Detox Update

Hello Everyone,

I intentionally started my detox on Sunday. I am on Day 4 and this week I am preparing my body for a raw foods and juice detox. I have been eating mostly sautéed veggies, veggie wraps, sopas,  black quinoa, frijoles peruanos, some nuezes, fruta, raw almond butter, hummus with seaweed snacks, peppermint tea, carrot ~ orange juice, and water (I bought most of the groceries at Mi Pueblo here in Oakland except for the almond butter and seaweed snacks. The products are accessible even en el Barrio cuz thats where i got them... in the hood of oakland, the Fruitvale district.. yes where they shot Oscar grant. Too Close to my house pero thats another story. More on what happened here. No excuses ey!)

Yesterday I had veggie wraps.

I see the colors and realize that something so green and so pretty looking has to be good for your body, oh no? My housemate asked me, "what kind of leaves are you using for the wraps"? and I was like, "um, I don't know, I was just touching them at the store and got the thickest one" (ahem, no sean cohin@s ok. I was not touching them in that way!!)

Bueno, I found out that they are collard green leaves. I sauteed cebolla and ajo with dill, cumin powder, thyme, black pepper, sage powder, and a little bit of sea salt. I added three kinds of chiles (serrano, and I will get back to you all on the other two .. i know one was orange and one was yellow) I also added nopales that I had boiled in water con ajo y sal separately and then drained in warm water to get rid of the slime. I also added calabazas mexicanas, calabazas verdes, kale, green beans, and lots of cilantro. I washed the leaf, spread some hummus on them for flavor and added the sauteed verduras on top of the leaf. I toped it off with some of that home made salsa verde y sas, listo pa' comer!

I also made some sopa de frijoles negros con hierba buena y sage leaves con poquita sal y chiles verdes pa darle saborsito (gracias a mi amiga Gloria for reminding me to add some chiles to the sopa de frijoles).

Pa tomar, I've been sticking to water. At night I have been drinking peppermint tea from Dr. Elena's garden Just Breathe Healing.  I have some crystals that I add to the water for purification and spiritual reasons pero tambien cuz they make the water taste like agua de rio. I like to place the water on my altar and smudge it with sage before I drink it. Give thanks always for water. Its what sustains and nourishes our body ~

On another note, I have been thinking about chakras and how they are impacted by our detox process.

I didn't realize that I was buying and craving green foods a lot until I watched the documentary "The Quantum Activist." In it, they mentioned the heart chakra and its healing color green and it almost clicked instantly. I am originally from Morelia, Michoacan y Mexico City (saludos a la chilanga banda!). I grew up in East Los Angeles, lived in Tejas for two years, and I am currently living in Oakland. Lately, (well the last couple of months) I have been dealing with a lot of memories of migration, movement, and displacement. I miss home a lot while i'm finding a sense of comfort in what I am doing with my life.Y bueno, my heart chakra is asking for green foods to support its healing. Que bonito! The body works in fabulous ways to heal itself if we only cooperate with it and listen~notice its messages.  

I hope you are all having a great week. Remember que cada momento es unico, no lo dejen hir sin amor ~ 

Saludos,

~bere

You can find out More about the Heart Chakra here.

Resources

Below are some resources for those of you thinking of a Detox.

Life Foods For Life is an amazing Facebook resource.

"Viva la Vida! Sirena's Live Foods for Life. Exploring live foods and our bodies towards vibrant health, empowering self-reliance and food sovereignty for all. I share my experience with: -Live food preparation -Kitchen readiness -Detox and cleanses"

Shaman's Vision Sacred Arts has a Community Detox Blog that you can also look up.

Decolonial Food for Thought is also a great resource along with Luz's Decolonial Cooking Club Project.

Here is a link to Palabra on Indigenous Veganism by the fabulous people at Decolonial Food for Thought .

Here is a link to a Power Cleanse Kit

Vegan a la Mexicana had some good stuff on the facebook page

These are all community based projects. Please support them! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at: cantosdelatierra@gmail.com

Saludos and Happy Detox
~bere

Salsa Verde

So,

I'm starting a detox soon and I wanted to blog about my journey engaging with food in a different way. The reality is that I love food! I love to make it alone and with people. I like to learn new recetas and share them. I hope to give tips on places to eat and good affordable veggie ~ vegan options in relation to mexican food. I hope to make this as accessible as possible for people on specific budgets or with large familias to consider. Many times en la comunidad, there is a stigma about being vegetarian or just choosing not to eat meat. The reality is that its not as hard as people think and we have so many signs of ancient healthy veggie vegan diets que no tenemos escusas para no poder cambiar nuestra forma de comer. I hope to blog about thoughts related to food (making food, buying food, and eating out) as a support for anyone thinking about changing their diets. Remember that calabazas, nopales, frijoles, lentejas, y salsas are our friends! Lets learn how to creatively cook with them :) Comida is a very sacred ancient arte de nuestra gente and I want to honor it by sharing with people things that I have learned from my mama, abuel@s, friends, family, online communities, and more.

One of my favorite things to eat is Salsa Verde. Today, I wanted to give tips on a good salsa verde. My mom always told me to learn how to "escojer" los tomatillos muy bien. To have a good salsa you need good tomatillos. When you buy them, make sure they are green. If they are a little amarillos, the salsa will come out with a funky sweet or sour taste. The secret is to also add some cominos to your slasa verde. I will leave the amount up to you. El chiste es darle sabor. Sea salt or regular table salt and comino are always good in salsa although not always necessary.

Salsa Verde

Chiles verdes ( of your choice)
Tomatillos
Ajo
Cebolla
Comino
Sal ( if you want even though i recommend at least a little bit)
and cilantro ( also not necessary pero so so good)

I'm not very good at giving measurements. If you are a measurement person, I apologize. My mama just taught me how to watch her make it and learn from el sabor~taste. I will share ingredients and I hope that you can just go out and experiment, learn, play with the products and come up with your own receta.

Saludos
~bere