• Teach you new easy to follow recipes
• Make a nutritional plan and learn better eating habits
• Learn how to shop for the right foods
• How to prepare great meals
• Improve digestion
• Detoxify your body
• Improve your appearance
• Feel better
• Improve your health
• Gain muscle and lose fat
• Strengthen your immune system
• Improve mental alertness
• Reach your goal
• What type of kitchen applicances work best with raw food

• Garlic (this is one of my favorites and its one of the oldest cultivated foods)
• Onions
• Chives
• Elephant Garlic
• Leeks
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Broccoli Rabe
• Broccolini
• Kale
• Mustard Greens
• Tat Soi (one of my favorite when they are little and sprouted; although you can eat anything small and sprouted like broccoli, sunflower, alfalfa)
• Cucumbers (these are great to slice and take on the road; simple and nutritious. The best ones are the lemon cucumbers)
• Carrots
• Any type of lettuce for all salads (or if you are like me you put spinach or lettuce in your smoothies)
• Squash
• Zucchini
• Yellow squash
• Green Beans
• Peas (especially the sugar snap peas. You don't even need to cut them just throw them in a container and out the door you go)
• Tomatoes (there are so many great varietals that you can choose from)
• Spinach
• Collard Greens
• Sprouts; Sunflower, broccoli, lentil, etc.
• Any types of Fruits that you like should always be on hand so that you can just grab and go!

Why are sprouts so healthy for you?

 

Sprouts have always been a favorite among those who have looked for a healthy diet. But exactly why are sprouts so good for you? Why are they healthier than the seeds themselves?

 

The simple reason is that the seed is now preparing for a new life. The germination process changes the in nutritive value of the seeds.

 

The ascorbic acid and vitamin C content of the seed increases substainially with only forty-eight hours of germination.  B complex, and the vitamins riboflavin, biotin and niacin also increase by the germination process. The only disadvantage is that the folic acid content comes down.

 

Sprouts are a great source of concentrated minerals, vitamins and enzymes. They are inexpensive and easily made at home. When the seed sprouts most of the starch is converted into simple sugars. Thus sprouts are basically a predigested food form.  Sprouts are also extremely high in fiber content.

 

The sprouting process can be easily done at home. All you need to do is soak the seeds for a few hours. The time would depend on the type of seed you would like to sprout. Soft seeds like alfalfa need to be soaked for short-time where as hard seeds like fenugreek and lentils need to be soaked for over 12 hours. Do make sure that all of the seeds and nuts that you sprout are raw!  Nuts and seeds that have been roasted are unable to sprout due to the fact that they have been heated to a high temperature. 

 

Once the seeds are soft from soaking, there are a few methods that you can use to sprout them. You can tie them into a muslin cloth, place in a vessel and keep in a dark place. You can also put them into a jar and cover the mouth with a muslin cloth and leave them to sprout. Remember to use a jar, which can hold 4-5 times the volume of seeds. You can also use a plastic sprouter, which has two to three separators so that you may sprout different seeds at the same time. Make sure you drain and rinse the water every 6-8 hours.  Once you have done that and they have sprouted expose them to light for around 6 hours to activate the chlorophyll.

 

Whats your favorite meal of the day? Mine is breakfast! The better you feed yourself in the morning the better your day will be! Try to make green smoothies everyday in the morning so that you at least get some of your greens that you need.  If you do yoga in the morning a green smoothie will help kick start your routine and wont upset your stomach with all of those down dogs!

 

THE HISTORY AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF PARSLEY

 

Parsley has so many uses and cures for humans.  Sometimes you can overlook the health benefits because you normally see parsley on your dinner plate as a garnish.  Well parsley is much more than that it’s a great herb! Derived from the Greek word meaning "rock celery" (it's a relative to celery), it has been cultivated for 2,000 years, and was used medicinally long before that. The good thing about parsley is that you can get it at almost any grocery store anytime of the year.  It is best to use organic if you are going to juice it or use it in your green smoothies. 

There are a few types of parsley: One is curly, which is just that, curly.  Curly parsley is used mostly as a garnish, or in soups, and manly in Nordic countries.  Flat leaf or sometimes called Italian is used mostly in southern European countries.  I think that flat leaf parsley has more flavor so I prefer to use it in juices and in my morning smoothies.  There is also another type called turnip rooted parsley or Hamburg parsley.  You can eat the white roots of the turnip parsley like you would a parsnip.

Parsley has many health benefits and cures.  It contains lots of vitamin C, iron (more than spinach), manganese, calcium, and potassium.  Parsley is also rich in vitamin A with is helpful if you have night blindness. 

Raw parsley is also very beneficial for cleansing the blood by dissolving sticky deposits in your veins and clearing out toxins from the body.  Parsley is helpful with the removal of kidney and gallstones.  Parsley has also been used to treat urinary tract infections, painful menstruation, lowers blood pressure, relieves inflammation in the joints, improves asthma and other bronchial infections.  Parsley can also help with bad breath so why wouldn’t you eat your parsley? It cleanses your whole body plus it helps with so many other aspects of your health. 

I use parsley in my smoothies every morning.  It’s good to start the day with the benefits of parsley.  You can also use parsley for many other raw food recipes that are beneficial to your health.  I always sneak parsley in everything.  My family doesn’t even know I’m helping the