FREE Gifts for You! Got Santa?

Did Santa bring you what you wanted this Christmas?  Was you stocking loaded with goodies or coal?  Or was that stocking just left empty?  Did Santa's GPS neglect to direct the sleigh full of gifts to your chimney?  Did you mail out 20 Holiday greeting cards and get only 4 in return?  Less than 4?  Not even an eCard?  Southwest Desert Blogger feels your pain.  But the holidays are about giving, not receiving.  So let me give you some things I hope you or someone you know can use.

First, let me give you a code for $5 off any purchase at www.iherb.com .  They sell nutritional supplements, raw supplements, raw and organic food such as tahini, coconut oils, energy bars, goji, etc., herbs, teas, organic and natural shampoos, conditioners, skin creams and lotions, cosmetics, dry skin brushes, Madre Labs acai and Cafeceps, soaps such as Dr. Bronner's Castile, raw cacao, organic chia seed, hemp seed, seaweed, nuts, seaweed noodles, oils, homeopathics, organic pet food, etc. --  All at discounts.  They ship free for orders of $20 or more.  They also ship internationally.  Just enter code WAL660 at check out.  WAL= We All Love the $5 discount.  Plus, there are helpful product reviews.   And more free:  iherb offers a variety of FREE PRODUCTS to sample, so be sure to select one with your order.  I think you will find iherb prices lower than your local store.  It is fun to browse www.iherb.com so check it out.

Get some FREE juice and smoothie recipes and free access to hundreds of short videos (scroll down to "blog" and "recipes") plus other info' on a variety of raw food and health topics at this site:
  http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344

You can also get info on a 10 Day Juice Fast (feast) and a 7 Day Raw Food Challenge at http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344  Just scroll down to check around the site.   I have done both the Juice Fast and Raw Food Challenge and recommend both.  The 7 Day Raw Food Challenge was my favorite.  See Southwest Desert Blogger posts from mid July 2011 and September 2011 for my notes on the Raw Food Challenge and the Juice Fast.

I trust you are now on your way to a healthy New Year.
Happy, prosperous 2012 to all, from
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2011

Last Day of Fast

It is Day 10 of the 10 Day Juice Fast.  I am ready for it to end because I have been tired though not hungry.  I could continue, but this has been a good 10 days, and before I eat sold food (fruit) I will have completed nearly 11 days of fruit and vegetable juice fasting.

Still feeling a pleasant bliss, yet not motivated to engage in worldly business.  I have completed the tasks that needed to be completed today.  Luckily they were not too hard or time consuming.  The tiredness, both physical and mental, is a reason to return to a more broad and inclusive diet, i.e., one including good fat content, a bit higher protein, and more fiber.

Other than that my health has been good.  I sleep well at night, albeit less hours than I had been used to pre-fast.  Could that be why I am tired?  My nails are growing more quickly than usual.  Small cuts heal quickly.  I am calm and relaxed.  I feel a greater sense of compassion than usual.

For me, a fast once in a while is a good way to cleanse the system and return to food with more respect and enjoyment.  I do not expect to do a fast again this year.  Personally, I think it is nice to do this sort of thing when you are not under stress or working every day.  Others may be of differing opinion.

Tomorrow I will have some melon for lunch.  Watermelon or cantaloupe -- I have not yet decided.  Perhaps more melon for dinner.  If not, then a mixed vegetable juice which includes some leafy greens.  Post-fast day 2 and 3 I will have mixed vegetable juice for breakfast,  melon for lunch, and salad, with a little raw oil or avocado for dinner.  Day 4 the same, but 2 salads, instead of 1 throughout the day, plus gradually adding some nuts and seeds daily.  As you can see, this is a diet of predominately vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.  The food is raw, as is the oil.  It is is simple and does not require much preparation or cleanup.  Cleaning the vegetables and juicer is often the most time consuming part of the meal.

I learned a lot from the people participating in the fast.  We communicated online daily.  Questions were asked and answered.  Comments and observations were posted by those who wished to do so.  If you have been following my blog, you know I quit coffee 2 months ago.  Within 4 days of quitting coffee I quit tea, and have been caffeine-free since then.   At that time I also ate raw food for 7 days straight.  I had been consuming about 80% raw food prior to that, but never went 100% raw for more than a few days at a time.  The 7 Day Raw Food Challenge program I followed gave me the info I needed to be more satisfied with raw food and clarified the quantities that one could eat -- probably more than you think!  If you want to check out the 7 Day Raw Food Challenge or 10 Day Juice Fast I participated in, get info on raw vegan food, other health topics, of just download a FREE Juice and Smoothie Recipe eBook, link to this site.  There are also hundreds of short videos on a variety of raw food and health topics on the site:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344

Be well and happy,
Southwest Desert Blogger  
C. (c) 2011                           P.S.  To support this blog, use discount code WAL660 for $5 off first purchase at www.iherb.com .  They sell nutritional supplements, raw supplements (Garden of Life), raw and organic food such as tahini, coconut oils, energy bars, goji, etc., herbs, teas, organic and natural shampoos, conditioners, skin creams and lotions, cosmetics, dry skin brushes, Madre Labs acai and Cafeceps, organic soaps, raw organic cacao, organic raw chia seed, hemp seed, seaweed, nuts, kelp noodles, oils, homeopathics, organic pet food, etc. at discounts.  Currently, they ship free for US orders of $20 or more.  They also ship internationally.  Just enter code WAL660 at check out.    Plus, there are helpful product reviews.   And more free:  iherb offers a variety of FREE PRODUCTS to sample, so be sure to select one with your order. www.iherb.com .  Thanks.

Juice Fast Day 7

It is a very pleasant night in the Desert Southwest.  Temperature is a delightful 70 degrees (F) and there is a gentle rain.  This is the seventh day of the Juice Fast and it is going well.  I experienced some tiredness over the weekend so I took it easy.  My energy was variable this morning but leveled off nicely as the day wore on.  Still, I have been taking it easy.

I have been consuming an average of 14 cups of fresh juice per day, plus more than a liter of water.  Sounds like a lot, but it is about the right amount to maintain consistent energy throughout the day.
I juiced some perfectly sweet watermelon and cantaloupe with hearts of celery.  I juiced all sorts of vegetables including carrots, cucumbers, beets, spinach, chard, bok choy, cabbage, and sweet red bell pepper.  I harvested and juiced local prickly pear fruit (see previous blogs). I added an orange to my vegetable juice mix and it was quite good (or perhaps I am just hungry).  One evening I added a garlic clove and basil leaf to my vegetable juice.  I have been giving my 16 year old juicer quite a workout.

I notice fleeting periods of relaxed bliss.  My sense of sight seems heightened.  I nails are growing more quickly than usual.  I choose to remain somewhat detached from the cares of the world.

Yesterday I started thinking about food.  I thought of some nori sushi I made a while ago with cucumber, carrot, and avocado filling and ginger soy sauce.  Was I craving the minerals in the seaweed?  The fat in the avocado?  The salt in the soy sauce?  The thought passed as did the thought of fresh bread and butter.  More time has been spent thinking I need a new juicer.  Technology has advanced in the past 16 years.  I want a quieter machine with better yield, drier pulp, yet easy to clean.  I have been trying to figure out the payback time based on the price of the new juicer and the amount of money I will save on fresh produce if the juicer gets better yield.  Does this remind you of a school math problem where X = the amount of money saved per pound of greens, y = the amount of money saved per pound of carrots, and Z = the amount of money saved per pound of celery juiced in the new juicer?  The problem is X, Y, and Z are unknown numbers.

I almost forgot to tell you, I also had the juice of two baby coconuts -- a rare treat.  It was ambrosia.
If you would like to get a FREE Juice and Smoothie Recipes e-Book go to http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344.

Ending one full week of the 10 Day Juice Fast,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c) 2011                     P.S.  To support this blog, use discount code WAL660 for $5 off first purchase at www.iherb.com .  They sell nutritional supplements, raw supplements (Garden of Life), raw and organic food such as tahini, coconut oils, energy bars, goji, etc., herbs, teas, organic and natural shampoos, conditioners, skin creams and lotions, cosmetics, dry skin brushes, Madre Labs acai and Cafeceps, organic soaps, raw organic cacao, organic raw chia seed, hemp seed, seaweed, nuts, kelp noodles, oils, homeopathics, organic pet food, etc. at discounts.  Currently, they ship free for US orders of $20 or more.  They also ship internationally.  Just enter code WAL660 at check out.    Plus, there are helpful product reviews.   And more free:  iherb offers a variety of FREE PRODUCTS to sample, so be sure to select one with your order. www.iherb.com .  Thanks.

Prickly Pear Juice

I finally went out and harvested about 2 dozen prickly pear fruit.  They are sometimes called "tuna" -- think chicken of the desert.  They were from several prickly pear cacti.  Some were large and plump; some were smaller and less juicy.  I documented the event, from the harvest fruit, the cutting and removing the seedy pulp, to straining it in a paint strainer, to the juice.  The photos did not come out.  Did I have the memory stick in backwards or what? 

My prickly pear fruit varied in size from about an inch to an inch and a quarter in length.  They have very fine, tiny needles on the surface.  I think the commercially available varieties are larger and do not have the needles.  I harvested them with a pliers, yet still got some needles in my finger tips.  I rinsed them with water and found the best way to handle them was to stab each one with a paring knife, put it on the cutting board covered with wax paper, cut it in half, and scoop out the ruby red pulp with a spoon while using the knife to stabilize the fruit.  I had already covered a bowl with a paint strainer bag.  You could use a strainer or nut milk bag.  The wild prickly pear fruit are dense with seeds the size of a pinhead.  Squeezing the juicy red seedy pulp through a paint strainer bag worked very well.

Prickly Pear Juice in a bowl (with flash reflection) -- the true color is the center red

I expected the juice to be tart because commercial prickly pear fruit products generally have sweetener added.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the juice very pleasing.  Not too sweet, yet easily drinkable.  The color is outstanding.  I went back to my bowl of juice to get a photo so you can see the color.  Then I finished the juice.  It tastes similar to watermelon juice.

A few notes regarding clean up:  I suspect this juice could stain so be careful.  I rinsed my utensils, cutting board, sink and counter area right after this project.  I covered the cutting board with waxed paper to prevent the cactus needles from lodging in the board or just going astray.  I did not put the remaining pulp in the paint strainer bag down the drain because it was almost 100 percent seeds.  The seeds are hard and there were about 3/4 cup of them -- hundreds of seeds!  I did not want them clogging the drain.  When you see the number of seeds in these fruits, you understand why the prickly pear is so prolific.

Close up of Prickly Pear Pads, flower, and unripe fruit (lower left).  The fruit will turn red but the spines (needles) remain.  The yellow dots on the fruit are clumps of tiny needles that make the fruit difficult to handle! 

If you try this at home, using wild prickly pear, I suggest protecting your hands and arms if you are not used to handling cactus.  This is not a beginner project for amateurs.  See the above photo of a wild Prickly Pear cactus.  In my area these plants average 4 feet tall and they are sharp!

Enjoying the local fruit,
Southwest Desert Blogger on Day 1 of the 10 Day Juice Fast
Get a FREE e-book of juices and smoothies, and 10 day juice fast info at this link:  
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344
C. (c)2011

Juice Fast

Three Pounds of Little Organic Apples

It is still hot and somewhat humid in the Southwest Desert.  It is just shy of 100 degrees (F.) and just over 50% humidity.  Everyone is getting tired of the summer heat and ready for it to cool.  I haven't felt like eating much so I decided to do a 10 day Juice Fast.  The juice fast or feast includes as much juice as one needs.  The average expected consumption is 12 to 16 cups of fruit and vegetable juices per day, as desired.  Sounds like a lot.  You can get the idea from the FREE e-book of juices and smoothies at   http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344 .  That site also has info about the 10 day juice fast.  I will keep you posted as I progress with the fast.

So far I have purchased a watermelon, a pound of mixed baby greens, 2 bok choy leaves (because I am not sure I like bok choy in juice), 3 bunches celery, 1 cucumber, 1 half head green cabbage, 5 pounds carrots, 1 very large beet, 3 pounds little red apples (the photos above), 2 oranges, 6 little kiwi, 1 lime and a bunch of little lemons.  Most of that is organic.  We will see how long that lasts.  I estimate 2 to 3 days.

If you follow my blog you know I grow basil.  It is still looking good.  I cover the plant that is in full afternoon southwest desert sun to prevent it from burning.  On shady days and at night I uncover it.  I am told I can add a leaf or 2 to a pint of vegetable juice.  It seems to lend itself to tomato based juice.  I am cautioned not to add too much basil.  Perhaps some garlic or onion with that tomato basil juice.  Almost a liquid pizza sans cheese.

I may get brave and add some kale to juice this week.  I don't like kale.  I don't understand the allure of kale.  I fear even one kale leaf will destroy a perfectly good juice.  But I also remember that I used to fear green smoothies and they are quite good.  I can even load more than the suggested amount of baby spinach into a smoothie and like it.  See some of my July posts for my green smoothie adventures and yesterday's blog post for my secret smoothie ingredients.  Also, do download the free e-book from the link in the earlier part of this post.

Finally, what juicer do I use?  It is a Juiceman Jr. that is over 16 years old and still going.  It is fussy with greens, but I have learned to do all I can with it.  I have looked at the new fangled juicers and may treat myself to one someday.  For now, the old tried and true Juiceman Jr. will be with me through the next 10 days of over 100 cups of juice. 

Off we go on a juicy adventure,
your Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2011
 P.S.  Let me gift you a code for $5 off any purchase at www.iherb.com .  They sell nutritional supplements, raw supplements, raw and organic food such as tahini, coconut oils, energy bars, goji, etc., herbs, teas, organic and natural shampoos, conditioners, skin creams and lotions, cosmetics, dry skin brushes, Madre Labs acai and Cafeceps, soaps such as Dr. Bronner's Castile, raw cacao, organic chia seed, hemp seed, seaweed, nuts, seaweed noodles, oils, homeopathics, organic pet food, etc. at discounts.  Currently, they ship free for orders of $20 or more.  They also ship internationally.  Just enter code WAL660 at check out.    Plus, there are helpful product reviews.   And more free:  iherb offers a variety of FREE PRODUCTS to sample, so be sure to select one with your order.  I think you will find iherb prices lower than your local store.  It is interesting to browse www.iherb.com so check it out.