Sheer Almshouse's Berry Happy High Fibre Breakfast and and Damn Time of Day or Night Smoothie

I think that must be the longest smoothie name ever- if not... I wonder what on eart could surpass it.Anyway, I thought I would share a recipe for smoothies that have become staple for me. They are omega 3 rich- providing fuel for the body to produce "feel good hormones, " joint pains, among others:

Omega-3 fatty acids may play a role in the prevention and/or treatment of the following health conditions:

Alzheimer's disease
Asthma
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Bipolar disorder
Cancer
Cardiovascular disease
Depression
Diabetes
Eczema
High blood pressure
Huntington's disease
Lupus
Migraine headaches
Multiple sclerosis
Obesity
Osteoarthritis
Osteoporosis
Psoriasis
Rheumatoid arthritis

So where is the recipe?:

Organic traditional rolled oats
Organic Rye flakes (less of it that the oats)
Soy Milk
Walnuts
Pumpkin Seeds
Flaxseed
Almonds
Frozen strawberries
Freshly grated nutmeg (if available)
Cinnamon
Raisins (as a natural sweetner)
Agave (if additional sweetness is needed).

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

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.

Cabbage juice, anti-cold juice and remedies

ESC woke up stuffy. I heard a slight sniffle last night and gave him 1000mg of Vit C and a mangerine but that didn't seem to do the trick.

So what was this concoction?

ANTI-COLD JUICE A LA Sheer Almshouse:

1. Romaine Lettuce
2. A nice big Bell Pepper (Vit C)
3. Plenty Ginger (autoimmune, respiratory boosting prosperties)
4. Lemon juice (Vit C)
5. Honey (for the antibiotic properties)

taken with

One nice big cloved of garlic finely chopped (antibiotic properties).

I am trying to nip whatever it is in the bud. I know he is exhausted having worked without weekends for 4 weeks straight but I have to try and boost his immune system. He starts a new menu on Thurs and has to work this weekend again and I think that his poor body has just had enough. I know he will go unil he crashes because this is not the time for a sick day... but I can't say I didnt see it coming. How can anyone work such long hours 7 days a week for so long and not have the ground shift under their feet? Anyway, I am doing what I can do to help, to nourish and support.

He as also strict instructions to consume ginger, mint and lemon tea and more garlic during the day.

In a bid to regulate my own body, I made myself some cabbage juice this morning.

It's for my stomach, to quiet and cure any sort of ulcer that could be developing and also for improved daily efficiency in eliminating toxic build-up. It was pretty sweet, surprisingly and of course I added ginger.

If there is one thing I couldn't live without these days, it's ginger. What's yours?

All Natural hair and skin care

I have maintained that the good old basics are really just better... cheaper in the long run, except for the initial requirement of a lot of your precious time.

As you know my by now, though I am really a novice, I am inspired by what little I know of Ayurveda and the balancing of the doshas and chakras. Hence, whatever physical ailment is just a manifestation of things gone wrong on the inside. Mind and Spirit manifest in Body.

So, since yesterday, I have really kicked up my regimen. I pretty much went on a juice fast yesterday. It was good. I can feel my body cleansing itself. I walked yesterday and today and I will try to walk a little everyday. I actually feel my muscles working even though the pace is not fast, because a long walk is actually best for burning fat.

I have also decided to do away with shampoos and conditioners with sulfates and silicones. I am fast becoming the all natural rasta woman who uses bicarbonate of soda for deodorant (eeew). So why the drama with all natural hair care? Well for starters ,I cannot find good stuff for my hair here. At least not in the supermarket and I am not yet in a position to venture into a swanky salon in the hopes of getting a decent bottle of shampoo for 7x the cost elsewhere. The answer I guess is: necessity is the mother of invention. My hair needs help. Fast. And all these products promising to make Rapunzels of Caucasian hair are doing nothing for my Afro kink dreadlocked self.

So here's the experimental treatment:

SHAMPOO:
Vinegar wash (vinegar diluted with warm water). I am using Cane Vinegar (from the pantry) because I am used to cane in the Caribbean as opposed to Apple Cider in colder climes.

CONDITIONER:
This is the fun part. First cold pressed EVO (from the pantry) and egg (from the fridge). I have whisked them together to make an emulsification...This will be used as a deep conditioner and I will rinse as thoroughly as possible. Rinsing temperature should be cold (for obvious reasons).

I will tell you how it went.

BTW... the carrot soup was just barely edible. Too strong a carrot flavour. Not enough chicken stock. Made baked chicken and rice for dinner tonight.

Beta Carotene in mi spleen

So save for one banana and a mango, I have had three cups of freshly pressed (at each sitting) carrot juice today. I am now making a soup with the pulp because I just think its a sine to waste pure pulp. All that in in there is carrot and ginger anyway.

Waste Not Want Not Carrot Soup:
Carrot Pulp from Juice extractor
Chicken Stock
Cilantro
Salt to taste
Thyme
And the awareness that ESC would have found a way to make it better (and without all that trash) but this is not ESC and the trash is fibre that serves an entirely different and important purpose!

I did get around to that nap and it was so peaceful... no scary dreams whatsoever.

Looking forward to taking that walk everyday!

Back on the green juice regimen

Yes, ESC bought me a juice extractor, an boy have I been putting it to use!

This morning:
Romaine Lettuce
String Beans
Parsley
Ginger

Before:
Romaine Lettuce
Bean Sprouts
Ginger

I have been adding ginger to every juice to give it a kick. Ginger has so many great properties... digestive, autoimmune, respiratory, metabolic.

I used to take Imelda's lead and an apple or a pear for a little sweetness from the intense chlorophyll but now I am forced to keep it simple. ESC doesn't like spicy like me and often says "whoa the ginger strong" but that is a good thing. He certainly wont fall asleep on the staff buss on the way to work!

I dont give him any tea in the mornings when I give him the juices because I don't want to "cook" the juice before it gets absorbed into his blood stream. I make him wait before having his green tea regimen (another of the improvements to his daily dietary intake). He is now on green tea instead of coffee to fuel his very long and tedious days (coffee gives him a crash).

I feel better since I have started juicing. Though I am having lots of weird dreams. And why on earth must they all involve babies?