Saturday, December 26, 2009

How Cliff is Coping with Detox, and New Images!

CLIFF'S MOM WITH HER ELF HAT ON ON CHRISTMAS DAY!!!















ME AND ALEX RAMIREZ, MY ACCOMPANIST, AFTER PERFORMING IN OUR CHRISTMAS CONCERT!















RASPBERRY CREAM TARTLETTES FIRMING UP ON A COOKIE SHEET. WE PUT SARAN WRAP INBETWEEN THE HANDFORMED TARTLETTE CRUST AND THE TARTLETTE TIN SO THE CRUST WOULDN'T STICK TO THE FORM. ADORNED WITH BLUEBERRIES AND MINT, YUM!














WHY DO I ALWAYS REMEMBER TO TAKE PHOTOS AFTER THE FACT???? HERE ARE THE KEY LIME TARTLETTES AND THE RASPBERRY CREAM TARTLETTES ON A LOVELY TRAY COVERED WITH A BED OF COLLARDS, READY TO DELIVER!















OUR LUSCIOUS PUMPKIN SPICE CHEEZECAKE IN A TO-GO TIN, ADORNED WITH MINT LEAVES, COCONUT SHREDS, PECANS AND FRESH CRANBERRIES!















OUR FAMOUS RAINBOW VEGGIE WRAPS. INSIDE THE PURPLE CABBAGE WRAP IS A MEDLEY OF VEGGIES AND SPROUTS BLANKETED IN A CREAMY GINGER GARLIC CHUNKY THAI DIP, ACCENTED WITH LEMON GRASS & THAI BASIL. THESE ARE REALLY YUM!















MY CATERING PARTNER, SUSAN AMAN, OUR CUSTOMER, SHAWNA MORRIS, AND ME! YOU MAY REMEMBER SHAWNA FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ENTRIES. I STAYED AT SHAWNA'S HOUSE IN OREGON WHEN I SANG AT THE RAW WEDDING UNION FOR MATT MONARCH AND ANGELA STOKES MONARCH. SHAWNA WAS SOOOOO EXCITED ABOUT HER RAW PIE!















OUR RAINBOW VEGGIE WRAPS WITH THAI SAUCE CUSTOMER, SUZANNE. AGAIN, TOO LATE FOR A GOOD PHOTO! THEY WERE ALREADY PACKED AWAY TO PUT IN HER CAR!




















Hiya Folks,

I hope you enjoyed the images above from the last few days. It's been busy and fun :-))

So, today, was my 12th raw day. Yay!

And i just made a nice raw plate for Cliff for dinner. It's waiting for him on the table, while he takes a nap upstairs. The raw plate includes a slice of cranberry cream pie, 2 raw flax crackers with mexican cashew 'cheeze' and tomato, marinated fungi italiano, and thai broccoli salad. Preparing raw food is time consuming, but worth it. Cliff really appreciates the effort, and enjoys how i flavor his dishes. When something tastes good, it makes it so much easier to stick with, obviously.

Unfortunately, my Cliffy's having a tough time with detox, poor thing, but is super motivated. Look, detox is NOT easy. And you have to be super committed to raw to tolerate feeling BAD and continue on irregardless, KNOWING you will soon feel even BETTER than before.

Cliff is also used to using caffeine to wake himself up, and now, he feels, um, kind of, vulnerable or dare i say, weak, needing to take a nap midday or late afternoon. Actually, he's napping at 7pm tonight.

I think he'll get through this for sure.

To confirm that, he actually just came from the basement where we put our cooked food (dry good) items into locked storage (pasta, rice, etc....). I had run out of raw honey and asked him to grab me the regular honey from downstairs. I don't have a key to the locked cabinet. [p.s. I recognize regular honey is not ideal but does not put me in danger of binge eating. There's a huge difference between using a little regular honey in my tea, and, say, having a bowl of macaroni.] I asked him if it was hard to go in there and he was visibly uncomfortable, but expressed that he "didn't want any of that stuff", referring to the pasta and rice items in the basement, and I really saw that as a terrific committment to raw. His blood sugar plays on him more than before, and so do more frequent hunger pangs, and it's all so new, but he's hanging in there. When i asked him if he wanted a nice raw plate for dinner, he nodded positively in the affirmative.

It's so motivating for me to have him doing this with me. God BLESS him.

Although this is a hard transition for him, he's already aware of benefits. Today at the mall, his ankles which usually burn like hot coals, felt completely great and he was walking the mall cheerfully AND quickly, and beamed, "Look at me, i have a bounce in my step!" The last time we walked that same mall, he had terrific trouble even walking a few steps his ankles hurt so badly. But today, we walked the mall at least 3x around, easily.

He also notices that his digestion is MUCH better when he eats raw, and when he eats cooked, he suffers reflux and burning in his chest. Those signs from his body are pretty strong messages that raw food is doing something good for him. Also, the red rash on his nose, rosacia, is almost completely cleared up. He used to need creams to do that in the past.

E3Live and raw food are working, yay!

Emotionally, I'm also noticing changes in Cliff. He is much moodier these past 12 days, which i just have to accept. Raw food opens us up to our emotions. And for people who are generally closed off, repressed like him, he's an introvert, just FEELING can be scary. He has to pay attention to himself more. Ask himself if he's hungry and adjust to eating things that take a LOT more chewing, and i think he's just in a more vulnerable place because of this change. Eating isn't so routine anymore. It's taking not only mental but physical effort.

I do notice something nice, that he seems to be more social, desirous of more social interaction and he's also more open to attending raw food events like potlucks and parties, which he wasn't before. He also seems more assertive, asserting his opinion and direction more. He's also a little sexier. We've had a little fun the past few days, and, well, i doooo like that, i must say!!!

I hear him stirring upstairs, so time for dinner.

Much love,
xoxoxo michelle joy

No comments: