How’ve ya been doing? I know you probably thought Raw Juice Girl “flew the coop” but I didn’t. I’ve just been busy as a little worker bee doing all sorts of cool stuff – including gardening and writing about gardening!

I’ve also been hunting for treasures (which I’ve found!) for unique container gardening. I’m so excited to be growing yummy goodies to eat. Not only is gardening fun and healthy exercise, it’s rawsome to be able to eat produce you’ve grown yourself.

First up, is an old wheelbarrow that was full of junk. I knew right away it was a treasure that could be filled with rich soil and that it would make a wonderful home for produce of some sort.

Now that I think about it, strawberries would have loved living here, but pepper plants it was: cayenne, jalapeño, and sweet bell peppers to be exact.

Before

After

Note two things:

1. The recycled trash can lid turned upside-down in order to lift the bottom and result in using less soil.
2. That the wheelbarrow is now PINK – my all-time favorite color!

(I blogged about my “Pink Pepper Patch” here!)

Next up is an old shelf that was laying in someone’s yard and would have literally just rotted away to nothingness. I could envision a fantabulous raised garden bed and just had to have it!

Thanks to my sweet husband, with some scraps of thin plywood nailed on the back to make a bottom, I was in business….

Before

After

On each end of the above raised garden bed is yellow crooked neck squash (four plants on each end).

Along the back, is four cucumber plants.

Down the three center rows is tomatoes (green zebra striped and beefsteak). I’ve never grown green zebra striped tomatoes. I bought them from a lady down the road. They’re supposed to stay green even after they mature. Now, she also sold me some Ananas Noir tomatoes – more about that in a future post.

Squash Blooms Already!

Tomato Blooms!

(I blogged about How Gardening with Grandma as a Child Brings Writing Success Today HERE!)

Lastly is an old, rusty washtub. Oh, the joy!  This beauty was lost in the weeds and it just spoke to me. Yep, it did. It said, “Michele, you need me. I’ll grow delicious spinach and basil for you!”

It won my heart over. (I blogged about the story: Grandma’s Washtub Transformed!)

Before

After

And so it grows….

What about you? Are you a gardener? Have you discovered the peace and joy of gardening? Do you love garden-fresh produce? Do you remember gardening as a child? What’s your favorite veggie or fruit?  How has life been treating you? I’ve missed you so – fill me in!

Keep your eyes peeled for more gardening adventures!

I haven’t forgotten about all the upcoming reviews, contests, and information-packed posts – I’ve been soaking up the sunshine and gardening!!!

You know me, I’ve been snapping photos all along the way. Folks are calling me “shutterbug” lol!

(Organic) gardening is definitely therapeutic and as I recently wrote, you can be reinspired by stopping to smell the roses.

There aren’t any roses to smell yet, but I’ve been taking my own advice!

It’s hard sometimes being a freelance writer and blogger because naturally, I tend to throw myself in to my work and as you know, I’m pretty thorough in the reviews I write – and everything else I do. Some days, hours have past before I realize it and I haven’t taken time to stretch or enjoy a little fresh air.

I’m working on changing that. Life is precious and we need to absorb all we can while we have the chance.

Gardening is perfect for that! Besides, it gives me even more to blog about.

I took some photos of various flower blooms and veggie and fruit plants around the yard and edge of the garden to share with you….

Lilac Bush

Redbud Tree

Daffodils

Amish Windmill

Rhubarb

Brussel Sprouts

Rainbow Chard

Brussel Sprouts + Cauliflower

Potatoes

The posts and string are temporary – we’re planning to eventually have all raised beds with pathways all along the way!

Far back is the potatoes, right top corner, strawberry patch.

As you can see, this garden is HUGE (100×100!!!) – the above photo doesn’t even show 3/4 of it! There’s still a LOT to plant and TONS more work to do. And to the left, there’s a long row of thornless blackberries!

Also not shown: peony bushes scattered around the garden’s edge, tulips (coming up, not blooming yet), an iris bed, more lilac bushes, comfrey, mock orange, and also several rose of sharon bushes.

Grapes

And the orchard (not in the garden, a different area)

So far, our orchard consists of the following trees:

• 2 apple
• 3 (tart) cherry
• 2 peach
• 2 elderberry
• 2 paw paw
• 2 plum

So exciting!!! Can you just imagine all the yumilicious raw treats, smoothies, and juices I can make??!!

And not all of those are visible in the above photo – several are back to the left and out of the camera’s eye.

For fun: the old silo (not in use)

Why Companion Gardening?

Companion gardening is RAWsome. Why? Because there are certain plants that do exceedingly well side-by-side. There are also some plants you need to avoid placing next to others. There’s not enough room in this post to share all the information, but here’s a few examples:

• Spinach + Lettuce + Peas + Beans. We planted spinach and lettuces so they’ll be at the bottom of snap peas and green beans. This way, the lettuce and spinach work to crowd out the weeds, helping the peas and beans grow and the spinach and lettuce are shaded by the peas and beans. Win-win!
• Basil + Tomatoes. Sounds like ingredients for a salad, sandwich, or sauce, right? Then doesn’t it make sense to plant basil and tomatoes together? How RAWmazing is it that basil enriches the taste and growth of tomatoes??!! So, you know where these two will be found in my garden, eh?
• Flax + Potatoes? That’s right! The linseed and tannin oils found in flax helps fend off the potato bug!

And that’s just the beginning! I also love that if you plant garlic near your roses, it repels aphids!!

If any of you are interested in learning more about companion gardening, let me know and I’ll post more about it as I plant and tend the garden!

I’ll also be talking more about heirloom, organic plants and gardening.

Are you in to gardening? Do you have a garden? Want one? What do you have in your garden (or what would you plant if you had one)? Do you strive for heirloom, organic gardening?

I’m off to fantasize about all the RAWsome smoothie, juice, and salad concoctions that will come from my garden…. Yum!

Giveaways!!

Janetha, from Meals and Moves, is having a Kombucha giveaway!!

I’m hosting a shopping spree giveaway – there’s over 400 comments!!! Eeeek!!! Have you entered yet?? Why not?? Hurry!! Deadline is TOMORROW!!!!

Get Your Discount!

10% Discount code – You can get a coupon code for 10% off ANYTHING in my OpenSky store until Wednesday, April 14th.

Save $5 on your www.iHerb.com order by using the following code at checkout: TUN499

So, if you’ve been (cyber) window shopping, now’s your chance to take the plunge and go for it!

Coming Soon

In no particular order…

• Review of the Paderno World Cuisine Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer
• Review of Aurorae Sport Sweat Towel
• Review of Aurorae Slip Free Rosin Bag
• Health Benefits of Blackstrap Molasses – And Why I Drink It
• Tart Cherry Concentrate Health Benefits – And Why I Drink It
• More recipes
• More reviews and giveaways – lots of surprises!

Just stopping by? Have you tried my coconut peanut butter honey overnight oats yet? Or maybe you’d like to try your hand at my  chocolate-covered raisin hemp balls or raw tuna fish-less salad.  And you simply HAVE to try my latest, simple creation: Coconut Peanut Butter Cream. YUM!

Hope you had a fantabulous holiday! I sure did.

I know a lot of you are curious about what I ate for Thanksgiving. A part of me feels proud of my choices because I didn’t eat meat and I didn’t eat dressing (aka stuffing).

No animals were harmed for my dinner.

But…

A part of me is disappointed with myself (make sense?) because my Thanksgiving dinner wasn’t 100% raw AND vegan.

Night Before Turkey Day

On Thanksgiving Eve, my mom had leftover batter from the pineapple upside down cake (she makes hers in a cast iron skillet) and so she made cupcakes.

I wasn’t going to eat one, then I just did – it was the smallest one, though!

That was the first time I’d had any (real) cake since my birthday (in mid-August).

Choices, Choices

Aren’t we are own worst critics? Are you hard on yourself, too? Sometimes I think I’m too hard on myself. Most ALL of the time, other people think I’m too hard on myself.

I’ve been really torn about the direction my eating habits have been going and in an upcoming post, I’m going to share my feelings and plans for 2010. Since I lost my cousins (at such young ages) this year, I’ve really battled emotional eating. I’m going to address emotional eating and my food choices soon…

My Thanksgiving Dinner

I filled my plate with mostly salad: baby spinach leaves, kale, broccoli, carrots, avocado, pink sea salt, drizzle of olive oil, pecans.

Then I decided to have a couple spoonfuls of my mom’s sweet potato casserole, real mashed potatoes, baked pasta, and green bean casserole. And the cranberry sauce isn’t raw either – it’s fresh from the can.

Sounds like a lot – but it really wasn’t that much. I suppose some would say I went overboard; others would say I didn’t eat enough. I am proud that my plate is filled with mostly raw veggies. I ended up not have a vegan Thanksgiving because there’s butter in the mashed potatoes and cheese (+ butter)  in the pasta. I don’t think I did that badly, though: I didn’t eat turkey, dressing, or the other stuff available.

Iced tea with stevia

Most importantly on Thanksgiving, though, I enjoyed the company. Good family and friends are hard to come by!

How did your Thanksgiving turn out? Did you get to see family and friends and have a good time? Did you eat all raw or high raw vegetarian/vegan? Did you worry about it? Did you splurge and have cooked foods and maybe even turkey? Did you go all out and work hard on mock raw or vegan options? Tell me all about it!

If you’re just tuning in, be sure to enter Healing With (Raw) Juices’ latest contest for TWO containers  of Amazing Grass – one is CHOCOLATE! (Thursday, October 22 is the last day to enter.)  You can also use the code hwj (small J as in JUICE) for a 15% discount on your order, if you can’t wait. And a BIG thank you to Amazing Grass for sponsoring!

Fun Treats for Fall

Nathalie, at Raw Foods Witch, recently shared a new raw recipe video: How to Make a Festive Raw Pumpkin Pie Recipe. I love Nathalie. She’s fun, creative, informative, and I just adore her enthusiasm for raw living!

Cindy, from A Sparkle A Day, made us readers drool with her version of a healthy pancake. If you aren’t 100% raw/vegan, I’d definitely recommend you give this a try. I haven’t yet, but I will!

Love Veggies & Yoga? Averie sure does! This gal is RAWkin the blogosphere with her creative raw recipes. She has a passion for raw, vegan living and shares all sorts of recipes and tips–with pizzazz! One of her creations I’m lookin’ forward to making myself: Raw, Vegan Apple Crumble! Of course, Averie’s recipe archive is exploding over there, so dig through and find yourself some stuff to eat!

Mysti, of Life’s Approbations, shared her original recipe: Fall Perfection Pumpkin Muffins. This one isn’t raw or vegan, but is made with healthy ingredients! If you’re looking for a raw recipe from this gal, she offers that too at her new site, Dining Family: Sweet, Smooth and Cold! (And you’ll find a real little pumpkin at the end of that recipe!) UPDATED TO ADD: “Egg can be substituted out with 1/4 c applesauce and 1/8 tsp baking soda,” says Mysti. She wanted to share that for vegan readers. Thank you, Mysti!!!

I love pumpkin seeds, so Katy Joy’s recipe (from Raw People), sounds like a delicious treat. I’d like to make it sometime. Have you ever had Pumpkin Spice Milk?

And, here’s one of my recipes–that I haven’t enjoyed in quite a while!

Pumpkin Pie Yogurt

Ingredients:

• a container of organic, Greek yogurt (I love Oikos, but you could use raw, nut based yogurt)
• about 1/4 to 1/2 can of organic pumpkin (or raw)
• pumpkin pie spice

Stir pumpkin into your yogurt and sprinkle on as much pumpkin pie spice as you’d like.

Optional Toppings:

• trail mix
• granola
• raisins
• cranberries
• cookies
• raw pumpkin seeds (or nuts)

Do you have any favorite Fall recipes? Do you stay 100% raw in the Fall and Winter seasons, regardless, or do you stray and enjoy some warm (or other non-raw) comfort foods? Have you ever had the recipes I mentioned today? Do you plan on trying any of them? Hope you enjoy your weekend! Can you believe we’re half-way through October??!!

Want to REALLY enhance your recipes?? Enter the contest for NuttZo over at An Apple A Day blog! Hurry, contest ends soon!

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. I’ve also been working on a recipe page where you’ll be able to easily locate recipes for raw juices, smoothies, and now dehydrator creations!

First, I’d like to remind you about the current contest I have running: The Bolder Mat Company Yoga Mat + Stacy McCarthy’s Yoga DVD. (Contest ends Wednesday, August 19th. There are SEVEN ways to win!!)

My day started out with an hour of yoga, which was fantabulous! I almost fell asleep during Shavasana, I was SO relaxed! (Have I mentioned lately that I’m in LOVE with yoga??!!) After that, I gobbled up an organic Greek yogurt with frozen blueberries on top (this is by far my FAVORITE, non-raw meal)!

Then, I did some writing + blog work and some other stuff. Once it was time for lunch, I was STARVING.

Spinach Salad

a bunch of baby spinach leaves (this is a bigger bowl than it seems)

organic tomatoes (from my garden)

frozen peas +organic  bell pepper from my garden (lightly steamed with coconut oil + Italian herbs)

hemp seeds (from www.manitobaharvest.com)

macadamia nuts

THIS SALAD WAS DELICIOUS!!! YUM!!!

Once lunch was finished and cleaned up, it was time for me to stop procrastinating and make some chocolate pudding from avocados! Enter: Chocolate (Avocado) Pudding Heaven!

Cleanin’ Out the Fridge + Garden Overflow

There was a little of this, that, and the other in the fridge where veggies are concerned. I’ve been eating a LOT of salad but needed to clean out those odds and ends. Also, I needed to use up some freshly-picked garden veggies…

Organic, Heirloom Tomatoes

Organic Heirloom Bell + Banana Peppers

All from My Garden

First Up: Tomato Juice

(After I washed all that garden dirt off!)

Beautiful Tomato Juice Bubbles!

Made 3 Cups + a Little Leftover

Just for me!

Next Up: Juice Concoction

rest of the tomatoes

3 bell peppers

5 big banana peppers

whole bag of organic carrots (16 ounce) + a few other stray (organic) carrots

2 big cucumbers (from my garden)

teeny bit of spinach

Juice Concoction Bubbles

Juice Concoction Pulp

(The pulp went to the ducks, chickens, and turkeys.)

Organic, Heirloom Cucumbers

9 big cucumbers went into this juice!

Gorgeous Cucumber Juice Bubbles

Those 9 cucumbers made 3 cups of juice (shown above) + half of my oversized, favorite cup for drinking right away!

Cucumber Juice for Me!

It’s a Raw Juice Party!

In all, I ended up with:

1 – 3 cup container of tomato juice

1 – 3 cup container of cucumber juice

1 – 3 cup container which contained 3/4 cucumber juice + 1/4 juice concoction

2 – 3 cup containers of juice concoction

1 – 12 ounce Amazing Grass shaker cup of cucumber juice

1 – 12 ounce Amazing Grass shaker cup of cantaloupe juice

leftover 8 ounces or so of cucumber juice, which I drank in my polka-dotted cup (shown above)

Cantaloupe Juice

I forgot to take a photo of the cantaloupe but it was organic, heirloom (from my garden) as well.

It made 12 ounces–which fit perfectly into an Amazing Grass shaker cup! This one went into the freezer for later. Yum!

Juices in a Nice, Clean Fridge!

What’s in your fridge?

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 PLUS get to enter all sorts of awesome contests!

Oikos (Organic) Greek Yogurt

After my yummy-to-the-tummy Oikos Greek yogurt, I had my daily shot of E3 Live.

Snack/Lunch

Since I had a late breakfast (around 11 a.m., or so) I didn’t eat lunch at noon. Instead, I ended up having a snack around maybe 1 p.m.? I was a little hungry but not much, so I had a big banana with a spoon of raw honey. Yum! (No pic, sorry!)

Mid-Afternoon Snack

By this afternoon, I still wasn’t really craving anything–except chocolate! I realized I’d been craving chocolate all day, so I had me some! LOL Double the chocolate, double the fun, eh? I started with the totally delicious Amazing Grass Chocolate SuperFood bar. Yum-O! It has a thin layer of chocolate coating on the outside and nutty, green, chewy goodness on the inside. It’s healthy, tasty, and chocolate. What’s not to like? Seriously, I could eat one of these every single day! And they’re very dense and filling–AMAZING!

Amazing Grass Chocolate Bar

I decided to double up on my chocolate fix and had my other sample packet of Amazing Grass chocolate superfood powder, mixed with almond milk. Yum!

Amazing Chocolate Shake

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

Dinner

It was most definitely time for some raw veggies, so I fixed myself a salad. And here’s the sad news: all of my camera batteries are dead and I’m having to charge them–so no salad pics tonight! Sorry! Use your imagination, though, and picture this:

a base of baby spinach leaves

with chopped Napa cabbage

chopped heirloom organic banana peppers (from my garden)

diced heirloom organic bell peppers (from my garden)

sliced heirloom organic beets (from my garden)

Manitoba Harvest hemp seeds

scattered fresh blueberries

Yummy to the tummy!

Contest!!

Want to win a giant 2 pound container of healthy deliciousness? Special K wants to know what nourishes me. So, here it is: raw juices, smoothies, raw foods, and healthy thoughts nourish me. What nourishes you? Head on over there and tell her so you can be entered to win!

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.

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.

This morning, I did the video called Yoga for Yummy Abs by Polly from Yoga is Yummy.

I did the cobra pose, too! Fantabulous, people!

I was hesitant to try a different video. I’m trying to be very careful with my (bad) back. But, while I could really feel the yoga poses and stretches burning and using my muscles, it was a good, warm burning and relaxing experience. I’m just madly in love with yoga!

After my date with yoga, I had breakfast:

Blueberry-Kiwi Salad

1 whole kiwi, peeled + sliced

handful frozen blueberries

Yum-O!

I also had some herbal tea and, of course, added a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar to one of my glasses of water.

About mid-morning, I had my daily shot….

E3 Live Brain On

I think the Brain On formula tastes just a little stronger (or a little different) than the original E3 Live I’ve tried but it’s definitely do-able for me. You could always disguise the taste (if it’s too strong–aka green–for you) in a smoothie or juice. I just take a tablespoon straight up. What? I love my greens–and I’m lovin’ how it makes me feel: clear-minded and mentally alert!

Juicy Ingredients!

4 small heirloom organic beets, with leaves (from my garden)

3 organic carrots

2 heirloom organic cucumbers (from my garden)

small apple

2 handfuls spinach

handful Alfalfa sprouts

1-inch piece of ginger

medium heirloom organic bell pepper (from my garden)

1 whole kiwi, peeled

Raw Beauty!

Juice Pulp

(Looks Like Confetti!)

Yummy Juices

Raw Lunch

1 celery stalk, cut up

1 carrot, cut up

shaker cup full of today’s juicy concoction

+ a scoop of berry flavored Amazing Grass SuperFood powder

(To learn more about this berry-licious superfood powder, click on the photo below! )

Snack

I had another carrot and another celery stalk (I was craving carrots and celery today! LOL)

And…. some of the juiciest, most delicious…

Organic Cherries

Dinner

I thought about having my other juice in the place of my dinner but then I had an overwhelming craving for the following spinach-based salad. I absolutely adore baby spinach leaves–they’re my favorite veggie! I love them raw, in juices, in smoothies, in salads… you get my point.

Oh-So-Good Salad

generous handful of baby spinach leaves

heirloom organic cucumber slices (from my garden)

generous handful of fresh blueberries

Manitoba Harvest hemp seeds (Yum!)

2 stalks heirloom organic okra, sliced

Have you ever eaten okra raw? It’s delicious! I’m serious! The above combo is absolutely YUM! What’s your favorite salad combo? Do share!

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.

I really didn’t have an appetite at all this morning, so I went with my feelings and skipped breakfast. I wasn’t craving a juice either. I did have a glass of cold herbal tea with lemon.

I do want to share with you what worked for my swollen arm (from all those nasty red wasp stings)….

Here’s what I tried:

• wrapping it in vinegar
• baking soda wrap
• leaving chewing tobacco on for hours

Know what finally worked? Raw onion! Yep, I knew about the onion’s healing properties. Sheesh, I’ve even written about it (Onion for an Oops!).

I sliced raw onion and placed it on the parts of my arm where the wasps stung me (my arm got the worst of the stings) and then wrapped plastic wrap around my arm so the onions would stay in place overnight. The next morning? Almost ALL of the swelling was GONE and the pain and most of the itching was, too! Yippee! So, while the tobacco (wet) does help when held on a fresh sting, you can also give the old raw onion a try if you should get stung by a nasty flying creature.

Lunch, Anyone?

I decided to have a small salad. It was sooooooooooooooooooo delicious, and very easy on my system.

Spinach-Blueberry-Hemp (Seed) Salad

handful baby spinach leaves

handful blueberries

sprinkles of Manitoba Harvest hemp seed

Dinner

I was going to have a juice for dinner (and really I should have) but I’m still getting my strength back up so I copped out and threw another small salad together–it saved me all the labor of dragging out the juicer, preparing the produce, juicing them, and cleaning it all up. I was just too tired after losing so much sleep to do all that. So, another salad it was…

Heirloom Salad

(Note: ALL of the vegetables in the photo above (except the spinach leaves and hempseed) are heirloom + organic from MY garden!!)

baby spinach leaves

snap peas

sliced cucumber

raw okra (yeah, it’s delish!)

hemp seeds

Manitoba Harvest

Hemp Seeds

I’m really LOVING these Manitoba Harvest hemp seeds. They’re nutty, delicious, and so good for you! (More about these babies in an upcoming post! )  I had received these before starting my 30-day juice fast so I tried ‘em a few different ways: On my salad, in smoothies, etc. And I love ‘em!

Reflections

So, what should have actually been day 30 of my juice fast, was day 2 of my back-to-eating program. It didn’t end the way I had hoped, but I did give it my best shot. Not everyone would have sailed through a broken juicer, an out-of-commission back, and being attacked by a swarm of the biggest, nastiest, red wasps like I did–and for that, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished this time around. Sure, I could have finished the 30 days. I only liked about a day and a half, but this is where I’m different than other folks: I listen to my body. I know what it can and can’t do and it hasn’t failed me yet. Listening to my body has brought me a long way. I’ve lost over 100 pounds and have juice fasted extensively–for up to 52 days at a time. Sure, I’ve fasted for 3 days, 5 days, 7 days, etc. Shorter fasts are awesome, refreshing, and are absolutely a great thing to do. But just like with runners, who challenge themselves to run greater distances in less time, etc., someone like me who has been on a long journey of juice fasting, likes to challenge themselves –and their bodies– to a deeper level of cleansing, healing, and accomplishment.

Don’t forget about the contests! And catch up on the juicy details of my 30-day juice fast.

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.

Last night was simply atrocious. My arm kept swelling and throbbing and hurting and I didn’t get ANY sleep. None. Zilch. Zero. That makes for a VERY exhausted raw juice girl!

I finally gave in and got up at 5 a.m. That’s early for me, but there was absolutely no way I was going to be sleeping any time soon with all that pain.

I probably should have just laid in bed because not long after I got up, it started….

My tummy was turned inside-out! I started throwing up and couldn’t stop. Now, I’m no medical doctor, but guessing from how my body normally works, I’d say that my system must have been overloaded from all those red wasp stings and it made me sick, overall (I’ve never thrown up on a juice fast before, and I’ve done a 52-day juice fast!).

I can’t count how many times I threw up.

My Mom urged me to eat a couple of crackers to try to calm my tummy.

“But, Mom, this is day 29! Day 29!!! I only have the rest of today and tomorrow to complete my 30-day juice fast!!”

I was horrified by the thought of breaking my fast–and not the way I had planned on breaking it, at that!

Since I was way too sick to handle my daily warm lemon water, I tried sipping on a glass if ice-cold herbal tea. That helped a little. But, still, I kept throwing up.

I was really weak and in a LOT of pain from the swelling/throbbing of my arm where so many wasps stung in one area.

I hated to do it, folks, but I know my body. I know how far I can push myself. And I had reached my limit.

Broken

Breaking a juice fast is a very special event. When I decided to share this juice fast with you all, I had visions of sharing photos and details of my first raw meal after the fast. I planned on telling you why I chose raw fruit (because of all the enzymes that aid digestion) and why I didn’t choose vegetables (because they’re harder to digest when coming off a fast).

The fast wasn’t the only thing that was broken here: My heart and spirit were as well.

Cowboy girl Up

So, as my neighbor says: It was time to cowboy girl up and realize I’d reached my limits and that more importantly than stopping at the end of day 30, I should love my health enough to do what’s best for me at the time–and not worry about what the world would think of me for breaking the fast just a tad early.

So, I sucked up my pride (cowgirled up) and listened to mom: I nibbled on a couple of salty crackers. They were organic, but still….

I also nibbled on a piece of ginger.

“You look like death.” Mom said (thanks for the compliment, Mom! LOL). I took that as a cue to lay back down. My tummy finally settled down enough for me to get in a decent nap.

I knew I needed something but I didn’t really have the strength to drag out the juicer. Since I’d already nibbled on a couple of salty crackers (I’m still upset that I did this!!! ) I decided to make a green monster. Next best thing, right?

Amazing Green Monster

1/3 cup fresh blueberries

1 scoop berry flavored Amazing Grass SuperFood powder

1 big handful spinach

4 ice cubes

1/2 cup herbal tea

(This needed “something” so I added a tiny drizzle of raw honey–then it was perfect!

And it wasn’t as thick as I normally make my smoothies, so it was almost juice-like! )

A Monster Alright!

I had all my ingredients in the blender–and it wouldn’t start. Can you believe it?! Ugh. I was really tired and sick and not in the mood for a dead blender at all! I’m not one to waste, so I dumped the contents of the blender into the food processor and started it up. (Where there’s a will, eh?)

Red Wasp Stings

This photo doesn’t do my arm justice. Several stings were on the other side of my arm (not visible in this photo) and my arm was swollen double its normal size (or more!). Very painful. It felt like burning, heavy concrete that was about to explode and worse.

Since I didn’t get to share a raw meal that broke my fast, I’ll be writing a post with tips for breaking a juice fast, possible foods you could eat, and also share ideas for meals in the coming days after a fast.

What really gets me about this, is that I wasn’t hungry! I wasn’t even craving food and didn’t NEED to break the fast–even on day 30. I could have kept going.

I blame that yoga mat! LOL

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

Day 28, This WASN’T My Day!

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.

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