This recipe is brought to you by Chandra Gilbert, our Director of Operations. She is one of the lead Chefs behind the menu at Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre, and she happens to love a good cleanse as much as a good meal. Here is her favorite avocado smoothie recipe for you to try at home!
The Raw Food Family are a couple of parents, Katie and Ka, and their four beautiful children, who have been enjoying a lifestyle full of raw foods and travel together for over 6 years.
Their journey began when their second child, Jaro, developed a persistent cough, and was diagnosed with asthma. "Our small, pure son with asthma? I just thought 'I don't want this to be true! I want to have two healthy children and not to worry all the time." Ka opened himself to guidance, and found it while perusing his mother's bookshelf: "If you want to be healthy, forget about cooking."
Jaro bounced back quickly, and was a vibrant healthy baby by the time he was 2. The family decided that they were all committed to living vibrant, healthy lives together, and transitioned from 80% raw, to 90%, to 100%.
This recipe comes from Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko
Blend well:
2 large mangoes, peeled
1 bunch parsley
2 cups water
Yields 1 quart
This is a great smoothie -- simple to make and yet so refreshing and delicious. If consumed right away, it has the consistency of a smoothie. If refrigerated and consumed the next day, it's more like a pudding. If you want to drink it the next day and it's too thick, just add more water and shake/stir it up.
My housemate described this by saying, "it tastes like the transition between spring and summer." Yes, it is that delicious.
To buy this inspiring and informative book, Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko, click here!
Now that the holidays are almost over, my attention has shifted from sharing warm, hearty cooked meals with family to preparing light, cleansing foods by myself in my sacred space. My partner and I, both members of the Cafe Gratitude community, are preparing to do a juice fast together to ring in the new year and to help prepare our bodies for a whole new season of growth, release, and lessons. Amanda and I are both thrilled that Terces, co-founder and community leader of Cafe Gratitude , will be joining us as she begins a second year of the Juice Club. In 2010, she committed to a full year of juicing for the first week of each month. This year, she has decided to renew her commitment and continue to juice (and to invite her community to juice) into the new year. It is amazing how wonderful it can feel to drink juice and feel your body go through the experience of cleansing and renewing.
Terces has blogged to the community throughout her journey, recounting her daily experiences of juicing to encourage and inspire those who have joined her in the Juice Club:
"I shared with one of our managers today that one of the things I notice when juicing is that whenever I pass by a mirror or window and see my reflection I am surprised that I look "better" than I think I am going to.... and when I am not juicing I often experience myself as not looking better than I think I will. I am not sure what it is, I just notice that I have that experience."
Hey all,
Maybe you have heard one (or one hundred and one) miracle stories about a raw foods diet saving someone's life, restoring their health and vigor, or giving them a second chance to live a life they love. At Cafe gratitude, we hear these stories like these all the time. The truth is, many people have made it their life's work to heal themselves through diet, and have spread their word far and wide to those who will listen. Being in the business of self-transformation, we would like to extend an invitation to you to consider that simple changes in your diet and lifestyle could allow you to be the next miracle story!
Check out these resources to clear your mind, free your body of sluggishness and pain, and re-commit to self-healing in the coming weeks:
At Cafe Gratitude, we hear miraculous stories every day. While bartending at the Berkeley Cafe last week, I happened to meet Dave, a handsome man with rugged hands and sparkling eyes. A professional Over-The-Road "Big Rig" driver by trade, he had just come off of a day long trip, and was simply radiating joy to be in the Cafe. A coworker of mine swung by to tell me that Dave juices wheatgrass with an extension cord at gas stations as he travels, and also carries a blender in his cab. Intrigued, I began to pull him a double-shot of his favorite elixir while he told me his story.
In 2008, Dave weighed 430 lbs and had been diagnosed with colon cancer, type II diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and failing kidneys. He was on a host of medications, and doctors thought that he would soon need to go on dialysis and go on the kidney transplant list. Luckily, Dave met two people who introduced him to raw foods, and put him on a diet that allowed him to transform his life. He sat before me, alive, joyous and invigorated, as he told me how after just 4 days of his new diet, he was able to go off all of his diabetes medications. A year and a half later, he stood before me, 230 lbs lighter, both kidneys intact, and the spirit of gratitude lighting up his being.
Nowadays, Dave has quite a following. Check it out yourself at TheRawFoodTrucker.com or Dave's Facebook Page. People have come out in droves to support Dave in his transformation, to share inspiration, and to practice what Dave calls “Gratitude Rocks.” I invite you to try it yourself:
Notice what you are focusing on at the moment. Now, find something in the moment to be grateful for. Now, observe where your attention is, and find something else to be grateful for. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat...
Dave began doing this meditation on gratitude during his long hours on the road. The longest he has ever practiced “Gratitude Rocks” was 9 hours!