I spent the day recently at Glen Ivy Hot Springs and while I was in the steam room the conversation got onto raw food. (gee, imagine that…) As the group was talking about their different experiences or lack of knowledge on the subject completely, someone shared one of their favorite raw recipes. It was so simple I didn’t even need to write it down. I decided to make it and see how I liked it. It was a broccoli salad. Now, I am not a huge fan of raw broccoli, but I knew I had a ton of it in my fridge from last weeks share from my wholesale organic produce buying club. It turned out pretty good so I thought I’d pay it forward. I have no idea what the ratios were so I will post my approximates, and feel free to modify it to your liking.

BTW, I am not a culinary artist or a great photographer, but I thought you’d like to get an idea of what this looks like.

Broccoli Salad
Broccoli (chopped small or food processed) -I used 1 bunch
Dried cranberries -I used one handful
Sunflower seeds- I used 1 handful of walnuts since I was out of sunflower seeds
Apple (chopped or food processed)- I used 2 small apples (one granny smith, one fuji)

Toss with the following dressing

Raspberry Vinaigrette
A couple handfuls of raspberries (mine were frozen from late summer)
2 T lemon juice (I prefer to use lemon or lime rather than vinegar)
1/2 C water
A handful of walnuts (I prefer to use whole foods rather than oil for my fat in dressings)

Blend in the Vita-mix till smooth, toss all ingredients together.

This recipe has a holiday vibe to it with the walnuts, apples, and cranberries. It’s crisp, sweet, tart, crunchy and creamy. Plus the broccoli is in season right now so this makes a perfect winter broccoli coleslaw salad.

This recipe is also in alignment with the 80/10/10 diet if you keep your nuts down to a very small quantity, but there is no salt or vinegar or spices that 811’ers tend to steer clear from.

BTW, this keeps really well in a glass storage container if you are traveling, out working or running errands. There is no mixing or messing with putting things together, just a fork and voila!

If you have any variations of this recipe or if you try it, please let me know how you enjoyed it.

Do you find yourself interacting in fake or pretentious ways?
Do you lie to others?
Do you find yourself being highly criticized and judged?
Are you wrapped up in how others perceive you?
If a camera was running on you 24/7 would you be terrified by what others witnessed in your life?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you are living in your own private hell. A place of emotional baggage, filled with lies, fear, paranoia, and so forth. One way to gain some insight is to play the mirror game. Meaning what you accuse others of you are guilty of yourself.

Are you judgmental of others?
Judgmental people are afraid of being judged themselves so they deflect the attention off themselves by trying to project it onto others.

Do you have expectations for others to live up to?
People don’t let us down, we let ourselves down when we handed our power to something outside of ourselves.

Take Responsibility
We create our own private hell and we are the only ones who can get ourselves out of it. Stop deflecting, dig down into your own murkiness. Once you do, you realize even in your murkiness it is still OK. You are beautiful just as you are, even with body odor and bed head you are still loved and accepted. The true you transcends that, and by being comfortable with your “human-ness” (skankiness and all…LOL) you realize it doesn’t take away your value. After all, once you embrace who you really are all the murkiness begins to fall away. Stop giving power to the social paradigm that you are not living up to. No one really does anyway. Take your power back, take responsibility for who you are.

See Your Value
Those layers of thoughts & habits are not who we really are and as we let them go we can shine. We are all divine sparks of God. We are here to do good and how can we shine when we are always hiding? We have a calling to greatness and our spirit is so big that we cannot be held down with such trivial baggage. As we become loving and accepting people, we become a magnet for more love. Imagine living freely, doing exactly what you wanted to do, when you wanted to do it, free of guilt. Imagine that no one would criticize you or judge you. Nothing you could do or say would cause anyone to flee from your life. If you knew no matter what you would be loved, you would be honest. You would feel safe.

Liberate Yourself
There is no need to stress and become uptight, for once we do the mind and body become so tense that we cannot transmit data from the divine and we are literally squeezing the magic out of our experience. RELAX and see the real you. Let go and just be free. Let yourself out of the prison you have been confining yourself to.

Be the Example
If you want openness and honesty from others, you must be that yourself. Once others feel safety in your openness their walls will go down too. As Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” Be free, be liberated. Do not look to others to change first, it starts with you. Do not tell others how to be, be an example of what you know to be true and people will flock to you for your insight and guidance. Give them the freedom to be themselves.

Liberate Others
As Marianne Williamson said so beautifully,” As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.” The best way to give back to others is to allow them to be who they are, just how they are. Love them anyway. When you are free, others will be freed in your presence. People will open and share details with you because they know there will be no judgment. None of the silly stuff matters anyway, I remember this quote, “Forever trust in who we are, and nothing else matters”. Who knew a little Metallica could be so profound? This song has been running through my head. These lyrics are the real deal. Enjoy!

Share Your Journey
Let your skeletons out of your closet. I did over a year ago when I posted a video called Skeletons in My Closet. I remember being scared to post it. I had no idea what would come of it. Surprisingly, I was greeted with support and compassion. People resonated with my pain and soon the fears and insecurities that once held me down liberated me. I am so thankful I had the courage to do it. It is my desire to be free. As I let go of my silly trivial human-ness may it inspire you to do the same. I wrote out my human-ness in the blog Walking Into Knowingness. It is time to admit, “This is me now, and it is OK. I have a heart of gold and I am working on becoming a better version of myself.” It is my dream that by sharing my life publicly that it liberates you to live your life more fully. As Gandhi said, “My life is my message.” Let your life be your message as well. Be the spark that you are and shine above all this nonsense. After all, if not you, then who? If not now, then when?

Q:
I am getting into raw eating as a lifestyle, however my boyfriend and maybe soon to? be fiance eats nothing but processed food, meat, fast-food. He wants nothing to do with my healthy eating because he is not willing to give up his favorite foods. He is a kind christian man that I adore very much, but could this be a deal breaker down the road? You would think he ate healthy since he is very good looking and in shape, but his hygiene is a different story! I just am scared about getting married and having our views on nutrition completely opposite. What do you think? Thanks, love your videos..just found you today. 🙂

A:
Thanks for reaching out. Congrats on going raw. You have some valid questions about your BF, but there are two things I’d like to mention. First, is to be the person you want to be, eat how you know you should & want to. You are the shining example. As you own it others will be inspired by you. Second, love people as they are not how you think they will be someday. Keep remembering WHY you are with him and all the things you love & the relationship will flourish. The moment you find lack is when things go wrong. Let people remove themselves from you. You don’t need to end the relationship, he will leave if he doesn’t resonate with who you are. That’s a good thing too, because the real people who love you will stay and embrace your growth, it won’t threaten them or the relationship.