Here is my interview with Dan McDonald–the Life Regenerator! Please check out his videos on www.youtube.com/liferegenerator!
Meet Jedi Master Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram and Get Inspired!
Archive for August, 2011
Fruit is Nature’s Water!
Monday, August 29th, 2011
I am back and had the BEST time ever at the Woodstock Fruit Festival in upstate NY! I have uploaded an entire facebook photo album of the event, and you can even watch an awesome video trailer for next year’s festival here! I know many of you missed me, but I am revved up with so much to share with you all including TONS of new you tube videos shared at the bottom of this email!!
Everyone is back now from Summer vacation, and it is rawsome to see everyone’s faces again! We are still enjoying summer’s abundance of local watermelons, pickles, peaches, nectarines, and more! Pics from last week’s co-op are up now and found here! You may be in them, and please feel free to tag yourself!! Soak it up while you can and stay hydrated! There is nothing better to me than drinking ice cold watermelon juice in 108 degree weather! I want to send a special shout out to the volunteers who took over co-op this past week to make sure that we all got our boxes! Without you all, co-op would NOT have been possible! Thank you for ROC’N the tents!
For this week’s newsletter, this is the PERFECT time to talk about staying hydrated! In Texas right now, we are not only in a drought, but we are experiencing temperatures hotter than ever before! My thermometer showed 110 degrees today at one point! It’s scorching HOTTT and drinking water is not enough. The most hydrating foods on the planet are fruits and vegetables. They contain the juices of life–filled with vitamins, minerals, and much, much more!
There is a reason why we have seasons and why we eat seasonally. Nature gives us exactly what we need when we need it. For instance, right now, we have watermelons exploding out of trucks to get to co-op! We simply cannot eat as many watermelons as we are producing! Nature is literally saying, “Here! Eat me now!” It is hot outside, so our bodies are naturally sweating more than they would during the wintertime. We need those watermelons NOW to stay hydrated. If we were living 100 years ago, we would most likely be eating way more watermelons! At that time, there was no air conditioning or as much clean water as there is today. People relied on fruits and vegetables to get their intake of water.
When we are hydrated, we perform at our optimal best. If you are an athlete, you will run better, and your mind will be clear because you won’t be thirsty. If you work in an office, you will find that hydration brings you better focus; thus, optimizing your time and activities. This list goes on for every occupation! All benefit from proper hydration. One must simply learn how to stay properly hydrated.
What you need to walk away knowing: the juices inside of fruits and vegetables is hydrating! It is nature’s water! You will find the highest water content in fruits like watermelons, cantaloupes, peaches, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, citrus, and anything else that drips juice! Carry them around with you everywhere, and even bring extras to share. People should be sharing fruit love at every corner! Do it! 
I hope to see you all this week, and I hope that you have fun staying hydrated! Totally freak people out by bringing an entire watermelon to work and eat it in front of everyone! Ha!
Love and hugs!
Kristina
Monday, August 15th, 2011
Happy Happy Joy Joy! Hope that you are revved up and ready to ROC this week! The bounty of food that I have from this past week’s co-op box has filled me up with colorful deliciousness to the point where I feel like I am walking around with a rainbow over my head! It just doesn’t get much better than that! We all have had the pleasure of enjoying peaches, strawberries, cantaloupes, pluots, watermelons, and even corn! Every time I say that we “can’t possibly beat this week,” I find myself wrong again! TONS of exciting things are happening this week! Since there is so much going on, I have structured this week’s email newsletter a little different. Each paragraph has a theme and an important update with a quick link. Please read below!
I am getting ready to leave for the Woodstock Fruit Festival in New York, and I am so excited! I will be Emcee of the event, and I also get to give two presentations on Raw Co-operating and Eating Organic/Local. Did I mention I will be teaching a salsa dance class as well?! This will be my first time to be away from co-op in over a year, and I will have a fabulous team of co-operators to help run the show! I will still be taking the orders and managing things from NY, but co-op will completely rely on YOU to run. We will need all of the volunteers and helping hands that we can get this week to make sure that everything goes smoothly. If you can come, feel welcome to bring family, friends, and kids! When you arrive, the head volunteers will show you exactly how to ROC it! There truly is no greater joy than getting to play with your food!
Hungry?! It’s box time! The potential list of what may come in this week’s boxes is included below! As mentioned above, we have boxes OVERFLOWING with summer goodness! You cannot go wrong in feeding your body nothing but raw. Getting a box forces you to eat healthier items because you have such bounty around the house! It keeps you from eating “things” you may regret later! I added a new recipe this week for a Raw Macho Taco Salad! Be prepared to get your hands and your face a little messy! A new you tube video of me making this recipe will be announced in the Tuesday email reminder for co-op, so stay tuned!
If you want to stay up to date on new recipes, articles, cool you tube videos, and more, please be sure to follow our Rawfully Organic Facebook page or Twitter! Any changes that we may have during the week or any special surprises or deals are quickly uploaded to our page for your convenience. Please take advantage of this because we will have fun interactive activities in store for you that will involve cool prizes!!! Plus, I upload a new photo album each week, and you may be in it! This week’s Facebook photo album is here! These pictures are SO much fun to share with family and friends, and the colors are so beautiful!
The ROC Express Lane is a success! Rawfully Organic has officially incorporated a new express checkout lane that allows those who have paid online to quickly dash if they need to grab their box and go! Talk about fast food! Please note: this lane is only for those who do not want to swap, who do not have extra add-ons, and who do not want to purchase any extras from the table. The express line helps to keep both of the checkout lines much shorter and moving more quickly. HORRAY! Thank you for your awesome suggestions in helping the co-op to run better. Keep ‘em coming!
Last but not least, ROC is adding a new Kingwood Drop-Off NEXT week! Please keep in mind the drop-offs are merely porch pick ups. Your boxes are already organized and merely dropped at a designated porch near your area. No swapping or special orders; the drops are for those who cannot make it to the main locations…life gets crazy, what can you say?! You will see the drop-down option next week for Thursday’s shares!
We all feel SO blessed to be a part of something SO much greater than ourselves. Without YOU, this co-operative cannot co-operate. I feel SO blessed to be a part of each and every one of your lives. We are definitely a family, and I cannot ask for more. I will be leaving Wednesday, so I will be here for this Tuesday’s co-op. I return Wednesday the 23rd. I will miss you all terribly, but I will be ROC’N our message in New York and shaking it up! Keep co-op pride and represent while I am away! Ah! I miss you already!
Love and hugs!
Kristina
The Importance of People
Monday, August 8th, 2011
Hope at you have had a sizzling hot weekend! We are in the heat of summer, enjoying it and keeping hydrated with juicy melons, stone fruits, and more! We had a great group of volunteers come out to help this past week, and I want to send a personal thank you to all who came to dedicate their time to help organize all of our boxes and to offer help afterwards. Everyone who comes always has a smile on their face, and their fabulous enthusiasm sprinkles love and good spirit into our boxes!
Our cooperative has something special about it: we are a community centered around organic, raw food that comes together to enjoy good company, tastes, and organic passions. Almost everywhere you look today, a community is lacking. Individuals lack connection, especially in Houston. In this city, it is not common to spend hours in one’s car or in one’s home separated from groups of people. It is rare to find individuals who reach out of their comfort zone to not only involve themselves in new interests, but also to meet people with these same interests and create friendships with them. People connect in different ways.
In today’s society, it is common for people to connect via telephones, computers, online chats, etc. This takes away from face time with a person. Rather than spend quality one on one time with somebody, one may decide to isolate themselves or stay in their comfort zone, free of complications or even emotions. A hundred years ago when technology was not as prevalent, people relied on their communities for survival and support. Because of technology and services today, convenience is much easier to find–so much that you may not even need to leave your house. Where is the interaction? Help! People needed!
Learning how to interact with your community is one of the most vital lessons in life. It is also a means for survival if technology ever fails. Learning the importance of giving back to your community or volunteering is a humbling and gratifying experience that makes you feel bliss! Plus, it is no fun to be alone all of the time or even simply enclosed within your personal family unit.
Once you branch out, you can make your family as big as you want to make it. It all starts by reaching out a hand! If you never step out of your comfort zone, you may never meet people who could become your closest of friends. Also, you may never find a service opportunity that you truly enjoy. Regardless of what anyone says, I consider people to be the most crucial component to our society. We are the ones who hold the ability to make change possible, to make communities strong, and to make life great!
The presence of people is important. When I am at coop, I get so excited to see people step out of their comfort zones and to come offer a helping hand. The coop provides us with an opportunity to interact with people, and it places faith in human abilities. Not only does it unite us physically, but also it brings us together to share a common passion for health and organic produce. You get to get dirty, and your eyes get to enjoy the beautiful colors of the boxes! It is SO cool to be able to watch two strangers come together, sort produce as a team, and work with others to get the job completed. It is even more awesome to watch these helping hands share recipes and bond in the process. This creates compassion and support in times of need. The coop unites people back with their roots!
We have a community that most do not have, and I consider ourselves to be BEYOND BLESSED. If you have yet to interact with someone else in the coop, reach out! If you have yet to try one of the recipes, make it with a friend! Or, if you have been too scared to come and volunteer, come play with some fruits and veggies! We as individuals create society. What do you want to see more of in our community? Lettuce create it!
I hope to see many more helping hands this week! Many are coming in from being gone all summer, and I cannot tell you HOW much I have missed many of you! I look forward to seeing you!
Create Beautiful Mush
Monday, August 1st, 2011
Woo hoo!! It’s the first week of August! Everyone is beginning to trickle in from out of town, and I am SO excited to see so many returning faces! I am even MORE excited to see all of the beautiful nectarines, peaches, grapes, and watermelons…but, shhhhh….don’t tell anyone that! I am bouncing with energy for this coming week’s abundance, and I am just gonna say, “expect it all to be fabulous!”
This week’s email newsletter is going to be dedicated to helping you master your ability to be creative with your box. I typically write about something inspirational to motivate you to eat raw; however, if you don’t know how to be creative with your food, then how can you stay raw or even healthy for that matter? The truth is that we all need to break out of our shells and just create MUSH sometimes! So, that is what I have done! This week, I have used only ingredients from our boxes, and I have created a “Beautiful Mush” recipe that is SO easy, SO fast, and SO fun to make! Not only is the recipe link included below, but I have even made a fun you-tube video for you to watch and to enjoy!
Sometimes, when I talk to people at the co-op, I get asked frequently, “So, what do you do with your box?!” My answer is almost always, “Well, I eat it or I throw it all in a salad!” Literally, this is what I do. If I may say so, it ALWAYS turns out fantastic, but perhaps this is just a twist of genius that I have magically mastered over time. Either that, or there is no bad combination that you can make with the ingredients from our box! Doesn’t that make you feel better?! Heck yes! Even with items such as kale or zucchini, there are TONS of ideas that you can try to make with each of them, even combined together! They are incredibly nutritious foods that taste amazing; yet, people get so scared of them simply because they do not know what to do with them! Kale is not as scary as the cookie monster! All that fear changes here and now!
Just because a veggie scares you is NOT a good enough excuse not to try to be creative with it. I have always admired Newton’s Law that states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This is true even in the raw world, and it applies here. If one is to attempt to make a new raw dish, then one may like it. If one never attempts to be creative with new foods, then he/she will never know what to do with those items…and he or she will possibly never discover a favorite dish! Tragedy! In addition, if one chooses to eat poorly, one will feel lowly with a loss of energy and confidence. And, if one chooses to eat vibrant, colorful, and raw foods, then one will feel lively, happy, euphoric, and confident! There is no such thing as “good” or “bad” choices; however, there are consequences for each of our actions. This makes us think twice about what we eat and how we eat it!
In regards to making choices and reaping the consequences of those choices, this lesson applies not only to eating food, but it applies to life in general. Everyday we must make choices. Do we wear a red shoe or a blue shoe? Do we eat an apple or make a smoothie? Do we eat foods that we know will nourish us, or do we eat what everyone else is eating? Choose to be different! Keep in mind that every choice that we make, we will feel immediately or in the long run.
Every choice that we make affects our health–physically, mentally, socially, physically, etc. When we make good choices, we FEEL wonderful! If you could feel wonderful ALL of the time, wouldn’t that be fantastic?! Of course! The power lies within you, and the choice is yours! It’s as easy as simply starting with a co-op box and eating it ALL. When we nourish our bodies, our minds are nourished. When we are nourished, we can save the world.
Lettuce save this world one box at a time, and let’s be creative along the way! I hope to see you all this week in the sunshine, and I hope that you love your mush!
Hugs and love!
Kristina