Cleansing Lemon Goji Berry Tea - Hello new day!

What About Just Lemon and Water? So I am also a huge fan of the simple warm water + lemon juice method which most people use. But I kinda evolved into loving this one even more. Either one will have that same cleansing effect. I just like the added antioxidants and energy from the tea, berries and maple syrup splash. I also like the fiber from those goji berries. And since the berries become very soft when they soak in the hot water, they are very easy to digest.

AM. Some people crack eggs. I crack open lemons.

Cleansing Lemon Goji Berry Tea (serves one)

8 ounces purified water
1 lemon, squeezed (seeds removed)
1 1/2 Tbsp organic Goji Berries
1-2 pinches of cayenne
1-4 tsp grade B maple syrup
1 black or green tea bag (any variety)

Directions:

1. Add tea bag and goji berries to mug.
2. Boil water.
3. Pour boiling water. Press bag and berries and let steep for a few minutes.
4. Squeeze in lemon and stir in maple syrup. Add cayenne.
5. Drink.

kombucha with goji berry green tea

My boyfriend says I should call this a love potion (or health potion). I'm going to save that title for a juice recipe that's coming up, but that doesn't mean it's not true for kombucha - this fermented mushroom tea is carefully made with love and so it makes loves! Oh... that sounded more sexual than I thought it would.

I'm going to be lazy here and just copy and paste this recipe from The Kitchn. (So the recipe below was not written by my hands.) There's nothing special about how I make my kombucha and the original process is tried and true. The only difference for my recipe is that I used goji berry green tea and agave nectar instead of white sugar. As long as there is a sugar for the bacteria to eat, it doesn't matter what kind it is. You could also use cane sugar. Whatever floats your boat. Or in this case... your baby mushroom.

I just found this good looking raw kombucha recipe which I will try for my next batch. I love GT's kombucha and it's entirely raw so there's my incentive. Plus... I obviously just like raw food.

The health benefits of kombucha are pretty awesome. I'm not saying that it's like a super miracle cure for all ailments or the secret to longevity - that comes with eating a whole foods, plant based diet, drinking enough water, exercising regularly and laughing a lot - but this fermented mushroom tea definitely has it's perks. It's excellent for detoxification, your immune system, and keeping your digestive tract happy and healthy. It's got loads of good-for-you bacteria that help keep your gut clean and efficient. Try it out! Buy a bottle at your health food store, see if you like it. If so - try making your own.

kombucha with goji berry green tea:

3 1/2 quarts water
1 cup agave nectar/raw cane sugar
8 bags goji berry green tea (or whatever tea you prefer)
2 cups starter tea from last batch of kombucha or store-bought (unpasteurized, neutral-flavored) kombucha
1 scoby per fermentation jar

Stock pot
1-gallon glass jar or two 2-quart glass jars
Bottles: Six 16-oz glass bottles with plastic lids, 6 swing-top bottles, or clean soda bottles

Instructions

Note: Avoid prolonged contact between the kombucha and metal both during and after brewing. This can affect the flavor of your kombucha and weaken the scoby over time.

1. Make the Tea Base: Bring the water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the sweetener to dissolve. Drop in the tea and allow it to steep until the water has cooled. Depending on the size of your pot, this will take a few hours. You can speed up the cooling process by placing the pot in an ice bath.

2. Add the Starter Tea: Once the tea is cool, remove the tea bags or strain out the loose tea. Stir in the starter tea. (The starter tea makes the liquid acidic, which prevents unfriendly bacteria from taking up residence in the first few days of fermentation.)

3. Transfer to Jars and Add the Scoby: Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon glass jar (or divide between two 2-quart jars, in which case you'll need 2 scobys) and gently slide the scoby into the jar with clean hands. Cover the mouth of the jar with a few layers of cheesecloth or paper towels secured with a rubber band.

4. Ferment for 7 to 10 Days: Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won't get jostled. Ferment for 7 to 10 days, checking the kombucha and the scoby periodically.

It's not unusual for the scoby to float at the top, bottom, or even sideways. A new cream-colored layer of scoby should start forming on the surface of the kombucha within a few days. It usually attaches to the old scoby, but it's ok if they separate. You may also see brown stringy bits floating beneath the scoby, sediment collecting at the bottom, and bubbles collecting around the scoby. This is all normal and signs of healthy fermentation.

After seven days, begin tasting the kombucha daily by pouring a little out of the jar and into a cup. When it reaches a balance of sweetness and tartness that is pleasant to you, the kombucha is ready to bottle.

5. Remove the Scoby: Before proceeding, prepare and cool another pot of strong tea for your next batch of kombucha, as outlined above. With clean hands, gently lift the scoby out of the kombucha and set it on a clean plate. As you do, check it over and remove the bottom layer if the scoby is getting very thick.

6. Bottle the Finished Kombucha: Measure out your starter tea from this batch of kombucha and set it aside for the next batch. Pour the fermented kombucha (straining, if desired) into bottles, along with any juice, herbs, or fruit you may want to use as flavoring. Leave about a half inch of head room in each bottle. (Alternatively, infuse the kombucha with flavorings for a day or two in another jar covered with cheesecloth, strain, and then bottle. This makes a cleaner kombucha without "stuff" in it.)

7. Carbonate and Refrigerate the Finished Kombucha: Store the bottled kombucha at room-temperature out of direct sunlight and allow 1 to 3 days for the kombucha to carbonate. Until you get a feel for how quickly your kombucha carbonates, it's helpful to keep it in plastic bottles; the kombucha is carbonated when the bottles feel rock solid. Refrigerate to stop fermentation and carbonation, and then consume your kombucha within a month.

8. Make a Fresh Batch of Kombucha: Clean the jar being used for kombucha fermentation. Combine the starter tea from your last batch of kombucha with the fresh batch of sugary tea, and pour it into the fermentation jar. Slide the scoby on top, cover, and ferment for 7 to 10 days.

another juice fast

hello, my sweet, plant-loving comrades.

i have decided to go on another juice-alicious fast. why? let's start at the beginning: i didn't tell you that when i THOUGHT i had strep throat and couldn't swallow without flinching for a week... i actually had MONO. it was total agony for seven days and i hope i never go through it again. would've been nice to know what i actually was suffering from...

thanks a lot, doc.

he tells me AFTER i recover... cool. anyways, that's not really relevant but you must deal with it. tough. the point  is - i didn't eat for a week. the first two days i just drank tea, lemon water and miso soup, the remaining days i basically went on a juice fast. it reminded me how much i love juice, and how much i appreciated my previous juice fast (search "juice fast" on my blog to get my posts about it.) it made me want to complete another one.

so i have the best news ever... for me, anyway. 

we (mom and i) have officially ordered our OMEGA VRT350 JUICER!!! i am way too excited about this, people. but as i said to my girlfriend - at which she promptly laughed - "why can't everyone get this stoked about juicing!?" as you may have noticed, i have gradually fallen head over heels for juice. i used to be a smoothie girl all the way. i will always keep a place in my heart for my green smoothies. but i have warmed up to juicing. i used to dislike the absence of fiber but my mind has been changed. taking out the fiber allows for instant assimilation... it is the fastest way to get the highest quality nutrients in the greatest quantity. simply put: it's excellent nutrition in a glass.

we should get our juicer in about five days (fingers crossed, canadian postal system) and then i'm going to sell our old juicer to my friend. at that point she will join me in a juice fast! i am really excited about this because i've only ever cleansed and/or fasted by myself. i think it's gonna be loads better with a partner. i don't want to set a number of days this juice fast will be, but i'd like it to exceed ten days (the length of my last one). we will see. i plan to listen to my body.

i'm going to be reading up on juice fasting this time too. so far i've gotten juice fasting & detoxification, and juicing, fasting and detoxing for life - sound pretty enthralling, huh?

just wanted to give you all a heads up about this! i will be posting recipes for shampoo and conditioner soon, as well as some salads and other raw concoctions that have come from my twisted mind and dutch-inspired kitchen. love all. drink juice.

how to beat a cold without drugs

Howdy folks. So for the past 4 days I have been plagued with sickness =( It's just a cold, but that doesn't make it any more enjoyable. What's worse? I virtually never get sick anymore since I've become vegan and predominantly raw.

Thus, I don't really GET colds anymore. Except this week, apparently.

It's my dad's fault! He brought the cold into the house and it was promptly caught by my big brother and myself. Luckily my dad recovered in about 4 days, so he's fine now. My brother and I got sick about 4 days ago... and today we're both feeling better! So it looks like this cold has run it's course.

On top of me never getting sick anymore, plus the crappy-ness OF being sick, this is was an unusually worrisome cold because we are leaving for Tofino soon! I don't wanna be sick on vacation. No one does.

I had to beat this cold fast and naturally. I was successful!

So what, you may ask, did I do? Let me share with you. 

First of all, you need the common-sense basics: LOTS of water and sleep.

(Yes, my bed is awesome.) I was drinking about 4 of those mason jars a day, and sleeping 10-12 hours.
You will also want to get TONS of vitamin C in your diet, I ate mostly grapefruit and kiwis the past 4 days. You can also take vitamin C pills, but getting it in whole foods is a much better idea.

Along with vitamin C, which helps fight colds and sickness, you'll want to eat some spicy foods. Another good idea is garlic, ginger and onions, they are great for strengthening the immune system as well. I had some delicious veggie curry last night and it helped LOADS. Not raw, but honestly, at this point you just want to get better.

The spices in the curry, along with the hot sauce (Frank's Red Hot or Sriracha work great, they're basically liquid chili pepper) cleared my nose, my throat, and made me cry!

Okay here's something that that you may not hear about much, and it seems really weird.
BUT I swear - it's a miracle worker. I was skeptical about it for many years, even though my mom kept urging me to try it, before I finally DID try it last year. It is amazing. It clears your sinuses like nobody's business. Just don't do it in front of people. It is called the Neti Pot.

You get the idea. Basically you fill the pot with warm salt water and pour it in your nose, it comes out the other side, cleaning your whole nasal passage. It's also great for headaches, ear aches, and sore throats. I know, it looks totally bizarre. But I highly recommend this. I use it whenever I feel a little plugged.

Okay, what else? Well, I love baths, and that doesn't change when I have a cold. I take lots of hot bubble baths to which I add Epsom salts and essential oils.

These essential oils are magic. I LOVE essential oils at all times, but especially when I'm not feeling 100%. I use them in facial steams, baths, shampoo, soap, to help me sleep, focus or relax, and I burn them to make my room smell lovely and be balanced.

You may notice when you have a cold, you really get to know these guys: 

Well, you may ALSO notice that when you spend a lot of time using tissues, you tend to get dry, irritated skin around your nose. Thus, you should be moisturizing like a mad person. I favour coconut oil, but use whatever works best for you. Vaseline is also a great option. Something else to consider? VapoRub. This stuff is great for clearing you nose, throat, and therefore - your mind! Because my brain seems to get clogged up just like my nose when I'm sick.

Okay, I'm just about done giving you my cold-fighting strategies. To finish up, drink lots of tea; peppermint and green tea are great for headaches and flu-fighting antioxidants. And lastly, I hadn't used them until now, but they practically saved my life. Fisherman's Friend. Wow. I did not think they'd work so well. And surprisingly, they're fairly natural!

Okay - that's about it. I hope if you have a cold, these ideas help you out. It's important to remember that when you're sick you shouldn't stress your body further. If you can, take a few days of work or school (lucky for me it's reading break). Don't try to exercise too intensely, perhaps just walk around the house or yard. 

Last but not least - let the cold happen! You can alleviate your symptoms and make yourself feel a bit better with the above methods, but at the same time - there's no instant cure. May as well embrace the opportunity to be lazy! 

So just a head's up, I won't be posting for awhile as I'll be quite busy with mid-terms coming up, among other things. But in a few days I'll give you a recipe for lip scrub! And yummy veggie wraps with hemp sauce. PLUS some awesome news!

more kombucha (i LOVE shrooms)

I've already posted about Kombucha, and will in all likelihood post about it again. Why? Because I love it!


It's totally up my alley. Fermented mushroom tea. You receive a baby mushroom from your friend, and are told to let it grow in a jug of tea for 2 weeks. It then has it's own baby, and you can start a new batch of tea. Read more here. 
If most people think it's gross, weird and they wouldn't want to try it - I'LL LOVE IT!

I mean, look at me.

So after my first batch of Kombucha, I started two new batches with my momma mushroom, and her baby. (Yes, I named them: Martha and Arnold)
I let these grow for almost a month, instead of the first time I did it when I let them grow for 2 weeks. You can grow them for as long as you want, and a good minimum is about a week.
These batches turned out wonderfully, and Arnold had a baby of his own! But at this point, I had so much Kombucha... I didn't know what to do. None of my friends or family are interested (it's pretty funny) so I decided to let my mushrooms get some fresh air - in the garden. Now they're decomposing into the soil, providing food and nutrients for worms, bugs and our fruits and veggies in the spring!

What a wonderful circle of life we are blessed with, here on Earth.

After giving our garden the three mushrooms, I thought I was done with them. I figured the next time I wanted to make Kombucha, I would just ask my friend's dad (who's been making it forever) or buy one.
But of course, nature is miraculous, motivated and powerful. So somehow - even though there were only a few specs of mushroom left in the Kombucha AFTER I filtered it, another mushroom began to grow! 
Until today, I had let the giant jug of Kombucha sit out because I'd been too lazy to put it into pitchers in the fridge. So when I finally got around it tonight, I noticed the fourth mushroom growing. Whatta determined little guy. I gotta keep him and let him grow in another batch. I think I'll name him Douglas.

(Yes, I am aware of how I sound.)

Anyways, if you're thinking about trying out your own Kombucha - I say GO FOR IT! It's super fun, and the product SERIOUSLY tastes like apple cider and champagne. My dad, who was the only person in my family brave enough to try it, agrees.

But I'm not the only person in the world who likes it! To my delight and surprise, I was in the health food store the other day and actually saw Kombucha on the shelves! Check it. They claim it's raw, organic and made with "pure love". Cute =) They dilute it with water and add some sugar. I'm sure it's quite tasty, and I'd say buy it if you're curious.
But personally, I like to make things myself. I also like to drink it straight up. Who needs extra sugar anyways? Just eat some fruit. Anyway it was cool to see. People just keep getting more and more interested in health! It's gotta be a good sign, right?

Well... now I have quite a bit of Kombucha... Hurray!

I LOVE KOMBUCHA

Have you ever heard of Kombucha tea? Neither had I. Until my friend told me about this crazy mushroom tea her dad always makes. Apparently he's been doin' it forever, and it's totally weird and healthy. So of course, I'd be interested.

Basically, you take a baby Kombucha mushroom, and let it ferment in prepared tea for 10-15 days, or longer. It grows in the tea and actually has a baby mushroom. With this, you can start a new pot of Kombucha, or give the baby to a friend! The beverage you end up with does look a little off-putting if you don't know what it is. My parents thought it was science project. BUT the tea tastes delicious! Think of a cocktail of apple cider, champagne, and a little bit of vinegar. Since it's fermented, it's has antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. It is also very easy for your body to absorb, as well as detoxifying and enzyme/nutrient-rich. Some other choices for fermented foods are kimchi, miso, wine, sauerkraut, and aged nut cheeses.

Check out just SOME benefits of fermentation here. 

When I went to my first raw potluck a few weeks ago, they were serving Kombucha! My friend also lent me a book about it, which calls it "The Health Drink Sweeping America" (Pryor & Holst, 1995). America, here, means mostly California =) I guess it was a huge thing in the 60's onward.
SO, yesterday my friend's mushroom finally had a baby that was ready to be given away! Since she's the best person in the world, she gave me this baby mushroom! In fact, it's a pretty big baby... it's actually already starting to grow it's own offspring. She gave it to me in a giant jug of tea that's been fermenting for 16 days, that I now have sitting in my kitchen. Personally, I think it's quite a pretty tea, especially with the funky-looking growth on top =)

I am sipping away at my Kombucha now, in a wine glass, enjoying life. Yay for fermentation and mushrooms! Here's a site that gives the recipe.