Hi, y’all!

It’s winner time!

Thanks so much to all who entered the Celestial Seasonings Wellness Kit Giveaway.

I’m so glad you enjoyed the review and it was pure awesomeness to read which products you’d like to try or love most – and why.

But you know how it goes. Only one entry can be chosen to receive a Celestial Seasonings Wellness Kit.

I always depend on Mr. Random (random.org) for selecting a winner. And the winning number is…

Comment #15 belongs to Nancy. Congrats, Nancy!

In Nancy’s first comment, she mentioned she’d like to try African orange mango red tea. Enjoy your wellness kit!

And thank you so much once again to Celestial Seasonings for being so generous with us and for working so hard to bring us such an amazing company with awesome, healthy products!

Now, on to the topic at hand…

The very kind folks at Celestial Seasonings are helping me get a head-start on taking care of myself this winter. That’s right. They’ve been generous enough to send me a Celestial Seasonings Wellness Kit!

I adore Celestial Seasonings. In fact, one of my very first experiences with being wowed by the power of herbs was when I was suffering from horrific migraines and stress and my mom gave me some Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer.

It was like a spiritual experience. From head to toe, I felt a calmness sweep throughout me and it was as if that magical cup of tea had whisked away my migraine pain and stress. From that moment, I was hooked and have enjoyed a huge variety of Celestial Seasonings tea over the years.

If you’ve read any of my in-depth reviews, you know I love to dig into the past and learn all about the history behind the company of products I review, as well as the people who started it all.

About Celestial Seasonings

I got more than I bargained for when I studied up on this company. Come to find out, in 1968 a few folks started harvesting herbs in the Colorado Mountains – Aspen, to be exact. These folks are: Mo and Peggy Siegel, Wyck Hay, and Lucinda Ziesing.

You just have to be in awe when you find out how the name Celestial Seasonings came to be…

Fun Fact!

The company’s name is actually Lucinda Ziesing’s nickname. Yes! In 1969, Celestial Seasonings evolved because of Lucinda’s nickname.

How cool is that, huh?!

(For more Celestial Seasonings facts, check out their timeline here.)

When 1970 rolled around, production was booming, with a total of six employees, in a Boulder barn owned by Michael Dominick.

By 1972, Celestial Seasonings was incorporated, the company had been purchasing herbs worldwide, moved into a larger facility, new teas were being created….

Over the 70’s, the company expanded internationally.

Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, a few big things happened:

1. Kraft, Inc. purchased Celestial Seasonings.
2. Mo Siegel came and went – first, retiring from the company to travel the world doing humanitarian work and then returning as CEO in 1991.
3. “Celestial Seasonings management and Vestar Capital Partners bought company from Kraft through leveraged buyout.”

Today Celestial Seasonings continues to grow, expand, create new teas and products and I can’t wait to see what is to come from this amazing company!

So, you can imagine how I was pleasantly surprised when this super cool packaged arrived at my doorstep!

About the Book

I love alternative medicine. I’ve been fascinated by herbs and their uses for many years now and I must say, this is just one of the best books to have as your go-to guide for herbal remedies!

Herbs for Health and Happiness: All You Need to Know, written by Mo Siegel and Nancy Burke, this book is fun and easy to use. It is divided up in to sections that will make it easy for you to research ailments and which herbs you need to know to find happiness through herbs.

The holidays are coming up so it would make a great gift for any friends or family who are interested in herbal healing, teas, or their health in general.

I’m already using this fantabulous book as one of my references for an upcoming article to be published in the new year!

Let me guess… you’d LOVE to have a Celestial Seasonings Wellness Kit of your own? You can! Well, ONE of you can – because we’re having a giveaway!

In the past, I’ve posted the giveaways separately than the reviews and have given you up to 20 ways to enter.

Over time, it seems your enthusiasm over all the various ways to enter has turned into your being overwhelmed at the long list of ways to enter – SO things are going to change around here!

To make things much easier – and more fun! – for you, there’ll be a handful of ways to enter. There will be ONE required entry and then a couple extras. For each entry, please leave a separate comment. That’s all I ask.

In return, you’ll be entered to win an awesome Celestial Seasonings Wellness Kit of your own, which I know you’ll enjoy!

Giveaway Rules

There is only ONE required entry:

1. Visit ww.celestialseasonings.com and come back here and leave me a comment sharing which product you’d most like to try – or already have and love.

That’s it. Easy peasy!

For extra points:

2. “Like” the Celestial Seasonings Fan page.

3. Follow Celestial Seasonings on Twitter AND tweet this message:

@CelestialTea and @RawJuiceGirl are hosting a #wellness #giveaway! Enter HERE:  http://tinyurl.com/5to8tgx

You can tweet up to 5 times per day, at least an hour apart.

You have until Thursday, October 27th to get your entries in. Winner will be chosen by Mr. Random (random.org). Entries will be received until midnight (Central Time).

Let the entries pile in, y’all!!!

Wow. The days are just flyin’ by, aren’t they?! Gosh, they are for me!

I’ve been super busy outside, gardening and doing other outside chores. Things are really coming along in the garden. I’ll have to update on the progress soon.

But today, I just had to share my grass-inspired juice/smoothie concoction with you. I have been really tired lately (organic gardening is exhausting!) and I woke up yesterday with a sore throat. Definitely not good when there’s SO much to do!

So, yesterday I hit myself with some Vitamin B and C and drank plenty of liquids and paced myself. Today I felt like wheat grass would provide just the extra oomph I needed. And while I was watering the garden this morning, I spied the rainbow chard. It called my name, I’m positive!

I plucked a few leaves and ran back in the house, excited for the raw creation that was being born in my head!

It didn’t take long to throw the ingredients in the blender and whip up a glass of….

“Rainbow Grass”

That’s right: Rainbow Grass!

Note the glass straw lookin’ so elegant and eco-friendly? Those beautiful babies are now available in my Raw Shop! Go ahead, check ‘em out. I’ll wait.

Of course, I chose the (fun!) title of this drink based on the (rainbow) chard and the wheat grass.

Freshly Picked (Rainbow) Chard

Size of my (small) hand…

And the runt…

Amazing (Wheat) Grass!

(Check out my wheat grass post HERE.)

In My Oster Blender

(Also in my Raw Shop!)

See the herbal tea in the bottom of the blender?

Ready to Consume = Yum!

Playing Photographer!

Rainbow Grass Juice-Smoothie Concoction Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 (frozen) banana
• 1 scoop Amazing Grass Wheat Grass powder
• 1 cup herbal tea
• 5 1/2 Rainbow Chard leaves (5 the size of my hand, 1 half that size) Freshly picked from my garden right before going in to this recipe!
• 4 ice cubes

 

Directions:

Toss above ingredients in to your blender and give it a few whirls until everything is blended nicely. Serves one big appetite or two smaller ones.

 

Note:

This drink is actually more like a juice consistency, but still has a (runny) smoothie volume to it. If you like your smoothies super thick, cut back on the herbal tea (or liquid of your choice). I personally prefer my smoothies on the thicker side, but this was so super delicious and energizing, I’ll definitely recreate it again – and soon!

Grassy Goodness

About the Recipe

I urge you to try my Rainbow Grass recipe – even if you are terribly afraid of green juices/smoothies! What is so RAWsome about this drink, I discovered, is that I tasted the fresh deliciousness of the rainbow chard, the “greenness” of the wheat grass (definitely NOT overpowering, though!) and the sweetness – and creaminess – of the frozen banana. The herbal tea allows you to get in some antioxidants and herbal tea benefits, which is great for those who aren’t really “tea” people. I could go on and on about this drink, but I’ll have to trust y’all to try it for yourselves – or just take my word for it!

Hated it!

Burning Questions I have for you:

1. Have you ever tried wheat grass? Do you love Amazing Grass as much as I do? I even added wheat grass and other Amazing Grass products on my last 30-day juice fast. I’ve done a LOT of juice fasting and several 30-day ones (plus a 52-day juice fast) and I could really, really tell the difference in how I felt by adding the Amazing Grass powders. I love ‘em!

2. What about those glass straws – aren’t they something?! I really do love the Beautiful Bends most. It’s just like drinking from a bendable straw when I was a kid – only now it’s an eco-friendly habit and no plastic is wasted or harming the environment! And I’m SO excited that I can offer them to you in my Raw Shop!

3. Will you try this juice-smoothie concoction of mine or is it too “green” for you? Are you someone who is willing to try new things or do you cringe at the thought of something crossing your lips that you’re not accustomed to?

4. And how is May going for you? Can you believe Mother’s Day is this weekend? I have a wonderful mother to celebrate with. I hope you do, too! And if you don’t, I’d share mine if I could!!!

Fill me in! I miss chatting with you all!!!

Last day to enter my giveaway!!!

This is another eco-friendly giveaway with a super cool, fun, green prize! Winner will be announced tomorrow.

Click HERE to enter!!

Remember when I got that fantabulous package from NuNaturals? Well, I’ve been experimenting with these sweet products and have lots of reviews coming up!

(A huge thank you to NuNaturals for sending some a LOT of sweetness my way!!)

I decided to try the NuStevia NoCarbs Blend in my tea.

From the site:

NuStevia White Stevia NoCarbs uses Erythritol, a natural filler that is produced from corn. Erythritol enhances the taste of Stevia. NuStevia White Stevia NoCarbs will have absolutely no effect on blood sugar levels and is safe for both Type I and II diabetics.

NuStevia NoCarbs Blend contains 60% more Stevia extract than most other brands on the market. The cost to get the same sweet taste of other brands can be up to 2 1/2 times more expensive compared to NuNaturals. NuNaturals NuStevia NoCarbs Blend will save you money.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease.

Free of Soy, Yeast, Gluten….

According to NuNaturals, NuStevia NoCarbs Blend contains no: soy, yeast, wheat, milk, synthetics, msg, artificial colors or flavors, preservatives, saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, or artificial sweeteners.

Regarding gluten, they say:

This product does not contain gluten. The Maltodextrin used in our White Stevia Powder products is derived from corn. The Erythritol used in our NoCarbs Blend products is derived from corn.

Woo hoo! How awesome is that?!

Personal Touch

What’s this? A cutting board I received from a precious friend as a  Christmas gift. Ain’t it pretty?!

Sneak Peek Inside the Bottle

Ingredients (from the site):

NuStevia Extract, Erythritol, Natural Flavors

The natural flavors are natural plant extracts from herbs and berries. These natural flavors do not contain any MSG (monosodium glutamate) or any other “natural flavors” that are known to cause allergic reactions in the body. We do scrutinize the ingredients that we use very carefully and would not use an ingredient known to cause reactions.

Supplement Facts: Serving Size 1/8 tsp Calories 0 Fat Calories 0 % Daily Value* Total Carbohydrates 0g 0% Sugars 0g Sugar Alcohol .42g 0% Total Fat 0g 0% Sodium 0mg 0% Stevia Extract 40 mg* (Stevia rebaudiana) *Daily Value not extablished Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Bitter Buds?

Worried about the bitter aftertaste of Stevia? I didn’t get that with this brand. It sweetens my tea (or oats, etc.) nicely – without a nasty aftertaste. Delish!

Want to know why this brand of Stevia doesn’t have a lingering, bitter aftertaste?

Here’s what the company says…

From the site:

NuNaturals Stevia products are not only non-bitter, but will not leave an unpleasant lingering aftertaste in your mouth like other Stevia products will. This is achieved by both removing the bitter components of the Stevia extract and through the use of natural flavors that improve the taste of the Stevia extract.

 Bravo, NuNaturals, bravo!

About the Company

It’s always nice to know a little something about the company behind a product you’re interested in, right?

NuNaturals shares this bit of information on their site:

Thank you for taking the time to get to know us better. We have over 18 years of experience providing nutritional supplements. NuNaturals uses only the highest quality herbs and nutrients to make our products. We belong to the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA) and the TruLabel Program.

Wow. Close to 20 years of (sweet) experience… That’s a pretty good record, don’t you think?!

Pros

I love that this Stevia is sweet, delicious, and doesn’t have a bitter aftertaste. I also love the low-carb aspect. And I honestly believe it’s affordable for most everyone. At $9.99 per bottle, it’s a super deal because you use such a teeny tiny amount, it will last like forever.

It’s also small and convenient. You can pop this little bottle in your purse and take it with you. If you’re slow and cautious, you can simply shake some right from the bottle into your drink – without having to use a spoon – so it’s nice to just carry with you and have on hand if you buy an unsweetened tea (or other beverage or food) while you’re out on the town.

And my experience with the company has been just stellar. I feel confidant yours would be, too.

Cons

Hmmm…. This one is difficult! I sometimes include cost as a con when I write my reviews because, let’s face it, not all of us can truly afford some of the healthier products – but I can’t use cost as a con on this product. I think it’s price is more than fair because you use such a minute amount, it’s really cost-effective in the long run.

Another thing I (personally) toss in to the “con pile” when I’m reviewing a product, is whether or not it is organic. This product is not. But there are a lot of NuNaturals products that are, so if you’re a stickler for organic/certified organic only, I still recommend you check out their site and see for yourself what awesome products they’re carrying.

If you don’t mind some non-organic products, then for sure try this out!

Sweet Tea

Let me walk you through combining NuStevia NoCarbs Blend + a glass of herbal tea to recreate sweet tea from my childhood, drank from a glass jar – just like grandma did!

Adding the Stevia Powder

Sweet Sipping Time!

The only thing missing was a slice of lemon!

I absolutely adore Stevia and use it in my tea, sometimes my oats, and recipes. I’ve loved it for years, and found it to be a life-saver during my 100+ pound weight loss. I was so happy to have a (healthy) sweetener for my old-fashioned tea.

Verdict/Grade

I give this product an A- because although it isn’t certified organic, it is delicious, free of a bitter aftertaste, very cost-friendly, and fun to use! That’s a winner, in my opinion!

What’s your go-to sweetener? White, processed sugar? Dates? Stevia? Honey? Agave*? Turbinado? Xylitol? And… are you (gasp!) using Splenda? (You may want to read this article if you’re using Splenda.) Would you try something else? Are you open-minded about sweeteners? Do you switch things up, or stick with one certain kind?  Let me know!

Oh, and don’t forget about my latest contest! You might really, really want to take advantage of those extra entry options (like linking back on your blog) because there’s 200+ entries already and it doesn’t end until Friday, February 19th! Enter now!

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links**. If you purchase anything once you click on the links, I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

*I didn’t link to agave like I did the other sweeteners because I’ve decided NOT to consume agave anymore – more about that in a future post.

**The link to NuNaturals is not an affiliate link; the links that take you to Amazon.com are affiliate links.

References:

NuNaturals.com

Rubin, Jordan. Issue 14: Dangers of Artificial Sweeteners

We left not long after I woke up and got dressed, so I just grabbed a spoon of cashew butter right from the jar and ate it off the spoon while I grabbed a banana, threw it in my purse, and filled up my water bottle.

I ate the banana once we got on the road (no pics, sorry) <– I was hungry and gobbled it up!

After registration was taken care of (and maybe a little shopping for a new bonnet for me ) we stopped at a health food store. I LOVE health food stores–they are cruel to my wallet, though!

I found all kinds of STUFF I would have loved to have bought: ProBars (which I’ve never tried), Garden of Life bars (never tried those either), and all sorts of other goodies. There was raw foods, drinks, and other health foods, herbs, teas, books… Health Heaven, huh?

Finally, I decided on a Synergy (organic, raw) Kombucha Tea. I was craving a cold drink and thought it’d be nice to try out this “Kombucha” that seems to be all over the Web, on blogs and in articles. There were a few different flavors and while I decided on the Passionberry Bliss, I’m now thinking I should have tried the one with Sassafras root in it. Hmmmm….. Guess I need to go back!

Organic, Raw Passionberry Bliss Kombucha

I was anxious to taste this stuff after all the hype about it, so I took a big gulp–Oops! I never expected it to be SO strong. Let me tell you, I couldn’t believe it. I’m not saying it’s bad. I just wasn’t prepared for how it would taste. In a way, it reminds me of soda. I was thinking “tea”, ya know? I’m used to drinking herbal tea every day so I guess I just assumed it would taste like tea–I was wrong. I closed the lid and wasn’t sure if I’d drink it or not. I actually ended up getting an unsweetened tea from another place and drank that. So when I got home, I put my Kombucha in the fridge and left it there ’till yesterday. I thought I’d give it another try–I drank it all up! It’s still weird to me, but I think it’s growing on me. I’ve decided it tastes sort of like a berry flavored soda. Strange. But good. And I love the benefits!

Synergy Passionberry Bliss is 95% G.T.’s Kombucha–the rest is blackberry juice +  passionfruit juice. And at the end of the ingredient list, they say: “and 100% pure love!” How awesome is that??!!

This jazzy drink also has probiotics, antioxidants, and Glucuronic, Lactic, and Acetic acids.

From the bottle:

Kombucha supports: digestion, metabolism, immune system, appetite control, weight control, liver function, body alkalinity, anti-aging, cell integrity, healthy skin and hair.

Now, while I’m not that familiar with Kombucha and its benefits yet, I will say I totally believe it’s possible. Why? Fermented foods are good for us (in my opinion) and it seems to me that Kombucha is a lot like apple cider vinegar with Mother in the sense that it contains living enzymes and nutrients, and it’s fermented. I’ve seen firstand the benefits of the vinegar with Mother, so I’m excited to experiment more with Kombucha and see what comes of it. Next time I try something new, though, I won’t take such a ginormous gulp! LOL What was I thinking???

GASP!

How much are these drinks where you are, if you’ve been buying them??

Snack Time

As I was getting ready to pay for my Synergy tea up there, I spotted these goodies on the way out. From what I could see on the ingredients list, they’re RAW! They’re like snack bars, cut in squares. The chocolate one is actually carob, with nuts, pumpkin seeds, SPIRULINA, and I think a little fruit. The other one is almond with fruit and I think both of these had sunflower seeds in ‘em, too.

Carob Creation

Almond Awesomeness

Verdict?

Of course, I loved the carob one best. It was crunchy, chewy, and good. I’m still amazed that I don’t taste the spirulina! How’d they do that??? I’m not sure if I’d buy the almond one again–it seemed like it was lacking something, but I can’t figure out what. It just seemed like it needed jazzing up. Then again, my tastebuds may have been “off” after being freaked out by a big gulp of Kombucha I wasn’t used to!

I’m gearing up for more festivals so I’m going to take these along as a snack.

Want to learn more about these “Chunks of Energy” snacks? Visit the “Chunks of Energy website (www.chunksofenergy.com) or their blog.

Have you tried anything new lately? Have any plans for the weekend? Jump right in to the comment section and share!

Coming Up

You’ll be happy to know I have reviews and contests lined up, starting next week!

Want to keep up with Raw Juice Girl’s adventures + more?  Subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

Navitas Naturals has outdone themselves with their new organic green stevia powder. I was honored when they sent an 8 ounce bag for me to try. For years I’ve tried different brands of stevia. I’ve bought green powders before and just wasn’t pleased at all. I’ve tried the liquid and the packets.

I always have a little heart tugging action going on when I use a stevia packet, because it is processed. The stevia leaf is green, so using white stevia powder makes me wonder sometimes if I really should be consuming it–although I still know in my heart it’s better than the other (unhealthy) options out there. Decisions, decisions.

Worried about how Navitas Naturals processes their stevia? Here’s what they say on their site:

Source and Processing

Navitas Naturals Stevia is made from the whole leaves of the stevia herb. Once the leaves are collected, they are dried and milled into a fine powder at low temperatures to protect the nutrients of the plant. Our Stevia is 100% organic, vegan, kosher, gluten-free and raw.

Anyway, I’ve really been using this Navitas Naturals organic green stevia powder a lot–and I LOVE it! Why? It’s sweet and delicious, but it doesn’t seem to have that aftertaste some stevia brands have. It may be my imagination, but I’m almost positive I actually FEEL better after I have some herbal tea sweetened with it!

When I started writing this post, I had only used it to sweeten my herbal tea. I don’t really sweeten my smoothies and I tend to put a little raw honey in my (steel-cut) oats, but I decided to try something new and so this morning I added some to my steel-cut oats. The result: YUM-O! Other ingredients included raw, unsweetened coconut, almonds, cinnamon, and hemp protein powder. My oats were already green and with the added organic green stevia powder, they were sweetened beautifully and made a delicious bowl of healthy goodness! I’ll definitely be adding Navitas Naturals organic green stevia powder to my steel-cut oats from now on!

Organic Green Stevia Powder

This 8 ounce bag is priced at $11.99 (USD) on the site. I totally believe (with all my heart!) that it’s a great investment. Keep in mind that you only use a SMALL amount to sweeten your drinks or foods, so it will last longer than you think. Besides, you wouldn’t think twice about dropping that amount of money on a couple of lattes, would you?

From the Navitas Naturals website:

“The Power of Stevia

Stevia’s leaves contain glycosides, which taste very sweet to the tongue, but contain no sugar, no calories, and no carbohydrates. Therefore, despite its sweetness, stevia does not have a GI (Glycemic Index) nor does it effect the body’s insulin levels. Stevia has also been shown to aid the pancreas and improve digestion. Excellent for those with diabetes, intolerances to sugar, seeking weight control, or simply avoiding cavities, the stevia herb can be an ideal natural sweetener.”

How can you use this sweet green powder?

• in smoothies
• in oats
• in place of other sweeteners in desserts
• in anything you’d sweeten

Thoughts

One thing you may not like about it is the fact that when you add it to your tea, it kind of floats around and isn’t very pretty to look at. This doesn’t bother me at all. I love its taste and I just stir as I drink. There are ways you can try to prevent this from happening. If you’re making a single serving of tea, add the stevia powder to your tea ball and then pour the water in your cup. Once it’s finished steeping, you can remove the tea ball (which has the loose tea leaves + green stevia powder inside) and then you’re left with just tea. You can drink it hot or cold. If you’re like me and you grab some pre-made herbal tea and then want to sweeten it, just overlook the green powder floating around and enjoy. It really is delicious!

Click here to buy your own organic green stevia powder!

Organic Green Stevia Powder

Stirred In

Upcoming Contests Sponsored by These Fabulous Companies

• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• 2 books (Coconut Water for Health and Healing and Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing by Dr. Bruce Fife
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

I went with Yoga for yummy abs again this morning. I’m going to see how switching things up goes for me. So far, I’ve tried the following of Polly’s videos: Yoga for low back, Yoga for yummy abs, and Yoga for newbies. I love ‘em all!

Let me tell you, although Polly’s yoga videos seem gentle and easy, I’m feeling the soreness, people! Sheesh, who knew?! LOL

I think I’ll take at least one day off each week to let my muscles rest. Maybe two? How many days each week do you practice yoga? Do you take a day or two off?

Breakfast

Anyway, after yoga with Polly, I decided to have a bowl full of frozen blueberries. I absolutely love frozen blueberries! They’re so tasty!

Frozen Blueberries

I drank some herbal tea after that (I didn’t make my warm lemon water this morning). I also had my daily shot of E3 Live.

Lunch

By lunch time, I was starving! My eyes were bigger than my appetite, though, when I made this ginormous salad. LOL

Giant Veggie Salad

Napa cabbage

Spinach leaves

Heirloom lettuce

Sliced celery

Sliced carrots

Sliced beets

Sliced tomato

Diced bell pepper

That was a huge salad and I was only able to eat about half of it. That’s okay, I’ll finish it off as a mid-afternoon snack, or as my dinner. It won’t go to waste!

Snack

I still have some more Amazing Grass products to sample (but couldn’t because I was juice fasting when they arrived) so I thought I’d try out the Chocolate Green SuperFood Drink Powder for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. Oh. My. Goodness! It’s DELICIOUS!!!!

(Just click on the photo below to read all about this yummy chocolate superfood powder! )

Amazing Grass Shaker Cup

Added Organic Rice Milk

Added Chocolate SuperFood Powder

All Shook Up

Up Close

Non-Raw Milk?

No, the organic rice milk is NOT raw. I’m not a milk person, really. I have never been one to just guzzle milk–even before my raw food adventures. When I ate the S.A.D. diet, I only used milk on my cereal. I tend to shy away from processed cereals nowadays, so I pretty much don’t use milk at all–not even in my smoothies (I use herbal tea instead).

Anyway, although it will be pretty rare,  I may decide to enjoy a treat once in a while that isn’t 100% raw. I’ll let you know when I do, like today with this organic rice milk.

I would have made a smoothie with the chocolate powder, a frozen banana, and some herbal tea but my blender died on me. So, I remembered Jenna saying she just added the Amazing Grass chocolate powder to her shaker cup with rice milk so I just went for it–I’m so glad I did! I’m telling you, it’s soooooooooooooooooo good!!! Yum!

Dinner

For dinner, I had the other half of my salad from lunch. And now I’m ready to call it a night. Can’t wait for yoga in the morning!!

Off-Topic:

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a freelance writer. I write about all sorts of things, including writing! Check out my latest post over at The Writer’s Round-About: 7 Tips for Getting that Writing Gig Without an English Degree.

Coming next: various foods I’ve eaten when breaking other juice fasts I’ve been on, and also why I don’t incorporate vegetable broth into my juice fasting regimen like some juice fasters do. <—– I am working on this post!!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

Hi, y’all!

I hope you enjoyed my reflections on the 30-day juice fast.

I started my day out with yoga again this morning. I love it!

I took Cindy‘s advice and stuck with the Yoga for Newbies video.

I’m learning about different poses and how (majorly) important breathing is!

This new yoga journey is sooooooooooooooo exciting!

Okay, now for raw eats throughout today:

• handful of heirloom, organic banana peppers (from my garden)
• a green apple
• a not-so-delicious plum
• a handful of organic dark cherries (Yum!)
• a handful of raw, unsalted nuts/seeds
• small handful of grapes
• half of a (big) carrot

(I know that doesn’t really seem like a lot of food, but when I’ve been juice fasting I’m not that hungry once I start eating again.)

I also drank lots of herbal tea with lemon. (I forgot my warm lemon water this morning, though!)

My blender died on me, so no green monsters for a while. And (shame on me!) I didn’t have a raw juice, either! I’m making time tomorrow to juice some raw goodness and absorb all those living enzymes, vitamins, and nutrients my body absolutely loves.

Do you enjoy yoga as part of your exercise routine? What’s your favorite part about yoga: the stretching, the relaxing, the benefits? Do you combine the raw food diet, raw juices, or raw juice fasting with yoga? Who is your favorite yoga instructor? What’s your favorite type of yoga to practice? Tell us all about it!

Coming next: various foods I’ve eaten when breaking other juice fasts I’ve been on, and also why I don’t incorporate vegetable broth into my juice fasting regimen like some juice fasters do.

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

Photo Credit:

Jenniferphoon

Then my mind started wandering…

Yummy Yoga

I’ve mentioned recently that I  have been researching yoga. Many of you have recommended I try it as a healing exercise for my bad back. So, I’ve been reading blog posts and articles about it and also watching videos.

Anyway, it dawned on me! I have a yoga mat in a box out in the shed! So, I went traipsing across the farm to get it. And then it happened: I opened the shed door, saw my yoga mat box, reached in to get it, and out of the blue was attacked by a swarm of the biggest, nastiest, meanest red wasps! Ouch!!!

Wicked Wasps!

I was stung several times on my arm, hand, neck, and leg. It was craziness! They were even all in my hair. I couldn’t believe it! You better believe I did a little (okay, a LOT) of screaming and dancing. (It’s okay if this mental picture makes you laugh.) It really was painful, though. Seriously!

I came in the house and when I told my Mom, she rushed me over to the neighbor’s house (he smokes) and he donated 2 cigarettes worth of tobacco. He put it in a bowl and added water and then my Mom put it on the places I’d been stung and held it there. My skin was already swelling bigtime, but the tobacco really helped shrink it quickly.

When we got back home, I poured myself a glass of herbal tea and added lemon. I needed a refreshing break!

Since it seemed like I was going to be okay, and the swelling had gone down considerably, we decided to go ahead and leave to run the errands we’d planned on pre-wasp attack.

I made myself an iced, herbal tea to-go (with lemon) and grabbed a to-go bottle filled with water and a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar and hit the road.

School Time?

And here’s the highlight of my day…

I was standing at the counter in a store with my mom and brother. And an older man walks over. He decided to make small talk: “So, are you gearing up for school to start?” He asks, enthusiastically.

I looked around to see if he was talking to me. No one else was there, so he must have asked me if I was getting ready for school. Huh?

“You mean me?” I asked, shocked.

“Yes, are you ready to go back to school?”

Okay, I’m thinking the wasp venom must have gone to my brain because I couldn’t fathom that this man was honestly asking me if I was preparing to go back to school!

“Sir, I’m almost 34 years old.” I smiled.

Total shock bombarded his face. “No, I don’t believe it!” He gasped.

Folks, I had to show him the birth date on my driver’s license!

“I thought you were 17 years old!” He said–after he was finally able to talk again.

“My daughter is an English teacher here. I thought she’d be teaching you.”

How funny is that?! LOL

“All I can say, girl, is that life has treated you well.” He said, shaking his head and smiling. (Could it be my diet and the raw juices and fasting????)

“Actually, I am a survivor of domestic violence. I barely escaped with my life. I’ve also been through many other things.”

But, yes, I am truly blessed.

And…. since I didn’t have photos of juices today, I’ll leave you with a few photos from my garden.

Heirloom Watermelon

Heirloom Cantaloupe

Heirloom Cucumber

(These are all doubling and tripling in size due to the rain the past few days!!) Eeeek!

I didn’t squeeze in my E3 Live or Amazing Grass powder today and I ended up just drinking water and herbal tea–it was too hectic and crazy!

Oh, and on the way home, we stopped and bought some chewing tobacco. Yep, how funny is that?! Know what kind? Long cut natural (next time I’ll get short cut!)

Until tomorrow… happy juicing!

Don’t forget to catch up on my 30-day juice fast…

Day 1 of a 30-Day Juice Fast and Juicer Mishaps

Day 2 of a 30-Day Juice Fast–and AMAZING GRASS!!

Day 3–E3 Living!

Day 4 + Wheat Grass Galore + a Juicer!!

Day 5 — Dead or Alive?

Day 6 + Father’s Day Bliss!

Day 7, Cucumber Chia Heaven!

Day 8, Let’s Talk About Weight!

Day 9–and I’m Feelin’ Fine!

Day 10–Learnin’ About Lemon!

Day 11, Grapefruit Juice Heaven!

Day 12 with Sprouts on Top!

Day 13 and Juiceless

Day 14: Salad in a Glass

Day 15 + Living Tree Community Contest Winner!

Day 16 + Books by Dr. Bruce Fife

Day 17 + Green Pineapple Juice

Day 18 (Catching Up)

Day 19 + July 4th Celebrations!!

Day 20 + My Dad’s Birthday!

Day 21 , Winding Down

Day 22 + AMAZING Watermelon

Day 23, Repeat

Day 24 + Heirloom Rainbows

Day 25, Brain On!

Day 26, Full Steam Ahead!

Day 27 + Herbal Tea Heaven

Upcoming Contests Featuring these Fabulous Companies

• 2 books by Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (These two books have GORGEOUS photos and the recipes are amazing!
• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• 2 books (Coconut Water for Health and Healing and Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing by Dr. Bruce Fife
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

Bring on the warm lemon water!

Breakfast

I wasn’t feeling like drinking a bunch of juices today–I just didn’t crave them. I felt, instead, to just be. So I skipped the breakfast juice and had herbal tea.

Snack

My mid-morning snack consisted of E3 Live‘s Brain On (a tablespoon, straight up). I’m lovin’ how this stuff makes me feel refreshed and aLIVE!

I also had a glass of water with a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar.

Lunch

For lunch, I finished off the last of the heirloom lettuce concoction. It had a scoop of Amazing Grass Green SuperFood powder in it.

Heirloom Lettuce Juice + Amazing Grass

(Want to be AMAZED? Click on the photo below to learn all about this super powder!)

Dinner

I was totally content to sip more herbal tea, with lemon, for my dinner. (Sorry I didn’t take photos of my herbal tea–I didn’t even think about it!) Oops!

I really wasn’t hungry or craving juices today. That happens sometimes when I’m juice fasting–I just go for a day or two with no juice and go into a deeper level of fasting/cleansing. I love it!

And that’s it for day 27!

Until tomorrow… happy juicing!

Don’t forget to catch up on my 30-day juice fast…

Day 1 of a 30-Day Juice Fast and Juicer Mishaps

Day 2 of a 30-Day Juice Fast–and AMAZING GRASS!!

Day 3–E3 Living!

Day 4 + Wheat Grass Galore + a Juicer!!

Day 5 — Dead or Alive?

Day 6 + Father’s Day Bliss!

Day 7, Cucumber Chia Heaven!

Day 8, Let’s Talk About Weight!

Day 9–and I’m Feelin’ Fine!

Day 10–Learnin’ About Lemon!

Day 11, Grapefruit Juice Heaven!

Day 12 with Sprouts on Top!

Day 13 and Juiceless

Day 14: Salad in a Glass

Day 15 + Living Tree Community Contest Winner!

Day 16 + Books by Dr. Bruce Fife

Day 17 + Green Pineapple Juice

Day 18 (Catching Up)

Day 19 + July 4th Celebrations!!

Day 20 + My Dad’s Birthday!

Day 21 , Winding Down

Day 22 + AMAZING Watermelon

Day 23, Repeat

Day 24 + Heirloom Rainbows

Day 25, Brain On!

Day 26, Full Steam Ahead!

Upcoming Contests Featuring these Fabulous Companies

• 2 books by Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (These two books have GORGEOUS photos and the recipes are amazing!
• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• 2 books (Coconut Water for Health and Healing and Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing by Dr. Bruce Fife
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.