CFDS Episode 025: Playing With Spirits

CFDS 024: From Suicidal To Sensational

Nikki Harman

CFDS 023 Nikki Harman: From Homelessness To Mindfulness

CFDS Episode 022 The Body Whisperer: Adventure Was My Missing Nutrient

CFDS 021: How Not To Date As A Single Mom (And Still Find Love Anyway)

CFDS 020 The One Thing Your Therapist Should Never Say To You

Kate Fisher

CFDS 019 Kate Fisher's Story: This World, Or Another

CFDS 018: I Used To Date Guys, But My Travel Sickness Found Me A Wife

CFDS Episode 017, Sohini's story: Because Every Drop In The Ocean Counts

CFDS 016: From Wounded to Warrior: How The Path of Sensational Sex Unlocked My Power

I share my own stories as well as other women's, to hopefully entertain, encourage and inspire others. The world needs more stories, and I love true, human stories best of all.  Often the women's stories are linked to something that they're doing with their lives now, be it in their personal lives or in business. And I love finding and sharing a 'clean food tip'  with a fruit, veg, spice or other culinary tidbit that could have 'saved the day', or just come in handy in that particular situation. We learn, but we also have a lot of fun!

CFDS 015: From Abuse And Divorce To Freedom In Antarctica

CFDS 014: From Fast Food to Fabulous

CFDS 013 Divorce, Love and Running Away With Strangers

CFDS 012: From Depression To Diva

CFDS 011: How Catherine Decided Not To Die

CFDS 010 World Travel, Playful Relationships, Magical Plants

This story is about how to avoid mind control, and what food is best for someone who is in urgent need of nutrition. There's even a touch of divine intervention. What you will learn  what kinds of people can be drawn into religious sects   the subtle language that can hide mind control and other sinister aims behind what a course promises to teach you   the biggest principle behind food that helps shape your body  At the end of this episode I'll share with you a food that you can use not only to gain weight, but to lose weight too. How bizarre is that? But for now... On with the story Living in Paris, France In the previous episode I shared with you what happened after a bomb literally went off (see Episode 8). I also mentioned that because of the Scientologists, I almost didn't get my resident card, which I was desperate to have so that I could continue to live and work in Paris. Which brings me to today's story, which will close the chapter of my life with Scientologists. I moved on to other exciting things after that, such as a famous French hard rock guitarist and his vampire mom, but that's another story. So let me explain how the Scientologists messed with me getting my resident card. The main reason is that they had brainwashed Dave and he started acting crazy. But I think I need to explain how that can happen, so I'll do that briefly. Living in Montmartre Before Dave and I got married, so before the crazy Italian (which I talk about in Episode 3), we were living together for a while in a gorgeous apartment in the center of Paris, near Montmartre. In addition to going to restaurants and all that other romantic stuff you can do in Paris, Dave and I had been reading about the principles of Scientology, because we found some of them can be quite useful. One of them is how you can help people get over a past trauma, which I've already talked about in Episode 7. Even if in my case it led to a bunch of pumpkin heads. But - and this is a big but - the problem with Scientology is that you don't see the scary stuff until you're already pretty deeply embedded in their world. I'll get to an example of what I mean by scary stuff in a minute, but how do people get caught? And why do they stay? Here's what happened to me and Dave, anyway. We'll take care of everything! The Scientologists told us from the beginning that they could help us with just about anything. And over time, if you're a bit vulnerable like Dave was, you get sucked into their world. They tell you that you're part of their community, that you don't have to face the world alone, that you'll be able to handle anything that life throws at you...as long as you're with them. You start to become totally drawn in by the feeling of being protected, being looked after and cared for, in a safe world that won't change too much, where there are people who are there to watch over you. And after a while, once you get deep enough into Scientology, you just can't leave. That is, if you're vulnerable. And that's what happened to Dave. Now I love the idea of community. But fortunately for me, I've also got a pretty strong character. And even though I did learn some useful things, I'll never forget the moment when I came across a phrase that led me right out the door. I shared it with Dave, but by then it was too late for him. Mind control? No thanks I was sitting in the Scientology library reading coursework. I forget what course it was, but I'd been going there for a few weeks by that time with Dave where we took classes. We didn't live there, but we were there pretty much all day (and for me a lot of that was because they fed us too if I licked some stamps which I talk about in Episode 7). By the way when I say coursework, I don't mean Ron Hubbard's book Dianetics which I'd already read. I'm talking about private materials that they don't share with the public. They do things gradually, after all, so as not to scare anyone away. So I'm reading these lessons, and suddenly I read this sentence: "This technique is the first step towards influencing the minds of others to get them to do what you want". I had to read it a few times because I was like "Surely they can't be talking about mind control. That can't be right". But it was. The course promised further techniques and strategies to influence the people around you so that they would act how you wanted them to. This wasn't about sales, this was about brainwashing. A very strange course Now before writing up this episode, I took a sneak peek at the UK Scientology website to see if I could find the name of the course that I was taking. I figured now that they had internet, it would be there. I didn't manage to find it - it wasn't for the public, after all - but I did manage to find an example of some more subtle, only slightly freaky stuff. And I can share it with you because it's public knowledge. It's right there on their website for anyone to see. I'll link to it in the show notes so you can read it for yourself if you want to. This is how subtle mind control can be The text doesn't mention mind control per se, remember they don't want to scare people away. But here's what it does say to suck in unsuspecting people. This is from the description of an online course they call The Emotional Tone scale: "How often have you heard someone say, "I don't understand him"...There has never been a workable method to invariably predict human behavior — until now. "L. Ron Hubbard developed just such a method, and it is applicable to all men, without exception." (I have to interject here to remind Scientologists that women too live on this planet. Just saying.) "With this data, it is possible to accurately predict the behavior of a potential spouse, a business partner, employee or friend—before you commit to a relationship. The risks involved in human interaction can be avoided entirely or minimized when you can infallibly predict how people will behave...You'll know who to associate with, who to avoid...Imagine knowing, after a very short time, how people will behave in any given circumstance. You can. Each and every time." Well, isn't that just wonderfully reassuring. I can learn their techniques to make sure I don't run the risk of becoming friends with someone who doesn't behave in a certain way, rather than just listen to my own heart. Anyway hopefully you see what I mean when I say that these people have a rather different set of morals and values. And they are very good at hiding their cards. A red flag to a bull So let's go back to their Paris library. Having read that I too could learn the science of mind control, I stood up to leave. But rather than just sneak out the door, I wanted to confront the Scientologists and tell them why I was leaving. Dave wasn't there because we did different things at different times, but I figured I'd see him at home and tell him what I'd found out and then that would be that. I went into the office of one of the people in charge. I have no idea what her name really was, but I'll call her Giselle. Please don't be offended if this is your name, I'm just picking a name out of a hat. I could call her Cruella but that would make this sound like a Disney film, and it was not a children's fantasy story, it was very much a real life experience. Anyway I went to Giselle and I told her I was leaving, and why. Her next words amazed me and confirmed that I was really making the right choice, because these people had nothing more to offer me and they were deeply disturbing individuals. I told her that mind control wasn't something I wanted to do, and that I was leaving immediately. Here's the first and only thing she said - because after that I was long gone: "But Barbara, you know you'll never make it if you leave Scientology". Well! Clearly Giselle didn't know me very well, because that was like a red flag to a bull. I was out that door faster than you could say 'brainwashing'. And if Giselle could see me now, I wonder what she'd say. Especially if she managed to see what I've achieved all by myself, without Scientology. Sigh. We'll get him...no matter what Anyway I left, and I went straight back home and waited for Dave. I couldn't wait to tell him what I'd learned, because I knew that he was a good person, so he'd feel as I did. And sure enough, when he came home I told him what I'd read, I told him what I said to Giselle and what she said. He was quiet for a minute, and he then said, "Yes you're right. That's not right. We won't go back." I thought everything was going to be fine then. A few days later, the phone rang and surprise surprise, it was the Scientologists, looking for Dave. Not for me. They knew I was no longer a prospect. I told them to leave us alone and that Dave wasn't going back there and that they had to respect his choice. Well unfortunately for me (and more so for Dave), the Scientologists didn't give up. When I was home I'd hang up on them, but they kept calling. Eventually they managed to call when Dave was home on his own. I was working part-time doing something (I lose track of what because I had so many different random jobs before I got my resident card). They talked to Dave, and I came home to discover that he'd left to go to them for some course or other. The losing battle...that ended in marriage Thus began a bit of a battle between me and Dave and them. I kept trying to get Dave to see why you really wouldn't want to be associated with people who use mind control, but they were really clever. They'd found a way to spin their brainwashing thing in a way that Dave accepted, I guess. They probably just told him they didn't mean it. Whatever they said, he just got more and more wrapped up in their world. He was totally one of those vulnerable people that I mentioned before. His family didn't really support him, and I was there for him, but I guess somehow that wasn't enough. This was actually a big part of why we got married - I naively thought that we could then build a life together without interference and that I could somehow keep him away from them. Pretty dumb, I know, but there you go. Anyway I've already talked about us getting married, going to a disastrous pseudo-honeymoon in Corsica, me meeting the crazy Italian of Episode 3...so I'll fast forward to the moment when I saw Dave acting really crazy. This was about 2 years later. It was when I saw that the Scientologists had taken just about everything from him. Lying outrageously to get a great job I was working in a translation office with a great bunch of girls. We had SO much fun it was ridiculous, and I was single (not technically, but you know) and happy. I had lied my way big time into getting the job. My strategy was telling them that yes not only did I know the software I was going to be using (which I didn't know at all), but that I actually taught it to others. Not very subtle, I know. To this day I have no idea why I chose such an outrageous lie. But fortunately for me, I was quick enough to learn what I needed to do, so my employers kept me. This happened in so many different jobs that I wanted to get despite having no experience that it kind of became a questionable habit. And my translation office job was really great. I didn't do any translating - we were audio typists. Because the work required a lot of concentration and speed, we got to take lots of breaks. This was quite fortunate because one day in the middle of a break, much to my surprise Dave walked into the office. (It wasn't a public office, I have no idea how he got in). Dave had been calling me for months to get the divorce proceedings started, and I'd been putting him off because I wanted to get my resident card first. I knew I was just a few short weeks away from getting it, but time kept dragging on with no card in the mail. So Dave kept getting more and more insistent on the phone. Enter the walking dead Anyway when I saw Dave walk into the office, I almost fell out of my chair. What had been a vibrant, happy and attractive young guy was now a gaunt, grey, hunched and clearly stressed man who looked like a strong wind would blow him over. I mean I wanted to take him to the hospital, that's how bad he looked. His eyes were sunken, the stress was so palpable that it looked like his arms could snap like twigs at any moment. I was absolutely horrified. He said, "Can we please start the divorce proceedings? The Scientologists are telling me that I'm living a lie and I have to let it go." Well I couldn't say no. Even feeling angry that it was because of the Scientologists that he was in that state to begin with. Here's how our conversation went: Me: "You look awful. Who's looking after you?" Dave: "Oh I'm living at my mentor's house" (Dave was working for a successful business in Paris, and the owner was his mentor). Me: "What happened to your apartment?" Dave: "I sold it". Me: "So where's the money?" (He'd had a nice apartment in the center of Paris). Dave: "I gave it to the Scientologists". So he was now broke, with no apartment and on the verge of a physical collapse. I was grateful that his mentor was looking after him, but I was worried for him as you can imagine. I agreed to start the divorce proceedings. And even though I was stressed thinking that I might not ever get my resident card, I figured I was way better off than Dave. Mostly though, I wanted to at least put his mind to rest for something. Divine providence Now this is where divine providence comes into the story. We were given an appointment to go to the judge to get the divorce in 2 months' time. And every day I'd check my mailbox to see if my card had arrived. I was hoping that the divorce proceedings hadn't tipped someone off who could then decide to stop the whole procedure and everything I'd tried to do for for the past 2 years. Because that could happen any day. The days passed and still no card. And one sunny October morning, it was time to go to the tribunal to get the divorce. No more stalling. Dave came by to get me and there was no turning back. I walked downstairs, opened my mailbox...and the resident card was inside. Just in the nick of time. I cried with relief. Two years of waiting and appointments and phone calls and paper pushing were finally over. After about 5 minutes (I recovered quickly because they were happy tears), I dried my tears, went to the tribunal, got divorced, and never saw Dave again. A happy ending I actually never knew what had happened to Dave, until I wrote this story! Thanks to the internet, I can happily say that Dave did manage to eventually leave Scientology. I've seen his picture online and he's no longer the walking dead. He looks fit, healthy and happy. I think he escaped them thanks to his amazing mentor who took him in when he'd been left destitute. His mentor was clearly able to do what I couldn't, and I imagine that Dave was smart enough to see for himself by that time that being with the Scientologists hadn't exactly brought him fulfilment. Dave is now very successful. I won't say in what field because he's got lots of followers, but I am glad and relieved for him, to say the least. So it's a crazy story with a happy ending. A great food to boost your strength Now what food could I have given Dave when he walked into my office looking like the walking dead? Well, it would need to be a food that is very high in nutrition. It would need to be a food that helps you gain strength and muscle mass. This particular food can help you not only gain weight, but lose it too. So it will have to be... Dark leafy greens! Surprise! Benefits of dark leafy greens Dark leafy greens are packed with all 8 essential amino acids that we need to get from our food. (The remaining 14 amino acids are made by our bodies. Cool, right?) How to use them for best results For best results, if you want to beef someone up, you want to eat these leafy greens with healthy fats. The reason for this is the fat helps us absorb the amino acids and minerals from the greens. So a dark salad with olive oil and avocado not only tastes good, but it helps deliver great nutrition to the body. Now before you think "Oh no, I eat a lot of salads and I want to lose weight", don't worry. The main principle behind controlling your weight - whether you want it to go up or down - is all about two things:  putting the right nutrients into the body, and   making sure you can absorb them  If you give the body what it needs, your weight will tend to stabilize itself. I know about greens and weight control because of my studies with raw food expert David Wolfe, but I couldn't find a decent article online that explains all of this. David talks about it in his books, but that's it. You may have heard people use the argument that gorillas eat greens all day, and look how strong they are, but that really isn't the full story. I'll have to write an article myself. In the meantime though, I will link in the show notes to a post from David Wolfe in a French forum that talks about how you can eat to manage your weight, using greens and good fats. It's just a simple post and it's in English. It's very short, but the information he gives can be valuable to some of you if you want to know more about this. Anyway, I've got lots of delicious recipes that use dark leafy greens in all kinds of creative ways in my 5-Minute recipe ebooks that I'll link to in the shownotes for this episode. Have YOU got a story to share? If you've got a crazy, true story to share - with or without mind control! - and you'd like to know what food could have saved the day in your situation), I'd love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen 'on the go' in iTunes, Stitcher and Tunein. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: https://rockingrawchef.com/5-minute-recipes/ 'Emotional Tone scale' course: http://www.scientology.org.uk/courses/tone-scale/overview.html David Wolfe's post on eating for weight control: http://alternativesante.superforum.fr/t1164-david-wolfe-on-eating-for-weight-gain

CFDS 009: Mind Control And The Waking Dead

Not giving up when a bomb throws you a curveball, and a food for anxiety you can actually eat raw (if you want to) What you will learn  how sometimes it's crucial not to take no for an answer, even from the police   a great food for anxiety relief  At the end of this episode I'll share with you one of the best foods you can eat for anxiety relief. It's a food that I bet you don't know that you can eat raw! On with the story Living in Paris, France So as with some of my previous episodes, this story takes place in Paris, France. In Paris I naively thought at the age of 24 that I could just move there and find work. I figured working wouldn't be a problem, despite the fact that at that time I couldn't speak the language and I didn't have a permit. My father and I had been to Paris before when I was 16, and I loved it so much that I'd vowed that one day I'd go back and be able to speak to the people there in their language. And I did wind up doing just that, including getting my resident card and eventually French nationality, but both involved a long hard road, to say the least. Becoming fluent in French was really easy compared to getting my resident card. Which brings me to today's story. Falling in love with a Frenchman After a year or two in Paris, I fell in love with a Frenchman (as you do). And if you've listened to previous episodes you'll know that he was also a) a hypnotist and b) a little crazy. Or at least a little vulnerable to religious sects. Not religious sex. I mean, I wish. Religious sex would have been better than nothing. Hmmm, that's definitely another story! Anyway, I was living with my ex-French husband whom I call Dave. (I keep forgetting, yes he is still French, but he's definitely not my husband any more. Actually I don't even know if he's still alive...but I certainly hope so). I don't use his real name to protect him in case he listens to these one day and he's like "How dare she plaster our life together all over the internet!" Which I doubt because I don't even know if he was left with a phone after the Scientologists got a hold of him. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Dave and I were happily living together until a) we got married so that I could get my resident card and b) we found the Scientologists. I talk about how we wandered into the Scientology trap in Episode 7 so I won't repeat that here. Married! Once we got married I was really relieved because I figured it was just a matter of time until I'd get my resident card and finally be able to go after any job I wanted. Up to that point I'd had to do all kinds of crazy jobs where people didn't ask about things like permits. Cash in hand type jobs are somehow not so sexy, or so well paid...except for the oldest profession in the world. And there was no way I was doing that! Although the transvestite prostitutes who lived near my apartment across from the Eiffel Tower always seemed happy enough...but that's another story. From the church to the police station As soon as I had our marriage papers (and while I was living with the crazy Italian who almost killed me which I talk about in Episode 3), I went to the police station to apply for my resident card. I was expecting that this would be a smooth process because one of my girlfriends got her card just a few months after she got married. (She actually married a felon so I don't know if that was such a great deal in the end, but that's another story which I talk about in Episode 4). At the police station I filled out all the papers. If you've ever lived in France, you will know that they love paperwork. They pretend not to, but they're just faking it. I mean, they ask you for SO many papers and if they don't have every single one of them, they won't do anything for you. So if an official tells you they don't enjoy their job, they are lying. Well, actually I don't think they enjoy their job but they do enjoy the power that comes from saying to someone 'Ah, you're missing your certificate of xyz' or 'I see you don't have your copy of blah blah blah bank account' or whatever. How to play nice with French officials Actually there's a game that you have to play when you deal with French officials, and this could come in handy for you if you find yourself trying to get any kind of paperwork processed. Free tip for you! Here's what you do. You have to pretend that the person in front of you has such a difficult job. So you have to say things like "Oh I know how difficult this is, you must be looking forward to your holiday" or some such nonsense. It's kind of expected I think, and if you don't do it you're clearly a foreigner and you deserve a hard time. I mean obviously you're a foreigner, otherwise you wouldn't be asking for a resident card, but you're a clueless foreigner who hasn't learned the rules, which is not good at all. So there you go. You'll be prepared, just in case. Anyway I knew all of this, so I went through all the usual phrases like "I'm sorry to disturb you, I know how busy you are." This is one of their favorite phrases by the way - and all in French of course, very important. It doesn't work if you do it in English because then you're worse than the clueless foreigner. You become the arrogant foreigner who thinks that everyone speaks English, and you will get nowhere. Ready to get my resident card... So having said all the right things, I was given an appointment to come back in 3 months' time to pick up my resident card. All I had to do was show up and I'd get it. I was ecstatic. I had waited over 2 years, and it was finally going to happen. At that time I had already left Dave and was living in a hovel with the crazy and dangerous Italian that I talk about in Episode 3. I went home and kept saying to myself, "I'm almost there. Not long now". Well. After a lot of waiting, the day finally came. It was a gorgeous September day, and I remember walking across the Pont Neuf which in case you don't know is one of Paris' beautiful bridges across the Seine. My appointment was in like 10 minutes, so I was hurrying because I didn't want to be late. Here comes the bomb Suddenly I started hearing sirens. They seemed to be coming from someplace ahead of me. Sure enough, once I'd crossed the bridge and I was within viewing distance of the central police station, I saw police vans everywhere. No-one could get anywhere near the station. I asked someone what was going on, and it turned out that a bomb had just gone off inside the police station. 20 minutes before my appointment. I sighed and thought "it's a good thing I wasn't early!" Needless to say, no-one got in that day. I later received a new appointment in the mail (there was no internet at that time so everything happened through snail mail), for 3 months later. The last thing I expected So I waited again - having by this time left the dangerous Italian and gone back to live in Dave's apartment - and I went off to my new appointment. I was very excited, thinking "Finally!" and I went up to the window. However, instead of getting my resident card, I was given a letter. And the letter said - I'll paraphrase it - "you have 30 days to leave the country". My heart dropped to my shoes. I couldn't believe it. I said to the woman "But I'm married! My husband's French!" and she just shrugged her shoulders. So as you can expect, I just broke down and started sobbing. I couldn't believe that after 2 and a half years, after marrying Dave, after becoming fluent in French and really loving Paris in the most visceral way possible, I was being told to leave. From sobbing down the phone to saying no Not knowing what else to do, I mean I felt like I could hardly walk I was so shocked, I went to a pay phone in the police station (there were no mobiles at this time) and I called Dave. I sobbed down the phone, telling him what the letter said. And I will always be grateful to Dave, no matter where he is now, for what he said next. He said (in French of course), "That's ridiculous. You march right back in there and you tell that woman that there's no way you're leaving, and you demand a solution." I'm realizing now as I say this that Dave showed way more strength in that moment than he had ever shown with the Scientologists...but that's another story. So I did. I went back to the woman and said just that. And what she said next really blew me away. It showed me how incredibly naïve I was, and how I really had a lot to learn in life. And from sad to furious She said offhandedly - as if she were talking about the weather or something - "Oh, that? That's just a form letter. We give it to everyone". I said "So I don't have to leave?" She shook her head. I asked incredulously, "Then why do you give it to everyone?" and she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Because some people leave". She then told me that the laws had changed because of the bomb, and that I now had to wait till I'd been married for a year. Then I could come back and get my resident card...and I didn't have to leave the country. Well I was furious. I mean, there were people with families who left the country because of that letter. Because they didn't have someone like Dave to tell them how to handle French officials. Because they didn't question what appeared to be the truth but was actually just a ploy to trick some people into leaving the country. I think I've been on the side of the underdog ever since. Anyway, in the end I did wait a year...and I did get my resident card. I celebrated, believe me! But I still almost didn't get it, because of the Scientologists. That's another story though, which I'll share with you in the next episode. A great food for anxiety relief So what food can help reduce anxiety? As I said, you may not know that you can eat this food raw. And I'm not saying you have to eat it raw, but you can if you want to. The food is...asparagus! Benefits of asparagus Asparagus is rich in folate, which is a really important B vitamin that converts to folic acid in the body. And folic acid is particularly good for helping your body produce and maintain new cells as well as having a healthy nervous system. But did you know that low levels of folic acid have been linked to both anxiety and depression? So if you're feeling stressed out or sad, asparagus can help. Some ideas for eating asparagus Now, how do you eat asparagus? Well, most people steam it or stir fry it, but you can also eat it raw if you want to. It's actually quite delicious in a salad, and I've found a great recipe for you along with other recipes for cooked asparagus if you prefer. I'll link to it in the shownotes below. So no more excuses for not eating asparagus, OK? Some of the recipes use parmesan, but if you don't eat animal products there's an easy fix. Just substitute the parmesan for some nutritional yeast (not Brewer's yeast, there's a difference). Or you can use one of my easy cheese recipes on my blog. Well! I hope you've enjoyed my latest story, and that you'll be digging into some delicious asparagus very soon. Have YOU got a story to share? If you've got a crazy, true story to share (and you'd like to know what food could have saved the day in your situation), I'd love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen 'on the go' in iTunes, Stitcher or Tunein. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES Lots of asparagus recipes: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/25/10-best-recipes-asparagus My dairy-free cheese recipes: https://rockingrawchef.com/cheese-on-a-raw-food-diet/

Not giving up when a bomb throws you a curveball, and a food for anxiety you can actually eat raw (if you want to) What you will learn <ul> <li>how sometimes it's crucial not to take no for an answer, even from the police</li> </ul> <ul> <li>a great food for anxiety relief</li> </ul> At the end of this episode I'll share with you one of the best foods you can eat for anxiety relief. It's a food that I bet you don't know that you can eat raw! On with the story Living in Paris, France So as with some of my previous episodes, this story takes place in Paris, France. In Paris I naively thought at the age of 24 that I could just move there and find work. I figured working wouldn't be a problem, despite the fact that at that time I couldn't speak the language and I didn't have a permit. My father and I had been to Paris before when I was 16, and I loved it so much that I'd vowed that one day I'd go back and be able to speak to the people there in their language. And I did wind up doing just that, including getting my resident card and eventually French nationality, but both involved a long hard road, to say the least. Becoming fluent in French was really easy compared to getting my resident card. Which brings me to today's story. Falling in love with a Frenchman After a year or two in Paris, I fell in love with a Frenchman (as you do). And if you've listened to previous episodes you'll know that he was also a) a hypnotist and b) a little crazy. Or at least a little vulnerable to religious sects. Not religious sex. I mean, I wish. Religious sex would have been better than nothing. Hmmm, that's definitely another story! Anyway, I was living with my ex-French husband whom I call Dave. (I keep forgetting, yes he is still French, but he's definitely not my husband any more. Actually I don't even know if he's still alive...but I certainly hope so). I don't use his real name to protect him in case he listens to these one day and he's like "How dare she plaster our life together all over the internet!" Which I doubt because I don't even know if he was left with a phone after the Scientologists got a hold of him. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Dave and I were happily living together until a) we got married so that I could get my resident card and b) we found the Scientologists. I talk about how we wandered into the Scientology trap in <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/licking-stamps-scientologists/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 7</a> so I won't repeat that here. Married! Once we got married I was really relieved because I figured it was just a matter of time until I'd get my resident card and finally be able to go after any job I wanted. Up to that point I'd had to do all kinds of crazy jobs where people didn't ask about things like permits. Cash in hand type jobs are somehow not so sexy, or so well paid...except for the oldest profession in the world. And there was no way I was doing that! Although the transvestite prostitutes who lived near my apartment across from the Eiffel Tower always seemed happy enough...but that's another story. From the church to the police station As soon as I had our marriage papers (and while I was living with the crazy Italian who almost killed me which I talk about in <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/i-blame-the-sexy-italian/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 3</a>), I went to the police station to apply for my resident card. I was expecting that this would be a smooth process because one of my girlfriends got her card just a few months after she got married. (She actually married a felon so I don't know if that was such a great deal in the end, but that's another story which I talk about in <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/girlfriend-marries-felon/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 4</a>). At the police station I filled out all the papers. If you've ever lived in France, you will know that they love paperwork. They pretend not to, but they're just faking it. I mean, they ask you for SO many papers and if they don't have every single one of them, they won't do anything for you. So if an official tells you they don't enjoy their job, they are lying. Well, actually I don't think they enjoy their job but they do enjoy the power that comes from saying to someone 'Ah, you're missing your certificate of xyz' or 'I see you don't have your copy of blah blah blah bank account' or whatever. How to play nice with French officials Actually there's a game that you have to play when you deal with French officials, and this could come in handy for you if you find yourself trying to get any kind of paperwork processed. Free tip for you! Here's what you do. You have to pretend that the person in front of you has such a difficult job. So you have to say things like "Oh I know how difficult this is, you must be looking forward to your holiday" or some such nonsense. It's kind of expected I think, and if you don't do it you're clearly a foreigner and you deserve a hard time. I mean obviously you're a foreigner, otherwise you wouldn't be asking for a resident card, but you're a clueless foreigner who hasn't learned the rules, which is not good at all. So there you go. You'll be prepared, just in case. Anyway I knew all of this, so I went through all the usual phrases like "I'm sorry to disturb you, I know how busy you are." This is one of their favorite phrases by the way - and all in French of course, very important. It doesn't work if you do it in English because then you're worse than the clueless foreigner. You become the arrogant foreigner who thinks that everyone speaks English, and you will get nowhere. Ready to get my resident card... So having said all the right things, I was given an appointment to come back in 3 months' time to pick up my resident card. All I had to do was show up and I'd get it. I was ecstatic. I had waited over 2 years, and it was finally going to happen. At that time I had already left Dave and was living in a hovel with the crazy and dangerous Italian that I talk about in <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/i-blame-the-sexy-italian/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 3</a>. I went home and kept saying to myself, "I'm almost there. Not long now". Well. After a lot of waiting, the day finally came. It was a gorgeous September day, and I remember walking across the Pont Neuf which in case you don't know is one of Paris' beautiful bridges across the Seine. My appointment was in like 10 minutes, so I was hurrying because I didn't want to be late. Here comes the bomb Suddenly I started hearing sirens. They seemed to be coming from someplace ahead of me. Sure enough, once I'd crossed the bridge and I was within viewing distance of the central police station, I saw police vans everywhere. No-one could get anywhere near the station. I asked someone what was going on, and it turned out that a bomb had just gone off inside the police station. 20 minutes before my appointment. I sighed and thought "it's a good thing I wasn't early!" Needless to say, no-one got in that day. I later received a new appointment in the mail (there was no internet at that time so everything happened through snail mail), for 3 months later. The last thing I expected So I waited again - having by this time left the dangerous Italian and gone back to live in Dave's apartment - and I went off to my new appointment. I was very excited, thinking "Finally!" and I went up to the window. However, instead of getting my resident card, I was given a letter. And the letter said - I'll paraphrase it - "you have 30 days to leave the country". My heart dropped to my shoes. I couldn't believe it. I said to the woman "But I'm married! My husband's French!" and she just shrugged her shoulders. So as you can expect, I just broke down and started sobbing. I couldn't believe that after 2 and a half years, after marrying Dave, after becoming fluent in French and really loving Paris in the most visceral way possible, I was being told to leave. From sobbing down the phone to saying no Not knowing what else to do, I mean I felt like I could hardly walk I was so shocked, I went to a pay phone in the police station (there were no mobiles at this time) and I called Dave. I sobbed down the phone, telling him what the letter said. And I will always be grateful to Dave, no matter where he is now, for what he said next. He said (in French of course), "That's ridiculous. You march right back in there and you tell that woman that there's no way you're leaving, and you demand a solution." I'm realizing now as I say this that Dave showed way more strength in that moment than he had ever shown with the Scientologists...but that's another story. So I did. I went back to the woman and said just that. And what she said next really blew me away. It showed me how incredibly naïve I was, and how I really had a lot to learn in life. And from sad to furious She said offhandedly - as if she were talking about the weather or something - "Oh, that? That's just a form letter. We give it to everyone". I said "So I don't have to leave?" She shook her head. I asked incredulously, "Then why do you give it to everyone?" and she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Because some people leave". She then told me that the laws had changed because of the bomb, and that I now had to wait till I'd been married for a year. Then I could come back and get my resident card...and I didn't have to leave the country. Well I was furious. I mean, there were people with families who left the country because of that letter. Because they didn't have someone like Dave to tell them how to handle French officials. Because they didn't question what appeared to be the truth but was actually just a ploy to trick some people into leaving the country. I think I've been on the side of the underdog ever since. Anyway, in the end I did wait a year...and I did get my resident card. I celebrated, believe me! But I still almost didn't get it, because of the Scientologists. That's another story though, which I'll share with you in the next episode. A great food for anxiety relief So what food can help reduce anxiety? As I said, you may not know that you can eat this food raw. And I'm not saying you have to eat it raw, but you can if you want to. The food is...asparagus! Benefits of asparagus Asparagus is rich in folate, which is a really important B vitamin that converts to folic acid in the body. And folic acid is particularly good for helping your body produce and maintain new cells as well as having a healthy nervous system. But did you know that low levels of folic acid have been linked to both anxiety and depression? So if you're feeling stressed out or sad, asparagus can help. Some ideas for eating asparagus Now, how do you eat asparagus? Well, most people steam it or stir fry it, but you can also eat it raw if you want to. It's actually quite delicious in a salad, and I've found a great recipe for you along with other recipes for cooked asparagus if you prefer. I'll link to it in the shownotes below. So no more excuses for not eating asparagus, OK? Some of the recipes use parmesan, but if you don't eat animal products there's an easy fix. Just substitute the parmesan for some nutritional yeast (not Brewer's yeast, there's a difference). Or you can use one of my <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/cheese-on-a-raw-food-diet/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">easy cheese recipes</a> on my blog. Well! I hope you've enjoyed my latest story, and that you'll be digging into some delicious asparagus very soon. Have YOU got a story to share? If you've got a crazy, true story to share (and you'd like to know what food could have saved the day in your situation), I'd love to <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/contact-me/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hear from you</a>! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen 'on the go' in <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/clean-food-dirty-stories/id1208231908" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=132708&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a> or <a href="http://tunein.com/radio/Clean-Food-Dirty-Stories-p965969/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tunein</a>. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES Lots of asparagus recipes: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/25/10-best-recipes-asparagus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/25/10-best-recipes-asparagus</a> My dairy-free cheese recipes: <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/cheese-on-a-raw-food-diet/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://rockingrawchef.com/cheese-on-a-raw-food-diet/</a>

CFDS 008 How To Win...even After A Bomb

How you can end up licking stamps for Scientologists, pumpkin heads (I kid you not), and why you might want to feed pumpkin to the men in your life What you will learn  how you can change your feelings about a scary event in your past   why you might want to feed pumpkin to the men in your life  At the end of this episode I'll share with you three things that you probably don't know about pumpkin, including why you might want to feed some to the men in your life. Oh - and the story also features a brief appearance of three pumpkin heads... On with the story Living in Paris, France This story takes place in Paris, France, where I discovered in my twenties that there are all kinds of weird and wonderful (sometimes not so wonderful) ways to make money. If you've listened to my previous episodes, you'll know that for a while I was living with a kind of crazy French guy (whom I call Dave) who used hypnosis to teach people English (more about that in Episode 1). Unfortunately for us both, Dave wound up getting totally sucked into the world of Scientologists. This is how one day I found myself licking stamps for them and getting more than a glimpse into their inner world, which had some good things about it but also some pretty creepy things. It's also how I came to see the pumpkin heads, which turned out to be a very good thing. But first I need to start by telling you how Dave and I got involved with the Scientologists in the first place. My first encounter with Scientologists Dave and I were walking along the Paris streets at night - as you do because it's just so beautiful - and we saw this poster outside a beautiful building that advertised a talk given by the Scientologists on past lives. The talk was happening in like 10 minutes, so we thought, "Great! Perfect timing!" Plus it was a free talk, so we figured we had nothing to lose. In our defence, we didn't know anything about Scientologists at that time. Dave wound up losing his apartment which he'd bought himself as well as his health, but that's another story. We attended the talk, and while the content was pretty interesting, it basically turned out to be a big pitch to sign up for one of their courses. The courses were pretty expensive, but they said that you could attend the courses for free in exchange for volunteering. So Dave and I were curious and we thought, "Why not?" How to get free food You also could get free food if you helped them with some extra stuff, which is where the licking stamps comes in. I was desperate for an income at that time, and I figured that if licking stamps for Scientologists for a couple of hours was what it took to at least get food, I'd do that. It was pretty easy work. I was basically in a basement office with this other girl, and she stuffed envelopes while I licked stamps. Then they'd feed me and I'd go back home. That part was easy. As for the pumpkin heads, well that part's coming up now. Getting 'clear' So in exchange for our volunteering, we not only got some free courses, but we also got a free auditing session with a trainer. An auditing session at that time was a one-on-one session, so a bit like a therapy session, where the goal is to help you achieve a state of mind that the Scientologists call 'clear'. They told us that being 'clear' means that you're free from irrational fears, phobias, insecurities and that kind of thing. Sounds good, right? Who wouldn't want to be free of those things? I was totally willing to give it a go because I thought it would be really interesting. And I was right. It was extremely interesting. While a lot of Scientology is just plain scary - and I'll share why in the next episode - some of their principles are actually useful. The key word here though is 'some'. Not all. Definitely not. My auditing session For my auditing session, I went into a small room with what looked like a long dentist's chair with squishy cushions. The auditor - I have no idea what his name was, so I'll call him Matt - told me to lay back, relax and close my eyes. He then asked me to think of a time when something happened to me that I found either scary, stressful or otherwise unpleasant. And that was easy because this all took place just a few weeks after my run-in with three teenage gangsters on a train (which I talk about in Episode 6). Tell me a story... Next Matt asked me to tell him the story of what happened, so I did. I told him everything, starting from when they got on the train, then everything that happened with the gun (which I won't go through again here as that's in my previous episode), and finishing with them leaving the train. Once I'd told the story, I was expecting Matt to ask me questions, or make a comment or something. What I didn't expect was him to say rather blankly, "Tell me again". I was like "The whole thing? Again?" He was like "Yes, again". So I did. I told the whole story again...and again...and again. I must have told that story about ten times, and after each time I was thinking 'surely this is enough, he must be getting bored by now' but he would just keep saying "Again". Part of me was thinking "Damn, I could be doing this at home with a couple of girlfriends or something, not much therapy or change going on here". But I complied and repeated the story from the exact same place and ending at the exact same point. From 'fear gear' to 'neutral' Suddenly on the 11th telling or so, I just burst out laughing. What I saw was just so funny, I couldn't stop laughing. So Matt asks, "What's so funny?" And I told him that the three guys came into the train and each of them had a huge pumpkin for a head. I mean, you had to be there to find that funny I think, but for me it was hilarious. And in that moment I understood the power of this particular technique: the negativity around the experience was completely gone. It really did feel cleared out. Even when I talk about it now, it's like it doesn't have any emotional impact on me, it feels neutral. Neither positive nor negative. It's very weird. How useful is it to feel neutral, really? Now before you think I'm going to start singing the praises of Scientology, let me just say that for this particular experience, feeling neutral about it I think is a good thing. But I wouldn't want to feel neutral about everything difficult that ever happened to me. I don't know what you think and I'd quite like to know so feel free to pop your thoughts in the comments. For my part, I'd rather feel healed or integrated than neutral. This was at the very beginning of my experience with the Scientologists, but a few short weeks later I was running out of there totally freaked out. I couldn't wait to put lots of distance between me and them - and I'll share why in the next episode. On to the pumpkin goodies For now though, I'd like to share with you three things that you may not know about pumpkin, including why it could be an important food for men. Benefits of pumpkin First, did you know that you don't have to cook pumpkin? You can actually eat it raw, and I'll say more about that in a moment. Second, pumpkin is one of the best sources of beta-carotene, which gives it its orange color and converts into Vitamin A once we eat it. This is important because foods rich in beta-carotene are thought to help delay aging, fight cancer and prevent degenerative damage to the eyes which occurs as we get older. So pretty powerful stuff. I'll link to an article that goes into all of these benefits in more detail. It also has links to in-depth scientific studies, just so you can see that I'm not making this up. By the way, the article that I'll link to mentions that pumpkin and other beta-carotene-rich foods can be particularly effective against prostate cancer. So ladies, make sure the men in your life are getting some pumpkin in their diet, OK? And third, pumpkin is actually a great food if you're trying to slim down or not overeat. It has a lot of fiber for very little calories compared to other foods. You can make it into bread, cookies, crumbles and all kinds of delicious food. Some ideas for eating pumpkin Now, how do you eat pumpkin? Well, as I said, you can eat it raw. But whether you decide to cook it or not, you definitely have to peel it. The easiest way is to cut round the top of the pumpkin as if you were going to carve it, take the top out, and then scrape out the seeds and the fleshy fibrous bits. By the way, don't throw away the seeds. You can wash them and then dry them out and eat them. Some people toss them in oil and salt and bake them, but I just pop mine in a dehydrator and dry them out that way. As for your pumpkin, once you've removed the seeds and the stringy bits, you cut it in half and then into quarters, and peel each quarter with a strong knife. You'll be left with the flesh, which you can roughly chop and put right into your food processor or blender to make a smoothie or puree or whatever. I've got a recipe for Pumpkin Mousse on my blog which I'll link to in the show notes if you'd like to give it a try. It takes 5 minutes and is delicious. So if you run into anyone with a pumpkin, whether it's on their head or in their shopping cart, at least you'll know what to do with it. And if you'd like other recipe ideas for all kinds of fruit and veg, I've got lots in my 5-Minute recipe ebooks that I'll link to as well. Have YOU got a story to share? If you've got a crazy, true story to share, I'd love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen 'on the go' in iTunes, Tunein and Stitcher. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES Pumpkin Mousse recipe: https://rockingrawchef.com/pumpkin-mousse-recipe Article on benefits of pumpkin with links to scientific studies: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/279610.php 5-Minute recipe ebooks: https://rockingrawchef.com/5-minute-recipes/

How you can end up licking stamps for Scientologists, pumpkin heads (I kid you not), and why you might want to feed pumpkin to the men in your life What you will learn <ul> <li>how you can change your feelings about a scary event in your past</li> </ul> <ul> <li>why you might want to feed pumpkin to the men in your life</li> </ul> At the end of this episode I'll share with you three things that you probably don't know about pumpkin, including why you might want to feed some to the men in your life. Oh - and the story also features a brief appearance of three pumpkin heads... On with the story Living in Paris, France This story takes place in Paris, France, where I discovered in my twenties that there are all kinds of weird and wonderful (sometimes not so wonderful) ways to make money. If you've listened to my previous episodes, you'll know that for a while I was living with a kind of crazy French guy (whom I call Dave) who used hypnosis to teach people English (more about that in <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/french-hypnotists-can-you-do-this-while-you-sleep/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 1</a>). Unfortunately for us both, Dave wound up getting totally sucked into the world of Scientologists. This is how one day I found myself licking stamps for them and getting more than a glimpse into their inner world, which had some good things about it but also some pretty creepy things. It's also how I came to see the pumpkin heads, which turned out to be a very good thing. But first I need to start by telling you how Dave and I got involved with the Scientologists in the first place. My first encounter with Scientologists Dave and I were walking along the Paris streets at night - as you do because it's just so beautiful - and we saw this poster outside a beautiful building that advertised a talk given by the Scientologists on past lives. The talk was happening in like 10 minutes, so we thought, "Great! Perfect timing!" Plus it was a free talk, so we figured we had nothing to lose. In our defence, we didn't know anything about Scientologists at that time. Dave wound up losing his apartment which he'd bought himself as well as his health, but that's another story. We attended the talk, and while the content was pretty interesting, it basically turned out to be a big pitch to sign up for one of their courses. The courses were pretty expensive, but they said that you could attend the courses for free in exchange for volunteering. So Dave and I were curious and we thought, "Why not?" How to get free food You also could get free food if you helped them with some extra stuff, which is where the licking stamps comes in. I was desperate for an income at that time, and I figured that if licking stamps for Scientologists for a couple of hours was what it took to at least get food, I'd do that. It was pretty easy work. I was basically in a basement office with this other girl, and she stuffed envelopes while I licked stamps. Then they'd feed me and I'd go back home. That part was easy. As for the pumpkin heads, well that part's coming up now. Getting 'clear' So in exchange for our volunteering, we not only got some free courses, but we also got a free auditing session with a trainer. An auditing session at that time was a one-on-one session, so a bit like a therapy session, where the goal is to help you achieve a state of mind that the Scientologists call 'clear'. They told us that being 'clear' means that you're free from irrational fears, phobias, insecurities and that kind of thing. Sounds good, right? Who wouldn't want to be free of those things? I was totally willing to give it a go because I thought it would be really interesting. And I was right. It was extremely interesting. While a lot of Scientology is just plain scary - and I'll share why in the next episode - some of their principles are actually useful. The key word here though is 'some'. Not all. Definitely not. My auditing session For my auditing session, I went into a small room with what looked like a long dentist's chair with squishy cushions. The auditor - I have no idea what his name was, so I'll call him Matt - told me to lay back, relax and close my eyes. He then asked me to think of a time when something happened to me that I found either scary, stressful or otherwise unpleasant. And that was easy because this all took place just a few weeks after my run-in with three teenage gangsters on a train (which I talk about in <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/when-gangsters-dont-know-geography/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 6</a>). Tell me a story... Next Matt asked me to tell him the story of what happened, so I did. I told him everything, starting from when they got on the train, then everything that happened with the gun (which I won't go through again here as that's in my previous episode), and finishing with them leaving the train. Once I'd told the story, I was expecting Matt to ask me questions, or make a comment or something. What I didn't expect was him to say rather blankly, "Tell me again". I was like "The whole thing? Again?" He was like "Yes, again". So I did. I told the whole story again...and again...and again. I must have told that story about ten times, and after each time I was thinking 'surely this is enough, he must be getting bored by now' but he would just keep saying "Again". Part of me was thinking "Damn, I could be doing this at home with a couple of girlfriends or something, not much therapy or change going on here". But I complied and repeated the story from the exact same place and ending at the exact same point. From 'fear gear' to 'neutral' Suddenly on the 11th telling or so, I just burst out laughing. What I saw was just so funny, I couldn't stop laughing. So Matt asks, "What's so funny?" And I told him that the three guys came into the train and each of them had a huge pumpkin for a head. I mean, you had to be there to find that funny I think, but for me it was hilarious. And in that moment I understood the power of this particular technique: the negativity around the experience was completely gone. It really did feel cleared out. Even when I talk about it now, it's like it doesn't have any emotional impact on me, it feels neutral. Neither positive nor negative. It's very weird. How useful is it to feel neutral, really? Now before you think I'm going to start singing the praises of Scientology, let me just say that for this particular experience, feeling neutral about it I think is a good thing. But I wouldn't want to feel neutral about everything difficult that ever happened to me. I don't know what you think and I'd quite like to know so feel free to pop your thoughts in the comments. For my part, I'd rather feel healed or integrated than neutral. This was at the very beginning of my experience with the Scientologists, but a few short weeks later I was running out of there totally freaked out. I couldn't wait to put lots of distance between me and them - and I'll share why in the next episode. On to the pumpkin goodies For now though, I'd like to share with you three things that you may not know about pumpkin, including why it could be an important food for men. Benefits of pumpkin First, did you know that you don't have to cook pumpkin? You can actually eat it raw, and I'll say more about that in a moment. Second, pumpkin is one of the best sources of beta-carotene, which gives it its orange color and converts into Vitamin A once we eat it. This is important because foods rich in beta-carotene are thought to help delay aging, fight cancer and prevent degenerative damage to the eyes which occurs as we get older. So pretty powerful stuff. I'll link to an article that goes into all of these benefits in more detail. It also has links to in-depth scientific studies, just so you can see that I'm not making this up. By the way, the article that I'll link to mentions that pumpkin and other beta-carotene-rich foods can be particularly effective against prostate cancer. So ladies, make sure the men in your life are getting some pumpkin in their diet, OK? And third, pumpkin is actually a great food if you're trying to slim down or not overeat. It has a lot of fiber for very little calories compared to other foods. You can make it into bread, cookies, crumbles and all kinds of delicious food. Some ideas for eating pumpkin Now, how do you eat pumpkin? Well, as I said, you can eat it raw. But whether you decide to cook it or not, you definitely have to peel it. The easiest way is to cut round the top of the pumpkin as if you were going to carve it, take the top out, and then scrape out the seeds and the fleshy fibrous bits. By the way, don't throw away the seeds. You can wash them and then dry them out and eat them. Some people toss them in oil and salt and bake them, but I just pop mine in a dehydrator and dry them out that way. As for your pumpkin, once you've removed the seeds and the stringy bits, you cut it in half and then into quarters, and peel each quarter with a strong knife. You'll be left with the flesh, which you can roughly chop and put right into your food processor or blender to make a smoothie or puree or whatever. I've got a recipe for <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/pumpkin-mousse-recipe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pumpkin Mousse</a> on my blog which I'll link to in the show notes if you'd like to give it a try. It takes 5 minutes and is delicious. So if you run into anyone with a pumpkin, whether it's on their head or in their shopping cart, at least you'll know what to do with it. And if you'd like other recipe ideas for all kinds of fruit and veg, I've got lots in my 5-Minute recipe ebooks that I'll link to as well. Have YOU got a story to share? If you've got a crazy, true story to share, I'd love to <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/contact-me/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hear from you</a>! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen 'on the go' in <a href="http://apple.co/2lLwfGh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="http://tunein.com/radio/Clean-Food-Dirty-Stories-p965969/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tunein</a> and <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=132708&amp;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES Pumpkin Mousse recipe: <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/pumpkin-mousse-recipe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://rockingrawchef.com/pumpkin-mousse-recipe</a> Article on benefits of pumpkin with links to scientific studies: <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/279610.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/279610.php</a> 5-Minute recipe ebooks: <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/5-minute-recipes/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://rockingrawchef.com/5-minute-recipes/</a>

CFDS 007: Licking Stamps For Scientologists

How teenage gangsters not knowing geography can be life-saving, and a common food that could have helped calm everybody down. What you will learn  what to do when faced with foreign (teenage) gangsters   the best food to calm down (both for you and for everyone else)  At the end of this episode I'll share with you one of the best, cheapest and most easily available items to make food to calm down, as well as help with stress and anger management. And believe me, the main character in our story could have really used something to chill him out. This food is very common and I bet you eat it all the time without thinking about it. It isn't red, in case you're thinking about a food that I discuss in a previous episode that is also very common. OK so it's easy to find and it isn't red. I think that's enough hinting from me, so let's get on with the story. On with the story Waitressing in France This story takes place in France, while I was living in Paris. I lived there for 14 years, and one of my many different kinds of jobs when I was willing to do just about anything for money (as long as it was legal), was waitressing. What a surprise, right? I had lots of other jobs too. I sang at parties and in restaurants, I taught people English (or I tried to) using hypnosis (I talk about that in Episode 1), and I even cleaned people's houses at one point who didn't believe I was a housecleaner (but that's another story). This waitressing job was in a restaurant in a village way outside of Paris, in the middle of the countryside. It was in a big shopping center which was closed at night except for the restaurant, so it was OK during the day but was kind of spooky at night. However, I'd learned I could handle just about anything (including dangerous Italians, see Episode 4). And I needed the money. The hardest part The job itself was fine. I liked waitressing because it kept me busy and the time would fly by because I was running around all the time. There was one girl who worked there whom I just couldn't understand. She was from a small town in Scotland, and I was still getting used to hearing different kinds of accents when people were speaking. I mean, I grew up on Long Island New York where everyone talked with a New York accent. So strong foreign accents were hard for me to understand because I just wasn't used to it. But eventually I could understand her as well as the French customers. After a while, my French was fluent. This last bit is important to our story, as you'll see later. The hardest bit of that waitressing job was getting back home. I had to get the last train going back to Paris, to then get the last metro train going from the mainline station to the metro stop near my house. So I was always racing to get the train. My rebellion against late night train strategy I was always told that if you were a woman on your own taking the train at night, you had to sit in the very first car right behind the driver to be safe. And I did that religiously, every single night. It meant running further and being further away from the exit at the mainline station. It was a bit of a pain because it added extra time to my journey home, but I did it. And one night I just got fed up of having to always go out of my way to sit in the first car like a child. I'd never seen anything bad happen on that train, and I was thinking, "Why should I have to run further every night just because I'm a woman alone? That's not right, and it's not fair". So that night I thought 'Right, I'm going to sit wherever I want!' So I sat in the middle of the train. And once I was alone... When I got on there were about 3 other people, but they all got off at the next stop, and so then I was alone. There were still a few stops before Paris, and I started to think "Maybe this isn't such a great idea to be by myself." I was about to get up and go to another car that at least had other people in it, when 3 teenage guys walked into the car. Now I was in a booth, so there was room for 4 people. Of course two of them sat across from me, and one of them sat next to me. In a car that was otherwise totally empty. I thought "Uh oh" and I figured they were probably gonna hit on me - that happened a lot. So I kind of sighed inwardly and resigned myself to fending off a pass or something. But I was really nervous because there were 3 of them and one of me. The first scary part Then the guy sitting next to me pulls out a gun and holds it on the seat, pointing it at my thigh. And of course my heart plummeted. It reached my stomach and just stayed there. The good thing was that I noticed that when he pulled the gun out - I don't know his name so I'll call him Jean - he didn't look happy about it. He was kind of sighing inside as he did it, like 'oh this is such a pain'. Of course the thought that flashed through my head was 'if this is such a pain, why are you doing it?' Right? But the one across from me - I'll call him Reno - he was an angry kid. He was angry at the world, and I happened to be the one in his way. Why you want to travel light Reno scowled at me and said "L'argent ! Vide tes poches !" which means "The money! Empty your pockets!" (He was using the familiar 'tu' form which was kind of rude considering we didn't know each other!) Anyway at that moment I was glad for two things: one, that I never carried much money with me because I traveled at night, and two, he was just after my money. I'd much rather surrender my money than my person. So I emptied my pockets, and there was basically just a bunch of change. It was the equivalent of like two dollars, so not very much. I gave him the change and he was like 'what?' He was definitely disappointed, I think he'd figured me for some rich tourist. When a little acting comes in handy Now the other thing you need to know here is that as soon as they started talking to me, my intuition said "Pretend you can't speak French". Because I was fluent I understood everything they said, even the slang. My French teacher would have been so proud! But I pretended to not only not speak French, but also I wanted them to think that I was a bit 'intellectually challenged'. That way I might find an opportunity later to surprise them. Or so I thought, anyway. So Reno looks at the coins, and he says "Is this it?" He looked like a kid who'd asked for a train for Christmas and gotten a tiny plastic car. Poor guy. Reno asked Jean - who was still looking like he'd rather be at home watching TV - to look through my coat pockets too. There was nothing else there...except for my US passport, which I really didn't want to lose because that would just be a huge pain. I'd already had it stolen from me on the first day I arrived in Paris, and I figured if I went to the police again they'd be like 'are you selling them?' Way too embarrassing. Who wants the money? Anyway Reno put the passport to one side, looked at his huge takings of two whole dollars...and said "Oh here, take it." He handed me the coins back, as in 'this really isn't worth it'. And playing my role of a clueless tourist, I said "Oh no, you keep it" and he said "No, just take it" and I said "No, no, I insist". It was like when you've got two friends arguing over who's going to pay the bill in a restaurant because each person wants to treat the other, right? Reno kept the coins, but he still didn't look happy about it. And although I'd diffused his anger a little bit - which was totally one of my goals - he still wanted something. I think at that moment though, even he didn't know what it was. Why I was grateful he didn't know geography So Reno picks up my passport and starts flicking through the pages. Now at that time there weren't any epassports. I had lots of stamps in my passport from when I traveled, and I was getting worried that he'd see that a US passport is very valuable on the black market, which it was. People would steal them, change the picture and sell them for lots of money. And here comes the bit where it was fortunate for me that he didn't know his geography. He looked at me and said "You're from England?" I played along with this because an English passport was valuable, but it wasn't considered as valuable as an American one (sorry English friends), so I was hoping he wouldn't decide to keep it. The scariest part Anyway, just then the train stopped. It was the last stop before Paris, and it was in the middle of nowhere. You know, at one of those deserted stations that just has fields on either side. Here's where the story gets the scariest, at least for me. Reno takes the gun from Jean, points it at my kneecap and says "Get off the train" as in 'get off the train with us and a gun in the middle of a field'. Well one thing was for sure - I didn't know what Reno wanted to do with me and a gun outside late at night, but I had no desire to find out. I'd noticed while all of the thieving was going on that Reno's two colleagues kept looking over their shoulders all the time. They were nervous that someone would come along, and it seemed to me that Reno was the mastermind and he'd coerced them into playing along with his plan. Taking a gamble So I took a gamble and I did the only thing I could think of. I pretended I didn't have a clue what Reno meant so that I could stay put. I figured he probably wouldn't shoot because he didn't want to make noise, and I knew there was no silencer on the gun (thanks to TV). He repeated his ultimatum, saying "If you ever want to see your beloved England again, you'll get off this train now". This was all in French of course. Well I was thinking that my survival was way more likely if I stayed put. So I just looked at him with a puzzled face and pretended to be really clueless. I pretended that I just didn't get what he meant. Nobody move He was looking at me, I was looking at him, and nobody moved. Suddenly we heard the sound that signalled the closing doors, and the train moved on. Inwardly I breathed a huge sigh of relief, because I'd taken a gamble that he wouldn't shoot, but still I wasn't 100 percent sure. Once the train moved, I knew he wouldn't shoot. At that point, much to my surprise, he gave me back my passport. To this day I don't know why, except it was obvious that he definitely didn't know how much it was worth. And he definitely didn't know his geography. Or his English actually, because it said "United States of America" on the cover in big letters. My best strategy Anyway I figured my best strategy - since they apparently had decided to stay with me all the way to Paris - was to befriend them. This might sound crazy, but it fit perfectly with my 'playing clueless' strategy. They asked me where I lived, and I told them "Place de Clichy." Now you need to know at that time, Place de Clichy was one of the rougher parts of Paris. It wasn't the roughest, but it was known for having more immigrants than native French. Everyone in that part of town got along relatively well together, but a lot of them were often prejudiced against by some of the more right-wing French. (This was years ago, it's way worse now, sadly). My captors were foreigners too - I could tell by their accents. So when I said "Place de Clichy" they looked impressed, which I thought was quite funny. It was a bit like the scene in Attack the Block, if you've seen that movie? You know, where the guys find out that the girl they mugged lives in their building and they say 'Hey if we'd have known you lived here we never would have bothered you'. Logical, right? I almost became a criminal I said they could come back to my house if they wanted. That might sound crazy to you, but I figured if they were planning on following me back home anyway, it was best to pretend I was being friendly about it. I figured I could find a way to surprise them. At that time I was living with my French hypnotist-later-turned-Scientologist boyfriend, and I knew he had a gun at home. So I decided that worst case scenario they'd follow me back home and my boyfriend would scare them or shoot them and then we'd call the police. That's seriously where my mind was going! My reckless moment At this point we were finally arriving in Paris - it felt like the longest train ride ever by that point. I saw that they were going to finally leave me alone. They kept looking over their shoulders (they'd put the gun away by this time which was such a relief), and Reno said 'Don't tell anyone. No cops!' And in a moment of what might have been stupid recklessness but which actually felt too damn good not to do, I said to them in fluent French - using slang and everything - "You think I'd call the cops? I hate cops. I'm from New York". A small victory Well, their jaws dropped. You could hear them thinking, "Shit!" because for kids like them who were relatively uneducated, New York meant gangsters and rough stuff all the time. (There was no internet, so everything they knew was based on rumors and the news which somehow I doubt they watched). Plus they realized I'd understood everything they'd been saying the whole trip, I'd just been pretending not to. So now they were afraid of being caught. They ran out of that train like their pants were on fire. When they got to the platform, they kept running. They were still running when I got out (once my knees had stopped shaking and I made my way to the metro). I never saw them again, for which I'm very grateful - oh, except as pumpkins (I kid you not), but that's another story. On to the tips: a common food to calm down So what food could I have given Reno? What food could have helped dampen his anger and chill him out a bit? Are you ready? The answer is: bananas. What? I can hear you say. Are you kidding? Nope, I'm not kidding. What's so great about bananas Bananas have vitamin B and potassium, both of which help to calm the nerves. In other words, they help chill us out. Plus they're delicious, easily available and inexpensive. Super cheap anger management...almost. I'd link to a site that I came across yesterday around this topic, but bizarrely on the page about bananas it also has a video called 'How to control your husband' which honestly just is too weird. I had lots of people controlling my ex-French husband (well he's no longer my husband but he's still French) and it wasn't fun. But again, that's another story. In the shownotes for this episode I'll link to an article that I wrote that tells you about not just bananas, but also several other kinds of food to calm down that can not only help with anger management, but also with reducing stress and anxiety. Some ideas for eating more bananas How do you eat bananas? Well, easy, right? You pick one up, peel it and munch away. They even fit in a bag or in your pocket (if it's a small banana and you've got a big pocket). The only problem with that last strategy though is that your banana might look like a gun...or like something else, neither of which would have made Reno very happy to see on my person, I don't think. I mean, I can't say that if I'd fed Reno a banana he'd have put the gun away, but he would have at least been very surprised. If you live in a kind of dangerous neighborhood, you might want a banana in your bag. Just for emergencies. Anyway, I've got lots of delicious recipes that use bananas in all kinds of creative ways in my 5-Minute Breakfasts recipe ebook that I'll link to in the shownotes for this episode. Have YOU got a story to share? If you've got a crazy, true story to share, I'd love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen 'on the go' in iTunes. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute Breakfasts and other recipe ebooks: https://rockingrawchef.com/5-minute-recipes/ Article on properties of bananas plus other stress-busting foods: https://rockingrawchef.com/stressed-fight-top-5-anti-stress-foods/

How teenage gangsters not knowing geography can be life-saving, and a common food that could have helped calm everybody down. What you will learn <ul> <li>what to do when faced with foreign (teenage) gangsters</li> </ul> <ul> <li>the best food to calm down (both for you and for everyone else)</li> </ul> At the end of this episode I'll share with you one of the best, cheapest and most easily available items to make food to calm down, as well as help with stress and anger management. And believe me, the main character in our story could have really used something to chill him out. This food is very common and I bet you eat it all the time without thinking about it. It isn't red, in case you're thinking about a food that I discuss in a previous episode that is also very common. OK so it's easy to find and it isn't red. I think that's enough hinting from me, so let's get on with the story. On with the story Waitressing in France This story takes place in France, while I was living in Paris. I lived there for 14 years, and one of my many different kinds of jobs when I was willing to do just about anything for money (as long as it was legal), was waitressing. What a surprise, right? I had lots of other jobs too. I sang at parties and in restaurants, I taught people English (or I tried to) using hypnosis (I talk about that in <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/french-hypnotists-can-you-do-this-while-you-sleep/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 1</a>), and I even cleaned people's houses at one point who didn't believe I was a housecleaner (but that's another story). This waitressing job was in a restaurant in a village way outside of Paris, in the middle of the countryside. It was in a big shopping center which was closed at night except for the restaurant, so it was OK during the day but was kind of spooky at night. However, I'd learned I could handle just about anything (including dangerous Italians, see <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/girlfriend-marries-felon/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 4</a>). And I needed the money. The hardest part The job itself was fine. I liked waitressing because it kept me busy and the time would fly by because I was running around all the time. There was one girl who worked there whom I just couldn't understand. She was from a small town in Scotland, and I was still getting used to hearing different kinds of accents when people were speaking. I mean, I grew up on Long Island New York where everyone talked with a New York accent. So strong foreign accents were hard for me to understand because I just wasn't used to it. But eventually I could understand her as well as the French customers. After a while, my French was fluent. This last bit is important to our story, as you'll see later. The hardest bit of that waitressing job was getting back home. I had to get the last train going back to Paris, to then get the last metro train going from the mainline station to the metro stop near my house. So I was always racing to get the train. My rebellion against late night train strategy I was always told that if you were a woman on your own taking the train at night, you had to sit in the very first car right behind the driver to be safe. And I did that religiously, every single night. It meant running further and being further away from the exit at the mainline station. It was a bit of a pain because it added extra time to my journey home, but I did it. And one night I just got fed up of having to always go out of my way to sit in the first car like a child. I'd never seen anything bad happen on that train, and I was thinking, "Why should I have to run further every night just because I'm a woman alone? That's not right, and it's not fair". So that night I thought 'Right, I'm going to sit wherever I want!' So I sat in the middle of the train. And once I was alone... When I got on there were about 3 other people, but they all got off at the next stop, and so then I was alone. There were still a few stops before Paris, and I started to think "Maybe this isn't such a great idea to be by myself." I was about to get up and go to another car that at least had other people in it, when 3 teenage guys walked into the car. Now I was in a booth, so there was room for 4 people. Of course two of them sat across from me, and one of them sat next to me. In a car that was otherwise totally empty. I thought "Uh oh" and I figured they were probably gonna hit on me - that happened a lot. So I kind of sighed inwardly and resigned myself to fending off a pass or something. But I was really nervous because there were 3 of them and one of me. The first scary part Then the guy sitting next to me pulls out a gun and holds it on the seat, pointing it at my thigh. And of course my heart plummeted. It reached my stomach and just stayed there. The good thing was that I noticed that when he pulled the gun out - I don't know his name so I'll call him Jean - he didn't look happy about it. He was kind of sighing inside as he did it, like 'oh this is such a pain'. Of course the thought that flashed through my head was 'if this is such a pain, why are you doing it?' Right? But the one across from me - I'll call him Reno - he was an angry kid. He was angry at the world, and I happened to be the one in his way. Why you want to travel light Reno scowled at me and said "L'argent ! Vide tes poches !" which means "The money! Empty your pockets!" (He was using the familiar 'tu' form which was kind of rude considering we didn't know each other!) Anyway at that moment I was glad for two things: one, that I never carried much money with me because I traveled at night, and two, he was just after my money. I'd much rather surrender my money than my person. So I emptied my pockets, and there was basically just a bunch of change. It was the equivalent of like two dollars, so not very much. I gave him the change and he was like 'what?' He was definitely disappointed, I think he'd figured me for some rich tourist. When a little acting comes in handy Now the other thing you need to know here is that as soon as they started talking to me, my intuition said "Pretend you can't speak French". Because I was fluent I understood everything they said, even the slang. My French teacher would have been so proud! But I pretended to not only not speak French, but also I wanted them to think that I was a bit 'intellectually challenged'. That way I might find an opportunity later to surprise them. Or so I thought, anyway. So Reno looks at the coins, and he says "Is this it?" He looked like a kid who'd asked for a train for Christmas and gotten a tiny plastic car. Poor guy. Reno asked Jean - who was still looking like he'd rather be at home watching TV - to look through my coat pockets too. There was nothing else there...except for my US passport, which I really didn't want to lose because that would just be a huge pain. I'd already had it stolen from me on the first day I arrived in Paris, and I figured if I went to the police again they'd be like 'are you selling them?' Way too embarrassing. Who wants the money? Anyway Reno put the passport to one side, looked at his huge takings of two whole dollars...and said "Oh here, take it." He handed me the coins back, as in 'this really isn't worth it'. And playing my role of a clueless tourist, I said "Oh no, you keep it" and he said "No, just take it" and I said "No, no, I insist". It was like when you've got two friends arguing over who's going to pay the bill in a restaurant because each person wants to treat the other, right? Reno kept the coins, but he still didn't look happy about it. And although I'd diffused his anger a little bit - which was totally one of my goals - he still wanted something. I think at that moment though, even he didn't know what it was. Why I was grateful he didn't know geography So Reno picks up my passport and starts flicking through the pages. Now at that time there weren't any epassports. I had lots of stamps in my passport from when I traveled, and I was getting worried that he'd see that a US passport is very valuable on the black market, which it was. People would steal them, change the picture and sell them for lots of money. And here comes the bit where it was fortunate for me that he didn't know his geography. He looked at me and said "You're from England?" I played along with this because an English passport was valuable, but it wasn't considered as valuable as an American one (sorry English friends), so I was hoping he wouldn't decide to keep it. The scariest part Anyway, just then the train stopped. It was the last stop before Paris, and it was in the middle of nowhere. You know, at one of those deserted stations that just has fields on either side. Here's where the story gets the scariest, at least for me. Reno takes the gun from Jean, points it at my kneecap and says "Get off the train" as in 'get off the train with us and a gun in the middle of a field'. Well one thing was for sure - I didn't know what Reno wanted to do with me and a gun outside late at night, but I had no desire to find out. I'd noticed while all of the thieving was going on that Reno's two colleagues kept looking over their shoulders all the time. They were nervous that someone would come along, and it seemed to me that Reno was the mastermind and he'd coerced them into playing along with his plan. Taking a gamble So I took a gamble and I did the only thing I could think of. I pretended I didn't have a clue what Reno meant so that I could stay put. I figured he probably wouldn't shoot because he didn't want to make noise, and I knew there was no silencer on the gun (thanks to TV). He repeated his ultimatum, saying "If you ever want to see your beloved England again, you'll get off this train now". This was all in French of course. Well I was thinking that my survival was way more likely if I stayed put. So I just looked at him with a puzzled face and pretended to be really clueless. I pretended that I just didn't get what he meant. Nobody move He was looking at me, I was looking at him, and nobody moved. Suddenly we heard the sound that signalled the closing doors, and the train moved on. Inwardly I breathed a huge sigh of relief, because I'd taken a gamble that he wouldn't shoot, but still I wasn't 100 percent sure. Once the train moved, I knew he wouldn't shoot. At that point, much to my surprise, he gave me back my passport. To this day I don't know why, except it was obvious that he definitely didn't know how much it was worth. And he definitely didn't know his geography. Or his English actually, because it said "United States of America" on the cover in big letters. My best strategy Anyway I figured my best strategy - since they apparently had decided to stay with me all the way to Paris - was to befriend them. This might sound crazy, but it fit perfectly with my 'playing clueless' strategy. They asked me where I lived, and I told them "Place de Clichy." Now you need to know at that time, Place de Clichy was one of the rougher parts of Paris. It wasn't the roughest, but it was known for having more immigrants than native French. Everyone in that part of town got along relatively well together, but a lot of them were often prejudiced against by some of the more right-wing French. (This was years ago, it's way worse now, sadly). My captors were foreigners too - I could tell by their accents. So when I said "Place de Clichy" they looked impressed, which I thought was quite funny. It was a bit like the scene in Attack the Block, if you've seen that movie? You know, where the guys find out that the girl they mugged lives in their building and they say 'Hey if we'd have known you lived here we never would have bothered you'. Logical, right? I almost became a criminal I said they could come back to my house if they wanted. That might sound crazy to you, but I figured if they were planning on following me back home anyway, it was best to pretend I was being friendly about it. I figured I could find a way to surprise them. At that time I was living with my French hypnotist-later-turned-Scientologist boyfriend, and I knew he had a gun at home. So I decided that worst case scenario they'd follow me back home and my boyfriend would scare them or shoot them and then we'd call the police. That's seriously where my mind was going! My reckless moment At this point we were finally arriving in Paris - it felt like the longest train ride ever by that point. I saw that they were going to finally leave me alone. They kept looking over their shoulders (they'd put the gun away by this time which was such a relief), and Reno said 'Don't tell anyone. No cops!' And in a moment of what might have been stupid recklessness but which actually felt too damn good not to do, I said to them in fluent French - using slang and everything - "You think I'd call the cops? I hate cops. I'm from New York". A small victory Well, their jaws dropped. You could hear them thinking, "Shit!" because for kids like them who were relatively uneducated, New York meant gangsters and rough stuff all the time. (There was no internet, so everything they knew was based on rumors and the news which somehow I doubt they watched). Plus they realized I'd understood everything they'd been saying the whole trip, I'd just been pretending not to. So now they were afraid of being caught. They ran out of that train like their pants were on fire. When they got to the platform, they kept running. They were still running when I got out (once my knees had stopped shaking and I made my way to the metro). I never saw them again, for which I'm very grateful - oh, except as pumpkins (I kid you not), but that's another story. On to the tips: a common food to calm down So what food could I have given Reno? What food could have helped dampen his anger and chill him out a bit? Are you ready? The answer is: bananas. What? I can hear you say. Are you kidding? Nope, I'm not kidding. What's so great about bananas Bananas have vitamin B and potassium, both of which help to calm the nerves. In other words, they help chill us out. Plus they're delicious, easily available and inexpensive. Super cheap anger management...almost. I'd link to a site that I came across yesterday around this topic, but bizarrely on the page about bananas it also has a video called 'How to control your husband' which honestly just is too weird. I had lots of people controlling my ex-French husband (well he's no longer my husband but he's still French) and it wasn't fun. But again, that's another story. In the shownotes for this episode I'll link to an article that I wrote that tells you about not just bananas, but also several other kinds of food to calm down that can not only help with anger management, but also with reducing stress and anxiety. Some ideas for eating more bananas How do you eat bananas? Well, easy, right? You pick one up, peel it and munch away. They even fit in a bag or in your pocket (if it's a small banana and you've got a big pocket). The only problem with that last strategy though is that your banana might look like a gun...or like something else, neither of which would have made Reno very happy to see on my person, I don't think. I mean, I can't say that if I'd fed Reno a banana he'd have put the gun away, but he would have at least been very surprised. If you live in a kind of dangerous neighborhood, you might want a banana in your bag. Just for emergencies. Anyway, I've got lots of delicious recipes that use bananas in all kinds of creative ways in my 5-Minute Breakfasts recipe ebook that I'll link to in the shownotes for this episode. Have YOU got a story to share? If you've got a crazy, true story to share, I'd love to <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/contact-me/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hear from you</a>! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen 'on the go' in <a href="http://apple.co/2lLwfGh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute Breakfasts and other recipe ebooks: <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/5-minute-recipes/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://rockingrawchef.com/5-minute-recipes/</a> Article on properties of bananas plus other stress-busting foods: <a href="https://rockingrawchef.com/stressed-fight-top-5-anti-stress-foods/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://rockingrawchef.com/stressed-fight-top-5-anti-stress-foods/</a>

CFDS 006: When Gangsters Don't Know Geography

Barbara has a great way of attracting guests with CRAZY life stories and experiences. These stories are inspirational and also a great reminder about the wonders of life. At the end of each episode Barbara gives you a little good tip about a whole food that could have improved or otherwise helped the situation at hand (really!). I look forward to this podcast every week.

Fun and useful!

I had fun hearing Barbara&#39;s story of healthy food and personal growth over coming depression with cooking.

Fun, foodie and growthful

Clean Food, Dirty Stories

The best podcasts about ourselves as well as the world through the lense of Science. Specific topics include things about our brain, emotions to biology, physics and more!

Best Episodes on Science, Humans & The World

The best podcast episodes on romantic relationships. Episodes talk about the 5 love languages, intimacy, and the taboo topics of sexual desires and infidelity. This topic is a deep dive into the science and complexities that face us in our relationships with others. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!