Wednesday, December 30, 2009

What I know for sure...

(A la Oprah)

1. Marriage is hard and very serious business. Living so intimately with someone else is a hard pill to swallow, love doesn't make it easier to go down, it just makes you take it and keep on taking it even though you despise popping pills. As Easy Sknaking Chef says, "it's our life journey together."

2. I am blessed. We are blessed. In so many little and very big ways. A package weighing nearly 1kg of saltfish, a very pretty new dress, three bags of Jamaican pimento (Allspice- so called because it has the flavours of four spices in one), my ivory neckalce, a latch hook and my shutterbug magazine arrived last night along with a bottle of Appleton Reserve, a jar of Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, and a few Jamaican scotch bonnet peppers (the hottest and most flavourful. The package was from my Ma and the other gifts were from the couple who brought them to us. Now I have a pretty new year's dress and saltfish to last for months! Luggage space is very precious on transatlantic flights home because space is limited, hefty overweight charges are applied and everyone wants to bring back their granny in their suitcase.

3. Things have been difficult for us, but always and without fail, we never get more than we can bear and God works right on time.

And a bit more general...

4. The friends you have are the friends you keep. New lasting friendships are hard to come by, especially in the transient world of expat life. People re-invent themselves and not always in a holistic way. Pretenses are many. Always trust your spirit when letting people into your life. Finally, when a person shows you who he/she really is, BELIEVE.

5. Embrace the newness and the dynamism of life's changes but hold on to what makes you, you. Change and growth are essential for a happy and peaceful life, but at least hold on to your DNA.

6. When you are hurt and angry, express your emotions and let them go. Bottling them in causes cancer. The same goes for rumination.

7. Music heals, inspires, stimulates, incites, relaxes and rejuvenates. Pick your choice. Choose your pick. You can use it as therapy, enhancement or weapon. Use wisely. Explore other types of music.

8. If the grass is greener on the other side of the lake, chances are they have a water bill bigger than your rent/mortgage. Everything in life comes at an expense. Do not allow others to influence what choices you make for you. The truth about keeping up with the Joneses that you can't. You can just decide to be happy and make do with what you have. This is where creativity comes in, and God-given talents are put to full use. Furthermore, you see all that love, warmth and passion in your home? The Jones would kill to get them. Heaters, expensive lighting and feng shui colour palettes cannot a home make.

9. Hang the devil but give him his due. Give credit where credit is due. It is never good to be the person who only highlights the negative in other persons. Everyone has good qualities. Don't be a Rascal Pascal who only sees the smudge on an otherwise beautiful lipstick that complements the wearer. Give praises as easily as with even more frequency than you do criticisms. Apply this rule to children too. Let them hear you vocalize their triumphs than only hear you go and on about their affinity for failure.

10. Be grateful. It could be 100 times worse and trust me, there are many who have it that way. Yes, it's fine to be upset about it, but never forget just how good you have it even when it seems to be bad. That doesn't mean living in an unhealthy situation, it means celebrating the fact that you have choices at your fingertips to actualize healthier existence. Sad though you may be about particular circumstances, woe is not me.

11. Life is beautiful. Life is good. Celebrate it. Enjoy it. Learn something from it everyday.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas from Dubai!


I never knew how I really felt about Christmas until now.

I thought I wasn't into Christmas and all that jazz. I couldn't be bothered to try to be in so many places at once. My parents were never married, and separated pretty early. My mother and sisters wanted to see me. My father and brothers wanted to see me. As I teenager I would alternate between the two homes choosing this one this year and the other the next. As a young adult, I made the mistake years ago to drive to both on Christmas Day. My siblings and parents have since expected me to be in two places at the same time. For years I had two Christmas dinners. It was the best of both worlds. My stepmother's sorrel and Christmas cake were divine and the ham and turkey were to die for. My three teenage brothers tried to outdo each other to eat the most. My mother's gungo rice and peas, pot roast, curry goat and other dishes were a force to be reckonned with. My sisters were thrilled to have big sis around.

Two Christmases ago, I got tired of driving to Red Hills and then 45mins to Spanish Town and decided to cop out with Imelda in Montego Bay. I had a ball! I think we both put on 10 pounds in that week. The ham, homemade bread and scones were heavenly. We didn't do any fancy Christmas dinner, but we talked and talked and talked and talked. That Christmas holiday was such a reprieve from what was otherwise just too much drama. In a word? Cathartic. But my siblings were hurt. Very. They believed that it wasn't Christmas without me and they didn't have a good time.

So last year, I was torn again... between the carefree and mad fun escape to Montego Bay and siblings who had not seen much of me since I moved away from Jamaica. It was a hard decision and I didn't make it until the very end. I didn't go to Montego Bay. It was nasty... torn between being a single independent with irreverence for all the disjointed family drama and being a big sister, much loved and hardly seen by siblings and parents. How silly was I!

This is my first Christmas away from Jamaica and hands down, the hardest.

I miss home. I miss the familiarity of family. I even miss having people fight earnestly to have my company. Irony abounds.

I had to invite myself to Christmas dinner this year. My husband was working and would not be able to spend the day with me and I dreaded the idea of spending it alone. He doesn't celebrate Christmas anyway(religious reasons)- it just happens to be his mother's birthday and that is the reason for the family spread on Dec 25. It's fine to be anti holiday drama but not to do it alone. That's just depressing. So I chose not to be depressed.

But how do I really feel at the end of this, my first Christmas away from my three homes? Sad.

It's not just the food- which was nice. It's not just the company- which was warm, inviting and pleasant. It was the fact that I, the one who had so many homes to go to, was a single stranger in a a room of people.

I am not a huge fan of Christmas. I think this whole post is ironic and somewhat contradictory. I hate the holidays. It reminds me that I am from a split family. I feel left out being the odd one (my siblings share parents, I share none with them). I know I have to explain that one.

Simply put, I am the child of a dichotomy. I was an only child for both parents until age 9 when my parents started a race to beat each other to their new families. My sister who follows me is 9 days older than my brother. I had a brother every two years after that and a sister sometime in between. My father has the boys. My mother has the girls. I am the only union between both families. My brothers have the same parents, my sisters have the same parents. I am the odd one. The one who was a mistake. Or so I thought for a very long time. I don't use the terms "Half-brother" or "Half-sister" and neither have they. But in reality, that is what we are. But we are blood. And as we say in Jamaica "Blood thicker than water."

And for the very first time in my life, water was all I had this Christmas Day. Not even sorrel.

My husband left work and went out for drinks.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

For my friend who is in the cloud cutting business...


Taken by Kari Alana of www.karialana.com in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Photograher maintains copyright. All rights reserved 2009.

My dear friend, as we say in Jamaica, "What don't kill yuh, fatten yuh"

Translation: What does not kill you makes you stronger. But I prefer our version .. as I am sure you will appreciate as a Master Wordsmith.

Sweetie Pie, black on white only a jolt of reality... but you know what? The same coin that brings sorrow now once brought joy (Gibran). Sorrow and sadness are part of the continuum of this earthly existence. Embrace the sad feelings for such a time as this and dig deep trenches into your soul to let out the agony and pain. Why? So that when it is time to laugh, you would have already dug a deep hole into your soul so that the laughter will from then on come from a deeper place and find release. (Gibran-so you can weep all of your tears and laugh all of your laughter).

Your honesty and openess are stamps of your authenticity.

You phenomenal woman, you will rise.

Oozing love into the universe... just for you.

I posted this as a comment but wasnt sure you would see it so I re-posted it here.

Final step completed for residency visa

We are there. Finally. I am expecting my passport to be returned with my 3year stamp anytime soon.

Eeasy Skanking Chef came with me (as he did all stages) on Monday to submit all the documents for that leg.

So officially, I have not only taken his last name, but all three as outlined on my visa. So now I have six names: my three plus his. Isn't that grand? He calls me all six sometimes to poke fun at me.

This photog's dream

I dream of my photos framed and hung on walls in a museum with art critics and regular people like me being so inspired that they reach for their purses and wallets to buy into my limited edition prints.

I dream of traveling exhibitions worldwide, showcasing the best of what my father has handed down to me... photography, smarts, and the drive to make it happen via entrepreneurship.

I dream of cookbooks with ESC, merging our talents and interests that serve as bonding rituals for us and transfers to other people when they buy them and cook with them.

I dream of a TV show... taking my producer cap off the shelf and using my marketing skills to get sponsors.

I dream of being my own master, using my time and talent to my financial gain without the overseer's whip looming over my back.

You know the funny thing?

I dont really feel like I am dreaming at all... I am merely envisioning what is to and will come.

Busy body me

Sharjah went well. We didn't get up to the specific competition we went for (we never found the place until 6 hours later when we had long given up and decided to just turn the day into a discover and shoot Sharjah day). Such is the nature of directions in the UAE.... damned if you actually get there. Moral of the story... chances are you will fail to be where you need to be at the time you need to be there if you dont have an idea of where that place is already.

Besides that, I have been making myself pretty busy.

I have single-handedly updated my professional website and even forwarded my alternate URL to point to the same site. If you recall, I purchased two URLs with different versions of my name to protect my online identity, since there were quite a few people popping up with my name in recent years. Have a look at the new design and the updated pages and let me know what you think. Yes it's girlie... but what am I if not a girlie girl who isn't afraid to lug heavy equipment on a shoot wearing bright red lipstick? I have added a blog to that site (for professional use) but this will remain my core blog.

Now that I have updated my website and included packages for weddings, its time to go drop off my business card to the church office so that my name can be added to the list. One advantage of using my first two names only? Alphabetical order finally smiles in my favour :)

Did I tell you I bought ESC a URL for his birthday? Yes I did. What wife does that? This one. I am also working on his website, which for now will be a custom domain blog (to keep web-hosting costs down low or nil). I am leaning towards using Blogger as opposed to Wordpress because the former is free and the latter charges roughly $10bucks per annum. I know that isn't awfully expensive, but since we are going to start a third blog together for commercial purposes, I would rather spend where income is expected than where it is just a tool for promotion and expression. Ya know what I mean? Yes, the older I get, the more frugal I become like my granny. Truth be told, I much prefer the Wordpress templates than those of Blogger.

I am really excited about the prospects though.

Working on ESC's site has provided a wealth of info via research. I now know that I am just going to purchase the URL directly from the blog providers instead of goind via GoDaddy and then going through DNS transfers and renaming CNAMES etc.

Having a CARIMAC degree has certainly helped me out... finally my university education is paying off! I have two degrees in communication, I might as well use them to my advantage. I was a lot more adventurous when I was younger, working on sites like Kuyaba when I was still in undergrad. And the pay was gooood! I was even offered a job to do a website for my wedding photog friend. I think he is also better off with a blog with his own URL for content management purposes. I turned down another for a business because I just do not play with html that much and I dont have the software or the inclination. Too many spices can spoil a broth- its like being a one man TV station and trying to do all the jobs yourself...impossible.

Friday, December 18, 2009

ESC is home. Sleeping. Pour soul. Tired.

I have had 24 hrs of sheer domestic bliss. I wanted the place to be a haven or rest for us both this weekend. Gave him a candle lit peppermint bath this morning when he came home from work at 2:30. Pour soul was so exhausted that he fell asleep in the bath.

He cooked me breakfast this morning, and it was so much that we are having it for dinner.

We go on the photo trek tomorrow to Sharjah. Ooops forgot about that when I put my wet locks on rollers. Hope my hair dries by morning. Yes it's 14 hrs away before we leave home but locks can take very long to dry... esp now when the temp is very cool.

We have a movie date tomorrow with a chef colleague of his who he looks up to.

I am going to bake a box cake tomorrow and douse it with wine. Rum would have been preferred but I am afraid we have no such thing in our pantry. There is a bottle of flat wine that we have been nursing that hopefully should do the trick. I promise to try it on one one slice first instead of spoiling the whole thing.

I am shooting again.

Need to go through my backlog of photos and pick some gallery type photos for exhibition and printing. In addition to doing holiday portraits, that may be the quickest way to earn from my significant investment. The truth about photography is that the real artistic element is not grasped until printed and hung. It has to be in a frame to be regarded as collectible art. Otherwise, it's just another beautiful shot. I think my next assignments will be park and gallery hunting. The parks for reconnaissance for location shoots and galleries to see who may be interested in displaying my art. What have I got to lose? Not a darn thing!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Out of the house today

Loves, I am taking my camera with me to Al Karama and Al Satwa to test out a second hand lens I am thinking of purchasing. It is a telephoto zoom, though not as fast as I am now used to (having only the best bro lenses in my camera case till now). But I do need a telephoto zoom for weddings so it would be fantastic if this works out for me.

The real lens I have been dying to get over the past year and that I wish I had just closed my eyes and bought is a great fast pro piece of glass for food, portrait and macro photography. It costs US900. Out of my league right now, but I promise you this much, I will get it before summer next year. Hmmmn. I think I just found my reason to settle with this current telephoto and flash that I am getting now. Those are critical for a wedding photog kit but I dont have to splurge on the best of those just yet but that dream lens is really what is going to make me money and if I buy a cheaper telephoto and a cheaper lens, I will be further on my way to getting what I really want!

Oh man, NOW I am excited!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Motivate your damn self (note to self)


Taken by Kari Alana of www.karialana.com in May Pen, Jamaica. Photograher maintains copyright. All rights reserved 2009.

FB Friend: What u been up to? Apart from being married....

Sheer Almshouse: Transitioning, re-positioning, re-inventing and adapting.

And aint that the truth in a nutshell!

It's been three months since I came to Dubai, and two months yesterday since I got married and those verbs (note present continuous tense used) have been defining my existence.

I am working on my business plan. Running into some kinks. Realising that the market I thought I had would not have access to a major part of the project... so I am back to Engineering 101. I cant say that this is such a bad thing though. I have identified the problems early, which is part of the processes of due diligence and research- and critical- when attempting anything entrepreneurial.

The learning curve spikes hourly. I am so hungry to really get to know how this place works and work with it. I am trying not to assert my own assumptions and to understand before I seek to be understood.

I think there is a market for my projects 1. a company and 2. another blog but I just have to make certain that I dot my I's and cross my T's.

It is also a major challenge that my start-up capital has been drained so I really have to be very detailed about how I will be able to capitalize these entities and project that rate at which they will grow.

I think I need to start building a time table- a schedule to guide execution since I really do have a lot of good projects, but all of which require intensive use of my hands that already hurt from using a laptop full time. Yes I should be using a desktop for somebody who is at the computer for such long hours, but that is an expense that will have to be delayed. Hmmn maybe I could think of an ergonomic keyboard in the interim?

It may be a blessing that I am not privy to huge capital injections... at least now I will have to force myself to build from ground up and make smart investments that yield sustainable ROI. This time around, I don't have a huge client up front providing me money for the startup costs or a job to help me pay for third parties. I can't afford a lawyer just yet and I can't afford a graphic designer. I can't even afford the regulated start-up fees.

I am not necessarily getting much done but I have been making more and more contacts and slowly seeing how the vision I had for my transition could actually work. It is a slow and tedious process and not always yielding of spectacular results, but if I know anything, it is that the small victories should be celebrated.

I go on a photo quest this weekend with new Brit photog friend and that will be good for both of us.

I think I need to draft a marketing communication plan for myself and use it as a guide to rollout the different things I want to do.

ESC has been uber supportive of me and allows me the luxury of being a kept woman while I sort myself out.

Right now... my time is my greatest resource. I would be smart to use it wisely.

UNRELATED: We completed stage 4 of the visa process. We are in the clear, so now it's on to the 3year renewable residency stamp. (I currently have a temp 2 month paper visa).

Sunday, December 13, 2009

This morning's juice

1 granny smith apple
1 kiwi
1 sweet/bell pepper
parsley
string beans
1 carrot
ginger

ESC was happy... says the juices are tasting better (well duh, I have been adding sweet carrots and fruits for natural sweetners and less ginger (unless I hear him sniffling).

PREVIOUS JUICE

Romaine Lettuce
Beet Root
Carrots
granny smith apple
ginger

Comment format reinstated

I got one too many complaints, so I just changed back the comment format to the pop up page. Thanks for the comments, cause I was beginning to wonder if no one was reading me anymore because your comments are few and far between these days.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

The Windies Posse Boat Party MC...



I told you I was going to bring out my flaming bird of paradise persona!!!

Add Professional MC to the list of services offered!

Parang in Dubai

Yesterday, I went to visit a lovely and vivacious Trini lady, her hobbyist photog Brit hubby and their daughter whofa eyes and expression are a photog's dream (on the hook up of mi cousin in Cayman). One word? Inspiration!

Missis, all though Miss Trini Parang said dinner was not a fuss, I had my fill of Trini Pelau, fried plaintains, tossed salad with raisins and corn pie and vino a plenty!

I had a really fantabulous time! Great conversation and all.... and you know what... it turns out that they too were on the Island Behind God's Back- though on the more popular one of the chain and not as much as twice removed from God's back as I was.

So now ESC and I have a lunch date next week with them and I have found an artical sistren who is loads of fun and a well-matched partner who fancies Dutty Stinking Shabba (their words:) ). He has done some really amazing work and actually has printed and framed a lot of them. She has a background in F& B herself and so she understands the dynamics of the demands and the kind of passion ESC has for his craft. We have spoken of photo trips... I am so excited!

I will have you know that yours truly took the trip from one end of Dubai to the next to their house alone! Yup! Talk about a learning curve! For three months, I only took cabs from the supermarket in my neighbood, and the first time I venture out on my own, I go across the entire length of Dubai from the first train stop till the last! Trust me, there is no comparison in terms of costs because a cab would have cost about AED75 and the train and 2 bus combo cost me like AED7.

So yes, I am coming out of my little shell. This reminds me of Imelda's little saying..."The shell has to break before the bird can fly."

Friday, December 11, 2009

When You Go Farin, Pack Yuh Granny into Yuh Suitcase


Pack it like you loading truck!!


For my non-Caribbean readers, just take your time and read aloud... usually, the word is as it sounds... :)

I was feeling a lickle homesick... and mi did put up a lickle piece of saltfish for such a time as this. So what me do? Mi grab the dutchie, hot up some oil, rub up some flour, grab nedda pot, bwile di saltfish, cut up some onion, garlic, skellion, tomatis, and cook dem up, pick up the saltfish and dash it in, stur it up, and add some nice fresh crunchy cabbage, knead mi dough, roll mi dumpling, put dem inna di hat ile, and tun dem when dem golden and cripsy pon si outside, and done cook, dish out the food.... and wait.

"MMMMMMMMMMMNNNN," hubby start moan. Me start moan likkle bit after.

All who did feel like dem too nice to with travel with saltfish and dutchpot (me) dash way dem dere false pride as soon as you realise say some tings just dont cook the same way into farin pot. And yes Dutch Ovens may be bought a farin, but I swear, the food taste sweeter if is a hand me down dutchie from a family member who asways cook up some nice soul food and mek yuh hide and lick yuh finger.

The other night me mek some sorrel tea and when Hubby taste it, him say all this want is likkle rum fi be real sorrel. That's right.. mi come with pimento too!

Missis, you can tek di Jamaican out of Jamaica but you cyaan tek di Jamaican outa she.

Miss Modda from Stewarton Mocho, (mi maternal granny) used to make mi fry dumpling and cabbage and saltfish fi breakfast ... and this morning... I went right back to the 6 year old girl whose eyes get wide with glee when she see seh grandma cooking just for me!!!! All mi need now is the fresh peppermint tea from di bush outside the kitchen and the nice sweet Mocho air. Wha go done? Rain a fall inna Dubai!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Another blog?

I have been talking to ESC about creating a joint blog of a commercial nature to showcase the best of our talents and how well they compliment. Still working on the idea. I am stuck with finding a name because all the good ones seem to be taken.

I am going to actually write a business plan for it to get it off the ground and take it from there.

The only cost to us will be that of the URL. The aim is to start simple with overheads as low as possible until we can generate income.

Yes, I have to find ways to keep busy and to make my own contribution. If this thing takes off, I will be flexible enough to spend limited time with my hubby and also keep my brain active. It may even put us in a better position to earn from our core talents.

As the marketing communication guru, I know that it's all in a name.... and that my friends... is the hardest piece of the puzzle to fit.

Back in business

The party went very well. We got very good reviews. Still waiting on the pics to post.

ESC and I had a much cherished two days together- though both evenings were spent dealing with government offices for the next step of my visa application. Yes... it took two days and about 5 hours altogether. After a 10 -day Eid holiday, apparently there was a huge backlog. But can I tell you, in many ways it pays to be a woman in a Muslim country- this was one of them. I would not have gotten through that night otherwise. Women have their own lines and do not have to converge with men. It's the same thing in the bus and the train, though when I travel with ESC I waive those rights to sit with him.

We took the bus and train a lot over those two days... so now I know how to get to Al Satwa. I now know exactly how to take the bus and train (a prepaid card must be purchased). We got two cards that are renewable for long term traveling.

I have to go back to Al Satwa today to return an electrical converter that busted the first time ESC connected it. I also have to go to Al Karama to visit my friend and wedding photog to help him sort through some techy issues. He has been a Godsend to us. He even offered to sell me some of his equipment on installment so that I can get bigger jobs.

I also got my business cards printed (and essentially these are name cards)... but with details of my services. So now, I am actively spreading the word that I am back in business. I have devised a Holiday Portrait Session for Individuals and Families at a very good price and have been pushing that. I have one customer already set to go. She is the same person who paid em to groom her locks.

I must admit that the holiday package came about as a result of the same boat party. Having had to give away a gift certificate for a Holiday Portrait Session, I realised it would be a good and timely idea to push the package to earn some pocket change.

I will also give a copy of my card to the church office tomorrow so that my name can be added to the list of photographers. The way Dubai works is that the church is the most important stop for Christian weddings and also most reliable so all wedding inquiries usually go through there first. There are only two churches that offer Christian Weddings in Dubai, so it is exceptional positioning to be on that list.

I am in the process of coming up with wedding packages that suit different pockets. My advantage is that I have my wedding photog friend as my ally to help me in whatever way possible and we have also agreed to do big jobs together.

I need to resume shooting now that I have sorted through my computer issues. I think I will walk with my camera today.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Sheer Almshouse to MC Caribbean party in Dubai

I managed to walk right into this event on account of ESC who took me to one of the planning committee meetings on my very second day here. He was on the team as the Culinary Advisor. The team leader volunteered me to MC. It was set. So the party is this Friday. Good stuff. Here I was talking about my need to volunteer and integrate not remembering that I had done so from my second day here!

But it takes a while for me to work myself up into character for these things. My on-stage and on-air personalities are alter egos that are channelled for such a time as this. I am even going to be wearing a carnival head piece (my bright idea).

I have met some really wonderful women as a result of this venture and I think the scope is wide for further collaboration.

I offered my photographic services in the form of a portrait session and it has been decided that it will be the second prize for the charity raffle. I even got some promotion on the flyer that has beed distributed to the impressive mailing list of Caribbean nationals (and children of nationals) resident here across the UAE.

Give thanks. I never knew that all this would have happen just by not objecting to be named MC and sitting on the committee.

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

The song that never ends... cabbage juice is a serious thing

It seems like I am just making the weirdest decisions when it comes to the timing and combinations of things I ingest.

I juiced cabbage for ulcers and digestive regulation. I got gas. Mad gas. Stomach-cramping gas that kept me in the bathroom for yet another night in a row.

Took me over an hour to finally fall asleep when I got into bed at 4am- if you want to call that slumber. Woke up with pains.

I am certainly not hard-up but I feel like a combination the worst monster cramps ever and a badly shaken up bottle of coke with the cap still on.

I woke up to poor ESC rubbing my tummy in circles. Don't know if I was moaning in my sleep or what.

Yes, I am drinking ginger tea.

I wish I had access to DICA, which is the best OTC solution for trapped gas available in Jamaica. I should know. My cousins will tell you that I am periodically complaining of one digestive problem or another. I even secretly suspect that my body doesn't handle spices as well as my taste buds. But "Gas Queen" is not a title that sits well with me.

Funny enough, out of curiosity, I decided to research about the relationship between my discomfort and the cabbage juice... the journalist in me needs proof. Interesting discovery on www.happyjuicer.com:

Cabbage is a highly nutritional vegetable that can be put through your juicer to achieve juice with great healing powers. Juicing cabbage has a number of health benefits that have been documented over many years. Green cabbage contains a number of minerals and vitamins including potassium, sulphur, chlorine, iodine, vitamin C, vitamin B6 and 'vitamin U'.

To juice cabbage simply cut a segment out of the cabbage head and chop it into blocks small enough to fit down the juicer’s feeding chute.

When juicing cabbage you should not drink more than about 4oz of cabbage juice at a time and it is best mixed with other juices such as carrot / apple juice. The flavour combination of carrot and cabbage is well tested, as cabbage and carrot are the base ingredients of many varieties of coleslaws. Coleslaws are highly popular dishes that regularly appear in a raw food diet.

If you consume too much cabbage juice in one go then you may experience a feeling of gas and slight cramps in the intestine due to the sulphur in the cabbage juice reacting with bacteria that exist in the intestines.

Cabbage juice has been used to treat a number of health conditions including colitis, constipation, hair loss, skin problems but it is probably most well known for its ability to heal ulcers. It is believed that the glutamine content of cabbage is the main driving force behind the use of cabbage juice to heal ulcers.


Pity the said journalist in me didn't do her research before she got winded.
 
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