Simple Raw and Natural

 May 21, 2025 Here I am in front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge Sept 11, 2011 Our raw foods group didn’t begin as a social gathering. It began as a search for healing. In 2009, after becoming seriously ill, I began looking for answers beyond what conventional medicine was offering me. That search led me to Dr. John Fielder in Australia, a natural hygienist and teacher with a strict but deeply rooted philosophy of healing through food, rest, sun, and natural living. I met up with him in Houston in 2010 and began to study closely with him. His visits, the lectures I organized, and the community that began to form around those ideas eventually gave birth to our Raw Foods Group in 2011. For years, it felt like we had discovered something powerful—a way of connecting with food, and each other, that felt nourishing on every level. But over time, my path shifted. In 2020, I made the personal decision to take medication for my health. That decision ended my working relationship with Dr. Fiel...

 May 20, 2005 There is a quote going around that I have seen several times.   “You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you. And many are failing.” — Pope Leo XIV It was bold. Convicting. And honestly—it spoke to everything I believe about compassion, justice, and moral courage. I almost shared it immediately. But something made me pause. Just about everyone knows who Pope Leo XIV is by now. He was chosen to be Pope in May 2025. He is the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, a man known for his heart for the poor and his commitment to pastoral care. But here’s the thing: this quote doesn’t appear in any official statement, homily, or address he has given. It seems the quote has been circulating for some time, likely before his election, and was attributed to “Pope Leo XIV” as a way to give the message weight. This attribution causes confusion. And tha...

 May 19, 2025 Yesterday on the way to our little country church, Travis and I saw a box turtle lying upside down in the road. We passed it by at first—just one more bump in the journey. But I could tell by the way he tightened his grip on the wheel that it had gotten to him. “Are you going to turn around and help that turtle?” I asked. “Yes,” he said, eyes scanning for a place to turn around. “As soon as I can find a spot.” So we turned around. And sure enough, the poor thing had been hit. Its shell was cracked. Another car was coming, so in a hurry, Travis picked it up and tossed it over the fence into the pasture. “Why did you throw it?” I asked, wincing. “I was trying to get it out of the tall grass,” he replied. “So it wouldn’t get stuck.” We drove on, but I could feel the weight of that turtle still sitting with him. After a moment he said, “I’m going back.” And back we went—again. He spotted the turtle, now on its back again, in the pasture. Determined to help, he decided to ...

 May 13, 2005 The Elegance of the Hedgehog Book Review by Janis at Simple Raw and Natural The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, translated from the French by Alison Anderson This book caught me off guard in a good way.  Muriel Barbery, the author, is a French author and a former professor of philosophy.  She has lived in both France and Japan, and her love for both cultures adds subtle richness to the book. It starts off quietly - philosophical, full of big ideas and small, hidden lives within a Parisian apartment building. But by the end, it reaches something much deeper.  Without giving anything away, I'll just say that the final chapters stayed with me long after I finished the book. Barbery is gifted in her ability to weave together ideas about beauty, purpose, class and meaning - but what really struck me was this idea she hints at - the "aristocracy of the heart".  Not people who are born into status and wealth, but people who choose to live with...

 May 8, 2025 The Mediterranean Diet Is Still The Gold Standard.  Here’s Why! by Janis at Simple Raw and Natural The Mediterranean diet is still considered the gold standard by most of the medical and scientific community for maintaining health and helping prevent (and sometimes reverse early) diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and even cognitive decline. It holds that status based on the large, long-term, peer -reviewed studies like the Predimed trial in Spain where major cardiovascular events were reduced by 30% on the Mediterranean diet, the Lyon Heart Study which after a heart attack, Mediterranean diet cut recurrence risk by 72%, as well as numerous combined smaller studies of pooled data  of thousands of people. Other diets, such as low-fat vegan diets, whole food plant-based diets, Dr. Brooke Goldner's hyper-nourishment protocol and raw food diet have also shown excellent result - sometimes even reversing disease - but the case studies have been smaller and more...

 May 7, 2025 The Man Who Saved the World (And the Night I Remember Too Well) by Janis at Simple Raw and Natural In October 1962, I was 14 years old, living in Châteauroux, France, on a U.S. Air Force base with my family. It was the height of the Cold War, but until then, it had mostly been a distant backdrop to our lives—talk of “the Russians” sometimes floated in and out of conversation. But that week? That week was different. The Cuban Missile Crisis had reached a boiling point. The Soviets had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the coast of Florida, and President Kennedy had drawn a clear red line. The U.S. Navy formed a blockade around Cuba. Soviet ships were approaching. And nobody knew what would happen next. I remember the night the base went on high alert. My dad was suddenly called in. I don’t remember if he even said goodbye as he walked out the door, but I do remember the look on his face—tight, serious, worried. My mother lay on the living room f...

 Friday, May 2, 2025 Assigned Dreams and Chateauroux Streets "Your dreams didn't choose you by accident.  They were assigned to you." - Morning quote  A few mornings ago I woke up from a dream that felt like a message.  I was walking alone down the streets of Chateauroux, that special place where memories still cling like the scent of warm bread.  I saw a woman I knew - kind, gracious, the kind who makes strangers feel like family.  She welcomed me inside a tiny shop, owned by a friend.  A place full of delicate gifts and meaning.  I thought of my brother's new baby, imagining a small outfit to carry love across the generations.  I bought red, white, and blue bracelets - symbols of home, of roots, of ideals.  Suddenly, I was thinking of Abigail Adams.  Of reason, of legacy, of a woman's quiet strength beneath the swirl of revolution. And then, I asked myself: Why should we give up all of this? Why abandon beauty, connection, hospita...

   Thursday, May 1, 2025 The Budweiser Clydesdales A Bright Spot on Bridge Street It had been a long day at the boutique—one of those where the hours blur together from getting new merchandise ready for display and the shop ready for the crew coming in tomorrow. But then something unexpected and beautiful happened. The Budweiser Clydesdales came trotting down Bridge Street. Yes— the Budweiser Clydesdales, in all their majestic glory. You could hear the clip-clop of hooves and see the sparkle of polished harnesses long before they came into view. Police escorts led the way, lights flashing, clearing the street like royalty was on parade. And honestly, that’s exactly what it felt like. People were running from all directions, phones in hand, trying to get a glimpse. My customers dashed out of the boutique—and so did I. How could we not? These horses are enormous, powerful, and somehow gentle all at once. They moved with such grace that it gave me chills. Within minutes, th...