thought of being here alone with essentially four kids who ALL need me is a bit much.

Also, too, I do need help with food. If anyone could help me with that, a big load would be taken off my shoulders. This is a crisis point, and I'm tired already. Laverne does qualify for lots of in-home services. No one will be here until Saturday,at the earliest. (And I was supposed to go to a booksigning on Saturday!)

I just need sister support, and some help. Feel free to call. That is the best way to reach me.

Thanks and hugs,
Althea

So the latest is that Laverne cannot walk, eat, bathe, nor dress without help. Her mother and I have done that for her so far today. But she's been asleep most of the time, which is a good thing. I'm staying calm and focused, and the kindness I have already been shown is gratifying. Also, my friend Tahisha is going to meet Nwenna Kai for me, so I will still get her book and share it with you all. Send us good energies :-).

Nwenna Kai coming to Maryland

Just wanted to everyone in Maryland and D.C. that Nwenna Kai, author of The Goddess of Raw Foods is coming to Roots Market on Saturday, July 11 from 11:00am to 3:00pm.

5805 Clarksville Square Dr
Clarksville, MD 21029-1853
(443) 535-9321
http://www.rootsmkt.com/

I first saw Nwenna on the Raw For Life Encyclopedia. I am so pleased to be able to meet her in person. Here is her bio:

Nwenna Kai is best known as the creator, founder, and culinary designer of Taste of the Goddess Cafe, one of LA's pioneering organic raw foods cafe, catering companies, and product lines in the Los Angeles area. She has designed the raw vegan product line for the company Foodology, Inc. Her raw food creations are available in over 30 Whole Foods markets in the southern California area.

She and her restaurant have been featured on E-Entertainment's THS about Diet Fads, Your LATV, LA Magazine, The Travel Channel's Taste of America, KTLA Channel 5 News with Lawrence Zarian and with Gayle Anderson, a featured chef appearance in The Ultimate Encyclopedia of the Raw Food Lifestyle DVD series, H-Monthly, The LA Wave, 944 Magazine, Innervisions on KPFK 90.7 FM radio, and Innerlightradio.com.

Her debut recipe book, The Goddess of Raw Foods is available on www.amazon.com.

She is the winner of the 2007 Elizabeth Dole Young Entrepreneurial Grant from the organization Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) for her work as a health and wellness eco-entrepreneur.

She travels teaching and lecturing about the a more holistic and organic lifestyle and consciousness.

Her websites are:
http://www.youtube.com/nwennakai
http://www.myspace.com/nwennakai
http://www.tasteofthegoddess.com
http://www.the-guide-to-raw-foods.com
http://www.nwennakai.com

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Althea

105 Degrees and Rejuvelac

I wanted to share with you all some exciting news in the raw food world. Matthew Kenney, one of my favorite chefs and authors, is a partner in a new raw food chef academy, restuarant, and and shop called 105degrees. The website is www.105degrees.com.

From the website:
"The name 105degrees represents the optimum temperature for preparing living cuisine, also called raw food cuisine, without harming its healthful properties.”

"Oklahoma City-based 105degrees is the place for living cuisine, featuring a café, an academy, and a boutique retail shop. In 2008, 105degrees was created to fill a void in the culinary world."

"The 105degrees Academy is a state-licensed educational institution. It was created to share and advance cutting-edge living cuisine in an inviting environment through superior instruction and creative education designed to challenge and prepare our students. We offer chef certification courses, as well as public culinary instruction. "

The Grand Opening is September 2009, for the restaurant, the academy, and the shop. If you are interested in become a raw food chef, download the course catalog, which is here:
http://105degrees.com/theacademy/. This is very exciting news. Kenney and his team will continue to push raw and living food to new heights. I look forward to taking a trip to Oklahoma City to take some classes :-)

On the personal end, it's been a tough few weeks. I made Rejuvelac last week. Here is what I learned: drink it the first day it's ready. On Day One it smelled like cheese, but tasted like weak lemonade. On Day Two, it smelled like cheese and tasted like cheese.

Gross.

This is what it looked like before I poured it out of the sprouting jar. Now, the next day, I took Raymond to a campfire at our local nature center. We made s’mores. Yes, I had the ooey-gooey combination of roasted marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. The next day, Saturday, June 27, I had diarrhea ALL DAY. Thank goodness, I was at work (which sounds oxymoronic) but Mystickal Voyage is an amazing place, as I've said before. They let me rest in one of the healing rooms, which gave me the strength to drive home.

I was feeling better by Sunday. On Monday, I took Raymond to get a hearing test, which he passed. Me and the kids met a friend for lunch. I was proud that my kids behaved with other adults and had a great time. Jona even danced for us twice! LOL.

And then Tuesday night hit. Rom called me at work to tell me LaVerne had another seizure. Turns out she had another stroke. On Wednesday she had trouble walking and we knew what had happened. Rom and I alternate taking LaVerne and Ruby to the hospital, when needed. It was my turn. I got home from the ER around 2:00am, and I've had trouble recovering ever since. I've been exhausted. I slept most of July 4th. I missed my friend Amaadi's baby shower, and I just overall feel like crap. I ate garlic raw last night, and my chest congestion is gone. I just feel like I need to drink only green juices for a few days until I feel right again.

But I did have an AMAZING, positive dream this morning, which made me feel better. I know all of this will have a happy ending. I only ask for all of your positive energies to be sent my way.

Thanks for reading :-).
Love,
Althea

Althea's Back!

Where have I been? I haven’t posted since June 1, and I’m sure everyone was wondering where I was.

I took an Internet break for a week. The barrage of information coming at me was a bit much. No social networks, no blogging, nothing except checking my email occasionally. (BTW: What did we do with our time before social networking became all the rage? I think we watched television. What did people do before televisions were in every home?) Then I started posting the Mocha Angel messages again, (which I put on the right column of my blog everyday). Then the blogging break kept going and going like a Duracell battery. Yesterday, I said, “It’s time to come back.”

I’d taken a mental health break. I stood back to get a perspective on my life. My professional life is great. I love teaching yoga and doing readings for people. But at home, things were not great. I'm referring to the stress of being a caretaker. Me and my husband are fine. I am grateful for him and our sons. But the in-laws have been a whole 'nother story.

My frustration with the dichotomy between my professional life and personal life was becoming bigger. I do believe we are all co-creating our lives. So I used a book that had helped me in the past, but I hadn’t, in all honesty, read the book from cover to cover.

I’m reading and watching:
You Can Heal Your Life: the book
You Can Heal Your Life: the audiobook
You Can Heal Your Life: the DVD

Hearing Louise Hay read her book is a big help. Listening to her conviction drives all of her points home. What I am seeing, hearing, watching, and now understanding is that changing one’s life requires a complete change in consciousness. The way a person thinks, speaks, and behaves all creates her future. I like when she said, “Think of your thoughts as a plates at a buffet. Pick the best ones that will create a great future for you.”

What You Can Heal Your Life does is move you from a victim mentality to an empowerment mentality. I have felt sorry for myself with all that I have to do each and every day for my family. It can be too much. That’s real. What’s also real is that we really can shift our outer circumstances by shifting our inner belief system. I’m taking my life back, on every level, to create one that’s even better than it was before the bottom fell out. This also supports what I get from my Angels, but gives me a road map to healing so that my personal and professional lives are a match.

With the raw food, I decided to focus on my favorite raw snacks, entrees, drinks, and desserts. For now, rather than focus on new creations, outside of dishes from Matthew Kenney’s Everyday Raw that look crazy scrumptious, I’ll focus on foods that I love. I wrote out a list and put it on my refrigerator.

Drinks
Apple-kale-lemon juice
Water w/ lemon
Mint tea
Carrot-apple juice
Watermelon juice
Tahini-banana shake
Vanilla “milk”shake
Blood
Apple-banana smoothie with greens
Pina colada

Entrees/Soups/Salad
Spinach soup
Creamy cheese
Veggie crab cakes and dill sauce
Tabbouleh
Thai salad and dressing
Potato salad and dressing
Eggplant bacon

Bok choy
Falafels
Sesame-ginger sauce and veggies
Sensuous candy (avo-mango-banana)
Avocado-tomato-lettuce-cilantro nori roll
Cashew nori roll
Cauliflower nori roll
Tacos
Baked mac and “cheese”
Spinach asian salad
Kale salad
Carrot tuna

Desserts
Apple crisp w/ sauce
Apple pie
Key lime pie
Apple cookies
Warm fudge brownie
Strawberry crepes
Cashew gelato
Heavenly chocolate

Those are all my favorites! I won’t be bored and wondering “what am I going to eat today?” I also write down what I want to make for the week, so I have a guideline to follow. Now my focus on using the raw food to transform me, and my life. Thanks for coming on this journey with me!

Love,
Althea

Hummus and Orange Tea

Orange Tea

My son Raymond, ever the chef, wanted to make Orange Tea today. The recipe is from a kids' cookbook called World of Recipes: China. This tea is not raw, but I will try whatever he makes. He gets SO excited helping me in the kitchen. He is my official sous chef.

Orange Tea
2 cups water
2 oranges
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 tablespoons granulated sugar (white, brown, turbinado will do. We used brown.)

Peel and cut the oranges into small bite sized pieces. Put the cornstarch and sugar in a small pot. Add 2 cups of water. Turn the heat up to high, in order to boil. Stir constantly until it boils. Add the oranges once it boils. Turn the heat down to simmer. Cook for 5 minutes. Pour everything into tea cups. Tastes great. Even Rom said it was good.

This is Raymond drinking his tea. He wanted mine, but, to quote a legendary late-night TV commercial for 1970's soul music albums, I said, "Oh, no my brother! You gots to get your own!" (Comment if you've seen that commercial!)

On May 27th, I had:
water
apple
peach
banana
apple/banana/kale smoothie
lettuce/cilantro/avo nori roll
spinach salad
lemongrass tea

On May 28th, I had:
Matt Juice
carrot juice
mint tea
apple/kale/green pepper/parsley/lemon juice
salad with house dressing
kale salad
lettuce/cilantro/avo nori roll

Zucchini Hummus

On May 29th, I had:
water
Matt Juice
apple/kale/cucumber juice
zucchini hummus with lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers
kale salad
Broccoli & snow peas with sesame-ginger sauce

On May 30th, I had:
pears
peaches
kale salsa
avocado mango salad
apple
banana, kale, apple smoothie
nori with tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado
water

On May 31st, I had:
Water
Apples
Pears
Kale salad
Lemonade
Lemonade/tea mix
Carrot tuna

I made Zucchini Hummus from Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer Cornbleet. The two issues I had with it were the hummus was a little thin, but she did say that in the book. And it needed more seasoning. I used more garlic, salt, tahini, and paprika than called for in the book. Other zucchini hummus recipes call for olive oil, so I'll try that next time. But it is tasty, and easy.

Hummus Wrap

Zucchini Hummus

1 zucchini, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons raw tahini

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Put everything in the food processor with the S blade attached. Process until smooth. I added the extra stuff after I tasted it. Increase the amounts to suit your taste.

My big news is that I'm joining a writers' group, ten years after I'd started one myself. My old group helped me finish Walking The Line back in 2000. I haven't been a part of an in-person group since. With all that I have going on, I have let my current novel slide. This will force me to continue. I have 187 pages/50,000 words. Wish me the best!

Love,

Althea

Sesame Ginger Sauce and Produce Bargins

I got all of this produce for SEVEN DOLLARS at a farm near my house. I've been touting the benefits of overripe produce, or seconds, as they are called, for some time now. I go to my county farms looking for seconds. You rarely find these at the grocery store, with the exception of overripe bananas, which I have seen marked down at regular stores in Maryland.

The price of everything is going up. Getting produce can be difficult. If you have any farmers markets or farms within a 10 to 20 mile radius of your home, find them. Most of them have websites. Call them regularly in the late morning after they've had time to go through their daily produce. They will mark down the seconds and display them prominently.

Yesterday, I got all of that produce because they know my face. I called around 10:00am and asked if they had any seconds. The apples were five dollars. The tomatoes were two dollars. They gave me everything else FOR FREE. Karen (that's the woman who helped me) said they couldn't sell the lemons, pears, tangerines, and bananas at regular price and she was happy to know the food was going to good use. They won't do that at your typical grocery store chain. And you'll be supporting local farmers while you're at it!

Collard Wrap

On May 25th, I had:
Matt Juice
2 apples
kale salad
lettuce, cilantro, tomato, avocado in nori roll
water w/ lemon

Broccoli and Snow Peas with Sesame-Ginger Sauce

On May 26th, I had:
water w/ lemon
tahini shake
collard wrap: lettuce, cilantro, tomato, and avocado
tomatoes
coconut, tangerine, pear, banana smoothie
Broccoli and snow peas with sesame ginger sauce

This Sesame-Ginger Sauce is adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

6 tablespoons sesame oil

6 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 to 1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes (this is hot!)

2 1/2 tablespoons minced ginger

4 garlic cloves

Mix everything well. Pour over your vegetables. They can be whatever veggies you want. The longer they marinate, the better it will taste. People at work could smell the sauce. They all said it smelled great (even though I could not smell anything.)

That's it for tonight! See you all next time :-).

Love,

Althea

Back on Raw

Back on raw! Today is Monday, May 25, and I'm running on 3 hours of sleep. Still mourning Adam Lambert's runner-up status on American Idol (yes, I know...but I've watched nearly episode from Season 2 to the present, and nobody like him has ever stepped on the Idol stage), I watched a few of his performances still had left on my DVR after Raymond watched Iron Chef. We went to bed at 10:30pm. Jona woke up at 1:25am, and still has not gone back to sleep. He's been singing and dancing since he woke up. Do I have an Adam Lambert on my hands?

I am doing better than I thought. I've been raw since I ended my juice feast. Forty-eight hours of raw is buffering the lack of sleep.

On May 23rd, I ate:
water w/ lemon and chili pepper flakes
apple
apple/banana/collard/kale smoothie
cucumber/mint/parsley/collard/lettuce/apple juice
kale salad
peach

On May 24th, I ate:
carrot juice
water w/lemon
peach
apple
peas and kale salad
salad w/sesame dressing
tahini shake

This is a juice I had this morning. It's from Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney.
2 cucumbers/2 carrots/ 1/2 cup parsley/ 2 apples/ 1/2 cup mint/ 1 rib celery/ 1/2 inch ginger/ 1 peeled lemon
It was surprisingly fantastic. I'm thinking about making another one. It tastes like lemon-ginger juice. It's not a combination I would have ever put together on my own. I gave it a go because I had everything, except celery, on hand. I'm calling it "Matt Juice." Matthew has some entrees in his book I'm going to try. I'll give a review after I do 5 recipes.

Until then, I've got to take a nap!...when Rom comes home :-(.

Love,
Althea