Juicing More Everyday

Blessed Uprising to all Fari and readers!

I know that going Ital seems difficult when you lovelovelove to eat and drink certain foods. But in doing your research you realize that what you love can kill you - and if you truly love JAH or yourself, then why the bodily abuse? These toxic chemicals added to food these days not only mess with your weight and immune system, but with your mental clarity and moods.
Getting healthy or going back to Eden isn't so hard once you have the commitment. It requires a replanning of family meals and what will be purchased in the market.
For starters, one way to gain fast healing is to juice everyday. Instead of buying bottled, boxed or canned juices, buy the actual raw ingredients they are made from - you also need a good supply of water (and also sugar but be easy on it - not every juice needs sugar either). Buy yourself enough citrus, other fruits and beetroot to last until the next trip - not everything needs to be in the fridge, and the aim is to make a jug or two of fresh juice everyday.
Furthermore, most of us who live in the Caribbean or live in a place where there is a lot of garden space have fruit trees growing at home! It baffles me how Trinidadians leave their oranges and other fruits to rot on the tree instead of making their own fresh juices and saving money in the grocery. I cherish the time my trees are laden with fruits - right now I have pommecythere or what Bajans call golden apple in my yard. It makes the best juice it's just a little difficult to break apart before blending. I pick them when they are big and green and it makes a juice more refreshing than any other for this horrible heat we've been having.
Here is a long list of foods that make the best juices tha family will love. I'm sure you have at least one in your grasp!

oranges
limes
lemons
pineapple
papaya
banana
strawberries
beetroot
pommecythere/golden apple
guava
carambola/five finger
mango
cherry
prunes/dates
carrot
celery
spinach
tomato
apple
pear
portugal/mandarine
coconut


This morning I had papaya and banana blended for breakfast. I'm on the last of it now. Take 1 banana, half a small to medium size papaya, 1 cup of cold water and liquefy in the blender. I added in 2 cubes of ice also. This made one tall glass:

Usually before that in the earlier hours I have water and herbal tea - ginger and garlic, or a medley of basil, lemongrass, rosemary and small-leaf thyme.

After this kind of breakfast I usually have a brunch type snack after 10 or 11 - bread and soya cheese with lettuce or patchoy leaves, tomato and cucumber. Avocado is the other ingredient when I can have it. Without the bread and cheese this also makes a great lunch with cous cous, freshly chopped beetroot and pigeon peas.
 I also recommend almonds, peanuts, cashew and whatever type of nuts you like to eat - remember to eat as little salt with these foods.

Since it's in season now, here's the way to make the pommecythere/golden apple juice - you won't regret it!

ingredients:
 6-8 green or semi ripe apples - med to lg size
8 cups water
sugar
strainer
 2 pint jug
 blender or juicer
sharp knife

If you have a juicer I guess all you need to do is put the apple in and let it do the rest. But if you have a blender like me, you will need to follow some steps.

Peel the fruit and cut a tictactoe type of pattern all across the flesh. then take the knife and dig out the pieces until you get down to the seed.

Put half of this in the blender with 4 cups of water and liquefy. strain into the juice mug, use a spoon to press out the juice.

Repeat this again with the other half of the fruit and with 4 more cups of water and strain.

I usually strain this all over to get out the rest of the pulp that comes through as you press down.
Add a little sugar to give it a slight taste or you can even add some ripe pineapple or some very ripe papaya which dont need sugar because they are sooo sweet.
If you have some sweet basil - let it soak for a spell!

Serve chilled and enjoy!

Overall Sistren, you can take 20 minutes each day to prepare some fresh juice that will do good for you and your family - it's the way of Eden, the way of the First People of Afrika who dwelled in rainforests and caves, and picked their food daily. "Left overs" are not as Ital as we would like them to be - natural and fresh is best!

I've recently joined the mailing list of Back-2-Live and that Sistah has already given me some tips I needed. I find it very helpful when Sistren can strenghten one another with tips and by even inviting each other over for meals or by exchanging recipes so that those who are more advanced can inspire others with great recipes. I have benefited from a variety of dear Sistren who eat totally raw foods, or who use plants and other things in ways I had not known. I and I culture is to be shared and full-joyed! So if you have Sistrens who go online please send them the link to my blog! ;p

Have a blessed, fresh and natural day Empress and King!

Ila

Crazy for Cous Cous!

Greetings all Royal Dawtas of RasTafari Selah!

Eating Ital is not just about being vegetarian, it's about knowing the nutritional value of foods themselves, and what can and cannot be eaten in excess. Though grains like rice and pasta are versatile and downright tasty, they are starchy and give the body excess sugars and carbohydrates - such add weight, spike blood sugar and blood pressure levels, increasing the overall toxicity to the body combined with other unhealthy snacks and meats. Grains also have gluten, which is an allergen to some people.

 (I'll post about the best type of eating habits for Wombman and good substitutes for unhealthy foods - which also promote weightloss - soon!)

If you haven't discovered the best alternative for bread, pasta and rice,  it is time to try cous cous. Cous cous is a pasta too, being rolled yellow granules of semolina and wheat. It is the staple food of North Afrika and the Maghrib diet in Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Algeria. Kus Kus as it is originally written, as Afrikan language has no "C", is a good source of niacin, thiamine, and selenium which is hard to find in foods. Selenium protects the arteries and heart from disease and blockages. It also provides protein for muscles and energy, and potassium for heartbeat and blood pressure.Because it is a "light food" it also helps to reduce weight - and keep that weight off! It's still made from wheat, so it still unfortunately has a high glycemic index like rice - which means it can spike insulin if eaten too much by a diabetic -  but kus kus is still definitely a better option than pasta and rice.


Kus Kus  goes perfectly with veges and salads and peas! It really looks like rice but takes only 8 minutes to prepare! The kind I and I get over here in the West is pre-cooked, so we just have to boil water and let the Kus Kus draw it all in for 5 minutes. Really really easy, and you can make exactly how much you need at the time.
 The proportions are generally 1 cup of Kus Kus to 1 1/2 cups water. 1 cup serves about 3-4 Idren depending on how much every I wants to "nyam." (I "nyam" a lot lol)

My favourite dish is green pigeon peas, Kus Kus, mixed steamed vegetables (usually brocolli, eggplant, chinese cabbage) and plantain. I also usually add a raw salad of beet, tomato and lettuce/cabbage on the side. I also like to change it up with black-eye peas, lentils or channa. Here's one of my meals in the past when I first started to eat kus kus. I usually mix up all my peas with the kus kus first!

Kus Kus "Salad" Recipe:

1 cup kus kus

2 garlic cloves

half an onion, or 1 small onion

1 small piece of ginger

1 pimento pepper

small leaf thyme any other fresh herb or spice

corn niblets

spices: tumeric/saffron, geera/cumin, paprika, sea salt

2 tbs water

1 1/2 cup water or vegetable stock

 a small saucepan 

- Finely dice the herbs and fresh seasonings

- Heat the 2 tbsp. of water, medium heat, in a small to medium saucepan or a skillet with a cover, if you have one.

- Add the freshly diced seasonings and saute for 2 minutes. 

- Sprinkle in the spices - a dash of paprika and cumin and salt. Stir well for another minnute.

- Add the corn, vegetable stock or water and about 3/4 tsp of saffron, and bring to a boil - I add a lot of saffron personally, probably a whole tsp. This is how my saffron water looks, it then turns red. Make sure to dissolve the saffron well.

- When it boils, turn off the heat and stir in the cup of kus kus quickly.

- Cover and remove from heat. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Usually it should look like this (but yours will have corn and seasonings):

 

- Fluff with a fork, serve it up!

This is how it traditionally is served in Afrika, they don't do much seasoning of the cous cous, generally the stew has all the flavour. The pasta is buried under  a stew of vegetables and maybe a piece of meat here and there:

Try something new, you can still have a filling hot meal, with less fat!

Blessed love!
Sis Ila