Hi everyone! I’ve got some exciting things to share with you.

First off, at the beginning of August I’ll be teaching a workshop in South Florida. So if there are any readers who are in the area or know somebody who’d be interested, I encourage you to check out the event. Since I’ve been collaborating with Perricone MD on their Summer Beauty Foods, I thought it would be a great idea to share these concepts and recipes in person. For more information click over here.

Also, I was contacted by a journalist for the Voice of Russia asking if they could talk to me about being a flexitarian. It was interesting to receive that e-mail because I didn’t consider myself one. Since I started to consume fish, I dropped the “vegetarian” label, and didn’t seek to grab another one. It was an interesting thought to ponder though since technically I fall under the definition of “flexitarian”. It got me to reflect on my heightened sense of intuition. Whether I am eating by raw vegan or flexitarian standards, since breaking a mold I made for myself (with good intentions albeit) I’ve become more in tune with how to balance my body. This changes throughout the day. In fact, for dinner I was going to eat asparagus with a sauce I had made, but I was leaning more towards a simple squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some sea salt. With that, it was an absolute pleasure talking with the journalist, and here’s the article she wrote on the notion of this dietary path: Flexitarians: new meat-eating vegetarians healthy life style

A series of events

Speaking of rebalancing myself, two weekends ago a bout of food poisoning struck me and I happened to document it through different phases.

• Exhibit a) before I knew what was going to happen… my stomach was feeling upset, but I didn’t know to what degree. So I had made a puree of papaya, fresh limejuice and ginger, a bit of honey, and salt. Note: it’s still a brilliant pink even when it’s thrown up.
• Exhibit b) not breakfast the next day because breakfast the next day definitely did not happen. Apple sauce to test the waters when I could stand to eat anything.
• Exhibit c) I had an appetite, but was still feeling sensitive towards certain foods so I made a mild healing soup with kombu.

And now, more link love! I wish I could do more formal updates on my blog with what I’m up to, but I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook to read some of my articles and recipes that are showing up around the internet. I’m very excited to be collaborating in this way! Okay, okay so here are some links that you can click on for recipes and tidbits of information!

Need Supply Co.–a great boutique in Richmond (where I went to school) and an online mecca for those who love to shop from a curated collection of contemporary fashion–had contacted me to come up with a new recipe for their blog. I was so excited to come up with something for them. I love imparting sweetness, and with raw vegan treats is my favorite way. Check out my novel-inspired recipe for “Alice’s Raw Tea Cakes” on their blog.

Blackberry, Peach & Walnut Salad with Lime and Ginger Vinaigrette

And here’s a research-based write-up I posted as part of my Summer Beauty Food series on the Daily Perricone: blackberries.

My delicious California Summer Salad (I imagined this being eaten somewhere in the Napa Valley area), and find out some fascinating facts about tomatoes over here.

Crunch on this refreshing Honeydew Granita with Mint, with an informative article featuring this melon.

I made milk…

Absolutely Pure [Almond] Milk

Here’s something for when I don’t feel like chewing. I was curious about making my own almond milk one day when I was wondering about all of the other ingredients listed on store-bought almond milk. Although I do like the taste of some brands, if I can easily make it myself and customize it to my tastes… why not? That’s what I do with hummus.

Morning smoothie set up

One of the wonderful things about living here is that there are food carts on the streets that sell bananas for a great price. I usually go for the one’s with brown spots on them already, and apparently I must be the only one. This is the second time in a row that a vendor gave me a month’s worth of banana halves for $1! They tell me that they would just throw them away otherwise. Here are the makings of the smoothies I’ve been drinking lately:

• hemp protein (Nutiva is my favorite one + you can get a 3 lb. bag if you go through it quickly)
• cacao powder
• cacao nibs (but I’ve run out)
• stevia, sometimes
• hemp seeds or chia seeds
• fresh ginger, diced
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 4-5 frozen strawberries
• greens of choice: romaine, baby kale, watercress, or spinach usually
• 1/2 almond milk & 1/2 filtered water
• coconut oil

I do the same order every time. Repetitive or obsessive?

Do you ever do that… break up habits to overcome them or to become more aware of what you’re doing?

I don’t know how else to describe it, but I feel very tingly, quenched and very much alive after I drink this.

I have a tendency to build a lot of heat and feel thirsty, so these have been wonderful to start out the day!

What are some of your favorite smoothie recipes?