Cherry Orange Soup

Flathead Cherries are sweet and heavenly! 

A dear friend gave some cherries to me last summer already pitted and ready for the freezer!

So I decided to make Cherry Orange Soup!

This soup is like having dessert, its so delicious and the kids love it too!

• Cherry Orange Soup
• 1 pound sweet cherries, pitted (Flathead cherry's are the best!)
• ½ cup black cherry juice
• ½ cup almond mylk
• ½ cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel, top with orange slice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• pinch cinnamon
• Directions: Blend and Chill. Top with orange slice. It doesn't get more simple than that!

Cherries are relatives of the plum, and sweet cherries are much more difficult to produce than sour cherries because, not uncommonly, a late spring frost can devastate a crop. Most cherries are produced in Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. But here in the Northwest Montana we are blessed with the Flathead Cherry! 

Woo Woo!

Sweet cherries are a warming food that increases vital energy and tone the spleen-pancreas, liver, and kidneys. Also astringent, they remove excess body acids and blood stagnation when eaten regularly, and are therefor therapeutic for gout, paralysis, numbness in the extremities, and rheumatic pain in the lower half of the body. 

Sweet cherries reduce vata and kapha and can be used in moderation by pitta.

Cherries are an excellent source of iron and contain some phosphorus, potassium and calcium, as well as vitamin A.

Nutrition info was obtained from The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, by Rebecca Wood.

To be healthy: eat right, walk right and talk to yourself right!

Cheers to a beautiful day!

Blissfully,

Michelle

Please check out my personal site at: www.MichelleBerryShaffer.com

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January Juice Feast

A week long juice fast was a great way to start off the New Year!

A juice feast was a way for me to renew my energy for 2010 by detoxing my body, eliminating poisons, and balancing body chemistry.

I LOVE the light feeling I have after a fast, my senses are sharper, food tastes better, energy increases, it is easier to focus and the little things that clutter the mind and heart are cleared away.

Juice fasting when done right, nourishes your body with high quality nutrients from organically grown sources, can be a wonderful benefit to a persons health.

Living-food juices are loaded with minerals, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, chlorophyll, flavonoids, phytochemicals, purified water, antioxidants, and live enzymes that are assimilated directly into the body, neutralize acidic conditions in the body, re-establish alkaline reserves, release toxins, remove dead and dying cells so they better absorb nutrients, regulate blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol levels, cleanse and heal, boost the immune system, balance metabolism, prevent degenerative diseases, and rebuild health.

During the fast I had two wonderful ladies join me!

On our journey we followed a daily schedule and tried to take time to love ourselves.

Some of my favorite juice combinations were:

Green Lemonade:

1 head romaine lettuce or celery

5 to 6 stalks kale (any type)

1 to 2 apples for sweetness

1 lemon

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh ginger (optional)

Michelle's Morning Sunshine:

1 orange

1 grapefruit

1 lime

1 beet

1 apple

Enzyme Boost (optional): 1 cup pineapple

Green Goddess:

1 bunch kale

1 bunch cilantro

1 to 2 apples

1 lemon

1 to 2 teaspoons ginger (optional)

The Great Eliminator

1  beet

1 cucumber

1/2 to 1 head romaine lettuce

10 medium carrots

1 inch fresh ginger

 

A Week long juice fasting or feasting journey includes 3 stages: 

1) body reorientation -- changes pH towards alkaline, stomach and digestive tracts are cleansed, weight loss, hunger, headaches, light headedness and frequent urination. 

2) Liver purges itself of poisons -- elimination of chemical and toxic overloads, nausea, exhaustion, muscle aches, nervousness, flu-like symptoms, coated tongue, bad breath, skin eruptions and trembling. 

3) Deep tissue cleansing -- blood toxins are removed, cellular ash and debris are flushed from kidneys, bursts of energy, a gradual increase in feelings of well-being, organ detoxification and regeneration, swings from euphoria to stress and irritability and improved self-esteem.

Honestly, I didn't occur to me to weigh myself before or after the fast because I was fasting for mental clarity and balance.

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. ~John Quincy Adams

I will be leading another juice feast March.  If you are interested and live in the Flathead Valley, please email me at berryblissful@gmail.com by February 25th. Thank you!

Everything is material for the seed of happiness, if you look into it with inquisitiveness and curiosity. The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment. There always is the potential to create an environment of blame -- or one that is conductive to loving kindness. ~Pema Chodron

I love you!

xoxoxo

Michelle