Crazy Sexy Diet Adventure Cleanse Day 20-21. Norwalk Juicing and Chakra Balancing.

                          

Video from Sharon Gannon's "Chakra Balancing Yoga" DVD.  Sharon Gannon is a tireless advocate for taking responsibility for our planet and compassion towards all creatures.  Truly a fierce feminine force.  This is an Acacia DVD.  This DVD is great, but if you are a Jivamukti fan, you need the  Jivamukti in a Box CD/DVDs.  It's like hanging out with David & Sharon in your living room.  And if you still want more, you can subscribe to the JivaDiva podcasts that one of their students produces.  Alanna Kaivalya is a musician, a yogini, an author,  and just a beautiful person.  I subscribed when she was doing a "Podcasts for Puppies" drive.    

Holy Basil Herb.  An "Adaptogen" that is touted to help combat stress and calm the nerves.

Well, I never wrote about the "End of the Cleanse".  Maybe because that's when I actually started behaving.  The last few days I ate tons of Kale Salad and Red Cabbage.  Monday I did a 24 hour "Juice Cleanse" and I just made all the juices Sunday Night.  I put Kale, Celery, Carrots, Apple and also Lemon.  Often I squeeze some lemon juice in but this time I just put the whole rind in (organic) and the juice tasted great.  I think it probably helps preserve some of the nutrients as well.  Lots of tea as well and had a minor crisis when I ran out of Mate and had to use some very old Mate with herbs in it (not my cup of Mate).  Finally ordered a 5 pound bag from "The Mate Factor".  Have transitioned from traditional "Rosamonte" to a green Mate that has been dried at low temperatures.

Steeping my Holy Basil Tea in Glass.  Figuring I probably need to Freebase it.  

Compost or Salad?

Bad Woman's Compost.  Sweet Fruits and Yerba Mate. 

Dandelion Greens.

Dandelion, Kale, Hemp Salad.  I usually throw together a dressing of olive or hemp oil, Apple Cider Vinegar, and some type of salt.  Gluten Free Tamari, Sea Salt, or Coconut Aminos (which are a little pricey, but less sodium.  of course my husband says you just use more of it so it isn't truly less sodium)

A Get Skinny Staple.  Fat & Sugar.  Lots of variations on this but basically I take an avocado, carob powder (at least enough to make it dark), a couple dates, stevia, or other sweetener.  Put in Vita-Mix with enough water to blend and make a pudding.  Also you can put one avocado, one banana, carob powder, cinnamon.  The Vita-Mix makes it a super smooth creamy texture.  The Cuisinart will work but I find it more difficult to get all of the little green chunks smooth.  I have also found that the Carob is already sweeter than the Raw Chocolate.  Which is great because you don't really need that much sweetening.  

My Medicine Cabinet.  

So this was my morning project last Sunday..........I just store the juice in Ball Jars.  It took me about an hour to make at least 128 ounces of juice.  So not too bad.  Was worried about storing any of the green juice as you always hear to drink it basically the second you make it.  Even at Liquiteria in New York, you buy the bottled Norwalk Juices.  They aren't made on the spot and then they are stored in plastic! And that's at one of the leading juice bars.  The juice actually tasted great and lasted for days.

Wallpaper came with the house.  No grief, please!  Everyone gives us grief on our wallpaper.  Never mind that the rest of the house is a disaster..........

This  Norwalk juicer was a gift from our Otis.......a puppy who loved Kale Juice but didn't make it to see the arrival of the juicer.  We were borrowing my parent's Greenstar before that.  The Greenstar is also a great juicer, but it takes more time and effort to push the carrots through and it is more difficult to clean.  I think the "hot" juicers now are the Hurom Slow Juicer and the Breville.  I doubt you can store the juices for long, but they are probably great for everyday use.  Of course juicers are just like exercise, the best kind is the kind that you will use.  And for kids that don't like texture in their food (sometimes occurs in autism), a juicer can be a great way to get all of your nutrients.  Kale and Collards are some of the highest rated foods on the ORAC scale plus they have easily asorbable Calcium.  You can grow them year round in most places (if you don't have slugs that you are are nurturing).  But of course Kale isn't subsidized by the government like Milk & Beef.  So you actually have to pay the true cost of growing it.  Or just grow your own.

This makes me proud.  It's not chocolate avocado pudding.  It's not my staple of apples and pumpkin seeds.   

The juicer has bags and cloths to use for the first part of the process.  The bags are for carrots and apples (things that are easy to clean).  The cloths are more for greens.  Some people prefer to use the cloths all the time because they are so much easier to clean.

This is the pulp after it has been squeezed with 200 pounds of pressure.

It's super dry. I always think I should use the pulp for flax crackers but often the timing doesn't work out.

My aunt just wrote me the other day saying she was also reading the "Crazy Sexy Diet" book!  I was totally surprised.  She was one of the peeps I was going to "gift" it to, and had just procrastinated.  Hmmmm.......but does she have Anupy's book yet??  Watch out Mr. R, you might be eating Rajmah and  Dal Makhani for awhile.

The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes

Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It!

 Speaking of Dal Makhani,  Gokul's finally opened their second location at 6101 Delmar in the Loop.  All vegetarian all the time, with lots of vegan options and soon will have vegan night twice a month.  We went on opening night and they had the projector running but the Bollywood movies hadn't made it to the new location yet.  I believe the place is Kosher as it was packed with Orthodox Jewish families.  Their other location on Page Avenue is usually packed with Indians, Veggie/Vegan types, University professors & College Kids, a real Hodge-Podge of peeps.  I guess they were swamped their first day at the new location.  Ganesh, Kali, and Krishna haven't made the move yet (their statues) but I hope they do join us. 

The New Gokul.  Bad photo, but it was cold and dark.  And Icy!
In the St. Louis Loop at 6101 Delmar.  Just East of Pi.

On opening night they had Vegan Saag (Spinach), Vegan Dal Makhani (Kidney Beans and Black Lentils), Vegan Dal, Vegan "Potato Chips" (spicy potatoes), Vegan Aloo Baingan (Eggplant & Potato). The food was great and their whole staff was there so they had to close the old location for opening night.  The food is always great there, but it's really the people working there that make you keep wanting to go back.  The people are so kind and you always feel energized after spending time there.  We have been going to the Page location for years now.  It started out as a "Snacks & Sweets" place which didn't have much "real" food and has evolved into a real restaurant with a vegetarian buffet every single day.