Saturday, June 21, 2008

Fasting and Foraging, South Florida style

I know it's been a while since my last post. I've have lots to talk about, so I decided to save it all up and do a combo post.
I've been juice feasting in varying degrees for the last week or so. I just felt like my body needed extra detox, so I went for it.
I met a dude called "Tony the Gardener", who takes over abandoned urban community gardens in some pretty rough neighborhoods. He grows organic, "wild crafted" herbs and vegetables which are vastly different from the organic veggies I'm used to, as I was about to find out.
I went to meet him in Whole Foods parking lot and waited 30 minutes with my friend before she gave up and went home. He has no cell phone and my only communication with him was through email. I figured I'd already made the trip so I went inside to pick up a few things and wait a bit more. About 15 min later he called from a pay phone (they still have those?) and said he got held up harvesting in the rain, but would be there soon. He showed up soon after with 3 huge boxes of....WEEDS! He said that because I was so nice and waited, that he would throw in the third box for free. Wow, free weeds, just what I need.
I tell you, these looked like what you would throw away when you clean your garden. There I was on my kitchen floor, with my computer on one side of me, the box of weeds on the other, looking on foraging websites trying to figure out what this stuff was. Two hours later, I was sure of dandelion with the root attached, basil, lemongrass, and some type of cabbage. The rest was a mystery.
I decided to be daring, so the next morning I stuffed it all in my juicer. It smelled like I was mowing my lawn, and tasted like I was drinking it. Well, Tony said that this stuff would be potent. Maybe it would just take some getting used to. So I suffered through two more juices, but it was the salad that would prove to be the last straw.
I decide to eat for the first time in three days, so I made a salad and added some of the weeds. I put some dressing on and the weeds just sucked it up, so I added more and more, and each time it just sucked it up like a sponge. This stuff was like it's own life force, feeding on the dressing for it's nourishment. Would it grow and multiply? Well, if it does, it's doing it in the back of the garbage truck, because I threw it's weedy ass into the circular file! And I don't even want to talk about the snotty cactus-thingy! The nightmares have only just stopped! =shudder=
I guess I'm just not that adventurous yet. But on to my juice feast.
For three days I drank 3-4 juices a day and 2 green smoothies.
Here's an example:
Breakfast Green juice-
radish, kale, cucumber, parsley, bell peppers, yellow squash, watermelon rind


The radish makes this pretty pink on top. The picture just doesn't do it justice. I'm such a girly-girl!

Lunch- Choco Cherry Green Smoothie
1/2 avocado
1 cup watermelon
4 cherries, pitted
2 oz. coconut water
1/4 cucumber
1 large handful spinach
2 tbsp. hemp seeds
5 ice cubes
sweetleaf dark chocolate flavored stevia to taste
coconut flakes

Blend first 4 ingredients until thick and smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients except the coconut and blend until smooth.
Garnish with coconut flakes



Post lunch- another juice
Dinner-Green Soup
I don't measure, just dump everything green that I can find in. The things that are important to include are the avocado for creaminess, and the cucumber and celery for the juicy base.
I think I added spinach, kale, collard, chard, cucumber, celery, avocado, zucchini
Then add spices, whichever you like. Mine had dulse, basil, cilantro, parsley, himalayan sea salt, cayenne
Add some purified water and into the Vitamix it all goes. The cayenne gives it heat, so you get that "hot" feel.

Post dinner- another juice

In between, I drink lots and lots of water with lemon or PH drops. I always drink lemon water through a straw to protect my teeth.

On day 4, I had a few bites of the weed salad for dinner. That staved off my salad craving for a while.

On the 5th & 6th day, I ate a healthy breakfast and did green juices and smoothies the rest of the day.
My breakfast was sprouted quinoa & sprouted buckwheat with berries on day 5, and two dehydrated flax crackers with sprouts, avocado, and berries on day 6.

All in all, it was easy and I really didn't crave eating food. I felt satisfied, but I did miss my berries, because I never juice my fruit and I use very little in my smoothies. I like to eat it for breakfast, so it was nice to get back to that.

No comments: