sunrise over Combe Martin

Day 1 Green smoothie ingredients

DAY 2 of THE 30 DAY RAW CHALLENGE

As the sun rises over Combe Martin on what we know as Good Friday, I am contemplating what a crazy energy we have given to this day. Millions of people gather to mourn the death of Christ. How, I am sure, he would prefer to remember us is for his Resurrection. How he overcame the limitations of his physical body and set us the example of how to do this ourselves.

With the full moon and eclipse now behind us we missed the opportunity to plant our potatoes on a waxing moon but, instead we have started work to repair the beautiful 18th Century wall that surrounds our garden. If anyone would like to come and help us in exchange for board and lodging for a few days that would be great!

Back to the raw challenge. I have been reading ‘Raw Family’ by Victoria, Igor, Sergei and Valya Boutenko, they managed to go trekking and wild camping across America living off mainly wild greens and a few almonds with other food as they could find it. If they could do this I can enjoy my raw diet with all the mod cons of a vitamix, great ingredients and other gear to create some amazing raw recipes.

Yesterday, I made a great desert with the ingredients above, blended in the Vitamix to create a sweet mousse and added water and Kale to make some smoothies  which I put in jars ready for this morning.

Bolivian raw chocolate block with Kale ready for my dessert recipe

My dinner: Kale massaged with Sunita Tahini, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Marinaded turnip, mushrooms and peppers marinaded with  clearspring tamari and  toasted  sesame oil. A bit of Laurie’s amazing live organic sauerkraut on the side. 

CRANLEIGH HOUSE RAW FOOD CHALLENGE

Today I am embarking on my second raw food for 30 days challenge.

The main thing I notice is that it is also making me feel raw emotionally! It’s only 7.45am in the morning and I’ve already noticed that I’ve been triggered to feel anger, sadness, exclusion & jealousy….a juicy combination and I haven’t even got the juicer out…..

Last time I went raw for 30 days was in March 2013 and it was one of the coldest Marches I remember with snow and frost for a few days and I found it really hard. Even though I  knew the importance of drinking fresh fruit and vegetable juice, I did  not have enough and I felt depleted so, this time around I will be making juice every day or buying freshly made juice, for example from the new juice bar in Ilfracombe, if I am out and about.

Why am I taking this challenge?

I’ve studied many naturopathic books: Bernard Jensen’s Tissue Cleansing through Bowel Management, Richard Anderson’s Cleanse and Purify Thyself Books 1 and 2 and Raw Family by Victoria Butenko. What they say makes total sense to me and any time I’ve fasted, eaten raw and practiced Rich Anderson’s Master Phase Cleanse protocol, which we run here on a regular basis I feel better, more in touch with myself, with others and more in touch with the Universe and my spirituality. So, for me this is the way to go.

I’d also like to clear up some physical problems that I’ve been experiencing:

Getting up to pee at night, tightness in my back at the top around the shoulders, some stiffness and tightness around the ileo-sacral hip joint. I practice yoga postures daily in the morning but these areas of stiffness come back.

I’d also like to take the stress of digesting cooked food off my body, feel more emotionally balanced and  eat in a way which is more sustainable for the planet. having said that I do love tropical  fruit and coconut and I know that these are flown half way round the world to the UK. I don’ think that I can give these up quite yet. But at least I will not be consuming animal products.

Another goal is to have more energy to work with clients. I know from reading about Fred Bisci and Matt Monarch and others that  they seem to have very high energy and that is what I’d like to enjoy too.

I’m aware that cleansing and eating raw can also bring up a lot of emotional ‘stuff’ that has been hidden in the body and so I will be writing about the mental/emotional journey that I am going on  as well.

As I work with many people who are going through emotional challenges I would like to find more ways to help them through this process as well. Eating raw, I think, will bring me more  self awareness to help others.

My Shiatsu practitioner says to me: you are already firey try reducing bitter leafy greens but I know intuitively that this is the food I like. They also recommended me to eat pressure cooked grains and beans  for a grounding, strengthening energy but I know that any food that has been heated beyond 112 degrees has no enzymes left in it so, I don’t want to be eating this food.

The hardest thing for me is going to be to eat no cooked  carbs, as I love baked potatoes, Singapore noodles, a slice of rye bread with coconut oil and some jam but, I also know that all these foods are comfort foods for me and I reach for them when  I want to be emotionally comforted. So, during this challenge I  am aware that I will be finding comfort for myself in other  ways.  when I feel  like comfort eating  I can do some mindful meditation, notice my emotions and discover what is going on  in  my body.

I love green smoothies and I find them very comforting to drink, I love raw chunks of coconut, I find it very satisfying and  I will  make myself some delicious satisfying tea time  foods, which I’ll be sharing, instead of toast!

I have been vegetarian for many years and eaten a plant based diet since January.

I have not  been a consumer of tea,  coffee, alcohol and sugar for many years so, I am starting with a pretty clean  body. I don’t eat wheat on a regular basis but I have enjoyed the occasional veggie pasty from our village bakery in Combe Martin or a sandwich, if I have nothing else on the motorway but, I’ve always noticed that if I eat bread it makes me put on  weight, like a little belly and then  I crave it. For me I find it very addictive.

The bread that I have mainly eaten for the last few years is Sourdough rye bread. this has been the best for my digestive system, which was very weak, for many years, from having been overdosed with antibiotics as a child and other factors!

So, this is my challenge and I’m intending it to be enjoyable and I will like sharing the journey as  well as I hope it will help other people who’d like to take this  path.

Happy Thursday!

with love and gratitude from Katherine

 wild watercress and  garlic  path – Combe Martin, Devon.

  There are some beautiful plants coming out in the mild weather, lots of wild garlic down by the small  streams and river paths. This year was the earliest that I have ever seen it growing, I even noticed some flowers in January.

 This path, including some steep steps up to the cliff above Wild Pear Beach, is a fantastic one to get the heart rate going. A quick run up here and you’ve done your exercise for the day!

 There are some Alexanders growing at the bottom of the steps. The leaves are edible and have a strong taste, they are good added in small quantities to salads and can be cooked up a bit like spinach. Remember to go with someone who knows their plants when you first start to forage as this plant can look a bit like Hemlock which is very poisonous. It is reputed to be the plant that killed Socrates and while it is wonderful to add a few wild greens to our salads it would be sad to die in the process.

 Galium Aparine:  ‘Cleavers’ or ‘Goose Grass’ are it’s common names  are coming up in the hedgerows, often under the brambles at this time of the year. This is the plant that ‘cleaves’ or sticks to your clothes when you walk and it also has tiny round burrs that cling as well. They often become caught up in dogs fur. It is a great plant for unclogging the body of what it has been clinging to in the lymphatic department. We add a small amount to juice on our naturopathic cleanse weeks for this purpose but it is not a plant that I would add to salads as it would have too strong a medicinal reaction.

 The beautiful flowers of yellow gorse smell of coconut if you get close, especially if the sun is out but, you do have to be careful not to spike your nose on the thorny leaves! just the flowers, not with the beige coloured husk are a colourful addition to salads.

 This is what I call a ‘stream path’ they are  very common in Devon. We had a guest who I pointed this way out to on the map, when she got back from her walk I asked her if she’d found the path and she said she’d come to a gate and seen a stream. This is one of those paths,  with a stream running down it from the hills above, on a wet day.

 These are the new leaves of the wild watercress which grows abundantly. It is important to choose carefully where you are going to pick it as it is not good to have the run off from a sheep field directly above it or running into it. Visitors can ask us where it is safe to pick.

 These are the rosettes of leaves that develop on the water cress when it is mature and the flower grows out from the middle. I always say thank you to the plant  as I pick the leaves. The patch that I pick from has become bigger and bigger over the years and now is really lush and abundant. It is really delicious in salads, smoothies and juices.

  These gorgeous little violets with their heart shaped leaves grown in many of the banks around here. Traditionally they were used and still are as cake decorations: ‘parma violets’ crystalised with lots of sugar. I love their scent.

 Here is Stewart with a beautiful bank full of violets.