Wheatgrass juice - how to start drinking it

Not long ago I bought a wheatgrass juicer  (I bought Lexen, which you can see on the image ) because I heard so many good things about drinking wheatgrass. I also tasted the "juice" at a health festival - true it was from powder, not the freshly pressed juice. I liked the taste and thought it would not cause me any problems as some people reported due to fast detoxification in the body.

Then I went to a bio store and bought my first batch of wheatgrass. Luckily the shop assistant asked me several questions about how I would like to consume it and whether I have already drunk it. So she advised me to dilute it with water when I first start. I thanked her and proudly walked home with my wheatgrass.

Then, when I first pressed the juice out  I - of course- tasted the juice that came out. It was so intense I couldn't drink it!!!! I was wise enough to only take a sip from it luckily, so immediately I diluted it in a 1-10 proportion. This time I managed to drink half of it. ( The original amount was 20 ml - but I suggest starting with only 15 ml per day)

I learned my lesson - again - to listen to those who already have experience because she was right: wheat grass juice from powder doesn't even come close to the freshly pressed one.

 My advice to you when you start out: take it step by step. First buy the wheatgrass powder so that your body gets accustomed to the taste and detoxifying effect, then go juicing but even in this case first start out with diluted wheatgrass juice.

Here you will find some pictures of me using the juicer and end result:

Where to buy Vitamix blenders on sale - great video!

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Raw Food Recipes for Beginners - Super-Energizing Breakfast Smoothies!

One of the most common complaints received from people concerning transitioning to a raw food diet is how complicated the recipes are. So many contain ingredient lists a mile long and either requires a twelve-step process to make or twelve hours of dehydrator time. Few people have the time to plan meals twelve hours in advance and these complex recipes can be quite daunting for even the most experienced raw-foodies, let alone a beginner.
That being said, some of the most delicious recipes are the least complicated you will come by. These raw food recipes for beginners are dietary staples and encourage great nutrition, amazing taste, while requiring very minimal preparation time.

One such recipe is a super-energizing breakfast smoothie. Called "green drinks" or "green smoothies" among many in the raw food community, this recipe provides you with amazing, mind-clearing energy through raw, all natural, core nutrients that can be found right in your refrigerator.
Greens are arguably the most essential component to our diets. From greens we receive vitamins, minerals, fiber, and proteins, so it is no wonder you experience a surge of energy when you supply your bodies with these core nutrients found in the most basic raw food recipes for beginners. As a society, we are recommended to consume a minimum of five servings of vegetables and fruits a day but unfortunately, the standard American diet has less than 30% of Americans meeting that goal (26.3% according to a study done by the CDC in 2009).
These simple raw food recipes for beginners allow you to incorporate all of these essential energizing nutrients into your diet. One 14-ounce serving of a blended green drink can have three to four servings of fruits and vegetables each. Green drinks can be made with a variety of ingredients, the most popular being Spinach, Kale, Romaine lettuce, and Red Leaf lettuce. Numerous fruits can also be used including red or green grapes, blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, oranges, and lemons, making green drinks incredibly versatile to personal tastes.

Transitioning to a raw food diet can be diet and creating raw food recipes for beginners can be difficult when switching cold-turkey. To make transitioning to a healthier lifestyle easier begin with one meal at a time. Start with breakfast, there is one raw food breakfast that not only tastes delicious but takes five minutes to make and will keep you energized all day long. When you have a good breakfast under your belt it will not only start your day off right but make your transition that much easier. Click here to check out the recipe that will wake you up and keeps you going every morning.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5108480

How I Discovered I Love Cocoa After All

How I Discovered I Love Cocoa After All

Healthy And Nutritious Green Smoothie

Ingredients

2 stalks of celery

1 medium size Zuchinni

1/2 Cup of Broccoli Florets

2 large leaves of Green Kale

1 lemon ( remove the peeling)

Optional: 

1 carrot and leaf parsley

To make it sweeter: use honey or agave syrup

Preparation

Put all the ingredients into a Vitamix blender, pour 1 - 1 1/2 cup of liquid in there as well and if you want sweeten it with adding honey or agave. Turn your blender on for 2 minutes aprroximately.

Your delicious and healthy smoothie is ready to be consumed :)

Ps. you can also add a banana to the mixture to make it more fulfilling - in this case you don't need to sweeten it - added bonus!

Pps. Add this green smoothie recipe to your regular raw food diet to see great results

Raw Food Diet Ideas

Raw foods are becoming popular again. It's a kind of cultural idea that is wonderful and beneficial to good health. Many years ago, around 1980, I was involved with a Wheat Grass Institute and teaching people about raw foods, how to live on them every day, and how to use raw foods to heal from illness. The entire raw food lifestyle was pretty basic back then, when it was mostly sprouts, juices and vegetables and creative salads and sprouted breads or patties.

These days, we have gourmet raw food chefs that are amazing. They make the most wonderful creations of all kinds of combinations of raw foods, making them into patties, loafs, raw pizza, raw apple pie, raw crackers, raw sprouted grain bread, raw "spaghetti sauce" with grated zucchini and more. Or, they bring together magical combinations of foods, like almonds, walnuts and some veggies, maybe a little onion, some carrot and put those in a food processor with seasonings such as soy sauce for a high protein "nut cheese" mixture we can put on our salad.

Here are a few quick ideas on how to integrate super healthy raw foods into your daily routine. 
Let's start with avocados. Avocados provide essential fatty acids and concentrated protein easy to add to a salad. Add some lettuce, tomato, cucumber and cabbage to jazz it up a bit. A favorite breakfast combination is avocado and banana just sliced together, a delicious way to combine fat, protein with carbs, to slow down blood sugar overload from the carbs in the banana, and easy enough for a baby to digest.

Sprouts are another amazing part of the raw food diet. What sprouts do for us is give us a very vital seven-day nutrient, containing powerful enzymes and life force of early plant growth; they are super rejuvenating and restorative to life force of the body. We rarely have to grow our own sprouts anymore since so many of them are generally sold in grocery stores. It's easy to pick up everything from wheatgrass to alfalfa and clover sprouts or traditional Oriental mung bean sprouts.

We can make some incredible dips and dressings out of raw foods. For instance, soak a half a cup of sunflower seeds, in a cup of water overnight (begins the sprouting process, making more digestible). Put in the blender with a little soy sauce, a bit of curry powder, some nice spices and herbs, and maybe a touch of honey and/or lemon juice. Blend the mixture till smooth, and you've got an incredible vegetable dip or salad dressing that's very nourishing, and filled with protein and essential fatty acids.

Another fun raw food concept is to make dehydrated vegetable chips. Slice zucchini, sweet potatoes or other seasonal raw vegetables, and put a few herbs on them and possibly a little bit of soy sauce or earth salt and chili pepper. Dry them in a dehydrator or low-temperature oven and they'll be like a potato chip but with no fat. They're not fried and not cooked, just a fun, healthy raw food snack that mimics something familiar, so it helps us with dietary transition towards more raw.

Another treat to make in the dehydrator is vegetable/nut patties. Soak nuts and seeds such as almonds and sunflower seeds, drain and grind in a food processor. Put into a mixing bowl, and add grated zucchini squash, yellow squash, carrots, maybe some diced peppers. Add favorite herbs and spices for seasoning: a little oregano, dill, a pinch of curry and cumin. Stir and you'll have a nice soft mixture. Form the mix into patties, and dehydrate these for about 12-15 hours. You will have a nice little patty that can be served along with salad for a snack or as a main dish.

Adding raw foods to the diet will increase vitality, energy and immune system health. Give these ideas a try and look for more raw food ideas.

Join Cary Ellis, author of "Super Immunity Secrets" (amazon and kindle) at her blog http://www.caryellis.com where delicious recipes and healthy lifestyle videos, products and resources will inspire you to take action for a healthier you. Subscribe today to her YouTube channel http://youtube.com/gethealthynowshow - don't miss any of her great free tips and tricks on all aspects of healthy lifestyle!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cary_Ellis

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- Zucchini Pasta with Marinara Sauce

To get more recipes click on:  raw food recipes for beginners - these are dietary staples and encourage great nutrition, amazing taste, while requiring very minimal preparation time. One such recipe is the super-energizing breakfast smoothie.