Detox/Cleanse Completion!

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Our class finished off with a happy and successful group! Two members only made the first meeting but hoped they were supported with the blog information.  Biggest loser lost 28 pounds in the three weeks and was going to continue with a goal of 10 more!  Congratulations on all for commitment, participation and success in whole food eating for three weeks.  The most common comment this group was how easy it was to stay satisfied, enjoy the process and be inspired with new food ideas.

During the last class we discussed the process of reintroducing foods that we had been avoiding to see if there is any sensitivity and/or allergy reaction… both of which will provoke the return of maldigestion… leaky gut….. stress to the liver and detoxification… immune provocation which leads to inflammation!

Handout or the Cleanse booklet outlined introducing one new food per three days.  Sensitivity to dairy often provokes phlegm, mucous, post nasal drip, sinus congestion, loose stool or diarrhea.  Wheat sensitivity often provokes joint pain, skin breakouts,  bloating, constipation.  The foods you have sensitivities to usually bring back a symptom that had subsided or disappeared.  Insomnia, palpitations, headaches, poor focus, and G.I. symptoms and weight gain are some examples.  The food you crave is often a food sensitivity.

If you have a reaction, wait a couple more days to try a new food.  In general avoid that food 80 percent of the time and / or not more than every 4 days.  This allow the body to recover and prevent compounded and accumulative detrimental effects to the gut / immune health.  If you start regaining weight loss… you are doing something that should be avoided too frequently.

Sasha brought in fun whole food desserts!

I just want to say it was so very nice to meet you all, I think we had a terrific group. I am grateful to have been a part of it with you! Enjoy some healthy sweet recipes below.

Also, this woman’s recipe collection is so delicious and mostly pretty simple: http://www.therawtarian.com/raw-food-recipes

Remember, this detox was a jump start to sustainable, preventative, long-term healthcare that really works. What we choose to put in our mouths is so powerful, I’d say even sacred. Lets spread inspiration to others by living by example!

 Smooth Coco Pudding
1/4 cup raw cacao powder (or carob, or organic cocoa powder)

1 avocado

6-8 soaked dates, plus few dashes of water that the dates were soaking in

Dash salt

a couple drops of liquid stevia if desired for more sweetness

Almond milk added to make texture how you’d like it (thick vs fluffy)
Blend everything until smooth and creamy. For a frozen dessert, freeze pudding in ice cube trays!

 

Apple Pie:

Crust:

2 cups soaked and rinsed buckwheat (or nuts/seeds or oats)

6 dates

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Food process until pie dough like sticky texture, press into pie dish

Filling:

1 banana, 3 apples, dash of cinnamon blended

Pour filling into pie crust, chill in fridge

Enjoy!

 

Raw Carob Treat: (chocolate replacement)
-2 tablespoons raw almond butter (available at many supermarkets)
-1 tablespoon raw carob powder
-sweeten with 1 teaspoon honey or 2 dates
-1/2 teaspoon flax or olive oil (optional)
-dash of Celtic sea salt (optional)
Raven’s Raw Chocolate Fudge Cake:
*three TB raw carob powder
*1/4 cup dried coconut
*dash of salt
*capful of oil
*two tablespoons honey
*1/2 teaspoon water
*one date

Raw Brownies
By Shea

1 cup date paste* (dates food processed with equal amount water)
1 1/4 cup raw almond butter
1 1/4 cup raw carob powder
1/3 cup honey

Mix and press into 9 x 9x square (pyrex) pan. Refrigerate at least one hour.  Cut into squares.

1 lb dates = 1 cup date paste
Put all ingredients except the date in a bowl and mix together with a spoon. Flatten it and cut in pieces. Chop the date in four quarters, top to bottom. Sprinkle more dried coconut on top. Top pieces with a quarter date. Serves 2 to 4.

Raw Vegan Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

3 cups of whole pitted dates

2 cups of walnuts

1 cup of coconut flakes

1 cup of raw pecans

1 cup of raisins

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

1/3 cup coconut butter

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup water

Preparation:

Pie crust- in your food processor mix together dates, walnuts, coconut flakes. Pour the crust mix into pie plate, press mixture into the plate to form a crust.

Pie filling- Add pecans, raisins, coconut butter, vanilla extract, sea salt, nutmeg into your food processor along with water mix well. Pour into pie crust add fresh pecans to the top of the pie. Before serving chill pie for 5 hours in the freezer.

Finally a gift from Marilyn, sent evening the group ended!

Thought for the day from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation :

To be alive is to be hungry.

Our appetite for life is good. It keeps us reaching, growing, enjoying, and yearning to fulfill our potential. When our basic needs are satisfied, our hunger propels us to search for more elaborate gratification.

Here is where we often run into trouble. Instead of progressing through the hierarchy of needs to the spiritual level, we get stuck in an attempt to make quantity – more things, more people, and more activity – substitute for quality. And quantity alone is never enough.

It’s good that we’re hungry. Our appetite motivates us to feed our body in a healthy way and also to feed our mind, heart, and spirit. Our needs pyramid, and our hunger leads us beyond quantity to the quality experiences that fill our emptiness. We read, we share, we love, we pray, we listen, we accomplish, we dance, and we feast on the fullness of life.

Today, I will direct my appetite to quality experiences.