Last Day for $20 Savings on my LGS Daily Recipe magazine…

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on November 29, 2009: Angela’s “Shamanic Juju” Raw Smoothie (A Great Way to Enjoy Both Medicinal and Entheogenic Mushrooms)

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The Magical World of Mushrooms

Amongst raw food enthusiasts there is a growing appreciation for the healing and enlivening power of medicinal mushrooms. I am simply fascinated by this topic, and can’t say I’ve even really scratched the surface of it — I’ve barely breathed upon it, more like. But it’s a topic I have begun to research, and part of that research (since I’m very much about applicable, practicable truths rather than intellectual theory) includes the enjoyment and exploration of the qualities that mushrooms impart when you actually eat them.

I recall using some fresh shitake mushrooms earlier this year to make a Warm Live Mushroom Soup, and after just one bowl I could feel my blood change. I could feel it palpably different, coursing through my body as if with remarkably renewed vitality and clarity, and the experience really highlighted to me the potential in mushrooms which I’d heard so much about but hadn’t yet explored in any significant way.

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David Wolfe’s Top 5 Medicinal Mushrooms

David Wolfe is a huge advocate of medicinal mushrooms, especially those which grow on trees. The top five medicinal tree mushrooms which he recommends for longevity, immune system support, nervous system health, skin, joint health, and improved memory are:

1. Reishi (King of the Mushrooms)
2. Maitake (The Hen of the Woods)
3. Shitake
4. Coriolus (The Cloud Mushroom)
5. Agaricus

I have experience with Reishi, Shitake, and Cordyceps (not a tree mushroom), and have heard good things about Chaga but have not yet tried it. I’ve heard that some of the best Reishis are within spitting distance of where I live, across the border into New York state, and have set the intention of connecting with some good mushroom trackers to learn how to identify and harvest them.

One day soon I guarantee you’ll come across a recipe on my LGS site for a great salad to make with freshly harvest Reishi.

Here’s David Wolfe giving his own brief intro into the world of medicinal mushrooms:

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Entheogenic Mushrooms

There are some mushrooms that have been used for ages, particularly by indigenous shamans, to expand awareness and to transcend the limits of the normal waking mind. Mushrooms that open these portals of the mind are called “entheogenic”, with Psilocybin being the entheogenic mycophile’s first choice.

Amongst some cultures, Psilocybin are viewed as sacred gifts from nature, and are called “los niños” (the little children) referring to the “mushroom spirits” which gift the taker with helpful visions into both personal and cosmic reality.

Amongst shamans with an intimate relationship with “los niños” is one of the grandmothers on the International Council of 13 Grandmothers, a healer from the Mexico who works with Psilocybin and assists individuals and groups through healing and transformational journeys using the mushroom.

These amazing 13 indigenous grandmothers have so impressed me that I’m currently working with a group of women in New Jersey to coordinate a public showing of the documentary film “The Next 7 Generations”, about their extraordinary story of coming together and traveling to each others’ homes. Another of the grandmothers is a healer in the jungles of Brazil, working with Ayahuasca as an agent of healing. Fascinating women…

Terrence McKenna is a famous entheogenist with a rich library of personal experience on the subject. Here is the first of a series of videos where he is speaking about the power and significance of Psilocybin:

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Angela’s “Shamanic Juju” Raw Smoothie

(A Great Way to Enjoy Both Medicinal and Entheogenic Mushrooms)

There are no doubt many ways to take both medicinal and entheogenic mushrooms — to simple chew them straight, make into soups and slice into broths, or to dry them and take in capsules — but I thought a rich, earthy, psychedelic raw smoothie bursting with a rainbow of life-energy might be one great addition to a mycophile’s recipe library!

• 3 mangoes, peeled and pitted
• 2 organic lemons
• 3 small-medium beets (peel if not organic)
• 4 organic apples
• your mushrooms of choice

Add the mangoes to your blender.

Juice the beets and pour into the blender. Then juice the lemons whole, including the peels, and then the apples. Pour this fresh juice into the blender. You won’t be able to add all of the apple-lemon juice, so enjoy whatever’s left over as a refreshing lemonade to whet your appetite for the mushrooms.

Add the mushrooms and blend until well-combined. Drink as-is, or pour over ice. Enjoy all at once, or spread it out over a certain time period, as desired.

Drink responsibly… and enjoy your Shamanic Juju!

Last Day for $20 Savings on my LGS Daily Recipe magazine…

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 25, 2009: Fresh Juice Photos: Gorgeously Fuschia “Beetroot Lemonade”

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Super-delish — earthy, lemony, sweet…tastes a lot like a Sweet Tart.

I used 4 smallish beets (no tops), 2 large organic lemons (organic important, since I juice the whole fruit, including the rind), and 3 large golden Delicious apples.

Mmmmmm…

Freshly juiced pure beet juice. Psychedelically gorgeous. Just don't spill it!

Last 3 Days for $20 Savings on my LGS Daily Recipe magazine…

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 23, 2009: Today’s Green Juice Photos: This One Is Chocolate-Brown and Deliciously Earthy!

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This afternoon’s fresh green juice proves that what we learned in art class is quite true: combine bright red with dark green and you’re gonna get… brown! I swear, it looks almost like espresso in those bottles. Fits right in with the Starbucks decor…

For this batch of green juice, I used up half of a gigantic bunch of red chard, plus this handful of tomatoes, a couple bunches of red grapes, and the last of the fennel lurking about. The results: a deliciously earthy juice, quite sweet, with very pleasant hints of tomato & fennel.

This stuff is so dang refreshing!

Last Day for $20 Savings on my LGS Daily Recipe magazine…

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 22, 2009: Introducing… Fresh Green Juice at Starbucks! If You Bring It Yourself, That Is

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I’ve envisioned for years being able to walk into Starbucks and order up an “organic microgreens smoothie, pleez…with mango and young coconut”, with a nice kale-red grape fresh-juice chaser.

So, okay… we’re not there yet. But I can bring my own until the real deal emerges.

This morning’s bottles to accompany me while I peck away on my son’s Macbook Pro in the back booth at my local Sbux, hopefully edging my way closer to finishing my Live Green Smoothie Diet book.

With kale, red grapes, celery, apple, and fresh turmeric root, this is a super-tasty juice. The turmeric root gave just the slightest aromatically herbal aftertaste, very nice!

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 20, 2009: Today’s Fresh Juice Photos: It Ain’t Pretty But…It Sure Hit The Spot!

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Officially The Ugliest Fresh Juice I Ever Made…

But delicious all the same!

Made with an entire gigantic bunch of red chard, this juice is surely what fuels the Energizer Bunny. It gets its super-dark color from a the rich green leaves combined with the deep fuschia red of the stem and veins. To the red chard I added 4 celery stalks and 2 apples.

So heavily mineralized, it’s like soil in a glass…but it actually tastes great. With juices, definitely don’t judge by appearance. “Ugly” becomes a relative thing.

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Double-Stack Man Takes The Plunge With His First Taste Of Fresh Green Juice

I was very proud of a 20-year old young man, very dear to my heart, who was visiting while I was juicing this up. Proud of his McDonald’s-loving diet, he courageously ventured into taking a taste from my cup, and proclaimed it “Not bad…not bad at all!”

There’s hope for him, yet.

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 19, 2009: Today’s Fresh Juice Photos: Chlorophyll, Chlorophyll, Chlorophyll!

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Gorgeous, Life-Giving Chlorophyll…Truly Liquid Sunshine!

I was juicing a large jug of fresh kale, parsley, celery, apple, and red grape juice earlier and decided to get a few photos of just the pure green juice, before the rest was added.

The chlorophyll-rich juice always looks to me like blood — truly, it contains the life force of the plant, and you can feel that life force penetrate into your own very quickly after drinking fresh green juices. The energy rush of caffeine, for example, is nothing compared to the clarifying, oxygenating sensation of a chlorophyll rush.

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The Live Green Juice & Smoothie Project…Normalize The Green!!!

I am seriously motivated by a vision of a society where green juice vendors are as prevalent as Starbucks, because I know our world would be utterly transformed if that were so. A planet of humans who are consuming fresh green juices on a daily basis would change the world and our future as we now presume it to be.

I know that the majority of people in our world still think it’s rather weird or unappealing to drink fresh green juice and Live Green Smoothies, which is in part why I post all these photos…to begin to normalize the appearance and presence of these beautiful foods.

Green juices and Live Green Smoothies come in so many beautiful shades of green, and my intention is to do whatever I can to help bring an appreciation of these into the mainstream, so that they lose any stigma they may have for being “on the fringe”.

It happens, eventually. I remember years back what it was like when I’d order an Americano coffee (half espresso, half water). Although it was normal for me it was considered weirdness amidst the general coffee community, even at little boutique coffee bars. And now…I see regular Joes off the street (business men, construction workers) come into Starbucks and order up Americanos all the time.

Change happens. It’s just a matter of exposure…and appeal!

Here’s my jug of fresh green juice made from a huge pile of kale & parsley, with several small tomatoes, a handful of red grapes, and two Delicious apples. I enjoy seeing the pretty layers created in the juice and foam by the various fruits & vedge, so these shots are before everything was mixed up.

And here, these photos are after I gave a good stir to the juice.

What lovely greenness…now vibrating happily in my bloodstream.

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 18, 2009: Today’s Fresh Green Juice Photos: Whoops…Spilled Half My Kale-Parsley-Apple-Red Grape Jug!

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Dang…lost half my juice due to precariously leaning my too-big jug under the juicing spout! Ah well…thank goodness I’ve got more where that came from!

A large handful each of kale and parsley, a giant bunch of red grapes, and a Delicious apple…wow, whatta pretty sight! And as fresh as a spring mornin’ goin’ down!

This stuff is seriously addicting, folks.

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Evidence of a Green Massacre

The rags (after they’ve been rinsed out!) used to clean up the pools of green juice that threatened to take over my kitchen after the spillage. Looks like some kind of alien carnage occurred in my home.

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 17, 2009: Today’s Fresh Juice Photos: Seriously Green & Sweet

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Parsley, Spinach, Red Grape, and Apple

An entire large bunch of parsley…1/2 a container baby spinach…one giant bunch of red grapes…and one Delicous apple.

One thing I love about juicing parsley is that it gels up in the glass. If you do pure parsley, it’s like a shot of jello! And when it breaks up, it gives a pleasant bit of texture to the juice.

Mebbe later today I’ll do some fresh parsley lemonade…that’s some good stuff!

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 16, 2009: Today’s Fresh Juice Photos: Basil, Cabbage, Kale, Celery, & Apple

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Some leftover savoy cabbage, a few stalks of kale, three stems of fresh basil cut off my terrace potted plant, several stalks of celery and two golden delicious apples…mmmmmmmm! Whatta way to start the day!

I’m majorly green-vibing now!

The post below was originally published on my “This Raw Life” blog on September 15, 2009: Today’s Fresh Juice Photos: Cuke, Zuke, and Apples

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One cucumber, one baby zucchini, and two apples…made this creamy, super-refreshing jug of deliciousness!