Archive for August, 2010
The Power of Love
I just had to share this beautiful story with you. A tiny baby twin, born premature at 27 weeks, had been pronounced dead. He was laid skin-to-skin on his mother’s chest, and, miraculously, he came back to life.
To see the full story, click here.
Doesn’t that just show the very real power of love, and of our connection with each other?
Gratitude Friday – 27 August 2010
Another beautiful week here on Planet Earth!
Here are five of my favourite gratefuls from this week:
- Having a wonderfully relaxing birthday, and being blessed with love and gifts
- Gently kissing my little girls’ faces while they slept
- Finding an old 50c piece in the garden!
- Making soul connections with some really lovely women at a local business event
- Winter, and its gift of encouraging us to go ‘within’ and reflect
I’m really enjoying sharing some of my ‘gratefuls’ with you – would you like to share some of yours with us? Then feel free to leave a comment below!
Springing into Action
My daughter Arabella planted these pinkbells back in May, and now we’re waiting patiently for their beautiful little faces to show themselves. We’ve never grown pinkbells before (we went to the nursery to buy bluebells, but Mummy had left it too late, and they only had pinkbells left!), so we can’t wait to see what they’re like. And you know how much I like pink…
Have you planted some seedlings or bulbs, in readiness for spring? (Sorry to our northern hemisphere cousins – at least you have the beauty of autumn/fall to look forward to!)
Bring on those spring flowers!
Gratitude Friday – 20 August 2010
‘Ello, ‘ello, ‘ello! It’s Friday again! Woohoooo! As usual, there is much to be grateful for this week, and here are just five of my faves:
- My Grandad feeling better, and being able to get out of bed on his own
- Getting the girls to school early, despite a late rising and making their lunch!
- A lovely, long (two-hour) phone chat with an old friend from Queensland
- Seeing luscious lilac/pale blue clouds as I drove home from an appointment on a rainy afternoon – and then, a stunning rainbow!
- My birthday tomorrow, and knowing that I’ll have a lovely sleep-in and then be showered with love, and breakfast in bed
Would you like to share what you’re grateful for this week? I’d love to hear!
Much love to you.
Brazil-Nut Hot Chocolate
If you’re finding it challenging getting through the last of winter down here in the southern hemisphere, have I got a treat for you!
In winter we sometimes crave rich, sweet foods and drinks, but these aren’t always a healthy option. I find that I feel a bit icky after having a traditional, dairy-milk hot chocolate, even though I love the taste.
But how about this? I’ve created a sumptuous hot chocolate that is actually good for you – it’s a chocolately, sweet nut-milk. Brazil nuts are rich in selenium, raw chocolate is plentiful in magnesium, and agave nectar is a low-glycemic sweetener (or, instead of agave, you can chop and soak two Medjool dates, before blending). Give it a try, and let me know what you think!
Ingredients
1 cup roughly chopped brazil nuts
2 cups water
1–1½ tablespoons raw cacao (chocolate) powder
1½ tablespoons dark agave nectar
Method
1. Place the nuts and water in a blender, and blend for about 20 seconds, until completely blended.
2. Strain the nut-milk liquid through a nut-milk bag (or you can use a clean knee-high stocking) into a large bowl.
3. Rinse the blender, and tip the strained nut-milk into blender.
4. Add the chocolate powder and agave nectar to the blender, and blend for about 20 seconds.
5. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and stir over low heat until the mixture is only just hot enough that it doesn’t hurt your finger when it’s dipped into it.
6. Pour the fragrant, sweet, chocolatey elixir into two cups.
7. Cosy up on the couch, and sip to your heart’s content!
Notes: Make sure you don’t dilly-dally in sitting down to drink your chocolate, because it isn’t as hot as traditional hot chocolate. If you live in Australia, you can purchase raw cacao powder from Loving Earth. Also, you might have seen my recipe recently, as it appeared in the August edition of Australia’s Good Health magazine!
Oh, an extra note for you: if you’re reading this in summer, try making this as a type of ice-cold milkshake. Let the nut milk chill in the fridge after step 2, and then add a couple of ice cubes to the blender when you blend the nut milk, choc powder and agave. Heavenly…
Bon appetit!
Gratitude Friday – 13 August 2010
Wow! Another week has flown by! Here are five of my favourite things that I’m grateful for this week:
- My grandad being well looked after in hospital
- Recording a fabulous guided visualisation for myself, one that is helping me prepare to get my office completely in order!
- Releasing my green smoothie booklet to the world (to grab a copy, head to the Freebies page)
- Being reminded that I don’t function well on only six hours’ sleep!
- Seeing a cherry tree starting to blossom, a sure sign that spring is just around the corner
Would you like to share your ‘gratefuls’ for this week? Just leave a comment below!
Take care, and be good to yourself!
I’m Hungry, Let’s Grow It!
The advance copies of my third – and latest – book arrived in the mail yesterday, and I’m very excited! (If you’d like a bit more info about this book, click here.)
It’ll be in bookstores in Australia in September, so it will be fun heading to the bookstore with my girls, to giggle over it appearing on the shelves!
Believe in Green – It’s a Win-Win!
I recently uploaded my latest freebie to the Rich Radiant Real site – a gorgeous e-booklet called The Green Smoothie Glow: A Groovy Way to Get Your Greens and a Gorgeous Glow!. Go download your copy now, over at the Freebies page! You’ll never think about smoothies again in quite the same way. If you’ve never tried a green smoothie before, I dare you to try one this week – there are eight recipes in the booklet, to get you started.
The release of this booklet comes at a great time, coinciding with the annual International Green Smoothie Day on 15 August. This day was started a few years ago by my friend at The Raw Divas, Tera Warner.
Tera has a big heart, and she’s recently put together a BIG project, called Believe in Green (BiG). This is a fundraising project, to raise money for the Lower East Side Girls’ Club in New York. This girls’ club is simply amazing – it provides a safe place for girls (many of whom are immigrants or disadvantaged) to dream big dreams, and to involve themselves in life-changing environmental (and heaps of other) projects.
But, the fundraising isn’t the only component of this project. For 10 days, Tera will be hosting 10 BIG speakers, women – and one man! – who are making a huge difference in the world, and you can listen in on these amazing calls.
For just US$10, you can join the BiG event. Yup, you read that right! Just US$10! And every single dollar goes directly to the Lower East Side Girls’ Club.
Also, during the 10 days of the event, you can be part of a live 10-Day Green Smoothie Challenge, with the chance to win a Blendtec blender.
Honestly, you’d be crazy not to sign up to be a part of this amazing project.
Come join me?
Just head here to sign up. Let’s help change the world!
Big green hugs!
Gratitude Friday – 6 August 2010
It’s the end of another week, and time for yet more ‘gratitudes’ from my gratitude journal!
- Being warm and dry and snug in the car, bringing the girls home from school (outside was cold and raining)
- Have a three-hour-long chat at a coffee shop with a friend (isn’t it great when you don’t even notice time flying?)
- Reading with the girls in the big bed, having lots of giggles and cuddles
- Speaking by phone with my interstate father-in-law on the evening of his 70th birthday, and hearing him say how he really enjoys his life, with good health, no worries about money, a great family, good friends, things he enjoys doing, and a relaxed life. I love that he really appreciates how wonderful his life is.
- Sorting out the bottom three drawers in the kitchen – woohoo!
- Having a fairly ‘free’ schedule this week
What are you profoundly grateful for this week? It could be big, it could be small – if you’d like to share, just leave a comment!
The Book of Awesome
Every now and then, a special book comes along, one that instantly lifts your spirits and makes you laugh out loud.
The Book of Awesome is definitely one of those books!
Based on the blog 1000awesomethings.com, and written by ‘regular guy’ Neil Pasricha, this recently published book is making people smile the world over. It’s been out since April in the US, but a few days ago was released in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
I love books that revel in the glorious, heartwarming, serendipitous things that we come across in our human experience – and that’s the essence of my philosophy here at Rich Radiant Real! Sometimes it’s great to have a reminder about things that make you feel good.
You’ve gotta read this book – here are some of my favourite ‘awesomes’ from within its pages:
- Remembering what movie that guy is from
- Celebrating your pet’s birthday even though they have no idea what’s going on
- That friendly nod between strangers out doing the same thing
- Finding out your birthday is on a Friday or Saturday this year (note from Joanne: that’s true for me this year! Although it’s also the day of our federal election, so I’ll have to leave my gift-filled, breakfast-in-bed tray to go vote, unless I get organised and do a postal vote!)
And my absolute favourite from this book (drum roll, please):
- Laughing so hard you make no sound at all
(note from Joanne: you KNOW what that’s like!)
There are a gazillion other ‘awesomes’ in this book – each one gets further explanation, and the descriptions are hilarious.
If you need a lift, and a darn good giggle, definitely get this book!
- US version: The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things
- UK version: The Book of Awesome
Totally awesome!
Joanne's coaching was exactly what I needed to help me focus my precious time and money on finding work and making money! What I like most about Joanne’s coaching is that it's gentle, supportive and empathetic, rather than pushy and 'ra-ra-ra'”
...if there’s something that you’ve been putting off doing, because it’s so big and overwhelming, then by coaching with Joanne you'll definitely find a way to do it, to finally reach your goal.”
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