banana buttons (sliced bananas) are too cute... too charming! real raw food is such a blessing. i am so excited to do the johnny-gets-jiggy in the kitchen raw food instructional and educational demos again, now for my family. my approach this time will not include the crazy complicated concoctions of raw recipes made to resemble gourmet cooked foods. instead, they may have similar names but will be a lot more simple with ingredients and prep time. did you know that EVERY ingredient in our foods must digest individually? that is correct. don't even get me started on fake foods - the raw gourmet ones are already extreme! i have found eating simple to mono meals to be the most nutritionally and physiologically rewarding way to eat. the less ingredients the less compromise on the gastrointestinal tract during digestion & absorption. example: 10 bananas for a meal is much better than 1 banana and 9 other ingredients (totaling to 10 ingredients all together verse 10 bananas = 1 ingredient just 10 of them). where am i going with this? my point is that i want to support what i believe in and educate my family in a non obsessive and open minded fashion while still articulating a solid backbone of real raw food and optimal digestion and absorption - the more of the then the more nutrients into the body - the healthier one becomes!

this week i introduced them to the healing powers of thai young coconuts through my famous avocado/coconut water/raw honey smoothie. next week i was thinking of teaching them a kid friendly retake on an all time favorite: banana and nut butter sandwiches. this one is delicious, quick and no brainer. i will post the recipe and hopefully a picture or two after i make it for them. it's basically going to be fresh made raw walnut butter spread on big romaine lettuce leafs adorned with banana slices in the middle and rolled up into a wrap sandwich. sweet, nutty and crunchy - it doesn't get better than that.

i also learned my sister likes seaweed but has never had dulse! wow, is she in for some surprises. i can do some very tasty and simple things with dulse. she also wants to try raw hemp seed, another one of my specialties. so i have a really fun line up of activities and raw food instructions for the entire family. it's a win-win situation. i will be getting much more out of it than they might think. i feel it is healthier to interact with food again this way because i know the kind of example i want to set to the kids and ridgid, obsessive, orthorexic viewpoints will not be welcome throughout this process. i will be very mindful and mature in how i go about with this and keep an open mind that is not about them going raw! it's about them getting healthier by eating more raw vegan meals of fruits and vegetables, juices and smoothies. i wish this for everyone really. the body molds to what you feed it, eat dead food and create death, eat living foods and create life! that is the flat out truth. we all deserve fresh, raw, organic vegan foods.

Bible Verse of the Night:

1 John 4:11-12 (New International Version)

¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

heart to heart:

what's your favorite raw food?

uncle johnny

"uncle johnny" i must take a moment to breathe, breathe in and digest my day, digest the fact that i am getting a family again: a sister and a brother in law with 2 beautiful children who call me "uncle johnny!" today my mom, the kids and i went to paint pottery and get to know one another better since we have not been part of one another's lives. if i could sum what i just experienced up in a few words i would say: pure joy. i honestly feel God has blessed me with this new opportunity 1. as a tool in my recovery and 2. as a gift in return for the work i have been doing for Him... He is filling in the missing pieces to my puzzle: recovery, health, identity, family, etc. i am still in shock. i still need to absorb the fact that i saw my sister after this long and she has changed for the best and was so pleasant to be around. i am hoping to go see her next week to start building our bond again. to be an uncle is an honor. children are a gift. i am blessed with a beautiful artistic, avocado, coconut and ballet loving niece and a spunky comedian of an 8 year old nephew who likes cheese pizza and wants me to read him the story of david and goliath. there are many things to relate to both kids! my sister and her family are catholic. i want to be a good figure to her children and will never try to convert their religion as i feel we all deserve the right to our own beliefs. i will be open about my love for God and share whatever stories and hope that i can. i was deeply touched when little andrew, my nephew, asked me how miracles happen and also when my niece, emma, told me she wants to volunteer at her church with the kids during sunday school! it was also heart warming to see my sister and mother interact, as well as the kids and my mom. i am so excited to form a relationship my sister and her family again. i feel we all have a lot to offer one another and most of all true genuine love. i see great things happening. i see healing and more effort in recovery. i see God giving me what He feels i deserve: family and love, lots of it. i feel worthy. i must give God every bit of glory right now. thank You Lord. future plans ahead! ballets, plays, soccer, dance, crafts, outdoor adventures, movies, church, storytime, homework help, good clean God lovin' mentorship... a brother... an uncle... an honor to be. thank You Lord. thank You!

real food = real good.

How charming! Looks like I'm not the only parsley fanatic!

Sundays are my OFF days. This means I am off my usual schedule. I get up bright and early, make my super smoothie and jet to the Farmer's Market to stock up on an abundance of locally grown, seasonal, fresh organic food. This is how I eat and boy do I eat good. I have been running errands all morning and am home now and feeling very happy inside my heart! The rain has come to visit me again and decided to be nice and wait until I got home to start it's sprinkling surprises! I am very proud of myself for my power smoothie this morning. I haven't been using coconut meat since I get so much dietary fat from my avocados but used coconut meat in place of my avocado for my smoothie this morning. I always use coconut water from a fresh cracked Thai young but have been giving Dante the meat with his meals. HE LOVES IT. Who doesn't? Coconut is going to be good to start using again for my weight gain and muscle building process. I mixed 1 Thai young coconut - water and meat - a heaping handful of parsley and some raw honey into the most delicious green smoothie shake ever! This kept me going ALL morning long due to it's high energy yielding macronutrient and healing micronutrient contents! It feels so good to truly nourish your body, feed your cells and brain and be able to optimally operate in return. Two of the greatest gifts I've ever given myself are 1. the gift of nutritional education and 2. the decision to go raw and stay raw six years ago. Eating fresh feels like pure bliss and you know you are doing your body good so that feels good. There is no room for misuse, abuse or complaining with real raw foods! I love that I can actually ENJOY my foods and the entire process of growing them at home or selecting them from the Farmer's Market... as well as the fun of preparing them and the humble act of harmony when eating them. It's like a powerful circulation of energy with every bite or sip and swallow. God has really blessed this earth well with vegetation. I am lucky to live in California where I have a rainbow variety at my fingertips!

+ Deuteronomy 32:1-4 +

¹ Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

² Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.

³ I will proclaim the name of the LORD.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

⁴ He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.

Today I will: try to nap, eat more than I usually do due to time differences and my potential plans are: make a live fruit enzyme scrub or facial mask to pamper with ... possible movie on the couch with a nice crackling fire and my heating blanket specifically for the couch... a long good foot rub from the Good Old Faithful - KING KONG foot massager! Relax! Enjoy! Be HAPPY ; D

Heart to Heart:

Your assignment and affirmation of the day...

Treat yourself to a nice raw meal, it doesn't have to be complicated and anyone can do it! How about some fruit meditation? a nice salad? a bowl of live sprout and avocado soup? freshly made coconut milk? freshly made veggie juice? a handful of fresh medjool dates? bananas in pajamas!?

"I am worthy of nourishment."