end of week 5! (Day 36)

May 31, 2008



I didn't get to post yesterday, but above is a picture taken this morning: after 5 weeks of juice feasting! You can visit here for "before" and "week 4" pics.



A couple days ago I learned about Black Locust Flowers from Anthony (The Raw Model)'s blog, and we had to go out in search. We found one just down the street, overflowing with ripe flowers! We harvested them and of course I had to try them (or I'd have to wait until next year.) They were sweet and delicious and would be lovely in juice. The one we found was really just past it's prime, but driving around we see them everywhere, so if another opportunity presents itself, I'll harvest a bunch more for juice and report back.

Here is a closer view of the flowers:



They look like pea flowers and the tree is in fact a legume. Here is more information about Black Locust Flowers.

My juices today:

• 2 quarts watermelon with 1 Tbsp chlorophyll
• 1 1/2 quarts beet, carrot, apple, garlic, ginger, celery, cucumber, parsley, cilantro, greens with hemp oil, kelp and spirulina
• 1/2 quart orange juice with water and bee pollen
• 1 qt tomato, yellow pepper, onion, garlic, cilantro, celery, basil, olive oil, lemon, salt - I decided to add the nightshades back in because a week without them didn't make any difference in my achiness

And back from grocery shopping, so I did chop up a bit of avocado with DULSE (which I was absolutely craving...still am) and fermented veggies. I wonder if I'm craving salt/sea veggies because I haven't been quite getting my full bunch of celery in every day? That would put me lower in sodium and probably craving it.

Oh, a special note: those jam/jelly bags from the kitchen store work brilliantly! Really, really well (dare I say better?) They are nylon, but don't have the tie string, instead they have an elastic band around the top. So I couldn't hang it up, but it didn't really matter - I hooked it around my big measuring cup and held it open, poured in the blended juice (yeah! The blender is sooo much easier to use and clean than the Champion!) and squeezed it through. So easy! So sturdy! I'm so happy about that! They were: Fox Run Kitchens (TM) 2 Jelly Strainer Bags for $3.99 at "In the Kitchen" - a kitchen store in The Strip (Pittsburgh.)

Greens in my smoothie

Here is a typical mix of greens, flowers and weeds that I have been putting into my green smoothies. I'm just going to post a quick update now, but I hope to post more about some or all of the weeds/herbs that are going into my smoothie: all from our little yard/garden!

The yellow flower is calendula, so beautiful! We've not had much luck with them in the past, but this year Ella planted them, and we have a huge patch of big, lovely, multi-flowered calendulas!

I also see in there:

Shephard's purse
Plantain
Chard
Quickweed
Mint
Lamb's Quarters

Other things that have been going in:

Red Clover (blossom and leaves)
Lady's thumb (Polygonum persicaria...related to He Shou Wu/Fo Ti - Polygonum multiflori - more about that later!)
Borage Leaves and Flowers
Comfrey Leaves
Mulberry - berry and leaves
Bachelor buttons (edible flowers)
Chickweed

Sometimes instead of water I add nettle or raspberry leave infusion (strong tea, steeped overnight)

And lately I've been added a spoon of powdered dong gui, he shou wu (fo ti), spirulina, and now I've given in and bought a pound of Vitamineral Green so that has been going in as well. (It was so fun to get that package in the mail from Matt Monarch's Raw Food World! It had all these yummy little sample packets of stuff - fun!)

All that with fruit to make it yummy.

The green smoothie challenge is going really well! Is anyone else doing it? Let me know how it's going.

Mulberries, mulberries, mulberries

I love mulberry season!
Right now I have two trays of mulberries drying in the dehydrator (first time I've done that!), I had loads off the tree, a cup or so in my smoothie, there's some out at the office for clients (and Dave) to munch on, and yesterday we made a raw mulberry pie!



Recipe for the pie:

Crust:
In the food processor: pecans, walnuts, dates and dried apricots blended together until sticky, then pressed onto the bottom of a pie pan.

Then, we took half the mulberries (about 3 cups?) and put them through the food processor (just pulsing lightly, not liquidizing!) and then mixed it back in with the other half of un-blended mulberries, then poured it onto the pie crust (the crust will absorb the liquid.) We topped with shredded coconut and a daylily.

And I've been having Green Superfood Smoothies, here's my recipe:

1 banana
1 cup frozen or fresh fruit (I used mulberries today, of course!)
1 handful greens (I used garden greens and wild edibles, including mulberry leaves!)
1 Tbsp chlorophyll
1 tsp or more spirulina powder
1 Tbsp cacao powder
1 Tbsp honey (optional, the fruit is often sweet enough)
1 Tbsp bee pollen
1 handful Goji berries
1 cup ice
2+ cups raspberry or nettle infusion (strong tea, made the night before and refrigerated.)

I watched a really inspiring youtube video about Superfoods and wild foods yesterday by Shazzie. It's in four parts I believe.