T'was the Night......

T’was the night before Christmas, and all thru the hut
Not a smoothie was twirling and all markets were shut.
All blenders were silent, the spring water had gone dry.
There was not even island grub or left over cashew pie.
Hemp stockings were hung, our bellies were rumblin’.
Let us all manifest to stop this late night grumblin’
So I in my long johns, and they in their jammies.
Headed up to bed, dreaming of superfood phatties.
Dreams of ripe mangos and mame fill our heads
As we snuggle up tightly in our bamboo fiber beds.
Then in the jungle, there arose such a clatter
I yelled turn on the salt crystal lamp!
As I investigated the matter.
Thinking it was a crazy lost monkey, or Avocado himself
It was quite a surprise to see Santa stocking our shelf.
Sporting only board shorts, No reindeer was he draggin’
He was hot! Cruisin in his Bio-Volkswagen.
He polished off his green juice
And popped up his hat
He grabbed a bunch of hemp sacks he had stashed in the back
“No way!” I explained this simply can’t be
“Your Santa of course”, and also a glowing raw-foodie!
“sweet sister…” he said in a Santa sort of way
I need a vitamix to use, got any nut milk coming my way?
“Ill hook you up!” I said with jonsen glee
Any of those gorgeous sacks reserved perhaps for me?
Giiirl! He grinned, would I tease you that way
there is only abundance
For you on this Christmas day!
I took him inside for a blender to use
Santa, I don’t get it, raw food is your muse?!
Thanks he said as he dropped into lotus
An elf tipped me off
And the best is before us
Out of his bags he pulled out the power
Followed by Crystals, tinctures and, jit powder.
No longer am I clouded by sugar cookies or fear
I’m going to keep it raw, year after year!
All the goodies he brought with him
Were the highest and kind
He also had durian pods
I’m going to blend some, do ya mind?
Be my guest I said as I took a big wiff
“get ready!” he laughed! “For the most outrageous lift!”
He finished up the blending, and poured us each a full mug
It was powerful indeed! Then he gave us all a hug.
“later sister!” he said in a tone loud and bright
Late night power smoothies for all, and to all a good night!
I waved Santa goodbye with much enthusiasm as cruised on
He holla’ed back, “Ill see you next year just before dawn.”
I then looked into the sky, and winked at the brightest star.
This Christmas IS THE BEST EVER!!! The Best ever……. by far!

Love ~ Melissa Mango

Raw Food Recipe: Omega La la latte'

They may be tiny, but they are mighty MIGHTY! : Flax and Hemp! While it’s not technically a grain, the flax seed has a similar vitamin and mineral profile to grains, while the amount of fiber and antioxidants in flax leaves grains in the dust. Additionally, flax seed is very low in carbohydrates, making it ideal for people who limit their intake of starches and sugars. And its combination of healthy fat and high fiber content make it a great food for weight loss and maintenance -- I have found that flax seed has been a key to feeling satisfied after healthier and lighter meals.

Hulled hemp seeds have an ideal balance of Omega 3 and 6 for sustainable human health, it has a full amino acid spectrum meaning it provides complete protein, and it has a massive trace mineral content - truly one of nature's superfoods at 33% protein.

Flax and hemp are both rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which aid in development of the baby's brain and nervous system as well as mother's well being. Omega-3 fatty acids are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are indispensable for human growth and development, yet are not synthesized by humans. These must be obtained from the diet, specifically from either fish or flaxseed oil. However, a "standard American diet" is severely deficient in these critical nutrients.

This deficiency in omega-3 intake is compounded by the fact that after a woman's first pregnancy, her maternal stores become depleted, rarely returning to pre-pregnancy levels. Subsequent pregnancies continue this depletion.

This frothy warm beverage I came up with in hopes to get in large amounts of nutrients without sacrificing flah-vah! Often I am not hungry for a meal, yet a power packed drink is just the thing my body needs to keep up with the demands of breastfeeding! Enjoy!

Omega La-LA Latte' serves 1 momma

1 bag of Decaffeinated Good Earth Herbal Tea. (Sweet & Spicy)

1 1/2 TB Morning Jing powder by Shaman Shack

3 big and juicy medjool dates pitted

1/2-1 TB golden flax seeds

2 TB Hulled hemp seeds

1 tsp vanilla extract

tiny pinch of pink salt

Step 1: Steep tea bag in 2cups of hot water for 5 minutes, pour tea into blender.

Step 2: Grin flax seeds in coffee grinder.

Step 3: Place all ingredients into blender and blend for 30 seconds.

Recipe Note: The flax in this recipe will thicken the drink. if you are weirded out by thicker drinks, just use 1/2 TB flax seeds. Also, be sure to grind them fresh for optimla nutrition!

Pour in your favorite cup and enjoy! I like to drink my hot beverages in this snazzy coffee cup that is NOT paper! This fantastic cup is ceramic with a flexie lid and can be used again and again and again!

Enjoy 112 raw vegan recipe in Melissa's E-book HERE

Morning Jing: Get the best protein powder out there with Ho sho Wu and other super foods HERE

Birth. In the movies.....

A few nights ago I went to a movie hosted by the Birthing Network of Santa Cruz called Born in the USA. Bruce Springsteen is not who I saw wailing and sweating throughout this flick, instead it were women giving birth, using various methods practiced today. In the film you meet three birth caregivers—a obstetrician, a nurse-midwife, and a licensed home birth midwife—each with a dramatically different idea about what constitutes best care for birthing women. The film show how these women see their work and what factors—medical, legal, and cultural—influence women's choices in the birthing room. In general the film was very informative and "neutral", letting the viewer truly see what happens in these different circumstances under various forms of care offered to pregnant women today. Al thought there was a lovely home birth that took place that was so fluid and relaxed compared to the birth that took place in the hospital, what made my stomach turn was the fact that women today in my opinion are "brainwashed" when it comes to birth. Now I am just generalizing here.....most women today have this perception of birth as painful, stressful, and potentially dangerous procedure! A procedure that our bodies may fall apart during and desperately need intervention! We have movies, media and of course our culture in general to thank for this warped and twisted view on one of the most beautiful events any human can experience or be apart of. What would be different if we taught our daughters what a blissful experience it is? and prepared them from a more positive and encouraging outcome?

Born in the USA, features on the Oxygen channel, was insightful as to what is really going on in the birthing rooms of the general public. It got me fired up! I instantly had the desire to share more natural and less stressful forms of birthing with women all over the planet. Women shouldn't have to enter into pregnancy with fear, worry and doubt just because someone else experienced that "version". Our society is being programmed to accept the tv shows and movies's version of birth. A women will enter into the birthing process with fear right off the bat if showed nothing but other women's massive freak outs, scratching, screaming, agonizing pain and intervention to the rescue. This false picture of what birthing really is and what could be, leaves little room for another "outcome" to be the "norm". Actually enjoying birth or the potential that HEY! maybe she can do this natural after all and feel loved and nurchured in the process IS infact a reality Heck! We were built for birth and dang it...we've been at it since the beginning of time with no sterile face masks, gloves, needles, and certainly not flat on our backs in a stiff bed not able to move!

I noticed in Born in USA with the exception of the home birthing momma, not a single laboring women was in the squatting position which happens to be a very helpful position to help guide the baby's head on through the mother's pelvis with gravity. Why didn't the doctors suggest this to the laboring women? I was hoping they did and just not film it. However, there they were on their backs, stuck on the bed and hooked up to monitors, IV and other equiptment. (One women was concidered low risk and still connected to all this crap) Of course the position and all the cords would not help cope with the sensations of birth! How could any women relax and let go? The movie mentioned that some culture's find it offensive to be on all fours odd to tone with their voices, and un-lady like to squat for birth. ARE you SERIOUS! So you mean to tell me the obvious position of being upright in a squat so gravity can help is viewed as not so nice, but laying flat on your back, legs strapped into stirrups and 5 people peering in on your vagina with plastic shields over their faces is totally fine and normal?? wow. That "picture" is the picture given to us in the "movies" our whole lives and it does happen in real life! I was upset and I felt sadness for the women in the documentary which represents a hugs number of women that deal with this as "normal" everyday in the USA!

Momma Mango's Manifesto: I would love to see truely empowering birthing classes that dig into the "untraditional" methods and offer it to every single pregnant Goddess. These classes would teach breathing techniques, beautiful movement and that it is natural and OK to sway those hips, squat, vocalize, visualize and be primal in the birthing process. I see a birthing class where instead of concentrating on all the drugs they an be doped up on, they concentrate on all magic their bodies are designed for and encourage ways the body can relax and truely birth naturally. I believe that cultivating these somewhat lost yet basic natural instincts would lift the layer so that all women would realize that maybe, juts maybe they can do this and they are this rightous and most gorgeous goddess in the birthing process!

From a young age, if we were all taught that birth is sacred, poweful, magical and yes full of sensation that may be intense at times.....I believe we would have a very different world! A world where more women stepped into their power and other women rejoiced in lifting one another up!
mmm...that feels so good!

Raw Recipe: Carrot cake shake

“C” is for cake! Carrot that Is!

I have been big into smoothies lately mostly because I prefer to drink my food rather than sit down and eat it, being so close to my due date! There is little room in there these days, but there is always room for carrot cake shake!
With fall and winter flavors making their ways into my daily foodie routine I craved a morning smoothie that would deliver the nutrition I have been used to as well as boldly take the place of my orange-banana green smoothie. Mmmm…who can say no to cake first thing in the mornin’? This smoothie is the real deal! Delicious, nutritious and very simple to make! Enjoy!
Originally from Asia, the mighty carrot is easily assimilated by our bodies even left raw; with numerous health benefits. (Why am I not surprised that ever fruit or vegetable has amazing health benefits!) Chinese practitioners say that carrots are not only a tasty sweet root vegetable; it is good for the health of spleen and stomach. It is also believed to improve impotence (lower sexual drive), sexual dysfunction, night blindness, long term cough (or call hundred days cough in Chinese medical prescription) besides strengthening kidney and eliminating excessive wind and cold in our body. Can you turn orange from too many carrots? Sure…but that would take A LOT!
When picking carrots, try shopping at your local farmer’s market and seek out the organic, smaller, more “rustic” stubby and fat carrots. Over the past 150 years of modern day agriculture, carrots have been hybrid (altered genetically) to be the size of walking sticks! Most if not all hybrid produce is a far cry from what nature intended, yet still fine to eat. No need to completely avoid hybrid produce like carrots, juts be aware that these foods should be enjoyed minimally and that if you have a choice for the OG (Original) v.s the perfectly nubby carrots: go that route! Hybrid foods do contain a little more sugar than the non hybrids. Again, awareness is fine. Fanaticism isn’t. Now, back to the cake part!

Get 111 more recipes in Melissa E Book HERE!

Carrot cake shake Serves 1
1 c ice
1 small ripe banana (Frozen is suggested for thicker texture)
½ c fresh carrot juice
½ c almond milk OR: ( ½ c water + 1/3 c soaked cashews)
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ TB Pumpkin pie spice
3 big, juicy medjool dates pitted
Place all ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth
Garnish with ground pecan pieces and cinnamon

* Optional health-nut kick: Add ½ tsp of Spirulina if you need a boost of protein. This may slightly change up the flavor, but deliver the nutrition you deserve.

To nab a copy of Melissa’s Amazing E-book Click HERE!
A total of 112 delicious recipes! Nut free & agave free options!

xxMelissa