Body/Mind and the Gift of Connection.

Jump for Joy!

The January Juice Feast is now well under way!

It is always an exciting time in our lives when David is engaged in coaching a group Juice Feast, and it goes with out saying that growth and transformation never get boring to be around! I'm a sucker for a good Juice Feasting story, and I get to hear lots of them when there is a Feast going on.

While David treats his client's privacy with great respect, I have the honor and joy of sharing in some of the most amazing stories of personal development with him at the end of each day. We both share so much reverence for people's never ending journeys towards self actualization. It seems at times that there is so much to overcome and yet people persevere and move above and beyond even the most debilitating illness, hurt, loss, and trauma.

You are all superstars, every single one of you!

Something that comes up again and again for people who Juice Feast is a much deeper awareness of the body/mind connection. When you take the junk (food) out of your body, the mind really does become strong and clear. Life is much easier to navigate and more readily enjoyed with a mind that is strong and clear! Once this is an awareness that you have cultivated, it becomes much easier as well to choose to put the foods in your body that help to build a mind worth living with!

To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. ~Buddha

I loved this email, which exemplifies the mind/body connection beautifully, from one of David's students. (Used here with permission):

"An observation: When I was out shopping for a few things for my family, I had a very different experience in the grocery store. I noticed faces more, or well, in a different way. I often notice faces...details of faces. I seemed more connected to the people who had those faces. More connected to their conversations. Last night when I was holding a bell pepper in my hands and was about to tear it apart for my juice prep, I was slightly saddened to be tearing it apart...like it was a being, and had its own being-ness. I thanked it, and was just struck by this never-before felt connection with a bell pepper. Yesterday I was looking at the dashboard of my car and noticing many details of how the designers made elements smoothly transition together, how the door lock-unlock tab looked smooth and well balanced (design-wise) when it was locked and unlocked.

Hey, if this cleansing feast allows me access to these things, and if I can learn how to access these states...awesome! It's worth my whole life just in the knowing how to connect.

And one more observation: While at the grocery store I noticed that I was able to easily slip into a quiet-mind place. Just naturally able to be there, taking in the colors of the labels of soups stacked on the shelves -- could focus in to view more specifics or adjust out to partake of the mosaic rainbow. I could have a quiet mind and walk and watch/listen ... and it was quite delightful!

Have a great night! Look forward to whatever shows up between now and our chat. I really do appreciate your guided mentoring of this process. Thank you!"

~Rees Maxwell

Founder and Lead Instructor: Whole Earth Nature School
http://WholeEarthNatureSchool.com

Founder and Lead Instructor: Dancing Sol - Early Childhood Nature Education Program

http://www.DancingSol.com

Love it! Thank you for sharing Rees, many blessings for your beautiful journey!

Have a Beautiful Day!

All love,

Katrina Rainoshek
www.JuiceFeasting.com

2008 Global Juice Feaster's Reunion!

Hello All!

Well here we are in March of 2009, and thanks to some inspiration from Bronwyn, all of us now in Victoria who did the Global Juice Feast in 2008 got together for a little reunion.

As you will see in the video I was working behind the counter at Cafe Bliss and missed hearing everyone's Post-Juice Feast story...I just now watched the video and was so excited to hear everyone sharing how well they are doing! Continuing to spiral upwards in the never ending flow of growth!

If you are planning on joining the 2009 Global Juice Feast, starting this coming Saturday, March 7, be sure to watch these seasoned Juice Feasters (David, Bronwyn, Constanze, Ayrie, Robyn, and I) for some wonderful inspiration....oh the joys of fresh, raw juice!!

Enjoy!



LOVE!!!!

Katrina (who is still loving her Green Vegetable Juice!)

Feeling yummy!! 5 1/2 months!!!

Our Very Happy News!

Hello Dear Friends!

Wow, it has been quite some time since I last wrote, and quite a time too!

We hope that the year of '09 has been treating you with as much love, joy, and happiness as you can handle!! (I mean LOTS of goodies and abundance!)

We had a wonderful Christmas in Victoria with family and it was truly a special Christmas for David and I as it will be our last one without a BABY!!! Yes, we are having a baby, a great happiness for us both! Off on the next big adventure of life.......

The little one is due to arrive and come out to play sometime in June. Due date is summer solstice, June 21 for our sweet little summer strawberry baby.

Happy 4 1/2 month old baby in the belly!
I am now well into the second trimester and feeling great and loving the magical process of creation that is evolving! As many of you who have been reading this blog for awhile know, one of my main reasons for Juice Feasting back in March 08 was in preparation for Baby Rainoshek. I am thrilled that this little soul has now joined us and is letting me know how happy and strong he/she is by bumping all about in my belly! David was able to feel the movement from the outside for the first time last night, what magic. (Click HERE for a jump back in time and to read my personal reasons for Juice Feasting on Day 2 of my 88 Day Juice Feast!)

I have to admit that being on the computer is not my favorite thing right now, along with all other left brain activity, as my delicious pregnant dreamy right brain seems to take over!! So, hence the lack of blogging....but I do hope you are all well and look forward to hearing from and sharing with you in the near future!

With lots of love and sweet wishes to you,

Katrina and David and growing Baby Rainoshek

Enjoying a snowy winter day....

A 1 Day and 114 Day Juice Feast

Hello Dear Friends!

We are sitting here watching the rain through our window, enjoying the gentle arrival of fall on Canada's west coast. My tan is quickly fading and memories of Arizona sunshine and clear blue skies are going to go a long way this winter I can tell already!

I have not yet written about how amazing it was for David and I to meet so many people during Raw Spirit who had Juice Feasted! We were floored by how many stories of grace, healing, happiness, and strength that we heard. Even those people who shared stories of what they called "failures at Juice Feasting" said that over-all it had been an amazing learning experience and that Juice Feasting was something they wanted to try again at some point in the future.

For the record, a two week Juice Feast when one has set out to Juice Feast for 92 Days is not a failure! Two weeks is an impressive length of time to go on just juice! Even if you Juice Feast and decide you never want to do it again, bravo! Juice Feasting is just part of the gentle process of continuing to spiral upwards in health, and some of us need 1 Day at a time, some of us two weeks, some of us 114 Days!

114 Days??!!! A very special young woman is breaking out of her 114 Day Juice Feast today, and we have been very blessed to have her with us on our Juice Feasting Forums.

You can read Lilly's Blog in its entirety here, but here are some of my favorite bits:

From Day 83

"This summer and juice feast seems to have passed in a blur of good vibrations. As I shed the old and welcome the new, I realize what a miracle it truly is to have nature cure my illnesses.

Today, at my colon therapist's office they noticed me smelling the flowers, and asked about my pollen allergies. I realized at that moment that I haven't had any allergic symptoms since juice feasting. None, nada, zippo. In fact, I live near a park where I walk my dogs every morning, and haven't had any symptoms since juicing. Gosh, I'm happy to be runny rose free :)

Making my green juices has become a daily ritual. I can whip up thee greenness like Rosie The Robot from The Jetson's. As for my energy level, some days I sleep soundly, whereas other days I have boundless energy and read on until the middle of the night. Throughout the day, I tend to have good energy as long as there are 6 mason jars full of juice at my disposal :)

My eczema is clearing up well, about 3/4 of the psoriasis is cleared away allowing the new "me" to shine through. It has been 8 years with eczema... 8 years of wearing turtlenecks, of becoming more shy because of my "shell". When strangers used to stop me to say hi to my dogs, I would notice them glance at my neck eczema and then back at my eyes. It used to make me feel embarrassed, uncomfortable, and shy. But lately, the strangers I have encountered seem to pay less attention to my eczema. I'm happy people are starting to see me for me, not the eczema, or fear of getting eczema.

More than my skin has evolved... I feel more calm and content. I don't crave anything or feel like I need as much. I hope I can find the right words to convey this feeling. I want less... of everything, even the juices. I may feel thirsty, but I drink the juices for nutrition, there are no cravings anymore.

My thirst to learn new things has increased. I can sit for hours, often from 6pm-midnight lost in a great book. This was not the case before the juice feast. I used to have a hard time concentrating. For example, I would read for an hour, but then I would need to do something else- like clean, play the piano, check my e-mail, etc. During the juice feast though, my mind was stronger. I can't emphasis this huge change enough. My mind has become more clear, connecting words, and ideas more easily. This was not the case before my juice feast. Curious enough... my schedule now is more hectic then it was prior to the feast. So, I firmly believe the juice feast has cleared away old matter that has clogged my body and bloodstream; leaving a more lucid and clear flowing body and mind."

From Day 100:

"Today is Day 100 of my Juice Feast. It's hard to believe a hundred days have passed and gone by so quickly. So much has happened in the pass 3 months physically, mentally, and spiritually for me. This has had a big effect on the actions of my daily life. Physically, my eczema has 90% cleared and I lost a little weight.

Mentally, I have been able to concentrate for 6-8 hours and read books cover to cover for hours. I just fall into a zone every evening. I'm amazed. Spiritually, I find myself more calm, relaxed, and wanting less. I feel content and happy with less things. All in all, this has transformed my life for the better.

Gosh, I went into the juice feast looking to ease my eczema a bit... but I found so much more. Life is truly a blessing. I'm so happy to have been able to heal my health. It is very freeing to take control of your health. I'm continuing to juice feast one day at a time until my eczema is more clear. I'm almost there. And it has been great to have the loving support and supervision of some amazing colon therapists.

Thank you to the people that have done this before me, that have lead the way, that have provided answers for the future... you have helped me today and I am grateful.

Blessings and love to you, Lily flowa" Before and After Photos

Goodness! Sometimes (oftentimes) this whole business makes me rather teary eyed! Congratulations Lilly and many blessings to your journey onwards and upwards!

If you don't feel like 114 Days of juice is calling you just now, let me share a little story from ~n~, who just recently did a 1 Day Juice Feast:

"I'm very pleased to say that I made it through an entire day yesterday on juices (yes, it really CAN be done!). Officially, I guess I did a one-day juice feast! :) I made a lot of juice in the morning so that I would be able to just get something whenever hunger struck throughout the day. I made different mixes of kale, celery, beetroot, romaine lettuce, carrot, apple, and plum juices (nice rainbow, eh). I feel really good about the amount of greens that I got into me.

In Dr. Walker's book he says that kale juice, like cabbage, can cause gas to bubble up in the intestines as it allows the waste matter to release and be carried out. I don't know that I could actually drink a glass of it straight (but what he says is quite true)!

It was amazing to me, that even just one day of juicing could cause such massive change in my body - not only the effect of the kale juice, but also the mucous that came pouring out (sorry if that's tmi)... I couldn't decided whether it was the cold I thought I'd been fighting off or a detox symptom. I'm quite sure it was detox though because the odd thing is that there was a little sleep coming out of my eye corners (during the day) and my sinuses were quite plugged by the end of the day, but fine this morning (and if it was a true cold, I'd expect it to be the opposite).

Monday night I stayed up until 3:30 making travel plans. I simply wasn't tired and felt invigorated after having a pink bath (which aids in releasing anger and aggression, helps to build compassion and loving kindness) with rose essential oil and rose petals - sounds extravagant, doesn't it! And despite staying up half the night, I was up at 8 without too much struggle. Last night, however, I slept solidly from 10:30 until 8:30 this morning - a solid 10 hours. Usually I'll get 8-10 hrs of sleep, but it'll have been disturbed at least once, between the children & the dog. It felt wonderful to have an uninterrupted sleep of that length. I used to have issues with sleeping in (thoughts like "what a waste of your day! get up and get going!") but I have since learned to see it as very restorative and important for good health and well-being, and I must admit I live a rather pampered life that I rarely get up to the buzzing of an alarm clock.

I haven't yet "broke the feast"; this morning I'll be having some cantaloupe juice to start the day. Maybe I'll just keep going on this fast for the time being. Just taking it one moment at a time..."

~n~ you are absolutely right about sleep being a very important part of your day! Thank you so much for sharing and congratulations on your 1 Day Juice Feast! To read more of ~n~'s blog, follow this link.

What juice did YOU have today? David and I both had half a quart of cucumber, celery, kale, bok choy, beet, carrot, apple, pear, lemon and ginger juice for breakfast. WOW, talk about yummy nutrition! A little on the sweet and complex side of things, but a nice breakfast juice treat.

And, because we are not Juice Feasting right now we also had a bowl of chia pudding magic with blueberries, strawberries, maca, bilberries, and noble mushroom powder. Yum.

With much love and blessings for a beautiful day,

Katrina Rain

Our Summer in Pictures

Hello Dear Friends!!

Summer has been so wonderful that each time I try to sit down to write here, something such as a walk in the sunshine, a date with a blackberry bush, a swim in the lake, or a picnic by the ocean seems much more inviting!! That is summer for you!

We are happily moved into our new house in the woods, and I am loving having a full kitchen of my own once again as you will see in some of the pictures below. My brothers like to make fun of me for taking so many pictures of the food that I make, and it got me wondering "yes, I do wonder why it is that raw foodists love taking and showing off pictures of their raw food?"

I know that I am not alone in this habit taking pictures of my raw food as though it was my first child, the web is full of raw food pictures! Is it because raw food is so sumptuous and beautiful? So vibrant and delectable? Well yes, it is those things and many more (raw food is colorful, juicy, pretty, glowing, mouth watering, natural, yummy, yummy, and YUMMY!), but I also realized that pictures of food, all kinds of food, are EVERYWHERE!!

It is no wonder that as raw foodists we feel the need to balance out the plethora of cooked food pictures that we see in magazines, on TV, pasted on giant billboards, popping up on the web, on our airplane trays, in the grocery isles, and restaurant windows, with some pictures of the truly nourishing foods that we make at home! Pictures of pizza, lasagna, chicken, burgers, fries, and candy stimulate our appetites for these foods, and likewise pictures of red apples, gorgeous salads, juicy peaches, and green avocados stimulate our appetites to eat raw foods!

So I say go ahead! Let's flood the airwaves with pictures of beautiful, appetizing raw foods! I know it makes me excited to eat this way when I can find inspiring pictures of yummy looking foods. Storm and Jinjee and family have a fantastic project on the go called Take A Fruit Break, and you can even download beautiful free posters that will be sure to get your mouth watering for some tasty raw foods!

So, with that, we hope you enjoy these pictures from our summer 2008!

Ayrie with fresh salad greens from his backyard forest garden. I can't tell who is glowing more, my dad or the greens! An orange breakfast in an orange room. (In a house we babysat while waiting for our own house.)Making fruit faces with my sisters.Blackboard at Cafe Bliss.Cake. My mom made this from blended frozen fruit, just like ice cream cake! Chia pudding with fresh figs and blueberries. Chia has become a staple, I LOVE it!! I made a delicious chia smoothie with spirulina and cinnamon, which I thought was a weird mix of flavors but it worked out yummily.
Sweet flax crackers with guacamole, sun dried tomato sauce and fresh tomatoes, and of course SALAD!!Rosemary/garlic/onion/carrot/flax/pumpkin seed/sesame seed crackers with basil pesto and fresh tomatoes and of course SALAD!!
I Am Honoring Nachos from I Am Grateful, made for a dinner with guests. Made with I Am Kind Refried Beans, I Am Generous Guacamole, I Am Fiery Salsa, and I Am Ravishing Cashew Sour Cream. Served with flax crackers made by mom, and freshly made lemonade. Strawberry Vice Cream. Made with almond mylk and frozen strawberries. Joe aptly noted that is was silly for us to be calling blended nuts and spices "beans" or "cheese" and why didn't we just call it what it was? Just call it a spiced nut pate he suggested. For our "ice cream" he has bestowed the title "Vice Cream." V for vegan, vice for healthy indulgence (we don't really think this treat is a vice in the strict meaning of the word, don't worry.)
Alright! Done with the food shots, here is us on the Sonja after a sail, me about to jump in, David climbing the rat lines for a better view.

David enjoying sunset on a Northern California beach on our way home from the Vibrant Living Expo in Ft. Bragg (a fantastic event!)Setting up the tent to sleep by the sea.

Me visiting the redwoods.
Me swimming in a river, still feeling bon dans ma peau 3 months post Juice Feast!! Strike a pose Katrina!
Enjoying the island abundance of Blackberries, we are going to need a second freezer!
Look at the size of these babies!!

We are off again in a few days to head down to Sedona, Arizona for that fabulish gathering called Raw Spirit Fest! We hope to see you there!!

All love and blissings,

Katrina

Raw Ice Cream Support!!

Heather and her amazing, supportive of raw foods cashew vanilla ice cream with fresh berries.

Hello!

I have been enjoying my family so much this past month. It is amazing to me to remember how difficult it was to go raw, two and half years ago, when I am now surrounded by family members who are also amazing raw food chefs!

My dad has become an amazing creator of delicious crackers, the whole family makes wonderful green smoothies, David makes my favorite Brazil nut pate, my dad's girlfriend Constanze just filled the fridge with sprouted almond hummus and cacao fudge that is to die for, and my sister Heather is about to open Victoria's first all raw cafe so you can imagine the treats she is trying out on us! Even my nine year old sister Finn tells me that her future husband is going to be "very nice, and he will eat raw food."

It can be very difficult to switch to raw foods. Two years ago Constanze remembers "you were living way out in the forest (well, I was living in a house in the forest) and you would come into town and tell that you were eating only raw food, and we thought Oh sure Katrina, whatever!!!" I can remember it was very difficult for me to eat all live foods for that first year...I was not able to, in fact. I realized how important it was to surround myself with support for the shift, and so after a year of trying to go raw in a cooked world, alone, I set off for The Tree Of Life. Once I was there it was a whole different world, it was so easy to eat raw food when all I was exposed to was raw food, and all the people I spent time with understood my choices and the conversation was not dominated by the need to explain why I was eating raw food! How refreshing!!

Even after two and half years, I still suffer amnesia in the face of some situations as to why it is that I am choosing to eat live foods. Take the recent move David and I have made for example...I have had to re-commit to myself all over again that I choose the best foods possible, especially while staying with my beautiful mother who really does make amazing food, both raw and cooked! I found that re-reading bits from the books and websites that inspired me to go raw in the first place was all it took for me to feel a sense of grace around eating raw foods rather than a struggle against cooked foods. I realized again that I CHOOSE to eat raw foods not because I "can't" eat bread but because raw foods create magic for me.

If you are new to raw foods, or even if you are not, do not underestimate the power of support. In addition to friends, potlucks, and family, I use on-line support as much as possible, and now there is even more with sites like Give It To Me Raw, and all the amazing blogs and personal websites of people who are walking the same path. Go out there and get some support for yourself! We support you! You are not alone!

And if it is inspiration you need, here are some pictures of Heather's amazing cashew vanilla ice cream with strawberries and raspberries fresh from the garden:

Constanze says "yum yum!"
Ayrie says "Delicious!"
Finnerty says "mmmmm!"
Heather says "I'm so glad you like it!"David says "Wow!"
Katrina says "Thanks for the support, Heather!"

Oh, and because I promised, here is the Post Juice Feast Smoothie-Luck that we had on Wednesday! Enjoy!


Find more videos like this on The Juice Feasting Green Room

Global Juice Feast Days 88-91!

I Love New Beginnings!

Juice Feast Day 88-91

The Daily Juice Journal:

This morning I made 2 quarts of GVJ with cucumber, celery, spinach, romaine, kale, parsley, carrot, ginger and apple. I also made 2 quarts of orange and pineapple, and two quarts of …..GREEN SMOOTHIE!! Read on for details!

TOTAL JUICE: 4 QUARTS JUICE and 2 QUARTS green smoothie

Personal Journal:

Hello dear friends!

Wow, what a couple of days we have had!

On Day 88 we went into Tucson for chores and to meet with an attorney about my Green Card. After much debate, brainstorming, and checking in with gut feelings, we have decided (with the council of someone with 30 years experience in these things) that the best thing for us to do at this point is to move to Canada for a while.

Because of the time frame (I have to be out of this country very, very soon), we decided as well that it was time for me to break out of my Juice Feast! So the evening of Day 88 found me enjoying an amazing, yummy, green smoothie!

Early on Day 89 we started to pack up our darling little house, and today, Day 91, finds me sitting in an empty house, with just the bed and the computers left, and almost all the cleaning is done too! Tomorrow morning, Day 92, we will be pulling away from Patagonia with our truck loaded down with all of our books, headed North to B.C.!

It has really been a roller coaster these past few days, and a bit of a shock as we had planned on living here for at least a year longer. I wish I had more time to write, but we still have quite a bit to tie up before we leave tomorrow, so I will keep this quick….

GREEN SMOOTHIES??? Where are the prunes? After a long time coming, www.JuiceFeasting.com will soon be updating the Juice Feast Breaking protocol to green smoothies rather than prunes. Prunes have been used due to their BM prompting activities, and while they work wonderfully for this, often they work too well! This has left quite a few of our students with uncomfortable prune experiences, including bloating and gas, and poo-poria!!

So, keep your eyes open for the updated version of Feast Breaking! And for those of you about to break your Feasts tomorrow (!!!) here is a quick rundown:

Day 1 (Day 93): Drink all of your regular juices, and add in 1 quart of green smoothie. I made my first green smoothie with ½ quart orange/pineapple juice, ½ banana, ½ pound blueberries, 1 mango, and ½ pound spinach, and 8 soaked prunes. Blend really well, chew really well, soak in the bliss and gratitude of some solid food after an amazing Juice Feast! This is a celebration!!

Day 2: Drink all of your regular juices, and 1-2 quarts of green smoothie.

Day 3: Drink some juice, some smoothies, and add in some whole, fresh, juicy fruits and berries.

Day 4: Same as Day 3.

Day 5: Drink some juice, some smoothies, eat some fruit, and add in some non-fat salads.

Day 6: Same as day 5.

After Day 6 you can move into The Four Means To Get Your Greens! Enjoy!

Be sure to read the Feast Breaking Protocol, and simply replace prunes with Green Smoothies!

Because we have been madly packing, tying up all loose ends, preparing to move countries, all with very little time to do so, I did not get a chance to do a Feast Breaking video BUT we are still planning on creating one to be uploaded sometime after we arrive and get settled in Canada. So I apologize to those of you Juice Feasting with us on the Global Juice Feast that we will not be so involved with Feast Breaking as we would like to be. We are there with you in spirit! And we are so grateful to all of you who have joined us in juice, and so proud of all of us!

I can report that I feel AMAZING and WONDERFUL to be eating again! It took me about a day to accept the fact that going 92 Days would not be such a good idea for me, as it would have meant Feast Breaking on the road with a truck FULL of stuff. I wanted my stomach to be ready to eat normally again before heading off with our home packed in a tow-trailer, rather than trying to make juice while rushing up to get me across the border. But, once I started to eat again I felt so heavenly that the number of days really didn’t matter any more. I have had a truly transformative, exciting, joyful and powerful Juice Feast, and for that I am deeply grateful.

I am still fully enjoying making juice and drinking juice, and I look forward to having a very juicy diet from here on out! Today so far I have had 1 quart of GVJ, 1 quart of orange/pineapple, and a green smoothie with OJ, strawberries, mango, celery, and spinach. I am going to have a salad for lunch, and still have 2 quarts of juice for the rest of the day. I know it is not my salad day yet, but I have to get this stomach ready!

We are looking forward to hearing how everyone is doing post-Juice Feast once we arrive in B.C. and wish you all the best of smoothies and joyful moments! We will be leaving early tomorrow morning, and will check in again from Canada!

All of our love and blessings,

Katrina and David

Global Juice Feast Day 87!

I Love Tumbleweed! (in my juices when it is young and green, before it dwarfs a bench!)

Juice Feast Day 87

The Daily Juice Journal:

This morning I made 3 quarts of GVJ with cucumber, celery, spinach, romaine, dandelion greens, kale, parsley, cilantro, baby tumbleweed, carrot, ginger and apple. I also made 2 quarts of orange and pineapple, and one quart of watermelon, apple, lime, and ginger, and one quart of watermelon, apple, raspberry, and ginger (OUTSTANDINGLY GOOD AGAIN!)

TOTAL JUICE: 7 QUARTS JUICE

Added to juices: Vitamineral Green, kelp, bee pollen, MSM and maca.

Also taken: Vitalzym, Max Stress B, coconut oil, DHA/Flax/Evening Primrose Oil, Internal Parasite Formula and water.

Personal Journal:

We just got in from a sunset walk through the fields, where we picked a huge bag of tumbleweed to be put in the dehydrator to later blend into green superfood powder!! I was asked recently what the nutritional benefits of adding young tumbleweed to juices is.

I found limited young tumbleweed nutritional information on line, but I also found this about eating the little green plants, also known as Salsola (I like that name!)

Salsola as food:

The leaves and shoots of many species are edible, especially when young and tender, and some are grown as vegetables, often used for salads, sushi, or as a garnish. The most commonly eaten European species is Salsola Soda known in Italy as Barba di Frate or Agretti. In Japan, S. komarovii is a crop of moderate importance, known locally as okahijiki (literally "land hijiki").

The seeds are also edible, although difficult to collect in quantity, and are sometimes ground into flour.

(From Wikipedia.com)

I like it that it is known as "land hijiki" in Japan, a kind of desert seaweed!

One thing I did find out is that tumbleweed is about 12% protein, which makes higher in protein, gram for gram, than meat!

As far as I am concerned, any plant that can survive and flourish in this arid land is full of life force and vitality, and I am thankful to the little salsolas for their tender greens shoots. When I was working at the Tree of Life, at this time of year there was always a bowl of salsola shoots on the lunch buffet table, to be added to salads. I also discovered several recipes for tumbleweed soups on line, and one person claimed that it makes a soup very similar to split pea soup. Might be worth a try to create a raw salsola soup!

Till tomorrow, may your juices and dreams be sweet!

Katrina and David

Global Juice Feast Day 86!

I Love Re-Bounding!

Juice Feast Day 86

The Daily Juice Journal:

This morning I made 3 quarts of GVJ with cucumber, celery, spinach, romaine, dandelion greens, kale, parsley, cilantro, baby tumble weed, carrot, ginger and apple. I also made 2 quarts of orange and pineapple, and one quart of watermelon, apple, lime, and ginger (OUTSTANDINGLY GOOD!)

TOTAL JUICE: 6 QUARTS JUICE

Added to juices: Vitamineral Green, kelp, bee pollen, MSM and maca.

Also taken: Vitalzym, ginger/lemon/honey tea, antioxidant extreme, Max Stress B, Internal Parasite Formula and water.

Personal Journal:

Well, I think we are finally 100% over the ill effects of that wild dust storm! When we were in town yesterday we spoke to several people who also got terrible allergies/flu from the dust, and Annie at the health food store even said that the store had been very quiet due to the windstorm! Finally after stiff legged days of post Grand Canyon hiking and then the dust flu I really got a good bounce on the re-bounder today. My cells love dancing!

I really can’t believe there are just six more days of Juice Feasting for me! WOOOOOOOOOWWWWZERS! What a trip it has been! I am in the twilight of my Juice Feast, the sunrise of the rest of my life! What a fabulous feeling, to feel so clean, healthy, and strong, I am so grateful! Enough exclamations???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ah! Ah! Ah! But I am so exclaimingly happy!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and so is David who is munching mangos beside me, working on a chapter)

LOVE!

Katrina and David

Global Juice Feast Day 85!

I Love Roses!
Juice Feast Day 85

The Daily Juice Journal:

This morning I made 3 quarts of GVJ with cucumber, celery, spinach, romaine, dandelion greens, kale, baby garden greens, parsley, baby tumble weed, carrot and apple. I also made 2 quarts of orange and pineapple, and one quart of watermelon, apple, lemon, lime and orange.

TOTAL JUICE: 6 QUARTS JUICE

Added to juices: Vitamineral Green, kelp, bee pollen, and maca.

Also taken: Vitalzym, MSM, ginger/lemon/honey tea, coconut oil, DHA/flax oil, antioxidant extreme, Max Stress B, Internal Parasite Formula and water.

Personal Journal:

Today we went for a wander in the Patagonia Community Garden and smelled the roses. Then we went for an afternoon stroll through the bird sanctuary, and loved the lushness...Arizona is full of surprises!

With LOVE!!

Katrina and David

Global Juice Feast Day 83!

I love rain (hoping for rain!)
Juice Feast Day 83

The Daily Juice Journal:

This morning I made 3 quarts of GVJ with cucumber, celery, spinach, romaine, dandelion greens, kale, parsley, baby tumble weed, carrot and apple. I also made 2 quarts of orange and pineapple.

TOTAL JUICE: 5 QUARTS JUICE

Added to juices: Vitamineral Green, kelp, bee pollen, MSM and maca.

Also taken: Vitalzym, ginger/lemon/honey tea, antioxidant extreme, Max Stress B, Internal Parasite Formula and water.

Personal Journal:

Well, here I am on Day 83 feeling wrecked, with a nice long list of physical yucks including stinging, red eyes, runny nose, body ache, ear ache, sore throat, and headache. I don’t know if what I have is a full blown cold, flu, allergies, or all three. We are in the middle of a fierce wind storm here in southern AZ, and the sky is an odd grey-brown, filled with dust. You can see the dust blowing around the trees in little twisters, and I feel like my head is stuffed with dust. YUCK!! David is feeling it too, and we are both wishing for rain to wash it all away.

We are also quite suddenly finding ourselves dealing again with US immigration, who have denied my application for the visitor visa that I filed back in January, and in no nice terms have let me know that I am to leave the US by a certain, very soon date or I will be deported. As some of you may know, I was denied entry to the US after visiting Canada for Christmas, and then ten days later with the right paperwork was granted a 3 DAY VISA!!!, which I applied for an extension on, and have just been denied. At this point we are going to go ahead and apply for a Green Card, which we were avoiding doing because we are not yet sure where we want to settle down and we were hoping to avoid all the hassle and hoopala of doing so. The US border has just become a more and more unfriendly place since 9/11 though, and unless I want to risk being denied access to my husband’s country it looks like I need a Green Card. So, once I do apply for a Green Card, rather than needing to leave, I will not be allowed to leave the US until the process is finished, thank goodness…as long as I get to stay with David I will be happy!

Here’s to a deep, dustless sleep tonight, and a rainy day tomorrow!

With love to you all,

Katrina and David

Global Juice Feast Day 82!

Juice Feast Day 82

The Daily Juice Journal:

This morning I made 3.5 quarts of GVJ with cucumber, celery, spinach, romaine, dandelion greens, kale, parsley, baby tumble weed, carrot and apple. I also made 1 quart of orange and pineapple and 1 quart of grapefruit garlic.

TOTAL JUICE: 5.5 QUARTS JUICE

Added to juices: Vitamineral Green, kelp, bee pollen and maca.

Also taken: Vitalzym, nettle tea, antioxidant extreme, Max Stress B, Internal Parasite Formula and water.

Personal Journal:

Hello Dear Friends!

WOW!! 82 Days on juice!!! I actually lost count while I have been away from blogging, and had to check in with Penni to see what day we are on! It has become such second nature at this point, making juice, drinking juice, juice, juice, juice!!

I am feeling fantastic (and so is David with lots of green smoothies) and strong, so excited about the next 10 days of juice and beyond….yes, I am looking forward to eating at this point. Very, very excited about it in fact.

David and I have had a magical week with my mom. She flew home yesterday, leaving us all in tears, and looking forward to when we will all live within driving/walking/biking distance from each other.

OK, here is a LOOOOONG entry on the past week of traveling juicyness.

We started out on Wednesday morning with two giant coolers full of produce, one little cooler full of juice, and a Rubbermaid full of juicing gear. My mom and I became the official juicers for the week, and we made a great team while David enjoyed a week of not making juice (and with all the juice making he has done over the years, including making juice for 4 people for 90 Days every morning by himself, I think he was happy to allow us to do so)

First we drove to the red rock oasis of Sedona, where we went on a stunning late afternoon hike on a trail that winds off of Schnebelley Hill road into the embrace of the iron rich red walls under the superman blue skies. Spring flowers were everywhere, and even the spiny, alien shapes of the desert cactus where pushing forth lush blossoms.

David and Katrina in Sedona
Katrina and Rineke in Sedona

We spent the night in an earth brown adobe style building that looks just all the other earthy building in that beautiful town, and woke up to MAKE JUICE!!

Rineke and Katrina making juice in Sedona
Hotel room juice making!

On the way out of Sedona, we stopped at Slide Rock State Park for a stroll up Oak Creek. I even went for a Day 76 chilly dip in the crystal clear water, leaving me feeling like a brand new being, refreshed, invigorated, so CLEAN and ALIVE!


David by Oak Creek, Sedona, AZ

Katrina and Rineke pause by the creek
Rineke and Katrina in the creek

David and Katrina and Humphry's Peak, the tallest point in Arizona

From Oak Creek it was a beautiful, meandering drive towards one of the most well visited places in the world (and rightly so) My mom began to cry upon her first glimpse of the Grand Canyon, and my breath was taken away yet again. Every time I see it, it is the same thrill that words cannot describe. Nature really is the grandest artist, her masterpieces taking us beyond time into the deep and beautiful experience of creation. We spent he rest of the afternoon wandering the rim, standing and drinking it in, gasping, and full of wonder.


Us at our first view point of the Grand Canyon

The next day my mom and I went on a mother/daughter hike, and we packed our packs with two quarts of water and two quarts of juice each and headed down the steep decent of the South Kaibab Trail. This was our practice Juice Feasting hike, and we hiked an hour down, first to Ohh-ah point, and then on to Cedar Point. Cedar point is a big red platform that juts out into the canyon like a giant arrow head, and when you are sitting on the tip you are looking directly across at another giant butte of red Supai Sandstone, looking like so many other formations in the canyon to be sacred temple ruins from a civilization long ago. I guess they are in a way, a vast canyon filled with temples to the majesty of time. We drank a juice while sitting on the point, watching time flow by, trying to imagine what time was like for the rocks on which we sat.
Katrina on Cedar Point

Rineke on Cedar Point

Me drinking my GVJ in the Grand Canyon

It took mom and I the same amount of time to zig-zag up the steep switch back riddled trail to the rim as it took us to get down to Cedar Point. We were happily surprised, and drank our second juice sitting on the rim before we headed back to the truck for more juice.

The next morning, Saturday, was warm and sunny, the warmest day yet, and we made our juice and headed off to hike down the Bright Angle Trail to Indian Gardens...perhaps as the canyons first ever Juice Feasting hikers. The 4.5 miles down were of course the easy part, and we fully enjoyed reaching the oasis of Indian Gardens where we drank our juice in the shade of the giant cottonwoods where the Havasupai Indians once grew their crops.

Cactus flower at Indian Gardens
Feeling that 100 degrees on the way back up!

David and I did the Bright Angel Trail in November, and we went all the way down to the river and back, despite warnings the whole way down “Do Not Attempt to Hike from the Rim to the River and Back in One Day!” The memory of the last 3 miles was making me a little wary of doing this hike on juice, as it is very step and hot, yet we found ourselves flying past people the whole way up! In fact, I found that hiking and juice is an amazing combination for me. There is no food to digest, and your energy source is hydrating and full of goodness. For the seven hour, 9 mile, 100 degree hike we each drank 3 quarts of juice. We also brought some sea salt because excessive sweating leads to sodium loss, and I munched on bee pollen. We arrived back at the rim feeling very happy, AND WE DID IT ON JUICE!!

We had more juice stashed in the truck which we gladly drank down, and then went to find ourselves a perch on the rim and sat to watch the unfolding of sunset for several hours until the sun finally melted down into the horizon after a dreamy display of shifting light, colors, and shapes in the canyon.The streaming sun light before sunset
After sunset

By the time we got back to our hotel and made some coconut water with spirulina, I had had 8 quarts of juice! A hiking girl does need her juice.

We spent Sunday morning viewing the canyon from the East rim, where views of the snaking river are much more frequent, and then said our goodbyes to the canyon.
A glimpse of the river

We arrived home that night, mom and I limping from the post-hike calf stiffness, happy as can be.

I am now a true believer in the power of juice not to just be used as a tool to transform illness, but also as an amazing source of nourishment for an already healthy body. I HIKED on juice, after close to 80 days on juice, and even after water fasting for 3 days, in 100 degree heat and up and down a 3,060 foot elevation (STEEP) I am impressed!!! And my mom did it too, at the age of 57, on juice, and kept up with her 30 year old daughter!! So in case you haven’t figured it out yet, juice rocks. We are thinking from now on we will always bring a quart or two of fresh juice along with us on hikes.

Enjoy your juice!!

With love,
Katrina and David