Monday food magic

I conjured up the most delicious breakfast and dinner today.  I have to share because generally I tend to eat anything that is healthy, purely to be healthy - be that resembling of frog slime - i'll drink it!!!

But today a couple of things were a taste sensation, felt so good and nourishing and kept me full for HOURS.

I started with my juice of the moment - carrots, beetroot, celery and ginger.  Then I made a smoothie - whizzing a small handful of soaked almonds (soaked overnight in filtered water and a pinch of good quality sea salt), coconut oil, banana, carrot tops (superior in nutrition when compared with the carrots), handful of fresh mint, good teaspoon of raw cocoa and a little filtered water.  It was DELICIOUS - and so filling.

On my way to work I grabbed a coffee from my favourite spot cafe vue - organic coffee and milk.  And I literally was full for hours.  This never happens - I am usually on the prowl for crumbs every five minutes.  

THEN, for dinner we had a salad of:

Leaves (salad mix)

cherry tomatoes (biodynamic - they tasted so sweet)

bocconcini (mini mozzarella)

Slices of fresh fig

avocado (optional - bro and I had it)

Pancetta (optional - added to the boy's in this case)

Gosh it was good.  I dressed the boy's salad in balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt while bro and I had the olive oil, apple cider vinegar and sea salt.  Oh so good.  I didn't even take a picture as I was too eager to hoe into it and couldn't stop!!!

Much love x

Sleep and Stretch

Because it's Monday.  Because it makes sense.  Remember to stretch and sleep today :)

This kitty knows it!

Rumi and Sweet Substitution

There is really not anything else to say today on this luscious Sunday!

However I have thought of three more things :)

Liquorice tea (root), macadamia nuts and coconut oil.  All of these are inherently sweet and if you are craving something sweet and have either of these it will do the trick.  

*Add coconut oil to smoothie or porridge.  

*Snack on macadamia nuts or smooth macadamia nut butter (Ah-mazing) on veggie or rice crackers.  

*And finally, Licorice........is magic.  You need to buy the dried liquorice root which you spoon loosely into hot water and strain to drink as tea (one teaspoon per cup or few cups) -it is sweet and amazing.  Trust me, not liquorice in taste like you would imagine.  If you crave something sweet after eating a meal, have a cup of this - i dare you to try it and see.  Also yum with peppermint together as a tea.

p.s. Liquorice is great to support the adrenal glands - the ones that go on overdrive when we are stressed!

There you go, love and quitting sugar in one!

xx

Carrot Burps and Lent

Quitting Sugar

Wednesday was the start of Lent, and Mother bear called to tell me she was giving up sugar.  I SO love a challenge that I decided to jump on board.  So for 40 days no sugar, dried fruit or honey (keeping note of any nutritional tables for a sugar reading of no more than 6g per 100g).  I didn’t think I ate much sugar anyway (so thought it would be easy) yet i’ve noticed since Wednesday how many times I go to grab something sweet and have to stop myself!!  An eye opener.  

A goldilocks treat with a twist - Chia Porridge

I love breakfast.   It's the first thing I think of when I open my eyes in the morning and I'm sure is the soul reason I leap out of bed without a second thought.

At the weekend I needed to get some more greens in as I wanted a good start to the day with my detox protocol.  I only had a banana and bunch of celery in the way of smoothie ingredients so with low expectations I wizzed them together in the blender.  To my surprise it was actually pretty yummy!  It would have been extra special with some spinach in as well!

A little later I was feeling peckish again so I soaked some chia seeds to make a chia pudding.  Check out this article on the benefits of chia.  To the chia I added some almonds, blueberries and water.  10 minutes later I took my first bite and the cold texture really wasn't working for me.  I can't currently have porridge (oats aren't allowed on the detox) however I had an idea.  I had some gluten free porridge in the cupboard.  It is nowhere near as creamy, dense and filling as oats so I figured the chia would bulk it out and hey presto it was a winner. Here's how to make chia porridge.

Happy Sundays!!!!

A few weeks ago I went to this hip yoga studio in St Kilda for a friday night yoga class, nibbles and screening of a new movie called Happy.

It was a great reminder and reality check......we all needs these from time to time right!!!!  So in a nut shell here is the synopsis.......

Fifty percent of our level of happiness is inborn - for those in the UK it would seem that Victor Meldrew really couldn't help himself - and Dale boy is one of the lucky ones!!!! So we have a baseline level of happiness that stays with us for life.  We think that certain things will make us really happy (such as marriage, a new car, a pay rise) or really sad (such as losing a job and getting a divorce) yet the research shows that while these circumstances do have an impact and we do become ecstatic (or depressed), the feeling is short-lived and we very quickly bounce back to our baseline level of happiness. Good news?

A further 10% of our level of happiness is impacted by the very things the majority of society are chasing after.  Status, how we look to others, wealth and approval have all been shown to impact the level of our happiness by up to 10%.  Great to know!?!  Don't you feel like mini genius' now!?! ;)

Now the good bit.  The researchers (psychologists, social scientists and psychiatrists) found that a whopping 40% of our level of happiness can be changed by actions that are within our very control.

Get your pen and paper ready darlings - and in no particular order, you can do the following:

Detox Details!

On the 1st October I started a detox......a 6 week detox.  Here is the why, what, how and more........

Who

The detox plan was provided by a wellness clinic called Vitality (I go there for chiro regularly).  A group of us eager health beavers have embarked upon our detox mission. The boy had a boys weekend planned for the middle of October and has therefore just started his detox on Monday of this week.  I’m planning to keep going with him for moral support....making mine a 9 week challenge wahoo!

What

The detox itself constitutes the following: