The Green Queen

Raw Hen Party - What lovely friends I have!

I had my hen party last weekend organised by my bridesmaid Jacqui, and it was such a lovely day!

A tea party in the afternoon and then drag queen cabaret and chinese food afterwards.

What was even more lovely is how supportive my friends are of my (aspired) diet and lifestyle choices.

We had a raw chocolate mousse cake by Charlie's Raw Treats, as well as her brownies, figgy bites, lemon pockets and almond cookies. Blanka of Gracefully Raw made raw crackers and the most amazing lemon coconut macaroons! My writer friend John Tyson of Be Free, even made a raw chocolate mud cake (he's not even raw - he googled it - how sweet!). Karen Knowler told me that champagne is raw too and I had a LOT of that!

Of course there were lots of other non - raw goodies and I ate them all - gorgeous muffins, meringue (my favourite!), cute little sandwiches, gorgeous potato salad! Washed down with pimms of course!

Thanks my lovely friends! More photos on my facebook page - I'm laughing hysterically in all of them!

Getting married? Check out my site for brides to be who want to lose weight for the wedding - but hate dieting. www.RawBrides.com 

Free Raw Food Teleclass

Free teleclass by Karen Knowler!

“The 7 Must-Know Steps to Take Your Raw Food Journey to the Stars - and Beyond!”

"Are you ready to refresh or recommit to your raw food journey and make it completely awe-inspiring, delicious and magical this time around?

If your answer is "Yes!" and you're ready to see where your raw food journey can take you over the months and years to follow, then this is the call for you!

As you probably already know, I’m a HUGE fan of Karen’s work – I’ve done a few of her programmes – and I’m currently on one of her biggest coaching programmes – the Raw Online Business training.

No matter where you are on your raw food journey, Karen is a brilliant person to work with and be inspired by.

This is a free teleseminar – and you can always listen to the recording later if you can’t attend live.

You just need to register here, and you’ll get sent the call details. I’ll be on the call too, so let me know how you liked it.

The most delicious raw cakes, chocolate and treats EVER!!!

I've never really had a sweet tooth. Regular readers will know that it's savoury crisps and things that get me, but I discovered raw chocolate, raw desserts and other things - and I'm a bit of a convert.

When I did the Karen Knowler Raw Online Business training recently, I was lucky enough to have some wonderful women in my group. Lisa Simpson of Raw Liberty (more about her in a future post), and Charlie Lagoa who runs Charlie's Raw Treats. 

Charlie handmakes a range of gorgeous raw cakes, and other treats that are unbelievably, made without dairy, wheat, or refined sugar. During the training, we heard all about the ingredients she uses, and trust me - it's a seriously quality product, with only the best stuff in it and handmade with love. 

I tried her raw chocolate brownie, and it was sooooo good. Also, her lemon cheesecake is so amazing that we're going to order one for the vegans at our wedding to have instead of the traditional lemon tart.

She just launched some raw snack packs too, which look lovely, and great if you need some raw snacks handy for work or at home. Particulary for me, I need something mid afternoon otherwise I prowl around the vending machines!

Check her out - she's going to be huge in the world of raw food, and you can say you heard of her first! And, not I'm not an affiliate, just a huge fan! www.charliesrawtreats.co.uk

Raw comfort food.. in a glass

What do you crave when you're feeling cold and miserable?

After weeks of storming hot and humid weather in London, today was cold and wet - BOO!

I was about to make a green smoothie for dinner, but I wanted something warm and comforting!

So, this lovely little shake was my experiment. Just wizz up everything in the blender, get into your PJ's and enjoy!

Raw "Milk" Shake

1 frozen banana

1 medjool date

1/2 tablespoon of raw almond butter

1/2 tablespoon of organic coconut butter /oil

Some spices: cloves, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon

Some sesame and hemp seeds

2 cups of warm water (boil the kettle and let it sit for a while)

It's very sweet but warm and thick. It actually made me feel a bit drowsy, but happy :)

BTW - I'm on Day 2 of my Blessed herbs cleanse - nothing to report. You eat fairly normally and take some pills. I'm really happy because on both days I resisted the urge to eat bad food, so I'm really proud of myself.

Drastic measures are called for !

*WARNING* This post contains pictures you might find embarrassing, unpleasant or gross. Feel free to click away now to this picture of a cute cat!

After a truly shocking non-raw month, I've vowed to spend this next one taking care of myself (and fitting into that damned wedding dress!). 

I'm starting a herbal colon cleanse! A friend, let's call her "Jess" just finished it, and the pictures of her... ahem...eliminations impressed me so much I've been showing people on my mobile phone! (Pictures at the very end of the post)

Why a colon cleanse?

In the past month, I've eaten all sorts of stuff that has made me feel terrible. Pizza, chinese food, bags and bags of crisps, ice-cream, etc etc. My body feels clogged and bloated. I want to kickstart a detox to have a summer of good food and exercise.

You might be thinking - "well, that's not bad.... I eat pizza all the time, and it doesn't affect me".

YAY for you! The problem is that I can't stop with one slice of pizza, one handful of crisps, one bowl of ice-cream. If I could, then I wouldn't even mention it, let along write on a blog! I have a junk food addiction, and so have to treat myself like a junkie.

I wrote in a previous post that I've had some emotional and physical upheavals. It's also really made me face how much I use junk food to numb myself. I'm committed to a life of health and self nourishment and I want to do everything I can to help me on that path.

I also bought a mini trampoline, and some hand weights. I've heard trampolining, or rebounding is an incredibly easy and efficient form of exercise, low impact which works your whole body - I'm loving that idea! Mark loves it too, and probably just woke the neighbours with 15 minutes of loud bouncing!

Back to the cleanse. After my experiment with the month-long Ejuva Intestinal Cleanse, I figured I needed something shorter, but also has good results. The Blessed Herbs cleanse is only 9 days, so I think that might be easier for me. It's also cheaper than Ejuva, and I'm doing it with another friend, so we got a small discount for buying two. 

It promises to:

Remove Old, Accumulated Waste from Your Small and Large (Colon) Intestines (which generally means, people in this cleanse lose weight)

Rejuvenate the Digestive System

Reduce Cravings and Food Dependencies (YAY)

Give more mental Clarity and Focus (this will be great too, I'll be really busy over summer)

I'm thinking - SWEET! Also, "Jess" said her skin was amazing, and she felt great afterwards. So anyway the pictures....after a couple of days, people report a sea-weed like substance being eliminated. I've come across these pictures before but didn't believe them until someone I knew did it.

Can you believe it? Seriously - what is that stuff? Apparently it's old waste and toxins that have built up for ages, called mucoid plaque. Gross, GROSS! Definitely a case of better out than in!

"Jess" is really skinny already and has been a vegan for years, so I really wonder what's lurking in my colon - let's find out, shall we?! I promise to post a small diary and the results for all to share and delight in! Will start next week sometime.

Hope I didn't ruin your dinner!